Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 2. The murder of Abel 4:1-16
  Chapter 4 shows the spread of sin from Adam's family to the larger society that his descendants produced. Not only did sin affect everyone, but people became progressively more wicked as time passed. Verses 1-16 show that the...
• Moses' successor 27:12-23
  Another preparation for entering Canaan involved appointing a new leader to take Moses' place.God foretold that Moses would die without entering the land (cf. 20:1-13). Graciously He allowed His servant to see the Promised La...
• 2. Samuel's ministry 3:19-4:1a
  These verses summarize Samuel's continuing ministry as a prophet in Israel. Samuel qualified for this privilege by his faithful obedience to God's will as he knew it. God sovereignly chose Samuel for this ministry, but his di...
• Elijah's announcement of God's judgment 17:1-7
  Again God raised up a prophet to announce what He would do. Evidently Ahab's apostasy had been going on for 14 years before God raised up His prophetic challenge.173Normally God gives sinners an opportunity to judge themselve...
• Outline
  (Continued from notes on 1 Kings)3. Ahaziah's evil reign in Israel -1 Kings 22:51-2 Kings 1:184. Jehoram's evil reign in Israel 2:1-8:155. Jehoram's evil reign in Judah 8:16-246. Ahaziah's evil reign in Judah 8:25-9:29C. The ...
• The transfer of prophetic power 2:1-14
  The Gilgal in view may have been the one between Jericho and the Jordan, or it may have been one about seven miles north of Bethel since Elijah and Elisha went down to Bethel (v. 2).10This account presupposes previous revelat...
• The evidence of Elisha's succession 2:15-25
  Had Elijah still been alive on the earth Elisha could not have exercised authority as his successor. In this chapter note the parallels between the succession of the prophets and the succession of the kings that the writer re...
• God's ability to heal and cleanse ch. 5
  Naaman (Aram. gracious) was commander of the Aramean army under Ben-Hadad II (cf. 1 Kings 15:18, 20). Leprosy in the ancient world degenerated the bodies of its victims and eventually proved fatal. At this time no one could c...
• God's ability to defend and deliver His people from her enemies 6:8-23
  The king of Aram was probably Ben-Hadad II though the writer did not mention him by name (v. 8). Perhaps since he only identified Elisha and Yahweh by name, he wished to focus attention on them as the main characters in this ...
• God's ability to preserve and provide for His people through famine 6:24-7:20
  Aram's cessation of hostilities resumed after some time (v. 24; cf. v. 23), perhaps between 845 and 841 B.C.43The famine in Samaria resulted from the siege that was a punishment from the Lord for Israel's apostasy (cf. Lev. 2...
• Elisha's preparation of God's instrument of judgment on Israel 8:7-15
  Hazael was the governor of Damascus.50The Gentile King of Aram had more interest in inquiring of Yahweh than Jehoram's predecessor did (v. 8; cf. 1:2). It was customary in the Near East to make a great show of giving gifts. I...
• Elisha's prophesy and death 13:14-21
  Jehoash (Joash) had respect and affection for Elisha. He anticipated the loss that the death of God's spiritual warrior would be to Israel (v. 14). He recognized that Israel's real defense lay in Yahweh's angelic army and in ...
• 2. Josiah's reforms 22:3-23:27
  Josiah began to seek Yahweh when he was 16 years old and began initiating religious reforms when he was 20 (2 Chron. 34:3-7). His reforms were more extensive than those of any of his predecessors. One of them was the repair o...
• 2. The response 7:14-17
  7:14 Amos replied that he was not a prophet by his own choosing; he did not decide to pursue prophesying as a career. Neither had he become a prophet because his father had been one. In Amos' culture it was common and expecte...
• Background
  Jonah is the fifth of the Minor Prophets (the Book of the Twelve) in our English Bibles. It is unique among the Latter Prophets (Isaiah through Malachi) in that it is almost completely narrative similar to the histories of El...
• 1. Jesus' admonition of the multitudes and His disciples 23:1-12 (cf. Mark 12:38-39; Luke 20:45-46)
  23:1 As we have seen, there were three groups of people present in the temple courtyard. These were the disciples of Jesus, His critics, namely the various groups of Israel's leaders, and the crowds of ordinary Israelites. Je...
• 5. The Transfiguration 9:28-36 (cf. Matt. 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8)
  This event is the climax of the "identity of Jesus"motif in all the Synoptics. Here the disciples saw and heard who Jesus really was. Luke's particular emphasis was the sufferings of Jesus that were coming. This comes through...
• J. The ascension of Jesus 24:50-53 (cf. Mark 16:19-20; Acts 1:9-12)
  Jesus' ascension was already in view in 9:51. There Luke presented it as the ultimate goal of Jesus' first advent ministry. Jesus' ascension would have happened even if the Jews had accepted Him as their Messiah. Prophecies o...
• 2. The command to witness 1:6-8
  The key to the apostles' successful fulfillment of Jesus' commission was their baptism with and consequent indwelling by the Holy Spirit. Without this divine enablement they would only have been able to follow Jesus' example,...
• 2. Philip's ministry to the Ethiopian eunuch 8:26-40
  Luke recorded this incident to show the method and direction of the church's expansion to God-fearing Gentiles who were attracted to Judaism at this time. This man had visited Jerusalem to worship, was studying the Old Testam...
• 4. The resurrection of the two witnesses 11:11-13
  11:11 The breath of life from God will revive the witnesses' dead bodies (cf. Gen. 6:17; 7:15, 22; 2 Kings 13:20-21; Ezek. 37:5, 10). Their resurrections will terrify onlookers because these God-haters could do no more to sil...
• 8. The sixth bowl 16:12-16
  The final three bowl judgments all have political consequences.16:12 The problem that this judgment poses for earth-dwellers is not a result of the judgment itself but its consequences, namely, war. It does not inflict a plag...