Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• The town 13:12-18
  The closest example of this ever happening in Israel that Scripture records occurs in Judges 20 in the case of Gibeah, a city in Benjamin. The circumstances were not exactly the same, but the other Israelites did discipline t...
• The presentation of the third year tithe 26:12-15
  This offering and commitment to the Lord (vv. 1-11) was only part of the Israelites' responsibility. They also needed to love their fellow dependent Israelites (vv. 12-15; cf. 6:5)."Every third year the tithe was kept in the ...
• 3. The appropriate response 97:10-12
  97:10 Since God loves righteousness it is only fitting that those who love Him should hate evil. By doing so, they become the objects of His blessing rather than partakers of His discipline.97:11-12 Rejoicing and thanksgiving...
• The open or closed mind 9:7-12
  People do not live or die because of only one decision usually. They develop a pattern of life that ends in either death or life. This section helps us see the outcome of these styles of life. If a person is open to God and t...
• Listening to the Servant 51:1-8
  This section of Isaiah, like the preceding one, reflects on the third Servant Song (50:4-9). Here the emphasis is on the expectations of those who will listen to the Servant as well as encouragement to those followers of righ...
• New heavens and a new earth 65:17-25
  God not only will be faithful to His promises in spite of Israel's unfaithfulness (63:1-65:16), but He will demonstrate His ability and desire to provide righteousness for sinful humankind by creating new heavens and a new ea...
• 1. The promise of divine enablement 1:4-10
  1:4 The prophet now began speaking to his readers and telling them what the Lord had said to him. Throughout this book, an indication that the Lord had told Jeremiah something is often the sign of a new pericope, as here (cf....
• Blind complacency 8:4-12
  8:4 The Lord commanded Jeremiah to ask the people if it was not normal for people to repent after sinning. After all, when someone falls down, the natural thing to do is to get up. When he gets lost, he tries to get back on t...
• The imminent fulfillment of prophecies of Jerusalem's destruction 12:26-28
  12:26-27 Some of the people were saying that the prophecies about coming judgment were true, but they would not come to pass for a long time."Rebelliousness (v. 25) can take many forms, some of them even quite pious (How do I...
• Coming refining 22:17-22
  22:17-20 The Lord also compared the present Judahites to the base metals that separate from silver in the refining process. He planned to gather them in Jerusalem, His crucible, and subject them to a trial by fire, as refiner...
• The results of Israel's return 36:33-38
  36:33-34 Future cleansing from sin and restoration of the Jews to the land and restoration of the land to fruitfulness would all occur at the same time. This shows that the Jews' present occupation of the Promised Land does n...
• A. Israel's spiritual renewal and deliverance 2:28-32
  2:28-29 After this, namely, after the deliverance from the northern invader just described, God promised to pour out His Spirit on all mankind without gender, age, class, or position distinction.29In Old Testament times God g...
• Zion's positive future role 4:1-5
  4:1 Reference to "the last days"often points to the eschatological future in the Prophets, and it does here (e.g., Deut. 4:30; Ezek. 38:16; Dan. 2:28; 10:14; Hos. 3:5). This phrase usually refers to the Tribulation and or the...
• Zion's future greatness 4:6-8
  4:6 In "that day"the Lord also promised to assemble His people whom He had allowed the nations to abuse. This will occur when He turns the tide for Israel and begins to bless her, namely, at the beginning of the Millennium.Th...
• Message12
  The key to the Book of Zephaniah is the phrase "the day of the Lord."This phrase appears in most of the prophetic literature of the Old Testament. As we saw in Joel, "the day of the Lord"can be a past day, a day in the relati...
• A. The judgment on the world 1:2-3
  1:2 Yahweh revealed that He would completely remove everything from the face of the earth (cf. 2 Pet. 3:10-12). This is one of the most explicit announcement of the total devastation of planet Earth in the Old Testament (cf. ...
• Message10
  Haggai is the first in the last group of prophetic Old Testament books. Along with Zechariah and Malachi, these books reveal life in the restoration community. The historical book of Ezra deals with the same time period and t...
• The two paths 7:13-14
  The Old Testament contains several references to diverging ways that force the traveler to choose between two paths (e.g., Deut. 30:19; Ps. 1; Jer. 21:8). The AV translation "straight"is a bit misleading. That translation ref...
• The parable of the lamp 4:21-25 (cf. Luke 8:16-18)
  Jesus' statements in this pericope appear throughout the other Gospels. Verse 21 occurs in Matthew 5:15 and in Luke 11:33. Verse 22 is in Matthew 10:26 and in Luke 12:2. Verse 24 appears in Matthew 7:2 and in Luke 6:38. Verse...
• The act of foot-washing 13:1-11
  "In the Synoptic account of the events of this evening we read of a dispute among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. John does not record this, but he tells of an action of Jesus that rebuked their lack ...
• Ministry in Philippi 16:11-40
  Luke devoted more space to Paul's evangelizing in Philippi than he did to the apostle's activities in any other city on the second and third journeys even though Paul was there only briefly. It was the first European city in ...
• 3. Our present sufferings and future glory 8:18-25
  Paul proceeded to expound on the thought that he introduced at the end of verse 17. This passage gives a very wide perspective of God's great plan of redemption, which is the heart of Paul's theology.2648:18 In the light of e...
• The sincerity of Paul's conduct 1:12-14
  In this first sub-section, which is transitional, Paul's intention was to convince the Corinthians that his recent actions arose from sincere motives.1:12 He first claimed generally that his actions did not arise from the mot...
• The openness of Christian ministry 3:12-18
  "If the keyword in vv. 7-11 is glory,' the keyword for vv. 12-18, of which vv. 12-15 form the first part, is veil'; veil'-related words occur six times in these verses."1283:12 The hope to which Paul referred was the confiden...
• The illustration 4:1-7
  4:1-3 Already Paul had compared the Law to a prison warden (3:22) and a baby sitter (3:24). Now he compared it to a trustee appointed to care for a young child and his property, a guardian. The purpose of all three comparison...
• The selection of the Father 1:4-6
  The spiritual blessings that have come to us are the work of all three members of the Trinity. God Himself is the basis of these blessings.1:4 The first blessing is election. God has sovereignly chosen some people for salvati...
• C. Prayer 1:9-14
  Paul told his readers that he prayed for their full perception and deepest understanding of God's will for them and for all believers. He did this so they would be able to glorify God in their conduct. He told them this to re...
• E. The problem of apostasy in the church 4:1-5
  In this pericope Paul reminded Timothy of the apostasy that Jesus Christ had foretold to equip him to identify and to deal with it.143"The change that occurs at 4:1 following the hymn of victory, then, is not unexpected. Oppo...
• 1. Adherence to the truth 3:14-17
  3:14-15 In his personal life Timothy should continue living as he had rather than turning aside to follow the example of the evil men Paul just mentioned. Timothy's conduct grew out of what he had learned that gave him person...
• Message16
  We could summarize the message of this epistle in the following words. We will only realize our full eternal reward as believers if we appreciate the greatness of Jesus Christ and continue to trust God rather than turning awa...
• B. The Superiority of God's Son 1:5-14
  The writer proceeded to explain the exaltation of Jesus Christ to help his readers appreciate the fact that He fulfilled Old Testament prophecy concerning the Son of David. He did this so they would appreciate Him properly an...
• 1. The readers' condition 5:11-14
  5:11 "Him"refers to Melchizedek (v. 10; cf. 6:20-10:18). Evidently the original readers had begun to let their minds wander as they heard the same things repeatedly. Rather than listening carefully, hearing completely, and co...
• 1. Listening to God 2:1-3
  2:1 "Therefore"goes back to 1:3-12 as well as 1:22-25. To prepare for an exposition of the Christian's calling, Peter urged his readers to take off all kinds of evil conduct like so many soiled garments (cf. Rom. 1:29-30; 2 C...
• Message12
  Peter wrote this epistle, as he did 1 Peter, to establish believers in their faith. He wrote both letters in obedience to Jesus' instructions to him to "strengthen your brothers"(Luke 22:32). Both epistles contain reminders o...
• Outline
  I. Introduction 1:1-2II. The condition of the Christian 1:3-11A. The believer's resources 1:3-4B. The believer's needs 1:5-9C. The believer's adequacy 1:10-11III. The authority for the Christian 1:12-21A. The need for a remin...
• I. INTRODUCTION 1:1-2
  Peter began his second epistle as he did to introduce himself to his readers and to lay a foundation for what follows.1:1 The writer could hardly have stated his identity more clearly than he did in this verse. "Simon"was Pet...
• A. The Believer's Resources 1:3-4
  Peter reminded his readers of God's power and promises that were available to them. He did this to rekindle an appreciation for the resources God had given them in view of their present needs. This epistle begins and ends on ...
• B. The Believer's Needs 1:5-9
  Having established the believer's basic adequacy through God's power in him and God's promises to him, Peter next reminded his readers of their responsibility to cultivate their own Christian growth. He did so to correct any ...
• V. THE PROSPECT FOR THE CHRISTIAN 3:1-16
  Peter turned from a negative warning against false teachers to make a positive declaration of the apostles' message to help his readers understand why he wrote this letter. His language had been strong and confrontive, but no...
• A. The Purpose of This Epistle 3:1-2
  3:1 Peter's first letter was most likely 1 Peter. He implied that he wrote this letter soon after the earlier one. This second epistle, he said, went to the same audience in northern Asia Minor (cf. 1 Pet. 1:1), primarily Gen...
• C. End-time Events 3:7-10
  Next Peter outlined what will surely happen so his readers would understand what will take place.3:7 God has given orders that the present heavens and earth (vv. 5-6) will experience another judgment yet future. Then God will...
• D. Living in View of the Future 3:11-16
  Peter drew application for his readers and focused their attention on how they should live presently in view of the future.3:11 Peter believed that an understanding of the future should motivate the believer to live a holy li...
• VI. CONCLUSION 3:17-18
  Peter concluded his epistle with a summary of what he had said and a doxology. He did so to condense his teaching for his readers and to redirect their living to glorify God.3:17 Much of what Peter had written was warning tha...
• Bibliography
  Alford, Henry. Alford's Greek Testament. 4 vols. New ed. London: Rivingtons, 1884.Bailey, Mark L., and Thomas L. Constable. The New Testament Explorer. Nashville: Word Publishing Co., 1999.Barbieri, Louis A. First and Second ...
• The enticements of the world 2:15-17
  John next warned his readers of worldly dangers that face the Christian as he or she seeks to get to know God better. He did so to enable them to prepare for and to overcome these obstacles with God's help."As often in 1 John...
• B. The Positive Instruction of the Readers vv. 20-23
  v. 20 The contrast Jude introduced with "But"distinguishes Jude's readers from the false teachers. Since we are God's temples under attack by hostile enemy forces, we need to build ourselves up, to strengthen ourselves spirit...
• V. Conclusion vv. 24-25
  Jude concluded his brief epistle with a formal doxology. It included a prayer for his readers. He wanted to assure them of God's ability to help them remain faithful in spite of the apostasy that threatened them."The concludi...
• 4. The judgment of the wicked 20:11-15
  20:11 This "And I saw"introduces something else John saw in this vision (cf. 19:11, 17, 19; 20:1, 4, 12; 21:1, 2). The continuation of chronological progression seems clear from the continued use of "And"to introduce new info...
• 1. The vision of the new heaven and earth 21:1
  John now saw a new scene that elaborated on the passing away of the present earth and heaven to which he had just referred briefly (20:11). The new earth and heaven will come into existence after the Millennium and the great ...
• Bibliography
  Abbott-Smith, George. A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1950.Aldrich, Roy L. "The Divisions of the First Resurrection."Bibliotheca Sacra128:510 (April-June 1971):117-19.Alford, Henry. ...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• Be Diligent
  "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless.'--2 Peter 3:14.As we pass the conventional boundary of another year, most of us, I suppo...
• Growth
  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,'--2 Peter 3:18.THESE are the last words of an old man, written down as his legacy to us. He was himself a striking example of his own precept. It w...