Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 5. The Abrahamic Covenant ch. 15
  Abram asked God to strengthen his faith. In response Yahweh promised to give the patriarch innumerable descendants. This led Abram to request some further assurance that God would indeed do what He promised. God graciously ob...
• Message9
  Let me share with you a couple of quotations that point out the importance of this book."Deuteronomy is one of the greatest books of the Old Testament. Its significance on the domestic and personal religion of all ages has no...
• Outline
  I. Introduction: the covenant setting 1:1-5II. Moses' first major address: a review of God's faithfulness 1:6-4:40A. God's past dealings with Israel 1:6-3:291. God's guidance from Sinai to Kadesh 1:6-462. The march from Kades...
• II. MOSES' FIRST MAJOR ADDRESS: A REVIEW OF GOD'S FAITHFULNESS 1:6--4:40
  ". . . an explicit literarystructure to the book is expressed in the sermons or speeches of Moses; a substructureis discernible in the covenantal character of the book; and a theologicalstructure is revealed in its theme of t...
• B. An exhortation to observe the law faithfully 4:1-40
  Moses turned in his address from contemplating the past to an exhortation for the future. This section is the climax of his first speech."The parallel between the literary structure of this chapter and that of the Near Easter...
• 1. The appeal to hearken and obey 4:1-8
  Moses urged the Israelites to "listen to"(v. 1) and to "obey"(vv. 2, 5, 6) the Mosaic Law. "Statutes"(v. 1) were the permanent basic rules of conduct whereas "judgments"(ordinances, v. 1) were decisions God revealed in answer...
• 2. God's appearance at Mt. Horeb 4:9-14
  "The abstract nature of God in the Israelite religion, and the absence of any physical representation of him, imposed great difficulties for a people living in a world where all other men represented their gods in visual, phy...
• 3. The prohibition of idolatry 4:15-24
  Because God did not reveal Himself in any physical form He forbade the Israelites' making any likeness of Him as an aid to worship (vv. 15-18). They were not to worship the heavenly bodies for this purpose either (v. 19) as d...
• 5. The uniqueness of Yahweh and Israel 4:32-40
  "The passage at hand is without comparison as a discourse on the doctrine of God."56Moses' three rhetorical questions (vv. 32-34) clearly point out the uniqueness of Yahweh."In addition to His self-disclosure in event, in his...
• 1. Historical review 29:2-8
  The emphasis in this section is on God's faithfulness in bringing Israel to its present position (cf. 1:6-4:40). To do this God had provided for the people in the wilderness and had given them victory over some of their enemi...
• 2. The song itself 32:1-43
  One writer called the Song of Moses "one of the most impressive religious poems in the entire Old Testament."336It contrasts the faithfulness and loyal love of God with the unfaithfulness and perversity of His people. As othe...
• Micah's unlawful worship 17:1-6
  The writer told us nothing about Micah's background except that he originally lived in the Hill Country of Ephraim with or near his mother (vv. 1-2). Micah's name means "Who is like Yahweh."As is true of so many details in th...
• The reasons for the captivity 17:7-23
  In this section the writer catalogued Israel's transgressions of God's Word that resulted in her going into captivity. Ironically Israel's last king had sought help from Egypt from which Israel had fled 724 years earlier.They...
• A. Solomon's Wisdom and Prosperity ch. 1
  Solomon had some serious weaknesses that the writer of Kings pointed out. However the Chronicler presented a generally positive picture of this great ruler because Solomon did well regarding Yahweh worship at the temple. His ...
• 2. Revelation from Scripture 19:7-11
  19:7 The revealed Word of God has the same dominant influence over humankind as the sun does over nature. Whereas the sun restores natural life, the Law restores the life of the human soul. The sun dispels physical darkness, ...
• 2. The appearance of the King 97:2-9
  97:2-5 These verses reveal the appearance of the Lord in terms similar to other visions God gave His prophets (cf. Isa. 6:1-4; Ezek. 1; Rev. 1). The psalmist's words describe God's glory in figurative language. Clouds and thi...
• B. Instruction for Young People 1:8-7:27
  The two ways (paths) introduced in 1:7 stretch out before the reader (cf. Matt. 7:13-14). In this section Solomon spoke to his son guiding him into God's way. "My son"was and is a customary way of addressing a disciple."It de...
• 2. Wisdom about God 30:2-9
  Agur began with three declarations. The subject of each is God.30:2-4 Behind this ironical section one can perhaps imagine Agur's sons claiming to be wiser than their father. Agur confessed his own limited understanding while...
• A. The prophet's cleansing 6:1-8
  6:1 Why did Isaiah date this passage since he did not date most of his others?70Probably he did so because King Uzziah had been the best king of Judah since Solomon. Nevertheless during the last part of his reign he suffered ...
• The promise to the Rechabites 35:18-19
  35:18 Jeremiah then took a promise from the Lord back to the Rechabites. The Lord praised them for their tenacity in clinging to what they believed to be right, not because He approved their puritanical ideals.35:19 Someone f...
• 5. Ezekiel's role in Israel 3:16-21
  3:16 At the end of these seven days the Lord's word came to Ezekiel. "The word of the Lord came to me"is a key phrase in Ezekiel occurring in 41 verses. It appears in Jeremiah nine times and in Zechariah twice."For no other p...
• The image of jealousy 8:1-6
  8:1 The following prophecy came to Ezekiel during September of 592 B.C. as he was sitting in his house with the elders of Israel.141This would have been during the time when he was lying on his right side for part of the day ...
• The idolatry of the elders 8:7-13
  8:7-8 The Lord then brought Ezekiel, in his vision, to some entrance to the temple courtyard. There Ezekiel saw a hole in the wall.143At the Lord's command, Ezekiel dug in the wall and discovered an entrance.8:9-10 Also follo...
• A summary judgment for Israel's unfaithfulness 23:36-49
  This final message brings Oholah and Oholibah back together and passes judgment on all Israel. It is a summary oracle for the section that indicts Israel's leaders (chs. 20-23).23:36-37 The Lord called Ezekiel to pass judgmen...
• 2. Judgment on Israel 2:8-13
  In the section that follows, the relationship between Israel and Yahweh becomes even clearer. The mention of Baals and Israel's feasts makes this obvious. Hosea's relationship with Gomer recedes into the background.2:8 Israel...
• A warning to Ephraim and Judah 5:8-15
  This warning confronted the tribe of Ephraim, or perhaps all Israel, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.5:8 Blowing trumpets in cities announced the coming of an invader. Throughout Israel's towns the sentries would blow alarm...
• 1. The nearness of the army 2:1-2
  The prophet ordered a trumpet (Heb. shophar, ram's horn) to be blown in Zion (Jerusalem), specifically on the temple mount, to sound an alarm (cf. Jer. 4:5-6; Ezek. 33:2-6).18This shophar was the ancient equivalent of an air ...
• Their condition 5:3-10 (cf. Luke 6:20-26)
  This pericope describes the character of the kingdom's subjects and their rewards in the kingdom.236"Looked at as a whole . . . the Beatitudes become a moral sketch of the type of person who is ready to possess, or rule over,...
• Revelation about the church 16:18-20
  16:18 "I say to you"(cf. 5:18, 20, 22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44; 8:10) may imply that Jesus would continue the revelation the Father had begun. However the phrase occurs elsewhere where that contrast is not in view. Undoubtedly it ...
• D. The incarnation of the Word 1:14-18
  John's return to the Word in verse 14 from verse 1 introduces new revelation about Him. Though still part of the prologue, the present section focuses on the Incarnation of the Word.1:14 The Word, who existed equal with God b...
• 1. The reason God has set Israel aside 10:1-7
  The reason for Israel's failure mentioned in 9:32-33, namely her rejection of Christ, led Paul to amplify that subject further in this section.10:1 This pericope opens with Paul returning to his feelings of compassionate conc...
• The tragic example of Israel 10:1-5
  The point of this example is that God's people can practice idolatry, and persisting in idolatry has dire consequences. Paul stressed the similarity of experience that the church, the Corinthian church particularly, and Israe...
• 2. The superiority of the New Covenant 12:18-24
  The writer proceeded to explain the superiority of the New Covenant by comparing it with the Old Covenant using the figure of two mountains: Sinai and Zion.12:18-21 These verses describe the giving of the Old Covenant at Mt. ...
• C. The testimony of Jesus and John's response 22:12-20
  22:12 Jesus Christ repeated His promise to return soon (v. 7, cf. 1:3; 22:20)."Nowhere is a date set, nor was there any definite promise that the consummation would occur within the lifetime of the first century Christians. N...