Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 4. The seventh day 2:1-3
  "2:1-3 echoes 1:1 by introducing the same phrases but in reverse order: he created,' God,' heavens and earth' reappear as heavens and earth' (2:1) God' (2:2), created' (2:3). This chiastic pattern brings the section to a neat...
• 6. Moses' call 3:1-4:18
  3:1-12 Horeb is another name for Sinai (v. 1). It probably indicates a range of mountains rather than a particular mountain peak. The writer called it "the mountain of God"because it was the place where God later gave the Mos...
• 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...
• 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...
• 4. The consequences of idolatry 4:25-31
  This warning has proved prophetic in that Israel did apostatize and experience all the consequences Moses warned against here. The nation's present scattered condition as a result of her dispersion by the Romans is only one o...
• 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...
• The results of the captivity 17:24-41
  The immediate result of the captivity (vv. 24-33) was twofold. The Assyrians deported many Israelites to other places in the Assyrian Empire, and they imported other people from the empire into the newly formed Assyrian provi...
• 2. The record of God scattering His enemies 68:7-18
  68:7-10 The Canaanites also credited Baal with lightning, thunder, rain, and earthquakes. However Yahweh sent these to confirm His presence among His people in their wilderness wanderings and to provide for them. In the Penta...
• 1. A call for God to remember His people 74:1-2
  Evidently Israel was suffering under the oppression of a foreign foe. The writer prayed that God would stop disciplining His chosen people and remember to bless the nation He had redeemed. The figure of sheep (v. 2) stresses ...
• 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 complaint 63:15-19
  Isaiah next appealed to God, on behalf of the nation, to have pity on Israel. The prophet was speaking for the faithful remnant after the exile who found little evidence that God was among them then as He had been during the ...
• The broken covenant 11:1-17
  This passage consists of five short parts (vv. 1-5, 6-8, 9-10, 11-14, and 15-17). Most scholars believe it dates from the reign of Josiah, perhaps after the discovery of the Law but before he initiated his reforms (about 621 ...
• The restoration of David's dynasty and the legitimate priesthood 33:14-26
  This section consists of a small collection of messianic prophecies.33:14 Future days would come, the Lord promised, when He would fulfill His promises concerning the restoration of all Israel."The predicted restoration (the ...
• A. God's anger 2:1-10
  "There are about forty descriptions of divine judgment, which fell upon every aspect of the Jews' life: home, religion, society, physical, mental and spiritual. Some of the blackest phrases of the book appear here . . ."272:1...
• The living beings 1:4-14
  1:4 Ezekiel saw within the opened heavens a great cloud blown toward him by the north wind with lightning flashing from it almost constantly (cf. 1 Kings 19:11-13; Job 38:1; 40:6; Ps. 29:3-5). Israel's enemies had invaded fro...
• 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...
• The idolatry of the priests 8:16-18
  8:16 The Lord next took Ezekiel to the main entrance into the temple, to a place between the altar of burnt offerings and the temple porch. There Ezekiel saw about 25 men bowing down to the ground with their backs to the temp...
• 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. Prayer for deliverance 7:14-17
  7:14 Micah prayed that the Lord would again take an active role as the shepherd of His people Israel. Shepherding with His rod (Heb. shebet) implies kingly leadership. This is a request for the promised descendant of David to...
• A. The anger and goodness of Yahweh 1:2-8
  "The opening verses of Nahum form a prologue dominated by the revelation of God's eternal power and divine nature in creation (cf. Rom 1:20). As in Romans 1:18-32, this revelation is characterized preeminently by God's justic...
• 1. The cause for Judah's judgment 1:4-6
  1:4 Yahweh announced that He would stretch out His hand in judgment against Judah and the people of Jerusalem. Stretching out the hand is a figure of speech that implies a special work of punishment (cf. Exod. 6:6; Deut. 4:34...
• 1. The symbolic act 3:1-5
  3:1 Zechariah's guiding angel next showed the prophet, in his vision, Joshua (lit. Yahweh saves), Israel's current high priest (6:11; Ezra 5:2; Neh. 7:7; Hag. 1:1), standing before the angel of the Lord (1:11-12). "The accuse...
• D. Israel's restoration to God's favor 8:1-17
  Chapter 8 not only contains two major messages from the Lord (vv. 1-17, 18-23) but 10 minor messages, "a decalogueof divine words,"155that make up the two major ones. "Thus says the Lord"introduces each of these minor message...
• 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...
• 3. The consequences of apostasy 12:25-29
  The writer shifted again from exposition to exhortation. The hook word "speak"(Gr. lalountiand lalounta) in verses 24 and 25 ties the two sections together.12:25 The One speaking probably refers to God. "Him who warned them o...