Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Cities of refuge 35:9-34
  Six of these Levitical towns were also cities of refuge.The appointment of cities of refuge was a divine provision for the safety of a killer who was not guilty of premeditated murder (cf. Deut. 19:1-13; Josh. 20:1-9). God ha...
• 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...
• I. INTRODUCTION: the Covenant setting 1:1-5
  This brief section places the events that follow in their geographical and chronological setting. It introduces the occasion for the covenant, the parties involved, and other information necessary to identify the document and...
• 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...
• 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...
• B. Introduction to the second address 4:44-49
  These verses are similar to 1:4-5. They summarize and introduce with historical references what follows. In a larger sense these verses summarize all of chapters 1-3. This is narration about Moses, not a discourse by Moses."T...
• The fifth commandment 5:16
  The first four commandments deal primarily with man's relationship to God. The last six deal with man's relationship to man (cf. Matt. 22:37-39).The first part of this verse contains a precept. "Honor"means to respect, revere...
• The consequences of obedience and disobedience ch. 11
  The section of Deuteronomy dealing with general stipulations of the covenant ends as it began, with an exhortation to covenant loyalty (5:1-5; cf. 4:32-40)."This chapter is to be understood as a re-emphasis of these principle...
• Kings 17:14-20
  Moses recognized that when Israel settled in Canaan and took on the characteristics of other nations (e.g., a homeland, political organization, etc.) her people would desire a king. As he revealed the mind of God here a king ...
• Manslaughter 19:1-13
  God revealed the law concerning how the Israelites were to deal with manslayers earlier (cf. Num. 35:9-34). In Israel this kind of crime was a domestic rather than a civil matter. Families were to deal with it rather than the...
• 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 importance of obedience 30:11-20
  The duty of obedience did not lie beyond the average Israelite's ability if he or she turned to Yahweh wholeheartedly (v. 10). God was not asking something impossible of His people (vv. 11-15; cf. Rom. 10:6-8). He had given t...
• 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...
• The pledge to keep the Law 10:28-39
  The rest of the restoration community joined those who signed their names pledging to obey the Mosaic Law (vv. 28-29). The "curse"they took on themselves was submission to the curse that God promised would come on those who d...
• 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 woe against rejecters of God's help chs. 31-32
  Like the third "woe"(ch. 30), this fourth one deals with the folly of trusting in Egypt for security rather than the Lord. It applies particularly the principles set forth in the first part of the second "woe"(29:1-14), as is...
• The comforting Lord 40:1-11
  The first strophe of this poem (vv. 1-2) sets the tone for the rest of the chapter and for the rest of the book. It is an introduction to an introduction. In spite of affliction that lay ahead for the Judahites, God's ultimat...
• The present possibility 48:12-22
  In a sense verses 12-22 are the second verse of the song of which verses 1-11 are the first verse. God was making much the same point though with a slightly different emphasis.48:12 This segment opens like the first one (cf. ...
• Zedekiah's request and Jeremiah's response 21:1-10
  This passage probably dates from the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 588-586 B.C. (vv. 2, 4; cf. 2 Kings 25). King Zedekiah sought advice from Jeremiah more than once (cf. 37:3-10, 17-21; 38:14-28). This passage consists of ...
• 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...
• Israel's rebellion in Ezekiel's day and God's grace 20:30-38
  20:30 Ezekiel was to ask his hearers if they planned to defile themselves and to prostitute themselves to things the Lord detested as their ancestors had done.20:31 They were defiling themselves by practicing child sacrifice....
• 2. The charge against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego 3:8-12
  3:8-11 The Chaldeans who brought charges against Daniel's three friends were nobles, not just astrologers. The Aramaic term gubrin kasd'inmakes this clear.113They were in a position to profit personally from the execution of ...
• The deliverance of Israel 12:1-3
  Whereas the previous verses have focused on the Antichrist, those in this pericope concern Israel. Here we learn that this "end time"will definitely be a time of intense persecution of Jews. This section constitutes the clima...
• The restoration of Yahweh's wife 3:4-5
  3:4 The Lord explained that the Israelites would remain for a long time separated from their idolatrous practices. During this time they would not have a king or leader (i.e., national sovereignty), sacrifices or sacred pilla...
• 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...
• B. Another assurance of restoration 11:8-11
  As previously, a series of messages assuring Israel's judgment (6:4-11:7) ends with assurance of future restoration. God would definitely bring devastating judgment on Israel, but His compassion for the nation and His promise...
• 2. The Lord's promise of blessing 2:19-27
  Having given His essential response to the people's repentance, the Lord now explained what He would do in more detail. This section is chiastic with the focus of emphasis on verses 21-24. Verses 19 and 26-27 promise a restor...
• 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...
• 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...
• II. Oracle one: Yahweh's love for Israel 1:2-5
  The revelation that Yahweh gave Malachi for Israel consisted of six "heavy"messages. The first one reminded God's people of His love for them and of their ungratefulness.1:2a The Lord's first word to His people was short and ...
• V. Oracle four: the problem of God's justice 2:17--3:6
  That another oracle is in view is clear from the question and answer format that begins this pericope, as it does the others. Verse 17 contains the question and answer, and the discussion follows in 3:1-6. The Israelites' cha...
• VI. Oracle five: The people's sin of robbing God 3:7-12
  The Lord had said that Israel's earlier history was a time when the priests and the people of Israel pleased Him (v. 4). Now He said that those early days were short-lived (cf. Exod. 32:7-9). In contrast to His faithfulness (...
• 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 address and doxology 1:4-6
  "As is true of NT epistles in general, the address of Revelation contains three elements: the writer, the addressees, and the greeting."181:4 John sent this letter to the seven churches mentioned in chapters 2 and 3, which we...
• The survivors' response 9:20-21
  9:20 These three severe judgments (fire, smoke, and brimstone, vv. 17-18) will not move the remaining unbelievers as a whole to repent (cf. Exod. 7:13, 23; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 12, 35; 10:20; 11:10)."In all cases in the apocaly...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• II. The Prayer (Neh. 1:5-11). The Course Of Thought In This Prayer Is Very Instructive.
  It begins with solemnly laying before God His own great name, as the mightiest plea with Him, and the strongest encouragement to the suppliant. That commencement is no mere proper invocation, conventionally regarded as the ri...