Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• F. What became of Shem 11:10-26
  "The Babel account (11:1-9) is not the end of early Genesis. If it were, the story would conclude on the sad note of human failure. But as with earlier events in Genesis 1-11, God's grace once again supersedes human sin, insu...
• Directions for the Passover 12:1-14
  The Jews called their first month Abib (v. 2). After the Babylonian captivity they renamed it Nisan (Neh. 2:1; Esth. 3:7). It corresponds to our March-April. Abib means "ear-month"referring to the month when the grain was in ...
• Preface 20:1-2
  These verses form a preamble and historical background to the Decalogue that follows. The Israelites were to obey God on the double basis of who He is and what He had done for them.Most scholars have divided the Ten Commandme...
• Date and Writer
  Moses evidently wrote this book on the plains of Moab shortly before his death, which occurred about 1406 B.C.The Mosaic authorship of this book is quite easy to establish. The book claims to be the words of Moses (1:5, 9; 5:...
• 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...
• 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...
• IV. MOSES' SECOND MAJOR ADDRESS: AN EXPOSITION OF THE LAW chs. 5--26
  ". . . Deuteronomy contains the most comprehensive body of laws in the Pentateuch. It is clearly intended to be consulted for guidance on many aspects of daily life, in sharp contrast with the laws of Leviticus, which are ver...
• Introduction 5:1-6
  The covenant to which Moses referred (v. 2) is not the Abrahamic but the Mosaic Covenant. What follows is an upgrade of the Mosaic Covenant for the new generation about to enter the Promised Land. The "fathers"(v. 3) were the...
• The first commandment 5:7
  Because God had initiated love toward Israel by redeeming the nation (v. 6) the people were to respond appropriately by loving Him in return. This is the essence of God's grace. He initiates love, and the only reasonable resp...
• The second commandment 5:8-10
  This commandment is a prohibition against making images or likenesses of Yahweh. God forbade idolatry itself in the first commandment.This commandment was necessary for at least three reasons.1. Any material representation of...
• 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 seventh commandment 5:18
  This commandment deals with adultery only. Whereas murder violates life itself, adultery violates the most important and sacred human relationship, marriage.88God dealt with other forms of sexual sin elsewhere (cf. chs. 22-25...
• Command to destroy the Canaanites and their idolatry ch. 7
  This chapter is a logical development of what Moses said in chapters 5 and 6. God had called on His people to acknowledge that He is the only true God and to be completely loyal to Him. In Canaan they would encounter temptati...
• Warning against self-righteousness 9:1-10:11
  "From a literary standpoint Deut 9:1-10:11 is a travel narrative much like Deut 1:6-3:29, with which, in fact, it shares much in common. For example, both are introduced (1:1-5; 9:1-6) and concluded (3:29; 10:11) by a setting...
• 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...
• B. An exposition of selected covenant laws 12-25
  Moses' homiletical exposition of the law of Israel that follows explains reasons for the covenant laws that arose from the Ten Commandments. This address concludes with directions for celebrating and confirming the covenant (...
• 1. Laws arising from the first commandment 12:1-31
  The first commandment is, "You shall have no other gods before me"(5:7). The legislation that follows deals with worshipping Yahweh exclusively.
• 2. Laws arising from the second commandment 12:32-13:18
  The second commandment is, "You shall not make for yourself an image or any likeness . . . [to] worship them or serve them . . ."(5:8-10). The writer mentioned three different cases in this section."In the ancient suzerainty ...
• 3. Laws arising from the third commandment 14:1-21
  The third commandment is, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain"(5:11). This section of laws deals with the exclusiveness of the Lord and His worship as this pertains to Israel's separation from all other ...
• 4. Laws arising from the fourth commandment 14:22-16:17
  The fourth commandment is, "Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy"(5:12). The reason for observing the Sabbath day was Yahweh's redemption of Israel from bondage in Egypt and His consequent adoption of the Israelites as His...
• Individual responsibility 24:16
  The Israelites were not to punish children for the crimes their parents committed. To do so charged them with guilt unjustly.". . . it was a common thing among heathen nations--e.g., the Persians, Macedonians, and others--for...
• 1. Laws of covenant celebration and confirmation 26:1-15
  This section concludes the "purely legal material."284The ordinances with which Moses concluded his second address (chs. 5-26) not only specified the Israelites' actions in further respects but also focused their thinking on ...
• 2. Summary exhortation 26:16-19
  "The presentation of the commandments and the statutes and ordinances that will guide Israel's life in the land is over now. Verse 16 serves as a concluding bracket around chapters 5-26, matching Moses' introduction to the wh...
• 2. The seventh year covenant renewal ceremony 31:9-13
  "Moses assigned the priests and elders the duty of regularly republishing the law of the covenant. The effect of this was to associate the priests and elders with Joshua in the responsibility of rule and in the esteem of Isra...
• 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...
• B. Naomi's inability to provide husbands for Ruth and Orpah 1:6-14
  God eventually withdrew the famine from Judah (v. 6) probably in response to His people's calling out to Him for deliverance (cf. Judg. 3:9, 15; 4:3; 6:6; 10:10; 16:28). This verse sounds one of the major themes of the story:...
• D. Naomi's weak faith 1:19-21
  Naomi had experienced both blessing and loss since she had left Bethlehem. When she returned home she chose to emphasize her hardships. She had forgotten God's faithfulness and His promises to bless all Israel (Gen. 12:1-3, 7...
• 3. The choice of Saul by lot 10:17-27
  "Saul's rise to kingship over Israel took place in three distinct stages: He was (1) anointed by Samuel (9:1-10:16), (2) chosen by lot (10:17-27), and (3) confirmed by public acclamation (11:1-15).112Saul's anointing had been...
• 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. 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...
• The anticipation of Israel's repentance 3:21-25
  3:21 The Lord could hear, in the future, the Israelites weeping and praying in repentance on the hilltops, where they had formerly committed spiritual adultery (v. 2). They would finally realize that they had perverted their ...
• The importance of Sabbath observance 17:19-27
  This section contains one of Jeremiah's sermons. Notice its introduction, proclamation of the law, promise of blessing for the obedient, and threat of judgment for the disobedient.17:19-20 The Lord commanded Jeremiah to stati...
• The principle 18:1-4
  18:1-2 The Lord told Ezekiel to ask the people what they meant when they used a proverb that implied that the present generation of Israelites was suffering because of the sins of their forefathers (cf. Jer. 31:29). They were...
• Israel's rebellion in the wilderness and God's grace 20:10-26
  20:10-12 So the Lord led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the wilderness. At Mount Sinai He gave them statutes and ordinances that would result in their welfare if they obeyed them, namely, the Mosaic Law. He also gave th...
• Israel's sin against privilege 13:1-3
  13:1 When members of the tribe of Ephraim spoke, the other Israelites trembled because they looked to Ephraim for leadership (cf. Judg. 8:1-3; 12:1-6). Jacob had prophesied that Ephraim would lead (Gen. 48:13-20), and the fir...
• 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...
• 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 ...
• God's will concerning oaths 5:33-37
  5:33 Jesus next gave a condensation of several commands in the Old Testament that forbade taking an oath, invoking the Lord's name to guarantee the oath, and then breaking it (Exod. 20:7; Lev. 19:12; Num. 30:2; Deut. 5:11; 6:...
• 2. The antagonism of the Jewish authorities 5:10-18
  More than once Jesus used His Sabbath activities to make the Jews consider who He was (cf. Matt. 12:1-14; Mark 2:23-3:6; Luke 13:10-17; 14:1-6). Here He wanted them to realize that He had the right to work on the Sabbath as H...
• C. A final warning: idolatry 5:21
  John closed with a final admonition. Departure from the true God and His teaching is idolatry. As contradicting God is really calling Him a liar (1:10), so departing from God is really idolatry. Departing from God includes le...