Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 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...
• Distinctions between clean and unclean animals 11:1-23
  We have here the same threefold division of animals that inhabit the land, sea, and air as the one that appears in the story of creation (Gen. 1:20-23)."It has long been recognized . . . that the order of the purity laws in L...
• Statutes and judgments 19:19-37
  "This section is introduced with the admonition You shall keep my statutes' (v. 19a) and concludes with a similar admonition, You shall keep all my statutes and all my judgments' (v. 37a), and the statement I am the LORD' (19...
• 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...
• 2. Exhortation to love Yahweh ch. 6
  Another writer suggested that chapters 6-26 expand the Decalogue with the intent of addressing the spirit of the law.92He believed the structure of the book supports his contention that the writer chose exemplary cases. Moses...
• 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 pride and forgetfulness of God ch. 8
  "Two important lessons from the past are now referred to. First, the experience of God's care in the wilderness period, when the people of Israel were unable to help themselves, taught them the lesson of humility through the ...
• 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 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...
• 3. The spying out of Jericho ch. 2
  As preparation for entering Canaan, Joshua sent spies to reconnoiter the area Israel would enter."Although Joshua had received a promise from the Lord of His almighty help in the conquest of Canaan, he still thought it necess...
• 5. The treaty with the Gibeonites ch. 9
  The residents of the town of Gibeon decided that if they could not defeat the Israelites they would join them. This has been a strategy that enemies of believers have employed for centuries (cf. Num. 25:1-2).9:1-2 Israel is t...
• 2. The announcement of God's discipline 2:1-5
  The events of this pericope tie in directly with those of the previous one. Israel's failure recorded there led to the discipline announced here."The narrator moves from chap. 1 to chap. 2 like a modern preacher moves from te...
• Gideon's family 8:29-32
  These verses wrap up the story of Gideon and introduce the story of Abimelech that follows (ch. 9).Gideon enjoyed the fruits of his heroism for the rest of his life. He was wealthy enough to afford many wives who bore him 70 ...
• Samson's decision to marry a Philistine 14:1-4
  Timnah was only about four miles southwest of Zorah. The word "woman"in verse 2 is in the emphatic position in the Hebrew text. Samson described her to his parents as the ideal woman from his viewpoint. Dating was unknown in ...
• 5. Yahweh's final rejection of Saul ch. 15
  "In the short pericope 13:7b-15a obedience was the stone on which Saul stumbled; here it is the rock that crushes him."147Chapter 15 records one of the battles Saul had with the Amalekites, Israel's enemy to the south (cf. 14...
• Jonathan and David's long-range covenant 20:12-17
  Jonathan appealed to the Lord in an oath indicating the seriousness of the situation (vv. 12, 13). He prayed that God would be with David as he had been with Saul, namely, as Israel's king (v. 13). These verses indicate clear...
• Solomon's foreign wives 11:1-8
  The writer's condemnation of Solomon in verses 1-2 rests on Deuteronomy 23:3-9 as well as Deuteronomy 7:3-4. The phraseology goes back to 23:3-9 and the motive to 7:3-4 (cf. Exod. 23:31-33; 34:15-16; Ezra 9:1; Neh. 13:26). So...
• 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 news of apostasy 9:1-4
  The Mosaic Law strictly forbade intermarriage with the native Canaanites (Exod. 34:11-16; Deut. 7:1-5). Furthermore intermarriage with other non-Israelites had resulted in tragic consequences in Israel's earlier history (cf. ...
• 2. Esther's selection 2:5-11
  Evidently it was Kish, Mordecai's great-grandfather, who went into captivity with Jehoiachin (vv. 5-6).38This means Mordecai and Esther were probably descendants of the leading citizens of Jerusalem who went into exile in 597...
• 3. Prayer for reward 26:9-12
  26:9-10 David asked God to spare him from a premature death in the company of the wicked. Evidently he expected God to judge the wicked this way and wanted God to separate him from them in His judgment as David had separated ...
• 2. The cause for praise 135:4-18
  135:4-7 The sovereignty of God is what called forth the poet's praise in this psalm. The Lord chose Israel as His special treasure (cf. Deut. 7:6). He is also greater than all the pagan gods because He does whatever pleases H...
• The fearful servant, Israel 41:1-20
  The Lord, through His prophet, assured fearful Israel in this segment. Israel need not fear the nations (vv. 1-7) because Yahweh remained committed to His people and would use them to accomplish His purposes in the world (vv....
• The need for faith 62:10-12
  Having learned of the mission of the Anointed One to bring salvation to Israel, and having received promises of benefits that would accompany His salvation, the Israelites needed to believe these promises in spite of impendin...
• Israel's homecoming 31:7-14
  31:7 In the future the Israelites would sing joyfully among the chief nations where they dwelt. They would call on Yahweh to save the remaining remnant of His people. Calling on Him to do this would praise Him because He prom...
• 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 Egypt and God's grace 20:5-9
  The Lord's history lesson for these elders described Israel in four successive periods: in Egypt (vv. 5-9), in the wilderness (vv. 10-26), in the Promised Land (vv. 27-29), and in the present time (vv. 30-38).281What the Lord...
• 5. Reunification in the Promised Land 37:15-28
  37:15-17 The Lord also commanded Ezekiel to take two sticks (cf. Zech. 11:7-14). He was to write on one of them "For Judah and for the sons of Israel, Judah's companions."He was to write on the other stick "For Joseph and for...
• A. The Lord's indictment against His people 6:1-5
  6:1-2 Micah called his audience to hear what Yahweh had told him to say. Yahweh had a case (lawsuit, Heb. rib) to bring against His people. The Lord was summoning Israel to defend herself in a courtroom setting. He addressed ...
• 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...
• 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 ...
• IV. Oracle three: the people's mixed marriages and divorces 2:10-16
  "The style of the third oracle differs from the others. Instead of an initial statement or charge followed by a question of feigned innocence, this oracle begins with three questions asked by the prophet. However, as at the b...
• The Lord's Prayer 11:1-4 (cf. Matt. 6:9-13)
  Luke's record of Jesus' teaching the Lord's Prayer differs significantly enough from Matthew's account that we can safely conclude that Jesus gave similar teaching on separate occasions. This repetition illustrates the import...
• 4. Our place in God's sovereign plan 8:26-30
  In the foregoing verses Paul spoke of God's plan for creation and the believer. In these verses he showed how central a place His children occupy in the plan He is bringing to completion in history.8:26 Hope helps us in our s...
• 2. God's election of Israel 9:6-13
  Paul's train of thought unfolds as follows in these verses. Because God's election of Israel did not depend on natural descent (vv. 6-10) or human merit (vv. 11-14), Israel's disobedience cannot nullify God's sovereign purpos...