Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Balaam's seven oracles chs. 23-24
  "Chapters 23 and 24 are two of the brightest chapters in the book of Numbers. Scores of wonderful things are said about Israel, mainly prophetical. The dark sins of the past were forgotten; only happy deliverance from Egypt w...
• 2. Defeat at Ai ch. 7
  At Jericho, Israel learned God's strength. At Ai, she learned her own weakness. She could only conquer her enemies as she remained faithful to God's covenant."We are never in greater danger than right after we have won a grea...
• Yahweh's remembrance of Israel's past 2:1-3
  2:1-2a The Lord spoke to Jeremiah and instructed him to proclaim a message to the people of Jerusalem, a message from Yahweh.2:2b The Lord recalled how His people used to love (Heb. hesed) Him devotedly when they were followi...
• The special conditions of Jeremiah's life 16:1-13
  Sometimes God used the events in the lives of His prophets to speak to the people as well as their messages."Hosea's unhappy marriage (Hos. 1-3), Isaiah's family (Isa. 7-8), the death of Ezekiel's wife (Ezek. 24:15-27), and J...
• C. The Book of Consolation chs. 30-33
  This section of the Book of Jeremiah is a collection of prophecies that focus on the hope that lay before the Israelites. To this point in the book the emphasis has been mainly on judgment to come, though we have seen occasio...
• The end of Rachel's mourning 31:15-22
  31:15 The Lord described the Israelite mothers, under the figure of Rachel, weeping for their children who had died because of the Assyrian invasion.404Rachel was the mother of Joseph, the father of Ephraim and Manasseh, and ...
• 7. Jerusalem's history as a prostitute ch. 16
  This chapter is the longest prophetic message in the book and the longest single allegory in the entire Bible. It carries forward the guilt of Jerusalem described in the preceding chapter. God's chosen people were not only a ...
• Theology
  The major biblical doctrines that Hosea stressed were sin, judgment, salvation, and the loyal love of God.Regarding sin, the prophet stressed the idolatry of the Israelites, which he compared to spiritual adultery. Israel had...
• Outline
  I. Introduction 1:1II. The first series of messages of judgment and restoration: Hosea's family 1:2-2:1A. Signs of coming judgment 1:2-9B. A promise of restoration 1:10-2:1III. The second series of messages of judgment and re...
• A. Signs of coming judgment 1:2-9
  The Lord used Hosea's family members as signs to communicate His message of coming judgment on Israel.1:2 At the beginning of Hosea's ministry, Yahweh commanded him to take a wife of harlotry and to have children of harlotry....
• B. A promise of restoration 1:10-2:1
  A promise of future restoration immediately follows this gloomy revelation of judgment. It provided encouragement to Hosea's audience by assuring a glorious and secure future for Israel.1:10 Despite the judgment promised, Yah...
• 1. Judgment on Gomer as a figure of Israel 2:2-7
  In this message, the Lord described Israel's unfaithfulness to Him in terms similar to those that a husband would use to describe his wife's unfaithfulness to him. The whole message appears to be one that Hosea delivered to h...
• B. Promises of restoration 2:14-3:5
  Three messages follow the two on coming judgment. They assure Israel that Yahweh will remain faithful to His promises to His people even though they are unfaithful to Him and incurred His punishment (cf. 1:10-2:1; 2 Tim. 2:13...
• 1. Renewed love and restored marriage 2:14-20
  The emphasis in this message is on the fact that God would renew His love for Israel and would restore their "marriage"relationship.2:14 Following Israel's decision to return to Yahweh after her punishment (v. 7), the Lord pr...
• 3. The restoration of Hosea's and Yahweh's wives ch. 3
  Like the first section in this series of messages that develop the figure of marital unfaithfulness (2:2-8), this last section also blends the prophet's personal experience with that of Yahweh. This is the strongest affirmati...
• 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...
• IV. The third series of messages on judgment and restoration: widespread guilt 4:1--6:3
  The remaining messages that Hosea recorded in this book continue to expound the themes introduced in the first two series (chs. 1-3). All five series of messages major on Israel's guilt and coming judgment, but all conclude o...
• Israel's breach of covenant 4:1-3
  The Lord brought a legal charge against the Israelites for breaking the Mosaic Covenant. Again the literary form of this section is a legal confrontation (Heb. rib, cf. 2:2). The Lord stated His charges against Israel in 4:1-...
• The guilt of Israel's priests 4:4-10
  In this pericope God addressed the Israelites as a whole but identified sins of their priests in particular.4:4 Israel's guilt was so clear that the Lord forbade the people from denying His charge against them. As judge, He s...
• Making treaties 8:8-10
  8:8 The prophet looked ahead to the time of Israel's judgment. The nation would be swallowed up, as when someone eats grain (v. 7). Israel would become a part of the nations having gone into captivity and lost its own soverei...
• An introductory accusation and announcement of judgment 11:12-12:2
  11:12 The Lord complained that Ephraim (Israel) had consistently lied and tried to deceive Him. He described Himself as surrounded and under attack by His own people. Wherever He looked all He saw was cheaters. Deception (Heb...
• The restoration of the Davidic kingdom 9:11-12
  The rest of the book is quite different from what has preceded because of its positive message. As is true of other eighth-century prophets to Israel and Judah, Amos included hope in his prophecy (cf. Isa. 40-66; Hos. 1:10-2:...
• 3. The third description of Nineveh's fall 3:1-7
  This description explains further the "why"for Nineveh's fall whereas the first two descriptions in the previous chapter gave more of the actual events, the "what"of it. There is much similarity between the descriptions of th...
• 3. Conflict over Jesus' sign 12:38-45
  The fourth incident and the third type of conflict concerned a sign that Jesus' critics requested.12:38 Matthew's connective again was weak. This incident was not a continuation of the preceding controversy chronologically bu...
• The invitation of the angel 17:1-2
  17:1 The fact that this chapter describes the judgment of Babylon referred to in 14:8 and 16:19 seems clear. It was one of the angels who poured out the bowl judgments who served as John's guide as he viewed these events in h...
• 1. The praise of God in heaven 19:1-10
  This pericope has strong ties to what precedes (16:17-18:24). It is the concluding revelation concerning the fall of Babylon, the latter-day Egypt and Tyre, and Antichrist, the ultimate Pharaoh of the Exodus and King of Tyre....