Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Scope
  The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
• Ezra's prayer 9:5-15
  The priests presented the evening offering (v. 5) between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. in Jesus' day.130Ezra's prayer contains four primary characteristics: solidarity, confession, readiness to change, and faith in God's mercy.131In hi...
• Scope
  The years of history the book covers are 445-431 B.C. or perhaps a few years after that.In 445 B.C. (the twentieth year of Artaxerxes' reign, 1:1) Nehemiah learned of the conditions in Jerusalem that led him to request permis...
• Message3
  For many years, believers regarded Ezra and Nehemiah as twin books. They called them 1 and 2 Ezra (or Esdras, the Greek transliteration of Ezra). Jerome, who lived in the fourth century A.D., gave 2 Ezra the name Nehemiah. Th...
• Outline
  I. The fortification of Jerusalem chs. 1-7A. The return under Nehemiah chs. 1-21. The news concerning Jerusalem 1:1-32. The response of Nehemiah 1:4-113. The request of Nehemiah 2:1-84. The return to Jerusalem 2:9-20B. The re...
• II. THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS chs. 8--13
  One writer viewed chapters 8-13 (really 7:73-13:37) as the third part of the tripartite structure of Ezra-Nehemiah. Ezra 1:1-4 deals with "potentiality,"the decree to the community to build God's house. Ezra 1:5--Nehemiah 7:7...
• A. The Renewal of the Mosaic Covenant chs. 8-10
  "The reading of Scripture (Neh 8) and the act of prayer (Neh 9) followed by community commitment (Neh 10) is a model for worshiping communities."62This was another instance in Israel's history of a covenant renewal accompanyi...
• The preparations for prayer 9:1-4
  Two days after the solemn assembly (8:18) the people were still mourning over their sins (9:1). This was a genuine spiritual revival. In obedience to God's Law the people broke off forbidden alliances with non-Jews (cf. Deut....
• The prayer of praise 9:5-38
  A second group of seven Levites (v. 5) led the people in the prayer of praise that Nehemiah included in this book perhaps on a different day than the prayer he wrote about in verses 1-4."The prayer is intended to instruct the...
• 3. The renewed commitment of the people ch. 10
  Nehemiah explained the agreement he previously referred to in 9:38 in this chapter. Conviction of sin (ch. 8) led to confession of sin (ch. 9) and resulted in a covenant with God (ch. 10)."Nehemiah 10, despite its forbidding ...
• C. The Dedication of the Wall 12:27-47
  This portion of the book resumes the historical narrative in chronological order from 11:2 where it stopped. Probably the dedication took place soon after the covenant renewal ceremonies (chs. 8-10)....
• Conclusion
  The Book of Nehemiah records the fortification of Jerusalem and the restoration of the Jews, two essential steps that were necessary to reestablish God's people in His will and in their land.Nehemiah continued the good work t...
• C. Mordecai's Reaction 4:1-3
  We can understand why Mordecai reacted to Haman's decree so strongly (v. 1). Undoubtedly he felt personally responsible for this decree (cf. 3:2-5). However we should not interpret Mordecai's actions in verse 1 as a sign of g...
• 2. God's everlasting kingdom 145:8-16
  145:8-10 Verses 8 and 9 are a classic expression of praise for God's character. The same statement in Hebrew occurs in six other places in the Old Testament (Exod. 34:6; Neh. 9:7; Pss. 86:15; 103:8; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2). God...
• Jeremiah's prayer 32:16-25
  The prayer begins with a long ascription of praise to Yahweh (vv. 17-23) and concludes by expressing incredulity that the Lord had commanded His servant to buy the land in Anathoth (vv. 24-25; cf. Neh. 9:6-37; Dan. 9:4-19).42...
• The assurance of restoration in the future 11:14-21
  11:14-15 The Lord then replied that many of the Jews in Jerusalem were saying that the Judahites who had gone into captivity were the ones that God was judging. They believed that the Jews left in Jerusalem were the remnant t...
• 3. Daniel's faithfulness and Darius' predicament 6:10-15
  6:10 The new decree did not deter Daniel from continuing to pray for the welfare of the city where God had sent them into exile and for the Jews' return from exile. That this was the subject of his praying, among other things...
• C. A call to repent 1:14
  Joel called on the priests not only to mourn (v. 13) but also to assemble all the people at the temple for a solemn fast. Such fasts indicated national repentance in Israel's history (cf. 1 Sam. 7:6; Neh. 9:1-2; Jer. 36:9; Jo...
• E. Micah's confidence in the Lord 7:8-20
  This final section of the book is also in the form of a lament (cf. vv. 1-7). While Micah spoke as an individual, he spoke for the faithful remnant of Israelites in his day. His sentiments would have been theirs. Thus the lam...
• Fasting 6:16-18
  6:16 Fasting in Israel involved going without food to engage in a spiritual exercise, usually prayer, with greater concentration. Fasting fostered and indicated self-humiliation before God, and confession often accompanied it...
• The church's reaction 4:23-31
  4:23-28 After hearing the apostle's report, the Christians sought the Lord (Gr. Despota, sovereign ruler) in prayer."Three movements may be discerned in this prayer of the early church: (1) God is sovereign (v. 24). (2) God's...
• The Abrahamic Covenant 7:2-8
  Stephen began his defense by going back to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, and to the Abrahamic Covenant, God's foundational promises to the Jews.7:2-3 Stephen called for the Sanhedrin's attention addressing his hea...
• The everlasting gospel 14:6-7
  14:6 John next saw another angel (cf. 7:2; 8:3; 10:1) flying between heaven and earth (cf. 8:13). He was "another"probably like Michael (12:7), the nearest specific angel in the context. This is the first of six specific ange...