Recent Commentaries

A guilty conscience and cowardice go hand in hand. The guilty run from imagined pursuers while the righteous are as bold as lions (v. 1). Throughout Israel’s history, the stability of the nation nearly always depended on the wisdom of its leader (v. 2). It’s often the poor who are the most …

Just as Jeroboam was about to burn incense at the altar at Bethel a prophet of God from Judah appeared. He pronounced one of the most remarkable prophecies in all of Scripture as he predicted the name and actions of a king who would not appear on the scene for almost 300 years. …

Paul now moves from the doctrinal part of his letter to the practical part. It has been said that “what we believe helps us to determine how we behave.” To be a happy fruitful Christian, we must translate our learning into living. This is the missing link in the lives of many Christians today …

This book was written two or three years after the Roman Emperor Nero began his persecution of Christians. It focuses on the church’s internal problems, especially on the false teachers.. Peter directed this letter specifically to Christians scattered in the region of present-day …

This chapter comes from the time when Jeremiah sent Baruch down to the temple to read the words he had dictated, as we saw in our previous study (v. 1). Chronologically it should follow Chapter 36. But Jeremiah has placed it right here because it gathers up the feeling of the hea …

The fall of religious Babylon (chapter 17) occurs when the beast assumes his religious role in the middle of the Tribulation and assumes world political power. The city of ancient Babylon is in Iraq, about 50 miles south of Baghdad on the Euphrates River. The captivity by Nebuchadnezzar …

In the closing verses of chapter one Solomon, as the new King, forgave his brother Adonijah for his attempted takeover of the kingdom and told him to go his way and behave himself. Now in this passage we have a new and strange turn of events. Adonijah comes to Bathsheba (the Quee …

The focus in chapters 25 and 26 is on Israel in their land. The word “land’ is used thirty-nine times in these two chapters. The Israelites were to possess and enjoy the land but in order to do so they must recognize and respect some basic facts. The first thing is that God …

It was customary in Paul’s day to close each letter with personal greetings. Paul’s greetings conveyed his spiritual concern for his friends. In these last eight verses Paul winds up the letter with his own personal greetings and includes the greetings of six of his co-work …

It was customary in Hosea’s day for people to rejoice at harvest time. Israel, however, was commanded not to do so. She had attributed the abundance she experienced to the idols she worshiped, instead of to God who sent it (v. l). Because of her spiritual defection crops failed and …