Recent Commentaries

One day the Jews in Jerusalem looked out the gates of their city and were terrified to see their Assyrian enemies camped outside. The Assyrian tents were still there and their flags were flapping in the breeze. However vultures were circling the camp and there was a stillness of …

Inasmuch as Babylon was soon to rise to the height of its power and would not be overthrown for another seventy years (until 539 B.C.), the scope of what God revealed to His prophet in this passage was significant. While its message could be applied to different world powers, the …

Man does not save himself, for salvation is of the Lord (John 2:9). You receive spiritual blessings from the Father (vv. 1-6), the Son (vv. 7-12), and the Spirit (vv. 13-14) and in Christ (vv. 15-23), you have all you need for life and service. Paul starts off by addressing his l …

Gideon’s father had set up an idol to Baal in a grove of trees on their land like the heathen nations around them. That very night God tested Gideon’s dedication by asking him to tear down his fathers’ altar and to build an altar to Jehovah in its place (vv. 25-26). In addition to this he was to sacrifice …

Realizing that further words would be fruitless, Joshua solemnly renewed the covenant (vv.25-26). The covenant between Israel and God was that the people would worship and obey the Lord alone. Their purpose was to be a holy nation that would influence the rest of the world for Go …

The Lord’s enemies were smarting from the series of parables Jesus had given. They decided to try to trap Him through a series of “loaded” questions (v. 15). The Herodians (v. 16) were a party that favored the dynasty of Herod and stood with Rome. They were non-religious and didn’t get along …

Reflecting on the period of exile, Psalm 137 may have been written toward the end of the Babylonian Captivity. So great was the exiles’ grief that even the singers were silent. It is about two cities: Babylon and Jerusalem, and Edom, Israel’s the next-door neighbor. The Israelites …

Too often we view prayer as a time for comfort, reflection, or making our requests known to God. But in verse 30 Paul urges believers to join in his struggles by means of prayer. Prayer is also a weapon in all believers’ armor as we intercede for others who join in the fight against Satan …

In the midst of a very busy schedule, we find Jesus facing opposition from both friend and foe. News had reached His relatives in Nazareth (twenty-five miles away) that Jesus was out of His mind and doing crazy things so they came to try to talk some sense into Him. His own brothers …

From the “Beginning” of history until the time of Samuel “Theocratic” rule was Israel’s sole form of government. It failed, not because God failed but because Israel failed. When the people demanded of Samuel that he give them a king so they might be like the …