Recent Commentaries

The general expectation in Jesus’ day was that the Messiah would come as a great king and leader, to set up His kingdom, and to free the nation from the rule of Rome. However, in the parable of the “mustard seed” (vv. 18-19) and the parable of “the leaven” …

Israel and Judah had lost sight of God’s plan for them to settle in the land (Gen. 12:7), to drive out the Canaanites (Deut. 7:1-4), and to obey God’s laws (Deut. 8:1). Instead of uniting to accomplish these goals they fought each other (v. 1). More and more people…

Although Jesus knew He would face persecution and death in Jerusalem, He was determined to do there (v. 51). James and John, two gracious and devoted disciples, saw their master was not received. They had seen the Prophet Elijah on the mountain so they thought they could imit …

In this section we find a magnificent dedicatory prayer by Solomon. He first stood beside the altar and then fell to his knees (v. 54). He began his prayer with worship and praise to God for His faithfulness as prayer should be and not with requests. He then proceeded to petition …

Elijah’s prophetic ministry dominates this section of the book of l Kings. He had been prepared by the Lord to demonstrate to all of Israel that God and not Baal is still the only true God. Perhaps as Elijah heard reports of Jezebel’s increasing maneuverings to replace t …

In today’s passage, all participants were at fault: 1. Isaac knew that it was God’s plan for the elder Esau to serve the younger Jacob, but he chose to ignore it. Esau was his favorite son and he intended to give him his blessing …

Joseph had still another test for his brothers. He had his servant fill up their sacks with grain and again put their money back in the sacks (v. 1). Then he had him put his silver cup in Benjamin’s sack (v. 2). The next morning the eleven men left to return to their father with the grain (v. 3) …

With Israel divided there was constant tension between the north and the south. From the beginning of David’s reign his real rival in the north was not Ishbosheth but Abner. In order to settle the question of royal succession Abner, the general in the north and David’s military l …

Because of the reference to captivity many Bible scholars believe this psalm was written at the time of Zerubbabel (Ezra.3:4) or more likely during the days of Ezra and Nehemiah (Neh. 2-4) (v. 1). At any rate it seems to belong to the early days of the return from Babylon. The th …

Things happened just as David had predicted as Saul became violently angry when David did not show for the feast of the New Moon. Jonathan tried to reason with his father as he had done a few weeks before (vv. 24-31). Saul, however, hurled his spear, narrowly missing his son. Jon …