# videos

christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxX3SZo9riY
commentary:
49:1 Why then does Malcam possess Gad- It was Ammon who had gone over their border to possess the land intended for the Israelite tribe of Gad; hence the reference to Israel repossessing their own land from Ammon in :2. But Malcam, the god of Ammon, is spoken of here as if it was Ammon (as in :3). A people are identified with the name of their god, in that those who worship idols become like them (Ps. 115:8). Israel were unusual in that they had a national God, Yahweh, but they didn’t totally identify with Him because they also worshipped gods like Malcam whom the surrounding nations worshipped. By baptism into the Lord’s Name and becoming the spiritual people of Abraham (Gal. 3:27-29) we are to be totally identified with our God.
49:9 If thieves by night, wouldn’t they steal until they had enough?- This recalls how Prov. 6:30 says that we don’t despise a thief who steals because he is hungry. Although all sin is sin, it seems that there are degrees of sin, hence the varying degrees of sacrifice required under the Law of Moses for different sins. God is particularly angry with those who revel in sin as Edom had done, for they as it were sinned for the pleasure of it rather than because human weakness pushed them into the sinful situation (not that sin in any form can be justified). We should bear this in mind when responding to others’ failures.
49:11 Let your widows trust in Me- As in all these prophecies there is an appeal for the enemies of God’s people to repent. The widows of the soldiers whom God had slain are asked to turn to God and trust Him; again we see that the ultimate intention of judgment is to bring people to God and finally bring about the establishment of His Kingdom.
49:16 God wanted to bring down the pride of Edom. They were not His people, they were one of many Gentile nations. Yet God observed their pride and how they trusted in their mountain strongholds. His colossal perception of the attitudes of every human being on earth is perhaps beyond our full appreciation. If He looks with such detail upon the hearts of those who don’t know Him, how much more does He look upon us, and also knows the hearts of all those who intersect with us His children.
49:25 How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of My joy!- This could be the stubborn denial of the king of Damascus. Yet Jerusalem is the city of praise that shall not be forsaken eternally, and which shall be the eternal joy of God’s people when it is declared the capital of the future Kingdom of God on earth (Ps. 9:14; 102:21; Is. 62:12; 65:18). So it seems that God and Jeremiah interject in the midst of these woeful prophecies of the destruction of Gentile cities like Damascus, to reflect that ultimately Jerusalem will not be destroyed like they shall be. This encourages us to see the predictions of Jerusalem or Zion’s eternal presence and joy as having a literal dimension to their fulfilment; the Jerusalem which we can locate on a map, view photographs of or visit shall indeed be the eternal capital city of God’s Kingdom on earth, in the same way as Christ shall reign eternally on David’s throne / place of kingship, which was in Jerusalem (Lk. 1:31-35).
49:28 Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck- The destruction of all these nations is prophesied as a warning to Judah not to make allegiance with them in the hope they would stave off the Babylonian invasion. The lesson is so repeated- that all human strength is not going to work out, the only way of escape from the consequences of sin is by listening to God’s prophetic word.
49:30 Has conceived a purpose against you- But :31 explains that God had commanded Nebuchadnezzar to attack these nations. God is therefore shown to be capable of putting thoughts and ideas in the minds of wicked Gentiles, even though they of their own freewill conceive the plans themselves. We’re unable to exactly understand this process nor the ethics of it all, but the fact is that it happens. The encouragement is that if God does this kind of thing to wicked people, He is likewise able to work upon the weak hearts of those of us who do love Him in weakness and who eagerly invite Him to put good rather than evil in our hearts because we feel so weak in our own mental strength.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaxYVxjl6Qs
commentary:
50:2 Babylon is taken, Bel is disappointed, Merodach is dismayed- Note how Babylon is so identified with her gods; see on 48:13; 49:1.
50:3 Time and again the prophets describe the judgments to fall upon Israel in the same terms as they speak of the condemnations of the surrounding nations (compare :3 and :13). The message was clear: rejected Israel would be treated as Gentiles. Even if we are separated from this world externally, we can still act in a worldly way, and share the world's condemnation (1 Cor. 11:29,32).
50:4 God’s intention was that when Babylon fell, the exiles would repent and return to rebuild Zion and enter the new covenant (:5). Babylon fell, the new king, Cyrus of Persia, commanded them to return and rebuild the temple; but the Jews didn’t repent and therefore many of them remained in Babylon, where they had a good life. The fall of Babylon is spoken of in Revelation as happening at Christ’s return; the prophecy will be reapplied and fulfilled at that time. The return of the Jews to Israel over the last few generations is surely a preparation for this.
50:8 There was an urgency to flee from Babylon, even though at the time the Jews were prosperous there; there were Jews in leadership positions, as the Biblical record makes clear in Daniel; and archaeological research shows that the Jews were in senior business and administrative positions. But there was an urgency to flee from there and return to Judah and rebuild the Kingdom. The call to leave Babylon is interpreted in the New Testament as representing the call of the Gospel, to leave this present system of things at least mentally (Rev. 18:4). But will the new Israel respond better than historical Israel?
50:14 She has sinned against Yahweh- Gentile unbelievers are still counted as sinning against God. His sensitivity to sin must make it so hard to be God... perceiving and feeling the sin of every person amongst the billions of this world. We should be therefore the more sensitive to His sensitivity. This also means that He must be thrilled with the genuine efforts of His people to be righteous, as He observes so much rebellion against Him.
50:20 The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none- An encouragement to us as to the totality and depth of God’s ability to forgive.
50:29 For she has been proud- For all the millions of sins of Babylon, not least her idolatry, it is her pride which is seen as her main sin; for pride is the essence of all sin (see too :31,32,36).
50:33 They refuse to let them go- The Babylonians initially ‘refused’ to let Judah return in the same way as Egypt did under Pharaoh. However, there’s no hint that the Jews actually asked to return. Babylon ‘refused’ to respond to the Angels’ attempts to encourage Babylon to send the Jews back; this may be referred to in Dan. 10:13. From the viewpoint of a Jewish person in Babylon, all this Angelic activity was quite invisible. We too can think God is inactive when in fact He is working powerfully for us behind the scenes.
50:39 It shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall it be lived in from generation to generation- The fact Babylon has been rebuilt at times and didn’t cease to be inhabited after the Medes captured it and overthrew the Babylonian empire means that this prophecy must have a future fulfilment. It’s not impossible that literal Babylon may be rebuilt, and the latter-day equivalent of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires be re-established in the form of some superpower which will likewise persecute Israel, and meet its final end at Christ’s return.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FswHL4lt7YE
commentary:
51:1 A destroying wind- The Hebrew ruach translated “wind” is also translated “spirit”; God makes His Angels spirits (Ps. 104:4; Heb. 1:7). The reference seems to be to a specific Angel who was given the task of destroying Babylon; rather like the Angel who slew the firstborn of Egypt and the faithless Israelites in the wilderness is called “the destroyer” (1 Cor. 10:10). God gives His Angels specific tasks to perform, in the same way as He works with us and will work with us when we take over the Angels’ role in the future Kingdom on earth (Lk. 20:35,36; Heb. 2:5). We have even now been given specific work to do, and we should pray to perceive what that is (Eph. 2:10). Also note that the apparently ‘negative’ phenomena in human life, “evil” in the sense of destruction, come from God through His Angels designated to perform that work- there is no personal Satan figure who is out of God’s control and working against Him.
51:6 Quoted about us in Rev. 18:4; see on 50:8.
51:8 Wail for her; take her balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed- If God wanted to save even Babylon, how much more is He eager to save us who do believe in and love Him. After all the prophecies of destruction against Babylon, they could all have been averted if she had been taken the message of repentance by the Jews and had accepted it. But part of the problem was that the Jews were comfortable in Babylon [see on 50:8] and therefore they didn’t see she needed to repent too much, and they didn’t preach this to her. One of the reasons we don’t preach to this world is because we are too comfortable within it, as Judah were in Babylon.
51:9 Her judgement... is lifted up even to Heaven – But sins are described as ‘rising up to Heaven’ (2 Chron. 28:9); here the judgement for them is spoken of as also ‘rising up to Heaven’ (same Hebrew words). Sin and judgment are therefore paralleled. Sin is its own judgment. Whenever we commit sin, we do so knowing (at least in one part of our brain) the judgment / condemnation which it is. In this sense, we know God’s judgments, and the coming day of judgment shouldn’t therefore be some totally unknown situation for us. For we have His judgments revealed ahead of time in His word.
51:12 Yahweh has both purposed and done that which He spoke- The idea of God 'preparing' implies that there is a gap between the plan being made, and it being executed- hence the statement here that He has planned and done as planned (see too 4:28; Lam. 2:17; Is. 22:11; 37:26; Zech. 1:6; 8:14). This ‘gap’ is significant when we come to consider the idea of God’s ‘relenting’ or change of mind- stating something is going to happen, but then changing His mind because of human behaviour during the ‘time gap’ between the statement and its’ execution. How then are we to understand God’s capacity to know the future? All we can say is that God Almighty throws Himself into our experience, by limiting Himself to our kind of time- with all the suspense, hope, excitement, joy, disappointment which this involves. Often we read of how God says He is planning evil and devising a plan against His enemies (18:11; 26:3; 49:20,30; 50:45; Mic. 2:3; 4:12). But having shared with us His plans through the prophets, He is open to being persuaded not to perform them- as we see in the case of Nineveh, and the intercessions of Moses. See on :29.
51:15,16 The implication is that the same Divine word which brought about creation (God spoke His word and it was done), and which still sustains it, is the same word of God which we meet in the prophets proclaiming destruction. The awesome power of God’s word as it is in our times in the Bible is the same creative power we see in the natural creation, and carries the same destructive power as has been witnessed throughout history in His destruction of wicked entities.
51:24 The destruction of Babylon was because of their destruction of the temple; but it took at least 70 years for this judgment to come, in the same way as it took nearly 40 years for Jerusalem to be destroyed for crucifying Christ. The generation who killed Him and that which destroyed the temple all died in their beds. The gap between the sin and the judgment coming was surely in order to give a chance for repentance, and for the subsequent generation to perceive the evil their fathers had done and repent of it. But this lack of repentance and disassociation was what caused such fearful judgment to finally come upon them. In the length of the ‘gap’ we see the passion of God for human repentance and for people to perceive the sin not only of themselves but of the societies in which they live.
51:29 The plans of Yahweh against Babylon do stand- God states His plans but is open to change; in Babylon’s case, they remained or ‘stood’ because there was no repentance nor intercession for her; see on :12.
51:36 I will plead your cause- Judah is as it were the one who takes Babylon to the Divine court, with the complaint of :34,35. God is the one who will both plead our cause as an advocate, and take vengeance, i.e. order the sentence, as our judge. Mic. 7:9 speaks of how Micah has sinned against Yahweh, and yet He will plead his cause and also execute judgment. Likewise with Israel, the Lord stood up to plead as an advocate, and also He stood as the Judge to pronounce the verdict in favour of His people (Is. 3:13); even though He is also the witness against them (Mal. 3:5). In this mixture of metaphor we see how the judicial process is biased in our favour by the simple fact that God loves His people; hence Paul, having made the same observations with his use of legal terms, concludes that there is nobody who can condemn God’s people (Rom. 8:33,34). The events of our lives, all the abuses we suffer, are being considered by God right now in His court. He is both our advocate, the ultimate accurate witness to our sufferings, both of the facts and also our internal feelings, and is also the judge. His apparent silence isn’t that at all. The ongoing process of the court of Heaven should be our continual comfort.
51:39 A perpetual sleep and not wake- The ultimate punishment for sin is death (Rom. 6:23), which is unconsciousness, without any hope of a future resurrection. Eternal conscious torment of the wicked isn’t taught in the Bible.
51:48 The heavens and the earth- Another example of where ‘heavens and earth’ refer to the people of Israel and aren’t to always be taken literally, especially when we read of their ‘destruction’.
51:61 The Babylonians had been kindly disposed to Jeremiah because he had prophesied their victory against Jerusalem and had urged Judah to surrender rather than fight Babylon; and they had offered him a comfortable retirement in Babylon after Jerusalem fell (40:4). Such a prophecy would’ve seemed the height of ingratitude towards them. The captive Jews had just arrived in Babylon; to pronounce the destruction of Babylon was the last thing they wanted to do, because they sought the favour of their captors. To speak out God’s word is so often counter-instinctive, awkward, embarrassing and difficult.
51:63,64 Babylon’s destruction is as a stone being cast into the sea (Jesus repeats this in Rev. 18:21). But Jesus also uses this very image to describe the judgment of those who offend one of His little ones (Mt. 18:6). To upset fragile believers by our rejection of them is to be as bad as proud, idolatrous Babylon who destroyed Yahweh’s temple and slew His people. And it will meet the same judgment. We should therefore be extra careful not to reject our fellow believers, especially the “little ones” whose faith is new or fragile. Three of the Gospel records feature this saying of Jesus (also Mk. 9:42; Lk. 17:2); it is so very important.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OciBrM_iCWg
commentary:
52:3 Zedekiah’s rebellion was of his own freewill, and God through Jeremiah had pleaded with him not to rebel but to surrender; yet in another sense, God confirmed Zedekiah in this stubbornness, because He wanted to express His anger against Judah. If we reject God’s word as Zedekiah did, then we will be confirmed in the way to destruction we wish to go.
52:8 See on 39:5.
52:27 If this includes Seraiah (:24), and this Seraiah is the same one as in 51:61, it may be that he died because he had in his heart decided that he would not relay God’s word nor obey the difficult preaching commission which he had been given (see on 51:61).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVE4ao3Lk_s
commentary:
1:1 God speaks as if He is married to Israel, and that even in their sufferings, He would suffer with them, as a husband suffers with his wife: “The destroyer will come upon us” (Jer. 6:22,26) even sounds as if God let Himself in a way be ‘destroyed’ in Israel’s destruction; for each of us dies a little in the death of those we love. The idea of God being destroyed in the destruction of His people may be the basis of the descriptions of Zion as being left widowed (here and Is. 54:1-8). We ask the question- if she was a widow, who died? Her husband, God, was as it were dead. The very idea of the death of the immortal God is awful and obnoxious. But this was and is the depth of God’s feelings at His peoples’ destruction, but it paves the way for the idea of God somehow being “in Christ” at His death.
1:9 No comforter- Seeing God knows all things, we should have total openness with God; this is why some of the great heroes of faith apparently openly question God, because they realized that if they felt something internally, then God knew this anyway. Thus Jeremiah complains that Zion has no comforter- in clear reference to the prophecies of Is. 40:1 that when Judah went into captivity, they would have a comforter. When Jeremiah complains that “The comforter who should refresh my soul is far from me” (:16) he is surely saying ‘The prophesied comforter of Isaiah just simply hasn’t come!’. He had his doubts- and he expresses them openly to God. We can find this same openness in prayer before God if we have a living relationship with Him.
1:18 In Jer. 15:15-19, Jeremiah asks for vengeance on his persecutors, and accuses God of deceiving him. God’s response is to ask him to repent of this, so that he can resume his prophetic work. Perhaps Jeremiah had this incident in mind when he commented: “Yahweh is righteous; for I have rebelled against His commandment”. This indicates that at least in Jeremiah’s case, he was not irresistibly carried along by the Spirit in some kind of ecstasy, having no option but to speak God’s word. His speaking of God’s word required that he shared the essentially loving and gracious spirit / disposition of his God; and he struggled to have this. Note too how repentance requires a specific, sober recognition that God is right and we were wrong- repentance isn’t a mere shrugging of the shoulders and half-second acceptance that we messed up.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJfKoTWS0G0
commentary:
2:1 Ascending to heaven and falling from heaven are Biblical idioms often used for increasing in pride and being humbled respectively - see too Job 20:6; Jer. 51:53 (about Babylon); Mt. 11:23 (about Capernaum). The language of falling from Heaven which we meet in the Bible isn’t therefore to be taken literally.
2:14 before the Babylonian invasion, Judah had been offered the prospect of eternally remaining in their land, if they repented (Jer. 7:7). And after it happened, Jeremiah commented: “Your prophets… did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity”. It could have been ‘warded off’ by the peoples’ repentance and the more powerful entreaty of the prophets. Note how Jeremiah, himself a prophet at the time, so wishes to take the blame upon himself for not pleading more powerfully with the people. Perhaps we will have similar feelings when the time of tribulation breaks forth in the very last days. Others’ repentance to some degree depends upon the depth of our entreaty.
2:15 Christ on the cross was bearing the judgment of Israel’s sins when He was offered gall to quench His thirst (3:15) and when those from Jerusalem mocked and wagged their heads at Him. By baptism into His death we accept that the just judgment for our sins has been laid upon Him, and we will rise again with Him in resurrection (Rom. 6:3-5). We will therefore avoid the tendency to transfer our sin and the judgment for it onto others, and judge them harshly.
2:16 Gnash the teeth- There will be "gnashing of teeth" for the rejected at the last day (Mt. 8:12; 13:42,50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Lk. 13:28). In the Old Testament, gnashing of teeth always means to hate somebody, often the righteous (here and Job 16:9; Ps. 35:16; 37:12; 112:10). Could it not be that the rejected hate their Lord and His people, who will be watching the judgment in some form, and therefore go and join the ranks of the embittered armies that come against Him? Or is their extreme hatred against themselves?
2:18 Jeremiah wanted his grief to be reflective of the grieving prayer of the remnant to their God. His grief really was and is to be the pattern for others. Attitudes to prayer influence others. Doubtless it influenced the Lord Himself, who wept over Zion (Lk. 19:41), inevitably holding Jeremiah in His mind. Note that Isaiah had prophesied that God would not rest until Zion be restored. Watchmen would be set upon Zion’s walls who would give Him no rest until the walls be rebuilt (Is. 62:1,6,7). At this time, Zion was felt by God to be the “apple of his eye” (Zech. 2:8). This prophesy started to be fulfilled straight after the Babylonian invasion when Jeremiah urged the desolated people to pray: “Let tears run down like a river day and night; give yourself no respite; don’t let the apple of your eye cease”. The prayerful remnant gave themselves no rest; and thus was fulfilled the prophecy that God would have no rest. Sincere prayer according to God’s will meant that there was a strong mutuality between the Father and those who prayed to Him. The apple of His eye was also theirs; and thus the prayers were ultimately answered and Zion was restored. Our spirit and His are united. All this speaks of an incredible personal bonding in prayer between the Creator and each, specific one of His creatures.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD1Mu1Cee5c
commentary:
3:7 Jeremiah felt himself totally identified with sinful Judah. Instead of turning away in disgust from God’s sinful people who had so abused him, he instead strongly identified with them and on that basis pleaded with God for them; and in this he sets us an amazing challenge and pattern. He was “afflicted” (1:9; 3:1; as Judah, 1:3,7; “built against”, :5, as Judah was, Jer. 52:4; “made old”, i.e. prematurely aged, :4, as Judah, Ps. 102:26; 50:9; 51:6; felt his prayers not heard, :8, as Judah’s weren’t; walled about and inclosed,:7,9, as Judah (Hos. 2:6); had God act to him “as a bear”, :10, as He was to Judah (Hos. 13:8; Am. 5:19); and “as a lion”, :10, as He was to Judah (Jer. 5:6; 49:19; 50:44); God bent His bow against him (:12), as He did against Judah (2:4 s.w.); suffered affliction and misery, :19, as Judah did (1:7 s.w.); drank gall (:5,19) as Judah had to (Jer. 8:14; 9:15; 23:15); had none to comfort him (1:21), as Judah didn’t (1:9); bore a yoke (:27), as did Judah (Jer. 27:8,12).
3:13 Notice how Jeremiah’s innermost being was turned for his people, because he felt that he had shared in their sin. The arrows of God entered into his kidneys, and this is why he so cried out. But God’s arrows were against a sinful Judah (2:4). Yet Jeremiah so identified with them that he felt they had entered him; and this is why he could cry out in the way he did. Even though he hadn’t sinned as they had, he felt that because they had, so had he, as he was so identified with them. He reached such a level of grief through identifying himself so closely with those for whom he grieved. Time and again, the descriptions of his personal suffering and grief are expressed in the terms of the very sufferings which he had prophesied as coming upon a sinful Israel. And so with us, if we feel and show a solidarity with the people of this world, with our brethren, then we will grieve for them. If we maintain a selfish, postmodern detachedness from them, then we will never have a heart that bleeds for them. Jeremiah could so easily have shrugged his shoulders and reasoned that Judah had had their chance; and it wasn’t on his head. But he didn’t. His attitude was that he had to seek the sheep until he found it.
3:15 See on 2:15.
3:38 Evil and good come out of the mouth of the Most High- As in Is. 45:5-7 we see that both positive and negative experiences come from God; He is truly almighty and doesn’t just provide the good whilst the evil, or disaster, comes from some sinful ‘Satan’ being. This isn’t taught in the Bible; in fact, the very opposite.
3:40 God now tries our hearts (Job 7:18; Ps. 11:4; 17:3; 26:2; 139:23). In likely allusion to the descriptions of God searching and trying our hearts in the Psalms, Jeremiah says that we should search and try our hearts- we should seek to know ourselves as God does, seeing ourselves as He sees us.
3:45 Paul described himself as the offscouring of all things- using the very language of condemned Israel (1 Cor. 4:13). Paul so wanted to see their salvation that he identified with them to this extent. By doing so he was reflecting in essence the way the Lord Jesus so identified Himself with us sinners, as our representative, "made sin" [whatever precisely this means] for the sake of saving us from that sin (2 Cor. 5:21).
3:48-51 What he saw with his eye affected his mind / heart. Let us not see the doom of others, the pain and suffering of another life, and walk on by not permanently moved. What we see should affect our heart- if we have a heart that bleeds. And a bleeding heart doesn’t merely bleed- it does something concrete, in prayer and action. Consider other examples of the bleeding heart of Jeremiah in 1:16,20; 2:11.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkUYxgUdc94
commentary:
4:6 By an interesting metonymy in the Hebrew language, the idol, the thing that facilitated sin, is put for their punishment / ruin. Sin and the punishment for it are inextricably linked. The Hebrew language reflects this identity here too, in that the Hebrew word for “punishment” is the same as for “iniquity”. And so it is with all the things of this present evil world; movies, music, novels, the needle, the bottle.... there is nothing unclean in itself, but these things can all be put by metonymy for the condemnation that can arise from the sin they facilitate. It's a powerful thought, as we face hourly temptation.
4:11 Both Yahweh and Israel are described as kindling the fire of judgment; He responded to what they had done (Jer. 11:16; 15:14; Lam. 4:11 cp. Jer. 17:4). Those who will be condemned will be only those who really wanted it.
4:15 Israel were made to depart into captivity because of their self-righteous rejection of their brethren, telling them to ‘depart’ from them because they considered them unclean- when they themselves were unclean.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsyIR4k7YsE
commentary:
5:7 In this very context, Ez. 18 later emphasized that the people at that time were suffering for their own sins, not just for those of their fathers. Yet Jeremiah seems in his grief to have overlooked that; and yet by grace he remained amongst the faithful, despite circumstances leading him to overlook parts of God’s truth and not facing up to the seriousness of Israel’s sin as he ought to have done.
5:20,21 Jeremiah’s prophecies of gracious restoration were known by the exiles; but many passages in Isaiah, the Psalms (e.g. Ps. 137:7-9) and Lamentations (:20,21) indicate that the exiles had little conviction they would be fulfilled, considering Judah as “utterly rejected” by God, and just getting on with their lives in Babylon without any real hope in God’s salvation. Considering the prosperity of their lives there, this was an all too convenient conclusion for them to draw. Once again we see that false interpretation of Scripture invariably has a moral subtext to it. Is. 40:1,2 speaks a message of comfort to the exiles: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God”. But [in full allusion to this prophecy], the exiles were like Rachael who refused to be comforted over her loss (Jer. 31:15); they claimed they found “none to comfort” (1:2,16,17,21). But they were wilfully refusing the comfort of God’s repeated word of hope and restoration. They didn’t grasp the plain teaching of the prophetic word because they didn’t want to- it demanded too much of them, and a giving up of the comfortable Babylon life. Hence Is. 43:19 laments: “I am doing a new thing: now it springs forth [in the decree to return to Zion?], do you not perceive it?”. And do we "not perceive it?" time and again in our own lives, as to the potentials God is opening up?


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQX9GdL1-lE
sermon: https://youtu.be/z1hm3ORtzxo
commentary:
1:5 Ezekiel’s opening vision of the cherubim was surely to encourage the captives in Babylon that above them was an awesome Angelic system, that was able to carry them with it back to the land- if they were workers together with God. Although it seemed that they were sitting still, nothing was happening, they were just passing time by the rivers of Babylon, above them there was an intensely active system of Angels working for their good. Asaph, writing Psalms in the captivity, perceived this when [surely referring to Ezekiel’s recent vision] he speaks of how the God who dwells between the cherubim is in fact actively leading Judah somewhere (Ps. 80:1). Despite God’s apparent silence, there is likewise a huge Angelic system whirring away over our lives too.
1:7 Straight feet- The return of the exiles led by Ezra made the journey by a "right way" from Babylon to Zion (Ezra 8:21). Yet this is the very word used about the "straight" feet of the Cherubim Angels here in :7,23. The return from Babylon involved following in the path of the Angels, walking in step with them. The restoration prophecy of Jer. 31:9 spoke of how the returnees would walk "in a straight way" (s.w.) "by the rivers of waters"- and surely Ezra consciously alluded to this when by the river Ahava he fasted for the exiles to return in a "right / straight way". He knew that these prophecies of restoration would not just automatically come true- they had to be fulfilled by much prayer, fasting and stepping out in faith. But so very few perceived that. And the challenge remains for us today- to walk in the way which God's Angels have potentially prepared for us, with prayer and boldness.
1:20 The wheels represented God’s people Israel on earth. If they had kept in step with the Spirit-Angel, following Him both to Babylon and back to Judah at His bidding, they would have been in step with God’s plan for them, and all would have prospered. This passage appears to be behind Paul’s appeal to us to walk in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25).
1:25 There was a voice- The supreme exaltation of the voice / word of God.
1:26 As the appearance of a man on it above- Ezekiel saw only likenesses and appearances, rather than God Himself. But the implication is surely that we are made in God’s image and likeness, and therefore we are invited to understand that God exists in a corporeal form, in which image our bodies appear. Understanding God as a personal being rather than intangible ‘spirit’ greatly enhances our relationship and prayer life with God.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCByh2RT5Xk
commentary:
2:4-6 Ezekiel was shown “what the house of Israel are doing in the dark” (8:12). To pass through human life with this level of sensitivity must’ve been so hard. Psychologically and nervously, the stress would’ve been awful. It seems to me that the prophets had to be somehow psychologically strengthened by God to endure living that sensitively in this crass and unfeeling world- hence God made Ezekiel and Jeremiah as a wall and “iron pillar” to Israel, hardened their faces, so that they wouldn’t be “dismayed at [the] looks” of those who watched them with anger and consternation (2:4-6; 3:8,9,27; Jer. 1:18; 15:20). This psychological strengthening was not aimed at making them insensitive, but rather in strengthening them to live sensitively to sin in a sinful world without cracking up. And He will do the same for us, too.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSBZQYmU8Vg
commentary:
3:3 This eating of God’s word was to represent how Ezekiel wasn’t merely to relay God’s word as a disinterested messenger, but to assimilate it personally, receiving it into his heart before he spoke it to others (:10), just as we should in our witness.
3:7 Having specifically told Ezekiel that Israel would not hearken to His word, God later tells Ezekiel to act out his parables in front of them- for " it may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house" (12:3). Here we see the supreme hopefulness of God, which we too should have when it appears we are preaching to hopeless cases.
3:12 Rushing- The Angels are involved with the Cherubim. Yet in Ezekiel's context, the language of chariots inevitably suggests the approach of enemy armies. Thus the cherubim chariots represented not only the Angels, but also the chariots of God's enemies; for the Lord of the Angelic hosts was manifested on earth in the Babylonian hosts. The word for the "rushing" noise of the cherubim wheels is used elsewhere about the noise of the chariots of Israel's enemies and the Babylonian invasion (Jer. 10:22; 47:3; Nah. 3:2). The Angelic armies of Heaven were therefore revealed on earth in the chariots of Babylon; it was both Babylon and the Angelic cherubim behind them who took Judah captive, and who could also return them to their land. Hence the stress in Ezekiel's vision that the wheels of the cherubim were on the earth / land. Clearly enough, the things that go on in our lives, even those things which appear as brutal and tragic as the Babylonian chariots were to Judah, are not random machinations of men; they are, in some unfathomable way, under the direct control of a God of love, who only means to do us good at our latter end.
3:17-21 Our duty is to witness to the Truth even if there’s no response; realizing that we may have to answer at the last day if we do not do so.
3:18 Perhaps this was said to Ezekiel because for 7 days he hadn’t told them the word of God as he had been asked to (:11,15,16).
3:20 God does not just disregard those who turn away from Him. He deceives them, and leads them into a downward spiral of moral and doctrinal declension. He laid a stumbling block before the righteous man who turned to sin.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opOGQwm7fbE
commentary:
4:1-5 Preaching through these acted parables would’ve led to people thinking Ezekiel was mad or at least, very ‘odd’; just as they may consider us when we share God’s word with them as He asks.
4:14 This is very similar to the situation when Christ asked Peter to kill and eat unclean animals (Acts 10:14). Peter saw the similarity, taking (as we should) guidance and encouragement from a Biblical example of a person who was in his situation. Peter therefore replied by quoting from Ez. 4:14, where Ezekiel refuses to eat similar food when asked to by the Angel. Perhaps Peter saw himself as Ezekiel's antitype in his witnessing against Israel's rejection of the word of God in Christ (note how 4:16 is a prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction in AD70). 'In the same way as God made a concession to Ezekiel about this command to eat unclean food', Peter reasoned, 'so perhaps my Lord will do for me'. But the Lord was to teach him even greater things than Ezekiel.
4:15 God is open to dialogue with His children, and is willing to make concessions to human weakness and foibles; just as we should be to others.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dmEEO51CmA
commentary:
5:11 Will I also diminish you- The implication was that they had diminished God. It may be purposefully putting it in arresting terms, but all the same it’s ultimately true that if we don’t give God the glory we are intended to, then we are diminishing Him of what is potentially and rightfully His. This is the degree to which He has come down to our level in His interaction with men.
5:13 The very existence of “the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction” is in order to “make known the riches of his glory upon the vessels of mercy” (Rom. 9:22,23 Gk.). After the experience of Divine judgment, "you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem" (14:22); and yet these are exactly the words used here in 5:13 to describe how God will be 'comforted' after the judgments. We will come to share God's perspective through our experience of the judgment process. It will teach us to be like Him, to see things from His viewpoint. As a result of it, the struggles we have over "why…?" so many things happened will be resolved. The purpose of the judgment is not only to convict us of our sinfulness, but also to make us appreciate our own righteousness for what it was and is. The faithful almost argue back with the Lord when He points out to them their righteous acts; they were done within a spirit of service that simply didn't see them as He does (Mt. 25:38).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QAUpxkhP8s
commentary:
6:7 You shall know that I am Yahweh- This is as a refrain throughout Ezekiel. Ultimately, the wicked will come to know Yahweh through their experience of His judgment, but then it will be too late. We are to “know” Him now, rather than too late in the process of condemnation.
6:9 I have been broken- The God who is Almighty and so more powerful than us has become so involved with humanity that His heart was broken by Israel; and if it was broken in Ezekiel’s time, we cannot imagine what His feelings were at the crucifixion of His Son. To truly love makes us weak and vulnerable, and the awesome extent of God’s love has in a sense done the same to Him. Not that we are righteous of ourselves, but it’s worth reflecting how our feeble efforts to love Him are therefore so thrilling to Him.
Their lewd heart… their eyes, which play the prostitute- This is the language of sexual addiction, and it applies to God’s woman, Israel. No wonder they so broke His loving heart.
6:13 The bodies of Israel lay strewn around their idols because in fact the idols they worshipped were the idols of their enemies, who would’ve sacrificed the corpses of the Israelites to their gods. It’s so bizarre that Israel should’ve worshipped the idols of their victorious enemies, but this is how bizarre sin is.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKuiJE-bYT0
commentary:
8:3 Which provokes to jealousy- Any form of idolatry provokes God to jealousy. The vast extent of His love for us means that any unfaithfulness provokes His feelings of jealousy; love and jealousy are in this sense part of the same thing.
8:12 See on 2:4-6. It seems that righteousness goes unrewarded and sin goes unpunished. Those who thought in their hearts that “Yahweh doesn’t see” likely never said that in so many words. But their persistence in sin, like ours today, arose from a disbelief in practice that God does in fact see and know all things. They thought that “the Lord will not do good, nor will He do ill” (Zeph. 1:12); “my way is hidden from the Lord” (Is. 29:15; 40:27). This of course is the attitude with which we daily live. The question is, will we perceive it as the prophets did, and live with the belief that God is in fact intently watching us, 24/7?
8:13 Amongst God’s people, some sins are “greater abomination” than others . Even amongst the Gentiles, God sees some as sinning more than others (7:24). This doesn’t mean that the ‘smaller’ ones don’t count. But it reflects God’s great sensitivity to human behaviour. The varying scale of sacrifices for various sins reflects this too. The Lord Jesus spoke of the man with “greater sin” (Jn. 19:11), and of other men who owed varying amounts to the Father. God's eye did not spare or pity Israel, because they thought that sin was a light thing to Him (:17,18). They thus insulted His essential nature.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7kzPo7XY4Q
commentary:
9:2 One man… with a writer’s inkhorn by his side- Ezekiel was seeing himself in the vision.
9:4 Foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations- In some ways we can do nothing about the state of things in the world or amongst the people of God, because we cannot change other people. But what marks us out as God’s people is that in our deepest minds [symbolized by the forehead], we weep for it all. This was the characteristic which saved Lot when Sodom was destroyed (2 Pet. 2:8).
9:5 This is reminiscent of the Passover Angel sealing the faithful Israelites against the destruction of the “Destroyer” Angel (1 Cor. 10:10). But now, unfaithful Israel were no better than the Egyptians.
9:8 Ezekiel’s intercession was after the pattern of Abraham pleading for Sodom, and Moses for Israel. Their examples inspired Ezekiel in prayer, as they should us. But it wasn’t heard at this time; for in the end, wilful sin just has to be punished, and no mediator or intercession can change things.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATpK5nNRLhk
sermon: https://youtu.be/z1hm3ORtzxo
commentary:
10:8 Ezekiel had to put his hand under the wings of the cherubim; and then there appeared permanently in the Cherubim visions “the form of a man’s hand [i.e. Ezekiel’s] under their wings” (:2,8). I take this to be indicative of how humanity can be so deeply a part of God's work; we are identified with Him and His Angels. The visions involved the whole system held up as it were upon a human hand; and God in the image of a man crowning it all in the Heavens. Truly God isn't far from any of us; and in a sense, "God is in need of man".
10:14 The four faces are likely to be connected with the four standards of the tribes of Israel (Lion = Judah, Man = Reuben, Ox = Ephraim, Eagle = Dan). Each of those tribes had two other tribes assigned to them in the encampment procedures of Num. 2. There is extra-Biblical tradition that the cherubim in Solomon's temple had the same four faces which Ezekiel saw on the cherubim- lion, ox, man and eagle. Those to whom Ezekiel related his vision would have immediately understood the point- that the earthly sanctuary was a reflection of the Heavenly, and that above that was a huge Angelic system operating, which also represented God's people- them. But that huge system was to remove to Babylon, and then the final visions of Ezekiel show that glory returning. Ezekiel, as the representative "son of man", was caught up within that system and transported at ease between Babylon and Jerusalem- and those who wanted to opt in with God and His Angels could likewise be taken to Babylon and returned. Those who chose to remain in Babylon were therefore resisting being part of an awesome system of God manifestation and Angelic operation. We have that same choice in things great and small today.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecWBFQy-USo
commentary:
11:1 The wheels of the cherubim represented God’s people Israel on earth. If they had kept in step with the Spirit-Angel, following Him both to Babylon and back to Judah at His bidding, they would have been in step with God’s plan for them, and all would have prospered. This passage appears to be behind Paul’s appeal to us to walk in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). Ezekiel himself was the great example of this, for he was “lifted up” by the Spirit just as the wheels were lifted up, and went wherever he was taken, backwards and forwards between Babylon and Judah (8:3; 11:1). He became part of the Cherubic system.
11:15 I will judge you in the border of Israel- Babylon and Assyria were located at the borders of the land promised to Abraham.
11:19 Sitting there in captivity, God offered His people a new covenant (:19,20,25 cp. Heb. 10:16); they could have one mind between each other, and a heart of flesh. But Israel would not, and the whole offer was rescheduled and reapplied, so that it is now accepted by those who turn to Jesus Christ. Their being of “one heart” after baptism (Acts 4:32) was a direct result of their acceptance of this same new covenant which Judah had rejected. In our hearing of the offer of the new covenant, we are essentially in the position of those of the captivity, hearing Ezekiel’s words, and deciding whether or not to believe it- or just continue to be obsessed with just trying to make the best of a rather dumb life.
11:22-24 When the cherubim lifted up, so was Ezekiel lifted up. Judah should have left Jerusalem when the Spirit told them to; and they should have upped and left Babylon when the Spirit told them to. But they were out of step with the Spirit, despite Ezekiel’s acted parable of literally being lifted up and going where the Cherubim went. The equivalent of this for us is surely our sense of doing all for God’s glory, of having this as the final deciding factor in all our decisions.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLS5p8XXMl8
commentary:
12:3 See on 3:7.
Perhaps they will consider- The Hebrew word ulay, 'perhaps', is significant in revealing how much God has given us freewill; for we are invited to understand that maybe God limits His foreknowledge so that He didn’t ‘know’ whether they would “consider” or not. He speaks the same way in Is. 47:12; Jer. 26:2,3; 36:3,7. This ‘uncertainty’ of God as to how His people will respond to His word reflects the degree to which He has accommodated Himself to our kind of time. It has huge implications for us. With what eagerness must God Almighty look upon us as we sit down to read His word daily! 'Are they going to listen? How are they going to respond…?'.
12:22-25 The desolation of Israel by the invaders was repeatedly foretold by the prophets. The message was continually mocked by the false prophets, who claimed inspiration from God to claim that the day of judgment had been endlessly delayed. They also belittled the predictions made by true prophets like Ezekiel, spreading their ideas until it became a common joke that Yahweh's prophets kept speaking of a coming day of the Lord that never came. But God's reply here was clear. The similarities with the last days leading up to AD70 are clear- the prophetic word was likewise mocked with the taunt “Where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Pet. 3:4). The true word of God regarding the coming day of the Lord was mocked; a belief that "the days are prolonged" led to the conclusion that "every prophetic vision fails", as the thought that "my Lord delays his coming" (Mt. 24:48) resulted in a lack of faith in the word of promise. Christ’s statement that "all shall be fulfilled" at His coming (Lk.21:32) matches the assurance given here that "every vision" would be fulfilled when the day came. Those within the people of God at Ezekiel's time who were expressing such doubt were matched by some within the body of Christ in the first century. Clearly they must have their latter day counterparts.
12:25 ‘Yahweh’ can mean ‘I who will be’. Because He is, and He will be, therefore the words of the 'I will be', really will be. His very Name is the utter guarantee that His word for us will be fulfilled.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tphPyjfK8g
commentary:
13:5 God is so sensitive to prayerfulness. He condemns the leaders of Israel for not stopping the gaps or building the wall, i.e. interceding, for Israel. If only there had been a prayerful minority, God would have changed the whole course of His dealings with Israel. But petty materialism and small-mindedness was what stopped those leaders from doing their job.
13:9 Neither shall they enter into the land of Israel- Ezekiel seems to be writing this in the context of the first wave of captives taken to Babylon. The false prophets amongst them were saying that all would be well with Jerusalem (:16); whereas Ezekiel spoke on God’s behalf in revealing the sins going on there, and saying that because of them, the rest of Judah would be taken captive. Although it was God’s purpose to restore the captives to Judah, these false prophets would die in Babylon and not return there. This kind of thing has gone on from the time of the serpent in Eden- questioning God’s word, and saying what others would like to hear as if it is from God.
13:11 You, great hailstones, shall fall- Note the sudden change of pronoun. This is an example of how God personally addresses the natural creation. He may be speaking to the Angels who control it, and yet there is also the sense within the Bible that God is somehow in conscious, active dialogue with the natural creation, and hasn’t merely left it ticking on mindless clockwork.
13:18 Any attempt to manipulate or get power over other people within God’s family, be it done consciously or unconsciously, should be outlawed for us by the simple consideration that they are in fact God’s people and not ours.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLpYHUosQA8
commentary:
14:7 People who were worshipping idols in their hearts still wanted to come and hear God’s word from the prophet. Like those people, we are tempted to worship the true God as well as idols, rather than making a clean break. People come to God’s word as it now is in the Bible, but they are confused by God in the message they hear from it because they come to His word with idols in their hearts. Mere Bible reading won’t make us righteous; the attitude of mind we bring to it is all important. If we come with idols in our hearts, then reading God’s word will lead us yet further from God.
14:9 Clearly God is capable of deceiving people, and at times He even uses His word as the medium through which He does so. We can never be passive in our relationship with God, nor stand still in our journey with Him. He is constantly active through His word to lead us either closer to Him or further away from Him.
14:14 Noah, Daniel, and Job- Each of these men delivered others by their intercession and personal righteousness. Noah delivered his family, Daniel his people, and Job his friends. God is willing to save people for the sake of a third party, but there clearly has to be some base level of spirituality in the person. By Ezekiel’s time, there wasn’t even that.
14:22 See on 5:13.
The evil that I have brought- God and not some cosmic ‘Satan’ being is the One who brings “evil” in the sense of calamity against people. See on Is. 45:5-7.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHCQRI8P8tU
commentary:
15:5 There in Babylon they were as the vine tree, burned up and fit for no work; and yet, still used to perform God’s work, by grace alone. And these men were truly types of us. Even before they were burnt up, the vine tree of God’s people wasn’t good for any work (:3), and had no superiority over the other trees (:2). God’s people aren’t better, of themselves, than the peoples around them; we’re not good at works, even if we think we are; the way God uses us is a reflection of pure grace, and how He delights in using the humanly worthless and useless to do His work.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhFx-9WnpZM
commentary:
16:5 This is very much the language of Isaac’s half brother Ishmael, ancestor of many of Israel’s enemies (Gen. 21:10-16). Israel were no better than the Gentile world, just as they are today not inherently better than their Arab cousins, and as we in essence are no better than the world around us. It’s God’s calling, which is by grace alone, which makes all the difference.
16:8 God found Israel in the wilderness, covered them with a cloud (cp. His ‘skirt’) at Sinai, and there entered a covenant with them.
16:10 This alludes to the materials used for the tabernacle and priestly clothing. The intention of all that legislation, as with all God’s Law, is to make us beautiful in His eyes.
16:13 You ate fine flour, honey and oil- A reference to the priests eating these offerings. The whole people of Israel are spoken of here as if they were priests; it was God’s intention that the whole nation should become priests (Ex. 19:6). We as the modern people of God are likewise all intended to be priests (1 Pet. 2:9), taking spiritual responsibility for others rather than leaving it to a dedicated minority of the community.
16:20 Our children are born to God; we’re not therefore free to raise them as we wish, but as He wishes, because they are His children.
16:37 The metaphors used to describe the anger of God with Israel are pretty awful. Her children to be slain with thirst, she was to be stripped naked by her husband (Hosea 2), gang raped by her lovers, having her nose cut off and left a battered, bleeding mess in the scrubland (Ez. 16,23), to have her skirt pulled up over her head and her nakedness revealed (Jer. 13:20-27), wishing to pluck off her own breasts for shame (23:34). Jerusalem is to be raped, violated and humiliated, according to Ezekiel. Indeed, Ezekiel’s images verge at times on what some would consider pornographic. He speaks of the woman Israel’s pubic hair, breasts, menstrual cycle (:7,9,10); the gang rape by her enemies which God would bring about, leaving her mutilated and humiliated (:37; 23:22-49); about the size of her lovers’ sexual organs and coital emissions, and how she let them fondle her breasts (23:8,20). This is shocking language, which perhaps we skip over in our Bible reading from sheer embarrassment- and we are modern readers brutalized by exposure to this kind of stuff in the media. For early Israel, it would all have been even more shocking. It all seemed out of proportion to having ‘merely’ made a few political alliances with Egypt and Assyria. Was that really like a wife letting other men fondle her breasts and have sex with her, admiring their bodies as she did so? Did it all have to end in such brutality and vulgarity? Today, sex and violence are what attract attention. From lyrics of songs to advertising and movies, that’s clear enough. And the prophets are using the same tactics to arrest Israel’s attention, all the more so because nudity and sex were things simply not up for public discussion. There’s an anxiety which any talk about sex seems to arouse in us, and it was the prophets’ intention to make us likewise get on the edge of our seats, anxious, rapt, sensitive for the next word… realizing that really and truly, this is what human sin does to God. The outrageous sex talk was to bring out how outrageous and obscene are our sins and unfaithfulness to the covenant we cut with God in baptism. The shocking sexual language and imagery of the prophets was in order to help Israel see that this was how far they had outraged God. It was and is a rhetoric that cannot be forgotten, shrugged off, re-interpreted. The rhetoric pushes relentlessly for a response in our consciences.
16:49 This was the iniquity… fullness of bread- The “fullness of bread” was itself a sin. Hoarding wealth when others are poor and needy is “iniquity”.
16:50 The abomination of their sexual perversion is placed last in the list of their sins, as if to emphasize that all the other sins were just as much sin. Likewise Paul writes to the Corinthians about their failures, but he doesn’t start where I would have started- with their drunkenness at the memorial meeting. Instead he starts off with their disunity. Those things which we may consider as lesser sins, the Bible continually lists together with those things we have been conditioned into thinking are the greater sins. Clearest of all is the way Paul lists schism and hatred in his lists of sins that will exclude from the Kingdom. The worldviews of many societies have taught that sexual sin is so infinitely far worse than a bit of argument within a church, or ignoring others’ poverty. But is this really right…?
16:51 This statement that Judah (the two tribe Kingdom) sinned more than Israel (the ten tribes) needs some meditation upon; God really did lavish grace upon the weakest of the weak.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xCz4uLOvFE
commentary:
17:3 Great eagle- Nebuchadnezzar; Full of feathers –Many subject peoples; Various colours- Various nations within the Babylonian army and confederacy.
17:4 The topmost of the young twigs- The princes of Judah taken to Babylon.
17:5 The seed of the land-  Zedekiah. Planted it in a fruitful soil- Set up as King of Judah, supported by Babylon.
17:6 A vine of low stature- Judah under Babylonian control could never become a high nation; her roots tended towards Nebuchadnezzar for all support.
17:7 Another great eagle- Pharaoh-hophra, king of Egypt. This vine bent its roots toward him- Judah broke their agreement with Nebuchadnezzar and sent to Egypt for help to rebel against Babylon.
17:8 That it might be a goodly vine- If Judah had accepted their domination by Babylon as a just punishment for their rebellion against Yahweh, God potentially had set up a situation whereby this could have been fruitful for His people. Wriggling out of our sins never brings the blessing God has prepared for those who accept their sins and the consequences of them.
17:9 Cut off its fruit- Zedekiah’s children killed. The leaves- Judah’s leadership.
17:15 Shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?- God’s people are held to be honest to the agreements they make with unbelievers, as well as their covenant with God.
17:22 A tender one- Messiah, the Lord Jesus (Is. 53:2), one of the twigs of the Jewish nation as Zedekiah had been, a Jew of our human nature.
17:23 The great tree speaks of Christ’s Kingdom, under which people from all nations would find refuge (Mk. 4:32).
17:24 The low tree which is exalted speaks of Christ; the dry tree which will flourish was understood by Jesus as a reference to Himself on the cross (Lk. 23:31). There, as also explained in Is. 53, He appeared to be a “dry tree”, a man dying without any children; but through that death, He flourished into many children, in us who have believed in Him and been born anew as God’s children.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSccyLTAwHk
commentary:
18:4 The Jews of Ezekiel’s time felt they weren’t bad people, but were unjustly suffering the effects of their fathers’ sins. The Hebrew word translated “soul” here has a wide range of meaning, but generally it refers to the human person. The person who sins will die. The soul therefore isn’t something inherently immortal. This is a pagan idea which has sadly been accepted by some Christian traditions.
18:14 Note the double usage of the word “sees”. He sees the sins, and then he really sees them, and doesn't do them. This is how we must be in our registering of the fact that sin really brings death. We can know that sin brings death as theory; and we can really know it.
18:20 This simple truth demonstrates that the idea of suffering because of the sins of another person in another life is simply not true; we are judged for our own sins and not those of others. This can also psychologically free a person from the tendency to apply to ourselves ‘guilt by association’ for others’ sins. However, it’s also true that we can suffer the effects of others’ sins, and the Bible contains examples of this, not least our suffering the effect of Adam’s sin. But we are personally judged only for our own sins. We need to draw this line very clearly in our self-examination; between the suffering we experience as a result of others’ dysfunctions and sins, and that which is in response to our personal sins.
18:22 Remembered against him- An implication that in some sense, at the day of judgment, there will be a ‘going through’ with the wicked of all their sins; whereas for the righteous, these will not be remembered and instead their good works will be recounted to them (:24). The parable of Mt. 25:36-44 says as much.
18:29 Working through the logic here, the answer to the ‘God’s not fair!’ syndrome is to reflect deeper upon our own sinfulness, and the simple fact that sin nets death.
18:32 God has no pleasure in punishing the wicked; rather do they punish themselves. He’s not some capricious deity who takes pleasure in using His omnipotence to make His opponents suffer. His dislike of punishing the wicked is proof enough that ‘hell’ doesn’t refer to any concept of eternal, conscious torment of the wicked; Biblically, sheol (the word translated “hell” in some Bibles) is the same word translated “the grave”. Death is the punishment for sin, not eternal torment.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N_kHjQNPf8
commentary:
19:2 The lioness represents Judah or Jerusalem.
19:3 She brought up one of her cubs- Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, whose father was conquered and killed by Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt.
19:5 Took another of her cubs- Jehoiakim, after Jehoahaz had been taken to Egypt (:4).
19:6 He went up and down among the lions- Jehoiakim acted like the leaders [“lions”] around him in the Gentile world.
19:11 A reference to Zedekiah and his sons; but Zedekiah became proud, was broken down by the Babylonians and Jerusalem was burnt (:12). Zedekiah comes over in Jeremiah as a weak man when it came to doing the right thing; it seems he wanted to obey God’s word through Jeremiah, but feared the opinion of the princes and that the Babylonians might abuse him (Jer. 38:19-24). However, this verse fills out the picture- his fear of the opinion of others was due to his pride. We may appear humble, but if we are only so because we are image conscious- then in fact we are proud.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nshjeDxcXQ
commentary:
20:3 Is it to inquire of Me?- We can come to God’s word in the Bible or bow in prayer before Him, but have our minds already made up, and not actually be seeking Him and His perspective at all. To truly “seek” God as we are often exhorted is not at all easy.
20:8 The degree to which righteousness is imputed to us is hard to feel. Dt. 32:12 states that there was no strange God with Israel- but here we read that they took the idols of Egypt with them, as confirmed in Acts 7:43. God counted wayward Israel as righteous after their Red Sea baptism (1 Cor. 10;1,2); at that time, as Balaam said, God did not see iniquity in Israel, nor behold the perversity that was in Jacob (Num. 23:21).
20:9 I made Myself known to them in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt- Our exodus from the world at baptism, which is our Red Sea (1 Cor. 10:1,2), is a witness to the world around us. Our conversion to Christ therefore cannot be unnoticed by the world, there must be a visible element to it.
20:12 A sign between Me and them- The Sabbath was a sign between God and Israel, not between God and Gentile believers today.
20:22 God swore that He would destroy Israel in the wilderness (:21); but God 'withdrew His hand', He took back this promise. Likewise God said He would destroy Israel in Egypt (:8). But He didn't (:9). Clearly enough God is willing to change His intended judgments of His people, so sensitive is He to their repentance and spirituality.
20:25 An example of how God confirms people in the downward spiral they choose. Likewise :26 implies that God led His people into idolatry in order to make them desolate.
20:34 The mighty hand and stretched out arm of God was available to bring Judah out of Babylon- but most of them preferred to stay there. The wonderful possibility of a new covenant (:37) went unrealized- to be deferred until the true Israel of God are gathered home in our last days.
20:37 The bond of the covenant- The Hebrew translated "bond" is literally a fetter, a tie that binds, that restricts. To be in covenant relationship therefore means that we are not free to do as we like; there is an element of regulation in our lives, but of course it has a purpose- to bring us to God's Kingdom and keep us within the sphere of relationship with Him. But a covenant is a two way thing. This tie that binds applies to God too; hence the wonderful, oft-repeated idea of His chesed, His covenant faithfulness to us His people. He likewise carries a kind of responsibility to us.
20:38 They shall not enter into the land of Israel - Ezekiel told the captives during the early stages of their captivity that the false prophets and "rebels" amongst them would receive the condemnation and judgment of not returning to the land (also in 13:9). And yet when the command came to return to the land, most of the people chose to remain in Babylon- and therefore they chose their own condemnation. They were a "rebellious house" (2:3). For they were aware from Ezekiel's words that not returning to the land was God's condemnation. Those who will not be in the Kingdom will be those who chose not to be there- all who truly love the Lord's appearing will be accepted (2 Tim. 4:8).
20:40 There will I accept them- As in :41. This ‘acceptance’ was to be when Judah returned from captivity, and the same word is found in 43:27 where a temple was to be built and sacrifices offered, “and I will accept you”. The intention clearly was that the temple was to be built upon Judah’s return from captivity; but they failed to live up to the wonderful potential enabled.
20:49 The fact that his audience disregarded and mocked his message was so hard for Ezekiel to endure. No true preacher of the Gospel hasn’t had the same feeling at times.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2bOvYBTI3M
commentary:
21:26 The mitre… the crown- The implication is that the King to be deposed was a King-Priest, as if the priestly and kingly lines had crossed in his genealogy. This points forward to the Lord Jesus.
Mary understood that through her conception, God had put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted them of low station in this life (Lk. 1:52). This clearly alludes to Ez. 21:26, where the princes are to be put down and him that is low is to be exalted, i.e. Messiah. But Mary felt that she had been exalted; thus she shared Messiah’s exaltation because He was in her and she in Him. We too are in Him, and we should feel something of the pride and joy, along with the suffering, that comes from that identification. She parallels her lowly estate with them of low station in this life (Lk. 1:48,52)- perhaps referring to her and Jesus? Yet despite all her undoubted spiritual perception in her song of praise, she didn’t have totally pure understanding. It seems from her allusion in Lk. 1:52 to Ez. 21:26 [the mighty being put down from their thrones and the humble one exalted] that she thought that Ezekiel’s prophesy about Messiah’s restoration of the Kingdom had already been fulfilled in her conception of Jesus. It could be that she was so sure that her child would one day do this that she saw the time of the coming of “Him whose right it is” as being right there and then; and yet we know that it is in fact still future.
21:27 The throne of the kings of Judah was to be no more until Christ, the rightful King of Israel, returns. He is the One who was low who has been exalted on high (:26). The triple ‘overturning’ could refer to the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem, the Roman destruction in AD70, and a final overturning of the city in our times, just prior to Christ’s return as King of Israel. Alternatively, the triple 'overturning' refers to the three invasions of Judah made by Babylon. The future Kingdom of Christ is to be a re-establishment of the Kingdom of God as it once was, based around Jerusalem. The return of Christ is spoken of as the restoration of that Kingdom in Acts 1:6, where the disciples are basically asking when this prophecy of Ez. 21:27 will be fulfilled.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drHMYqxboPk
commentary:
22:2 Judge the city of blood... cause her to know all her abominations- The purpose of judgment is to reveal sin to those being judged. We must face up to our sins, know them for what they are- either now, or in the process of rejection at the final day of judgment.
22:3 So that her time of judgment may come, and makes idols against herself to defile herself- Notice how the judgment and defiling were brought about by her own behaviour. Those who are condemned have condemned themselves (see :31).
22:9 Because gossip is such an epitome of the flesh, it is ranked here along with sins like fornication, idolatry and murder. Other scripture teaches that to hate your brother in your heart was and is as bad as murdering him (Mt. 5:22; 1 Jn. 3:15). Here, the connection is made between gossip and murder. To gossip against our brother is to hate him.
22:15 I will consume your filthiness out of you- This suggests that as the day of the second coming approaches, Israel will be progressively purged and moved closer and closer towards repentance. It is our duty to show them the Gospel so that they can make sense of their sufferings and see what those sufferings are intended by God to lead them towards.
22:22 This wrath of God was still ultimately constructive- because through the heat of the fire of His wrath, God intended to purge out the dross from His people, so that they might be saved. A very common tragedy in human experience is when people suffer terribly, and yet still don’t make the changes God intends. So much suffering, especially of Israel, has in this sense been in vain.
22:26 See on 42:20.
22:30 Even at this dire time of Judah’s weakness, God would have changed His entire program of judgment for the sake of just one man. But there was none, it seems Ezekiel himself wasn’t passionate enough even. Thus God says He has consumed them in His wrath (:31), whereas Moses ‘turned’ God from executing His wrath as He planned (Ps. 78:38; 106:23).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xLBb_zOFKA
commentary:
23:8 Neither has she left her prostitution since the days of Egypt- A reference to how Israel took the idols of Egypt with them through the Red Sea (16:8,9), just as we can take this world’s idols with us through the waters of baptism (1 Cor. 10:1,2).
23:11 Judah (the two tribe Kingdom) are portrayed here as more sinful than Israel (the ten tribe Kingdom), although the historical records in Kings and Chronicles suggest that Judah had more spiritual Kings than did Israel. We must conclude that occasional good leadership doesn’t therefore affect the entire community. Seeing relationship with God is so intensely personal, good leadership can only be of limited value, and it therefore shouldn’t be over-emphasized as the reason why a community are righteous or not.
23:14 Men portrayed on the wall- The context suggests this was some kind of visual pornography. There’s a lot of language in these verses which speak of her attraction to them visually. The impression is given of a totally superficial woman who became sexually obsessed- when married to God Himself. This is how we can become, unless we understand our covenant relationship with God to utterly preclude any other relationship.
23:19 Remembering the days of her youth– Israel’s memories and perception of their time in Egypt were very warped. It was a furnace of suffering for them, and yet they remembered fondly the food which the Egyptians ate (Num. 11:5), and the gods they worshipped. We need to understand our life before baptism for what it was, and not keep hankering after it.
23:22 Your lovers… from whom your soul is alienated- No illicit relationship can ever last, and the supposed love always turns to hate or alienation. Israel are the classic case- it was the nations whose gods she worshipped who came and destroyed her without mercy.
23:27 Your prostitution brought from the land of Egypt- It is repeatedly emphasized that Israel took Egypt’s idols with them (16:8,9 and elsewhere in this chapter). Yet Ezekiel is writing centuries afterwards. The faithless attitude Israel had when they left Egypt influenced their spiritual walk afterwards. How we start our walk with God is so important; and we should be very aware of this in raising children and in our attitude to new converts within the church.
23:34 Ezekiel speaks of how every act of idolatry was seen by God as the fickle wife of a faithful husband deceitfully liaising with another, worthless, man. And there is a similar shocking terror associated with our infidelities to the Lord who bought us for His own. The self-hatred of repentant Israel before they accept the new covenant is described with a purposefully terrible idiom: a woman plucking off her own breasts. These words must be seen in the context of Israel offering these parts of her body to the hands of the Gentiles (:3,8). And now, with her own hands, Israel would fain pluck off her breasts in realization of her degradation. This self-loathing must be part of every true repentance; for we too, in advance of Israel, ought to have repented a like repentance, and entered the very same covenant. Just reflect upon the self-loathing in repentance of 6:9; 20:43; Job 40:4; 42:6. This is how sin is serious. Alternatively, we can read this self-hatred as an Old Testament form of what Jesus repeatedly warned about- the “weeping and gnashing of teeth” which will be experienced by those rejected at the judgment seat (Mt. 8:12; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBSSDawJuho
commentary:
24:7 She set it on the bare rock- But :8 says that God made her do this with her blood, so that she would incite His wrath. Here we have an example of how God confirms people in the sin they choose to commit. There’s both a downward spiral and an upward one, we can never take a break from our spiritual journey, constantly we are being confirmed in the direction we choose.
24:12 Wearied herself with lies- The wearying with lies suggests that it was due to their listening to false prophets rather than the true word of God that the fire did not cleanse them.
24:16 The desire of your eyes- The implication is that Ezekiel dearly loved his wife and found her very attractive. Yet just as he so loved her, so Judah loved Yahweh’s temple (:21). We must realize that Judah weren’t atheists, they hadn’t rejected Yahweh. On one hand they loved Him, but they loved their other gods too.
24:23 The emphasis is very much on the psychological suffering of the condemned Israel. Ezekiel wasn’t allowed to weep, which is the natural expression of grief. It therefore bottled up within him, causing deep psychological pain; in order to present Israel with an illustration of how they would feel under God’s judgment. The punishment of the rejected at the final judgment will be “gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 24:51), which is again a picture of anger with oneself and internal torment at what might have been, the eternal future which they chose to miss. The wicked will not be punished with literal fire or torture; the internal psychological pain will be far worse. These pictures of condemnation are frequent in the Bible; not to scare us into submission, but to bring before us the eternal consequence of the decisions we take in this life, for the flesh or for the Spirit.
24:27 See on 29:21.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JZ2j37frNc
commentary:
25:11 They shall know that I am Yahweh- God judged nations in order that men might know Him as Yahweh (see too 28:22; 30:19). But did they? Often God states His intentions and wishes for people’s faith as if they have been realized. In this we can see the hopefulness of God, like the shepherd who searches for the lost sheep with the attitude that he will search until he finds it (Lk. 15:4). We should have this hopefulness in all our witnessing to others.
25:14 By the hand of My people Israel- The Law of Moses had commanded Israel not to hate Edomites (Dt. 23:7); so they were intended to carry out this judgment with no personal hatred, just as at times we have to.  Despite Josephus claiming that the Maccabees fulfilled this prophecy, Obadiah 21 speaks of how this judgment will be fulfilled in the last days around the second coming of Christ (cp. Is. 63:1).
25:15 For the old enmity- A reference to the Jacob:Esau hatred, which will finally be resolved in Jacob’s favour- by God’s grace alone.
25:16 The rest of the sea coast- The Hebrew word for ‘Philistine’ is the same as that now used for ‘Palestinian’; the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip are in exactly the geographical location spoken of here.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CevFPDG0Rw
commentary:
26:7 This speaks of how Babylon will surround and destroy Tyre. But this never happened in recorded history- it was done by Alexander and the Greeks much later. 29:17-20 explains that because the King of Babylon laboured so hard to take Tyre (even though he never actually succeeded) God would give him the land of Egypt as a reward. This doesn't mean that the word of prophecy failed. Rather does it mean that God is open to a rethinking of plans and futures in accord with human response. Although all the conditions for Tyre's fall and Babylon's victory against her aren't given, evidently there must have been such unrecorded conditions; and they weren't fulfilled, hence Tyre was spared destruction by the Babylonians, and yet they were 'rewarded' for their part in the situation. Nebuchadnezzar was God's servant, but God changed the terms and conditions of his labour. He would not conquer Tyre, but he was given Egypt instead. Is it that God changes His mind? Did someone (of whom there is no record) plead successfully for Tyre, like Lot did unsuccessfully for Sodom? Or did Tyre like Nineveh get to hear of this prophecy, and repent, so it didn’t happen? Or is Tyre yet to fall in some last days scenario? Or is it that God tells us something, only a piece of the future at a time, and then we get a fuller picture later on? We do not need to question God's prophesies. We can believe Him each time, and believe the changes He makes as well. Ezekiel has a lot of conditional prophecies- not least the last nine chapters with their description of the temple situation which could have come about if Judah had returned from exile and rebuilt the temple as God intended.
Another approach would be to reconsider our philosophy of history. In this age where science is assumed to have all the answers, the assumption is likewise made that the science of history is somehow complete. But primary sources for ancient history are limited; there are large gaps in ancient history, and primary sources may exist for some incidents which aren’t very significant on the larger canvass; and likewise major incidents are at times unnoticed in the sources currently available. So it’s possible that Nebuchadnezzar did do to Tyre as required by this prophecy, it’s just not recorded; and Alexander also destroyed the city later (this would require special attention to our note on 26:21 about the meaning of the phrase “no more be rebuilt”).
26:8,9 The references to making mounts against Tyre’s walls show that the “Tyre” referred to here isn’t any island fortification as claimed by some.
26:12 Lay your stones and your timber and your dust in the midst of the waters- Alexander the Great broke down Tyre and carefully laid the rubble in the water in order to build a causeway with which to reach the island castle of Tyre which still held out against him.
26:21 No more be rebuilt- This also may have been part of a conditional prophecy- see on :7. It could be that the Biblical Tyre wasn’t on the same spot as the city now known as “Tyre”. The Hebrew can bear the translation ‘Not be built any more’, meaning that the building which was then ongoing would end. The same grammatical construction is found in passages like Ex. 9:29, where Moses says that ‘As soon as I go out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord ... there will be hail no longer...’. This doesn’t mean that there would never be any hail ever again; it means that the current hailstorm would stop. Another example is in Neh. 2:17.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jStlOuc2NOw
commentary:
27:3 Perfect in beauty- Arrogant self-confidence, opulence, human beauty, human wisdom, praise and respect from others, power… all the things which people so strive after in our society were all obtained to their fullness by Tyre, and yet these are the very things which they were condemned for. Note how the prophets pointed out to Gentile nations their sins and failures before the God of Israel; sin is still felt by God as sin, even if it is committed by those not responsible to His final judgment. It must be so hard for God, feeling all this offence against Him. However, it was Jerusalem which was the city seen by God as “perfect in beauty” (Ps. 50:2); Tyre wasn’t simply boastful, but consciously wanted to take over from Jerusalem as God’s chosen city. They thought that their wealth and human advantage could buy for them status with God- as people do today. It was Tyre’s aspiration to replace Israel as God’s people which He found so upsetting- see notes on chapter 28.
27:17 Judah and the land of Israel- Ezekiel would’ve reflected that this list of good things from his own land was produced at a time of blessing on the land (Dt. 8:8; 32:14); for at his time, the land was desolate and not trading with Tyre. As a young Jew in Babylon, Ezekiel likely knew nothing of Tyre personally, and so the detailed list in this chapter is an example of Divine inspiration giving the Bible writers information which was beyond them personally to amass.
27:36 Never again- See on 26:7,21.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCzfPY8IVuo
commentary:
28:13-15 It is wrongly assumed that this refers to Satan once having been in Eden. But the words “devil” and “satan” do not occur in this chapter, nor in the rest of Ezekiel. The context shows this is a prophecy about the King of Tyre; the preceding chapter 27 is an oracle against Tyre, and now chapter 28 speaks specifically about the King of Tyre. Ezekiel chapters 27 and 28 clearly hold together as a literary unit. The city of Tyre and the King of Tyre are described in similar terms, e.g. "perfect in beauty" (compare 27:3 and 28:12; 27:16,17 with 28:13; 27:33 with 28:16). The passage plainly speaks of the King of Tyre, not anything that happened at the beginning of the world. It is commonly believed that Satan was thrown out of heaven into Eden, but this passage says that this person was in Eden before he sinned and was cast out when he sinned. The garden of Eden was on the earth, not in heaven (its boundaries are given in Gen. 2:8-14), therefore the casting out was not out of heaven. The person was to “die the death of the uncircumcised” (:10), but angels cannot die (Lk. 20:35-36). That a man is referred to is confirmed by :9 “you are man”. Verse 2 defines him as the “prince of Tyre”. The Hebrew word for “perfect” is applied to Noah, Abraham, Job and David (Gen. 6: 9; 17:1; Job 1:1; Ps. 18:23 & 25); it doesn’t imply a supernatural being. “You were in Eden” refers to where the king of Tyre was in place, not in time. Pharaoh and Assyria are similarly described as being like trees in Eden, and having these trees in awe of them (31:2,3,8,9,16,18). The trees in Eden are not to be taken literally, they represent the nations whom Pharaoh and Assyria conquered, possibly referring to the fact that they were all within the old geographical boundaries of the garden of Eden.  Eden was a geographical area on earth known to Ezekiel's readers- this is how it is used elsewhere in Ezekiel (27:23; 31:8,9; Is. 51:3; Gen. 13:10). 'Eden' was not understood as a historical reference to the garden of Eden in early Genesis, but rather to a known nation / region of Ezekiel's time. The sin of the King of Tyre is defined in :16-18 as dishonest accumulation of wealth. The sin in view wasn't some Angelic rebellion against God. The language of precious stones in :13,14 is an allusion to the stones set in the breastplate of the high priest of Israel (Ex. 39:10-14). Tyre was “on the holy mountain of God” (:14)- but this holy mountain is Mount Zion, Jerusalem here on earth (20:40). The prophecy of the fall of Tyre is being consciously framed to mirror the fall of man, e.g. in :2 “you are man”; “man” is Adam in Hebrew, as if God is saying to the prince of Tyre, “You are like Adam in this parable”. Verse 17 tells how he will be brought to the ground - as Adam had to return to the dust. The passage is often skim read, leading to the assumption that the King of Tyre is being likened to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, or to some Satan figure who fell from Heaven at that time. But careful reading shows that the King of Tyre is being likened to Adam in Eden, not to the serpent. Verses 14,16 sound like a reference to the King of Tyre as Adam: "I put a terrifying angel there to guard you… the angel who guarded you drove you away " (:14,16- this is also the reading of the G.N.B. and T.E.V.)
Another approach is suggested by archaeological discoveries in Tyre. A large cherub-sphinx with a king’s head and animal’s body set on a base of sculptured mountains was discovered, evidently a deification of a king of Tyre. With Hiram’s knowledge of the true God, it seems that subsequent Kings of Tyre came to put themselves in the position of God, seated between the cherubim on Mount Zion, in the same way as the king of Assyria effectively aspired to the same thing - Phoenician inscriptions have been uncovered calling the king of Tyre “Lord of the Heavens”. Even more amazingly, the jewels described in :13 were all found embedded in this sphinx-cherubim. The three jewels of the breastplate missing from the list in :13 were also missing from the sphinx. Inscriptions also describe Tyre as the “garden of God”, and reliefs of cherubim guarding Tyre as they did Eden have been found. Thus the king of Tyre had set up a blasphemous system of worship copying that of the temple and of Eden, with himself as God in the midst of it. "The king of Tyre" (:12) may be a reference to the Tyrian god Melkart ("King of the city"). Perhaps Tyre had installed a system of Yahweh worship similar to that which was in Jerusalem (perhaps a result of Hiram's relationship with Solomon and assistance in building Yahweh's temple)- but this had become mixed with the worship of Melkart. “You seal up the imitation” (:12) show how God was aware that this replica of His system of worship had been pushed by the king of Tyre as far as it could go. According to the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary: "This feeling of superhuman elevation in the king of Tyre was fostered by the fact that the island on which Tyre stood was called "the holy island" [Sanconiathon], being sacred to Hercules and Melkart, so much so that the colonies looked up to Tyre as the mother city of their religion". The city was thought of as rising from the waters like the rock-throne of God. This would explain why the King of Tyre is criticized for saying "I am a god, I sit in the seat of God " (:2). It would also explain all the allusions to Israelite worship- he was setting himself up as a rival to Zion, dressing himself in clothing featuring all the jewels in the High Priestly breastplate (Ex. 28:15-20); the word used for his "workmanship" with those jewels in :13 is used in Ex. 31:3,5; 35:31 of the workmanship of the tabernacle and associated garments. The King of Tyre claimed to be "perfect in beauty" (:12)- just as Zion was described earlier in Ezekiel in the same terms (16:14).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfrP27o8WkQ
commentary:
29:12 This prophecy of forty years could have been a provisional prophecy- see on 26:7,21. See too the note on 26:7 about the fact that ancient history has blank areas- perhaps this prophecy was fulfilled but there is no record of it.
29:17-20 See on 26:7.
29:21 I will give you the opening of the mouth in their midst- In the midst of the surrounding nations. But at the time of Christ’s return, when Israel repent and enter the new covenant with Him, they will remember all their past sins and never open their mouth any more because of their shame (16:63). They will be so ashamed that they will feel as if they can never open their mouth. But Yahweh will open their mouth, and they will witness. In some anticipation of this, Ezekiel as the “son of man” prophet, a representative of his people just as the Lord Jesus was to be, had his mouth shut in dumbness, and he only had his mouth opened when Israel came to know [to some degree] that “I am Yahweh” (24:27). In all these evident connections something marvellous presents itself. Those who feel as if they just cannot open their mouths in witness are the very ones whom the Father will use; He will open their mouths and use them exactly because they are ashamed of their sins! And so it should be with us.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G_QZTlQqzg
commentary:
30:2 The wailing and lamentation for the fate of Gentile nations, even those who had been enemies of God’s people, really shows how neither God nor Ezekiel had the slightest pleasure in the punishment of the wicked. God’s desire is to positively manifest and develop His Name; this is His focus, rather than hitting back against those who rebel against Him.
30:13 I will put a fear in the land of Egypt- God often punishes people by sending attitudes of mind upon them.
30:18 The day shall withdraw itself- A reference to the collapse of the meaning of time as we know it around the period of Christ’s return? This verse speaks of the time when Egypt comes to know the Lord through His judgments (:19)- and this must have some reference to the last days.
30:21 I have broken the arm of Pharaoh- One arm of Pharaoh had already been broken when Babylon defeated Pharaoh-Necho at Carchemish (Jer. 46:2) and took away from Egypt all her territory from the Nile to the Euphrates (2 Kings 24:7).  This breaking of Pharaoh’s arms one by one is likely because God wished them to repent after the first arm was broken. God doesn’t afflict just to be cruel, but because He has a purpose, to His glory.
30:23,24 The language of scattering amongst the nations after being attacked by a Babylon empowered by God is exactly the sort of thing the prophets said would happen to Israel. There is a Biblical theme that God’s people suffer the same judgments as the world, Egypt, if they act like the world. Hence we are warned to beware lest we be condemned with the world (1 Cor. 11:32). In our hearts and actions, there must be a chasmic difference between us and this world.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGFJXRYzsGU
commentary:
31:1 This was a month before Jerusalem was taken by the Babylonians. Judah were desperately hoping that Egypt would come to their rescue, and in this prophecy there is the clear message that Egypt like Assyria before them, like all human strength, is doomed to not ultimately save us. Judah were intended to learn from history- the apparently invincible Assyrian had fallen, so would Egypt. But our human tendency to live in an eternal present means that we tend not to learn the lessons of history; yet God’s word is full of history for us to learn from. Note how Is. 52:4 likewise parallels Egypt and Assyria.
31:3 God’s people Israel are likened to such a cedar (17:3), spreading out roots to the waters (Ps. 80:11). The implication is that Assyria wished to usurp Israel as God’s people and appropriated such language and imagery to themselves. It is God’s Kingdom which gives “a forest-like shade” (Mk. 4:32); but the kingdoms of men appear as fake imitations of God’s Kingdom; and it is our wisdom to perceive the difference.
31:6 Under its shadow- The smaller nations lived under the shadow of the superpowers like Egypt and Assyria, but they had eventually fled from under the shadow of Assyria (:12). Judah like us today are asked not to dwell under the shadow of such superpowers- in our day, perhaps insurance policies, savings, home ownership- but to dwell under the shadow of God’s invisible Angel-cherubim wings (Ps. 17:8; 91:4). For a small nation like Judah wedged at the time between the superpowers of Babylon and Egypt, this was a radical demand- to dwell at peace under the shadow of God’s care.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIvAhGpOvpA
commentary:
32:2 Take up a lamentation- Ezekiel and the faithful are being invited to as it were attend Egypt’s funeral and participate in the laments- rather than trust in her. We too, living as we do at the end of human history, can do the same- laying to eternal rest, in our own minds and faith, the pomp and the power and the pride of this world.
32:10 The prophesied judgment upon Egypt [a symbol of the world] included that the sun was to be made dark, and people would be “amazed” at her. This is just what happened when Christ was crucified (Is. 52:14). The judgment of Egypt / the world had some elements of fulfilment in the ‘judgment of this world’ which occurred through the cross (Jn. 12:31). The crucifixion of Christ declared all worldly strength to now be nothing compared to the power of God’s love toward us.
32:18 Cast them down- This was the power of the word of prophecy. What Ezekiel said on God’s behalf was as good as done.
32:26 Meshech, Tubal- At the time of this prophecy, these nations had already passed off the scene. They were Scythian tribes who were much feared in the area. Yet we read of them in 38:2 as coming to invade Israel and being destroyed by dramatic Divine intervention. This seems to be a prophecy of the last days, suggesting that the political and military situation around Israel at the time of the Babylonian invasion will be seen again in the last days. The current trends in the Middle East show this coming about. Another possibility is that the sequence of events intended in chapters 37-40 simply didn’t happen because of Israel’s failure [restoration of Israel, invasion by the Scythian tribes, the destruction of that invasion by Divine intervention and the establishment of God’s Kingdom based around a renewed temple in Jerusalem]. The Scythian tribes like Meshech and Tubal passed off the scene, but not in the dramatic way envisaged in chapter 38; instead the prophecy will be fulfilled in the last days.
32:26-30 gives a picture of the mighty warriors of the nations around, lying in their graves. This refers to the custom of burying warriors with their weapons, and resting the head of the corpse upon its sword. Yet this is a description of Sheol, the word translated in some Bibles “hell” - the grave. These mighty men lying still in hell (i.e. their graves) hardly supports the idea that hell is a place of fire. Physical things (e.g. swords) go to the same “hell” as people, showing that hell is not an arena of spiritual torment. Note how Sheol is often paralleled in this chapter with “the pit”, clearly referring here to the mass graves of the once mighty soldiers.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E4Ozug6LdE
commentary:
33:4 If the sword come- Yet the context speaks as if the sword will surely come. But if the watchman warns the people, there arises an element of possibility- “if the sword come”. The implication is that God is willing to change the intended judgment if people repent (:11), as happened with Nineveh.
33:8 If we do not warn the wicked of their way, "his blood will I require at your hand". Some will have to give an account on judgment day of their specific lack of witness. Yet we can live day after day, saying nothing to our fellows, as if it doesn't really matter, because nobody notices… Not only our salvation but that of others can be limited by our exercise of freewill. If others' salvation is not to some extent dependent upon our preaching, then there is no meaning to the very concept of preaching.
33:10,11 Like so many an addict, so many a Christian, like Judas and Achan, like you and me, they had the sense of desire to come back to God, the detailed realization of wherein they had failed; but not enough real strength of purpose to seriously repent.
33:13 If he trust to his righteousness and commit iniquity- This is a warning to the righteous, that they will fall into sin if they trust their own righteousness. Good living believers fall into sin once they start trusting their righteousness. As Paul explains throughout Romans 1-8, we are saved by our faith in righteousness being imputed to us. God has arranged our salvation this way so that our belief in the fact that we aren’t righteous (for all our good living appearances compared to the surrounding world) will keep us humbly trusting in His righteousness being counted to us- and this is the mentality which leads us to not sin in practice.
33:31 Ezekiel's audiences loved to come and hear God's words at his mouth- and in response to them, "with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goes after their gain". Materialism stopped them from really accepting those words, even though they theoretically assented to their inspiration. Only in their condemnation would they know "that a prophet has been among them" (:33). And so there is a chilling choice: to really accept the power of inspiration now; or have to learn it through the process of condemnation when judgment comes.
33:32 They hear your words- God prophesied that those to whom Ezekiel witnessed would not hear His words (3:11). And yet they came and sat before him, desiring to hear God’s word. They wanted to hear, they heard, and yet they didn’t really hear. The prophets were like buskers singing songs in the subway, which we may listen to with half an ear, even admire them for a few moments, and then walk on in our busy lives. But the prophets were speaking forth the words of passionate love of God Almighty for His people…


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYmX27V-cPA
commentary:
34:4 Cause to return- The great restoration prophecies of Jer. 23:1-8 and Ez. 34:1-31 speak of the flock of Israel going astray due to bad shepherds, being saved by the good shepherd, being delivered / gathered, and then returning to the land. The Hebrew word shub means both 'to return' in the sense of returning to the land, and 'turning' in the sense of repentance (see :4,16 and frequently in Ezekiel). But these restoration prophecies are packed with allusion to the great shepherd Psalm 23. Here, David says that the good shepherd 'causes me to repent' (Ps. 23:3 Heb.). This is matched in Ez. 36 by the idea of God giving Israel a new heart. And the parable of the good shepherd (Lk. 15:1-7) brings together Ps. 23 and also these restoration passages, in speaking of how He goes out and finds the lost sheep and brings it back home. The sheep is found, and accepts being found- there is no actual mention of repentance. Thus the 'return' of Judah to their land was intended as a work of God- He would make them return, He would give them repentance [note how Acts 11:18 speaks of God granting men repentance]. This is all such wonderful grace. The even more incredible thing, though, is that Judah refused to accept this grace; they didn't 'return' to the land because they saw no need to 'return' to God. They willingly forgot that they were only in Babylon because of their sins; to 'return' to the land was a 'return' to God, which He had enabled. But they were like the lost sheep refusing to sit on the shepherd's shoulders, preferring to sit in a hole and die... and this is the warning to us. For truly, absolutely all things have been prepared for us to enter the Kingdom. It's only those who don't want to be there who won't be.
34:5 Scattered because there was no shepherd- Good leadership produces unity; disunity amongst the sheep is therefore a reflection of poor shepherding. They scatter because they aren’t fed by the shepherds and go elsewhere for food (:9).
34:11 I Myself, even I, will search for My sheep- The passage in John 10 where Jesus speaks of Himself as the good shepherd who seeks out God’s sheep is full of allusion to this chapter. When He says “I and My Father are one” (Jn. 10:30), He is speaking in this context of His being the shepherd on God’s behalf. This principle of agency, of operating on behalf of God in His Name, doesn’t mean that Jesus was God Himself in person, but rather that He manifested the Father, so that God’s shepherding was achieved through the person and work of Jesus.
34:20 Between the fat sheep and the lean sheep- The shepherds are here likened to fat sheep. Shepherds or pastors are themselves sheep and in that sense no different from those they are shepherding. This should result in an appropriate humility in all pastoral work.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dYAnVIZQ4w
commentary:
35:5 “Esau is Edom” (Gen. 25:30; 36:1). The reference here is to the hatred between Jacob and Esau which played itself out between their descendants. Bitter argument between family members of one generation can continue over many generations; one aspect of the sin of division and enmity is that it tends to continue after our time, or after the protagonists have resolved with each other, as Jacob and Esau did. And each generation, according to this prophecy, is held responsible for their part in any hatred against their brother.
35:10 The two nations refer to Israel [the ten tribes] and Judah [the two tribe kingdom]. As God “was there” in the land of Israel in their past, so when the Kingdom is re-established it will again be known that “Yahweh is there” (48:35). The future Kingdom on God on earth will be a re-establishment of God’s Kingdom as it earlier was in the form of Israel and Judah.
35:12 I, Yahweh, have heard- The extent of God’s knowledge is amazing. He consciously is aware of every thought, intention, implication and actual spoken word of every single person in the world, including Gentiles like Edom.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tx5n_JrOew
sermon: https://youtu.be/Z2FbVpRKY9Q
commentary:
36:13 You are a devourer of men- This prophecy is given to the physical land of Israel. It seems the captives in Babylon didn’t want to return after the 70 years because they felt the land itself was somehow evil and would devour them. This is a similar mistake made by Israel in the wilderness, who slandered God’s land rather than accepting it was a land of blessing. Being influenced by worldly superstitions and fears can lead God’s people to reject the hope of His Kingdom, and prefer to remain in the world rather than taking possession of the good Kingdom prepared for them. But God worked with Judah in their misunderstanding- He promises that from now on, the land will not be like that (:14). This is rather like how in New Testament times, Jesus worked with the wrong ideas people had about demons, and demonstrated that even if this was what they feared, they were actually of no power compared to the inbreaking of God’s Kingdom power which was possible for those who believed.
36:15 Neither shall you cause your nation to stumble any more- The Jews blamed the high places of the land of Israel for having bereaved them of their children (:13) and having made them stumble; but it was in fact they who had chosen to go up to the high places, build altars there for false gods, and sacrifice their children to them. God doesn’t specifically correct them, although He privately explains the real situation to Ezekiel (:17,18); rather He works through that wrong idea, supposing for a moment it were true, but assuring the people that this will no longer be the case- just as Jesus did by using the language of demons when He did healing miracles, without specifically stating the basic truth that demons in fact don’t exist.
36:27 Cause you to walk in My statutes - Entering the new covenant which God here proposed to His people involved Him promising to make them be obedient to His ways. We who have entered this same new covenant (Heb. 8:8-13) are likewise party to this same operation of God on human hearts- if we want it.
36:27-29 A new spirit was potentially given to the exiles who returned from Babylon, God put in the heart of men like Nehemiah to revive the work (Neh. 2:12 same Hebrew word). But this didn’t force them to be obedient. They chose not to be, and so the promised kingdom blessings of corn etc. were replaced by famines in the times of Nehemiah, Haggai and Malachi.
36:33 This says that although Judah had profaned God’s Name in Babylon, yet He would sprinkle their hearts by grace and make the new covenant with them; and then, “In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited”. But in recorded history, there was no apparent connection between Judah’s forgiveness and the rebuilding of the land. God enabled the exiles to return and rebuild the cities even though they didn’t repent; such was His grace and urgent desire to give His spiritually weak people the Kingdom He had potentially prepared for them. We can take strong encouragement from this.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byOynBDKZyA
sermon: https://youtu.be/gLgylcl9KSk
commentary:
37:5 I will cause spirit to enter into you- This is an amplification of 36:27, where God explained His plan to make a new covenant with the returning exiles from Babylon. His Spirit would enter them and He would “cause” them to be obedient to His covenant, and they would return to the land and rebuild it. The dry bones represent Israel and Judah in their captivity, spiritually dead and thinking they were too far gone for God to revive them. God’s plan was to revive them and return them to His land and for them to rebuild God’s Kingdom there. But only a few returned from exile, and they were more interested in building up their own kingdom and houses than God’s Kingdom and house. The return from exile therefore featured some small fulfilment of the potential which is outlined as possible in chapters 36 and 37. The return of Israel to their land, arising as it were out of the death camps of Europe to rebuild and make fertile the neglected land of Israel, was likewise a small fulfilment of these prophecies- perhaps in the 1940s and 50s, as at the return from exile, there could also have been the fuller fulfilment of this chapter. But again, there wasn’t the all important turning to God in spirit and truth. It seems we must await yet further persecution to lead Israel to return to their land in repentance and faith in Christ, and then the promised Kingdom conditions will come about.
37:7 The sound of the cherubim Angels which Ezekiel heard was like the noise of an earthquake (3:12). Those two Hebrew words, for "noise" and "earthquake", occur here in 37:7, when he hears the "noise" of "shaking" or earthquake as the bones of Israel in exile come together by the spirit / Angelic operation of Yahweh. The Spirit came from four places (:9)- just as there were four cherubim. As the sound of the cherubim was as of a great army (1:24), so revived Israel stood up as a great army (:10).The Angel cherubim would work with God's disillusioned and broken people to revive them, so that they would become like the guardian Angels of Israel above them. The point was that the Angel cherubim system which Ezekiel had seen at work amongst the captives was able to gather them together, and give life to the nation. And yet that didn't happen to those exiles- because they didn't walk in step with the spirit.
The Hebrew word for “noise” here is the same word used in Ezra 1:1 about the “proclamation” of Cyrus for Judah to return to the land. Most of God’s people didn’t return; the majority preferred to stay in Babylon. Therefore the prophecy was deferred in fulfilment until our times; the tragedy is that so much was potentially enabled at the time of Cyrus’ decree, and Judah made such little use of it.
37:11 These were the very sentiments of Jeremiah in Lamentations, and those who wept by the waters of Babylon when they remembered Zion.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySZxReUSPCw
commentary:
38:2 Gog is an individual, not a nation; he is portrayed as the singular leader of a confederacy of Scythian tribes, several of whom have been mentioned previously in Ezekiel and were known at the time.
38:5 Persia, Ethiopia and Libya- These areas don’t exactly correspond to the areas bearing those names today. But clearly they refer to a group of people from what is now Iran and north Africa.
38:8 The invasion is to come against Israel after the Jews have returned to the land from many nations and are dwelling there confidently and in material prosperity (:11,12).  In the prophetic schema which God had made potentially possible, the exiles were intended to return in faith and repentance, rebuild the land and temple and receive great material blessing from God. If that had happened, there would then have been this invasion outlined in chapter 38, dramatic Divine intervention (chapter 39) and then the re-establishment of God’s Kingdom based around a rebuilt temple and the returned glory of God in Zion as detailed in chapters 40-48. But Israel failed in all this, and so the prophecies will have a re-scheduled and re-applied fulfilment in the last days before Christ returns. The nations and tribes mentioned are from the areas today occupied by the Islamic enemies of Israel. The fact there is a nation of Jews in Israel is also an encouragement that the Middle East situation is moving towards the time of fulfilment of this prophecy.
38:11 This dwelling securely sounds like the time of Messiah’s Kingdom described in 37:24-27. Psalm 2 predicts a scenario where Christ is King in Jerusalem, surrounded by His enemies, whom He then goes out and destroys. There is no suggestion in Ezekiel 38 that the invasion is successful
38:13 “Young lions” is a term elsewhere used in Ezekiel to refer to leaders or princes (19:2,6; 32:2). The Hebrew of this verse could imply that these three nations notice that the seven others are going to take spoil from Israel, and decide to join in with them. This would bring the number of Israel’s invaders in this prophecy to ten- which is the number of horns of the beast which desecrates the land of Israel in the last days, and the number of surrounding nations who attack Israel according to Psalm 83.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxTawdSLDUw
commentary:
39:1 The emphasis of the prophecies is upon the individual leader of the confederacy. It seems there will be one specific, charismatic anti-Christ figure who leads the world’s opposition to Christ in the last days.
39:3 This speaks of the failure of military technology- a scenario we can well imagine in our times.
39:4 On the mountains of Israel- Here we see God’s grace; because the mountains of Israel were the high places where Israel had built altars to other gods and sacrificed their children to them. But in these very places, God would show Himself strong for His people.
39:6 Those who dwell confidently along the seacoasts- Maybe referring to the Palestinian enemies of Israel dwelling in the Gaza strip, confident because of some international body guaranteeing their safety?
39:9 The burning of wooden weapons and the cleansing of the land from dead bodies (:12- :16) was likely part of the scenario which was intended by God at the time of the return from exile, but Judah’s lack of commitment made this possible scenario not come true; the essence but maybe not the details of the prophecy will be fulfilled in the last days, when God finally intervenes to save His repentant people from their invaders and establish His Kingdom on earth.
39:17-20 This gathering of the birds of prey at Gog’s destruction is alluded to in Rev. 19:17, which draws a parallel between Gog and the confederacy he controls and the latter day false prophet and “the beast” (Rev. 19:19). The confederacy of tribes which bordered Israel spoken of in Ez. 39 therefore become “the beast” of the latter day prophecies. We can therefore expect this “beast” to refer to Israel’s neighbouring Islamic enemies in the last days.
39:29 For I have poured out My Spirit- Clearly the meaning is “I will pour out My Spirit”. Here we have one of many examples of where God speaks of future events as if they’ve already occurred, so certain is His word toward us (Rom. 4:17). Verse 8 outlined the same principle: “Behold, it has come, and it is done”.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-Nv8AE0C1U
commentary:
40:1 The return of the exiles from Babylon could have led to the re-establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth, replete with a Messiah figure and a temple according to the pattern showed to Ezekiel in Ez. 40 - 48. Parts of many of the prophets looked forward to this time, as did the restoration prophecies of Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Isaiah 40-66. All of these could have had their fulfilment in the return under Ezra, but this was disabled by the poor response to the call to return. Under Nehemiah and then even in Malachi’s time, these Kingdom prophecies could have had their fulfilment, but time and again Judah failed to live up to the necessary preconditions. In all this lies abundant exhortation for us; so much could happen but doesn’t, because of our failure to live out and fulfil prophecy... instead, like Judah, we tend to assume that the time for fulfilment will inexorably arrive some day, regardless of our effort. The details of the temple are to the micro detail. They were commands rather than predictions, for Judah to fulfil. Ezekiel 40-48 was intended as an architectural record of the 'old' temple upon which a new one was to be reconstructed.
40:29 Nehemiah did his very best to bring the potential Kingdom of God about by urging the people to repentance and conformity to God’s will, such was his perception of what was going on; that the re-establishment of God’s Kingdom was being limited by the apathy of his own people. No fewer than 24 times in Ez. 40-48 are we told that the temple was to be built by ‘measure’ (e.g. 40:3,5,10,21,22,24,28,29); and the same word occurs frequently in describing how Nehemiah gave various groups of Jews their own ‘measure’ in the work of rebuilding Jerusalem (Neh. 3:11,19,20,22,24,27). See on 48:31.
40:46 It could have been possible for the Messianic Kingdom to have been established at the time of the restoration, and these temple prophecies would fit perfectly into this context. Thus Ezekiel emphasised that the sons of Zadok were to organize priestly work in the temple (see too 43:19; 44:15; 48:11); Ezra, the leader of the initial restoration, was one of the sons of Zadok (Ezra 7:2). He was in a position to fulfil those prophecies, although the bulk of his brethren seem to have precluded this. Ezra was enabled to beautify the temple (Ezra 7:27), the very same Hebrew word used in Is. 60:7,9,13 about how God would “glorify” His temple with merchandise from throughout the Babylonian empire- all of which was willingly offered by Cyrus and Darius. Ez. 40-48 stress the “gates” dozens of times; and Nehemiah’s account likewise stresses many times the attention he paid to setting up the “gates”, as if he saw his work as fulfilling Ezekiel’s words. :42 speaks of the vessels to be used in the temple with the same Hebrew word used for the temple vessels which were brought out of Babylon back to Judah, in fulfilment of several of Isaiah’s ‘Kingdom’ passages (Ezra 1:6-11; 8:25-33 cp. Is. 52:11; 66:20).
The keepers of the charge- Judah were to keep the charges of God relating to His house. Nehemiah, seeking for Israel’s obedience to Ezekiel’s vision, tried to get them to “keep the charges” (s.w. Neh. 7:3; 12:9,45; 13:20). But soon, Judah complained that there was no benefit to them from having kept the charges (Mal. 3:14 s.w.). Partial obedience discouraged them from any further effort, because the fullness of blessing can only come from a way of life conformed to God’s Kingdom vision and life. This is why people get disillusioned with religion and lose even the true faith- because they seek for immediate benefit as a result of keeping a few highly specific aspects of God’s law, rather than willingly devoting their way of life to the realisation of His vision.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8Rk8a341CE
commentary:
41:5 These rooms around the temple were in Christ’s mind when He spoke of how in God’s house or temple, there are many rooms; and He has prepared one for each of us by His death on the cross (Jn. 14:2). It could be that He understood the temple as a spiritual house, and that the vision of 40-48 was going to be fulfilled in a more abstract, spiritual manner.
41:8 A full reed of six great cubits- See on 45:1.
41:26 There are many links between Solomon’s temple and that described by Ezekiel. The repeated stress on the cherubim / palm tree decor in both the records of Solomon’s temple and also Ezekiel’s encourages the idea that the prophesied temple was to be seen as a re-establishment of Solomon’s (1 Kings 6:29,32,35; 7:36 cp. Ez. 40:16,22,26,31,34,37; 41:18-20, 25,26). There were “thick planks” upon the porch of Solomon’s temple; and the same word is only used elsewhere in describing how this would feature in Ezekiel’s temple too (1 Kings 7:6 cp. Ez. 41:25,26). Even the “windows of narrow lights” (1 Kings 6:4) were to be replicated (Ez. 40:16; 41:16,26). Solomon’s system of “chambers” was likewise copied (1 Kings 6:5,8,16 cp. Ez. 41:5-11 same Hebrew word). The glory of Yahweh was to fill Ezekiel’s temple as it had done Solomon’s (Ez. 43:5 cp. 1 Kings 8:10). Both temples were to be ready for operation on “the eighth day” after their consecration (Ez. 43:27 cp. 1 Kings 8:66). Ezekiel’s temple was to be of a similar size to that of Solomon’s; see on 45:1.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAXeAzgtp_o
commentary:
42:16 Reeds- The problem is that the length of the reed isn’t specified. See on 45:1.
42:20 The new temple was "to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common"- alluding back to Ezekiel's earlier lament that Judah had not made that very separation (22:26). Time and again, the new system is described in terms which allude to the bad practices in the old system- e.g. the stress of 42:4 etc. that the doors of the new chambers were "toward the north" connects with how Ezekiel had earlier seen women weeping for Tammuz "towards the north" in the temple (8:14; 9:2).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDO8RuVnr3s
commentary:
43:5 The glory would have entered the house of God’s glory as it did at the inauguration of the first temple (2 Chron. 7:1-3). Ezekiel prophesied that ultimately the glory would fill the temple as it had done then (:4,5). But God’s prophesy of this in Is. 60:7, that He would glorify His house, meant that He was prepared to work through men to glorify it. The fulfilment of Ezekiel’s vision of the cloud of glory entering the temple again could have been fulfilled if the exiles had done what Cyrus empowered them to do- to glorify the house of glory. And so the fulfilment was delayed. The glory of the temple the exiles built was tragically less than the glory of the first temple; and so it would only be in the last day of Messiah’s second coming that the house shall truly be filled with glory (Hag. 2:3,7,9). And the lesson ought to be clear for us, in the various projects and callings of our lives: it becomes crucial for us to discern God’s specific purposes for us, and insofar as we follow His leading, we will feel a blessing and power which is clearly Divine.
43:8 How close God was ought to have made them quit their idolatry. But their cognizance of the closeness of God was merely theoretical. They didn't feel nor respond to the wonder of it. And truly, He is not far from every one of us.
43:10 Ezekiel showed Judah the general picture of the temple; if they were obedient, then God promised to give them more details so they could build it in reality. There is a congruence between the style of address found in Ez. 40-48 and the earlier part of the prophecy. This is because Ezekiel is addressing the same audience- those who had heard his criticisms and appeals for repentance were the same group who were now being commanded to build a temple according to the dimensions given. Thus "You shall tell the rebellious house of Israel..." (44:6) is the same rubric used earlier (2:5; 3:26; 12:2,25; 17:12; 24:3). The new temple was "to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common" (42:20)- alluding back to Ezekiel's earlier lament that Judah had not made that very separation (22:26). Time and again, the new system is described in terms which allude to the bad practices in the old system- e.g. the stress of 42:4 etc. that the doors of the new chambers were "toward the north" connects with how Ezekiel had earlier seen women weeping for Tammuz "towards the north" in the temple (8:14; 9:2). Ezekiel himself was to provide the sons of Zadok with a bullock for a sin offering (43:19), as if he himself could have been present in the work of the building and dedication of this temple. Ezekiel himself, as a priest, was to inaugurate the altar by sprinkling blood upon it and making an offering (43:20-25). Ezekiel’s temple prophecies are described as “the law of the house” (43:12). They were a law, a commandment to be fulfilled. This explains the commandment style of the instructions, e.g. 44:2: “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened”. The description of Ezekiel's Temple was to be given to the captives in Babylon by Ezekiel, to lead them to repentance and to assure them of what could be if they repented. Then when the invitation to leave Babylon and return came in the time of Ezra, they ought to have been motivated to return to the land and build the temple which Ezekiel had explained to them. But sadly most of them weren’t very deeply motivated at all; they wanted to build a temple, but not to the extent Ezekiel had outlined. The intention was that then, when the temple was built (:11), they were to be obedient in all the ways in which they hadn’t been obedient in the past, with the result that they were now sitting in captivity (44:24).
43:19 This suggests the temple could have been built within Ezekiel’s lifetime, for he was to give the animals to the sons of Zadok to offer in the temple; Ezekiel was to prepare the daily sacrifice (46:13). But due to the Jews’ selfishness and lack of spirituality, it didn’t happen. This accounts for the many links between the Ezekiel prophesies and prophets like Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. What was theoretically possible, what potentially could have been, simply wasn’t- because of their self-centredness and lack of effort. The prophecy of Ezekiel 40-48 was therefore primarily command rather than prediction. This was how it should have been, but the Jews failed to obey it all. They were minimalists, satisficers, rather than rising up to their full potential.
43:21 Nehemiah built ‘Miphkad’, “the Muster Gate” (Neh. 3:31 RSV), the “appointed place” [same Hebrew word]; he really tried to fulfil this command of 43:21. See on 40:29; 48:31. But one man’s obedience couldn’t in this case count for the whole people.
43:27 See on 20:40. If Judah resumed building the temple according to Ezekiel’s plan, “I will take pleasure” in it, God offered (Hag. 1:8). They should be more committed to building the temple “that I may appear in my glory” (RSV). The glory of Yahweh as described at the end of Ezekiel could have appeared in Haggai’s time- but this wonderful possibility was held back by Israel’s petty minded, self-satisficing laziness. The same word is used here in 43:27- then, when the temple of Ezekiel was built, Yahweh would “accept / take pleasure in” His people and temple. But because they built and served Him with such a mean spirit, He did not “accept” them at that time (Mal. 1:10,13 s.w.).
I will accept you- This is to be connected with the prophecy of 20:41, that God would accept His people when they had been regathered from Babylon.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBzCuhQHrIU
commentary:
44:2 The priests were to shut the gates (44:2; 46:2,12); but the returned exiles in practice refused to do this unless they were paid for it (Mal. 1:10). The potential set up simply wasn’t realized because of petty selfishness.
44:6 Let it suffice you- These words are picked up from the LXX by Peter, and applied to all of us in 1 Pet. 4:3: “For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles” (Gk.). The temple vision should have made them ashamed of their sins (43:10,11). It should have motivated them to live the Kingdom life in their lives. Ezekiel’s prophecies should have been an inspiration to Israel to be obedient and live out these things as a reality before them, and thereby see other prophecies come true in their own experience. They could have entered upon an upward spiral of spirituality. The form of the house, the very description of it by Ezekiel, should have inspired them to feel that they had had enough of sin.
44:7 The house was not to be profaned, the covenant wasn’t to be broken. Judah returned from exile, built a temple, but profaned the Sabbath (Neh. 13:17,18), and profaned the temple by their marriage with Gentiles and their “weariness” with the temple ordinances (Mal. 1:12; 2:10,11). They got bored with the things of the Kingdom, and so they had no part in it. Judah broke covenant [s.w.] with Yahweh at the time of the restoration by marrying Gentiles and worshipping their gods (Ezra 9:1,14). We can externally appear obedient, as Judah did by building a temple, but our hearts can be far from the things of God’s covenant. By doing this, Judah precluded the possibility of all that is spoken in Ez. 40-48 from being fulfilled at that time.
44:9 The temple was primarily for the worship of Israel, “the people of the land” (45:22; 46:3,9), not for the whole world- no uncircumcised were allowed to worship in it.
44:31 There are many details in Ez. 40-48 which seem very hard to apply to a future Kingdom under the rulership of Jesus. The offering of animal sacrifices in order to gain forgiveness seems to flatly contradict the teaching of Hebrews concerning the one time nature of Christ’s offering. The existence of animals who will have been “torn” by other animals seems hard to square with the Kingdom prophecies of Isaiah 9 and 11 about the animals living at peace with each other. The language used about “the prince” also seems impossible to understand about an immortal being. The whole prophecy was a command for the returning exiles from Babylon rather than prediction of the future. If we insist that every part of Ez. 40-48 is going to have a literal fulfilment in the Millennium, then we have to accept that Jesus will accept divorce and remarriage in His Kingdom- it’s just that the priests won’t be able to marry divorcees, but others will (44:22).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mssCbdWock
commentary:
45:1 The problem is that the Hebrew text strangely omits the measurement unit. The “oblation”  would be about 60 miles square if we measure it in “reeds” as some Bibles assume, although this term isn’t in the Hebrew text here; if the “reed”  is “six great cubits” as defined in 41:8, then this area would encroach either upon the Mediterranean or the Dead Sea, and it seems contextually more likely that a smaller area measured in cubits is intended, which would make the temple similar in dimension to Solomon’s temple (see on 41:26). If measured in reeds, this large area somewhat disrupts the distribution of land amongst the tribes as detailed later in Ezekiel. If the missing measurement unit here is cubits and not reeds, it is likely that it is in the dimensions of the temple itself. The are described here in 45:1 is to be “the length of twenty five thousand”. The following verse speaks of cubits as the measurement unit. Only the context can decide whether cubits or reeds is meant in many of the Ezekiel passages. If it is going to be thousands of reeds, then it would be over one mile square. However, Jer. 30:18 RSV prophesies that “the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall be where it used to be”. And passages as varied as Zech. 1, Ps. 68 and Micah 4 all insist that the temple of the restored Kingdom was to built within the city of Jerusalem. If the temple is 500 reeds square, there will be no room for a city, assuming the city will be of the same size as the previous old city of Jerusalem.
45:8 The princes were not to oppress the people as they did in the recent past (45:8 cp. Jer. 22:3; Ez. 18:7,12,16; 22:7,29; Zeph. 3:1, where the same Hebrew word for “oppress” is found). Thus there was to be repentance for the ‘oppression’ which Ezekiel had earlier had to criticize Israel for. They were to have “just” balances (45:10), as opposed to the “unjust” balances which they had in the lead up to the captivity (Jer. 22:13 Heb.). In the past, they had brought strangers into the temple; but in the new system, they were not to do so (44:7 cp. 9).
45:16 “The people of the land” were to have a part in the new system of things (45:16,22; 46:3,9), and yet this very phrase is repeatedly used concerning the Samaritan people who lived in the land at the time of the restoration with whom Judah intermarried and whose gods and language they accepted (Ezra 4:4; 10:2,11; Neh. 9:24; 10:30,31). God’s intention was that they should eventually be converted unto Him; it was His intention that Ezekiel’s temple be built at the time of the restoration under Ezra. And yet Zech. 7:10; Mal. 3:5 criticize the Jews who returned and built the temple for continuing to oppress these strangers / Gentiles. So much was made possible potentially that never happened, because of Judah’s short sightedness and failure to grasp it. The same is true in the lives of God’s people today.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xd0bWHVZ_c
commentary:
46:11 “The prince” of 21:27 was Judah’s last ruler- so “the prince” later in Ezekiel would appear to be a promise of a restored monarchy. Yet tragically, the royal family chose to remain in Babylon. “The prince” offers as He is able (:11)- hard to apply to the Almighty Lord Jesus. He offers sacrifice for his own sin, and has children, to whom He will pass an inheritance. And he has to be warned not to oppress the people (:18). It is a more comfortable interpretation to see him as primarily referring to Zerubbabel or Joshua the High Priest (44:3). It is evident from 46:3 and 44:3 that the promised Messiah figure was to be both a king and a priest- which would fit Joshua. Those men could have been so much; but their dysfunctions meant that what had been potentially prepared for them didn’t come true. The very same happens in the lives of so many of God’s people. We must pray for wisdom to understand what God intends for us, and have the faith to realize that we really can realize it in our lives. Zechariah concluded his prophecy about this Messiah figure with the comment that it would come to pass, if he would diligently obey the voice of the Lord (Zech. 6:10-15). Joshua-Jesus didn’t live up to it. And Zerubbabel never ruled in Jerusalem- he returned to the soft life in Babylon after the temple was rebuilt. But the prophecies suffered a deferral. They will in a broad sense be fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the branch, although the specific details were the commands which God intended the Messiah figure of Ezekiel’s time to fulfil and as such may not have to be literally fulfilled in any future reapplication of this prophecy.
46:12 One shall open for him the gate- David in his humility aspired to be such an anonymous gatekeeper in God’s temple (Ps. 84:10). And yet “the prince” is defined as being “David” (34:24; 37:25). He was the prince exactly because he wished merely to the anonymous gatekeeper who would open the doors for the prince. In this we see the classic illustration of Christ’s teaching that true greatness is in humility; He will be the highest in the Kingdom because in this life He debased Himself lowest (Mt. 23:12; Mk. 9:35; 10:44).
46:13 See on 43:19.
46:18 They had gone into captivity for these kinds of abuses, and they were to return and rebuild the temple after the pattern of Solomon’s, repent of their sins and live righteously, and then they would have the possibility of bringing in the Messianic Kingdom. But they chose to be satisfied with a semi-revival, a quasi repentance- just as we can be so easily. And Nehemiah records how the princes did oppress the people, taking their land / possessions away from them.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-wK-WUNDPQ
commentary:
47:12 This is alluded to in Rev. 22:2,14, where the future Kingdom of God on earth is spoken of as having a tree or forest of trees of life, giving healing to the nations each month. Again we see that the essence of Ezekiel’s vision will come true, but maybe not the exact details, which were tailored to Judah’s possible experience on return from captivity.
47:13 The restored Kingdom of God could have come when Judah returned from Babylon. It was therefore potentially possible for the returning exiles to inherit all the land outlined in 47:13-21 and share it out between the twelve tribes. But according to the record in Ezra and Nehemiah, they grabbed every man for himself, his own farmstead, his own mini-Kingdom. They had no interest in the wider vision, nor in subduing extra land; and the majority of the Jews didn’t even want to inherit it; they preferred the soft life of Babylon, the Kingdom of men rather than the Kingdom of God. And thus the Kingdom made possible was never actually fulfilled at that time.
47:16 The whole style of Ez. 40-48 is relevant to what could have been in Ezekiel’s own time, rather than a specific prediction of the future-  the borders of the land are described as “Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus… on the north northward is the border of Hamath”.
47:23 The commandments about giving the Gentiles inheritance amongst the tribal cantons are understandable in the light of the fact that the Samaritans were living in the land at the time of the restoration. See on 43:10. Within Ezekiel, Israel are criticized for oppressing the stranger / Gentile who lived with them (22:7,29); and now they are told that in the new temple system, the stranger must be generously given an inheritance in the land, he must be counted as actually belonging to one of the tribes.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94GA4PkQRrY
commentary:
48:29 It was Ezekiel, as he sat with the exiles in Babylon, who was to divide the land by lot unto the various tribes. The tragedy of all the details recorded in Ezekiel 40-48, and the very reason for their being preserved to this day, is to show us to what great extent God has prepared potential things for His people, and yet they can be totally wasted if we don’t respond. In fact according to Mic. 4:10, it was God’s purpose to exile His people to Babylon, and there to deliver them from their enemies. And yet they preferred to side with their enemies and to prefer non-deliverance from Babylon. The tragedy of it all is almost unthinkable, and yet this is what we do if day by day we choose the things of this world against the deliverance from this world which there is in Christ.
48:31 Nehemiah arranged for 12 gates to be built in the wall, as Ez. 48:31-34 had commanded there to be. See on 40:29; 43:21. This verse is alluded to in Rev. 21:12, where it appears to be given a more symbolic application to the people of God, the new Jerusalem. Judah failed to build the new Jerusalem as intended, and so the essence of the vision was reapplied in a more abstract sense, and in this form will have its fulfilment in essence.
48:35 See on 35:10.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtKHXI2VDoQ
sermon: https://youtu.be/E86o6qPLUCg
commentary:
2:19 Given the urgency of the situation, Daniel would’ve been tempted to rush in to the King with the interpretation, knowing that every second counted to save the lives of his friends and himself. But firstly he takes time to thank God; we should do the same in life’s crises.
2:21 Wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding- God confirms people in their wisdom and understanding. God gives more to the one who already has obtained some more (Lk. 19:25). There is an upward spiral in spiritual growth, which has God’s word as the dynamic within it.
2:23 Made known to us- Notice how selfless Daniel was, in feeling that the interpretation had been made known to “us”, not just to him personally, because he recognized that there had been prayers of others involved, not just his- hence he later says that we will make known the interpretation (:36).
2:35 No place was found for them- Quoted in Rev. 20:11 about the present world system being destroyed at Christ's second coming.
2:39 All the land- The Chaldee word translated “land” here is equivalent to the Hebrew eretz, which is used in the Bible to refer to either ‘the land’ promised to Abraham, or the whole planet. Bible prophecy is centred around the land and people of Israel. The Gentile nations mentioned are prophetically significant only in terms of their relations with Israel. Babylon at that time ruled over the land of Israel, but not over the whole earth. The prophecy predicts how after Babylon there would come other empires who would rule over Israel. The chest of silver refers to the Medo-Persian empire, the thighs of brass to the Greeks, and the two legs of iron to the Roman empire, the two legs possibly referring to the Eastern and Western parts of the empire. After that, Israel ceased to be a nation, until in the 20th century the Jews returned and established the state of Israel. The mixture of nations represented by the feet of iron and clay will dominate Israel for a short time- in decorum with the fact that the feet of the statue were not a very large part of its total height. This may refer to a union of nations dominating Israel in the time just prior to Christ’s return. He is the stone cut out without hands (:45)- He was born of a virgin with no human hand involved. At His return He will destroy all human kingdoms and establish God’s eternal Kingdom on this earth, which shall last eternally.
2:44 Clear indication that the Kingdom of God is to be established on earth- not in Heaven.
Crush to powder- Alluded to by Jesus when He taught that He is the stone upon whom we either fall and are broken, or He will fall upon us and grind us to powder (Mt. 21:44). The choice we have is to fall upon Christ and become broken people, limping like Jacob by grace into His Kingdom; or to be ground to powder by Christ at His return, in that we will share the judgments of this present world system. Hence Paul speaks of how the rejected amongst the people of God will be “condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:32). The crucial separation between us and the world must be made now.
2:45 The whole image stands complete in the last days; there will be a latter day Nebuchadnezzar who has beneath him a system comprising all the elements of Israel's previous dominators.
2:48 Daniel went through a yo-yo pattern of being promoted into the limelight, and then (in an unrecorded manner) slipping out of the limelight into relative obscurity, from which he was promoted again. Thus in 2:48 Daniel is made Prime Minister, in the events of Chapter 3 he seems to be strangely absent, in 4:8 Daniel is brought in to interpret Nebuchadnezzar's second dream almost as an afterthought, implying he was out of the limelight; by 5:11 King Belshazzar was unaware of Daniel, but promoted him to be third ruler in the Kingdom (5:29). Daniel was made master of the magicians by Nebuchadnezzar; but by the time his son was reigning, this had largely been forgotten (5:12)- because Daniel evidently was nowhere near that job to which he’d been promoted. Why did Daniel slip out of the limelight? Was it not for the sake of his conscience? As a member of the Jewish community, it would have been so easy for Daniel to stay where he was, reasoning that holding down a job like that would enable him to do so much for the Truth. But he realized that his personal conscience and devotion to the spiritual life must be given number one priority if he was to help his people. There is an exact correspondence between the mind of Daniel here and the fervent believer who refuses promotion, jumps out of a career that is rubbing too strongly against the conscience...


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsv3ke9DUKA
sermon: https://youtu.be/ZWS4G6Rzqi8
commentary:
4:3 From generation to generation-  Nebuchadnezzar learnt from his mistake of wanting his kingdom to last for ever-  see on 3:1. He now recognizes the truth of the vision of chapter 2; that his kingdom and life were so very brief, and only God’s Kingdom will be eternal.
4:17 The Chaldee words translated “sentence”, “decree” and “judgment decision” are all legal terms. This is an insight into the court of Heaven- presumably the matter in question was Nebuchadnezzar’s pride and his position on the Jews (Daniel’s advice in 4:27 to shew mercy to the poor may be a reference to what the King should’ve been doing to the Jews- perhaps by enabling their return to their land?). And a ‘judicial decision’ was made and “a watcher and a Holy One came down from Heaven” to operationalize it (:13). If this is the extent of Angelic attention to the heart of a Gentile king- how much more earnestly are they debating the states of our hearts and our actions, and issuing decrees for action accordingly? God doesn’t respond to the issues in our lives on autopilot, He doesn’t use standard form responses; there is real, live, active discussion about little you and me in the court of Heaven itself, with Angels sent hither and thither in response.
The kingdom of men- Whilst God is ultimately the King of His entire creation even now, He has given man freewill to rule the world and his own life as he wishes. Thus at present the world is comprised of "the kingdom of men". At Christ's return, "the kingdoms of the world (will) become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever" (Rev. 11:15).  Then God's will and desires will be completely and openly performed in this earth. Hence Jesus' command for us to pray: "Your kingdom come (that) Your will be done on earth, as it is (now) in heaven" (Mt. 6:10).
The most abased- That most abased man was a reference to the Lord Jesus. He humbled Himself on the cross, that He might be exalted- to be King of God’s Kingdom. The equivalent Hebrew word is used in Is. 53:3 about Christ’s ultimate abasement on the cross.
4:19 Daniel in those moments must have been sorely tempted not to speak forth God’s word, suspecting it might cost him his life if he did. We too have those moments when we struggle whether or not to open our mouth and testify as we should.
4:21 A spreading tree giving much fruit to all who took refuge under it is the very idea used by the contemporary prophet Ezekiel (Ez. 17:23) in describing the true Kingdom of God. This was to point up the choice available to Israel: a part in the Kingdom of God, or that pseudo-Kingdom of this world. We have the same choice today, living as we do in spiritual Babylon.
4:25 Until you know- The King was still struggling to accept the truth of the chapter 2 vision, that his kingdom and life were very limited, and he must refocus himself upon God’s eternal Kingdom rather than upon his own life and kingdom. He theoretically had accepted the truth of this in 2:47 and 3:29; but he didn’t accept it in his heart until after his humiliation (:34). We may likewise struggle to really accept the Gospel of God’s coming Kingdom as we should; for believing in it requires a radical refocus of our lives today, right away from ourselves and our own lives and ‘kingdoms’.
Gives it to whoever He will- The fact God gives the kingdoms of this world to whoever He chooses should overarch our decision making when it comes to voting in elections and being involved in politics.
4:27 Daniel prophesied in clear enough language that Nebuchadnezzar would surely be driven away from among men and live as an animal. But he goes on to plead: “Let my advice be acceptable to you, and break off your sins by righteousness”- as if to say that no matter how definite and categoric the prophecy of punishment, it was after all conditional, even though the conditions weren’t even hinted at within the actual prophecy. God is so sensitive to human repentance.
4:32 The world is under God’s control, not that of demons or supposed evil beings in Heaven.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0fFq482Ilc
sermon: https://youtu.be/uclrSqSdiFI
commentary:
7:7 Note the emphasis in Dan.7 that the fourth beast is totally different from all other beasts. The Roman empire was not so completely different from the preceding empires to warrant this description. 7:7,19 imply that the vision of the fourth beast and little horn was separate from his vision of the four beasts (:2). The first vision was of four beasts and therefore included some reference to the fourth beast, in its manifestation as the Roman empire. But "after this" (:7) there was the more detailed vision of the fourth beast and little horn. This alone implies that they were to have a special manifestation in the last days. The awesome power and strength of this system amazed Daniel, despite what he had already seen. In Daniel's first vision of the four beasts he says that they were “different one from another" (:3). But in the second vision he realized that the fourth beast "was different from all beasts that were before it" (:7), as if they were all relatively similar. The persecuting power we are about to see revealed will thus not be a political or religious power of the type previously seen in history. It is therefore almost beyond our conception of exactly how large and strong this power will be: a world superpower directing its venom against Jews and true Christians.
7:19 This describes the fourth beast as having the iron and brass metals of the image of Dan.2 in it. The fourth beast had feet and teeth, we are specifically told. The lion, representing the head of gold, had feet (:4); the bear, representing the breast of silver, had powerful teeth. Thus the fourth beast had all the characteristics of the other beasts. By it being destroyed through its ten horns being smitten by Christ's return, it is as if the image of Dan.2 is standing erect and complete in  the last days, being hit on the ten toes (cp. the ten horns of the beast) by Christ's return.
7:22 The metals of the image in Daniel 2 have their counterpart in the vision of the beasts in Daniel 7. The little stone (Christ) hits the image on the feet and then destroys all the metals together. This means that in some sense the image must stand complete in the last days. The various beasts and metals must all be in existence at the time of Christ's return in order for Him to destroy them by his coming. The little stone hits the image on its ten toes- corresponding to the ten horns of the fourth beast of Dan.7. The ten horns must in a sense be in existence at the time of Christ's coming. Amongst the horns there develops a "little horn" (:8) which persecutes the saints, but is destroyed by Christ's return (:8-11). This horn "made war with the saints… until the ancient of days came" (:21,22). Thus the saints will in some way be under persecution when Christ comes. This may be yet future; or it could be that the colossal moral pressure upon true Christians from every angle which we now experience is in fact effectively persecution.
7:25 “A time (a year), times (two years) and an half", i.e. 3.5 years (7:25; 12:7; Rev.12:14). The New Testament speaks of a similar period of 1,260 days -also 3.5 years (Rev.12:6; 11:3); 42 months (3.5 years) (Rev.11:2; 13:5). It seems fair to assume that they are all speaking of an identical or associated period of time. See 9:26.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iixRftU669k
sermon: https://youtu.be/NNOE-zG6JwM
commentary:
8:1 There are few Bible characters who use their own name so much- but Daniel is always calling himself “I, Daniel” (7:28; 8:1,15,27; 9:2; 10:2,7; 12:5), despite having been given a Babylonian name. His self-perception was very clearly that he was a Hebrew, and a witness to God’s justice / judgment. Daniel has much to teach the man or woman caught up in the corporate life, the engrossing pull of business, education or social contact. His self-perception was that he was not of his surrounding world, even though those around him wanted to see him as one of them. And further, God Himself frequently addresses Daniel by his name- “Daniel”. Daniel realized that this was how God perceived him; and he wished to perceive himself as God perceived him. And he didn’t show one face to the world, and one to God. He openly showed himself to the world as he perceived himself, and he perceived himself as God perceived him. We too should show no shadow self to this world, no appearance; but the person whom we essentially are, and whom God perceives us as being. His children, His witnesses, His people.
8:15 Daniel sought to understand the meaning of a vision; but two verses earlier, an Angel had asked another Angel for understanding of the same vision. Here we have the practical meaning, in Angelic terms, of God knowing our prayers and arranging the answers before we even ask them. Perhaps it was Daniel’s guardian Angel who asked a more senior Angel for the interpretation of the vision, knowing Daniel was going to be asking for it. Yet it was the second Angel who actually gave the answer to Daniel (:14). Verse 16 describes the one Angel standing at the Ulai river calling out: “Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision”. Yet at this time, Daniel himself was in vision at the Ulai river (:2). His guardian Angel was there, right in front of him. And He had foreknown Daniel’s feelings and arranged for another Angel to respond to them... and so the second Angel (Gabriel) also comes near where Daniel was standing (:17). His guardian Angel had literally called Gabriel to come over to Daniel... And all this kind of thing is going on for us hourly in the court of Heaven!


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNb5Exqzk2I
sermon: https://youtu.be/VuojE0g3BlE
commentary:
9:12 God brought the “evil” or disaster (:14); there is no personal Satan who does this, God creates both good and evil in a judicial sense (Is. 45:5-7).
9:15 We have sinned- So often in this prayer, Daniel associates himself with his sinful people. No matter how weak we perceive our fellow believers to be, we are part of the body of Christ as they are, and we cannot in this sense disassociate ourselves from them. When we see their sins, we should feel shame for the fact that the body of God’s people behave like this, and ask God to forgive us.
9:23 See on 10:2.
9:26 69 weeks is 483 days. On the basis of a day for a year, this would make 483 years. However, Jewish time is often reckoned in Lunar cycles rather than Solar, as Europeans are accustomed to. The decree of Artaxerxes to rebuild Jerusalem was given BC457. On the basis of Lunar time, 69 weeks of years comes out at 486.5 Lunar years. Allowing for a BC/AD calendar inaccuracy of 4 years, this brings us to AD33.5 for the time of Messiah being cut off; which is exactly when Jesus was crucified, 33.5 years after his birth. The 69 weeks being split into 7 weeks and 62 weeks is understandable once it is appreciated that most Bible prophecy has some immediate reference to the period around which it was given. 7 weeks of years would come to around 50 years. According to the records of the rebuilding of Jerusalem in Ezra, Nehemiah and Haggai it would appear that the bulk of the work was done in the 50 years after the issuing of the decree for rebuilding. This mini time period would doubtless have been of great encouragement to the Jews of the time as they laboured in the rebuilding work amidst so much opposition. The final week of tribulation is hard to interpret, perhaps because if Israel had accepted Christ as Messiah as intended, it could have been fulfilled without the delay which was necessitated. One possibility is that the 3.5 year tribulation of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans between AD67 and AD70 was the half week in which the sacrifices ceased to be offered in the Jerusalem temple (:27). The remaining half week would be fulfilled in the final 3.5 year tribulation before Christ’s return (see 7:25). The jump in fulfilment from AD33 to AD70 and then to the last days is the same kind of hiatus found in the gap between the legs and the feet of the image in Dan. 2, and between the succession of beasts and then the terrible beast and the little horn in Dan. 7. These are but suggestions for the interpretation of some of the hardest words in the Bible.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZyJrGIRBRw
sermon: https://youtu.be/K981rIy2XXU
commentary:
10:2 Verses 2 and 3 show Daniel praying for three weeks- presumably for the fortunes of Israel to be restored. As the days went by, it would have seemed natural to assume that the prayer was going unanswered. However, the Angel told him that "from the first day... your words were heard" (:12), but the delay was because "the prince of the Kingdom of Persia withstood me (the Angel) twenty-one days"- i.e. three weeks. So his first prayer was heard, but it took the Angel three weeks to work out the answer in practice. How many of our prayers are like that! The Angel then describes how he confirmed and strengthened Darius (11:1) to the same end to enable the prayer to be answered- as if when our Angel sees someone set in a course of action which will lead to the answer of our prayer, they are confirmed and strengthened in it. The same idea is found in 9:23; a command being given from God to answer a prayer as soon as it's prayed, but there being a delay to the answer due to the Angels effecting the answer. The wonder of all this needs some reflection. Our words, the thoughts within human braincells, call forth the Angels from the court of Heaven. Our prayers may be answered immediately, but it takes time for the answers to be worked out.
10:12 An Angel is sent from Heaven to earth for the sake of human words… The prayers of a man standing at a bus stop on earth can call forth cosmic action. This is the power of prayer, and the extent of God’s sensitivity to us.
10:19 Whenever Angels appear to people on earth, the people are afraid, but the Angel comforts them not to fear. It will be the same when the Angel appears to gather us to meet Christ at His return.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COQF39E-LPc
sermon: https://youtu.be/veqgdSBeq7Q
commentary:
11:3 The “mighty king” is Alexander the Great; as soon as he arose to great power, he died and his empire was split amongst his generals (:4). This is confirmation of the prophecy in Daniel 2 that the Greek empire would also pass off the scene. The rest of the chapter describes how the situation after his death developed in relation to those nations who had domination over Israel; how the mighty powers fought with each other, their fortunes ebbed and faded according to the amount of time God had assigned them.
11:25 Not stand- This is typical of the language found in this chapter. The rival kingdoms of men appear so powerful and stable, and are so confident- for a time. Chapter 2 has explained how human empires all pass off the scene, they cannot ‘stand’ for ever, they last only for a time, and will be finally replaced by God’s eternal Kingdom when Christ returns. Regardless of the exact details of fulfilment, the chapter gives us the general impression of the vanity of human strength, how all human beauty fades to grey, earth’s proud empires pass away, and only the things and people of God’s eternal future Kingdom will ultimately stand for ever.
11:31-36 This describes the situation at the time of the Maccabees. However, Jesus speaks of the abomination as also being set up in the last days before His return (Mt. 24:15; Mk. 13:14). So whatever fulfilments these words had in the time e.g. of Antiochus, they were only precursors of the main fulfilment in our last days.
11:40-45 This may refer to a latter day invasion of Israel by a “king of the north”, supported by Middle Eastern powers, which will have the temple mount in Jerusalem (:45) as its target. The invader will be destroyed by the return of Christ, at which time there will be resurrection, judgment and the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth (12:1-3).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy_AEMVvIeE
sermon: https://youtu.be/yCMMtQiVUZI
commentary:
1:2 The first three chapters of Hosea are about his marriage to a prostitute, who had children by other men and who were therefore not his children. Yet Hosea loved her, and oscillates between anger and passionate pleading with her. He fantasizes about how wonderful it would be to have her committed to him, and speculates as to how he might bring her to this. His relationship with her represented God’s with Israel, and chapter 4 onwards speaks of God’s situation with Israel in the language of marriage and intimate relationship. It may be possible to reason back from some of these chapters to understand other aspects of the Hosea: Gomer relationship.
The beginning- He’d have been tempted to just ignore it, to think he’d been dreaming something, to run away from it. But to his credit, he obeyed. According to the Mosaic Law, a whore should be burnt, not married. Hosea was told to break the letter of the Law, and marry a prostitute; thus he began what was to be quite a theme in both his life and his prophecy- that in the face of sin, God shows His grace. We’ve likely all seen this in our own lives- at our very weakest moments, the kindness and care of God for us is revealed.
1:10 Yet the number- “Yet” is the challenging word. In the face of all Israel’s sin, in the face of the inevitable judgment which this attracted, in the very moment when it is declared, God goes on to speak of His loving salvation. This is so hard for humans to take on board, called as we are to manifest this same grace of God. In the heat of the moment of others’ sin against us, we rarely find it in us to think let alone speak of their ultimate hope of salvation by grace. But this is the challenge of Hosea.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsubaPE0SVk
sermon: https://youtu.be/G3v-9wL1LPc
commentary:
2:3 Lest I strip her naked… and kill her- The punishment for a prostitute, a punishment which she should’ve had at the start. But instead of this punishment, Hosea had married her. We are perhaps nervous to equate our sinfulness, our rebellion, our unfaithfulness, with Gomer’s prostitution. But this, surely, is what we are intended to do, and to thereby perceive the extent of God’s patient love toward us, to the end that that grace and goodness might lead us to repentance. Because Hosea had so loved this woman, he had legitimate feelings of anger- as does God, having loved us so much. Hosea was the wounded lover, the betrayed man. And these are exactly the feelings of God over the unfaithfulness of His people. The threat to strip her naked was what was done in the case of divorce for adultery. "She is not my wife, neither am I her husband" (2:2) is a quotation from a Jewish divorce formula. Likewise the threat to withdraw her clothing, her "wool and linen” (2:9) likely refers to the obligation a husband had to his wife. Yet for all this talk of divorce, Hosea keeps wanting Gomer to return to him; in his heart he keeps coming back to her. This was an exact reflection of God's feelings for His people. Hosea did everything for this worthless woman. He gave her “the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal” (2:8). He was a wealthy man, and yet gave it all to his wife, who in turn blew it all with her boyfriends on Baal worship. It’s like the millionaire marrying a worthless woman who manipulates him into giving her his money, which she blows down at the casino day by day, and sleeps with the guys she hangs out with down there. But “she did not recognize that it was Me who gave her” all these things (2:8)- i.e. she didn’t appreciate it. And so Hosea decides that he will withdraw this generosity from her, and then, he surmises, “she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband’” (2:7). This was Hosea’s hope, and in his own mind, he put these words in her mouth. The hopefulness of Hosea was a reflection of the love he had for her. And all this speaks eloquently of the hopefulness of the Almighty Father who thought “surely they will reverence My Son” when He sent Him. And the purposeful anti-climax of the parable is that no, they don’t and won’t reverence His Son, and even worse, they kill Him. In the same way as Hosea had this plan to get Gomer to “return” to him, so God likewise planned that “afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek Yahweh” (3:5). Both God and Hosea thought that their beloved would return if they distanced themselves from her (5:15). But it didn’t work out like this. Both God with Israel and Hosea with Gomer ended up pleading with her to return (14:1); “yet they do not return to Yahweh their God, nor seek Him, for all this” (7:10). It was and is a tragedy. In our preaching to Israel and to humanity generally, we are pleading with them to accept this most unusual love. The pain of God, the way He is left as it were standing there as a tragic figure, like Hosea was, of itself inspires us to plead with people all the more passionately; and to respond ourselves, to be the loving woman to Him the ultimately faithful man.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DULh4lOf-LQ
sermon: https://youtu.be/pX6V9ZaLm1k
commentary:
4:12 The spirit of prostitution- Gomer’s sexual addiction was reflected in Israel’s chronic unfaithfulness to Yahweh. The very process of sinning has a tendency to push people into a downwards spiritual spiral from which there is no easy exit (see 5:4).
4:15 Gilgal and Beth Aven were border towns between Judah and Israel. The nominally faithful people of Judah were slipping over the border to do quick idol worship and then returning, protesting their loyalty to Yahweh. This kind of hypocrisy can so easily be slipped into.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_x8wTeuhow
sermon: https://youtu.be/pX6V9ZaLm1k
commentary:
5:7 The way Hosea’s final child is called Lo-ammi was because “you are not My people” (1:9). This suggests that although Hosea did presumably have sexual relations with Gomer, these children were not actually conceived from him- i.e. she was continuing her relations with other men; her conception of the children is said to have been “shameful” (2:5) because they were the result of her prostitution (2:4). He calls them “her children”. Gomer appears to reason in 2:4 that the children were her lovers’ payment to her for her sexual services. And in the parallel relationship between God and Israel, Israel were unfaithful to Yahweh and “begotten foreign children”, whilst at the same time claiming to keep the sacrifices and Sabbaths of the Law (:6,7; 2:11). This would confirm that Gomer acted as Hosea’s wife, assuring him of her faithfulness, in the same way as the sacrifices and Sabbaths were intended to reflect Israel’s exclusive faithfulness to Yahweh. Our unfaithfulness to God is this painful for Him.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKv56pRzGMU
sermon: https://youtu.be/d5xiQXGgcKA
commentary:
6:6 I desire… the knowledge of God - Israel and Gomer were “destroyed for lack of knowledge” (4:6). Yet they cried out that “My God, how we know You!” (8:2). Israel’s attitude to the Law can so easily be our attitude to the principles of the Gospel, the New Covenant, in which we stand. We can ‘know’ it all, and externally keep it… but in reality not know it at all, focusing on the external sacrifices whilst knowing nothing of the God we supposedly worship. All this was exemplified by Gomer being an observant Jewess, whilst worshipping Baal and living a shameful life.
6:10 God’s realization of Israel’s prostitution, committed as it was amidst protestations of love for God (:4), was mirrored in Hosea’s tragic and heartbreaking relationship with his prostitute wife Gomer.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAkJ6Qgzi9M
sermon: https://youtu.be/d5xiQXGgcKA
commentary:
7:2 I remember… ever before My face-  Sensitive Hosea remembered every unfaithfulness of Gomer; and in this sense God too remembered every sin of His people. This is what makes His patience and grace all the more remarkable, given that He doesn’t mentally function as human beings do, forgetting sins against us just because of the nature of our fading memory rather than because we have forgiven them.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC8aFZC27_Q
sermon: https://youtu.be/ExNyx8UaHL8
commentary:
8:2 As in 7:14,16, the pain of God was that Israel’s words of devotion to Him were meaningless. This was the pain Hosea would’ve had as Gomer protested her faithfulness to him, whilst sleeping with and getting pregnant by other men. We must ensure that the words we say in prayer and sing in song to God are really meant sincerely by us, and that we realistically live according to them.
8:13 They will return to Egypt- This is repeated in 9:3 and yet God says the very opposite in 11:5. We have God showing His extreme emotion, just as a betrayed and angry husband would- shouting threats one minute and then cancelling them out in expressions of deep love the next. The most hurt man on earth would, however, be nowhere near the pain and hurt felt by God Almighty at the unfaithfulness of His people. The huge extent of His love for Israel is reflected in the depth of His pain and the emotional nature of His outbursts. God has emotion and passion- for us, we who are but water, calcium and complex chemicals, specs of dust on the earth…


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8mdNOkRiVI
sermon: https://youtu.be/ExNyx8UaHL8
commentary:
9:1 You love the wages of a prostitute- Israel are presented as sexually addicted, even paying men to sleep with her (8:9). It’s one thing to sin and hate ourselves for it; it’s another to love and revel in sin as Israel did.
9:4 Their offering of wine and bread to God would make them yet more unclean, just as it is possible to keep the breaking of bread service to our condemnation rather than to our blessing (1 Cor. 11:29). This stark reality means that the memorial meeting brings us to a T intersection in our lives; either we are drinking to our blessing (1 Cor. 10:16) or to our condemnation.
9:10 I saw… as- God looked upon Israel as if they were perfect when they left Egypt (Num. 23:21), even though they were not. He was in love with them, as He is with us, having counted His righteousness to us as we emerge from our Red Sea / baptism into Christ.
9:15 I hated them… will love them no more- And yet God protests His eternal and free love for Israel (14:4). See on 8:13.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba_Onwi4lG8
sermon: https://youtu.be/Gv7wfALWvzQ
commentary:
10:11 Her beautiful neck- This isn’t sarcasm, rather is it God recognizing the beauty of the woman He was having to judge. Such is His love even for those He has to reject.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plx3_jW1gUU
sermon: https://youtu.be/Gv7wfALWvzQ
commentary:
11:8,9 Here we have one of the deepest windows onto the extent of God’s hurt and variation of thought within Himself as He considers the behaviour of His people. His changes of mind are as it were ethically allowable exactly because He is God and not man; they are driven by the passion of the deepest love ever known in all existence.
11:12 Ephraim surrounds Me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit - Gomer must have lied to Hosea so much. Israel are criticized throughout his prophecy for just the same (see 7:13 too). The untruthfulness became compulsive and obsessive: “he daily lies more and more” (12:1). Gomer would’ve lied about where she was going, about how she spent Hosea’s money, about whose the children were…  The key proof of our spiritual sincerity is whether we are in the core of our beings truthful, both with our God and with ourselves.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0jlvKiLJzo
sermon: https://youtu.be/T31YBL-mxkA
commentary:
12:3 In his maturity he had power with God- This suggests that Jacob reached spiritual maturity that night he wrestled with the Angel. To be that familiar with God that we can reason with Him, struggle with Him in prayer, seek to change His will over an illness or situation... this is spiritual maturity. It was by his prayer and tears that he had this “power with God” and in a sense prevailed over God’s intention to slay him (:4). This whole characteristic of striving with God was memorialized in his new name: Israel, implying 'striver and prevailer with God and men'. And this must be the characteristic of Israel after the Spirit too. There is a confusion in the Hebrew between ‘striver’ and ‘prince’- for the struggle comes before the crown. Our relationship with Him, our attaining of salvation, is a struggle, a wrestling, a desperate clinging on, a pleading with tears. Yet Jacob that night really is a type of us all, for we are to turn to God as Jacob did then (:6).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s17kJRTIW1w
sermon: https://youtu.be/EfZBIPg0YWQ
commentary:
13:10 Often in Hosea, God appeals to Israel to let Him be their ‘king’ (13:10). But there is a Hebraism whereby a husband is called the ‘king’ of his wife. God’s appeal was reflected in Hosea’s desire for Gomer to as it were re-marry him, to let him truly be her king / husband. And yet she felt like Israel: “What then should a king do [for] us?” (10:3). She was so selfish that she didn’t see anything in it for her… when so much love was being offered to her.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZeG0pgRO5s
sermon: https://youtu.be/EfZBIPg0YWQ
commentary:
14:3 Hosea’s prophecy ends with God protesting His eternal love for Israel, and a description of them in the Kingdom, when they will have ‘returned’ to Him. Remember that the God / Israel relationship was a reflection of the Hosea / Gomer situation. I take this final, majestic section to be a reflection of Hosea’s fantasy, his day dream, that one day Gomer would return to him and blossom as a person. For fantasies are all a part of true love. “From Me you will acquire fruit” (14:8) is perhaps his fantasy that somehow, this worn out woman with dry breasts and a miscarrying womb (9:14) would somehow one day still bear him children of their own, and that in him “the fatherless” [a reference to Gomer’s illegitimate children] would find mercy in being accepted into the family (14:3). Hosea died with his dream unfulfilled. We are left with the question as to whether this similar loving intention of God for Israel will in fact be fulfilled, or whether it was what was potentially possible for Israel; or whether His fantasy for them will be fulfilled through a new Israel. If the latter, and we are that new Israel, then we can imagine what passionate joy the Father finds in our bumbling attempts to respond to Him and be His loyal and faithful wife. Whatever, the simple fact is that it all reflects an amazing grace, an ineffable love… and this God is our God, and Hosea who reflected all this is truly a pattern for ourselves in daily life. The very existence of such passionate love for us, love beyond reason, carries with it an inevitable warning as to our responsibilities.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd9jlaNiUCE
commentary:
1:2 Elders… all of you- Often the Bible brackets the elders with all the ordinary people, thus emphasizing that God relates with individuals; His appeal isn’t merely to religious specialists or leaders, but to all of us.
1:12 If we lose joy, we have lost our faith. It was the same with Israel. “The vine [of Israel is] withered… for joy is withered”; the people of God were to be a people of joy, and when their joy was no more, they were no longer God’s people; for “joy and gladness” were cut off from the house of God (:16). The experience of joy is the litmus test for a community of God’s people. This thought gives rise to some sober self-examination, especially for those who may have come to feel that ‘holding the faith’ is a matter of glumly trudging onwards through this evil world, grimly gripping hold of our faith as we bemoan the state of those around us. To hold on to the Faith is described as holding on to the rejoicing of the hope unto the end (Heb. 3:6).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_A9J9zDAE0
commentary:
2:11 His army- The pagan armies were God’s in the sense that He controlled them. No evil can happen to us without God allowing it; our worst enemies are ultimately sent and permitted by Him. There is no personal Satan figure who controls these people; God is in total control.
2:13 Relents- Despite having spoken as if God’s judgment was inevitably going to come, Joel knew that God can state things and then change His planned judgments because He is so sensitive to human repentance. And so Joel calls for a fast, and for absolutely everyone in the community to repent and beg God for mercy. Even those in the process of marriage were to break off the ceremony (:16) and come to a special assembly (:15) to beg God to change His mind. Joel was so certain that God’s prophetic word would be fulfilled that he appealed to people with such urgency and insistence to repent, so that the prophesied judgments wouldn’t happen to them. Our belief in God’s word will likewise motivate our witness and impart a spirit of urgency to it which we couldn’t have if we weren’t so convinced that the prophecies will come true.
2:20 Northern army- Babylon and Assyria are spoken of in the Bible as the ‘northern’ invader, although they were situated to the East of Israel. This was because there was no easy way through the desert separating them from Israel, and travel was typically up the Fertile Crescent and then down into Israel from the north. Joel is quoted and alluded to in the New Testament as if these things will come true in the last days before Christ returns. Dan. 11:40-44 speak of a latter day “King of the north” invading Israel just before Christ’s coming. Geographically, Babylon and Assyria refer to what is today Iran and Iraq.
2:32 This passage is quoted in Acts 2:21-41 and interpreted as meaning that whoever calls upon themselves the Name of the Lord by baptism into His Name will be saved. People from many nations were baptized into the Name just before the ‘last day’ of Judah’s destruction in AD70 (:28). It would seem that this was but a primary fulfilment of what will happen just before the final ‘last day’ of Christ’s return. There will be a special preaching of the Gospel to all nations just before Christ returns (Mt. 24:14)


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oOXjbF9S-M
commentary:
3:2 Judgment on them there for My people- The basis of judgment will be how individuals have treated God’s people, both natural and spiritual Israel. Jesus was very clear that how we treat the least of His brothers or sisters is how we treat Him, and He will judge people on this basis (Mt. 25:40).
3:9 Sanctify war- Declaring a holy war against Israel sounds like Islamic jihad.
3:12-14 These verses seem to describe an invasion of Israel by many nations, resulting in them being destroyed in a valley in Israel; these verses are applied to the last days in the description of the battle of Armageddon in Rev. 16:16. God will be suddenly revealed in the Jerusalem area (:16), associated with His “mighty ones” “coming down” there (:11). Obadiah 21 speaks of the same situation. This surely refers to the return of Christ to earth from Heaven with His Angels with Him, and also the resurrection of His people, who will then also be His “mighty ones” with Him (1 Thess. 4:14; 2 Thess. 1:7). Jesus ascended to Heaven from Olivet, near Jerusalem, and the Angels promised that He would return to earth in the same way (Acts 1:11).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwbsG3QsrL4
commentary:
1:6 Notice that the reasons for the judgments are all because of what people did to other people. Human treatment of others is the basis for God’s judgment. We also learn from this chapter that God noticed how Gentiles treated other Gentiles. He doesn’t just ignore the unbelievers, zoning out on their actions and issues with each other. His sensitivity to human sin, and His total knowledge of all that goes on in this world, His reading of every motive behind every action, is simply colossal. It should encourage us that we are not alone in this world; the amazing knowledge of God means we can thereby feel His presence. The reference to “For three transgressions… and for four” can be read as meaning that God doesn’t switch off, as it were, after the third sin; He is sensitive also to the fourth. He doesn’t simply write people off as ‘sinners’ after a certain amount of sin; He keeps noticing their behaviour and the hurt of their sin continues growing within Him.
1:11 His anger raged continually, and he kept his wrath forever- The implication could be that anger is an acceptable emotion, but not if it becomes a continual state of mind.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLT650k6Bfc
commentary:
2:1 I will not turn away its punishment- A tacit recognition that God can state a punishment or destiny against a person or group, and yet turn away from doing it in the light of their repentance, as happened with Israel at the time of Moses, or with Nineveh in the book of Jonah. However there is a point where such changes are no longer possible; a change of mind is no longer a possibility (Hos. 13:14).
2:2 The “fire” promised here and throughout chapter 1 is not so much literal fire as symbolic of God’s anger and condemnation (see too Jer. 17:27; Jude 7). When Jesus spoke of fire as the punishment of the wicked and used the metaphor of Gehenna, the ever burning garbage site near Jerusalem, He too wasn’t speaking literally but in harmony with His Father’s figurative usage of “fire” in the Old Testament as a metaphor for judgment.
2:7 To profane My holy name- In our context, we have been baptized into the same Name. We can likewise profane that Name by our behaviour. This is the essence of the meaning of blaspheming God’s Name.
2:8 Drink the wine of the condemned- Under the New Covenant, we too run the risk of drinking the wine of that covenant to our own condemnation (1 Cor. 11:29). As we hold that cup, we realize we are at a T-junction; we shall either be saved or condemned, and we should live life in the intensity of that knowledge.
2:11 I raised up… Nazirites- Becoming a Nazirite was totally voluntary. Yet God works through our freewill.
2:12 You gave the Nazirites wine to drink- Nazirites weren’t allowed to drink wine (Num. 6:3). To lead others into sin, or discourage them from the spiritual commitments they have made, is reckoned by God as worthy of the strongest condemnation. We should be positive and supportive of others’ spirituality rather than destructive of it. Jesus therefore had so much anger with the Pharisees and Jewish leadership for the very same reason.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYnKAtznDXI
commentary:
3:2 We whom God has chosen in Christ are therefore more responsible for our sins than others in the world; they sin with far less accountability than we have. We must remember this when we are tempted to sin as they do.
3:6 A classic proof of the fact that God rather than any sinful Satan figure brings “evil” in the sense of disaster on earth (Is. 45:5-7).
3:7 See on 7:1-6.
3:9 Hebrew poetry rhymes according to the ideas presented rather than the assonance of the words. However, this doesn’t mean that in a couplet, the first part is directly equal to the second part. Subtle differences are set up in order to make a point. The lion has roared: who shall not fear? God has spoken: who can but speak forth? If a lion roars, so a man naturally fears as a result of it. God speaks, and just as naturally we can do nothing but speak it forth. Hence the hearers are to publish God’s purpose to the Gentile nations around them. The lion roars, and man fears; and we are set up to expect: God speaks, and man should fear. But there is an intended dashing of this expectation. God has spoken, just as the lion may roar; but we are not to fear but rather to speak it forth to others. If we believe that the Bible is indeed the inspired word of God, if we hear that voice of Yahweh, we will inevitably speak it forth to others. Hence Peter says that he could never agree not to speak forth God’s word, because to do so is a natural process for the believer (Acts 4:20).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnZgzGkax-A
commentary:
4:4,5 God as it were encourages sinful people in their sin; there’s a downward and an upward spiral, we never remain in a neutral position in our spiritual journey.
4:10 The stench of your camps- These words have a strange relevance to the death camps of Europe in the 1940s. The tragedy of Israel’s history, and of so many individual lives, is that despite suffering so much, people refuse to return to their God. Their pain is therefore in vain.
4:13 He who forms the mountains- Nothing in the natural creation is static; although the mountains may appear so permanent and lifeless, God is forming them in an ongoing sense. God’s ongoing, unceasing work in the natural creation is the constant comfort that we are not alone.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC6Eslv-Dv0
commentary:
5:18 It is quite possible to be enthusiastic about the coming of Christ- the final “day of the Lord”- and yet if we don’t live a serious spiritual life, then this day will actually be our destruction.
5:22 Peace offerings were freewill offerings of devotion to God. We can make them and other sacrifices to God, worship God enthusiastically (:23), keep the feasts solemnly (:21- cp. the breaking of bread meeting)- and yet God will be irritated by these things and angry with us if at the same time we are guilty of injustice to others (:24 and most of the chapter). Justice and not being harmful to others is of such paramount value to God.
5:26 In addition to carrying Yahweh’s tent or tabernacle through the wilderness, the Israelites took with them the gods of Egypt and carried their tent with them too. Leaving Egypt through the Red Sea is like baptism into Christ (1 Cor. 10:1,2); Israel’s wilderness journey is analogous to our lives now as we travel towards the promised land of God’s Kingdom. We mustn’t take with us the gods of this world (cp. Egypt); God’s claim on us is total and exclusive.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnO9HjJ6RPU
commentary:
6:1-6 The situation described here before the “day of the Lord” in those days is exactly the situation today. Self-indulgence, laziness, over sleeping, over eating, brainwashed by music and ignoring the needs of others, whilst psychologically putting the reality of God’s judgment far away (:3)- this is the spirit of our age, and it heralds the final day of the Lord.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDDlYWcgdZk
commentary:
7:1-6 God reveals His intention regarding Israel, but then Amos makes a case against this and is heard. In fact, these and other examples suggest that this is almost a pattern with God- to devise His purpose, and then in the 'gap' until its fulfilment, be open to the persuasion of His covenant people to change or amend those plans. This could be what 3:7 is speaking of: "Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, unless He first reveals His secret to His servants the prophets". It's as if He reveals His plans to them so that they can then comment upon them in prayer.
7:2 God is open to changing His stated plan due to the mediation of others. It would even appear that Amos believed God could forgive the sins of others because of his prayers rather than their repentance. For Amos doesn't merely ask God not to execute His judgments, but to actually forgive Israel. There's an obvious similarity with the intercession of Moses; the only other person to pray "Forgive, I beseech You" is Moses- the same Hebrew words are found on his lips twice (Ex. 34:9; Num. 14:19). Moses' amazing example had been meditated upon by Amos as he did his agricultural work- and he rose up to the same level. He prayed the same prayer. We too should be motivated in our prayer lives by Biblical examples, even using the same words. So many Biblical prayers use the words of previous Scripture. God leads us to see the similarities between our situations and those of Biblical figures- e.g. by giving Amos a vision of judgment upon Israel in terms of a locust plague, which was intended to lead Amos to see Israel as Egypt and himself as Moses in making intercession to end the plague. Amos gets into the spirit of Moses by asking God to "cease" (7:5), using the same word used to describe how the plagues "ceased" as a result of Moses' intercession (Ex. 9:29,33,34).
7:14 Amos stresses that speaking forth God's word wasn't at all what he wished to do or was cut out for. Likewise Paul says that because preaching God's word was against his natural inclination, therefore a calling to preach the Gospel had indeed been given to him (1 Cor. 9:17). Paul was sent to the Gentiles and not the Jews as he might naturally have preferred; the disciples were unlearned and ignorant men called to preach to the Jewish intelligentsia; women weren't accepted as legal witnesses and yet the Lord asks women to be the first witnesses of His resurrection; always in the preaching of His word does God use those who humanly aren't qualified to do so. He doesn't use slick presentation, but rather human weakness in order to convert others. Amos doubtless alludes to himself in 3:8 where he says that a prophet cannot but speak out God's word- and this is alluded to by the apostles when they say they cannot but speak out what they have seen and heard of Christ. Note how Amos doesn't actually answer the serious false allegation against him personally, but gets on with speaking forth God's word- for this was his life’s focus.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSmanMCHVOM
commentary:
9:11,12 We have used the Septuagint version of these verses, because this is the form which is quoted under inspiration in Acts 15:14-18. There, James quotes these verses to prove that Gentiles could become called by God’s Name through being baptized into the Name of His Son, the Lord Jesus; and that this process was not predicated upon circumcision. We see, therefore, the huge weight given by the early Christians to every Old Testament word of God. Note that Acts 15:14 speaks of God visiting the Gentiles, and quotes :12 about the Gentiles seeking the Lord as proof of this. God is in search of man, and some men are in search of Him. They meet in that moment of baptism into His Name as it is in His Son, and the union is a wonderful and eternal one.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxbjwUfBJy0
commentary:
:5 This could imply that Esau / Edom’s anger with Jacob / Israel was justified to some extent- they were condemned because they took it too far. Unless we control our anger, we will soon go too far and slip into sin. Hence we shouldn’t let the sun go down over our anger (Eph. 4:26).
:6 Every past day of judgment reveals something of the future. Edom's day of judgment is described as his hidden, secret things being searched through. This may be alluded to by Paul when he speaks of how “the hidden things” of our hearts will be revealed in the final searching of the day of judgment (1 Cor. 4:5).
:7 Friends who eat your bread- To eat bread together was a sign of friendship and fellowship. The breaking of bread service is therefore a sign of our personal friendship with God; it’s a great honour to be invited there.
:10 The nation of Edom is judged for the same thing as the historical Esau- hatred of their brother. Our attitude to our brethren will be a major factor in determining our eternal future (Mt. 25:40).
:10-14 Pride, indifference to others’ pain even though it is a judgment for their sins, resentment, feelings of superiority… These mental attitudes, rather than the many other sins of Edom, were what so angered God.
:21 See on Joel 3:12-14.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef6AUWm4qEM
sermon: https://youtu.be/IMjT1DYY2zM
commentary:
1:3 Jonah is described as going progressively ‘down’- down to Joppa, down into the ship, down into the hold of the ship, and then down into the depths of the sea (1:3,5; 2:6). This was the depth of his degradation. Yet he was brought up from it. Jonah was like Nineveh- the “wickedness” of Nineveh (1:2; 3:8) is the same Hebrew word used in 4:1 where Jonah was displeased “exceedingly”, i.e. ‘wickedly’. Their wickedness was paralleled with the wickedness of his hard heartedness towards them. When the sailors awoke him with the words “Get up and call …”, they were using the very words which God had used perhaps just days earlier to call him with. We can’t escape the call- God will repeat it to us through life’s circumstances, even through our very efforts to avoid the call. The obvious lesson is to willingly and in love respond to the calls we receive, rather than go through the agonies of seeking to avoid them. Jonah’s response: “I am an Hebrew…” was basically his response to God… he didn’t want to give Nineveh a chance of salvation because he was a patriotic Jew. God does these complex things with us many times daily… if we will perceive them.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEWS5TShnWo
sermon: https://youtu.be/6PCE6lWslds
commentary:
2:2 Jonah knew his Bible well; his poem is absolutely full of references to the Psalms. And yet Ps. 139 had clearly stated that we cannot flee anywhere from God’s presence; for even in the deep sea, He will find us. Jonah knew this; and yet he didn’t know it. He had to learn what this meant in practice. And so, incident by incident, blow by blow, our theoretical knowledge is turned into flesh, into reality for us; for the same God who worked so hard in Jonah’s life is at work in ours.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MybehQCHrks
sermon: https://youtu.be/kfAhvkrymxc
commentary:
3:3 It took Jonah three days to walk through Nineveh (3:3). On the first day in the city, he told them that in 40 days God would destroy them (3:4); it follows that by the time he was in the middle of the city he was telling them that they had 37 days left. So too the Jews had between 37 and 40 years notice of the destruction of Jerusalem. It is a worthwhile speculation that for Jonah to be a sign to the Ninevites by reason of being three days in the whale (Mt. 12:38-40), he must have had in his body the marks of his experience for all to see, as Christ did. Being inside the fish for that period may have made his flesh change colour or bear some other physical mark so that he could be a sign to them of what had happened. Doubtless he recounted his story to them- so that they were encouraged by the fact of God's love to the resurrected Jonah to repent and likewise throw themselves on God's mercy. In all this we see Jonah as a type of Christ. They would have looked upon that man as we look upon Jesus, to see the love of God manifested in him; they responded by repenting in sackcloth, casting off their materialism, and living in a way that showed their complete belief that "the judge stands before the door" . What is our response to Jonah/Jesus?
3:4 No conditions were given; but God changed His stated purpose because He is so sensitive to human repentance.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf0yUzPH8QI
sermon: https://youtu.be/gGCOfO3_NIc
commentary:
4:8 God created a great wind with which He brought Jonah and his fellows to their knees in 1:4. God here creates another great wind with which to teach Jonah something else. Jonah ought to have perceived the same hand of the same God at work with him. Jonah's life "ebbed away" inside the fish (2:7)- and a very similar word is used here in 4:8 about his experience as he sat under the vine. In the fish, Jonah prayed that God would save his life, and was heard. But when he was made to feel the same again, he instead prayed God to take away his life. Perhaps this shows that even when we respond well to circumstances, those same circumstances may repeat in order to test us as to whether we will continue to make that right response.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhPYRAK6JHw
commentary:
1:8 Micah didn’t just mindlessly transmit God’s word to God’s people. He perceived the truth of the words he was repeating, and believed absolutely that they would come true; and so he wept and rolled himself in the dust (:10). This may have been from grief, but it may also be that he thought that his repentance and prayer could avert the judgment upon God’s people which he was prophesying.
1:10 Rolling naked in the dust… this was the extent of Micah's passion for the repentance of his audience. Our preaching isn’t to be an emotionless publicity campaign for our denomination or local church, but a passionate appeal for real response. Indifference, lack of passion, is the besetting tragedy of our age. When did you last really shed tears? When were you moved, really wrenched in your gut, by the suffering of others, by the sin of this world, your own sin, your part in humanity’s tragic rejection of God…  when did you last feel for God in His pain, as He sees His beloved children and creation walk away from Him day after day, second after second? When did you last feel ecstatic joy, deep sadness… in this post-modern world of surface level emotion? It’s in all this that the words of the prophets and their personal nature as people challenge us- and their spirit is to be the spirit of our testimony to Jesus in this world (Rev. 19:10).
1:12 Evil has come down- Evil in the sense of calamity and disaster comes from God (Is. 45:5-7); it’s not true that there is a personal Satan figure who brings evil, and God brings only good. Both good and evil ultimately come from God; He is in control of our lives, and has total power in the cosmos.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gJ0gtmIzuQ
commentary:
2:1 What people think about as they lay on their beds is known by God and is the basis of His judgment of them.
2:6 The apostles were likewise ordered not to preach, but their response was that it was impossible for them to keep quiet about God’s word as it was in Christ (Acts 5:28). We cannot but share God’s word with others if it really has a place in our hearts (Am. 3:8).
2:7 Spirit… restrained?- The prophets didn’t speak their own words but God’s words, because they spoke as they were moved by God’s Spirit (2 Tim. 3:16; 1 Pet. 1:21). For a prophet not to speak or preach would therefore be as good as trying to restrain the Spirit of God; and this cannot be done.
My words do good- The early chapters of Proverbs emphasize how God’s words give strength to those who already obey them. There is an upward spiral in spiritual life, in which the Spirit and word of God is the dynamic. Exposure to God’s word confirms us in living a spiritual life. Hence the importance of daily Bible reading.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8MGk4rbzt4
commentary:
3:12 For your sake- Other people suffer because of the sins of others.  However, when Hezekiah studied the words of Micah, he repented and begged God to change His mind about this very verse- and God changed His mind and didn’t bring this evil (Jer. 26:19). So God’s words of prophecy are open to renegotiation, according to prayer and repentance. This adds intensity and significance to our entreaties of God, knowing that others (e.g. Moses) have successfully reasoned with God and He has changed His stated intentions.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLntZkwBjyA
commentary:
4:1-4 A clear prophecy of the literal establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth, based around Jerusalem. ‘Mountains’ are symbolic of kingdoms.
4:4 Vine… fig tree- These words were quoted by Rabshakeh, in offering the Jews this very situation in pagan Assyria (2 Kings 18:31,32). The world around us in its advertisements and glossy images is in fact a fake Kingdom of God, imitating the true Kingdom of God. And so the choice is highlighted for us- between the kingdoms of this world for today, and the eternal Kingdom of God tomorrow.
For the mouth- The wonder of the process of inspiration is that the black print we read on white paper in the Bible is the very mouth of God speaking to us.
4:8 The Kingdom of God which Jesus will establish at His return will in fact be a re-establishment of the Kingdom which was earlier, when Yahweh was Israel’s Kingdom on earth (Ez. 21:25-27; 1 Chron. 29:23). This “former Kingdom” will be restored, again on earth, but to a far more glorious extent.
4:10 How was the travailing daughter of Zion to be delivered / rescued in Babylon after having been taken captive there from Jerusalem by the Babylonians? Surely in that there, God intended a spiritual revival of the people, there they would hear Ezekiel’s appeal to repent, which if responded  to would enable them to build the temple which he had described (Ez. 43:10,11) and thus usher in a Messianic Kingdom.  God had so many wonderful plans for His people which they didn’t allow to come true for them.
4:12 God assembles the nations to judge / thresh them, but they assemble themselves (:11).This is part of a large Biblical theme- that those who are judged in fact judge themselves. The only ones who will be rejected by God are those who themselves don’t wish to be in His Kingdom.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhhhxnX1Xb8
commentary:
5:1 Mk. 14:65 (Gk.) says that Christ was hit with “strokes of rods". Perhaps it was in this sense that the rod comforted Messiah (Ps. 23:4) in that He saw immediately that prophecy was being fulfilled in Him. Our darkest moments likewise can be our greatest encouragement if only we perceive them as we should. As men mocked Him and smote Him, thus they were treating their judge at the time of judgment. In His time of dying, the Lord Jesus was the judge of Israel. This explains why when we come before the cross, not only at the breaking of bread but whenever we reflect upon Him and His death, we are in some sense coming before Him in judgment.
5:2 A prophecy of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem (Mt. 2:6). This prophecy of His birth is prefaced by a statement that Messiah would be smitten with a rod (:1)- which happened at the end of His life. In our linear way of thinking, we’d expect this to be the other way around- Messiah is born, grows up, suffers, dies… but God doesn’t think and write like that; the prophecies often appear to ‘jump around’ in their chronological fulfilment.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6abBP1XmKM
commentary:
6:7 Micah comes to the point where he would fain make sacrifice for Israel, even to the point of offering his firstborn son, so strongly did he take upon himself the sins of his people. But he tells Israel that even this will be no good; they must repent themselves, for God doesn’t work on the basis of substitution but representation. In all this, Micah came close to the spirit of the Father and Son. For the Father would give His firstborn for their sin.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWRhiM6563M
commentary:
7:16 Ashamed of all their might- In the day of judgment, people will be ashamed of the size of their bank accounts, the trust they put in investments, influential people, wealth, bodily strength. All human advantage will be despised- and we must live in that spirit today.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU0bI8I1t2I
commentary:
1:4 He rebukes- These verses are full of allusion to what God did at the Red Sea- but they are written in the present tense, as if God’s wonders are no less in our day too, even though they are expressed in a less visual way.
1:8 Pursue His enemies into darkness- The final day of judgment will feature the rejected being chased by Angels into darkness, where they will weep and bang their teeth in anger with themselves (Ps. 35:5,6; Job 18:18; Mt. 22:13).
1:15 The feet of him- This prophecy about Christ is quoted in Rom. 10:15 about our preaching, but with a subtle change of pronoun: “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach”. We are the Lord Jesus to this world, because we are brethren in Him. This alone is a powerful imperative as to who we are, how we speak, the men and women we show ourselves to be. The Nahum passage is in the context of preaching to Israel the good news of their ultimate freedom from the Assyrian invasion which was then imminent. We are in a strikingly parallel situation in these last days, and should be making a special witness to Israel and the Jewish people


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZtNeh10hlk
commentary:
2:1 Nineveh would have seemed invincible at the time Nahum prophesied. Nahum’s words would have seemed as the rantings of a madman. The prophecies about Christ’s return and the destruction of the present world order likewise demand faith to believe, but they will just as surely come true.
2:2 Vine branches- Israel were God’s vineyard, the individual Israelites were the branches (Is. 5:1). Jesus uses the same figure about us- He is the vine and we who are baptized into Him are the branches (Jn. 15:5). Thus the individuals in Christ are now the true Israel of God, a nation currently without a homeland, but waiting for the establishment of our Kingdom on this earth (Gal. 3:27-29).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrzhAz4hkFI
commentary:
3:4 And families- One aspect of the sin of prostitution and much sexual sin is that it destroys families; and God is a family God who has created the family unit as His preferred method for His people.
3:5,6 The language of these verses is extreme. This is the fully legitimate anger of God against those who abuse His people and sin against Him. The grace and kindness of God shouldn’t let us forget His wrath with sin which is also a part of His total character and personality.
3:7 Nineveh is laid waste- At the time Nahum was speaking, she was prosperous and powerful. But God’s word is so sure of fulfilment that He can speak in the present tense, speaking of things which haven’t yet happened as if they have (Rom. 4:17). We also, by faith, must view this world with the same eyes. It’s all over for this world, right here and now, so certain is it that Christ will return and establish His Kingdom upon the ruins of the kingdoms of men.
3:9 Infinite strength- Egypt is presented in the Bible as representative of human strength. It appeared that their strength was infinite, but only God has infinite strength. This is an example of how the Bible often speaks of situations as they appear to people on earth, even though this is not ultimately how things are. The language of demons in the New Testament is another example. God sometimes adopts a human perspective in reasoning with us, in order to connect with us; just as we do when trying to communicate with and explain things to those (e.g. children) who understand something far less than we do.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOr_Mjlo1f8
commentary:
1:2 The closer we are to God, the more we will be able like Habakkuk to question Him, to have dialogue with Him, rather than accepting the principles of the Bible as His cold word to us which we simply have to accept without any response from us back to Him.
1:5 Paul appropriates the words of Hab. 1:5 LXX to his work of preaching (Acts 13:2; 14:26). Even if people don’t believe our message, God is still using us to work His work. In the process of preaching the Gospel we feel God working with us; the exercise of preaching is therefore largely for our benefit, and it is not therefore ever a failure even if people disbelieve the Gospel we preach.
1:6 God ‘raised up’ evil people in order to fulfil His purpose. The temporary ‘rise and rise’ of the wicked shouldn’t discourage us- it is actually of God, and they are merely tools in His hands.
1:12 If we truly believe that we are His people, not those of this world, and that we are truly part of His eternal family, then God’s eternity becomes a guarantee of our eternal salvation. If He lives for ever, so shall we (this is true also of Christ- if we are connected with His resurrection to eternal life through baptism, we too shall live for ever with Him, Jn. 14:19; Rom. 6:8; 2 Cor. 13:4; 2 Tim. 2:11).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2loU00KxAyI
commentary:
2:2 May run – Running in response to God’s word is an idiom for obediently responding to it (Ps. 119:32,60; 147:15; Amos 8:11,12; 2 Thess. 3:1). The ‘plainer’ the word is made, the more clearly it is understood, the greater will be our response to it. Correct understanding of God’s word is therefore important because it is related to the extent of our ‘running’ in response to it.
2:3 The context is a prophecy concerning the coming Babylonian desolation of Jerusalem. There were some who felt that the fulfilment of these words of God was 'tarrying' so long that it would never come. We face the same temptation with regard to the prophecies of Christ’s return.
2:4 The justified- Much is made of this verse in the New Testament, to teach that we sinners are counted righteous, declared in the right as we stand in the dock before the judgment of God, on the basis of our faith in Christ- rather than our works (Rom. 1:17; Heb. 10:38). The context of this verse teaches that living by faith is the antithesis of being proud. The life of faith, trusting thereby in grace, is a life of humility.
2:14 A clear prediction of God’s Kingdom coming on earth.
2:16 Being given the cup of the Lord is a double symbol- of blessing (1 Cor. 10:16,21; 11:26); or, as here, a symbol of condemnation (Ps. 75:8; Jer. 51:7; Rev. 16:19). This adds some intensity to the cup we take at the memorial service. We are drinking that cup either to our condemnation (1 Cor. 11:29), or to our eternal blessing. Hence the breaking of bread meeting brings us up to a T-intersection in our lives.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv227eJvaLM
commentary:
3:2 In wrath, You remember mercy- God’s anger and judgments aren’t the wrath of an offended deity who is more powerful than us, as it were hitting back at us because we have upset Him. His judgments incorporate mercy, and are aimed at bringing good out of evil, teaching others His ways through them (Is. 26:9).
3:16 After twice approaching God with the question of “Why?”, and each time being given fresh insights into the awful nature of the judgment to come as a response, Habakkuk ends up with a trembling body and lips that ‘quivered at the sound’ of God’s word… and yet, at the very same time, feels that he still “will rejoice in the Lord” (:18), even though he doesn’t fully understand. Faith involves an element of acceptance that God is right, even though we don’t understand.
3:17 These were all the blessings promised for obedience. Habakkuk had been obedient, but didn’t seem to have received these blessings. Yet still he had the faith to rejoice in God’s grace, even though he didn’t understand the exact relationship between obedience and blessing in this life.
3:18 Yet will I- Even if others amongst God’s people turn away and are punished for it, yet we personally can still rejoice in our personal relationship with God.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuEBfRa2YVo
commentary:
1:5 And also swear- Repeatedly the Bible condemns the human tendency to worship both the true God and also idols (1 Cor. 10:21). Yahweh has loved us so much that He is rightfully jealous over us, and our loyalty must be to Him alone.
1:12 With candles- Alluding to the Jewish custom of searching their homes for yeast, representing sin, at Passover time.
In weak moments we all tend to assume that God is somehow in limbo, indifferent and not paying attention to our behaviour or situation here on earth. The temporary silence of God doesn’t mean that He is not watching intently. These people who thought that God was indifferent were themselves “settled on their dregs”, they hadn’t moved for a long time, and they thought God was like them. We must resist the temptation to think that God’s attitudes to things and people, our own selves included, are merely a reflection of our attitudes (Ps. 50:21). The Bible reveals to us God’s judgments, positions and emotions, and we must accept this revelation rather than assuming that God is somehow created in our own image.
1:17,18 These are a series of allusions to Sodom, showing that God’s sinful people were no better than the worst Gentiles. Mere association with God’s people and knowing truths about God doesn’t mean of themselves that we are any better than the worst sinners.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31somFYWFgQ
commentary:
2:3 Humility is a height which we should aspire to. This is a complete inversion of human thinking and values.
2:11 The pagan gods didn’t exist at all, but God speaks of starving them to death. He speaks as if they exist, and then shows by exercising His great power that effectively they don’t. God and His Son adopted the same approach in the New Testament with the demons or idols which were believed in.
2:12 My sword- God used the swords of pagan nations to do His judgments, but effectively they were His swords. The fact God uses people to do His will doesn’t mean they are righteous. When bad things happen to us at the hands of evil people, we needn’t think that God has left us at the whim of the wicked and forgotten us. He is actually using those people according to His plan.
2:15 I am- An allusion to the meaning of ‘Yahweh’- ‘I am that I am’. Those who effectively deny the existence of God are themselves playing God, claiming that I am, rather than accepting that He is. Acceptance of the fact that Yahweh is the only “I am” means that we will not be “I” centred, but God centred.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zkjP6L9m6E
commentary:
3:5 Know no shame- The righteous admit their sins and do know shame for them; and so they will come to a position where in the Kingdom of God, they will be aware that they have sinned but will not know shame for those sins (:11), so fully acceptant will they be of the work of Christ which has left them genuinely spotless and blameless before God’s throne (Jude 24). Verse 19 continues the irony around the theme of “shame” by saying that the shame of sinners is known by everyone else- apart from they themselves, who “know no shame”. The point is that we might as well be ashamed for our sins before others, because actually they do or will see the shame of our sins anyway.
3:7 God’s judgments could have been averted if they repented. God may ‘appoint’ things to happen to a person, but if they repent, then that potential which He has designed will in fact not happen. In this lies the wonderful significance of repentance.
3:13 Refuge in the name- In our times, we can do this by being baptized into the Name.
3:18 In the Kingdom of God on earth, God will empower those who now long to be obedient to God’s commands but cannot be due to circumstance or weakness. We will all then be able to serve God as strongly as we now wish. Our experiences in this life, even of our own weaknesses, are preparing our desire for that eternity which we will then be given.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVPdibyGtbc
sermon: https://youtu.be/HUu-3Bqqfng
commentary:
1:2 The Apocryphal book of Baruch 6:2 records how  Baruch changes the prophecy of Jer. 29:10, that Israel were to be 70 years in Babylon and then return: “When you reach Babylon you will be there many years, a period seven generations long, after which I will bring you back”. The 70 years are turned into seven generations. This was precisely the mindset spoken against in Haggai 1:2, whereby the Jews reasoned that the time had not yet come to rebuild the temple. “The time” referred to the time spoken of by Jeremiah- but Baruch had re-interpreted the 70 years as meaning seven generations. And yet all this was done with a surface-level reverence for God’s word- the exiles considered themselves blessed because they had God’s law (Baruch 4:4). Indeed, much of Baruch is a condemnation of idols and a demand to worship Yahweh. Human nature seeks to defer serving God until later- we’re quick to find excuses. But the Bible stresses how God’s true servants rise up and serve Him immediately.
1:9 Looked for much- The Jews in Babylon for the most part chose to remain there rather than return to rebuild God’s land and house. Many of those who did return did so, it seems, motivated by the hope of personal gain. They were more interested in building houses for themselves than in restoring God’s house, and therefore God sent famine- they didn’t get the “much” benefit and blessing for themselves which they had expected. We too can leave ‘Babylon’, the world, and sign up to God’s work from the motive of personal benefit, rather than a genuine desire to see God’s glory and His work and cause progressed.
1:14 The spirit- God can work directly on the human mind [spirit] and strengthen us in the attitudes we adopt.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz99FweVwAc
sermon: https://youtu.be/wFCUS9XcQHg
commentary:
2:5 My Spirit- God dwelt amongst Israel after they left Egypt through an Angel; He makes His Angels Spirits (Ps. 104:4; Heb. 1:7). One way God’s Spirit works amongst us His people is through the unseen ministry of Angels.
2:12,13 Unholiness spreads easier than holiness does. In spiritual things, it’s easier to slip into a downward spiral than into an upward spiral. The Jews thought that mere vague association with holy things would somehow make them holy. Our attendance at meetings, identification on a social level with God’s people, breaking bread etc. will not of itself make us holy.
2:17 One of the saddest things to observe is people suffering from situations which God uses to try to bring them back to Him, and them still refusing to return to Him. So much tragic human suffering is in vain because people won’t perceive the spiritual intention behind it.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEAgG_khc18
sermon: https://youtu.be/ecc1jayo3W4
commentary:
1:2 God is frequently called “Yahweh of Armies” in Zechariah because the prophecy is seeking to assure the Jews that although everything seemed quiet on earth and in the land of Judah (:11), God’s invisible armies of Angels were very actively working. We need to also be aware of this.
1:12 The Angel didn’t understand- Angels don’t sin, they have God’s nature, but they still don’t know everything (Mt. 24:36).
1:16 God had returned to Jerusalem; through the prophets, He had called for the Jews to leave Babylon and also return to Jerusalem. But most of them preferred to stay in the soft life there. Those who returned were following where God led. The call to repentance in :3 was in terms of ‘returning’ to God- and the Jews could’ve demonstrated this by returning to Jerusalem from Babylon. God had already returned to them; they had to return to Him. God takes the initiative with us, time and again.
1:21 A horn can be understood as a symbol of power.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8AYxUYC1Uo
sermon: https://youtu.be/ecc1jayo3W4
commentary:
2:7 God urged the Jews to leave Babylon. But as the book of Esther explains, they were quite comfortable there, Jews were in high places, they didn’t stay weeping by the rivers of Babylon for long; and there’s archaeological evidence they were involved in banking and commerce. But God told them to escape from it- for spiritually, it would kill them. Their position was urgent. But most preferred to remain there, rather than leave it all behind and make the long and uncertain journey to a land in ruins.
2:8 Apple of His eye- The most sensitive spot on the human body. God is so sensitive to us His people; His love for us is so great that He will be highly sensitive to everything done bad to us, and every pain we experience.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBv8dt6PH00
commentary:
3:1 The context in Zechariah 3 was that of the restoration of the Jews to Jerusalem from Babylon under Ezra and Nehemiah. That situation was reflected in the Heavenly court. The Jews were trying to rebuild the temple and re-establish a system of worship there. However, “the people of the land” acted as a satan [‘Satan’ means ‘adversary’] to the Jews. They are actually called “the adversaries of Judah” in Ezra 4:1. They wrote an accusation against the (new) inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem to the king of Persia (Ezra 4:6). The Hebrew word for “accusation” is related to that translated “satan”. 3:8 tells us that the characters of verses 1 and 2 are ‘men of sign’ i.e. we have to interpret them. So the satans- the adversaries- stood before the angel along with Joshua the High Priest, who “was clothed with filthy garments” (:3) - without a mitre on his head (:5 implies). The inhabitants of the land, the satan, were complaining to God, manifested in the angel, that the new Jewish high priest was not really valid, as he did not wear the proper clothes (they had probably been lost during the captivity). The angel rebukes the satan, and proceeds to clothe Joshua with a set of priestly clothes and a mitre (:4,5), thus showing God’s acceptance of him. The inference behind the complaint was that God had not really chosen Jerusalem for the Jews to rebuild, and that therefore they were going ahead with their plans without God behind them. But the angel says that the Lord has chosen Jerusalem, in the same way as He had chosen Joshua to be high priest. Thus Joshua represented Jerusalem. “Isn’t this a burning stick plucked out of the fire?”, the angel asks satan concerning Jerusalem. This is quoted in Jude 23 concerning saving repentant sinners. Thus the angel is in effect saying, ‘Jerusalem has repented, therefore I have plucked them out of the fire of judgment and destruction; you should not therefore be implying that Jerusalem and the Jews are so sinful that they cannot be restored to their land with Me behind them’.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tw-kHaQ3rk
commentary:
4:6 The prophets continually criticize human strength. In our terms, this may translate into situations like what we do when we feel the first onset of an illness; when a car won’t start… do we trust in human strength, on the pretensions of science, and only turn to God if all else fails? In prophetic terms, this is awful! That we don’t first and totally turn to our God.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwiIaBVk7L8
commentary:
5:3 This condemns theft and dishonesty amongst the exiles who had returned from Babylon. Malachi and Haggai comment that the harvests were poor and the people suffered- because their focus was on building their own farms rather than building God’s house. Verses 5-11 seem to be saying that their wickedness was so great that they may as well be taken up by Angelic means and returned to Babylon [“Shinar”, :11] to build a pagan temple there, as an inversion of the way they had been taken by Angelic means from Babylon to Judah in order to build Yahweh’s temple.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQSSnbCMBi4
commentary:
6:12 Zerubbabel's name meant 'The branch /shoot from Babylon'. He could have fulfilled these prophecies, he was intended to- but history records he returned to Babylon. So the prophecy was reapplied to Joshua the High Priest- the Hebrew form of ‘Jesus’. But he also failed. The fulfilment has therefore been reapplied and rescheduled to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ, “the branch” (Is. 11:1; Jer. 23:5).
6:15 So often, God sets up very detailed potentials for His people- but they are only realized if we play our part. It must be so tragic for God, enthusiastically creating plans in such detail, which are then never operationalized because of human laziness and small minded selfishness.
You shall know- Zechariah says this several times, implying that his words weren’t taken seriously by those he spoke with. This is the experience of all God’s true children.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BauMTUJTuZ4
commentary:
7:5 We can do religious exercises such as fasting and other things which involve physical loss and discomfort for us, and yet our heart may still be far from God. Indeed, we can do these things as it were unto ourselves and not to God; but this isn’t the same as true spirituality (cp. Col. 2:21-23).
7:12 His Spirit in the previous prophets- The prophets, whose words are now in written form in the Bible, were inspired by God. His Spirit was in them, and was articulated through their words which we now read on paper. In this sense God’s words are Spirit and life (Jn. 6:63); and the prophets spoke not just their own words , but the words which God’s Spirit inspired (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21). Through absorbing God’s word into our lives, His Spirit and life will be active in us.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrpi5FCbA0Q
sermon: https://youtu.be/YPGPGInP5sk
commentary:
8:2 God’s enormous love for us His people explains why He is also so jealous over us, and why at times He has so much anger relating to us. Every thought or action of unfaithfulness or denial of Him is indescribably painful to Him. 	
8:3 Ezra 6:14 says that the captives who returned from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem prospered in their work and were inspired to do it by the prophecies of Zechariah. He encouraged their hands to be strong in the work (:13). Here in :3 God says that He has already returned to Zion (the temple mount); and so those who returned were as it were following Him. This prophecy that Jerusalem would surely be rebuilt would’ve encouraged the builders as they worked against so many obstacles and so much discouragement from within and without.
8:6 This question touches upon the psychology of the reason why we find it hard to believe God. We assume that if something is too hard for us, then it must be too hard for God. We assume that God is a man, just a bit bigger and wiser and more powerful than us, but broadly within our limitations. Thus we make God after our own image, instead of realizing that we are made in His image. Of course, we do this only subconsciously. The unlimited almightiness of God is what true faith accepts.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PMdezzO_4w
commentary:
9:1 Note the mutuality between God and His people- our eyes look to Him, and His eyes look to us (:8). And in that catching of the eye, that flash moment when the God who is in search of man meets the man who is in search of God, there is the energy of the Spirit.
9:7 He will be- Note how often God states that the intended result of His judgment of Israel’s enemies is that they will join the people of God.
9:9 The concept of a humble King was a contradiction in terms- a King was supposed to be proud and displaying his power, riding on a fine horse rather than a young ass. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy by entering Jerusalem sitting on a young donkey which hadn’t been broken in (Lk. 19:30). It would’ve stopped and started and wandered rather than striding purposefully. It’s rather like a new victorious president entering his capital city in a spluttering old car, rather than in a fleet of shining, powerful, quietly purring Mercedes. The point was that in God’s Kingdom, true greatness is in humility. The mighty horse and chariot which human strength prefers is to be brought to nothing (:10; 10:5).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1exDXjW0cA
commentary:
10:1 We shouldn’t presume upon God’s blessings; even in the time of rain, we are to ask for it. Even if we have food in the fridge and in the cupboard, we are to ask God to give us the food of today (Mt. 6:11).
10:3 Because- This implies that because Yahweh had visited His people and (potentially) made them a strong flock capable of doing His work, therefore the priests were at fault for not enabling Judah’s spiritual revival. God is angry with those who don’t play their part in enabling His potential plans for others to come true for them.
10:5 See on 9:9.
10:11 Repeatedly Zechariah emphasizes that it is the pride of these nations more than anything else which is the basis for their condemnation. The Nile was the pride of the Egyptians just as the Jordan was Judah’s pride (11:3).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gTkWKm1w-A
commentary:
11:10 Israel rejected God's covenant, and therefore He rejected them in that He broke the unbreakable-by-Him covenant (2 Kings 17:15,20). In reality, they had rejected themselves, and broke the covenant (Jer. 31:32). It was only they who could break it, and God was only sadly confirming what they had done. And so with us. Only we can reject ourselves from God’s covenant love.
11:11 It was the poor within the society of Zechariah’s time who responded to God’s word; and this is a principle, that it’s the poor [in whatever sense] who accept the Gospel better than the wealthy (Lk. 7:22; 1 Cor. 1:26). The ‘prosperity Gospel’ is not Biblical.
11:14 Covenant relationship between people is broken [the horizontal level, as it were] when they break their covenant relationship with God [the vertical level]- :10. Conversely, if we are in covenant with God then we must be in meaningful covenant relationship with all those others who are in covenant with God. In our times, baptism into Christ means that we are “in” the new covenant based around God’s Gospel promises (Gal. 3:27-29). We therefore are in covenant fellowship with all others who are in the same covenant status with God.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWb95wjY-iA
commentary:
12:3 Trample upon it- The LXX of this verse is quoted in Lk. 21:24 as having a specific fulfilment in the last days before Christ returns.
12:10 This states that men would look upon the pierced (i.e. crucified) Saviour, and mourn in recognition of their own sinfulness. This verse is quoted as having fulfilment both at the crucifixion (Jn. 19:37) and also at the final judgment (Rev. 1:7). There is strong connection between these two events. The cross was “the judgment of this world” (Jn. 12:31). The cross divided men into two categories: The repentant thief and the bitter one; the soldiers who mocked and the Centurion who believed; the Sanhedrin members who believed and those who mocked; the women who lamented but didn't obey His word, and those whose weeping isn't recorded, but who stood and watched and believed. As we come before the cross in our minds, we are naturally driven to self-examination. There our thoughts are revealed (Lk. 2:35). This is why self-examination should occur naturally if we break bread properly, i.e. with our minds focused upon Him as He hung there.
Only son… firstborn- The Jews will come to understand something of God’s grief at the death of His only Son.
Pierced- It’s possible that the Lord Jesus still has marks in His hands and side where He was crucified- 13:6 may imply that the Jews of the last days will look upon them. He had them after His resurrection (Jn. 20:27), and marks of death were visible in the vision of Jesus which John saw (Rev. 5:6). Perhaps for absolute eternity He will carry these marks as a constant reminder to us all of the price paid for our redemption.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMHiyD_qDhg
commentary:
13:6 Marks- See on 12:10.
13:8 This could mean that two thirds of the Jews now living in Israel will die during the tribulation.
13:9 The purpose of Israel’s final tribulation will be to bring them to repentance; once there is repentance amongst them, then Christ will come (Is. 59:20). The quicker they repent, the shorter and lesser will be their tribulation. This explains why some of the prophecies of the last days are vague and hard to fit together chronologically- because there are various potential scenarios, depending upon the speed of Israel’s repentance. This trial of faith as gold is tried is going on in the lives of believers right now (1 Pet. 1:7)- the tribulations of our lives are therefore as intense and dramatic, in spiritual terms, as the tribulation about to break upon Israel. We shouldn’t underestimate the traumas which we go through spiritually.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmQFNMBSOkg
commentary:
14:4 This must connect with Christ’s ascension from Heaven from the Mount of Olives, with the Angels promising that He would return in the same way (Acts 1:11). Immediately prior to Christ’s second coming, Jerusalem will have been captured by her enemies; Christ comes when the remnant of Jews left alive repent and cry out to Him; see on 13:9.
14:7 This may suggest that the meaning of time collapses around the time of Christ’s coming. This would provide the answer to many practical questions- e.g. how shall we each stand before Christ’s judgment seat individually and have some time in discussion about our lives; why can’t we fit all the prophecies of the last days into some chronological order?
14:11 No more curse- Quoted in Rev. 22:3 about the future Kingdom of God on earth. God will be literally King over all the planet (:9); and there will be topographical changes around Jerusalem (:8).
14:12 Could this refer to nuclear warfare, used by God to punish those who use it? God will destroy Israel’s enemies by turning them against each other (:13).
14:21 A Canaanite- This apparently strange ending reflects Zechariah’s sadness that in his day, there had been unbelievers and even enemies allowed by God’s people to have rooms right in the temple of Yahweh itself (Neh. 13:7,8). He looked forward, as all God’s children do, to the time of God’s Kingdom when the sheep and goats will finally be divided from each other for ever.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejwMW0pm0XQ
sermon: https://youtu.be/RHzgwWEvxmE
commentary:
2:7 The duty of the priests under the Old Covenant was to maintain true understanding of God's word, witness this to the world around them, and teach it to their brothers and sisters in Israel. Although there was a special priesthood, it was clearly God's intention that all Israel should be like priests; they were to be a "Kingdom of priests" (Ex. 19:6), and we are to be likewise (1 Pet. 2:5,9), not assuming others will care for us spiritually, but each of us taking real responsibility.
2:10,11 This may be a reference to how at the time of the restoration from Babylon, the Jews married unbelievers. This is described in the same terms used here- a breaking covenant with God (Ezra 10:2,10; Neh. 13:27,29). Their marriage to unbelievers led them to accept the gods of their wives- and in this lay the sin of what they did.
2:15 Make you one- a reference to how God joins together husband and wife in the course of their married life, not just on their wedding day. The intention is that our children will be “Godly”. If we are not united, not companions with each other, or if our partner is an unbeliever, it will be so much harder for us to raise Godly children.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1iB_W7me_4
sermon: https://youtu.be/7A37CJ1ZDYM
commentary:
3:6 God does change, as witnessed by men like Moses changing His stated intentions through prayer and intercession. What is unchangeable about Him is His grace to His sinful people.
3:14 Nehemiah, seeking for Israel’s obedience to Ezekiel’s temple vision, tried to get them to ‘follow His instructions’ (s.w. Neh. 7:3; 12:9,45; 13:20). For Ezekiel had prophesied that in the restored temple, God’s instructions would be followed (Ez. 40:46; 44:8,14-16). But now, Judah complained that there was no benefit to them from having kept the charges (Mal. 3:14 s.w.). Partial obedience discouraged them from any further effort, because the fullness of blessing can only come from a way of life conformed to God’s Kingdom vision and life. This is why people get disillusioned with religion and lose the faith- because they seek for immediate benefit as a result of keeping a few highly specific aspects of God’s law, rather than willingly devoting their whole way of life to the realisation of His vision.
3:16 If we truly love God, we will naturally want to find and communicate with others who also do.
3:17 We are so very valuable to God- His jewels, His “very own”. We can take comfort that we are not alone in this world, He is so intensely with us.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znDp_hyepE4
sermon: https://youtu.be/pj2n4qqMfJE
commentary:
4:2 The sun- A prophecy of Christ’s return. He will be like the dawn, chasing away the darkness which is now on the earth.
4:5 It seems that ‘Elijah’ will come to convert some in Israel to Christ before His second coming. John the Baptist was an Elijah prophet (Mt. 11:14); this prophecy of ‘Elijah’ may therefore not necessarily require literal Elijah to appear on earth, but the work of converting some in Israel could be fulfilled by others.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MX6Y052d9g
sermon: https://youtu.be/ceEMS1a2bts
commentary:
2:5 Mordecai- So much of later Isaiah is taken up with mockery and criticism of the Babylonian gods and the Marduk cult. The book of Esther, with Mordecai as the joint hero, named as he was after Marduk, demonstrates how caught up were the Jews with the Babylonian gods. Ezekiel repeatedly reveals the idolatry of the Jewish captives. Isaiah was therefore an appeal for the Jews to quit the Marduk cult and believe in the radical prophecies about the overthrow of Babylon. The situation is analogous to how the New Testament is full of references to the Roman imperial cult of empire worship. So much of the Bible is like Isaiah and the New Testament- a radical, counter-cultural call to see our present world for what it is, and to perceive that the ways of God simply can’t be mixed in, watered down or compromised with the way of this world.
2:7 ‘Esther’ in Persian means ‘star’ and appears a reference to Ishtar or to the Persian stara, or ‘star’, the Babylonian goddess of love. Even her Hebrew name Hadassah means ‘myrtle’, a tree which is a native of Babylon, not Israel.
2:9 See on 4:1-3.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zje-XkEEqc
sermon: https://youtu.be/3IusS0RVkbs
commentary:
3:7 See on 4:1-3; 7:8. Haman decided on his plan to kill the Jews in the first month, Nisan, but his roll of the dice dictated that he execute it in the 12th month. This gave the Jews and Esther / Mordecai nearly a whole year to try to get out of the situation. The fact this plan was made around Jewish Passover time [hence the mention of the month Nisan] perhaps suggested to the thoughtful that God would work a similar Passover deliverance as He had from Egypt. Here we see providence, a Divine hand intervening (Prov. 16:33). And that Divine hand intervenes and works even through our own failure.
3:9 It’s apparent that the Jews were no longer sitting weeping by the rivers of Babylon, but had become influential and wealthy throughout the empire- hence Haman’s desire to kill and plunder them. The vast sum he offered to the King for permission to do this was presumably on the basis that a percentage of the plunder would be given to the King; for Herodotus estimated Haman’s offer to approximate to two thirds of the annual income of the Persian empire. The only way he could realistically have offered this would’ve been on the basis that the Jews were wealthy and he would totally plunder them. Hence when the whole plan was reversed, the Jews were allowed to plunder their enemies (8:11). They certainly didn’t take any wealth with them into captivity; they must have experienced meteoric prosperity and success in all their business dealings. Hence their desire to materially support the exiles who wished to return, but most of them were too caught up in the good life to heed the call to come out from Babylon / Persia. And we, faced with that same call in these last days, must enquire whether we’re not the same.
3:13 The decree was made to “destroy… and cause to perish” the Jews throughout the provinces of Persia / Babylon (3:13; 7:4). This phrase uses the two Hebrew words which we find together three times in the list of curses to be brought upon a disobedient Israel (Dt. 28:20,51,63). Yet by her wonderful self-sacrificial mediation, Esther brought about the deferment and even annulment of those justifiable curses. God’s prophetic word was again changed- due to a mediator, who of course pointed both backwards to Moses, and forwards to the Lord Jesus. God is so eager to save us that He is willing to change His stated purpose about sinners.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uukzT3XW45c
sermon: https://youtu.be/6PLMKayfeao
commentary:
4:1-3 The complete absence of God’s Name in Esther indicates how they had forgotten the Name of their God in Babylon. It’s also odd that there is no mention of prayer in the story- when prayer was the obvious recourse of God’s people. The omission is so obvious- as if to point out that the Jews were not the prayerful community which they should’ve been. When we read of Mordecai rending his clothes and putting on sackcloth and ashes, we expect to read of him praying – for prayer accompanies those two things in 2 Kings 19:1-4 and Joel 1:14. Even Esther appears to accept her possible destruction in a fatalistic way rather than in faith- “If I perish, I perish” (:16). There’s a contrast with Daniel, who gathered his friends and gave himself to prayer before going in to the King; she gathered her friends and asked them to fast, but there’s no specific mention of prayer. What she did was brave, but it seems to be more human bravery than an act of spiritual faith. The omission of any mention of prayer seems intentional- to highlight that the Jewish community were simply not prayerful as they should’ve been. The book of Esther was surely to encourage the Jews that despite their weakness, God was prepared to work with them. Esther appears to have slept with [‘went in unto’] the King before he married her; eaten unclean food (2:9; cp. Dan. 1:5, 8), and finally married a Gentile. And she didn’t tell her husband that she was Jewish for the first 5 years of their marriage (2:16; 3:7).  It’s almost certain that she would’ve acted like a Persian woman religiously in order for this to be the case; she certainly wasn’t an observant keeper of the Mosaic law. She’s almost set up in contrast with Daniel, who refused to defile himself in these ways and maintained his conscience in the same environment at whatever cost. But the point of Esther is to show that God was eager to work with such as Esther, He hadn’t quit on His people. And of course if Esther and Mordecai had done the right thing and returned to Judah as commanded, the whole situation would never have arisen, and there would’ve been no Jews left in Babylon to persecute. It seems that the history in the book of Esther is an example of how God sent ‘fishers and hunters’ to encourage the Jews to return as He commanded them (Jer. 16:16)- but even then, they didn’t. 
4:8 God had said that He would cast Judah out of their land, they would go to Babylon and serve other gods there, “where I will not show you favour” (Jer. 16:13). But actually Esther and her people were shown favour there [s.w. Esther 4:8; 8:5]. God was gracious [s.w. ‘show favour’] to those in exile (Is. 30:18,9; Am. 5:15; Mal. 1:9). Here we see God’s pure grace to His weak people.
4:16 See on :1-3.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z33-v4_EpY
sermon: https://youtu.be/5GIQnuLsIPU
commentary:
5:4 When Esther’s nerve failed and she cops out of making her request by asking the King and Haman to come to a banquet, she finds herself saying: “Let the King come with Haman today”. The Hebrew text reads: “Ybw’ Hmlk Whmn Hywm”- the first letters of those four Hebrew words spells YHWH, the Name of God which never occurs in the book of Esther. Truly God’s strength is made perfect in human weakness. In that very moment of failure, the cop out, God was revealed in His essence. And He proceeded to work through the element of suspense which her request created… to pique the King’s desire to help, and to raise Haman’s pride at having been invited, so that he would act even more foolishly, leading to his downfall. It could also be noted that Esther’s entire intercession could so easily have been spoilt if Haman had suspected her machinations against him. But he didn’t; he felt very honoured to have been invited by Esther to the banquet, and he boasted about it. In other words, Esther concealed her true feelings towards him. And where did she learn to do that? Surely in a lifetime of concealing her true Jewish identity and religious feelings, when actually she shouldn’t have done so.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSTW_d5rNj8
sermon: https://youtu.be/cgH1KwRRD9Y
commentary:
7:6 The Septuagint here calls the man Haman ho diabolos- the devil (with the definite article), referring to Haman, not to any supernatural being. The word simply means an enemy.
7:3 Esther made her request for “my life… my people” in parallel; and when her own safety was assured, she didn’t just relax and mop her brow with relief, she went on to petition for them- with all the risks this involved for her (see too 8:3). We can’t possibly just rejoice in our own salvation, that we have found the Lord and are secured in Him; if we have truly experienced this, we will wish to share it with others.
7:4 Esther, in an eloquent type of Christ’s mediation for us, risked her life because she felt that “we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed”. If she’d have kept her mouth shut, she wouldn’t have been destroyed. But she fought and won the same battle as we have daily or weekly before us: to identify ourselves with our weaker and more suffering brethren.
7:8 Although Esther was weak spiritually, yet God worked through her to save His undeserving people. The story brings out a number of coincidences which on reflection could only have been from God. The way Haman collapses and it appears he’s tried to rape Esther is one such. Another is the way that Mordecai isn’t rewarded for revealing the plot to kill the King- the King seems to have forgotten about it, overlooked it, and therefore he was all the more inclined to do Esther and Mordecai a real favour when required. This is all especially remarkable when we read historian Herodotus’ note that Ahasuerus [or Xerxes] was noted for rewarding loyalty. It was surely no mere human co-incidence that the very morning the King has had a bad night and remembered Mordecai and decides to honour him, that Haman arrives to request Mordecai’s death. See on 3:7.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-StZ1B3l0k
sermon: https://youtu.be/6u9kMkkVyFM
commentary:
8:5 See on 4:8.
8:7 The God who has given us His Son will, through His mediation, surely "freely give us all things" in response to our prayers (Rom. 8:32-34). This passage is alluding to the LXX here: "If I have freely granted you all that was Haman's, because he laid his hand on the Jews, and hanged him on a gallows [cp. the cross], what do you further seek?"; and the King then gives Esther whatever she requests. Note the repetition of ideas: if death on a cross had been granted, then all other things would be freely granted to the mediator / intercessor, for the good of her / His people.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6YSYBIXUYk
sermon: https://youtu.be/L4nbSWKwO9U
commentary:
10 Ezekiel had prophesied that those who survived the famine and invasion of Judah would go into captivity, "and I will draw out a sword after them" (Ez. 5:2,12). We would expect from this that the exiles would be persecuted and slain in captivity, and this surely was God's intended judgment. But in Esther we find the exiles in prosperity, in positions of power and respected by their captors; and Jeremiah concludes his prophecy with the information that Jehoiachin, Judah's exiled King, was exalted "above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon" and he was given special favour and honour by the King of Babylon (Jer. 52:31-34). We can only understand these things as pure grace. God showed tenderness and favour to His people in captivity, far above what He had intended or what they deserved. And He does the same with us- He gives us so much more than we deserve. And yet most of Judah abused that grace; they were so taken up with the good life God gave them in captivity that they chose to remain there and not participate in the restoration. And we so easily can end up abusing His grace likewise. In this sense the book of Esther has a sad ending- the Jews are even more popular, even richer. Our loving Father gives us as His children what we beg Him for materially- but so often, it’s not for our good spiritually. God must be so torn- between giving us what we want, what we whine for, what humanly we obviously need and would desperately like to have… and yet knowing that this is not for our spiritual good. We wonder what happened to Esther. Ahasuerus was slain soon after the events of the book of Esther- typically, the wife and supporters of the King would’ve been slain or persecuted. Was this not another prod from God for Esther and Mordecai to return to Judah?


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAKCKCaH1kI
sermon: https://youtu.be/Ur0nWdbbyWA
commentary:
1:4 The earth remains forever- It is God’s promised plan to establish His eternal Kingdom on this earth; He will not destroy it. The Biblical descriptions of “heaven and earth” being destroyed are to be read as figurative of the destruction of the present world order, rather than literally.
1:12 This book appears to be the meditations of Solomon at the end of his life. He had been given Divine wisdom and retained it (2:9), but he rejected its claim upon him personally. He therefore says much which is true, and yet he speaks with the cynicism of the person who has rejected the true faith for himself whilst still offering it to others, especially the young. This explains the apparently contradictory strands of teaching within the book.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNVckim9sQY
sermon: https://youtu.be/Zn9fzzh1y7o
commentary:
3:19 One and the same spirit- The Hebrew word translated “spirit” has a wide range of meaning, but includes the idea of “breath”. By nature, man and the animals are the same. The same thing happens when we die; and Solomon so wished that men would perceive this whilst they were alive (:18) so that they would give themselves to God the more fully. There’s no difference in where the spirit goes after death, whether we are man, animal or plant (:21). We are made of dust and will return to dust; the spirit, or life force which animates us, returns to God, whether we are good or bad. Those who are responsible to God will be resurrected and judged; the wicked will die for ever, the second death, again returning to dust; and those counted righteous by God’s grace will live for ever with immortal bodies in His eternal Kingdom on earth. There is no conscious survival of death taught in the Bible; we’re not born with any ‘immortal soul’. This is a non-Christian idea. Immortality is only revealed to those who are in Christ (2 Tim. 1:10).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S1JCgEVsU8
sermon: https://youtu.be/Zn9fzzh1y7o
commentary:
4:8 The billionaire always wants another billion… “Hell and destruction are never satisfied, and the eyes of man are never satisfied” (Prov. 27:20 RV), Solomon wrote in his youth; and then in old age, he came to basically the same conclusion, having spent his life working back to the truth that he had been taught in his youth (see too 1:8). And there are many men and women who have done the same. We all tend to be empirical learners; and yet this is the great power of God’s word, that through it we don’t have to learn everything through our failures; but we can receive His Truth, trust it, and simply live by it. Otherwise we shall be like Solomon…


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4-clr5GZAo
sermon: https://youtu.be/H3flfDv2E5I
commentary:
5:2 God is in heaven, and you on earth- God is revealed as existing as a personal being in a specific location, Heaven. Although He is present everywhere by His Spirit, this doesn’t mean that He has no personal existence.
5:6 Don’t protest before the messenger- The Hebrew word ‘malak’ translated “messenger” is the usual word translated “angel”. It can be used of men, e.g. priests, or anyone who is a ‘messenger’. The Angels of God don’t sin (Lk. 20:35,36 cp. Rom. 6:23), but the word ‘malak’ can be applied to ordinary men, who of course can sin. The Greek word ‘aggelos’, usually translated ‘angel’, is applied to the human messengers of John the Baptist (Lk. 7:24). This confusion has led to some misunderstanding the few Bible verses which speak (in some translations) of ‘angels’ sinning; but those ‘angels’ referred to are human beings, representatives, servants or messengers of others, and don’t refer to ‘angels’ in the sense of spirit beings.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LknILCJsBcE
sermon: https://youtu.be/H3flfDv2E5I
commentary:
6:2 Prov. 6:26 warns the young man that the Gentile woman will take his money and leave him destitute at the end. These words seem to be alluded to by Solomon years later here, where he laments that despite his wealth and success, a Gentile would have it all after his death. He saw in later life that his warnings to the young men of Israel had been in the form of painting a picture of a typical young man who epitomized youthful folly; but now he realized that he had been making a detailed prophecy of himself. Likewise in 2:18,19 he laments that his labours will achieve nothing; doubtless alluding back to his words in Prov. 5:10, where he says that the Gentile wife will make the young Israelite's labours meaningless. Sin never satisfies. We can know truth on a theoretical level as Solomon did, and yet not live it out in practice.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtnl-o_6ZLw
sermon: https://youtu.be/Xo4GwTbqY1M
commentary:
7:2-4 The continual emphasis of society upon ‘fun’ and ‘entertainment’ doesn’t lead to wisdom before God, but the very opposite.
7:23 Solomon recognized that although he had loved the idea of wisdom, the image of a spiritual  life, the wisdom of God had never really impacted him personally: "I said, I will be wise (referring back to his request for wisdom in 1 Kings 3); but it was far from me". His request for wisdom had only been so that he could do the job of leading Israel, living out the parental expectation of his father, whom he admits in Proverbs 4 had taught him to ask for wisdom.
7:28 Solomon had all the instruction he could wish for; but he didn't allow it to really sink home. He started out on the search for an ultimately satisfying woman, but out of the 1000 he had (1 Kings 11:3) he never found one, even when he sat down and analyzed each of them. And even politically, his marriages with all those Gentile women didn't seem to achieve the support he desired from their home countries; Egypt gave refuge to Jeroboam, Solomon's main rival (1 Kings 11:40), even though he always acquiesced to his wives and even in his very old age he still didn’t destroy the idol temples he built for them (2 Kings 23:13).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16wmE5o_0_8
sermon: https://youtu.be/Xo4GwTbqY1M
commentary:
8:1 Solomon didn’t see the relevance of his wisdom to his own personal family life. Yet he proudly insisted: “Who is like the wise man?”, as if the possession of theoretical truth and wisdom was the ultimate possession; and he then goes on to say that this made him beyond criticism (:2-4). This is a danger for any community or individual who says they have “the truth” and who considers the possession of it to be of the utmost importance.
8:4 It is only God who cannot be questioned in this way. But Solomon felt that because he possessed God’s wisdom, he could therefore act as God. :2 could suggest that he thought his commandments were in fact God’s. So the possession of Truth, which we too have, can lead to an incredible arrogance, a lack of openness to others’ comments upon us, and a certainty that we are right in all that we do and are beyond criticism in every area. The hardness of a man is changed by true wisdom (:1) but despite knowing this, Solomon became hard hearted and abused his people. He had the wisdom- but as he said, it was far from him personally.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2R73WmZ2l8
sermon: https://youtu.be/-U5WDgVCfUE
commentary:
9:5 The dead don’t know anything- The Bible clearly teaches that death is unconsciousness. See on 3:19.
9:6 Neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun- Human theories of ghosts and reincarnation aren’t compatible with the Bible. The Biblical hope for life after death is in the form of a bodily resurrection to stand before God’s judgment and then by grace receive eternal life in His Kingdom on earth; and this is not for all, but for those who have consciously made a covenant with God in this life.
9:10 Sheol, where you are going- ‘Sheol’, translated “hell” in some Bibles and “the grave” in others, is simply death; all people, good and bad, go there. It’s not a place of conscious punishment for the wicked, it refers simply to the grave.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INxDdqQLD-U
sermon: https://youtu.be/-U5WDgVCfUE
commentary:
10:1 Solomon had “honour” to an unprecedented extent (1 Kings 3:13). But in this same book he admits that he, the man famed world-wide for wisdom, gave himself to folly (2:3). He knew so well the error and folly of his ways, but he could only preach the lesson but not heed it. A true fool is one whose wisdom fails him in practice (when he “walks by the way”, :3); and especially is this acute when this “error… proceeds from the ruler” (:5). It’s all about Solomon himself. His self-analysis, like that of many an alcoholic and drug addict, was excellent. The very possession of truth and wisdom seems to be of itself a temptation to live the very opposite way, which is why believers who go wrong often end up behaving far worse than unbelievers.
10:16,17 Solomon had been so confident that he was or would be the Messiah that he seems to have felt that he was beyond the possibility of sinning; real self-examination and the sense of the possibility of failure just didn’t exist for him. He says that the land of Israel is happy or blessed because her king is the son of a noble, and she will be cursed if her ruler is a servant. Solomon proudly presented himself as the son of King David- and he makes a clear swipe at Jeroboam, the pretender to the throne who was a servant (1 Kings 11:26). By reasoning like this, Solomon sets himself in direct opposition to the spirit of Jesus, who declared that the servant is to be the King of all. Thus Solomon’s self-justification, his self-defensiveness, his lack of focus on the future Messiah, led him to miss totally the spirit of Christ.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoF6Nj5RJlI
sermon: https://youtu.be/KiDmfKnG7AI
commentary:
12:2 And the clouds return after the rain- Solomon’s father, David, had in his old age rejoiced in the prospect of God’s Kingdom coming on earth at Christ’s return, which he imagined would be like the clear shining after the rain (2 Sam. 23:4). Solomon in his old age saw only negativity, the return of the clouds, whereas David in old age looked ahead with hope to the Kingdom. Whilst Solomon spoke so often of his father David, he failed to personally grasp the wonder of the hope of Christ and His Kingdom which his father had; for this cannot be passed on through the generations, that wonder has to be learnt from experience and years of spiritual devotion.
12:3-5 This is a picture of a man in old age, perhaps based upon Solomon himself, having lost his strength and his teeth (“the grinders”), with darkened eyesight, poor of hearing and jumpy, scared of heights having lost his balance, with white hair like the almond tree and having lost sexual desire. Solomon presents this picture of man at his last end to those yet young, with the appeal to therefore not waste life ingratiating the senses, but rather in serving God.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIGpy1fjSpk
sermon: https://youtu.be/KiDmfKnG7AI
commentary:
11:9 For all these things there is a God who will bring you into judgment- Solomon knows judgment will come, at least for the young people, but he reasons as if it won’t- at least not for him. He knows, but he doesn’t know on the personal, experiential level. This is why there are apparently contradictory statements in Ecclesiastes. For example, the wise dies as the fool, with no more eternal remembrance than the fool (2:15,16). This, Solomon, says, is what he himself believes in his own heart. But in 7:12 he says that wisdom gives life to those who have it. But then again in 9:16-18 he observes that although wisdom can help, its benefits are easily undone, so easily as to make it useless. He knew and preached God’s Truth, but for him personally, it meant nothing at all. And therefore in practice he advocated the life of self-enjoyment, acting as if all the other truth of wisdom was not operative in practice. His final recommendation in chapter 12 is for young people to go the way of wisdom, as this is their duty. He had evidently minimized the coming of judgment, as his obsession with himself being the Messiah had lead him to minimize the reality of the coming of Christ. How deeply do we struggle with our own humanity, and deeply long for the second coming? Has our materialism made the Hope of the Kingdom mean practically nothing? Solomon's complaint at the pointlessness of wisdom in 2:15-20 is liberally sprinkled with personal pronouns; his self-centredness was part of his materialism and lack of faith in the Kingdom. And for us too, familiarity with the glorious principles of Divine Truth with which we have been entrusted can lead us to the blasphemy of saying, in effect, that those principles are unimportant; they come to mean little to us personally, and thereby we effectively deny their value and worth.
11:10 The tragic brevity of life means that youth is vanity; we should quit the time wasting follies of youth or overgrown childhood (and the modern world is full of these), and therefore we too should remove anger from our hearts. Ecclesiastes uses the mortality of man not only as an appeal to work for our creator and quit anger, but to simply have faith in His existence (as 2 Cor. 1:9).


christian_basics: https://youtu.be/jD7eXXp72vE
sermon: https://youtu.be/hV1RsfES5-4
commentary:
1:1 The Gospel records are transcripts of how e.g. Matthew preached the Gospel. Matthew begins his explanation of the Gospel [“good news”] by demonstrating that Jesus was the descendant of Abraham and David. This is important because the Gospel was contained in the promises to those men (Gal. 3:8) that they would have a literal descendant, who would be God’s Son, Jesus. Therefore Jesus didn’t exist as a physical person before He was born; He had our human nature.
1:19 Joseph could have told others of her situation, and made her a “public example”, or put her through the “law of jealousy” of Numbers 5. But exactly because Joseph was truly “righteous”, he didn’t do that. He was sensitive to her- as we should be to others who are caught up in situations beyond our full understanding.
1:20 Conceived- Jesus began within Mary. He didn’t pre-exist. He was born ‘of her’ (1:16).
1:21 ‘Jesus’ means ‘Saviour’; ‘Christ’ means ‘Anointed’.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVconMp3p38
sermon: https://youtu.be/-DPxd4hc0b4
commentary:
2:5 Through the prophet- The prophets wrote the words of God, not just their own words. Hence the significance of through. The Bible is the inspired word of God.
2:6 Jesus came forth “out of” Bethlehem- He didn’t come down from Heaven as a person. Note how Matthew so often shows that Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. 
2:8 The Magi didn’t obey the King, because God told them not to (:12). We shouldn’t always do what those in authority tell us, if it contradicts God’s word (Acts 4:19).
2:14 He arose- Joseph’s immediate obedience to God’s word is emphasized (as 1:24; 2:20)- an example to us.
2:15 Out of Egypt- As Israel were called out of Egypt. All God’s children are to leave ‘Egypt’- which is often a symbol of the world.
2:20-22 Joseph was told that it was safe to return. But he doubted. And so God made a concession to his weakness by telling him to go and live in Galilee.


christian_basics: https://youtu.be/p-yMw11yY_E
sermon: https://youtu.be/wtylea3w_JA
commentary:
3:6 Baptized... in the river- Baptism [Greek baptizo] means to dip, to immerse- not to sprinkle. So baptism was performed in a river. Note 3:16 out of the water.
3:7 Offspring of vipers- They were the descendants of the snake spoken of in Gen. 3:15. There will always be opposition between those in Christ, the descendant of the woman, and the descendants of the snake. We will be temporarily wounded by them, but we will triumph in the end. 
3:9 Within yourselves- The Bible is aware of how we are likely to respond. God’s concern is with our state of mind, how we think within. For this is the ultimate source of human sin.
3:12 Unquenchable fire- not literally. A symbol of complete destruction (Jer. 17:27).
3:15 Jesus was baptized as an adult by immersion- as an example to us. We should also be baptized.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2SCpMG_7x0
sermon: https://youtu.be/g-Py9DptaTA
commentary:
4:1-8
‘The Devil’ doesn’t exist as a fallen Angel or evil cosmic being- see the “Doctrinal Summary”.
Jesus "was in all points tempted like as we are" (Heb. 4:15), and: "every man is tempted... of his own lust, and enticed" (James 1:14). We are tempted by the "devil" of our own mind, and so was Jesus. We are not tempted by an evil being prompting us to sin - sin and temptation come "from within, out of the heart of man" (Mk. 7:21).
The temptations cannot be literal:
4:8 implies that Jesus was led up a high mountain to see all the kingdoms of the world in their future glory "in a moment of time" (Mk. 4:5). There is no mountain high enough to see all the world- the earth is a sphere.
- Comparison with Luke 4 shows that the temptations are described in a different order. Mk. 1:13 says that Jesus was "in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan", whilst Mt. 4:2-3 says that "when he had fasted forty days... the tempter (Satan) came to Him...". Thus these same temptations kept repeating themselves- e.g. to turn stones into bread.  
- It’s unlikely the devil led Jesus through the wilderness and streets of Jerusalem and then they scaled a pinnacle of the temple together, all in view of the inquisitive Jews.  
- If the devil is a physical person who has no respect for God's Word and is interested in making people sin, then why would Jesus quote Scripture to overcome him? According to the popular view, this would not send the devil away. Jesus quoted a Bible passage each time.  Ps. 119:11:"Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin".
-   Jesus was "led of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil". How could the Spirit of God lead Jesus to be tempted by a superhuman being existing in opposition to God.  He had just received the power of the Spirit (3:16). Now He was tempted to use it to turn stones into bread, jump off buildings unharmed etc.  


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev-EwLNh6hQ
sermon: https://youtu.be/rcQnmSnOxRs
commentary:
5:5 Inherit the earth- The Kingdom of God will be established here on earth at the return of Christ. ‘Inheritance’ refers to the promises to Abraham that his children would inherit the earth. Eternity on earth and not Heaven is promised to those “in Christ” and thus Abraham’s children. 
5:15 If a candle is put under a bucket, it will go out. If we don’t publically witness to our faith, we will lose it. We can’t be secret Christians.
5:17 The Mosaic law was fulfilled by Christ in His death (Col. 2:14-17). We therefore don’t need to keep that law, nor the Sabbath.
5:45 Makes His sun- God hasn’t wound the world up and left it ticking. Every action within creation is consciously from Him. We are therefore never far from Him- just feel Him acting in nature.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrklyEBKbIY
sermon: https://youtu.be/BS-7VAcp-tk
commentary:
6:3 Left hand know- Don’t be conscious of your good works. Do them and forget them. Those accepted into God’s Kingdom will honestly not remember the times they fed the hungry (Mt. 25:37).
6:4 Shall reward- when Jesus returns to establish God’s Kingdom on earth. “I come quickly and my reward is with me” (Rev. 22:12).
6:10 On earth- We pray for the Kingdom of God to come on earth, i.e. for Jesus to return soon.
6:18 Not be seen- We must consciously try to conceal our good works so that other people do not notice them. When was the last time you did this?
6:24 Few would say they “hate” God. But if we love wealth [“mammon”], then in His eyes, we do.
6:26 Father feeds them- As 5:45, God is consciously in contact with His creation, and has some kind of relationship with the animals (Job 41:1-5). 7:1 Judge not- The Greek word translated “judge” can mean both to condemn, and to make a judgment of right and wrong. We must not condemn others, but we must judge between right and wrong. 


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFcfQe6Lt7Y
sermon: https://youtu.be/gYNYmKlKNhE
commentary:
7:14 The majority are usually wrong in spiritual matters.
7:22 Lord, Lord- There will be people who called Jesus “Lord” and who thought they did miracles in His Name who will be rejected at the last day. They actually did “iniquity”. Possessing the gifts of God is no guarantee of salvation. 
7:25 Floods came- The day of judgment will be like a storm which shakes us to the core and reveals who we really are. True spiritual progress is slow- like bashing away at the rock of our hard hearts. Quick spiritual progress is likely to be a building upon sand. 


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP-3KMHX7cg
sermon: https://youtu.be/u_3A_M43OhY
commentary:
8:3 Touched him- All would’ve been shocked. Touching a leper made a person ritually unclean, and risked contracting the illness. Jesus did this to show the extent to which He did not believe in “guilt by association”. 
8:16,17 ‘Demon possession’ was the language used in the first century to describe mental illness. Note the parallel between ‘casting out demons’ and being cured of disease. ‘Demons’ don’t in fact exist- see the “Doctrinal Summary”.
8:22 Jesus, the Lord of all grace, can at times be very demanding. He wants our immediate response. Likewise He exaggerated the situation in v. 21- He did often have somewhere to sleep, e.g. the home of Martha and Mary, but that night perhaps He had nowhere. 
8:23 His disciples followed him- The impression is given of them walking behind Him. They are symbols of us all. 
8:25 Awoke Him- Jesus surely only appeared to be sleeping, in a small boat about to sink. But as in our lives, He appears silent only to bring us to the point of realizing our desperation for Him. 
8:25 O you of little faith! – Remember the Gospel records were written by the disciples. They are transcripts of their preaching to others. They appealed for others to believe in Christ by pointing out how they had themselves been of such weak belief in Christ. Such humility, recounting our failures to others, is what makes our witness powerful rather than pretending we are perfect. Self-righteousness turns people off.
8:32 Jesus agreed to the mad man’s request in order to provide him with a visual aide memoire for the rest of his life. Mental illness is usually intermittent, and the man needed assurance that this time the cure was total. His illness may have been caused from eating pig meat.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTXGbXPfB54
sermon: https://youtu.be/ZP9okr79QQU
commentary:
9:2 Jesus seeing their faith- He cured and forgave a person because of the faith of third parties. If our faith can influence the eternal destiny and wellbeing of others, then we should be making every effort for them, in prayer and practically. Either our efforts and prayers can be a factor in others’ salvation and blessing, or they are not. They are. So we should give our lives to prayer and care for others.
9:13 Not to call the righteous but sinners- All are sinners, it’s just that some think they are righteous. We will never be good enough for God, never morally ready enough for baptism- but the whole purpose of Jesus is to save us who are sinners.
9:17 The new wine represents the new covenant in the blood of Jesus; the old wine is the old covenant, Moses’ law. If we have received the new wine of Jesus, we must change- otherwise it will destroy us. 
9:35 The theme of Christ’s preaching was “the gospel of the Kingdom”, the good news [‘Gospel’] of having God as our King now, and looking forward to the return of His Son to establish God’s Kingdom physically here on earth for ever.
9:37 The symbols suggest that the harvest is lost and spoilt because there aren’t enough workers to harvest it. The harvest refers to converts, spiritual fruit being given to God, the owner of all. God in some ways chooses to be limited by us. There will be some who will not be harvested for God because the church didn’t make enough effort for them, or there were simply not enough of us to reach them. “Few” in Greek can also imply weak, as well as numerically few.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYDJojW0TKk
sermon: https://youtu.be/p2--poUaWUs
commentary:
10:11 Until you go- Jesus wished to focus upon families and homes, which later developed into the house churches of the later New Testament. His focus is still very much on the family unit as the foundation for His church.
10:15 More tolerable- There will be degrees of reward and punishment at the day of judgment when Jesus returns. All our behaviour in this life will be judged sensitively, nothing will be overlooked and everything will receive an appropriate response.
10:16 Wise as serpents- We are not asked to be naive; but the opposite.
10:23 Gone through the cities of Israel- This may imply there will be persecution of believers and also a strong witness to the Jews in Israel immediately prior to Christ’s return. We should be prepared.
10:25 We should therefore not be surprised to be persecuted; in fact we should expect it, because if this world treated Jesus as they did, they will treat us the same.
10:26 Revealed – at the day of judgment (1 Cor. 3:13). If we will be revealed for who we really are eternally, there’s no point in acting out a false image to our brothers and sisters in this life.
10:27 Proclaim upon the housetops - This is alluding to 1 Sam. 9:15,25, where God speaks “the word of the Kingdom” in Samuel’s ear, and then he speaks that word to Saul on the housetop. The Lord is saying that in essence, we are all in Samuel’s position; we hear the word of this world’s salvation, the word about “the Kingdom” as it was for Saul, and that very fact is in itself the imperative to overcome our natural reservations and share it with those for whom it is intended- even if, as with Saul, we consider them unlikely and unspiritual hearers.
10:28 Gehenna was the rubbish dump outside Jerusalem. The fires were always burning there because new garbage was always being thrown onto it. It became a symbol of complete destruction. Some Bibles translate it [wrongly] as “hell”. 
10:40 Peoples’ attitude to us is their attitude to Jesus. This means that we, as baptized into the body of Christ, are Him to this world. Our behaviour should be appropriate to this.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oniXaT57Bm8
sermon: https://youtu.be/SzSwHykj-IE
commentary:
11:1 Their cities- Jesus encouraged people to preach to their network of friends and relatives, in their home areas; He visited those places to back up their witness. Witnessing to friends and family is the most difficult yet most important witness we make.
11:11 Whoever is least in the Kingdom of God in the future will be greater, spiritually, than John the Baptist was in his human life. We learn from this that there will be degrees of reward in God’s Kingdom- one star will shine brighter than another (1 Cor. 15:41), some will rule over ten cities, others over five (Lk. 19:17-19). Do we have the spiritual ambition to want to shine then as much as possible? If we love and seek God’s glory, then we will want to extend it as far as possible, reflecting it as far as we can. 
11:12 Men of violence – The image is of commandos storming a city. Whatever our position in life, we now have a cause to totally give ourselves to- to enter and take the Kingdom of God for ourselves.  
11:27 Reading the Bible alone will not reveal the Father to us. There’s also an element of grace- Jesus reveals His Father to those whom He chooses.
11:30 The heavy weight remains, but Jesus is a yoke, binding us together with many others, and so the weight seems far lighter to us. The purpose of the body and person of Christ is to bind us together with other believers- with all the personal problems and conflicts this can create. Christianity isn’t intended to be lived in isolation from others.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCZYHokmvWA
sermon: https://youtu.be/YnuunkJHjxw
commentary:
12:1 Jesus and the disciples were prefigured by David and those who followed him (12:3). Those who followed David were those in debt and ‘distressed’ (1 Sam. 22:2). It is the desperate and broken who follow Jesus today. 
12:11 The man who had only one sheep was poor; that was why he was so concerned to rescue his only sheep. Yet he represents God and Jesus in their constant search for us. They therefore identify themselves with the very poorest of society. God is in search of man; and we search for Him. Hence the joy of our meeting with Him in baptism.
12:14 Then- The pure grace and love of Jesus often produces a harsh reaction and rejection from those who refuse to be moved by it. We can’t be passive to it.
12:16 Jesus sometimes did ask people to tell others about what He had done for them. Maybe He asked the extroverts to be quiet, and the introverts to tell others? The preaching of the Gospel in the right spirit is something done against our will; it’s difficult (1 Cor. 9:17).
12:20 Jesus tries to fan into life whatever weak spirituality a person has, rather than expecting perfection at His first encounter with them. We should treat people likewise.
12:28 The kingdom of God will be established literally on earth when Jesus returns; but the essence of the Kingdom is that God is King and that is true today. The sphere of His rulership and authority in the lives of His people can be understood as His Kingdom.
12:32 This is only true for those who saw the miracles of Jesus and blasphemed them. But if a person stops going against the clear evidence provided by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is God’s Son, then he is no longer blaspheming the Holy Spirit. 
12:34 Therefore control of our thinking is so important. The environment we chose, what music we listen to, affects our thinking.
12:36 The judgement process will involve a recall of our words- and we shall have to explain them.
13:9 Not everyone has the capacity to hear and understand the Gospel; not all have faith (2 Thess. 3:2). But those of us who do should use the potential we’ve been given.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qElsHUjVVOg
sermon: https://youtu.be/IYtX-Ya6yXQ
commentary:
13:11 The parables weren’t stories with an obvious, easy to understand meaning. Jesus used them in order to filter out those who didn’t want to understand. For them the parables were confusing and obscured His message. There’s an upward spiral and also a downward spiral in our relationship with God.
13:12 How can a person who has nothing have what he has taken away from him? Maybe Jesus meant us to read in an ellipsis: ‘the person who [thought he] had nothing [even though he does], will have even that taken from him’. This would be like the one talent man of Mt. 25:24. People have more than they think; for God’s generosity is greater than we imagine. 
13:21 Trial comes into our lives soon after baptism, as Israel were ‘baptized’ in the Red Sea (1 Cor. 10:1,2) and very soon encountered problems in the wilderness [no food or water].
13:28 Jesus foresaw that His followers would have a tendency towards trying to do God’s judgment for Him; He explains (:29) that it’s not possible for us to judge who is who. It’s therefore a fact that there will be insincere people growing within the field of the church, next to those who are sincere. They have an appearance of growth. But we must leave them until harvest- the return of Jesus.
13:32 From tiny beginnings- reading a Bible, noticing an advertisement, meeting someone ‘by chance’- we will come to eternity. We will be a refuge for others then. We will look back on this life and it will seem so disproportionate- that we got ‘there’ from ‘here’.
13:39 Angels- First we will know that Jesus has returned is that our Angel will be standing next to us and inviting us to go meet Him.
13:46 Often Jesus intends us to think how the stories continue or end. So, what did the man do now? No wealth or possessions, just one stone. Surely he looked at it and loved it and treasured it more than anything else. This should be our attitude to the Kingdom of God.
13:50 Banging teeth is a symbol of anger with oneself.
13:55 Jesus never sinned, neither in commission nor omission, for all those 30 years He lived amongst them in Nazareth. But they never noticed He was anything special. This isn’t only an essay in His utter humanity. It challenges us, for whenever we appear righteous in the eyes of the world, they perceive it and dislike it. But somehow the perfection of Jesus wasn’t noticeable. Hence He was indeed perfect.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zskYPfbNpaE
sermon: https://youtu.be/6xbjUK7Kxyo
commentary:
14:4 Should we therefore also rebuke unbelievers for their breaking of God’s law? God feels every breach of His law, by whomsoever. His sensitivity, and thereby His pain, sorrow and joy at obedience is far greater than we can perceive.
14:16 Jesus knew this was impossible for them to do. But He asks them to do it, in order they might learn that whatever little we have can be used by Him; and He challenges our faith and horizons likewise.
14:19 The food was mediated through the disciples; just as His salvation of others is mediated to them through our hands. Note the similarities with how Jesus ‘broke bread’ at the communion service. The way Jesus prayed with open eyes looking up to Heaven reflects His good conscience with God. Can we do that?
14:23 The way Jesus sent the people away is a window into the power of His personality, the strength of His will and mind.
14:26 The disciples went back to their beliefs in ghosts. People still hold wrong understandings even after they come to Christ.
14:28 If- Peter knew that only Jesus would ask such a demanding thing. That’s His style. We see it in our lives too.
14:30 Peter only saw the wind because he must’ve taken his eyes off Jesus and looked at something blowing in the wind- maybe he looked back to the boat. We too will sink if we take our eyes off Jesus. 


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dUx3CUv8lg
sermon: https://youtu.be/xRz6WRiy0nw
commentary:
15:6 Traditions are dangerous. God’s commandments are intended to have an effect upon our lives; human traditions tend to find an easier way, whereby His commands lack cutting edge in our lives.
15:9 Note the parallel between doctrines and commandments (:6). Understanding correct doctrine is important because doctrine shapes our lives; it is a commandment.
15:16 We feel Jesus’ frustration with the disciples. He expected them to have reached a higher point of perception than they had. He may set similar benchmarks for us, as any good teacher does, and be disappointed at the slowness of our growth. Matthew was telling his hearers that he too, and all the founders of the early church, had been terribly slow to understand, and had been a great disappointment to Jesus. He preached the Gospel with humility and an awareness of his own weakness.
15:19 Sin comes from within; nothing outside of us, e.g. demons or spirits, can enter us and possess us, thereby making us sin. The source of sin is internal and not external. The real battle is for self control and spiritual mindedness. See notes about Satan. 
15:27 The dogs were the Gentiles; crumbs were the miracles; the masters were the Jews; the meal or table was Jesus’ fellowship and ministry to the Jews. She showed humility and faith by saying this; she knew that even the miracle she so sought was a mere crumb of what Jesus was offering Israel. They refused so much.
15:32 Jesus perceived that the crowd was hungry. Jesus is the same today as He was then (Heb. 13:8). He’s just as perceptive to our needs as He was then. 
15:39 See on 14:23. The power of Jesus’ personality and words deeply impressed Matthew.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j94fpH8pQ4
sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA4IJbN3b2I
commentary:
16:11 Again note Jesus’ frustration with His followers’ lack of understanding. We should so seek to understand Him, for clearly it’s pleasing to anyone who loves us that we understand them. See on 15:16.
16:12 Doctrine is compared to yeast; it influences a large mass of dough, out of proportion to its own volume. This is the power and importance of doctrine. We must understand correctly.
16:18 The rock was the rock of Peter’s belief that Jesus was God’s Son (:16), and Peter’s personal preaching of it. ‘Peter’ means ‘rock’; it was a nickname, something like ‘Rocky’.
16:19 This was promised to all the disciples- Mt. 18:18. The Roman Catholics misuse this verse to claim that Peter and therefore the Pope has this power. But there’s no reason to think that any authority was passed on from Peter, nor the other disciples, to any subsequent generation.
16:23 Peter is called ‘Satan’, ‘an adversary’, showing that ‘satan’ doesn’t mean a sinful Angel.  The word simply means ‘an adversary’. Jesus turned to speak to Peter- Peter had been walking behind Jesus- and tells him to really ‘get behind me’. Hence He says in v. 24 that to follow behind Him means taking up a cross. Peter didn’t want Jesus to die on the cross because this meant that those who followed Jesus should also likewise die. But Jesus tells him to really get behind Him, to be a real follower of Him, not just externally but in the spirit of carrying His cross. Peter failed badly here, so soon after his spiritual peak of 16:17,18. Our spirituality- and that of our brethren- goes up and down dramatically.
16:28 This is a reference to the transfiguration which we now read of in chapter 17.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QMtzioG5oY
sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3NHIAzbZxo
commentary:
17:9 “The vision” [Gk.]. Moses and Elijah weren’t literally there, they were seen by the disciples in a vision. 
17:11 An Elijah prophet will come to Israel in the last days to prepare them for the return of Christ, just as John the Baptist tried to prepare them for His first coming [see Malachi 4]. 
17:15 Lunatic [Gk.]- someone struck by the moon. The belief that the moon struck people at night causing them to go mad was a wrong understanding. But Jesus didn’t explicitly correct this. He showed by the magnitude of His miracle that such beliefs, whether or not they had any truth in them, were irrelevant compared to God’s power. Hence references to demon possession decrease throughout the Gospels and New Testament- it became apparent that they don’t exist, or if they do, they are irrelevant compared to God’s power.
17:17 Again Jesus shows His frustration with their lack of spiritual perception- see on 15:16; 16:11. To be frustrated isn’t sinful- for Jesus never sinned. If He so desires understanding from us- let’s give ourselves to trying to understand. And surely He will help us if we ask Him.
17:20 Just a small amount of real faith is very powerful. Faith is so powerful that you don’t need much of it- just a little of the real thing is quite enough.
17:25 Jesus paid tribute tax even when He didn’t have to and when the reasoning behind the demand for it was wrong. We should do the same. We cannot change geopolitics now; we must wait for His return and the coming of God’s Kingdom.
17:27 Jesus was very sensitive to not making people spiritually stumble. Even people whom we would consider as disinterested in His Gospel. 


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q-9Q0BctEw
sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT3IBZwwxy8
commentary:
18:3 Conversion has various levels. The disciples had been converted, but there was a higher level of conversion- to become like children. Baptism isn’t the end of our conversion- it’s part of the process. 
18:5 Jesus invites us to see Him as represented by the child. In the 1st Century world, children and women were considered as non-persons. But Jesus paid great attention to them and showed how He valued them as persons.
18:6 Such drowning in the sea as a millstone is Babylon’s judgment (Rev. 18:21). Those who make others sin or stumble will share in Babylon’s punishment at the last day- they will be “condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:32). Those rejected by Jesus will be sent back into the world they so loved- and share its judgment.
18:8 Everlasting fire is symbolic of total destruction. Jerusalem was punished with this (Jer. 17:27)- but there is no eternal fire there today. Don’t read ‘eternal fire’ literally.
18:17 Unto you- you singular [Gk.]. This passage speaks about personal disagreements. If you follow this process, the end result is that you personally will treat the other person as a Gentile and tax collector- both of which groups Jesus especially sought to minister to and win for Him.  It doesn’t speak about a church disfellowshipping an individual.
18:20 Jesus is with us all the time individually, but He is especially with us when we gather together. Hence the importance of believers meeting together rather than believing in isolation.
18:21 Sin against- Peter refers back to v. 15. Jesus seems to be saying that we can go through the process He outlines in :15-17. But the higher level is to forgive unconditionally. If somebody sins against us 490 times / day and claims each time to have repented, it’s clear their repentance is insincere. Jesus is saying we should forgive people without trying to assess nor believe the sincerity of their repentance. For the nature of the forgiveness we show others is what we will be shown. 
18:24 There’s an element of unreality in this story. How could a person amass such a huge debt? Only because the King kept on and on lending to him, knowing the man could never repay. This speaks of God’s forgiveness of us and the enormity of our debt to Him. Realizing our sinfulness will motivate us to forgive others. 
18:31 When we see unreasonable behaviour from our brethren, the response is to tell it to the Lord. He knows about it already, but it’s good for us psychologically to tell the story to Him in prayer.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdgYkK4fSqc
sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZDCYHJvNXw
commentary:
19:5,6 Often partners don’t psychologically ‘leave’ their parents, and only when this is done can they cleave to their partner. As they try to do this, so God will confirm them in ‘joining’ them. Partners are glued together [Gk.] by God in His own way- often through life circumstances overruled by Him. Adultery is therefore so wrong. It’s a fighting against God’s work in a couples’ life.
19:8 God makes concessions to human weakness. He knows the mind of those He has created. He sets an ideal standard but is willing to accept a lower achievement from us in practice. But this is no reason to abuse this. If we love God we will try to live life on the higher levels rather than be minimalists. 
19:11 There are different levels. Some people can live on a higher level than others spiritually, especially in this area of marriage and human relationships. We must bear this in mind when forming opinions about those in the church who fail in these areas. 
19:17 Jesus is at pains to show that He is not God Himself. The man wanted to know what he could do to be perfect. Jesus was perfect; but even then, His standing with God was only what it was by God’s grace. 
19:20 The young man said he had kept the commandments from his youth. That’s youthful arrogance! But Jesus loved him (Mk. 10:21) rather than condemning his obvious arrogance and self-contradiction. 
19:21 This was a specific command to the young man; it’s not a global command to all Christians to sell literally all they have. The example of converts in the later New Testament shows that they didn’t do this. “The poor” are often poor because of their own bad decisions. But Jesus says that we should still be generous to them with all that we have, rather than blaming them for having got themselves into the hole they have. If a person’s in a hole, however they got there, they still need our help out of it. Just as God does to us.
19:24 The needle gate was the small gate in a city wall through which only people could walk. For a camel to pass through it, it had to kneel down and have all its baggage unloaded- and even then it could only just squeeze through. We must shed our wealth and humble ourselves if we are to enter the Kingdom. 
19:25 The disciples held the common but wrong idea that wealthy people were wealthy because God had blessed them. Jesus here totally deconstructs the ‘prosperity Gospel’.  


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpNmOsSTuQk
sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtStkVqmUns
commentary:
20:2 The penny represents salvation.
20:6 Those who don’t serve Christ are standing around doing nothing- no matter their intellect and full diaries. It was only the old and weak who were not taken by anyone to work. But they wanted to work- so they stood there all day in the hope someone might be desperate enough for workers that he would take them. God is desperate for workers, and we who are called to Christ in these last days are those weak workers. Like those called at the last moment in Lk. 14:23 are the street people and desperate. That’s us.
20:8 We are ‘called’ by the Angel appearing when Christ returns to gather us to judgment.
20:14 The implication could be that this man is ‘fired’- he must go his way, away from Jesus, because he thought that he was more worthy than the weak, sick, old or lazy workers who had also been hired. Such spiritual snobbism is so repellent to Jesus.
20:28 A radical inversion of human values. We are here to serve, to give; not to be served, get wealthy or receive some benefit for ourselves. The very opposite of the ‘prosperity Gospel’.
20:32 Why ask this, when the answer was obvious? To focus those men upon their own need. Jesus does the same with us; through His word and hand in our lives, He brings us to perceive how much we want what we say we want.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANaDA9EYL5U
sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkkR2l7vfas
commentary:
21:5 A humble King was a contradiction in terms. A King was supposed to ride upon a battle horse, not a donkey. It’s like a President arriving in a battered 20 year old small car, rather than a cavalcade of Mercedes. 
21:9 The crowd were so fickle. A few days later they would cry “Crucify him!”; and 6 weeks later claim to have accepted the preaching of Peter. Fickleness is part of our nature; what God and Jesus desire, as we do in any relationship, is stability, loyalty to the end, faithfulness. 
21:14 The blind and lame had been banned from the temple due to a Jewish misapplication of 2 Sam. 5:8.  But Jesus welcomed into God’s house those whom man had banned from it.
21:18 He hungered for spiritual fruit on Israel, the fig tree. He was prepared to eat even the unripe fruit which the leaves promised to be there. He cursed it because there was an appearance of fruit, i.e. it had leaves, but in reality there wasn’t even the beginnings of spiritual fruit. He is satisfied with even our immature spirituality- if we do at least something (Mt. 25:27).
21:22 We should visualize the answer to our prayers and act and feel as if they have been answered. But this verse is only part of the overall Bible teaching about prayer- we can only pray with such confidence if we know it is according to God’s will (1 Jn. 5:14). 
21:30 Often parables present two kinds of people- those who appear to be righteous and aren’t; and those who are openly disobedient but repent. Churches seem full of the first category, but these aren’t those whom God accepts. We have to accept that we are serious sinners, and repent.
21:35 These servants represent God’s prophets whom He sent to Israel in the Old Testament.
21:37 Here is the hopefulness of God. On one hand, He knew from the beginning that Israel would reject and kill His Son. But  He had such hope that they would not. The God who is omnipotent sometimes and in some ways limits His power; and He does the same with His knowledge, His omniscience. He has entered into relationship with us and therefore He has in a way limited Himself in order to conduct that relationship with us on a legitimate, meaningful level. Hence we read of God’s shock, hurt and surprise at human actions.
21:44 This refers to how the image of Daniel 2, representing the kingdoms of men, is to be ground to powder by the return of Christ to the earth. He will judge those who reject Him along with the world whose ways they so loved (1 Cor. 11:32). We either fall upon Christ and are broken, through recognizing our sins (1 Pet. 2:8); or He will fall upon us and break us at the last day. So there is a logic to all this- we must be broken people now, or we will be broken then. The true community of believers is one of broken men and women.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewaINWMk6m4
sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j1FCGMbEHw
commentary:
22:4 Everything was ‘ready’ for God’s Kingdom in the first century, but the Jews rejected it.
22:5 Just as people today allow the busyness of their lives to stop them from responding to the Gospel.
22:7 Jerusalem was burnt by the Roman armies in AD70. They were God’s armies in the sense that He controlled and used them. Those who persecute us are also in a sense directly under God’s control.
22:10 There will be both bad and good people who accept the invitation; just as the weeds grow together with the wheat in the field of the church (Mt. 13:29). We shouldn’t be surprised at the sense that this is the case; but it’s not a reason to leave the church. We will not find any pure church.
22:11 The wedding garment represents the righteousness of God which is given to us when we are clothed with Christ in baptism. In weddings of those days, the white wedding garment was given to the guests as they entered the feast. To refuse it was arrogant- presumably the person thought that his own clothes were better than the wedding garment offered by the host.
22:21 The coin had Caesar’s image on it and therefore should be given to him. Our bodies are what has God’s image on it, and we should give them to God.
22:30 We are to be made as the Angels; we will be eternal and unable to sin, therefore the Angels are like that today. There are no sinful Angels in Heaven.
22:32 Those men are dead and unconscious, but their memory lives on with God, to the extent that when He says “I am [still, now,  today] the God of...  Jacob”, He means that He visualizes Jacob as actually alive. Jacob will be resurrected and given eternal life when Jesus returns; but God speaks about those things which are not yet as if they are, because the future is totally assured from His perspective (Rom. 4:17).
22:39 The Jews were always arguing about which commandment was most important. Jesus answers by saying that there are two commandments which are in fact one- to love God and to love our neighbour. His point is that these two can’t be separated. We can’t be Christians in isolation from people; we can’t love God and be indifferent to our neighbour. 
22:45 The Jews thought that David was greater than Messiah; Jesus is saying that it’s the other way around.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pZzMbqzgqI
sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD7oiBdSiXU
commentary:
23:9 The practice of calling a priest ‘Father’ is therefore totally wrong.
23:13 We can both enable and hinder others from entering God’s Kingdom. Causing others not to enter the Kingdom by our words, actions or example is one of the most serious sins. The Pharisees were a very small group, but the Gospel records give much time to describing Christ’s interaction with them- for legalism and discouraging others from entering the Kingdom is such a serious sin, which we can so easily commit.
23:22 God is a personal being, located in Heaven- not a whisp of ‘spirit’ nor an abstraction.
23:33 An allusion to the promise in Eden of Gen. 3:15. All who oppose Jesus are the descendants of the serpent, and those in Christ, as the descendants of the woman, will overcome them in the end after suffering from them in the short term.
23:37 Did Jesus think up this idea from watching the hens in his mothers’ yard in Nazareth?
23:39 This may mean that when Jesus returns, those who rejected Him will be resurrected and then will recognize Him. But it will be too late. At the day of judgment, nobody will be indifferent. People may shrug their shoulders now or even reject Jesus, but in that day they will desperately want one thing- to be with Him. But for those who rejected Him in this life it will be too late. Hence the rejected will bang their teeth in self-hatred.  


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qWlrbcxuMo
sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl-QhzOmErE
commentary:
24:2 This was fulfilled by the gold of the temple melting and running down between the stones, so that the Romans literally threw down every stone to extract the gold.
24:14 This implies that the return of Christ to some extent depends upon our taking the Gospel to all the world. It must be preached for a witness to the world- not all will respond, but all nations will hear. The advent of the internet has enabled this. 
24:22 Although there are some stated conditions for the return of Christ to return (see :14), God will shorten the days. 2 Peter 3 says that there is also a delay, so that more may believe. So there are various apparently conflicting factors at work in determining the actual date for Christ to return. The shortening of the days will be because of the prayers of the faithful for Christ to return soon; or in order to save the faithful from falling away, so great will be the temptations and pressure of the last days.
24:31 The Angels will gather us from all over the world- there will be true believers world-wide, as a result of the witness of v. 14.
24:32 The fig tree represents Israel; fruit on the fig tree speaks of the spiritual fruit of repentance. When at least some Jews repent and accept Christ- which is already happening- this will be a sign that we are in the last generation.
24:40,41 As often in His teaching, Jesus balances examples from the worlds of both men and women. Such was His valuing of all people.
24:48 The Lord does delay His coming- the same Greek word is found in 25:5 describing how the bridegroom [Jesus] delays His coming. See on 24:14. 


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkvxjVtSuZU
sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqCOk6q-wJ4
commentary:
25:4 Again there are two groups in the parable- the weak, who knew their weakness and took extra oil with them, knowing they’d likely not stay awake; and the arrogant self-assured, who didn’t think they would fail.
25:5 There is a delay in Christ’s return- see on 24:14.They all fell asleep- but we should be awake and watching when Christ returns (1 Thess. 5:6-8). The last generation before Christ returns will be spiritually weak and sleepy saved only by their recognition of their weakness and lack of oil [a symbol of spirituality?].
25:6 Midnight- an element of unreality in the parable. The bridegroom comes at a most unlikely time- as Christ will.
25:11 Some who call Jesus “Lord” will be rejected. Nobody will be passive in that day- all will wish to be accepted by Jesus. 
25:15 Each of us have different abilities given us to use in His service. We all have something. Pray that God shows you what abilities He has given you, what is His hope and expectation for you.
25:22 The Greek word translated “gained” is elsewhere used about gaining people for Christ.
25:27 Under the Law of Moses, Jews weren’t supposed to lend their money for interest. But Jesus is saying that the man should’ve done at least something, even if it wasn’t the best. He will explain to the rejected how they could’ve entered His Kingdom- but it will be too late. Hence the gnashing of teeth. 
25:31 The throne of Jesus is the throne which God promised to give David’s great descendant, i.e. Jesus. This throne or place of rulership was literally in Jerusalem, on this earth (Lk. 1:32).  
25:37 The righteous did their good works unconsciously, and so totally can’t remember them that they disagree with Jesus about these things- they really will be genuinely persuaded they hadn’t done them!
25:40 The least of Christ’s brethren may refer to the spiritually weakest. Our attitude to them is our attitude to Christ- see too 1 Cor. 12:23.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3zIncGRlmc
sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-MaQpGHeoQ
commentary:
26:5 The crowds were very pro Jesus, but soon shouted “Crucify Him!”. We must try not to be so fickle, even though it’s how we tend to be by nature.
26:8 Disciples- the other records say that Judas said this. One person can so easily negatively  influence a whole group of believers.
26:13 This incident is mentioned in all the Gospel records, confirming our thesis that the Gospels are transcripts of the actual Gospel message which the authors usually preached.
26:15 This suggests that Judas’ motivation was largely financial. Hence his throwing down of the pieces of silver in disgust at himself. So many have betrayed Christ for the passing wealth of this world.
26:26 The original breaking of bread was part of a meal.
26:29 Alluding to how the priest on duty wasn’t allowed to drink alcohol. Jesus intended us to understand that He will literally drink wine again with us when He returns, at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
26:38 Jesus almost died from sorrow, sorrow that Israel had rejected God’s salvation. His heart so bled for others’ response to the Gospel, as should ours. 
26:39 How long did it take Jesus to pray these words? Were there minutes between each word or clause? Our salvation hung in the balance as He struggled. The will of God was clearly not the same as the will of Jesus in all things- Jesus was certainly not God in person.
26:45 Jesus said this to them as they slept, as if talking to His own sleeping children.
26:52 A solid argument against Christians taking weapons.
26:60 The Jews had a strange desire to still keep the Law and to be legally correct- whilst destroying the innocent Son of God. This kind of paradox and gross internal contradiction is so often seen in religious people.
26:73 Jesus and His followers were distinguished by their Galilean accents. Another window into the humanity of Jesus. 
26:74 These oaths weren’t expletives. They were calling down various types of Divine condemnation upon himself if he had ever known Jesus. Peter’s bitter weeping in v. 75 is similar to the weeping which Jesus often predicted would be experienced by those whom He rejects at the last day. Peter condemned himself in this life- but repented and was saved. We either go through that process now, in contrition for our sins- or then at the day of judgment when it’s too late to change the verdict.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQm7xqxfF3E
sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSgrA4axtdk
commentary:
27:3 Judas realized his condemnation and had a change of mind; parallel with Peter (see on 26:74). The difference was that Peter believed in God’s grace but Judas wouldn’t. 
27:5 The way Judas threw down the money suggests he now despised those few coins, for which he had betrayed Jesus and lost his eternal salvation.
27:14 The self controlled silence of Jesus was amazing. May it be our inspiration in times of provocation.
27:17 Pilate appears to genuinely want to save Jesus, and to be the victim of manipulation. Yet history records that he was a conscienceless man who murdered people at will, having no respect at all for justice nor the value of life. The ‘contradiction’ is only explicable by the strange effect which Jesus’ righteousness, love and perfection can have on even the hardest character and most damaged conscience. For the example of Pilate shows that everyone has a conscience.
27:23 This is the same crowd that just recently had been crying “Hosanna!”, and whom the Jews feared as supportive of Jesus. We tend to be so fickle in our loyalty to Jesus.
27:25 The fact the Jews said this doesn’t mean it happened; for God doesn’t punish the children for the sins of their fathers (Ez. 18:1-10). 
27:29 There is a set of nerves just beneath the scalp which the thorns would’ve intentionally pierced as they hit Him on the head with the crown on (:30). Jesus would’ve been bleeding profusely down His back as a result.
27:34 Because He wanted to share completely in our feelings; nobody, therefore, can say that Jesus doesn’t know how they feel. Maybe nobody on earth does; but He knows.
27:44 The one thief’s repentance was therefore literally a last minute repentance just before he died.
27:46 The Old Testament is clear that God will not forsake those faithful to Him, but will forsake those who sin. Jesus felt forsaken by God. He felt as if He had sinned, even though He hadn’t. This was because of the intensity of His association with us who have sinned, just as men like Daniel and Nehemiah spoke and felt to God as if they had sinned Israel’s sin. So even when we fail, Jesus still knows how we feel in the separation from God which sin brings. He never sinned, but in His final horror of aloneness He felt as if He had.
27:48 The reeds in that area aren’t very long. Therefore Jesus’ cross was not that large. The Catholic impressions of a cross towering far above us is wrong. His feet  would’ve been only a metre above the ground; remember how He communicated with Mary and John.
27:55 From Galilee- The idea is that they didn’t just follow Him when the going was good, amidst the crowds of Galilean peasants who thronged Him; but also followed to the cross. We too are to follow the Lamb wherever He leads. 
27:56 Mary the mother of James- A reference to Mary the mother of Jesus; for He had two half brothers called James and Joses (Mt. 13:55). 
27:58 Only close relatives could beg the body of the crucified. But this was how Joseph felt. He wanted to associate the dead body of Jesus with his own dead body, laying Jesus where his body should lay. This was the essence of baptism, whereby we identify ourselves with the death of the body of Christ (Rom. 6:3-5).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QqWwgRFOpw
sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj9L127tt60
commentary:
28:1 The other Mary is surely a reference to Mary the mother of Jesus- see on 27:56.
28:7 The Lord’s original intention to meet His followers in Galilee (as in 28:10) seems to have been changed. Presumably because even in Divine nature, He was simply so excited and eager to get together with His brethren. 
28:8 Women weren’t valid witnesses in first century legal circles. But Jesus chose women to be the primary and initial witnesses of His resurrection.
28:17 The doubt and unbelief of the disciples is a strong theme in all the resurrection accounts. Yet these are transcripts of the preaching of the Gospel by the apostles. They were emphasizing how they had had difficulty believing these things, and had been incredibly slow and dumb to grasp  what had happened. And on this basis their appeal for others to believe had more power to it. 
28:19 As the good news of the Lord’s resurrection had been spread from the women to the disciples, now it was to be spread by all the disciples worldwide. The Gospel preaching of Matthew concludes with an appeal for baptism. Acts records how people were baptized into the name of Jesus- for the Name of the Father has been given to Him.
28:20 After baptism there was to be a teaching of the baptized person.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMhEF64ieKs
sermon: https://youtu.be/FIBMlWGNY44
commentary:
1:3 The way of Jesus was prepared in the wilderness by John baptizing people in the wilderness (:4). 
1:5 John baptized in a river- by immersion, not sprinkling of water.
1:7 Truly preaching Christ involves telling others of our own unworthiness.
1:10 Up out of – Baptism is by immersion, not sprinkling. Jesus was baptized as an adult to set us an example- that we also should be.
1:12 Immediately- Many such words occur in the early chapters of Mark (1:10,18,20,21,28,29,42). The impression is created of a hectic, exhausting time for Jesus with everything moving at high speed.  When we’re in those situations, remember that He knows how it feels.
1:16 Jesus called them at the most inconvenient time- just as they were casting their nets. But they let the nets sink, v. 18, and followed Him. Jesus too calls us to uphold His principles and do His work often at the most humanly inconvenient moments.
1:27 The authority and credibility of Jesus’ teaching was given by His works. And so with us. Teaching people ideas about God will have little power nor conviction until they see them lived out in our lives.
1:35 This regular quiet time with God at the start of busy days was the key to the Lord’s spiritual success, as it can be for ours.
1:41 Touching the leper would’ve been a very radical thing to do. The man had probably not been touched by a human being for many years. We too should be unafraid to be associated with those whom others are scared of and have rejected.
1:44 Nobody was cleansed of leprosy and so the priests would’ve been amazed that someone was bringing them the offering proscribed in the Law for a cleansed leper. Jesus would’ve appeared unrealistically hopeful in thinking that the priests might respond; as they were the very class who were opposed to Him and later killed Him. But His hopefulness for people worked- many of the  priests did later repent and accept Him (Acts 6:7).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1kAlSeyn5I
sermon: https://youtu.be/6GfMkfVM47E
commentary:
2:5 The man was healed because of the faith of his friends. To some extent we can save others, obtain their forgiveness or bring about their betterment in this life. As this is the case, we should give ourselves to prayer and caring practical effort for others; for we really can make a difference to the salvation of others.
2:8 Was this ability to read others’ minds given to Jesus as a blast of insight from the Holy Spirit? Or was there a process of perception going on, whereby His intense sensitivity to others, even His enemies, enabled Him to know their minds?
2:14 Tax collectors were seen as collaborators with the Romans and were hated. Jesus also called a Zealot, a hard line nationalist terrorist, to His group of followers (Lk. 6:15). The body of Christ is comprised of people very different from each other. Yet our tendency is to attend a church or group comprised of those from our own class, background and personality type. But the body of Christ is so different.
2:16 In 1st century Palestine, to eat with someone was a sign that you fellowshipped them. Jesus ate / fellowshipped with sinners in order to bring them to Him; rather than only fellowshipping those whom He considered fit for His table. His ‘table manners’ were deeply controversial and offensive to traditional Jews and were a factor in their mad hatred of Him.
2:25 What David did when he was needy and hungry justified what Jesus did; we have an insight here into His poverty.
2:28 Jesus is greater than the Sabbath; we don’t need to keep the Sabbath today (Col. 2:14-17) because Jesus has fulfilled all the Jewish regulations.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YufiD2oczAM
sermon: https://youtu.be/hv054e5MFxM
commentary:
3:2 Jesus appears to have intentionally sought controversy over the Sabbath issue. On some things (e.g. the popular belief in demons) He didn’t challenge His audience; but on issues of legalism, He did.
3:10 The desire to touch Jesus and His desire to touch people comes out frequently in the Gospels. People believed that through touching a holy man, they would receive blessing; rather like Catholics and Orthodox travel far to touch relics. Jesus went along with this, but always emphasized that it was faith in Him, and His Father’s power, which were responsible for the miracle, and not the touching in itself.
3:13 He alone went up into the mountain and then sent word to His followers to come to Him. They had to make quite some effort to come to Him. He thus filtered out those who really wanted to come to Him from those who were merely inquisitive. He does the same with people today.
3:26 If Satan… Satan as a personal sinful being doesn’t exist [see notes at the end], but Jesus reasoned with them within the frames of their beliefs, even if those beliefs were wrong. He met people where they were, as He does today.
3:33 This must’ve been so painful for Mary to hear. This is one of a number of conflict points between Jesus and Mary during His ministry. It seems she had a mid-life crisis of faith, but returned to full belief after His resurrection. Mary wasn’t the sinless superhuman which some believe she was.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QswFM9_3CCw
sermon: https://youtu.be/JV5fXhp3CGQ
commentary:
4:10 Jesus revealed Himself to those who bothered to come to Him and enquire further (as in v. 34)- see on 3:13. Those with a merely passing interest in Him will not find Him.
4:14 The word of God is a seed- we are born again by it, it has the power of life within it (1 Pet. 1:23). The Bible is on one level black print on white paper; but it is so very much more, unique amongst literature to the point that it shouldn’t really be classified as ‘literature’ in the secular sense. God’s word gives life to people. It should be our meditation all the day as it was for David (Ps. 119:97).
4:19 Wealth is deceitful in that we think that money can buy all things; it can’t.
4:22 If throughout eternity we will be shown to be who we really are, it’s senseless to be hypocritical now.
4:24 The measure we apply to God’s word will have a recompense. If we pay little attention to it, we will be given little; if we give our mind and life to it, then we will receive an appropriately large recompense.
4:29 As soon as the harvest is ripe, it’s harvested. This could mean that once the body of Christ has matured to the level God expects, Jesus will return, and the harvest of judgment will begin.
4:33 Jesus spoke to people as they were able to hear it, not as He was able to expound to them. The fact we know more than some other people doesn’t mean we must tell them all we know. We should be sensitive to them and at times restrain our superior knowledge, because our end aim is their spiritual growth to the glory of God.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL0zkJe_JCo
sermon: https://youtu.be/AgDM48js7_Q
commentary:
5:4 The man’s illness had bad episodes, it was intermittent. He had thought many times that he was cured of it, that he could be restrained- but then it broke out again. So the herd of pigs were sent over the cliff as a dramatic aide memoire which he would never forget, showing how permanent and total was his cure.
5:6 The sick man worshipped Jesus by recognizing Him as Son of God (v.7). And yet, in his illness, he also spoke aggressively to Jesus. But God understands mental illness and focused on the positive, accepting the correct parts of his understanding as “worship”. Men other than Jesus are described as being ‘worshipped’; the fact Jesus also was worshipped doesn’t mean He was God Himself.
5:9 My name… We are many- The man was schizophrenic, thinking he was possessed by multiple personalities. The language of demon possession is used to describe mental illness; demons don’t ultimately exist.
5:20 The man was told to go and witness to his family, but instead he went around the 10 cities of the Decapolis preaching. Often when a command is given to preach, God’s people don’t obey it fully. The command to go and teach the Gentiles wasn’t obeyed by the apostles initially- they only went to the Jews. Those told not to tell others of their healing often did. And do we obey the call we have received to share the good news as God wishes?
5:28 The woman had the common idea that merely touching a holy man would give her healing. Jesus didn’t refuse her because she understood wrongly; but He explained that it was her faith and not the touch in itself which had cured her (v. 34). See on 7:33.
5:31 The disciples are almost ridiculing Jesus. Yet Mark’s account of the Gospel includes this, as if to say to his audience: ‘Look how badly we treated the Lord Jesus, how we misunderstood Him, what a low level we were on compared to Him!’. And this integrity, humility and human honesty was what made their message so attractive and credible to their hearers.
5:40 Jesus was ‘laughed to scorn’- implying He had the usual human reactions of embarrassment and awkwardness. He really had our nature.
5:43 Note His thoughtfulness in reminding them to give her something to eat. She’d been dead, so she’d not eaten for some time. This same thoughtful, sensitive Jesus is the same today and forever (Heb. 13:8).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDwpp6U9W0o
sermon: https://youtu.be/M8XCuSvaLjc
commentary:
6:1 His own country  is another indication of Christ’s humanity (also in v. 4). He “came to His own” (Jn. 1:11). He had a home area, and spoke with a Galilean accent. 
6:3 The translation “carpenter” is unfortunate. The Greek tekton can mean any manual worker. He could’ve been a stonemason or a casual building labourer.
6:10 Jesus loves families and homes, and wanted them to be the nucleus for the new community He was developing.
6:12 Repentance means ‘a change of mind’. It doesn’t as a word necessarily refer to stopping sinning- God is described as ‘repenting’. We may be simply too weak to stop sinning; but we can repent in that we change our mind, we strongly repudiate our sins, we try not to do them, our deepest heart  is with the Lord and not with the flesh. 
6:37 Jesus asks the question to try to elicit faith and spiritual ambition from the disciples. But they couldn’t see beyond the immediate problems. The possibility that Jesus could do a miracle and multiply what little bread they had… just didn’t occur to them. All they could think of was the cost of buying the bread.
6:41 Blessing and breaking bread, then giving it to the disciples, is so similar to the last supper. Through the breaking of bread, we show our faith in the fact that Jesus provides for our needs. 
6:48 Jesus made as if He would walk past them in order to make them cry out to Him for help. Because so far they’d not thought of praying to Jesus for help, because He wasn’t with them. He works like that with us today, bringing us into situations which have no human way out, and appears to ignore us- only so that we will pray and call out to Him the more fervently. This is one reason for the apparent silence of God which we find so difficult to accept.
6:52 They didn’t reflect upon the miracle, and so they lacked faith to face the next trial which came along in their lives. The incidents in our lives are arranged by God in a certain order. We are intended to reflect upon the great things He has done in our experience, not just benefit from them and go onwards in life without remembering them or thinking about them. Ingratitude and lack of reflection on life’s events are typical of human beings; and we must try to do better. 
6:56 They thought that by touching a holy man they would be cured. This is a wrong idea, but Jesus went along with it. See on 5:28.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M53IoDtrV8
sermon: https://youtu.be/wVoON-gqyYM
commentary:
7:6 Isaiah spoke to the people of his generation, but Jesus says he spoke about those of the first century. God’s word is living and relevant and speaks to each of us. Thus the Old Testament ceases to be mere history- it is speaking to us today.
7:7 The fact people worship God doesn’t mean they are therefore with God- there’s such a thing as worshipping Him in vain, if we have the wrong understanding of Him.
7:9 The Jews would’ve been shocked to hear that they rejected God’s commandments. Jesus’ generation were one of the most Torah observant there has been in Israel’s history. But to follow human tradition as well as God’s commandments is to effectively reject them. The Bible presents human failure in very stark terms.
7:11 We shouldn’t try to get around God’s intentions by legalistic interpretations.
7:18 It’s good to try to imagine the tone of voice with which Jesus said these written words. Was it with frustration, anger, sadness or disappointment?
7:19-21 Sin comes from within. The human mind is a constant source of temptation. This is the real ‘Satan’ or adversary which we face.
7:29 Jesus is so thrilled when people understand correctly.
7:33 The saliva of Jesus represents His words. The people thought that merely touching a holy man would effect a cure (v. 32). So Jesus shows that actually far more intimate contact with Him is required than mere touch of itself. He puts His hands in the man’s ears and spits onto his tongue. See on 5:28.
7:34 Jesus could pray with eyes open looking up at the sky. Can we do this? He sighed, as He groaned whilst healing Lazarus (Jn. 11:38). This may have been the intensity of His prayer- and even now He prays for us in Heaven with such groaning (Rom. 8:26). In this sense Jesus is the same today as He was then (Heb. 13:8). Or His sighing and groaning may have been the result of how deeply He entered into others’ situations, and so longed for the pain of humanity to end.
7:37 He has done all things well – Echoes the comment on creation, that it was “very good”. Jesus was and is making a new creation, of people. 


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg5gybC75pM
sermon: https://youtu.be/9znaS1pXl54
commentary:
8:3 This situation is similar to that of 6:37. Jesus was hoping the disciples would have learnt from the experience they had then of Him multiplying their bread. This is why life situations repeat, in essence; because God plans them all for our spiritual education. We are intended to learn from one experience in order to spiritually succeed the next time that situation occurs. Sadly it seems the disciples didn’t learn, just as we often don’t.
8:12 No sign- The four Gospels are parallel accounts of the same incidents. In Matthew’s record, we read that Jesus said they would be given no sign except the sign of Jonah (Mt. 12:39; 16:4). This shows that we have to read the whole Bible to get the complete message. We have to make some effort to understand. God wants us to read His word carefully, just as we appreciate it when someone listens to us carefully rather than assumes they understand what we’re saying when they don’t.
8:17 Jesus had twice taught them in the feeding miracles that physical bread is no issue to Him. He was disappointed they hadn’t reflected further about this- for they were still thinking about bread on the literal, physical level.
8:23,25 The two stage healing process was for the man’s benefit, not because Jesus was limited in power. The man was given sight, but he had never seen trees nor people before- and so he confused them. He needed to have the gift of understanding / interpretation also. The man was taught by this that even if we are given the one thing we so desire, this isn’t enough. We need Jesus to give us understanding.
8:31 This is one of the clearest predictions of Christ’s sufferings. Why then did He ask for the cup of suffering to be removed from Him in Gethsemane? He understood from Old Testament examples that God’s intended program for a person can be changed by their prayers, and it seems that He tried this. But it also shows that even if we know something in theory, in the heat of the moment our understanding becomes clouded. Jesus was human, but never sinned. Therefore this kind of intellectual failure, even panic, isn’t always sinful. It’s just part of being human.
8:35 The sake of the Gospel- i.e. preaching the Gospel?
8:38 Jesus even after His resurrection still has the capacity to feel ashamed. We are made in God’s image, and so shame on behalf of another is an emotion He also has. 


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP2UwtyX5Qc
sermon: https://youtu.be/0LCNh-zuMew
commentary:
9:7 Hear you Him- Judaism so venerates Moses [symbol of the law] and Elijah [symbol of the prophets]. Peter wanted to build booths so that Moses and Elijah would stay; but God tells him of the need to listen to His Son. The cloud and the voice out of the cloud is similar to what happened to Moses in Ex. 34. The Divine voice in the cloud proclaimed the Name and characteristics of Yahweh; now God proclaims His Son. Because Jesus had a perfect character, He manifested the Name of God completely. 
9:22 If you can- The man was unsure about the total abilities of Jesus. ‘Do what’s in your power to do’ was his idea. Jesus replies by saying that God’s action in our lives doesn’t depend upon Him, it depends upon us. If we can believe, then everything’s possible. It is us and not God who have our finger as it were on the volume control.
9:24 We both believe and disbelieve at the same time. We don’t have complete faith. The man’s humility and honesty are impressive. There is no personal Satan figure out in the cosmos; God is in control 100%. But within the human mind, there are desires to do both good and evil. Paul speaks of this in Romans 7. The man here realized this too, by recognizing his belief and disbelief within him. We should recognize it within us, too; and not be phased when we perceive it within others too.
9:34 They argued about who should be the greatest immediately after Jesus had told them of His upcoming death (v. 31). Whenever Jesus told the disciples about His death, they started arguing amongst themselves. They had a psychological barrier to the message of the cross. We tend to also; we would rather become inward looking, compare ourselves against ourselves, rather than against the standard set in the crucifixion of Jesus.
9:38 In your name- A disciple of John the Baptist who for some reason didn’t want to associate with the Jesus’ disciples.
9:40 Here Jesus makes it clear for all time that we should not be exclusive against those who in truth bear His Name (v. 39). If they exclude us, they have made the decision. But we shouldn’t exclude them.
9:43 Whatever causes us to stumble on our path to God’s Kingdom we must cut out of our lives, although this will be very painful and demands an unusual self-possession and strong will.
9:45 Gehenna was the rubbish dump outside Jerusalem, where the fires were always burning because fresh garbage was always being put onto it. But the individual items thrown onto it were destroyed and turned into dust. Likewise Jerusalem was threatened with the eternal fire of God’s anger, due to the sins of Israel: “Then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched” (Jer. 17:27). Jerusalem being the prophesied capital of the future Kingdom (Is. 2:2-4; Ps. 48:2), God did not mean us to read this literally. The houses of the great men in Jerusalem were burnt down with fire (2 Kings 25:9), but that fire did not continue eternally. Fire represents the anger/punishment of God against sin, but His anger is not eternal (Jer. 3:12). Fire turns what it burns to dust; and we know that the ultimate wages of sin is death, a turning back to dust. This perhaps is why fire is used as a figure for punishment for sin.
9:47 Who we will eternally be in God’s Kingdom is a function of the efforts we have made in this life to cut off our sources of temptation and stumbling.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyW7V2XPgJs
sermon: https://youtu.be/exBn8BQbyCo
commentary:
10:9 Husbands and wives can divide what God has joined together in their marriage by arguing, insisting upon their way, criticizing, attachment to other things or partners. But other people can also divide them by things like manipulating one partner against another, poisoning the mind of one against the other etc.
10:14 Those who enter God’s Kingdom will have the characteristics of children- trust, hope, willingness to learn.
10:19 The commandments which Jesus chose to list are all those which can be ticked off as done or not done. The man thought he was legally righteous. But Jesus taught that perfection isn’t a matter of legalistic obedience. It’s about taking up His cross and following Him.
10:21 By giving our wealth to the poor we are as it were transferring that wealth from earth to Heaven. The invitation to take up a cross was shocking to first century people- for death by crucifixion was the death of criminals, and the cross was despised as a symbol of shame. Jesus is asking us to join Him in a condemned man’s last walk to the place of death. Following Him means following Him to death.
10:24 Trusting in riches is paralleled with having riches (v. 23). Having them is the same as trusting in them because this is the very nature of wealth. It’s impossible to have it without trusting in it. Yet despite these grave warnings about the spiritual dangers of wealth, many Christians earnestly desire to have it!
10:30 We receive these blessings in the church now, in fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters there. If we chose not to fellowship with others, or if the church is dysfunctional, then these promised blessings won’t come true.
10:31 Our society is like an elevator; once you get into it, the thrust is always upwards. People want to be upwardly socially mobile, to improve their position, to get ahead in the race. But the further we get ahead now, the further back we will be eternally.
10:35 Again, straight after the prediction of Christ’s death, the disciples start arguing. The message of the cross was so lost on them at that time. And Mark is telling this story to an audience, showing them that the preachers themselves ‘didn’t get it’ initially, and on that humble basis appealing for the hearers to do better than their teachers and ‘get it’ more quickly.
10:40 Not mine- Again we see the subjection of Jesus to the Father. 
10:43 So we should be looking for opportunities to serve others every day. “Brother, sister, let me serve you” should be the heartbeat of our daily lives.
10:47 Son of David- He recognized that the promises to David of a future descendant of David who would also be God’s Son had come true in Jesus (2 Sam. 7:12-16).
10:50 His garment was probably his only possession. 


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXKpuzdXA9Y
sermon: https://youtu.be/6anBfdVviw8
commentary:
11:15 Making money out of religion is so obnoxious to Jesus.
11:16 Not permit- Jesus did all this without being stopped; and He did it single-handed. We see here the power of His personality; it was with this same authority that He could command the eager crowds to go home after He had fed them. This was partly a gift from God, but partly a resulted of His intense focus and strength of mind.
11:17 This prophecy is about the future Kingdom of God. But Jesus understood that we should be living the Kingdom life now. We should do the same; there will be no huge difference between the type of life we now live, and the life we will eternally live. In this sense we “have eternal life” in that we live today the kind of life we will eternally live. 
11:22 Have faith – They were amazed at His faith, but Jesus tells them not to just admire His faith, as people admire a picture or image of Jesus, but see that His faith and life is to be our pattern. If He had such faith, then His followers also ought to.
11:26 Therefore forgiveness of others is vital for our own salvation. We ask God to forgive us our “secret sins”, those we don’t even recognize we have committed; and therefore we are wiser to forgive others without demanding their repentance.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGSdPIvvZ7Y
sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJGcPZEynlU
commentary:
12:1 God is the vineyard owner, the vineyard is Israel. God did everything so that they might bring forth spiritual fruit; as He does for us. The servants He sent are the prophets.
12:2 At the season- there were many times when the harvest could have come; the Kingdom of God could have been established earlier, but God has given us genuine freewill, and so He awaits the time when His people give Him the fruit. This could imply that Jesus will only return once Israel have repented and are giving spiritual fruit to God.
12:7 This is the heir- Implies the Jews recognized who Jesus really was (11:28-33 implies the same). The Jewish conscience about Jesus is apparent today too.
12:9 Others- The Gentiles.
12:12 Mark emphasizes how “the crowd” were supportive of Jesus (11:18,32; 12:37; 14:2). But this same crowd were soon shouting “Crucify him!”. We must battle against this same fickleness of human nature- to love and adore Jesus one moment, and deny Him the next.
12:17 We are made in God’s image and so we should give our bodies and lives to God.
12:24 You do not know the scriptures- But they did know them, many could recite the entire Old Testament from memory. We can know the Bible and yet not know it at all if we don’t personally believe in the power of God which it teaches.
12:31 To love our neighbor as ourselves we must love ourselves; in the sense of perceiving our own value and meaning in God’s eyes. We all tend in some ways to have too negative a view of ourselves.
12:33 The whole burnt offerings  involved every part of the animal being burnt to God. To love God and our neighbour involves giving our entire lives to God; the life of faith can’t be a hobby, a book we read occasionally out of interest, a church meeting we occasionally attend, a social circle we move in.
12:40 Greater condemnation- there will be degrees of both reward and punishment given to people by Jesus when He returns and judges us. 
12:43 Jesus was very observant to notice those two coins going into the box. He is the same today- He notices the quiet devotion and sacrifice for Him which nobody else does. This is why He teaches against doing good deeds which others see, and was so against how the Scribes behaved (12:39).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knac3emcWYs
sermon: https://youtu.be/HIGIjyX8ZBA
commentary:
13:2 This chapter, known as the Olivet prophecy, gives signs which were fulfilled immediately before the destruction of the temple by the Romans in AD70. However it is clear that Jesus was also thinking about the signs which would be seen in Israel and the world leading up to His return. We can therefore say that what happened in AD70 is a type of our last days.
13:8 Birth pains- The bringing to birth will be when Jesus returns and we are fully ‘born again’ and enter His Kingdom with immortal nature (Jn. 3:3-5). Living in the last days just before He returns will therefore be a painful and frightening time for the believers.
13:10 The quicker we preach the Gospel to all nations, the quicker the end will come.
13:13 It seems the believers will be persecuted in the last days.
13:18 The actual timing of events in both AD70 and in the last days can be affected by our prayers. 
13:19 This alludes to Dan. 12:1, which speaks of a “time of trouble such as never was” for Israel. This means that a situation worse than the Nazi holocaust must yet happen to Israel. We can therefore expect world opinion to increasingly turn against the Jews.
13:24,25 Sun, moon and stars are used in the Bible as symbols for the rulers of a nation, especially Israel (Gen. 37:9). 
13:32 If God knows something which Jesus doesn’t, then Jesus can’t be God Himself.
13:33 We cannot know the exact time when Jesus will return; therefore we must watch [be alert] and pray. Ignore the various claims that we can work out from Bible prophecy which year Jesus will return in.
13:34 Assigned tasks- Each of us has a specific part within the body of Christ. If you don’t know what it is, what God’s hope of you and expectation of you is, then pray to find out.
13:37 Stay awake- But according to the parable of Mt. 25:5, even the faithful in the last days will fall asleep. We will be saved by grace.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RyCjE8Sqn8
sermon: https://youtu.be/kKiMt078tJo
commentary:
14:5 The lesson is not to have a utilitarian approach to life. If our love of Jesus is strong, we will feel like doing things which others consider senseless and not sensible. But do them.
14:8 That woman perceived that Jesus was going to die; she had heard and believed Jesus’ predictions about this. But the disciples had tuned out those predictions. Mark is showing in his preaching of the Gospel how slow the preachers had been to ‘get it’ themselves. And this gave the preaching more appeal and credibility.
14:13 Women and not men were the water carriers. This person was one of Jesus’ followers; the liberation of women within the teaching and practice of Jesus was one of the factors which led to the explosion of Christianity amongst first century women.
14:19 At the breaking of bread, we should examine ourselves (1 Cor. 11:28). This was prefigured by how the disciples each asked Jesus “Is it I [who will betray you]?”; and by how the Jews had to search their homes for yeast [representing sin] before they ate the Passover.
14:29 There is a tradition, and also some internal evidence, that Mark was writing down Peter’s account of the Gospel. Although Mark is the shortest Gospel, the account of Peter’s denials is most detailed in Mark. This shows how Peter was focusing upon his own weaknesses as he retold the Gospel; as we should.
14:36 ‘Abba’ has been interpreted as meaning ‘Daddy’. This is how close Jesus felt to God; and we can also.
14:37 One hour- His brief prayer of 14:36 took one hour to pray. We read those words too quickly.
14:51 Was this young man Peter (see v. 54)? Jesus speaks of him as “young” in Jn. 21:18.
14:68 The cock crew- Peter should’ve seen the warning sign. Did he psychologically ignore it; or did he resolve that next time he would not fail? He should’ve removed himself from temptation; but like us so often, he didn’t. He, like us, thought he was stronger than he was.
14:68 He “went out” from the Lord. “Went out” is the language of Judas going out (Jn. 13:30- in essence, Peter and Judas did the same thing at the same time). Other prototypes of the rejected likewise had gone out from the Lord. Cain ‘“went out” (Gen. 4:16), as did Zedekiah in the judgment of Jerusalem (Jer. 39:4; 52:7). Esau went out from the land of Canaan into Edom, slinking away from the face of his brother Jacob, sensing his righteousness and his own carnality (Gen. 36:2-8). Yet Peter in this life “went out” from the Lord and then some minutes later further “went out and wept bitterly” (Lk. 22:62), living out the very figure of condemnation-  and yet was able to repent and come back. In this life we can be judged, condemned, weep...but still repent of it and thereby change our eternal destiny. But at the final judgment: it will be just too late. That ‘judgment’ will be a detailed statement of the outcome of the ongoing investigative judgment which is going on right now.  
14:72 Three times- Mark’s record of the Lord’s trial is not merely a historical account. It’s framed in terms of our need to testify for our faith too. The Lord’s example in His time of suffering was and is intended to be our example and inspiration, in that we are to in a very practical sense enter into His sufferings. Mark records the Lord’s prediction that His people would have to witness before both Jewish and Gentile authorities (Mk. 13:9-13)- and then Mark goes on in the next chapter to describe Jesus doing just this. The Lord asked His suffering followers not to prepare speeches of self-defence- perhaps exemplified and patterned for us in the way that He remained silent before His accusers. Peter is recorded as denying Christ three times- just as the Romans interrogated Christians and asked them to three times deny Christ. The Christians were also asked to curse, or anathematizein, Jesus. And when we read of Peter’s cursing, the same word is used. We’re left with the impression that Peter actually cursed Christ. And so Mark, who was likely writing the Gospel on Peter’s behalf, is showing that Peter, the leader of the church, actually pathetically failed to follow his Lord at this time. And yet the Gospel of Mark was being distributed to Christians who were being dragged before Jewish and Roman courts. The idea was surely to give them an example and encouragement from Peter’s failure, rather than portray a positive example of a man overcoming the temptation to curse and deny Christ. But this was how the Lord used Peter- as an example from failure for all of us.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS6SC3DRrcc
sermon: https://youtu.be/KEjqG8AIsHs
commentary:
15:10 Envy and jealousy were the real reasons why Jesus was killed. Every time we suffer from them, we are fellowshipping the sufferings of Jesus. If we suffer with Him, we will also reign with Him. This is what the symbol of baptism shows- we go under the water, but come up out of it with Christ.
15:15 The moment of the Lord being delivered over by Pilate is so emphasized. There are few details in the record which are recorded verbatim by all the writers (Mt. 27:26; Mk. 15:15; Lk. 23:25; Jn. 19:16). The Lord had prophesied this moment of handing over, as if this was something which He dreaded (Mk. 9:31; 10:33); that point when He was outside the legal process, and must now face His destruction. The Angels reminded the disciples: " Remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men" (Lk. 24:6,7). The emphasis is on " How" , with what passion and emphasis. Rom. 4:25 makes this moment of handing over equivalent to His actual death: " Who was delivered (s.w.) for our offences, and raised again for our justification" . So much stress is put on this moment of being delivered over to crucifixion. The Gospel records stress that Pilate delivered Him up; but in fact God did (Rom. 8:32); indeed, the Lord delivered Himself up (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 5:2,25). Always the same word is used. These passages also stress that He delivered Himself up, and was delivered up, for us. It was our salvation which motivated Him at the moment of being delivered up. Perhaps it was at that moment that He had the greatest temptation to walk through the midst of them and back to Galilee. As the crowd surged forward and cheered, knowing they'd won the battle of wills with Pilate..." take ye him and crucify him" ringing in His mind...this was it. This was the end.
15:22 John says that the Lord went out bearing His cross. Luke says that Simon was asked to carry the hinder part of the cross behind Him. Matthew and Mark say Simon carried the cross. Mk. 15:22 (Gk.) says that the soldiers carried Jesus to Golgotha. J.B. Phillips renders it: " They got him to a place Golgotha" . It would seem that the Lord collapsed, perhaps fainting. If He was crucified on an olive tree (excavations of crucified men suggest this is what was used), it would not have been simply because of the weight of the stake. Take a picture of Him lying there, with the face that was marred more than the children of men pressed into the hot dust of that Jerusalem street. And some human fool probably said something like 'Come on, get up' (doubtless with embellishments). If indeed He did faint, there would have been that sense of 'coming round', the " Where am I?" , the memory and consciousness flooding back. " Have I died and been resurrected?" No, as some nameless soldier kicked Him and told Him to get up. 
15:23 Significantly, very few actual details are given by the Gospel writers of both the scourging and the crucifixion. It could be that they felt it impossible to dwell upon these things; or it could be that they and their readers knew what was involved in these practices, and we are left to dwell upon them in our own imagination. We are intended to reconstruct in our own minds what may have happened… We have a solemn duty towards Him to do this. This is perhaps why the tenses change so dramatically in the records. Take just Mk. 15:23-26: “They offered…they crucify…and part…casting lots…crucified…was written". These arresting changes are surely to encourage us to re-live it all. Mark speaks of “they crucify him", going on to say that “then are there two crucified with him" (Mk. 15:25 RV), whereas Luke records the act in the past tense. Mark’s present tenses are arresting: “plaiting…they clothe him…they smote…" (Mk. 15:17,19 RV). Perhaps Mark is seeking consciously to make us imagine it all as going on before our eyes.
15:34 Mt. 27:46 says that at "about the ninth hour, Jesus cried" those words about being forsaken. Mark says it was at the ninth hour, and we know it was at the ninth hour that Christ uttered His final words of victory. Yet it must have been only a few minutes before the ninth hour when Christ faltered; hence Matthew says that it was "about the ninth hour". What is a few minutes? Only a few hundred seconds, only moments. Only moments before the sweetness of the final victory, "It is finished" or accomplished, the Son of God was faltering. The conclusion is that at the very last moment our Lord faltered. It was 11:59, into injury time, and He faltered. Enter, please, into the sense of crisis and intensity. This is the only time that he prays to God as “God" rather than “Father" / abba. This itself reflects the sense of distance that enveloped Him. For He was your Lord and your Saviour hanging there, it was your salvation which hung in the balance. The more we appreciate this wavering at the last minute, the more fully we will appreciate the wonder of the final victory.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXbgnufq8Kw
sermon: https://youtu.be/53IETjQ1kxk
commentary:
16:3 The women who came to the tomb weren't looking for the risen Lord; they came to anoint the body. But their love of the Lord was counted to them as seeking Him (Mt. 28:5). The Bible is full of how God counts people as righteous although they are not. This is what love is, in some ways. As God counts us as righteous, so we should recognize that our weak brethren are counted righteous by Him.
16:7 Jesus was so concerned for the spiritual welfare of Peter, the one who had denied Him. The risen Lord especially wanted the women to tell Peter that He was ‘going before him’ to Galilee (Mk. 16:7)- with the implication that even in his weakness and dejection, He wanted Peter to still try to follow Him and re-live the cross in his life. We who also deny Jesus can take comfort from this loving concern He has even for us. And we can learn to treat others who fail likewise.
16:16 Baptism is therefore very important if we wish to be saved.
16: 17 The miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit were given in the first century, but they were later withdrawn (1 Cor. 13:8).


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmQEpHzWdzQ
sermon: https://youtu.be/7jmtLR9TEM0
commentary:
1:6 Zacharias was " blameless" in God's sight, even though in this very period of his life he was in some ways lacking faith that his prayers would be answered. He was counted by God as righteous- “righteous before God”.
1:13 He had prayed so long for a child that maybe it became a formality and he couldn’t believe the answer had come. Our prayers may be heard and answered, but it may take years for the answer to be delivered. And all that time we think God’s not answered. Daniel had a similar experience in Daniel 10.
1:19 Angels are sent all the way from God’s presence to earth in order to answer our prayers. A guy standing at a bus stop praying to God can call forth an Angel to be sent to earth in answer to his prayers.
1:30 Found favour- She had the spiritual ambition to ask to be the mother of Messiah. Hence her reaction was joy rather than “Oh no! I’m pregnant without a husband!”. And she was likely an illiterate, barefoot teenager. She was of low social status (:48,53).
1:32 Shall be- Note all the future tenses. Jesus didn’t pre-exist as a person before His birth. Jesus was “conceived” within Mary (v. 31). He didn’t literally come down from Heaven as a person. He began inside Mary. David was his father or ancestor because Mary too was an ordinary woman, who was in the line of David. Jesus only  became God’s Son when He was born (v. 35). The Son of God therefore didn’t exist from creation, as the false doctrine of the Trinity requires.
1:35 The Holy Spirit is paralleled with the power of “the Highest”. The Holy Spirit refers to God’s power; it isn’t a person. God is “the highest”, and therefore neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit are equal to Him; they are lower than Him as He is the highest.
1:36 Often God arranges that someone else, e.g. a family member, has a similar experience to us- so that by fellowship with them we can find comfort and encouragement.
1:46 Mary’s song is full of allusion to the song of Hannah when she was enabled to conceive Samuel (1 Sam. 2). Although she was illiterate, she knew her Bible well. She had memorized it and felt herself into it. She saw the similarities between herself and Hannah. We too should ponder Scripture and see the similarities between ourselves and others we read of there, so that they become our heroes and inspirations.
1:53 The rich Jewish women no doubt wanted to be mother of Messiah. But God delights to work through the low, poor and humble who love His word.
1:74 Zacharias shared the common Jewish misunderstanding of Messiah as the One who would bring salvation from the Romans. But it’s also possible to understand his words spiritually, in terms of our freedom from sin. A faithful man can still hold misunderstandings, and God didn’t reject him because of it.
1:77 If we really feel God’s forgiveness, then we know salvation; but such wonderful experience comes from appreciating the seriousness of our sins. The proud and self-righteous have no feeling for the wonder of God’s forgiveness.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rcxO6z69kc
sermon: https://youtu.be/Cf0y68zPYHI
commentary:
2:7 From birth, Jesus knew rejection from men; for surely somebody could have found a better bed for a heavily pregnant woman. When we experience rejection, He knows how we feel.
2:8 Shepherds were one of the most despised classes in Palestinian society. But God chose to use them as the witnesses to the birth of His Son.
2:15 That has come to  pass- Faith is believing what we can’t see but what has been revealed to us by God’s word. The shepherds are a classic example of faith. Therefore the shepherds rejoiced because their faith had been rewarded- they found everything exactly as had been said and as they had believed (v. 20). This was and is the joy of faith rewarded.
2:32 A light for revelation- The Gentiles will only see that light if we reveal Him to them in our witness.
2:35 When the spear pierced the side of Jesus, the heart of Mary was pierced too as she watched. Our reaction to the cross is that the thoughts of our hearts are revealed. Hence the breaking of bread service, when we remember the death and resurrection of Jesus, is a time for self-examination because quite naturally the thoughts of our hearts are revealed as we stand before the cross (1 Cor. 11:28). 
2:47 Jesus would’ve had a natural aptitude for His Father’s words. He would’ve searched for His Father just as any child does for the father they have never seen. As God’s Son, His intellect would’ve been surpassing. His exposition of Scripture at 12 would’ve been very mature. Note His humility, though, in asking questions- of the men who later would hate and murder Him.
2:48 Your father… Jesus rebukes her by saying that she should’ve guessed that He was to be found in the house of God, His true Father (v. 49). Mary had become so used to the idea of Joseph being the father of Jesus that she had perhaps lost the intensity of persuasion she had when the Angel visited her 13 years ago- that Jesus’ Father was God. Time and the incorrect views of others about Jesus and God can likewise make us view them as the world around us does. 
2:52 The growth of Jesus in favour with God makes a nonsense of Trinitarian claims. Likewise His growth in wisdom and knowledge is understood quite naturally if we accept Him as God’s begotten Son. “God the son” and “Trinity” aren’t found in the Bible.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHnXfOXwBnY
sermon: https://youtu.be/Sglexx2sssI
commentary:
3:5 The leveling of the wilderness is symbolic. Those who were proud like the mountains were brought down low, and those with too negative a view of themselves, as low as the valleys,  were lifted up to a higher level. The key in all this was repentance and acceptance of the reality of God’s forgiveness and acceptance.
3:8 Repentance isn’t a matter of words so much as actions, or “fruit”. Baptism is part of our process of repentance and forgiveness; but we must attempt to change in practice too.
3:8 To say within yourselves- The Bible focuses upon and addresses our internal and very private thought processes. Verse 15 also talks about how people reasoned within themselves. This is the essence of Christianity- to change our spirit, the way we think deep within. The real ‘Satan’ or adversary is our own innermost mind, and not any external cosmic being.
3:14 John didn’t tell the soldiers to stop being soldiers, but to act within moral principles. God meets us where we are, calls different people in different states, and asks them within their contexts to act accordingly. But the military shouldn’t be the occupation of choice for a Christian.
3:17 The idea of gathering wheat and destroying the chaff is the language of the final judgment, when Jesus returns. But Jesus was ready to begin that at His first coming. All believers down the centuries have therefore lived in the expectation of His imminent judgment coming; we should live constantly with the awareness that Jesus may return today.
3:20 Added this- God doesn’t just switch off watching sinners keeping on sinning. Each and every sin is a felt offence against Him, even if performed by Gentile unbelievers. His sensitivity to sin is amazing, and we should live our lives before Him recognizing it.
3:21 Jesus also- The idea is that Jesus was baptized along with all the other people, by full immersion as an adult. If He was baptized, so should we be.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXiaM32FWIc
sermon: https://youtu.be/kr__GEzP_Vc
commentary:
4:1-8 See comments on Matthew 4 and notes about Satan at the end.
4:3 Jesus answers the three temptations with three quotations from Deuteronomy. Those quotations are close to each other- twice from Deuteronomy 6 and once from Deuteronomy 8. These passages were in the context of Israel being 40 years in the wilderness, tested by God and tempted to be disobedient to Him. Jesus perceived the similarities with Himself- 40 days in the wilderness, tested by God and tempted, led by “the Spirit” (v. 1) as Israel were led by an Angel. We too should look for the similarities between our positions and those of others we read about in the Bible. The more we are familiar with the Bible text, the more easily in times of crisis will we find strength and find warning and encouragement directly for us. This is why we should persevere in Bible reading even if at the time we don’t understand or feel any immediate benefit. Slowly, God’s word becomes a living word, speaking directly to us.
4:15 The popularity of Jesus was huge. But He knew what people were like (Jn. 2:25) and so He avoided the pitfalls of success and popularity. We should handle any popularity or success in the way He did. His focus was upon glorifying God, getting that job done, and whether we stand with our backs to the world or have adulation of men, that must be our focus.
4:23 Heal yourself- Did Jesus have some physical weakness, illness or deformity? He had “no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2).
4:27 There were no lepers healed in Israel in Elisha’s time. The young Israelite maid who told her Syrian mistress that Elisha was able to cure leprosy was therefore speaking in faith, the faith which believes what hasn’t yet been seen (2 Kings 5:3).
4:30 Jesus was therefore able to escape persecution and personal harm. He could’ve escaped from the cross. This was His agony in Gethsemane. But He resisted that temptation and willingly gave His life for us.
4:35 Jesus rebuked a demon and then rebuked a fever (v. 39). ‘Demons’ was the language of the day for illnesses.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6f7cDHgqTg
sermon: https://youtu.be/GuHUrZa7E-k
commentary:
5:5 Fishermen don’t like being told by carpenters what to do; they ‘know it all’ about their trade. So Peter had to humble himself to obey Christ’s word just as we do; it goes against the grain of our natural instincts.
5:10 Success in preaching, like (in this instance) Peter’s success in fishing, comes from obeying Christ’s word, being guided by that rather than our natural instincts. We may appear fools in the eyes of men by doing so.
5:16 If Jesus needed to make time to be alone with God, so do we. It may require us to set the alarm clock 10 minutes earlier each morning.
5:20 Jesus knew they wanted a healing. But first He forgave the man’s sins- to show that physical benefit from association with Him is secondary to the forgiveness of our sins. That is our primary and greatest need.
5:31 We are the sick, in need of healing. We will therefore never be ready or good enough for God. We shouldn’t delay being baptized or not serve God because we feel we are spiritually sick. It is for us that He died.
5:35 Are we fasting because we want Jesus, the bridegroom, to return? Fasting doesn’t only mean abstaining from food; fasting means forgiving people and trying to ease the weight of the burdens they carry (Is. 58:6).
5:39 Jesus here recognizes the basic conservatism of human nature; real change is so hard for us. 


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ1BCTd5hW4
sermon: https://youtu.be/1A_TGj3UJ50
commentary:
6:4 Jesus compared those who follow Him to the priests. We are all priests within the new community Jesus has established (1 Pet. 2:9). We all have responsibility for the spiritual welfare of each other; we are not to leave it to a class of specialists to care for them.
6:7 Do you feel in some contexts that everything you do is being watched critically by someone? Jesus knows how you feel.
6:9 Jesus speaks of omitting to do good (in this case, healing the man) as doing harm and destroying life. Sins of commission aren’t the only sins; sins of omission are as bad as proactively murdering or harming someone.
6:11 Rage- Often acts of goodness provoke anger in others; they look at us with an evil eye because we have done good. This often happened to Jesus (Mt. 20:15). This kind of spiritual jealousy led to His death, and we will face it too.
6:19 Healing people was so demanding upon Jesus; He felt the power going out of Him (as in 8:46). If we feel exhausted by serving others- Jesus has ‘been there’.
6:20-22 It’s paradoxical that Christians want to be happy, wealthy, popular and well fed. We may take a second job or a very demanding one which leaves us no time or energy for Divine things- just because we want to ‘buy’ those very things which we are blessed if we don’t have. This is a huge inversion of values.
6:23 Is great- God is watching our lives closely, and sacrificing things for His sake means we accrue some ‘reward’ immediately with Him. Salvation is a gift, by grace. But the nature of who we will eternally be is a function of the degree of sacrifice and service we have achieved in this life.
6:29 When Jesus was struck on the cheek He asked “Why do you smite me?” (Jn. 18:23). He didn’t literally offer His other cheek. So we must interpret this in principle rather than literally.
6:32 Let’s think what acts of love we can do today to those who do not love us and will not recompense us.
6:38 They- The Angels at the day of judgment. For this doesn’t come true in this life.
6:40 We will be “perfected” when Jesus returns and we are given God’s nature (Heb. 11:40). Then, we will be like Jesus. ‘We shall be like Him’ (1 Jn. 3:2). The wonder of the Kingdom will not simply be that we won’t die- but that we will be like Jesus, with His love, sensitivity, authority, ability to talk with God with no barriers between… Oh how rich the promise.
6:41 If Jesus was a carpenter, He may have thought up this idea one day whilst working, with His mind always on the things of God.
6:45 We may think that we’re clever enough to think evil of a person but say nice things to their face. The culture of nicespeak is no more than hypocrisy, and God will judge it. Our thoughts will eventually be reflected in our words. We must change our hearts and not our outward appearances.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIEHrMPafWc
sermon: https://youtu.be/CX13-XvFGa4
commentary:
7:6 I am not worthy- But the people said openly that he was “worthy” (v. 4). Even if others think and speak well of us, let us not think that we are worthy of Jesus; but always maintain our sense of sinfulness and humility before Him.
7:14 To touch coffins or dead bodies made a person unclean under Jewish law; but Jesus touched lepers and now touched the coffin to show His identification with the unclean. Those who realize they too are unclean will be comforted by this.
7:19 This could imply a collapse of faith in John. He doubted whether his cousin Jesus really was Messiah as he had earlier taught; because Jesus wasn’t acting as he had expected Messiah to act. God and Jesus are not to be defined by our expectations of them; but we are to accept them for who they present themselves to be in reality. Hence Jesus sent a message back to John warning him that blessed is that man who doesn’t stumble over Jesus (v. 23). The Bible records the failings of great men of faith. There are no white faced saints. Although John was weak at this point, Jesus goes on to speak very positively of him in v. 28. We should also be positive about each other despite being aware of each others’ weaknesses.
7:30 if we refuse to be baptized, this is what we are doing.
7:32 The children invited other children to play sad funerals, and they refused; so they asked them to play happy weddings, and they still refused. God appealed to all kinds of people through the different style of Jesus and John; but the Jews refused to really respond.
7:35 All her children- Both the converts of Jesus and of John.
7:43 The point is that we are all sinners and so the amount we owe is really the degree to which we perceive our sinfulness. The more we realize our sins, the more we will love Jesus for forgiving us. 
7:44 Jesus therefore spoke with His back to Simon. He was being intentionally rude to His host to emphasize the degree to which He accepted and respected that repentant woman.
7:48 She already knew this, without Jesus having told her, because she loved Him so much. And He observed that her love was because she had been forgiven so much. When we are forgiven, we’re not always told so directly by Jesus; but we feel it, as she did.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d_2-RfjQrg
sermon: https://youtu.be/5IElQrjFMK8
commentary:
8:3 Jesus attracted a group of poor men and wealthy women. He calls very different people into contact with Him and therefore each other, making the true church of Jesus an example of extraordinary unity; it’s not composed of just one psychological type, one social class, colour, race or gender. It’s a wonderful mixture. It’s the very opposite of a social club, which attracts the same types together.
8:8 He cried- Jesus so desperately wanted- and wants- people to understand His teaching.
8:16 If we hide our spiritual light, it will go out. Witnessing to our faith is for our benefit as well as that of those who receive our preaching.
8:21 Do we perceive our spiritual family as even more significant for us than our natural family? This is very hard to do, as hard as it was for Jesus to speak as He did here.
8:28 If Jesus is Son of the Most High God, then He cannot be equal to God in a Trinitarian sense; for God is the most high.
8:32 Keeping pigs was illegal for Jews as pigs were unclean animals.
8:42 Often we have been rushing to do something very important, and then somebody or something else demands our attention. The phone rings as we are rushing out of the door; a child insists upon having our attention as we are in the middle of an important conversation. In those moments of frustration, remember Jesus here. How calm He was, never flustered; how caring for people, to the point that He never ultimately ignored anyone’s genuine need.
8:45 Jesus knew who had touched Him. But He wanted the woman to come out openly in front of the crowd and declare her faith. Jesus works in our lives to ensure that we openly declare our faith before the world, even when we try not to.
8:50 Fear is the opposite of faith. 
 8:54 Taking her by the hand- Jesus knew the girl would be scared when she woke up alive, without any human touch. We see His total faith that the miracle would happen; and also His extreme sensitivity to people, how He thought ahead to how they were going to feel. Likewise with His command to get her something to eat. May His sensitive spirit be ours, always thinking ahead to how others will be feeling in response to events.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx-A1Juhp7c
sermon: https://youtu.be/RzBEmPboSAM
commentary:
9:2 The frequent connection between preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and healing was because the healings were foretastes of how things would be when the Kingdom of God is established upon earth.
9:5 Jews were supposed to shake off the dust of Gentile areas from their feet. Jesus is saying that the Jews who didn’t accept Him were no better than Gentiles. If we reject Christ, we will be “condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:28).
9:12 Jesus preached in a “deserted place” so that the people had to make some effort to go to Him. We have to make some effort on our part to hear the word of God, even though salvation is of grace.
9:18 Praying alone- We must find time to pray alone, and not  have a prayer life which is simply saying “Amen” to the prayers of others.
9:23 Daily- We should rise each day and remind ourselves that we are to pick up the cross of Jesus, accompanying Him on His ‘last walk’ to death. How we start each day is important.
9:24 How can we lose our lives for His sake today?
9:35 Hear Him- Alluding to the prediction of Dt. 18:15 that the faithful would hear the voice of the Messiah. This Old Testament prophecy is quoted about Jesus in Acts 3:22. Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies about Himself; He was “the word made flesh” (Jn. 1:14).
9:37 We also at times ‘come down from the mountain’ of intense spiritual experience to face the crowds of this world, lack of faith, human need and argument. We may have a wonderful Sunday service, but have to return into the world on Monday or Sunday evening. In those moments, remember Jesus went through the same. He understands.
9:39 Bruising him- The child bruised himself, as in v. 42 “dashed him”. The language of demon possession simply refers to mental illness, in this came epilepsy and self-harm.
9:41 How long?- This is a phrase often found on the lips of God’s people in the Bible. We long for the day when human weakness will be no more, when Jesus has returned and established His Kingdom on earth.
9:51 In Luke, Jesus is described as always ‘going up to Jerusalem’ even when He was going geographically away from it. We too may take two steps backwards at times, but our overall direction is ultimately towards God’s Kingdom.
9:60 At times, Jesus is very demanding. To bury your father was seen as a Jew’s greatest domestic obligation. But Jesus and His work must come first.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vkt4Rtxyl8
sermon: https://youtu.be/t6ixClv7cgk
commentary:
10:2 The harvest of people for God’s Kingdom will not be reaped if there aren’t enough workers or we work poorly. The salvation of others has therefore been delegated to us, to some extent. Let’s go and reap the harvest and pray that others will assist the work.
10:3 Jesus was “the lamb of God”; in our preaching Him, we are Him to this world. And so in the context of their preaching work in the world, Jesus called His followers “lambs”. The principle is stated in v. 16- whoever hears us hears Jesus personally.
10:4 Greet no one- Greetings in the East took a long time. Jesus didn’t intend them to be rude, but to be urgent about their mission, and dispense with niceties to fulfill it. Do we have that intensity and urgency about our preaching the Gospel?
10:13 They would have repented- God knows all possible futures and possible pasts, and His Son had some of this ability. This knowledge of ‘what could have been’ must give God such huge sadness; for the reason why we weep is because of our sense of ‘what could have been’. It must be so hard being God.
10:18 Jesus has just used the figure of falling from Heaven to earth in v. 15. It means to lose power, and shouldn’t be read literally. The power of the adversary [‘Satan’ is a Hebrew word meaning ‘adversary’] had been taken away.
10:20 Our names are written in God’s book of life, but they can be removed from it if we fall away (Rev. 3:5).
10:35 Two denarii- The wage for one day’s work was one denarius (Mt. 20:2). Maybe the implication was that the Samaritan would “come again” (v. 36) after two days. If a day with God is as a thousand years, it could be that Jesus, the Samaritan, will return after 2000 years from when He first bound up wounded humanity and put us in the “inn” of the church.
 10:37 Do likewise- The Samaritan was symbolic of Jesus and His saving work for sinners, which the representatives of the Jewish law did not do. But He asks us to not only benefit from His work, but go out into the world and do the same, taking risks and sacrificing our own safety to do so. The Jews claimed Jesus was a Samaritan- a mixed race of people whom ‘pure’ Jews despised (Jn. 8:48). 
 10:42 Here for all time we are encouraged to give more importance to hearing Christ’s word than to domestic duties.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1KZex7RpFg
sermon: https://youtu.be/38XJeZDFhWE
commentary:
11:2 When God declared His Name to Moses in Ex. 34:4-8, He gave Moses a list of His characteristics- grace, justice, judgment, mercy, forgiveness etc. Our first request of God should be that those characteristics- His Name, what He stands for- be revealed and glorified in our lives by whatever situations we are in, and our reactions to them. If this is our first desire, then all else will fall into place ultimately. The next request is for God’s Kingdom to come- for Jesus to return to earth and establish God’s Kingdom here. We tend to make prayer a list of specific requests, but Jesus teaches us to be less specific initially, and focus always upon those essential principles and have them as our greatest desires.
11:4 It is good for us to tell God in prayer that we forgive our enemies. But this makes this simple prayer hard to pray truthfully. For we must forgive others if we hope for forgiveness ourselves.
11:9 The ‘asking’ is for the reasons given in the parable- the man asks for things in order to give them to someone else in need (v. 6). If we ask for things in order to assist others, then God’s promise will hold true. But it’s not a promise that whatever we ask for ourselves will be given to us. 
11:10 We knock on God’s door, but He through Jesus knocks on our door (Rev. 3:20). There is a mutuality between God and us. We knock on His door, He knocks on ours.
11:13 Give the Holy Spirit- The parallel Mt. 7:11 says that God will give “good things” to those who ask Him. Being given the special power of God (“Holy Spirit”) doesn’t mean that we will be able to speak in tongues / languages, do miracles etc.- those gifts have been withdrawn (1 Cor. 13:8-10). But this doesn’t mean that He doesn’t amazingly answer prayer, and those answers are in a way a gift of Holy Spirit. 
11:23 Scatters- Sins of omission are understood by Jesus as active opposition to Him. How we live life is crucially important; our inaction is seen as actively working against the Lord’s work.
11:28 Mary, mother of Jesus, did hear God’s word and kept it in her heart (Lk. 2:19). This was the side of Mary that Jesus wanted people to honour, rather than her physically having been His mother.
11:32 At the day of judgment, we will be judged in full view of others. The Ninevites will watch the judgment process of the first century Jews. We therefore shouldn’t be hypocritical in front of others now, because in the end they will see us revealed at judgment day for who we really are.
11:34 Our perceptions, our filtering process which we apply to life, are so important.
11:52 We can hinder or stumble people from entering the Kingdom. This is perhaps the greatest sin. We therefore need to be so careful how we treat people, so that we do nothing which may lead them to turn away from the hope of the Kingdom because of our actions, exclusion of them or hypocrisy.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJRJPSKHRNo
sermon: https://youtu.be/h5kfOAHSuFc
commentary:
12:1 Hypocrisy is like leaven (yeast). Once one person starts being hypocritical, others tend to be; it spreads easily and has a huge effect, just as leaven does on bread. Jesus taught “first of all”, most importantly, to beware of hypocrisy. We need to ask ourselves daily whether we are being hypocritical; because it’s so important not to be. All will be revealed anyway (:2,3)- at the day of judgment.
12:7 God sees and knows absolutely everything- even within the animal creation. Let’s live with that awareness, that He is so intensely watching. Knowing this shouldn’t frighten us but rather encourage us- “fear not!”.
12:19 The ‘soul’ here refers to the self; Jesus piercingly analyzes the self-talk of materialistic people. It’s our self-talk that we need to watch; what are the conversations that we carry on with ourselves as we walk, travel, prepare food… ? The words “I”, “my” and “soul” occur often in this story- circle them in your Bible. The man was totally self-centred.
12:30 God knows our basic need for food and clothing and will provide, as He did for Israel after their ‘baptism’ in the Red Sea and journey through the wilderness. Their shoes didn’t get worn out, and He gave them bread and water daily. David says he never saw the children of the righteous begging bread (Ps. 37:25). We must really believe this promise.
12:33 Jesus was speaking to poor people when He said this. The poor can easily assume that all Christ’s teaching about wealth and generosity are for the attention of rich Christians only. But this is not the case. The poor, too, are asked to be radically generous. 
12:35 An allusion to the night of Israel’s Passover exodus from Egypt. We are to have that same intensity, aware that Jesus could return at any moment.
12:36 How immediately we respond to the knowledge that Christ has returned will affect our eternal future, as in Mt. 25:10. If we are longing for His return and have a light hold on our material life, we will be ready to go immediately with joy and no regrets. The more we possess, the harder this will be.
12:37 Another unreal element in the parables- the Master would never come and serve His servants. But Jesus will do so- because He will be so pleased that they were watching and eager for His return. At the marriage supper of the Lamb, when Jesus again will eat and drink with us (Mt. 26:29), He will come and serve us. His loving servanthood is a characteristic that He has even now; it wasn’t just how He was when on earth. He will always be the same as He was then (Heb. 13:8).
12:49 The judgment of God is likened to fire; but that fire is kindled, the match is set to it, by human beings. God’s judgment is only confirming sinful people in what they themselves have chosen.
12:51 Jesus ‘came’ to send judgment (v. 49); and He came to send division within families. Such division is therefore His judgment upon them; but they will have kindled that fire themselves by their own rejection of His message of peace.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV_YVGNC5jw
sermon: https://youtu.be/1c72D2bjTp8
commentary:
13:3 Sin and suffering aren’t necessarily related in this life. The book of Job is all about this. Indeed, the wicked prosper. But sin will have its recompense- which creates the necessity for the coming of the day of judgment when Jesus returns.
13:7 The “man” who owned the vineyard [Israel] is God; the “vinedresser” is Jesus. The three years are the three years of Christ’s ministry. Jesus knew God so well that He asked Him to delay His plan to destroy Israel, to give them yet more opportunity to give spiritual fruit (v. 8). Moses and other Bible characters showed us that we can reason with God, and in some cases He is prepared to change His stated intentions. Prayer is so powerful! Earlier, Israel were the vine and the Lord Jesus the vinedresser. But now we are the vine, and God Himself the vinedresser (Jn. 15:1). We are in good hands; and the Father and Son who through Biblical history showed themselves so sensitive to spiritual fruit are the very same ones who will meet us in the last day.
13:21 The Gospel is like leaven [yeast]. It can influence a huge amount of flour. The Gospel we preach has more power and potential to radically change people than we realize.
13:23 We all tend to wonder about such questions of Divine ‘fairness’. Jesus gives no answer but says that we should focus instead upon our own salvation (v. 24)- rather than dabble in questions which are God’s concern and beyond our comprehension.
13:25 The ideas of standing at the door and knocking are all found in Rev. 3:20, where Jesus says that He does this to us. If we’ve not opened to Him, not responded to His promptings in this life, then He will not open the door to eternity to us when He comes again.
13:26 Eat and drink in your presence- A reference to the fact they had participated in the communion service? There will be some who break bread who will not be saved ultimately. We must ask “Lord, is it I?”.
13:28 You shall see… yourselves- The purpose of the judgment process will be for our benefit, to help people see themselves from outside of themselves, to see themselves as they really are. It’s not in order for God to gather information and make a verdict; He knows all things. In this sense, “judgment” is a metaphor not to be pushed too far.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REpW6xkMeBY
sermon: https://youtu.be/KO5ZOHD-pPI
commentary:
14:10 We are to take the lowest place in the ecclesia / church. Jesus is the one who invited us (v. 9), and He will “come” and inspect us at His return. And He will re-arrange the order at which we sit at table. Our breaking of bread services are foretastes of our eating with Jesus at His return. We should take the lowest place in those meetings, at least in our hearts; aware of our own failings, and seeing our brothers and sisters positively and with grace.
14:13 The poor, maimed, lame and blind are the very ones whom God invites to His supper (v. 21). The connection is clear enough- we are to act to others as God does to people; and He has a way of inviting the most desperate people into fellowship with Him. Snobbery should have no part in Christian life. We are the spiritually poor and handicapped street people whom God has invited into His Kingdom in these last days. That’s what v. 21 teaches. And so we ought to invite such people into our homes- with all the problems that can bring. There should be no sense of social superiority at all in the true church. This is utterly abhorrent to God.
14:18 The man begs Jesus to ‘excuse’ him. The New Testament is written in Greek, and we read through the mask of translation. The same Greek word translated ‘excuse’ here is also translated ‘reject’ elsewhere. Those who are rejected at the last day will have begged Jesus to reject them by their behavior in this life. He will only confirm them in their choices. If more than anything else we want to be in God’s Kingdom; then we will.
14:23 The implication could be that as the last days progress and the return of Christ becomes imminent, the standard of those accepted will decrease; only the absolutely desperate [in whatever way- not just materially] will be responding to the Gospel. We who have responded in what appear to be the last days are therefore a desperate lot indeed.
14:31 The King who comes against us with far more strength is God; coming in judgment of our sins. Sin is serious, and isn’t just ignored by God with a grin. It is a felt offence against Him, that provokes His wrath. We make peace with Him, we are reconciled, through the work and sacrifice of Jesus.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB-pz84WZ8E
sermon: https://youtu.be/NmuSr9oKjyg
commentary:
15:4 The answer is: No shepherd does this, nor does he throw a party for the sake of that sheep (v. 6). The point of unreality would’ve in these parables would’ve been immediately noticed by the first century hearers.  The point of unreality is what teaches the lesson- in this case, that God is exceptionally concerned about the lost. As we should be too.
15:8 Her dowry was all that a woman possessed; even her body wasn’t hers. To lose a dowry coin was therefore to lose part of herself; this is how hard God takes when He loses one of His people. She searched “until she finds it”- God, and we too, should search for the lost with the attitude that we will search until we find them. We certainly should not exclude any of God’s people from His house; we should search passionately for any who leave.
15:12 This request was equivalent to saying ‘I wish you were dead’.
15:20 For an old man to run publically was seen as undignified. This unreal feature of the story shows just how much he was delighted his son was returning; it speaks of the radical joy of God when we return to Him. When a prodigal returned to a village, they would’ve been badly mocked by everyone who knew them. The father therefore ran to the son to shield him from the name calling and stone throwing of children. We should seek to shield from shame those who ‘come back’ .
15:32 The vital point of Jesus’ parables is often at the end. This story isn’t so much about a sinner coming home, but about self-righteous people within the house of God who say “If he’s coming back, I’m out of here”. 


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yywat8Z6kBg
sermon: https://youtu.be/gKGPvAeTRcQ
commentary:
16:10 All that we have been given by God, spiritually and materially, is “a very little”. Only a small portion of God is known by us (Job 26:14). So because we may correctly understand the Bible on some points, let’s not think that we have 100% truth about God or ‘know it all’.
16:11 How we handle wealth [whether we have to manage much or little of it] is proportionate to how we will eternally be in God’s Kingdom.
16:19 This is a parable, and isn’t to be taken literally.
16:23 This is a parody of Jewish beliefs. But those beliefs are in themselves wrong; the righteous don’t go to live in Abraham’s bosom; death is unconsciousness; the punishment for sin is death when Jesus returns, not torment in fire. Jesus used the wrong beliefs of the Jews against themselves. He spoke to people in their own terms.
16:31 The parables of Jesus often make their key point at the end; and it’s the same here. The point of the story is to show that even when Jesus rose from the dead, most of the Jews still wouldn’t believe. And that the witness of the written word in the Old Testament was and is as powerful as ‘seeing a miracle’ of a dead man coming to life.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgukFh4YdcM
sermon: https://youtu.be/2CeerbhCpi4
commentary:
17:2 Causing others to stumble is the very worst kind of sin. We should therefore think carefully how our words and actions are going to impact others; and be careful that we set the right example to others. The punishment of a millstone being hung around the neck and cast into the sea is that of Babylon’s punishment at the last day (Rev. 18:21). Those within the church who make others stumble, e.g. by unreasonable demands upon them or excluding them, are no better than Babylon, the great enemy of God. How we treat others is very, very important.
17:4 If someone sins so many times each day and claims to have repented, it’s obvious their repentance isn’t sincere. So Jesus is teaching that we should forgive people without trying to assess if their repentance is sincere, or even if it is apparent that their repentance is insincere. The radical grace of God to us requires that we should simply forgive others without demanding their repentance.
17:10 Unprofitable servants- The same phrase is used in Mt. 25:30 about those who will be condemned at the final judgment when Jesus returns. After we have, as we think, done everything we should- we must still recognize that we deserve only condemnation. When doing good deeds, it’s necessary to remember that we are sinners; we have already sinned, we still sin, and probably will sin again before Jesus returns. This will mean that we do our good works with a humble spirit; if they are done with a spiritually arrogant attitude, this is a huge turn off to the world and ruins our witness.
17:21 “Within” can also be translated “among”. Jesus as King of the Kingdom of God can be called “the Kingdom of God”. All the principles of God’s Kingdom were to be found in Him. The Jews were looking for Messiah to come, and Jesus is saying they don’t have to look here and there for Him; because He, the Messiah, was already among them. The Kingdom of God wasn’t within the hearts of “you”, i.e. the Pharisees. 
17:27 Until the day- There is strong Biblical emphasis on the fact that the flood began on the day Noah entered the ark. But Gen. 7:1,4 says that God told Noah seven days before the flood came to enter the ark. But actually he didn’t do this- he entered the very day the rain came. Why? Surely because he was begging people to come into the ark- he was a preacher (2 Pet. 2:5). Do our hearts desperately bleed for the people around us, as we await the coming of Jesus?
17:32 Lot’s wife looked back behind her when she had been told not to. She mourned the loss of her home and possessions. The command Lot received to leave Sodom is therefore typical of the command we will receive to leave this present situation and go to be with Christ in Jerusalem when He returns. If we look back on this world with longing, we will share the judgment of this world. Lot’s wife was turned to salt, which was also the punishment which came upon the area around Sodom (Gen. 19:23; Dt. 29:23).
17:37 Don’t worry where the judgment seat will be, or how we will get there. We will get there as naturally as God makes the eagles go into the air and come down where the carcass is.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVN7XXrWiIg
sermon: https://youtu.be/az-uKTq6-is
commentary:
18:3 The element of unreality in this parable is that a widow woman, with no male to advocate for her, went directly to the judge. This speaks of the spiritual ambition which we should have in daring to continually pray to God; and perhaps also indicates how approachable God is, even if prayer to God Himself initially seems too wonderful an idea for us.
18:7 The apparent silence of God to our prayers is because of His patience with us, not His deafness or indifference.
18:8 Shall He find faith on the earth?- It’s an open question. The context speaks of how God answers prayer. The fact He does this should inspire faith. But will there be such faith in the earth [maybe “land”, of Israel] on the eve of Christ’s return?
18:13 Struck his breast- The same Greek phrase is found only in the account of how those who watched the crucifixion of Jesus struck their breasts (Lk. 23:48). Here in 18:13, striking the breast means contrition and repentance. So it probably means the same in 23:48. Watching the death of Jesus brought people to repentance. This is why when we remember the death of Jesus at the breaking of bread service, we are naturally led to self-examination and repentance (1 Cor. 11:28). 
18:14 Rendered righteous- We are not righteous in ourselves; but we are counted righteous by God through our being “in Christ” by baptism and continued faith in Him.
18:30 In this time- We receive these things in the church of God, through our relationships with others in Christ. Christianity isn’t intended to be lived in isolation from other believers.
18:34 Note the repetition of the fact they didn’t understand. They had a psychological barrier to the cross, just as we do in some ways- to share in the cross of Jesus is so demanding.


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV7h-fEwZ4Y
sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niN59wgw1Qc
commentary:
19:7 Fellowshipping with sinners through eating with them was seen as very wrong; the faithful Jew only fellowshipped with those who were “clean” and apparently not associated with sin. Jesus’ open table policy showed the very opposite. There is no ‘guilt by association’; He fellowshipped with people in order to bring them to Him, rather than only eating His bread with those who had reached a certain standard.
19:9 He was a Jew (“son of Abraham”), but worked for the Romans collecting taxes from the Jews. He would’ve been a very lonely, despised and rejected person. These are the kinds of people who respond to Jesus.
19:17 Ten cities- There is an element of unreality in the parable of the pounds: wise use of a few coins results in power over several cities. We are left to imagine the men marvelling in disbelief at the reward given to them. They expected at most just a few pounds to be given to them. And in their response we see a picture of the almost disbelief of the faithful at their rewards.
19:20 He justifies himself by saying that he has "kept" the money, using the word elsewhere used about the need to keep or hold on to the doctrines of the One Faith (1 Tim. 1:19; 3:9; 2 Tim. 1:13; Rev. 6:9). He had done this, he had held on, he hadn't left the faith. And he thought this was enough to bring him to the Kingdom. But we must creatively use the basic gift of the Gospel which we have been given. 
19:23 Jesus will explain to the rejected how they might have entered eternity. This will be quite enough mental torment and punishment. The Law of Moses forbad Jews to lend money to other Jews for interest.  Jesus was telling His parables to Jews in a Jewish context. He’s saying: “Even if you had done what was not the best, not the most obedient; but if you had done at least something , I would’ve accepted you’. But the man thought Jesus was a hard, grace-less man. Alternatively, Jesus may have meant: ‘You could at least have given the Gospel to the Gentiles’.
19:25 Even those accepted into God’s Kingdom won’t understand everything immediately. We will spend eternity eternally growing in the knowledge of God and Jesus.
19:27 Slay them- The punishment for the rejected will be death, “the second death”  (Rev. 2:11); not eternal punishment of a conscious person. 
19:37 Now drawing near- The verb tenses and style here encourage us to visualize Jesus ‘drawing near’. The Gospels often encourage us to play ‘Bible television’- to reconstruct how things happened as if the scene is playing live before our eyes.
19:41 This was the city which would kill Him- He had predicted that “Jerusalem” would kill him (Lk. 13:33). And yet Jesus had a heart that bled for the salvation of even His enemies and murderers. He so wished for their salvation (Lk. 13:34). Do we have a heart that bleeds for this world?


christian_basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on3-Vu-cr3M
sermon: https://youtu.be/KPjJ_4dbPPI
commentary:
20:9 The absentee landlords of Galilee were despised by all; and yet the Lord uses one of them as a figure for Himself. Whenever we feel despised, we are sharing in the sufferings of Jesus.
20:13 God sent His Son to Israel, hoping they would reverence Him. But Isaiah 53 had prophesied that when Israel saw Him, they would see no beauty in Him and crucify Him. Yet God restrained that knowledge, in His love and positive hope for His people. God in a sense comes down to our level, rather like you crouch down to speak with a child at their level, and seek to enter into their limitations of perception, their language and outlook. Truly man is not alone. God is with us.
20:15 The parable has a telling twist to it. Absentee landlords who had never visited their land for ages, and found the people they sent to the property beaten up, would usually just forget it. They wouldn’t bother. In the parable which draws on this, the Lord asks what the landlord will do. The expected answer was: ‘Not much. He got what he could, he was never bothered to go there for years anyway’. But this landlord is odd. He keeps on sending messengers when any other landlord would have given up or got mad earlier on. But God’s patience through the prophets was likewise unusual. And then, when the tenants thought they must surely be able to get away with it because the Lord seemed so distant and out of touch… He suddenly comes Himself in person and destroys them. He doesn’t hire a bunch of people to do it. He comes in person, as the Lord will in judgment. And instead of deciding he’d had his fingers burnt and giving up vineyards as a bad job, this Lord gives the vineyard to others- He tries again. And so the Lord is doing with the Gentiles.
20:18 We have a choice- to be broken in this life by falling upon the rock of Christ, or to be broken by Him when He falls upon this earth in judgment. We must be broken men and women one way or another, either now or then. It’s so logical to choose to be broken now. But in spiritual matters, we’re not logical in how we reason.
There is evidence within the text of the NT, in addition to church tradition, which would suggest that memorizing Scripture was a common feature of the early believers. A passage in Psalm 118 is referred to here in Lk. 20:18; and also in Acts 4:11; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:6-8. One wonders if this was a proof text which the early believers would have known by heart.  
20:36 Angels cannot die: “Death...does not lay hold of angels” (Heb. 2:16 Diaglott margin). If angels could sin, then those who are found worthy of reward at Christ’s return will also still be able to sin. And seeing that sin brings death (Rom. 6:23), they will therefore not have eternal life; if we have a possibility of sinning, we have the capability of dying. Thus to say angels can sin makes God’s promise of eternal life meaningless, seeing that our reward is to share the nature of the angels. The reference to “the angels” shows that there is no categorization of angels as good or sinful; there is only one category of angels. Dan. 12:3 says that the faithful will shine as the stars; and stars are associated with the Angels (Job 38:7). We will be made like Angels; and yet we will be given immortal, sinless nature. Therefore, Angels can’t sin. Our hope is to enter into the wonderful freedom of nature which the “Sons of God”, i.e. the Angels, now share (Rom. 8:19).
20:37,38 God is the God of Abraham here and now, even though Abraham is dead and unconscious. Because the dead are unconscious, because our memories of them fade and distort, we tend to think subconsciously that this is how God too sees the dead believers. But "all live to him", the souls under the altar cry out to Him for vengeance; in other words, His constant, detailed awareness of their characters provokes Him to act in world affairs even now (Rev. 6:9; 20:4). The Heavenly Jerusalem with which we are associated in Christ is composed of "the spirits (characters) of just men made perfect" (Heb. 12:23). As we strive to develop a spiritual character now, our spirit becomes associated with those pleasing characters (" spirits”) who reached a level of spiritual completion (" perfection"). 


