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Showing 1901 to 1925 of 2332 results

1901. Jesus Walks on the Water

John 6:16-24

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... . 43:25; 45:18; 51:12; 52:6) who existed before Abraham (cf. 8:58) and whose power was displayed over the waters (e.g., Ps. 77:16–20) as well as the dry land. In Psalm 107, after reflecting on God’s care for his people “in the trackless desert” and how he satisfied their hunger and thirst and set them free (107:4–22), the psalmist writes: Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep. For he spoke and ...

1902. The Last Day of the Feast

John 7:45--8:11, John 8:12-30

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea”; cf. also Ezek. 47:1–12, and the NT use of the theme in Rev. 22:1–2). A metaphorical identification of Jesus either with the life-giving rock in the Sinai desert (cf. 1 Cor. 10:4) or with the city of Jerusalem itself and its temple, must be presupposed. On the assumption that the believer is the source of the water, suggestions include Prov. 18:4; Isa. 58:11; and especially (in the Apocrypha) Sir. 24:28–31: ‘Now I ...

1903. Jesus and Those Who “Believed”

John 8:31-41, John 8:42-47, John 8:48-59

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... The statement superficially recalls Jesus’ own words in 6:49 (“Your forefathers … died,” cf. 6:58), but its function in the narrative is different. In chap. 6, Jesus’ implication was that God had judged the generation that long ago died in the desert (cf. 1 Cor. 10:5), while those who ate the Bread of life Jesus now offered would live forever. Those who died, he told his opponents, were “your forefathers.” Here, however, Jesus’ point is that his opponents are not Abraham’s true descendants ...

1904. The Unbelief of the Jews

John 10:22-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... to be the beginning of Jesus’ “final assault” on Jerusalem and the unbelieving world. The assault takes place in two stages: the journey in chapter 11 from Bethany east of the Jordan to Bethany near Jerusalem, and the journey in chapter 12 from Ephraim near the desert (another place of respite, 11:54) to Bethany near Jerusalem a second time (12:1–11) and from there to Jerusalem itself. From 12:12 to the end of chapter 20, Jesus never leaves Jerusalem again, and all that happens there centers on his ...

1905. The Death of Lazarus

John 11:1-16, John 11:17-37

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

1906. The Plot to Kill Jesus

John 11:45-57

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... (8:44) The Sanhedrin “verdict” simply made final a murderous intent that had been present all along. For one last time the familiar pattern of flight from danger to a place of relative seclusion repeats itself. This time the retreat is a village called Ephraim near the desert (v. 54), a place, in all likelihood, where Jesus had stayed before (like the Bethany east of the Jordan) and where he knew he could find refuge. 11:55-57 For the third time in John’s Gospel, the Passover is near (v. 55; cf. 2:13 ...

1907. Jesus Predicts His Death

John 12:20-36

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... echoes more closely Jesus’ words in 3:14 (“the Son of Man must be lifted up”) than his words in the present context (neither the title Son of Man nor the verb must are found in v. 32). The analogy of the snake on a pole in the desert made it clear that 3:14 referred to the crucifixion, and the crowd’s use of the language of that verse (especially right after the parenthetical comment of v. 33) demonstrates that this is their understanding here as well. How they came to this conclusion on the basis ...

1908. Abram and Lot Separate

Genesis 13:1-18

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... buffet the Canaanite hills, this region offers pleasant relief. At the north side of the Dead Sea, springs, channeled for irrigation, permit the growing of lush crops year-round. Therefore, farming in that region approximates the kind of farming done in Egypt, a desert made fertile by the Nile. Zoar was a small village, probably at the southern end of the Jordan Plain on the eastern side (19:22–23). This plain was very fertile before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot parted company from Abram ...

1909. The Treaty of Beersheba

Genesis 21:22-34

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... well of “seven”; the names of Abraham and Abimelech occur seven times (Sarna, Genesis, p. 148). 21:22 Abimelech, the local Philistine chieftain, noticed Abraham’s increasing prosperity. To protect his own family, flocks, and access to the wells of the desert, and also to participate in Abraham’s blessing, he desired to establish peaceful relations with Abraham. Abraham is pictured as a sheik or local king on par with Abimelech. At that time ties this account into the Abrahamic cycle. Abimelech and ...

1910. Ishmael’s Sons

Genesis 25:12-18

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... (Jer. 2:10). Dumah was north of Tema and served as the main religious center of the Qedarites (1 Chron. 1:30; Isa. 21:11). The name Massa appears in 1 Chron. 1:30, and possibly in Prov. 30:1; 31:1. Tema is an important oasis in the Arabian desert (Job 6:19; Isa. 21:14; Jer. 25:23–24). Naphish lived in the northern Transjordan (1 Chron. 5:19). Kedemah may be another way of referring to the “people of the East” (E. Knauf, “Ishmaelites,” ABD 3:513–20, esp. pp. 514–15). 25:16 Ishmael’s sons ...

1911. The Appointment of Leaders

Deuteronomy 1:9-18

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... and the perspective of the laws is the promised land, even though the Pentateuch ends just a day’s march short of it (Deut. 34). The geographical extent of the land (v. 7) includes the whole of Palestine from the edges of the Sinai desert (the Negev), from Mediterranean coast to Jordan valley (the Arabah), and as far as Syria in the North (to the Euphrates)—a larger area, in fact, than Israel ever historically controlled, even under Solomon. Verse 8, however, expresses Israel’s theology of land in ...

1912. Love the Lord Your God

Deuteronomy 6:1-25

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... 6:16. Where Israel, God’s first-born son (Exod. 4:22), had so often distrusted and disobeyed, in spite of spectacular demonstrations of God’s benevolence, the Son of God would trust and obey. 6:17–19 The positive antidote to such forgetfulness, desertion, or doubting of God is the determined positive effort to keep God’s commands. Thus the negative do nots of the previous verses are replaced by the positive Do . . . of verse 18. There is no thought here of Israel earning possession of the land ...

1913. Do Not Forget the Lord

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... that time, he discerns a purpose in having a generation wander about in the wilderness. God turned it into a learning experience that must never be forgotten. This verse has a strong sense of that purpose. God had led the people all the way in the desert, in order to humble . . . to test . . . to know. It was not just a matter of salvaging something positive from the wreckage of a failure. Like other events in biblical history (e.g., the story of Joseph, the rise of the monarchy, and ultimately, of course ...

1914. Love and Obey the Lord

Deuteronomy 11:1-32

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... ofwalking overor around aplot ofterritory could be a symbolic declaration of legal ownership. The extent of the land within the stated limits was somewhat idealistic. Not until the time of the Solomonic empire (and for only a short time afterwards) did the Israelites have control over territory bounded by the desert (South), Lebanon (North), the Euphrates (East), and the Mediterranean (West).

1915. Marriage Violations

Deuteronomy 22:13-30

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... be married (vv. 23, 25) is tantamount to adultery. But the circumstances in which it occurs affect the assumptions the court might make regarding intention and thus also affect its allocation of guilt and punishment. The contrast between a busy town and the deserted countryside makes an obvious difference to what could be assumed regarding the woman’s consent. The difference is also expressed in the vocabulary. In verse 23, and he sleeps with her, need not imply force or violence (and thus allows for the ...

1916. Miscellaneous Laws

Deut 23:15–25:19

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... , or out of bounds) in relation to the first husband. Jesus draws out the full implication in his explicit teaching (Matt. 5:31f.). For other views, see additional note. Three prophets use the divorce law in their message. Jeremiah asks whether Israel, having deserted Yahweh for other lovers, could simply be taken back by Yahweh. The answer is that what may have been impossible under the law was possible by God’s grace, given genuine repentance (Jer. 3:1–5; 4:1f.). Isaiah looks for the certificate ...

1917. Joshua to Succeed Moses

Deuteronomy 31:1-8

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... , is “incarnational”—it is earthed in human leaders. And thus verse 3 abruptly repeats exactly the words used about God to describe Joshua also: “he is the one about to cross over ahead of you.” The people can be free from anxiety. God will neither desert them after the death of Moses nor leave them without a human leader. Joshua, no doubt awed by the prospect of taking over from Moses, need have no anxiety, for the same original promises made to Moses himself—the presence of God with him to ...

1918. Adonijah Sets Himself Up as King

1 Kings 1:1-27

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... will feel compelled to act if he thinks matters have progressed further than they have? Such a strategy would also help to explain why Joab the commander of the army (v. 19) has by v. 25 become the commanders of the army in the plural. Large scale desertion requires even more urgent attention by the king than a single defection. 1:18 You . . . do not know about it: There is an interesting play on this idea of “knowing” in 1 Kgs. 1 that is obscured in the NIV’s choice of “had no intimate relations ...

1919. A Prophecy Against Babylon

Isaiah 13:1--14:23

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... position is also denied him. Indeed, he joins those who die in battle and receive no proper burial at all. For what reason? First, the poem offers yet more clarification of 13:2–13. It was the Babylonian king who shook the earth and made the world a desert, the process we saw in the vision in 13:2–13. So Yahweh’s agent there was the king of Babylon, bringing downfall to the Assyrians. It is he who now receives his own downfall. The pattern follows that of chapter 10, with Assyria replacing Judah and ...

1920. Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem

Isaiah 36:1-22

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... his country, but still increased the tribute. . . . Hezekiah himself, whom the terror-inspiring splendor of my lordship had overwhelmed and whose irregular and elite troops that he had brought into Jerusalem, his royal residence, in order to strengthen it, had deserted him, did send me later to Nineveh, my lordly city, together with thirty talents of gold, 800 talents of silver, precious stones . . . and all kinds of valuable treasures. In broad agreement with this account, 2 Kings 18:13–16 relates ...

1921. Praise and Prayer

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... of the parents if their children go wrong. So the prophet asks, Why, O LORD, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so that we do not revere you? (v. 17a). “Wander” (ta‘ah) was originally a verb to describe wandering about in the desert, when you do not know where to go (Gen. 21:14; 37:15) or have lost the path (Ps. 107:4). It is something that sheep are especially inclined to do (Ps. 119:176). “Wander” is then a verb that can describe someone’s moral life after leaving the ...

1922. The Glory Departs

Ezekiel 8:1-18, Ezekiel 9:1-11, Ezekiel 10:1-22, Ezekiel 11:1-15, Ezekiel 11:16-25

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... , I will not listen to them (v. 18). First, the Spirit takes Ezekiel to the entrance to the north gate of the inner court (v. 3). The prophet comes from the north, following the course of the Assyrian and Babylonian invaders. Indeed, because the desert wastes to Israel’s east guarded against approaches from that direction, Jerusalem’s conquerors nearly always came out of the north (see 38:15). At the gateway, the spirit shows Ezekiel the idol that provokes to jealousy (vv. 3–5). At various times in ...

1923. Signs, Sayings, and Oracles of Judgment

Ezekiel 12:1-28, Ezekiel 13:1-23, Ezekiel 14:1-11, Ezekiel 14:12-23

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... we have seen again and again, however, the end of this judgment is the revelation of God’s character and the reestablishment of a right relationship; only through harsh judgment can the Lord “recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols” (v. 5). Now, the Lord commands Ezekiel to address “the house of Israel” (v. 6): not the elders alone, but the entire community. His address begins as a call to repentance: “Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all ...

1924. Miscellaneous Oracles of Judgment

Ezekiel 21:1-32, Ezekiel 22:1-31

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... to repair it for the house of Israel” (13:5). The Lord finds no one who will stand—and so the city is doomed to fall. Additional Notes 20:46 The forest of the southland. The NRSV has a place name here, Negeb, referring to the scrub and desert region of southern Judah. However, there are two other Heb. words meaning “south” in this verse, the first of which is also a place name: Teman, a city of Edom. It is common in Heb. to use prominent places to indicate direction. So yam (meaning “sea”) can ...

1925. Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness

Matthew 4:1-11

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... nights. Matthew signals that he wants readers to compare Jesus’ temptation to Israel’s testing in the wilderness. In addition to the use of the language of “wilderness,” the reference to “forty days and forty nights” evokes Israel’s forty years in the desert (Num. 14:33–34). Added to this are the three citations from Deuteronomy 6 and 8, which rehearse Israel’s wilderness wanderings. 4:3, 6 Son of God. This is the first occasion in Matthew where Jesus is explicitly called “Son of God ...

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