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Showing 1976 to 2000 of 2332 results

1976. Threat of Starvation

Exodus 16:1-36

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

A month later in the Desert of Sin the Israelites’ circumstances are so bleak that they voice their desire to return to Egypt, representing their previous estate in rosy colors complete with pots of meat and all the food they want. Their grumbling against Moses and Aaron prompts a response from the Lord; the Israelites will ...

1977. Preparing the Way to the Land

Exodus 23:20-33

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... into the land all at once suggests that their numbers were not in the millions. The borders indicated in verse 31 present a western “front” at the Mediterranean Sea and across Sinai to the southwest, and an eastern boundary out to the desert in the Transjordan and extending northeast to the Euphrates River. This interpretation is contingent on understanding the “Sea of Reeds” as the same body of water that the Israelites crossed as they exited Egypt, which is not necessarily consistently the case in ...

1978. Remembering Not to Forget All God Has Done

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... all that he has commanded them. Forgetting the Lord and disobeying his commandments seem to be tied together in practice (8:10–14), for both lead to disaster. The gifts must not replace the Giver, for often widespread prosperity leads to gross ingratitude. The desert experience (8:15–16) was most unpleasant when Israel encountered venomous snakes (Num. 21:4–9) and lack of water (Num. 20:1–13). But even there God provided food (Exod. 17:1–7) and water (Num. 20:13). Nevertheless, God “confirms his ...

1979. Moses’ Final Blessing

Deuteronomy 33:1-29

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... (33:13–17), are promised the best gifts from the land and great military success. The tribes of Leah’s sons Zebulun and Issachar (33:18–19) are given commercial success in the future, whether on the seas or on the sands (of the beaches or deserts?). The tribes of Bilhah’s sons, Dan and Naphtali (33:22–23), are promised northern territories: Dan at the foot of Mount Hermon in the city of Dan, and Naphtali, the northern territory extending down to the Sea of Chinnereth (Sea of Galilee) on the west ...

1980. The Lord Commands Joshua

Joshua 1:1-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... Moab and cross the Jordan into Canaan (1:2) and a promise that God will give them all the land within the prescribed boundary on which they have set foot, just as he promised to Moses (1:3–4). That boundary is further specified to be between the desert in the south and Lebanon in the north, and between the Euphrates River in the east and the Mediterranean Sea in the west. Note, however, that the mention of “the Hittite country” in 1:4 is not a reference to the ancient Hittite Empire centered in modern ...

1981. Allotment for Judah

Joshua 15:1-63

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... villages in the Negev in the south (15:21–32), thirty-nine in the western foothills plus three Philistine cities that were, strictly speaking, located on the coastal plains (15:33–47), thirty-eight towns in the hill country (15:48–60), and six in the desert area along the west coast of the Dead Sea (15:61–62). Note that concerning the towns in the Negev, even though 15:32 counts twenty-nine towns, the list in 15:21–32 actually contains thirty-six names, thus presenting a difference of seven. This ...

1982. Eli and Samuel

1 Sam 1:1-28

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... for verses 3–8 tell how she often accompanies her husband to the house of God. The yearly festival referred to in verse 3 might be the Feast of Tabernacles, celebrated at the end of the summer to commemorate God’s provision for Israel in the Sinai desert after the exodus (Lev. 23:43) and to give thanks for the summer harvest. Though deeply discouraged, Hannah takes her problem to the Lord and to the high priest Eli at the tabernacle, which at that time was located at Shiloh, about twenty miles north of ...

1983. Israel without Weapons

1 Samuel 13:16-22

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... pay the Philistines to have their farming tools sharpened, but in time of war no plowshares were beaten into swords. Only Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear; the rest of the troops used slingshots, bows and arrows, or even ox-goads. No wonder many of Saul’s men deserted!

1984. David, Nabal, Abigail

1 Samuel 25:1-44

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... to be given meat and bread in exchange for his labors. Normally this was a time of feasting for all the family and workers. When Nabal receives David’s request from the ten men he has sent, he refuses to give him anything, calling David a nobody, a deserter. News of Nabal’s insulting remarks spurs David to action. If Nabal will not pay willingly, David will take his pay by force and kill Nabal’s family in the process. Bent on revenge, David sets out with four hundred men. Nabal has an intelligent and ...

1985. David Again Spares Saul's Life

1 Samuel 26:1-25

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

David again refuses to kill Saul (26:1–12). As in 24:2, Saul takes three thousand (or three “companies” of) men to track David down in the Desert of Ziph, where he narrowly escaped from Saul earlier (23:24–28). David’s scouts tell him where Saul and his army are camping for the night, and David himself comes close enough to see where Saul and Abner are lying down. With characteristic boldness, David decides to pay a ...

1986. Elijah Flees to Horeb

1 Kings 19:1-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... conflict to an internal struggle, where he has become like the widow of Sidon and needs to be revived like the widow’s son in chapter 17. Some intriguing parallels begin here (and continue throughout the rest of the chapter) with the desert narratives and the career of Moses in Exodus and Numbers, with a constellation of shared images and words: forty days, the mountain of Horeb, visions, provisions of food by God, and a successor—suggesting that even great leaders need periodic renewal. Once more ...

1987. God’s Chosen People Among the Nations

1 Chronicles 1:1-54

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... mainly on the Abrahamic ancestors and the Davidic reign, but also including the postexilic community in the genealogy of 1 Chronicles 9. The Chronicler simply skipped certain periods considered very important by other biblical writers, such as the time of the desert wanderings and the era of the judges. Given such an approach, one should also not expect to find accurate genealogical information of a historical kind here. (The heading of the NIV before 1 Chron. 1:1, namely, “Historical Records,” might ...

1988. Supporting David’s Rule

1 Chron 12:1-40

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... linked to Saul’s own tribe of Benjamin and his hometown, Gibeah. Others who support David are not only from the expected southern tribe of Judah but also from the northern tribes of Gad and Manasseh. Locations listed here, Ziklag (1 Sam. 27:1–6) and his stronghold in the desert (see Adullam in 1 Sam. 22:1–5, En Gedi in 1 Sam. 23:29, unnamed ones in 1 Sam. 24:22; 2 Sam. 5:17), are typical of David’s experience while on the run from Saul and prior to his settlement in Hebron as his capital. This list ...

1989. Dedicating the Temple – Yahweh’s Response to Solomon

2 Chron 7:1-22

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... of his role together with Solomon in the creation of the temple. Hamath lay in the most northern region of Syria, with Lebo Hamath (entrance to Hamath) referring to its southern boundary. The Wadi of Egypt refers to the boundary river that lay between the Negev Desert, which began in southern Judah, and the Sinai region. For these two locations as indicative of the land of Israel see Numbers 13:21; 34:5–8; Joshua 13:5; 15:4, 47. The nation is united around both temple and monarch. Second Chronicles 7:11 ...

1990. The Israelites Confess their Sins

Nehemiah 9:1-37

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... The prayer emphasizes God’s grace in choosing Abraham, in making Israel his covenant people. God continues to shower on them his love and mercy through all their history: in miraculously redeeming them from bondage in Egypt, in leading them through the desert and providing their needs, and in giving them his revelation through Moses. The prayer has a penitential emphasis; the people recognize that their nation has constantly failed (9:16–17, 26–30), that God has been just in punishing them, and that ...

1991. Eliphaz

Job 4:1–5:27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... can only verify for Eliphaz the veracity of his theology. Eliphaz articulates his insight lushly, with figurative imagery drawn from agriculture (4:8–9) and the animal kingdom (4:10–11). Fields planted with evil produce evil, and they are scorched by hot desert winds—“the breath of God.” Lions are commonly a metaphor for the wicked (Prov. 28:15; Ps. 17:12; 35:17). The wicked are lions with broken teeth, without food, and with cubs vulnerably scattered. In short, the impious do not thrive, they ...

1992. Psalm 11

Psalm 11:1-7

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

If David flees for his life, seeking protection from earthly things rather than from God, he will be deserting the foundational truths of his life (11:1–3). David knows that God, who is firmly fixed on his heavenly throne, understands the thoughts of the righteous and the wicked and executes a very different judgment on the two groups (11:4–7). The two judgments anticipated in verses 6 ...

1993. Psalm 23

Psalm 23:1-6

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

God brings comfort to the terrified psalmist, who, like the speaker in chapter 22, is on the edge of death (23:4). The speaker in chapter 22 anguishes over the horrific acts inflicted on him and over God’s apparent desertion in the time of his greatest need. In stark contrast, in chapter 23, the psalmist joyfully and fully drinks in God’s comfort (23:2–3). Whereas in Psalm 22, the speaker maintains confidence in the Lord despite not being delivered from death by him, in Psalm 23 the author ...

1994. Psalm 28

Psalm 28:1-9

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... in recent psalms. Yet his thoughts here parallel those in Psalm 27: a desire for God to hear his cry for mercy (27:7; 28:2), a plea to God not to treat him as he treats the wicked (27:12; 28:3), and an appeal to God not to desert him (27:9; 28:1). David fears God’s silence. He needs God’s positive response for help; otherwise he would be like those who have died (28:1–2). Likewise, he fears experiencing God’s negative response of judgment—like that deserved by God’s enemies. They need God ...

1995. Psalm 30

Psalm 30:1-12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

God delivers David from a near-death encounter with his enemies (30:1–3); as a result, David praises God (30:4–5). God then establishes David, making his life secure (30:6–7a). But God seemingly deserts David; so, in anguish, David cries out to him for mercy, for life, and for the ability to praise his faithfulness (30:7b–10). God once more turns David’s mourning into rejoicing (30:11–12). Psalm 30 is the finale of a four-act play that reveals how David’ ...

1996. Psalm 37

Psalm 37:1-40

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 36). In sharp contrast, David highlights God’s abundant provision for all who turn to him (37:6, 19). God meets their present needs and deepest desires, offering the righteous a wonderful future (37:4, 18, 37). He is their helper, upholder, protector, and deliverer who never deserts them (37:23–25, 39–40). They are therefore exhorted to enjoy him, follow him, and rely on him always (37:3–5). Thus God’s people should never be troubled by or envious of the success of the ungodly (37:7–8). God’s ...

1997. Psalm 60

Psalm 60:1-12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 14:7; 1 Chron. 18:12; 2 Chron. 25:11), each time, as here, linked to a battle in which David’s army slaughters ten thousand or more people. Although the battle is a success, David writes as though he were under attack, perplexed that God might have deserted Israel. Yet, even if that were true (60:1–3, 10), David announces that he has not abandoned God (60:11–12). In the first (60:1–5) and last (60:10–12) sections, David reveals his fears that God is fighting against Israel. In the first section ...

1998. Babylon

Isaiah 13:1--14:23

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... Isaiah portrays the devastation caused by her enemies. The enemies are the Medes (13:17), who together with the Persians conquered Babylon under the leadership of Cyrus the Persian (539 BC). They will have no pity. Her doom is that of a deserted city. The desolation of Babylon is graphically portrayed by its becoming the haunt of wild animals, like Sodom and Gomorrah. This prophecy was not completely fulfilled when Cyrus entered Babylon; the transfer of power was rather quiet. It seems that the prophet ...

1999. Damascus and Israel

Isaiah 17:1-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... oracle against Damascus is addressed to the Aramean nation, against which the prophet has already spoken (chaps. 7–8). He portrays the city of Damascus in ruins and utter desolation (17:1–3). The flourishing city traces its ancestry back to a desert oasis. It developed from a caravansary to a major commercial center. The judgment reverses the progress of Damascus; it will again be a place where flocks are pastured (17:2). Since Ephraim and Aram have consolidated their strength, both nations will come ...

2000. Judgment and Hope

Isaiah 31:1-9, Isaiah 32:1-8, Isaiah 32:9-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... by righteousness and justice (32:1–8). The king, leaders, and people will be concerned with the pursuit of wisdom from above. The wise man is blessed in that he represents God’s blessedness; he is “a shelter,” “a refuge,” “streams of water in the desert,” and shade (32:2). No longer will God’s people be characterized by deafness and blindness, but all will hear, see, and act in accordance with the word of God. They will hasten to do his will on the earth in contrast to the past, when ...

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