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Scofield Reference Notes (1917 Edition) A Panoramic View of the Bible
(See also THE PENTATEUCH, Book Introduction, and Notes associated
with Genesis 1:1)
The Bible, incomparably the most widely circulated of books, at once pro-
vokes and baffles study. Even the non-believer in its authority rightly
feels that it is unintelligent to remain in almost total ignorance of the
most famous and ancient of books. And yet most, even of sincere believers,
soon retire from any serious effort to master the content of the sacred
writings. The reason is not far to seek. It is found in the fact that no
particular portion of Scripture is to be intelligently comprehended apart
from some conception of its place in the whole. For the Bible story and
message is like a picture wrought out in mosaics: each book, chapter, verse,
and even word forms a necessary part, and has its own appointed place. It
is, therefore, indispensable to any interesting and fruitful study of the
Bible that a general knowledge of it be gained.
First. The Bible is one book. Seven great marks attest this unity. (1)
From Genesis the Bible bears witness to \\one God\\. Wherever he speaks or
acts he is consistent with himself, and with the total revelation
concerning him. (2) The Bible forms one \\continuous story\\--the story of
humanity in relation to God. (3) The Bible hazards the most unlikely
\\predictions\\ concerning the future, and, when the centuries have brought
round the appointed time, records their fulfilment. (4) The Bible is a
\\progressive\\ unfolding of truth. Nothing is told all at once, and once
for all. The law is, "first the blade, then the ear, after that the full
corn." Without the possibility of collusion, often with centuries between,
one writer of Scripture takes up an earlier revelation, adds to it, lays
down the pen, and in due time another man moved by the Holy Spirit, and
another, and another, add new details till the whole is complete. (5) From
beginning to end the Bible testifies to \\one redemption\\. (6) From
beginning to end the Bible has \\one great theme\\--the person and work of
the Christ. (7) And, finally, these writers, some forty-four in number,
writing through twenty centuries, have produced a \\perfect harmony\\ of
doctrine in progressive unfolding. This is, to every candid mind, the
unanswerable proof of the divine inspiration of the Bible.
Second. \\The Bible is a book of books.\\ Sixty-six books make up the
one Book. Considered with reference to the unity of the one book the
separate books may be regarded as chapters. But that is but one side of
the truth, for each of the sixty-six books is complete in itself, and has
its own theme and analysis. In the present edition of the Bible these are
fully shown in the introductions and divisions. It is therefore of the
utmost moment that the books be studied in the light of their distinctive
themes. Genesis, for instance, is the book of beginnings--the seed-plot of
the whole Bible. Matthew is the book of the King, & etc.
Third. \\The books of the Bible fall into groups.\\ Speaking broadly
there are five great divisions in the Scriptures, and these may be con-
veniently fixed in the memory by five key-words, Christ being the one theme
(Lu 24.25-27).
PREPARATION MANIFESTATION PROPAGATION
The OT The Gospels The Acts
EXPLANATION CONSUMMATION
The Epistles The Apocalypse
In other words, the Old Testament is the \\preparation\\ for Christ; in
the Gospels he is \\manifested\\ to the world; in the Acts he is preached
and his Gospel is \\propagated\\ in the world; in the Epistles his Gospel
is \\explained\\; and in the Revelation all the purposes of God in and
through Christ are \\consummated.\\ And these groups of books in turn fall
into groups. This is especially true of the Old Testament, which is in
four well defined groups. Over these may be written as memory aids:
REDEMPTION ORGANIZATION POETRY SERMONS
Genesis Joshua Job Isaiah Jonah
Exodus Judges Psalms Jeremiah Micah
Leviticus Ruth Proverbs Ezekiel Nahum
Numbers I,II Samuel Ecclesiastes Daniel Habakkuk
Deuteronomy I,II Kings Song of Solomon Hosea Zephaniah
I,II Chronicles Lamentations Joel Haggai
Ezra Amos Zechariah
Nehemiah Obadiah Malachi
Esther
Again care should be taken not to overlook, in these general groupings,
the distinctive messages of the several books composing them. Thus, while
\\redemption\\ is the \\general\\ theme of the Pentateuch, telling as it
does the story of the redemption of Israel out of bondage and into "a good
land and large," each of the five books has its own distinctive part in the
whole. Genesis is the book of beginnings, and explains the \\origin\\ of
Israel. Exodus tells the story of the \\deliverance\\ of Israel; Leviticus
of the \\worship\\ of Israel as delivered people; Numbers the wanderings
and failures of the delivered people, and Deuteronomy warns and instructs
that people in view of their approaching entrance upon their inheritance.
The Poetical books record the spiritual experiences of the redeemed
people in the varied scenes and events through which the providence of God
led them. The prophets were inspired preachers, and the prophetical books
consist of sermons with brief connecting and explanatory passages. Two
prophetical books, Ezekiel and Daniel, have a different character and are
apocalyptic, largely.
Fourth. \\The Bible tells the Human Story.\\ Beginning, logically, with
the creation of the earth and man, the story of the race sprung from the
first human pair continues through the first eleven chapters of Genesis.
With the twelfth chapter begins the history of Abraham and of the nation of
which Abraham was the ancestor. It is that nation, Israel, with which the
Bible narrative is thereafter chiefly concerned from the eleventh chapter
of Genesis to the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. The Gentiles
are mentioned, but only in connection with Israel. But it is made
increasingly clear that Israel so fills the scene only because entrusted
with the accomplishment of great world-wide purposes (Deut 7.7).
The appointed mission of Israel was, (1) to be a witness to the unity of
God in the midst of idolatry (Deut 6.5 Is 43.10); (2) to illustrate to the
nations the greater blessedness of serving the one true God (Deut.
33.26-29 1Ch 17.20,21 Ps 102.15); (3) to receive and preserve the Divine
revelation (Ro 3.1,2); and (4) to produce the Messiah, earth's Saviour and
Lord (Ro 9.4). The prophets foretell a glorious future for Israel under the
reign of Christ.
The biblical story of Israel, past, present, and future, falls into seven
distinct periods: (1) From the call of Abram (Gen 12) to the Exodus (Ex.
1-20); (2) From the Exodus to the death of Joshua (Ex 21 to Josh 24); (3)
from the death of Joshua to the establishment of the Hebrew monarchy under
Saul; (4) the period of the kings from Saul to the Captivities; (5) the
period of the Captivities; (6) the restored commonwealth from the end of
the Babylonian captivity of Judah, to the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D.
70; (7) the present dispersion.
The Gospels record the appearance in human history and within the Hebrew
nation of the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, and tell the wonderful story
of his manifestation to Israel, his rejection by that people, his
crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.
The Acts of the Apostles record the descent of the Holy Spirit, and the
beginning of a new thing in human history, the Church. The division of the
race now becomes threefold--the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God.
Just as Israel is in the foreground from the call of Abram to the
resurrection of Christ, so now the Church fills the scene from the second
chapter of the Acts to the fourth chapter of the Revelation. The remaining
chapters of that book complete the story of humanity and the final triumph
of Christ.
Fifth. \\The Central Theme of the Bible is Christ.\\ It is this mani-
festation of Jesus Christ, his Person as "God manifest in the flesh" (1Ti
3.16), his sacrificial death, and his resurrection, which constitute the
Gospel. Unto this all preceding Scripture leads, from this all following
Scripture proceeds. The Gospel is preached in the Acts and explained in
the Epistles. Christ, Son of God, Son of man, Son of Abraham, Son of
David, thus binds the many books into one Book. Seed of the woman (Ge
3.15) he is the ultimate destroyer of Satan and his works; Seed of Abraham
he is the world blesser; Seed of David he is Israel's King. "Desire of all
Nations." Exalted to the right hand of God he is "head over all to the
Church, which is his body," while to Israel and the nations the promise of
his return forms the one and only rational expectation that humanity will
yet fulfil itself. Meanwhile the Church looks momentarily for the
fulfilment of his special promise: "I will come again and receive you unto
myself" (Jno 14.1-3). To him the Holy Spirit throughout this Gospel age
bears testimony. The last book of all, the Consummation book, is "The
Revelation of Jesus Christ" (Re 1.1).
Scofield Reference Notes (THE PENTATEUCH)
The five books ascribed to Moses have a peculiar place in the structure of
the Bible, and an order which is undeniably the order of the experience of
the people of God in all ages. Genesis is the book of origins--of the
beginning of life, and of ruin through sin. Its first word, "In the
beginning God," is in striking contrast with the end, "In a coffin in
Egypt." Exodus is the book of redemption, the first need of a ruined
race. Leviticus is the book of worship and communion, the proper exercise
of the redeemed. Numbers speaks of the experiences of a pilgrim people,
the redeemed passing through a hostile scene to a promised inheritance.
Deuteronomy, retrospective and prospective, is a book of instruction for
the redeemed about to enter that inheritance.
That Babylonian and Assyrian monuments contain records bearing a
grotesque resemblance to the majestic account of the creation and of the
Flood is true, as also that these antedate Moses. But this confirms rather
than invalidates inspiration of the Mosaic account. Some tradition of
creation and the Flood would inevitably be handed down in the ancient
cradle of the race. Such a tradition, following the order of all
tradition, would take on grotesque and mythological features, and these
abound in the Babylonian records. Of necessity, therefore, the first task
of inspiration would be to supplant the often absurd and childish
traditions with a revelation of the true history, and such a history we
find in words of matchless grandeur, and in a order which, rightly
understood, is absolutely scientific.
In the Pentateuch, therefore, we have a true and logical introduction to
the entire Bible; and, in type, an epitome of the divine revelation.
Scofield Reference Notes The First Book of Moses called GENESIS
\\GENESIS\\ is the book of \\beginnings\\. It records not only the
beginning of the heavens and the earth, and of plant, animal, and
human life, but also of all human institutions and relationships.
Typically, it speaks of the new birth, the new creation, where all
was chaos and ruin. With Genesis begins also that progressive
self-revelation of God which culminates in Christ. The three
primary names of Deity, Elohim, Jehovah, and Adonai, and the five
most important of the compound names, occur in Genesis; and that in
an ordered progression which could not be changed without
confusion. The problem of \\sin\\ as affecting man's condition in the
earth and his relation to God, and the divine solution of that
problem are here in essence. Of the eight \\great covenants\\ which
condition human life and the divine redemption, four, the \\Edenic\\,
\\Adamic, Noahic, and Abrahamic Covenants\\ are in this book; and these
are the fundamental covenants to which the other four, the \\Mosaic\\,
\\Palestinian, Davidic, and New Covenants\\, are related chiefly as
adding detail or development. Genesis enters into the very
structure of the New Testament, in which it is quoted above sixty
times in seventeen books. In a profound sense, therefore, the
roots of all subsequent revelation are planted deep in Genesis, and
whoever would truly comprehend that revelation must begin here.
The inspiration of Genesis and it character as a divine revelation
are authenticated by the testimony of Christ (Mt. 19. 4-6; 24.
37-39; MK 10. 4-9; LK. 11. 49-51; 17. 26-29, 32; John 1. 5; 7.
21-23; 8. 44,56). Genesis is in five chief divisions: I. Creation
(1. 1-2.25) II. The fall and redemption (3. 1-4, 7). III. The
Diverse Seeds, Cain and Seth, to the Flood (4.8-7.24). IV. The
Flood to Babel (8.1-11.9). V. From the call of Abram to the death
of Joseph (11.10-50.26). The events recorded in Genesis cover a
period of 2,315 years (Ussher).
[1] {God}
Elohim (sometimes El or Elah), English form "God," the first of the three
primary names of Deity, is a uni-plural noun formed from El=strength, or
the strong one, and Alah, to swear, to bind oneself by an oath, so
implying faithfulness. This uni-plurality implied in the name is
directly asserted in Ge 1.26 (plurality), 27 (unity); see also Gen 3.22.
The Trinity is latent in \\Elohim\\. As meaning primarily the Strong
One it is fitly used in the first chapter of Genesis. Used in the OT
about 2500 times. See also Gen 2.4, note; 2.7; 14.18, note; 15.2, note;
17.1, note; 21.33, note; 1Sa 1.3, note.
[2] {created}
But three \\creative\\ acts of God are recorded in this chapter: (1)
heavens and the earth, v.1; (2) animal life, v.21; and (3) human life,
vs. 26,27. The first creative act refers to the dateless past, and gives
scope for all the geologic ages. [[Typist's note: This is the "GAP"
theory.]]
[3] {without form and void}
# Jer 4:23-27 Isa 24:1 45:18
clearly indicate that the earth had undergone a cataclysmic change as
the result of divine judgment. The face of the earth bears
everywhere the marks of such a catastrophe. There are not wanting
imitations which connect it with a previous testing and fall of
angels.
See
# Eze 28:12-15 Isa 14:9-14
which certainly go beyond the kings of Tyre and Babylon.
[4] {Let there be light}
Neither here nor in verses 14-18 is an original \\creative\\ act implied.
A different word is used. The sense is, made to \\appear\\; made
\\visible\\. The sun and moon were \\created\\ "in the beginning." The
"light" of course came from the sun, but the vapour diffused the light.
Later the sun appeared in an unclouded sky.
[1] {day}
The word "day" is used in Scripture in three ways: (1) that part of the
solar day of twenty=four hours which is light
# Ge 1:5,14 Joh 9:4 11:9
(2) such a day, set apart for some distinctive purpose, as, "day of
atonement" (Le 23.27); "day of judgment"
# Mt 10:15
(3) a period of time, long or short, during which certain revealed
purposes of God are to be accomplished, as "day of the Lord."
[2] {evening}
The use of "evening" and "morning" may be held to limit "day" to the
solar day; but the frequent parabolic use of natural phenomena may
warrant the conclusion that each creative "day" was a period of time
marked off by a beginning and ending.
[3] {bring forth grass}
It is by no means necessary to suppose that the life-germ of seeds
perished in the catastrophic judgment which overthrew the primitive
order. With the restoration of dry land and light the earth would "bring
forth" as described. It was "animal" life which perished, the traces of
which remain as fossils. Relegate fossils to the primitive creation, and
no conflict of science with the Genesis cosmogony remains. [[Typist's
Note: THE GAP THEORY]]
[4] {greater light}
The "greater light" is a type of Christ, the "Sun of righteousness"
# Mal 4:2
He will take this character at His second advent. Morally the
world is now in the state between
# Ge 1:3-16
# Eph 6:12 Ac 26:18 1Pe 2:9
The sun is not seen, but there is light. Christ is that light
# Joh 1:4,5,9
but "shineth in darkness," comprehended only by faith. As
"Son of righteousness" He will dispel all darkness. Dispensationally the
Church is in place as the "lesser light," the moon, reflecting the light
of the unseen sun. The stars
# Ge 1:16
are individual believers who are "lights"
# Php 2:15,16
» See Note "Joh 1:5"
(A type is a divinely purposed illustration of some truth. It may be:
(1) a person
# Ro 5:14
(2) an event
# 1Co 10:11
(3) a thing
# Heb 10:20
(4) an institution
# Heb 9:11
(5) a ceremonial
# 1Co 5:7
Types occur most frequently in the Pentateuch, but are found, more
sparingly, elsewhere. The antitype, or fulfilment of the type, is
found, usually, in the New Testament.
[1] {every living creature}
The second clause, "every living creature," as distinguished from fishes
merely, is taken up again in verse 24, showing that in the second
creative act all animal life is included.
[2] {living creature}
"Creature," Heb. \\nephesh\\, trans. soul in 2.7 and usually. In itself
nephesh, or soul, implies self-conscious life, as distinguished from
plants, which have unconscious life. In the sense of self-conscious life
animals also have "soul." See verses
# Ge 1:26,27
» See Note "Ge 1:26"
[3] {make man in our image}
\\Man\\. Gen 1.26,27, gives the general, Gen 2.7, 21-23, the particular
account of the creation of man. The revealed facts are:
(1) Man was \\created\\ not \\evolved\\. This is (a) expressly
declared, and the declaration is confirmed by Christ
# Mt 19:14 Mr 10:6
(b) "an enormous gulf, a divergence practically infinite"
(Huxley) between the lowest man and the highest beast, confirms it;
(c) the highest beast has no trace of God-consciousness--the religious
nature; (d) science and discovery have done nothing to bridge that
"gulf."
(2) That man was made in the "image and likeness" of God. This
image is found chiefly in man's tri-unity, and in his moral nature.
Man is "spirit and soul and body"
# 1Th 5:23
"Spirit" is that part of man which "knows"
# 1Co 2:11
and which allies him to the spiritual creation and gives
him God-consciousness. "Soul" in itself implies self-consciousness
life, as distinguished from plants, which have unconscious life. In
that sense animals also have "soul"
# Ge 1:24
But the "soul" of man has a vaster content than "soul" as applied to
beast life. It is the seat of emotions, desires, affections
# Ps 42:1-6
The "heart" is, in Scripture usage, nearly synonymous with
"soul." Because the natural man is, characteristically, the soulual or
physical man, "soul" is often used as synonymous with the individual,
e.g.
# Ge 12:5
The body, separable from spirit and soul, and
susceptible to death, is nevertheless an integral part of man, as the
resurrection shows
# Joh 5:28,29 1Co 15:47-50 Re 20:11-13
It is the seat of the senses (the means by which the spirit and soul
have world-consciousness) and of the fallen Adamic nature.
# Ro 7:23,24
[4] DISPENSATION
A dispensation is a period of time during which man is tested in respect
of obedience to some \\specific\\ revelation of the will of God. Seven
such dispensations are distinguished in Scripture. See note [5].
[5] {And God blessed them}
The First Dispensation: Innocency. Man was created in innocency, placed
in a perfect environment, subjected to an absolutely simple test, and
warned of the consequence of disobedience. The woman fell through pride;
the man deliberately.
# 1Ti 2:14
God restored His sinning creatures, but the dispensation of innocency
ended in the judgment of the Expulsion
# Ge 3:24
See, for the other dispensations; Conscience
» See Note "Ge 3.23
Human Government
» See Note "Ge 8:20"
Promise
» See Note "Ge 12:1"
Law
» See Note "Ex 19:8"
Grace
» See Note "Joh 1:17"
Kingdom
» See Note "Eph 1:10"
[6]
The Edenic Covenant, the first of the eight great covenants of Scripture
which condition life and salvation, and about which all Scripture
crystallizes, has seven elements. The man and woman in Eden were
responsible:
(1) To replenish the earth with a new order--man; (2) to subdue the
earth to human uses; (3) to have dominion over the animal creation; (4)
to eat herbs and fruits; (5) to till and keep the garden; (6) to abstain
from eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; (7) the
penalty--death. See, for the other seven covenants:
ADAMIC
» See Note "Ge 3:14"
NOAHIC
» See Note "Ge 9:1"
ABRAHAMIC
» See Note "Ge 15:18"
MOSAIC
» See Note "Ex 19:25"
PALESTINIAN
» See Note "De 30:3"
DAVIDIC
» See Note "2Sa 7:16"
NEW
» See Note "Heb 8:8"
[1] {sanctified}
In the O.T. the same Hebrew word (qodesh) is translated sanctify,
consecrate, dedicate, and holy. It means, set apart for the service of
God. See refs. following "Sanctify," Ge 2.3.
[2] {Lord}
LORD (Heb. Jehovah)
(1) The primary meaning of the name LORD (Jehovah) is the "self-existent
One." Literally (as in Ex 3.14), "He that is who He is, therefore the
eternal I AM." But Havah, from which Jehovah, or Yahwe, is formed,
signifies also "to become," that is, to become known, thus pointing to a
continuous and increasing self-revelation. Combining these meanings of
Havah, we arrive at the meaning of the name Jehovah. He is "the self-
existent One who reveals Himself." The name is, in itself, an advance
upon the name "God" (El, Elah, Elohim), which suggests certain attributes
of Deity, as strength, etc., rather than His essential being.
(2) It is significant that the first appearance of the name Jehovah in
Scripture follows the creation of man. It was God (Elohim) who said,
"Let us make man in our image" (Ge 1.26); but when man, as in the second
chapter of Genesis, is to fill the scene and become dominant over
creation, it is the Lord God (Jehovah Elohim) who acts. This clearly
indicates a special relation of Deity, in His Jehovah character, to man,
and all Scripture emphasizes this.
(3) Jehovah is distinctly the redemption name of Deity. When sin entered
and redemption became necessary, it was Jehovah Elohim who sought the
sinning ones
# Ge 3:9-13
and clothed them with "coats of skins"
# Ge 3:21
a beautiful type of righteousness provided by the Lord God through
sacrifice
# Ro 3:21,22
The first distinct revelation of Himself by His name Jehovah was in
connection with the redemption of the covenant people out of Egypt
# Ex 3:13-17
As Redeemer, emphasis is laid upon those attributes of Jehovah which the
sin and salvation of man bring into exercise. These are: (a) His
holiness
# Le 11:44,45 19:1,2 20:26 Hab 1:12,13
(b) His hatred and judgment of sin
# De 32:35-42 Ge 6:5-7 Ps 11:4-6 66:18 Ex 34:6,7
(c) His love for and redemption of sinners, but always righteously
# Ge 3:21 8:20,21 Ex 12:12,13 Le 16:2,3 Isa 53:5,6,10
Salvation by Jehovah apart from sacrifice is unknown to Scripture.
(4) In his redemptive relation to man, Jehovah has seven compound names
which reveal Him as meeting every need of man from his lost state to the
end. These compound names are: (a) Jehovah-jireh, "the Lord will
provide"
# Ge 22:13,14
i.e., will provide a sacrifice; (b) Jehovah-rapha, "the Lord that
healeth"
# Ex 17:8-15
That this refers to physical healing the context shows, but the deeper
healing of soul malady is implied. (c) Jehovah-nissi, "the Lord our
banner" The name is interpreted by the context. The enemy was Amalek,
a type of the flesh, and the conflict that day stands for the conflict
of
# Ga 5:17
the war of the Spirit against the flesh. Victory was wholly due to
divine help. (d) Jehovah-Shalom, "the Lord our peace," or "the Lord
send peace"
# Jud 6:24
Almost the whole ministry of Jehovah finds expression and
illustration in that chapter. Jehovah hates and judges sin
# Ge 2:1-5
Jehovah loves and saves sinners
# Ge 2:7-18
but only through sacrifice
see also
# Ro 5:1 Eph 2:14 Col 1:20
(e) Jehovah-ra-ah, "the Lord my shepherd" (Psa 23.). In Ps. 22 Jehovah
makes peace by the blood of the cross; in Ps 23. Jehovah is shepherding
His own who are in the world
» See Note "Joh 10:7"
(f) Jehovah-tsidkenu, "the Lord our righteousness"
# Jer 23:6
This name of Jehovah occurs in a prophecy concerning the future
restoration and conversion of Israel. Then Israel will hail him as
Jehovah-tsidkenu--"the Lord our righteousness." (g) Jehovah-shammah,
"the Lord is present"
# Eze 48:35
This name signifies Jehovah's abiding presence with His people
# Ex 33:14,15 1Ch 16:27,33 Ps 16:11 97:5 Mt 28:20 Heb 13:5
(5) Lord (Jehovah) is also the distinctive name of Deity as in covenant
with Israel
# Ex 19:3 20:1,2 Jer 31:31-34
(6) Lord God (Heb. Jehovah Elohim) is the first of the compound names of
Deity. Lord God is used distinctly: (1) of the relation of Deity to man
(a) as Creator
# Ge 2:7-15
(b) as morally in authority over man
# Ge 2:16,17
(c) as creating and governing the earthly relationships of man
# Ge 2:18-24 3:16-19,22-24
and (d) as redeeming man
# Ge 3:8-15,21
(2) of the relation of Deity to Israel
# Ge 24:7 28:13 Ex 3:15,18 4:5 5:1 7:6 De 1:11,21 4:1 6:3 12:1
# Jos 7:13,19,20 10:40,42 Jud 2:12 1Sa 2:30 1Ki 1:48 2Ki 9:6
# 2Ki 10:31 1Ch 22:19 2Ch 1:9 Ezr 1:3 Isa 21:17
See other names of Deity,
» See Note "Ge 1:1"
» See Note "Ge 14:18"
» See Note "Ge 15:2"
» See Note "Ge 17:1"
» See Note "Ge 21:33"
» See Note "1Sa 1:3"
[1] {Eve}
Eve, type of the Church as bride of Christ
# Joh 3:28,29 2Co 11:2 Eph 5:25-32 Re 19:7,8
[2] {The serpent}
The serpent, in his Edenic form, is not to be thought of as a writhing
reptile. That is the effect of the curse
# Ge 3:14
The creature which lent itself to Satan may well have been the most
beautiful as was the most "subtle" of creatures less than man. Traces
of that beauty remain despite the curse. Every movement of a serpent
is graceful, and many species are beautifully coloured. In the serpent,
Satan first appeared as "an angel of light"
# 2Co 11:14
[1] {And the Lord God said}
The Adamic Covenant conditions the life of fallen man--conditions which
must remain till, in the kingdom age, "the creation also shall be
delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the
sons of God"
# Ro 8:21
The elements of the Adamic Covenant are:
(1) The serpent, Satan's tool, is cursed (v. 14), and becomes God's
illustration in nature of the effects of sin--from the most beautiful
and subtle of creatures to a loathsome reptile! The deepest mystery of
the atonement is intimated here. Christ, "made sin for us," in bearing
our judgment, is typified by the brazen serpent
# Nu 21:5-9 Joh 3:14 2Co 5:21
Brass speaks of judgment--in the brazen altar, of God's judgment,
and in the laver, of self-judgment. (2) The first promise of a
Redeemer (v. 15). Here begins the "Highway of the Seed," Abel, Seth,
Noah
# Ge 6:8-10
Shem
# Ge 9:26,27
Abraham
# Ge 12:1-4
Isaac
# Ge 17:19-21
Jacob
# Ge 28:10-14
Judah
# Ge 49:10
David
# 2Sa 7:5-17
Immanuel-Christ
# Isa 7:9-14 Mt 1:1,20-23 1Jo 3:8 Joh 12:31
(3) The changed state of the woman (v.16). In three particulars: (a)
Multiplied conception; (b) motherhood linked with sorrow; (c) the
headship of the man (cf)
# Ge 1:26,27
The entrance of sin, which is disorder, makes necessary a headship,
and it is vested in man
# 1Ti 2:11-14 Eph 5:22-25 1Co 11:7-9
(4) The earth cursed (v. 17) for man's sake. It is better for fallen
man to battle with a reluctant earth than to live without toil.
(5) The inevitable sorrow of life (v. 17)
(6) The light occupation of Eden
# Ge 2:15
changed to burdensome labour
# Ge 3:18,19
(7) Physical death
# Ge 3:19 Ro 5:12-21
See "Death (spiritual)"
# Ge 2:17
» See Note "Eph 2:5"
See for the other covenants:
EDENIC
» See Note "Ge 1:28"
NOAHIC
» See Note "Ge 9:1"
ABRAHAMIC
» See Note "Ge 15:18"
MOSAIC
» See Note "Ex 19:25"
PALESTINIAN
» See Note "De 30:3"
DAVIDIC
» See Note "2Sa 7:16"
NEW
» See Note "Heb 8:8"
[2] {thou shalt bruise his heel}
The chain of references which begins here includes the promises and
prophecies concerning Christ which were fulfilled in His birth and works
at His first advent. See, for line of unfulfilled promises and
prophecies: "Christ (second advent)"
# De 30:3
» See Note "Ac 1:9"
"Kingdom"
# Ge 1:26-28 Zec 12:8
"Kingdom (N.T.)"
# Lu 1:31 1Co 15:28
"Day of the Lord"
# Isa 2:10 Re 19:11
[1] {coats of skins}
Coats of skins: Type of "Christ, made unto us righteousness"-- a divinely
provided garment that the first sinners might be made fit for God's
presence. See Righteousness, garment
# Ge 3:21 Re 19:8
[1] {Therefore the Lord God}
The Second Dispensation: Conscience. By disobedience man came to
a personal and experimental knowledge of good and evil--of good as
obedience, of evil as disobedience to \\the known will of God.\\ Through
that knowledge conscience awoke. Expelled from Eden and placed under the
second, or ADAMIC COVENANT, man was responsible to do all known good, to
abstain from all known evil, and to approach God through sacrifice. The
result of this second testing of man is stated in
# Ge 6:5
and the dispensation ended in the judgment of the Flood. Apparently
"the east of the garden"
# Ge 3:24
where were the cherubims and the flame, remained the
place of worship through this second dispensation. See for the other six
dispensations:
INNOCENCE
» See Note "Ge 1:28"
HUMAN GOVERNMENT
» See Note "Ge 8:21"
PROMISE
» See Note "Ge 12:1"
LAW
» See Note "Ex 19:8"
GRACE
» See Note "Joh 1:17"
KINGDOM
» See Note "Eph 1:10"
[3] {Cain}
Cain ("acquisition") is a type of the mere man of the earth. His
religion was destitute of any adequate sense of sin, or need of
atonement. This religious type is described in 2Pe 2. Seven things
are said of him:
(1) he worships in self-will
(2) is angry with God
(3) refuses to bring a sin offering
(4) murders his brother
(5) lies to God
(6) becomes a vagabond
(7) is, nevertheless, the object of the divine solicitude.
[4] {Abel}
Abel ("exhalation," or, "that which ascends") is a type of the spiritual
man. His sacrifice, in which atoning blood was shed
# Heb 9:22
was therefore at once his confession of sin and the expression of his
faith in the interposition of a substitute
# Heb 11:4
[3] {Cain}
Cain ("acquisition") is a type of the mere man of the earth. His religion
was destitute of any adequate sense of sin, or need of atonement. This
religious type is described in 2Pe 2. Seven things are said of him:
(1) he worships in self-will
(2) is angry with God
(3) refuses to bring a sin offering
(4) murders his brother
(5) lies to God
(6) becomes a vagabond
(7) is, nevertheless, the object of the divine solicitude.
[4] {Abel}
Abel ("exhalation," or, "that which ascends") is a type of the spiritual
man. His sacrifice, in which atoning blood was shed
# Heb 9:22
was therefore at once his confession of sin and the expression of his
faith in the interposition of a substitute
# Heb 11:4
[5] {flock}
Type of Christ, the Lamb of God, the most constant type of the
\\suffering\\ Messiah--"the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the
world"
# Joh 1:29
A lamb fitly symbolizes the unresisting innocency and harmlessness of
the Lord Jesus
# Isa 53:7 Lu 23:9 Mt 26:53,54
This type is brought into prominence by contrast with Cain's bloodless
offering of the fruit of his own works, and proclaims, in the very
infancy of the race, the primal truth that "without shedding of blood
is no remission"
# Heb 9:22 11:4
[1] {sin}
Or, sin-offering. In Hebrew the same word is used for "sin," and
"sin- offering," thus emphasizing in a remarkable way the complete
identification of the believer's sin with his sin offering (cf)
# Joh 3:14 2Co 5:21
Here both meanings are brought together. "Sin lieth at the door,"
but so also "a sin-offering croucheth at the [tent] door." It is
"\\where\\ sin abounded" that "grace did much more abound"
# Ro 5:20
Abel's offering implies a previous instruction (cf)
# Ge 3:21
for it was "by faith"
# Heb 11:4
and faith is taking God at His word; so that Cain's unbloody offering
was a refusal of the divine way. But Jehovah made a last appeal to
Cain
# Ge 4:7
even yet to bring the required offering.
[2] {builded a city}
The first civilization, that which perished in the judgment of the
Flood, was Cainitic in origin, character, and destiny. Every element
of material civilization is mentioned in verses 16-22, city and
pastoral life, and the development of arts and manufactures. Enoch,
after whom the first city was named, means "teacher." The \\el\\
termination of the names of Enoch's son and grandson shows that for a
time the knowledge of Elohim was preserved, but his soon disappears
# Ro 1:21-23
Adah means "pleasure," or "adornment"; Zillah, to "hide"; Lamech,
"conqueror," or "wild man." (Cf)
# Ro 1:21-25
» See Note Ge 6.4
The Cainitic civilization may have been as splendid as that of
Greece or Rome, but the divine judgment is according to the \\moral\\
state, not the \\material\\.
# Ge 6:5-7
[1] {Adam}
Adam, as the natural head of the race
# Lu 3:38
is a contrasting type of Christ, the Head of the new creation. See
# Ro 5:14 1Co 15:21,22,45-47
[2] {Enoch}
Enoch, "translated that he should not see death"
# Heb 11:5
before the judgment of the Flood, is a type of those saints who are to
be translated before the apocalyptic judgments
# 1Th 4:14-17
Noah, left on the earth, but preserved through the judgment of the Flood,
is a type of the Jewish people, who will be kept \\through\\ the
apocalyptic judgments
# Jer 30:5-9 Re 12:13-16
and brought as an earthly people to the new heaven and new earth
# Isa 65:17-19 66:20-22 Re 21:1
[1] {sons of God}
Some hold that these "sons of God" were the "angels which kept not
their first estate"
# Jude 1:6
It is asserted that the title is in the O.T. exclusively used of
angels. But this is an error
# Isa 43:6
Angels are spoken of in a sexless way. No female angels are
mentioned in Scripture, and we are expressly told that marriage is
unknown among angels.
# Mt 22:30
The uniform Hebrew and Christian interpretation has been that verse 2
marks the breaking down of the separation between the godly line of
Seth and the godless line of Cain, and so the failure of the testimony
to Jehovah committed to the line of Seth
# Ge 4:26
For \\apostasy\\ there is no remedy but judgment
# Isa 1:2-7,24,25 Heb 6:4-8 10:26-31
Noah, "a preacher of righteousness," is given 120 years, but he won no
convert, and the judgment predicted by his great-grandfather fell
# Jude 1:14,15 Ge 7:11
[2] {walked}
Noah and Enoch are the two antediluvians of whom it is said that they
"walked with God"
# Ge 5:24 6:9
Enoch, "translated that he should not see death"
# Heb 11:5
becomes a type of the saints who will be "caught up" before the great
tribulation
# 1Th 4:14-17 Re 3:10 Da 12:1 Mt 24:21
Noah, preserved through the Flood, is a type of the Israelitish people
who will be preserved through the tribulation
# Jer 30:5-9
See "Tribulation"
# Ps 2:5 Re 7:14
[3] {ark}
"Ark": type of Christ as the refuge of His people from judgment
# Heb 11:7
In strictness of application this speaks of the preservation
through the "great tribulation"
# Mt 24:21,22
of the remnant of Israel who will turn to the Lord after the Church
(typified by Enoch, who was translated to heaven before the judgment
of the Flood) has been caught up to meet the Lord
# Ge 5:22-24 1Th 4:15-17 Heb 11:5 Isa 2:10,11 26:20,21
But the type also has a present reference to the position of the
believer "in Christ" (Ep 1.), etc. It should be noted that the word
translated "pitch" in
# Ge 6:14
is the same word translated "atonement" in
# Le 17:11
etc. It is atonement that keeps out the waters of judgment and makes
the believer's position "in Christ" safe and blessed.
[1] {two of every sort}
Cf
# Ge 7:2
In addition to two animals, etc., commanded (Ge 6.19) to be
preserved for future increase ("they shall be male and female"),
the further command was given more than 100 years later to take of
\\clean beasts\\, i.e, acceptable for sacrifice, seven each.
Exodus gives ten such beasts, or but seventy in all. Modern ships
carry hundreds of live beasts, with their food, besides scores of
human beings.
[1] {two}
Cf. Gen 7.2. In addition to two animals, etc., commanded (Ge 6.19) to be
preserved for future increase ("they shall be male and female"), the
further command was given more than 100 years later to take of
\\clean beasts\\, i.e. beasts acceptable for sacrifice, seven each.
Exodus gives ten such beasts, or but seventy in all. Modern ships
carry hundreds of live beasts, with their food, besides scores of human
beings.
[1] {the Lord said in heart}
The Third Dispensation: Human Government. Under Conscience, as in
Innocency, man utterly failed, and the judgment of the Flood marks
the end of the second dispensation and the beginning of the third.
The declaration of the Noahic Covenant subjects humanity to a new
test. Its distinctive feature is the institution, for the first
time, of human government--the government of man by man. The highest
function of government is the judicial taking of life. All other
governmental powers are implied in that. It follows that the third
dispensation is distinctively that of human government. Man is
responsible to govern the world for God. That responsibility rested
upon the whole race, Jew and Gentile, until the failure of Israel
under the Palestinian Covenant (Deu 28.-30.1-10) brought the judgment
of the Captivities, when "the times of the Gentiles" (See)
# Lu 21:24 Re 16:14
began, and the government of the world passed exclusively into
Gentile hands
# Da 2:36-45 Lu 21:24 Ac 15:14-17
That both Israel and the Gentiles have governed for self, not God, is
sadly apparent. The judgment of the confusion of tongues ended the
racial testing; that of the captivities the \\Jewish\\; while the
\Gentile\\ testing will end in the smiting of the Image (Da 2.) and
the judgment of the nations
# Mt 25:31-46
See, for the other six dispensations:
INNOCENCE
» See Note "Ge 1:28"
CONSCIENCE
» See Note "Ge 3:23"
PROMISE
» See Note "Ge 12:1"
LAW
» See Note "Ex 19:8"
GRACE
» See Note "Joh 1:17"
KINGDOM
» See Note "Eph 1:10"
[2] {and said unto them}
The Noahic Covenant. The elements are:
(1) The relation of man to the earth under the Adamic Covenant is
confirmed
» See Note "Ge 8:21"
(2) The order of nature is confirmed (Ge 8.22)
(3) Human government is established (Ge 9.1-6)
(4) Earth is secured against another universal judgment by water
# Ge 8:21 9:11
(5) A prophetic declaration is made that from Ham will descend an
inferior and servile posterity
# Ge 9:24,25
(6) A prophetic declaration is made that Shem will have a peculiar
relation to Jehovah
# Ge 9:26,27
All divine revelation is through Semitic men, and Christ, after the
flesh, descends from Shem.
(7) A prophetic declaration is made that from Japheth will descend the
"enlarged" races
# Ge 9:27
Government, science, and art, speaking broadly, are and have been
Japhetic, so that history is the indisputable record of the exact
fulfilment of these declarations. See notes from Gen 8.21 for the other
seven covenants: EDENIC (Ge 1.28); ADAMIC (Ge 3.15); ABRAHAMIC (Ge
15.18); MOSAIC (Ex 19.25); PALESTINIAN (Deu 30.3); DAVIDIC (2Sa 7.16);
NEW (He 8.8).
[2] {and said unto them}
The Noahic Covenant. The elements are:
(1) The relation of man to the earth under the Adamic Covenant is
confirmed
» See Note "Ge 8:21"
(2) The order of nature is confirmed (Ge 8.22)
(3) Human government is established (Ge 9.1-6)
(4) Earth is secured against another universal judgment by water
# Ge 8:21 9:11
(5) A prophetic declaration is made that from Ham will descend an
inferior and servile posterity
# Ge 9:24,25
(6) A prophetic declaration is made that Shem will have a peculiar
relation to Jehovah
# Ge 9:26,27
All divine revelation is through Semitic men, and Christ, after the
flesh, descends from Shem.
(7) A prophetic declaration is made that from Japheth will descend the
"enlarged" races
# Ge 9:27
Government, science, and art, speaking broadly, are and have been
Japhetic, so that history is the indisputable record of the exact
fulfilment of these declarations. See notes from Gen 8.21 for the other
seven covenants: EDENIC (Ge 1.28); ADAMIC (Ge 3.15); ABRAHAMIC (Ge
15.18); MOSAIC (Ex 19.25); PALESTINIAN (Deu 30.3); DAVIDIC (2Sa 7.16);
NEW (He 8.8).
[1] Gomer [2] Magog [3] Madai [4] Javan [5] Tubal [6] Meshech [7] Tiras
[1] Progenitor of the ancient Cimerians and Cimbri, from whom are descended
the Celtic family.
[2] From Magog are descended the ancient Scythians, or Tartars, whose
descendants predominate in the modern Russia. See Ez 38.2 39.6 Re 20.8
[3] Progenitor of the ancient Medes.
[4] Progenitor of those who peopled Greece, Syria, etc.
[5] Tubal's descendants peopled the region south of the black Sea, from
whence they spread north and south. It is probable that Tobolsk
perpetuates the tribal name. A branch of this race peopled Spain.
[6] Progenitor of a race mentioned in connection with Tubal, Magog, and
other northern nations. Broadly speaking, Russia, excluding the conquests
of Peter the Great and his successors, is the modern land of Magog, Tubal,
and Meshech.
[7] Progenitor of the Thracians.
From these seven sons of Japheth are descended the \\goyim\\, or Gentile,
nations, trans. "heathen" 148 times in the A.V. The name implies nothing
concerning religion, meaning simply, non-Israelite, or "foreigner."
[1] {one language}
The history of Babel ("confusion") strikingly parallels that of the
professing Church. (1) Unity
# Ge 11:1
--the Apostolic Church
# Ac 4:32,33
(2) Ambition
# Ge 11:4
using worldly, not spiritual means
# Ge 11:3
ending in a man-made unity--the papacy; (3) the confusion of
tongues
# Ge 11:7
--Protestantism, with its innumerable sects.
» See Note "Isa 13:1"
[1] {generations of Shem}
Genesis 11. and 12. mark an important turning point in the divine
dealing. Heretofore the history has been that of the whole Adamic
race. There has been neither Jew nor Gentile; all have been one in
"the first man Adam." Henceforth, in the Scripture record, humanity
must be thought of as a vast stream from which God, in the call of
Abram and the creation of the nation of Israel, has but drawn off a
slender rill, through which He may at last purify the great river
itself. Israel was called to be a witness to the unity of God in the
midst of universal idolatry
# De 6:4 Isa 43:10-12
to illustrate the blessedness of serving the true God
# De 33:26-29
to receive and preserve the divine revelations
# Ro 3:1,2 De 4:5-8
and to produce the messiah
# Ge 3:15 21:12 28:10,14 49:10 2Sa 7:16,17 Isa 4:3,4 Mt 1:1
The reader of scripture should hold firmly in mind: (1) that from Gen
12. to Mat 12.45 the Scriptures have primarily in view Israel, the
little rill, not the great Gentile river; though again and again the
universality of the ultimate divine intent breaks into view (e.g.
# Ge 12:3 Isa 2:2,4 5:26 9:1,2 11:10-12 42:1-6 49:6,12 52:15 54:3 55:5
# Isa 60:3,5,11-16 61:6,9 62:2 66:12,18,19 Jer 16:19 Joe 3:9,10 Mal 1:11
Ro 9. 10. 11.
# Ga 3:8-14
(2) that the human race, henceforth called
Gentile in distinction from Israel, goes on under the Adamic and
Noahic covenants; and that for the race (outside Israel) the
dispensations of Conscience and of Human government continue. The
moral history of the great Gentile world is told in
# Ro 1:21-32
and its moral accountability in
# Ro 2:1-16
Conscience never acquits: it either "accuses" or "excuses." Where the
law is known to the Gentiles it is to them, as to Israel, "a
ministration of death," a "curse"
# Ro 3:19,20 7:9,10 2Co 3:7 Ga 3:10
A wholly new responsibility arises when either Jew or Gentile knows
the Gospel
# Joh 3:18,19,36 15:22-24 16:9 1Jo 5:9-12
[1] {Now the Lord}
The Fourth Dispensation: Promise. For Abraham, and his descendants
it is evident that the Abrahamic Covenant
» See Note "Ge 15:18"
made a great change. They became distinctively the heirs of promise.
That covenant is wholly gracious and unconditional. The descendants of
Abraham had but to abide in their own land to inherit every blessing.
In Egypt they lost their blessings, but not their covenant. The
Dispensation of Promise ended when Israel rashly accepted the law
# Ex 19:8
Grace had prepared a deliverer (Moses), provided a sacrifice
for the guilty, and by divine power brought them out of bondage
# Ex 19:4
but at Sinai they exchanged grace for law. The Dispensation
of Promise extends from Gen 12.1 to Ex 19.8, and was exclusively
Israelitish. The dispensation must be distinguished from the
covenant. The former is a mode of testing; the latter is everlasting
because unconditional. The law did not abrogate the Abrahamic
Covenant
# Ga 3:15-18
but was an intermediate disciplinary dealing "till the Seed should
come to whom the promise was made"
# Ga 3:19-29 4:1-7
Only the dispensation, as a testing of Israel, ended at the
giving of the law. See, for the other six dispensations:
» See Note "Ge 8:21"
INNOCENCE
(Ge 1.28); CONSCIENCE (Ge 3.23); HUMAN GOVERNMENT (Ge 8.20); LAW (Ex
19.8); GRACE (Jno 1.17); KINGDOM (Eph 1.10)
[2] {And}
For analysis and summary of the Abrahamic Covenant, see Ge 15.18.
» See Note "Ge 15:18"
[1] {Beth-el}
One of the sacred places of Canaan, meaning, \\house of God\\
# Ge 28:1-22
» See Note "GE 35.7
It is characteristic of all apostasy that Jeroboam chose this sacred
place in which to erect an idol
# 1Ki 12:28,32
(Cf)
1Ki 13.1-5
and of divine judgment upon apostasy that God should decree the
destruction of Bethel, despite its sacred memories
# 1Ki 13:1-5 2Ki 23:15-17 Am 3:14,15
God never hesitates to cast aside that which no longer serves His
purpose
# Re 2:5 3:16
[2] {famine}
A famine was often a disciplinary testing of God's people in the land.
(Cf)
# Ge 26:1 42:5 Ru 1:1 2Sa 24:13 Ps 105:16
The resort to Egypt (the world) is typical of the tendency to
substitute for lost spiritual power the fleshly resources of the
world, instead of seeking, through confession and amendment, the
restoration of God's presence and favour.
[1] {Melchizedek} [2] {most high God}
[1] Melchizedek, type of Christ the King-Priest. The type strictly
applies to the priestly work of Christ in \\resurrection\\, since
Melchizedek presents only the \\memorials\\ of sacrifice, bread and
wine. "After the order of Melchizedek"
# Heb 6:20
refers to the royal \\authority\\ and unending \\duration\\ of Christ's
high priesthood
# Heb 7:23,24
The Aaronic priesthood was often interrupted by death.
Christ is a priest after the \\order\\ of Melchizedek, as King of
righteousness, King of peace
# Isa 11:4-9 Heb 7:2
and in the \\endlessness\\ of his priesthood; but the Aaronic priesthood
typifies His priestly \\work\\
[2] "Most high," or "most high God" (Heb. \\El Elyon\\). "\\Elyon\\ means
simply "highest."
(1) The first revelation of this name (v. 18) indicates its distinctive
meanings. Abram, returning from his victory over the confederated kings
# Ge 14:1-17
is met by Melchizedek, King of Salem . . . the "priest of
the most high God" (El Elyon), who blesses Abram in the name of El
Elyon, "possessor of heaven and earth." This revelation produced a
remarkable impression upon the patriarch. Not only did he at once
give Melchizedek "tithes of all" the spoil of the battle, but when the
King of Sodom offered other of that spoil to Abram, his answer was;
"I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord [Jehovah], the most high God
[El-Elyon], the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take
from a thread even to a shoelatchet," etc.
# Ge 14:18-23
(a) The Lord (Jehovah) is know to a \\Gentile\\ king (Melchizedek) by
the name "most high god" [El Elyon); (b) a \\Gentile\\ is the priest
of El Elyon and (c) His distinctive \\character\\ as most high God is
"possessor of heaven and earth."
Appropriately to this Gentile knowledge of God by His name "Most
High," we read that "the Most High divided to the nations [i.e.
Gentiles] their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam,"
etc.
# De 32:8
As "\\possessor\\ heaven and earth," it was the
prerogative of the Most High to distribute the earth among the
nations according to whatever principle He chose. That principle is
declared Deu 32.8. To the same purport is the use of the name in
Daniel, the book of Gentile prophecy
# Da 3:26 4:17,24,25,32,34,35 5:18,21
(2) As "possessor of heaven and earth," the most high God has and
exercises authority in both spheres: (a) the heavenly authority of El
Elyon (e.g.
# Da 4:35,37 Isa 14:13,14 Mt 28:18
(b) the earthly authority of El Elyon (e.g).
# De 32:8 Ps 9:2-5 21:7 47:2-4 56:2,3 82:6,8 83:16-18 91:9-12
# 2Sa 22:14,15 Da 5:18
See, for other names of Deity:
» See Note "Ge 1:1"
» See Note "Ge 2:4"
» See Note "Ge 2:7"
» See Note "Ge 15:2"
» See Note "Ge 17:1"
» See Note "Ge 21:33"
» See Note "1Sa 1:3"
[1] {Lord} [2] {God}
[1] "Lord" (Heb. Adon, Adonai)
(1) The primary meaning of \\Adon, Adonai\\, is Master, and it is
applied in the Old Testament Scriptures both to Deity and to man.
The latter instances are distinguished in the English version by the
omission of the capital. As applied to man, the word is used of two
relationships; \\master\\ and \\husband\\
# Ge 24:9,10,12
"master" may illustrate the former;
# Ge 18:12
"lord," the latter). Both these
relationships exist between Christ and the believer
# Joh 13:13
"master";
# 2Co 11:2
"husband").
(2) Two principles inhere in the relation of master and servant: (a)
the Master's right to implicit obedience
# Joh 13:13 Mt 23:10 Lu 6:46
(b) the servant's right to direction in service
# Isa 6:8-11
Clear distinction in the use of the divine names is illustrated in
# Ex 4:10-12
Moses feels his weakness and incompetency, and "Moses said
unto the Lord [Jehovah], O my Lord [Adonai], I am not eloquent," etc.
Since \\service\\ is in question, Moses appropriately addresses
Jehovah as Lord. But now \\power\\ is in question, and it not the
Lord (Adonai) but Jehovah (Lord) who answers (referring to creation
power)--"and Jehovah said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? . .
Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth." The same
distinction in
# Jos 7:8-11
See, for other names of Deity:
» See Note "Ge 14:18"
[2] "Lord God" (Heb. Adonai Jehovah). When used distinctively, this
compound name, while gathering into one the special meanings of each
» See Note "Ge 2:4"
» See Note "Ge 15:2"
will be found to emphasize the Adonai rather than the Jehovah
character of Deity. (The following passages may suffice to illustrate
this:)
# Ge 15:2,8 De 3:24 9:26 Jos 7:7 Jud 6:22 16:28 2Sa 7:18-20,28,29
# 1Ki 2:26 Ps 69:6 71:5 Isa 7:7
See, for other names of Deity:
See note "Ge 1:1"
See note "Ge 2:4"
See note "Ge 2:7"
See note "Ge 14:18"
See note "Ge 15:2"
See note "Ge 17:1"
See note "Ge 21:33"
See note "1Sa 1:3"
[3] {covenant}
The Abrahamic Covenant as formed
# Ge 12:1-4
and confirmed
# Ge 13:14-17 15:1-7 17:1-8
is in seven distinct parts:
(1) "I will make of thee a great nation." Fulfilled in a threefold way:
(a) In a natural posterity--"as the dust of the \\earth\\
# Ge 13:16 Joh 8:37
viz. the Hebrew people. (b) In a spiritual posterity--"look now
toward \\heaven\\ . . . so shall thy seed be"
# Joh 8:39 Ro 4:16,17 9:7,8 Ga 3:6,7,29
viz. all men of faith, whether Jew or Gentile. (c) fulfilled also
through Ishmael
# Ge 17:18-20
(2) "I will bless thee." Fulfilled in two ways: (a) temporally
# Ge 13:14,15,17 15:18 24:34,35
(b) spiritually
# Ge 15:6 Joh 8:56
(3) "And make thy name great." Abraham's is one of the universal names.
(4) "And thou shalt be a blessing"
# Ga 3:13,14
(5) "I will bless them that bless thee." In fulfilment closely related
to the next clause.
(6) "And curse him that curseth thee." Wonderfully fulfilled in the
history of the dispersion. It has invariably fared ill with the people
who have persecuted the Jew--well with those who have protected him. The
future will still more remarkably prove this principle
# De 30:7 Isa 14:1, Joe 3:1-8 Mic 5:7-9 Hag 2:22 Zec 14:1-3 Mt 25:40,45
(7) "In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." This is
the great evangelic promise fulfilled in Abraham's Seed, Christ
# Ga 3:16 Joh 8:56-58
It brings into greater definiteness the promise of the Adamic Covenant
concerning the Seed of the woman
# Ge 3:15
NOTE.--The gift of the land is modified by prophecies of three
dispossessions and restorations
# Ge 15:13,14,16 Jer 25:11,12 De 28:62-65 30:1-3
Two dispossessions and restorations have been accomplished.
Israel is now in the third dispersion, from which she will be restored
at the return of the Lord as King under the Davidic Covenant
# De 30:3 Jer 23:5-8 Eze 37:21-25 Lu 1:30-33 Ac 15:14-17
See, for the other seven covenants: EDENIC (Ge 1.28); ADAMIC (Ge 3.15);
NOAHIC (Ge 9.1); MOSAIC (Ex 19.25); PALESTINIAN (Deu 30.3); DAVIDIC (2Sa
7.16); NEW (Heb 8.8).
» See Note "Heb 8:8"
[1] {Hagar}
Hagar is a type of the law "which gendereth to bondage"
# Ga 4:24,25
[1] {Almighty God}
"Almighty God" (Heb. El Shaddai) (1) The etymological signification
of Almighty God (El Shaddai) is both interesting and touching. God
(El) signifies the "Strong One" (Gen 1.1, note). The qualifying word
Shaddai is formed from the Hebrew word "shad," the breast, invariably
used in Scripture for a \\woman's\\ breast; e.g.
# Ge 49:25 Joh 3:12 Ps 22:9 So 1:13 4:5 7:3,7,8 8:1,8,10 Isa 28:9 Eze 16:7
Shaddai therefore means primarily "the breasted." God is "Shaddai,"
because He is the Nourisher, the Strength-giver, and so, in a secondary
sense, the Satisfier, who pours himself into believing lives. As a
fretful, unsatisfied babe is not only strengthened and nourished from
the mother's breast, but also is quieted, rested, satisfied, so El
Shaddai is that name of God which sets Him forth as the
Strength-giver and Satisfier of His people. It is on every account
to be regretted that "Shaddai" was translated "Almighty." The
primary name El or Elohim sufficiently signifies almightiness.
"All-sufficient" would far better express both the Hebrew meaning and
the characteristic use of the name in Scripture.
(2) Almighty God (El Shaddai) not only enriches, but makes fruitful.
This is nowhere better illustrated than in the first occurrence of the
name
# Ge 17:1-8
To a man ninety-nine years of age, and "as good as dead"
# Heb 11:12
He said: "I am the Almighty God [El Shaddai] . . . I will . . .
multiply thee exceedingly." To the same purport is the use of the name
in
# Ge 28:3,4
(3) As Giver of fruitfulness, Almighty God (El Shaddai) chastens His
people. For the moral connection of chastening with fruit bearing, see
# Joh 15:2 Heb 12:10 Ru 1:20
Hence, Almighty is the characteristic name of God in Job, occurring
thirty-one times in that book. The hand of El Shaddai falls upon Job,
the best man of his time, not in judgment, but in purifying unto
greater fruitfulness
# Job 5:17-25
See, for other names
of Deity: Gen 1.1, note; 2.4, note; 2.7; 14.18, note; 15.2, note; 21.33,
note; 1Sa 1.3, note.
» See Note "Ge 14:18"
[1] {Thus were}
Abraham and Lot are contrasted characters. Of the same stock
# Ge 11:31
subjected to the same environment, and both justified men
# Ge 15:6 2Pe 2:7,8
the contrast in character and career is shown to be
the result of their respective choices at the crisis of their lives.
Lot "chose him all the plain of Jordan" for present advantage;
Abraham "looked for a city which hath foundations"
# Heb 11:10
and
# Ge 13:18
"came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre (fatness), which is
in Hebron" (communion). The men remain types of the worldly and
spiritual believer.
[1] {Sarah} [2] {Isaac}
Sarah, type of grace, "the freewoman," and of the "Jerusalem which is
above." See
# Ge 17:15-19 Ga 4:22-31
[2] Isaac
is typical in fourfold way: (1) of the Church as composed
of the spiritual children of Abraham
# Ga 4:28
(2) of Christ as the Son "obedient unto death"
# Ge 22:1-10 Php 2:5-8
(3) of Christ as the Bridegroom of a called-out bride see
Gen 24; also, "Church,"
# Mt 16:18
and refs.);
(4) of the new nature of the believer as "born after the Spirit"
# Ga 4:29
[1] {everlasting God}
(1) The Hebrew Olam is used in Scripture: (a) of secret or hidden
things (e.g.
# Le 5:2
"hidden";
# 2Ki 4:27
"hid";
# Ps 10:1
"hidest");
(b) an indefinite time or age
# Le 25:32
"at any time";
# Jos 24:2
"in old time"). Hence the word is used to express the eternal
duration of the being of God,
# Ps 90:2
"From everlasting to everlasting"), and is the Hebrew synonym of
the Greek aion, age or dispensation.
» See Note "Ge 1:26"
(2) The ideas therefore of things kept secret and of indefinite
duration combine in this word. Both ideas inhere in the doctrine of
the dispensations or ages. They are among the "mysteries" of God
# Eph 1:9,10 3:2-6 Mt 13:11
The "everlasting" God (El Olam) is therefore that name of Deity in
virtue of which He is the God whose wisdom has divided all time and
eternity into the mystery of successive ages or dispensations. It is
not merely that He is everlasting, but that He is God over everlasting
things. See, for
other names of Deity: Gen 1.1, note; 2.4, note; 2.7; 14.8, note;
15.2, note; 17.1, note; 1Sa 1.3, note.
» See Note "Ge 14:18"
[2] {And it came to pass}
The spiritual experience of Abraham was marked by four great crises,
each of which involved a surrender of something naturally most dear.
These were: (1) Country and kindred
# Ge 12:1 Mt 10:34-39 2Co 6:14-18
(2) His nephew, Lot; especially dear to Abraham by nature,
as a possible heir and as a fellow believer
# 2Pe 2:7,8 Ge 13:1-18
The completeness of Abraham's separation from one who, though a
believer, was a "vessel unto dishonour," is shown by
# Ge 15:1-3 2Ti 2:20,21 Ac 15:36-40
(3) His own plan about Ishmael
# Ge 17:17,18 1Ch 13:1-14 15:1,2
(4) Isaac, "thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest"
# Ge 22:1-19 Heb 11:17,18
[1] {laid}
The typical lessons here are: (1) Isaac, type of Christ "obedient
unto death"
# Php 2:5-8
(2) Abraham, type of the Father, who "spared not His own son, but
delivered Him up for us all"
# Joh 3:16 Ro 8:32
(3) the ram, type of substitution--Christ offered as a burnt-offering
in our stead
# Heb 10:5-10
(4) cf. resurrection
# Heb 11:17-19 Jas 2:21-23
[1] {buryingplace}
Cf. Gen 33.19 50.13 Jos 24.32 Ac 7.15,16. A discrepancy in these
statements has been fancied. It disappears entirely before the natural
supposition that in the interval of about eighty years between the
purchase by Abraham of the family sepulchre (Ge 23.4-20) and Jacob's
purchase (Ge 33.19), the descendants of Hamor (or "Emmor," Ac 7.15,16)
had resumed possession of the field in which the burial cave was
situated. Instead of asserting an ancient title by inheritance, Jacob
repurchased the field. Heth was the common ancestor.
[1] {And Abraham}
The entire chapter is highly typical: (1) Abraham, type of a certain
king who would make a marriage for his son
# Mt 22:2 Joh 6:44
(2) the unnamed servant, type of the Holy Spirit, who does not "speak
of himself," but takes of the things of the Bridegroom with which to
win the bride
# Joh 16:13,14
(3) the servant, type of the Spirit as enriching the bride with the
Bridegroom's gifts
# Ga 5:22 1Co 12:7-11
(4) the servant, type of the Spirit as bringing the bride
to the meeting with the Bridegroom
# Ac 13:4 16:6,7 Ro 8:11 1Th 4:14-16
(5) Rebekah, type of the Church, the ecclesia, the "called
out" virgin bride of Christ
# Ge 24:16 2Co 11:2 Eph 5:25-32
(6) Isaac, type of the Bridegroom, "whom not having seen," the bride
loves through the testimony of the unnamed Servant
# 1Pe 1:8
(7) Isaac, type of the Bridegroom who goes out to meet and receive His
bride
# Ge 24:63 1Th 4:14-16
[1] {servant}
This is the model servant: (1) he does not run unsent,
# Ge 24:2-9
(2) goes where he is sent,
# Ge 24:4-10
(3) does nothing else; (4) is prayerful and thankful,
# Ge 24:12-14,26,27
(5) is wise to win, vs.
# Ge 24:17,18,21
(Cf)
# Joh 4:7
(6) speaks not of himself, but of his master's riches and Isaac's
heirship,
# Ge 24:22,34-36 Ac 1:8
(7) presents the true issue, and requires clear decision,
# Ge 24:49
[2] {Keturah}
As Sarah stands for "the mother of us all," i.e. of those who, by
grace, are one with the true Son of promise, of whom Isaac was the
type
# Joh 3:6-8 Ga 4:26,28,29 Heb 2:11-13
and joint heirs of His wealth
# Heb 1:2 Ro 8:16,17
so Keturah (wedded after the full blessing of Isaac) and her children
by Abraham may well stand for the fertility of Israel the natural seed,
Jehovah's wife
# Ho 2:1-23
after the future national restoration under the Palestinian covenant
» See Note "De 30:3"
[1] {Esau}
Esau stands for the mere man of the earth.
# Heb 12:16,17
In many respects a nobler man, naturally, than Jacob, he was destitute
of faith, and despised the birthright because it was a spiritual thing,
of value only as there was faith to apprehend it.
[2] {birthright}
The "birthright" had three elements: (1) Until the establishment of
the Aaronic priesthood the head of the family exercised priestly
rights. (2) The Abrahamic family held the Edenic promise of the
Satan-Bruiser
# Ge 3:15
--Abel, Seth, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Esau.
(3) Esau, as the firstborn, was in the direct line of the Abrahamic
promise of the Earth-Blesser
# Ge 12:3
For all that was revealed, in Esau might have fulfilled those two
great Messianic promises. This birthright Esau sold for a momentary
fleshly gratification. Jacob's conception of the birthright at that
time was, doubtless, carnal and inadequate, but his desire for it
evidenced true faith.
[1] {name of the well}
The wells of Genesis have significant names, and are associated with
significant events: (1) Beer-lahai-roi, the well of him that liveth
and seeth me
# Ge 16:14 24:62 25:11
(2) Beer-sheba, the well of the oath or covenant
# Ge 21:15-33 22:19 26:23-25 46:1-5
(3) Esek, contention
# Ge 26:20
(4) Sitnah, hatred
# Ge 26:21
Esek and Sitnah were Isaac's own attempts at well-digging. Afterward,
he dwelt by the old wells of his father. (5) Rehoboth, enlargement
# Ge 26:22
[1] {And Jacob went out}
Bethel becomes, because of Jacob's vision there, one of the
significant places of Scripture. To the Christian it stands for a
realization, however imperfect, of the heavenly and spiritual
contents of faith, answering to Paul's prayer in
# Eph 1:17-23
Dispensationally, the scene speaks of Israel the nation, cast out of
the Land of Promise because of evil-doing there, but holding the
promise of restoration and blessing
# Ge 28:15 De 30:1-10
To "an Israelite indeed" Christ speaks of Jacob's vision as to be
fulfilled in the Son of man (cf)
# Ge 28:12 Joh 1:47-51
[1] {and came into the land}
Jacob at Haran becomes a sterling illustration, if not type, of the
nation descended from him in its present long dispersion. Like Israel,
he was: (1) Out of the place of blessing (Gen 26.3); (2) without an altar
(Hos 3.4,5); (3) gained an evil name (Gen 31.1 Ro 2.17-24); (4) but was
under the covenant care of Jehovah (Gen 28.13,14 Ro 11.1,25-30); (5) and
was ultimately brought back (Gen 31.3 35.1-4 Ez 37.21-23).
The personal lesson is obvious: while Jacob is not forsaken, he is
permitted to reap the shame and sorrow of his self-chosen way.
[1] {Jacob, but Israel}
Both names are applied to the nation descended from Jacob. When used
characteristically "Jacob" is the name for the natural posterity of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; "Israel" for the spiritual part of the
nation. See, e.g.
# Isa 9:8
The "word" was sent to all the people, "Jacob," but it "lighted upon
Israel," i.e. was comprehended by the spiritual part of the people.
See "Israel"
# Ge 12:2,3
» See Note "Ro 11:26"
[1] {shall be no more called Jacob}
Both names are applied to the nation descended from Jacob. When
used \\characteristically\\ "Jacob" is the name for the natural
posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; "Israel" for the spiritual
part of the nation. See
# Isa 9:8
The "word" was sent to all the people, "Jacob," but it "lighted
upon \\Israel\\," i.e. was comprehended by the spiritual part of the
people. See "Israel"
# Ge 12:2,3
» See Note "Ro 11:26"
[1] {El-beth-el]
i.e. the God of Bethel. Cf.
# Ge 28:19
There it was the place as the scene of the ladder vision which
impressed jacob. He called the place "Bethel," i.e. the house of God.
Now it is the God of the place, rather than the place, and he calls it
El-Bethel, i.e. "the God of the house of God." Cf.
# Ge 33:20
[2] {drink offering}
The first mention of the drink-offering. It is not mentioned among
the Levitical offerings of Lev 1.-7., though included in the
instructions for sacrifice in the land
# Nu 15:5-7
It was always
"poured out," never drunk, and may be considered a type of Christ in
the sense of
# Ps 22:14 Isa 53:12
[3] {Benjamin}
i.e. son of my right hand. Benjamin, "son of sorrow" to his mother,
but "son of my right hand" to his father, becomes thus a double type
of Christ. As Ben-oni He was the suffering One because of whom a
sword pierced His mother's heart
# Lu 2:35
as Benjamin, head of the warrior tribe
# Ge 49:27
firmly joined to Judah the kingly tribe
# Ge 49:8-12 1Ki 12:21
he becomes a type of the victorious One. It is noteworthy that
Benjamin was especially honoured among the Gentiles
# Ge 45:22
So manifold are the distinctions of Christ that many personal types of
Him are needed. Joseph is not complete, Benjamin standing only for
Christ the sorrowful One
# Isa 53:3,4
yet have power on earth. (Cf)
» See Note "Ge 43:34"
[1] {Edom}
Edom (called also "Seir,"
# Ge 32:3 36:8
is the name of the country lying south of the ancient kingdom of Judah,
and extending from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akaba. It includes the
ruins of Petra, and is bounded on the north by Moab. Peopled by
descendants of Esau
# Ge 36:1-9
Edom has a remarkable prominence in the prophetic word as
(together with Moab) the scene of the final destruction of Gentile
world-power in the day of the Lord. See "Armageddon"
# Re 16:14 19:21
and "Times of the Gentiles"
# Lu 21:24 Re 16:14
Cf.
# Ps 137:7 Ob 1:8-16 Isa 34:1-8 63:1-6 Jer 49:14-22 Eze 25:12-14
[1] {kings that reigned in the land of Edom}
It is characteristic of Scripture that the kings of Edom should be
enumerated before the kings of Israel. The principle is stated in
# 1Co 15:46
First things are "natural," man's best, and always fail;
second things are "spiritual," God's things, and succeed.
Adam--Christ; Cain--Abel; Cain's posterity--Seth's posterity;
Saul--David; Israel--the true Church, etc.
[1] {Joseph}
While it is nowhere asserted that Joseph was a type of Christ, the
analogies are too numerous to be accidental. They are: (1) both were
especial objects of a father's love
# Ge 37:3 Mt 3:17 Joh 3:35 5:20
(2) both were hated by their brethren
# Ge 37:4 Joh 15:25
(3) the superior claims of both were rejected by their brethren
# Ge 37:8 Mt 21:37-39 Joh 15:24,25
(4) the brethren of both conspired against them to slay them
# Ge 37:18 Mt 26:3,4
(5) Joseph was, in intent and figure, slain by his brethren, as was
Christ
# Ge 37:24 Mt 27:35-37
(6) each became a blessing among the Gentiles, and gained
a Gentile bride
# Ge 41:1-45 Ac 15:14 Eph 5:25-32
(7) as Joseph reconciled his brethren to himself, and afterward
exalted them, so will it be with Christ and His Jewish brethren
# Ge 45:1-15 De 30:1-10 Ho 2:14-18 Ro 11:1,15,25,26
[1] Asenath
Asenath, the Gentile bride espoused by Joseph the rejected one
# Joh 19:15
type of the Church, called out from the Gentiles to be the bride
of Christ during the time of His rejection by His brethren, Israel.
# Ac 15:14 Eph 5:31,32
» See Note "Ge 37:2"
[1] {But Benjamin's mess}
Cf.
» See Note "Ge 35:18"
It is important to observe that Benjamin now becomes prominent.
Joseph is peculiarly the type of Christ in His first advent, rejection,
death, resurrection, and present exaltation among the Gentiles, but
unrecognized of Israel. As the greater Benjamin, "Son of sorrow," but
also "Son of my right hand," He is to be revealed in power in the
Kingdom
# Ge 1:26-28
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
It is then, and not till then, that Israel is to be restored and
converted
» See Note "De 30:7"
Typically
# Ge 45:1,2
anticipates the revelation prophetically described,
# Eze 20:33-36 Ho 2:14-23
at which time the Benjamin type of Christ will be fulfilled.
[1] {I am God}
It is important to distinguish between the directive and the
permissive will of God. In the first sense the place for the
covenant family was Canaan
# Ge 26:1-5
# Ge 46:3
is a touching instance of the permissive will of God. Jacob's family,
broken, and in part already in Egypt, the tenderness of Jehovah would
not forbid the aged patriarch to follow. God will take up His people
and, so far as possible, bless them, even when they are out of His best.
In Israel's choice of a king
# 1Sa 8:7-9
in the turning back from Kadesh
# De 1:19-22
in the sending of the spies; in the case of Balaam--illustrations of
this principle are seen. It is needless to say that God's permissive
will never extends to things morally wrong. The highest blessing is
ever found in obedience to His directive will.
[2] {All the souls}
(Cf)
# Ge 46:27
A discrepancy has been imagined. The "souls" that came with
Jacob" were 66. The "souls of the house of Jacob" (v. 27, i.e. the
entire Jacobean family) were 70, viz. the 66 which came with Jacob,
Joseph and his two sons, already in Egypt=69; Jacob himself=70.
» See Note "Ac 7:14"
[1] {blessed them}
Jacob's life, ending in serenity and blessing, testifies to the power
of God to transform character. His spiritual progress has six
notable phases: (1) the first exercise of faith, as shown in the
purchase of the birthright
# Ge 25:28-34 27:10-22
(2) the vision at bethel
# Ge 38:10-19
(3) walking in the flesh
# Ge 29:1-31:55
(4) the transforming experience
# Ge 32:24-31
(5) the return to Bethel: idols put away
# Ge 35:1-7
(6) the walk of faith
# Ge 37:1-49:33
SCOFIELD REFERENCE NOTES (Old Scofield [1917] BIBLE) Book Introduction
The Second Book of Moses called \\EXODUS\\
EXODUS, "going out," records the redemption out of Egyptian bondage of
the descendants of Abraham, and sets forth, in type, all \\redemption\\.
It is therefore peculiarly the book of redemption. But as all
redemption is unto a relationship with God of which worship, fellowship,
and service are expressions, so Exodus, in the giving of the law and the
provisions of sacrifice and priesthood, becomes not only the book of
redemption, but also, in type, of the conditions upon which all
relationships with God exist.
Broadly, the book teaches that redemption is essential to any
relationship with a holy God; and that even a redeemed people cannot
have fellowship with Him unless constantly cleaned of defilement.
In EXODUS, God, hitherto connected with the Israelitish people only
through His covenant with Abraham, brings them to himself nationally
through redemption, puts them under the Mosaic Covenant, and dwells
among them in the cloud of glory. Galatians explains the relation of
the law to the Abrahamic Covenant. In the Commandments God taught Israel
His just demands. Experience under the Commandments convicted Israel of
sin; and the provision of priesthood and sacrifice (filled with precious
types of Christ) gave a guilty people a way of forgiveness, cleansing,
restoration to fellowship, and worship.
Exodus falls into three chief divisions:
I. Israel in Egypt (1.-15.)
II. From the Red Sea to Sinai (16.-18.)
III. Israel at Sinai (19.40.)
The events recorded in Exodus cover a period of 216 years (Ussher).
[1] {son}
Moses, type of Christ the Deliverer
# Isa 61:1 Lu 4:18 2Co 1:10 1Th 1:10
(1) A divinely chosen deliverer
# Ex 3:7-10 Ac 7:25 Joh 3:16
(2) Rejected by Israel he turns to the Gentiles
# Ex 2:11-15 Ac 7:25 18:5,6 28:17-28
(3) During his rejection he gains a Gentile bride
# Ex 2:16-21 Mt 12:14-21 2Co 11:2 Eph 5:30-32
(4) Afterward he again appears as Israel's deliverer, and is accepted
# Ex 4:29-31 Ro 11:14-26 Ac 15:14-17
(5) Officially, Moses typifies Christ as Prophet
# Ac 3:22,23
Advocate
# Ex 32:31-35 1Jo 2:1,2
Intercessor
# Ex 17:1-6 Heb 7:25
and Leader, or King
# De 33:4,5 Isa 55:4 Heb 2:10
while, in relation to the house of God, he is in contrast with
Christ. Moses was faithful as a servant over another's house; Christ
as a Son over His own house
# Heb 3:5,6
[1] {Put now thine hand}
The sign of leprosy. The heart ("bosom") stands for what we are, the
hand for what we do. What we are, that ultimately we do. It is a sign
of
# Lu 6:43-45
The two signs, rod and hand, speak of preparation for service:
(1) consecration--our capacity taken up for God; (2) the hand
that holds the rod of God's power must be a cleansed hand swayed by a
new heart.
[1] {Aaron the Levite}
(Cf)
# Ex 28:1
» See Note "Ex 28:1"
[2] {harden his heart}
(Cf)
# Ex 8:15,32 9:34
In the face of the righteous demand of Jehovah and of the tremendous
attestations by miracle that He was indeed God, and that Moses and
Aaron were His representatives, Pharaoh "hardened his heart."
Instrumentally God hardened Pharaoh's heart by forcing him to an
issue against which he hardened his own heart in refusal. Light
rejected, rightful obedience refused, inevitably hardens conscience and
heart.
# Ro 9:17-24
[3] {kill him}
(Cf)
# Ge 17:14
The context (v. 25) interprets v. 25. Moses was forgetful
of the very foundation sign of Israel's covenant relation to Jehovah.
On the eve of delivering Israel he was thus reminded that without
circumcision an Israelite was cut off from the covenant.
# Jos 5:3-9
[1] {Aaron's rod}
(Cf)
# Ex 4:2
As Moses' rod was the rod of power, the rod of the King
# De 33:4,5
so Aaron's was the rod of life, the rod of the Priest. As here
the serpents, symbols of Satan, who had the power of death
# Re 12:9 Heb 2:14
are swallowed up, so in resurrection death will be
"swallowed up in victory"
# 1Co 15:54 Nu 17:8
[1] {in the land}
The compromises proposed by Pharaoh are those urged upon Christians
today. The first says in effect: "Be a Christian if you will, but not
a 'narrow' one--stay in Egypt." Invariably it ends in world-conformity,
world-pleasing, and seeking the world's money for God
# Ps 50:9-17
(Cf)
# 2Co 6:14-18 Ga 1:4
[1] {passover}
The Passover, type of Christ our Redeemer
# Ex 12:1-28 Joh 1:29 1Co 5:6,7 1Pe 1:18,19
(1) The lamb must be without blemish, and to test this it was kept up
four days
# Ex 12:5,6
So our Lord's public life, under hostile scrutiny, was the testing
which proved His holiness
# Lu 11:53,54 Joh 8:46 18:38
(2) The Lamb thus tested must be slain
# Ex 12:6 Joh 12:24 Heb 9:22
(3) The blood must be applied
# Ex 12:7
This answers to appropriation by personal faith, and
refutes universalism
# Joh 3:36
(4) The blood thus applied of itself, without anything in addition,
constituted a perfected protection from judgment
# Ex 12:13 1Jo 1:7 Heb 10:10,14
(5) The feast typified Christ the bread of life, answering to the
memorial supper
# Mt 26:26-28 1Co 11:23-26
To observe the feast was a duty and privilege, but not a condition of
safety. As a matter of fact, the bread was not eaten by the
Israelites on the night in which, nevertheless, they were preserved
from the judgment upon the firstborn
# Ex 12:34-39
[1] {passover}
The Passover, type of Christ our Redeemer
# Ex 12:1-28 Joh 1:29 1Co 5:6,7 1Pe 1:18,19
(1) The lamb must be without blemish, and to test this it was kept up
for four days
# Ex 12:5,6
So our Lord's public life, under hostile scrutiny, was the testing
which proved his holiness
# Lu 11:53,54 Joh 8:46 18:38
(2) The Lamb thus tested must be slain
# Ex 12:6 Joh 12:24 Heb 9:22
(3) The blood must be applied
# Ex 12:7
This answers to appropriation by personal faith, and refutes
universalism
# Joh 3:36
(4) The blood thus applied of itself, without anything, constituted a
perfect protection from judgment
# Ex 12:13 1Jo 1:7 Heb 10:10,14
(5) The feast typified Christ as the bread of life, answering to the
memorial supper.
# Mt 26:26-28 1Co 11:23-26
To observe the feast was a \\duty\\ and \\privilege\\, but not a
condition of safety. As a matter of fact, the bread was not eaten by
the Israelites on the night in which, nevertheless, they were
preserved from the judgment upon the firstborn.
# Ex 12:34-39
[1] {Thus the Lord saved Israel}
Redemption: (Exodus type) Summary. Exodus is the book of redemption
and teaches: (1) redemption is \\wholly of God\\
# Ex 3:7,8 Joh 3:16
(2) redemption is \\through a person\\
» See Note "Ex 2:2"
# Joh 3:16,17
(3) redemption is by \\blood\\
# Ex 12:13,23,27 1Pe 1:18
(4) redemption is by \\power\\
# Ex 6:6 13:14 Ro 8:2
» See Note "Isa 59:20"
» See Note "Ro 3:24"
The blood of Christ redeems the believer from the \\guilt\\ and
\\penalty\\ of sin
# 1Pe 1:18
as the power of the Spirit delivers from the \\dominion\\ of sin.
# Ro 8:2 Eph 2:2
[1] {when he had cast into the waters}
These bitter waters were in the very path of the Lord's leading, and
stand for the trials of God's people, which are educatory and not
punitive. The "tree" is the cross
# Ga 3:13
which became sweet to Christ as the expression of the Father's will
# Joh 18:11
When our Marahs are so taken we cast the "tree" into the waters.
# Ro 5:3,4
[1] {manna}
Manna, type of Christ as the "bread of life," come down from heaven
to die "for the life of the world"
# Joh 6:35,48-51
A "small" thing
# Ex 16:14
having but the taste of "fresh oil"
# Nu 11:8
or "wafers with honey"
# Ex 16:31
it typifies Christ in humiliation as presented in Matthew, Mark,
and Luke; "having no form nor comeliness; . . . no beauty that we
should desire him"
# Isa 53:2
But as such He must be received by faith if we would be saved
# Joh 6:53-58
To meditate upon Christ as He went about among men, doing not His own
will but the will of the Father
# Joh 6:38-40
is to feed on the manna. This is, of necessity, the spiritual food of
young believers, and answers to "milk"
# 1Co 3:1,2
But Christ in glory, and the believer's present and eternal
association with Him there, answers to "the old corn of the land"
# Jos 5:11
the "meat" of
# Heb 5:13,14
or Christ as presented in the Epistles of Paul.
(Cf)
# 2Co 5:16
[2] {rock}
The rock, type of life through the Spirit by grace: (1) Christ the
Rock
# 1Co 10:4
(2) The people utterly unworthy
# Ex 17:2 Eph 2:1-6
(3) Characteristics of life through grace: (a) free
# Joh 4:10 Ro 6:23 Eph 2:8
(b) abundant
# Ro 5:20 Ps 105:41 Joh 3:16
(c) near
# Ro 10:8
(d) the people had only to take
# Isa 55:1
The smitten-rock aspect of the death of Christ looks toward the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit as a result of accomplished redemption,
rather than toward out guilt. It is the affirmative side of
# Joh 3:16
"Not perish" speaks of atoning blood; "but have" speaks of life
bestowed.
[3] {Amalek}
Amalek, grandson of Esau
# Ge 36:12
who was "born after the flesh"
# Ga 4:22-29
and progenitor of the Amalekites, Israel's persistent enemy, is a type
of the flesh in the believer.
# Ga 4:29
But the conflict with Amalek in type in Chapter 17 sets forth the
resources of the man under law, rather than those of the believer
under grace. The man under law could fight and pray (vs 9,12).
Under grace the Holy Spirit gains the victory over the flesh in the
believer's behalf.
# Ro 8:2-4 Ga 5:16,17
but this victory is only as the believer walks in the Spirit. Acting
in independency or disobedience, Amalek gains an easy victory
# Nu 14:42-45
Like Saul we are prone to spare the flesh
# 1Sa 15:8,9
forgetting
# Ro 7:18
See "Flesh," Jno 1.13 Jude 13.
# Joh 1:13 Jude 1:13
[1] {Hearken now unto my voice}
(Cf)
# Nu 11:14-17
Jehovah entirely ignored this worldly-wise organization, substituting
His own order.
[2] {In the third month}
At Sinai Israel learned the lessons: (1) of the holiness of Jehovah
through the Commandments; (2) of their own sinfulness and weakness
through failure; (3) and of the goodness of Jehovah through the
provision of priesthood and sacrifice. The Christian learns through
the experience of
# Ro 7:7-24
what Israel learned at Sinai. This division of Exodus should be read
in light of
# Ro 3:19-27 7:7-24 Ga 4:1-3
# Ga 3:6-25
explains the relation of the law to the Abrahamic Covenant: (1) the
law cannot disannul that covenant; (2) it was "added" to convict os
sin; (3) it was a child-leader unto Christ; (4) it was but
preparatory discipline "till the Seed should come."
no note
[3] {Thus shalt thou say}
It is exceedingly important to observe: (1) that Jehovah reminded the
people that hitherto they had been the objects of His free grace; (2)
that the law is not proposed as a means of life, but as a means by
which Israel might become "a peculiar treasure" and a "kingdom of
priests"; (3) that the law was not imposed until it had been proposed
and voluntarily accepted. The principle is stated in
# Ga 5:1-4
[4] {if ye will obey}
(Cf)
# 1Pe 2:9 Re 1:6 5:10
What, under law, was condition, is under grace, freely given to every
believer. The "if" of v. 5 is the essence of law as a method of
divine dealing, and the fundamental reason why "the law made nothing
perfect"
# Ro 8:3 Heb 7:18,19
The Abrahamic
» See Note "Ge 15:18"
and New
» See Note "Heb 8:8"
covenants minister salvation and assurance because they impose but
one condition, faith.
[1] {we will do}
The Fifth Dispensation: Law. This dispensation extends from Sinai to
Calvary--from Exodus to the Cross. The history of Israel in the
wilderness and in the land is one long record of the violation of the
law. The testing of the nation by law ended in the judgment of the
Captivities, but the dispensation itself ended at the Cross. (1)
Man's state at the beginning
# Ex 19:1-4
(2) His responsibility
# Ex 19:5,6 Ro 10:5
(3) His failure
# 2Ki 17:7-17,19 Ac 2:22,23
(4) The judgment
# 2Ki 17:1-6,20 25:1-11 Lu 21:20-24
See, for the other six dispensations: INNOCENCE (Ge 1.28); CONSCIENCE
(Ge 3.23); HUMAN GOVERNMENT (Ge 8.20); PROMISE (Ge 12.1); GRACE (Jn
1.17); KINGDOM (Ep 1.10)
» See Note "Ge 1:28"
» See Note "Ge 3:23"
» See Note "Ge 8:20"
» See Note "Ge 12:1"
» See Note "Joh 1:17"
» See Note "Eph 1:10"
[1] {So Moses}
The Mosaic Covenant, (1) given to Israel (2) in three divisions, each
essential to the others, and together forming the Mosaic Covenant,
viz.: the Commandments, expressing the righteous will of God
# Ex 20:1-26
the "judgments," governing the social life of Israel
# Ex 21:1-24:11
and the "ordinances," governing the religious life of Israel
# Ex 24:12-31:18
These three elements form "the law," as that phrase is generically
used in the New Testament (e.g.)
# Mt 5:17,18
The Commandments and the ordinances formed one religious
system. The Commandments were a "ministry of condemnation" and of
"death"
# 2Co 3:7-9
the ordinances gave, in the high priest, a representative of the
people with Jehovah; and in the sacrifices a "cover" (see "Atonement,"
» See Note "Le 16:6"
for their sins in anticipation of the Cross
# Heb 5:1-3 9:6-9 Ro 3:25,26
The Christian is not under the conditional Mosaic Covenant of works,
the law, but under the unconditional New Covenant of grace.
# Ro 3:21-27 6:14,15 Ga 2:16 3:10-14,16-18,24-26 4:21-31 Heb 10:11-17
See NEW COVENANT
» See Note "Heb 8:8"
See, for the other seven covenants: EDENIC (Ge 1.28); ADAMIC (Ge 3.15);
NOAHIC (Ge 9.1); ABRAHAMIC (Ge 15.18); PALESTINIAN (Deu 30.3); DAVIDIC
(2Sa 7.16); NEW (He 8.8).
[2] {shalt not make}
There is a threefold giving of the law. First, orally, in
# Ex 20:1-17
This was pure law, with no provision of priesthood and
sacrifice for failure, and was accompanied by the "judgments"
# Ex 21:1-23:13
relating to the relations of Hebrew with Hebrew; to which
were added
# Ex 23:14-19
directions for keeping three annual feasts, and
# Ex 23:20-33
instructions for the conquest of Canaan. These words Moses
communicated to the people.
# Ex 24:3-8
Immediately, in the persons of their elders, they were admitted to the
fellowship of God.
# Ex 24:9-11
Second, Moses was then called up to receive the tables of stone.
# Ex 24:12-18
The story then divides. Moses, in the mount, receives the gracious
instructions concerning the tabernacle, priesthood, and sacrifice
(Ex 25.-31.) Meantime (Ex 32.), the people, led by Aaron, break the
first commandment. Moses, returning, breaks the tables "written with
the finger of God."
# Ex 31:18 32:16-19
Third, the second tables were made by Moses, and the law again written
by the hand of Jehovah
# Ex 34:1,28,29 De 10:4
[1] {the Lord spoke unto Moses}
The general authority for the types of Exodus is found: (1) as to the
persons and events, in
# 1Co 10:1-11
(2) as to the tabernacle, in
# Heb 9:1-24
Having the assurance that in the tabernacle everything is
typical, the details must of necessity be received as such. Two
warnings are necessary: (1) Nothing may be dogmatically asserted to
be a type without explicit New Testament authority; and (2) all types
not so authenticated must be recognized as having the authority
of analogy, or spiritual congruity, merely. The typical meanings of
the materials and colours of the tabernacle are believed to be as
follows: Gold, Deity in manifestation--divine glory; silver,
redemption
# Ex 30:12-16
» See Note "Ex 38:27"
\\brass\\,
symbol of judgment, as in the brazen altar and in the serpent
of brass
# Nu 21:6-9
\\ blue\\,
heavenly in nature or origin; purple, royalty; scarlet, sacrifice.
[1] {tabernacle pattern}
The tabernacle, speaking comprehensively, is explained in the N.T. as
typical in three ways: (1) of the Church as a habitation of God
through the Spirit
# Ex 25:8 Eph 2:19-22
(2) of the believer
# 2Co 6:16
(3) as a figure of things in the heavens
# Heb 9:23,24
In detail, all speaks of Christ: (1) The ark, in its materials,
acacia-wood
» See Note "Ex 26:15"
and gold, is a type of the humanity and deity of Christ.
(2) In its contents, a type of Christ, as: (a) having God's law in His
heart
# Ex 25:16
(b) the wilderness food (or portion) of His people
# Ex 16:33
(c) Himself the resurrection, of which Aaron;s rod is the symbol
# Nu 17:10
(3) In its use the ark, especially the mercy-seat, was a type of God's
throne. That it was, to the sinning Israelite, a throne of grace and
not of judgment was due to the mercy-seat formed of gold and sprinkled
with the blood of atonement, which vindicated the law, and divine
holiness guarded by the cherubim
# Ge 3:24
» See Note "Eze 1:5"
See PROPITIATION,
» See Note "Ro 3:25"
[1] {make an ark}
All begins with the ark, which, in the completed tabernacle, was
placed in the holy of holies, because, in revelation, God begins from
Himself, working outward toward man; as, in approach, the worshipper
begins from himself, moving toward God in the holy of holies. The
same order is followed in the Levitical offerings (Le 1.-5.). In
approach man begins at the brazen altar, type of the Cross, where, in
the fire of judgment, atonement is made.
[1] {shewbread}
Showbread, type of Christ, the Bread of God, nourisher of the
Christian's life as a believer-priest
# 1Pe 2:9 Re 1:6
In
# Joh 6:33-58
our Lord has more in mind the manna, that food which "came
down"; but all typical meanings of "bread" are there gathered into
His words. The manna is the life-giving Christ; the showbread, the
life-sustaining Christ. The showbread typifies Christ as the "corn
of wheat"
# Joh 12:24
ground in the mill of suffering
# Joh 12:27
and brought into the fire of judgment
# Joh 12:31-33
We, as priests, by faith feed upon Him as having undergone that in our
stead and for our sakes. It is meditation upon Christ, as in
# Heb 12:2,3
[2] {candlestick}
Candlestick, type of Christ our Light, shining in the fullness of the
power of the sevenfold Spirit
# Isa 11:2 Heb 1:9 Re 1:4
Natural light was excluded from the tabernacle. (Cf)
# 1Co 2:14,15
» See Note "Ge 1:16"
# Joh 1:4
[1] {boards}
The typical meaning of the boards is clear as to Christ. Acacia
wood, a desert growth, is a fitting symbol of Christ in His humanity
as "a root out of dry ground"
# Isa 53:2
The covering, gold, typifies Deity in manifestation, speaks of His
divine glory. As applied to the individual believer the meaning of
the boards is less clear. The connection may be found in
# Joh 17:21,22,23 Eph 1:4,6 1Jo 4:13
Only as seen "in Him" could the boards be taken as representing the
believer. So viewed the type is beautiful. In the world, and yet
separated from it by the silver of redemption
# Ga 1:4 Ex 30:11-16 38:25-27
as the boards of the tabernacle were separated from the earth by the
sockets of silver, and united by the "middle bar"
# Ex 26:28
representing both the one life
# Ga 2:20
and one Spirit
# Eph 4:3
"all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple
in the Lord."
# Eph 2:21
[2] {sockets of silver}
Silver symbolizes redemption
» See Note "Ex 25:1"
» See Note "Ex 38:27"
All the tabernacle rests upon silver except the hangings of the gate,
the way of access.
» See Note "Ex 27:17"
[1] {vail}
The inner veil, type of Christ's human body
# Mt 26:26 27:50 Heb 10:20
This veil, barring entrance into the holiest, was the most
expressive symbol of the truth that "by the deeds of the law shall no
flesh be justified"
# Ro 3:20, Heb 9:8
Rent by an unseen hand when Christ Died
# Mt 27:51
thus giving instant access to God to all who come by faith in Him,
it was the end of all legality; the way to God was open. It is deeply
significant that the priests must have patched together again the
veil that God had rent, for the temple services went on yet for nearly
forty years. That patched veil is Galatianism--the attempt to put
saint or sinner back under the law. (Cf)
# Ga 1:6-9
Anything but "the grace of Christ" is "another gospel," and under
anathema.
[2] {altar} [3] {height}
Brazen altar, type of the Cross upon which Christ, our whole
burnt-offering offered Himself without spot to God
# Heb 9:14
[3]
(Cf)
# Ex 25:10
The altar of burnt offering is double the height of the mercy-seat.
The atonement more than saves us--it glorifies God
# Joh 17:14
[4] {fine twined linen}
The fine linen commonly typifies personal righteousness
# Ex 26:1
ref. (d), and in the hangings of the court stands for that measure of
righteousness which God demands of any who would, in his own
righteousness, approach. Christ, figuratively speaking, put up the
hangings of the court in
# Lu 10:25-28
The only way of approach was the "gate"
# Ex 27:16 Joh 10:9
The hangings of the court bar out equally the self-righteous man and
the open sinner, for the height was above seven feet.
# Ex 27:18
[1] {gate}
In the hangings of the court (v. 9, ref), representing that practical
righteousness which God demands in the law, and which, therefore, bars
out all men
# Ro 3:19,20 10:3-5
No colours are inwrought. But the "gate" is Christ
# Joh 10:9
and so the colours reappear as in the veil
# Ex 26:31
[2] {pillars}
The fillets and hooks upholding the linen hangings are of silver
» See Note "Ex 38:27"
for it is in virtue of His redemptive work that Christ is our
way of access, and not by virtue of His righteous life (symbolized by
the fine linen); but the pillars of the court rest upon brass sockets,
not silver as in the case of the boards
» See Note "Ex 26:19"
and brass symbolizes divine righteousness in judgment
» See Note "Nu 21:9"
Redemption not only displays God's mercy, but vindicates His
righteousness in showing that mercy.
# Ro 3:21-26
[3] {oil}
Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit (Cf)
# Joh 3:34 Heb 1:9
In Christ the oil-fed Light ever burns, the Light of the world
# Joh 8:12
But here we have not the world, but the sanctuary. It is a question,
not of testimony in and to the world, but of our communion and worship
as believer-priests in the holiest
# Heb 10:19,20
In the Tabernacle there were two compartments, two lights: the holy
place with the candlestick
» See Note "Ex 25:31"
the holy of holies with the shekinah, or manifested glory of God.
These two places are now one
# Mt 27:50,51 Heb 9:6-8 10:19-21
but it is important to see that there are still two lights: Christ,
the Light of life
# Joh 8:12
through the Spirit giving light upon the holy things of God, the
showbread and altar of incense; and also the shekinah, now on the
face of Jesus Christ
# 2Co 4:6
Into this twofold light we, as believer- priests, are brought
# 1Pe 2:9
We "walk in the light," not merely which He gives, but in
which He lives
# 1Jo 1:7
But what of the command to "bring pure oil"
# Ex 27:20
Because our access, apprehension, communion, and transformation are by
the Spirit
# Eph 2:18 1Co 2:14,15 2Co 13:14 Php 2:1 2Co 3:18
Our title to His presence is the blood
# Eph 2:13
but only as filled with the Spirit
# Eph 5:18
do we really walk in the light.
[1] {Aaron}
Type of Christ, our High Priest. Christ is a priest after the order
of Melchizedek, but He executes his priestly office after the pattern
of Aaron. Heb. 7. gives the order; Heb. 9., the pattern. See Gen
14.18-20, note.
» See Note "Ge 14:18"
[2] {holy garments}
Heb. \\qodesh\\= "set apart" for God. Trans. "holy," v.2; "consecrate,"
v.3. Often trans. "sanctify." See summary,
» See Note "Zec 8:3"
This is always the fundamental idea of a holy, consecrated, separated,
or sanctified person or thing--something set apart for God. Infinite
confusion would have been spared the reader if \\qodesh\\ had been
uniformly trans. "set apart."
[2] {holy garments}
Heb. \\qodesh\\= "set apart" for God. Trans. "holy," v.2; "consecrate,"
v.3. Often trans. "sanctify." See summary,
» See Note "Zec 8:3"
This is always the fundamental idea of a holy, consecrated, separated,
or sanctified person or thing--something set apart for God. Infinite
confusion would have been spared the reader if \\qodesh\\ had been
uniformly trans. "set apart."
[1] {Urim and Thummim}
Urim and Thummim, meaning "lights and perfections." Some make these
to be simply a collective name for the stones of the breastplate, so
that the total effect of the twelve stones is to manifest the "lights
and perfections" of Him who is the antitype of the Aaronic high
priest. Per contra,
# Le 8:8
This would seem to be conclusive that "the Urim and Thummim" are
additional to the stones of the breastplate. In use the Urim and
Thummim were connected, in some way not clearly expressed, with the
ascertainment of the divine will in particular cases
# Nu 27:21 De 33:8 1Sa 28:6 Ezr 2:63
[1] {do unto them to hallow them}
The priest type of consecration. (Cf. the temple type,
# 1Ki 8:1-11 2Ch 5:4,14
The order in Leviticus
# 8:1-9:24
differs from the order here. In Leviticus the filling the hands
precedes the sprinkling.
[2] {Aaron}
Aaron shares in the washing (i.e., symbol of regeneration,
# Tit 3:5 Joh 3:5,6
(1) as needing it, be in this in \\contrast\\ with Christ
# Heb 7:26-28
(2) to typify Christ's action, who received the baptism of John, not
as needing it, but as thus identifying Himself with sinners, and as
fulfilling the Aaronic type. As in Aaron's case, His anointing
followed the washing
# Ex 29:4,7 Mt 3:14-16
[3] {garments}
The priest's garments were put on in reverse order of the instructions
for making them:
(1) The "coat"
# Ex 28:39
the oriental long garment worn next to the person, made of fine
linen.
# Ex 27:9
(2) The "robe of the ephod"
# Ex 28:31-35
a long seamless garment of blue linen with an opening for the head,
worn over the "coat." Pomegranates, symbol of fruitfulness, were
embroidered on the skirt of the robe in blue, purple, and scarlet,
alternated with golden bells, symbol of testimony, which gave a sound
as the high priest went in and out of the sanctuary. The robe was
secured by a golden girdle.
(3) The ephod
# Ex 28:5-12
was next put on. A short garment made of linen, embroidered with
gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, it consisted of two pieces, front
and back, united by two shoulder-pieces and by a band about the
bottom. Two onyx stones, set in gold and fastened upon the
shoulder-pieces of the ephod, were engraved with the names of the
twelve tribes: "and Aaron shall bear their names before Jehovah upon
his two shoulders (the place of strength) for a memorial." Cf.
# Isa 9:6 Lu 15:4,5
(4) The breastplate was a square pouch
# Ex 28:16
of linen to contain the Urim and Thummim
» See Note "Ex 28:30"
To the linen pouch was attached the oblong gold setting containing
four rows of precious stones, on each stone a tribal name. The
breastplate with the jewel work was attached at the upper corners to
the shoulder-pieces of the ephod by golden chains. Golden
rings were sewn on ephod and breastplate, and the latter was further
secured to the ephod by laces of blue through the rings.
Altogether, it was called "the breastplate of judgment" because worn
by the high priest when judging the causes of the people.
» See Note "Ex 28:30"
(5) A mitre (or "turban") of fine line was made
# Ex 28:37
to cover the head, bearing upon the front a gold plate engraved,
"Holiness to the Lord"
# Ex 29:36
(6) To these were added linen breeches, "from the loins even to the
thighs"
# Ex 28:42
The "coat" and linen breeches were made for the priests, also, and were
the ordinary garments of high priest and priests as distinguished
from the other garments, which were "for glory and beauty."
[1] {atonement}
Heb. \\kaphar\\, "to cover." The English word "atonement"
(at-one-ment) is not a \\translation\\ of the Heb. \\kaphar\\, but a
translator's \\interpretation\\. According to Scripture the legal
sacrifice "covered" the offerer's \\sin\\ and secured the divine
\\forgiveness\\; according to the translators it made God and the
sinner at-one. But the O.T. sacrifices did \\not\\ at-one the sinner
and God. "It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sins."
# Heb 10:4
The Israelite's offering implied confession of sin and of its due
desert, death; and God "covered" (passed over,"
# Ro 3:25
his sin, in anticipation of \\Christ's\\ sacrifice, which did,
finally, "put away" the sins "done aforetime in the forbearance of
God.
# Ro 3:25 Heb 9:15
» See Note "Ro 3:2"
The word "atonement" does not occur in the N.T.;
# Ro 5:11
meaning reconciliation, and so rendered in the R.V.
See "Sacrifice," Gen 4.4, and refs.
» See note "Ge 4:4"
» See note "Le 16:5"
[2] {incense}
Altar of incense, type of Christ our intercessor
# Joh 17:1-26 Heb 7:25
through whom our own prayers and praises ascend to God
# Heb 13:15 Re 8:3,4
and of the believer-priest's sacrifice of praise and worship
# Heb 13:15
[1] {strange}
(Cf.)
# Le 10:1-3
two prohibitions are given concerning worship: (1) No "strange"
incense is to be offered. This speaks of simulated or purely
formal worship. (2) No "strange" fire was permitted. This refers to
the excitation of "religious" feelings by merely sensuous means, and
to the substitution for devotion to Christ of any other devotion, as
to religious causes, or sects. (Cf)
# 1Co 1:11-13 Col 2:8,16-19
» See Note "Ex 30:38"
[2] {laver}
Laver, type of Christ cleansing us from defilement, and from "every spot
or wrinkle or any such thing"
# Joh 13:2-10 Eph 5:25-27
It is significant that the priests could not enter the holy place
after serving at the brazen altar till hands and feet were cleansed.
[1] {oil}
Anointing oil, type of the Holy Spirit for service (Act 1.8)
# Ac 1:8
[2] {frankincense}
Frankincense is not to be confounded with incense (to which it was
to be added), as it is often used apart from incense. We are told
what composed the incense--never in Scripture what the frankincense
was. All speaks of Christ--the sweet spices of those perfections
which we may apprehend, the frankincense of that which God saw in
Jesus ineffable.
[3] {smell}
What is condemned here is making worship a mere pleasure to the natural
man, whether sensuous, as in beautiful music to please the ear, or
eloquence, merely to give delight to the natural mind. (Cf)
# Joh 4:23,24
[1] {let me alone}
This whole scene affords a striking contrast between law and grace.
(Cf)
Moses' intercession with Christ's
# Joh 17:1-26
Israel was a \\nation\\, under \\probation\\
# Ex 19:5,6
believers under grace are a \\family\\, awaiting \\glory\\
# Joh 20:17 Ro 5:1,2
For them there is "an advocate with the \\Father\\, whose propitiatory
sacrifice never loses efficacy
# 1Jo 2:1,2
Moses pleads a \\covenant\\
# Ex 32:13
Christ points to a \\sacrifice\\
# Joh 17:4
[1] {silver}
Silver thus receives its symbolic meaning--redemption. The sockets
were made of the redemption money of the children of Israel. Cf.
# Ex 26:19 30:13-16 Nu 3:44-51
[1] {glory}
Cf.
# Eph 2:22
What the shekinah glory was to tabernacle and temple, that
the Spirit is to the "holy temple," the Church, and to the temple
which is the believer's body.
# 1Co 6:19
SCOFIELD REFERENCE NOTES (Old Scofield Bible [1917]) Book Introduction
The Third Book of Moses called \\LEVITICUS\\
LEVITICUS stands in the same relation to EXODUS, that the Epistles do to
the Gospels. EXODUS is the record of redemption, and lays the
foundation of the cleansing, worship, and service of a redeemed people.
LEVITICUS gives the detail of the walk, worship, and service of that
people. In EXODUS God speaks out of the mount to which approach was
forbidden; in LEVITICUS He speaks out of the tabernacle in which He
dwells in the midst of His people, to tell them that which befits His
holiness in their approach to, and communion with, Himself.
The key word of Leviticus is holiness, occurring 87 times. Key verse is
19.2.
LEVITICUS is in nine chief divisions:
I. The Offerings 1.-6. 7
II. The Law of the Offerings 6.8-7. 38.
III. Consecration 8. 1-9. 24
IV. A Warning Example 10. 1-20.
V. A Holy God Must Have a Cleansed People 11. -15.
VI. Atonement 16., 17.
VII. The Relationships of God's People 18.-22.
VIII.The Feasts of Jehovah, 23.
IX. Instructions and Warnings, 24.-27.
[1] {burnt-sacrifice}
The burnt-offering (1) typifies Christ offering Himself without spot
to God in delight to do His Father's will even in death. (2) it is
\\atoning\\ because the believer has \\not\\ had this delight in the
will of God; and (3) \\substitutionary\\ (v. 4) because Christ
did it in the sinner's stead. But the thought of \\penalty\\ is not
prominent.
# Heb 9:11-14 10:5-7 Ps 40:6-8 Php 2:8
The emphatic words
# Le 1:3-5
are "burnt-sacrifice," "voluntary," "it shall be accepted for
him," and "atonement." The creatures acceptable for sacrifice are
five: (1) The bullock, or ox, typifies Christ as the patient and
enduring Servant
# 1Co 9:9,10 Heb 12:23
"obedient unto death"
# Isa 52:13-15 Php 2:5-8
His offering in this character is substitutionary, for this we have
not been. (2) The sheep, or lamb, typifies Christ in unresisting
self-surrender to the death of the cross
# Isa 53:7 Ac 8:32-35
(3) The goat typifies the sinner
# Mt 25:33
and, when used sacrificially, Christ, as "numbered with the
transgressors"
# Isa 53:12 Lu 23:33
and "made sin," and "a curse"
# Ga 3:13 2Co 5:21
as the sinner's substitute. (4,5) The turtle-dove or pigeon.
Naturally a symbol of mourning innocency
# Isa 38:14 59:11 Mt 23:37 Heb 7:26
is associated with poverty in
# Le 5:7
and speaks of Him who for our sakes become poor
# Lu 9:58
and whose pathway of poverty which began with laying aside "the form of
God," ended in the sacrifice through which we became rich
# 2Co 8:9 Php 2:6-8
The sacrifice of the poor Man becomes the poor man's sacrifice.
# Lu 2:24
These grades of typical sacrifice test the measure of our
apprehension of the varied aspects of Christ's one sacrifice on the
cross. The mature believer should see Christ crucified in all
these aspects.
[2] {put his hand upon}
The laying of the offerer's hand signified \\acceptance\\ and
\\identification\\ if himself with his offering. In type it answered
to the believer's faith accepting and identifying himself with Christ
# Ro 4:5 6:3-11
The believer is justified by faith, and his faith is reckoned for
righteousness, because his faith identifies him with Christ, who died
as his sin-offering
# 2Co 5:21 1Pe 2:24
[1] {fire}
Fire. Essentially as symbol of God's holiness. As such it expresses
God in three ways: (1) In judgment upon that which His holiness
utterly condemns (e.g.)
# Ge 19:24 Mr 9:43-48 Re 20:15
(2) in the manifestation of Himself, and of that which He approves
# Ex 3:2 1Pe 1:7 Ex 13:21
and (3) in purification (e.g)
# 1Co 3:12-14 Mal 3:2,3
So, in Leviticus, the fire which only manifests the sweet
savour of the burnt-, meal-, and peace- offerings, wholly consumes
the sin-offering.
[2] {sweet savour}
The sweet savour offerings are so called because they typify Christ
in His own perfections, and in His affectionate devotion to the
Father's will. The non-sweet savour offerings typify Christ as
bearing the whole demerit of the sinner. Both are substantial. In
our place Christ, in the burnt-offering, makes good our lack of
devotedness, and, in the sin- and trespass-offerings, suffers because
of our disobediences.
[3] {fine flour}
The meal-offering. The \\fine flour\\ speaks of the evenness and
balance of the character of Christ; of that perfection in which no
quality was in excess, none lacking; \\the fire,\\ of His testing by
suffering, even unto death; \\frankincense\\; the fragrance of His
life Godward (see)
# Ex 30:34
\\absence of leaven\\, His character as "the Truth" (see)
# Ex 12:8
\\absence of honey\\;--His was not that mere natural sweetness which
may exist quite apart from grace; \\oil mingled\\, Christ as born of
the Spirit
# Mt 1:18-23
\\oil upon\\, Christ as baptized with the Spirit
# Joh 1:32 6:27
\\the oven\\, the unseen sufferings of Christ--His inner agonies
# Heb 2:18 Mt 27:45,46
\\the pan\\, His more evident sufferings (e.g.)
# Mt 27:27-31
\\salt\\, the pungency of the truth of God--that which arrests the
action of leaven.
[1] {leaven} [2] {honey}
For meanings of leaven see Mat 13.33. Also Le 7.13, note
# Mt 13:33
» See Note "Le 7:13"
[2]
Honey is mere natural sweetness and could not symbolize the divine
graciousness of the Lord Jesus.
[3] {salt}
Cf.
# Nu 18:19 Mr 9:49,50 Col 4:6
[4] {peace-offering}
The peace-offering. The whole work of Christ in relation to the
believer's peace is here in type. He made peace,
# Col 1:20
proclaimed peace,
# Eph 2:17
and is our peace,
# Eph 2:14
In Christ God and the sinner meet in peace; God is propitiated, the
sinner reconciled--both alike satisfied with what Christ has done.
But all this at the cost of blood and fire. The details speak of
fellowship. This brings in prominently the thought of fellowship
with God through Christ. Hence the peace-offering is set forth as
affording food for the priests
# Le 7:31-34
Observe that it is the breast (affections) and shoulders (strength)
upon which we as priests
# 1Pe 2:9
feed in fellowship with the Father. This it is which makes
the peace-offering especially a thank- offering.
# Le 7:11,12
[1] {sin-offering}
The sin-offering, though still Christ, is Christ seen laden with the
believer's sin, absolutely in the sinner's place and stead, and not,
as in the sweet savour offerings, in His own perfections. It is
Christ's death as viewed in
# Isa 53:1-12 Ps 22:1-31 Mt 26:28 1Pe 2:24 3:18
But note
# Le 6:24-30
how the essential holiness of Him who was "made sin for us"
# 2Co 5:21
is guarded. The sin-offerings are \\expiatory, substitutional,\\
\\efficacious\\
# Le 4:12,29,35
and have in view the vindication of the law through substitutional
sacrifice.
[1] {without the camp}
Cf.
# Ex 29:14 Le 16:27 Nu 19:3 Heb 13:10-13
The last passage is the interpretative one. The "camp" was Judaism--
a religion of forms and ceremonies. "Jesus, also, that He might
sanctify [separate, or set apart for God] the people with [or
'through'] His own blood, suffered without the gate" [temple gate,
city gate, i.e. Judaism civil and religious];
# Heb 13:12
but how does this sanctify, or set apart, a people? "Let us go forth
therefore unto Him without the camp [Judaism then, Judaized
Christianity now--anything \\religious\\ which denies Him as our
sin-offering] bearing His reproach"
# Heb 13:13
The sin-offering, "burned without the camp," typifies this
aspect of the death of Christ. The cross becomes a new altar, in a
new place, where, without the smallest merit in themselves, the
redeemed gather to offer, as believer-priests, spiritual sacrifices.
# Heb 13:15 1Pe 2:5
The bodies of the sin-offering beasts were not burned without the camp,
as some have fancied, because "saturated with sin," and unfit for a
holy camp. Rather, an unholy camp was an unfit place for a holy
sin-offering. The dead body of our Lord was not "saturated with sin,"
though in it our sins had been borne
# 1Pe 2:24
[1] {trespass offering}
The trespass-offerings have in view rather the \\injury\\ which sin
does than its \\guilt\\-- which is the sin-offering aspect. What is
due to God's rights in every human being is here meant.
# Ps 51:4
is a perfect expression of this.
[1] {fire}
See Lev. 1.8, note. Here the fire expresses also the undying
devotedness of Christ.
» See Note "Le 1:8"
[1] {The Fire}
» See Note "Le 1:8"
Here the fire expresses also the undying devotedness of Christ.
[1] {peace-offerings}
In the "law of the offerings," the peace-offering is taken out of its
place as third of the sweet savour offerings, and placed alone, and
after all the non-sweet savour offerings. The explanation is as
simple as the fact is beautiful. In \\revealing\\ the offerings
Jehovah works from Himself \\out\\ to the sinner
» See Note "Ex 25:10"
The whole burnt-offering comes first as meeting what is due
to the divine affections, and the trespass-offering last as meeting
the simplest aspect of sin-- its \\injuriousness.\\ But the sinner
begins of necessity with that which lies nearest to a newly awakened
conscience--a sense, namely, that because of sin he is at \\enmity\\
with God. His first need, therefore, is peace with God. And that is
precisely the Gospel order. Christ's first message is, "Peace"
# Joh 20:19
\\afterward\\ He shows them His hands and His side. It is
the order as
# 2Co 5:18-21
first "the word of reconciliation," verse 19, then the trespass-
and sin-offering, verse 21. \\Experience\\ thus reverses the order of
\\revelation.\\
# Le 7:19,21
[2] {leaven]
The use of leaven here is significant. Peace with God is something
which the believer \\shares\\ with God. Christ is our peace-offering
# Eph 2:13
Any thanksgiving for peace \\must\\, first of all, present \\Him.\\
In verse 12 we have this, in type, and so leaven is excluded. In verse
13 it is the \\offerer\\ who gives thanks for \\his\\ participation in
the peace, and so leaven fitly signifies, that though having peace
with God through the work of another, there is still evil in him.
This is illustrated in
# Am 4:5
where the evil in Israel is before God.
[1] {Aaron}
The priests did not consecrate themselves, all was done by another,
in this instance Moses, acting for Jehovah. The priests simply
presented their bodies in the sense of
# Ro 12:1
[1] {poured of the anointing oil}
Two important distinctions are made in the case of the high priest,
thus confirming his typical relation to Christ the anti-type: (1)
Aaron is anointed before the sacrifices are slain, while in the case
of the priests the application of blood precedes the anointing.
Christ the sinless One required no preparation for receiving the
anointing oil, symbol of the Holy Spirit; (2) upon the high priest
only was the anointing oil poured. "God giveth not the Spirit by
measure unto him"
# Joh 3:34
"Thy God hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy
fellows."
# Heb 1:9
[1] {fire}
Strange fire. Fire "from before the Lord" had kindled upon the altar
of \\burnt-offering\\ the fire which the care of the priests was to
keep burning
# Le 6:12
No commandment had yet been given
# Le 16:12
how the \\incense\\ should be kindled. The sin of Nadab and Abihu
was in acting in the things of God without seeking the mind of God.
It was "will worship"
# Col 2:23
which often has a "show of wisdom and humility." It typifies any use
of carnal means to kindle the fire of devotion and praise.
[1] {These are the beasts}
The dietary regulations of the covenant people must be regarded
\\primarily\\ as sanitary. Israel, it must be remembered, was a
nation living on the earth under a theocratic government. Of
necessity the divine legislation concerned itself with the social as
well as with the religious life of the people. To force upon every
word of that legislation a typical meaning is to strain
# 1Co 10:1-11 Heb 9:23,24
beyond all reasonable interpretation.
[2] {hare}
Heb. \\arnebeth\\, an unidentified animal, but certainly not a hare,
possessing as it is said to, characteristics not possessed by the
hare. The supposed error in the \\text\\ is due entirely to the
translators' assumption that the English hare and the ancient
"arnebeth" were identical.
[1] {Leprosy}
Leprosy speaks of sin as (1) in the blood; (2) becoming overt in
loathsome ways; (3) incurable by human means. The anti-type as
applied to the people of God is "sin," demanding self-judgment
# 1Co 11:31
and "sins," demanding confession and cleansing.
# 1Jo 1:9
[3] {priest}
Some have found in the regulations of this chapter concerning an
inquest by the priest of a case of leprosy, elaborate provisions for
the exercise of discipline in the local church. No little
self-righteousness and cruelty have come in thereby. The
\\explicit\\ instructions of the N.T. are the alone and sufficient
rule of discipline.
[1] {go forth}
As a type of Gospel salvation the points are: (1) The leper does
nothing
# Ro 4:5,5
(2) the priest seeks the leper, not the leper the priest
# Lu 19:10
(3) "with-out shedding of blood is no remission"
# Heb 9:22
(4) "and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain"
# 1Co 15:17
[1] {birds}
The bird slain, and the live bird, dipped in blood and released,
present the two aspects of salvation in
# Ro 4:25
"delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification."
[2] {vessel}
The earthen vessel typifies the humanity of Christ, as the running water
typifies the Holy Spirit as the "Spirit of life"
# Ro 8:2
"put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit."
# 1Pe 3:18
[1] {goats}
The two goats. The offering of the high priest for himself has no
anti-type in Christ
# Heb 7:26,27
The \\typical\\ interest centres upon the two goats and the high
priest. Typically (1) all is done by the high priest
# Heb 1:3
"by Himself"), the people only bring the sacrifice
# Mt 26:47 27:24,25
(2) The goat slain (Jehovah's lot) is that aspect of Christ's work
which vindicates the holiness and righteousness of God as expressed
in the law
# Ro 3:24-26
and is \\expiatory.\\ (3) The living goat typifies that aspect of
Christ's work which puts \\away\\ our sins from before God
# Heb 9:26 Ro 8:33,34
(4) The high priest entering the holiest, typifies Christ
entering "heaven itself" with "His own blood" for us
# Heb 9:11,12
His blood makes that to be a "throne of grace," and "mercy seat"
which else must have been a throne of judgment. (5) For us, the
priests of the New Covenant, there is what Israel never had, a rent
veil
# Mt 27:51 Heb 10:19,20
So that, for worship and blessing, we enter, in virtue of His blood,
where He is, into the holiest
# Heb 4:14-16 10:19-22
The atonement of Christ, as interpreted by the O.T. sacrificial types,
has these necessary elements: (1) It is substitutionary--the offering
takes the offerer's place in death. (2) The law is not evaded but
honored--every sacrificial death was an execution of the sentence of
the law. (3) The sinlessness of Him who bore our sins is expressed in
every animal sacrifice--it must be without blemish. (4) The
\\effect\\ of the atoning work of Christ is typified (a) in the
promises, "it shall be forgiven him"; and (b) in the peace-offering,
the expression of fellowship--the highest privilege of the saint.
» See Note "Ex 29:33"
[1] {Atonement}
Atonement. The biblical use and meaning of the word must be sharply
distinguished from its use in theology. In theology it is term
which covers the whole sacrificial and redemptive work of Christ. In
the O.T. atonement is the English word used to translate the Hebrew
words which mean "cover," "coverings," or "to cover." Atonement
(at-one-ment) is, therefore, not a translation of the hebrew, but a
purely theologic concept. The Levitical offerings "covered" the sins
of Israel until, and in anticipation of the Cross, but did not "take
away"
# Heb 10:4
those sins. These were the "sins done aforetime" ("covered" meantime
by the Levitical sacrifices), which God "passed over"
# Ro 3:25
for which "passing over" God's righteousness was
never vindicated until, in the Cross, Jesus Christ was "set forth a
propitiation." See "Propitiation," Ro 3.25, note.
» See Note "Ro 3:25"
It was the Cross, not the Levitical sacrifices which made
"at-one-ment." The O.T. sacrifices enabled God to go on with a guilty
people because they typified the Cross. To the \\offerer\\ they were
the confession of his desert of death, and the expression of his faith;
to God they were the "shadows"
# Heb 10:1
of which Christ was the reality.
[2] {out unto the altar}
Dispensationally, for Israel, this is yet future; the High Priest is
still in the holiest. When He comes out to His ancient people they
will be converted and restored
# Ro 11:23-27 Zec 12:10,12 13:1 Re 1:7
Meantime, believers of this dispensation as priests
# 1Pe 2:9
enter into the holiest where He is.
# Heb 10:19-22
[1] {altar} [2] {blood}
(1) The value of the "life" is the measure of the value of the
"blood." This gives the blood of Christ its inconceivable value.
When it was shed the sinless God-man gave His life. "It is not
possible that the blood of bulls and of goats could take away sins"
# Heb 10:4
(2) it is not the blood in the veins of the sacrifice,
but the blood \\upon the altar\\ which is efficacious. The Scripture
knows nothing of salvation by the imitation or influence of Christ's
life, but only by that life yielded up on the cross.
[2]
The meaning of all sacrifice is here explained. Every offering was
an execution of the sentence of the law upon a substitute for the
offender, and every such offering pointed forward to that
substitutional death of Christ which alone vindicated the
righteousness of God in passing over the sins of those who offered
the typical sacrifices
# Ro 3:24,25 Ex 29:36
[1] {sanctify}
Verse 8 illustrates the O.T. holiness or sanctification--a person set
apart for the service of God.
[1] {feasts}
The feasts of Jehovah. As given to Israel, these were simply seven
great religious festivals which were to be observed every year. The
first three verses of Lev. 23. do not relate to the \\feasts\\ but
separate the sabbath from the feasts.
[2] {Passover}
The Passover,
# Le 23:4
This feast is memorial and brings into view \\redemption\\, upon
which all blessing rests. Typically, it stands for "Christ our
passover, sacrificed for us."
# 1Co 5:7
[3] {bread}
The feast of Unleavened Bread,
# Le 23:6-8
This feast speaks of communion with Christ, the unleavened wave-loaf,
in the full blessing of His redemption, and of a holy walk. The
divine order here is beautiful; first redemption, then a holy walk.
# 1Co 5:6-8 2Co 7:1 Ga 5:7-9
[4] {first fruits}
The feast of Firstfruits,
# Le 23:10-14
This feast is typical of resurrection--first of Christ, then of
"them that are Christ's at His coming"
# 1Co 15:23 1Th 4:13-18
[5] {fifty days}
The feast of Pentecost,
# Le 23:15-22
The anti-type is the descent of the Holy Spirit to form the church.
For this reason leaven is present, because there is evil in the church
# Mt 13:33 Ac 5:1,10 15:1
Observe, it is now \\loaves\\; not a sheaf of separate growths loosely
bound together, but a real union of particles making one homogenous
\\body.\\ The descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost united the
separated disciples into one organism.
# 1Co 10:16,17 12:12,13,20
[1] {wave-loaves}
The wave-loaves were offered fifty days after the wave-sheaf. This
is precisely the period between the resurrection of Christ and the
formation of the church at Pentecost by the baptism of the Holy
Spirit
# Ac 2:1-4 1Co 12:12,13
See "Church"
# Mt 16:18 Heb 12:22,23
With the wave-sheaf no leaven was offered, for there was
no evil in Christ; but the wave-loaves, typifying the church, are
"baken with leaven," for in the church there is still evil.
[2] {trumpets}
The feast of Trumpets,
# Le 23:23-25
This feast is a prophetical type and refers to the future regathering
of long-dispersed Israel. A long interval elapses between Pentecost
and Trumpets, answering to the long period occupied in the pentecostal
work of the Holy Spirit in the present dispensation. Study carefully
# Isa 18:3 27:13
(with contexts); Is 58. (entire chapter), and Joel 2.1 to 3.21 in
connection with the "trumpets," and it will be seen that these
trumpets, always symbols of testimony, are connected with the
regathering and repentance of Israel after the church, or pentecostal
period is ended. This feast is immediately followed by
the day of atonement.
[3] {atonement}
The day of Atonement,
# Le 23:26-32
The \\day\\ is the same described in Lev. 16., but here the stress is
laid upon the sorrow and repentance of Israel. In other words, the
\\prophetical\\ feature is made prominent, and that looks forward to
the repentance of Israel after her regathering under the Palestinian
Covenant,
# De 30:1-10
preparatory to the second advent of Messiah and the establishment of
the kingdom. See the connection between the "trumpet" in
# Joe 2:1
and the mourning which follows in verses
# Joe 2:11-15
Also
# Zec 12:10-13
in connection with the atonement of
# Zec 13:1
Historically the "fountain" of Zec 13.1 was opened at the crucifixion,
but rejected by the Jews of that and the succeeding centuries. After
the regathering of Israel the fountain will be \\efficaciously\\
"opened" to Israel.
[1] {booths}
The feast of Tabernacles,
# Le 23:34-44
is (like the Lord's Supper for the church) both memorial and prophetic
--memorial as to redemption out of Egypt
# Le 23:43
prophetic as to the kingdom-rest of Israel after her regathering and
restoration, when the feast again becomes memorial, not
for Israel alone, but for all nations.
# Zec 14:16-21
[1] {kin}
The Kinsman-Redeemer. The word \\goel\\ is used to indicate both the
\\redemption--\\ "to free by paying," and the Redeemer--"the one who
pays." The case of Ruth and Boaz
# Ru 2:1 3:10-18 4:1-10
perfectly illustrates this beautiful type of Christ. See "Redemption,
» See Note "Isa 59:20"
[2] {Chapter 26}
Chapter 26. should be read in connection with Deut. 28., 29., the
Palestinian Covenant.
SCOFIELD REFERENCE NOTES (Scofield BIBLE [1917]) Book Introduction Notes:
The Fourth Book of Moses called NUMBERS
The book derives its name from the fact that it records the enumeration
of Israel. Historically, NUMBERS takes up the story where EXODUS left
it, and is the book of the wilderness wanderings of the redeemed people
consequent upon their failure to enter the land at Kadesh-barnea.
Typically, it is the book of service and walk, and thus completes, with
the preceding books, a beautiful moral order: GENESIS, the book of the
creation and fall; EXODUS, of redemption; LEVITICUS, of worship and
fellowship; and NUMBERS, of that which should follow--service and walk.
It is important to see that nothing was left to self-will. Every
servant was numbered, knew his place in the family, and had his own
definitely assigned service. The N.T. parallel is 1 Cor. 12.
The second typical lesson is that, tested by wilderness circumstances,
Israel utterly failed.
NUMBERS is in five chief divisions:
I. The Order of the Host, 1. 1-10. 10
II. From Sinai to Kadesh-barnea, 10. 11-12. 16,
III. Israel at Kadesh-barnea, 13. 1-19. 22,
IV. The Wilderness Wanderings, 20. 1-33. 49,
V. Closing Instructions, 33. 50-36. 13.
The events covered in NUMBERS cover a period of 39 years (Ussher).
[1] {Moses, saying}
There is a beautiful moral order in chapters 6.-7.; separation,
# Nu 6:1-12
worship,
# Nu 6:13-21
blessing,
# Nu 6:22-27
service,
# Nu 7:1-89
See
# Heb 13:12-16
[2] {Nazarite}
The Nazarite (more accurately Nazirite, one separated) was a person
of either sex separated wholly unto the Lord. Abstention from wine,
the symbol of mere natural joy
# Ps 104:15
was the expression of a devotedness which found all its joy in the
Lord (cf)
# Ps 87:7 97:12 Hab 3:18 Phm 3:1,3 4:4,10
The long hair, naturally a reproach to man
# 1Co 11:14
was at once the visible sign of the Nazarite's separation, and of his
willingness to bear reproach for Jehovah's sake. The type found its
perfect fulfilment in Jesus, who was "holy, harmless, undefiled and
separate from sinners"
# Heb 7:26
who was utterly separated unto the Father
# Joh 1:18 6:38
who allowed no mere natural claim to hinder or divert Him.
# Mt 12:46-50
[1] {they brought}
It is beautiful to observe that, though the offerings of the princes
were identical, each is separately recorded by the pen of inspiration.
(Cf)
# Mr 12:41-44
[1] {spirit that was upon him}
There was no more \\power\\ than before--only more \\machinery\\.
Moses had murmured (v. 11) because of the burden that God had laid
upon him. God, in distributing the burden, show that Moses' power
had, all along, been in proportion to his burden.
[2] {two cubits \\high\\ upon the face of all the earth}
The correct rendering is, "about two cubits above the face of the
earth," that is, within reach of the people that they might slay them
for food. The statement is not that the quails were piled up from the
face of the earth two cubits \\deep.\\ The \\level of their flight\\
was two cubits above the earth.
[1] {Surely}
Kadesh-barnea is, by the unbelief of Israel there, and the divine
comment on that unbelief
# Nu 14:22-38 De 1:19-40 1Co 10:1-5 Heb 3:12-19
invested with immense spiritual significance. the people had faith to
sprinkle the blood of atonement
# Ex 12:28
and to come out of Egypt (the world), but had not faith to enter their
Canaan rest. Therefore, though redeemed, they were a forty years'
grief to Jehovah. The spiritual application is made in Heb. 6.3-11, note.
» See Note "Heb 6:4"
[1] {wandering}
The \\wilderness\\ was part of the necessary discipline of the
redeemed people, but not the years of \\wandering.\\ The latter were
due wholly to the unbelief of the people at Kadesh-barnea. The Red
Sea, Marah, Elim, Sinai, were God's ways, in development and
discipline, and have, of necessity, their counterpart in Christian
experience. The Red Sea speaks of the cross as that which--death to
Christ but life for us--separates us from Egypt, the world
# Ga 6:14
Marah of God's power to turn untoward things into blessings;
Elim of God's power to give rest and refreshment by the way; Sinai of
God's holiness and our deep inherent evil, the experience of
# Ro 7:7-24
So far the path was and is of God. But from Kadesh-barnea
to Jordan all save the grace of God toward an unbelieving people, is
for warning, not imitation
# 1Co 10:1-11 Heb 3:17-19
There is a present rest of God, of which the Sabbath and Canaan were
types, into which believers may, and therefore should, enter by faith
# Heb 3:1-4:16
[2] {When}
It is remarkable that just when the \\people\\ are turning in unbelief
from the land, \\God\\ gives directions for conduct when they shall
have entered it. See
# Ro 11:29 Php 1:6
[1] {ribband of blue}
The ribband of blue. Blue, the heavenly colour, used upon the
borders of the priests' garments signified that the servants of God
were to be heavenly in obedience and character, and separate from
earthly ambitions and desires.
[2] {Seek ye the priesthood also}
The "gainsaying of Korah" was intrusion into the priest's office ("no
man taketh this honour unto himself,"
# Heb 5:4
It was an attempt to create a priestly order without the divine
authority
# Heb 5:10
The modern analogue is Nicolaitanism
# Re 2:6,15
the division of an equal brotherhood
# Mt 23:8
into "clergy" and "laity"; a vastly different thing from the due
recognition of ministry-gifts
# 1Co 12:4-31 Eph 4:8,11,12
or of elders and deacons
# 1Ti 3:1-13 Tit 1:5-9
[1] {rod of Aaron}
Aaron's rod that budded: Type of Christ in resurrection, owned of God
as High Priest. Aaron's priesthood had been questioned in the
rebellion of Korah, so God Himself will confirm it
# Nu 17:5
Each of the tribe-heads brought a perfectly dead rod; God put life into
Aaron's only. So all the authors of religions have died, Christ
among them, but only Christ was raised from the dead, and exalted to
be a high priest.
# Heb 4:14 5:4-10
[1] {red heifer}
The red heifer: Type of the sacrifice of Christ as the \\ground\\ of
the cleansing of the believer from the defilement contracted in his
pilgrim walk through this world, and illustration of the \\method\\
of his cleansing. The order is: (1) the \\slaying\\ of the
sacrifice; (2) the sevenfold sprinkling of the blood, typical public
testimony before the eyes of all of the complete and
never-to-be-repeated putting away of all the believer's sin as
\\before\\ God
# Heb 9:12-14 10:10-12
(3) the reduction of the sacrifice to ashes which are preserved and
become a \\memorial\\ of the sacrifice; (4) the cleansing from
defilement (sin has two aspects--\\guilt\\ and \\uncleanness\\) by
sprinkling with the ashes mingled with water. Water is a type of both
the Spirit and the Word.
# Joh 7:37-39 Eph 5:26
The operation typified is this: the Holy Spirit used the Word to
convict the believer of some evil allowed in his life to the hindering
of his joy, growth, and service. Thus convicted, he remembers that
the \\guilt\\ of his sin has been met by the sacrifice of Christ
# 1Jo 1:7
Instead, therefore, of despairing, the convicted believer judges and
confesses the defiling thing as unworthy a saint, and is forgiven and
cleansed
# Joh 13:3-10 1Jo 1:7-10
[1] {speak ye unto the rock before their eyes}
See
# Ex 17:5
and \\refs.\\ The rock (Christ)
# 1Co 10:4
once smitten, needs not to be smitten (crucified) again. Moses' act
exalted himself
# Nu 20:10
and implied (in type) that the one sacrifice was ineffectual,
thus denying the eternal efficacy of the blood
# Heb 9:25,26 10:3,11,12
The abundant water (grace reaching the need of the people,
despite the error of their leader) tells of refreshing and power
through the Spirit.
[1] {died}
The death of Aaron marks the end of the \\wanderings.\\ Henceforth
Israel marches or halts, but does not wander.
» See Note "Nu 15:1"
[1] {serpent}
See
» See Note "Ge 3:14"
The serpent is a symbol of sin \\judged\\; brass speaks of the divine
judgment, as in the brazen altar
# Ex 27:2
» See Note "Ex 27:2"
and self-judgment, as in the laver of brass. The brazen serpent is
a type of Christ "made sin for us"
# Joh 3:14,15 2Co 5:21
in bearing our judgment. Historically, the moment is indicated in the
cry: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
# Mt 27:46
[2] {Then Israel}
The spiritual order here is beautiful: (1) atonement
# Nu 21:8,9 Joh 3:14,15
(2) water, symbol of the Spirit bestowed
# Nu 21:16 Joh 7:37-39
(3) joy
# Nu 21:17,18 Ro 14:17
(4) power
# Nu 21:21-24
[1] {Balaam}
Balaam is the typical hireling prophet, seeking only to make a market
of his gift. This is "the way of Balaam"
# 2Pe 2:15
and characterizes false teachers. The "error" of Balaam"
# Jude 1:11
was that he could see only the natural morality--a holy God, he
reasoned, \\must\\ curse such a people as Israel. Like all false
teachers he was ignorant of the higher morality of vicarious
atonement, by which God could be just and yet the justifier of
\\believing\\ sinners
# Ro 3:26
The "\\doctrine\\ of Balaam"
# Re 2:14
refers to his teaching Balak to corrupt the people whom he could not
curse
# Nu 31:16 25:1-3 Jas 4:4
Spiritually, Balaamism in teaching never rises above natural
reasonings; in practice, it is easy world-conformity. See
# Re 2:14
[1] {anger}
(Cf)
» See Note "Ge 46:3"
In
# Nu 22:12
the directive will of Jehovah is made known to Balaam, in
# Nu 22:20
Jehovah's \\permissive\\ will. The prophet is now free
to go, but knows the true mind of the Lord about it. The matter is
wholly one between Jehovah and His servant. The permission of v. 20
really constitutes a testing of Balaam. He chose the path of
self-will and self-advantage, and Jehovah could not but gravely
disapprove. The whole scene,
# Nu 22:22-35
prepared Balaam for what was to follow.
[1] {utmost}
"Utmost part," etc., means the end of the encampment, the "fourth
part of Israel"
# Nu 23:10
Balak's thought, as Grant (following Keil) points out, was not at all
to permit Balaam to see the whole of the Hebrew host. In bringing
Balaam to Pisgah
# Nu 22:13,14
Balak corrects what, evidently, he thought a blunder.
# Nu 23:13,14
But when the hireling sees the whole camp he must utter a grander word
than before, "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob," and that with
the nation in full view! What an illustration of the truth of
# Ro 4:5-8
[2] {and said}
In the prophecies of Balaam God testifies on \\behalf\\ of His people
rather than (as usual) \\to\\ them. It is the divine testimony to
their standing as a redeemed people in view of the serpent "lifted
up," and of the water from the smitten rock.
# Nu 21:5-9 20:11
Their \\state\\ was morally bad, but this was a matter concerning the
\\discipline\\ of God, not His \\judgment.\\ The interpretation of
the prophecies is literal as to Israel, typical as to Christians.
Through Christ "lifted up"
# Joh 3:14
our standing is eternally secure and perfect, though our state may
require the Father's discipline
# 1Co 11:30-32 2Co 1:4-9 1:10-13
meantime, against all enemies, God is "for us."
# Ro 8:31
[1] {The Reubenites}
\\The Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh,\\ who chose
their inheritance just outside the land, are types of
world-borderers--carnal Christians. What their descendants were when
Messiah came is seen in
# Mr 5:1-17
[1] {refuge}
The cities of refuge are types of Christ sheltering the sinner from
judgment.
# Ps 46:1 142:5 Isa 4:6 Ex 21:13 De 19:2-9 Ro 8:1,33,34
# Php 3:9 Heb 6:18,19
SCOFIELD REFERENCE NOTES (Scofield BIBLE [1917]) Book Introductory Notes:
The Fifth Book of Moses called DEUTERONOMY
DEUTERONOMY consists of the parting counsels of Moses delivered to
Israel in view of the impending entrance upon their covenanted
possession. It contains a summary of the wilderness wanderings of
Israel, which is important as unfolding the moral judgement of God upon
those events; repeats the Decalogue to a generation which had grown up
in the wilderness; gives needed instruction as the conduct of Israel
in the land, and contains the Palestinian Covenant (30. 1-9). The book
breathes the sternness of the Law. Key-words, "Thou shalt"; key-verses,
11. 26-28.
It is important to note that, while the land of promise was
unconditionally given Abraham and to his seed in the Abrahamic Covenant
(Gen. 13. 15; 15. 7), it was under the conditional Palestinian Covenant
(Deut. 28.-30 .9) that Israel entered the land under Joshua. Utterly
violating the conditions of that covenant, the nation was first
disrupted (I Ki. 12.) and then cast out of the land (2 Ki. 17. 1-18.;
24. 1-25.11). But the same covenant unconditionally promises a national
restoration of Israel which is yet to be fulfilled (Gen. 15. 18, note).
DEUTERONOMY is in seven divisions:
I. Summary of the history of Israel in the wilderness, 1. 1-3.29
II. A restatement of the Law, with warnings and exhortations,
4.1 -11. 32,
III. Instructions, Warnings, and Predictions, 12. 1-27. 26,
IV. The great closing prophecies summarizing the history of Israel
to the second coming of Christ, and containing the Palestinian
Covenant, 28. 1-30. 20,
V. Last counsels to Priests, Levites, and to Joshua, 31.,
VI. The Song of Moses and his parting blessings, 32., 33.,
VII. The Death of Moses, 34.
The time covered by this retrospect is approximately forty years.
[1] {keep the passover}
Cf. the order of the feasts in Lev. 23. Here the Passover and
Tabernacles are given especial emphasis as marking the beginning and the
consummation of God's ways with Israel; the former speaking of
redemption, the foundation of all: the latter, or re-gathered Israel
blessed in the kingdom. Between, in
# De 16:9-12
comes the Feast of Weeks--the joy of a redeemed people, anticipating
a greater blessing yet to come. It is, morally,
# Ro 5:1,2
[1] {if thou shalt hearken}
Chapters 28.-29. are, properly, an integral part of the Palestinian
covenant (Deut 30.1-9, note.)
[1] {turn thy captivity}
The Palestinian Covenant gives the conditions under which Israel entered
the land of promise. It is important to see that the nation has never as
yet taken the land under the unconditional Abrahamic Covenant, nor has it
ever possessed the whole land (cf. Ge 15.18, with Nu 34.1-12). The
Palestinian Covenant is in seven parts.
(1) Dispersion for disobedience, v.1 (Deu 28.63-68. See Ge 15.18, note)
(2) The future repentance of Israel while in the dispersion, v. 2.
(3) The return of the Lord, v. 3 (Amos 9.9-14; Acts 15.14-17)
(4) Restoration to the land, v. 5 (Is 11.11,12; Jer 23.3-8; Ez 37.21-25)
(5) National conversion, v.6 (Ro 11.26,27; Hos 2.14-16)
(6) The judgment of Israel's oppressors, v.7 (Is 14.1,2; Joel 3.1-8;
Mat 25.31-46)
(7) National prosperity, v. 9 (Amos 9.11-14)
See, the other seven covenants: EDENIC, Ge 1.28; ADAMIC, Gen 3.15;
NOAHIC, Ge 9.1; ABRAHAMIC, Ge 15.18; MOSAIC, Ex 19.25; DAVIDIC, 2 Sa 7.16
NEW, He 8.8.
Scofield Reference Notes (1917 edition) The Historical Books followed by
Introduction to the Book of Joshua
The Historical Books of the Old Testament, usually so called, are twelve
in number, from Joshua to Esther inclusive. It should, however, be
remembered that the entire Old Testament is filled with historical
material. The accuracy of these writings, often questioned, has been in
recent years completely confirmed by the testimony of the monuments of
contemporaneous antiquity.
The story of the Historical Books is the story of the rise and fall of
the Commonwealth of Israel, while the prophets foretell the future
restoration and glory of that under King Messiah.
The history of Israel falls into seven distinct periods:
I. From the call of Abraham to the Exodus, Ge 12.1-Ex 1.22 (with Ac. 7.)
The book of Job belongs to this period and shows the maturity and depth of
philosophic and religious thought, and the extent of revelation of the age
of the Patriarchs.
II. From the Exodus to the death of Joshua. The history of this period
is gathered from the books of Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and
such parts of Leviticus as relate to the story of Israel. The great
figures of Moses, Aaron, and Joshua dominate this period.
III. The period of the Judges, from the death of Joshua to the call of
Saul, Jud. 1.1-1Sa 10.24.
IV. The period of the Kings, from Saul to the Captivities, 1Sa 11.1-2Ki
17.6; 25.30-2Chr 36.23/
V. The period of the Captivities, Esther, and the historical parts of
Daniel. With the captivity of Judah began "the times of the Gentiles," the
mark of which is the political subjection of Israel to the Gentile
world-powers (Lu 21.24).
VI. The restored Commonwealth, always under Gentile over-lordship, from
the end of the seventy years' captivity and the return of the Jewish
remnant to the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70. The inspired history of
this period is found in Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi in
the Old Testament, and in the historical and biographical material found in
the New Testament. During this period Christ, the promised King of the
Davidic Covenant, and the Seed of the Adamic and Abrahamic Covenants,
appeared, was rejected as king, was crucified, rose again from the dead,
and ascended to heaven. Toward the end of this period, also, the church
came into being, and the New Testament Scriptures, save the Gospel of John,
John's Epistles, and the Revelation, were written.
VII. The present dispersion (Lu 21.20-24), which according to all the Old
Testament prophets is to be ended by the final national regathering
promised in the Palestinian Covenant (Deut. 30.1-9). The partial
restoration at the end of the 70 years was foretold only by Daniel and
Jeremiah, and was to the end that Messiah might come and fulfil the
prophecies of His sufferings. In the year A.D. 70 Jerusalem was again
destroyed, and the descendants of the remnant of Judah sent to share the
national dispersion which still continues.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scofield Reference Notes (1917 edition) Book Introductions: Joshua
Joshua records the consummation of the redemption of Israel of Israel out
of Egypt; for redemption has two parts: "out," and "into" (Deut 6.23).
The key-phrase is "Moses My servant is dead" (Jos 1.2) Law, of which
Moses is the representative, could never give a sinful people victory (he
7.19; Ro 6.14; 8.2-4).
In a spiritual sense the book of Joshua is the Ephesians of the Old
Testament. "The heavenly" of Ephesians is to the Christian what Canaan
was to the Israelite and blessing through divine power (Josh 21.43-55;
Eph. 1.3)
The government, as before, was theocratic; Joshua succeeding Moses as the
ruler under God.
Joshua falls into four parts: I. The conquest, 1.-12. II. The partition
of the inheritance, 13.-21. III. Incipient discord, 22. IV. Joshua's
last counsels and death, 23., 24.
The events recorded in Joshua cover a period of 26 years (Ussher).
[1] Joshua
Joshua (Je-hoshua, meaning Jehovah-Saviour) is a type of Christ, the
"Captain of our salvation" (Heb 2.10,11). The more important points are:
(1) he comes after Moses (Jno 1.17; Ro 8.3,4; 10.4,5; Heb 7.18,19; Gal
3.23-25). (2) He leads to victory (Ro 8.37; 2Co 1.10; 2.14). (3) He is
our Advocate when we have suffered defeat (Jos 7.5-9; 1Jno 2.1). (4) He
allots our portions (Ep 1.11,14; 4.8-11).
[1] {scarlet line}
The scarlet line of Rahab speaks, by its color, of safety through
sacrifice.
# Heb 9:19,22
[2] {Jordan}
The passage of Jordan, type of our death with Christ (Ro 6.6-11; Ep
2.5,6; Col 3.1-3).
[1] {The two memorials}
The two memorials. The twelve stones taken out of Jordan and erected
by Joshua in Gilgal, and the twelve stones left in Jordan to be
overwhelmed by its waters, are memorials marking the distinction
between Christ's death under judgment in the believer's place
# Ps 42:7 88:7 Joh 12:31-33
and the believer's perfect deliverance from judgment. The stones in
Jordan stand, typically, for
# Ps 22:1-8
[1] {circumcision}
Circumcision is the "sign" of the Abrahamic Covenant
# Ge 17:7-14 Ro 4:11
"The reproach of Egypt" was that, during the later years of
the Egyptian bondage, this separating sign had been neglected (cf.
# Ex 4:24-26
and this neglect had continued during the wilderness
wanderings. The N.T. analogue is world conformity; the failure
openly to take a believer's place with Christ in death and
resurrection.
# Ro 6:2-11 Ga 6:14-16
Spiritually it is mortifying the deeds of the body through the
Spirit.
# Ro 8:13 Ga 5:16 Col 2:11,12 3:5-10
[2] {corn}
The manna is a type of Christ in humiliation, known "after the
flesh," giving his flesh that the believer might have life
# Joh 6:49-51
while the "old corn of the land" is Christ apprehended as
risen, glorified, and seated in the heavenlies. Occupation with
Christ on earth, "crucified through weakness," tends to a wilderness
experience. An experience befitting the believer's place in the
heavenlies demands an apprehension of the power of His resurrection
# 2Co 5:16 13:4 Php 3:10 Eph 1:15-23
It is the contrast between "milk" and "meat" in Paul's writings.
# 1Co 3:1,2 Heb 5:12-14 6:1-3
[1] {And it shall come to pass}
The central truth here is that spiritual victories are won by means
and upon principles utterly foolish and inadequate in the view of
human wisdom.
# 1Co 1:17-29 2Co 10:3-5
[1] {Israel}
The sin of Achan and its results teach the great truth of the oneness of
the people of God, 7.11. "\\Israel\\ hath sinned." See in illustration
1Co 5.1-7; 12.12-14,26. The whole cause of Christ is injured by the sin,
neglect, or unspirituality of one believer.
[1] {at one time}
Cf. Jos 11.18. As the context shows, the verse refer to different parts
of Palestine and different kings.
Scofield Reference Notes (1917 edition) Book Introductions: JUDGES
This book takes its name from the thirteen men raised up to deliver
Israel in the declension and disunion which followed the death of Joshua.
Through these men Jehovah continued His personal government of Israel.
The key-verse to the condition of Israel is (17.6), "Every man did that
which was right in his own eyes." Two facts stand out--the utter failure
of Israel; the persistent grace of Jehovah. In the choice of the Judges
is illustrated Zechariah's great word (4.6), "not by might, nor by power,
but by My Spirit, saith the Lord"; and Paul's word (1Co 1.25), "not many
wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called."
The book records seven apostasies, seven servitudes to seven heathen
nations, seven deliverances. The spiritual parallel is found in the
history of the professing church since the Apostles, in the rise of sects
and the lost sense of the unity of the one body (1Co 12.12,13).
Judges is in two parts: I. 1.-16. inclusive; key-verse, 2.18. II.
17.-21.; key-verse, 21.25.
The events recorded in Judges cover a period of 305 years (Ussher).
[1] {Ashtaroth}
Ashtaroth, plural of Ashtoreth
# 1Ki 11:5
were figures of Ashtoreth the Phoenician goddess (the Astarte of the
Greeks), which were worshipped as idols during times of spiritual
declension in Israel.
# Jud 10:6 1Sa 7:3,4 12:10 31:10 1Ki 11:5,33 2Ki 23:13
Jeremiah refers
# Jer 44:18,19
to Ashtoreth as the "queen of heaven."
[1] {judges}
The judges were tribesmen in Israel upon whom the Lord laid the
burden of Israel's apostate and oppressed state. They were the
spiritual ancestors of the prophets; that is to say, men raised up of
God, the theocratic King, to represent Him in the nation. They were
patriots and religious reformers because national security and
prosperity were inseparably connected with loyalty and obedience to
Jehovah. Not one of the chosen deliverers had anything whereof to
glory in the flesh. Othniel was but the son of the younger brother
of Caleb; Ehud was a left-handed man and an assassin; Shamgar, a
rustic with an ox-goad; Deborah, a woman; Gideon, of an obscure
family in the smallest tribe, etc. Each of the classes mentioned in
# 1Co 1:27,28
is illustrated among the judges.
[1] {groves}
Groves, like high places, have been associated with idolatrous worship
from time immemorial. The Heb., \\asherah\\, trans. "grove," means also
the idol enshrined there (Deut 16.21). This idol seems often to have
been a sacred tree, the figure of which is constantly found on Assyrian
monuments. In apostate Israel, however, such groves were associated with
every form of idolatry (e.g. 2Ki 17.16,17). See, also, "high places"
(1Ki 3.2, note), and "Ashtaroth," Jud. 2.13, note.
## De 16:21 2Ki 17:16,17
[1] {Groves}
Groves, like high places, have been associated with idolatrous
worship from time immemorial. The Heb. \\asherah\\, trans.
\\grove\\ means also the idol enshrined there.
# De 16:21
This idol seems often to have been a sacred tree, the figure of which
is constantly found on Assyrian monuments. In apostate Israel,
however, such groves were associated with every form of idolatry, e.g.
# 2Ki 17:16,17
» See Note "1Ki 3:2"
and \\Ashtaroth\\
» See Note "Jud 2:13"
[1] {judged}
The character and work of Samson are alike enigmatical. Announced by
an angel
# Jud 13:1-21
he was a Nazarite (Nu. 6.)
# Jud 13:5
who constantly defiled his Nazarite separation through fleshly
appetites. Called of God to judge Israel, and endued wonderfully
with the Spirit, he wrought no abiding work for Israel, and perished in
captivity to his enemies the Philistines. What was real in the man
was his mighty faith in Jehovah in a time of doubt and apostasy, and
this faith God honoured
# Heb 11:32
[1] {Now know I}
A striking illustration of all apostasy. With his entire departure from
the revealed will of God concerning worship and priesthood, there is yet
an exaltation of false priesthood. Saying, "Blessed be thou of Jehovah,"
Micah's mother makes an idol; and Micah expects the blessing of Jehovah
because he has linked his idolatry to the ancient levitical order.
Scofield Reference (1917) Book Introductions RUTH
This lovely story should be read in connection with the first half of
Judges, as it presents a picture of life in Israel at that time.
Typically, the book may be taken as a foreview of the church (Ruth), as
the Gentile bride of Christ, the Bethlehemite who is able to redeem.
Ruth also gives a normal Christian experience: I. Ruth deciding, 1.
II. Ruth serving, 2. III. Ruth resting, 3. IV. Ruth rewarded, 4.
The events recorded in Ruth cover a period of 10 years (Ussher)
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions The First Book of
Samuel
This book represents the personal history of Samuel, last of the
Judges. It records the moral failure of the priesthood under Eli,
and of the Judges in Samuel's attempt to make the office hereditary
(1Sa 8.1). In his prophetic office Samuel was faithful, and in him
begins the line of writing prophets. Henceforth the prophet, not the
priest, is conspicuous in Israel. In this book the theocracy, as
exercised through judges, ends (8.7), and the line of kings begins
with Saul.
The book is in four parts: I. The story of Samuel to the death of Eli,
1.1-4.22. II. From the taking of the ark to the demand for a king,
5.1-8.22. III. The reign of Saul to the call of David, 9.1-15.35.
IV. From the call of David to the death of Saul, 16.1-31.13.
The events recorded in First Samuel cover a period of 115 years
(Ussher).
[1] {Lord of hosts}
Jehovah (Lord) of Hosts, Heb. \\Jehovah Sabaoth.\\ For the
distinctive meanings of Jehovah, see
» See Note "Ge 2:4"
\\Sabaoth\\ means simply host or hosts, but with especial reference to
warfare or service. In use the two ideas are united; Jehovah is LORD
of (warrior) hosts. It is the name, therefore, of Jehovah in
manifestation of \\power.\\ "The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of
glory"
# Ps 24:10
and accordingly in the Old Testament Scripture this name is revealed
in the time of Israel's \\need\\. It is never found in the Pentateuch,
nor directly in Joshua or Judges, and occurs but rarely in the Psalms;
but Jeremiah, the prophet of approaching national judgment, uses the
name about eighty times. Haggai in two chapters uses the name
fourteen times, Zechariah in fourteen chapters calls upon the Lord of
hosts about fifty times. In Malachi the name occurs about twenty
five times. In the utmost extremity, the Psalmist twice comforts his
heart with the assurance "the Lord of hosts is with us."
# Ps 46:7,11
The meanings and uses of this name may thus be summarized:
(1) The "hosts" are heavenly. Primarily the angels are meant, but the
name gathers into itself the idea of \\all\\ divine or heavenly power
as available for the need of God's people
# Ge 32:1 Isa 6:1-5 Lu 2:13-15
(2) In use this is the distinctive name of Deity for Israel's help and
comfort in the time of her division and failure
# 1Ki 18:15 19:14 Isa 1:9 8:11-14 9:13-19 10:24-27 31:4,5
# Hag 2:4 Mal 3:16,17 Jas 5:4
See other names of Deity,
» See Note "Ge 1:1"
» See Note "Ge 2:4"
» See Note "Ge 2:7"
» See Note "Ge 14:18"
» See Note "Ge 15:2"
» See Note "Ge 17:1"
» See Note "Ge 21:33"
[1] {And David}
Cf.
# 1Sa 17:55,56
The order of events is: (1) David, whose skill on the
harp, and valour in the combat with the lion and bear
# 1Sa 17:34,36
were known to "one of the servants" of Saul, was brought to play
before the king
# 1Sa 16:17,18
(2) David returns to Bethlehem
# 1Sa 17:15
(3) David is sent to Saul's camp
# 1Sa 17:17,18
and performs his great exploit.
(4) Saul's question
# 1Sa 17:55,56
implies only that he had forgotten the name of David's father
--not remarkable certainly in an oriental king.
[1] {hit him}
Cf.
# 2Sa 1:10 21:12
The order is: (1) Saul is "hit"--wounded mortally, potentially
"slain," by the Philistines; (2) either to escape agony, or
insult by the enemy, he falls upon his sword, and his armour-bearer,
supposing him to be dead, slew himself; (3) but Saul was not dead;
raising himself upon his spear, he besought the Amalekite to put him to
death.
## 2Sa 1:10 21:12
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions The Second Book of
Samuel
As First Samuel marks the failure of man in Eli, Saul, and even Samuel,
so Second Samuel marks the restoration of order through the enthroning of
God's king, David. This book also records the establishment of Israel's
political centre in Jerusalem (2Sa 5.6-12), and her religious centre in
Zion (2Sa 5.7; 6.1-17). When all was thus ordered, Jehovah established
the great Davidic Covenant (7.8-17) out of which all kingdom truth is
henceforth developed. David, in his "last words" (23.1-7), describes the
millennial kingdom yet to be.
The book is in four parts: I. From the death of Saul to the anointing of
David over Judah, in Hebron, 1.1-27. II. From the anointing in Hebron to
the establishment of David over united Israel, 2.1-5.25. III. From the
conquest of Jerusalem to the rebellion of Absalom, 6.1-14.33. IV. From
the rebellion of Absalom to the purchase of the temple-site, 15.1-24.25.
The events recorded in II Samuel cover a period of 38 years (Ussher).
[1] {new cart}
The story of David's new cart and its results is a striking illustration
of the spiritual truth that blessing does not follow even the best
intentions in the service of God except as that service is rendered in
God's \\way.\\ It is a constant point of failure. God had given
explicit directions how the ark should be borne.
# Nu 4:1-15
but David adopted a Philistine expedient.
# 1Sa 6:7,8
The church is full of Philistine ways of doing service to Christ.
Cf.
# 1Co 1:17-31 2Co 10:4,5
See, also,
# 1Ch 15:2
[1] {mercy}
Verses 14 and 15 state the principle of judgment within the \\family\\ of
God.
» See Note "1Co 11:31"
It is always remedial, not penal
# Heb 12:5-11
Judgment of the wicked is penal, not remedial.
[2] {The Davidic Covenant}
The Davidic Covenant
# 2Sa 7:8-17
This covenant, upon which the glorious kingdom of Christ "of the
seed of David according to the flesh" is to be founded, secures:
(1) A Davidic "house"; i.e. posterity, family
(2) A "throne"; i.e. royal authority
(3) A kingdom; i.e. sphere of rule
(4) In perpetuity; "for ever"
(5) And this fourfold covenant has but one condition: disobedience in
the Davidic family is to be visited with chastisement; but \\not\\ to
the abrogation of the covenant
# 2Sa 7:15 Ps 89:20-37 Isa 24:5 54:3
The chastisement fell; first in the division of the kingdom
under Rehoboam, and, finally, in the captivities.
# 2Ki 25:1-7
Since that time but one King of the Davidic family has been crowned at
Jerusalem and He was crowned with thorns. But the Davidic Covenant
confirmed to David by the oath of Jehovah, and renewed to Mary by the
angel Gabriel, is immutable
# Ps 89:30-37
and the Lord God will yet give to that thorn-crowned One
"the throne of his father David."
# Lu 1:31-33 Ac 2:29-32 15:14-17
See, for the other seven covenants: EDENIC, Gen 1.28; ADAMIC, Ge 3.15;
NOAHIC, Ge 9.1; ABRAHAMIC, Ge 15.18; MOSAIC, Ex 19.25; PALESTINIAN, Deu
30.3; NEW, Heb. 8.8.
» See Note "Heb 8:8"
[1] {But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai}
# 1Sa 27:8
David, in the years of his wanderings, made a savage raid upon
Geshur, and evidently bore away Maacah, daughter of the king of
Geshur. Of her was born Absalom, and in him was her wild Bedouin
blood, and the blood of a father who had been the reckless chief of a
handful of desperate men.
# 2Sa 3:3 23:8-39
and whom only the divine love could tame.
# 2Sa 22:36
In Absalom David reaped from his own sowing.
[1] {saw not the king's face}
Not so had God taught David to forgive. Legalists have thought
Absalom's wilfulness to have been due to over-indulgence on the
part of David. There is no such intimation in Scripture. Rather it
would seem that had David at this time taken Absalom into intimacy,
the rebellion might have been averted.
[1] {I have no son}
The pillar mentioned must have been reared before the birth of sons to
Absalom. Cf.
# 2Sa 14:27
Another view is that his sons died in youth.
They are not mentioned in the genealogies.
[1] {in Israel}
Cf.
# 1Ch 21:5
The total military strength of Israel (the northern kingdom) was
1,100,000, and of Judah 500,000. The numbers actually set
in array were, of Israel, 800,000; of Judah, 470,000.
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions The First Book of
THE KINGS commonly called The Third Book of the Kings
First Kings records the death of David, the reign of Solomon, the building
of the temple, death of Solomon, division of the kingdom under Rehoboam
and Jeroboam, and the history of the two kingdoms to the reign of Jehoram
over Judah, and Ahaziah over Samaria. Includes the mighty ministry of
Elijah.
The book is in seven parts: I. From the rebellion of Adonijah to the death
of David, 1.1-2.11. II. From the accession of Solomon to the dedication of
the temple, 2.12-8.66. III. From the division of the kingdom to the death
of Jeroboam and Rehoboam, 12.1-14.31. V. The kingdoms to the accession of
Ahab, 15.1-16.28. VI. Accession of Ahab to his death, 16.29-22.40. VII.
From the reign of Jehoshaphat to the accession of Jehoram over Judah, and
Ahaziah over Samaria, 22.41-53.
The events recorded in First Kings cover a period of 118 years (Ussher).
[1] {high places}
Cf.
# Le 26:30 De 12:11-14
The use of commanding elevations for altars seems to have been
immemorial and universal. In itself the practice was not evil
# Ge 12:7,8 22:2-4 31:54 Jud 6:25,26 13:16-23
After the establishment of Mount Moriah and the temple as the centre
of divine worship
# De 12:4 2Ch 7:12
the pentateuchal prohibition of the use of high places
# De 12:11-14
which had looked forward to the setting up of such a centre, came
into effect, and high places became identified with idolatrous
practices. The constant recurrence to the use of high
places, even for Jehovistic worship
» See Note "1Ki 15:14"
and after the building of the temple, proves how deeply rooted the
custom was. See
# 2Ki 18:4-23 2Ch 33:3,17,19
Note below refers to "Groves."
» See Note "Jud 3:7"
[1] {the house of the Lord}
The typology of the temple, if indeed it has any typical significance, is
most obscure and difficult. The N.T. invariably expounds the typology of
the tabernacle, not of the temple. The symbolism of the latter may be
revealed in the kingdom-age (see "Kingdom" [O.T.],
» See Note "Ge 1:26"
» See Note "Zech 12.8";
[N.T.],
# Lu 1:32 1Co 15:28
In the N.T. the usual Gk. word for \\sanctuary\\ (naos) is used
(1) of the temple in Jerusalem
# Mt 23:16
(2) of the believer's body
# 1Co 3:16,17 6:19
(3) of the local church
# 2Co 6:16
and (4) of the true church
# Eph 2:21
But in all these instances the thought is simply of
\\a habitation of God.\\ No reference to the structure of the
temple, as in the case of the tabernacle
# Heb 9:1-10:39
[2] {windows of narrow lights}
Cf.
# 2Ch 4:20
In the holy of holies in the tabernacle no light but the
shekinah glory was provided. In many ways Solomon's temple manifests
the spiritual deterioration of the people, and Jehovah's condescension
to it in grace.
[1] {Then Solomon}
The consecration of the temple illustrates all consecration. The temple,
like the believer
# 1Th 5:23
was threefold: the court, that which was outward, visible, answered
to the body; the holy place, where everything appealed to the sacred
emotions, answered to the soul; the holy of holies, the place of
communion with God
# Ex 25:22
answered to the spirit of man. The ark was the most all-inclusive
type of Christ of any one of the vessels of the tabernacle
» See Note "Ex 25:9"
When, therefore, the priests brought the ark into the court, the holy
place, and the holy of holies, they were, in type, enthroning Christ
over the body, with its powers and appetites; the soul, seat of the
emotions and desires; and the mind, seat of the capacity to know
and commune with God.
» See Note "Ge 1:26"
note 3. In Christian experience this answers to
# Ro 12:1-3 Eph 5:18
[1] {high places}
Cf.
# 2Ch 14:3
It appears that local sacrifices to Jehovah (though not
according to the divine order) were offered in the times of the kings
upon "high places" (cf)
# 1Sa 9:12
Apparently Asa's mother had defiled one of these with an idol.
# 1Ki 15:13
Asa destroyed the idol and the idolatrous (but not the Jehovistic)
"high places." But see "high places,"
» See Note "1Ki 3:2"
Scofield Reference Notes (1917 edition) The Second Book of the Kings
commonly called The Fourth Book of the Kings.
This book continues the history of the kingdoms to the captivities. It
includes the translation of Elijah and the ministry of Elisha. During this
period Amos and Hosea prophesied in Israel, and Obadiah, Joel, Isaiah,
Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Jeremiah in Judah.
Second Kings is in seven parts: I. the last ministry and translation of
Elijah, 1.1-2.11. II. The ministry of Elisha from the translation of
Elijah to the anointing of Jehu, 2.12-9.10. III. The reign of Jehu over
Israel, 9.11-10.36. IV. The reigns of Athaliah and Jehoash over Judah,
11.1-12.21. V. The reigns of Jehoahaz and Joash over Israel, and the last
ministry of Elisha, 13.1-25. VI. From the death of Elisha to the captivity
of Israel, 14.1-17.41. VII. From the accession of Hezekiah to the
captivity of Judah, 18.1-25.30.
The events recorded in Second Kings cover a period of 308 years. (Ussher)
[1] {sinned}
Cf.
# De 28:15-68
From this captivity the ten tribes have never been
restored to Palestine. A remnant of Judah returned under Zerubbabel,
Ezra, and Nehemiah, and \\individuals\\ out of the ten tribes (called,
after the division of Solomon's kingdom, "Israel" in the historical
books and Prophets, also "Ephraim" by the latter) went back, but the
\\national\\ restoration is yet to be fulfilled. See \\Palestinian\\
\\Covenant\\,
» See Note "De 30:3"
\\Kingdom\\,
# 2Sa 7:8-17
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions The First Book of The
Chronicles
The two books of Chronicles (like the two books of Kings) are but one book
in the Jewish canon. Together they cover the period from the death of Saul
to the captivities. They were written probably during the Babylonian
captivity, and are distinguished from the two books of the Kings in a
fuller account of Judah, and in the omission of many details. The blessing
of God's earthly people in connection with the Davidic monarchy is probably
the typical significance of these books.
First Chronicles is in three parts: I. Official genealogies, 1.1-9.44. II.
From the death of Saul to the accession of David, 10.1-12.24. III. From
the accession of David to his death, 13.1-29.30.
Excluding the genealogies (Ch. 1.-9.) the events recorded in First
Chronicles cover a period of 41 years (Ussher).
[1] {castle of Zion}
Heb. \\castle\\. (1) Zion, the ancient Jebusite stronghold, is the
southwest eminence in Jerusalem, called in Scripture the city of David,
and associated with the Davidic royalty both historically and
prophetically
# 1Ch 11:7 Ps 2:6 Isa 2:3
The word is often used of the whole city of Jerusalem considered as
the city of God
# Ps 48:2,3
especially in passages referring to the future kingdom-age
# Isa 1:27 2:3 4:1-6 Joe 3:16 Zec 1:16,17 8:3-8 Ro 11:26
In
# Heb 12:22
the word is used symbolically of heaven. (2) In
# De 4:48
the name is given to a projection or peak of Mount Hermon.
[1] {ark}
It will be understood that the ancient tabernacle was now divided; the
ark was brought into "Zion"
» See Note "1Chr 11.5
while the brazen altar, at least, and probably the vessels of the
holy place
# Ex 25:23-40 37:10-25 40:22-27
were established in the high place at Gibeon. Asaph and
the singers
# 1Ch 6:31-39 15:16-19 16:5 25:6
were "left before the ark"
# 1Ch 16:37
while the priest ministered in Gibeon "before the tabernacle."
# 1Ch 16:39
All this was mere confusion: cf.
# Heb 9:1-7
With the construction of the temple the divine order seems to have been
restored.
[2] {from the following the sheep}
David is here, as often, a type of his Son after the flesh
# Mt 1:1 Ro 1:3
Jesus the Shepherd-King. At His first coming He took the
shepherd's place, first in death (Jno 10.11), and now in resurrection
power.
# Heb 13:20
At His return He will take the place of "ruler over Israel."
# Isa 11:10-12 Jer 23:5-8 Lu 1:32,33 Ac 15:14-17
This is the precise order of Psalms 22,23,24. In the first the good
Shepherd is giving His life for the sheep; in the second He is caring
for the sheep; in the third He comes to reign as King of Glory.
[1] {six hundred shekels of gold}
A discrepancy has been imagined in the two accounts,
# 2Sa 24:24, 1Ch 21:25
# 2Sa 24:24
records the price of the \\threshingfloor\\ (heb. \\goren\\);
# 1Ch 21:25
of the \\place\\ (Heb. \\magom\\, lit. "home,"
# 1Sa 2:20
same word or area on which afterward the great temple,
with its spacious courts was built.
# 2Ch 3:1
David gave fifty shekels of sliver for the "goren"; six hundred
shekels of gold for the "magom."
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions The Second Book of The
Chronicles.
This book continues the history begun in First Chronicles. It falls into
eighteen divisions, by reigns, from Solomon to the captivities; records the
division of the kingdom of David under Jeroboam and Rehoboam, and is marked
by an ever growing apostasy, broken temporarily by reformations under Asa,
14.-16.; Jehoshaphat, 17.1-19; Joash, 24.; Hezekiah, 29.-32.; and Josiah,
34., 35. But the religious state of the people, even at the best, is
described in Isaiah 1.-5.
The events recorded in Second Chronicles cover a period of 427 years.
(Ussher).
[1] {Israel}
"Israel," the ten tribes other than Judah and Benjamin,
often called "Israel" in distinction from Judah. The division of the
kingdom marks an epoch of great importance in the history of the nation.
Henceforth it is "a kingdom divided against itself."
# Mt 12:25
The two kingdoms are to be reunited in the future kingdom.
# Isa 11:10-13 Jer 23:5,6 Eze 37:15-28
See "Kingdom" (O.T.),
» See Note "Ge 1:26"
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
(N.T.),
# Lu 1:31
# 1Co 15:28
"Israel,"
# Ge 12:2,3 Ro 11:26
[1] {Ephraim}
Used in a collective sense for the northern ten-tribe kingdom, called
also "Israel."
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions EZRA
Ezra, the first of the post-captivity books (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther,
Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi), records the return to Palestine under
Zerubbabel, by decree of Cyrus, of a Jewish remnant who laid the temple
foundations (B.C. 536). Later (B.C. 458) Ezra followed, and restored the
law and ritual. But the mass of the nation, and most of the princes,
remained by preference in Babylonia and Assyria, where they were
prospering. The post-captivity books deal with that feeble remnant which
alone had a heart for God.
The book is in two parts: I. From the decree of Cyrus to the dedication
of the restored temple, 1.1-6.22. II. The ministry of Ezra, 7.1-10.44.
The events recorded in Ezra cover a period of 80 years (Ussher).
[1] {are the children}
Probably individuals from all of the tribes returned to Jerusalem under
Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah, but speaking broadly, the dispersion of the
ten tribes (Ephraim-Israel) still continues; nor can they now be
positively identified. They are, however, preserved distinct from other
peoples and are known to God as such, though they themselves, few in
number, know Him not
# De 28:62 Isa 11:11-13 Ho 3:4 8:8
The order of the restoration was as follows: (1) The return of the first
detachment under Zerubbabel and Jeshua (B.C. 536), Ezra 1.-6., and the
books of Haggai and Zechariah; (2) the expedition of Ezra (B.C. 458),
seventy-eight years later (Ezra 7.-10); (3) the commission of Nehemiah
(B.C. 444), fourteen years after the expedition of Ezra.
# Ne 2:1-5
[1] {for we seek}
The people of the land sought to hinder the work in three ways: (1) by
seeking to draw the Jews into an unreal union,
# Ezr 4:3
(cf)
# 2Ki 17:32
(2) by "weakening the hands of the people of Judah,"
# Ezr 4:4
i.e, by withholding supplies, etc.; and (3) by accusations lodged
with Ahasuerus and Darius. The first was by far the most subtle
and dangerous. The lives of Ezra and Nehemiah afford many
illustrations of true separation. See
# 2Co 6:14-18 2Ti 2:19-21
[1] {finished it}
The \\worship\\ of Jehovah was thus re-established in Jerusalem, but the
\\theocracy\\ was not restored. The remnant which returned from the
Babylonian captivity lived in the land by Gentile sufferance, though
doubtless by the providential care of Jehovah, till Messiah came, and was
crucified by soldiers of the fourth Gentile world-empire (Rome,
# Da 2:40 7:7
Soon after (A.D. 70) Rome destroyed the city and temple.
See "Times of the Gentiles"
# Lu 21:24 Re 16:19
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions The Book of Nehemiah
Fourteen years after the return of Ezra to Jerusalem, Nehemiah led up a
company (B.C. 444) and restored the walls and the civil authority. Of
those events this book is the record. It is in eight divisions: I. The
journey to Jerusalem, 1.1-2.20 II. The building of the wall, 3.1-6.19.
III. The census, 7.1-73. IV. The revival, 8.1-11.36. V. The census of
the priests and Levites, 12.1-26. VI. Dedication of the wall, 12.27-43.
VII. Restoration of the temple worship, 12.44-47. VIII. The legal order
restored, 13.1-31. The moral state of the time is disclosed by the
prophet Malachi. This book affords many instances of individual faith
acting on the written word (e.g. 1.8,9; 13.1). It is the principle of
2Ti 2.
The events recorded in Nehemiah cover a period of 11 years (Ussher).
[1] {Tobiah}
Two Tobiahs are distinguished by many: (1) "Tobiah the servant, the
Ammonite," Neh. 2.10,19 4.3,7 6.1,12,14. (2) A Jew, unable to prove his
genealogy. But the reference to the latter (Neh. 7.62) indicates that he
was already dead. But one Tobiah, and he the Ammonite, is active in this
book.
[1] {for since the days of Jeshua}
It is not meant that there had not been some formal observance of the
feast of tabernacles (cf)
# 2Ch 8:13 Eze 3:4
but that the people had not dwelt in booths since Joshua's days.
[1] {madest known unto them}
This important passage fixes beyond all cavil the time when the sabbath,
God's rest
# Ge 2:1-3
was given to man. Cf.
# Ex 20:9-11
In
# Ex 31:13-17
the sabbath is invested with the character of a sign between
Jehovah and Israel. See Mat. 12.1, note.
» See Note "Mt 12:1"
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions The Book of Esther
The significance of the Book of Esther is that it testifies to the secret
watch care of Jehovah over dispersed Israel. The name of God does not
once occur, but in no other book of the Bible is His providence more
conspicuous. A mere remnant returned to Jerusalem. The mass of the
nation preferred the easy and lucrative life under the Persian rule. But
God did not forsake them. What He here does for Judah, He is surely
doing for all the covenant people. The book is in seven parts: I. The
Story of Vashti, 1.1-22. II. Esther made queen, 2.1-23. III. The
conspiracy of Haman, 3.1-15. IV. The courage of Esther brings
deliverance, 4.1-7.10. V. The vengeance, 8.1-9.19. VI. The feast of
Purim, 9.20-32. VII. Epilogue, 10.1-3.
The events recorded in Esther cover a period of 12 years (Ussher).
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) The Poetical Books; Introduction to Job
The books classed as poetical are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,
Song of Solomon, and Lamentations. The term "poetical" is not to be
taken as implying fancifulness or unreality, but as relating to form
only. They are the books of the human experiences of the people of God
under the various exercises of earthly life; but those experiences are,
apart from the mere external setting, wrought in them by the Spirit,
interpreted to us by the Spirit, and written by holy men of God as they
were moved by the Spirit. While this is true of all these books, the
Psalms included, the latter have also a prophetic character.
The Hebrew poetic form is peculiar, and demands a word of explanation.
Rhythm is not achieved by the repetition of similar sounds, as in rhymed
verse; nor by rhythmic accent as in blank verse, but by repetition of
ideas. This is called parallelism; e.g.
"The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble." (Ps 9.9)
Parallelism is called \\synonymous\\ when the thought is identical, as in
the above instance; \\antithetic\\ when the primary and secondary
thoughts are in contrast; e.g.
"For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous:
But the way of the ungodly shall perish" (Ps 1.6);
and \\synthetic\\ when the thought is developed or enriched by the
parallel; e.g.
"And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope;
Yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take
thy rest in safety." (Job 11.18)
Under this method the Poetical Books are epic, lyric, and dramatic, and
supply examples of literary expression unmatched in uninspired
literature.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Book of JOB
Job is in form a dramatic poem. It is probably the oldest of the Bible
books, and was certainly written before the giving of the law. It would
have been impossible, in a discussion covering the whole field of sin, of
the providential government of God, and man's relation to Him, to avoid
all reference to the law if the law had then been known. Job was a
veritable personage (Ez 14.20; Jas 5.11), and the events are historical.
The book sheds a remarkable light on the philosophic breadth and
intellectual culture of the patriarchal age. The problem is, Why do the
godly suffer?
Job is in seven parts: I. prologue, 1.1-2.8. II. Job and his wife,
2.9,10. III. Job and his three friends, 2.11-31.40. IV. Job and Elihu,
32.1-37.24. V. Jehovah and Job, 38.1-41.34. VI. Job's final answer,
42.1-6. VII. Epilogue, 42.7-17.
The events recorded in Job cover a period within 1 year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] {land of Uz}
A region at the south of Edom, and west of the Arabian desert, extending
to Chaldea.
[1] {Eliphaz}
Eliphaz is a religious dogmatist whose dogmatism rests upon a mysterious
and remarkable experience
# Job 4:12-16
Did a spirit ever pass before Job's face? Did Job's hair of his
flesh ever stand up? Then let him be meek while one so superior
as Eliphaz declares the causes of his misfortunes. Eliphaz says
many true things (as do the others), and often rises into eloquence,
but he remains hard and cruel, a dogmatist who must be heard because
of one remarkable experience.
[1] {Bildad}
Bildad is a religious dogmatist of the superficial kind, whose dogmatism
rests upon tradition (e.g.)
# Job 8:8-10
and upon proverbial wisdom and approved pious phrases. These abound
in all his discourses. His platitudes are true enough, but then every
one knows them.
# Job 9:1,2 13:2
nor do they shed any light on such a problem as Job's.
[1] {Zophar}
Zophar is a religious dogmatist who assumes to know all about God; what
God will do in any given case, why He will do it, and all His thoughts
about it. Of all forms of dogmatism this is most irreverent, and least
open to reason.
[1] {So these three}
Despite minor differences, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar have one view of
the problem of Job's afflictions. He is a hypocrite. Outwardly good, he
is, they hold, really a bad man. Otherwise, according to their
conception of God, Job's sufferings would be unjust. Job, though himself
the sufferer, will not so accuse the justice of God, and his
self-defence is complete. Before God he is guilty, helpless, and undone,
and there is no daysman (9.). Later, his faith is rewarded by a
revelation of a coming Redeemer, and of the resurrection (19.). But
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar are sinners also as before God, and yet they
are not afflicted. Job refutes the theory of the three that he is a
secret sinner as against the common moralities, but the real problem, Why
are the righteous afflicted? remains. It is solved in the last chapter.
[2] {Elihu}
Elihu has a far juster and more spiritual conception of the problem than
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar because he has an infinitely higher
conception of God. The God of Eliphaz and the others, great though they
perceive Him to be in His works, becomes in their thought petty and
exacting in His relations with mankind. It is the fatal misconception of
all religious externalists and moralizers. Their God is always a small
God. Elihu's account of God is noble and true, and it is noteworthy that
at the last Jehovah does not class him with Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar
(cf)
# Job 42:7
but he is still a dogmatist, and his eloquent discourse is
marred by self-assertiveness (e.g)
# Job 32:8,9 33:3
Jehovah's judgment of Elihu is that he darkened counsel by words
# Job 38:2
the very charge that Elihu had brought against Job.
# Job 34:35 35:16
Furthermore, the discourse of Jehovah is wholly free from the
accusations of Job with which even Elihu's lofty discourse abounds.
[1] {The Lord answered Job}
The words of jehovah have the effect of bringing Job consciously into His
presence.
# Job 42:5
Hitherto the discussions have been about God, but
He has been conceived as absent. Now Job and the Lord are face to face.
It is noteworthy that Job does not answer Elihu. Despite his harsh
judgment he has spoken so truly about God that Job remains silent.
# Job 38:1
might be paraphrased, "Then Jehovah answered \\for\\ [or on behalf of]
Job."
[1] {Wherefore I abhor \\myself\\}
The problem, of which the book of Job is the profound discussion, finds
here its solution. Brought into the presence of God, Job is revealed to
himself. In no sense a hypocrite, but godly and possessing a faith which
all his afflictions could not shake, Job was yet self-righteous and
lacking in humility. Chapter 29 fully discloses this. But in the
presence of God he anticipates, as it were, the experience of Paul.
# Php 3:4-9
and the problem is solved. \\The godly are afflicted that they\\
\\may be brought to self-knowledge and self-judgment.\\ Such afflictions
are not penal for their sins, but remedial and purifying. The book of
Job affords a sublime illustration of the truth announced in
# 1Co 11:31,32 Heb 12:7-11
Best of all, such self-knowledge and self-judgment is the prelude
to greater fruitfulness.
# Job 42:7-17 Joh 15:2
Cf.
# Jos 5:13,14 Eze 1:28 2:1-3 Da 10:5-11 Re 1:17-19
Scofield Reference Notes [1917] Book Introductions The Book of Psalms
The simplest description of the five books of Psalms is that they
were the inspired prayer-and-praise book of Israel. They are
revelations of truth, not abstractly, but in the terms of human
experience. The truth revealed is wrought into the emotions,
desires, and sufferings of the people of God by the circumstances
through which they pass. But those circumstances are such as to
constitute an anticipation of analogous conditions through which
Christ in His incarnation, and the Jewish remnant in the tribulation
(Is 10.21, refs), should pass; so then many Psalms are prophetic of
the sufferings, the faith, and the victory of both. Psalms 22. and
50. are examples. The former--the holy of holies of the
Bible--reveals all that was in the mind of Christ when He uttered the
desolate cry, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" The latter
is an anticipation of what will be in the heart of Israel when she
shall turn to Jehovah again (Deu 30.1, 2). Other Psalms are directly
prophetic of "the sufferings of Christ, and the glories which should
follow" (Lu 24.25-27, 44). Psa 2. is a notable instance, presenting
Jehovah's Anointed as rejected and crucified (vs. 1-3; Ac 4.24-28)
but afterward set as King in Zion.
The great themes of the Psalms are, Christ, Jehovah, the Law,
Creation, the future of Israel, and the exercises of the renewed
heart in suffering, in joy, in perplexity. The promises of the
Psalms are primarily Jewish, and suited to a people under the law,
but are spiritually true in Christian experience also, in the sense
that they disclose the mind of God, and the exercises of His heart
toward those who are perplexed, afflicted, or cast down.
The imprecatory Psalms are the cry of the oppressed in Israel for
\\justice\\--a cry appropriate and right in the earthly people of
God, and based upon a distinct promise in the Abrahamic Covenant (Ge
15.18, refs.); but a cry unsuited to the church, a heavenly people
who have taken their place with a rejected and crucified Christ. (Lu
9.52-55).
The Psalms are in five books, each ending in a doxology: I. Psalms
1.-41. II. Psalms 42.-72. III. Psalms 73.-89. IV. Psalms
90.-106. V. Psalms 107.-150.
[1] {king}
The second Psalm gives the \\order\\ of the establishment of the kingdom.
It is in six parts: (1) The rage of the Gentiles, the vain imagination of
"people" (Jews), and the antagonism of rulers against Jehovah's anointed
# Ps 2:1-3
The inspired interpretation of this is in
# Ac 4:25-28
which asserts its fulfilment in the crucifixion of Christ.
(2) The derision of Jehovah
# Ps 2:4
that men should suppose it possible to set aside His covenant
# 2Sa 7:8-17
and oath
# Ps 89:34-37
(3) The vexation
# Ps 2:5
fulfilled, \\first\\ in the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70; and in
the final dispersion of the Jews at that time; and to be fulfilled more
completely in the tribulation
# Mt 24:29
which immediately precedes the return of the King.
# Mt 24:30
(4) The establishment of the rejected King upon Zion
# Ps 2:6
(5) The subjection of the earth to the King's rule
# Ps 2:7-9
and (6) the present appeal to the world powers.
# Ps 2:10-12
See Ps 8., next in order of the Messianic Psalms. (Note. Psalms 2. 8. 16.
22. 23. 24. 40. 41. 45. 68. 69. 72. 89. 102. 110. and 118. are considered
as Messianic. It is not questioned that many other Psalms also refer to
Christ.
[2] {trust}
Trust is the characteristic O.T. word for the N.T. "faith," "believe."
It occurs 152 times in the O.T., and is the rendering of Heb. words
signifying \\to take refuge\\ (e.g.
# Ru 2:12
\\to lean on\\
(e.g.)
# Ps 56:3
\\to roll on\\ (e.g.)
# Ps 22:8
\\to stay upon\\ (e.g.)
# Job 35:14
[3] {Neginoth}
Neginoth: stringed instruments mentioned in connection with Psalms 3.; 5.
43.; 54.; 60.; 66.; 75., where it seems clear that the musical directions
now appearing as titles of Psalms 4.; 6.; 54.; 55.; 61.; 67.; and 76.,
were anciently appended to the preceding Psalms.
[1] {Nehiloth}
Nehiloth is not a musical instrument, but means "inheritance," and
indicates the character of the Psalm. The righteous are the Lord's
inheritance.
[1] \\Gittith\\= "winepress," and so, of the harvest, in the sense of
judgment
# Isa 63:3 Re 19:15
Psalm 7., to which the title of Psalm 8. properly belongs, is a Psalm
of judgment.
[2] {For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels}
In Psa 2. Christ was presented as Jehovah's Son and King, rejected and
crucified but yet to reign in Zion. In Psa 8., while His deity is fully
recognized (v. 1; Psa. 110 with
# Mt 22:41-46
He is seen as Son of man
# Ps 8:4-6
who, "made for a little [while] lower than the angels, " is to
have dominion over the redeemed creation
# Heb 2:6-11
The authority here is racial and Adamic, rather than purely divine
as in Psa 2., or Davidic as in Psa 89. That which the first man lost,
the second man and "last Adam" more than regained.
# Heb 2:6-11
in connection with Psa. 8., and
# Ro 8:17-21
show that the "many sons" whom He is bringing to glory,
are joint heirs with Him in both the royal right of Psa. 2. and the human
right of Heb. 2. See Psa. 16., next in order of the Messianic Psalms.
[3] {\\Muth-labben\\}
"death of the son," is not a musical instrument but the title of the
Psalm. Possibly connected with
# 2Sa 12:20
[1] {Michtam}
Michtam, "a prayer," or "meditation." See Psa 56.; 57.; 59.; 60.
[2] {thy flesh}
The 16th Psalm is a prediction of the resurrection of the King. As a
prophet David understood that, not at His first advent, but at some time
subsequent to His death and resurrection Messiah would assume the Davidic
throne. See
# Ac 2:25-31 Lu 1:32,33 Ac 15:13-17
See "Davidic Covenant,
# 2Sa 7:14
refs.;
"Kingdom (O.T.),"
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
See Psa 22., next in order of the Messianic Psalms.
[1] {fear of the Lord}
The "fear of the Lord," a phrase of the O.T. piety, meaning \\reverential\\
\\trust\\, with \\hatred of evil.\\
[1] {Aijeleth Shahar} [2] {My God, My God}
Or, \\Ay-ys-leth Shachar, "hind of the morning," a title, not a musical
instrument.
[2]
Psalms 22., 23., and 24. form a trilogy. In Psalm 22, the \\good\\
Shepherd gives His life for the sheep
# Joh 10:11
in Psalm 23 the \\great\\ Shepherd, "brought again from the dead
through the blood of the everlasting covenant."
# Heb 13:20
tenderly cares for the sheep; in Psalm 24, the \\chief\\ Shepherd
appears as King of glory to own and reward the sheep
# 1Pe 5:4
[3] {All they that see me}
Psalm 22. is a graphic picture of death by crucifixion. The bones (of
the hands, arms, shoulders, and pelvis) out of joint (v. 14); the profuse
perspiration caused by intense suffering (v. 14); the action of the heart
affected (v .14); strength exhausted, and extreme thirst (v. 15); the
hands and feet pierced (v. 16) partial nudity with hurt to modesty (v.
17), are all incidental to that mode of death. The accompanying
circumstances are precisely those fulfilled in the crucifixion of Christ.
The desolate cry of verse 1
# Mt 27:46
the periods of light and darkness of verse 2
# Mt 27:45
the contumely of verses 6-8,12,13
# Mt 27:29-43
the casting lots of verse 18 (mat 27.35), all were literally
fulfilled. When it is remembered that crucifixion was a Roman, not
Jewish form of execution, the proof of inspiration is irresistible.
[1] {I will declare}
At verse 22 the Psalm breaks from crucifixion to resurrection; fulfilled
in the "Go to my brethren," etc., of
# Joh 20:17
The risen Christ declares to His brethren the name, "Father."
[2] {For the kingdom \\is\\}
CF. v. 30. The kingdom is Jehovah's. In verse 30 Adonai is in view as
ruling on behalf of Jehovah. See Psa 110., with
# Mt 22:42-45
The great end and object of the rule of Adonai (Lord) is the
restoration of the kingdom to Jehovah (Lord).
See 1Co 15.23,24. See "Names of Deity," Gen 2.4, notes; Gen 15.2, note.
# 1Co 15:23,24
» See Note "Ge 2:4"
» See Note "Ge 15:2"
[1] {Who shall}
The order is: (1) the declaration of title, "the earth is the Lord's"
(vs 1,2). (2) Who shall rule the earth? (vs 3-6). It is a question of
\\worthiness\\, and no one is worthy but the Lamb. Cf.
# Da 7:13,14 Re 5:3-10 Mt 25:31
(3) The King of glory takes the throne of earth
# Ps 24:7-10
See Psa 40., next in order of the Messianic Psalms.
[1] Jeduthun
Jeduthun, a Levite, chief singer and instructor. See
# 1Ch 9:16 16:38,41,42 25:1,3,6 2Ch 5:12 35:15 Ne 11:17
He is mentioned in Psalms 39, 62, 77. Jeduthun was first called Ethan.
[1] {I waited}
The 40th Psalm speaks of Messiah, Jehovah's Servant, obedient unto death.
The Psalm begins with the joy of Christ in resurrection (vs. 1,2). He
has been in the horrible pit of the grave, but has been brought up.
Verses 3-5 are His resurrection testimony, His "new song." Verses 6 and
7 are retrospective. When sacrifice and offering had become abominable
because of the wickedness of the people
# Isa 1:10-15
then the obedient Servant came to make the pure offering
# Ps 40:7-17 Heb 10:5-17
See Psalm 41., next in order of the Messianic Psalms.
[2] {Yea, mine own familiar friend}
Psalm 41. is the Psalm of the betrayal of the Son of man, as Jesus
Himself taught.
# Joh 13:18,19
See Psalm 45., next in order of the Messianic Psalms.
[1] {Shoshannim} [2] {king}
\\Shoshannim\\, "lilies," and so, the spring; the Shoshannim Psalms were
probably connected with the Passover season, and hence reminders of
redemption out of bondage, and of the origins of Israel.
This great psalm of the King, with Psalms 46.-47., obviously looks
forward to the advent in glory. The reference in
# Heb 1:8,9
is not so much to the anointing as an event
# Mt 3:16,17
as to the permanent state of the King. Cf.
# Isa 11:1,2
The divisions are:
(1) The supreme beauty of the King (vs 1,2); (2) the coming of the King
in glory (vs 3-5 Cf
# Re 19:11-21
(3) the deity of the King and character of His reign
# Ps 45:6,7 Heb 1:8,9 Isa 11:1-5
(4) as associated with Him in earthly rule, the queen is presented,
# Ps 45:9-13
and in that relation the King is not called Elohim
» See Note "Ge 1:1"
(5) the virgin companions of the queen, who would seem to be the
Jewish remnant
» See Note "Ro 11:5"
# Re 14:1-4
are next seen
# Ps 45:14,15
and (6) the Psalm closes with a reference to the earthly fame of
the King.
See Psalm 68., next in order of the Messianic Psalms.
[1] {Alamoth}
Alamoth, "soprano," from \\almah\\, a virgin. Some have thought the
alamoth, "virgins," were a temple choir, singing antiphonally to the
sheminith, or male choir. See Psalm 6., title, note. But contr, see
# 1Ch 15:20
[1] {Have}
This Psalm must ever be, in its successive steps, the mould of the
experience of a sinning saint who comes back to full communion and
service. The steps are: (1) sin thoroughly judged before God (vs. 1-6);
(2) forgiveness and cleansing through the blood (v. 7.1c to 10. Cf
# Joh 13:4-10 Eph 5:26 1Jo 1:9
(4) Spirit-filled for joy and power (vs. 11,12); (5) service (v. 13);
(6) worship (vs 14-17); (7) the restored saint in fellowship with
God, not about self, but about the blessing of Zion. Personally,
it was David's pathway to restored communion after his sin with
Bathsheba. Dispensationally, it will be the pathway of returning
Israel.
# De 30:1-10
[2] {Hyssop}
Hyssop was the little shrub
# 1Ki 4:33
with which the blood and water of purification were applied.
# Le 14:1-7 Nu 19:1-19
Cleansing in Scripture is twofold: (1) Of a sinner from the guilt of sin;
the blood ("hyssop") aspect; (2) of a saint from the defilement of
sin--the water ("wash me") aspect; (3) Under grace the sinner is purged
by blood when he believes
# Mt 26:28 Heb 1:3 9:12 10:14
Both aspects of cleansing, by blood and by water, are brought out in
# Joh 13:10 Eph 5:25,26
"He that is bathed needeth not save to wash his feet";
"Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it [redemption by blood,
"hyssop," the "bath"] that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the
washing by the word": answering to the "wash me" of verse 7.
[1] {Take not}
No believer of this dispensation, aware of the promise of His abiding
# Joh 14:16
should pray, "Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me."
# Eph 4:30
but while Christian \\position\\ is not found here, Christian
\\experience\\ in essence is.
[1] {Let God arise}
The entire Psalm is pervaded by the joy of Israel in the kingdom, but a
stricter order of events begins with verse 18. This is quoted
# Eph 4:7-16
of Christ's ascension ministry. Verses 21-23 refer to the
regathering of Israel, and the destruction of the Beast and his armies.
(See "Beast,"
# Da 7:8 Re 19:20
"Armageddon,"
# Re 16:16 19:17-18
» See Note "Re 19:17"
Verses 24-35 are descriptive of full and universal kingdom blessing.
(See "Kingdom" (O.T.),
» See Note "Ge 1:26"
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
See Psalm 69., next in order of the Messianic Psalms.
22894-910825-1431-Ps69.1
[1] {Save me, O God}
The N.T. quotations from, and references to, this Psalm indicate in what
way it adumbrates Christ. It is the Psalm of His humiliation and
rejection (vs. 4,7,8,10-12). Verses 14-20 may well describe the
exercises of His holy soul in Gethsemane
# Mt 26:36-45
while verse 21 is a direct reference to the cross
# Mt 27:24,38 Joh 19:28
The imprecatory verses (22-28) are connected
# Ro 11:9,10
with the present judicial blindness of Israel, verse 25 having
special reference to Judas.
# Ac 1:20
who is thus made typical of his generation, which shared his
guilt.
See Psalm 72., next in order of the Messianic Psalms.
[1] {Save me, O God}
The N.T. quotations from, and references to, this Psalm indicate in
what way it adumbrates Christ. It is the psalm of His humiliation
and rejection
# Ps 69:4,7,8
Verses
# Ps 69:14-10
may well describe the exercises of His holy soul in Gethsemane
# Mt 26:36-45
while verse
# Ps 69:21
is a direct reference to the cross
# Mt 27:34,48 Joh 19:28
The imprecatory verses
# Ps 69:22-28
are connected
# Ro 11:9,10
with the present judicial blindness of Israel,
# Ps 69:25
having special reference to Judas
# Ac 1:20
who is thus made typical of his generation, which shared his guilt.
See Psalm 72, next in order of the Messianic Psalms.
[1] {Give the king}
The Psalm as a whole forms a complete vision of Messiah's kingdom so
far as the O.T. revelation extended. All David's prayers will find
their fruition in the kingdom (v. 20;
# 2Sa 23:1-4
Verse 1 refers to the investiture of the King's Son with the kingdom,
of which investiture the formal description is given in
# Da 7:13,14 Re 5:5-10
# Ps 72:2-7,12-14
give the character of the kingdom. (Cf)
# Isa 11:3-9
The emphatic word is righteousness. The sermon on the Mount describes
the kingdom of righteousness. Verses 8-11 speak of the universality
of the kingdom. Verse 16 hints at the means by which universal
blessing is to be brought in. Converted Israel will be the "handful
of corn"
# Am 9:9
as the King Himself in death and resurrection was the single grain,
the "corn of wheat"
# Joh 12:24
"To the Jew first" is the order alike of Church and kingdom.
# Ro 1:16 Ac 13:46 15:16,17
It is through restored Israel that the kingdom is to be extended over
the earth.
# Zec 8:13,20-23
See Psalm 89., next in order of the Messianic Psalms.
[1] {higher than the kings of the earth}
The eighty-ninth Psalm is at once the confirmation and exposition of the
Davidic Covenant
# 2Sa 7:9-14
That the covenant itself looks far beyond David and Solomon is sure
from verse 27. "Higher than the kings of the earth" can only refer
to Immanuel.
# Isa 7:13-15 9:6,7 Mic 5:2
The Psalm is in four parts: (1) The covenant, though springing from the
lovingkindness of Jehovah, yet rests upon His oath (vs. 1-4). (2)
Jehovah is glorified for His power and goodness in connection with the
covenant (vs 5-18). (3) The response of Jehovah (vs. 19-37). This is in
two parts: (a), it confirms the covenant (vs 19-29), but (b), warns that
disobedience in the royal posterity of David will be punished with
chastening (vs. 30-32). Historically this chastening began in the
division of the Davidic kingdom
# 1Ki 11:26-36 12:16-20
and culminated in the captivities and that subordination of Israel to
the Gentiles which still continues. See "Gentiles, times of"
# Lu 21:24 Re 16:14
(4) The plea of the Remnant
# Isa 1:9 Ro 11:5
who urge the severity and long continuance of the chastening (vs 38-52).
See Psalm 102., next in order of the Messianic Psalms.
[1] {Hear my prayer, O Lord}
The references of verses 25-27 to Christ
# Heb 1:10-12
assures us that in the preceding verses of Psalm 102. we have,
prophetically, the exercises of His holy soul in the days of His
humiliation and rejection.
See Psalm 110., next in order of the Messianic Psalms.
[1] {Removed our transgression from us}
Three Hebrew words are trans. forgive, forgiven: \\kaphar\\, to cover;
\\nasa\\, to lift away; \\salach\\, to send away (cf).
# Le 16:21,22
the fundamental O.T. idea of forgiveness being not the remission of
penalty, but the separation of the sinner from his sin.
Psalm 103,12 expresses this.
[1] {The Lord said unto my Lord}
The importance of Psalm 110 is attested by the remarkable prominence
given to it in the New Testament. (1) It affirms the deity of Jesus, thus
answering those who deny the full divine meaning of his N.T. title of
"Lord" (v.1
# Mt 22:41-43 Mr 12:35-37 Lu 20:41-44 Ac 2:34,35 Heb 1:13 10:12,13
(2) This Psalm announces the eternal priesthood of
Messiah--one of the most important statements of Scripture (v. 4;
» See Note "Ge 4:18"
» See Note "Heb 5:6"
# Heb 7:1-2 1Ti 2:5,6 Joh 14:6
(3) Historically, the Psalm begins with the ascension of Christ (v. 1;
# Joh 20:17 Ac 7:56 Re 3:21
(4) Prophetically, the Psalm looks on (a) to the time when Christ will
appear as the Rod of Jehovah's strength, the Deliverer out of Zion.
# Ro 11:25-27
and the conversion of Israel (v.3;
# Joe 2:27 Zec 13:9 De 30:1-9
» See Note "De 30:3"
and (b) to the judgment upon the Gentile powers which precedes the
setting up of the kingdom (vs. 5, 6;
# Joe 3:9-17 Zec 14:1-4 Re 19:11-21
See "Armageddon"
# Re 16:14
» See Note "Re 19:17"
"Israel"
# Ge 12:2,3
» See Note "Ro 11:26"
"Kingdom"
» See Note "Zec 12.8",
» See Note "1Co 15:28"
» See Note "Ps 2:6"
first, and Psalm 118
» See Note "Ps 118:22"
last in order of the Messianic Psalms.
[1] {The stone which the builders refused}
See "Christ (as Stone),"
# Ex 17:6
» See Note "1Pe 2:8"
Psalm 118., looks beyond the rejection of the Stone (Christ) to
His final exaltation in the kingdom (v. 22).
See Psalm 2., first of the Messianic Psalms.
[1] {O give thanks unto the Lord}
The Messianic Psalms: Summary. That the Psalms contain a testimony to
Christ our Lord Himself affirmed
# Lu 24:44
and the N.T. quotations from the Psalter point unerringly to those
Psalms which have the Messianic character. A close spiritual and
prophetic character as surely identifies others. Christ is seen
in the Psalms (1) in two general character, as suffering (e.g. Psa. 22),
and as entering into His kingdom glory (e.g. psa 2.; 24. Cf
# Lu 24:25-27
(2) Christ is seen in His person (a) as Son of God
# Ps 2:7
and very God
# Ps 45:6,7 102:25 110:1
(b) as Son of man
# Ps 8:4-6
(c) as Son of David
# Ps 89:3,4,27,29
(3) Christ is seen in His offices (a) as Prophet
# Ps 22:23,25 40:9,10
(b) as Priest
# Ps 110:4
and (c) as King (e.g. Psa 2., 24.)
(4) Christ is seen in His varied work. As Priest He offers Himself in
sacrifice
# Ps 22:1-31 40:6 Heb 10:5-12
and, in resurrection, as the Priest-Shepherd, ever living to make
intercession
# Ps 23:1-6 Heb 7:21-25 13:20
As Prophet He proclaims the name of Jehovah as Father
# Ps 22:22 Joh 20:17
As King He fulfils the Davidic Covenant
# Ps 89:1-52
and restores alike the dominion of man over creation
# Ps 8:4-6 Ro 8:17-21
and of the Father over all.
# 1Co 15:25-28
(5) The Messianic Psalms give, also, the inner thoughts, the exercises of
soul, of Christ in His earthly experiences. (See, e.g.,
# Ps 16:8-11 22:1-21 40:1-17
[1] {A Song of degrees}
Literally, "of ascents." Perhaps chanted by the people as they went up
to Jerusalem to the feasts. See, e.g.
# Ps 112:1,2
[1] {song of degrees}
Literally, "of ascents." Perhaps chanted by the people as they
went up to Jerusalem to the feasts.
# Ps 122:1,2
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions THE PROVERBS
This collection of sententious sayings is divine wisdom applied to the
earthly conditions of the people of God. That the Proverbs were
Solomon's (1.1) implies no more than that he gathered into orderly
arrangement sayings already current amongst the people, the wisdom of the
Spirit, perhaps through many centuries (Eccl 12.9). Chapters 25.-29.
were current in Hezekiah's time (25.1). Chapters 30. and 31. are by Agur
and Lemuel.
The book is in six parts: I. To sons, 1.-7. II. The praise of wisdom,
8.-9. III. The folly of sin, 10.-19. IV. Warnings and instructions,
20.-29. V. The words of Agur, 30. The words of King Lemuel, 31.
[1] {The Lord possessed me}
That wisdom is more than the personification of an attribute of God, or
of the will of God as best for man, but is a distinct adumbration of
Christ, is sure to the devout mind.
# Pr 8:22-36 Joh 1:1-3 Col 1:17
can refer to nothing less than the Eternal Son of God.
[1] {foolish son}
A "fool" in Scripture is never a mentally deficient person, but rather
one arrogant and self-sufficient; one who orders his life as if there
were no God. See, for illustration,
# Lu 12:16-20
The rich man was not mentally deficient, but he was a "fool" because
he supposed that his soul could live on the things in the barn, giving
no thought to his eternal wellbeing.
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions ECCLESIASTES; or
The Preacher
This is the book of man "under the sun," reasoning about life; it is the
best man can do, with the knowledge that there is a holy God, and that He
will bring every-thing into judgment. The key phrases are "under the
sun;" "I perceived"; "I said in my heart." Inspiration sets down
accurately what passes, but the conclusions and reasonings are, after
all, man's. That those conclusions are just in declaring it "vanity" in
view of judgment, to devote life to earthly things, is surely true; but
the "conclusion" (12.13) is legal, the best that man apart from redemption
can do, and does not anticipate the Gospel. Ecclesiastes is in five
parts: I. Theme, 1.1-3. II. Theme proved, 1.4-3.22. III. Theme
unfolded in the light of human sufferings, hypocrisies, uncertainties,
poverty and riches, 4.1-10.20. IV. The best thing possible to the
natural man apart from God, 11.1-12.12. V. The best thing possible to
man under the law, 12.13,14.
[1] {Vanity}
"Vanity," in Ecclesiastes, and usually in Scripture, means, not foolish
pride, but the emptiness in final result of all life apart from God. It
is to be born, to toil, to suffer, to experience some transitory joy,
which is as nothing in view of eternity, to leave it all, and to die.
See
# Ro 8:20-22
[1] {there is no work}
Verse 10 is no more a divine revelation concerning the state of the dead
than any other conclusion of "the Preacher"
# Ec 1:1
is such a revelation. Reasoning from the standpoint of man "under
the sun" the natural man can see no difference between a dead man and
a dead lion.
# Ec 9:4
A living dog is better than either. No one would quote verse 2 as a
divine revelation. These reasonings of man \\apart\\ from divine
revelation are set down by inspiration just as the words of Satan
# Ge 3:4 Job 2:4,5
are so set down. But that life and consciousness continue between
death and resurrection is directly affirmed in Scripture.
# Isa 14:9-11 Mt 22:32 Mr 9:43-48 Lu 16:19-31 Joh 11:26 2Co 5:6-8
# Php 1:21-23 Re 6:9-11
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions SONG OF SOLOMON
Nowhere in Scripture does the unspiritual mind tread upon ground so
mysterious and incomprehensible as in this book, while the saintliest men
and women of the ages have found it a source of pure and exquisite
delight. That the love of the divine Bridegroom should follow all the
analogies of the marriage relation seems evil only to minds so ascetic
that martial desire itself seems to them unholy.
The interpretation is twofold: Primarily, the book is the expression of
pure marital love as ordained of God in creation, and the vindication of
that love as against both asceticism and lust--the two profanations of
the holiness of marriage. The secondary and larger interpretation is of
Christ, the Son and His heavenly bride, the Church (2Co 11.1-4, refs).
In this sense the book has six divisions: I. The bride seen in restful
communion with the Bridegroom, 1.1-2.7. II. A lapse and restoration,
2.3-3.5. III. Joy of fellowship, 3.6-5.1. IV. Separation of
interest--the bride satisfied, the Bridegroom toiling for others, 5.2-5.
V. The bride seeking and witnessing, 5.6-6.3. VI. Unbroken communion,
6.4-8.14.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] {joyful communion}
It is most comforting to see that all these tender thoughts of Christ are
for His bride in her unperfected state. The varied exercises of her
heart are part of that inner discipline suggested by
# Eph 5:25-27
[1] {so is}
How poor are the similes of the bride as compared with those of the
Bridegroom. To Him she is a "lily among \\thorns\\; she can only say
that He is "as the apple tree among the trees of the wood."
[2] {our wall}
"Our wall." The bride had returned to her own home: the Bridegroom seeks
her.
[3] {dove}
There is beautiful order here. First we have what the bride is as seen
in Christ, "My dove." In herself most faulty; in Him "blameless and
harmless"
# Php 2:15
the very character of the dove. The bride's place of \\safety\\,
"in the clefts of the rock"--hidden, so to speak, in the wounds
of Christ. Thirdly, her \\privilege.\\ "Stairs" speaks of
access. It is not "secret places," as in A.V., but "the secret of the
stairs"--the way and privilege of access to His presence
# Eph 2:18 Col 3:1 Heb 10:19-22
Fourthly, the order of approach: she is to come near
before she speaks, "Let me see thy countenance," then "Let me hear thy
voice." Lastly, now that she is near and has spoken, He speaks a tender
word of admonition: "Take us the foxes," etc.
[1] {sister]
The word "sister" here is of infinitely delicate significance, intimating
the very whiteness of purity in the midst of an ardour which is, like the
shekinah, aglow but unspeakably holy. Sin has almost deprived us of the
capacity even to stand with unshod feet before this burning bush.
[2] {sleep}
The bride is satisfied with her washed feet while the Bridegroom, His
"head filled with dew," and His "locks with the drops of night," is
toiling for others. See
# Lu 6:12 14:21-23
The state of the bride is not one of sin, but of neglect of service.
She is preoccupied with the graces and perfections which she has in
Christ through the Spirit
# 1Co 12:4-11 Ga 5:22,23
It is mysticism, unbalanced by the activities of the Christian warfare.
Her feet are washed, her hands drop with sweet smelling myrrh; but He
has gone on, and now she must seek Him (cf.
# Lu 2:44,45
[1] {I sought him}
Observe, it is now the Bridegroom Himself who occupies her heart, not His
gifts--myrrh and washed feet
# Joh 13:2-9
[2] {we may seek him}
So soon as the bride witnesses to the Bridegroom's own personal
loveliness, a desire is awakened in the daughters of Jerusalem to seek
Him.
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) THE PROPHETICAL BOOKS and Introduction to
Isaiah
Prophets were men raised up of God in times of declension and apostasy in
Israel. They were primarily revivalists and patriots, speaking on behalf
of God to the heart and conscience of the nation. The prophetic messages
have a twofold character: first, that which was local and for the
prophet's time; secondly, that which was predictive of the divine purpose
in future. Often the prediction springs immediately from the local
circumstances (e.g. Is 7.1-11 with vs. 12-14).
It is necessary to keep this Israelitish character of the prophet in
mind. Usually his predictive, equally with his local and immediate
ministry, is not didactic and abstract, but has in view the covenant
people, their sin and failure, and their glorious future. The Gentile is
mentioned as used for the chastisement of Israel, as judged therefore,
but also as sharing the grace that is yet to be shown toward Israel. The
Church, corporately, is not in the vision of the O.T. prophet (Ep 3.1-6).
The future blessing of Israel as a nation rests upon the Palestinian
Covenant of restoration and conversion (Deu 30.1-9, refs.), and the
Davidic Covenant of the Kingship of the Messiah, David's Son (2Sa 7.8-17,
refs.), and this gives to predictive prophecy its Messianic character.
The exaltation of Israel is secured in the kingdom, and the kingdom takes
its power to bless from the Person of the King, David's Son, but also
"Immanuel."
But as the King is also Son of Abraham (Mat 1.1), the promised Redeemer,
and as redemption is only through the sacrifice of Christ, so messianic
prophecy of necessity presents Christ in a twofold character--a suffering
Messiah (e.g. Isa. 53.), and a reigning Messiah (e.g. Isa. 11.). This
duality, suffering and glory, weakness and power, involved a mystery
which perplexed the prophets (1Pe 1.10-12; Lu 24.26.27).
The solution of that mystery lies, as the New Testament makes clear, in
the two advents--the first advent to redemption through suffering; the
second advent to the kingdom glory, when the national promises to Israel
will be fulfilled (Mat 1.21-23; Lu 2.28-35; 24.46-48, with Lu 1.31-33,
68-75; Mat 2.2,6; 19.27,28 Acts 2.30-32; 15.14-16). The prophets indeed
describe the advent in two forms which could not be contemporaneous (e.g.
Zech 9.9; contra, 14.1-9), but to them it was not revealed that between
the advent to suffering, and the advent to glory, would be accomplished
certain "mysteries of the kingdom" (mat 13.11-16), not that, consequent
upon Messiah's rejection, the new Testament Church would be called out.
These were, to them, "mysteries hid in God" (Ep 3.1-10).
Speaking broadly, then, predictive prophecy is occupied with the
fulfilment of the Palestinian and Davidic Covenants; the Abrahamic
Covenant having also its place.
Gentile powers are mentioned as connected with Israel, but prophecy, save
in Daniel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Nahum, is not occupied with Gentile
world-history. Daniel, as will be see, has a distinctive character.
The predictions of the restoration from the Babylonian captivity at the
end of seventy years, must be distinguished from those of the restoration
from the present world-wide dispersion. The context is always clear.
The Palestinian Covenant (Deu 28.1-30.9) is the mould of predictive
prophecy in its larger sense--national disobedience, world-wide
dispersion, repentance, the return of the Lord, the regathering of Israel
and establishment of the kingdom, the conversion and blessing of Israel,
and the judgment of Israel's oppressors.
The true division of the prophets is into pre-exilic, viz., in Judah:
Isaiah, Jeremiah (extending into the exile), Joel, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah. In Israel: Hosea, Amos, and Jonah. Exilic, Ezekiel
and Daniel, both of Judah, but prophesying to the whole nation.
Post-exilic, all of Judah: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The division
into major and minor prophetic writings, based upon the mere bulk of the
books, is unhistoric and non-chronological.
The keys which unlock the meaning of prophecy are: the two advents of
Messiah, the advent to suffer (Ge 3.15; Ac 1.9), and the advent to reign
(Deu 30.3; Ac 1.9-11); the doctrine of the Remnant (Isa 10.20, refs), the
doctrine of the day of the Lord (Is 2.10-22; Re 19.11-21), and the
doctrine of the Kingdom (O.T., Gen 1.26-28; Zech 12.8, note; N.T., Lu
1.31-33; 1Co 15.28, note). The pivotal chapters, taking prophecy as a
whole, are, Deut. 28., 29., 30.; Psa 2.; Dan. 2.,7.
The whole scope of prophecy must be taken into account in determining the
meaning of any particular passage (2Pe 1.20). Hence the importance of
first mastering the great themes above indicated, which, in this edition
of the Scriptures, may readily be done by tracing through the body of the
prophetic writings the subjects mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
The detail of the "time of the end," upon which all prophecy converges,
will be more clearly understood if to those subjects the student adds the
Beast (Da 7.8; Re 19.20), and Armageddon (Re 16.14; 19.17, note).
Chronological Order of the Prophets (According to Ussher)
I. Prophets Before the Exile
(1) To Nineveh
Jonah, 862 B.C.
(2) To the 10 tribes "Israel"
Amos, 787 B.C.
Hosea, 785-725 B.C.
Obadiah, 887 B.C.
Joel, 800 B.C.
(3) To Judah
Isaiah, 760-698 B.C.
Micah, 750-710 B.C.
Nahum, 713 B.C.
Habakkuk, 626 B.C.
Zephaniah, 630 B.C.
II. Prophets During the Exile
Ezekiel, 595-574 B.C.
Daniel, 607-534 B.C.
III. Prophets After the Exile
Haggai, 520 B.C.
Zechariah, 520-518 B.C.
Malachi, 397 B.C.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Book Introductions (The Book of the Prophet Isaiah)
Isaiah is justly accounted the chief of the writing prophets. He has the
more comprehensive testimony and is distinctively the prophet of
redemption. Nowhere else in the Scriptures written under the law have we
so clear a view of grace. The New Testament Church does not appear (Ep
3.3-10), but Messiah in His Person and sufferings, and the blessing of the
Gentiles through Him, are in full vision.
Apart from his testimony to his own time, which includes warnings of coming
judgments upon the great nations of that day, the predictive messages of
Isaiah cover seven great themes: I. Israel in exile and divine judgment
upon Israel's oppressors. II. The return from Babylon. III. The
manifestation of Messiah in humiliation (e.g. Chap. 53.). IV. The
blessing of the Gentiles. V. The manifestation of Messiah in judgment
("the day of vengeance of our God"). VI. The reign of David's righteous
Branch in the kingdom-age. VII. The new heavens and the new earth.
Isaiah is in two chief divisions: I. looking toward the captivities,
1.1-39.8 Key verses, 1.1,2. II. Looking beyond the captivities,
40.1-66.24. Key verses, 40.1,2. These chief divisions fall into
subdivisions, as indicated in the text.
The events recorded in Isaiah cover a period of 62 years (Ussher).
[1] {Hear, O heavens}
The chapter, down to verse 23, states the case of Jehovah against Judah.
Chastening, according to Deut. 28., 29., had been visited upon Israel in
the land (vs. 5-8), and now the time of expulsion from the land is near.
But just here Jehovah renews the promise of the Palestinian Covenant of
future restoration and exaltation
# Isa 1:26,27 2:1-4
[1] {thy judges}
Under the kingdom the ancient method of administering the theocratic
government over \\Israel\\ is to be restored. Cf.
# Jud 2:18 Mt 19:28
[2] {that the \\mountain\\}
A mountain, in Scripture symbolism, means a kingdom
# Da 2:35 Re 13:1 17:9-11
[1] {branch}
A name of Christ, used in fourfold way: (1) "The Branch of Jehovah" (Isa
4.2), that is, the "Immanuel" character of Christ
# Isa 7:14
to be fully manifested to restored and converted Israel after His
return in divine glory
# Mt 25:31
(2) the "Branch of David"
# Isa 11:1 Jer 23:5 33:15
that is, the Messiah, "of the seed of David according to the flesh"
# Ro 1:3
revealed in His earthly glory as King of kings, and Lord of lords;
(3) Jehovah's "Servant, the Branch"
# Zec 3:8
Messiah's humiliation and obedience unto death according to
# Isa 52:13-15 53:1-12 Php 2:5-8
(4) the "man whose name is the Branch"
# Zec 6:12,13
that is His character as Son of man, the "last Adam," the "second Man"
# 1Co 15:45-47
reigning, as Priest-King, over the earth in the dominion given to and
lost by the first Adam. Matthew is the Gospel of the "Branch of David";
Mark of "Jehovah's Servant, the Branch"; Luke of "the man whose name is
the Branch"; John of "the Branch of Jehovah."
[1] {seraphims}
Heb. \\Burners.\\ The word occurs only here. Cf.
» See Note "Eze 1:5"
The Seraphim are, in many respects, in contrast with the Cherubim, though
both are expressive of the divine holiness, which demands that the
\\sinner\\ shall have access to divine presence only through a sacrifice
which really vindicates the righteousness of God.
» See Note "Ro 3:24"
» See Note "Ro 3:25"
» See Note "Ro 3:26"
and that the \\saint\\ shall be cleansed before serving.
# Ge 3:22-24
illustrates the first;
# Isa 6:1-8
the second. The Cherubim may be said to have to do with the altar,
the Seraphim with the laver. See
» See Note "Ps 51:7"
» See Note "Joh 13:10"
The Seraphim appear to be actual angelic beings.
[2] {tenth}
See "Remnant," Ro. 11.5, note.
» See Note "Ro 11:5"
[3] {return}
» See Note "Isa 8:18"
[4] {Ephraim}
In the prophetic books "Ephraim" and "Israel" are the collective names of
the ten tribes who, under Jeroboam, established the northern kingdom,
subsequently called Samaria
# 1Ki 16:24
and were (B.C. 722) sent into an exile which still continues.
# 2Ki 17:1-6
They are distinguished as "the outcasts of Israel" from "the dispersed
of Judah."
# Isa 11:12
"Hidden" in the world
# Mt 13:44
they, with Judah, are yet to be restored to Palestine and made one
nation again.
# Jer 23:5-8 Eze 37:11-24
[1] {Hear ye now}
The prophecy is not addressed to the faithless Ahaz, but to the whole
"house of David." The objection that such a far-off event as the birth
of Christ could be no "sign" to Ahaz, is, therefore, puerile. It was a
continuing prophecy addressed to the Davidic family, and accounts at once
for the instant assent of Mary.
# Lu 1:38
[2] {Butter and honey}
Indicating the plainness and simplicity of the life in which the young
Immanuel should be brought up.
[1] {confederacy}
The reference is to the attempt to terrify Judah by the confederacy
between Syria and Samaria.
# Isa 7:1,2
[2] {signs}
The primary application here is to the two sons of Isaiah,
Maher-shalal-hash-baz= "haste ye, haste ye to the spoil," a "sign" of the
coming judgment of the captivity of Judah; Shear-jashub= "a remnant shall
return," a "sign" of the return of a remnant of Judah at the end of the
seventy years
# Jer 25:11,12 Da 9:2
The larger and final reference is to our Lord
# Heb 2:13,14
[1] {throne of David}
The "throne of David" is a phrase as definite, historic, historically, as
"throne of the Caesars," and as little admits of "spiritualizing."
# Lu 1:32,33
See "Kingdom (O.T.).
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
"Davidic Covenant,"
» See Note "2Sa 7:16"
# Ac 15:14-16
[2] {For all this his anger}
See
# Isa 9:17,21 5:25 10:4
The context explains. Jehovah's hand is outstretched still because
His chastisement is followed by no amendment on the part of Israel.
[1] {that when}
A permanent method in the divine government of the earth. Israel is
always the centre of the divine counsels earthward
# De 32:8
The Gentile nations are permitted to afflict Israel in chastisement for
her national sins, but invariably and inevitably retribution falls
upon them.
See
# Ge 15:13,14 De 30:5-7 Isa 14:1,2 Joe 3:1-8 Mic 5:7-9 Mt 25:31-40
[2] {that day}
"That day": often the equivalent of "the day of the Lord"
# Isa 2:10-22 Re 19:11-21
The prophecy here passes from the general to the particular, from
historic and fulfilled judgments upon Assyria to the final destruction
of \\all\\ Gentile world-power at the return of the Lord in glory.
(See "Armageddon,"
# Re 16:14 19:21
"Times of the Gentiles,"
# Lu 21:24 Re 16:19
"The great tribulation,"
# Ps 2:5 Re 7:14,
and
» See Note "Isa 13:19"
[1] {The Davidic kingdom}
The \\order\\ of events in Isa. 10., 11., is noteworthy. Isa. 10. gives
the distress of the Remnant in Palestine in the great tribulation.
# Ps 2:5 Re 7:14
and the approach and destruction of the Gentile host under
the Beast.
# Da 7:8 Re 19:20
Is. 11. immediately follows with its glorious picture of the
kingdom-age. Precisely the same order is found in Re 19., 20.
(See "Kingdom," O.T.,
# Ge 1:26-28 Zec 12:8
N.T.
# Lu 1:31-33 1Co 15:28
Also
» See Note "Mt 3:2"
» See Note "Mt 6:33"
That nothing of this occurred at the first coming of Christ is evident
from a comparison of the history of the times of Christ with this and all
the other parallel prophecies. So far from regathering dispersed
Israel and establishing peace in the earth, His crucifixion was soon
followed (A.D. 70) by the destruction of Jerusalem, and the utter
scattering of the Palestinian Jews amongst the nations.
[2] {shall come forth a rod}
This chapter is a prophetic picture of the glory of the future kingdom.
This is the kingdom announced by John Baptist as "at hand." It was then
rejected, but will be set up when David's Son returns in glory
# Lu 1:31,32 Ac 15:15,16
[1] {burden]
A "burden," Heb. massa= a heavy, weighty thing, is a message, or oracle
concerning Babylon, Assyria, Jerusalem, etc. It is "heavy" because the
wrath of God is in it, and grievous for the prophet to declare.
[2] {Babylon}
The \\city\\, Babylon is not in view here, as the immediate context
shows. It is important to note the significance of the name when used
symbolically. "Babylon" is the Greek form: invariably in the O.T. Hebrew
the word is simply Babel, the meaning of which is \\confusion\\, and in
this sense the word is used symbolically. (1) In the prophets, when the
actual city is not meant, the reference is to the "confusion" into which
the whole social order of the world has fallen under Gentile
world-domination. (See "Times of the Gentiles,"
# Lu 21:24 Re 16:14
# Isa 13:4
gives the divine view of the welter of warring Gentile powers. The
\\divine\\ order is given in Isa. 11. Israel in her own land, the centre
of the divine government of the world and channel of the divine blessing;
and the Gentiles blessed in association with Israel. Anything else is,
politically, mere "babel."
(2) In
# Re 14:8-1 16:19
the Gentile world-system is in view in connection with Armageddon
# Re 16:14 19:21
while in Re 17. the reference is to apostate Christianity, destroyed by
the nations
# Re 17:16
headed up under the Beast
# Da 7:8 Re 19:20
and false prophet. In Isaiah the political Babylon is in view,
literally as to the then existing city, and symbolically as to the
times of the Gentiles. In the Revelation both the symbolical-political
and symbolical-religious Babylon are in view, for there both are
alike under the tyranny of the Beast. Religious Babylon is destroyed
by political Babylon
# Re 17:16
political Babylon by the appearing of the Lord
# Re 19:19-21
That Babylon the \\city\\ is not to be rebuilt is clear from
# Isa 13:19-22 Jer 51:24-26,62-64
By political Babylon is meant the Gentile world-system. (See "World,"
# Joh 7:7 Re 13:8
It may be added that, in Scripture symbolism, Egypt stands for the
world as such; Babylon for the world of corrupt power and corrupted
religion; Nineveh for the pride, the haughty glory of the world.
[1] {And Babylon}
Verses 12-16 look forward to the apocalyptic judgments (Re 6.-13.).
Verses 17-22 have a near and far view. They predict the destruction of
the literal Babylon then existing; with the further statement that, once
destroyed, Babylon should never be rebuilt (cf)
# Jer 51:61-64
All of this has been literally fulfilled. But the place of this
prediction in a great prophetic strain looks forward to the destruction
of both politico-Babylon and ecclesio-Babylon in the time of the
Beast shows that the destruction of the actual Babylon typifies the
greater destruction yet to come upon the mystical Babylons. Cf.
» See Note "Isa 13:1"
[1] {son of the morning}
Verses 12-14 evidently refer to Satan, who, as prince of this
world-system (see "World,"
# Joh 7:7
» See Note "Re 13:8"
is the real unseen ruler of the successive world-powers. Tyre,
Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, etc. (see
# Eze 28:12-14
Lucifer, "day-star," can be none other that Satan. This tremendous
passage marks the beginning of sin in the universe. When Lucifer said,
"I will," sin began. See
» See Note "Re 20:10"
See other instances of addressing Satan through another,
# Ge 3:15 Mt 16:22,23
[1] {whole earth}
This universality is significant and marks the whole passage as
referring, not merely to a near judgment upon Assyria, but in a yet
larger sense to the final crash of the present world-system at the end of
the age. (See "Times of the Gentiles,"
# Lu 21:24 Re 16:14 Da 2:44,45
"Armageddon,"
# Re 16:14 19:17
No other such universal catastrophe on the nations is known to
Scripture.
[2] {burden of Moab}
This "burden" had a precursive fulfilment in Sennacherib's invasion,
B.C. 704, three years after the prediction
# Isa 16:14
but the words have a breadth of meaning which includes also the
final world-battle. (See
» See Note "Re 19:17"
# Isa 16:1-5
which is a continuation of this "burden," shows the "tabernacle of
David" set up, the next event in order after the destruction of the
Beast and his armies. Cf. the order in
# Isa 10:28-34 11:1-10 Ac 15:14-17 Re 19:17-21 20:1-4
[1] {burden of Damascus}
As in the burden of Moab, there was doubtless a near fulfilment in
Sennacherib's approaching invasion, but verses 12-14 as evidently look
forward to the final invasion and battle. ("Armageddon,"
# Re 16:14
» See Note "Re 19:17"
Cf.
# Isa 10:26-34
[1] {That sendeth ambassadors}
The local reference is evidently to an embassy from Egypt, resulting in
the alliance denounced in Is. 30., 31.,
# Jer 37:7-11
[1] {thy dead men}
Eliminate the supplied words, \\men\\, and, \\together with.\\ "Body" is
in the plural, "bodies." Verses 19-21, with chapter 27., constitute
Jehovah's answer to the plaint of Israel, verses 11-18. Verse 19 should
read: "Thy dead shall live: my dead bodies shall rise" (i.e. the dead
bodies of Jehovah's people). The restoration and re-establishment of
Israel as a nation is also spoken of as a resurrection
# Eze 37:1-11
and many hold that no more than this is meant in Isa. 26.19. But
since the first resurrection is unto participation in the kingdom
# Re 20:4-6
it seems the better view that both meanings are here.
[1] {And I will camp}
Here, as often in prophecy, and especially in Isaiah, the near and far
horizons blend. The near view is of Sennacherib's invasion and the
destruction of the Assyrian host by the angel of the Lord (Isa. 36.,
37.); the far view is that of the final gathering of the Gentile hosts
against Jerusalem at the end of the great tribulation
# Ps 2:5 Re 7:14
when a still greater deliverance will be wrought. (See "Times of the
Gentiles,"
# Lu 21:24 Re 16:14
The same remark applies also to
# Isa 28:14-18
where there is a near reference to the Egyptian alliance ("we
have made a covenant," etc.), while the reference to the stone (v. 16)
carries the meaning forward to the end-time, and the covenant of
unbelieving Israel with the Beast.
# Da 9:27
[1] {Behold}
The imagery of verses 27, 28 is cumulative. Judah is making an alliance
with Egypt when she might be in league with Him whose judgment upon the
world-powers will be like a terrible thunder-tempest (v.27), turning
streams into torrents neck-deep (v. 28, f.c.); who will sift the nations
in their own sieve of vanity (or "destruction"), and put His bridle into
the jaws of the peoples.
[2] {king}
See
» See Note "Isa 29:3"
In chapters 32.-35. the same blended meanings of near and far
fulfilments are found. The near view is still of Sennacherib's
invasion, the far view of the day of the Lord.
# Isa 2:10-22 Re 19:11-21
and the kingdom blessing to follow.
[1] {Comfort}
The first two verses of Isa. 40. give the key-note of the second part of
the prophecy of Isaiah. The great theme of this section is Jesus Christ
in His sufferings, and the glory that shall follow in the Davidic
kingdom. (See "Christ in O.T.," \\sufferings,\\)
# Ge 4:4 Heb 10:18
\\glory,\\
# 2Sa 7:8-15 Zec 12:8
Since Israel is to be regathered, converted, and made the centre of
the new social order when the kingdom is set up, this part of Isaiah
appropriately contains glowing prophecies concerning these events.
The full view of the redemptive sufferings of Christ (e.g. Isa. 53)
leads to the evangelic strain so prominent in this part of Isaiah. (e.g.
# Isa 44:22,23 55:1-3
The change in style, about which so much has been said, is no more
remarkable than the change of theme. A prophet who was also a patriot
would not write of the sins and coming captivity of his people in the
same exultant and joyous style which he would use to describe their
redemption, blessing, and power. In
# Joh 12:37-44
quotations from Isa. 53. and 6. are both ascribed to Isaiah.
[1] {the righteous man from the east}
The reference here seems to be to Cyrus, whose victories and rapid growth
in power are here ascribed to the providence of God. Verses 5-7 describe
the effect upon the nations of the rise of the Persian power. They
heartened each other, and made (v. 7) new idols. At verse 8 the prophet
addresses Israel. Since it was their God who raised up Cyrus, they
should expect good, not evil, from him (vs. 8-20). Verses 21-24 form a
contemptuous challenge to the idols in whom the nations are trusting.
[1] {servant}
Three servants of Jehovah are mentioned in Isaiah: (1) David
# Isa 37:35
(2) Israel the nation
# Isa 41:8-16 43:1-10 44:1-8,21 45:4 48:20
(3) Messiah
# Isa 42:1-12
Is 49., entire chapter, but note especially verses 5-7,
# Isa 49:5-7
where the Servant Christ restores the servant nation;
# Isa 50:4-6 52:13-15 53:1-12
Israel the nation was a faithless servant, but restored and converted
will yet thresh mountains. Against the Servant Christ no charge
of unfaithfulness or failure is brought. See Isa. 42.1, note.
» See Note "Isa 42:1"
[1] {servant}
There is a twofold account of the Coming Servant: (1) he is represented
as weak, despised, rejected, slain: (2) and also as a mighty conqueror,
taking vengeance on the nations and restoring Israel (e.g.
# Isa 40:10 63:1-4
The former class of passages relate to the first advent, and
are fulfilled; the latter to the second advent, and are unfulfilled.
[2] {for a light of the Gentiles}
The prophets connect the Gentiles with Christ in a threefold way" (1) as
the Light He brings \\salvation\\ to the Gentiles
# Lu 2:32 Ac 13:47,48
(2) as the "Root of Jesse" He is to reign over the Gentiles in His
kingdom.
# Isa 11:10 Ro 15:12
He \\saves\\ the Gentiles, which is the distinctive feature of this
present age.
# Ro 11:17-24 Eph 2:11,12
He \\reigns\\ over the Gentiles in the kingdom-age, to follow this.
See "Kingdom (O.T.),"
# Ge 1:26-28 Zec 12:8
(3) Believing Gentiles in the present age, together with believing
Jews, constitute "the church which is His body."
# Eph 1:23
» See Note "Eph 3:6"
[1] {Cyrus}
Cf.
# 1Ki 13:2
where Josiah was mentioned by name three hundred years before his birth.
[2] {anointed}
The only instance where the word is applied to a Gentile. Nebuchadnezzar
is called the "servant" of Jehovah
# Jer 25:9 27:6 43:10
This, with the designation "My shepherd"
# Isa 44:28
also a Messianic title, marks Cyrus as that startling exception,
a Gentile type of Christ. The points are: (1) both are irresistible
conquerors of Israel's enemies.
# Isa 45:1 Re 19:19-21
(2) both are restorers of the holy city
# Isa 44:28 Zec 14:1-11
(3) through both is the name of the one true God glorified
# Isa 45:6 1Co 15:28
[1] {create evil}
Heb. \\ra\\ translated "sorrow," "wretchedness," "adversity,"
"afflictions," "calamities," but never translated \\sin.\\ God created
evil only in the sense that He made sorrow, wretchedness, etc., to be the
sure fruits of sin.
[1] {Israel to preserved and restored}
The Lord Jesus and the believing remnant of Israel are here joined. What
is said is true of both.
[2] {Sinim}
The word is supposed to refer to a people of the far East, perhaps the
Chinese.
[1] {Heading: Israel to preserved and restored}
The Lord Jesus and the believing remnant of Israel are here joined.
What is said is true of both.
[1] Title: {Israel to be preserved and restored}
The Lord Jesus and the believing remnant of Israel are here joined.
What is said is true of both.
[2] {Sinim}
The word is supposed to refer to a people of the far East, perhaps
the Chinese.
[1] {so marred}
The literal rendering is terrible: "So marred from the form of man was
His aspect that His appearance was not that of a son of man"--i.e. not
human--the effect of the brutalities described in
# Mt 26:67,68 27:27-30
[1] {Redeemer}
Redemption: Kinsman type, summary. The \\goel\\, or Kinsman-Redeemer, is
a beautiful type of Christ.
(1) The kinsman redemption was of \\persons\\, and an \\inheritance\\
# Le 25:48 25:25 Ga 4:5 Eph 1:7,11,14
(2) The Redeemer must be a kinsman
# Le 25:48,49 Ru 3:12,13 Ga 4:4 Heb 2:14,15
(3) The Redeemer must be able to redeem
# Ru 4:4-6 Jer 50:34 Joh 10:11,18
(4) Redemption is effected by the \\goel\\ paying the just demand in
full
# Le 25:27 1Pe 1:18,19 Ga 3:13
» See Note "Ex 14:30"
» see Note "Ro 3:24"
[2] {come to Zion}
The \\time\\ when the "Redeemer shall come to Zion" is fixed, relatively,
by
# Ro 11:23-29
as following the completion of the Gentile Church. That
is also the order of the great dispensational passage,
# Ac 15:14-17
In both, the return of the Lord to Zion follows the outcalling of the
Church.
[1] {acceptable year of the Lord}
Observe that Jesus suspended the reading of this passage in the synagogue
at Nazareth
# Lu 4:16-21
at the comma in the middle of
# Isa 61:2
The first advent, therefore, opened the day of \\grace\\, "the acceptable
year of Jehovah," but does not fulfil the day of \\vengeance.\\ That
will be taken up when Messiah returns
# 2Th 1:7-10
Cf.
# Isa 34:8 35:4-10
The last verse, taken with the 4th, gives the historic
connection: the vengeance precedes the regathering of Israel, and
synchronizes with the day of the Lord.
# Isa 2:10-22 Re 19:11-21 Isa 63:1-6
[1] {our Father}
Cf.
# Isa 1:2 64:8
Israel, collectively, the national Israel, recognizes God
as the national Father (cf)
# Ex 4:22,23
Doubtless the believing Israelite was born anew (cf)
# Joh 3:3,5 Lu 13:28
but the O.T. Scriptures show no trace of the consciousness of personal
sonship. The explanation is given in
# Ga 4:1-7
The Israelite, though a child, "differed nothing from a servant."
The Spirit, as the "Spirit of His Son," could not be given to impart
the consciousness of sonship until redemption had been accomplished.
# Ga 4:4-6
See "Adoption"
# Ro 8:15 Eph 1:5
[2] {our father}
Here the reference is to relationship through creation, rather than
through faith, as in
# Ac 17:28,29
» See Note "Ac 17:29"
[1] {behold}
Verse 17 looks beyond the kingdom-age to the new heavens and the new
earth (see refs. at "create"), but verses 18-25 describe the kingdom-age
itself. Longevity is restored, but death, the "last enemy"
# 1Co 15:26
is not destroyed till after Satan's rebellion at the end of the thousand
years.
# Re 20:7-14
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book introductions The Book of the
Prophet JEREMIAH
Jeremiah began his ministry in the 13th year of Josiah, about 60 years
after Isaiah's death. Zephaniah and Habakkuk were contemporaries of his
earlier ministry. Daniel of his later. After the death of Josiah, the
kingdom of Judah hastened to its end in the Babylonian captivity.
Jeremiah remained in the land ministering to the poor Remnant (2Ki 24.14)
until they went into Egypt, whither he followed them, and where he died,
early in the 70 year's captivity. Jeremiah, prophesying before and
during the exile of Judah, connects the pre-exile prophets with Ezekiel
and Daniel, prophets of the exile.
Jeremiah's vision includes: the Babylonian captivity; the return after 70
years; the world-wide dispersion; the final regathering; the
kingdom-age; the day of judgment on the Gentile powers, and the
Remnant.
Jeremiah is in six chief divisions: I. From the prophet's call to his
message to the first captives. 1.1-29.32. II. Prophecies and events not
chronological, 30.1-36.2. III. From the accession to the captivity of
Zedekiah, 37.1-39,18. IV. Jeremiah's prophecies in the land after the
final captivity of Judah, 40.1-42.22. V. The prophet in Egypt,
43.1-44.30. VI. Miscellaneous prophecies (45.1-52.34.
The events recorded in Jeremiah cover a period of 41 years (Ussher).
[1] {word of the Lord}
The general character of the first message from Jehovah to Judah by
Jeremiah is threefold: (1) He reminds Israel of the days of blessing and
deliverance, e.g. 2.1-7; (2) He reproaches them with forsaking Him, e.g.
2.13; (3) He accuses them of choosing other, and impotent, gods, e.g.
2.10-12, 26-28. All these messages are to be thought of as inspired
sermons, spoken to the people and subsequently written. Cf. Je 36.1-32.
[1] {The Lord said}
The general character of the second message to Judah is: (1) of reproach
that the example of Jehovah's chastening of the northern kingdom
# 2Ki 17:1-18
had produced no effect upon Judah, e.g.
# Jer 3:6-10
(2) of warning of a like chastisement impending over Judah, e.g.
# Jer 3:15-17
(3) of touching appeals to return to Jehovah, e.g. 3.12-14; and
(4) of promises of final national restoration and blessing, e.g. 3.16-18.
[2] {Israel}
"Israel" and "Ephraim": names by which the northern kingdom (the ten
tribes) is usually called in the prophets. When by "Israel" the whole
nation is meant, it will appear from the context.
[1] {without form and void}
Cf.
# Ge 1:2
"Without form and void" describes the condition of the
earth as the result of judgment
# Jer 4:24-26 Isa 24:1
which overthrew the primal order of
# Ge 1:1
[1] {The word that came}
The general character of the message in the temple gate is, like the
first and second messages, one of rebuke, warning, and exhortation, but
this message is addressed more to such in Judah as still maintaining
outwardly the worship of Jehovah; it is a message to \\religious\\ Judah,
e.g. 7.2,9,10; 8.10,11
# Jer 7:2,9,10 9:10,11
[1] {nor commanded}
Cf.
» See Note "Ex 20:4"
note 2, the threefold giving of the law. The command
concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices was not given to the people
till they had broken the decalogue, the law of obedience.
[1] {The word}
This, like the other messages, is made up of rebuke, exhortation, and
warning, but in this instance these are based upon the violation of the
Palestinian Covenant
# De 28:1, 30:1-9
» See Note "Deu 30.3
The Assyrian and Babylonian captivities of Israel and of Judah
were the execution of the warning,
# De 28:63-68
[1] {dearth}
The significance of a drought at this time was very great. It was one of
the signs predicted in the Palestinian Covenant
# De 28:23,24
and already fulfilled in part in the reign of Ahab.
# 1Ki 17:1
etc. As that sign had been followed, even though after a long
interval, by the Assyrian captivity of the northern kingdom, it should
have been received by Judah as a most solemn warning.
[1] {the Lord said}
The Remnant, of whom Jeremiah was the representative, are carefully
distinguished from the unbelieving mass of the people. The coming
captivity, which they must share, for they too have sinned
# Jer 15:13
though Jehovah's judgment upon the nation, will be but a purifying
chastisement to them, and they receive a special promise
# Jer 15:11,
Verses
# Jer 15-18
give the answer of the Remnant to verses
# Jer 15:11-14
Two things characterize the believing Remnant always-loyal to the word
of God, and separation from those who mock at that word
# Jer 15:16,17
Cf.
# Re 3:8-10
[1] {saying}
The sign of the unmarried prophet is interpreted by the context. The
whole social life of Judah was about to be disrupted and cease from the
land. But note the promises of verses
# Jer 16:14-16 17:7,8
[1] {The word}
Israel (the whole nation) a vessel marred in the Potter's hand, is the
key to this prophetic strain. But Jehovah will make "it again another
vessel" (v.4).
# Jer 18:4
[1] {restoration}
This final restoration is shown to be accomplished after a period of
unexampled tribulation
# Jer 30:3-10
and in connection with the manifestation of David's righteous Branch
# Jer 23:5
who is also Jehovah-tsidkenu
# Jer 23:6
The restoration here foretold is not to be confounded with the return
of a feeble remnant of Judah under Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel
at the end of the 70 years
# Jer 29:10
At His first advent Christ, David's righteous Branch
# Lu 1:31-33
did not "execute justice and judgment in the earth," but was crowned
with thorns and crucified. Neither was Israel the nation restored,
nor did the Jewish people say, "The Lord our righteousness." Cf.
# Ro 10:3
The prophecy is yet to be fulfilled.
# Ac 15:14-17
[1] {seventy}
Cf.
# Le 26:33-35 2Ch 36:21 Da 9:2
The 70 years may be reckoned to begin with the first deportation of
Judah to Babylon.
# 2Ki 24:10-15
B.C. 604 according to the Assyrian Eponym Canon, or B.C. 606 according to
Ussher; or from the final deportation
# 2Ki 25:1-30 2Ch 36:17-20 Jer 39:8-10
B.C. 586 (Assyr. Ep. Canon), or B.C. 588 (Ussher). In the
first case the 70 years extend to the decree of Cyrus for the return
# Ezr 1:1-3
B.C. (Assyr. Ep. Canon), or B.C. 536 (Ussher). In the
second case the 70 years terminate B.C. 516 (Assyr.Ep. Canon) with the
completion of the temple. The latter is more probable reckoning in the
light of
# Da 9:25
[1] {all the inhabitants}
The scope of this great prophecy cannot be limited to the invasion of
Nebuchadnezzar. If Jehovah does not spare His own city, should the
Gentile nations imagine that there is no judgment for them? The prophecy
leaps to the very end of this age. (See "Day of the Lord,"
# Isa 2:10-22 Re 19:11-21
"Armageddon,"
# Re 16:14 19:11-21
[1] {carried away captives}
Cf.
# 2Ki 24:10-16
The complete captivity of Judah came eleven years later.
# 2Ki 25:1-7
[1] {The word}
The writings of Jeremiah in chapters 30 to 36, cannot with certainty
be arranged in consecutive order. Certain dates are mentioned (e.g.
# Jer 32:1 33:1 34:1,8 35:1
but retrospectively. The narrative, so far as Jeremiah gives a
narrative, is resumed at 37:1. These chapters constitute a kind of
summary of prophecy concerning Israel as a nation, looking on
especially to the last days, the day of the Lord, and the kingdom-age
to follow. If the marginal references are carefully followed the order
will become clear. But these prophecies are interspersed with much
historical matter concerning Jeremiah and his time.
[2] {Write}
Three "writings" by Jeremiah are to be distinguished:
(1) This is impersonal--a general prophecy, and probably the earliest.
# Jer 30:1-31:40
(2) The prophecy destroyed by Jehoiakim.
# Jer 1:1-36:23
(3) The destroyed writing re-written doubtless the writing preserved to us.
# Jer 36:27
[1] {bought}
A (1) sign of Jeremiah's faith in his own predictions of the restoration
of Judah (v. 15), for the field was then occupied by the Babylonian army;
and (2) a sign to Judah of that coming restoration.
[1] {In those days}
See "Davidic Covenant"
» See Note "2Sa 7.16
"Kingdom (O.T.)"
# Ge 1:26
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
"Kingdom (N.T.)"
# Lu 1:31-33 1Co 15:28
[1] {And it came to pass}
Five phases of Jeremiah's prison experiences are recorded: (1) He is
arrested in the gate and committed to a dungeon on the false charge of
treason
# Jer 37:11-15
(2) he is released from the dungeon, but restrained to the court of
the prison; (3) he is imprisoned in the miry dungeon and kept in
prison court
# Jer 38:1-6
(4) he is again released from the dungeon and kept in the prison court
# Jer 38:13-28
until the capture of the city; (5) carried in chains from the city
by Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, he is finally released at Ramah.
# Jer 40:1-4
[1] {Babylon}
Here began the "times of the Gentiles," the mark of which is that
Jerusalem is "trodden down of the Gentiles," i.e. under Gentile
overlordship. This has been true from the time of Nebuchadnezzar to this
day. See "Times of the Gentiles"
» See Note "Lu 21:24"
» See Note "Re 16:19"
[1] {Gentiles}
A near and a far fulfilment of these prophecies against Gentile powers
are to be distinguished. In Chapter 46, the near vision is of a
Babylonian invasion of Egypt, but verses
# Jer 46:27,28
look forward to the judgment of the nations
» See Note "Mt 25:32"
after Armageddon
# Re 16:14
» See Note "Re 19:17"
and the deliverance of Israel ("Israel,"
# Ge 12:2,3
» See Note "Ro 11:26"
# Jer 50:4-7
also looks forward to the last days.
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions The LAMENTATIONS of
JEREMIAH
The touching significance of this book lies in the fact that it is the
disclosure of the love and sorrow of Jehovah for the very people who He is
chastening--a sorrow wrought by the Spirit in the heart of Jeremiah (Je
13.17; Mat 23. 36,38; Ro 9.1-5).
The chapters indicate the analysis, viz., five lamentations.
[1]
The literary form of Lamentations is necessarily obscured in the
translation. It is an acrostic dirge, the line arranged in couplets or
triplet, each of which begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In
the third Lament, which consists of sixty-six stanzas instead of
twenty-two, each \\line\\ of each triplet begins with the same letter, so
that the entire sixty six verses are required to give the twenty-two
letters of the alphabet. Thus verses 1-3 or our version form but three
lines of the original, each line beginning with A, etc.
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions The Book of the
Prophet EZEKIEL
Ezekiel was carried away to Babylon between the first and final deportation
of Judah (2Ki 24.11-16). Like Daniel and the Apostle John, he prophesied
out of the land, and his prophecy, like theirs, follows the method of
symbol and vision. Unlike the pre-exilic prophets, whose ministry was
primarily to either Judah or the ten-tribe kingdom, Ezekiel is the voice of
Jehovah to "the whole house of Israel."
Speaking broadly, the purpose of his ministry is to keep before the
generation born in exile the national sins which had brought Israel so low
(e.g. Ez 14.23); to sustain the faith of the exiles by predictions of
national restoration, of the execution of justice upon their oppressors,
and of national glory under the Davidic monarchy.
Ezekiel is in seven great prophetic strains indicated by the expression,
"The hand of the Lord was upon me"
# Eze 1:3 3:14,22 8:1 33:22 37:1 40:1
The minor divisions are indicated in the text.
The events recorded in Ezekiel cover a period of 21 years (Ussher).
[1] {living creatures}
The "living creatures" are identical with the Cherubim. The subject is
somewhat obscure, but from the position of the Cherubim at the gate of
Eden, upon the cover of the ark of the covenant, and in Rev. 4., it is
clearly gathered that they have to do with vindication of the holiness of
God as against the presumptuous pride of sinful man who, despite his sin,
would "put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life"
# Ge 3:22-24
Upon the ark of the covenant, of one substance with the
mercy-seat, they saw the sprinkled blood which, in type, spake of the
perfect maintenance of the divine righteousness by the sacrifice of
Christ
# Ex 25:17-20
» See Note "Ro 3:24"
» See Note "Ro 3:25"
» See Note "Ro 3:26"
The living creatures (or Cherubim) appear to be actual beings of the
angelic order. Cf.
» See Note "Isa 6:2"
The Cherubim or living creatures are not identical with the
Seraphim.
# Isa 6:2-7
They appear to have to do with the holiness of God as outraged by
\\sin\\; the Seraphim with \\uncleanness\\ in the people of
God. The passage in Ezekiel is highly figurative, but the effect was the
revelation to the prophet of the Shekinah glory of the Lord. Such
revelations are connected invariably with new blessing and service. Cf.
# Ex 3:2-10 Isa 6:1-10 Da 10:5-14 Re 1:12-19
[1] {Son of man}
"Son of man," used by our Lord of Himself seventy-nine times, is used by
Jehovah ninety one times when addressing Ezekiel. (1) In the case of our
Lord the meaning is clear: it is His racial name as the representative
Man in the sense of
# 1Co 15:45-47
The same thought, implying transcendence of mere Judaism, is involved
in the phrase when applied to Ezekiel. Israel had forgotten her
mission.
» See Note "Ge 11:10"
# Eze 5:5-8
Now, in her captivity, Jehovah will not forsake His people, but He will
remind them that they are but a small part of the race for whom He also
cares. Hence the emphasis upon the word "man." The Cherubim "had the
likeness of a man"
# Eze 1:5
and when the prophet beheld the throne of God, he saw "the likeness
as the appearance of a \\man\\ above upon it"
# Eze 1:26
» See Note "Mt 8:20"
# Re 1:12,13
(2) As used of Ezekiel, the expression indicates, not what the prophet is
in himself, but what he is to God; a son of man (a) chosen, (b) endued
with the Spirit, and (c) sent of God. All this is true also of Christ
who was, furthermore, the representative man--the head of regenerate
humanity.
[1] {take}
The symbolic actions during the prophet's dumbness were testimonies to
the past wickedness and chastisement of the house of Israel (the whole
nation), and prophetic of a coming siege. They therefore intermediate
between the siege of
# 2Ki 24:10-16
at which time Ezekiel was carried to Babylon, and the siege of
# 2Ki 25:1-11
eleven years later.
[1] {visions}
Visions, that is, of former profanations of the temple, and of the
wickedness because of which Israel was then in Babylon, show the prophet
that he might justify to the new generation born in Assyria and Babylonia
during the captivity, the righteousness of God in the present national
chastening. The visions are retrospective; Israel had done these
things, hence the captivities. This strain continues to Ez. 33.20. It
is the divine view of the national sinfulness and apostasy, revealed to
Ezekiel in a series of visions so vivid that though the prophet was by
the river Chebar.
# Eze 1:1,3 3:23 10:15,20,22 43:3
It was as if he were transported back to Jerusalem, and to the time
when these things were occurring. These visions of the sinfulness
of Israel are interspersed with promises of restoration and blessing
which are yet to be fulfilled.
See "Israel"
# Ge 12:2,3 Ro 11:26
Also "Kingdom, (O.T.)"
# Ge 1:26-28 Zec 12:8
[2] {Son of man}
The combined purport of the four visions of profanation in chapter 8., is
idolatry set up in the entire temple, even in the holy of holies
# Eze 8:10,11
women given over to phallic cults
# Eze 8:14
and nature-worship
# Ex 8:16
[1] {was gone}
It is noteworthy that to Ezekiel the \\priest\\ was given the vision of
the glory of the Lord (1) departing from the Cherubim to the threshold of
the temple
# Eze 9:3 10:4
(2) from the threshold
# Eze 10:18
(3) from temple and city to the mountain on the East of Jerusalem
(Olivet,
# Eze 11:23
and (4) returning to the millennial temple to abide.
# Eze 43:2-5
[1] {for in}
It must constantly be remembered that though the prophet was in Babylonia
he prophesies as if in the land, and during the eleven years' interval
between the first and final deportation.
» See Note "Eze 8:3"
[1] {rod}
The passage is a prophecy of the future judgment upon Israel, regathered
from all nations (see "Israel,"
# Isa 1:24-26
refs.
into the old wilderness wanderings.
# Eze 20:35
The issue of this judgment determines who of Israel in that day shall
enter the land for kingdom blessing.
# Ps 50:1-7 Eze 20:33-44 Mal 3:2-5 4:1,2
see other judgments,
» See Note "Joh 12:21"
» See Note "1Co 11:31"
» See Note "2Co 5:10"
» See Note "Mt 25:32"
» See Note "Jude 1:6"
» See Note "Re 20:12"
[1] {Thus}
The prophecies upon Gentile powers (extending to Ez. 32.32) have
doubtless had partial fulfilments of which history and the present
condition of those cities and countries bear witness, but the mention of
the day of Jehovah
# Eze 30:3
makes it evident that a fulfilment in the final sense is still future.
See "Day of Jehovah"
# Isa 2:10-22
» See Note "Re 19:21"
Also "Armageddon"
# Re 16:14
» See Note "Re 19:17"
Those countries are once more to be the battle ground of the nations.
[1] {Thou}
Here (vs. 12-15), as in
# Isa 14:12
the language goes beyond the king of Tyre to Satan, inspirer and
unseen ruler of all such pomp and pride as that of Tyre. Instances of
thus indirectly addressing Satan are:
# Ge 3:14,15 Mt 16:23
The unfallen state of Satan is here described; his fall in
# Isa 14:12-14
» See Note "Re 20:10"
But there is more. The vision is not of Satan in his own person,
but of Satan fulfilling himself in and through an earthly king
who arrogates to himself divine honours, so that the prince of Tyrus
foreshadows the Beast.
# Da 7:8 Re 19:20
[1] {prey to the heathen}
The whole passage (vs. 23-30) speaks of a restoration yet future, for the
remnant which returned after the 70 years, and their posterity, were
continually under the Gentile yoke, until, in A.D. 70, they were finally
driven from the land into a dispersion which still continues.
[2]
A beautiful order is discernible in this and the succeeding prophecies:
(1) Restoration of the land
# Eze 36:1-15
(2) of the people
# Eze 36:16-37:28
(3) judgment on Israel's enemies.
# Eze 38:1-39:24
Afterward follows that which concerns the worship of Jehovah that He
may dwell amongst His people.
[1] {bones}
Having announced
# Eze 36:24-38
the restoration of the nation, Jehovah now gives in vision and symbol
the method of its accomplishment. Verse 11 gives the clue. The "bones"
are the whole house of Israel who shall then be living. The "graves"
are the nations where they dwell. The order of procedure is:
(1) the bringing of the people out
# Eze 37:12
(2) the bringing of them in (v. 12);
(3) their conversion (v. 13);
(4) the filling with the Spirit (v. 14). The symbol follows.
The two sticks are Judah and the ten tribes; united, they are one
nation (vs. 19-21). Then follows (vs. 21-27) the plain declaration as
to Jehovah's purpose, and verse 28 implies that then Jehovah will
become known to the Gentiles in a marked way.
This is also the order of
# Ac 15:16,17
and the two passages strongly indicate the time of full Gentile
conversion. See also
# Isa 11:10
[1] {Gog}
That the primary reference is to the northern (European) powers, headed
up by Russia, all agree. The whole passage should be read in connection
with
# Zec 12:1-4 14:1-9 Mt 24:14-30 Re 14:14-20 19:17-21
"gog" is the prince, "Magog," his land. The reference to Meshech and
Tubal (Moscow and Tobolsk) is a clear mark of identification. Russia
and the northern powers have been the latest persecutors of dispersed
Israel, and it is congruous both with divine justice and with the
covenants (e.g.
» See Note "Ge 15:18"
» See Note "De 30:3"
that destruction should fall at the climax of the last mad attempt to
exterminate the remnant of Israel in Jerusalem. The whole prophecy
belongs to the yet future "day of Jehovah"
# Isa 2:10-22 Re 19:11-21
and to the battle of Armageddon
# Re 16:14
» See Note "Re 19:19"
but includes also the final revolt of the nations at the
close of the kingdom-age.
# Re 20:7-9
[1] {and thou shalt}
Doubtless these offerings will be memorial, looking back to the
cross, as the offerings under the old covenant were anticipatory,
looking forward to the cross. In neither case have animal sacrifices
power to put away sin.
# Heb 10:4 Ro 3:25
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions The Book of DANIEL
Daniel, like Ezekiel was a Jewish captive in Babylon. He was of royal or
princely descent (1.3). For his rank and comeliness he was trained for
palace service. In the polluted atmosphere of an oriental court he lived a
life of singular piety and usefulness. His long life extended from
Nebuchadnezzar to Cyrus. He was a contemporary of Jeremiah, Ezekiel
(14.20), Joshua, the high priest of the restoration, Ezra, and Zerubbabel.
Daniel is the indispensable introduction to New Testament prophecy, the
themes of which are, the apostasy of the Church, the manifestation of the
man of sin, the great tribulation, the return of the Lord, the
resurrections and the judgments. These, except the first, are Daniel's
themes also.
But Daniel is distinctively the prophet of the "times of the Gentiles" (Lu
21.24, refs.). His vision sweeps the whole course of Gentile world-rule to
its end in catastrophe, and to the setting up of the Messianic kingdom.
Daniel is in four broad divisions: I. Introduction. The personal history
of Daniel from the conquest of Jerusalem to the second year of
Nebuchadnezzar, 1.1-21. II. The visions of Nebuchadnezzar and their
results, 2.1-4.37. III. The personal history of Daniel under Belshazzar
and Darius, 5.1-6.28. IV. The visions of Daniel, 7.1-12.13.
The events recorded in Daniel cover a period of 73 years (Ussher).
[1] {Syriack}
From Dan. 2.4 to 7.28 the Book of Daniel is written in \\Aramaic\\
the ancient language of Syria, and substantially identical with
\\Chaldaic\\, the language of ancient Babylonia. Upon this fact,
together with the occurrence of fifteen Persian, and three Greek words
has been based an argument against the historicity of Daniel, and in
favour of a date after the conquest of Palestine by Alexander
(B.C. 332).
It has, however, seemed, with some modern exceptions, to the Hebrew
and Christian scholarship of the ages an unanswerable proof rather of
the Danielic authorship of the book that, living from boyhood in a
land the language of which was Chaldaic, a great part of his writing
should be in that tongue. It has often been pointed out that the
Chaldaic of Daniel is of high antiquity, as is shown by comparison
with that of the Targums. The few words of Persian and Greek in like
manner confirm the writer's residence at a court constantly visited
by emissaries from those peoples. It is noteworthy that the Aramaic
section is precisely that part of Daniel which most concerned the
peoples amongst whom he lived, and to whom a prophecy written in
Hebrew would have been unintelligible. The language returns to
Hebrew in the predictive portions which have to do with the future of
Israel. "The Hebrew of Daniel is closely related to that of
Ezekiel."--Delitzsch.
[1] {great image}
The monarchy-vision. Nebuchadnezzar's dream, as interpreted by Daniel,
gives the course and end of "the times of the Gentiles"
# Lu 21:24
» See Note "Re 16.19
that is, of Gentile world-empire. The four metals
composing the image are explained as symbolizing (vs. 38-40) four
empires, not necessarily possessing the inhabited earth, but able to do
so (v.38), and fulfilled in Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece (under
Alexander), and Rome. The latter power is seen divided, first into two
(the legs), fulfilled in the Eastern and Western Roman empires, and then
into ten (the toes)
» See Note "Dan. 7.26
As a whole, the image gives the imposing outward greatness and splendour
of the Gentile world-power.
The smiting Stone
# Da 2:34,35
destroys the Gentile world-system (in its final form) by a sudden and
irremediable blow, not by the gradual processes of conversion and
assimilation; and then, and not before, does the Stone become a
mountain which fills "the whole earth." (Cf.
# Da 7:26,27
Such a destruction of the Gentile monarchy-system did not occur
at the first advent of Christ. On the contrary, He was put to death by
the sentence of an officer of the fourth empire, which was then at the
zenith of its power. Since the crucifixion the Roman empire has followed
the course marked out in the vision, but Gentile world dominion still
continues, and the crushing blow is still suspended. The detail of the
end-time is given in Dan. 7.1-28, and Re 13.-19. It is important to see
(1) that Gentile world-power is to end in a sudden catastrophic judgment
(see "Armageddon,"
# Re 16:14 19:21
(2) that it is immediately followed by the kingdom of heaven, and that
the God of the heavens does not set up His kingdom till after the
destruction of the Gentile world-system. It is noteworthy that
Gentile world-dominion begins and ends with a great image.
# Da 2:31 Re 13:14,15
[1] {but there shall be}
From the "head of gold" (v. 38) to the "iron" of the "fourth kingdom"
(Rome) there is deterioration in fineness, but increase of strength (v.
40). Then comes the deterioration of the "fourth kingdom" in that very
quality, strength. (1) Deterioration by division: The kingdom is
divided into two, the legs (Eastern and Western empires), and these are
again divided into kingdoms, the number of which when the Stone smites
the image will be ten (toes, v.42; cf.
# Da 7:23,24
(2) Deterioration by admixture; the iron of the Roman \\imperium\\
mixed with the clay of the popular will, fickle and easily moulded.
This is precisely what has come to pass in the constitutional
monarchies which, the Republic of France and the despotism of
Turkey, cover the sphere of ancient Roman rule.
[1] {and in the days}
The passage fixes authoritatively the \\time\\ relative to other
predicted events, when the kingdom of the heavens will be set up. It
will be "in the days of those kings," i.e. the days of the ten kings (cf.
# Da 7:24-27
symbolized by the toes of the image. That condition did not
exist at the advent of Messiah, nor was it even possible until the
dissolution of the Roman empire, and the rise of the present national
world system. See "Kingdom (O.T.)"
# Ge 1:26 Zec 12:8
"Kingdom (N.T.)"
# Lu 1:31-33 1Co 15:28
» See Note "Mt 3:2"
note (defining "kingdom of heaven"). Verse 45 repeats the \\method\\
by which the kingdom will be set up. (Cf)
» See Note "Da 2:31"
# Ps 2:5 2:6 Zec 14:1-8 14:9
[2] {an image of gold}
The attempt of this great king of Babylon to unify the religions of his
empire by self-deification will be repeated by the beast, the last head
of the Gentile world-dominion
# Re 13:11-15
See note on "Beast, the" "Da 7:8"
See note "Re 19:20"
It has repeatedly characterized Gentile authority in the
earth, e.g.
# Da 6:7 Ac 12:22
and the later Roman emperors.
[1] {and he will deliver us}
The three Jews, faithful to God while the nation of Israel far from their
land bear no testimony, are a fit type of the Jewish remnant in the last
days
# Isa 1:9 Ro 11:5
who will be faithful in the furnace of the great tribulation
# Ps 2:5 Re 7:14
[1] {dwell}
Nebuchadnezzar, first of the Gentile world-kings in whom the times of the
Gentiles
# Lu 21:24 Re 16:14
began, perfectly comprehended the universality of the sway committed
to him
# Da 2:37,38
as also did Cyrus
# Ezr 1:2
That they did not actually subject the known earth to
their sway is true, but they might have done so. The earth lay in their
power.
[1] {I blessed the most High}
A progress may be traced in Nebuchadnezzar's apprehension of the true God.
(1) "God is a God of gods [one amongst the national or tribal gods, but
greater than they], and a Lord [Adonai=Master] of kings, and a revealer
of secrets"
# Da 2:47
(2) He is still a Hebrew deity, but Master of angels, and a God who
responds to faith
# Da 3:28
(3) Here
# Da 4:34,35
the king rises into a true apprehension of God. Cf. Darius,
# Da 6:25-27
[1] {Darius the Median}
The biblical order of the monarchs of Daniel's time, and of the period of
the captivity and restoration of Judah, is as follows:
(1) Nebuchadnezzar (B.C. 604-561) with whom the captivity of Judah and
the "times of the Gentiles"
» See Note "Lu 21:24"
» See Note "Re 16.19" began, and who established the first of the four
world monarchies.
# Da 2:37,38 7:4
(2) Belshazzar (prob B.C. 556), the Bel-shar-uzzar of the inscriptions,
grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, and son of the victorious general
Nabonidus. Belshazzar seems to have reigned as viceroy.
(3) Darius the Mede
# Da 5:31 6:1-27 9:1
Concerning this Darius secular history awaits further discoveries,
as formerly in the case of Belshazzar. He has been conjectured to
be identical with Gobryas, a Persian general. This Darius was "the
son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over
the realm of the Chaldeans"
# Da 9:1
"Ahasuerus," more a title than a name, the equivalent of the
modern "Majesty," is used in Scripture of at least four personages, and
is Persian rather than Median. That Darius the Mede was the "son" (or
grandson) of an Ahasuerus proves no more than that he was, probably,
through the seed of his mother, of the seed royal not only of Media,
but also of Persia. There is but one Darius in Daniel. (See
# Da 9:1
(4) Cyrus, with whose rise to power came fully into existence the
Medo-Persian, second of the world-empires
# Da 2:39 7:5
In Daniel's vision of this empire in "the third year of the reign
of King Belshazzar"
# Da 8:1-4
the Median power of Darius is seen as the
lesser of the two horns of the ram; the Persian power of Cyrus, under
whom the Medo-Persian power was consolidated, as the "higher" horn
which "came up last." Under Cyrus, who was prophetically named more
than a century before his birth.
# Isa 44:28 45:1-4
the return to Palestine of the Jewish remnant began.
# Ezr 1:1-4
See
# Da 11:2
marg. ref.
[1] {great sea}
The "sea" in Scripture imagery stands for the populace, the mere
unorganized mass of mankind
# Mt 13:47 Re 13:1
[1] {little horn}
The vision is of the end of Gentile world-dominion. The former Roman
empire (the iron kingdom of
# Da 2:33-35,40-44 7:7
will have ten horns (i.e. kings,
# Re 17:12
corresponding to the ten toes of the image. As Daniel considers this
vision of the ten kings, there rises up amongst them a "little horn"
(king), who subdues three of the ten kings so completely that the
separate identity of their kingdoms is destroyed. Seven kings of the
ten are left, and the "little horn." He is the "king of fierce
countenance" typified by that other "king of fierce countenance,"
Antiochus Epiphanes,
# Da 8:23-25
the "prince that shall come" of
# Da 9:26,27
the "king" of
# Da 11:36-45
the "abomination" of
# Da 12:11 Mt 24:14
the "man of sin" of
# 2Th 2:4-8
and the "Beast" of
# Re 13:4-10
See "Beast"
# Da 7:8 Re 19:20
[2] {and they}
This scene is identical with that of
# Re 5:6-10
There the ascription of praise of the "kings and priests"
(cf. v. 18, ref. a) ends with the words, "and we shall reign on
the earth." Rev. 6. opens the "vexing" of
# Ps 2:5
introductory to setting the king on Zion
# Ps 2:6 Re 20:4
The vision
# Da 7:9-14
reverses the order of events as they will be fulfilled. Verse 13
describes the scene in heaven (cf)
# Re 5:6-10
which, in fulfilment, precedes the events which Daniel sees in vision in
vs. 9-12. The historic order will be: (1) The investiture of the Son of
Man with the kingdom
# Da 7:13,14 Re 5:6-10
(2) the "vexing" of Psa 2.5, fully described in
# Mt 24:21,22
Re 6.-18.
(3) The return of the Son of Man in glory to deliver the "smiting"
blow of
# Da 2:45 7:9-11 Re 19:11-21
(4) The judgement of the nations and the setting up of the kingdom
# Da 7:10,26,27 Mt 25:31-46 Re 20:1-6
[3] {him}
# Da 7:13,14
is identical with
# Re 5:1-7
and antedates the fulfilment of
# Da 2:34,35
# Da 7:13,14 Re 5:1-7
describe the investiture of the Son of Man and Son of David with the
kingdom authority, while
# Da 2:34,35
describes the crushing blow (\\Armageddon\\,
# Re 16:14
which destroys Gentile world-power, thus clearing the way for the actual
setting up of the kingdom of heaven.
# Da 2:34,35 Re 19:19-21
are the same event.
[4] {beasts}
The monarch vision of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2) covers the same historic
order as the beast vision of Daniel, but with this difference:
Nebuchadnezzar saw the imposing outward power and splendour of the "times
of the Gentiles"
# Lu 21:24 Re 16:19
while Daniel saw the true character of Gentile world-government as
rapacious and warlike, established and maintained by force. It is
remarkable that the heraldic insignia of the Gentile nations are all
beasts or birds of prey.
[1] {and they shall}
The end of Gentile world-power. (1) In the beast vision of Daniel 7. the
fourth beast (v. 7) is declared to be "the fourth kingdom," i.e. the
Roman empire, the "iron" kingdom of Dan. 2. The "ten horns" upon the
fourth beast (Roman empire), v. 7, are declared to be "ten kings that
shall arise" (v. 24) answering to the ten toes of the image vision of
Dan. 2. The ten kingdoms, covering the regions formerly ruled by Rome,
will constitute, therefore, the form in which the fourth or Roman empire
will exist when the whole fabric of Gentile world-domination is smitten
by the "stone cut out without hands" == Christ
# Da 2:44,45 7:9
(2) But Daniel sees a "little horn" of Dan. 8.--a prophecy fulfilled in
Antiochus Epiphanes
» See Note "Da 8:9"
In Rev. 13, additional particulars of the "little horn" of Dan. 7.
are given.
» See Note "Re 13:1"
[2] {vision}
The eighth chapter gives details concerning the second and third
world-kingdoms: the silver and brass kingdoms of Dan. 2.; the bear and
leopard kingdoms of Dan. 7., viz., the Medo-Persian and Macedonian
kingdoms of history. At the time of this vision (Dan 8.1) the first
monarchy was nearing its end. Belshazzar was the last king of that
monarchy.
[1] {little horn}
The "little horn" here is a prophecy fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes,
B.C. 175, who profaned the temple and terribly persecuted the Jews. He
is not to be confounded with the "little horn" of Dan. 7. who is yet to
come, and who will dominate the earth during the great tribulation.
» See note "The Beast," "Da 7:8"
» See Note "Re 19:20"
and "The great tribulation,"
# Ps 2:5
» See Note "Re 7:14"
But Antiochus is a remarkable type of the Beast, the
terrible "little horn" of the last days. Verses 24,25 go beyond
Antiochus and evidently refer to the "little horn" of Dan. 7. Both
Antiochus and the Beast, but the Beast pre-eminently, are in view in
verses 24,25. That the "little horn" of Dan. 7. cannot be the little
horn of Dan 9.9-13, 23, is evident. The former comes up among the
\\ten\\ horns into which the \\fourth\\ empire (Roman) is to be divided;
the little horn of Dan. 8. comes out of one of the \\four\\ kingdoms into
which the \\third\\ (Grecian) empire was divided (v. 23), and in "the
latter time" of the four kingdoms (vs. 22,23). This was historically
true of Antiochus Epiphanes. They are alike in hatred of the Jews and of
God, and in profaning the temple. Cf. 7.25 (the Beast) with
# Da 8:10-12
(Antiochus).
[2] {And it waxed great}
This passage (vs. 10-14) is confessedly the most difficult in prophecy, a
difficulty increased by the present state of the text. Historically this
was fulfilled in and by Antiochus Epiphanes, but in a more intense and
final sense Antiochus but adumbrates the awful blasphemy of the
"little horn" of
# Da 7:8,24,25 9:27 11:36-45 12:11
In Daniel
# Da 8:10-14
the actions of both "little horns" blend.
[3] {desolation}
Seven times in Daniel the "desolation" is spoken of: (1) Of the
sanctuary,
# Da 8:13
fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes, B.C. 175-170.
(2) Of the sanctuary,
# Da 9:17
the condition in Daniel's time, when the Jews were in exile and the
sanctuary desolate. (3) Generally, of the land,
# Da 9:18
also referring to Daniel's time. (4) Of the sanctuary,
# 9:26
fulfilled A.D. 70, in the destruction of city and temple after the
cutting off of Messiah.
# Lu 21:20
Of the sanctuary, by the Beast,
# Da 9:27 11:31 12:11 * Cf
# Mt 24:15 Mr 13:14 2Th 2:3,8-12 Re 13:14:15
[1] {end}
Two "ends" are in view here: (1) historically, the end of the third, or
Grecian empire of Alexander out of one of the divisions of which the
little horn of verse 9 (Antiochus) arose; (2) prophetically, the end of
the times of the Gentiles
# Lu 21:24 Re 16:14
when the "little horn" of
# Da 7:8,24-26
the Beast, will arise--Daniel's \\final\\ time of the end.
» See Note "Da 12:4"
[1] {Seventy weeks} [1] {make reconciliation}
These are "weeks" or more accurately, sevens of years; seventy weeks of
seven years each. Within these "weeks" the national chastisement must be
ended and the nation re-established in everlasting righteousness (v. 24).
The seventy weeks are divided into seven == 49 years; sixty-two = 434
years; one = 7 years (vs. 25-27). In the seven weeks == 49 years,
Jerusalem was to be rebuilt in "troublous times." This was fulfilled, as
Ezra and Nehemiah record. Sixty-two weeks == 434 years, thereafter
Messiah was to come (v. 25). This was fulfilled in the birth and
manifestation of Christ. Verse 26 is obviously an indeterminate period.
The date of the crucifixion is not fixed. It is only said to be "after"
the threescore and two weeks. It is the first event in verse 26. The
second event is the destruction of the city, fulfilled A.D. 70. Then,
"unto the end," a period not fixed, but which has already lasted nearly
2000 years. To Daniel was revealed only that wars and desolations should
continue (cf.
# Mt 24:6-14
The N.T. reveals, that which was hidden from the O.T. prophets
# Mt 13:11-17 Eph 3:1-10
that during this period should be accomplished the mysteries of the
kingdom of Heaven
# Mt 13:1-50
and the out-calling of the Church
# Mt 16:18 Ro 11:25
When the Church-age will end, and the seventieth week begin, is nowhere
revealed. Its duration can be but seven years. To make it more violates
the principle of interpretation already confirmed by fulfilment. Verse
27 deals with the last week. The "he" of verse 27 is the "prince that
shall come" of verse 26, whose people (Rome) destroyed the temple, A.D.
70. He is the same with the "little horn" of chapter 7. He will
covenant with the Jews to restore their temple sacrifices for one week
(seven years), but in the middle of that time he will break the covenant
and fulfil
# Da 12:11 2Th 2:3,4
Between the sixty-ninth week, after which Messiah was cut off, and
the seventieth week, within which the "little horn" of Dan. 7. will run
his awful course, intervenes this entire Church-age. Verse 27 deals
with the last three and a half years of the seven, which are identical
with the "great tribulation."
# Mt 24:15-28
"time of trouble"
# Da 12:1
hour of temptation"
# Re 3:10
(see "Tribulation,"
# Ps 2:5 Re 7:14
[1] {reconciliation}
There is no word in the O.T. properly rendered \\reconcile.\\ In the
A.V. the English word is found
# 1Sa 29:4 2Ch 29:24 Le 6:30 8:15 16:20 Eze 45:15,17,20 Da 9:24
but always improperly; atonement is invariably the meaning.
Reconciliation is a N.T. doctrine
# Ro 5:10
» See Note "Col 1:21"
[2] {from the going forth of the commandment}
Three decrees concerning Jerusalem are recorded, that of Cyrus, B.C. 536
(Ussher), for the restoration of the "house of the Lord God of Israel"
# 2Ch 36:22,23 Ezr 1:1-3
that of Darius
# Eze 6:3-8
B.C. 521-486), and that of Artaxerxes in his seventh year.
# Eze 7:7
say, B.C. 458). Artaxerxes in his twentieth year, B.C. 444 (Hales,
Jahn), 446 (A.V.), 454 (Ussher, Hengstenberg), gave permission for
the rebuilding of the "city," i.e., "Jerusalem"
# Ne 2:1-8
The latter decree is, obviously, that from which the
"seven weeks" (49 years) run, unless by "the commandment
to restore," etc. is meant the \\divine\\ decree
# Da 9:23
In the present state of biblical chronology the date of the decree
of Artaxerxes cannot be unanswerably fixed farther than to say that
it was issued between 454 and 444 B.C. In either case we are brought
to the time of Christ. Prophetic time is invariably so near as to
give full warning, so indeterminate as to give no satisfaction to mere
curiosity. (cf)
# Mt 24:36 Ac 1:7
The 434 years reckon, of course, from the end of the
seven weeks so that the whole time from "the going forth of the
commandment to restore," etc., "unto the Messiah" is sixty-nine weeks of
years, or 483 years.
[3] {abominations}
(Cf)
# Mt 24:15
The expression occurs three times in Daniel. In
# Da 9:27 12:11
the reference is to the "Beast," "man of sin";
# 2Th 2:3,4
and is identical with
# Mt 24:15
In
# Da 11:31
the reference is to the act of Antiochus Epiphanes, the prototype of
the man of sin, who sacrificed a sow upon the altar, and entered the
holy of holies.
[1] {Behold}
The spirit of prophecy here returns to that which more immediately
concerned Daniel and his royal masters--the near future of the empire in
which he was so great a personage. Four kings were yet to follow in
Media-Persia. Then will come Alexander the "mighty king" of Grecia
(v.3). The division of Alexander's empire into four parts (v.4) as
already predicted
# Da 8:22
is foretold. The troublous course of affairs in two parts of the
disintegrated Alexandrian empire, Syria and Egypt, is then traced
down to verse 20. Here Antiochus Epiphanes, the "little horn" of
Chapter 8., occupies the vision down to verse 36.
His pollution of the sanctuary is again mentioned. (Cf)
» See Note "Da 8:9"
From verse 36 the interpretation is of the final "little horn"
# Da 7:8,24-26
» See Note "Da 11:35"
[1] {the time of the end}
Here the prophetic foreview, having traced the history of the two parts
of Alexander's empire which had to do with Palestine and the Jews, viz.
Syria and Egypt, to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, and having described
his career, overleaps the centuries to "the time of the end," when he of
whom Antiochus Epiphanes was a type, the "little horn" of Dan. 7.8, the
"Beast out of the sea" of
# Re 13:4-10
shall appear (cf)
» See Note "Dan 7.8".
Prophecy does not concern itself with history as such, but only with
history as it affects Israel and the Holy Land. Antiochus Epiphanes was
insignificant as compared with historical personages whom the Bible does
not mention, but he scourged the covenant people and defiled God's altar,
thus coming into prophetic light. From verse 36 the "little horn" of
# Da 7:8,24-26
fills the scene. His prosperity lasts until "the indignation" (the
"time of trouble" of
# Da 12:1 Mt 24:21
is accomplished (v. 36). This is parallel with
# Re 17:10-14 19:19-21
Verses 37-45 supply details not mentioned in the N.T. The expression
"God of his fathers" (v.37) has been held to indicate that the "king" is
an apostate Jew, but this does not accord with
# Da 9:26
which was fulfilled by the Gentile armies of Rome. The "little horn"
is an apostate, but from Christianity, not Judaism (cf)
# 1Jo 2:18,19
Verses 38-45 describe his career. Substituting "the god of forces"
(i.e. forces of nature) for the true God (vs. 38,39), he soon presents
himself as that god (cf)
# 2Th 2:3,4
While his career lasts he is an irresistible conqueror (vs. 40-44).
He established his palace in Jerusalem, probably at the time of his
supreme act of blasphemous impiety
# Da 9:27 12:11 Mt 24:15 2Th 2:4
From this time begins the great tribulation
# Da 12:1 Mt 24:21
which runs its course during the last half of Daniel's seventieth week,
viz. three and one half years
# Da 7:25 12:7,11 Re 13:5
» See Note "Re 19:20"
[1] {thy people}
That is, Daniel's people, the Jews. Cf.
# Da 9:15,16,20,24 10:14
[2] {end}
The "time of the end" in Daniel. The expression, or its equivalent, "in
the end," occurs,
# Da 8:17-19 9:26 11:35,40,45 12:4,6,9
Summary:
(1) The time of the end in Daniel begins with the violation by "the prince
that shall come" (i.e. "little horn," "man of sin," "Beast") of his
covenant with the Jews for the restoration of the temple and sacrifice
# Da 9:27
and his presentation of himself as God
# Da 9:27 11:36-38 Mt 24:15 2Th 2:4 Re 13:4-6
and ends with his destruction by the appearing of the Lord in glory.
# 2Th 2:8 Re 19:19,20
(2) The duration of the "time of the end" is three and one half years,
coinciding with the last half of the seventieth week of Daniel.
# Da 7:25 12:7 Re 13:5
(3) This "time of the end" is the "time of Jacob's trouble."
# Jer 30:7
"a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation"
# Da 12:1
"great tribulation such as was not from the beginning of the
world. . . nor ever shall be"
# Mt 24:21
The N.T., especially the Book of the Revelation, adds many details.
[1] {thousand three hundred and five and thirty days}
Three periods of "days" date from the "abomination" (i.e. the blasphemous
assumption of deity by the Beast,
# Da 12:11 Mt 24:15 2Th 2:4
(1) Twelve hundred and sixty days to the destruction of the Beast
# Da 7:25 12:7 Re 19:19,20
This is also the duration of the great tribulation
» See Note "Dan 12.4
(2) Dating from the same event is a period of 1290 days, and addition
of thirty days.
# Da 12:11
(3) Again forty-five days are added, and with them the promise of
verse 12. No account is directly given of that which occupies the
interval of seventy-five days between the end of the tribulation and
the full blessing of verse 12. It is suggested that the explanation
may be found in the prophetic descriptions of the events following the
battle of Armageddon.
# Re 16:14 19:21
The Beast is destroyed, and Gentile world-dominion ended, by the
smiting of the "Stone cut out without hands" at the end of the
1260 days, but the scene is, so to speak, filled with the debris
of the image which the "wind" must carry away before full
blessing comes in
# Da 2:35
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions HOSEA
Hosea was a contemporary of Amos in Israel, and of Isaiah and Micah in
Judah, and his ministry continued after the first, or Assyrian, captivity
of the northern kingdom
# 2Ki 15:29
His style is abrupt, metaphorical, and figurative.
Israel is Jehovah's adulterous wife, repudiated, but ultimately to be
purified and restored. This is Hosea's distinctive message, which may be
summed up in his two words, Lo-ammi, "not my people," and Ammi, "my
people." Israel is not merely apostate and sinful--that is said also;
but her sin takes its character from the exalted relationship into which
she has been brought.
The book is in three parts: I. The dishonoured wife, 1.1-3.5. II. The
sinful people, 4.1-13.8. III. The ultimate blessing and glory of
Israel, 13.9-14.9.
The events recorded in Hosea cover a period of 60 years (Ussher)
[1] {my people}
"My people" is an expression used in the O.T. exclusively of Israel the
nation. It is never used of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
See Mat. 2.6.
[2] {Israel}
"Israel" in Hosea means the ten tribes forming the northern kingdom as
distinguished from "Judah" (the tribes of Judah and Benjamin) forming the
southern kingdom which adhered to the Davidic family. (See)
# 1Ki 12:1-21
The promise of verse 10 awaits fulfilment. See "Israel"
# Ge 12:2,3 Ro 11:26
[1] {She is not my wife}
That Israel is the wife of Jehovah (see vs. 16-23), now disowned but yet
to be restored, is the clear teaching of the passages. This relationship is
not to be confounded with that of the Church of Christ.
# Joh 3:29
refs.
In the mystery of the Divine tri-unity both are true. The N.T. speaks of
the Church as a virgin espoused to one husband
# 2Co 11:1,2
which could never be said of an adulterous wife, restored in grace.
Israel is, then, to be the restored and forgiven wife of Jehovah,
the Church the virgin wife of the Lamb
# Joh 3:29 Re 19:6-8
Israel Jehovah's earthly wife
# Ho 2:23
the Church the Lamb's heavenly bride.
# Re 19:7
[1]
The response of Jehovah continues to the end, but at verse 9 changes to
entreaty and promise.
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions JOEL
Joel, a prophet of Judah, probably exercised his ministry during the
reign of Joash (2Chr 22. to 24.). In his youth he may have known Elijah,
and he certainly was a contemporary of Elisha. The plagues of insects,
which were the token of the divine chastening, give occasion for the
unveiling of the coming "day of the Lord" (Isa 2.12, refs.), in its two
aspects of judgment on the Gentiles and blessing for Israel.
Joel is in three chief parts: I. The plague of insects, 1.1-20. II.
The day of the Lord, 2.1-3.8. III. Retrospect of the day of the Lord,
and full kingdom blessing, 3.9-21.
[1] {palmerworm}
The palmerworm, locust, etc., are thought to be different forms, at
different stages of development, of one insect. The essential fact is
that, according to the usual method of the Spirit in prophecy, some local
circumstance is shown to be of spiritual significance, and is made the
occasion of a far-reaching prophecy (e.g.)
# Isa 7:1-14
where the Syrian invasion and the unbelief of Ahaz give occasion to
the great prophecy of verse 14.) Here in Joel a plague of devouring
insects is shown to have spiritual significance
# Joe 1:13,14
and is made the occasion of the prophecy of the day of the Lord, not
yet fulfilled.
# Isa 2:12
refs.
This is more developed in Joel 2., where the literal locusts are left
behind, and the future day of Jehovah fills the scene.
The whole picture is of the end-time of this present age, of the "times
of the Gentiles"
# Lu 21:24 Re 16:14
of the battle of Armageddon
# Re 16:14 19:11-21
of the regathering of Israel
» See Note "Ro 11:26"
and of kingdom blessing. It is remarkable that Joel, coming at the very
beginning of written prophecy (B.C. 836), gives the fullest view of the
consummation of all written prophecy.
The order of events is: (1) The invasion of Palestine from the north by
Gentile world-powers headed up under the Beast and false prophet
# Joe 2:1-10
"Armageddon,"
# Re 16:14
refs.
(2) the Lord's army and destruction of the invaders
# Joe 2:11 Re 19:11-21
(3) the repentance of Judah in the land
# Joe 2:12-17
» See Note "Deut 30.3
(4) the answer of Jehovah
# Joe 2:18-27
(5) the effusion of the Spirit in the (Jewish) "last days"
# Joe 2:28,29
(6) the return of the Lord in glory and the setting up of the kingdom
# Joe 2:30-32 Ac 15:15-17
by the regathering of the nation and judgment of the nations
# Joe 3:1-16
(7) full and permanent kingdom blessing
# Joe 3:17-21 Zec 14:1-21
» See Note "Mt 25:32"
[1] {his army}
To verse 10 inclusive the invading army is described; at verse 11
Jehovah's army. This "army" is described,
# Re 19:11-18
The call to repentance is based upon the Lord's promise of deliverance,
# Joe 2:12-17
At verses 18-20 we have the deliverance (v. 20; see "Armageddon," Rev.
16.14, refs.) and kingdom blessing in verses 21-27. Verses 28-32 give
the outpouring of the Spirit, and verses 29-32 the cosmical signs
preceding the day of the Lord.
» See Note "Re 19:11"
[1] {afterward}
Cf.
# Ac 2:17
which gives a specific interpretation of "afterward" (Heb. acherith=
"latter," "last"). "Afterward" in Joel 2.28 means "in the last
days" (Gr. eschatos), and has a partial and continuous fulfilment during
the "last days" which began with the first advent of Christ
# Heb 1:2
but the greater fulfilment awaits the "last days" as applied to Israel.
See Acts 2.17, note, for phrase, "the last days."
» See Note "Ac 2:17"
[1] {Prepare war}
Verses 9-14 refer to Armageddon; verses 15,16 are parallel with Joel
2.30-32. From verses 9 to 16 we have a resume of Joel 2.9-32.
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions AMOS
Amos, a Jew, but prophesying (B.C. 776-763) in the northern kingdom (1.1;
7.14,15) exercised his ministry during the reign of Jeroboam II, an able
but idolatrous king who brought his kingdom to the zenith of its power.
Nothing could seem more improbable than the fulfilment of Amos' warnings;
yet within fifty years the kingdom was utterly destroyed. The vision of
Amos is, however, wider than the northern kingdom, including the whole
"house of Jacob."
Amos is in four parts: I. Judgments on the cities surrounding Palestine,
1.1-2.3. II. Judgements on Judah and Israel, 2.4-16. III. Jehovah's
controversy with "the whole family" of Jacob, 3.1-9.10. IV. The future
glory of the Davidic kingdom, 9.11-15.
[1] {roar}
"Roar," etc. Cf.
# Isa 42:13 Jer 25:30-33 Ho 11:10,11 Joe 3:16
It will be found that wherever the phrase occurs it is connected with the
destruction of Gentile dominion (see "Times of the Gentiles,"
# Lu 21:24
» See Note "Re 16:19"
and the blessing of Israel in the kingdom. Without a
doubt a near fulfilment upon Syria occurred
# 2Ki 14:28
but the expression, "the Lord will roar," looks forward to a vaster
fulfilment.
» See Note "Joe 1:4"
[1] {For three}
The judgments on Judah and Israel were fulfilled as to Judah in the 70
years' captivity; as to Israel (the northern kingdom) in the world-wide
dispersion which still continues.
[2] {whole family}
The language here, and the expression "house of Jacob,"
# Am 3:13
evidently gives the prophecy a wider application than to "Israel,"
the ten-tribe northern kingdom, though the judgment was, in the
event, executed first upon the northern kingdom.
# 2Ki 17:18-23
[3] {therefore}
It is noteworthy that Jehovah's controversy with the Gentile cities which
hated Israel is brief: "I will send a fire." But Israel had been brought
into the place of privilege and so of responsibility, and the Lord's
indictment is detailed and unsparing. Cf.
# Mt 11:23 Lu 12:47,48
[1] {Beth-el}
Cf.
# 1Ki 12:25-33
\\Any\\ altar at Beth-el, after the establishment of Jehovah's worship
at Jerusalem was of necessity divisive and schismatic.
# De 12:4-14
Cf.
# Joh 4:21-24 Mt 18:20 Heb 13:10-14
[1] {standing}
The position of the Lord (Adonai) is significant. The altar speaks
properly of mercy because of judgement executed upon an interposed
sacrifice, but when altar and sacrifice are despised the altar becomes a
place of judgment. Cf.
# Joh 12:31
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions OBADIAH
Internal evidence seems to fix the date of Obadiah's ministry in the reign
of the bloody Athaliah
# 2Ki 8:16-26
If this be true, and if the ministry of Joel was during the reign of
Joash, then Obadiah is chronologically first of the writing prophets,
and first to use the formula, "the day of the Lord." (Cf.)
» See Note "Joe 1:4"
The book is in four parts: I. Edom's humiliation, vs. 1-9. II. The
crowning sin of Edom, vs. 10-14. III. The future visitation of Edom in the
day of the Lord, vs. 15,16 (Isa. 34., 63.1-6). IV. The inclusion of Edom
in the future kingdom, vs. 17-21 (Num 24.17-19)
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions JONAH
The historical character of the man Jonah is vouched for by Jesus Christ
# Mt 12:39-41
as also that his preservation in the great fish was a
"sign" or type of the Lord's own entombment and resurrection. Both are
miraculous and both are equally credible.
# 2Ki 14:25
records the fulfilment of a prophecy by Jonah. The man himself was
a bigoted Jew, unwilling to testify to a Gentile city, and angry that
God had spared it. Typically he foreshadows the nation of Israel out
of its own land; a trouble to the Gentiles, yet witnessing to them;
cast out by them, but miraculously preserved; in their future deepest
distress calling upon Jehovah-Saviour, and finding deliverance, and then
becoming missionaries to the Gentiles.
# Zec 8:7-23
He typifies Christ as the Sent One, raised from the dead, and carrying
salvation to the Gentiles. The chapter divisions indicate the analysis
of Jonah.
[1] {great fish}
No miracle of Scripture has called forth so much unbelief. The issue is
not between the doubter and this ancient record, but between the doubter
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
# Mt 12:39,40
Science, "falsely so called"
# 1Ti 6:20
failing to take account of the fact that it deals only with
the outward phenomena of a fallen race, and of an earth under a curse
# Ge 3:17-19
is intolerant of miracles. To faith, and to true science,
miracle is what might be expected of divine love, interposing God in a
physically and morally disordered universe.
# Ro 8:19-23
[1] {fainted}
Cf.
# 1Ki 19:4-8
Taken as a lesson in service we have in Jonah a servant,
(1) disobedient, Chapter 1.1-11; (2) afflicted, Chapter 1.12-17; (3)
praying Chapter 2.1-9; (4) delivered, Chapter 2.10; (5) recommissioned,
Chapter 3.1-3; (6) powerful, Chapter 3.4-9; (7) perplexed and fainting
but not forsaken, Chapter 4.1-11.
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions MICAH
Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah, prophesied during the reigns of Jotham,
Ahaz, and Hezekiah over Judah, and of Pekahiah, Pekah, and Hoshea over
Israel
# 2Ki 15:23-30 17:1-6
He was a prophet in Judah
# Jer 26:17-19
but the book called by his name chiefly concerns Samaria.
Micah falls into three prophetic strains, each beginning, "Hear": I.
1.1-2.13 II. 3.1-5.15 III. 6.1-7.20
The events recorded Micah cover a period of 40 years (Ussher).
[1] {Therefore}
In verses 6-16 the Assyrian invasion is described. Cf.
# 2Ki 17:1-18
This is the local circumstance which gives rise to the prophecy of the
greater invasion in the last days.
# Mic 4:9-13
and of the Lord's deliverance at Armageddon.
# Re 16:14 19:17
[1] {mountain}
General predictions concerning the kingdom. In Scripture a mountain is
the symbol of a great earth power
# Da 2:35
hills, of smaller power. The prediction asserts (1) the ultimate
establishment of the kingdom, with Jerusalem for the capital (v. 1);
(2) the universality of the future kingdom (v. 2);
(3) its character--peace (v. 3); (4) its effect--prosperity (v. 4).
Cf.
# Isa 2:1-5 11:1-12
[1] {Now}
The "word of the Lord that came to Micah"
# Mic 1:1
having described the future kingdom
# Mic 4:1-8
and glanced at the Babylonian captivities
# Mic 4:9-10
goes forward into the last days to refer to the great
battle (see "Armageddon,"
# Re 16:14
» See Note "Re 19:17"
which immediately precedes the setting up of the Messianic kingdom
(see "Kingdom (O.T.),"
# Ge 1:26
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
also, "Kingdom (N.T.),
# Lu 1:31-33 1Co 15:28
# Mic 5:1,2
forms a parenthesis in which the "word of the Lord" goes back
from the time of the great battle (yet future) to the birth and rejection
of the King, Messiah-Christ
# Mt 27:24,25,37
This is followed by the statement that He will "give them up until
the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth" (v. 3). There
is a twofold "travail" of Israel:
(1) that which brings forth the "man child" (Christ)
# Re 12:1,2
and (2) that which, in the last days, brings forth a believing
"remnant" out of the still dispersed and unbelieving nation
# Mic 5:3 Jer 30:6-14 Mic 4:10
Both aspects are combined in Isa. 66. In verse 7 we have the
"man-child" (Christ) of
# Re 12:1,2
In verses 8-24 the remnant, established in kingdom blessing. The
meaning of Mic. 5.3 is that, from the rejection of Christ at His
first coming Jehovah will give Israel up till the believing remnant
appears; then He stands and feeds in His proper strength as Jehovah
(v.4); He is the defence of His people as in
# Mic 4:3,11-13
and afterward the remnant go as missionaries to Israel and to all the
world.
# Mic 5:7,8 Zec 8:23
[1] {everlasting}
Cf.
# Isa 7:13,14 9:6,7
The "child" was born in Bethlehem, but the "Son" was "from everlasting."
[2] {remnant}
The ministry of the Jewish remnant
# Isa 1:9
» See Note "Ro 11:5"
has a twofold aspect, "a dew from the Lord"; "a lion among the beasts."
Turning to the Lord in the great tribulation
# Ps 2:5
» See Note "Re 7:14"
the remnant takes up the beautiful gospel of the kingdom.
» See Note "Re 14:6"
and proclaims it under awful persecution "unto all nations, for a
witness."
# Mt 24:14
The result is
# Re 7:4-14
This is the "dew" aspect, and is followed by the "day of the Lord"
# Isa 2:10-22 Re 19:11-12
in the morning of which the kingdom is set up in power. Again
there is a world-wide preaching to Jew and Gentile, but now it is the
word that the King is on His holy hill of Zion (Psa. 2.), and the
unrepentant will be broken with His rod of iron.
# Ps 2:6-9
The preaching is given in
# Ps 2:10-12
This is the "lion" aspect of the remnant's testimony.
# Re 2:26-28
The full kingdom-age of blessing follows the "rod of iron" aspect.
[1] {Therefore}
# Mic 7:7-20
is, primarily, the confession and intercession of the
prophet, who identifies himself with Israel. Cf.
# Da 9:3-19
Intercession was a test of the prophetic office
# Jer 27:18 Ge 20:7
But Micah's prayer voices also the heart exercise of the remnant in
the last days. Such is prophecy, an intermingling of the near and the
far. (Cf)
# Ps 22:1 Mt 27:46
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions NAHUM
Nahum prophesied during the reign of Hezekiah, probably about one hundred
and fifty years after Jonah. He has but one subject--the destruction of
Nineveh. According to Diodorus Siculus, the city was destroyed nearly a
century later, precisely as here predicted. The prophecy is one continuous
strain which does not yield to analysis. The moral theme is: the holiness
of Jehovah which must deal with sin in judgment.
[1] {Nineveh}
Nineveh stands in Scripture as the representative of apostate
\\religious\\ Gentiledom, as Babylon represents the confusion into which
the Gentile \\political\\ world-system has fallen
# Da 2:41-43
» See Note "Isa 13:1"
Under the preaching of Jonah, B.C. 862, the city and king had turned
to God (Elohim),
# Jon 3:3-10
But in the time of Nahum, more than a century later, the city had
wholly apostatized from God. It is this which distinguishes Nineveh
from all the other ancient Gentile cities, and which makes her the
suited symbol of the present religious Gentile world-system in the
last day. Morally, Nineveh is described in
# Ro 1:21-23
The chief deity of apostate Nineveh was the bull-god, with
the face of a man and the wings of a bird: "an image made like to
corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts."
The message of Nahum, uttered about one hundred years before the
destruction of Nineveh, is, therefore, not a call to repentance, but an
unrelieved warning of judgment: "He will make an utter end: affliction
shall not rise up the second time." v.9; see, also,
# Na 3:10
For there is no remedy for apostasy but utter judgment, and a
new beginning. Cf.
# Isa 1:4,5,24-28 Heb 6:4-8 Pr 29:1
It is the way of God; apostasy is punished by catastrophic
destruction. Of this the flood and the destruction of Nineveh are
witnesses. The coming destruction of apostate Christendom is
foreshadowed by these. (Cf)
# Da 2:34,35 Lu 17:26,27 Re 19:17-21
[2] {God is jealous}
The great ethical lesson of Nahum is that the character of God makes Him
not only "slow to anger," and "a stronghold to them that trust Him," but
also one who "will not at all acquit the wicked." He can be "just, and
the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus"
# Ro 3:26
but only because His holy law has been vindicated in the cross.
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions HABAKKUK
It seems most probable that Habakkuk prophesied in the latter years of
Josiah. Of the prophet himself nothing is known. To him the character of
Jehovah was revealed in terms of the highest spirituality. He alone of the
prophets was more concerned that the holiness of Jehovah should be
vindicated than that Israel should escape chastisement. Written just upon
the eve of the captivity, Habakkuk was God's testimony to Himself as
against both idolatry and pantheism.
The book is in five parts: I. Habakkuk's perplexity in view of the sins of
Israel and the silence of God, 1.1-4. Historically this was the time of
Jehovah's forbearance because of Josiah's repentance (2Ki 22.18-20). II.
The answer of Jehovah to the prophet's perplexity. 1.5-11. III. The
prophet, thus answered, utters the testimony to Jehovah, 1.12-17; but he
will watch for further answers, 2.1. IV. To the watching prophet comes
the response of the "vision," 2.20. V. All ends in Habakkuk's sublime
Psalm of the Kingdom.
As a whole the Book of Habakkuk raise and answers the question of God's
consistency with Himself in view of permitted evil. The prophet thought
that the holiness of God forbade him to go on with evil Israel. The answer
of Jehovah announces a Chaldean invasion (1.6), and a world-wide dispersion
(1.5). But Jehovah is not mere wrath; "He delighteth in mercy" (Mic.
7.18), and introduces into His answers to the perplexed prophet the great
promises, 1.5; 2.3,4,14,20.
[1] {for I will work}
Verse 5 anticipates the dispersion "among the nations" (cf)
# De 28:64-67
While Israel as a nation is thus dispersed, Jehovah will
"work a work" which Israel "will not believe."
# Ac 13:37-41
interprets this prediction of the redemptive work of Christ. It is
significant that Paul quotes this to Jews of the dispersion in the
synagogue at Antioch.
[1] {run that readeth it}
Not, as usually quoted, "that he that runneth may read," but, "that he
may run that readeth"; i.e. as a messenger of the "vision." Cf.
# Zec 2:4,5
[2] {appointed time}
To the watching prophet comes the response of the "vision" (vs. 2-20).
Three elements are to be distinguished: (1) The moral judgment of Jehovah
upon the evils practised by dispersed Israel (vs. 5-13, 15-19). (2) The
future purpose of God that, practised by dispersed Israel (vs. 5-13,
15-19). (2) The future purpose of God that, "the earth shall be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea"
(v.14). That this revelation awaits the return of the Lord in glory is
shown (a) by the parallel passage in
# Isa 11:9-12
and (b) by the quotation of verse 3 in
# Heb 10:37,38
where the "it" of the "vision" becomes "he" and refers to the return
of the Lord. It is then, after the "vision" is fulfilled, that
"the knowledge of the glory," etc, shall fill the earth. But (3)
meantime, "the just shall live by his faith." This great evangelic
word is applied to Jew and Gentile in
# Ro 1:17
to the Gentiles in
# Ga 3:11-14
and to Hebrews (especially) in
# Heb 10:38
This opening of life to faith alone, makes possible not only the
salvation of the Gentiles during the dispersion of Israel "among the
nations"
# Hab 1:5 Ga 3:11-14
but also makes possible a believing remnant in Israel while the
nation, as such, is in blindness and unbelief
» See Note "Ro 11:1"
with neither priesthood nor temple, and consequently
unable to keep the ordinances of the law. Such is Jehovah! In
disciplinary government His ancient Israel is cast out of the land and
judicially blinded
# 2Co 3:12-15
but in covenanted mercy the individual Jew may resort to the simple
faith of Abraham
# Ge 15:6 Ro 4:1-5
and be saved. But this does not set aside the Palestinian
» See Note "De 30:3"
and Davidic
» See Note "2Sa 7:16"
Covenants, for "the earth shall be filled," etc. (v. 14), and Jehovah
will again be in His temple (v. 20). Cf.
# Ro 11:25-27
[3] {hell}
\\Sheol\\ is, in the O.T., the place to which the dead go. (1) Often,
therefore, it is spoken of as the equivalent of the grave, merely, where
all human activities cease; the terminus toward which all human life
moves (e.g.
# Ge 42:38
grave
# Job 14:13
grave
# Ps 88:3
grave
(2) To the man "under the sun," the natural man, who of necessity
judges from appearances, \\sheol\\ seems no more than the grave--
the end and total cessation, not only of the activities of life,
but of life itself.
# Ec 9:5,10
(3) But Scripture reveals \\sheol\\ as a place of sorrow
# 2Sa 22:6 Ps 18:5, 116:3
in which the wicked are turned
# Ps 9:17
and where they are fully conscious
# Isa 14:9-17 Eze 32:21
see, especially,
# Jon 2:2
what the belly of the great fish was to Jonah that \\sheol\\ is
to those who are therein). The \\sheol\\ of the O.T. and \\hades\\ of
the N.T.
» See Note "Lu 16:23"
are identical.
[1] {For the earth shall be filled}
Cf.
# Isa 11:9
which fixes the \\time\\ when "the earth," etc. It is when David's
righteous Branch has set up the kingdom. (See "Kingdom (O.T.),"
# 2Sa 7:9 Zec 12:8
also, "Kingdom (N.T.),"
# Lu 1:31-33 1Co 15:28
Habakkuk's phrase marks an advance on that of Isaiah. In the
latter it is "the knowledge of the Lord." That, in a certain sense, is
being diffused now; but in Habakkuk it is "the knowledge of the \\glory\\
of the Lord," and that cannot be till He is manifested in glory
# Mt 24:30 25:31 Lu 9:26 2Th 1:7 2:8 Jude 1:14
The transfiguration was a foreview of this.
# Lu 9:26-29
[3] {Prayer}
Prayer in the O.T. is in contrast with prayer in the N.T. in two
respects: (1) In the former the basis of prayer is a covenant of God,
or an appeal to his revealed character as merciful, gracious, etc.
In the latter the basis is relationship: "When ye pray, say, Our
Father"
# Mt 6:9
(2) A comparison, e.g. of the prayers of Moses
and Paul, will show that one was praying for an earthly people whose
dangers and blessings were earthly; the other for a heavenly people
whose dangers and blessings were spiritual.
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions ZEPHANIAH
This prophet, a contemporary of Jeremiah, exercised his ministry during
the reign of Josiah. It was a time of revival (2Ki. 22), but the
captivity was impending, nevertheless, and Zephaniah points out the
moral state which, despite the superficial revival under Josiah (Jer.
2.11-13), made it inevitable.
# Jer 2:11-13
Zephaniah is in four parts: I. The coming invasion of Nebuchadnezzar a
figure of the day of the Lord, 1.1-2.3. II. Predictions of judgment on
certain peoples, 2.4-15. III. The moral state of Israel for which the
captivity was to come, 3.1-7. IV. The judgment of the nations followed
by kingdom blessing under Messiah, 3.8-20.
[1] {for the day of the Lord}
As in the other Prophets, the approaching invasion of Nebuchadnezzar is
treated as an adumbration of the true day of the Lord in which all
earth-judgments will culminate, to be followed by the restoration and
blessing of Israel and the nations in the kingdom. See "Day of the Lord"
# Isa 2:10-22 Re 19:11-21
"Israel"
# Ge 12:2,3 Ro 11:26
CF. Joel 1.,2.
[1] {then will I turn}
In Zephaniah the conversion of "the peoples" is stated out of the usual
prophetic order, in which the blessing of Israel and the setting up of
the kingdom precedes the conversion of the Gentiles.
» See Note "Zec 12:1"
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
But the passage gives clear testimony as to when the conversion of the
nations will occur. It is \\after\\ the smiting of the nations. Cf.
# Isa 11:9
with context;
# Da 2:34,35 Ps 2:5-8 Ac 15:15-17 Re 19:19-20:6
[2] {the midst of thee}
That this, and all like passages in the Prophets (see "Kingdom (O.T.),"
# Ge 1:26 Zec 12:8
cannot refer to anything which occurred at the first coming of Christ
is clear from the context. The precise reverse was true.
» See Note "Isa 11:1"
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions HAGGAI
Haggai was a prophet of the restored remnant after the 70 years'
captivity. The circumstances are detailed in Ezra and Nehemiah. To
hearten, rebuke, and instruct that feeble and divided remnant was the
task of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The \\theme\\ of Haggai is the
unfinished temple, and his \\mission\\ to admonish and encourage the
builders.
The divisions of the book are marked by the formula, "came the word of
the Lord by Haggai": I. The event which drew out the prophecy, 1.1,2.
II. The divine displeasure because of the interrupted work, 1.3-15. III.
The temples--Solomon's, the restoration temple, and the kingdom-age
temple, 2.1-9. IV. Uncleanness and chastening, 2.10-19. V. The final
victory, 2.20-23 (see)
# Re 19:17-20 14:19,20 Zec 14:1-3
[1] {house in her first glory}
The prophet calls upon the old men who remembered Solomon's temple to
witness to the new generation how greatly that structure exceeded the
present in magnificence; and then utters a prophecy (vs. 7-9) which can
only refer to the future kingdom temple described by Ezekiel. It is
certain that the restoration temple and all subsequent structures,
including Herod's, were far inferior in costliness and splendour to
Solomon's. The present period is described in
# Ho 3:4,5
Verse 6 is quoted in
# Heb 12:26,27
Verse 7: "I will shake all nations," refers to the great tribulation
and is followed by the coming of Christ in glory, as in
# Mt 24:29,30
"The desire of all nations" is Christ.
» See Note "Mal 3:1"
[2] {latter house}
In a sense all the temples (i.e Solomon's; Ezra's; Herod's; that which
will be used by the unbelieving Jews under covenant with the Beast
# Da 9:27 Mt 24:15 2Th 2:3,4
and Ezekiel's future kingdom temple [Ez 40.-47.]), are treated as one
"house"--the "house of the Lord," since they all profess to be that.
For that reason Christ purified the temple of His day, erected though
it was by an Idumean usurper to please the Jews.
# Mt 21:12,13
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) Book Introductions ZECHARIAH
Zechariah, like Haggai, was a prophet to the remnant which returned
after the 70 years. There is much of symbol in Zechariah, but these
difficult passages are readily interpreted in the light of the whole
body of related prophecy. The great Messianic passages are, upon
comparison with the other prophecies of the kingdom, perfectly clear.
Both advents of Christ are in Zechariah's prophecy
# Zec 9:9 Mt 21:1-11 Zec 14:3,4
More than Haggai or Malachi, Zechariah gives the mind of God about
the Gentile world-powers surrounding the restored remnant. He has
given them their authority
# Da 2:27-40
and will hold them to account; the test, as always, being their
treatment of Israel.
» See Note "Ge 15:18"
note 3, clause 6;
# Zec 2:8
Zechariah, therefore, falls into three broad divisions: I. Symbolic
visions in the light of the Messianic hope, 1.1-6.15. II. The
mission from Babylon, 7., 8. III. Messiah in rejection and
afterwards in power, 9.-14.
[1] {I saw}
The "man" (v.8) is the "my lord," "the angel that talked with me" (v.
9), and "the angel of the Lord" (vs. 10,11). The "man" "stood among
the myrtle trees" (v. 8). The prophet addresses him as "my lord"
(cf)
# Ge 19:2
but when the "man" answers he perceives that he has
addressed an angel--"the angel that talked with me" (v.9). In verse
10 the being of the vision is again "the man that stood among the
myrtle trees." In verse 11 he is called "the angel of the Lord," and
to him the (riders on the) "red horses, speckled with white" say: "We
have walked to and fro," etc. Then (v.12) "the angel of the Lord"
(i.e. the "man," "my lord," "the angel that talked with me")
intercedes for the land against a world at ease. The date of the
intercession was at the end of the 70 years' captivity of Judah.
Taken as a whole
# Zec 1:8-17
Zechariah's first vision reveals Judah in
dispersion; Jerusalem under adverse possession; and the Gentile nations
at rest about it. This condition still continues, and Jehovah's answer
to the intercession of the angel sweeps on to the end-time of Gentile
domination, when "the Lord shall yet comfort Zion," etc. (vs. 16,17;)
# Isa 40:1-5
» See "Kingdom (O.T.)" "Ge 1:26"
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
[1] {horn}
A "horn" is the symbol of a Gentile king
# Da 7:24 Re 17:12
and the vision is of the four world empires
# Da 2:36-44 7:3-7
which have "scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem" (v.19)
[2] {And the Lord}
The word \\charash\\, trans. "carpenter," is lit. \\carver, engraver\\.
Verse 21 makes it plain that, whatever the four carvers may be, they are
used to "fray," or carve away (Heb. \\charad\\) in the sense of
diminishing, enfeebling, the great Gentile world-powers. They may stand
for Jehovah's "four sore judgments," the sword, famine, evil beasts, and
pestilence
# Eze 14:21
the four horses of Rev. 6.
[3] {again}
As in
# Zec 1:8-11
the "man" of verse 1 is "the angel that talked with
me" of verse 3. The measuring-line (or reed) is used by Ezekiel
# Eze 40:3,5
as a symbol of preparation for rebuilding the city and temple in
the kingdom-age. Here also it has that meaning, as the context (vs.
4-13) shows. The subject of the vision is the restoration of nation and
city. In no sense has this prophecy been fulfilled. The order is: (1)
The Lord in glory in Jerusalem, v. 5 (cf.
# Mt 24:29,30
(2) the restoration of Israel, v.6; (3) the judgment of Jehovah upon
the nations, v.8, "after the glory"
# Mt 25:31,32
(4) the full blessing of the earth in the kingdom, vs. 10-13,
See "Kingdom (O.T.)"
# Ge 1:26
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
"Israel,"
# Ge 12:2 Ro 11:26
[1] {Joshua}
The fifth vision discloses: (1) The change from self-righteousness to the
righteousness of God
» See Note "Ro 3:22"
of which Paul's experience,
# Php 3:1-9
is the illustration, as it is also the foreshadowing of the
conversion of Israel. (2) In type, the preparation of Israel for
receiving Jehovah's "BRANCH"
» See Note "Isa 4:2"
The refusal of the Jews to abandon self-righteousness for the
righteousness of God blinded them to the presence of the BRANCH in
their midst at His first advent.
# Ro 10:1-4 11:7,8
Cf.
# Zec 6:12-15
which speaks of the manifestation of the BRANCH in glory (v. 13) as
the Priest-King, when Israel will receive Him.
» See Note "Heb 5:6"
[2] {that day}
Verse 10 marks the time of fulfilment as in the future kingdom. It
speaks of a security which Israel has never known since the captivity,
nor will know till the kingdom comes. (Cf.
# Isa 11:1-9
[1] {And I said}
The vision of the candlestick and olive trees (lit. trees of oil) is, as
we know, from
# Re 11:3-12
a prophecy to be fulfilled in the last days of the present age. That
which marks the ministry of the "two witnesses"
# Re 11:3,4
is \\power.\\ (Cf
# Zec 4:6
In measure this power would rest upon Zerubbabel, who, having begun
the restoration temple of Zechariah's time, would finish it (v.9)
laying the "headstone" amid the shoutings of the people. The whole
scene forms a precursive fulfilment of the ministry of the two
witnesses of Rev. 11. and of the coming of the true "headstone,"
Prince Messiah, of whom prince Zerubbabel is a type.
Oil is a uniform symbol of the Spirit
» See Note "Ac 2:4"
Joshua and Zerubbabel were doubtless the two olive trees for that
day, as the two witnesses of Rev. 11. may, in turn, but point to
Christ as Priest-King in the kingdom-age.
# Zec 6:12,13
[2] {roll}
A "roll," in Scripture symbolism, means the written word whether of God
or man
# Eze 6:2 Jer 36:2,4,6, * etc:
# Eze 3:1-3
Zechariah's eighth vision is of the rebuke of sin by the word of God.
The two sins mentioned really transgress both tables of the law.
To steal is to set aside our neighbor's right; to swear is to set
aside God's claim to reverence. As always the law can only curse
(v. 3;
# Ga 3:10-14
[1] {What is it}
In the vision of the ephah local and prophetic elements are to be
distinguished. The elements are: an ephah or measure; a woman in the
ephah; a sealing weight upon the mouth of the ephah confining the woman,
and the stork-winged women whose only function is to bear the ephah and
woman away into Babylonia (Shinar). The thing thus symbolized was
"through all the land" (v.6).
Symbolically, a "measure" (or "cup") stands for something which has come
to the full, so that God must judge it
# 2Sa 8:2 Jer 51:13 Hab 3:6,7 Mt 7:2 23:32
A woman, \\in the bad ethical sense\\, is always a symbol
of that which, \\religiously\\, is out of its place. The "woman" in
# Mt 13:33
is dealing with \\doctrine\\, a sphere forbidden to her
# 1Ti 2:12
In Thyatira a woman is suffered to teach
# Re 2:20
The Babylon phase of the apostate church is symbolized by an unchaste
woman, sodden with the greed and luxury of commercialism.
# Re 17:1-6 18:3,11-20
The local application of Zechariah's ninth vision is, therefore, evident.
The Jews then in the land had been in captivity in Babylon. Outwardly
they had put away idolatry, but they had learned in Babylon that
insatiate greed of gain
# Ne 5:1-9 Mal 3:8
that intense commercial spirit which had been foreign to Israel as
a pastoral people, but which was thenceforward to characterize them
through the ages. These things were out of place in God's people and
land. Symbolically He judged them as belonging to Babylon and sent
them there to build a temple--they could have no part in His. The
"woman" was to be "set \\there\\ upon her \\own\\ base" (v.11).
It was Jehovah's moral judgment upon Babylonism in His own land
and people.
Prophetically, the application to the Babylon of the Revelation is
obvious. The professing Gentile church at that time condoning every
iniquity of the rich, doctrinally a mere "confusion," as the name
indicates, and corrupted to the core by commercialism, wealth, and
luxury, falls under the judgment of God (Rev. 18.).
[2] {four chariots}
The interpretation of the tenth vision must be governed by the
authoritative declaration of verse 5. That which is symbolized by the
four chariots with their horses is not the four world-empires of Daniel,
but "the four spirits of heaven which go forth from standing before the
Lord of all the earth" (v.5). These "spirits" are angels
# Lu 1:19 Heb 1:14
and are most naturally interpreted of the four angels of
# Re 7:1-3 9:14,15
These have also a ministry earthward, and of like nature
with the "spirits" of
# Zec 6:1-8
viz. judgment. The symbol (chariots and horses) is in perfect harmony
with this. Always in Scripture symbolism they stand for the power of
God earthward in judgment.
# Jer 46:9,10 Joe 2:3-11 Na 3:1-7
The vision, then, speaks of the Lord's judgments upon the Gentile
nations north and south in the day of the Lord
# Isa 2:10-22 Re 19:11-21
[1] {crowns}
Following the earth-judgments symbolized in the horsed chariots (Zech.
6.1-8) comes the manifestation of Christ in His kingdom glory (vs. 9-15).
This is the invariable prophetic order: first the judgments of the day of
the Lord
# Isa 2:10-22 Re 19:11-21
then the kingdom (cf)
# Ps 2:5 2:6 Isa 3:24-26 4:2-6 10:33,34 11:1-10 Re 19:19-21
# Re 20:4-6
This is set forth symbolically by the crowning of Joshua,
which was not a vision, but actually done (cf)
# Isa 8:3,4 Eze 37:16-22
The fulfilment in the BRANCH will infinitely transcend the symbol.
He "shall bear the glory"
# Zec 6:13 Mt 16:27 24:30 25:31
as the Priest-King on His own throne (vs. 12,13;
# Heb 7:1-3
Christ is now a Priest, but still in the holiest within the veil
# Le 16:15 Heb 9:11-14,24
and seated on the Father's throne
# Re 3:21
He has not yet come out to take His own throne
# Heb 9:28
The crowns made for the symbolical crowning of Joshua were to be
laid up in the temple as a memorial to keep alive this larger hope
of Israel.
[2] {they}
"They," i.e. of the captivity in Babylon. The mission of these Jews of
the captivity concerned a fast day instituted by the Jews in
commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem, wholly of their own will,
and without warrant from the word of God. In the beginning there was
doubtless sincere contrition in the observance of the day; now it had
become a mere ceremonial. The Jews of the dispersion would be rid of it,
but seek authority from the priests. The whole matter, like much in
modern pseudo-Christianity, was extra-Biblical, formal, and futile.
Jehovah takes the occasion to send a divine message to the dispersion.
That message is in five parts: (1) Their fast was a mere religious form;
they should rather have given heed to the "former prophets" (vs. 4-7; Cf.
# Isa 1:12 Mt 15:1-10
(2) they are told why their 70 years' prayer has not been answered
(vs. 8-14; cf.
# Ps 66:18 Isa 1:14-17
(3) the unchanged purpose of Jehovah, and the blessing of Israel
in the kingdom
# Zec 8:1-8
cf. a like order in
# Isa 1:23-31 2:1-4
(4) the messengers of the captivity are exhorted to hear the prophets
of "these days," i.e, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, and to do
justly; then all their fasts and feasts will become gladness and joy
(8.9-19);
(5) they are assured that Jerusalem is yet to be the religious centre
of the earth
# Zec 8:20-23 Isa 2:1-3 Zec 14:16-21
[1] {holy mountain}
Holiness, Sanctification, Summary: In the O.T. the words consecration,
dedication, sanctification, and holiness are various renderings of one
Hebrew word, are used of \\persons\\ and of \\things\\, and have an
identical meaning, i.e. set apart for God. Only when used of God himself
(e.g. Le. 11.45), or of the holy angels (e.g. Dan. 4.13) is any inward
# Le 11:45 Da 4:13
moral quality \\necessarily\\ implied. Doubtless a priest or other
person set apart to the service of God, whose whole will and desire went
with his setting apart, experienced progressively an inner detachment
from evil; but that aspect is distinctively of the N.T., not of the O.T.
# Mt 4:5
[1] {these days}
The "remnant" in verses 6.11,12 refers to the remnant of Judah which
returned from Babylon, and among whom Zechariah was prophesying. See Ro.
11.5, note.
[2] {repented}
Repentance (O.T.), Summary: In the O.T., repentance is the English word
used to translate the Heb. \\nacham\\, to be "eased" or "comforted." It
is used of both God and man. Notwithstanding the literal meaning of
\\nacham\\, it is evident, from a study of all the passages, that the
sacred writers use it in the sense of \\metanoia\\ in the N.T.--a change
of mind.
# Mt 3:2
» See Note "Ac 17:30"
As in the N.T., such change of mind is often accompanied by contrition
and self-judgment. When applied to God the word is used
\\phenomenally\\ according to O.T. custom. God \\seems\\ to change
His mind. The phenomena are such as, in the case of man, would indicate
a change of mind.
[3] {those days}
i.e. in the days when Jerusalem has been made the centre of the earth's
worship. Verse 23 explains: the Jew (see "Remnant,"
# Isa 1:9 Ro 11:5
will then be the missionary, and to the very "nations" now called
"Christian"!
[1] {because of him}
There seems to be a reference here to the advance and return of Alexander
(v.13) after the battle of Issus, who subdued the cities mentioned in
verses 1-6, and afterward returned to Greece without harming Jerusalem.
But the greater meaning converges on the yet future last days
» See Note "Ac 2:17"
as the last clause of verse 8 shows, for many oppressors \\have\\
passed through Jerusalem since the days of Alexander.
[2] {behold}
The events following this manifestation of Christ as King are recorded in
the Gospels. The real faith of the multitude who cried, "Hosanna" is
given in Mat. 21.11; and so little was Jesus deceived by His apparent
reception as King, that He wept over Jerusalem and announced its
impending destruction (fulfilled A.D. 70;
# Lu 19:38-44
[3] {And I will cut off}
Having introduced the King in Verse 9, verse 10 and the verses which
follow look forward to the end-time and kingdom. Except in verse 9, this
present age is not seen in Zechariah.
[1] {later rain}
Cf.
# Ho 6:3 Joe 2:23-32 Zec 12:10
There is both a physical and spiritual meaning: Rain as of old will
be restored to Palestine, but, also, there will be a mighty effusion
of the Spirit upon restored Israel.
[2] {came}
The tense is future: "From him [Judah] shall be the cornerstone
# Ex 17:6
» See Note "1Pe 2:8"
from him the nail
# Isa 22:23,24
from him the battle-bow," etc. The whole scene is of the events
which group about the deliverance of the Jews in Palestine in the
time of the northern invasion under the "Beast"
# Da 7:8 Re 19:20
and "Armageddon,"
# Re 16:14 19:17
The final deliverance is wholly effected by the return of the
Lord
# Re 19:11-21
but previously He strengthens the hard-pressed Israelites
# Mic 4:13 Zec 9:13-15 10:5-7 12:2-6 14:14
That there may have been a precursive fulfilment in the Maccabean
victories can neither be affirmed nor denied from Scripture.
[1] {two staves} [2] {the one}
The scene belongs to the first advent. Beauty and Bands--literally
"graciousness and union"; the first signifying God's attitude toward His
people Israel, in sending His Son
# Mt 21:37
the second, His purpose to reunite Judah and Ephraim
# Eze 37:15-22
Christ, at His first advent, came with grace
# Joh 1:17
to offer union
# Mt 4:17
and was sold for thirty pieces of silver
# Zec 11:12,13
"Beauty" (i.e. graciousness) was "cut in sunder" (vs. 10,11),
signifying that Judah was abandoned to the destruction foretold
in verses 1-6, and fulfilled A.D. 70. After the betrayal of the Lord
for thirty pieces of silver (vs. 12,13) "Bands" (i.e. union) was
broken (v. 14), signifying the abandonment, \\for the time\\, of the
purpose to reunite Judah and Israel. The order of Zech. 11. is,
(1) the wrath against the land (vs. 1-6), fulfilled in the destruction
of Jerusalem after the rejection of Christ
# Lu 19:41-44
(2) the cause of that wrath in the sale and rejection of Christ vs.
(7-14);
(3) the rise of the "idol shepherd," the Beast
# Da 7:8 Re 19:20
and his destruction (vs. 15-17)
[2]
The O.T. Parables: Summary. A parable is a similitude used to teach or
enforce a truth. The O.T. parables fall into three classes: (1) The
story-parable, of which
# Jud 9:7-15
is an instance;
(2) parabolic discourses; e.g.
# Isa 5:1-7
(3) parabolic actions; e.g.
# Eze 37:16-22
[3] {poor}
The "poor of the flock": i.e. the "remnant according to the election of
grace"
# Ro 11:5
those Jews who did not wait for the manifestation of Christ in glory,
but believed on Him at His first coming, and since. Of them it is
said that they "waited upon Me," and "knew." Neither the
Gentiles nor the Gentile church, corporately, are in view: only the
believers out of \\Israel\\ during this age. The church, corporately, is
not in O.T. prophecy
# Eph 3:8-10
[4] {And the Lord}
The reference to the Beast is obvious; no other personage of prophecy in
any sense meets the description. He who came in His Father's name was
rejected: the alternative is one who comes in his own name
# Joh 5:43 Re 13:4-8
[1] {burden}
Zech. 12.-14. from one prophecy the general theme of which is the return
of the Lord and the establishment of the kingdom. The \\order\\ is:
(1) The siege of Jerusalem preceding the battle of Armageddon (vs. 1-3);
(2) the battle itself (vs. 4-9); (3) the "latter rain" in the pouring out
of the Spirit and the personal revelation of Christ to the family of
David and the remnant in Jerusalem, not merely as the glorious
Deliverer, but as the One whom Israel pierced and has long rejected
(v.10); (4) the godly sorrow which follows that revelation (vs. 11-14);
(5) the cleansing fountain (Zech. 13.1) then to be \\effectually\\
"opened" to Israel.
[2] {David}
Kingdom in O.T., Summary:
I. Dominion over the earth before the call of Abraham
(1) Dominion over creation was given to the first man and woman (Gen.
1.26, 28). Through the fall this dominion was lost, Satan becoming
"prince of this world"
# Mt 4:8-10 Joh 14:30
(2) After the flood, the principle of human government was established
under the covenant with Noah
» See Note "Ge 9:1"
Biblically this is still the charter of all Gentile government.
II. The Theocracy in Israel. The call of Abraham involved, with much
else, the creation of a distinctive people through whom great purposes of
God toward the race might be worked out (see "Israel"
# Ge 12:1-3 Ro 11:26
Among these purposes is the establishment of a
universal kingdom. The order of the development of Divine rule in Israel
is:
(1) The mediatorship of Moses
# Ex 3:1-10 19:9 24:12
(2) The leadership of Joshua
# Jos 1:1-5
(3) The institution of Judges
# Jud 2:16-18
(4) The popular rejection of the Theocracy, and choice of a king--Saul,
# 1Sa 8:1-7 9:12-17
III. The Davidic kingdom
(1) The divine choice of David
# 1Sa 16:1-13
(2) The giving of the Davidic Covenant
# 2Sa 7:8-16 Ps 89:3,4,20,21,28-37
(3) The exposition of the David Covenant by the prophets
Isa 1.25, 26 to Zech. 12.6-8. See marg. Isa. 1.25, "Kingdom"
and refs.). The kingdom as described by the prophets is:
(a) Davidic, to be established under an heir of David, who is to be
born of a virgin, therefore truly man, but also "Immanuel," "the
mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace"
# Isa 7:13,14 9:6,7 11:1 Jer 23:5 Eze 34:23 37:24 Ho 3:4,5
(b) A kingdom heavenly in origin, principle, and authority
# Da 2:34,35,44,45
but set up on the earth, with Jerusalem as the capital
# Isa 2:2-4 4:3,5 24:23 33:20 62:1-7 Jer 23:5 31:38-40
# Joe 3:1,16,17
(c) The kingdom is to be established first over regathered, restored,
and converted Israel, and then to become universal
# Ps 2:6-8 22:1-31 24:1-10 Isa 1:2,3 11:1,10-13 60:12 Jer 23:5-8
# Jer 30:7-11 Eze 20:33-40 37:21-25 Zec 9:10 14:16-19
(d) The \\moral\\ characteristics of the kingdom are to be
righteousness and peace. The meek, not the proud, will inherit
the earth; longevity will be greatly increased; the knowledge of
the Lord will be universal; beast ferocity will be removed;
absolute equity will be enforced; and outbreaking sin visited with
instant judgment; while the enormous majority of earth's
inhabitants will be saved
# Isa 11:4,6-9 65:20 Ps 2:9 Isa 26:9 Zec 14:16-21
The N.T.
# Re 20:1-5
adds a detail of immense significance--the removal of Satan
from the scene. It is impossible to conceive to what heights
of spiritual, intellectual, and physical perfection humanity
will attain in this, its coming age of righteousness and peace.
# Isa 11:4-9 Ps 72:1-10
(e) The kingdom is to be established by power, not persuasion, and is
to follow divine judgment upon the Gentile world-powers
# Ps 2:4-9 Isa 9:7 Da 2:35,44,45 7:26,27 Zec 14:1-19
» See Note "Zec 6:11"
(f) The restoration of Israel and the establishment of the kingdom are
connected with an advent of the Lord, yet future
# De 30:3-5 Ps 2:1-9 Zec 14:4
(g) The chastisement reserved for disobedience in the house of David
# 2Sa 7:14 Ps 89:30-33
fell in the captivities and world-wide
dispersion, since which time, though a remnant returned under
prince Zerubbabel, Jerusalem has been under the overlordship of
Gentile. But the Davidic Covenant has not been abrogated
# Ps 89:33-37
but is yet to be fulfilled.
# Ac 15:14-17
[1] {And it shall come to pass}
Zech. 13 now returns to the subject of Zech. 12.10. Verses 8,9 refer to
the sufferings of the remnant
# Isa 1:9 Ro 11:5
\\preceding\\ the great battle. Zech. 14. is a recapitulation of the
whole matter. The order is: (1) The gathering of the nation, v. 2
(see "Armageddon,"
# Re 16:14
» See Note "Re 19.11
(2) the deliverance, v.3; (3) the return of Christ
to the Mount of Olives, and the physical change of the scene, vs. 4-8;
(4) the setting up of the kingdom, and full earthly blessing, vs. 9-21.
[2] {and the mount of Olives}
Verse 5 implies that the cleavage of the Mount of Olives is due to an
earthquake, and this is confirmed by
# Isa 29:6 Re 16:19
In both passages the context, as in Zech. 14. (see vs. 1-3) associates the
earthquake with the Gentile invasion under the Beast
# Da 7:8 Re 19:20
Surely, in a land seamed by seismic disturbances it should not
be difficult to believe that another earthquake might cleave the little
hill called the Mount of Olives. Not one of the associated events of
Zech. 14 occurred at the first coming of Christ, closely associated
though He then was with the Mount of Olives.
[1] {king over all the earth}
The final answer to the prayer of
# Mt 6:10
CF.
# Da 2:44,45, 7:24-27
See "Kingdom (N.T.)"
# Lu 1:31-33 1Co 15:28
SCOFIELD REFERENCE NOTES (1917) Book Introductions MALACHI
MALACHI "my messenger," the last of the prophets to the restored remnant
after the 70 years' captivity, probably prophesied in the time of
confusion during Nehemiah's absence (Neh. 13. 6). The burden of his
message is, the love of Jehovah, the sins of the priests and of the
people, and the day of the Lord. Malachi, like Zechariah, sees both
advents and predicts two forerunners (Mal. 3. 1 and 4. 5-6). As a whole,
Malachi gives the moral judgement of God on the remnant restored by his
grace under Ezra and Nehemiah. He had established his house among them,
but their worship was formal and insincere.
The book is in four natural divisions:
I. The love of God for Israel, 1. 1-5
II. The sins of the priests rebuked 1. 6-2. 9
III. The sins of the people rebuked 2. 10-3. 18
IV. The day of the Lord 4. 1-6
[1] {if then I be a father}
Cf.
» See Note "Isa 63:16"
The relationship here is national, not personal
# Jer 3:18,19
here, apparently, the Jews were calling Jehovah, "Father," but
yielding Him no filial obedience. See
# Joh 8:37-39 Ro 9:1-8
[1] {spirit}
Summary of the O.T. doctrine of the Holy Spirit: (1) The personality and
Deity of the Holy Spirit appear from the \\attributes\\ ascribed to Him,
and from His \\works\\. (2) He is revealed as sharing the work of
creation and therefore \\omnipotent\\
# Ge 1:2 Job 26:13 33:4 Ps 104:30
as \\omnipresent\\
# Ps 139:7
as \\striving with men\\
# Ge 6:3
as \\enlightening\\
# Job 32:8
enduing with \\constructive ability\\ and \\wisdom\\
# Jud 3:10 6:34 11:29 13:25
enabling men to receive and utter \\divine revelations\\
# Nu 11:25 2Sa 23:2
and, generally, as \\empowering\\ the servants of God
# Ps 51:12 Joe 2:28 Mic 3:8 Zec 4:6
(3) He is called \\holy\\
# Ps 51:11
\\good\\
# Ps 143:10
the Spirit of \\judgment and burning\\
# Isa 4:4
of \\Jehovah\\, of \\wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, good,
knowledge, the fear of the Lord\\
# Isa 11:2
and of \\grace\\ and \\supplications\\
# Zec 12:10
(4) In the O.T. the Spirit acts in free sovereignty, coming upon
men and even upon a dumb beast as He will, nor are the conditions
set forth (as in the N.T.) by complying with which any one may receive
the Spirit. The indwelling of every believer by the
abiding Spirit is a N.T. blessing consequent upon the death and
resurrection of Christ
# Joh 7:39 16:7 Ac 2:33 Ga 3:1-6
(5) The O.T. contains prediction of a future pouring out of the
Spirit upon Israel
# Ex 37:14 39:29
and upon "all flesh"
# Joe 2:28,29
The expectation of Israel, therefore, was twofold--of the coming of
Messiah-Immanuel, and of such an effusion of the Spirit as the prophets
described. See
# Mt 1:18
[1] {Lord}
The f.c. of verse 1 is quoted of John the Baptist
# Mt 11:10 Mr 1:2 Lu 7:27
but the second clause, "the Lord whom ye see," etc.,
is \\nowhere quoted\\ in the N.T. The reason is obvious: in
everything save the fact of Christ's first advent, the latter clause
awaits fulfilment
# Hab 2:20
Verses 2-5 speak of judgment, not of
grace. Malachi, in common with other O.T. prophets, saw both advents
of Messiah blended in one horizon, but did not see the separating
interval described in Mt. 13. consequent upon the rejection of the
King
# Mt 13:16,17
Still less was the Church-age in his vision
# Eph 3:3-6 Col 1:25-27
"My messenger" (v.1) is John the Baptist; the "messenger of the
covenant" is Christ in both of His advents, but with especial
reference to the events which are to follow His return.
[1] {God}
Summary of the O.T. revelation of Deity: God is revealed in the O.T. (1)
through His \\names\\, as follows:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class | English Form | Hebrew Equivalent
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Primary |God | El, Elah, or Elohim (Ge. 1.1,note)
|LORD | Jehovah (Ge. 2,4, note)
|Lord | Adon or Adonai (Ge. 15.2, note)
| |
Compound (with |Almighty God | El Shaddai (Ge. 17.1, note)
El = God) |Most High, or |
|most high God | El Elyon (Ge. 14.18, note)
|everlasting God | El Olam (Ge. 21.33, note)
| |
Compound (with |LORD God | Jehovah Elohim (Ge. 2.4, note)
Jehovah = Lord)|Lord GOD | Adonai Jehovah (Ge. 15.2, note)
|LORD of hosts | Jehovah Sabaoth (1Sa 1.3, note)
=====
» See Note "Ge 1:1"
» See Note "Ge 2:4"
» See Note "Ge 15:2"
» See Note "Ge 17:1"
» See Note "Ge 14:18"
» See Note "Ge 21:33"
» See Note "Ge 2:4"
» See Note "Ge 15:2"
» See Note "1Sa 1:3"
=====
The trinity is \\suggested\\ by the three times repeated groups of threes.
This is not an arbitrary arrangement, but inheres in the O.T. itself.
This revelation of God by His name is invariably made in connection with
some particular need of His people, and there can be no need of man to
which these names do not answer as showing that man's true resource is in
God. Even human failure and sin but evoke new and fuller revelations of
the divine fulness.
(2) The O.T. Scriptures reveal the existence of a Supreme Being, the
Creator of the universe and of man, the Source of all life and of all
intelligence, who is to be worshipped and served by men and angels. This
Supreme Being is One, but, in some sense not fully revealed in the O.T.,
is a unity in plurality. This is shown by the plural name, \\Elohim\\,
by the use of the plural pronoun in the interrelation of deity as
evidenced in
# Ge 1:26 3:22 Ps 110:1 Isa 6:8
That this plurality is really a Trinity is intimated in the three
primary names of Deity, and in the threefold ascription of the
Seraphim in
# Isa 6:3
That the interrelation of Deity is that of Father and Son is directly
asserted
# Ps 2:7 Heb 1:5
and the Spirit is distinctly recognized in His personality, and to Him are
ascribed all the divine attributes (e.g.
# Ge 1:2 Nu 11:25 24:2 Jud 3:10 6:34 11:29 13:25 14:6,19
# Jud 15:14 2Sa 23:2 Job 26:13 33:4 Ps 106:33 139:7 Isa 40:7
# Isa 59:19 63:10
» See Note "Mal 2:15"
(3) The future incarnation is \\intimated\\ in the
theophanies, or appearances of God in human form (e.g.
# Ge 18:1,13,17-22 32:24-30
and distinctly \\predicted\\ in the promises connected with redemption
(e.g.
# Ge 3:15
and with the Davidic Covenant (e.g.
# Isa 7:13,14 9:6,7 Jer 23:5,6
The revelation of Deity in the N.T. so illuminates that of the O.T. that
the latter is seen to be, from Genesis to Malachi, the foreshadowing of
the coming incarnation of God in Jesus the Christ. In promise, covenant,
type, and prophecy the O.T. points forward to Him. (4) The revelation of
God to man is one of authority and redemption. He requires righteousness
from man, but saves the unrighteous through sacrifice; and in His
redemptive dealings with man all the divine persons and attributes are
brought into manifestation. The O.T. reveals the justice of God equally
with His mercy, but never in opposition to His mercy. The flood, e.g.,
was an unspeakable mercy to unborn generations. From Genesis to Malachi
He is revealed as the seeking God who has no pleasure in the death of the
wicked, and who heaps up before the sinner every possible motive to
persuade to faith and obedience. (5) In the experience of the O.T. men
of faith their God inspires reverence but never slavish fear; and they
exhaust the resources of language to express their love and adoration in
view of His loving-kindness and tender mercy. This adoring love of His
saints is the triumphant answer to those who pretend to find the O.T.
revelation of God cruel and repellent. It is in harmony, not contrast,
with the N.T. revelation of God in Christ. (6) Those passages which
attribute to God bodily parts and human emotions (e.g.
# Ex 33:11,20 De 29:20 2Ch 16:9 Ge 6:6,7 Jer 15:6
are metaphorical and mean that in the infinite being of God exists
that which answers to these things--eyes, a hand, feet, etc.; and the
jealousy and anger attributed to Him are the emotions of perfect Love
in view of the havoc of sin.
(7) In the O.T. revelation there is a true sense in which, wholly apart
from sin or infirmity, God is like His creature man
# Ge 1:27
and the supreme and perfect revelation of God, toward which the O.T.
points, is a revelation in and through a perfect Man.
Scofield Reference Notes (1917) From Malachi to Matthew
The close of the Old Testament canon left Israel in two great divisions.
The mass of the nation were dispersed throughout the Persian Empire, more
as colonists than captives. A remnant, chiefly of the tribe of Judah, with
Zerubbabel, a prince of the Davidic family, and the survivors of the
priests and Levites, had returned to the land under the permissive decrees
of Cyrus and his successors
» See Note "Da 5:31"
» See Note "Da 9:25"
and had established again the temple worship. Upon this remnant the
interest of the student of Scripture centres; and this interest
concerns both their political and religious history.
I. Politically, the fortunes of the Palestinian Jews followed, with one
exception--the Maccabean revolt--the history of the Gentile world-empires
foretold by Daniel (Dan. 2., 7.)
(1) The Persian rule continued about one hundred years after the close of
the O.T. canon, and seems to have been mild and tolerant, allowing the high
priest, along with his religious functions, a measure of civil power, but
under the overlordship of the governors of Syria. The sources of the
history of the Jewish remnant during the Persian period were purely
legendary when Josephus wrote. During this period the rival worship of
Samaria
# Joh 4:19,20
was established.
Palestine suffered much from the constant wars between Persia and Egypt,
lying as it did "between the anvil and the hammer."
(2) In 333 B.C. Syria fell under the power of the third of the
world-empires, the Graeco-Macedonian of Alexander. That conqueror, as
Josephus related, was induced to treat the Jews with much favour; but, upon
the breaking up of his empire, Judaea again fell between the hammer and
anvil of Syria and Egypt, falling first under the power of Syria, but later
under Egypt as ruled by the Ptolemaic kings. During this period (B.C.
320-198) great numbers of Jews were established in Egypt, and the
Septuagint translation of the O.T. was made (B.C. 285).
(3) In B.C. 198 Judaea was conquered by Antiochus the Great, and annexed to
Syria. At this time the division of the land into the five provinces
familiar to readers of the Gospels, Galilee, Samaria, Judaea (often
collectively called \\Judaea\\), Trachonitis and Peraea, was made. The
Jews at first were permitted to live under their own laws under the high
priest and a council. About B.C. 180 the land became the dowry of
Cleopatra, a Syrian princess married to Ptolemy Philometor, king of Egypt,
but on the death of Cleopatra was reclaimed by Antiochus Epiphanes (the
"little horn" of
» See Note "Da 8:9"
after a bloody battle. In 170 B.C., Antiochus, after repeated
interferences with the temple and priesthood, plundered Jerusalem,
profaned the temple, and enslaved great numbers of the inhabitants.
December 25, B.C. 168, Antiochus offered a sow upon the great altar,
and erected an altar to Jupiter. This is the "desolation" of
# Da 8:13
type of the final "abomination of desolation" of
# Mt 24:15
The temple worship was forbidden, and the people compelled to eat swine's
flesh.
(4) The excesses of Antiochus provoked the revolt of the Maccabees, one of
the most heroic pages of history. Mattathias, the first of the Maccabees,
a priest of great sanctity and energy of character, began the revolt. He
did little more than to gather a band of godly and determined Jews pledged
to free the nation and restore the ancient worship, and was succeeded by
his son Judas, known in history as Maccabaeus, from the Hebrew word for
hammer. He was assisted by four brothers of whom Simon is best known.
In B.C. 165 Judas regained possession of Jerusalem, purified and rededicated
the temple, an event celebrated in the Jewish Feast of the Dedication. The
struggle with Antiochus and his successor continued. Judas was slain in
battle, his brother Jonathan succeeding. In him the civil and priestly
authority were united (B.C. 143). Under Jonathan, his brother Simon, and
his nephew John Hyrcanus, the Hasmonean line of priest-rulers was
established, under sufferance of other powers. They possessed none of the
Maccabean virtues.
(5) A civil war followed, which was terminated by the Roman conquest of
Judaea and Jerusalem by Pompey (B.C. 63), who left Hyrcanus, the last of
the Hasmoneans, a nominal sovereignty, Antipater, an Idumean, wielding the
actual power. B.C. 47 Antipater was made procurator of Judaea by Julius
Caesar, and appointed his son, Herod, governor of Galilee. After the
murder of Caesar disorder ensued in Judaea, and Herod fled to Rome. There
he was appointed (B.C. 40) king of the Jews, and returning, he conciliated
the people by his marriage (B.C. 38) with Mariamne, the beautiful
grand-daughter of Hyrcanus, and appointed her brother, the Maccabean
Aristobulus III., high priest. Herod was king when Jesus Christ was born.
II. The religious history of the Jews during the long period from Malachi
(B.C. 397) to Christ followed, as to outer ceremonial, the high-priestly
office, and the temple worship, the course of the troublous political
history, and is of scant interest.
Of greater moment are the efforts and means by which the real faith of
Israel was kept alive and nurtured.
(1) The tendency to idolatry seems to have been destroyed by the Jews'
experience and observation of it during the captivity. Deprived of temple
and priest, and of the possibility of continuing a ceremonial worship, the
Jewish people were thrown back upon that which was fundamental in their
faith, the revelation of God as One, the Creator, to be conceived of as
having made man in His own image, and therefore as having such analogies to
the nature and life of man as to be comprehensible by man, while remaining
the Eternal Spirit, God. This conception of God, enforced by the mighty
ministries of the pre-exilic and exilic prophets, finally prevailed over
all idolatrous conceptions, and this ministry was continued amongst the
returned remnant by Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The high ethics of the
older prophets, their stern rebuke of mere formalism, and their glowing
prophecies of the ultimate restoration of Israel in national and religious
supremacy under Messiah, were all repeated by the three prophets of the
restoration.
The problem was to keep alive this exalted ideal in the midst of outward
persecutions and sordid and disgraceful divisions within.
(2) The organic means to this end was the synagogue, an institution which
formed no part of the biblical order of the national life. Its origin is
obscure. Probably, during the captivity, the Jews, deprived of the temple
and its rites, met on the Sabbath day for prayer. This would give
opportunity for the reading of the Scriptures. Such meetings would require
some order of procedure, and some authority for the restraint of disorder.
The synagogue doubtless grew out of the necessities of the situation in
which the Jews were placed, but it served the purpose of maintaining
familiarity with the inspired writings, and upon these the spiritual life
of the true Israel
» See Note "Ro 9:6"
was nourished.
(3) But during this period, also, was created that mass of tradition,
comment and interpretation, known as Mishna, Gemara (forming the Talmud),
Halachoth, Midrashim and Kabbala, so superposed upon the Law that obedience
was transferred from the Law itself to the traditional interpretation.
(4) During this period also rose the two great sects know to the Gospel
narratives as Pharisees and Sadducees.
» See Note "Mt 3:7"
notes 2,3
The Herodians were a party rather than a sect.
Amongst such a people, governed, under the suzerainty of Rome, by an
Idumean usurper, rent by bitter and unspiritual religious controversies,
and maintaining an elaborate ritual, appeared Jesus, the Son and Christ of
God.
SCOFIELD REFERENCE NOTES The Four Gospels
The four Gospels record the eternal being, human ancestry, birth,
resurrection, and ascension of Jesus the Christ, Son of God, and Son of Man.
They record also a selection from the incidents of His life, and from His
words and works. Taken together, they set forth, not a biography, but a
Personality.
These two facts, that we have in the four Gospels a complete
Personality, but not a complete biography, indicate the spirit and
intent in which we should approach them. What is important is that
through these narratives we should come to see and know Him whom they
reveal. It is of relatively small importance that we should be able to
piece together out of these confessedly incomplete records
# Joh 21:25
a connected story of His life. For some adequate reason -- perhaps
lest we should be too much occupied with "Christ after the flesh"-- it
did not please God to cause to be written a biography of His Son. The
twenty-nine formative years are passed over in a silence which is
broken but once, and that in but twelve brief verses of Luke's Gospel.
It may be well to respect the divine reticencies.
But the four Gospels, though designedly incomplete as a story, are
divinely perfect as a revelation. We may not through them know everything
that He did, but we may know the Doer. In four great characters, each of
which completes the other three, we have Jesus Christ Himself. The
Evangelists never describe Christ--they set Him forth. They tell us almost
nothing of what they thought about Him, they let Him speak and act for
himself.
This is the essential respect in which these narratives differ from
mere biography or portraiture. "The words that I speak unto you, they are
spirit, and they are life." The student in whom dwells an ungrieved Spirit
finds here the living Christ.
The distinctive part which each Evangelist bears in this presentation
of the living Christ is briefly note in separated Introductions, but it may
be profitable to add certain general suggestions.
I. The Old Testament is a divinely provided Introduction to the New;
and whoever comes to the study of the four Gospels with a mind saturated
with the Old Testament foreview of the Christ, His person, work, and
kingdom, with find them open books.
For the Gospels are woven of Old Testament quotation, allusion, and
type. The very first verse of the New Testament drives the thoughtful
reader back to the Old; and the risen Christ sent His disciples to the
ancient oracles for an explanation of His sufferings and glory
# Lu 24:27,44,45
One of His last ministries was the opening of their understandings to
understand the Old Testament.
Therefore, in approaching the study of the Gospels the mind should be
freed, so far as possible, from mere theological concepts and
presuppositions. Especially is it necessary to exclude the notion--a
legacy in Protestant thought from post apostolic and Roman Catholic
theology--that the church is the true Israel, and that the Old Testament
foreview of the kingdom is fulfilled in the Church.
Do not, therefore, assume interpretations to be true because familiar.
Do not assume that "the throne of David"
# Lu 1:32
is synonymous with "My Father's throne"
# Re 3:21
or that "the house of Jacob"
# Lu 1:33
is the Church composed both of Jew and Gentile.
II. The mission of Jesus was, primarily, to the Jews
# Mt 10:5,6 15:23-25 Joh 1:11
He was "made under the law"
# Ga 4:4
and was a "minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm
the promises made unto the fathers"
# Ro 15:8
and to fulfil the law that grace might flow out.
Expect, therefore, a strong legal and Jewish colouring up to the cross.
# Mt 5:17-19 6:12
* cf
# Eph 4:32 Mt 10:5,6 15:22-28 Mr 1:44 Mt 23:2
The Sermon on the Mount is law, not grace, for it demands as the condition
of blessing
# Mt 5:3-9
that perfect character which grace, through divine power, creates
# Ga 5:22,23
III. The doctrines of grace are to be sought in the Epistles, not in
the Gospels; but those doctrines rest back upon the death and resurrection
of Christ, and upon the great germ-truths to which He gave utterance, and
of which the Epistles are the unfolding. Furthermore, the only perfect
example of perfect grace is the Christ of the Gospels.
IV. The Gospels do not unfold the doctrine of the Church. The word
occurs in Matthew only. After His rejection as King and Saviour by the
Jews, our Lord, announcing a mystery until that moment "hid in God"
# Eph 3:3-10
said, "I will build my church."
# Mt 16:16,18
It was, therefore, yet future; but His personal ministry had gathered
out the believers who were, on the day of Pentecost, by the baptism
with the Spirit, made the first members of "the church which is his body"
# 1Co 12:12,13 Eph 1:23 1Co 12:12,13 Eph 1:23
The Gospels present a group of Jewish disciples, associated on earth
with a Messiah in humiliation; the Epistles a Church which is the body of
Christ in glory, associated with Him in the heavenlies, co-heirs with Him
of the Father, co-rulers with Him over the coming kingdom, and, as to the
earth, pilgrims and strangers
# 1Co 12:12,13 Eph 1:3-14,20-23 2:4-6 1Pe 2:11
V. The Gospels present Christ in His three offices of Prophet, Priest
and King.
As Prophet His ministry does not differ in kind from that of the Old
Testament prophets. It is the dignity of His person that which makes him
the unique Prophet. Of old, God spoke through the prophets; now He speaks
in the Son.
# Heb 1:1,2
The old prophet was a voice from God; the Son is God himself.
# De 18:18,19
The prophet in any dispensation is God's messenger to His people,
first to establish truth, and secondly, when they are in declension and
apostasy to call them back to truth. His message, therefore, is, usually,
one of rebuke and appeal. Only when these fall on deaf ears does he become
a foreteller of things to come. In this, too, Christ is at one with the
other prophets. His predictive ministry follows His rejection as King.
The sphere and character of Christ's Kingly Office are defined in the
Davidic Covenant
# 2Sa 7:8-16
and refs, as interpreted by the prophets, and confirmed by the New
Testament. The latter in no way abrogates or modifies either the
Davidic Covenant or its prophetic interpretation. It adds details
which were not in the prophet's vision. The Sermon on the Mount is an
elaboration of the idea of "righteousness" as the predominant
characteristic of the Messianic kingdom.
# Isa 11:2-5 Jer 23:5,6 33:14-16
The Old Testament prophet was perplexed by seeing in one horizon, so to
speak, the suffering and glory of Messiah.
# 1Pe 1:10-11
The New Testament shows that these are separated by the present
church-age, and points forward to the Lord's return as the time when
the Davidic Covenant of blessing through power will be fulfilled
# Lu 1:30-33 Ac 2:29-36 15:14-17
just as the Abrahamic Covenant of blessing through suffering was
fulfilled at His first coming.
# Ac 3:25 Ga 3:6-14
Christ is never called King of the Church. "The King" is indeed one
of the divine titles, and the Church in her worship joins Israel in
exalting "the king, eternal, immortal, invisible."
# Ps 10:16 1Ti 1:17
But the church is to reign with Him. The Holy Spirit is now calling
out, not the subjects, but the co-heirs and co-rulers of the kingdom
# 2Ti 2:11,12 Re 1:6 3:21 5:10 Ro 8:15-18 1Co 6:2,3
Christ's priestly office is the complement of His prophetic office.
The prophet is God's representative with the people; the priest is the
people's representative with God. Because they are sinful he must be a
sacrificer; because they are needy he must be a compassionate
intercessor.
# Heb 5:1,2 8:1-3
So Christ, on the cross, entered upon his high-priestly work,
offering Himself without spot unto God
# Heb 9:14
as now He compassionates His people in an ever-living intercession
# Heb 7:23
Of that intercession, John 17 is the pattern.
# Joh 17:1-18:1
VI. Distinguish, in the Gospels, interpretation from moral application.
Much in the Gospels which belongs in strictness of interpretation to the
Jew or the kingdom is yet such a revelation of the mind of God, and so
based on eternal principles, as to have a moral application to the people
of God, whatever their position dispensationally. It is always true
that the "pure in heart" are happy because they "see God," and that
"woe" is the portion of the religious formalists whether under law or
grace.
VII. Especial emphasis rests upon that to which all four Gospels
bear a united testimony. That united testimony is sevenfold:
1. In all alike is revealed the one unique Personality. The one Jesus
is King in Matthew, Servant in Mark, Man in Luke, and God in John.
But not only so; for Matthew's King is also Servant, Man, and God; and
Mark's Servant is also King, and Man, and God; Luke's Man is also King
and Servant, and God; and John's eternal Son is also King, and
Servant, and Man.
The pen is a different pen; the incidents in which He is seen are
sometimes different incidents; the distinctive character in which He is
presented is a different character; but He is always the same Christ.
That fact alone would mark these books as inspired.
2. All the Evangelists record the ministry of John the Baptist.
3. All record the feeding of the five thousand.
4. All record Christ's offer of Himself as King, according to Micah.
5. All record the betrayal by Judas; the denial by Peter; the
trial, crucifixion, and literal resurrection of Christ. And this
record is so made as to testify that the death of Christ was the
supreme business which brought Him into the world; that all which
precedes that death is but preparation for it; and that from it flow
all the blessings which God ever has or ever will bestow upon man.
6. All record the resurrection ministry of Christ; a ministry which
reveals Him as unchanged by the tremendous event of his passion, but a
ministry keyed to a new note of universality, and of power.
7. All point forward to His second coming.
___________________________________________________________________________
SCOFIELD REFERENCE NOTES The Gospel according to ST. MATTHEW
WRITER: The writer of the first Gospel, as all agree, was Matthew, called
also Levi, a Jew of Galilee who had taken service as a tax-gatherer under
the Roman oppressor. He was, therefore, one of the hated and ill-reputed
publicans.
DATE: The date of Matthew has been much discussed, but no convincing reason
has been given for the discrediting the traditional date of A. D. 37.
THEME: The scope and purpose of the book are indicated in the first
verse. Matthew is the "book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of
David, the Son of Abraham" (MT. 1.1). This connects him at once with two
of the most important of the Old Testament Covenants: the Davidic Covenant
of kingship, and the Abrahamic Covenant of promise.
# 2Sa 7:8-16 Ge 15:18
Of Jesus Christ in that twofold character, then, Matthew writes.
Following the order indicated in the first verse, he writes first of the
King, the son of David; then of the Son of Abraham, obedient unto death,
according to the Isaac type
# Ge 22:1-18 Heb 11:17-19
But the prominent character of Christ in Matthew is that of the
covenanted King, David's "righteous Branch"
# Jer 23:5 33:15
Matthew records His genealogy; His birth in Bethlehem the city of David,
according to Micah (5. 2);
# Mic 5:2
the ministry of His forerunner according to Malachi
# Mal 3:1
His rejection by Israel; and His predictions of His second coming
in power and great glory.
Only then (MT 26.-28.) does Matthew turn to the earlier covenant, and
record the sacrificial death of the son of Abraham.
This determines the purpose and structure of Matthew. It is
peculiarly the Gospel for Israel; and, as flowing from the death of
Christ, a Gospel for the whole world.
Matthew falls into three principal divisions:
I. The manifestation to Israel and rejection of Jesus Christ the Son
of David, born King of the Jews, 1. 1-25.46. The subdivisions of this
part are: (1) The official genealogy and birth of the King, 1. 1-25; (2)
the infancy and obscurity of the King, 2. 1-23; (3) the kingdom "at hand,"
3. 1-12.50 (the order of events of this subdivision is indicated in the
text); (4) the mysteries of the kingdom, 13. 1-52; (5) the ministry of the
rejected King, 13. 53-23. 39; (6) the promise of the King to return in
power and great glory, 24. 1-25. 46.
II. The sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of
Abraham, 26. 1-28. 8.
III. The risen Lord in ministry to His own, 28. 9-20.
The events recorded in Matthew cover a period of 38 years (Ussher).
[1] Six Mary's are to be distinguished in the N.T.: (1) the mother of
Jesus; always clearly identified by the context. (2) Mary Magdalene,
a woman of Magdala, " out of whom went seven demons"
# Lu 8:2
She is never mentioned apart from the identifying word "Magdalene."
(3) The mother of James (called "the less,"
# Mr 15:40
and Joses, the apostles. A comparison of
# Joh 19:25 Mt 27:56 Mr 15:40
establishes the inference that this
Mary, the mother of James the less, and of Joses was the wife of
Alphaeus (called also Cleophas),
# Joh 19:25
and a sister of Mary the mother of Jesus. Except in
# Mt 27:61 28:1
where she is called "the other Mary (i.e. "other" than her sister,
Mary the Virgin); and
# Joh 19:25
where she is called "of Cleophas," she is mentioned only in connection
with one or both of her sons. (4) Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha
and Lazarus, mentioned by name only in
# Lu 10:39-42 Joh 11:1,2,19,20,28,31,32,45 12:3
but referred to in
# Mt 26:7 Mr 14:3-9
(5) The mother of John Mark and sister of Barnabas
# Ac 12:12
(6) A helper of Paul in Rome
# Ro 16:6
[2] The changed expression here is important. It is no longer, "who
begat," but, "Mary, of whom was born Jesus." Jesus was not
begotten of natural generation.
[3] Christ (Christos=anointed), the Greek form of the Hebrew "Messiah"
# Da 9:25,26 Zec 12:8 De 18:15-19 Ps 110:4 2Sa 7:7-10 1Ki 19:16 Ex 29:7
# 1Sa 16:13 Mt 3:16 Mr 1:10,11 Lu 3:21,22 Joh 1:32,33
# Da 9:25,26
is the official name of our Lord, as Jesus is his human name.
The name, or title, "Christ" connects Him with the entire O.T. foreview
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
of a coming prophet
# De 18:15-19
Priest
# Ps 110:4
and
king
# 2Sa 7:7-10
As these were typically anointed with oil
# 1Ki 19:16 Ex 29:7 1Sa 16:13
so Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit
# Mt 3:16 Mr 1:10,11 Lu 3:21,22 Joh 1:32,33
thus becoming officially "the Christ."
[4] Called Herod the Great, son of Antipater, an Idumean
» See Note "Ge 36:1"
and Cypros, an Arabian woman. Antipater was appointed procurator of
Judea by Julius Caesar, B.C. 47. At the age of fifteen Herod was
appointed to the government of Galilee. B.C. 40 the Roman senate
made him king of Judea. An able, strong, and cruel man, he increased
greatly the splendour of Jerusalem, erecting the temple which was the
centre of Jewish worship in the time of our Lord.
[1] {King}
"The King" is one of the divine titles
# Ps 10:16
and so used in the worship of the Church
# 1Ti 1:17
but Christ is never called "King of the Church." He is "King of
the Jews"
# Mt 2:2
and lord and "Head of the Church"
# Eph 1:22,23
See "Church" (Mt 16.18 He 12.23).
» See Note "Mt 16:18"
» See Note "Heb 12:23"
# Mt 16:18 Heb 12:23
[2] {Scribes}
Gr. grammateis, "writer." Heb. spherim, "to write," "set in order,"
"count." The scribes were so called because it was their office to make
copies of the Scriptures; to classify and teach the precepts of oral
law
» See Note "Mt 3:7"
and to keep careful count of every letter in the O.T. writings. Such
an office was necessary in a religion of law and precept, and was an
O.T. function
# 2Sa 8:17 20:25 1Ki 4:3 Jer 8:8 36:10,12,26
To this legitimate work the scribes added a record of rabbinical
decisions on questions of ritual (Halachoth); the new code resulting
from those decisions (Mishna); the Hebrew sacred legends (Gemara,
forming with the Mishna the Talmud); commentaries on the O.T.
(Midrashim); reasonings upon these (Hagada); and finally, mystical
interpretations which found in Scripture meanings other than the
grammatical, lexical, and obvious ones (the Kabbala); not unlike the
allegorical method of Origen, or the modern Protestant "spiritualizing"
interpretation. In our Lord's time, to receive this mass of writing
superposed upon the Scriptures was to be orthodox; to return to the
Scriptures themselves was heterodoxy--our Lord's most serious offence.
[3] {Out of Egypt}
The words quoted are in
# Ho 11:1
and the passage illustrates the truth that prophetic utterances often
have a latent and deeper meaning than at first appears. Israel,
nationally, was a "So 1:1"
# Ex 4:22
but Christ was the greater "So 1:1"
# Ro 9:4,5 Isa 41:8 42:1-4 52:13,14
where the servant-nation and the Servant-Son are both in view.
[1] {kingdom of heaven}
(1) The phrase, kingdom of heaven (lit. of the heavens), is peculiar
to Matthew and signifies the Messianic earth rule of Jesus Christ,
the Son of David. It is called the kingdom of the heavens because it
is the rule of the heavens over the earth.
# Mt 6:10
The phrase is derived from Daniel, where it is defined
# Da 2:34-36,44 7:23-27
as the kingdom which the God of heaven will set up after the destruction
by "the stone cut out without hands," of the Gentile world-system.
It is the kingdom covenanted to David's seed
# 2Sa 7:7-10
described in the prophets;
» See note "Zec 12:8"
and confirmed to Jesus the Christ, the Son of Mary, through the
angel Gabriel
# Lu 1:32,33
(2) The kingdom of heaven has three aspects in Matthew: (a) "at hand"
from the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist
# Mt 3:2
to the virtual rejection of the King, and the announcement of the new
brotherhood
# Mt 12:46-50
(b) in seven "mysteries of the kingdom of heaven," to be fulfilled
during the present age
# Mt 13:1-52
to which are to be added the parables of the kingdom of heaven which
were spoken after those of Mt. 13., and which have to do with the
sphere of Christian profession during this age; (c) the prophetic
aspect--the kingdom to be set up after the return of the King in glory.
# Mt 24:29-25:46 Lu 19:12-19 Ac 15:14-17
See "Kingdom (N.T.)"
# Lu 1:22 1Co 15:28
Cf. "Kingdom of God,"
» See Note "Mt 6:33"
[2] {Pharisees}
So called from a Heb. word meaning "separate." After the ministry of
the post-exilic prophets ceased, godly men called "Chasidim" (saints)
arose who sought to keep alive reverence for the law amongst the
descendants of the Jews who returned from the Babylonian captivity.
This movement degenerated into the Pharisaism of our Lord's day--a
letter-strictness which overlaid the law with traditional
interpretations held to have been communicated by Jehovah to Moses as
oral explanations of equal authority with the law itself. (cf. Mt.
15.2,3 Mk 7.8-13 Ga 1.14)
# Mt 15:2,3 Mr 7:8-13 Ga 1:14
The Pharisees were strictly a sect. A member was "chaber" (i.e. "knit
together,")
# Jud 20:11
and took an obligation to remain true to the principles of Pharisaism.
They were correct, moral, zealous, and self-denying, but self-righteous
# Lu 18:9
and destitute of the sense of sin and need
# Lu 7:39
They were the foremost prosecutors of Jesus Christ and the objects of
His unsparing denunciation (e.g.)
# Mt 23:13-29 Lu 11:42,43
[3] {Sadducees}
Not strictly a sect, but rather those amongst the Jews who denied the
existence of angels or other spirits, and all miracles, especially the
resurrection. They were the religious rationalists of the time
# Mr 12:18-23, Ac 5:15-17 23:8
and strongly entrenched in the Sanhedrin and priesthood
# Ac 4:1 5:17
They are identified with no affirmative doctrine, but were mere deniers
of the supernatural.
[1] {Suffer it to be so}
Why one who needed no repentance should insist upon receiving a rite
which signified confession (v. 6) and repentance (v. 11) is nowhere
directly explained. It may be suggested: (1) That Jesus was now to
receive His anointing with the Holy Spirit (v. 16) unto His threefold
office of Prophet, Priest, and King. In the Levitical order
# Ex 29:4-7
the high priest was first washed, then anointed. While Christ's
priestly work did not begin till He "offered Himself without spot to
God"
# Heb 9:14
and His full manifestation as the King-Priest after the order of
Melchizedek awaits the kingdom
» See Note "Ge 14:18"
yet He was then anointed, once for all.
(2) But John's baptism was the voice of God to Israel, and the believing
remnant responded (v.5). It was an act of righteousness on the part
of Him who had become, as to the flesh, an Israelite, to take His place
with this believing remnant.
[2] {trinity}
For the first time the Trinity, foreshadowed in many ways in the O.T.,
is fully manifested. The Spirit descends upon the Son, and at the same
moment the Father's voice is heard from heaven.
[3] The temptation of Christ, the "last Adam"
# 1Co 15:45
is best understood when contrasted with that of the "first man Adam."
Adam was tempted in his place of lord of creation, a lordship with
but one reservation, the knowledge of good and evil
# Ge 1:26 2:16,17
Through the woman he was tempted to add that also to his dominion.
Falling, he lost all. But Christ had taken the place of a lowly
Servant, acting only from and in obedience to the Father
# Phm 2:5-8 Joh 5:19 6:57 8:28,54
» See note "Isa 41:8"
that He might redeem a fallen race and a creation under the curse
# Ge 3:17-19 Ro 8:19-23
Satan's one object in the threefold temptation was to induce Christ
to act from Himself, in independency of His Father. The first two
temptations were a challenge to Christ from the god of this world to
prove Himself indeed the Son of God (vs 3,6). The third was the
offer of the usurping prince of this world to divest himself of that
which rightfully belonged to Christ as Son of man and Son of David,
on the condition that He accept the sceptre on Satan's
world-principles (cf.
# Joh 18:36
» See Note "Re 13:8"
Christ defeated Satan by a means open to His humblest follower, the
intelligent use of the word of God (vs. 4,7). In his second
temptation Satan also used Scripture, but a promise available only to
one in the path of obedience. The scene give emphasis to the vital
importance of "rightly dividing the word of truth"
# 2Ti 2:15
[1] {sanctify}
In the N.T. one Greek word, \\hagios\\, in its various forms, is
rendered, "holy," "holiness," "sanctify," "sanctified,"
"sanctification." Like the heb. \\qodesh,\\ it signifies "set apart
for God." The important references follow Mt 4.5, marg.
» See Note Mat 4.5
[2] {world}
The Greek word \\kosmos\\ means "order," "arrangement," and so, with
the Greeks, "beauty"; for order and arrangement in the sense of
system are at the bottom of the Greek conception of beauty.
When used in the N.T. of humanity, the "world" of men, it is
organized humanity--humanity in families, tribes, nations--which is
meant. The word for chaotic, unorganized humanity--the mere mass of
man is thalassa, the "sea" of men (e.g.)
# Re 13:1
For "world" (kosmos) in the bad ethical sense, "world system"
» See Note "Re 13:8"
[3] {At hand}
"At hand" is never a positive affirmation that the person or thing
said to be "at hand" will immediately appear, but only that no known
or predicted event must intervene. When Christ appeared to the
Jewish people, the next thing in the order of revelation as it then
stood, should have been the setting up of the Davidic kingdom. In
the knowledge of God, not yet disclosed, lay the rejection of the
kingdom (and King), the long period of the mystery-form of the
kingdom, the world-wide preaching of the cross, and the out-calling
of the Church. But this was as yet locked up in the secret counsels
of God.
# Mt 13:11,17 Eph 3:3-10
[1] {James}
Two persons are called by this name in the N.T. (1) James the
son of Zebedee, an apostle
# Mt 10:2
and the brother of the apostle John, apart from whom he is never
mentioned, and with whom, together with Peter, he was admitted to the
especial intimacy of our Lord.
# Mt 17:1 Mr 5:37 9:2 14:33
He was martyred by Herod.
# Ac 12:2
(2) A son of Alphaeus (or Cleopas) and Mary the sister of Mary the
mother of Jesus
» See note "Mt 1:16"
and brother of Joses.
# Mr 15:40
He was, therefore, a cousin of the Lord Jesus. He is called James "the
less"
# Mr 15:40
lit. little, i.e. of shorter stature than James the son of Zebedee).
He was an apostle.
# Mt 10:3
It has been conjectured that "Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus"
# Mt 10:3
was identical with the Juda of
# Lu 6:16
who is there called "of [i.e. 'son' or 'brother' as is has been
variously translated] James." A Juda is mentioned with a James and
Joses and Simon in
# Mr 6:3
as "brother" of our Lord (see Mt. 13.55, marg.). The Gospels mention
no other James who could be called the brother of the Lord Jesus, but
James the less was certainly the son of Alphaeus and Mary the sister of
our Lord's mother. The conclusion seems, therefore most probable that
# Mt 10:3 13:55 Mr 3:18 6:3 Lu 6:15 Ac 1:13 12:17 15:13 21:18 Ga 1:19
# Ga 2:9,12 Jas 1:1
refer to James the less, son of Alphaeus and Mary,
and cousin, or, according to Jewish usage, "brother" of the Lord Jesus.
He was the author of the Epistle of James.
[2] {And he opened his mouth}
Having announced the kingdom of heaven as "at hand," the King, in
# Mt 5:7
declares the principles of the kingdom. The Sermon on the
Mount has a twofold application: (1) literally to the kingdom. In this
sense it gives the divine constitution for the righteous government of
the earth. Whenever the kingdom of heaven is established on earth it
will be according to that constitution, which may be regarded as an
explanation of the word "righteousness" as used by the prophets in
describing the kingdom (e.g.)
# Isa 11:4,5 32:1 Da 9:24
In this sense the Sermon on the Mount is pure law, and transfers the
offence from the overt act to the motive.
# Mt 5:21,22,27,28
Here lies the deeper reason why the Jews rejected the kingdom. They
had reduced "righteousness" to mere ceremonialism, and the Old
Testament idea of the kingdom to a mere affair of outward splendour and
power. They were never rebuked for expecting a visible and powerful
kingdom, but the words of the prophets should have prepared them to
expect also that only the poor in spirit and the meek could share in it
(e.g.)
# Isa 11:4
The seventy-second Psalm, which was universally received
by them as a description of the kingdom, was full of this. For these
reasons, the Sermon on the Mount in its primary application gives
neither the privilege nor the duty of the Church. These are found in
the Epistles. Under the law of the kingdom, for example, no one may
hope for forgiveness who has not first forgiven.
# Mt 6:12,14,15
Under grace the Christian is exhorted to forgive because he is already
forgiven.
# Eph 4:30-32
(2) But there is a beautiful moral application to the Christian. It
always remains true that the poor in spirit, rather than the proud, are
blessed, and those who mourn because of their sins, and who are meek in
the consciousness of them, will hunger and thirst after righteousness,
and hungering, will be filled. The merciful are "blessed," the pure in
heart do "see God." These principles fundamentally reappear in the
teaching of the Epistles.
[1] {Relation of Christ to the Law}
Christ's relation to the law of Moses may be thus summarized: (1) He
was made under the law
# Ga 4:4
(2) He lived in perfect obedience to the law
# Joh 8:46 Mt 17:5 1Pe 2:21-23
(3) he was a minister of the law to the Jews, clearing it from
rabbinical sophistries, enforcing it in all its pitiless severity upon
those who professed to obey it (e.g.)
# Lu 10:25-37
but confirming the promises made to the fathers under the Mosaic
Covenant
# Ro 15:8
(4) He fulfilled the types of the law by His holy life and sacrificial
death
# Heb 9:11-26
(5) He bore, vicariously, the curse of the law that the Abrahamic
Covenant might avail all who believe
# Ga 3:13,14
(6) He brought out by His redemption all who believe from the place of
servants under the law into the place of sons
# Ga 4:1-7
(7) He mediated by His blood the New Covenant of assurance and grace in
which all believers stand
# Ro 5:2 Heb 8:6-13
so establishing the "law of Christ"
# Ac 20:35 1Th 5:14
with its precepts of higher exaltation made possible by the indwelling
Spirit.
[2] {hell fire}
Gr. Geenna = \\Gehenna\\, the place in the valley of Hinnom where,
anciently, human sacrifices were offered.
# 2Ch 33:6 Jer 7:31
The word occurs,
# Mt 5:22,29,30 10:28 18:9 23:15,33 Mr 9:43,45,47 Lu 12:5 Jas 3:6
In every instance except the last the word comes from the lips of Jesus
Christ in most solemn warning of the consequences of sin. He describes
it as the place where "their" worm never dies and of fire never to be
quenched. The expression is identical in meaning with "lake of fire".
# Re 19:20 20:10,14,15
See "Death, the second" (John 8.24 Re 21.8); also Lu 16.23, note.
# Joh 8:24 Re 21:8
» See Note "Re 21:8"
» See Note "Lu 16:23"
[1] {perfect}
The word implies full development, growth into maturity of godliness,
not sinless perfection.
# Eph 4:12,13
In this passage the Father's kindness, not His sinlessness, is the point
in question.
# Lu 6:35,36
[1] {forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors}
This is legal ground. Cf.
# Eph 4:32
which is grace. Under law forgiveness is conditioned upon a like
spirit in us; under grace we are forgiven for Christ's sake, and
exhorted to forgive because we have been forgiven.
# Mt 18:32
» See Note "Mt 26:28"
# Eph 4:32 Mt 18:32 26:28
[1] {kingdom of God}
The kingdom of God is to be distinguished from the
kingdom of heaven
» See Note "Mt 3:2"
in five respects: (1) The kingdom of God is universal, including all
moral intelligences willingly subject to the will of God, whether
angels, the Church, or saints of past or future dispensations
# Lu 13:28,29 Heb 12:22,23
while the kingdom of heaven is Messianic, mediatorial, and Davidic, and
has for its object the establishment of the kingdom of God in the earth
# 1Co 15:24,25
(2) The kingdom of God is entered only by the new birth
# Joh 3:3,5-7
the kingdom of heaven, during this age, is the sphere of a
profession which may be real or false
» See Note "Mt 13:3"
# Mt 25:1,11,12
(3) Since the kingdom of heaven is the earthly sphere of the
universal kingdom of God, the two have almost all things in common.
For this reason many parables and other teachings are spoken of the
kingdom of heaven in Matthew, and of the kingdom of God in Mark and
Luke. It is the omissions which are significant. The parables of the
wheat and tares, and of the net
# Mt 13:24-30,36-43,47-50
are not spoken of the kingdom of God. In that kingdom there are neither
tares nor bad fish. But the parable of the leaven
# Mt 13:33
is spoken of the kingdom of God also, for, alas, even the true doctrines
of the kingdom are leavened with the errors of which the Pharisees,
Sadducees, and the Herodians were the representatives.
» See Note "Mt 13:33"
(4) The kingdom of God "comes not with outward show"
# Lu 17:20
but is chiefly that which is inward and spiritual
# Ro 14:17
while the kingdom of heaven is organic, and is to be manifested in
glory on the earth.
(See "Kingdom (O.T.)," Zech 12.8, note; (N.T.), Lu 1.31-33 1co
15.24, note; Mt 17.2, note.)
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
# Lu 1:31-33
» See Note "1Co 15:24"
» See Note "Mt 17:2"
(5) The kingdom of heaven merges into the kingdom of God when Christ,
having put all enemies under his feet, "shall have delivered up the
kingdom to God, even the Father"
# 1Co 15:24-28
» See Note "Mt 3:2"
[1] {Devils}
Devils, lit demons. To the reality and personality of demons the N.T.
scriptures bear abundant testimony. As to their origin nothing is
clearly revealed, but they are not to be confounded with the angels
mentioned in
# 2Pe 2:4 Jude 1:6
Summary: Demons are spirits
# Mt 12:43,45
are Satan's emissaries
# Mt 12:26,27 25:41
and so numerous as to make Satan's power practically ubiquitous.
# Mr 5:9
They are capable of entering and controlling both men and beasts
# Mr 5:8,11-13
and earnestly seek embodiment, without which, apparently, they are
powerless for evil.
# Mr 5:8,11-13 Mt 12:43,44 Mr 5:10-12
Demon influence and demon possession are discriminated in the N. T.
Instances of the latter are
# Mt 4:24 8:16,28,33 9:32 12:22 Mr 1:32 5:15,16 Lu 8:35 Ac 8:7 16:16
They are unclean, sullen, violent, and malicious
# Mt 8:28 9:23 10:1 12:43
# Mr 1:23 5:3-5 9:17,20 Lu 6:18 9:39
They know Jesus Christ as Most High God, and recognize His supreme
authority
# Mt 8:31,32 Mr 1:24 Ac 19:15 Jas 2:19
They know their eternal fate to be one of torment
# Mt 8:29 Lu 8:31
They inflict physical maladies
# Mt 12:22 17:15-18 Lu 13:16
but mental disease is to be distinguished from the disorder of mind due
to demonical control. Demon influence may manifest itself in religion
asceticism and formalism
# 1Ti 4:1-3
degenerating into uncleanness
# 2Pe 2:10-12
The sign of demon influence in religion is departing from the faith,
i.e. the body of revealed truth in the Scriptures.
# 1Ti 4:1
The demons maintain especially a conflict with believers who would be
spiritual.
# Eph 6:12 1Ti 4:1-3
All unbelievers are open to demon possession
# Eph 2:2
The believer's resources, prayer and bodily control
# Mt 17:21
"the whole armour of God"
# Eph 6:13-18
Exorcism in the name of Jesus Christ
# Ac 16:18
was practised for demon possession. One of the awful features of
the apocalyptic judgments in which this age will end is an irruption of
demons out the abyss.
# Re 9:1-11
[1] {behold, there came a leper}
The King, having in Chapters 5.-7. declared the principles of the
kingdom, makes proof, in Chapters 8., 9., of His power to banish from
the earth the consequences of sin, and to control the elements of
nature.
[2} {Lord}
Gr. Kurios. The first occurrence of the word is applied to Jesus with
His evident sanction. In itself the word means "master," and is so
used of mere human relationships in, e.g.
# Mt 6:24 15:27 Mr 13:35 Eph 6:9
Both uses, divine and human, are brought together in
# Col 4:1
It is the Gr. equivalent of the Heb. Adonai
» See Note "Ge 15:2"
and is so used by Jesus Christ in
# Mt 22:43-35
In the N.T. the distinctive uses of Kurios (Lord) are:
(1) As the N.T. translation of the Heb. Jehovah (Lord), e.g.
# Mt 1:20,22 2:15 3:3 4:7,10 11:25 21:9 Mr 12:29,30 Lu 1:68 2:9
(2) Jesus Himself so uses Kurios, e.g.
# Mt 4:7,10 11:25 Mr 12:11
(3) But the great use of Kurios is as the divine title of Jesus, the
Christ. In this sense it occurs in the N.T. 663 times. That the
intent is to identify Jesus Christ with the O.T. Deity is evident
from
# Mt 3:3 12:8 21:9 Ps 118:26 Mt 22:43-45 Lu 1:43 Joh 8:58 14:8-10
# Joh 20:28 Ac 9:5 13:33
» See Note 20.28
[1] {Son of man}
» See Note "Eze 2:1"
Cf. Ezk 2.1 note. Our Lord thus designates Himself about eighty times.
It is His racial name as the representative Man, in the sense of
# 1Co 15:43-47
as Son of David is distinctly his Jewish name, and Son of God His
divine name. Our Lord constantly uses this term as implying that his
mission (e.g.)
# Mt 11:19 Lu 19:10
His death and resurrection (e.g.)
# Mt 12:40 20:18 26:2
and His second coming (e.g.)
# Mt 24:37-44 Lu 12:40
transcended in scope and result all merely Jewish imitations. When
Nathanael confesses him as "King of Israel," our Lord's answer is, "Thou
shalt see greater things. . . the angels of God ascending and descending
upon the Son of man." When His messengers are cast out by the Jews, His
thought leaps forward to the time when the Son of man shall come, not
then to Israel only but to the race
# Mt 10:5,6 8:23
It is in this name, also, that universal judgment is committed to Him
# Joh 5:22,27
It is also a name indicating that in Him is fulfilled
the O.T. foreview of blessing through a coming man.
» See Note "Ge 1:26"
# Ge 3:15 13:3 Ps 8:4 80:17 Isa 7:14 9:6,7 32:2 Zec 13:7
# 1Co 15:43-47 Mt 11:19 Lu 19:10 Mt 12:40 20:18 26:2 24:37 Lu 12:40
# Mt 10:5,6,12 Joh 5:22,27 Ge 3:15 13:3 Ps 8:4 80:17 Isa 7:14 9:6,7
# Isa 32:2 Zec 13:7
[1] {apostle}
The word \\apostle\\, = "one sent forth," is used of our Lord
# Heb 3:1
Elsewhere it is used for the twelve who were called to that office by our
Lord during His earth ministry; of Paul, called to the apostleship by the
risen and ascended Lord, and of Barnabas
# Ac 14:14
specially designated by the Holy Spirit
# Ac 13:2
Of Matthias, chosen by lot by the eleven to take the place of Judas
Iscariot,
# Ac 1:16-26
it is said: "And he was numbered with the eleven."
# Ac 1:26 Heb 3:1 Ac 14:14 13:2 1:16-26
The "signs" of an apostle were (1) They were chosen directly by the Lord
Himself, or, as in the case of Barnabas, by the Holy Spirit
# Mt 10:1,2 Mr 3:13,14 Lu 6:13 Ac 9:6,15 13:2 22:10,14,15 Ro 1:1
(2) They were endued with sign gifts, miraculous powers which were the
divine credentials of their office
# Mt 10:1 Ac 5:15,16 16:16-18 28:8,9
(3) Their relation to the kingdom was that of heralds, announcing to
Israel only
# Mt 10:5,6
the kingdom as at hand
» See Note "Mt 4:17"
and manifesting kingdom powers
# Mt 10:7,8
(4) To one of them, Peter, the keys of the kingdom of heaven, viewed
as the sphere of Christian profession, as in Mat 13, were given
# Mt 16:19
(5) Their future relation to the king will be that of judges over the
twelve tribes
# Mt 19:28
(6) Consequent upon the rejection of the kingdom, and the
revelation of the mystery hid in God
# Mt 16:18 Eph 3:1-12
the Church, the apostolic office was invested with a new enduement,
the baptism with the Holy Spirit
# Ac 2:1-4
a new power, that of imparting the Spirit to Jewish-Christian believers;
a new relation, that of foundation stones of the new temple
# Eph 2:20-22
and a new function, that of preaching the glad tidings of salvation
through a crucified and risen Lord to Jew and gentile alike.
(7) The indispensable qualification of an apostle was
that he should have been an eye-witness of the resurrection
# Ac 1:22 1Co 9:1
[2] {Provide neither gold}
(Cf)
# Mr 6:8,9 Lu 9:3
The central thought here, urgency, must be kept in mind. The emphasis
is upon "provide." Time is not to be taken to search for additional
staves or shoes. The disciples were to go in their ordinary sandals,
with such staff as they might have, or with none. Cf. Paul,
# Ro 1:15
[1] {send}
The scope of verses 16-23 reaches beyond the personal ministry of the
twelve, covering in a general sense the sphere of service during the
present age. Verse 23 has in view the preaching of the remnant.
# Isa 1:9
» See Note "Ro 11.5",
in the tribulation
# Ps 2:5
» See Note "Re 7:14"
and immediately preceding the return of Christ in glory
# De 30:3 Ac 1:9-11
» See Note "Ac 1:11"
The remnant then will not have gone over the cities of Israel till
the Lord comes.
[2] {peace}
Cf. John 14.27. Peace is spoken of in Scripture in three ways: (1)
"Peace with God"
# Ro 5:1
this is the work of Christ into which the individual enters by faith
# Eph 2:14-17 Ro 5:1
(2) "The peace of God"
# Phm 4:7
inward peace, the state of soul of that believer who, having
entered into peace with God through faith in Christ, has also committed
to God through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving all his
anxieties
# Lu 7:50 Phm 4:6
(3) Peace "on earth"
# Lu 2:14 Ps 72:7 85:10 Isa 9:6,7 11:1-12
the universal prevalency of peace in the earth under the kingdom.
# Mt 10:34
was Christ's warning that the truth which He was proclaiming would not
bring in the kingdom age of peace, but conflict rather.
# Joh 14:27
[2] {violence}
It has been much disputed whether the "violence" here is external, as
against the kingdom in the persons of John the Baptist and Jesus; or
that, considering the opposition of the scribes and Pharisee, only the
violently resolute would press into it. Both things are true. The King
and his herald suffered violence, and this is the primary and greater
meaning, but also, some were resolutely becoming disciples.
# Lu 16:16
[1] {greater}
Positionally greater, not morally. John the Baptist was as great
morally, as any man "born of woman," but as to the kingdom he but
announced it at hand. The kingdom did not then come, but was rejected,
and John was martyred, and the King presently crucified. The least in
the kingdom when it is set up in glory (see "Kingdom (N.T.)")
# Lu 1:31-33 1Co 15:24
will be in the fullness of power and glory. It is not heaven
which is in question, but Messiah's kingdom.
» See Note "Mt 3:2"
# Mt 6:23
[1] {suffereth \\violence\\}
It has been much disputed whether the "violence" here is external, as
against the kingdom in the persons of John the Baptist and Jesus; or
that, considering the opposition of the scribes and Pharisees, only
the violently resolute would press into it. both things are true.
The King and His herald suffered violence, and this is the primary
and greater meaning, but also, some were resolutely becoming
disciples. CF
# Lu 16:16
[1] {Then}
The kingdom of heaven announced as "at hand" by John the Baptist, by the
King Himself, and by the twelve, and attested by mighty works, has been
morally rejected. The places chosen for the testing of the nation,
Chorazin, Bethsaida, etc. having rejected both John and Jesus, the
rejected King now speaks of judgment. The final official rejection is
later.
# Mt 27:31-37
[2] {Come}
The new message of Jesus. The rejected King now turns from the rejecting
nation and offers, not the kingdom, but rest and service to such in the
nation as are conscious of the need. It is a pivotal point in the
ministry of Jesus.
[3] {sabbath}
(1) The sabbath ("cessation") appears in Scripture as the day of God's
rest in the finished work of creation.
# Ge 2:2,3
For 2500 years of human life absolutely no mention is made of it.
Then the sabbath was revealed
# Ex 16:23 Ne 9:13,14
made a part of the law
# Ex 20:8-11
and invested with the character of a "sign" between Jehovah and Israel,
and a perpetual reminder to Israel of their separation to God
# Ex 31:13-17
It was observed by complete rest
# Ex 35:2,3
and by Jehovah's express order a man was put to death for gathering
sticks on the sabbath day.
# Nu 15:32-36
Apart from maintaining the continued burnt-offering
# Nu 28:9
and its connection with the annual feasts
# Ex 12:16 Le 23:3,8 Nu 28:5
the seventh day sabbath was never made a day of sacrifice,
worship, or any manner of religious service. It was simply and only a
day of complete rest for man and beast, a humane provision for man's
needs. In Christ's words, "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for
the sabbath."
# Mr 2:27
(2) Our Lord found the observance of the day encrusted with rabbinical
evasions
# Mt 12:2
and restrictions, wholly unknown to the law, so that He was Himself
was held to be a sabbath breaker by the religious authorities of the
time. The sabbath will be again observed during the kingdom age
# Isa 66:23
(3) The Christian first day perpetuates in the dispensation of grace
the principle that one-seventh of the time is especially sacred, but
in all other respects is in contrast with the sabbath. One is the
seventh day, the other the first. The sabbath commemorates God's
creation rest, the first day Christ's resurrection. On the seventh
day God rested, on the first day Christ was ceaselessly active.
The sabbath commemorates a finished creation, the first day a finished
redemption. The sabbath was a day of legal obligation, the first day
one of voluntary worship and service. The sabbath is mentioned in the
Acts only in connection with the Jews, and in the rest of the N.T.
but twice.
# Col 2:16 Heb 4:4
In these passages the seventh day sabbath is explained to be to the
Christian not a day to be observed, but a type of the present rest
into which he enters when "he also ceases from his own works" and
trusts Christ.
[1] {what David did}
Jesus' action
# Mt 12:1-7
is highly significant. "What David did" refers to the time of his
rejection and persecution by Saul.
# 1Sa 21:6
Jesus here is not so much the rejected Saviour as the rejected King;
hence the reference to David.
[2] {Gentiles}
This too is most significant. The rejected King of Israel will turn
to the Gentiles (cf.)
# Mt 10:5,6
In fulfilment this awaited the official rejection, crucifixion, and
resurrection of Christ, and the final rejection of the risen Christ.
# Lu 24:46,47 Ac 9:15 13:46 28:25-28 Ro 11:11
[1] {The men of Nineveh}
Again the rejected King announces judgment (cf)
# Mt 11:20-24
Israel, in the midst of the Pharisaic revival of outward religious
strictness, was like a man out of whom a demon had "gone," i.e, of
his own volition. He would come back and find an empty house, etc.
The personal application is to a mere self-cleansed moralist.
[2] {While}
Rejected by Israel, His "kinsmen according to the flesh" (cf)
# Ro 9:3
our Lord intimates the formation of the new family of faith which,
overstepping mere racial claims, receives "whosoever" will be His
disciple.
# Mt 12:49,50 Joh 6:28,29
[1] {spake}
The seven parables of Mat 13., called by our Lord, "mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven" (v.11), taken together, describe the result of the
presence of the Gospel in the world during the present age, that is, the
time of seed sowing which began with our Lord's personal ministry, and
ends with the "harvest"
# Mt 13:40-43
Briefly, the result is mingled tares and wheat, good fish and bad, in
the sphere of Christian profession. It is Christendom.
[2] {sower}
The figure marks a new beginning. To labour in God's vineyard (Israel,
# Isa 5:1-7
is one thing, to go forth sowing the seed of the word in a
field which is the world, quite another (cf)
# Mt 10:5
One fourth of the seed takes permanent root, but the result is
"wheat"
# Mt 13:25 1Pe 1:23
or "children of the kingdom"
# Mt 13:38
This parable
# Mt 13:3-9,18-23
is treated throughout as foundational to the mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven. It is interpreted by our Lord Himself.
[3} {mysteries}
A "mystery" in Scripture is a previously hidden truth, now divinely
revealed; but in which a supernatural element still remains despite
the revelation. The greater mysteries are: (1) The mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven
# Mt 13:3-50
(2) the mystery of Israel's blindness during this age
# Ro 11:25
(with context); (3) the mystery of the translation of living saints
at the end of this age
# 1Co 15:51,52 1Th 4:14-17
(4) the mystery of N.T. church as one body composed of Jew and Gentile
# Eph 3:1-11 Ro 16:25 Eph 6:19 Col 4:3
(5) the mystery of the church as the bride of Christ
# Eph 5:28-32
(6) the mystery of the inliving Christ
# Ga 2:20 Col 1:26,27
(7) the "mystery of God even Christ," i.e. Christ as the incarnate
fullness of the Godhead embodied, in whom all the divine wisdom for man
subsists
# Col 2:2,9 1Co 2:7
(8) the mystery of the processes by which godlikeness is restored to
man
# 1Ti 3:16
(9) the mystery of iniquity
# 2Th 2:7 Mt 13:33
(10) the mystery of the seven stars
# Re 1:20
(11) the mystery of Babylon
# Re 17:5,7
[1] {prophets}
The O.T. prophets saw in blended vision the rejection and crucifixion of
the King (see "Christ, sacrifice,)
» See Note "Ge 4:4"
» See Note "Heb 10:18"
and also His glory as David's Son
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
but "what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did
signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the
glory that should follow," was not revealed to them--only that the
vision was not for themselves .
# 1Pe 1:10-12
That revelation Christ makes in these parables. A period of time is
to intervene between His sufferings and His glory. That interval is
occupied with the "mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" here
described.
[2] {\\parable\\}
This parable
# Mt 13:24-30
is also interpreted by our Lord
# Mt 13:36-43
Here the "good seed" is not the "word," as in the first parable
# Mt 13:19,23
but rather that which the word has produced.
# 1Pe 1:23
viz.: the children of the kingdom. These are, providentially
# Mt 13:37
"sown," i.e. scattered, here and there in the "field" of the
"world"
# Mt 13:38
The "world" here is both geographical and
ethnic--the earth-world, and also the world of men. The wheat of God
at once becomes the scene of Satan's activity. Where children of the
kingdom are gathered, there "among the wheat"
# Mt 13:25,38,39
Satan "sows" "children of the wicked one," who profess to be children
of the kingdom, and in outward ways are so like the true children that
only the angels may, in the end, be trusted to separate them
# Mt 13:28-30,40-43
So great is Satan's power of deception that the tares
often really suppose themselves to be children of the kingdom
# Mt 7:21-23
Many other parables and exhortations have this mingled
condition in view (e.g.)
# Mt 22:11-14 25:1-13,14-30 Lu 18:10-14 Heb 6:4-9
Indeed, it characterizes Matthew from Chapter 13 to the end.
The parable of the wheat and tares is not a description of the world,
but of that which professes to be the kingdom. Mere unbelievers are
never the children of the devil, but only religious unbelievers are
so called (cf)
# Mt 13:38 Joh 8:38-44 Mt 23:15
[1] \\Gather\\
The \\gathering\\ of the tares into bundles for burning does not imply
immediate judgment. At the end of this age (v.40) the tares are set
apart for burning, but first the wheat is gathered into the barn.
# Joh 14:3 1Th 4:14-17
[2] \\Parable of the mustard seed\\
The parable of the \\Mustard Seed\\ prefigures the rapid but
unsubstantial growth of the mystery form of the kingdom from an
insignificant beginning
# Ac 1:15 2:41 1Co 1:26
to a great place in the earth. The figure of the fowls finding
shelter in the branches is drawn from
# Da 4:20-22
How insecure was such a refuge the context in Daniel shows.
[3] {Another parable} [4] {leaven}
That interpretation of the parable of the \\Leaven\\ (v. 33) which makes
(with variation as to details) the leaven to be the Gospel, introduced
into the world ("three measures of meal") by the church, and working
subtly until the world is converted ("till the whole was leavened") is
open to fatal objection: (1) it does violence to the unvarying symbolical
meaning of leaven, and especially to the meaning fixed by our Lord
Himself.
# Mt 16:6-12 Mr 8:15
See "Leaven,"
# Ge 19:3
» See Note "Mt 13:33"
(2) The implication of a converted world in this age ("till the whole was
leavened"), is explicitly contradicted by our Lord's interpretation of
the parables of the Wheat and Tares, and of the Net. Our Lord presents a
picture of a partly converted kingdom in an unconverted world; of good
fish and bad in the very kingdom-net itself. (3) The method of the
extension of the kingdom is given in the first parable. It is by sowing
seed, not by mingling leaven. The symbols have, in Scripture, a meaning
fixed by inspired usage. Leaven is the principle of corruption working
subtly; is invariably used in a bad sense (see "Leaven," Ge 19.3, refs),
and is defined by our Lord as evil doctrine (Mat 16.11,12 Mar 8.15).
Meal, on the contrary, was used in one of the sweet-savour offerings
# Le 2:1-3
and was food for the priests
# Le 6:15-17
A woman, in the bad ethical sense, always symbolizes something out of
place, religiously,
» See Note "Zec 5:6"
In Thyatira it was a woman teaching (cf).
# Re 2:20 17:1-6
Interpreting the parable by these familiar symbols, it constitutes a
warning that the true doctrine, given for nourishment of the children
of the kingdom
# Mt 4:4 1Ti 4:6 1Pe 2:2
would be mingled with corrupt and corrupting false doctrine, and that
officially, by the apostate church itself
# 1Ti 4:1-3 2Ti 2:17,18 4:3,4 2Pe 2:1-3
[4] \\Leaven\\
Summary: (1) \\Leaven\\, as a symbolic or typical substance, is always
mentioned in the O.T. in an \\evil\\ sense (Ge 19.3, refs). (2) The use
of the word in the N.T. explains its symbolic meaning. It is "malice and
wickedness," as contrasted with "sincerity and truth"
# 1Co 5:6-8
It is evil doctrine
# Mt 16:12
in its three-fold form of Pharisasism, Sadduceeism, Herodianism
# Mt 16:6 Mr 8:15
The leaven of the Pharisees was externalism in religion.
# Mt 23:14,16,23-28
of the Sadducees, scepticism as to the supernatural and as to the
Scriptures
# Mt 22:23,29
of the Herodians, worldliness--a Herod party amongst the Jews
# Mt 22:16-21 Mr 3:6
(3) The use of the word in Mat 13.33 is congruous with its universal
meaning.
# Mt 13:33
[1] {Then}
The kingdom does not become the kingdom of the "Father" until Christ,
having "put all enemies under his feet," including the last enemy, death,
has "delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father"
# 1Co 15:24-28 Re 20:2
There is triumph over death at the first resurrection
# 1Co 15:54,55
but death, "the last enemy," is not destroyed till the end of
the millennium.
# Re 20:14
[2] hid
The interpretation of the parable of the treasure, which makes the
buyer of the field to be a sinner who is seeking Christ, has no
warrant in the parable itself. The field is defined (v. 38) to be
the world. The seeking sinner does not buy, but forsakes, the world
to win Christ. Furthermore, the sinner has nothing to sell, nor is
Christ for sale, nor is He hidden in a field, nor, having found
Christ, does the sinner hide Him again (cf)
# Mr 7:24 Ac 4:20
At every point the interpretation breaks down.
Our Lord is the buyer at the awful cost of His blood
# 1Pe 1:18
and Israel, especially Ephraim
# Jer 31:5-12,18-20
the lost tribes hidden in "the field," the world (v. 38), is the
treasure
# Ex 19:5 Ps 135:4
Again, as in the separation of tares and wheat, the angels
are used
# Mt 24:31 Jer 16:16
The divine Merchantman buys the field (world) for the sake of the
treasure (v. 44)
# Ro 11:28
beloved for the fathers' sakes, and yet to be restored and saved.
The note of joy (v. 44) is also that of the prophets in view of
Israel's restoration.
# De 30:9 Isa 49:13 52:1-3 62:4-7 65:18,19
(See "Israel,")
# Ge 11:10 Ro 11:26
[3] {pearls}
The true Church, "one body" formed by the Holy Spirit
# 1Co 12:12,13
As Israel is the hid treasure, so the Church is the pearl of great cost.
Covering the same period of time as the mysteries of the kingdom, is the
mystery of the Church
# Ro 16:25,26 Eph 3:3-10 5:32
Of the true Church a pearl is a perfect symbol: (1) A pearl is one,
a perfect symbol of unity
# 1Co 10:17 12:12,13 Eph 4:4-6
(2) a pearl is formed by the accretion, and that not mechanically, but
vitally, through a living one, as Christ adds to the Church
# Ac 2:41,47 5:14 11:24 Eph 2:21 Col 2:19
(3) Christ, having given Himself for the pearl, is now preparing it for
presentation to Himself
# Eph 5:25-27
The kingdom is not the Church, but the true children of the kingdom
during the fulfilment of these mysteries, baptized by one Spirit into
one body
# 1Co 12:12,13
compose the true Church, the pearl.
[4] {the \\drag net\\}
The parable of the Net (Gr. drag-net) presents another view from that of
the wheat and tares of the mysteries of the kingdom as the sphere of
profession, but with this difference: there Satan was the active agent;
here the admixture is more the result of the tendency of a movement to
gather to itself that which is not really of it. The kingdom of heaven
is like a net which, cast into the sea of humanity, gathers of every
kind, good and bad, and these remain together in the net (v. 49) and not
merely in the sea, until the end of the age. It is not even a converted
net, much less a converted sea. Infinite violence has been done to sound
exegesis by the notion that the world is to be converted in this age.
Against that notion stands our Lord's own interpretation of the parables
of the Sower, the Wheat and Tares, and the Net.
Such, then, is the mystery form of the kingdom
» See Note "Mt 3:2"
» See Note "Mt 6:33"
It is the sphere of Christian profession during this age. It is
a mingled body of true and false, wheat and tares, good and bad. It is
defiled by formalism, doubt, and worldliness. But within it Christ sees
the true children of the true kingdom who, at the end, are to "shine
forth as the sun." In the great field, the world, He sees the redeemed
of all ages, but especially His hidden Israel, yet to be restored and
blessed, Also, in this form of the kingdom, so unlike that which is to
be, He sees the Church, His body and bride, and for joy He sells all that
He has
# 2Co 8:9
and buys the field, the treasure, and the pearl.
[1] {departed} \\the Syrophenician woman\\
For the first time the rejected Son of David ministers to a Gentile. It
is a precursive fulfilment of
# Mt 12:18
Addressed by a Gentile as Son of David, He makes no reply, for a
Gentile has no claim upon Him in that character
» See Note "Mt 2:2"
# Eph 2:12
Addressing him as "Lord," she obtained an immediate answer.
# Ro 10:12,13
[1] {Peter} [2] {church}
There is the Greek a play upon the words, "thou art Peter
[\\petros\\--literally 'a little rock'], and upon this rock [Petra] I will
build my church." He does not promise to build His church upon Peter,
but upon Himself, as Peter is careful to tell us (1Pe 2.4-9)
# 1Pe 2:4-9
[2] Gr. ecclesia (ek=="out of," kaleo =="to call"), an assembly of called
out ones. The word is used of any assembly; the word itself implies no
more, as, e.g., the town-meeting at Ephesus
# Ac 19:39
and Israel, called out of Egypt and assembled in the wilderness
# Ac 7:38
Israel was a true "church," but not in any sense the N.T. church--the
only point of similarity being that both were "called out" and by the
same God. All else is contrast.
» See Note "Ac 7:38"
» See Note "Heb 12:23"
[1] {keys of the kingdom}
Not the keys of the church, but of the kingdom of heaven in the sense
of Mat 13., i.e. the sphere of Christian profession. A key is a badge of
power or authority (cf)
# Isa 22:22 Re 3:7
The apostolic history explains and limits this trust, for it was Peter
who opened the door of Christian opportunity to Israel on the day of
Pentecost
# Ac 2:38-42
and to Gentiles in the house of Cornelius.
# Ac 10:34-46
There was no assumption by Peter of any other authority
# Ac 15:7-11
In the council James, not Peter, seems to have presided
# Ac 15:19 Ga 2:11-15
Peter claimed no more for himself than to be an apostle by gift
# 1Pe 1:1
and an elder by office
# 1Pe 5:1
The power of binding and loosing was shared
# Mt 18:18 Joh 20:23
by the other disciples. That it did not involve the determination of
the eternal destiny of souls is clear from
# Re 1:18
The keys of death and the place of departed spirits are held by Christ
alone.
[2] {charged}
The disciples had been proclaiming Jesus as the Christ, i.e. the
covenanted King of a kingdom promised to the Jews, and "at hand." The
church, on the contrary, must be built upon testimony to Him as crucified,
risen from the dead, ascended, and made "Head over all things to the
church."
# Eph 1:20-23
The former testimony was ended, the new testimony was not yet ready,
because the blood of the new covenant had not yet been
shed, but our Lord begins to speak of His death and resurrection (v. 21)
It is a turning-point of immense significance.
[3] \\was transfigured\\
The transfiguration scene contains, in miniature, all the elements of
the future kingdom in manifestation: (1) the Lord, not in
humiliation, but in glory (v. 2). (2) Moses, glorified,
representative of the redeemed who have passed through death into the
kingdom.
# Mt 13:43 Lu 9:30,31
(3) Elijah, glorified, representative of the redeemed who have entered
the kingdom by translation.
# 1Co 15:50-53 1Th 4:14-17
(4) Peter, James, and John, not glorified, representatives (for the
moment) of Israel in the flesh in the future kingdom
# Eze 37:21-27
(5) The multitude at the foot of the mountain (v. 14), representative
of the nations who are to be brought into the kingdom after it is
established over Israel
# Isa 11:10-12
[1] {Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come}
Cf
# Mt 11:14 Mr 9:11,12,13 Lu 1:17 Mal 3:14 4:5,6
All the passages must be construed together. (1) Christ confirms the
specific and still unfulfilled prophecy of
# Mal 4:5,6
: "Elias shall truly first come and restore all things." Here, as in
Malachi, the prediction fulfilled in John the Baptist, and that yet to
be fulfilled in Elijah, are kept distinct.
(2) But John the Baptist had come already, and with a ministry
so completely in the spirit and power of Elijah's future ministry
# Lu 1:17
that in an adumbrative and typical sense it could be said: "Elias
is come already." Cf
# Mt 10:40 Phm 1:12,17
where the same thought of identification, while yet preserving
personal distinction, occurs.
# Joh 1:27
[1] {regeneration} [2] {judging}
Gr. palingensia= "re-creation," "making new." The word occurs once again
in
# Tit 3:5
There it refers to the new birth or a believing person; here
to the re-creation of the social order, and renewal of the earth
# Isa 11:6-9 Ro 8:19-23
when the kingdom shall come. (See "Kingdom (O.T.),"
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
» See Note "1Co 15:24"
[2] {judging}
Disclosing how the promise
# Isa 1:26
will be fulfilled when the kingdom is set up. The kingdom will be
administered over Israel through the apostles, according to the
ancient theocratic judgeship.
# Jud 2:18
[1] {two blind men}
A discrepancy has been imagined between this account and those in
# Mr 10:46 Lu 18:35
Matthew and Mark obviously refer to a work of healing as Jesus
departed from Jericho. Bartimaeus, the active one of the two,
the one who cried, "Jesus, thou Son of David," is specifically
mentioned by Mark. Of the other one of the "two," we know nothing.
The healing described by
# Lu 18:35
occurred before Jesus entered Jericho. As to the form of appeal, "Son
of David" (cf)
# Mt 9:27 15:22 21:9
Jesus must have been so addressed constantly. The narratives therefore
supplement, but in no way contradict each other.
[1] {fulfilled}
The king's final and official offer of Himself according to
# Zec 9:9
Acclaimed by an unthinking multitude whose real belief is expressed in
vs. 11, but with no welcome from the official representatives of the
nation, He was soon to hear the multitude shout: "Crucify him."
[1] {\\kingdom of God\\}
Note that Matthew here as in verse 31 uses the larger word, kingdom of
God. (Cf)
» See Note "Mt 6:33"
The kingdom of heaven
» See Note "Mt 3:2"
» See Note "1Co 15:24"
will yet be set up. Meantime the kingdom of God and
his righteousness is taken from Israel nationally and given to the
Gentiles.
# Ro 9:30-33
[2] {stone shall be broken}
Christ as the "Stone" is revealed in a threefold way:
(1) To Israel Christ, coming not as a splendid monarch but in the
form of a servant, is a stumbling stone and rock of offence.
# Isa 8:14,15 Ro 9:32,33 1Co 1:23 1Pe 2:8
(2) to the church, Christ is the foundation stone and the head of the
corner
# 1Co 3:11 Eph 2:20-22 1Pe 2:4,5
(3) to the Gentile world-powers (see "Gentiles,"
# Lu 21:24 Re 16:19
He is to be the smiting-stone of destruction
# Da 2:34
Israel stumbled over Christ; the church is built upon Christ;
Gentile world-dominion will be broken by Christ.
See "Armageddon"
# Re 16:14 19:19
[1] {lawyer]
Gr. nomikos, "of the law"; occurs also
# Lu 7:30 10:25 11:45,46,52 14:3 Tit 3:13
Except in the last instance, "lawyer" is another name for
"scribe"
» See Note "Mt 2:4"
In
# Tit 3:13
the term has the modern meaning.
[1] {till}
The three "untils" of Israel's blessing: (1) Israel must say,
"blessed is He"
# Mt 23:39 Ro 10:3,4
(2) Gentile world-power must run its course.
# Lu 21:24 Da 2:34,35
(3) The elect number of Gentiles must be brought in. Then "the
Deliverer shall come out of Zion." etc.
# Ro 11:25-27
[1] {Tell us} \\The beginning of the Olivet Discourse\\
Mat 24 with Lu 21.20-24 answers the threefold question. The order is
as follows: "when shall these things be?"--i.e. destruction of the
temple and city. Answer:
# Lu 21:20-24
Second and third questions: "And what shall be the sign
of thy coming, and of the end of the age?" Answer:
# Mt 24:4-33
Verses 4 to 14 have a double interpretation: They give (1) the
character of the age--wars, international conflicts, famines,
pestilences, persecutions, and false Christs (cf)
# Da 9:26
This is not the description of a converted world. (2) But the same
answer (vs 4-14) applies in a specific way to the end of the age,
viz. Daniel's seventieth week.
» See Note "Da 9:24"
All that has characterized the age gathers into awful intensity at
the end. Verse 14 has specific reference to the proclamation of the
good news that the kingdom is again "at hand" by the Jewish remnant
# Isa 1:9 Re 14:6,7
» See Note "Ro 11:5"
Verse 15 gives the sign of the abomination,
» See Note "Da 9:27"
"the "man of sin," or "Beast"
# 2Th 2:3-8 Da 9:27 12:11 Re 13:4-7
This introduces the great tribulation
# Ps 2:5
» See Note "Re 7:14"
which runs its awful course of three and a half years, culminating in
the battle of
» See Note "Re 19:19"
at which time Christ becomes the smiting Stone of
# Da 2:34
The detail of this period (vs 15-28) is:
(1) The abomination in the holy place (v. 15); (2) the warning (vs
16-20) to believing Jews who will then be in Jerusalem; (3) the great
tribulation, with renewed warning as to false Christs (vs 21-26); (4)
the sudden smiting of the Gentile world-power (vs 27,28); (5) the
glorious appearing of the Lord, visible to all nations, and the
regathering of Israel (vs 29-31); (6) the sign of the fig-tree (vs
32,33); (7) warnings, applicable to this present age over which these
events are ever impending (vs 34-51 Phil 4.5). Careful study of Da
2, 7, 9, and Re 13 will make the interpretation clear. See, also,
"Remnant" (Is 1.9 Ro 11.5)
# Isa 1:9 Ro 11:5
[1] {Then let them which}
Cf.
# Lu 21:20-24
The passage in Luke refers in express terms to a destruction of
Jerusalem which was fulfilled by Titus, A.D. 70; the passage in
Matthew to a future crisis in Jerusalem after the manifestation of
the abomination. See "Beast"
# Da 7:8 Re 19:20
and "Armageddon"
# Re 16:14 19:17
As the circumstances in both cases will be similar, so are the warnings.
In the former case Jerusalem was destroyed; in the latter it will be
delivered by divine interposition.
[1] {This generation}
Gr. genea, the primary definition of which is, "race, kind, family,
stock, breed." (So all lexicons.) That the word is used in this sense
because none of "these things," i.e. the world-wide preaching of the
kingdom, the great tribulation, the return of the Lord in visible glory,
and the regathering of the elect, occurred at the destruction of
Jerusalem by Titus, A.D. 70. The promise is, therefore, that the
generation--nation, or family of Israel--will be preserved unto "these
things"; a promise wonderfully fulfilled to this day.
[1] {shall}
This part of the Olivet discourse goes beyond the "sign" questions of
the disciples
# Mt 24:3
and presents our Lord's return in three aspects:
(1) As testing profession, vs 1-13 (2) as testing service, vs 14-30;
(3) as testing the Gentile nations, vs 31-46.
[2] {virgins}
The kingdom of heaven here is the sphere of profession, as in Mat 13.
All alike have lamps, but two facts fix the real status of the foolish
virgins: They "took no oil," and the Lord said, "I know you not."
Oil is the symbol of the Holy Spirit, and "If any man have not the
spirit of Christ, he is none of his"
# Ro 8:9
Nor could the Lord say to any believer, however unspiritual, "I know
you not."
[1] {And before him}
This judgment is to be distinguished from the judgment of the great white
throne. Here there is no resurrection; the persons judged are living
nations; no books are opened; three classes are present, sheep, goats,
and brethren; the time is at the return of Christ (v. 31); and the scene
is on the earth. All these particulars are in contrast with
# Re 20:11-15
The test in this judgment is the treatment accorded by the nations to
those whom Christ here call "my brethren." These "brethren" are the
Jewish Remnant who will have preached the Gospel of the kingdom to all
nations during the tribulation. See "Remnant"
# Isa 1:9 Ro 11:5
The test in
# Re 20:11-15
is the possession of eternal life. See, for the other six
judgments:
» See Note "John 12.31:
» See Note "1Co 11:31"
» See Note "2Co 5:10"
» See Note "Eze 20:37"
» See Note "Jude 1:6"
» See Note "Re 20:12"
[1] {head}
No contradiction of
# Joh 12:3
is implied. The ordinary anointing of hospitality and honour was of
the feet
# Lu 7:38
and head
# Lu 7:46
But Mary of Bethany, who alone of our Lord's disciples had
comprehended His thrice repeated announcement of His coming death and
resurrection, invested the anointing with the deeper meaning of the
preparation of His body for burying. Mary of Bethany was not among
the women who went to the sepulchre with intent to embalm the body of
Jesus.
[1] {sat down with the twelve}
The order of events on the night of the Passover supper appears to
have been: (1) The taking by our Lord and the disciples of their
places at the table; (2) the contention who should be greatest; (3)
the feet washing; (4) the identification Judas as the traitor; (5)
the withdrawal of Judas; (6) the institution of the supper; (7) the
words of Jesus while still in the room
# Mt 26:26-29 Lu 22:35-38 Joh 13:3-35 14:1-31
(8) the words of Jesus between the room and the
garden
# Mt 26:31-35 Mr 14:26-31 Joh 15:16,17
it seems probable that the high-priestly prayer
# Joh 17:1-26
was uttered after they reached the garden; (9) the agony in the
garden; (10) the betrayal and arrest; (11) Jesus before Caiaphas;
Peter's denial.
[1] {remission}
Forgiveness. Summary: The Greek word translated "remission" in
# Mt 26:28 Ac 10:43 Heb 9:22
is elsewhere rendered "forgiveness." It means, to send off, or away.
And this, throughout Scripture, is the one fundamental meaning of
forgiveness--to separate the sin from the sinner. Distinction must
be made between divine and human forgiveness: (1) Human forgiveness
means the remission of penalty. In the Old Testament and the New, in
type and fulfilment, the divine forgiveness follows the execution of
the penalty. "The priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he
had committed, and it shall be forgiven him"
# Le 4:35
"This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the
remission [sending away, forgiveness] of sins" (v 28). "Without
shedding of blood there is no remission"
# Heb 9:22
See "Sacrifice" Gen 4.4;
# Ge 4:4
» See Note "Heb 10:18"
The sin of the justified believer interrupts his fellowship, and is
forgiven upon confession, but always on the ground of Christ's
propitiating sacrifice
# 1Jo 1:6-9 2:2
(2) Human forgiveness rests upon and results from the divine
forgiveness. In many passages this is assumed rather than stated, but
the principle is declared in
# Eph 4:32 Mt 18:32,33
[2] {cup}
The "cup" must be interpreted by our Lord's own use of that symbol in
speaking of His approaching sacrificial death
# Mt 20:22 Joh 18:11
In view of
# Joh 10:17,18
He could have been in no fear of an unwilling death. The value of
the account of the agony in the Garden is in the evidence it affords
that He knew fully what the agony of the cross would mean when His
soul was made an offering for sin.
# Isa 53:10
in the hiding of the Father's face. Knowing the cost to the
utmost, he voluntarily paid it.
[1] {led}
A comparison of the narratives gives the following order of events in
the crucifixion day: (1) Early in the morning Jesus is brought before
Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. He is condemned and mocked
# Mt 26:57-68 Mr 14:55-65 Lu 22:63-71 Joh 18:19-24
(2) The Sanhedrin lead Jesus to Pilate
# Mt 27:1,2,11-14 Mr 15:1-5 Lu 23:1-5 Joh 18:28-38
(3) Pilate sends Jesus to Herod
# Lu 23:6-12 Joh 19:4
(4) Jesus is again brought before Pilate, who releases Barabbas and
delivers Jesus to be crucified
# Mt 27:15-26 Mr 15:6-15 Lu 23:13-25 Joh 18:39,40 19:4-16
(5) Jesus is crowned with thorns and mocked
# Mt 27:26-30 Mr 15:15-20 Joh 19:1-3
(6) Suicide of Judas
# Mt 27:3-10
(7) Led forth to be crucified, the cross is laid upon Simon: Jesus
discourses to the women
# Mt 27:31,32 Mr 15:20-23 Lu 23:26-33 Joh 19:16,17
For the order of events at the crucifixion see
» See Note "Mt 27:33"
[1] {maid} \\Peter's denial\\
Cf
# Mt 26:69 Mr 14:69 Lu 22:58 Joh 18:25
A discrepancy has been imagined in these accounts. Let it be
remembered that an excited crowd had gathered, and that Peter was
interrogated in two places: "With the servants"
# Mt 26:58
where the first charge was made
# Mt 26:69
"the porch" where a great number of people would be gathered, and
where the second and third interrogations were made by "another maid"
and by the crowd, i.e. "they"
# Mt 26:71,73 Joh 18:25
[2] {Jeremy}
The allusion is to
# Jer 18:1-4 19:1-3
but more distinctly to
# Zec 11:12,13
[1] {And when} \\The Order of Events at the Crucifixion\\
The order of events at the crucifixion: (1) the arrival at Golgotha
# Mt 27:33 Mr 15:22 Lu 23:33 Joh 19:17
(2) the offer of the stupefying drink refused
# Mt 27:34 Mr 15:23
(3) Jesus is crucified between two thieves
# Mt 27:35-38 Mr 15:24-28 Lu 23:33-38 Joh 19:18-24
(4) He utters the first cry from the cross, "Father, forgive," etc.
# Lu 23:34
(5) The soldiers part His garments
# Mt 27:35 Mr 15:24 Lu 23:34 Joh 19:23
(6) The Jews mock Jesus
# Mt 27:39-44 Mr 15:29-32 Lu 23:35-38
(7) The thieves rail on Him, but one repents and believes
# Mt 27:44 Mr 15:32 Lu 23:39-43
(8) The second cry from the cross, "To-day shalt thou be with me," etc.
# Lu 23:43
(9) The third cry, "Woman, behold thy son"
# Joh 19:26,27
(10) The darkness
# Mt 27:45 Mr 15:33 Lu 23:44
(11) The fourth cry, "My God," etc.
# Mt 27:46,47 Mr 15:34-36
(12) The fifth cry, "I thirst"
# Joh 19:28
(13) The sixth cry, "It is finished"
# Joh 19:30
(14) The seventh cry, "Father, into thy hands," etc.
# Lu 23:46
(15) Our Lord dismisses his spirit
# Mt 27:50 Mr 15:37 Lu 23:46 Joh 19:30
[1] {This is}
Cf
# Mr 15:26 Lu 23:38 Joh 19:19
These accounts supplement, but do not contradict one another. No one
of the Evangelists quotes the entire inscription. All have "The King
of the Jews." Luke adds to this the further words, "This is";
Matthew quotes the name, "Jesus"; whilst John gives the additional
words "of Nazareth." The narratives combined give the entire
inscription: "This is [Matthew, Luke] Jesus [Matthew,John] of
Nazareth [John] the King of the Jews" [all].
[2] {yielded up}
Literally, "dismissed his spirit." The Gr. implies an act of the will.
This expression, taken with
# Mr 15:37 Lu 23:46 Joh 19:30
differentiates the death of Christ from all other physical death.
He died by his own volition when He could say of His redemptive work,
"It is finished." "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of
myself"
# Joh 10:18
[3] {veil}
The veil which was rent was the veil which divided the holy place
into which the priests entered from the holy of holies into which
only the high priest might enter on the day of atonement
» See Note "Ex 26:31"
# Le 16:1-30
The rending of that veil, which was a type of the human body of Christ
# Heb 10:20
signified that a "new and living way" was opened for all believers
into the very presence of God with no other sacrifice or priesthood
save Christ's. (cf)
# Heb 9:1-8 10:19-22
[4] {graves}
That these bodies returned to their graves is not said and may not be
inferred. The wave-sheaf
# Le 23:10-12
typifies the resurrection of Christ, but a sheaf implies plurality.
It was a single "corn of wheat" that fell into the ground in the
crucifixion and entombment of Christ
# Joh 12:24
it was a sheaf which came forth in resurrection. The inference is
that these saints, with the spirits of "just men made perfect"
# Heb 12:23
from Paradise, went with Jesus
# Eph 4:9-10
into heaven.
[1] {In the end of the Sabbath}
The order of events, combining the four narratives, is as follows:
Three women, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and
Salome, start for the sepulchre, followed by other women bearing
spices. The three find the stone rolled away, and Mary Magdalene
goes to tell the disciples.
# Lu 23:33-24:9 Joh 20:1,2
Mary, the mother of James and Joses, draws nearer the tomb and sees
the angel of the Lord
# Mt 28:2
She goes back to meet the other women following with the spices.
Meanwhile Peter and John, warned by Mary Magdalene, arrive, look in,
and go away
# Joh 20:3-10
Mary Magdalene returns weeping, sees the two angels and then Jesus
# Joh 20:11-18
and goes as He bade her to tell the disciples. Mary (mother of James
and Joses), meanwhile, has met the women with the spices and,
returning with them, they see the two angels.
# Lu 24:4,5 Mr 16:5
They also receive the angelic message, and, going to seek the
disciples, are met by Jesus.
[2] {Jesus}
The \\order of our Lord's appearances\\ would seem to be: On the day of
his resurrection: (1) To Mary Magdalene
# Joh 10:14-18
(2) To the women returning from the tomb with angelic message
# Mt 28:8-10
(3) To Peter, probably in the afternoon
# Lu 24:34 1Co 15:5
(4) To the Emmaus disciples toward evening
# Lu 24:13-31
(5) To the apostles, except Thomas
# Lu 24:36-43 Joh 20:19-24
Eight days afterward: (1) to the apostles, Thomas being present
# Joh 20:24-29
In Galilee: (1) To the seven by the Lake of Tiberias
# Joh 21:1-23
(2) On a mountain, to the apostles and five hundred brethren
# 1Co 15:6
At Jerusalem and Bethany again:
(1) To James
# 1Co 15:7
(2) To the eleven
# Mt 28:16-20 Mr 16:14-20 Lu 24:33-53 Ac 1:3-12
To Paul: (1) Near Damascus
# Ac 9:3-6 1Co 15:8
(2) In the temple
# Ac 22:17-21 23:11
To Stephen outside Jerusalem
# Ac 7:55
To John on Patmos
# Re 1:10-19
[1] {Go} [2] {Name}
With the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ begins the
"dispensation of the grace of God"
# Eph 3:2
which is defined as "his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus";
and, "the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast."
# Eph 2:7-9
under grace God freely gives to the believing sinner eternal life
# Ro 6:23
accounts to him a perfect righteousness
# Ro 3:21,22 4:4,5
and accords to him
a perfect position
# Eph 1:6
The predicted results of this sixth testing of man are (1) the
salvation of all who believe
# Ac 16:31
(2) judgment upon an unbelieving world and an apostate church.
# Mt 25:31-46 2Th 1:7-10 1Pe 4:17,18 Re 3:15,16
(1) Man's state at the beginning of the dispensation of Grace
# Ro 3:19 Ga 3:22 Eph 2:11,12
(2) Man's responsibility under grace
# Joh 1:11 3:36 6:28,29
(3) His predicted failure
# Mt 24:37-39 Lu 18:8 19:12-14
(4) The judgment
# 2Th 2:7-12
[2] {Name}
The word is in the singular, the "name," not names. Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit is the final name of the one true God. It affirms: (1)
That God is one. (2) That He subsists in a personality which is
threefold, indicated by relationship as Father and Son; by a mode of
being as Spirit; and by the different parts taken by the Godhead in
manifestation and in the work of redemption, e.g.
# Joh 3:5,6
(Spirit),
# Joh 3:16,17
(Father and Son). In
# Mt 3:16,17 Mr 1:10,11 Lu 3:21,22
the three persons are in manifestation together. (3) The
conjunction in one name of the Three affirms equality and oneness of
substance. See O.T. Names of God:
» See Note "Ge 1:1"
» See Note "Ge 2:4"
» See Note "Ge 14:18"
» See Note "Ge 15:2"
» See Note "Ge 17:1"
» See Note "Ge 21:33"
» See Note "1Sa 1:3"
The next reference, Mal 3.18, provides a Summary
» See Note "Mal 3:18"
"Lord"
» See Note "Mt 8:2"
"Word" (Logos),
» See Note "Joh 1:1"
"Holy Spirit,"
» See Note "Ac 2:4"
See "Christ, Deity of,"
» See Note "Joh 20:28"
Scofield Reference Notes: Beginning Notes for The Gospel According to
St. Mark.
WRITER. The writer of the second Gospel, Mark, called also John, was the
son of one the New Testament "Marys", and nephew of Barnabas. He was an
associate of the apostles, and is mentioned in the writings of Paul and of
Luke
# Ac 12:12,25 15:37,39 Col 4:10 2Ti 4:11 Phm 1:24
DATE. The date of Mark has been variously placed between A.D. 57 and 63.
THEME. The scope and purpose of the book are evident from its contents.
In it Jesus is seen as the mighty Worker, rather than as the unique
Teacher. It is the Gospel of Jehovah's "Servant the Branch"
# Zec 3:8
as Matthew is the Gospel of the "Branch. . .unto David"
# Jer 33:15
Everywhere the servant character of the incarnate Son is manifest. The
key verse is
# Mr 10:45
"For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister." The characteristic word is "straightway," a servant's
word. There is no genealogy, for who gives the genealogy of a servant?
The distinctive character of Christ in Mark is that set forth in
# Phm 2:6-8
But this lowly Servant, who emptied Himself of the "form of God," "and was
found in fashion as a man," was, nevertheless, "the mighty God"
# Isa 9:6
as Mark distinctly declares (Mark 1.1) and therefore mighty works
accompanied and authenticated His ministry. As befits a Servant-Gospel,
Mark is characteristically a Gospel of deeds, rather than on words.
The best preparation of the heart for the study of Mark is the prayerful
reading of
# Isa 42:1-21 50:4-11 52:13-53:12 Zec 3:8 Php 2:5-8
Mark is in five principal divisions: I. The manifestation of the
Servant-Son, 1.1-11. II. The Servant-Son tested as to His fidelity,
1.12,13. III. The Servant-Son at work, 1.14-13.37. IV. The Servant-Son
"obedient unto death," 14.1-15.47. V. The ministry of the risen
Servant-Son, now exalted to all authority, 16.1-20.
The events recorded in this book cover a period of 7 years.
[1] {And he took}
Our Lord's action here is most significant, Having abandoned Bethsaida
to judgment
# Mt 11:12-24
He would neither heal in that village, nor permit further testimony to
be borne there
# Mr 8:26
The probation of Bethsaida as a community was ended, but He would
still show mercy to individuals. Cf
# Re 3:20
Christ is outside the door of that church, but "If any man hear My
voice," etc.
[1] {blessed them}
In Hebrew custom, a father's act. (Cf)
# Ge 27:38
"He had no children that He might adopt all children."--Bengel.
[1] {Now when}
The passage from verse 9 to the end is not found in the two most ancient
manuscripts, the Sinaitic and Vatican, and others have it with partial
omissions and variations. But it is quoted by Irenaeus and Hippolytus in
the second or third century.
[2] {eleven}
A collective term, equivalent to "The Sanhedrin," "The Commons," not
necessarily implying that eleven persons were present. See
# Lu 24:33 1Co 15:5 Mt 28:16
where "eleven disciples" implies a definite number of persons.
Scofield Reference Notes: Book Introduction to the Gospel According to
St. LUKE
Writer. The writer of the third Gospel is called by Paul "the beloved
physician"
# Col 4:14
and, as we learn from the Acts, was Paul's frequent companion. He was
of Jewish ancestry, but his correct Greek marks him as a Jew of the
dispersion. Tradition says that he was a Jew of Antioch, as Paul was
of Tarsus.
Date. The date of Luke falls between A.D. 63 and 68.
Theme. Luke is the Gospel of the human-divine One, as John is of the
divine-human One. The key-phrase is "Son of man," and the key-verse
# Lu 19:10
"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was
lost." In harmony with this intent, Luke relates those things concerning
Jesus which demonstrate how entirely human He was. His genealogy is traced
to Adam, and the most detailed account is given of His mother, and of His
infancy and boyhood. The parables peculiar to Luke have distinctively the
human and the seeking note. But Luke is careful to guard the Deity and
Kingship of Jesus Christ
# Lu 1:32-35
Luke, then, is the Gospel of "the man whose name is The BRANCH"
# Zec 6:12
Luke has seven chief divisions: I. The Evangelist's Introduction, 1.1-4.
II. The human relationships of Jesus, 1.5-2.52. III. The baptism,
ancestry, and testing of Jesus, 3.1-4.13. IV. The ministry of the Son of
man as Prophet-King in Galilee, 4.14-9.50. V. The final offer of the Son
of man as King to israel, His rejection and sacrifice, 19.45-23.56. VII.
The resurrection, resurrection ministry, and ascension of the Son of man,
24.1-53.
The events recorded in this book cover a period of 39 years.
[1] {from}
"From the very first": Gr. anothen, "from above." So translated in
# Joh 3:31 19:11 Jas 1:17 3:15,17
In no other place is \\ANOTHEN\\ translated "from the very first."
The use by Luke of \\anothen\\ is an affirmation that
his knowledge of these things, derived from those who had been
eye-witnesses from the beginning
# Lu 1:2
was confirmed by revelation. In like manner Paul had doubtless heard
from the eleven the story of the institution of the Lord's Supper, but
he also had it by revelation from the Lord (cf)
# 1Co 11:23
and his writing, like Luke's \\anothen\\ knowledge, thus became
first-hand, not traditional, merely.
[1] {world}
Gr. oikoumene= "inhabited earth." This passage is noteworthy as defining
the usual N.T. use of oikoumene as the sphere of Roman rule at its
greatest extent, that is, of the great Gentile world-monarchies
# Da 2:7
That part of the earth is therefore peculiarly the sphere of prophecy.
[2] {just and devout} \\righteousness\\
The O.T. righteousness. Summary: In the O.T. "righteous" and "just" are
English words used to translate the Hebrew words yasher, "upright";
tsadiq, "just"; tsidkah, "righteous." In all of these words but one idea
inheres: the righteous, or just, man is so called, because he is right
with God; and he is right with God because he has walked "in all the
commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless"
# Lu 1:6 Ro 10:5 Phm 3:6
The O.T. righteous man was not sinless
# Ec 7:20
but one who, for all his sins, resorted to the ordinances, and offered
in faith the required sacrifice (e.g.)
# Le 4:7-35
CF. "Righteousness (N.T.),
» See Note "Ro 10:10"
and Paul's contrast,
# Phm 3:4-9
[1] {\\son\\ of Heli}
In Matthew, where unquestionably we have the genealogy of Joseph, we
are told
# Mt 1:16
that Joseph was the son of Jacob. In what sense, then, could he be
called in Luke "the son of Heli"? He could not be by natural
generation the son both of Jacob and of Heli. But in Luke it is not
said that Heli \\begat\\ Joseph, so that the natural explanation is
that Joseph was the son-in-law of Heli, who was, like himself, a
descendant of David. That he should in that case be called "son of
Heli ("son" is not in the Greek, but rightly supplied by the
translators) would be in accord with Jewish usage (CF)
# 1Sa 24:16
The conclusion is therefore inevitable that in Luke we have Mary's
genealogy; and Joseph was "son of Heli" because espoused to Heli's
daughter. The genealogy in Luke is Mary's, whose father, Heli, was
descended from David.
[1] {came to Nazareth}
Our Lord visited Nazareth twice after beginning His public ministry.
See
# Mt 13:54-58 Mr 6:1-6
[2] {acceptable}
A comparison with the passage quoted,
# Isa 61:1,2
affords an instance of the exquisite accuracy of Scripture. Jesus
stopped at, "The acceptable year of the Lord," which is connected with
the first advent and the dispensation of grace
# Ge 3:15
» See Note "Ac 1:11"
"the day of vengeance of our God" belongs to the second advent
# De 30:3
and judgment.
[1] {Simon}
See
# Jas 2:14-26
When Jesus would justify the woman in the eyes of Simon, He points to
her works, for only through her works could Simon see the proof of her
faith; but when He would send the woman away in peace,
He points to her faith, not her works.
See
# Tit 2:14 3:4-8
His own works can never be to the believer his own ground of assurance,
which must rest upon the work of Christ (cf. Mat 7.22,23).
See "Assurance"
# Isa 32:17 Jude 1:1
[1] {teach us to pray}
This is the central N.T. passage on prayer. In the Sermon on the Mount
Christ had announced the new basis of prayer, viz.: relationship
# Mt 6:9,28-32
The believer is a child of God through the new birth
» See Note "Joh 3:3"
The clear revelation of this fact at once establishes the
reasonableness of prayer; a reasonableness against which the argument
from the apparent uniformity of natural law shatters itself.
God is more than a Creator, bringing a universe into being, and
establishing laws for it; more than a decree-maker determining future
events by an eternal fiat. Above all this is the divine family for whom
the universe with its laws exists
# Col 1:16-20 Heb 1:2 2:10,11 Ro 8:17
"When ye pray, say, Our Father." What God habitually does in the material
universe concerns the reverent investigator of that universe. What He may
do in His own family concerns Him, and them, and is matter for divine
promise and revelation. Science, which deals only with natural phenomena,
cannot intrude there
# 1Co 2:9
Christ's law of prayer may be thus summarized: (1) He grounds prayer upon
relationship, and reveals God as freely charging himself with all the
responsibilities, as His heart glows with all the affections of a Father
toward all who believe on Jesus Christ
# Mt 6:25,32 7:9-11
Prayer, therefore, is a child's petition to an all-wise, all-loving, and
all-powerful, Father-God. (2) In the so-called Lord's prayer Christ
gives an incomparable model for all prayer. It teaches that right prayer
begins with worship; puts the interest of the kingdom before merely
personal interest; accepts beforehand the Father's will, whether to grant
or withhold; and petitions for present need, leaving the future to the
Father's care and love. Used as a form, the Lord's prayer is,
dispensationally, upon legal, not church ground; it is not a prayer in
the name of Christ (cf)
# Joh 14:13,14 16:24
and it makes human forgiveness, as under the law it must, the condition
of divine forgiveness; and order which grace exactly reverses (cf)
# Eph 4:32
(3) Prayer is to be definite
# Lu 11:5,6
and, (4) importunate, that is undiscouraged by delayed answers.
[1] {give}
It is evident that none of the disciples, with the possible exception of
Mary of Bethany, asked for the Spirit in the faith of this promise. It
was a new and staggering thing to a Jew that, in advance of the
fulfilment of
# Joe 2:28,29
all might receive the Spirit. Mary alone of the disciples understood
Christ's repeated declaration concerning His own death and resurrection
# Joh 12:3-7
Save Mary, not one of the disciples but Peter, and he only in the great
confession
# Mt 16:16
manifested a spark of spiritual intelligence till after the resurrection
of Christ and the impartation of the Spirit
# Joh 20:22 Ac 2:2-4
To go back to the promise of
# Lu 11:13
is to forget Pentecost, and to ignore the truth that now every believer
has the indwelling Spirit
# Ro 8:9,15 1Co 6:19 Ga 4:6 1Jo 2:20,27
» See Note "Ac 2:4"
[1] {hate}
All terms which define the emotions or affections are comparative.
Natural affection is to be, as compared with the believer's devotedness
to Christ, as if it were hate. See
# Mt 12:47-50
where Christ illustrates this principle in His own person. But in the
Lord the natural affections are sanctified and lifted to the level of
the divine love (cf)
# Joh 19:26,27 Eph 5:25-28
[1] {hell}
Gr. \\hades\\, "the unseen world," is revealed as the place of departed
human spirits between death and resurrection. The word occurs,
# Mt 11:23 16:18 Lu 10:15 Ac 2:27,31 Re 1:18 6:8 20:13,14
and is the equivalent of the O.T. sheol
» See Note "Hab 2:5"
The Septuagint invariably renders sheol by \\hades\\.
Summary: (1) Hades before the ascension of Christ. The passages in which
the word occurs make it clear that hades was formerly in two divisions,
the abodes respectively of the saved and of the lost. The former was
called "paradise" and "Abraham's bosom." Both designations were
Talmudic, but adopted by Christ in
# Lu 16:22 23:43
The blessed dead were with Abraham, they were conscious and were
"comforted"
# Lu 16:25
The believing malefactor was to be, that day, with Christ in "paradise."
The lost were separated from the saved by a "great gulf fixed"
# Lu 16:26
The representative man of the lost who are now in hades is the
rich man of
# Lu 16:19-31
He was alive, conscious, in the full exercise of his faculties,
memory, etc., and in torment.
(2) Hades since the ascension of Christ. So far as the unsaved dead are
concerned, no change of their place or condition is revealed in
Scripture. At the judgment of the great white throne, hades will give them
up, they will be judged, and will pass into the lake of fire
# Re 20:13,14
But a change has taken place which affects paradise. Paul
was "caught up to the third heaven. . .into paradise"
# 2Co 12:1-4
Paradise, therefore, is now in the immediate presence of God. It is
believed that
# Eph 4:8-10
indicates the time of the change. "When he ascended up on high he led
a multitude of captives." It is immediately added that He had
previously "descended first into the lower parts of the
earth," i.e. the paradise division of Hades. During the present
church-age the saved who died are "absent from the body, at home with the
Lord." The wicked dead in hades, and the righteous dead "at home with
the Lord," alike await the resurrection
# Job 19:25 1Co 15:52
» See Note "Mt 5:22"
[1] {within you}
Gr. \\entos\\= "in the midst." It could not be said of a self-righteous,
Christ rejecting pharisee, that the kingdom of God, as to its spiritual
content, was within him. Our Lord's whole answer, designedly enigmatic
to the Pharisees (cf)
# Mt 13:10-13
had a dispensational meaning. The kingdom in its outward form, as
covenanted to David
# 2Sa 7:8-17
and described by the prophets
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
had been rejected by the Jews; so that, during this present age, it
would not "come with observation" (lit. "outward show") but in the
hearts of men (cf)
# Lu 19:11,12
# Ac 1:6-8
# Ro 14:17
Meantime, the kingdom was actually "in the midst" of the Pharisees in
the persons of the King and His disciples.
[1] {Wheresoever}
See "Armageddon"
# Re 16:14
» See Note "Re 19:17"
[1] {faith}
The reference is not to personal faith, but to belief in the whole body
of revealed truth. (Cf)
# Ro 1:5 1Co 16:13 2Co 13:5 Col 1:23 2:7 Tit 1:13 Jude 1:3
See "Apostasy," above, in marg. of Lu 18.8
» See Note "2Ti 3:1"
[2] {merciful}
Gr.\\hilaskomai\\, used in the Septuagint and N.T. in connection with the
mercy-seat
# Ex 25:17,18,21 Heb 9:5
As an instructed Jew, the publican is thinking, not of mere mercy, but
of the blood-sprinkled mercy seat
» See Note "Le 16:5"
"Propitiation,"
» See Note "Ro 3:25"
His prayer might be paraphrased, "Be toward me as thou are when thou
lookest upon the atoning blood." The Bible knows nothing of divine
forgiveness apart from sacrifice.
» See Note "Mt 26:28"
[1] {when}
Verses 20,24 are not included in the report of the Olivet discourse as
given by Matthew and Mark. Two sieges of Jerusalem are in view in that
discourse.
# Lu 21:20-24
refers to the siege by Titus, A.D. 70, when the city was taken, and
verse 24 literally fulfilled. But that siege and its horrors but
adumbrate the final siege at the end of this age, in which
the "great tribulation" culminates. At that time the city will be
taken, but delivered by the glorious appearing of the Lord
# Re 19:11-21
The references in
# Mt 24:15-28, Mr 13:14-26
are to the final tribulation siege;
# Lu 21:20-24
to the destruction of Jerusalem by armies
in
# Mt 24:15 Mr 13:14
the sign is the abomination in the holy place.
# 2Th 2:4
[2] {trodden down of the Gentiles}
The "times of the Gentiles" began with the captivity of Judah under
Nebuchadnezzar
# 2Ch 36:1-21
since which time Jerusalem has been under Gentile overlordship.
[1] {And when the}
For the order of events on the night of the last passover,
» See Note "Mt 26:20"
[1] {And when}
For order of events at the crucifixion, see Mat 27.33, note.
» See Note "Mt 26:20"
» See Note "Mt 27:33"
The first note refers to the events of the night preceding; the
second, the day of the event.
[2] {people}
Jesus crucified is the true touchstone revealing what the world is: "The
people stood beholding" in stolid indifference; the rulers, who wanted
religion, but without a divine Christ crucified for their sins,
"reviled"; the brutal amongst them mocked or railed; the conscious sinner
prayed; the covetous sat down before the cross and played their sordid
game. The cross is the judgment of this world.
# Joh 12:31
[1] {gave up}
See Note "Mt 27:50"
[2] {upon the first}
For order of events at the resurrection,
» See Note "Mt 28:1"
[3] {And, behold}
For order of our Lord's appearances after His resurrection,
» See Note "Mt 28:9"
[1] {while he blessed them}
The attitude of our Lord here characterizes this age. It is one of
grace; an ascended Lord is blessing a believing people with spiritual
blessings. The Jewish age was marked by temporal blessings as the reward
of an obedient people (Deu 28.1-15).
[2] {heaven}
The Scriptures distinguish three heavens: first, the lower heavens, or
the region of the clouds; secondly, the second or planetary heavens; and,
thirdly, the heaven of heavens, the abode of God.
Scofield Reference Notes (1917): Introductory Book Comments for
The Gospel According to St. JOHN
WRITER. The fourth Gospel was written by the Apostle John
# Joh 21:24
This has been questioned on critical grounds, but on the same grounds and
with equal scholarship, the early date and Johanean authorship have been
maintained.
DATE. The date of John's Gospel falls between A.D. 85 and 90. Probably
the latter.
THEME. This is indicated both in the Prologue (1.1-14), and in the last
verse of the Gospel proper (20.31), and is: The incarnation of the eternal
Word, and Son of life; (2) that as many as believe on Him as "the Christ,
the Son of God" (20.31) may have eternal life. The prominent words are,
"believed" and "life."
The book is in seven natural divisions: I. Prologue: The eternal Word
incarnate in Jesus the Christ, 1.1-14. II. The witness of John the
Baptist, 1.15-34. III. The public ministry of Christ, 1.35-12.50. IV.
The private ministry of Christ to His own, 13.1-17.26. V. The sacrifice
of Christ, 18.1-19.42. VI. The manifestation of Christ in resurrection,
20.1-31. VII. Epilogue: Christ the Master of life and service, 21.1-25.
The events recorded in this book cover a period of 7 years.
[1] {Word}
Gr. Logos (arm. Memra, used in the Targums, or Heb. paraphrases, for
God). The Greek term means, (1) a thought or concept; (2) the expression
or utterance of that thought. As a designation of Christ, therefore,
Logos is peculiarly felicitous because, (1) in Him are embodied all the
treasures of the divine wisdom, the collective "thought" of God
# 1Co 1:24 Eph 3:11 Col 2:2,3
and, (2) He is from eternity, but especially in His incarnation, the
utterance or expression of the Person, and "thought" of Deity
# Joh 1:3-5,9,14-18 14:9-11 Col 2:9
In the Being, Person, and work of Christ, Deity is told out.
[1] {grace}
Grace. Summary: (1) Grace is "the kindness and love of God our Saviour
toward man. . . not by works of righteousness which we have done"
# Tit 3:4,5
It is, therefore, constantly set in contrast to law, under which
God demands righteousness from man, as, under grace, he gives
righteousness to man
# Ro 3:21,22 8:4 Phm 3:9
Law is connected with Moses and works; grace with Christ and faith
# Joh 1:17 Ro 10:4-10
Law blesses the good; grace saves the bad
# Ex 19:5 Eph 2:1-9
Law demands that blessings be earned; grace is a free gift
# De 28:1-6 Eph 2:8 Ro 4:4,5
(2) As a dispensation, grace begins with the death and resurrection of
Christ
# Ro 3:24-26 4:24,25
The point of testing is no longer legal obedience as the condition of
salvation, but acceptance or rejection of Christ, with good works as
a fruit of salvation,
# Joh 1:12,13 3:36 Mt 21:37 22:24 Joh 15:22,25 Heb 1:2 1Jo 5:10-12
The immediate result of this testing was the rejection of Christ by
the Jews, and His crucifixion by Jew and Gentile
# Ac 4:27
The predicted end of the testing of man under grace is the apostasy of
the professing church: See "Apostasy"
» See Note "2Ti 3:1"
# 2Ti 3:1-8
and the resultant apocalyptic judgments.
(3) Grace has a twofold manifestation: in salvation
# Ro 3:24
and in the walk and service of the saved
# Ro 6:15
See, for the other six dispensations: Innocence,
» See Note "Ge 1:28"
Conscience
» See Note "Ge 3:23"
Human Government,
» See Note "Ge 8:21"
Promise,
» See Note "Ge 12:1"
Law,
» See Note "Ex 19:8"
Kingdom
» See Note "Eph 1:10"
[2] {hath seen God}
CF
# Ge 32:20 Ex 24:10 33:18 Jud 6:22 13:22 Re 22:4
The divine essence, God, veiled in angelic form, and especially as
incarnate in Jesus Christ, has been seen of men.
# Ge 18:2,22 Joh 14:8,9
[1] {born again}
Regeneration: (1) The necessity of the new birth grows out of the
incapacity of the natural man to "see" or "enter into" the kingdom of
God. However gifted, moral, or refined, the natural man is absolutely
blind to spiritual truth, and impotent to enter the kingdom; for he can
neither obey, understand, nor please God
# Joh 3:3,5,6 Ps 51:5 Jer 17:9 Mr 7:21-23 1Co 2:14 Ro 8:7,8 Eph 2:3
» See Note "Mt 6:33"
(2) The new birth is not a reformation of the old nature
» See Note "Ro 6:6"
but a creative act of the holy Spirit
# Joh 3:5 1:12,13 2Co 5:17 Eph 2:10 4:24
(3) The condition of the new birth is faith in Christ crucified
# Joh 3:14,15 1:12,13 Ga 3:24
(4) Through the new birth the believer becomes a partaker of the
divine nature and of the life of Christ Himself
# Ga 2:20 Eph 2:20 4:24 Col 1:27 1Pe 1:23-25 2Pe 1:4 1Jo 5:10-12
[1] {perish}
Gr. apollumi, trans. "marred,"
# Mr 2:22
"lost,"
# Mt 10:6 15:24 18:11 Lu 15:4,6,32
In no N.T. instance does it signify cessation of existence
or of consciousness. It is the condition of every non-believer.
[1] {witness}
Cf
# Joh 8:14
In
# Joh 5:31
our Lord, defending His Messianic claims before Jews who denied those
claims, accepts the biblical rule of evidence, which required "two
witnesses"
# Joh 8:17 Nu 35:30 De 17:6
A paraphrase of verse 31 would be: "If I bear witness of myself [ye will
say] my witness is not true."
[1] {and every man}
# Joh 7:53 8:1-11
is not found in some of the most ancient manuscripts.
Augustine declares that it was stricken from many copies of the sacred
story because of a prudish fear that it might teach immorality! But the
immediate context
# Joh 7:12-46
beginning with Christ's declaration, "I am the light of the world."
seems clearly to have its occasion in the conviction wrought in the
hearts of the Pharisees, as recorded in verse 9; as also,
it explains the peculiar virulence of the Pharisee's words (v 41).
[1] {Abraham's}
Cf.
# Joh 8:39
The contrast, "I know that ye are Abraham's seed"--"If ye were
Abraham's children," is that between the natural and the spiritual
posterity of Abraham. The Israelitish people and Ishmaelites are the
former; all who are "of like precious faith with Abraham," whether Jews
or Gentiles, are the latter
# Ro 9:6-8 Ga 3:6-14
See "Abrahamic Covenant,"
» See Note "Ge 15:18"
[1] {I am the door of the sheep}
The shepherd work of our Lord has three aspects: (1) As the "Good"
Shepherd He gives His life for the sheep
# Joh 10:11
and is, therefore, "the door" by which "if any man enter in he shall
be saved"
# Joh 10:9
This answers to Ps 22.
(2) He is the "Great" Shepherd, "brought again from the dead"
# Heb 13:20
to care for and make perfect the sheep. This answers to Ps 23.
(3) He is the "Chief" Shepherd, who is coming in glory
to give crowns of reward to the faithful shepherds
# 1Pe 5:4
This answers to Ps 24.
[1] {I am the door}
The shepherd work of our Lord has three aspects: (1) as the "Good"
Shepherd He gives His life for the sheep.
# Joh 10:11
and is, therefore, "the door" by which "if any man enter in he shall
be saved"
# Joh 10:9
This answers to Ps 22.
(2) He is the "Great" Shepherd, "brought again from the dead"
# Heb 13:20
to care for and make perfect the sheep. This answers to Ps 23.
(3) He is the "Chief" Shepherd who is coming in glory to give crowns
of reward to the faithful shepherds
# 1Pe 5:4
This answers to Ps 24.
[1] {answered}
He does not receive these Gentiles. A Christ in the flesh, King of the
Jews, could be no proper object of faith to the Gentiles, though the Jews
should have believed on Him as such. For Gentiles the corn of wheat must
fall into the ground and die; Christ must be lifted up on the cross and
believed in as a sacrifice for sin, as seed of Abraham, not David
# Joh 12:24,32 Ga 3:7-14 Eph 2:11-13
[1] {Except}
Chapters 12-17 are a progression according to the order of approach to
God in the tabernacle types: chapter 12., in which Christ speaks of His
death, answers to the brazen altar of burnt-offering, type of the cross.
Passing from the altar toward the holy of holies, the laver is next
reached
# Ex 30:17-21
answering to Chapter 13. With His associate priests, now purified,
the High Priest approaches and enters the holy place, in the high
communion of Chapters 14-16. Entering alone the holy
of holies
# Joh 17:1
the High Priest intercedes. (Cf)
# Heb 7:24-28
That intercession is not for the salvation, but the keeping and blessing of
those for whom He prays. His death (assumed as accomplished),
# Joh 17:4
has saved them.
[2] {judgments}
The Seven Judgments. (1) Of Jesus Christ as bearing the believer's sins.
The sins of believers have been judged in the person of Jesus Christ
"lifted up" on the cross. The result was death for Christ, and
justification for the believer, who can never again be put in jeopardy
# Joh 5:24 Ro 5:9 8:1 2Co 5:21 Ga 3:13
# Heb 9:26-28 10:10,14-17 1Pe 2:24 3:18
See other judgments,
» See Note "1Co 11:31"
» See Note "2Co 5:10"
» See Note "Mt 25:32"
» See Note "Eze 20:37"
» See Note "Jude 1:6"
» See Note "Re 20:12"
[1] {before the feast}
For order of events during the night of the last passover,
» See Note "Mt 26:20"
[2] {needeth}
The underlying imagery is of an oriental returning from the public baths
to his house. His feet would contract defilement and require cleansing,
but not his body. So the believer is cleansed as before the law from all
sin "once for all"
# Heb 10:1-12
but needs ever to bring his daily sins to the Father in confession,
that he may abide in unbroken fellowship with the Father and with the
Son
# 1Jo 1:1-10
The blood of Christ answers forever to all the law could say as to the
believer's guilt, but he needs constant cleansing from the defilement
of sin.
# Eph 5:25-27 1Jo 5:6
Typically, the order of approach to the presence of God was,
first, the brazen altar of sacrifice, and then the laver of cleansing
# Ex 40:5,7
See, also, the order in Ex 30.17-21. Christ cannot have
communion with a defiled saint, but He can and will cleanse him.
[1] {you unto myself}
This promise of a second advent of Christ is to be distinguished from His
return in glory to the earth; it is the first intimation in Scripture of
"\\the day of Christ\\"
» See Note "1Co 1:8"
Here He comes for His saints
# 1Th 4:14-17
there (e.g.)
# Mt 24:29,30
He comes to judge the nations, etc.
[1] {receive you unto myself}
This promise of a second advent of Christ is to be distinguished from
His return in glory to the earth; it is the first intimation in
Scripture of "the day of Christ"
» See Note "1Co 1:8"
Here He comes for His saints
# 1Th 4:14-17
there
# Mt 24:29,30
He come to judge the nations, etc.
[1] {Comforter}
G. \\Parakletos\\, "one called alongside to help." Translated
"advocate,"
# 1Jo 2:1
Christ is the believer's Paraclete with the Father when he sins; the
Holy Spirit the believer's indwelling Paraclete to help
his ignorance and infirmity and to make intercession
# Ro 8:26,27
(See "Holy Spirit," N.T. doctrine,)
# Mt 1:18
» See Note "Ac 2:4"
[2] {purgeth}
Three conditions of the fruitful life: Cleansing,
# Joh 15:2,3
» See Note "Joh 13:10"
abiding
» See Note "Joh 15:4"
obedience
# Joh 15:4,10,12
(See "Law of Christ,")
# Ga 6:2
» See Note "2Jo 1:5"
[3] {abide}
To abide in Christ is, on the one hand, to have no known sin unjudged and
unconfessed, no interest into which He is not brought, no life which He
cannot share. On the other hand, the abiding one takes all burdens to
Him, and draws all wisdom, life and strength from Him. It is not
unceasing consciousness of these things, and of Him, but that nothing is
allowed in the life which separates from Him. See "Fellowship,"
# 1Jo 1:3
See "Communion,"
# 1Co 10:16
[1] {much fruit}
Three degrees in fruit-bearing: "Fruit," v.2; "more fruit," v.2; "much
fruit," vs 5,8. As we bear "much fruit" the Father is glorified in us.
The minor moralities and graces of Christianity are often imitated, but
never the ninefold "fruit" of
# Ga 5:22,23
Where such fruit is the Father glorified. The Pharisees were moral
and intensely "religious," but not one of them could say with Christ,
"I have glorified thee on the earth"
# Joh 17:4
[2] {Henceforth}
Progressive intimacy in John: Servants,
# Joh 13:13
Friends
# Joh 15:15
Brethren,
# Joh 20:17
[1] {I have yet}
Christ's pre-authentication of the New Testament: (1) he expressly
declared that He would leave "many things" unrevealed (v. 12). (2) He
promised that this revelation should be completed ("all things") after
the Spirit should come, and that such additional revelation should
include new prophecies (v. 13). (3) He chose certain persons to receive
such additional revelations, and to be His witnesses to them
# Mt 28:19 Joh 15:27 16:13 Ac 1:8 9:15-17
(4) he gave to their words when speaking for Him in the Spirit
precisely the same authority as His own
# Mt 10:14,15 Lu 10:16 Joh 13:20 17:20
see e.g.
# 1Co 14:37
and "Inspiration,"
# Ex 4:15 Re 22:19
[1] {glorify}
Seven petitions: (1) That Jesus may be glorified as the Son who has
glorified the Father (v. 1)
# Phm 2:9-11
(2) for restoration to the
eternal glory (v. 5);
(3) for the safety of believers from (a) the world
(v. 11), (b) the evil one (v. 15); (4) for the sanctification of
believers (v. 17); (5) for the spiritual unity of believers (v. 21);
(6) that the world may believe (v. 21); (7) that believers may be with
Him in heaven to behold and share His glory (v.24).
[2] {give eternal life}
Christ's gifts to those whom the Father gave Him: Eternal life (v. 2);
the Father's name (vs. 6, 26 Jno 20.17); the Father's words (vs 8,14);
His own joy (v. 13); His own glory (v. 22).
[3] {given him}
Seven times Jesus speaks of believers as given to Him by the Father (vs.
2, 6 [twice], 9, 11, 12, 24). Jesus Christ is God's love-gift to the
world (Jno 3.16), and believers are the Father's love-gift to Jesus
Christ. It is Christ who commits the believer to the Father for safe
keeping, so that the believer's security rests upon the Father's
faithfulness to His Son Jesus Christ.
[1] {Touch me not}
Cf.
# Mt 28:9
"and they came and held him by the feet." A contradiction
has been supposed. Three views are held: (1) That Jesus speaks to Mary
as the High Priest fulfilling the day of atonement (Le 16). Having
accomplished the sacrifice, He was on His way to present the sacred blood
in heaven, and that, between the meeting with Mary in the garden and the
meeting of Mat 28.9, He had so ascended and returned: a view in harmony
with types. (2) That Mary Magdalene, knowing as yet only Christ after
the flesh
# 2Co 5:15-17
and having found her Beloved, sought only to hold Him so; while He,
about to assume a new relation to His disciples in ascension, gently
teaches Mary that now she must not seek to hold Him to the earth, but
rather become His messenger of the new joy. (3) That He
merely meant: "Do not detain me now; I am not yet ascended; you will see
me again; run rather to my brethren," etc.
[1] {My Lord and My God}
The deity of Jesus Christ is declared in Scripture: (1) In the
intimations and explicit predictions of the O.T. (a) The theophanies
intimate the appearance of God in human form, and His ministry thus to
man
# Ge 16:7-13 18:2-23
especially
# Ge 18:17 32:28
with
# Ho 12:3-5 Ex 3:2-14
(b) The Messiah is expressly declared to be the Son of God
# Ps 2:2-9
and God
# Ps 45:6,7 Heb 1:8,9 Ps 110:1 Mt 22:44 Ac 2:34
# Heb 1:13 Ps 110:4 Heb 5:6 6:20 7:17-21 Zec 6:13
(c) His virgin birth was foretold as the means through which God could
be "Immanuel," God with us
# Isa 7:13,14 Mt 1:22,23
(d) The Messiah is expressly invested with the divine names
# Isa 9:6,7
(e) In a prophecy of His death He is called Jehovah's "fellow"
# Zec 13:7 Mt 26:31
(f) His eternal being is declared
# Mic 5:2 Mt 2:6 Joh 7:42
(2) Christ Himself affirmed His deity. (a) He applied to Himself the
Jehovistic \\I AM\\. (The pronoun "he" is not in the Greek; cf
# Joh 8:24 8:56-58
The Jews correctly understood this to be our Lord's claim to
full deity.
# Joh 8:59
See also,
# Joh 10:33 18:4-6
where, also, "he" is not in the original.) (b) He claimed to be the
Adonai of the O.T.
# Mt 22:42-45
» See Note "Ge 15:2"
(c) He asserted His identity with the Father
# Mt 28:19 Mr 14:62 Joh 10:30
that the Jews so understood Him is shown by
# Joh 10:31,32 14:8,9 17:5
(d) He exercised the chief prerogative of God
# Mr 2:5-7 Lu 7:48-50
(e) He asserted omnipresence
# Mt 18:20 Joh 3:13
omniscience
# Joh 11:11-14
when Jesus was fifty miles away;
# Mr 11:6-8
omnipotence
# Mt 28:18 Lu 7:14 Joh 5:21-23 6:19
mastery over nature, and creative power
# Lu 9:16,17 Joh 2:9 10:28
(f) He received and approved human worship
# Mt 14:33 28:9 Joh 20:28,29
(3) The N.T. writers ascribe divine titles to Christ
# Joh 1:1 20:28 Ac 20:28 Ro 1:4 9:5 2Th 1:12 1Ti 3:16 Tit 2:13 Heb 1:8
# 1Jo 5:20
(4) The N.T. writers ascribe divine perfections and attributes to Christ
(e.g.
# Mt 11:28 18:20 28:20 28:20 Joh 1:2 2:23-25 3:13 5:17 21:17
# Heb 1:3,11,12 13:8 Re 1:8,17,18 2:23 11:17 22:13
(5) The N.T. writers ascribe divine works to Christ
# Joh 1:3,10 Col 1:16,17 Heb 1:3
(6) The N.T. writers teach that supreme worship should be paid to Christ
# Ac 7:59,60 1Co 1:2 2Co 13:14 Php 2:9,10 Heb 1:6 Re 1:5,6 5:12,13
(7) The holiness and resurrection of Christ prove His deity
# Joh 8:46 Ro 1:4
[1] {kingdom}
Forty days the risen Lord had been instructing the apostles "of the
things pertaining to the kingdom of God," doubtless, according to His
custom
# Lu 24:27,32,44,45
teaching them out of the Scriptures. One point was left untouched,
viz., the \\time\\ when He would restore the kingdom to Israel; hence
the apostles' question. The answer was according to His repeated
teaching; the \\time\\ was God's secret
# Mt 24:36,42,44 25:13 1Th 5:1
Scofield Reference Notes (1917): Book Introduction The Acts of the Apostles
\\WRITER.\\ In the Acts of the Apostles Luke continues the account of
Christianity begun in the Gospel which bears his name. In the "former
treatise" he tells what Jesus "began both to do and teach"; in the Acts,
what Jesus continued to do and teach through His Holy Spirit sent down.
\\DATE.\\ The Acts concludes with the account of Paul's earliest
ministry in Rome, A.D. 65, and appears to have been written at or near
that time.
\\THEME.\\ This book records the ascension and promised return of the
Lord Jesus, the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter's use of
the keys, opening the kingdom (considered as the sphere of profession, as
in Mat. 13) to the Jews at Pentecost, and to the Gentiles in the house of
Cornelius; the beginning of the Christian church and the conversion and
ministry of Paul.
The Holy Spirit fills the scene. As the presence of the Son, exalting
and revealing the Father, is the great fact of the Gospels, so the
presence of the Spirit, exalting and revealing the Son, is the great fact
of the Acts.
Acts is in two chief parts: In the first section (1-9.43) Peter is the
prominent personage, Jerusalem is the center, and the ministry is to
Jews. Already in covenant relations with Jehovah, they had sinned in
rejecting Jesus as \\the Christ\\. The preaching, therefore, was
directed to that point, and repentance (i.e. "a changed mind") was
demanded. The apparent failure of the Old Testament promises concerning
the Davidic kingdom was explained by the promise that the kingdom would
be set up at the return of Christ (Ac 2.25-31 15.14-16). This ministry
to Israel fulfilled Lu 19.12-14. In the persecutions of the apostles and
finally in the martyrdom of Stephen, the Jews sent after the king the
message, "We will not have this man to reign over us." In the second
division (10.1-28.31) Paul is prominent, a new center is established at
Antioch, and the ministry is chiefly to Gentiles who, as "strangers
from the covenants of promise" (Ep 2.12), had but to "believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ" to be saved. Chapters 11, 12, and 15 of this section are
transitional, establishing finally the distinction, doctrinally, between
law and grace. Galatians should be read in this connection.
The events recorded in The Acts cover a period of 32 years.
[1] {again the \\kingdom\\ to Israel}
Forty days the risen Lord had been instructing the apostles "of the
things pertaining to the kingdom of God," doubtless, according to His
custom
# Lu 24:27,32,44,45
teaching them out of the Scriptures. One point was left untouched,
viz., the \\time\\ when He would restore the kingdom to Israel; hence
the apostles' question. the answer was according to His repeated
teaching; the \\time\\ was God's secret.
# Mt 24:36,42,44 25:13 1Th 5:1
[1] {come}
The two Advents--Summary: (1) The O.T. foreview of the coming Messiah is
in two aspects--that of rejection and suffering (as e.g. in Is 53), and
that of earthly glory and power (as e.g. In Is 11 Jer 23 Ez 37). Often
these two aspects blend in one passage (e.g. Ps 2). The prophets
themselves were perplexed by this seeming contradiction
# 1Pe 1:10,11
It was solved by partial fulfilment. In due time the Messiah, born of a
virgin according to Isaiah, appeared among men and began His ministry by
announcing the predicted kingdom as "at hand"
» See Note "Mt 4:17"
The rejection of King and kingdom followed. (2) Thereupon the rejected King
announced His approaching crucifixion, resurrection, departure, and
return
# Mt 12:38-40 16:1-4,21,27 Lu 12:35-46 17:20-36 18:31-34 19:12-27
# Mt 24:25
(3) He uttered predictions concerning the course of events
between His departure and return
# Mt 13:1-50 16:18 24:4-26
(4) This promised return of Christ becomes a prominent theme in the Acts,
Epistles, and Revelation.
Taken together, the N.T. teachings concerning the return of Jesus Christ
may be summarized as follows: (1) That return is an event, not a process,
and is personal and corporeal
# Mt 23:39 24:30 25:31 Mr 14:62 Lu 17:24 Joh 14:3 Ac 1:11 Php 3:20,21
# 1Th 4:14-17
(2) His coming has a threefold relation: to the church, to Israel, to
the nations.
(a) To the church the descent of the Lord into the air to raise the
sleeping and change the living saints is set forth as a constant
expectation and hope
# Mt 24:36,44,48-51 25:13 1Co 15:51,52 Phm 3:20 1Th 1:10 4:14-17
# 1Ti 6:14 Tit 2:13 Re 22:20
(b) To Israel, the return of the Lord is predicted to accomplish the yet
unfulfilled prophecies of her national regathering, conversion, and
establishment in peace and power under the Davidic Covenant
# Ac 15:14-17
with
# Zec 14:1-9
See "Kingdom (O.T.)"
# 2Sa 7:8-17
» See Note "Zec 13:8"
# Lu 1:21-33
» See Note "1Co 15:24"
(c) To the Gentile nations the return of Christ is predicted to bring the
destruction of the present political world-system
# Da 2:34,35
» See Note "Re 19:11"
the judgment of
# Mt 25:31-46
followed by world-wide Gentile conversion and participation in the
blessings of the kingdom
# Isa 2:2-4 11:10 60:3 Zec 8:3,20,23 14:16-21
[1] {Holy Ghost}
The Holy Spirit, N.T. Summary (see Mal 2.15, note):
» See Note "Mal 2:15"
(1) The Holy Spirit is revealed as a divine Person. This is expressly
declared (e.g.)
# Joh 14:16,17,26 15:26 16:7-15 Mt 28:19
and everywhere implied.
(2) The revelation concerning Him is progressive (a) In the O.T. (see Mal
2.15, note), He comes upon whom He will, apparently without reference to
conditions in them (b) During His earth-life, Christ taught his disciples
# Lu 11:13
that they might receive the Spirit through prayer to the
Father. (c) At the close of His ministry He promised that He would
Himself pray the Father, and that in answer to prayer the Comforter would
come to abide
# Joh 14:16,17
(d) On the evening of His resurrection He came to the disciples in
the upper room, and breathed on them saying, "Receive ye the Holy
Ghost"
# Joh 20:22
but instructed them to wait before beginning their ministry till the
Spirit should come \\upon\\ them
# Lu 24:49 Ac 1:8
(e) On the day of Pentecost the Spirit came upon the whole body of
believers
# Ac 2:1-4
(f) After Pentecost, so long as the Gospel was preached to Jews only,
the Spirit was imparted to such as believed by the laying on of hands
# Ac 8:17 9:17
etc.).
(g) When Peter opened the door of the kingdom to the Gentiles (Ac 10.),
the Holy Spirit, without delay, or other condition than faith, was
given to those who believed.
# Ac 10:44 11:15-18
This is the permanent fact for the entire church age. Every believer
is born of the Spirit
# Joh 3:3,6 1Jo 5:1
indwelt by the Spirit, whose presence makes the believer's body a temple
# 1Co 6:19 Ro 8:9-15 1Jo 2:27 Ga 4:6
and baptized by the Spirit
# 1Co 12:12,12,13 1Jo 2:20,27
thus sealing him for God
# Eph 1:13 4:30
(3) The N.T. distinguishes between having the Spirit, which is true of
all believers, and being filled with the Spirit, which is the believer's
privilege and duty (cf)
# Ac 2:4
with
# Ac 4:29-31
# Eph 1:13,14
with
# Eph 5:18
--"One baptism, many fillings."
(4) The Holy Spirit is related to Christ in His Conception
# Mt 1:18-20 Lu 1:35
baptism
# Mt 3:16 Mr 1:10 Lu 3:22 Joh 1:32,33
walk and service
# Lu 4:1,14
resurrection
# Ro 8:11
and as His witness throughout this age
# Joh 15:26 16:8-11,13,14
(5) The Spirit forms the church
# Mt 16:18
» See Note "Heb 12:23"
by baptizing all believers into the body of Christ
# 1Co 12:12,13
imparts gifts for service to every member of that body
# 1Co 12:7-11,27,30
guide the members in their service
# Lu 2:27 4:1 Ac 16:6,7
and is Himself the power of that service
# Ac 1:8 2:4 1Co 2:4
(6) The Spirit abides in the company of believers who constitute a local
church, making of them, corporately, a temple
# 1Co 3:16,17
(7) Christ indicates a threefold personal relationship of the Spirit to
the believer: "With", "In", "upon"
# Joh 14:17 Lu 24:49 Ac 1:8
"With" indicates the approach of God to the soul, convicting of sin
# Joh 16:9
presenting Christ as the object of faith
# Joh 16:14
imparting faith
# Eph 2:8
and regenerating
# Joh 3:3-16
"In" describes the abiding presence of the Spirit in the believer's body
# 1Co 6:19
to give victory over the flesh
# Ro 8:2-4 Ga 5:16,17
to create the Christian character
# Ga 5:22,23
to help infirmities
# Ro 8:26
to inspire prayer
# Eph 6:18
to give conscious access to God
# Eph 2:18
to actualize to the believer his sonship
# Ga 4:6
to apply the Scripture in cleansing and sanctification
# Eph 5:26 2Th 2:13 1Pe 1:2
to comfort and intercede
# Ac 9:31 Ro 8:26
and to reveal Christ
# Joh 16:14
(8) Sins against the Spirit committed by unbelievers are: To blaspheme
# Mt 12:31
resist
# Ac 7:51
insult
# Heb 10:29
"despite," lit. \\insult\\). Believers' sins against the Spirit are:
To grieve Him by allowing evil in heart or life
# Eph 4:30,31
and to quench Him by disobedience
# 1Th 5:19
The right attitude toward the Spirit is yieldedness to His sway in
walk and service, and in constant willingness that He shall "put away"
whatever grieves Him or hinders His power
# Eph 4:31
(9) The \\symbols\\ of the Spirit are: (a) oil
# Joh 3:34 Heb 1:9
(b) water
# Joh 7:38,39
(c) wind
# Ac 2:2 Joh 3:8
(d) fire
# Ac 2:3
(e) a dove
# Mt 3:16
(f) a seal
# Eph 1:13 4:30
(g) an earnest or pledge
# Eph 1:14
[1] {said unto them}
The theme of Peter's sermon at Pentecost is stated in verse 36. It is,
that Jesus is the Messiah. No message could have been more unwelcome to
the Jews who had rejected His Messianic claims, and crucified Him.
Peter, therefore, does not announce his theme until he has covered every
possible Jewish objection. The point of difficulty with the Jews was the
apparent failure of the clear and repeated prophetic promise of a
regathered Israel established in their own land under their covenanted
King (e.g).
# Isa 11:1-12 Jer 23:5-8 Eze 37:21-18
Instead of explaining, as Rome first taught, followed by some
Protestant commentators, that the covenant and promises were to be
fulfilled in the church in a so-called "spiritual" sense, Peter shows
# Ac 2:25-32
from Ps 16. that David himself understood that the dead and risen
Christ would fulfil the covenant and sit on his throne
# Lu 1:32,33
In precisely the same way James
# Ac 15:14-17
met the same difficulty. See "Kingdom (O.T.),"
# Lu 1:33 1Co 15:24
[1] {last days}
A distinction must be observed between "the last days" when the
prediction relates to Israel, and the "last days" when the prediction
relates to the church
# 1Ti 4:1-3 2Ti 3:1-8 Heb 1:1,2 1Pe 1:4,5 2Pe 3:1-9 1Jo 2:18,19 Jude 1:17-19
Also distinguish the expression the "last days" (plural) from "the
last day" (singular); the latter expression referring to the
resurrections and last judgment
# Joh 6:39,40,44,54 11:24 12:48
The "last days" as related to the church began with the advent of
Christ
# Heb 1:2
but have especial reference to the time of declension and apostasy at
the end of this age
# 2Ti 3:1 4:4
The "last days" as related to Israel are the days of
Israel's exaltation and blessing, and are synonymous with the
kingdom-age
# Isa 2:2-4 Mic 4:1-7
They are "last" not with reference to this dispensation, but with
reference to the whole of Israel's history.
[1] {refreshing}
"Namely, seasons in which, through the appearance of the Messiah in His
kingdom, there shall occur blessed rest and refreshment for the people of
God." --Heinrich A. W. Meyer.
[1] {And he shall}
The appeal here is national to the Jewish people as such, not individuals
as in Peter's first sermon
# Ac 2:38,39
There those who were pricked in heart were exhorted to save themselves
from (among) the untoward nation; here the whole people is addressed,
and the promise to \\national\\ repentance is \\national\\
deliverance: "and he shall send Jesus Christ" to bring in the times
which the prophets had foretold
» See Note "Ac 2:14"
The official answer was the imprisonment of the apostles, and the
inhibition to preach, so fulfilling
# Lu 19:14
[2] {restitution}
Gr. \\apokatastaseos\\ = restoration, occurring here and
# Ac 1:6
only. The meaning is limited by the words: "Which God hath spoken by
the mouth of all his holy prophets." The prophets speak of the
restoration of Israel to the land (see "Israel,"
# Ge 12:2,3 Ro 11:26
also "Palestinian Covenant,"
# De 30:1-9
and of the restoration the theocracy under David's Son. (See
"Davidic Covenant,"
# 2Sa 7:8-17
"Kingdom,"
# Ge 1:26-28
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
No prediction of the conversion and restoration of the wicked dead is
found in the prophets, or elsewhere.
CF
# Re 20:11-15
[1] {kindred}
Cf.
» See Note "Ge 46:26"
There is no real contradiction. The "house of Jacob" numbered seventy
but the "kindred" would include the wives of Jacob's sons.
[1] {church}
Israel \\in the land\\ is never called a church. \\In the wilderness\\
Israel was a true church (G. ecclesia = called-out assembly), but in
striking contrast with the N.T. ecclesia
» See Note "Mt 16:18"
[1] {voice}
Cf
# Ac 22:9 26:14
A contradiction has been imagined. The three statements should be
taken together. The men heard the "voice" as a sound (Gr. phone), but
did not hear the "voice" as articulating the words, "Saul, Saul," etc.
[1] {that he is the Son of God}
Cf.
# Ac 2:36
Peter, while maintaining the deity of Jesus--"God hath
made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ"--gives
especial prominence to His Messiahship. Paul, fresh from the vision of
the glory, puts the emphasis on His Deity. Peter's charge was that the
Jews had crucified the Son of David
# Ac 2:25-30
Paul's that they had crucified the Lord of glory
# 1Co 2:8
In the A.V. the sense is largely lost. The point was, not that the
Christ was God, a truth plainly taught by Isaiah
# Isa 7:14 9:6,7
but that Jesus, the crucified Nazarene, was the Christ and therefore
God the Son.
[2] {But Saul}
It seems probable that verses 22-25 refer to Paul's labours in Damascus
after his return from Arabia
# Ga 1:17
The "many days" of verse 23 may represent the "three years" of
# Ga 1:18
which intervened between Paul's return to Damascus and his visit to Peter.
[3] {gone to Jerusalem}
The Acts records four visits of Paul to Jerusalem after conversion: (1)
# Ac 9:23-30
This seems identical with the visit of
# Ga 1:18,19
The "apostles" of verse 27 were Peter, and James, the Lord's brother.
(2)
# Ac 11:30
Paul may have been in Jerusalem during the events of
# Ac 12:1-24
(See v. 25.)
(3)
# Ac 15:1-30 Ga 2:2-10
(4)
# Ac 21:17-23,35
[1] {While Peter yet spake}
Verse 44 is one of the pivotal points of Scripture. Heretofore the
Gospel has been offered to Jews only, and the Holy Spirit bestowed upon
believing Jews through apostolic mediation. But now the normal order for
this age is reached: the Holy Spirit is given without delay, mediation,
or other condition than simple faith in Jesus Christ.
Cf
» See Note "Ac 2:4"
# 1Co 6:19
[1] {Men and brethren}
Dispensationally, this is the most important passage in the N.T. It
gives the divine purpose for this age, and for the beginning of the
next. (1) The taking out from among the Gentiles of a people for His
name, the distinctive work of the present, or church-age. The church
is the ecclesia--the "called-out assembly." Precisely this has been
in progress since Pentecost. The Gospel has never anywhere converted
all, but everywhere has called out some. (2) "After this [viz. the
out-calling] I will return." James quotes from
# Am 9:11,12
The verses which follow in Amos describe the final regathering of
Israel, which the other prophets invariably connect with the
fulfilment of the Davidic Covenant (e.g.)
# Isa 11:1,10-12 Jer 23:5-8
(3) "And will build again the tabernacle of David," i.e. re-establish
the Davidic rule over Israel
# 2Sa 7:8-17 Lu 1:31-33
(4) "That the residue of men [Israelites] may seek after the Lord"
cf
# Zec 12:7,8 13:1,2
(5) "And all the Gentiles," etc.
cf
# Mic 4:2 Zec 8:21,22
This is also the order of
# Ro 11:24-27
[1] {Wherefore}
The scope of the decision goes far beyond the mere question of
circumcision. The whole question of the relation of the law to
Gentile believers had been put in issue (v. 5), and their exemption
is declared in the decision (vs. 19,24). The decision might be
otherwise stated in the terms of
# Ro 6:14
"Ye are not under the law, but under grace." Gentile believers were
to show grace by abstaining from the practices offensive to godly
Jews
# Ac 15:20,21,28,29
cf
# Ro 14:12-17 1Co 8:1-13
[1] {we}
The change here from "they," as in the preceding verses, to "we"
indicates that at Troas Luke, the narrator, joined Paul's company.
[1] {offspring of God}
Gr. genos="race." The reference is to the creation-work of God in which
He made man (i.e. mankind, the race in Adam) in his own likeness,
# Ge 1:26,27
thus rebuking the thought that "the Godhead is like unto gold,"
etc. The word "Father" is not used, not does the passage affirm anything
concerning fatherhood or sonship, which are relationships based on faith,
and the new birth.
Cf
# Joh 1:12,13 Ga 3:26 4:1-7 Joh 5:1
[2] {Repent}
Repentance is the trans. of a Gr. word (metanoia-metanoeo) meaning "to
have another mind," "to change the mind," and is used in the N.T. to
indicate a change of mind in respect of sin, of God, and of self. This
change of mind may, especially in the case of Christians who have fallen
into sin, be preceded by sorrow
# 2Co 7:8-11
but sorrow for sin, though it may "work" repentance, is not repentance.
The son in
# Mt 21:28,29
illustrates true repentance. Saving faith
» See Note "Heb 11:39"
includes and implies that change of mind which is called repentance.
[1] {Have}
Not as in A.V., "since ye believed," but as in R.V. and marg.: "Did
ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed?" Paul was evidently
impressed by the absence of spirituality and power in these so-called
disciples. Their answer brought out the fact that they were Jewish
proselytes, disciples of John the Baptist, looking backward to an
accomplished redemption.
# Ro 8:9 1Co 6:19 Eph 1:13
[1] {spirit}
Cf.
# Ac 21:4
In
# Ac 20:22
Paul's own spirit
» See Note "1Th 5:23"
is meant; in
# Ac 21:4
the Holy Spirit. Paul's motive in going to Jerusalem seems to
have been his great affection for the Jews
# Ro 9:1-5
and his hope that gifts of the Gentile churches, sent by him to the
poor saints at Jerusalem
# Ro 15:25-28
would open the hearts of the law-bound Jewish believers to the "gospel
of the grace of God"
# Ac 20:24
[1] {his own hired house}
It has been much disputed whether Paul endured two Roman imprisonments,
from A.D. 62 to 68 or one. The tradition from Clement to Eusebius
favours two imprisonments with a year of liberty between. Erdman (W.J.)
has pointed out the leaving of Trophimus sick at Miletus, mentioned
in
# 2Ti 4:20
could not have been an occurrence of Paul's last journey to
Jerusalem, for then Trophimus was not left
# Ac 20:4 21:29
nor of the journey to Rome to appear before Caesar, for then he did
not touch at Miletus. To make this incident possible there must have
been a release from the first imprisonment, and an interval of
ministry and travel.
Scofield Reference Notes (1917): Introductory Notes to The Epistles of Paul
The Epistles of the Apostle Paul have a very distinctive character. All
Scripture, up to the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion, looks forward to
the cross, and has primarily in view Israel, and the blessing of the earth
through the Messianic kingdom. But "hid in God"
# Eph 3:9
was an unrevealed \\fact\\--the interval of time between the crucifixion and
resurrection of Christ and His return in glory; and an unrevealed
\\purpose\\-- the outcalling of the \\ecclesia\\, the church which is
Christ's body. In Mat. 16, our Lord announced that purpose, but wholly
without explanation as to how, when, or of what materials, that church
should be built, or what should be its position, relationships, privileges,
or duties.
All this constitutes precisely the scope of the Epistles of Paul. They
develop the doctrine of the church. In his letters to seven Gentile
churches (in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse, and
Thessalonica), the church, the "mystery which from the beginning of the
world hath been hid in God" (Ep 3.9), is fully revealed, and fully
instructed as to her unique place in the counsels and purposes of God.
Through Paul alone we know that the church is not an organization, but an
organism, the body of Christ; instinct with His life, and heavenly in
calling, promise, and destiny. Through him alone we know the nature,
purpose, and form of organization of local churches, and the right conduct
of such gatherings. Through him alone do we know that "we shall not all
sleep," that "the dead in Christ shall rise first," and that living saints
shall be "changed" and caught up to meet the Lord in the air at His return.
But to Paul was also committed the unfolding of the doctrines of grace
which were latent in the teachings of Jesus Christ. Paul originates
nothing, but unfolds everything, concerning the nature and purpose of the
law; the ground and means of the believer's justification, sanctification,
and glory; the meanings of the death of Christ, and the position, walk,
expectation, and service of the Christian.
Paul converted by the personal ministry of the Lord in glory, is
distinctively the witness to a glorified Christ, Head over all things to
the church which is His body, as the Eleven were to Christ in the flesh,
the Son of Abraham and David.
The chronological order of Paul's Epistles is believed to be as follows: 1
and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, Philemon,
Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 Timothy, Titus, 2 Timothy. Hebrews
has a distinctive place, nor can the order of that book amongst the
writings of Paul be definitely fixed.
The Two Silences
Two periods in the life of Paul after his conversion are passed over in a
silence which is itself significant--the journey into Arabia, from which
the Apostle returned in full possession of the Gospel explanation as set
forth in Galatians and Romans; and the two silent years in prison in
Caesarea, between his arrest in the temple at Jerusalem and his deportation
to Rome.
It was inevitable that a trained intellect like that of Paul, a convinced
believer in Mosasism, and, until his conversion on the Damascus road, an
eager opposer of Christianity, must seek the underlying principles of the
Gospel. Immediately after his conversion he preached Jesus as the Messiah;
but the relation of the Gospel to the Law, and, in a lesser degree, of the
great Jewish promises, needed clear adjustment if Christianity was to be a
reasonable faith, and not a mere dogma. In Arabia Paul sought and found
that adjustment through revelation by the Spirit. Out of it came the
doctrinal explanation of salvation by grace through faith, wholly apart
from the law, embodied in Galatians and Romans.
But the Gospel brings the believer into great relationships--to the Father,
to other believers, to Christ, and to the future purposes of God. It is
not only a salvation from sin and the consequences of sin, but into an
amazing place in the Divine counsels. Furthermore, the new thing, the
church in its various aspects and junctions, demanded clear revelation.
And these are the chief themes of the Epistles written by Paul from Rome,
and commonly called the Prison Epistles--Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians. It is contrary to the method of inspiration, as explained by
Paul himself, to suppose that these crowning revelations were made apart
from deep meditation, demanding quietness, and earnest seeking. It seems
most congruous with the events of Paul's life to suppose that these great
revelations came during the silent years at Caesarea--often spoken of as
wasted.
-=-=- Introduction to The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans -=-
\\Writer.\\ The Apostle Paul (1.1). \\Date.\\ Romans, the sixth in
chronological order of Paul's Epistles, was written from Corinth during the
apostle's third visit to that city
# 2Co 13:1
in A.D. 60. The Epistle has its occasion in the intention of the
apostle soon to visit Rome. Naturally, he would wish to announce before
his coming the distinctive truths which had been revealed to and through
him. He would desire the Christians in Rome to have his own statement
of the great doctrines of grace so bitterly assailed everywhere by
legalistic teachers.
\\Theme.\\ The theme of Romans is "the Gospel of God" (1.1), the very
widest possible designation of the whole body of redemption truth, for it
is He with whom is "no respect of persons"; and who is not "the God of the
Jews only," but "of the Gentiles also"
# Ro 2:11 3:29
Accordingly, "all the world" is found guilty
# Ro 3:19
and a redemption is revealed as wide as the need, upon the alone
condition of faith. Not only does Romans embody in the fullest way the
doctrines of grace in relation to salvation, but in
three remarkable chapters (9-11.) the great promises to Israel are
reconciled with the promises concerning the Gentiles, and the fulfilment
of the former shown to await the completion of the church and coming of the
Deliverer out of Zion
# Ro 11:25-27
The key-phrase is "the righteousness of God"
# Ro 1:17 3:21,22
The Epistle, exclusive of the introduction (1.1-17), is in seven parts. I.
The whole world guilty before God, 1.18-3.20. II. Justification through
the righteousness of God by faith, the Gospel remedy for guilt, 3.21-5.11.
III. Crucifixion with Christ, the resurrection life of Christ, and the walk
in the Spirit, the Gospel provision for inherent sin, 5.12-8.13. IV. The
full result in blessing of the Gospel, 8.14-39. V. Parenthesis: the Gospel
does not abolish the covenant promises to Israel, 9.1-11.36. VI. Christian
life and service, 12.1-15.33. VII. The outflow of Christian love, 16.1-27.
[1] {salvation}
The Heb. and Gr. words for salvation imply the ideas of
\\deliverance\\, \\safety\\, \\preservation\\, \\healing\\, and
\\soundness\\. Salvation is the great inclusive word of the Gospel,
gathering into itself all the redemptive acts and processes: as
\\justification, redemption, grace,\\ \\propitiation, imputation,
forgiveness, sanctification,\\ and \\glorification\\. Salvation is
in three tenses: (1) The believer \\has been\\ saved from the guilt
and penalty of sin
# Lu 7:50 1Co 1:18 2Co 2:15 Eph 2:5,8 2Ti 1:9
is \\safe\\. (2) the believer is \\being\\ saved from the habit and
dominion of sin
# Ro 6:14 Php 1:19 2:12,13 2Th 2:13 Ro 8:2 Ga 2:19,20 2Co 3:18
(3) The believer is \\to be\\ saved in the sense of entire conformity
to Christ.
# Ro 13:11 Heb 10:36 1Pe 1:5 1Jo 3:2
Salvation is by grace through faith, is a free gift, and wholly
without works
# Ro 3:27,28 4:1-8 6:23 Eph 2:8
The divine order is: first salvation, then works
# Eph 2:9,10 Tit 3:5-8
[1] {righteousness of God}
The righteousness of God is neither an attribute of God, not the
changed character of the believer, but Christ Himself, who fully met
in our stead and behalf every demand of the law, and who is, but the
act of God called imputation
# Le 25:50 Jas 2:23
"made unto us . . .righteousness"
# 1Co 1:30
"The believer in Christ is now, by grace, shrouded under so complete
and blessed a righteousness that the law from Mt. Sinai can find
neither fault nor diminution therein. This is that which is called
the righteousness of God by faith."--Bunyan.
# 2Co 5:21 Ro 4:6 10:4 Php 3:9 Ro 3:26
[2] {sinned}
Sin, Summary: The literal meanings of the Heb. and Gr. words
variously rendered "sin," "sinner," etc., disclose the true nature of
sin in its manifold manifestations. Sin is \\transgression\\, an
overstepping of the law, the divine boundary between good and evil
# Ps 51:1 Lu 15:29
\\iniquity\\, an act inherently wrong, whether expressly forbidden or
not; \\error\\, a departure from right
# Ps 51:9 Ro 3:23
\\missing the mark\\, a failure to meet the divine standard; \\trespass\\,
the intrusion of self-will into the sphere of divine authority
# Eph 2:1
\\lawlessness\\, or spiritual anarchy
# 1Ti 1:9
\\unbelief\\, or an insult to the divine veracity
# Joh 16:9
Sin originated with Satan
# Isa 14:12-14
entered the world through Adam
# Ro 5:12
was, and is, universal, Christ alone excepted
# Ro 3:23 1Pe 2:22
incurs the penalties of spiritual and physical death
# Ge 2:17 3:19 Eze 18:4,20 Ro 6:23
and has no remedy but in the sacrificial death of Christ
# Heb 9:26 Ac 4:12
availed of by faith
# Ac 13:38,39
Sin may be summarized as threefold: An \\act\\, the violation of, or
want of obedience to the revealed will of God; a \\state\\, absence of
righteousness; a \\nature\\, enmity toward God.
[1] {Redemption}
Redemption, "to deliver by paying a price." The N.T. doctrine. The N.T.
records the fulfilment of the O.T. types and prophecies of redemption
through the sacrifice of Christ. The completed truth is set forth in the
three words which are translated redemption (1) agorazo, "to purchase in
the market." The underlying thought is of a slave-market. The subjects
of redemption are "sold under sin"
# Ro 7:14
but are, moreover, under sentence of death
# Eze 18:4 Joh 3:18,19 Ro 3:19 Ga 3:10
and the purchase price is the blood of the Redeemer who dies in their
stead
# Ga 3:13 2Co 5:21 Mt 20:28 Mr 10:45 1Ti 2:6 1Pe 1:18
(2) exagorazo, "to buy out of the market." The redeemed are never
again to be exposed to sale
(3) lutroo, "to loose," "to set free by paying a price"
# Joh 8:32 Ga 4:4,5,31 5:13 Ro 8:21
Redemption is by sacrifice and by power
See note "Ex 14:30"
Christ paid the price, the Holy Spirit makes deliverance actual in
experience
# Ro 8:2
See also
» See Note "Isa 59:20"
» See Note "Ro 1:16"
[2] {propitiation}
Lit. a propitiatory [sacrifice], through faith by his blood; Gr.
hilasterion, "place of propitiation." The word occurs,
# 1Jo 2:2 4:10
as the trans. of hilasmos, "that which propitiates," "a propitiatory
sacrifice." Hilasterion is used by the Septuagint, and
# Heb 9:5
for "mercy-seat." The mercy-seat was sprinkled with atoning
blood in the day of atonement
# Le 16:14
in token that the righteous sentence of the law had been (typically)
carried out, so that what must else have been a judgment-seat could
righteously be a mercy-seat
# Heb 9:11-15 4:14-16
a place of communion
# Ex 25:21,22
In fulfilment of the type, Christ is Himself the hilasmos, "that which
propitiates," and the hilasterion, "the place of propitiation"--the
mercy-seat sprinkled with His own blood--the token that in our stead
He so honoured the law by enduring its righteous sentence that God,
who ever foresaw the cross, is vindicated in having "passed over"
sins from Adam to Moses
# Ro 5:13
and the sins of believers under the old covenant
» See Note "Ex 29:33"
and just in justifying sinners under the covenant. There is no thought
in propitiation of placating a vengeful God, but of doing right by His
holy law and so making it possible for Him righteously to show mercy.
[3] {righteousness}
"His righteousness" here is God's consistency with His own law and
holiness in freely justifying a sinner who believes in Christ; that is,
one in whose behalf Christ has met every demand of the law
# Ro 10:4
[4] {Justification}
Justification, Summary: Justification and righteousness are inseparably
united in Scripture by the fact that the same word (dikaios, "righteous";
dikaioo, "to justify") is used for both. The believing sinner is
justified because Christ, having borne his sins on the cross, has been
"made unto him righteousness"
# 1Co 1:30
Justification originates in grace
# Ro 3:24 Tit 3:4,5
is through the redemptive and propitiatory work of Christ, who has
vindicated the law
# Ro 3:24,25 5:9
is by faith, not works
# Ro 3:28-30 4:5 5:1 Ga 2:16 3:8,24
and may be defined as the judicial act of God whereby He justly
declares righteous one who believes on Jesus Christ. It is the Judge
Himself
# Ro 8:31-34
who thus declares. The justified believer has been in court, only to
learn that nothing is laid to his charge.
# Ro 8:1,33,34
[5] {Do we then}
The sinner establishes the law in its right use and honour by confessing
his guilt, and acknowledging that by it he is justly condemned. Christ,
on the sinner's behalf, establishes the law by enduring its penalty,
death.
Cf.
# Mt 5:17,18
[1] {works}
Cf.
# Jas 2:24
These are two aspects of one truth. Paul speaks of that
which justifies man before God, viz.: faith alone, wholly apart from
works; James of the proof before men, that he who professes to have
justifying faith really has it. Paul speaks of what God sees--faith;
James of what men see--works, as the visible evidence of faith. Paul
draws his illustration from
# Ge 15:6
James from
# Ge 22:1-19
James' key phrase is "ye see"
# Jas 2:24
for men cannot see faith except as manifested through works.
[1] {raised}
Christ died under our sins
# 1Pe 2:24 2Co 5:21
that He was raised and exalted to God's right hand, "now to appear in
the presence of God for us"
# Heb 9:24
is the token that our sins are gone, that His work for us has the
divine approbation and that we, for whom He suffered, are completely
justified.
[2] {Wherefore} [3] {have sinned}
The "wherefore" relates back to
# Ro 3:19-23
and may be regarded as a continuation of the discussion of the
universality of sin, interrupted
# Ro 3:24-5:11
by the passage on justification and its results.
[3]
The first sin wrought the moral ruin of the race. The demonstration
is simple. (1) Death is universal (vs 12,14), all die: sinless
infants, moral people, religious people, equally with the depraved.
For a universal effect there must be a universal cause; that cause is
a state of universal sin (v. 12). (2) But this universal state must
have had a cause. It did. The consequence of Adam's sin was that
"the many were made sinners" (v. 19)--"By the offence of one judgment
came upon all men unto condemnation" (v. 18). (3) Personal sins are
not meant here. From Adam to Moses death reigned (v. 14), although,
there being no law, personal guilt was not imputed (v. 13).
Accordingly, from Gen 4.7 to Ex 29.14 the sin-offering is not once
mentioned. Then, since physical death from Adam to Moses was not due
to the sinful acts of those who die (v. 13), it follows that it was
due to a universal sinful state, or nature, and that state is
declared to be out inheritance from Adam. (4) the moral sate of
fallen man is described in Scripture
# Ge 6:5 1Ki 8:46 Ps 14:1-3 39:5 Jer 17:9 Mt 18:11 Mr 7:20,23
# Ro 1:21,22 3:9-19 7:24 8:7 Joh 3:6 1Co 2:14 2Co 3:14 4:4
# Ga 5:19-21 Eph 2:1-3,11,12 4:18-22 Col 1:21 Heb 3:13 Jas 4:14
# 1Co 15:22
[4] {Adam to Moses}
Broadly, the contrast is: Adam: sin, death; Christ: righteousness, life.
Adam drew down into his ruin the old creation
# Ro 8:19-22
of which he was lord and head. Christ brings into moral unity with God,
and into eternal life, the new creation of which he is Lord and Head.
# Eph 1:22,23
Even the animal and material creation, cursed for man's sake.
# Ge 3:17
will be delivered by Christ.
# Isa 11:6-9 Ro 8:19-22
[1] {sin}
"Sin" in Rom 6., 7. is the nature in distinction from "sins," which are
manifestations of that nature.
Cf.
# 1Jo 1:8
with
# 1Jo 1:10
where this distinction also appears.
[2] {old}
The expression occurs elsewhere, in
# Eph 4:22 Col 3:9
and always means the man of old, corrupt human nature, the inborn
tendency to evil in all men. In
# Ro 6:6
it is the natural man himself; in
# Eph 4:22 Col 3:9
his ways. Positionally, in the reckoning of God, the old man is crucified,
and the believer is exhorted to make this good in experience, reckoning
it to be so by definitely "putting off" the old man and "putting on" the
new
# Col 3:8-14
See Ep 4.24, note 3
» See Note "Eph 4:24"
[3] {What then}
The old relation to the law and sin, and the new relation to Christ and
life are illustrated by the effect of death upon servitude
# Ro 6:16-23
and marriage
# Ro 7:1-6
(1) The old servitude was nominally to the law, but, since the law had
no delivering power, the real master continued to be sin in the nature.
The end was death. The law could not give life, and "sin" (here
personified as the old self) is in itself deathful. But
death in another form, ie., crucifixion with Christ, has intervened
# Ro 6:6
to free the servant from his double bondage to sin (vs 6,7), and to
the law
# Ro 7:4,6
(2) This effect of death is further illustrated by widowhood. Death
dissolves the marriage relation
# Ro 7:1-3
As natural death frees a wife from the law of her husband, so
crucifixion with Christ sets the believer free from the law.
» See Note "Ga 3:24"
[1] {newness}
Cf.
# Ro 2:29 2Co 3:6
"The letter" is a Paulinism for the law, as "spirit" in these passages
is his word for the relationships and powers of new life in Christ
Jesus. In # 2Co 3 a series is presented of contrast of law
with "spirit," of the old covenant and the new. The contrast is not
between two methods of interpretation, literal, and spiritual, but
between two methods of divine dealing: one through the law, the other
through the Holy Spirit.
[2] {when the commandment}
The passage (vs 7-25) is autobiographical. Paul's religious
experience was in three strongly marked phases: (1) He was a godly
Jew under the law. That the passage does not refer to that period is
clear from his own explicit statements elsewhere. At that time he
held himself to be "blameless" as concerned the law
# Php 3:6
He had "lived in all good conscience"
# Ac 23:1
(2) With his conversion came new light upon the law itself. He now
perceived it to be "spiritual" (v.14). He now saw that, so far from
having kept it, he was condemned by it. He had supposed himself to be
"alive," but now the commandment really "came" (v.9) and he "died."
Just when the apostle passed through the experience of
# Ro 7:7-25
we are not told. Perhaps during the days of physical blindness at
Damascus
# Ac 9:9
perhaps in Arabia
# Ga 1:17
It is the experience of a renewed man, under the law, and still
ignorant of the delivering power of the Holy Spirit
# Ro 8:2
(3) With the great revelations afterward embodied in Galatians and
Romans, the apostle's experience entered it third phase. He now knew
himself to be "dead to the law by the body of Christ," and, in the
power of the indwelling Spirit, "free from the law of sin and death"
# Ro 8:2
while "the righteousness of the law" was wrought in him (not by him)
while he walked after the Spirit
# Ro 8:4
Romans 7. is the record of past conflicts and defeats experience as a
renewed man under law.
[2] {carnal}
Cf
# 1Co 3:1,4
"Carnal" = "fleshly" is Paul's word for the Adamic nature,
and for the believer who "walks," i.e. lives, under the power of it.
"Natural" is his characteristic word for the unrenewed man
# 1Co 2:14
as "spiritual" designates the renewed man who walks in the Spirit
# 1Co 3:1 Ga 6:1
[2] {I do I allow not}
The apostle personifies the strife of the two natures in the believer,
the old or Adamic nature, and the divine nature received through the new
birth
# 1Pe 1:23 2Pe 1:4 Ga 2:20 Col 1:27
The "I" which is Saul of Tarsus, and the "I" which is Paul the apostle
are at strife, and "Paul" is in defeat. In Chapter 8. this strife is
effectually taken up on the believer's behalf by the Holy Spirit
# Ro 8:2 Ga 5:16,17
and Paul is victorious. Contra,
# Eph 6:12
where the conflict is not fleshly, but spiritual.
[3] {a law}
Six "laws" are to be distinguished in Romans: The law of Moses, which
condemns
# Ro 3:19
"law" as a principle
# Ro 3:21
the law of faith, which excludes self-righteousness
# Ro 3:27
the law of sin in the members, which is victorious over the law of the
mind
# Ro 7:21,23,25
the law of the mind, which consents to the law of Moses but cannot do
it because of the law of sin in the members
# Ro 7:16,23
and the "law of the Spirit," having power to deliver the believer from
the law of sin which is in his members, and his conscience from
condemnation by the Mosaic law. Moreover the Spirit works in the
yielded believer the very righteousness which Moses' law requires
# Ro 8:2,4
[1] {Spirit}
Hitherto in Romans the Holy Spirit has been mentioned but once
# Ro 5:5
in this chapter He is mentioned nineteen times. Redemption is by blood
and by power
» See Note "Ex 14.30
# Ro 3:21-5:11
speaks of the redemptive price; Ro 8. of redemptive power.
[2] {children}
Gr. teknon, "one born," a child (and so in vs 17,21); not, as in verse
14, "sons" (gr. huios). See
# Ga 4:1,7
where babyhood and sonhood are contrasted. Also "Adoption"
# Ro 8:15,23 Eph 1:5
[1] {For they are not all Israel}
The distinction is between Israel after the flesh, the mere natural
posterity of Abraham, and Israelites who, through faith, are also
Abraham's spiritual children. Gentiles who believe are also of Abraham's
spiritual seed; but here the apostle is not considering them, but only
the two kinds of Israelites, the natural and the spiritual Israel
# Ro 4:1-3 Ga 3:6,7 Joh 8:37-39
» See Note "Ro 11:1"
[1] {righteousness}
The word "righteousness" here, and in the passages having marginal
references to this, means legal, or self-righteousness; the futile
effort of man to work out under law a character which God can
approve.
» See Note "Re 19:8"
[1] {righteousness}
Righteousness here, and in the passages which refer to Ro 10.10, means
that righteousness of God which is judicially reckoned to all who believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ; believers are the righteous.
» See Note "Ro 3:21"
[2] {cast}
That Israel has not been forever set aside is the theme of this
chapter. (1) The salvation of Paul proves that there is still a
remnant (v.1) (2) The doctrine of the remnant proves it (vs 2-6).
(3) The present national unbelief was foreseen (vs 7-10). (4)
Israel's unbelief is the Gentile opportunity (vs 11-25). (5) Israel
is judicially broken off from the good olive tree, Christ (vs.
17-22). (6) They are to be grafted in again (vs 23,24). (7) The
promised Deliverer will come out of Zion and the nation will be saved
(vs 25-29). That the Christian now inherits the distinctive Jewish
promises is not taught in Scripture. The Christian is of the
heavenly seed of Abraham
# Ge 15:5,6 Ga 3:29
and partakes of the spiritual blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant
» See Note "Ge 15:18"
but Israel as a nation always has it own place, and is yet to have its
greatest exaltation as the earthly people of God. See "Israel"
# Ge 12:2 Ro 11:26
"Kingdom"
# Ge 1:26-28 Zec 12:8
[1] {Remnant}
Remnant, Summary: In the history of Israel, a "remnant" may be
discerned, a spiritual Israel within the national Israel. In
Elijah's time 7,000 had not bowed the knee to Baal
# 1Ki 19:18
In Isaiah's time it was the "very small remnant" for whose sake God
still forbore to destroy the nation
# Isa 1:9
During the captivities the remnant appears in Jews like Ezekiel,
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Esther, and Mordecai. At the
end of the 70 years of Babylonian captivity it was the remnant which
returned under Ezra and Nehemiah. At the advent of our Lord, John the
Baptist, Simeon, Anna, and "them that looked for redemption in
Jerusalem"
# Lu 2:38
were the remnant. During the church-age the remnant is composed of
believing Jews
# Ro 11:4,5
But the chief interest in the remnant is prophetic. During the great
tribulation a remnant out of all Israel will turn to Jesus as Messiah,
and will become His witnesses after the removal of the church
# Re 7:3-8
Some of these will undergo martyrdom
# Re 6:9-11
some will be spared to enter the millennial kingdom
# Zec 12:6-13:9
Many of the Psalms express, prophetically, the joys and sorrows of the
tribulation remnant.
[2] {fullness}
The "fullness of the Gentiles" is the completion of the purpose of
God in this age, viz. the outcalling from among the Gentiles of a
people for Christ's name, "the church which is His body"
# Eph 1:22,23
Cf
# Ac 15:14 Eph 4:11-13 1Co 12:12,13
It must be distinguished from "the times of the Gentiles"
# Lu 21:24
[1] {Jacob}
Summary: Israel, so named from the grandson of Abraham, was chosen
for a fourfold mission: (1) To witness to the unity of God in the
midst of universal idolatry
# De 6:4 Isa 43:10,12
(2) to illustrate to the nations the blessedness of serving the true God
# De 33:26-29 1Ch 17:20,21 Ps 144:15
(3) to receive, preserve, and transmit the Scripture
# De 4:5-8 Ro 3:1,2
(4) to produce, as to His humanity, the Messiah
# Ge 3:15 12:3 22:18 28:10-14 49:10 2Sa 7:12-16 Isa 7:14 9:6 Mt 1:1
# Ro 1:3
According to the prophets, Israel, regathered from all nations,
restored to her own land and converted, is yet to have her greatest
earthly exaltation and glory.
See "Kingdom (O.T.)"
# Ge 1:26 Zec 12:8
N.T.
# Lu 1:31-33 1Co 15:24
"Davidic Covenant"
» See Note "2Sa 7:16"
Scofield Reference Notes Book Introductions The First Epistle of Paul
(1917 Edition) the Apostle to the
Corinthians
WRITER. The Apostle Paul. His relation to the church at Corinth is set
forth in Ac 18.1-18 and in the Epistles to the Corinthians.
DATE. First Corinthians was written in A.D. 59, at the close of Paul's
three year's residence in Ephesus.
# Ac 20:31 1Co 16:5-8
THEME. The subjects treated are various, but may all be classified under
the general theme, Christian conduct. Even the tremendous revelation of
the truth concerning resurrection is made to bear upon that theme
# 1Co 15:58
The occasion of the Epistle was a letter on inquiry from Corinth
concerning marriage, and the use of meats offered to idols
# 1Co 7:1 8:1-13
but the apostle was much more exercised by reports of the
deepening divisions and increasing contentions in the church, and of a case
of incest which had not been judged
# 1Co 1:10-12 5:1
The factions were not due to heresies, but to the carnality of the
restless Corinthians, and to their Greek admiration of "wisdom" and
eloquence. The abomination of human leadership in the things of God is
here rebuked. Minor disorders were due to vanity, yielding to a childish
delight in tongue and the sign gifts, rather than to sober instruction (1Co
14.1-28). Paul defends his apostleship because it involved the authority
of the doctrine revealed through him.
A rigid analysis of First Corinthians is not possible, The Epistle is not
a treatise, but came from the Spirit through the apostle's grief,
solicitude, and holy indignation. The following analysis may, however, be
helpful. I. Introduction: The believer's standing in grace, 1.1-9 II.
The contrast of their present factious state, 1.10-4.21. III. Immorality
rebuked; discipline enjoined, 5.1-6,8. IV. The sanctity of the body, and
Christian marriage, 6.9-7, 40. V. Meats, and the limitations of Christian
liberty, 8.1-11.1. VI. Christian order and the Lord's Supper, 11.2-34
VII. Spiritual gifts in relation to the body, the church, and Christian
ministry, 12.1-14,40. VIII. The resurrection of the dead, 15.1-58 IX.
Special directions and greetings, 16.1-24.
[1] {them}
Verses 2-9, in contrast with vs. 10-13, illustrate a distinction
constantly made in the Epistles between the believer's position in
Christ Jesus, in the family of God, and his walk, or actual state.
Christian position in grace is the result of the work of Christ, and
is fully entered the moment that Christ is received by faith
# Joh 1:12,13 Ro 8:1,15-17 1Co 1:2,30 12:12,13 Ga 3:26 Eph 1:3-14 2:4-9
# 1Pe 2:9 Re 1:6 5:9,10
The weakest, most ignorant, and fallible believer has precisely the
same relationships in grace as the most illustrious saint. All the
after work of God in his behalf, the application of the word to walk
and conscience
# Joh 17:17 Eph 5:26
the divine chastenings
# 1Co 11:32 Heb 12:10
the ministry of the Spirit
# Eph 4:11,12
the difficulties and trials of the path
# 1Pe 4:12,13
and the final transformation at the appearing of Christ
# 1Jo 3:2
have for their object to make the believer's character
conform to his exalted position in Christ. He grows in grace, not
into grace.
[1] {coming}
Three words are used in connection with the return of the Lord: (1)
Parousia, "personal presence," also used by Paul of the "coming" of
Stephanas
# 1Co 16:17
of Titus
# 2Co 7:6,7
and of his own "coming" to Philippi
# Php 1:26
The word means simply personal presence, and is used of the return of
the Lord as that event relates to the blessing of the saints
# 1Co 15:23 1Th 4:14,17
and to the destruction of the man of sin
# 2Th 2:8
(2) Apokalupsis, "unveiling," "revelation." The use of this word
emphasizes the visibility of the Lord's return. It is used of the
Lord
# 2Th 1:7 1Pe 1:7,13 4:13
of the sons of God in connection with the Lord's return
# Ro 8:19
and of the man of sin
# 2Th 2:3,6,8
and always implies visibility. (3) Epiphaneia, "appearing," trans.
"brightness"
# 2Th 2:8
A.V.; "manifestation," R.V.), and means simply an appearing. It
is used of both advents.
# 2Ti 1:10 2Th 2:8 1Ti 6:14 2Ti 4:1,8 Tit 2:13
[2] {day of our Lord Jesus}
The expression "day of Christ," occurs in the following passages:
# 1Co 1:8 5:5 2Co 1:14 Php 1:6,10 2:16
A.V. has "day of Christ,"
# 2Th 2:2
incorrectly, for "day of the Lord"
# Isa 2:12 Re 19:11-21
The "day of Christ" relates wholly to the reward and blessing of
saints at his coming, as "day of the Lord" is connected with judgment.
[1] {words}
(1) The writers of Scripture invariably affirm, where the subject is
mentioned by them at all, that the words of their writings are
divinely taught. This, of necessity, refers to the original
documents, not to translations and versions; but the labours of
competent scholars have brought our English versions to a degree of
perfection so remarkable that we may confidently rest upon them as
authoritative.
(2)
# 1Co 2:9-14
gives the process by which a truth passes from the mind of God to the
minds of His people. (a) The unseen things of God are undiscoverable
by the natural man (v. 9). (b) These unseen things God has revealed
to chosen men (vs. 10-12). (c) The revealed things are communicated
in Spirit-taught words (v. 13). This implies neither mechanical
dictation nor the effacement of the writer's personality, but only
that the Spirit infallibly guides in the choice of words from the
writer's own vocabulary (v. 13). (d) These Spirit-taught words, in
which the revelation has been expressed, are discerned, as to their
true spiritual content, only by the spiritual among believers
# 1Co 2:15,16
» See Note "Re 22:19"
[2] {natural man}
Paul divides men into three classes: psuchikos, "of the senses"
# Jas 3:15 Jude 1:19
or "natural," i.e. the Adamic man, unrenewed through the new birth
# Joh 3:3,5
pneumatikos, "spiritual," i.e. the renewed man as Spirit-filled and
walking in the Spirit in full communion with God
# Eph 5:18-20
and sarkikos, "carnal," "fleshly," i.e. the renewed man who, walking
"after the flesh," remains a babe in Christ
# 1Co 3:1-4
The natural man may be learned, gentle, eloquent, fascinating, but
the spiritual content of Scripture is absolutely hidden from him; and
the fleshly, or carnal, Christian is able to comprehend only its
simplest truths, "milk"
# 1Co 3:2
[1] {one}
Paul refutes the notion that he and Cephas and Apollos are at
variance, mere theologians and rival founders of sects: they are
"one."
# 1Co 3:22 16:12
[2] {reward}
God, in the N.T. Scriptures, offers to the lost, salvation, and, for
the faithful service of the saved, rewards. The passages are easily
distinguished by remembering that salvation is invariably spoken of
as a free gift (e.g.)
# Joh 4:10 Ro 6:23 Eph 2:8,9
while rewards are earned by works
# Mt 10:42 Lu 19:17 1Co 9:24,25 2Ti 4:7,8 Re 2:10 22:12
A further distinction is that salvation is a present possession
# Lu 7:50 Joh 3:36 5:24 6:47
while rewards are a future attainment, to be given at the coming of
the Lord
# Mt 16:27 2Ti 4:8 Re 22:12
[1] {And ye are puffed up}
What contempt this pours upon the divisions among the Corinthians:
"Apollonians," and "Paulinians," and "Cephasites," all alike indifferent
to this instance of gross sin!
[1] {destruction}
Gr. \\olethros\\, used elsewhere,
# 1Th 5:3 2Th 1:9 1Ti 6:9
never means annihilation
No note
[1] {speak}
So far from disclaiming inspiration, the apostle associates his
teaching with the Lord's. Cases had arisen (e.g.)
# 1Co 7:12-16
as the Gospel overflowed Jewish limitations, not comprehended in the
words of Jesus
# Mt 5:31,32 19:5-9
which were an instruction, primarily, to Israel. These new conditions
demanded authoritative settlement, and only the inspired words of an
apostle could give that.
# 1Co 7:40
[1] {without}
The expression is peculiar and might be literally rendered, " not
lawless toward God, but inlawed to Christ." See "Law (of Christ),"
# Ga 6:2 2Jo 1:5
It is another way of saying, "not under the law, but
under [the rule of] grace."
# Ro 6:14
[1] {castaway}
Gr. adokimos, "disapproved." Dokimos, without the private a, is
translated "approved" in
# Ro 14:18 16:10 1Co 11:19 2Co 10:18 2Ti 2:15 Jas 1:12
by the word "tried." The prefix simply changes the word to a negative,
i.e. not approved, or, disapproved. The apostle is writing of service,
not of salvation. He is not expressing fear that he may fail of
salvation but of his crown. See "Rewards"
# Da 12:3 1Co 3:14
[2] {fell in one day}
Cf.
# Nu 25:9
A discrepancy has been imagined.
# 1Co 10:8
gives the number of deaths in "one day";
# Nu 25:9
the total number of deaths "in the plague." Some discrepant statements
concerning numbers are, however, found in the existing manuscripts of
the Hebrew Scriptures. These are most naturally ascribed to the fact
that the Hebrews used letters in the place of numerals. The letters
for Koph to Tau express hundreds up to four hundred. Five certain
Hebrew letters, written in a different form, carry hundreds up to nine
hundred, while thousands are expressed by two dots over the proper
unit letter: e.g. the letter Teth, used alone, stands for 9; with two
dots it stands for nine thousand. Error in transcription of Hebrew
numbers thus becomes easy, preservation of numerical accuracy
difficult.
[1] {judge}
Self-judgment is not so much the believer's moral condemnation of his
own ways or habits, or of himself, for allowing such ways.
Self-judgment avoids chastisement. If neglected, the Lord judges,
and the result is chastisement, but never condemnation
# 1Co 11:32 2Sa 7:14,15 12:13,14 1Co 5:5 1Ti 1:20 Heb 12:7
See other judgments:
» See Note "Joh 12:31"
» See Note "2Co 5:10"
» See Note "Mt 25:32"
» See Note "Re 20:12"
[2] {spiritual gifts}
The word pneumatika, lit. "spirituals," i.e. matters of or from the
Holy Spirit, gives the key to Chapters 12., 13., 14. Chapter 12.
concerns the Spirit in relation to the body of Christ. This relation
is twofold: (1) The baptism with the Spirit forms the body by uniting
believers to Christ the risen and glorified Head, and to each other
(vs 12,13). The symbol of the body thus formed is the natural, human
body (v. 12), and all the analogies are freely used (vs 14-26). (2)
To each believer is given a spiritual enablement and capacity for
specific service. No believer is destitute of such gift (vs 7, 11,
27), but in their distribution the Spirit acts in free sovereignty
(v. 11). There is no room for self-choosing, and Christian service
is simply the ministry of such gift as the individual may have
received (cf)
# Ro 12:4-8
The gifts are diverse (vs. 6, 8-10, 28-30), but all are equally
honourable because bestowed by the same Spirit, administered under the
same Lord, and energized by the same God.
[1] {prophecy}
The N.T. prophet is not ordinarily a foreteller, but rather a
forth-teller, one whose gift enabled him to speak "to edification, and
exhortation, and comfort"
# 1Co 14:3
[2] {more excellent}
Chapter 13. continues the pneumatika begun in Chapter 12. Gifts are
good, but only if ministered in love (13.1,2). Benevolence is good, but
not apart from love (13.3). Love is described (13.4-7). Love is better
than our present incomplete knowledge (13.8-12), and greater than even
faith and hope (v. 13).
[1] {rather}
The subject is still the pneumatika. Chapter 12, described the gifts
and the Body; Chapter 13. the love which alone gives ministry of gift
any value; Chapter 14. regulates the ministry of gift in the
primitive, apostolic assembly of saints. (1) The important gift is
that of prophecy (v. 1). The N.T. prophet was not merely a preacher,
but an inspired preacher, through whom, until the N.T. was written,
new revelations suited to the new dispensation were given
# 1Co 14:29,30
(2) Tongues and the sign gifts are to cease, and meantime
must be used with restraint, and only if an interpreter be present
# 1Co 14:1-19,27,28
(3) In the primitive church there was liberty for the ministry of all
the gifts which might be present, but for prophecy more especially
# 1Co 14:23-26,31,39
(4) In such meetings, when "the whole church" came together "in one
place," women were required to keep silence
# 1Co 14:34,35 11:3-16 1Ti 2:11-14
(5) These injunctions are declared to be "the commandments of the Lord"
# 1Co 14:36,37
[1] {born out of due time}
Gr. to ektromati, "before the due time." Paul thinks of himself here
as an Israelite whose time to be born again had not come, nationally
(cf)
# Mt 23:39
so that his conversion by the appearing of the Lord in glory
# Ac 9:3-6
was an illustration, or instance before the time, of the future
national conversion of Israel. See
# Eze 20:34-38 Ho 2:14-17 Zec 12:10-13:6 Ro 11:25-27
[2] {Adam}
Adam was a contrasting type of Christ
# 1Co 15:45-47 Ro 5:14-19
(1) "The first man Adam was made a living soul"
# Ge 2:7
i.e. he derived life from another, that is, God. "The last Adam was a
life-giving spirit." So far from deriving life, He was Himself the
fountain of life, and He gave that life to others
# Joh 1:4 5:21 10:10 12:24 1Jo 5:12
(2) In origin the first man was of the earth, earthy; the Second Man
is the Lord from heaven. (3) Each is the head of a creation, and
these also are in contrast: in Adam all die; in Christ all will be
made alive; the Adamic creation is "flesh"; the new creation,
"spirit."
# Joh 3:6
[3] {kingdom}
Kingdom (N.T.), Summary: See "Kingdom (O.T.)"
# Ge 1:26-28
» See Note "Zec 12:8"
Kingdom truth is developed in the N.T. in the following
order: (1) The promise of the kingdom to David and his seed, and
described in the prophets
# 2Sa 7:8-17, Zec 12:8
enters the N.T. absolutely unchanged.
# Lu 1:31-33
The King was born in Bethlehem
# Mt 2:1 Mic 5:2
of a virgin.
# Mt 1:18-25 Isa 7:14
(2) The kingdom announced as "at hand"
» See Note "Mt 4:17"
by John the Baptist, by the King, and by the Twelve, was rejected by
the Jews, first morally
# Mt 21:42,43
and the King, crowned with thorns, was crucified. (3) In anticipation
of His official rejection and crucifixion, the King revealed the
"mysteries" of the kingdom of heaven
» See Note "Mat 13.11
to be fulfilled in the interval between His rejection and His return
in glory
# Mt 13:1-50
(4) Afterward He announced His purpose to "build" His church
# Mt 16:18
another "mystery" revealed through Paul which is being fulfilled
contemporaneously with the mysteries of the kingdom. The "mysteries
of the kingdom of heaven" and the "mystery" of the church
# Eph 3:9-11
occupy, historically, the same period, i.e, this present age. (5)
The mysteries of the kingdom will be brought to an end by "the
harvest"
# Mt 13:39-43,49,50
at the return of the King in glory, the church having previously been
caught up to meet Him in the air
# 1Th 4:14-17
(6) Upon His return the King will restore the Davidic monarchy in His
own person, re-gather dispersed Israel, establish His power over all
the earth, and reign one thousand years
# Mt 24:27-30 Lu 1:31-33 Ac 15:14-17 Re 20:1-10
(7) The kingdom of heaven
» See Note "Mt 3:2"
thus established under David's divine Son, has for its object the
restoration of the divine authority in the earth, which
may be regarded as a revolted province of the great kingdom of God
» See Note "Mt 6:33"
When this is done (vs. 24,25) the Son will deliver up the kingdom
(of heaven),
# Mt 3:2
to "God, even the Father," that "God" (i.e. the triune God, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit) "may be all in all" (v.28). The eternal throne
is that "of God, and of the Lamb"
# Re 22:1
The kingdom-age constitutes the seventh Dispensation
» See Note "Eph 1:10"
[1] {raised}
Resurrection, Summary: (1) The resurrection of the dead was believed
by the patriarchs
# Ge 22:5 Heb 11:19 Job 19:25-27
and revealed through the prophets
# Isa 26:19 Da 12:2,13 Ho 13:14
and miracles of the dead restored to life are recorded in the O.T.
# 2Ki 4:32-35 13:21
(2) Jesus Christ restored life to the dead
# Mt 9:25 Lu 7:12-15 Joh 11:43,44
and predicted His own resurrection
# Joh 10:18 Lu 24:1-8
(3) A resurrection of bodies followed the resurrection of Christ
# Mt 27:52,53
and the apostles raised the dead
# Ac 9:36-41 20:9,10
(4) Two resurrections are yet future, which are inclusive of "all that
are in the graves"
# Joh 5:28
These are distinguished as "of life"
# 1Co 15:22,23 1Th 4:14-17 Re 20:4
and "of judgment"
# Joh 5:28,29 Re 20:11-13
They are separated by a period of one thousand years
# Re 20:5
The "first resurrection," that "unto life," will occur at the second
coming of Christ
# 1Co 15:23
the saints of the O.T. and church ages meeting Him in the air
# 1Th 4:16,17
while the martyrs of the tribulation, who also have part in the
resurrection
# Re 20:4
are raised at the end of the great tribulation. (5) The mortal body
will be related to the resurrection body as grain sown is related to
the harvest
# 1Co 15:37,38
that body will be incorruptible, glorious, powerful, and
spiritual
# 1Co 15:42-44,49
(6) The bodies of living believers will, at the same time, be
instantaneously changed
# 1Co 15:50-53 Php 3:20,21
This "change" of the living, and resurrection of the dead in Christ,
is called the "redemption of the body"
# Ro 8:23 Eph 1:13,14
(7) After the thousand years the "resurrection unto judgment"
# Joh 5:29
occurs. The resurrection-body of the wicked dead is not described.
They are judged according to their works, and cast into the lake of
fire.
# Re 20:7-15
Scofield Reference Notes Book Introduction The Second Epistle of Paul The
(1917 Edition) Apostle to the Corinthians
WRITER. The Apostle Paul
DATE. A.D. 60; probably from Philippi, after the events of Acts
19.23-20.1-3.
THEME. The Epistle discloses the touching state of the great apostle at
this time. It was one of physical weakness, weariness, and pain. But his
spiritual burdens were greater. These were two kinds--solicitude for the
maintenance of the churches in grace as against the law-teachers, and
anguish of heart over the distrust felt toward him by Jews and Jewish
Christians. The chilling doctrines of the legalizers were accompanied by
detraction, and by denial of his apostleship.
It is evident that the really dangerous sect in Corinth was that which
said, "and I of Christ" (1Co 1.12). They rejected the new revelation
through Paul of the doctrines of grace; grounding themselves, probably, on
the kingdom teachings of our Lord as "a minister of circumcision" (Ro 15.8);
seemingly oblivious that a new dispensation had been introduced by Christ's
death. This made necessary a defence of the origin and extent of Paul's
apostolic authority.
The Epistle is in three parts: I. Paul's principles of action, 1.1-7-16.
II. The collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem, 8.1-9.15. III. Paul's
defence of his apostolic authority, 10.1-13.14.
[1] {For we must all appear}
The judgment of the believer's works, not sins, is in question here.
These have been atoned for, and are "remembered no more forever"
# Heb 10:17
but every work must come into judgment
# Mt 12:36 Ro 14:10 Ga 6:7 Eph 6:8 Col 3:24,25
The result is "reward" or "loss" (of the reward), "but he himself
shall be saved"
# 1Co 3:11-15
This judgment occurs at the return of Christ
# Mt 16:27 Lu 14:14 1Co 4:5 2Ti 4:8 Re 22:12
See other judgments:
» See Note "Joh 12:31"
» See Note "1Co 11:31"
» See Note "Mt 25:32"
» See Note "Eze 20:37"
» See Note "Jude 1:6"
» See Note "Re 20:12"
[1] {come out from among them}
Separation, Summary: (1) Separation in Scripture is twofold: "from"
whatever is contrary to the mind of God; and "unto" God Himself. The
underlying principle is that in a moral universe it is impossible for
God to fully bless and use His children who are in compromise or
complicity with evil. The unequal yoke is anything which unites a
child of God and an unbeliever in a common purpose
# De 22:10
(2) Separation from evil implies (a) separation in desire, motive, and
act, from the world, in the ethically bad sense of this present
world-system
» See Note "Re 13:8"
and (b) separation from believers, especially false teachers, who are
"vessels unto dishonour"
# 2Ti 2:20,21 2Jo 1:9-11
(3) Separation is not from contact with evil in the world or the
church, but from complicity with and conformity to
# Joh 17:15 2Co 6:14-18 Ga 6:1
(4) The reward of separation is the full manifestation of the divine
fatherhood
# 2Co 6:17,18
unhindered communion and worship
# Heb 13:13-15
and fruitful service
# 2Ti 2:21
as world-conformity involves the loss of these, though not of
salvation. Here, as in all else, Christ is the model.
He was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners"
# Heb 7:26
and yet in such contact with them for their salvation that the
Pharisees, who illustrate the mechanical and ascetic conception of
separation
» See Note "Mt 3:7"
judged Him as having lost His Nazarite character.
# Lu 7:39
Cf
# 1Co 9:19-23 10:27
[1] {Moreover}
In
# 2Co 8:9
the apostle sums up the Christian doctrine of giving. It may be thus
summarized: (1) It is a "grace," i.e. a disposition created by the
Spirit
# 2Co 8:7
(2) In contrast with the law, which imposed giving as a divine
requirement, Christian giving is voluntary, and a test of sincerity
and love
# 2Co 8:8-12 9:1,2,5,7
(3) The privilege is universal, belonging, according to ability, to
rich and poor
# 2Co 8:1-3,12-15 1Co 16:1,2
(4) Giving is to be proportioned to income
# 2Co 8:12-14 1Co 16:2
The O.T. proportion was the tithe, a proportion which antedates the
law
# Ge 14:20
(5) The rewards of Christian giving are (a) joy
# 2Co 8:2
(b) increased ability to give in proportion to that which has been
already given
# 2Co 9:7-11
(c) increased thankfulness to God
# 2Co 9:12
(d) God and the Gospel glorified
# 2Co 9:13,14
[1] {thorn}
It has been conjectured that Paul's "thorn in the flesh" was chronic
ophthalmia, inducing bodily weakness, and a repulsive appearance
# Ga 4:15 1Co 2:3,4 2Co 10:10
This cannot be positively known, and the reserve of Scripture is as
sure a mark of inspiration as its revelations. Paul's particular
"thorn" is not described that his consolations may avail for all to
who any thorn is given.
The Scofield Reference Notes Book Introduction The Epistle of Paul the
(1917 Edition) Apostle to the Galatians
WRITER. The Apostle Paul (1.1)
DATE. Galatians was probably written A.D. 60, during Paul's third visit to
Corinth, The occasion of the Epistle is evident. It had come to Paul's
knowledge that the fickle Galatians, who were not Greeks, but Gauls, "a
stream from the torrent of barbarians which poured into Greece in the third
century before Christ," had become the prey of the legalizers, the
Judaizing missionaries from Palestine.
THEME. The theme of Galatians is the vindication of the Gospel of the
grace of God from any admixture of law-conditions, which qualify or destroy
its character of pure grace.
The Galatian error had two forms, both of which are refuted. The first is
the teaching that obedience to the law is mingled with faith as the ground
of the sinner's justification; the second, that the justified believer is
made perfect by keeping the law. Paul meets the first form of the error by
a demonstration that justification is through the Abrahamic Covenant (Ge
15.18), and that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after the
confirmation of that covenant, and the true purpose of which was
condemnation, not justification, cannot disannul a salvation which rests
upon the earlier covenant. Paul meets the second and more subtle form by
vindicating the office of the Holy Spirit as Sanctifier.
The book is in seven parts: I. Salutation 1.1-5 II. Theme, 1.6-9. III.
Paul's Gospel is a revelation, 1.10-2.14. IV. Justification is by faith
without law, 2.15-3.24. V. The rule of the believer's life is gracious,
not legal, 3.25-5.15. VI Sanctification is through the Spirit, not the
law, 5.16-24. VII Exhortations and conclusion, 5.25-6.18.
[1] {grace}
The test of the Gospel is grace. If the message excludes grace, or
mingles law with grace as the means of either of justification or
sanctification
# Ga 2:21 3:1-3
or denies the fact or guilt of sin which alone gives grace its
occasion and opportunity, it is "another" gospel, and the preacher of
it is under the anathema of God
# Ga 1:8,9
[2] {For now do}
The demonstration is as follows: (1) The Galatians know Paul, that he
is no seeker after popularity (v. 10). (2) He puts his known
character back of the assertion that his Gospel of grace was a
revelation from God (vs 11,11). (3) As for the Judaizers, Paul had
been a foremost Jew, and had forsaken Judaism for something better
(vs 13, 14). (4) He had preached grace years before he saw any of
the other apostles (vs 15-24). (5) When he did meet the other
apostles they had nothing to add to his revelations
# Ga 2:1-6
(6) The other apostles fully recognized Paul's apostleship.
# Ga 2:17-10
(7) If the legalizers pleaded Peter's authority, the answer was that he
himself had claimed none when rebuked (2.11-14).
[1] {Jews' religion}
The new dispensation of grace having come in, the Mosaic system, if still
persisted in, becomes a mere "Jews' religion."
[2] {religion}
In verses 13 and 14 the Greek word for "the Jews' religion" is
Ioudaismos (Judaism). In
# Ac 26:5 Jas 1:26,27
\\threskeia\\--religious service--is translated "religion," and in
# Col 2:18
"worshipping." Excepting
# Jas 1:27
"religion" has always a bad sense, and nowhere is it synonymous with
salvation or spirituality.
[1] {We who are}
Paul here quotes from his words to Peter when he withstood him at Antioch
to show the Galatians that, whatever the legalists may have pretended,
Peter and he were in perfect accord doctrinally. Paul appealed to the
common belief of Peter and himself as a rebuke of Peter's inconsistent
practice.
[2] {we seek}
That is, "we" Jews.
# Ro 3:19-23
The passage might be thus paraphrased: If we Jews, in seeking to be
justified by faith in Christ, take our places as mere sinners, like
the Gentiles, is it therefore Christ who makes us sinners? By no
means. It is by putting ourselves again under law after seeking
justification through Christ, that we act as if we were still
unjustified sinners, seeking to become righteous through law-works.
# Ga 5:1-4
[1] {Wherefore then}
The answer is sixfold: (1) The law was added because of transgressions,
i.e. to give to sin the character of transgression. (a) Men had been
sinning before Moses, but in the absence of law their sins were not put
to their account.
# Ro 5:13
The law gave to sin the character of "transgression," i.e. of personal
guilt. (b) Also, since men not only continued to transgress after
the law was given, but were provoked to transgress by the very law
that forbade it
# Ro 7:8
the law conclusively proved the inveterate sinfulness of man's nature
# Ro 7:11-13
(2) The law, therefore, "concluded all under sin"
# Ro 3:19,20,23
(3) The law was an ad interim dealing, "till the seed should come"
(4) The law shut sinful man up to faith as the only avenue of escape.
# Ga 3:23
(5) The law was to the Jews what the pedagogue was in a Greek household,
a ruler of children in their minority, and it had this character "unto"
i.e. until Christ
# Ga 3:24
(6) Christ having come, the believer is no longer under the pedagogue.
# Ga 3:25
[2] {law}
I. The law of Moses, Summary: (1) The Mosaic Covenant was given to
Israel in three parts: the commandments, expressing the righteous
will of God
# Ex 20:1-26
the "judgments," governing the social life of Israel
# Ex 21:1-24:11
and the "ordinances," governing the religious life of Israel
# Ex 24:12 31:18
(2) The commandments and ordinances were one complete and inseparable
whole. When an Israelite sinned, he was held "blameless" if he
brought the required offering
# Lu 1:6 Php 3:6
(3) Law, as a method of the divine dealing with man, characterized the
dispensation extending from the giving of the law to the death of
Jesus Christ
# Ga 3:13,14,23,24
(4) The attempt of legalistic teachers (e.g.)
# Ac 15:1-31 Ga 2:1-5
to mingle law with grace as the divine method for this present
dispensation of grace, brought out the true relation of the law to
the Christian, viz.
II. The Christian doctrine of the law: (1) Law is in contrast with grace.
Under the latter God bestows the righteousness which, under law, He
demanded
# Ex 19:5 Joh 1:17
» See Note "Ro 3:21"
# Ro 10:3-10 1Co 1:30
(2) The law is, in itself, holy, just, good, and spiritual
# Ro 7:12-14
(3) Before the law the whole world is guilty, and the law is therefore
of necessity a ministry of condemnation, death, and of the law, and
redeemed the believer both from the curse and from the dominion of the
law
# Ga 3:13 4:5-7
(5) Law neither justifies a sinner nor sanctifies a believer
# Ga 2:16 3:2,3,11,12
(6) The believer is both dead to the law and redeemed from it, so that
he is "not under the law, but under grace"
# Ro 6:14 7:4 Ga 2:19 4:4-7 1Ti 1:8,9
(7) Under the new covenant of grace the principle of obedience to the
divine will is inwrought
# Heb 10:6
So far is the life of the believer from the anarchy of self-will that
he is "inlawed to Christ"
# 1Co 9:21
and the new "law of Christ"
# Ga 6:2 2Jo 1:5
is his delight; while, through the indwelling Spirit, the
righteousness of the law is fulfilled in him
# Ro 8:2-4 Ga 5:16-18
The commandments are used in the distinctively Christian Scriptures
as an instruction in righteousness
# 2Ti 3:16 Ro 13:8-10 Eph 6:1-3 1Co 9:8,9
[1] {schoolmaster}
Gr. paidagogos, "child-conductor." "among the Greeks and Romans,
persons, for the most part slaves, who had it in charge to educate and
give constant attendance upon boys till they came of age."--H.A.W.
Meyer. The argument does not turn upon the extent or nature of the
pedagogue's authority, but upon the fact that it wholly ceased when the
"child"
# Ga 4:1
became a "So 1:1"
# Ga 4:1-6
when the minor became an adult. The adult "son" does voluntarily that
which formerly he did in fear of the pedagogue. But even if he does
not, it is no longer a question between the son and the pedagogue
(the law), but between the son and his Father--God. (Cf)
# Heb 12:5-10 1Jo 2:1,2
[1] {little children}
The allegory
# Ga 4:22-31
is addressed to justified but immature believers (cf)
# 1Co 3:1,2
who, under the influence of legalistic teachers, "desire to be under
the law," and has, therefore, no application to a sinner seeking
justification. It raises and answers, for the fifth time in this
Epistle, the question, Is the believer under the law?
# Ga 2:19-21 3:1-3 3:25,26 4:4-6 4:9-31
[1] {But the fruit}
Christian character is not mere moral or legal correctness, but the
possession and manifestation of nine graces: love, joy,
peace--character as an inward state; longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness--character in expression toward man; faith, meekness,
temperance--character in expression toward God. Taken together they
present a moral portrait of Christ, and may be taken as the apostle's
explanation of
# Ga 2:20
"Not I, but Christ," and as a definition of "fruit" in
# Joh 15:1-8
This character is possible because of the believer's vital union to
Christ
# Joh 15:5 1Co 12:12,13
and is wholly the fruit of the Spirit in those believers who are
yielded to Him
# Ga 5:22,23
[1] {large}
Gr. "with how large letters . . .mine own hand." The apostle was, it
appears from many considerations, afflicted with ophthalmia, a common
disease in the East, to the point almost of total blindness (e.g.)
# Ga 4:13-15
Ordinarily, therefore, he dictated his letters. But now, having no
amanuensis at hand, but urged by the spiritual danger of his
dear Galatians, he writes, we cannot know with what pain and
difficulty, with his own hand, in the "large letters" his darkened
vision compelled him to use.
Scofield Reference Notes Book Introductions The Epistle of Paul the
(1917 Edition) Apostle to the Ephesians
Also [1] {in Christ Jesus}
WRITER. The Apostle Paul (1.1)
DATE. Ephesians was written from Rome in A.D. 64. It is the first in
order of the Prison Epistles.
# Ac 20:1-27:44
» See Note "Ac 28:30"
and was sent by Tychicus, concurrently with Colossians and Philemon.
It is probable that the two greater letters had their occasion in the
return of Onesimus to Philemon. Ephesians is the most impersonal of
Paul's letters. Indeed the words, "to the Ephesians," are not in the
best manuscripts.
# Col 4:16
mentions an epistle to the Laodiceans. It has been conjectured that the
letter known to us as Ephesians is really the Laodicean letter. Probably
it was sent to Ephesus and Laodicea without being addressed to any
church. The letter would then be "to the saints and the faithful in
Christ Jesus" anywhere.
THEME. The doctrine of the Epistle confirms this view. It contains
the highest church truth, but has nothing about church order. The
church here is the true church, "His body," not the local church, as in
Philippians, Corinthians, etc. Essentially, three lines of truth make
up this Epistle: the believer's exalted position through grace; the
truth concerning the body of Christ; and a walk in accordance with that
position.
There is a close spiritual affinity between Ephesians and Joshua, the
"heavenlies" answering in Christian position to Canaan in Israel's
experience. In both there is conflict, often failure, but also
victory, rest, and possession
# Jos 21:43-45 Eph 1:3 3:14-19 6:16,23
As befits a complete revelation, the number seven is conspicuous in the
structure of Ephesians.
The divisions are, broadly, four: I. The apostolic greeting. 1.1,2 II.
Positional; the believer's standing "Christ" and "in the heavenlies"
through pure grace, 1.3-3.21. III. Walk and service, 4.1-5.17 IV. The
walk and warfare of the Spirit-filled believer, 5.18-6.24.
[1] {in Christ}
The believer's place as a member of the body of Christ, vitally united
to Him by the baptism with the Holy Spirit
# 1Co 12:12,13
[2] {in heavenly places}
Literally, \\the heavenlies.\\ The same Greek word is used in
# Joh 3:12
where "things" is added. In both places the word signifies that
which is heavenly in contradistinction to that which is earthy. In
Ephesians "places" is especially misleading. "The heavenlies" may
be defined as the sphere of the believer's spiritual experience as
identified with Christ in nature.
# 2Pe 1:4
life
# Col 3:4 1Jo 5:12
relationships
# Joh 20:17 Heb 2:11
service
# Joh 17:18 Mt 28:20
suffering
# Php 1:29 3:10 Col 1:24
inheritance
# Ro 8:16,17
and future glory in the kingdom
# Ro 8:18-21 1Pe 2:9 Re 1:6 5:10
The believer is a heavenly man, and a stranger and pilgrim on the
earth.
# Heb 3:1 1Pe 2:11
[1] {predestinated} [2] {adoption}
Predestination is that effective exercise of the will of God by which
things before determined by Him are brought to pass. See Election,
» See Note "1Pe 1:2"
Foreknowledge,
» See Note "1Pe 1:20"
[2]
Adoption (huiothesia, "placing as a son") is not so much a word of
relationship as of position. The believer's relation to God as a child
results from the new birth
# Joh 1:12,13
whereas adoption is the act of God whereby one already a child is,
through redemption from the law, placed in the position of an adult
son.
# Ga 4:1-5
The indwelling Spirit gives the realization of this in the believer's
present experience
# Ga 4:6
but the full manifestation of the believer's sonship awaits
the resurrection, change, and translation of saints, which is called
"the redemption of the body"
# Ro 8:23 1Th 4:14-17 Eph 1:14 1Jo 3:2
[3] {dispensation of the fullness of times}
The Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. This, the seventh and last
of the ordered ages which condition human life on the earth, is
identical with the kingdom covenanted to David.
# 2Sa 7:8-17 Zec 12:8
Summary;
# Lu 1:31-33, 1Co 15:24
Summary), and gathers into itself under Christ all past "times":
(1) The time of oppression and misrule ends by Christ taking His
kingdom.
# Isa 11:3,4
(2) The time of testimony and divine forbearance ends in judgment.
# Mt 25:31-46 Ac 17:30,31 Re 20:7-15
(3) The time of toil ends in rest and reward.
# 2Th 1:6,7
(4) The time of suffering ends in glory.
# Ro 8:17,18
(5) The time of Israel's blindness and chastisement ends in
restoration and conversion.
# Ro 11:25-27 Eze 39:25-29
(6) The times of the Gentiles end in the smiting of the image and the
setting up of the kingdom of the heavens.
# Da 2:34,35 Re 19:15-21
(7) The time of creation's thraldom ends in deliverance at the
manifestation of the sons of God.
# Ge 3:17 Isa 11:6-8 Ro 8:19-21
[3] {sealed}
The Holy Spirit is Himself the seal. In the symbolism of Scripture a
seal signifies: (1) A finished transaction
# Jer 32:9,10 Joh 17:4 19:30
(2) Ownership
# Jer 32:11,12 2Ti 2:19
(3) Security
# Es 8:8 Da 6:17 Eph 4:30
[1] {dead}
Death (spiritual), Summary: Spiritual death is the state of the natural
or unregenerate man as still in his sins.
# Eph 2:1
alienated from the life of God
# Eph 4:18,19
and destitute of the Spirit. Prolonged beyond the death of the body,
spiritual death is a state of eternal separation from God in
conscious suffering. This is called "the second death."
# Re 2:11 20:6,14 21:8
[2] {new}
Here the "new man" is not the individual believer but the church,
considered as the body of Christ in the sense of
# Eph 1:22,23 1Co 12:12,13 Col 3:10,11
» See Note "Heb 12:23"
[1] {That the Gentiles}
That the Gentiles were to be saved was no mystery
# Ro 9:24-33 10:19-21
The mystery "hid in God" was the divine purpose to make of Jew and
Gentile a wholly new thing--"the church, which is his [Christ's] body,"
formed by the baptism with the Holy Spirit
# 1Co 12:12,13
and in which the earthly distinction of Jew and Gentile disappears
# Eph 2:14,15 Col 3:10,11
The revelation of this mystery, which was foretold, but not
explained by Christ
# Mt 16:18
was committed to Paul. In his writings alone we find the doctrine,
position, walk, and destiny of the church.
[1] {gave} [2] {some}
In
# 1Co 12:8-28
the Spirit is seen as enduing the members of the body of Christ
with spiritual gifts, or enablements for a varied service; here
certain Spirit-endued men, viz. apostles, prophets, evangelists,
pastors, and teachers, are themselves the gifts whom the
glorified Christ bestows upon His body the church. In
Corinthians the gifts are spiritual enablements for specific
service; in Ephesians the gifts are men who have such
enablements.
[2]
The Lord, in bestowing the gifted men, determines, providentially (e.g.
# Ac 11:22-26
or directly through the Spirit (e.g)
# Ac 13:1,2 16:6,7
the places of their service. "Some" (churches or places) need one gift,
as, e.g. evangelist; "some" (churches or places) need rather a pastor or
teacher. Absolutely nothing in Christ's service is left to mere human
judgment or self-choosing. Even an apostle was not permitted to choose
his place of service
# Ac 16:7,8
[3] {new man}
The new man is the regenerate man as distinguished from the old man
» See Note "Ro 6:6"
and is a new man as having become a partaker of the divine
nature and life
# 2Pe 1:4 Col 3:3,4
and in no sense the old man made over, or improved
# 2Co 5:17 Ga 6:15 Eph 2:10 Col 3:10
The new man is Christ, "formed" in the believer
# Ga 2:20 4:19 Col 1:27 1Jo 4:12
[1] {even as Christ}
Christ's love-work for the church is threefold: past, present,
future: (1) For love He gave Himself to redeem the church (v.
25); (2) in love He is sanctifying the church (v. 26); (3) for
the reward of His sacrifice and labour of love He will present
the church to Himself in flawless perfection, "one pearl of great
price" (v. 27)
# Mt 13:46
[1] {bride}
Verses 30, 31 are quoted from
# Ge 2:23,24
and exclude the interpretation that the reference is to the church
merely as the body of Christ. Eve, taken from Adam's body, was truly
"bone of his bones, and flesh of his flesh," but she was also his
wife, united to him in a relation which makes of "twain. . . one
flesh"
# Mt 19:5,6
and so a clear type of the church as bride of Christ.
# 2Co 11:2,3
The bride type are \\Eve\\
# Ge 2:23,24
Rebecca
» See Note "Ge 24.1
Asenath
» See Note "Ge 37:2"
# Ge 41:45
Zipporah
# Ex 2:21
» See Note "Ho 2:2"
Scofield Reference Notes Book Introductions The Epistle of Paul the
(1917 Edition) Apostle to the Philippians
Also [1] {which are at Philippi}
WRITER. The Apostle Paul (1.1)
DATE. The date of Philippians cannot be positively fixed. It is
one of the prison letters. Whether Paul was twice imprisoned, and
if so, whether Philippians was written during the first or second
imprisonment, affects in no way the message of the Epistle. A.D.
64 is the commonly received date. The immediate occasion of the
Epistle is disclosed in
# Php 4:10-18
THEME. The theme of Philippians is Christian experience.
Soundness of doctrine is assumed. There is nothing in church order
to set right. Philippi is a normal New Testament assembly--"saints
in Christ Jesus, with the bishops (elders) and deacons." The
circumstances of the apostle are in striking contrast with his
Christian experience. As to the former, he was Nero's prisoner.
As to the latter, there was the shout of victory, the paean of joy.
Christian experience, he would teach us, is not something which is
going on around the believer, but something which is going on
within him.
The key-verse is, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain"
(1.21). Right Christian experience, then, is the outworking,
whatever one's circumstances may be, of the life, nature, and mind
of Christ living in us (1.6,11 2.5,13).
The divisions are indicated by the chapters: I. Christ, the
believer's life, rejoicing in suffering, 1.1-30. II. Christ, the
believer's pattern, rejoicing in lowly service, 2.1-30 III.
Christ, the believer's object, rejoicing despite imperfections,
3.1-21. IV. Christ, the believer's strength, rejoicing over
anxiety, 4.1-23.
[1] Churches (local), Summary: A local church is an assembly of
professed believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, living for the most
part in one locality, who assemble themselves together in His name
for the breaking of bread, worship, praise, prayer, testimony, the
ministry of the word, discipline, and the furtherance of the Gospel
# Heb 10:25 Ac 20:7 1Co 14:26 5:4,5 Php 4:14-18 1Th 1:8 Ac 13:1-4
Such a church exists where two or three are thus gathered
# Mt 18:20
Every such local church has Christ in the midst, is a temple of God,
and indwelt by the Holy Spirit
# 1Co 3:16,17
When perfected in organization a local church consists of "saints,
with the bishops [elders] and deacons."
[1] {form of God}
"Form," etc. Gr. \\en morphe\\, the form by which a person or thing
strikes the vision, the external appearance."--Thayer. CF
# Joh 17:5
"The glory which I had with Thee before the world was." Nothing in
this passage teaches that the Eternal Word
# Joh 1:1
emptied Himself of either His divine nature, or His attributes, but
only of the outward and visible manifestation of the Godhead. "He
emptied, stripped Himself of the insignia of Majesty."--Lightfoot.
"When occasion demanded He exercised His divine attributes."--
Moorehead. CF
» See Note "Joh 1:1"
» See Note "Joh 20:28"
Scofield Reference Notes Book Introductions The Epistle of Paul the
(1917 Edition) Apostle to the Colossians
WRITER. The Apostle Paul (1.1)
DATE. Colossians was sent by the same messenger who bore
Ephesians and Philemon, and was probably written at the
same time.
THEME. Epaphras, who laboured in the Word in the assembly at
Colosse, was Paul's fellow-prisoner at Rome. Doubtless
from him Paul learned the state of that church. As to
fundamentals that state was excellent (1.3-8), but in a
subtle way two forms of error were at work: The first was
legality in its Alexandrian form of asceticism, "touch
not, taste not," with a trace of the Judaic observance of
"days"; the object of which was the mortification of the
body (cf Ro 8.13). The second form of error was false
mysticism, "intruding into those things which he hath not
seen"--the result of philosophic speculation. because
these are ever present perils, Colossians was written, not
for that day only, but for the warning of the church in
all days.
The Epistle is in seven divisions:
I. Introduction 1.1-8
II. The apostolic prayer 1.9-14
III. The exaltation of Christ, Creator, Redeemer, Indweller
1.15-29
IV. The Godhead incarnate in Christ, in whom the believer is
complete. 2.1-23.
V. The believer's union with Christ in resurrection life and
glory 3.1-4
VI. Christian living, the fruit of union with Christ, 3.5-4.6
VII. Christian fellowship, 4.7-18
[1] {reconciled}
Reconciliation. The Greek word signifies "to change thoroughly from,"
and occurs,
# Ro 5:10 11:15 1Co 7:11 2Co 5:18,19,20
Reconciliation looks toward the effect of the death of christ upon man,
as propitiation
» See Note "Ro 3:25"
is the Godward aspect, and is that effect of the death of
Christ upon the believing sinner which, through divine power, works in
him a "thorough change" toward God from enmity and aversion to love
and trust. It is never said that God is reconciled. God is
propitiated, the sinner reconciled (cf)
# 2Co 5:18-21
[2] {mystery of God}
The "mystery of God" is Christ, as incarnating the fulness of the
Godhead, and all the divine wisdom and knowledge for the redemption
and reconciliation of man.
[1] {intruding into those things}
The errorists against whom Paul warns the Colossians, and against
whom, in principle, the warning has perpetual significance, were
called "Gnostics," from gnosis, "knowledge." These Gnostics "came
most keenly into conflict with the exalted rank and redeeming rank of
Christ, to whom they did not leave His full divine dignity, but
assigned to Him merely the highest rank in the order of spirits,
while they exalted angels as concerned in bringing the Messianic
salvation."--H.A.W. Meyer. Paul's characteristic word in Colossians
for the divine revelation is epignosis, i.e. "full knowledge."
# Col 1:9,10 3:10
as against the pretended "knowledge" of the errorists. The
warnings apply to all extra-biblical forms, doctrines, and customs,
and to all ascetic practices.
[1] {Epaphras}
A touching illustration of priestly service
» See Note "1Pe 2:9"
as distinguished from ministry of gift. Shut up in prison, no longer
able to preach, Epaphras was still, equally with all believers, a
priest. No prison could keep him from the throne of grace, so he gave
himself wholly to the priestly work of intercession.
Scofield Reference Notes Book Introductions The First Epistle of Paul The
(1917 Edition) Apostle to the Thessalonians
See also [1] The Great Doctrines
WRITER The apostle Paul (1.1)
DATE The Epistle was written from Corinth, A.D. 54, shortly after Paul's
departure from Thessalonica (Ac 16., 17.), and is the earliest of
his letters.
THEME The theme of the Epistle is threefold: (1) To confirm young
disciples in the foundational truths already taught them; (2) to
exhort them to go on to holiness; (3) to comfort them concerning
those who had fallen asleep. The second coming of Christ is
prominent throughout. The Epistle is incidentally most interesting
as showing the richness in doctrine of the primitive evangelism.
During a mission of about one month the apostle had taught all the
great doctrines of the Christian faith.
The divisions of the Epistle are sufficiently indicated by the
Chapters.
I. The model church, and the three tenses of the Christian life
1.1-10
II. The model servant and his reward 2.1-20
III. The model brother, and the believer's sanctification 3.1-13
IV. The model walk, and the believer's hope, 4.1-18
V. The model walk, and the day of Jehovah, 5.1-28
[1] {great doctrines outlined}
(See Introductory notes). That is: \\election\\, 1.4; \\Holy Spirit\\,
1.5,6 4.8: 5.19; \\assurance\\, 1.5; \\trinity\\, 1.1,5,6 \\conversion\\,
1.9; \\second advent of Christ\\, 1.10 2.19; 3.13 4.14-17; 5.23;
\\walk\\, 2.12; 4.1; \\sanctification\\,4.3 5.23; \\day of Jehovah\\,
5.1-3; \\resurrection\\, 4.14-18; the \\tripartite\\ nature of man, 5.23.
[2] {how ye turned}
The tenses of the believer's life here indicated are logical and give
the true order. They occur also in
# 1Th 1:3
The "work of faith" is to "turn to God from idols" (cf)
# Joh 6:28,29
the "labour of love" is to "serve the living and true God"; and the
"patience of hope" is to "wait for his Son from heaven" (cf)
# Mt 24:42 25:13 Lu 12:36-48 Ac 1:11 Php 3:20,21
Paul repeats this threefold sequence in
# Tit 2:11-13
[1] {caught}
Not church saints only, but all bodies of the saved, of whatever
dispensation, are included in the first resurrection
» See Note "1Co 15:52"
as here described, but it is peculiarly the "blessed hope" of the
Church (cf)
# Mt 24:42 25:13 Lu 12:36-48 Ac 1:11 Php 3:20,21 Tit 2:11-13
[1] {whole spirit and soul and body}
Man a \\trinity\\. That the human soul and spirit are not identical
is proved by the facts that they are divisible.
# Heb 4:12
and that soul and spirit are sharply distinguished in the burial and
resurrection of the body. It is sown a natural body (soma psuchikon=
"soul-body"), it is raised a spiritual body (soma pneumatikon).
# 1Co 15:44
To assert, therefore, that there is no difference between
soul and spirit is to assert that there is no difference between the
mortal body and the resurrection body. In Scripture use, the
distinction between spirit and soul may be traced. Briefly, that
distinction is that the spirit is that part of man which "knows"
# 1Co 2:11
his mind; the soul is the seat of the affections, desires, and
so of the emotions, and of the active will, the self. "My soul is
exceeding sorrowful"
# Mt 26:38
see also
# Mt 11:29 Joh 12:27
The word transliterated "soul" in the O.T. (nephesh) is the exact
equivalent of the N.T. word for soul (Gr. psuche), and the use of
"soul" in the O.T. is identical with the use of that word in the N.T.
(see, e.g.)
# De 6:5 14:26 1Sa 18:1 20:4,17 Job 7:11,15 14:22 Ps 42:6 84:2
The N.T. word for spirit (pneuma) like the O.T. ruach, is
trans. "air", "breath", "wind," but predominantly "spirit," whether
of God (e.g.)
# Ge 1:2 Mt 3:16
or of man
# Ge 41:8 1Co 5:5
Because man is "spirit" he is capable of God-consciousness, and of
communication with God
# Job 32:8 Ps 18:28 Pr 20:27
because he is "soul" he has self- consciousness
# Ps 13:2 42:5,6,11
because he is "body" he has, through his senses, world consciousness.
» See Note "Ge 1:26"
Scofield Reference Notes Book Introductions The Second Epistle of Paul The
(1917 Edition) Apostle to the Thessalonians
WRITER The Apostle Paul (1,1)
DATE Second Thessalonians was evidently written very soon after Paul's
first letter to that church. The occasion may well have been the
return of the bearer of the former Epistle and his report.
THEME The theme of Second Thessalonians is, unfortunately, obscured by a
mistranslation in the A.V. of 2.2 where "day of Christ is at
hand"
» See Note "1Co 1:8"
should be, "day of the Lord is now present"
(Is 2.12, ref). The Thessalonian converts were "shaken in mind"
and "troubled," supposing, perhaps on the authority of a forged
letter as from Paul, that the persecutions from which they were
suffering were those of the "great and terrible day of the Lord,"
from which they had been taught to expect deliverance by "the day
of Christ, and out gathering together unto him" (2.1)
The present letter, then, was written to instruct the
Thessalonians concerning the day of Christ, "and our gathering
together unto him"
# 1Th 4:14-17
and the relation of the "day of Christ" to the "day of the
Lord." First Thessalonians had more in view the "day of
Christ"; the present Epistle the "day of the Lord."
The Epistle is in five divisions:
I. Salutation, 1.1-4
II. Comfort, 1.5-12
III. Instruction concerning the day of the Lord and the man of
sin, 2.1-12
IV. Exhortations and apostolic commands, 2.13-3.15
V. Benediction and authentication, 3.16-18
[1] {for \\that day\\}
The order of events is: (1) The working of the mystery of lawlessness
under divine restraint which had already begun in the apostle's time
# 2Th 2:7
(2) the apostasy of the professing church
# Lu 18:8 2Ti 3:1-8
(3) the removal of that which restrains the mystery of lawlessness
# 2Th 2:6,7
The restrainer is a person--"he," and since a "mystery" always
implies a supernatural element
» See Note "Mt 13:11"
this Person can be none other than the Holy Spirit in the church, to
be "taken out of the way"
# 2Th 3:7 1Th 4:14-17
(4) the manifestation of the lawless one
# 2Th 2:8-10 Da 7:8 9:27 Mt 24:15 Re 13:2-10
(5) the coming of Christ in glory and the destruction of the lawless
one
# 2Th 2:8 Re 19:11-21
(6) the day of Jehovah
# 2Th 2:9-12 Isa 2:12
Scofield Reference Notes Book Introductions The First Epistle of Paul the
(1917 Edition) Apostle to Timothy
WRITER The Apostle Paul
DATE The date of this Epistle turns upon the question of the two
imprisonments of Paul. If there were two (see:
» See Note "Ac 28:30"
then it is clear that First Timothy was written during the
interval. If Paul endured but one Roman imprisonment, the
Epistle was written shortly before Paul's last journey to
Jerusalem.
THEME As the churches of Christ increased in number, the questions of
church order, of soundness in the faith, and of discipline became
important. At first the apostles regulated these things
directly, but the approaching end of the apostolic period made it
necessary that a clear revelation should be made for the guidance
of the churches. Such a revelation is in First Timothy, and in
Titus. The key-phrase of the Epistle is, "That thou mayest know
how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God." Well
had it been with the churches if they had neither added to nor
taken from the divine order.
The divisions are five:
I. Legality and unsound doctrine rebuked, 1.1-20
II. Prayer and the divine order of the sexes enjoined, 2.1-15
III. The qualifications of elders and deacons, 3.1-16
IV. The walk of the "good minister," 4.1-16
V. The work of the "good minister," 5.1-6.21
[1] {Hymenaeus and Alexander}
It is significant as bearing upon the seriousness of all false
teaching, and particularly as related to resurrection, that Paul
calls it blasphemy to teach that "the resurrection is past already"
# 2Ti 2:17,18
[1] {church}
Church (visible), Summary: The passages under this head
# 1Co 10:32 1Ti 3:15
refer to that visible body of professed believers called,
collectively, "the Church," of which history takes account as such,
though it exists under many names and divisions based upon differences
in doctrine or in government. Within, for the most part, this
historical "Church" has existed the true Church, "which is his body,
the fulness of him that filleth all in all
# Eph 1:22,23
» See Note "Heb 12:23"
like the believing Remnant within Israel
» See Note "Ro 11.5
The predicted future of the visible Church is apostasy
# Lu 18:8 2Ti 3:1-8
of the true Church, glory
# Mt 13:36-43 Ro 8:18-23 1Th 4:14-17
Scofield Reference Notes Book Introductions The Second Epistle of Paul The
(1917 Edition) Apostle to Timothy
WRITER The Apostle Paul (1,1)
DATE The touching letter was written by Paul to his "dearly beloved
son" shortly before his martyrdom (4.6-8), and contains the last
words of the great apostle which inspiration has preserved.
THEME Second Timothy (in common with Second Peter, Jude, and Second and
Third John) has to do with the personal walk and testimony of a
true servant of Christ in a day of apostasy and declension. The
key-phrases are, "All they which are in Asia be turned away from
me" (1.15); and, "A good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2.3). The
Asian churches had not disbanded, nor ceased to call themselves
Christian, but they had turned away from the doctrines of grace
distinctively revealed through the Apostle Paul (see
Introduction, p. 1189). This was the proof that already the
apostasy had set in its first form, legalism.
The natural divisions are four:
I. The Apostle's greeting, 1.1-18
II. The pathway of an approved servant in a day of apostasy
2.1-26
III. Apostasy and the Word, 3.1-17
IV. A faithful servant and his faithful Lord, 4.1-22
[1] {suffer}
The believer's resources in a day of general declension and apostasy
are: (1) Faith (1.5); (2) the Spirit (1.6,7); (3) the word of God
(1.13 3.1-17 4.3,4) (4) the grace of Christ (2.1); (5) separation
from vessels unto dishonour (2.4,20,21); (6) the Lord's sure reward
(4.7,8); (7) the Lord's faithfulness and power (2.13,19).
[1] {know}
Apostasy, Summary: Apostasy, "falling away," is the act of professed
Christians who deliberately reject revealed truth (1) as to the deity of
Jesus Christ, and (2) redemption through His atoning and redeeming
sacrifice
# 1Jo 4:1-3 Php 3:18 2Pe 2:1
Apostasy differs from error concerning truth, which may be the result
of ignorance
# Ac 19:1-6
or heresy, which may be due to the sphere of Satan
# 2Ti 2:25,26
both of which may consist with true faith. The apostate is perfectly
described in
# 2Ti 4:3 2Pe 2:1-19 Jude 1:4,8,11-13,16
Apostasy in the church, as in Israel
# Isa 1:5,6 5:5-7
is irremediable, and awaits judgment
# 2Th 2:10-12 2Pe 2:17,21 Jude 1:11-15 Re 3:14-16
Scofield Reference Notes book Introductions The Epistle of Paul the
(1917 Edition) Apostle to Titus
WRITER The Apostle Paul (1.1)
DATE Practically the same with First Timothy
THEME Titus has much in common with First Timothy. Both Epistles are
concerned with the due order of the churches. The distinction is
that in First Timothy sound doctrine is more prominent
# 1Ti 1:3-10
in Titus the divine order for the local churches
# Tit 1:5
The permanent use of these Epistles lies in this twofold
application, on the one hand to churches grown careless as to the
truth of God, on the other, to churches careless as to the order
of God's house. The importance of this order is made solemnly
emphatic in that the tests by which true elders and deacons may
be known are repeated
# 1Ti 3:1-7 Tit 1:6-9
There are two divisions: I. The qualifications and functions of
elders, 1.1-16. II. The pastoral work of the true elder, 2.1-3,
15.
[1] {wanting} [2] {elders}
It is not at all a question of the presence in the assembly of persons
having the qualifications of elders, made overseers by the Holy Spirit
# Ac 20:28
that such persons were in the churches of Crete is assumed;
the question is altogether one of the appointment of such persons. These
assemblies were not destitute of elders; but were "wanting," in that they
were not duly appointed. There is a progress of doctrine in respect of
the appointing of elders. Cf. v. 5, note.
[2]
Elder (presbuteros) and bishop (episcopos= "overseer") designate the same
office (cf v.7
# Ac 20:17 20:28
the former referring to the man, the latter to a function of the office.
The eldership in the apostolic local churches was always plural.
There is no instance of one elder in a local church. The functions of
the elders are: to rule
# 1Ti 3:4,5 5:17
to guard the body of revealed truth from perversion and error
# Tit 1:9
to "oversee" the church as a shepherd his flock
# Ac 20:28 Joh 21:16 Heb 13:17 1Pe 5:2
Elders are made or "set" in the churches by the Holy Spirit
# Ac 20:28
but great stress is laid upon their due appointment
# Ac 14:23 Tit 1:5
At first they were ordained (Gr. cheirotoneo, "to elect," "to
designate with the hand,") by an apostle; e.g.
# Ac 14:23
but in Titus and First Timothy the qualifications of an elder become
part of the Scriptures for the guidance of the churches in such
appointment.
# 1Ti 3:1-7
Scofield Reference Notes Book Introductions The Epistle of Paul the
(1917 Edition) Apostle to Philemon
WRITER The Apostle Paul (1.1)
DATE Probably A.D. 64. It is one of the Prison Epistles. See
Introductions to Ephesians and Colossians.
THEME Onesimus ("profitable"), a slave of Philemon, a Christian of
Colosse, had robbed his master and fled to Rome. There he
became a convert through Paul, who sent him back to Philemon
with this letter. It is of priceless value as a teaching (1) in
practical righteousness; (2) in Christian brotherhood; (3) in
Christian courtesy; (4) in the law of love.
The divisions are four I. Greeting 1-3. II. The character of
Philemon, 4-7. III. Intercession for Onesimus, 8.21. IV.
Salutations and conclusion, 22.25.
[1] {account}
Verses 17, 18 perfectly illustrate imputation: "Receive him as
myself"--reckon to him my merit; "If he hath wronged thee or oweth thee
ought, put that on mine account"--reckon to me his demerit. See
"Imputation,"
# Le 25:50
» See Note "Jas 2:23"
The Scofield Reference Notes The Jewish-Christian Epistles followed by
Introduction to Hebrews. (1917 Edition)
In Hebrews, James, First and Second Peter, and Jude we have a group
of inspired writings differing in important respects from Paul's
Epistles. But this difference is in no sense one of conflict. All
present the same Christ, the same salvation, the same morality. The
difference is one of extension, of development. The Jewish-Christian
writings deal with the elementary and foundational things of the
Gospel, while to Paul were given the revelations concerning the
church, her place in the counsels of God, and the calling and hope of
the believer as vitally united to Christ in the one body.
The other characteristic difference is that while Paul has in view
the body of true believers, who are therefore assuredly saved,the
Judaeo-Christian writers view the church as a professing body in
which, during this age, the wheat and tares are mingled.
# Mt 13:24-30
Their writings, therefore, abound, in warnings calculated
to arouse and alarm the mere professor. A word of caution is,
however, needful at this point. The persons warned are neither mere
hypocrites, nor mere formalists. So far as they have gone their
experiences are perfectly genuine. It is said of the supposed
persons in Heb 6.4-9 that they had been "enlightened," and the same
word is use Heb 10.32, translated "illuminated." They are said, too,
to have "tasted" of the heavenly gift, and again a word importing
reality is used, for it occurs in Heb 2.9 of the death of Christ.
The true point of the divine solicitude is expressed in verses 1 and
2. It is that they shall go on. They have made a real beginning,
but it is not said of them that they have faith, and it is said
(verse 9) that "things that accompany salvation" are "better." This
fear lest beginners will "come short" is the theme of Heb 3.7-4.3.
The men in
# Mt 7:21-13
are not conscious hypocrites--they are utterly surprised at their
exclusion. Characteristic contrasts are,
# Heb 6:4-6 Ro 8:29-39 2Pe 1:10 Phm 1:6
In this respect these Epistles group with # Mat 13.-23 and
Ac 2.-9. The two Epistles of Peter, however, are less Jewish and more
truly catholic than the other Jewish-Christian writings. He
addressed, in his First Epistle, neither Jews as such, not even
Christian Jews of Jerusalem, or Judea, but of the dispersion; while
Second Peter is not distinctively Jewish at all.
The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews
WRITER The authorship of Hebrews has been in controversy from the
earliest times. The book is anonymous, but the reference in
# 2Pe 3:15
seems conclusive that Paul was the writer. See also
# Heb 13:23
All agree that, whether by Paul or another, the point of
view is Pauline. We undoubtedly have here the method of Paul's
synagogue addresses. No book of Scripture more fully
authenticates itself as inspired.
DATE From internal evidence it is clear that Hebrews was written
before the destruction of the Temple, A.D. 70 (cf 10.11).
THEME The doctrinal passages reveal the purpose of the book. It was
written with a twofold intent: (1) To confirm Jewish Christians
by showing that Judaism had come to an end through the
fulfilment by Christ of the whole purpose of the law; and (2)
the hortatory passages show that the writer had in view the
danger ever present to Jewish professed believers of either
lapsing back into Judaism, or of pausing short of true faith in
Jesus Christ. It is clear from the Acts that even the
strongest of the believers in Palestine were held to a
strange mingling of Judaism and Christianity (e.g.
# Ac 21:18-24
and that snare would be especially apt to entangle professed
Christians amongst the Jews of the dispersion.
The key-word is "better." Hebrews is a series of contrasts
between the good things of Judaism and the better things of
Christ. Christ is "better" than angels, than Moses, than Joshua,
than Aaron; and the New Covenant than the Mosaic Covenant.
Church truth does not appear, the ground of gathering only being
stated (13.13). The whole sphere of Christian profession is
before the writer; hence exhortations necessary to warn and alarm
a mere professor.
Hebrews is in six divisions, but these include five parenthetic
passages of exhortation. I. The great salvation. 1.1-2.18
(2.1-4, parenthetic). II. The rest of God, 3.1-4.16 (all
parenthetic). III. Our great High Priest, 5.1-8, 6 (5.11-6.12,
parenthetic). IV. The new covenant and the heavenly sanctuary,
8.7-10.39 (10.26-39, parenthetic). V. The superiority of the
faith way, 11.1-40. VI. The worship and walk of the
believer-priest, 12.1-13.25 (12.3-17, parenthetic).
[1] {angels}
Angel, Summary: Angel, "messenger," is used of God, of men, and of an
order of created spiritual beings whose chief attributes are strength
and wisdom.
# 2Sa 14:20 Ps 103:20 104:4
In the O.T. the expression
"the angel of the Lord" (sometimes "of God") usually implies the
presence of Deity in angelic form.
# Ge 16:1-13 21:17-19 22:11-16 31:11-13 Ex 3:2-4 Jud 2:1 6:12-16 13:3-22
See Note "Mal 3:1"
The word angel is used of men in
# Lu 7:24 Jas 2:25 Re 1:20 2:1,8,12,18 3:1,7,14
In
# Re 8:3-5
Christ is evidently meant. Sometimes angel is used of the spirit of
man.
# Mt 18:10 Ac 12:15
Though angels are spirits
# Ps 104:4 Heb 1:14
power is given them to become visible in the semblance of human form.
# Ge 19:1
cf
# Ge 19:5 Ex 3:2 Nu 22:22-31 Jud 2:1 6:11,22 13:3,6 1Ch 21:16,20
# Mt 1:20 Lu 1:26 Joh 20:12 Ac 7:30 12:7,8
etc.). The word is always used in the masculine gender, though
sex, in the human sense, is never ascribed to angels.
# Mt 22:30 Mr 12:25
They are exceedingly numerous.
# Mt 26:53 Heb 12:22 Re 5:11 Ps 68:17
The power is inconceivable.
# 2Ki 19:35
Their place is about the throne of God.
# Re 5:11 7:11
Their relation to the believer is that of "ministering spirits, sent
forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation," and this
ministry has reference largely to the physical safety and well-being
of believers.
# 1Ki 19:5 Ps 34:7 91:11 Da 6:22 Mt 2:13,19 4:11 Lu 22:43 Ac 5:19
# Ac 12:7-10
From
# Heb 1:14 Mt 18:10 Ps 91:11
it would seem that this care for the heirs of salvation begins in
infancy and continues through life. The angels observe us
# 1Co 4:9 Eph 3:10 Ec 5:6
a fact which should influence conduct. They receive departing
saints.
# Lu 16:22
Man is made "a little lower than the angels," and
in incarnation Christ took "for a little "time" this lower place.
# Ps 8:4,5 Heb 2:6,9
that He might lift the believer into His own sphere above angels.
# Heb 2:9,10
The angels are to accompany Christ in His second advent.
# Mt 25:31
To them will be committed the preparation of the judgment of the
nations.
# Mt 13:30,39,41,42
» See Note "Mt 25:32"
The kingdom-age is not to be subject to angels, but to Christ and
those for whom He was made a little lower than the angels.
# Heb 2:5
An archangel, Michael, is mentioned as having a particular relation
to Israel and to the resurrections.
# Da 10:13,21 12:1,2 Jude 1:9 1Th 4:16
The only other angel whose name is revealed Gabriel, was
employed in the most distinguished services.
# Da 8:16 9:21 Lu 1:19,26
Fallen angels. Two classes of these are mentioned: (1) "The angels
which kept not their first estate [place], but left their own
habitation," are "chained under darkness," awaiting judgment.
# 2Pe 2:4 Jude 1:5 1Co 6:3 Joh 5:22
» See Note "Ge 6:4"
(2) The angels who have Satan
# Ge 3:1
» See Note "Re 20:10"
The origin of these is nowhere explicitly revealed. They may be
identical with the demons.
» See Note "Mt 7:22"
For Satan and his angels everlasting fire is prepared.
# Mt 25:41 Re 20:10
[1] {Melchisedec}
» See Note "Ge 14:18"
Melchisedec was a suitable type of Christ as High
Priest, because: (1) he was a king-priest
# Ge 14:18 Zec 6:12,13
(2) his name means, "my king is righteous" (cf)
# Isa 11:5
and he was king of Salem (i.e. "peace," cf
# Isa 11:6-9
(3) he had no (recorded) "beginning of days" (cf)
# Joh 1:1
nor "end of life" (cf)
# Ro 6:9 Heb 7:23-25
nor (4) was he made a high priest by human appointment
# Ps 110:4
But the contrast between the high priesthood of Melchisedec and
Aaron is only as to person, "order" (or appointment), and duration.
In His work Christ follows the Aaronic pattern, the "shadow" of which
Christ was the substance.
# Heb 8:1-6 9:1-28
[2] {impossible}
# Heb 6:4-8
presents the case of Jewish professed believers who halt short
of faith in Christ after advancing to the very threshold of salvation,
even "going along with" the Holy Spirit in His work of enlightenment
and conviction.
# Joh 16:8-10
It is not said that they had faith. This supposed person is like the
spies at Kadesh-barnea
# De 1:19-26
who saw the land and had the very fruit of it in their hands, and yet
turned back.
[1] {new} and [2] {covenant}
The New Covenant, Summary: (1) "Better" than the Mosaic covenant not
morally, but efficaciously
# Heb 7:19 Ro 8:3,4
(2) Established on "better" (i.e. unconditional) promises. In the
Mosaic Covenant God said, "If ye will"
# Ex 19:5
in the New Covenant He says, "I will"
# Heb 8:10,12
(3) Under the Mosaic Covenant obedience sprang from fear
# Heb 2:2 12:25-27
under the New from a willing heart and mind
# Heb 8:10
(4) The New Covenant secures the personal revelation of the Lord to
every believer
# Heb 8:11
(5) the complete oblivion of sins
# Heb 8:12 10:17 10:3
(6) rests upon an accomplished redemption
# Mt 26:27,28 1Co 11:25 Heb 9:11,12,18-23
(7) and secures the perpetuity, future conversion, and blessing of
Israel.
# Jer 31:31-40
See also "Kingdom (O.T.)," and
# 2Sa 7:8-17
The New Covenant is the eighth, thus speaking of resurrection and of
eternal completeness.
[2] {Covenant}
I. The Eight Covenants, Summary: (1) The Edenic Covenant
» See Note "Ge 1:26"
conditioned the life of man in innocency.
(2) The Adamic Covenant
» See Note "Ge 3:14"
conditions the life of fallen man and gives promise of a Redeemer.
(3) The Noahic Covenant
» See Note "Ge 9:2"
establishes the principle of human government.
(4) The Abrahamic Covenant
» See Note "Ge 15:18"
founds the nation of Israel, and confirms, with specific additions,
the Adamic promise of redemption.
(5) The Mosaic Covenant
» See Note "Ex 19:25"
condemns all men, "for that all have sinned."
(6) The Palestinian Covenant
» See Note "De 30:3"
secures the final restoration and conversion of Israel.
(7) The Davidic Covenant
» See Note "2Sa 7:16"
establishes the perpetuity of the Davidic family (fulfilled in Christ,
# Mt 1:1 Lu 1:31-33, Ro 1:3
and of the Davidic kingdom, over Israel, and over the whole earth; to
be fulfilled in and by Christ
# 2Sa 7:8-17 Zec 12:8 Lu 1:31-33 Ac 15:14-17 1Co 15:24
(8) The New covenant rests upon the sacrifice of Christ, and secures
the eternal blessedness, under the Abrahamic Covenant
# Ga 3:13-29
of all who believe. It is absolutely unconditional, and, since no
responsibility is by it committed to man, it is final and irreversible.
II. The relation of Christ to the eight covenants is as follows: (1) To
the Edenic Covenant, Christ, as the "second Man," the "last Adam"
# 1Co 15:45-47
takes the place over all things which the first Adam lost
# Col 2:10 Heb 2:7-8
(2) He is the "Seed of the woman" of the Adamic Covenant
# Ge 3:15 Joh 12:31 1Jo 3:8 Ga 4:4 Re 20:10
and fulfilled its conditions of toil
# Mr 6:3
and obedience.
(3) As the greatest son of Shem, in Him was fulfilled supremely the
promise to Shem in the Noahic Covenant
» See Note "Ge 9:1"
# Col 2:9
(4) He is the "Seed to whom the promises were made" in the Abrahamic
Covenant; the son of Abraham obedient unto death
# Ge 22:18 Ga 3:16 Php 2:8
(5) He lived sinlessly under the Mosaic covenant and bore for us its
curse
# Ga 3:10-13
(6) He lived obediently as a Jew in the land under the Palestinian
Covenant, and will yet perform it gracious promises
Deu 28.-30.9).
(7) He is the "Seed," "Heir," and "King" under the Davidic Covenant
# Mt 1:1 Lu 1:31-33
(8) His sacrifice is the foundation of the New Covenant
# Mt 26:28 1Co 11:25
[1] {die}
Death, physical, Summary: (1) Physical death is a consequence of sin
# Ge 3:19
and the universality of death proves the universality of sin
# Ro 5:12-14
(2) Physical death affects the body only, and is neither cessation of
life nor of consciousness
» See Note "Hab 2:5"
» See Note "Lu 16:23"
# Re 6:9,10
(3) All physical death ends in the resurrection of the body. See
"Resurrection"
# Job 19:25
» See Note "1Co 15:52"
(4) Because physical death is a consequence of sin, it is not
inevitable to the redeemed
# Ge 5:24 1Co 15:51,52 1Th 4:15-17
(5) Physical death has for the believer a peculiar qualification. It
is called "sleep," because his body may be "awakened" at any moment
# Php 3:20,21 1Th 4:14-18
(6) The soul and spirit live, independently of the death of the body,
which is described as a "tabernacle" (tent), in which the "I" dwells,
and which may be put off
# 2Co 5:1-8 1Co 15:42-44 2Pe 1:13-15
(7) At the believer's death he is "clothed upon" with a "house from
heaven" pending the resurrection of the "earthly house," and is at
once "with the Lord."
# 2Co 5:1-8 Php 1:23 Lu 23:43
As to the death of Christ, see
» See Note "Mt 27:50"
[1] {body}
Cf
# Ps 40:6
the rule, applicable to all modifications of the form of
quotations in the N.T. from O.T. writings, is that the divine Author
of both Testaments is perfectly free, in using an earlier statement,
to recast the mere literary form of it. The variant form will be found
invariably to give the deeper meaning of the earlier statement.
[1] {offering}
Sacrifice, Summary" (1) The first intimation of sacrifice is
# Ge 3:21
the "coats of skins" having obviously come from slain animals. The
first clear instance of sacrifice is
# Ge 4:4
explained in
# Heb 11:4
Abel's righteousness was the result of his sacrifice, not of his
character. (2) Before the giving of the law the head of the family
was the family priest. By the law an order of priests was
established who alone could offer sacrifices. Those sacrifices were
"shadows," types, expressing variously the guilt and need of the
offerer in reference to God, and all pointing to Christ and fulfilled
in Him. (3) As foreshadowed by the types and explained by the N.T.,
the sacrifice of Christ is \\penal\\
# Ga 3:13 2Co 5:21
\\substitutional\\
# Le 1:4 Isa 53:5,6 2Co 5:21 1Pe 2:24
\\voluntary\\
# Ge 22:9 Joh 10:18
\\redemptive\\
# Ga 3:13 Eph 1:7 1Co 6:20
\\propitiatory\\
# Ro 3:25
\\reconciling\\
# 2Co 5:18,19 Col 1:21,22
\\efficacious\\
# Joh 12:32,33 Ro 5:9,10 2Co 5:21 Eph 2:13 Heb 9:11,12,26 10:10-17
# 1Jo 1:7 Re 1:5
and \\revelatory\\
# Joh 3:16 1Jo 4:9,10
[1] {faith}
The essence of faith consists in receiving what God has revealed, and
may be defined as that trust in the God of the Scriptures and in
Jesus Christ whom He hath sent, which receives Him as Saviour and
Lord, and impels to loving obedience and good works
# Joh 1:12 Jas 2:14-26
The particular \\uses\\ of faith give rise to its secondary
definitions: (1) For salvation, faith is personal trust,
apart from meritorious works, in the Lord Jesus Christ, as delivered
for our offences, and raised again for our justification
# Ro 4:5,23-25
(2) As used in prayer, faith is the "confidence that we
have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he
heareth us"
# 1Jo 5:14,15
(3) As used in reference to unseen things of which Scripture speaks,
faith "gives substance" to them, so that we act upon the conviction of
their reality.
# Heb 11:1-3
(4) As a working principle in life, the uses of faith are illustrated
in
# Heb 11:1-39
[1] {church}
Church (true), Summary: The true church, composed of the whole number
of regenerate persons from Pentecost to the first resurrection
# 1Co 15:52
united together and to Christ by the baptism with the Holy
Spirit
# 1Co 12:12,13
is the body of Christ of which He is the Head
# Eph 1:22,23
As such, it is a holy temple for the habitation of God
through the Spirit
# Eph 2:21,22
is "one flesh" with Christ
# Eph 5:30,31
and espoused to Him as a chaste virgin to one husband
# 2Co 11:2-4
Scofield Reference Notes Book Introductions The General Epistle of James
(1917 Edition)
WRITER James
» See Note "Mt 4:21"
called "the Just" mentioned by Paul with Cephas and John as
"pillars" in the church at Jerusalem
# Ga 2:9
He seems to have been, as a religious man, austere, legal,
ceremonial
# Ac 21:18-24
DATE Tradition fixes the martyrdom of James in the year 62, but his
Epistle shows no trace of the larger revelations concerning the
church and the distinctive doctrines of grace made through the
Apostle Paul, nor even of the discussion concerning the relation
of Gentile converts to the law of Moses, which culminated in the
first council (Ac 15.), over which James presided. This presumes
the very early date of James, which may confidently be set down
as "the first Epistle to Christians."--Weston.
THEME By "the twelve tribes scattered abroad" we are to understand, not
Jews, but Christian Jews of the Dispersion. The church began
with such
# Ac 2:5-11
and James, who seems not to have left Jerusalem, would feel a
particular pastoral responsibility for these scattered sheep.
They still resorted to the synagogues, or called their own
assemblies by that name
# Jas 2:2
where "assembly" is "synagogue" in the Gr.). It appears from
# Jas 2:1-8
that they still held the synagogue courts for the trial of causes
arising amongst themselves. The Epistle, then, is elementary in
the extreme. To suppose that
# Jas 2:14-26
is a polemic against Paul's doctrine of justification is absurd.
Neither Galatians nor Romans was yet written.
James' theme, then, is "religion" (Gr., threskeia, "outward
religious service") as the expression and proof of faith. He
does not exalt works as against faith, but faith as producing
works. His style is that of the Wisdom-books of the O.T.
The divisions are five:
I. The testing of faith 1.1-2.26
II. The reality of faith tested by the tongue, 3.1-18
III. The rebuke of worldliness, 4.1-17
IV. The rich warned
V. Hortatory
[1] {tempted}
"Temptation" is used in two senses: (1) Solicitation to evil (e.g.
# Ge 3:1-6 Mt 4:1 1Co 10:13 2Co 11:3,4 Jas 1:14
(2) Testing under trial (eg)
# Ge 22:1 Lu 22:28
Cf
# Lu 4:2
Cf
# Mt 6:13
(solicitation to evil) and
# 1Pe 1:6
(testing under trial).
[1] {imputation}
Imputation is the act of God whereby He accounts righteousness to the
believer in Christ, who has borne the believer's sins in vindication
of the law.
» See Note "Phm 1:18"
Scofield Reference Notes Book Introductions The First Epistle General of
(1917 Edition) Peter
WRITER The Apostle Peter (1,1)
DATE Probably A.D. 60. That "Babylon" refers to the former city on
the Euphrates, or to Rome, cannot be inferred from 5.13. The
text is obscure.
THEME While Peter undoubtedly has scattered Jewish believers in mind,
his Epistles comprehend Gentile believers also (1Pe 2.10). The
present Epistle, written from a church on Gentile ground (5.13),
presents all the foundational truths of the Christian faith, with
special emphasis on the atonement. The distinctive note of First
Peter is preparation for victory over suffering. The last-name
word occurs about fifteen times, and is the key-word to the
Epistle.
The Epistle is in three parts:
I. Christian suffering and conduct in the light of full
salvation, 1.1-2.8
II. The believer's life in view of his sevenfold position, and
of the vicarious suffering of Christ, 2.9-4.19
III. Christian service in the light of the coming of the Chief
Shepherd, 5.1-14
[1] {Elect}
Election, Summary: In both Testaments the Hebrew and Greek words are
rendered "elect," "election," "choose," "chosen." In all cases they
mean, simply, "chosen," or "to choose"; and are used of both human
and divine choices. (1) In the latter use election is: (a)
\\corporate\\, as of the nation of Israel, or the church
# Isa 45:4 Eph 1:4
and (b) \\individual\\
# 1Pe 1:2
(2) Election is according to the foreknowledge of God
# 1Pe 1:2
and wholly of grace, apart from human merit
# Ro 9:11 11:5,6
(3) Election proceeds from the divine volition
# Joh 15:16
Election is, therefore: (1) The sovereign act of God in grace whereby
certain are chosen from among mankind for Himself.
# Joh 15:19
(2) The sovereign act of God whereby certain elect persons are chosen
for distinctive service for Him.
# Lu 6:13 Ac 9:15 1Co 1:27,28
[2] {might}
Suffering, in First Peter, is set in the light of: (1) assured
salvation,
# 1Pe 1:2-5
(2) the greater glory at Christ's appearing, 1.7;
(3) Christ's sufferings and coming glories,
# 1Pe 1:11
(4) the believer's association with Him in both,
# 1Pe 2:20,21 3:17,18 4:12,13
(5) the purifying effect of suffering,
# 1Pe 1:7 4:1,2 5:10
(6) that Christ is now glorified in the believer's patient suffering,
# 1Pe 4:16
(7) that suffering is disciplinary,
# 1Pe 4:17-19 1Co 11:31,32 Heb 12:5-13
[1] {foreordained}
The divine order is foreknowledge, election, predestination. That
foreknowledge determines the election or choice is clear from
# 1Pe 1:2
and predestination is the bringing to pass of the election. "election
looks back to foreknowledge; predestination forward to the destiny."
But Scripture nowhere declares what it is in the divine foreknowledge
which determines the divine election and predestination. The foreknown
are elected, and the elect are predestinated, and this election is
certain to every believer by the mere fact that he believes
# 1Th 1:4,5
See \\Predestination\\
» See Note "Eph 1:5"
[2] {stone of stumbling}
Christ crucified is the Rock: (1) \\Smitten\\ that the Spirit of life
may flow from Him to all who will drink
# Ex 17:6 1Co 10:4 Joh 4:13,14 7:37-39
(2) To the \\church\\ the foundation and chief corner Stone
# Eph 2:20
(3) To the \\Jews\\ at His first coming a "stumbling stone"
# Ro 9:32,33 1Co 1:23
(4) to \\Israel\\ at His second coming the "headstone of the corner"
# Zec 4:7
(5) To the \\Gentile world-power\\ the smiting "stone cut out without hands"
# Da 2:34
(6) In the divine purpose the Stone which, after the
destruction of Gentile world-power, is to grow and fill the earth.
(7) To \\unbelievers\\ the crushing Stone of judgment.
# Mt 21:44
[1] {priesthood}
The New Testament priesthood, Summary: (1) Until the law was given
the head of each family was the family priest
# Ge 8:20 26:25 31:54
(2) When the law was proposed, the promise to perfect obedience was
that Israel would be unto God "a kingdom of priests"
# Ex 19:6
but Israel violated the law, and God shut up the priestly office to the
Aaronic family, appointing the tribe of Levi to minister to them,
thus constituting the typical priesthood
# Ex 28:1
(3) In the dispensation of grace, all believers are unconditionally
constituted a "kingdom of priests"
# 1Pe 2:9 Re 1:6
the distinction which Israel failed to achieve by works. The
priesthood of the believer is, therefore, a birthright; just as every
descendant of Aaron was born to the priesthood
# Heb 5:1
(4) The chief privilege of a priest is access to God. Under law the
high priest only could enter "the holiest of all," and that but once
a year
# Heb 9:7
but when Christ died, the veil, type of Christ's human body
# Heb 10:20
was rent, so that now the believer-priests, equally with Christ the
High Priest, have access to God in the holiest
# Heb 10:19-22
The high Priest is corporeally there
# Heb 4:14-16 9:24 10:19-22
(5) In the exercise of his office the New Testament believer-priest is
(1) a \\sacrificer\\ who offers a threefold sacrifice: (a) his own
living body.
# Ro 12:1 Php 2:17 2Ti 4:6 1Jo 3:16 Jas 1:27
(b) praise to God, "the fruit of the lips that make mention of His
name" (R.V.), to be offered "continually"
# Heb 13:15 Ex 25:22
"I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat"); (c) his
substance
# Heb 13:16 Ro 12:13 Ga 6:6 3Jo 1:5-8 Heb 13:2 Ga 6:10 Tit 3:14
(2) The N.T. priest is also an \\intercessor\\
# 1Ti 2:1 Col 4:12
Scofield Reference Notes Book Introductions The Second Epistle General of
(1917 Edition) Peter
WRITER The Apostle Peter (1.1)
DATE Probably A.D. 66
THEME Second Peter and Second Timothy have much in common. In both,
the writers are aware that martyrdom is near (2Ti 4.6 2Pe 1.14
with Jno 21.18,19); both are singularly sustained and joyful;
both foresee the apostasy in which the history of the professing
church will end. Paul finds that apostasy in its last stage when
the so-called laity (Re 2.6, note) have become infected (2Ti
3.1-5 4.3,4); Peter traces the origin of the apostasy to false
teachers (2Pe 2.1-3,15-19). In Peter the false teachers deny
\\redemption\\ truth (2.1); we shall find in First John a deeper
depth--denial of the truth concerning Christ's \\person\\ (1Jn
4.1-5). In Jude all phases of the apostasy are seen. But in
none of these Epistles is the tone one of dejection or pessimism.
God and His promises are still the resource of the believer.
The Epistle is in four divisions:
I. The great Christian virtues, 1.1-14
II. The Scriptures exalted, 1.15-21
III. Warnings concerning apostate teachers, 2.1-22
IV. The second coming of Christ and the day of Jehovah, 3.1-18
[1] {holy mount}
Where the reference is to \\things\\, the meaning of "holy" or
"sanctified" is, simply, set apart for the use of God, or rendered sacred
by the divine presence.
[2] {whereunto}
That is, made more sure by fulfilment in part. Fulfilled prophecy is a
proof of inspiration because the Scripture predictions of future events
were uttered so long before the events transpired that no merely human
sagacity or foresight could have anticipated them, and these predictions
are so detailed, minute, and specific, as to exclude the possibility that
they were mere fortunate guesses. Hundreds of predictions concerning
Israel, the land of Canaan, Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, and numerous
personages--so ancient, so singular, so seemingly improbable, as well as
so detailed and definite that no mortal could have anticipated them--have
been fulfilled by the elements, and by men who were ignorant of them, or
who utterly disbelieved them, or who struggled with frantic desperation
to avoid their fulfilment. It is certain, therefore, that the Scriptures
which contain them are inspired. "Prophecy came not in olden time by the
will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost"
# 2Pe 1:21
[1] {Balaam}
Balaam
» See Note "Nu 22:5"
was the typical hireling prophet, anxious only to make a market of his
gift. This is the "way" of Balaam. See the "error" of Balaam,
» See Note "Jude 1:11"
and the "doctrine" of Balaam,
# Re 2:14
[1] {grace}
Grace (imparted). Summary (see "Grace,"
» See Note "Joh 1:17"
grace is not only dispensationally a method of divine dealing in
salvation
» See Note "Joh 1:17"
but is also the method of God in the believer's life and service.
As saved, he is "not under the law, but under grace"
# Ro 6:14
Having by grace brought the believer into the highest conceivable
position.
# Eph 1:6
God ceaselessly works through grace, to impart to, and perfect in
him, corresponding graces
# Joh 15:4,5 Ga 5:22,23
Grace, therefore, stands connected with \\service\\
# Ro 12:6 15:15,16 1Co 1:3-7 3:10 15:10 2Co 12:9,10 Ga 2:9 Eph 3:7,8
# Eph 4:7 Php 1:7 2Ti 2:1,2 1Pe 4:10
with Christian \\growth\\
# 2Co 1:12 Eph 4:29 Col 3:16 4:6 2Th 1:12 Heb 4:16 12:28,29 13:9 Jas 4:6
# 1Pe 1:2 3:7 5:5,10 2Pe 3:18 Jude 1:4
and with \\giving\\
# 2Co 4:15 8:1,6,7,19 9:14
SCOFIELD REFERENCE NOTES (1917 Edition)
The First Epistle General of JOHN
WRITER: The Apostle John, as unbroken tradition affirms, and as internal
evidence and comparison with the Gospel of John prove.
DATE: Probably A.D. 90
THEME: First John is a family letter from the Father to His "little
children" who are in the world. With the possible exception of
the Song of Solomon, it is the most intimate of the inspired
writings. The world is viewed as without. The sin of a believer
is treated as a child's offence against his Father, and is dealt
with as a family matter (1. 9; 2. 1). The moral government of
the universe is not in question. The child's sin as an offence
against the law had been met in the Cross, and "Jesus Christ
the righteous" is now his "Advocate with the Father." John's
Gospel leads across the threshold of the Father's house; his
first Epistle makes us at home there. A tender word is used for
"children," teknia, "born ones," or "bairns." Paul is occupied
with our public position as sons; John with our nearness as
born-ones of the Father.
First John is in two principal divisions.
I. The family with the Father, 1. 1-3. 24.
II. The family and the world, 4. 1-5. 21.
There is a secondary analysis in each division of which occurs
the phrase, "My little children," as follows:
(I.) Introductory, the incarnation, 1. 1, 2.
(II.) The little children and fellowship 1. 3-2. 14
(III.) The little children and secular and "religious" world
2. 15-28.
(IV.) How the little children may know each other, 2. 29-3. 10
(V.) How the little children must live together, 3. 11-24.
(VI.) Parenthetic: How the little children may know false
teachers, 4. 1-6.
(VII.) The little children assured and warned, 4. 7-5. 21.
[1] {light}
What it is to "walk in the light" is explained by vs. 8-10.
"All things. . .are made manifest by the light"
# Eph 5:13
The presence of God brings the consciousness of sin in the nature
# 1Jo 1:8
and sins in the life
# 1Jo 1:9,10
The blood of Christ is the divine provision for both. To
walk in the light is to live in fellowship with the Father and the Son.
Sin interrupts, but confession restores that fellowship. Immediate
confession keeps the fellowship unbroken.
[1] {advocate}
Advocacy is that work of Jesus Christ for sinning saints which He carries
on with the Father whereby, because of the eternal efficacy of His own
sacrifice, He restores them to fellowship.
CF
# Ps 23:3
» See Note "Joh 13:10"
[2] {commandments}
John uses "commandments" (1) in the general sense of the divine will,
however revealed, "his word" (v. 5); and (2) especially of the law of
Christ
# Ga 6:2 2Jo 1:5
See, also,
# Joh 15:10-12
[3] {went out from us}
"Went out from us," that is, \\doctrinally\\. Doubtless then, as now,
the deniers of the Son
# 1Jo 2:23
still called themselves Christians.
Cf
# 2Ti 1:15
[1] {righteousness}
"Righteousness" here, and in the passages having marginal references to
this, means the righteous life which is the result of salvation through
Christ. The righteous man under law became righteous by doing
righteously; under grace he does righteously because he has been made
righteous
# Ro 3:22
» See Note "Ro 10:3"
SCOFIELD REFERENCE NOTES (1917 Edition)
The Second Epistle of John
WRITER: The Apostle John.
DATE: Probably A.D. 90.
THEME: Second John gives the essentials of the personal walk of the
believer in a day when "many deceivers are entered into the
world" (v. 7). The key phrase is "the truth," by which John
means the body of revealed truth, the Scriptures. The Bible as
the only authority for doctrine and life, is the believer's
resource in a dime of declension and apostasy.
The Epistle in three divisions:
I. The pathway of truth and love, vs. 1-6
II. The peril of unscriptural ways, vs. 7-11
III. Superscription, vs. 12, 13
[1] {that we love one another}
Law (of Christ), Summary: The new "law of Christ" is the divine love,
as wrought into the renewed heart by the Holy Spirit
# Ro 5:5 Heb 10:16
and outflowing in the energy of the Spirit, unforced and
spontaneous, toward the objects of the divine love
# 2Co 5:14-20 1Th 2:7,8
It is, therefore, " the law of liberty"
# Jas 1:25 2:12
in contrast with the external law of Moses. Moses' law demands love,
# Le 19:18 De 6:5 Lu 10:27
Christ's law is love
# Ro 5:5 1Jo 4:7,19,20
and so takes the place of the external law by fulfilling it
# Ro 13:10 Ga 5:14
It is the "law written in the heart" under the New Covenant
» See Note "Heb 8:8"
SCOFIELD REFERENCE NOTES (1917 Edition)
The Third Epistle of John
WRITER. The Apostle John.
DATE. Probably about A.D. 90.
THEME: The aged Apostle had written to a church which allowed one
Diotrephes to exercise an authority common enough in later ages,
but wholly new in the primitive churches. Diotrephes had
rejected the apostolic letters and authority. It appears also
that he had refused the ministry of the visiting brethren (v.10),
and cast out those that had received them. Historically, this
letter marks the beginning of that clerical and priestly
assumption over the churches in which the primitive church order
disappeared. This Epistle reveals, as well, the believer's
resource in such a day. No longer writing as an apostle, but as
an elder, John addresses this letter, not to the church as such,
but to a faithful man in the church for the comfort and
encouragement of those who were standing fast in the primitive
simplicity. Second John conditions the personal walk of the
Christian in a day of apostasy; Third John the personal
responsibility in such a day of the believer as a member of the
local church. The key-phrase is "the truth" (see 2 John,
Introduction).
There are three divisions:
I. Personal greetings, vs. 1-4
II. Instructions concerning ministering brethren, vs. 5-8
III. The apostate leader and the good Demetrius, vs. 9-14
SCOFIELD REFERENCE NOTES (1917 Edition)
The General Epistle of Jude (See also [1] {preserved} from verse 1)
WRITER: Jude, the brother of James (1. 1)
DATE: Probably A.D. 66
THEME: It is not so much Jude who speaks, as the constraining Spirit
(V. 3) and the theme is, "Contending for the faith" (Lk: 18. 8
refs). In this brief letter the apostasy
» See Note "2Th 2:3"
of the professing church is predicted, and the cause and course
described. As in Second Timothy and Second Peter the apostasy is
treated as having already set in.
The Epistle is in five divisions:
I. Introduction vs. 1, 2
II. Occasion of the Epistle, vs. 3, 4
III. Apostasy is possible, vs. 5-7
IV. Apostate teachers described, vs. 8-19
V. The saints assured and comforted, vs. 20-25
[1]
Assurance is the believer's full conviction that, through the work of
Christ alone, received by faith, he is in possession of a salvation in
which he will be eternally kept. And this assurance rests only upon the
Scripture promises to him who believes.
[2] {great day}
The judgment of the fallen angels. The "great day" is the day of the
Lord
# Isa 2:9-22
As the final judgment upon Satan occurs after the thousand years, and
preceding the final judgment
# Re 20:10
it is congruous to conclude, as to
the time, that other fallen angels are judged with him
# 2Pe 2:4 Re 20:10
Christians are associated with Christ in this judgment
For association with angels at judgment
# 1Co 6:3
For other information
» See Note "Re 20:12"
[3] {Cain} [1] {error of Balaam} [2] {Core}
Cain (cf)
# Ge 4:1
type of the religious natural man, who believes in a
God, and in "religion," but after his own will, and who rejects
redemption by blood. Compelled as a teacher of religion to explain
atonement, the apostate teacher explains it away.
[1]
Balaam, the "error" of Balaam must be distinguished from his "way"
» See Note "2Pe 2:15"
and his "doctrine"
» See Note "Re 2:14"
The "error" of Balaam was that, reasoning from natural morality and
seeing the evil in Israel, he supposed a righteous God \\must\\ curse
them. He was blind to the higher morality of the Cross, through
which God maintains and enforces the authority and awful sanctions of
His law, so that He can be just and the justifier of a believing
sinner. The "reward" of v. 11 may not be money, but popularity, or
applause.
[2]
See Nu 16. The sin of Korah was denial of the authority of Moses as
God's chosen spokesman, and intrusion into the priest's office.
[3] {flesh}
Flesh, Summary: "Flesh," in the ethical sense, is the whole natural
or unregenerate man, spirit, soul, and body, as centered upon self,
prone to sin, and opposed to God
# Ro 7:18
The regenerate man is not "in [the sphere of] the flesh, but in
[the sphere of] the Spirit
# Ro 8:9
but the flesh is still in him, and he may, according to his
choice, "walk after the flesh" or "in the Spirit"
# 1Co 3:1-4 Ga 5:16,17
In the first case he is a "carnal," in the second a "spiritual,"
Christian. Victory over the flesh will be the habitual
experience of the believer who walks in the Spirit
# Ro 8:2,4 Ga 5:16,17
Scofield Reference Notes Book Introductions
(1917 Edition) The Revelation of St. John the Divine
WRITER: The Apostle John (1.1)
DATE: A.D. 96
THEME: The theme of the Revelation is Jesus Christ (1.1), presented in a
threefold way: (1) As to \\time\\: "which is, and which was, and
which is to come" (1.4); (2) as to \\relationships\\--the
churches (1.9-3.22), to the tribulation (4.1-19.21), to the
kingdom (20.1-22.21); (3) in His offices--High Priest (8.3-6),
Bridegroom (19.7-9), King-Judge (20.1-15).
But while Christ is thus the central \\theme\\ of the book, all
of the \\events\\ move toward one consummation, the bringing in
of the covenanted kingdom. The key-phrase is the prophetic
declaration of the "great voices in heaven" (11.15), lit, "The
world kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ has come." The book
is, therefore, a prophecy (1.3).
The three major \\divisions\\ of Revelation must be clearly held
if the interpretation is to be sane and coherent. John was
commanded to "write" concerning three classes of "things" (1.19):
I. Things past, "the things thou hast seen," i.e. the Patmos
vision, 1.1-20. II. Things present, "the things which are," i.e.
things then existing--obviously the churches. The temple had
been destroyed, the Jews dispersed: the testimony of God had been
committed to the Churches (1Ti 3.15). Accordingly we have seven
messages to seven representative churches, 2.1-3.22. It is
noteworthy that the church is not mentioned in chapters 5.-18.
III. Things future, "things which shall be hereafter," lit.
"after these," i.e. after the church period ends, 4.1-22.21. The
third major division, as Erdman (W.J.) has pointed out, falls
into a series of six sevens, with parenthetical passages, making,
with the church division, seven sevens. The six sevens are: 1.
The seals, 4.1-8.1. 2. The seven trumpets, 8.2-11.19. 3. The
seven personages, 12.1-14,20. 4. The seven vials (bowls),
15.1-16.21. 5. The seven dooms, 17.1-20.15. 6. The seven new
things, 21.1-22.21.
The parenthetical passages are: (I) The Jewish remnant and the
tribulation saints, 7.1-17. (II) The angel, the little book, the
two witnesses, 10.1-11.14. (III) The Lamb, the Remnant, and the
everlasting Gospel, 14.1-13. (IV) The gathering of the kings
at Armageddon, 16.13-16. (V) The four alleluias in heaven,
19.1-6. These passages do not advance the prophetic narrative.
Looking backward and forward they sum up results accomplished,
and speak of results yet to come as if they had already come. In
14.1, for example, the Lamb and Remnant are seen prophetically on
Mount Sion, though they are not actually there till 20.4-6.
The end of the church period (2.-3.) is left indeterminate. It
will end by the fulfilment of 1Th 4.14-17. Chapters 4.-19. are
believed to synchronize with Daniel's Seventieth Week (Dan 9.24,
note). The great tribulation begins at the middle of the "week,"
and continues three and a half years (Re 11.3-19.21). The
tribulation is brought to an end by the appearing of the Lord and
the battle of Armageddon (Mat 24.29,30 Re 19.11-21). The kingdom
follows (Re 20.4,5); after this the "little season" (Re 20.7-15),
and then eternity.
Interpreters of the Revelation should bear in mind two important
passages: 1Pe 1.12; 2Pe 1.20,21. Doubtless much which is
designedly obscure to us will be clear to those for whom it was
written as the time approaches.
[1] {isle}
From 1.1 to 1.20 the Seer is on the earth, looking at the vision of
Christ. From 2.1 to 3.22 he is on the earth looking forward through the
church-age. From 4.1 to 11.1 he is "in the Spirit" (4.2; cf
# Eze 3:12-14
observing things in heaven and on earth. From 11.1 to 11.12 he is in
Jerusalem with the two witnesses. From 11.13 to the end he is in heaven
observing and recording things in heaven and upon the earth.
[2] {angels} [3] {churches}
The natural explanation of the "messengers" is that they were men sent by
the seven churches to ascertain the state of the aged apostle, now an
exile in Patmos (cf)
# Php 4:18
but they figure any who bear God's messages to a church.
[3]
The messages to the seven churches have a fourfold application: (1)
Local, to the churches actually addressed; (2) admonitory, to all
churches in all time as tests by which they may discern their true
spiritual state in the sight of God; (3) personal, in the
exhortations to him "that hath an ear," and in the promise "to him
that overcometh"; (4) prophetic, as disclosing seven phases of the
\\spiritual\\ history of the church from, say, A.D. 96 to the end.
It is incredible that in a prophecy covering the church period, there
should be no such foreview. These messages must contain that
foreview if it is in the book at all, for the church does not appear
after 3.22. Again, these messages by their very terms go beyond the
local assemblies mentioned. Most conclusively of all, these messages
do present an exact foreview of the \\spiritual\\ history of the
church, and in this precise order. Ephesus gives the general state
at the date of the writing; Smyrna, the period of the great
persecutions; Pergamos, the church settled down in the world, "where
Satan's throne is," after the conversion of Constantine, say A.D.
316. Thyatira is the Papacy, developed out of the Pergamos state:
Balaamism (worldliness) and Nicolaitanism (priestly assumption)
having conquered. As Jezebel brought idolatry into Israel, so
Romanism weds Christian doctrine to pagan ceremonies. Sardis is the
Protestant Reformation, whose works were not "fulfilled."
Philadelphia is whatever bears clear testimony to the Word and the
Name in the time of self-satisfied profession represented by
Laodicea.
[1] {Nicolaitanes}
From \\nikao\\, "to conquer," and \\laos\\, "the people," or "laity."
There is no ancient authority for a \\sect\\ of the Nicolaitanes. If the
word is symbolic it refers to the earliest form of the notion of a
priestly order, or "clergy," which later divided an equal brotherhood
# Mt 23:8
into "priests" and "laity." What in Ephesus was "deeds"
# Eph 2:6
had become in Pergamos a "doctrine
# Re 2:15
[2] {The \\doctrine\\ of Balaam}
The doctrine of Balaam (CF)
» See Note 2Pe 2.15
» See Note Jude 11
was his teaching Balak to corrupt the people who could not be cursed.
# Nu 31:15,16 22:5 23:8
by tempting them to marry women of Moab, defile their separation, and
abandon their pilgrim character. It is that union with the world and
the church which is spiritual unchastity.
# Jas 4:4
Pergamos had lost the pilgrim character and was "dwelling"
# Re 2:13
"where Satan's throne is," in the world.
# Joh 12:31 14:30 16:11
[1] {Father}
This passage, in harmony with
# Lu 1:32,33 Mt 19:28 Ac 2:30,34,35 15:14-16
is conclusive that Christ is not now seated upon His own
throne. The Davidic Covenant, and the promises of God through the
prophets and Angle Gabriel concerning the Messianic kingdom await
fulfilment.
[2] {Come up hither}
This call seems clearly to indicate the fulfilment of
# 1Th 4:14-17
The word "church" does not again occur in the Revelation till all is
fulfilled.
[2] {Come up hither}
This call seems clearly to indicate the fulfilment of
# 1Th 4:14-17
The word "church" does not occur in the Revelation till all is fulfilled.
[1] {came}
Cf.
# Da 7:13,14
The two visions are identical; the Revelation adding
that which was hidden from Daniel, that the kings and priests of the
church-age are to be associated with the "Son of Man," the "Lamb as it
had been slain," in His reign "on the earth"
# Re 2:9,10
[1] {tribulation}
The great tribulation is the period of unexampled trouble predicted
in the passages cited under that head from Psa 2.5 to Re 7.14 and
described in Re 11.-18. Involving in a measure the whole earth
# Re 3:10
it is yet distinctly "the time of Jacob's trouble"
# Jer 30:7
and its vortex Jerusalem and the Holy Land. It involves the people
of God who will have returned to Palestine in unbelief. Its duration
is three and a half years, or the last half of the seventieth week of
Daniel
» See Note "Da 9:24"
# Re 11:2,3
The \\elements\\ of the tribulation are: (1) The cruel reign of the
"beast out of the sea"
# Re 13:1
who at the beginning of the three and a half years, will
break his covenant with the Jews (by virtue of which they will have
re-established the temple worship,
# Da 9:27
and show himself in the temple, demanding that he be worshipped as God
# Mt 24:15 2Th 2:4
(2) The active interposition of Satan "having great wrath"
# Re 12:12
who gives his power to the Beast
# Re 13:4,5
(3) The unprecedented activity of demons
# Re 9:2,11
and (4) the terrible "bowl" judgments of Re 16.
The great tribulation will be, however, a period of salvation. An
election out of Israel is seen as sealed for God
# Re 7:4-8
and, with an innumerable multitude of Gentiles
# Re 7:9
are said to have come "out of the great tribulation"
# Re 7:14
They are not of the priesthood, the church, to which they seem to
stand somewhat in the relation of the Levites to the priests under the
Mosaic Covenant. The great tribulation is immediately followed by the
return of Christ in glory, and the events associated therewith
# Mt 24:29,30
See "Remnant"
# Isa 1:9
» See Note "Ro 11:5"
"Beast"
# Da 7:8
» See Note "Re 19:20"
"Armageddon"
# Re 16:14
» See Note "Re 19:17"
[1] {kingdom of our God}
The Dispensation of the Kingdom
# 2Sa 7:16
refs.) begins with the return of Christ to the earth, runs through the
"thousand years" of His earth-rule, and ends when He has delivered up
the kingdom to the Father
» See Note "1Co 15:24"
[2] {rise up}
Daniel's fourth beast
» See Note "Da 7:26"
The "ten horns" are explained in
# Da 7:24 Re 17:12
to be ten kings, and the whole vision is of the last
form of Gentile world-power, a confederated ten-kingdom empire covering
the sphere of authority of ancient Rome.
# Re 13:1-3
refers to the ten-kingdom \\empire\\; vs. 4-10 to the \\emperor\\, who
is emphatically "the Beast"
» See Note "Re 19:20"
[3] {like unto a leopard}
The three animals, leopard, bear, and lion, are found in
# Da 7:4-6
as symbols of the empires which preceded Rome, and whose characteristics
all entered into the qualities of the Roman empire: Macedonian swiftness
of conquest, Persian tenacity of purpose, Babylonish voracity.
[1] {wounded to death}
Fragments of the ancient Roman empire have never ceased to exist as
separate kingdoms. It was the imperial form of government which ceased;
the one head wounded to death. What we have prophetically in
# Re 13:3
is the restoration of the imperial form as such, though over a federated
empire of ten kingdoms; the "head" is "healed," i.e. restored; there is
an emperor again--the Beast.
[2] {world}
\\Kosmos\\, Summary: In the sense of the present world-system, the
ethically bad sense of the word, refers to the "order,"
"arrangement," under which Satan has organized the world of
unbelieving mankind upon his cosmic principle of force, greed,
selfishness, ambition, and pleasure.
# Mt 4:8,9 Joh 12:31 14:30 18:36 Eph 2:2 6:12 1Jo 2:15-17
This world-system is imposing and powerful with armies and fleets; is
often outwardly religious, scientific, cultured, and elegant; but,
seething with national and commercial rivalries and ambitions, is
upheld in any real crisis only by armed force, and is dominated by
Satanic principles.
[3] {he causeth}
Antichrist the \\person\\ is to be distinguished from the "many
antichrists"
# 1Jo 2:18
and the "spirit of antichrist"
# 1Jo 4:3
which characterizes all. The supreme mark of all is the denial of
the Christian truth of the incarnation of the \\Logos\\, the eternal
Son in Jesus as the Christ
# Joh 1:1,14
» See Note "Mt 1:16"
The "many antichrists" precede and prepare the way for \\the\\
Antichrist, who is "the Beast out of the earth" of
# Re 13:11-17
and the "false prophet" of
# Re 16:13 19:20 20:10
He is the last ecclesiastical head, as the Beast of
# Re 13:1-8
is the last civil head. For purposes of persecution he is permitted
to exercise the autocratic power of the emperor-Beast
» See Note "Re 19:20"
[1] {gospel}
Gospel. This great theme may be summarized as follows:
I. In itself the word Gospel means good news.
II. Four \\forms\\ of the Gospel are to be distinguished"
(1) The Gospel of the kingdom. This is the good news that God
purposes to set up on the earth, in fulfilment of the Davidic
Covenant
# 2Sa 7:16
a kingdom, political, spiritual, Israelitish, universal, over which
God's Son, David's heir, shall be King, and which shall be, for one
thousand years, the manifestation of the righteousness of God in human
affairs.
» See Note "Mt 3:2"
(2) The Gospel of the grace of God. This is the good news that
Jesus Christ, the rejected King, has died on the cross for the sins
of the world, that He was raised from the dead for our justification,
and that by Him all that believe are justified from all things. This
form of the Gospel is described in many ways. It is the Gospel "of
God"
# Ro 1:1
because it originates in His love; "of Christ"
# 2Co 10:14
because it flows from His sacrifice, and because He is the
alone Object of Gospel faith; of the "grace of God"
# Ac 20:24
because it saves those whom the law curses; of "the glory"
# 1Ti 1:11 2Co 4:4
because it concerns Him who is in the glory, and who is
bringing the many sons to glory
# Heb 2:10
of "our salvation"
# Eph 1:13
because it is the "power of God unto salvation to every one
that believeth"
# Ro 1:16
of "the uncircumcision"
# Ga 2:7
because it saves wholly apart from forms and ordinances of "peace"
# Eph 6:15
because through Christ it makes peace between the sinner and God, and
imparts inward peace.
(3) The everlasting Gospel
# Re 14:6
This is to be preached to the earth-dwellers at the very end of the
great tribulation and immediately preceding the judgment of the
nations
# Mt 15:31
It is neither the Gospel of the kingdom, nor of grace. Though its
burden is judgment, not salvation, it is good news to Israel and to
those who, during the tribulation, have been saved
# Re 7:9-14 Lu 21:28 Ps 96:11-13 Isa 35:4-10
(4) That which Paul calls, "my Gospel"
# Ro 2:16
This is the Gospel of the grace of God in its fullest development, but
includes the revelation of the result of that Gospel in the outcalling
of the church, her relationships, position, privileges, and
responsibility. It is the \\distinctive\\ truth of Ephesians and
Colossians, but interpenetrates all of Paul's writings.
III. There is "another Gospel"
# Ga 1:6 2Co 11:4
"which is not another," but a perversion of the Gospel of the grace
of God, against which we are warned. It has many seductive forms,
but the test is one--it invariably denies the sufficiency of grace
alone to save, keep, and perfect, and mingles with grace some kind of
human merit. In Galatia it was law, in Colosse fanaticism
# Col 2:18
etc.). In any form its teachers lie under the awful anathema of God.
[1] {Babylon}
Summary: The Times of the Gentiles is that long period beginning
with the Babylonian captivity of Judah, under Nebuchadnezzar, and to
be brought to an end by the destruction of Gentile world-power by the
"stone cut out without hands"
# Da 2:34,24,44
i.e., the coming of the Lord in glory
# Re 19:11,21
until which time Jerusalem is politically subject to Gentile rule.
# Lu 21:24
[1] {Babylon}
Babylon, "confusion," is repeatedly used by the prophets in a
symbolic sense
» See Note "Isa 13:1"
Two "Babylons" are to be distinguished in the Revelation:
ecclesiastical babylon, which is apostate Christendom, headed up
under the Papacy; and political babylon, which is the Beast's
confederated empire, the last form of Gentile world-dominion.
Ecclesiastical Babylon is "the great whore"
# Re 17:1
and is destroyed by political Babylon
# Re 17:15-18
that the beast may be the alone object of worship.
# 2Th 2:3,4 Re 13:15
The power of political Babylon is destroyed by the return of the Lord
in glory.
(See "Armageddon,")
# Re 16:14 19:17
The notion of a literal Babylon to be rebuilt on the site of ancient
Babylon is in conflict with
# Isa 13:19-22
But the language of Re 18 (e.g. vs 10, 16, 18)
# Re 18:10,16,18
seems beyond question to identify "Babylon," the "city" of luxury and
traffic, with "Babylon" the ecclesiastical centre, viz. Rome. The
very kings who hate ecclesiastical Babylon deplore the destruction of
commercial Babylon.
[1] {wife}
The "Lamb's wife" here is the "bride"
# Re 21:9
the Church, identified with the "heavenly Jerusalem"
# Heb 12:22,23
and to be distinguished from Israel, the adulterous and repudiated
"wife" of Jehovah, yet to be restored
# Isa 54:1-10 Ho 2:1-17
who is identified with the earth
# Ho 2:23
A forgiven and restored \\wife\\ could not be called either a \\virgin\\
# 2Co 11:2,3
or a \\bride.\\
[2] {righteousness}
The garment is Scripture is a symbol of righteousness. In the bad
ethical sense it symbolizes self-righteousness (e.g)
# Isa 6:4,6 Php 3:6-8
the best that a moral and religious man under law could do).
In the good ethical sense the garment symbolizes "the righteousness
of God. . .upon all them that believe."
» See Note "Ro 3:21"
[3] {saw heaven opened}
The vision is of the departure from heaven of Christ and the saints and
angels preparatory to the catastrophe in which Gentile world-power,
headed up in the Beast, is smitten by the "stone cut out without hands,"
# Da 2:34,35
[4] {Come}
Armageddon (the ancient hill and valley of Megiddo, west of Jordan in
the plain of Jezreel) is the appointed place for the beginning of the
great battle in which the Lord, at His coming in glory, will deliver
the Jewish remnant besieged by the Gentile world-powers under the
Beast and False Prophet
# Re 16:13-16 Zec 12:1-9
Apparently the besieging hosts, whose approach to Jerusalem is
described in
# Isa 10:28-32
alarmed by the signs which precede the Lord's coming
# Mt 24:29,30
have fallen back to Megiddo, after the events of
# Zec 14:2
where their destruction begins; a destruction consummated in
Moab and the plains of Idumea
# Isa 63:1-6
This battle is the first event in "the day of Jehovah"
# Isa 2:12
and is the fulfilment of the smiting-stone prophecy of
# Da 2:35
[1] {make war}
The day of Jehovah (called, also, "that day," and "the great day") is
that lengthened period of time beginning with the return of the Lord
in glory, and ending with the purgation of the heavens and the earth
by fire preparatory to the new heavens and the new earth
# Isa 65:17-19 66:22 2Pe 3:13 Re 21:1
The order of events appears to be: (1) The return of the Lord in glory
# Mt 24:29,30
(2) the destruction of the Beast and his host, "the kings of the earth
and their armies," and the false prophet, which is the "great and
terrible" aspect of the day
# Re 19:11-21
(3) the judgment of the nations
# Zec 14:1-9 Mt 25:31-46
(4) the thousand years, i.e, the kingdom-age
# Re 20:4-6
(5) the Satanic revolt and its end
# Re 20:7-10
(6) the second resurrection and final judgment
# Re 20:11-15
and (7) the "day of God," earth purged by fire
# 2Pe 3:10-13
The day of the Lord is preceded by seven signs: (1) The sending of
Elijah
# Mal 4:5 Re 11:3-6
(2) cosmical disturbances
# Joe 2:1-12 Mt 24:29 Ac 2:19,20 Re 6:12-17
(3) the insensibility of the professing church
# 1Th 5:1-3
(4) the apostasy of the professing church, then become "Laodicea"
# 2Th 2:3
(5) the rapture of the true church
# 1Th 4:17
(6) the manifestation of the "man of sin," the Beast
# 2Th 2:1-8
(7) the apocalyptic judgments
# Re 11:18
[2] {Beast}
The Beast, Summary: This "Beast" is the "little horn" of
# Da 7:24-26
and "desolator" of
# Da 9:27
the "abomination of desolation" of
# Mt 24:15
the "man of sin" of
# 2Th 2:4-8
earth's last and most awful tyrant, Satan's fell instrument
of wrath and hatred against God and the Jewish saints. He is, perhaps,
identical with the rider on the white horse of
# Re 6:2
who begins by the peaceful conquest of three of the ten kingdoms into
which the former Roman empire will then be divided, but who soon
establishes the ecclesiastical and governmental tyranny described in
Dan 7., 9., 11.; Re 13.
To him Satan gives the power which he offered to Christ.
# Mt 4:8,9 Re 13:4
See "The great tribulation,"
# Ps 2:5
» See Note "Re 7:14"
[1] {thousand years}
The duration of the kingdom of heaven in its mediatorial form
» See Note "1Co 15:24"
[1] {first resurrection}
The "resurrection of the just" is mentioned in
# Lu 14:13,14
and the resurrection of "life" distinguished from the "resurrection unto
damnation" in
# Joh 5:20
We here learn for the first time what interval of time separates these
two resurrections.
» See Note "1Co 15:52"
[2] {devil}
Satan, Summary: This fearful being, apparently created one of the
cherubim
» See Note "Eze 1:5"
» See Note "Eze 28:12"
and anointed for a position of great authority, perhaps over the
primitive creation
» See Note "Ge 1:2"
note 3;
# Eze 28:11-15
fell through pride
# Isa 14:12-14
His "I will"
# Isa 14:13
marks the introduction of sin into the universe. Cast out of heaven
# Lu 10:18
he makes earth and air the scene of his tireless activity
# Eph 2:2 1Pe 5:8
After the creation of man he entered into the serpent
» See Note "Ge 3:1"
and, beguiling Eve by his subtilty, secured the downfall of Adam and
through him of the race, and the entrance of sin into the world of men
# Ro 5:12-14
The Adamic Covenant
» See Note "Ge 3:14"
promised the ultimate destruction of Satan through the
"Seed of the woman." Then began his long warfare against the work of
God in behalf of humanity, which still continues. The present
world-system
# Re 13:8
organized upon the principle of force, greed, selfishness, ambition,
and sinful pleasure, is his work and was the bribe which he offered
to Christ
# Mt 4:8,9
Of that world-system he is prince
# Joh 14:30 16:11
and god
# 2Co 4:4
As "prince of the power of the air"
# Eph 2:2
he is at the head of vast host of demons
» See Note "Mt 7:22"
To him, under God, was committed upon earth the power of death
# Heb 2:14
Cast out of heaven as his proper sphere and "first estate," he still
has access to God as the "accuser of the brethren"
# Re 12:10
and is permitted a certain power of sifting or testing the self-
confident and carnal among believers
# Job 1:6-11 Lu 22:31,32 1Co 5:5 1Ti 1:20
but this is strictly permissive and limited power, and believers so
sifted are kept in faith through the advocacy of Christ
# Lu 22:31,32
» See Note "1Jo 2:1"
At the beginning of the great tribulation Satan's privilege of access
to God as accuser will be withdrawn
# Re 12:7-12
At the return of Christ in glory Satan will be bound for one thousand
years
# Re 20:2
after which he will be "loosed for a little season"
# Re 20:3,7,8
and will become the head of final effort to overthrow the kingdom.
Defeated in this, he will be finally cast into the lake of fire, his
final doom. The notion that he reigns in hell is Miltonic, not
biblical. He is prince of this present world-system, but will be
tormented in the lake of fire.
[3] {great white throne} [4] {there was found no place for him}
The expressions, "the judgment," or, "day of judgment," as the passages
and their context show, refer to the final judgment of
# Re 20:11-15
[4]
The "day of destruction" is that aspect of the day of Jehovah
# Isa 2:12
» See Note "Re 19:19"
(Summary)
which visits final and eternal judgment upon the wicked. Three such
"days" are included in the "day" of Jehovah, and are
described in the references beginning with
# Isa 34:1-9
» See Note "Mt 25:32"
# Re 20:11
[1] {judged}
The final judgment. The subjects are the "dead." As the redeemed
were raised from among the dead one thousand years before (v. 5), and
have been in glory with Christ during that period, the "dead" can
only be the wicked dead, from the beginning to the setting up of the
great white throne in space. As there are degrees of punishment
# Lu 12:27,48
the dead are judged according to their works. The book of
life is there to answer such as plead their works for justification,
e.g.
# Mt 7:22,23
an awful blank where the name might have been.
The Judgments, Summary: Among the many judgments mentioned in
Scripture, seven are invested with especial significance. These are:
(1) The judgment of the Believer's sins in the cross of Christ
» See Note "Joh 12:31"
(2) the believer's self-judgment
» See Note "1Co 11:31"
(3) the judgment of the believers' works
» See Note "2Co 5:10"
(4) the judgment of the nations at the return of Christ
» See Note "Mt 25:32"
(5) the judgment of Israel at the return of Christ
» See Note "Eze 20:37"
(6) the judgment of angels after the one thousand years
» See Note "Jude 1:6"
and (7) the judgment of the wicked dead with which the history
of the present earth ends.
[2] {second death}
Second death, Summary: "The second death" and the "lake of fire" are
identical terms
# Re 20:14
and are used of the eternal state of the wicked. It is "second"
relative to the preceding physical death of the wicked in unbelief
and rejection of God; their eternal state is one of eternal "death"
(i.e. separation from God) in sins
# Joh 8:21,24
That the second death is not annihilation is shown by a
comparison of
# Re 19:20 20:10
After one thousand years in the lake of fire the Beast and False
Prophet are still there, undestroyed. The words "forever and forever"
("to the ages of the ages") are used in
# Heb 1:8
for the duration of the throne of God, eternal in the sense of
unending.
[1] {righteous} and [2] {holy}
See \\definitions\\ O.T. righteousness
# Lu 2:25
N.T. righteousness
» See Note "Ro 3:21"
# Ro 10:10
righteous living
# 1Jo 3:7
self-righteousness
# Ro 10:3
[2]
Sanctification, holiness, Summary: (1) In both Testaments the same
Hebrew and Greek words are rendered by the English works "sanctify"
and "holy," in their various grammatical forms. The one uniform
meaning is, "to set apart for God." (2) In both Testaments the words
are used of "things" and "persons". (3) When used of things no moral
quality is implied; they are sanctified or made holy because set
apart for God.
(4) Sanctification when used of persons has a threefold meaning. (a)
In position, believers are eternally set apart for God by redemption,
"through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once"
# Heb 10:9,10
Positionally, therefore, believers are "saints" and "holy"
from the moment of believing
# Php 1:1 Heb 3:1
(b) In experience, the believer is being sanctified by the work of the
Holy Spirit through the Scriptures
# Joh 17:17 2Co 3:18 Eph 5:25,26 1Th 5:23,24
(c) In consummation, the believer's complete sanctification awaits
the appearing of the Lord
# Eph 5:27 1Jo 3:2
See "Salvation,"
» See Note "Ro 1:16"
[3] {words} [4] {life}
Inspiration: Summary. The testimony of the Bible to itself.
(1) The writers affirm, where they speak of the subject at all, they
speak by direct divine authority. (2) They invariably testify that
the \\words\\, and not the ideas merely, are inspired. The most
important passage is
# 1Co 2:7-15
which see. (3) The whole attitude of Jesus Christ toward the Old
Testament, as disclosed in His words, both before His death and after
His resurrection, confirms its truth and divine origin, and He
explicitly ascribes the Pentateuch to Moses. (4) In promising
subsequent revelations after the predicted advent of the Spirit
# Joh 16:12-15
our Lord prepared the way for the New Testament. (5) The
writers of the New Testament invariably treat the Old Testament as
authoritative and inspired.
» See Note "2Pe 1:19"
» See Note "1Co 2:13"
[4]
Eternal life, Summary of the teaching:
(1) The life is called "eternal" because it was from the eternity
which is past unto the eternity which is to come--it is the life of
God revealed in Jesus Christ, who is God
# Joh 1:4 5:26 1Jo 1:1,2
(2) This life of God, which was revealed in Christ, is imparted in a
new birth by the Holy Spirit, acting upon the word of God, to every
believer on the Lord Jesus Christ
# Joh 3:3-15
(3) The life thus imparted was from the beginning." But the recipient
is a "new creation"
# 2Co 5:17 Ga 6:15
(4) The life of God which is the believer is an unsevered part of the
life which eternally was, and eternally is, in Christ Jesus--one life,
in Him and in the believer--Vine and branches; Head and members
# 1Co 6:17 Ga 2:20 Col 1:27 3:3,4 1Jo 5:11,12 Joh 15:1-5 1Co 12:12-14
The End of the Scofield Reference Notes (1917)
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