Archive for January, 2009
« Previous EntriesBig Macs and Background Studies
Wednesday, January 28th, 2009Some wonder why cultural and background studies are important or necessary for understanding the Bible. They want to know why they can’t just “read the Bible for what it says.” The answer is that you can “read the Bible for what it says,” but only if you understand what it says. And cultural and background studies help [...]
Luke 1:18-25
Friday, January 23rd, 2009In the narrative section of 1:5-25 Zacharias has been shown that against all odds, God answers prayer (v. 13), especially in relation to God’s promises in Scripture. The nation of Israel wondered if God would ever provide a Messiah, and Zacharias wondered if God would ever provide him a son. God was now bringing both to fruition in [...]
Luke 1:11-17
Thursday, January 22nd, 20091:11-12. In light of all this, Zacharias probably expected the worse when an angel of the Lord appeared to him. It is understandable that he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. He probably thought that he was about to be struck dead.
1:13. The angel Gabriel (cf. v. 19) immediately tries to calm Zacharias’ fears [...]
Style Rules
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009As you submit your own posts in the comment section of the forums, please try to use the following style rules. They will help keep us consistent in how we reference the biblical text, abbreviate books of the Bible, capitalize certain words, etc.
Style Rules for:
I. General Information
     A. The NKJV will be the translation used in this commentary.
     B. [...]
Luke Outline
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009My purpose in outlining is not to nail down the narrative of Luke into “subject sections” but to get a picture of the flow of the story. If looking at an outline of a story ruins the narrative for you, ignore this post.
The purpose of Luke is to instruct Gentile believers about the words and [...]
Luke 1:5-10
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009Luke begins by laying some social, cultural, political, and religious groundwork. The tension in the story becomes palpable as Luke pits the promises of God against both the political aspirations of human rulers and the faith-testing circumstances of life.
King Herod on the Throne
1:5a. Luke masterfully begins his narrative by mentioning Herod, the king of Judea. This not only provides a time period for the following [...]
Luke 1:1-4
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009Luke begins his account of the life of Jesus by stating who he is writing it for, and he also provides a bit of insight into the methods he used to glean the information that follows.
1:1. First, he recognizes that many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of the things which [...]
How the Bibliographic References Work
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009Many posts contain Bibliographic references. These references are in the following format:
(Author, Publication Date:page number)
So for example, the reference (Bosch, 1991:23) means that the author David Bosch wrote a book in 1991, and I am referencing page 23 of that book.
To find out what that book was, you can use the “Bibliography” post in each [...]
The Benefits of an Online Commentary
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009There are so many benefits to “publishing” a commentary online rather than in print format. Below are a few (feel free to add more in the comment section of the forum):
1. It’s Expandable. As I come across new information, rather than think “I wish I had put that in the print version!”, I can simply [...]
New Approach to Scripture – Part II
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009Let me discuss a bit further on how I plan to approach this commentary.
First, this is a massive undertaking, and so I cannot focus on everything at once. I will try, to the best of my ability, to work through one book of the Bible at a time before moving on to another. Ideally, I would like [...]