Introduction: The occasion of this letter was tied in with the activity of Epaphroditus—whose name incidentally means “dedicated to Aphrodite.” He had brought news to Paul in prison about the church at Philippi, and he had delivered their gift to Paul (2:30; 4:18). Once he got to Paul he nearly died of a severe illness, …
Surveying the Text/Ephesians
Introduction: If Galatians is the great charter of Christian liberty, and the ground of it, Ephesians is the great charter of Christian identity, and what flows from it. The Text: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory …
Surveying the Text/Galatians
Introduction: This Lord’s Day we are commemorating the beginning of the great Reformation of the 16th century. It is fitting, therefore, that we take this opportunity to begin our study of the book of Galatians, that great charter of Christian freedom. We need to stand fast in the liberty Christ brought to us, and we …
Surveying the Text/Malachi
Introduction: This book is of uncertain date, and is probably to be located sometime in the fifth century B.C. The problems that are addressed in the book are also problems in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, and are addressed there as well. They include, but are not limited to, corrupt priests, mixed marriages, failure …
Surveying the Text/Zechariah
Introduction: This portion of the Word of God came to us through Zechariah, son of Berechiah. For our purposes here, we will not assume any textual error in Matt. 23:35 where Jesus says that Zechariah, son of Berechaiah, was murdered between the temple and the altar. This had also happened to Zechariah, son of Jehoidah, in 2 …
Surveying the Text/Haggai
Introduction: Haggai’s name means “festal,” and this gives us a key note for the book. Like other prophets, he rebukes the sins of the people. But unlike most other prophets, the people listen to him, and he promises great glory to come. What we know about Haggai is found in this book, and in Ezra …
Surveying the Text/Zephaniah
Introduction: As with many of the other minor prophets, what we know about the author of the book is basically contained within the book. This book begins with an unusual genealogy, one which means that Zephaniah is probably the great-grandson of King Hezekiah, which would place him in the tribe of Judah. From the nature …
Surveying the Text/Habakkuk
Introduction: Apart from what can be inferred from this book, we know nothing of the prophet who assembled it. But from the things described, we can see that he was a contemporary of Jeremiah, Nahum, and Zephaniah. The book is delivered sometime between 612 B.C. and 599 B.C.—before Babylon attacked Jerusalem, but after Babylon had …
Surveying the Text/Nahum
Introduction: We know virtually nothing about Nahum, other than that this prophet was a magnificent poet. We have his name, this short masterpiece from him, and the fact that he was probably from Judah, from a town called Elkosh. He prophesied after the fall of Thebes (3:8) in Egypt (664-663 B.C.) but prior to the …
Surveying the Text/Micah
Introduction: Micah was a younger contemporary to the prophet Isaiah, and ministered across the reigns of Jotham (c. 740 B.C.) and Hezekiah of Judah (who died 687 B.C.). Other contemporaries would be Amos and Hosea, which accounts for similar themes—they were all confronting the same kinds of cultural problems. The two great ones were idolatry …