Latest Commentaries

The LORD throws a great windstorm on the sea. The sailors pray to their gods and wake Jonah up from his deep sleep to pray to his God.

The LORD sends Jonah to Nineveh. But Jonah goes to Tarshish to run away from the LORD.

A lawyer from the Pharisees asks Jesus which commandment is the greatest.

Jesus answers the Sadducees loaded question about the resurrection by pointing out their error. He then proceeds to explain how people are not given in marriage in the resurrection, before demonstrating the resurrection from the books of Moses. The crowds are amazed at His answer.

The Sadducees ask Jesus a loaded question about the resurrection. They introduce their question with an extreme scenario about a woman seven-times married. Their scenario was intended to show the ridiculousness of the resurrection.

The Pharisees send spies to trap Jesus into saying something against Rome. They bring along some pro—Roman Herodians as conspirators in their plot. They ask Jesus whether it is lawful to pay poll-taxes to Caesar or not. Jesus perceives their trap and calls them on it before answering their question. He asks for a coin and whose likeness it bears. When he is told the image belongs to Caesar, Jesus answers "to render to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s."

Jesus tells a parable about a wedding feast of the king’s son. But when the invitation is sent informing the invitees that the wedding is now, they refuse to come. Others among them kill the messengers. The king then sends an army to burn their city and invites anyone to come. At the wedding a friend of the king is there without his wedding clothes and is escorted out of the feast.

The last four verses of chapter 4 (46-49) contain a summary of the census of the Levites.

Verses 34-45 cover the census itself. This census counted how many males there were that were between 30 and 50 years old in each family. Verses 34-37 contain the number of Kohathites, verses 38-41 contain the number of Gershonites, and verses 42-45 contain the number of Merarites. These sections are very similar in structure and content.

In verses 29-33, the duties of the Merarites were discussed. These duties involved the items comprising the tabernacle’s frame. This included the crossbars, bases, pegs, and other related items.

Verses 21-28 cover the responsibilities given to the Gershonites. They were charged with transporting the curtains, coverings, and related items that comprised the tabernacle and the outer court.

Verses 16-20 describe the responsibility of Aaron’s son, Eleazar, concerning the oils and the grain offering. The LORD also gives a warning to the Kohathites not to look at the holy objects of the tabernacle.

The LORD commanded Moses to take another census of the family of Kohath, of the tribe of Levi, in verses 1-20. This census counted how many males there were between 30 and 50 years old. The family of Kohath was given the privilege of caring for the holiest items in the tabernacle. Before these items could be handled by the Kohathites, the priests had to cover them, because for any non-priest to look upon these items resulted in certain death.

After the Israelites’ victory at Ai, Joshua climbs Mount Ebal, where the LORD renewed His covenant with His people inside the Promised Land. This was done in response to the command of Moses in Deuteronomy 27:1-13.

The Lord, the maker of heaven and earth, is constantly watching over humanity, seeking to guide, protect and deliver His beloved charges from the grasp of evil which would see each individual and whole nations destroyed—flesh, bone, marrow and soul. The Lord is the saving keeper of our souls.

The psalmist describes how God does not rest or fail to sustain us as we walk through life. He will guide our steps.

The psalmist looks beyond the earth, up to God, and acknowledges that true help comes from Him.

The Sadducees and Pharisees have understood that Jesus was speaking against them. They desire to arrest Him for what He said. But they do not do so at this time, because they are afraid of how the many people who believe Jesus is a prophet will respond if they tried to seize Him.

Jesus follows up the Sadducees’ and Pharisees’ response to how the landowner will bring the wretched vine-growers to an end with a startling question and a condemning passage from the Psalms. He ends His rebuke by telling them that God will take away their place in His kingdom from them and scatter them like dust.

Jesus tells the parable of a landowner who plants a vineyard on his land. He then hires vine-growers to work His vineyard while He is away. When the harvest comes, the vineyard owner sends some slaves to collect its produce, but instead of paying the landowner what was His, the vine-growers beat and kill them. They do the same to the landowner’s son. Jesus asks the priests and elders what will happen to the evil vine-growers when the landowner returns. They reply that he will bring them to a wretched end. In the subsequent section, Jesus applied the parable to the Jewish leaders as being like those evil slaves.