Latest Commentaries

The prophet Joel invites the Gentile nations to assemble for battle. He urges the LORD to bring His army down to defeat the nations.

The LORD turns His attention to the Phoenicians and the Philistines. He promises to judge them for the crimes they committed against Judah.

When the LORD restores the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, He will judge the Gentile nations for the way they treated His covenant people.

John the Baptist tells his disciples that Jesus has come from Heaven and will teach of the things of Heaven, because He has firsthand knowledge of Heaven and of God. He speaks the words of God Himself. Indeed, Jesus is God the Son, son of God the Father. Whoever lives a life of faith in the Son will experience the fullness of life, but whoever disobeys the Son will experience punishment from God.

Jesus and his disciples go south into Judea. His disciples baptize repentant Jews. Nearby, John the Baptist’s disciples are inspired to jealousy by seeing that Jesus attracts larger crowds than John. John answers his disciples, saying that the whole point of his ministry was to prepare people for Jesus’s ministry. Now that Jesus’s ministry is growing, John is happy for him, and will intentionally fade into the background.

Jesus explains why He, God’s Messiah, has come to earth: He must die so that the world can receive eternal life. He compares himself to the bronze serpent in the wilderness which Moses raised up for snakebit Israelites to look upon. Jesus too will be lifted up on a cross, and anyone who looks on Him with the belief that they will be healed of sin will be given eternal life.

Nicodemus does not understand why someone must be born again in the Spirit to enter God’s kingdom. Jesus points out that he should understand these things since he is a teacher of the Scriptures. Then Jesus reveals something incredible about Himself: He is the Son of Man, the Messiah sent by God, and He has come down from Heaven.

Nicodemus, a Jewish ruler, visits Jesus because he sees that Jesus is a teacher and miracle worker sent from God. Jesus tells Nicodemus a spiritual truth that perplexes the Jewish ruler: A person must go through a second birth by the Spirit of God to enter God’s kingdom.

The disciples of Jesus devote themselves to learning from the apostles and taking care of one another. They sell property to provide for their fellow believers. Everyone continues to feel the fear of God in them as the apostles perform wonders and signs. New believers join their community every day.

Some of the Jews are ashamed that they put God’s messiah to death. They ask Peter what to do, and he calls them to repent and be baptized in Jesus’s name. Then the Holy Spirit will dwell in them too. 3000 people repent and are baptized.

Peter tells the crowd that he and the other disciples are witnesses to Jesus’s resurrection. They have seen Him alive again. And now He has ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of God. The Jewish people are called to realize that they crucified God’s messiah.

Peter preaches that Jesus’s death was part of God’s plan, and that He has been resurrected from death by God. King David had prophesied this resurrection in his psalms.

Peter quotes more from Joel’s prophecies. Prior to the day of the Lord’s judgment, there will be signs and wonders and darkness on the earth. But whoever calls on God will be saved.

Peter begins a sermon to explain to the Jewish pilgrims why they are speaking in foreign languages. The Spirit of God has been poured out on His people, as predicted by the prophet Joel.

Jewish pilgrims and immigrants from all over the Roman Empire have come to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. They hear the disciples speaking about God’s deeds in the native languages of the foreign places where they were from. Some believe the disciples are drunk, others want to understand what is happening.

The Holy Spirit arrives as promised. With the sound of wind and the appearance of flaming tongues, the disciples are filled by the Spirit and speak languages they did not know beforehand.

The LORD promises to restore Israel and Judah. He states that the nation will experience a great increase in population and will be gathered together under one leader.

Hosea’s wife gives birth to a third child, and the LORD commands Hosea to name him Lo—ammi, meaning that the Israelites are not God’s people.

Hosea’s wife gives birth to a daughter, and the LORD commands Hosea to name her “Lo—ruhamah” meaning “No Mercy” because He will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel.

The LORD commands Hosea to take an unfaithful wife and have children with her. Hosea’s marriage and family serve to illustrate how the Israelites have forsaken their covenant partner, Yahweh.