Bible Expositions

Lessons from the Book of Joshua

Joshua has two themes. One looks backward, the other forward.

In relation to all that preceded it in God's program, Joshua is the book of fulfilled promise. For centuries, God had predicted that Israel would possess the land of Canaan. He revealed the nation's future occupation of the land to Abraham (Gen. 13:14-18; 15:13-21), Isaac (Gen. 26:1-5), Jacob (Gen. 35:10-12), and Moses (Ex. 3:7-10). In Joshua we have the record of how God brought this ancient promise to pass.

Joshua also pictures how another promise would be fulfilled in the remote future. Much older than anything God told Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob is His decree known as the Protevangelium (Gen. 3:15), which He issued not long after the creation of the world and which He made more specific when He again declared it to Abraham (Gen. 22:16-18). God said that someday a man would be born who would defeat Satan and the works of Satan and thus bring blessing to the whole world. That man has come, and His name is Jesus Christ. Several Old Testament characters anticipate Christ in their character and deeds. We refer to them as types of Christ. Among the most important is Moses' successor, Joshua.
- Introduction, Part 1: Setting of the Book
  - An exciting story
    - Historical background
    - Authorship and date
- Introduction, Part 2: Typology of the Book
  - Place in the canon
  - Spiritual meaning
    - Two themes
    - Joshua as a type of Christ
- Joshua 1:1-9: God's Charge to Joshua
  - Joshua's installation as head of the nation
  - Admonition to be courageous
- Joshua 1:10-18: The Ideal Organization
  - Requirements for success
    - There is delegated authority.
    - There is a shared commitment to honor and obey God.
    - Everyone recognizes that it is in the organization’s best interest to have a strong leader.
    - All dealings are managed with personal integrity.
  - The need for integrity
- Joshua 2, Part 1: Rahab's Protection of the Spies
  - Joshua sends spies to Jericho
  - Bargain with Rahab
  - Who was the hero?
- Joshua 2, Part 2: Rahab's Lie
  - Moral questions
    - The spies going to the house of a harlot
    - Rahab’s lie
  - The issue today
    - How Christians behaved under the Nazis
    - What Scripture says about lying
- Joshua 2, Part 3: Rahab's Exaltation
  - The ultimate picture of grace
  - The genealogy of Christ
- Joshua 3: Crossing the Jordan
  - The great barrier
  - Significance of the miracle
- Joshua 4: Reaching the Other Side
  - Overcoming the impossible with God's help
  - Keeping memorials
- Joshua 5: Consecration
  - Celebration of Passover
  - Spiritual interpretation
- Joshua 6: Conquest of Jericho
  - Its defenses overcome
  - Spiritual interpretation
- Joshua 7: Sin in the Camp
  - Dealing properly with sin
  - Spiritual interpretation
- Joshua 8: Regaining Momentum
  - New strategy
  - Spiritual interpretation
- Joshua 9: Compromise
  - Trickery
  - Spiritual interpretation
- Joshua 10: The Longest Day
  - Amazing miracles
  - Spiritual interpretation
- Joshua 11: Overwhelming Victory
  - Campaign brought to completion
  - Spiritual interpretation
- Joshua 12-23: Enjoying the Land
  - Tribal boundaries
  - Spiritual interpretation
- Joshua 24: Joshua's Last Words
  - A picture of things to come
  - Spiritual interpretation
In Perils Abounding: A Commentary on the Book of Acts

One of the most effective preachers of the gospel was the apostle Paul. After a long career of witnessing for Christ throughout much of the Mediterranean world, the Jews arrested him and sought to kill him. But their hands were tied because he was a Roman citizen protected by Roman law. When they handed him over to the Roman authorities and laid false charges against him, he appealed to Caesar. He then journeyed to Rome for trial, and the physician Luke, his traveling companion in several earlier journeys, accompanied him. Many scholars believe that in Rome, Luke wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, also known as the Acts of the Apostles, to assist in Paul's defense. Theophilus was probably a Roman official who was hearing the case.

Luke's purpose in writing Acts explains his choice of themes. Throughout the book he makes three points: 1) that Paul and other preachers of Christianity have never encouraged rebellion against the Romans; 2) that their preaching has often started riots only because the Jews hate the new religion; and 3) that the followers of the new religion are model citizens, devoted to good works, worship of God, and loving fellowship with each other.
Lessons from the Epistle of James

The Epistle of James displays a striking familiarity with Jesus' mind and a profound grasp of Jesus' teachings. Even James's style, beautifully concise and poetic, is modeled after Jesus' sayings. This should come as no surprise. James was the slightly younger brother of Jesus. For years they were companions in play and work and every other realm of life.

James addresses a question of critical importance in our day, when many even in conservative churches are drowning in self-satisfied pseudoreligion. The question is, what is true godliness. To provide an answer, James reconsiders the virtues emphasized in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. He makes godliness concrete by warning us against the many ways our lives might fail to shine with these virtues.

The commentary is also available from Amazon.com in either printed or digital format.
- lesson 1: Introduction
- lesson 2: James 1:1-4
- lesson 3: James 1:5
- lesson 4: James 1:6-8
- lesson 5: James 1:9-11
- lesson 6: James 1:12
- lesson 7: James 1:13-15
- lesson 8: James 1:16-18
- lesson 9: James 1:19-21
- lesson 10: James 1:22-25
- lesson 11: James 1:26
- lesson 12: James 1:27a
- lesson 13: James 1:27b
- lesson 14: James 2:1-9
- lesson 15: James 2:10-13
- lesson 16: James 2:14-26
- lesson 17: James 3:1-6
- lesson 18: James 3:7-12
- lesson 19: James 3:13-16
- lesson 20: James 3:17-18
- lesson 21: James 4:1-3
- lesson 22: James 4:4-10
- lesson 23: James 4:11-12
- lesson 24: James 4:13-17
- lesson 25: James 5:1-6
- lesson 26: James 5:7-9
- lesson 27: James 5:10-11
- lesson 28: James 5:12
- lesson 29: James 5:13-18
- lesson 30: James 5:19-20
- Appendix 1: The Cornerstones of Modern Thought
- Appendix 2: The Sins in Gossip
Jesus' Sermon on the Mount

No sooner had Jesus begun His earthly ministry than He ran headlong into opposition from the religious leaders of His day. His most vocal and active enemies belonged to the party of Pharisees. We can summarize all the faults of their brand of religion by saying that it was a religion of the visible. They thought that God cared chiefly about what they said and did in the sight of others, and that God showed His pleasure or displeasure with a man's way of life by altering his external circumstances, making them comfortable if he was righteous, difficult if he was not.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus showed that true religion is a religion of the invisible. God cares chiefly about the condition of a man's heart, not about His outward conduct. And comfortable circumstances are not a sign of His pleasure with a man's life. On the contrary, the life of a righteous man is marked by trouble and sorrow.
- first lesson: True Righteousness
  - Theme
  - Selection of the Twelve
  - Sermon on the Plain
  - The Beatitudes
    - The version in Luke
    - The version in Matthew
  - The purpose of life
    - Salt and light
    - Application
- second lesson: The Law Revisited
  - Theme
  - The permanence of the law
  - Jesus' commentary on specific commandments
    - The commandment against murder
    - The commandment against adultery
    - Divorce
    - The commandments against vain swearing and false witness
  - Application
- third lesson: The Second Table of the Law
  - Theme
  - Nonresistance to evil
    - Turning the other cheek
    - Yielding to a lawsuit
    - Going the second mile
    - Lending freely
  - Extending love to all mankind
  - Application
- fourth lesson: The First Table of the Law
  - Theme
  - Religious exercises
    - Almsgiving
    - Prayer
    - Fasting
  - Setting priorities
    - Shunning materialism
    - Seeking first the Kingdom
  - Application
- fifth lesson: Guidelines for Ministry
  - The Second Goal That Should Govern Our Lives
  - Dangers in ministry
    - Counseling
    - Evangelism
    - Prayer
    - Works of charity
  - Deceptions in religion
    - Churches to be avoided
    - Leaders to be shunned
    - Self-deception
  - Conclusion
    - The importance of Jesus' teachings
    - Jesus' authority
  - Application
Expositions of Other Gospel Passages
- Introduction
  - Introduction to the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:1-4)
  - Who Is Jesus? (John 1:1-18)
- The Birth and Childhood of Christ
  - First Visit by Gabriel (Luke 1:5-25)
  - The Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38)
  - Joseph's Dream (Mathew 1:18-25)
  - Mary's Visit to Elisabeth (Luke 1:39-56)
  - Birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:57-80)
  - The Child in a Manger (Luke 2:1-20)
  - The Child in Jerusalem (Luke 2:21-38)
  - The Visit of the Magi (Matthew 2:1-12)
  - Sojourn in Egypt (Matthew 2:13-23)
  - Jesus' Childhood (Luke 2:39-52)
- Parables of the Kingdom (Matthew 13)
  - discussion of all eight parables
    - A currently fashionable interpretation
    - First and eighth parables
    - Second and seventh parables
    - Third and fourth parables
    - Fifth and sixth parables
    - Another erroneous interpretation
  - further discussion of the Parable of the Sower
  - further discussion of the Parable of the Mustard Seed
  - further discussion of the Parable of the Leaven
- The Good Samaritan (Luke 10)
- Parables of the lost being found (Luke 15)
- The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16)
- The Good Shepherd (John 10)
- The Last Supper
  - Setting of the Last Supper (John 13:1-17 and parallel passages)
  - First Communion (John 13:18-35 and parallel passages)
- Jesus' Arrest and Trials
  - In the Garden (Matthew 26:36-56 and parallel passages)
  - Trial by Jewish Authorities (Matthew 26:57-75 and parallel passages)
  - Trial by Roman Authorities (Matthew 27:1-32 and parallel passages)
- Jesus' Crucifixion and Resurrection
  - The Crucifixion of Jesus (Matthew 27:32-56 and parallel passages)
  - The Resurrection of Jesus (Matthew 27:57-28:20 and parallel passages)

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