Digital Logos Edition
Bibliotheca Sacra, Volume 155.
“The article’s thesis is this: God is truthful in that He keeps His unconditional promises to His people and fulfills His sovereign decrees and oaths. God’s commitment to truthfulness, however, does not mean that He never uses deceit as a method of judgment on sinners. But He does so without compromising His truthful character and commitment to righteousness.” (Page 12)
“First, the idea of the tree of life itself (Gen. 2:9; 3:22, 24; Rev. 2:7; 22:2, 14, 19) suggests the concept of a life beyond physical death.” (Page 218)
“Micaiah’s actions support the thesis that the deception was authorized by the Lord, for otherwise this prophet of the Lord, who had consistently spoken the truth in the past (cf. v. 8), would not vow to speak only God’s word and then turn right around and give a false prophecy. The key here is that Micaiah did not necessarily vow to tell the truth, but only the word of the Lord, which in this case was a false oracle of victory!” (Pages 14–15)
“‘the word of the kingdom.’ Hence one purpose of this parable of the sower and the soil is to explain why the word of the kingdom, as preached by John the Baptist, Jesus, and His disciples, had not been better received. Further, as will be seen from the concluding exhortation, the parable was also intended to encourage the hearers to listen to Jesus’ words.” (Page 178)
“The author’s allusions to Kadesh-barnea show that the sin of ‘falling away’ refers to a final decision to return to Judaism and to remain in a state of spiritual retrogression. Once they made that choice, they, like the Exodus generation, would be beyond repentance and would face the inevitable judgment of God resulting in the forfeiture of blessings and ultimately the loss of physical life.” (Page 91)