and verses that has been in common use
clear out
of all proportion. Such disproportionate
study steals away very largely the historical setting,
and the simple meaning in the mind of speaker and
writer. Wide reading habitually indulged in should
come first, and out of that will naturally grow the
closer study. This is the true order. In
giving references it is needful to mark particular
verses. Yet this is to be regretted because of
our inveterate habit of reading only the marked verses
instead of getting the sweep of their connection.
The connection is a very large part of the interpretation
of any passage. The references here are meant
to be indices to the whole passage in connection.
They are not meant to be full, but simply to start
one going. They should be supplemented by others
suggested by one’s own reading, by marginal
references (those of the American Revision are specially
well selected), and by concordance and topical text-book.
What a student digs out for himself is in a peculiar
sense his own. It is woven into his fibre.
It helps make him the man he comes to be. Those
who may want a course to follow rigidly without independent
study will find these notes disappointing. For
those who want a daily scheme of study the allotment
for the day can be by certain designated pages of reading
with the corresponding paragraphs in the Study Notes.
The paragraphing will be found to be in some measure,
though not wholly, a sub-analysis. The American
Revision is used here.
1. The Purpose in the Coming of Jesus.
God Spelling Himself out in Jesus: change
in the original language—bother in spelling
Jesus out—sticklers for the old forms—Jesus’
new spelling of old words.
Jesus is God following us up: God heart-broken—man’s
native air—bad choice affected man’s
will—the wrong lane—God following
us up.
The Early Eden Picture, Genesis 1:26-31. 2:7-25:
unfallen man—like God—the breath
of God in man—a spirit, infinite, eternal—love—holy—wise—sovereign
over creation, Psalm 8:5-8—in his own will—summary—God’s
thought for man.
Man’s Bad Break, Genesis 3. the climax
of opportunity—the tree of choice—the
temptation—blended lies—the tempter’s
strategy—the choice made—the
immediate result—safety in shame—the
danger of staying in Eden—guarding man’s
home—the return, Rev. 2:7. 22:14, 2.
John 10:10.
Outside the Eden Gate: a costly meal—result
in the man himself—ears and eyes affected—looking
without seeing—a personal test—Isaiah’s
famous passage, Isaiah 6:9-10, see Isaiah 42:18, 20,
23. 43:8. 29:10. Jeremiah 5:21. 6:10. 7:26.
Ezekiel 12:2. Psalm 69:23. Micah 3:6.
Acts 7:51.—Jesus’ use of parables—Jesus’
irony—Matthew 13:10-15. Mark 4:10-12.
Luke 8:9-10. See John 12:40. Acts 28:26,
27. Romans 11:8. John 9:39-41—tongue
affected—the tongue man’s index—effect
of seeing God—whole mental process affected—sense
of dread—– Paul’s seven steps
down in mental process, Ephesians 4:17-19—Jesus
the music of God, the face of God.