14:1 The mention of 'Eleazar' the priest's association with 'Joshua' and the absence of 'Caleb' should cause us to realise that whilst Caleb was one of the two faithful spies this is first time he appears in the book of Joshua.

So here is a man who 'wholly followed the Lord' 14:8,9 who was happy to slip into the background and work with Joshua. He did not seek prominence despite his, or maybe because of his, greatness.

14:3     Like in 13:14 we are reminded that the Levites had no inheritance. The Lord was their inheritance Num 18:20. Of course this meant that the priest required faith in God’s provision That provision would come through the generosity of their brethren.

Caleb shows us in this chapter what it means to act according to one's convictions. (As someone said, he puts his money where his mouth is.) He had initially given a good report of the land, confident that God would give it to them, and now he asks for the area that looked difficult - Anakites with fortified cities. But he is confident that God will help him drive them out. What does that mean in our lives? Are we confident that God will help us with the difficult areas/troubles?

14:13    Caleb was the other faithful spy. However this chapter contains the first mention of him since the entering into the land. Whilst he did not have the ‘fame’ of Joshua he was not forgotten by his God. In our lives people pass out of our consciousness even though they might still be alive. We move on and they remain. We might forget them but the Father does not. Maybe we are one of those people.

V.11 Caleb at 85 years old was as strong as he was at 45 years of age.  Caleb’s vigor and enthusiasm for service are to be admired.  Paul seems to reflect the same attitude when he exhorts: Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong (1 Cor 16:13).

The descendants of Anak (giants) had been the problem when Israel refused to go into the land (Num 13:22, 31-33). Joshua and Caleb were the only ones with the faith that God was bigger than the giants (Num 14:6-9). This they proved by personally driving the Anakim out by the strength of the LORD (Josh 11:21-22, 15:13-14).

14:6 This is the first mention of Caleb in the book of Joshua

19:11,12 The use of 'wise' and 'what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt' echo the time of Joseph. None of the wise men in Egypt could interpret his two dreams - Joseph did - and he told him (Exodus 40:25) what the Lord had purposed upon Egypt.

Egypt was invaded by the Assyrians; had to defend its borders against the Babylonians; was conquered by the Persians; was controlled by the Greeks; then controlled by the Ptolemies; and then was ruled by the Romans.  This once mighty nation was reduced to a lowly status, according to prophecy (Eze 29:14,15). 

In the time of the end, Egypt will be overrun and smitten by Gog and his confederates.  This will be at the same time they sweep into Israel.  Christ and the saints will deliver Egypt from the invaders as she cries to Yahweh for help.   Egypt will be healed and restored, by grace, as it recognizes and bows down before the God of Israel (vs.21-25).

19:5-8  The failing of the rivers in Egypt would inevitably produce a national disaster. Egypt receives all its water from the Nile and other rivers as it does not rain there.

19:5 The drying up of the Nile in the language of the prophet is to highlight to Egypt that the very thing they trusted in to provide them with wealth and sustenance is in God’s control.

19:3 Israel had the awful habit of looking to Egypt for assistance. Against that background Israel would have been disconcerted at the thought that Egypt was going to ‘fail’. It should have made them determined to trust God instead but sadly that tended not to happen.

19:1 The Lord riding upon ‘a swift cloud’ echoes Psa 148:8

19:14 Notice, like in verse 1, it is ‘the Lord’ who is brining the judgement upon Egypt even though it was a foreign nation who thought they were doing it.

1 v.1 - Notice how often, when the phrase 'servant of God' is found in Scripture, it refers to Moses? Joshua 1:13 Joshua 22:5 1 Chronicles 6:49 2 Chronicles 24:9 Nehemiah 10:29 Daniel 9:11 Revelation 15:3 There are only two New Testament uses of the phrase which do not speak of Moses Titus 1:1 James 1:1 If we are to consider the phrase 'Servant of the LORD' we will find that the link with Moses is even more striking. Deuteronomy 34:5 Joshua 1:1,13 8:31,33 11:12 12:6 13:8 14:7 18:7 22:2,4,5 24:29 Judges 2:8 2 Kings 18:12 2 Chronicles 1:3 24:6 The only other man called a servant of the LORD' is David. Psalm 18:1 36:1

2 v.3-4 The injunction that the women should 'teach the young women' is powerful. The brethren really cannot teach the young women the qualities that they should manifest. The older sisters should be the teachers by example. Such a great responsibility gives lie to the notion that sisters are 'second class Christadelphians.' We have spoken before on this one, and I feel that you are in an excellent position to do this and I am sure that you do.

3 v.5 'washing of regeneration' - see Ephesians 5:26 to show that the regeneration is of the Word. 3:7 'justified by his grace' Other times we are told that we are 'justified by faith' Romans 3:28 4:2 5:1 9 Galatians 2:17 3:24 So how are we justified by his grace? It is by God's grace that Jesus died. If God had not been gracious then there would be no one to have faith in, thus we are justified by grace. The grace provides the medium through which salvation comes if we believe that medium works then we are justified.

1:3 That the salvation was manifest through preaching is so obvious that we might miss the implications. If we do not talk about the salvation in Christ no one else will hear about it.

Notice the emphasis upon 'good works' (2:7 3:1 3:8 3:14) . But notice that it is not the 'good works' of the social gospel.
2:7 associates 'good works' with 'doctrine'
3:1 associates 'good works' with obedience to the authorities
3:8 The 'good works' here are contrasted with (3:9) 'foolish questions'
3:14 Whilst the meaning of 'good works' here is less clear it certainly is not advocating 'doing good' as seen in those who feel that the gospel is simply being kind.

3:7 We understand that we are 'justified by faith' (Romans 3:28 5:1 Galatians 3:24) but by speaking of being 'justified by his grace' we see that Paul, by echoing the words of Romans 3:24 demonstrates that even though we are justified by 'faith' the work is of God.

1:16 So we see that a person's lifestyle demonstrates what they believe. Correct beliefs are manifest in correct living.

3:3 That Paul associates himself 'such were some of us' with those who are in error in Crete relates to the way in which Paul opposed Christianity because of his Phariseeism indicates that Judaisers were a big problem in Crete.

1:2 We may wonder why Paul says that God cannot lie. Surely Titus knew that. Maybe it is a play on what the poet said about Cretians (Titus 1:12) making the point that God is not like the Cretians,3:9

2:1 When Paul speaks of 'sound doctrine' he is not simply concerned with being technically correct in teaching for the word 5198 carries the meaning 'healthful' as can be seen when it is used Luke 5:31 'whole' 1Tim 6:3 'wholesome' 3John 1:2 'health'. It is also the same word translated 'sound' in Titus 2:2. So Paul is exhorting to the manifestation of a healthy faith.

3:9-10 The 'heretick' - only occurrence of the word in Scripture-  is a divisive person. This divisive person is not simply preaching false doctrine. Rather his behaviour is divisive and relates to the issue of 'foolish questions' of 3:9.

1:15 In saying ‘to the pure all things are pure’ Paul is not giving licence to do anything we please because we are ‘pure’. Rather our purity means that we do not impute wrong motives to others.

2:5 Some may wish to argue from this verse that a wife’s place is in the home. Be that as it may we can all learn from the verse. The reason for the wife to behave in a particular way is to prevent the word of God being blasphemed. Whether at home or at work our behaviour can bring the gospel in to disrepute.

3:1 In the light of the modern way the world thinks – that it is perfectly acceptable to object to what local government or local council deem appropriate for citizens of that town or county – Paul’s words to Titus are most appropriate. Not for us the protest against local or national taxes. Not for us the protest against a housing development or new super market in our locality.

There are several references in this letter to being "self-controlled", Strongs 4998/4994 etc, which also mean to be of sound mind/sane.  We know that we can only be of sound mind if we have the mind of Christ  & the mind of the flesh (desires of the flesh/divisiveness, etc) has been put to death cp Rom 6- 8 We are then able to do the good works that God has given us to do (Eph 2:10, Titus 2:12), & bear the fruit of the Spirit.

1:5  In commanding Titus to ordain ‘elders in every city’ Paul is setting in place circumstances which would lead to unity and harmony rather than division. The brethren and sisters met ‘from house to house’ Acts 2:46  and ecclesias met n houses Philem 1:2. In setting a bishop in each city Paul s creating a situation where it would be difficult to simply go to another group of believers if one had a problems with one group. Each city would be under the care of the bishop for that city. Each house group would be part of the one larger group in that city.

1:5      In calling Titus to ‘ordain’ elders Paul is encouraging him to continue the work that the apostles had already been involved in – Acts 14:23

2:7 Whilst Paul has been telling Titus to teach young men he says that Titus was to be ‘a pattern of good works’. He was not simply to speak the words. He was to show them in his life as well.

1:2 God promised eternal life before the world began (KJV); before the beginning of time (NIV).  This is the same language as that found in 2Tim 1:9.  The question is to whom would God promise eternal life before those stated conditions?  Would that apply to Himself or His angelic host?  I think that the NASB translation makes more sense when it says: long ages ago.  This allows for the promise to be made to the first man (and woman) - which it was.

3:14 Having spoken of ‘good works’ throughout the letter Paul now emphasises that they must be maintained. Living the gospel is not a ‘flash in the pan’ activity. It must be s=worked on throughout life.

What does it mean in 1:16 to be "disqualified for every good work"?

I once saw an olympic long-jumper who three times jumped an enormous distance. Their jumps put them in the lead. But after each jump the camera went to the soft putty at the starting point to show the indent of the athlete's shoe. They had overstepped the mark, and none of their jumps qualified for the competition.

Can our works be like that too? Paul says they can. In fact, he's saying that your whole lifetime of works can be disqualified if you don't jump off from the right point. This starting point is belief, which he explains in v14-16 is the only thing which qualifies your entry into the "good works race". So in effect all the good we do will not get us an eternal reward, no matter how exceptionally good, or how long we've served, if we don't believe in Jesus.

Instead we have belief (faith) that eternal life is a gift of God through baptism into Jesus. Once we qualify by doing this, then our good works will start to mean something. In 3:8 this is put in the proper order.