v.5 - This event provided Jesus with much comfort in the Garden of Gethsemane. The table of verbal links between this time in David's life and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane show us that we should see links.

A table Of Echoes Of The Uprising Of Absalom

Do we seek to identify with Biblical events and individuals when we are seeking to please the Father?

V.16 Hushai, the friend of David, would have continued with him into exile. But David had a better use for him to frustrate Ahithophel's advice in the household of Absalom (2Sam 15:32-37).  What courage Hushai had to become Absalom's confidant in the house of the enemy.  Such was the love and loyalty that Hushai had towards David. 

Vs.21,22 The prophecy concerning the violation of David's concubines had come true (2Sam 12:11,12).  Notice that the advice for this act came from Ahithophel.  This must have been sweet revenge for David's adultery with his granddaughter Bathsheba.

16:8  Shimei’s accusation that ‘the blood of the house of Saul’ was being required of David ignores the way that David spared the blood of Saul on at lest two occasions – 1Sam 24:4-7, 26:5-12 So we might think that David would have been justified in having Shimei slain. However David would not take vengeance himself, leaving things in the hand of God.

16:11 David’ in speaking of Absalom’s wrong against David being greater than that of Shimei’s teaches us the importance of getting things into perspective.

16:12  Psa 7 gives us an insight into how David was feeling at this time.

V.3 Was Ziba telling the truth, or was he an opportunist trying to gain the favor of David? Perhaps he had surmised that Absalom would fail in his attempted coup. And so, Ziba set about, craftily, to promote himself with David.  

Ziba's brearing gifts to David was not done with the same motives as Abigail's action with regard to Nabal.  Abigail was trying to appease David and avoid bloodshed.  Her motives were noble (Prov 21:14).

Ziba, on the other hand, was buttering up (Br.) David to gain his favor for personal advancement.  Ziba thought that his gifts would bring he and David closer together.  Whether judgment was perverted in the process, or not, does not seem to be an issue (Prov 17:23; 18:16). 

At this point, Ziba had been rewarded by David, but we shall see, later, that an amendment would be made.

V.5 Shimei was of the tribe of Benjamin, the same as Saul (v.11; 1Sam 9:1,2).

The town of Bahurim (means young men) was situated north of Jerusalem.  In other scriptures, Bahurim is known by different names: Almon (means hidden) (Josh 21:18); Alemeth (means covering) (1Chron 6:60).

Vs.6-8 Shimei was not the only person who was angry at David for dispossessing Saul and his followers. But, none was as vocal and rude as Shimei, in expressing himself.

V.11 The sin might be forgiven, but the consequences of sin linger.  Committing a sin is like driving a big nail into a post. Once the sin is forgiven, the nail is removed.  But, there remains the hole in the post where the nail had been.  Come the Day of Judgment, your personal post might be full of pock marks, but as long as no nails remain in your post, you’ll be o.k.

16:15 The consequences of David violating Bathsheba now are coming home to roost – Her Grandfather, Ahithophel, is with Absalom.

v.9 - Here we have a clear picture of the urgency which the prophets felt as a result of the power of the spirit which forced them to speak the words of God. Consider, as well in this context, the fate of Balaam, who, Peter tells us, (2Pet.2:5) loved the wages of unrighteousness, but nevertheless was unable to speak to curse Israel even though the potential of half a kingdom could be his for doing it. Num.23,24.

Cities … overthrew Genesis 19:25
Cry Genesis 18:21
Morning Genesis 19:27

Jeremiah must have been in a terribly depressed state to think thus of his origins.

V.14-18 Perhaps this lament was uttered when Jeremiah was in the stocks, or at some other crucial time of testing. It shows the humanness of the prophet, and provides insight into the the depths of his anguish and suffering. Not unlike Job(Job 3:3-6)

20:10  ‘fear on every side’ returns to the name ‘Magormissabib’ of verse :4 .

V.7 Jeremiah's complaint, not unlike that of Job, expressed human infirmity in consequence of his imprisonment. Thou didst promise never to give me up to the will of mine enemies, and yet Thou hast done so. But Jeremiah misunderstood God's promise, which was not that he should have nothing to suffer, but that God would deliver him out of sufferings (Jer 1:19)

Jeremiah was put in stocks to be publicly beaten and humiliated.  He would have received forty stripes according to the Law (Deut 25:3).  Paul, also, received the same treatment (2Cor 11:24).  Jesus would have received a similar beating by the hands of the Romans (John 19:1).

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20:1-18 Given that Jeremiah was depressed because of the attitude of the people we could say that he, like Jesus would be, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief – Isa 53:3.

V.7 Jeremiah misunderstood Yahweh.  Yahweh did not tell Jeremiah that he would not suffer, but He did tell him that He would deliver him from his suffering (Jer 1:19).

We, too, can expect trials, but also deliverance from them (1Cor 10:13).

20:17-18 Whilst it is clear Jeremiah is speaking of the people who will not heed the message calling for repentance from them he takes it all very personally and, because of their Godlessness, laments his own existence. Now either he is despondent because his words are not being heard or he is so sad that his fellow Jews are not willing to listen to God. Does the fact that our preaching bears little fruit actually cause us concern – or do we just say ‘it is a sign of the times’ and shrug our shoulders, so to speak?

V.2 The kind of stocks to which Jeremiah was subject, constituted an instrument of torture.  The wooden implement consisted of two beams, one of which was moveable. There were five holes: for the neck; hands; and feet.

Once the prisoner was inserted into the holes, the moveable beam was adjusted so that the prisoner was twisted to a painfully bent position. There he remained confined and crooked in a room set aside for that purpose (2Chron 16:10).  In this verse, the term prison house (KJV) literally means house of stocks.

V.9 Jeremiah was peeved at Yahweh’s seeming lack of support.  For spite, Jeremiah vowed not to deliver any more messages.  However, he could not in all good conscience restrain such a powerful and right message.

Does the unrestrainable burning for the Word reside in us, even though things might not be going so well at any given time (Luke 24:2)?

Vs.14,15 reflect Job 3:3,10,11.

20:13  So here we see the reason why Jeremiah was unable to keep silence, even though he did not want to give the message. He was aware of the fact that God was a deliverer. Surely that is our experience? We recognise that we have been delivered from sin and death. Does this motivate us to talk about that?

5 v.19 - The word 'ordain' 2525 can be seen, from its use in the New Testament, to encompass rulership and judgment. Matthew 24:45,47 25:21,23 (made) ruler, Luke 12:14,42,44 (made) judge / rule, Acts 6:3 7:10,27,35 appoint / made, Acts 17:15 conducted Romans 5:19 made, Titus 1:5 ordain, Hebrews 2:7 5:1 7:28 8:3 set / ordained / maketh, James 3:6 4:4 is, 2 Peter 1:8 make. The use in the epistles indicates that, when appointment was made, it was at the father's instigation, not man's.

ch.6 - Parallels between Romans 6 & 7

The language of Romans is picked up many times in the New Testament letters - demonstrating that the teaching of the letter has a universal application

Chapter 6
Here are some more occasions when Romans is quoted in other New Testament books

So we see that Paul's instruction about the 'new life' in Christ is not confined to the needs of the Romans.

ch 5 - We must be careful not to think that Christ died for 'good people' - he died for the 'ungodly' (5:6) - 'sinners' (5:8) - 'enemies' (5:10). This should inform us about who we should preach to and where we have come from ourselves.

6:13 The word 'instruments' is more correctly 'weapons'. So we can use our mind and way of thinking to destroy ourselves or to destroy our sinful way of thinking. The 'weapons' can be equally useful whichever way we use them -of sin unto death, or obedience unto righteousness.

6:4 'newness of life' is developed by Paul (Romans 7:6) We should be alert to the developing use of language within the letters. Paul is seeking to lead the servant of God on to a fuller appreciation of what God has done and what He expects of His servants.

Once one has realised that righteousness is imputed as a free gift by God, and therefore we are completely freed from having to keep the law (trying to be righteous), the natural question which arises in all our minds is "what? so it doesn't matter if we sin then?" (6v1,15)The rest of these two chapters are Paul trying to deal with this question. In 6v21-23 he sums up his argument by saying "why would you want to turn back to those things from which you have been freed, when you've got so much better a thing to look forward to than the wages of sin?".

5:1 So continuing our theme from yesterday we have peace with God – not because of our own righteousness but because of that which has been imputed to us.

6:12 In saying ‘let not sin reign’  Paul is speaking of conflict. The conflict will not end until the resurrections. If we accept this we will not be surprised when we sin. We will realise that we are ‘counted’ righteous because of our selves we are not righteous.

(Rom 5:3-4) - We have listed here in Romans some of the benefits of tribulation/suffering. We all go through some sort of tribulation/suffering in the course of our lives. And certainly some have lives with more challenging circumstances than others. At times we might be sad, discouraged, bitter, angry with life circumstances, etc. and allow them to impair our service to God. On the other hand, we can reap spiritual benefits from suffering. If our lives were to have no hardships perhaps we would be more absorbed in the cares of this world leaving less room, less desire to serve God, and less of an eager yearning for His coming Kingdom.

We see how Job suffered and at the end all who had been of his aquaintance before comforted him (Job 42:11). Perhaps even his adversary/satan was won over. Sometimes tribulation/suffering is for our benefit, sometimes for the benefit of others, sometimes perhaps for a collective group benefit that may be present and/or even future.

5:20 The law highlighted what sin is. It is not that more wrong was done after the law was given. It was that the law enabled man to see what displeased God as Paul explains in Rom 6:7

6:9 death ‘hath no more dominion over him’ quotes, and explains Psa 19:13 where the faithful servant of God wishes to be delivered from presumptuous sins.

5:15,19 Popular Christianity believes that Jesus died as a substitute for man's sin. By that understanding, all humankind is saved. Scripture, however, does not agree. God's grace, through Jesus, is extended to many not to all. By the work of the Lord Jesus, many are made righteous, not all.

5:20 Here Paul is redressing the erroneous presentation of his view that some accused him of as recorded in Rom 3:8.

5:20            Here Paul is redressing the erroneous presentation of his view that some accused him of as recorded in Rom 3:8

6:1    ‘that grace may abound’ rebut the accusation made against Paul in Rom 3:8.

5:2 Hope is an essential ingredient in our walk of faith. We hope for eternal life which will release us from the pain of our present experience, and free us to worship Yahweh without any distraction.  Unless we have this hope, our experience in Christ is void (Titus 1:2; 3:7).

5:3,4 We will encounter tribulation in this life (1Thess 3:4). But, if we have patience under trial, we will endure (2Thess 1:4). The experience (trust) through endurance will build the character that Yahweh desires in us (1Pet 1:7). That character (trust through experience) will give us the confidence to stand before Jesus when He returns, holding firmly the hope of eternal life (1John 2:28).

5:5 If we build the necessary qualities to stand confidently before Jesus, then our hope (of the Kingdom) is not ashamed (invalid).

And so, let us remember a simple, but effective, formula to guide us on our walk to the Kingdom: Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer (Rom 12:12).

5:6-8 Humankind was without strength (KJV); still weak (ESV).  Therefore, humans were not able to deliver themselves from death. Only the sacrifice of Jesus could do that.

However, even after becoming a disciple of Jesus, a person is still unable to save him/herself. He/she is totally reliant on divine power to gain eternal life (Jude 1:24).

5:10,11 Jesus’ death was essential for salvation; but equally important was His resurrection.  That is the reason we celebrate both aspects in sharing bread and wine in remembrance of Him.

Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have received the atonement (KJV); received reconciliation (ESV), which brought Yahweh to us (2Cor 5:18,19).

5:15,16 Through Jesus we have received a free gift.  We pay nothing except obedience. A great debt has been paid for us, one that is impossible for us to repay: by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross (Col 2:14) (ESV).