Matthew Steven Black

Solomon's words are recorded here to show us that wealth, success, and prosperity do not ultimately satisfy. The message of Job is that even when we have nothing, God is everything. But in Ecclesiastes we see the converse. Even if you have everything, if you don't have the Lord at the center, everything is vanity and useless. Solomon was a man to whom God had given everything. Solomon had it all. In addition, God granted Solomon a peaceful reign on the thrown of Israel for forty years (1 Kgs 11:42). That is the longest time of peace that Israel has ever seen Not only did countries not attack Israel, but also during Solomon's reign, they came from all across the globe just to give him money. One would think that Solomon lived the good life and died the happiest man alive, but then we get Ecclesiastes. His final words to us are that "all is vanity" without the fear and love of God at the center. Without Christ, life is meaningless and vain.

The message of the book of Acts is an extension of the Lord's great commission. "Go and make disciples of every nation." In the book of Acts we see that when we are doing life-on-life discipleship, we will see the church expand through evangelism and fellowship, enriching each other and growing into the image of Christ. The Proclaim Commentary series brings expositional insight and practical application to every day life. It is written not only for pastors, teachers, and leaders, but also for families, students, or anyone desiring to explore the riches of God's Word.

Ruth the Moabitess broke the tradition of her idolatrous people and her irresponsible ancestor, Lot's older daughter. Ruth became a believer in the God of the Hebrews. She sought her fulfillment as a mother through the gracious plan of the one true and living God. She proved herself to be worthy of being named with the finest women of Israel. The grace of God was evident in Ruth's life as she is included among several non-Israelite women in the line of David. Ultimately Ruth is the story of trusting God and living by faith in the midst of adversity, knowing the reward of faith is knowing God as our true Redeemer. The Proclaim Commentary series brings expositional insight and practical application to every day life. It is written not only for pastors, teachers, and leaders, but also for families, students, or anyone desiring to explore the riches of God's word.

The central message of the book of Jonah remains especially relevant. Salvation comes from the Lord. It is not the exclusive possession of any one group, but is offered to the whole world, as we see from the pagan Ninevites. Anyone who repents can be saved. We also see that salvation must be of the Lord, since the prophet Jonah is such a poor messenger - first, running from God's call to preach to Nineveh, and then sulking, petulant and angry at God's mercy to the merciless Ninevites. The book of Jonah illustrates the New Testament truth that God so loved the world of sinners that he would go to any lengths to save them.The Proclaim Commentary series brings expositional insight and practical application to every day life. It is written not only for pastors, teachers, and leaders, but also for families, students, or anyone desiring to explore the riches of God's word.

The message of the book of Matthew is that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the King of kings. In Part 1 of Matthew (chapters 1-7) we are introduced to Jesus through his genealogy, his birth narrative, and his teaching. Immediately we see the humble people he calls. His narrative includes the humblest of people. His birth narrative calls the humble shepherds. His teaching calls for people to be "poor in spirit." Throughout we learn that though Jesus is the King of all kings, he invites poor sinners to come to him. The Proclaim Commentary series brings expositional insight and practical application to every day life. It is written not only for pastors, teachers, and leaders, but also for families, students, or anyone desiring to explore the riches of God's Word.

Philippians is one of Paul's most informal letters. With this church he did not feel the need to assert his apostolic authority. His overflowing love for them is obvious. He even allowed them to send him money, which was very unusual for him. Joy in suffering is the overwhelming theme of this letter. Paul is imprisoned, yet he uses the term for joy (noun and verb) over sixteen times. His peace and hope were not based on circumstances, but on knowing Christ (3:10) and pursing that prize as his highest ambition. All was dung compared to this goal (3:8). The author's approach to this commentary series is devotional with plenty of practical application.

The book of 1 Peter emphasizes that suffering brings perseverance. It is by suffering that we are humbled and grow closer to the Lord. Christ allows suffering in our lives to mold us into the person he has created, conforming us to his image (Rom 8:29). As we go about life sometimes it can be discouraging, but it is important to recognize that the suffering we face develops perseverance in our lives and ultimately should sanctify us toward living holy lives.

There are many reasons that the child of God should study the Song of Songs. First, this love poem, interpreted rightly, both historically and typologically is an amazing guide for those entering marriage as to how to honor God in the marriage covenant especially in light of the relationship of Christ and the Church that marriage represents. This love poem points us to the messianic King who pursues and rescues his worn, weary and downtrodden bride. Solomon is seemingly infinitely rich. his bride is destitute and poor. The messianic imagery of David's son is unmistakable. Images of the garden paradise restored are joyously presented in prose and poetry (cf 4:12, 15, 16; 5:1; 6:2, 11; 8:13). Though success in marriage is not the primary message of this book, the Song celebrates marital intimacy enjoyed as God's good gift, designed by him. Of course, the messianic hope of Jesus is the primary reason to study this God-breathed poem.

The book of Hosea is a story of the amazing love of God for us. It is also a salvation story. Hosea was asked by God to marry a woman who would prove to be unfaithful to him later. He was to use his marriage as an object lesson for Israel because they were deep into sin and far, far away from God. Hosea was to play the part of God. His wife, Gomer would play the part of God's people. We see this covenant love of God played out in Hosea's marriage. Despite Gomer's unfaithfulness, Hosea continued to care and provide for her to the extent that he went to buy her back from the slave market (Hose 3:1-2). The gospel of Hosea is this: No matter what we do, no matter how sinful we are, God pursues us, romances us, stalks us, and stakes us out in a radical grace based in himself. When we run away from him, God still pursues us. God pursues us because he does not want "anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). As we look back on our lives and how we came to salvation, many of us would have sensed the feeling that God pursued us. And just as God pursues us, we are compelled to pursue others too.

The subject of the book of Ephesians is vital to your existence on this planet as God's child. What does it mean to be "in Christ" as an individual and as a congregation? What does it mean to grow in Christ? These are the themes of the book of Ephesians. Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesian congregation in the middle of this pagan city of 300,000 in the ancient world. The purpose of Paul's letter is that the Ephesians needed to stop changing with the fads of the world and instead be growing and changing in Christ. The letter to Ephesians could be summarized with Paul's description of body life in Ephesians 4:15b-16, "We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." Ephesians is divided into two sections. The first three chapters are our identity in Christ, and the final three chapters are our responsibility in Christ. You cannot do what God has called you to do, until you realize what God has called you to be. Your actions always proceed from who you are. Theologians call this the indicative (our identity in Christ) and the imperative (our responsibility to walk according to our identity).

Malachi is the final book of the 12 Minor Prophets, which the Jewish scholars viewed as one book although recorded by 12 different scribes over a period of perhaps 350 years. These 12 books are called minor not because they are less inspired or of less importance, but because the prophecies are shorter. God loves his people, but because of their sins, his people (specifically the tribes of Judah and Benjamin) are taken into captivity by the Babylonians, with Jerusalem and the temple being destroyed in 586BC. The theology of Malachi for is vital and relevant for us today. This prophecy teaches us of the loving nature of God. We see the depravity of man in the cold expressions of dead religion. The people have a general knowledge of God but there is a great decline of godliness in all areas of life. Spiritual blindness is expressed with every accusation that questions the goodness of God. In a sense the theology of Malachi takes us back to Eden when the serpent caused Adam and Eve to doubt the loving nature of God. "Has God really said?" (Gen 3:1) is still the question on the lips of God's people in Malachi's day. God patiently explains his love to his disobedient people (1:2), and the rest of the book explain the realities of those who have genuine love for YHWH. The consistent message of Malachi and of the entire Bible is God's grace to sinners. He will save believing sinners (the righteous) and forsake unrepentant sinners (the wicked) when Messiah Jesus consummates the world in judgment (3:18; 4:1-3; cf Mt 25:31-33). Malachi's message is: God loves you, but do you love him? It is a wakeup call and invitation to be blessed and transformed by God's love.

The book of Joshua is not merely an interesting historical record of the conquest of the Promised Land by the children of Israel through the amazing power of God. It is that, but it is so much more than that. It is a historical narrative that points the New Testament Christian to his or her inheritance. The message of Joshua is one of victory and warning. Joshua recounted a story of contradictions. On the one hand, God gave the land that he had promised to the nation. On the other hand, the people failed to possess the land completely, allowing some inhabitants to remain. God fulfilled his side of the bargain, but the Israelites did not finish the job. The Canaanite peoples became a damaging influence on Israel as years went by.Joshua's message is intended not only for the Old Testament saint, but also, and even more so for the New Testament Christian. The message of the apostles is weaved with the theme of Joshua: that we are to fully take hold of our inheritance, and as believers today, we know that the inheritance of the land of Israel was merely a black and white photo of the real thing. The true inheritance of every believer is God himself. Christ gives us the down payment of our full inheritance by the promised Spirit of God (Ephesians 1:13-14). The New Testament is filled with inheritance language. The push of Joshua for the Christian is that we should never live with the enemy dominating our life. "Sin will have no dominion over you?" (Romans 6:14). Christ has finally and forever defeated every enemy, just as the Lord did for Israel in the Old Testament. The similarity we have with God's ancient people is that our victory in sanctification is only secure as we walk by faith. Today we do not have physical Canaanites, but we do have enemies that war against our soul: sin, Satan, and the world. The Christian is promised victory in the measure that he walks by faith.