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By Joseph S. Exell · 1887 · 1,353 illustrations
The Biblical Illustrator is a 56-volume reference work compiled by Joseph S. Exell in the late 19th century. Each passage of Scripture is illuminated with historical anecdotes, biographical sketches, analogies from nature, and homiletical observations drawn from ancient and contemporary sources. These illustrations have been carefully restored from the original public-domain text and rewritten for clarity and accessibility — preserving the historical depth while removing Victorian OCR artifacts.
First, the apostles felt the impulse of a new undertaking—the resurrection of their crucified Master demanded proclamation.
Christ Himself proclaimed freedom from sin (John 8:33–36), while Paul proclaimed freedom from the law—both ceremonial and moral.
Every generation has fashioned its own conception of perfection, and Christ has failed each one.
Holiness is not something bestowed upon Jehovah—it is eternally, originally, and unchangeably His own.
Many theologians of Exell's era debated whether justice or mercy should prevail in law, education, and doctrine.
Who was this soldier who offered relief to the dying Christ?
Exell identifies the wicked with precision: those who willfully violate God's precepts—drinkers, profane persons, those who dishonor the Sabbath, the dishonest.
First, good actions performed for wrong motives corrupt their value.
The Greek New Testament employs three distinct words for this ministry: *euangelizo* (to declare good tidings), *kerusso* (to announce as a herald), and *dialegomai* (to argue and persuade).
Not merely a designation, but a manifestation of the Eternal Deity itself.
Such prayer expresses profound need and longing desire after God Himself.
First, God's judgment is *correct*—according to the facts of the case, not assumption or hearsay.
God Himself ordains the family as His constitutive institution, granting parents rank immediately beneath His own throne.
Exell's Victorian commentary catalogues six species of this spiritual blindness with surgical precision.
First, it was a simple, child-like dependence on the naked *rhema* (spoken word) of God—not reasoned argument or sensory evidence.
First, Christ was compelled by His supreme sense of duty.
This Jerusalem "above" is **not** the earthly city of David's throne, but the eternal communion of believers bound by grace.
Proverbs 3:5 presents not a rejection of reason, but its proper boundary. The question posed by Joseph S. Exell remains vital: what are reason's limits? Shall we accept only what our intellect comprehends, refusing truth that transcends rational explanation? Consider...
The Apostle envisions perfection operating at two inseparable levels.
First, consider the importance of public worship as it respects God Himself.
As Proverbs 2:5 commands us to "find the knowledge of God," we must recognize that Elohim reveals Himself through Scripture, not through natural observation or philosophical reasoning.
Adam loved life as "an unbroken walk with the Eternal"; we commonly cling to existence as a removal from His presence.
The Hebrew parallel, *nes* (ensign or standard), connects to Jehovah-Nissi (Exodus 17:15), God's banner of victory.
It is a corruption of self-love, a form of self-flattery.