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Browse by Source / The Biblical Illustrator 🏛️ The Biblical Illustrator 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.
The Watch by the Cross: Four Meditations on Calvary First, contemplate the visible tragedy itself—the physical brutality that all could witness.
Matthew 27:33-37 Universal Christ's sacrifice atonement
Faith Credited as Righteousness: God's Gracious Accounting The first reading seems to permit spiritual idleness—as if mere belief without works sufficed for righteousness.
Romans 1:5 Universal justification by faith
The Lord Knoweth the Way of the Righteous The righteous man's happiness operates through the law of attraction and repulsion: he repels evil (verse 1) and is drawn to meditate upon God's Word (verse 2).
Psalms 50:6 Universal divine law and justice
Why Stand Ye Idle All the Day? Spiritual idleness consists of neglecting life's true mission: the soul's salvation and sanctification (*Phil.
Matthew 20:6 Universal spiritual idleness versus active faith
God's Providence Orders All Things to Their Proper Ends First, some contend that Elohim created all things solely for His pleasure, without external motive.
Proverbs 16:4 Universal divine sovereignty
Peter's Rash Zeal: Confidence Without Self-Knowledge First, he directly contradicts Christ's express words that all disciples would fall away.
Mark 5:29 Universal self-knowledge leading to reliance on God
The Perfection of God's Moral Attributes and Our Calling This requirement demands clarification through five moral attributes of Elohim.
Matthew 5:48 Universal God's moral perfection
Faith's Astronomy: Celestial Glory Beyond Natural Calculation God's believing children regard the heavens not as sovereigns determining destiny, but as servants.
Isaiah 30:26 Universal divine sovereignty over creation
Abiding in Christ: Five Pictures of Union and Safety This abiding requires retaining our attachment: by keeping Christ in our thoughts continually, fixing our desires and will upon Him, and manifesting our love through comportment and speech.
John 15:4 Universal union with Christ
Why the Wicked Contemn God: Pride and Ignorance Exposed God possesses unspeakable glory and greatness—the blessed and only Potentate sustaining all creatures and glorified in every work.
Psalms 10:13 Universal divine judgment
What Do Ye More Than Others? Christian Superiority in Action Christians possess incomparable privileges that necessitate corresponding obligations.
Matthew 5:47 Universal Christian duty and distinction
Christ's Fast: Temptation, Scripture, and the Limits of Austerity This fast illuminates six crucial truths about temptation and spiritual warfare.
Matthew 4:2 Universal spiritual warfare
The Lowly Spirit Favored Above the Proud Who Gain Their Will The lowly afflicted bear a yoke of trial chosen by God—their particular crook in the lot.
Proverbs 16:19 Universal divine favor rests on the humble
God Takes the Curse of Self-Condemnation at His Word Exell observes that God, in His sovereignty, took them at their word—a principle demonstrated throughout Scripture.
Matthew 27:25 Universal divine accountability
Isaiah's Anguished Question: How Long, Lord? After eighteen centuries of Christian witness, the prophet's lament remains painfully relevant.
Isaiah 6:11 Universal spiritual decline and revival
None Can Keep Alive His Own Soul The inner life must be sustained by God alone.
Psalms 22:29 Universal human dependence on God
God's Righteousness Flows Upon All Who Believe First, it is Divine in its nature—originating from Elohim Himself, not from human effort or merit.
Romans 1:22 Universal universal sinfulness
God's Wonderful Counsel Over All Things Consider God's presidency over all things in four dimensions.
Isaiah 28:29 Universal God's sovereignty and wisdom
Midian's Fall Foreshadows Assyria's Defeat The slaughter of the Midianites under Gideon (Judges 7) becomes the type—the historical precedent—for Yahweh's coming judgment upon Assyria.
Isaiah 10:26 Universal divine providence
God is My Salvation, Strength, and Song Yet this passage speaks equally to the individual believer's threefold experience.
Isaiah 12:2 Universal divine strength
The Opened Eye: Faith as the Measure of Divine Gift These men's healing was not incidental to their belief—it was its direct fruit.
Matthew 9:29 Universal divine power requires human receptivity
The God of Hope Fills Believers with Joy and Peace First, consider the *blessing* pronounced: believers are "filled with joy and peace in believing" — not by human effort, but by the God of hope Himself.
Romans 14:13 Universal the nature of God
Knowledge Without Sanctified Heart Is Ignorance Yet these men possessed extraordinary learning in the law of Moses—literal mastery of Scripture's letter.
Mark 2:21 Universal The danger of religious knowledge without spiritual transformation
The Groaning Believer: Firstfruits and Final Redemption The believer's endowments are extraordinary: not merely heightened mental powers, but the rudiments of a Divine nature itself, fitting us for communion with a holy God and fellowship with the pure intelligences of heaven.
Romans 9:23 Universal
imputation of righteousness
the contrast between righteous and ungodly
the cost of procrastination in God's work
moral accountability
the danger of spiritual pride
Christian discipleship
faith transcending reason
abiding presence
human depravity
gratitude producing action
scriptural authority
self-will as spiritual bondage
the power of words
the Church's mission
continuous spiritual sustenance
divine grace without partiality
reconciliation through Christ
historical precedent as assurance
deliverance from sin
faith as conviction and action
joy through believing
The contrast between intellectual learning and sanctified living
divine tension between present and future
the earnest of inheritance