Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook

The Central Idea of the Text is that God punishes Israel for their disobedience, but when they cried to the Lord, He called Gideon to be their deliverer.

The word millennium is derived from the Latin words mille which means “thousand” and annum which means “year”. The word millennium translates the Greek word χίλιοι chilioi, which occurs six times in Revelation 20:2-7. After His second coming, Jesus will rule the whole earth, from Jerusalem, on the throne of David (2 Sam 7:16; Psa 89:3-4, 34-37; Luke 1:30-33; cf. Mark 11:9-10), He will rule absolutely with “a rod of iron” (Psa 2:9; Rev 19:15), and afterward His kingdom will become an eternal kingdom (Dan 2:44; 7:27; 1 Cor. 15:24).

Proverbs 31 describes the woman of excellence. The phrase an excellent wife (Pro 31:10; Heb.   אֵשֶׁת־חַיִלesheth chayil) was first used of Ruth, who was described as a woman of excellence (Ruth 3:11, NASB) or a woman of noble character (CSB). Ruth was the great-grandmother of King David, who married Bathsheba, who is perhaps the one who shared her wisdom with her son, King Solomon (Pro 31:1). If this is correct, then it’s possible Bathsheba saw in Ruth a template for the woman of noble character. A study of the book of Ruth reveals she was committed to God and His people (Ruth 1:16-17; 2:11), possessed a strong work ethic (Ruth 2:7, 17), listened to good advice (Ruth 2:8-9; 3:1-6), showed respect to others (Ruth 2:10), cared for the needy (Ruth 2:17-18), sought to marry a noble man (Ruth 3:7-10; 4:13), and was praised for her excellence and love for others (Ruth 3:11; 4:15).

The Second Coming is distinguished from the rapture of the church when Christ takes all Christians to heaven (John 14:1-3). The rapture of the church occurs just prior to the seven-year Tribulation. We are informed “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Th 4:16-17). After the rapture of the church, there will be a period of tribulation that will last seven years (Dan 9:24-27; Matt 24:9, 21; Rev 7:14). The Second Coming will happen after seven-year tribulation. The Gospel of Matthew records the words of Jesus concerning His coming in vivid detail (Matt 24:27-30).

The Central Idea of the Text is that Deborah and Barak sing a victory song of praise to the Lord for His righteous acts of deliverance.

There is coming a future time of tribulation upon the earth. Its severity is without historical precedent. Concerning this time, the angel, Gabriel, told Daniel, that it “will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time” (Dan 12:1a). This time of tribulation is in keeping with unfulfilled prophecy given to Daniel that pertains to Israel (Dan 9:24-27). It is during this time that God’s wrath will be poured out upon the world—specifically those who are hostile to Him and His people.

The apostle John spoke of an antichrist that is coming sometime in the future. He also spoke of “many antichrists” that have already appeared. The many antichrists refer to false teachers, “those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist” (2 John 1:7). These existed in John’s day, and they exist in our day as well. But these antichrists—as dangerous as they are—are only little examples of the one who will come in the future. The word antichrist translates the Greek ἀντίχριστος antichristos, which denotes one who stands in the place of Christ and opposes Him. The apostle John mentions “many antichrists” that have come into the world (1 John 2:18b). These all deny that Jesus is the Messiah (1 John 2:22a), rejecting both the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22b), refuting that Jesus is from God (1 John 4:3), and rejecting Jesus’ incarnation as the God-Man (2 John 1:7). These are all types of the Antichrist who is mentioned several times throughout Scripture (Dan 7:7-8, 24-26; 9:27; 11:36-45; Matt 24:15; 2 Thess 2:3-12; 1 John 2:18; Rev13:1-8; 17:3, 7-8, 11-13; 19:19-20; 20:10). This particular person will arise and come to power during the seven-year Tribulation which begins shortly after the Rapture of the church (1 Thess 4:13-18), which will leave only a professing church behind (i.e. Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other groups who take the name “Christian”).

The Central Idea of the Text is that Israel disobeyed God and worshipped idols, God punished them, they cried out to the Lord, and He raised up Deborah and Barak to save them.

The Central Idea of the Text is that Israel disobeyed God and worshipped idols, God punished them, they cried out to Him and He raised up Ehud to save them.

Christ has secured our salvation through the substitutionary atoning death of Christ who shed His blood at the cross and propitiated every righteous demand the Father has toward us (Rom 3:25). Having trusted Christ as Savior (John 3:16), we now have peace with God (Rom 5:1). However, after salvation, God expects us to learn His Word, live righteously (Tit 2:11-14), and encourage others to do the same (Heb 11:24-25). After the Rapture of the church (1 Thess 4:13-18), all Christians will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to be evaluated for how we lived our lives (2 Cor 5:9-10). This evaluation is not a judgment concerning the Christian’s right to enter heaven as the place of eternal residence, for Christ has secured our salvation and there is no fear of condemnation before God (John 3:18). Rather, it is a judgment concerning eternal rewards for the life we’ve lived in service to Christ (1 Cor 3:10-15). Apparently, we must stay the course in faithfulness, otherwise we run the risk of losing part of our reward (2 John 1:8). Those who learned God’s Word, lived His will, and taught others to do the same, will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. But those believers who disobeyed God’s Word and taught others to disobey as well will be called least in the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:19).