Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook

The Central Idea of the Text is that God punished Israel for disobedience (Judg. 3:1-6), and when His people cried out to Him, He raised up a deliverer to rescue them and give them rest (Judg. 3:7-11).

The Bible reveals Jesus will return to earth; however, a distinction must be drawn between Jesus coming for His saints at the Rapture (John 14:1-3; 1 Cor 15:51-53; 1 Thess 4:13-18; 2 Thess 2:1-3a; Tit 2:13), and Jesus coming with His saints at His Second Coming to reign for a thousand years (Dan 7:13-14; Matt 19:28; 25:31; Rev 19:11-21).

Death is an uncomfortable subject, but for those who trust in the Lord, it need not be. God knows how frail we are, “He is mindful that we are but dust” (Psa 103:14). David courageously asked the Lord, “Make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days; let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days short in length, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; surely every man at his best is a mere breath” (Psa 39:4-5). Job too perceived the brevity of his life and declared, “I will not live forever…for my days are but a breath” (Job 7:16), and James wrote, “you are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (Jam 4:14b). Leaving this world is inevitable; where we spend eternity is optional. God loves us and sent His Son into the world that He would provide eternal life for us. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16-17).

Israel served the Baals when life was going well, but turned to the Lord when He brought discipline.  This suggests a form of syncretism in which the Israelites served both God and pagan idols.  Today we see Christians who go to church on Sunday, pray and worship God, and then read their astrological horoscopes on Monday, believing their life is dictated by impersonal stars.

Living by faith is the Christian way. God expects us to trust Him at His word, which is plainly understood, believed, and applied. Studying the Bible and applying it to life are comparable to breathing in and breathing out, as both are necessary for living. Much of our mental and social stability depends on how well we know the Word of God and apply it to life. The Lord states, “My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him” (Heb 10:38).[1] And we know that “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Heb 11:6).

Salvation is completely the work of God, comes to us as a free gift from God (Eph 2:8-9; Tit 3:5), as we are “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:24). When we trust in Christ as our Savior, we are forgiven all our sins (Eph 1:7; Col 1:14), positionally identified with Him (Rom 5:14-18; 1 Cor 15:22), given eternal life (John 3:16; 10:27-28), given the gift of God’s righteousness (Rom 5:17; 2 Cor 5:21; Phil 3:9), and have the power to live righteously (Rom 6:1-13). God saves us from the penalty of sin (John 5:24; Rom 6:23; 8:1), the power of sin (Rom 6:11; 8:13; 2 Cor 5:17), and ultimately the presence of sin (Phil 3:21; 1 John 3:2). God has prepared good works to follow our salvation (Eph 2:10), but they are never the condition of it. The matter is simple: Salvation comes to us who believe in Christ as our Savior, believing He died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third.

Caleb initially obeyed the Lord and drove out the sons of Anak, who had previously intimidated the sons of Israel (Num. 13:30-33).  He did by faith what all Israel should have done.  Israel—for the most part—operated from fear rather than faith, and this led to policies of appeasement with those who should have been driven out.  Their decisions of toleration sowed the seeds of their future destruction because they allowed themselves to be exposed to the religious and ethical values of people who were opposed to the Lord.

Culture represents the values, traditions and behaviors of a society, and though culture is improvable, it is not perfectible. And even where positive change occurs, it’s difficult to perpetuate, largely because the people needed to sustain the change are few, flawed and temporary. A society’s culture is no better or worse than its leaders and the citizenry who support them; and at the heart of every problem is the problem of the heart. Apart from regeneration and a transformed mind and will, people will default to selfishness and sin, and so social problems continue. Furthermore, if we did make great improvements, we cannot guarantee succeeding generations will follow the good pattern set for them. Below is a NT example in Acts 19 of how the city of Ephesus was improved culturally from the bottom up, as a result of the apostle Paul’s preaching the gospel and biblical teaching over several years.

As Christians in leadership positions we too can respond positively when we hear God’s Word, commit ourselves to serve the Lord, communicate Scripture to others, and lead those under our charge to walk with God. We can remove those pagan impediments from our homes, businesses, schools, or wherever we have authority to act. And, we can seek to lead others into God’s will, respect other godly persons, and honor the memorials of those who have gone before us. This might be as a pastor to his church, a husband to a wife, parents to children, business owner to employees, coach to team, or governmental official to citizenry. But we should be aware that our actions will be met with opposition, and though we can control our godly output, the decision to follow must be freely made by those under our supervision. Furthermore, the faith of one generation does not guarantee the faith of the next, as each generation must to choose to accept or reject what’s been handed to them.

Where God directs mankind, it is always for good and not evil. Satan is a disrupter and destroyer, and his world-system is set up to attack God’s people, the gospel message, biblical truths and divine institutions that make for stable and productive individuals and societies. Because Christians are a minority, living in a fallen world that is under Satan’s control, it is normal that we will experience conflicts and temptations that seek to disrupt our walk with the Lord and derail our spiritual life. As Christians, we must realize there will be touchpoints where we are at odds with the culture around us, and there we must stand, with absolute clarity on biblical teaching. The purpose of this lesson is to set forth those areas where Satan is currently attacking, so that we can stand on the truth of God’s Word and know how we should respond when questioned or pressured to abandon them. In this way we will be a good influence on those whom God places in our path.