Previous Lessons: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
I’m out of pocket this week, so you get a catch up week!
Catch up on any lessons you might be behind on, go back and do any of the homework you may not have had time for, review your memory verses, or if you’re already caught up, you could even read ahead in Judges a little. It’s your week to use as you see fit. Happy studying!
In America, we can look back over our history to the Gay Nineties, the post-war anticipation and opportunity of the 1950’s, even the prosperity and advancement of the 1980’s. From our vantage point, these eras seem to be laced with a nostalgic air of hope and optimism.
I wonder how, if the Lord tarries, people of the future will characterize these fraught times we’re living in right now. The Terrible Twenties? The Age of Anxiety?
From draconian, and often senseless, COVID restrictions to the very real harm and death the disease itself sometimes brings, from the terror the Taliban is inflicting on Afghanistan to the police in our own streets standing idly by as anarchy unfolds, fear – like the air we breathe – seems to be the watchword of our epoch.
Are you afraid, dear sister?
It would be hard, and maybe a little crazy, to look at what’s going on in the world and not be at least a little apprehensive. What’s going to happen to me? My children? My home? My church?
But God did not create us to live in fear of our circumstances. There’s not a single place in Scripture where God says fear of temporal things is good. On the contrary, He instructs us not to fear, but to trust in Him.
Let’s take a look at God’s instructions and encouragement to us when we’re anxious and fearful…
Fear is a natural response to scary situations, but that’s just it…it’s a natural response, not a godly response. When we’re scared of potential or impending circumstances, God’s first instruction to us goes completely against the grain of our flesh: “Fear not.”
Those of us who are in Christ are not slaves to fears of the flesh. We have a choice. We can give in to fear, or we can tell our fears to scram. We are responsible to make the conscious choice to put off our fear in order to put on trust in the Lord.
Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”
Isaiah 35:4
“You are my servant,
I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I am the one who helps you.”
Isaiah 40:9b-10, 13
I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. Luke 12:4
You know the old saying, “Nature abhors a vacuum.”? That dynamic holds true for our spiritual lives as well. So, the Lord didn’t just give us the “don’t” of “Fear not,” He also gave us the “do” of “Trust Me, instead.” Choosing to place our trust in Him is an act of honor, worship, and obedience.
Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Psalm 37:4
When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
Psalm 56:3-4
He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. Psalm 112:7
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe. Proverbs 29:25
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. Jeremiah 17:7
God has given us good reason to trust Him, both in His actions and in His character.
In His actions, God has shown us His power to rescue time and time again in Scripture – from the flood, from the foe, from the fiery furnace, from famine, from faithless men.
In His character, He has proved Himself faithful, true to His Word, honorable, loving, compassionate, and benevolent.
God is worthy of our trust.
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? Exodus 15:11
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Numbers 23:19
“There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty. The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33:26-27a
Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? Psalm 71:19
You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. Psalm 115:11
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2
Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. Isaiah 26:4
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; Isaiah 59:1
if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself. 2 Timothy 2:13
I will never leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5b
What an absurd thing to say, right? Only if you live in a world so broken and fallen that your perspective is the polar opposite of God’s perspective. Well…that’s where I live, and you do too. We see suffering and trials as altogether, thoroughly awful with no redeeming qualities. But that is not how God sees them.
Often, our fears center on difficult or painful circumstances that could come our way. But God uses trials and suffering for our good. They make us more like Jesus. They develop Christian character. They create a greater dependence on God. And if we suffer for the sake of Christ, it is an honor and will be rewarded.
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. Genesis 50:20
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:10-12
Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. Acts 5:41
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 1 Peter 4:12-14
We weren’t created to find our hope in the things of this world. Even before the Fall, the glory of the Garden was not in its unsullied beauty, its unfettered joy, or its bountiful provision. The glory of the Garden was God Himself – His presence, His care, His love.
God has given us a “foretaste of Glory divine” that we carry around with us every day – the indwelling Holy Spirit – who causes us to hope in Christ now, and in Christ yet to come.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13
having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, Ephesians 1:18
the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27b
For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. 1 Timothy 4:10
waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, Titus 2:13
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Peter 1:3
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:13
If everything around you is crumbling, and you don’t know what to do or how you’re going to make it, you can take hope and joy in one thing as a Believer.
Say it with me: God wins.
Say it over and over again to yourself when you’re scared: God wins. God wins. God wins.
It doesn’t matter how badly things go for you in this world, God owns you, body and soul, and no one can snatch you out of His hand. Even if something or someone kills you, He gets to bring you home, and you get to be with Him.
Nothing will happen to you that is outside of God’s sovereign control. He knew it was coming. He ordained it for your good. He guides every twist and turn of it. He knows exactly what to do and how to handle it. And, He knows how and when it’s going to end. Nothing escapes His notice.
And one day, He’s going to come back and set everything right. Every injustice will be rectified. Every mystery will be solved. Every saint will be vindicated.
God always gets His way, and that’s good news for those of us who belong to Him. God wins.
And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? Matthew 6:27
Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34
For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Matthew 16:27
But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3:13
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:1-4
Why do churches do church the way churches do church?
Ever thought about that? Moreover, have you ever thought about why churches take for granted that they have to do certain things or do things a certain way? Is there an unspoken assumption at your church that you have to have a sermon outline in the bulletin (or for that matter, that you have to have a bulletin), that Vacation Bible School is a non-negotiable event, or that the deacons absolutely must wear ties when serving the Lord’s Supper? Has it gone on for so long that now “it goes without saying”?
Don’t get me wrong- sermon outlines and bulletins can be very helpful, VBS is a great outreach, and I’m in favor of more men wearing ties to church, period. And I’m not talking about irrefutable biblical truths, either, such as, “faith in Christ is the only way of salvation,” or “God created the world,” or “women are not to instruct or hold authority over men in the church.” What I’m trying to get at here is that there are lots of church practices, preferences, and philosophies that we take as axiomatic. We never question them. We just assume they’re true. We act on them as though they’re immutable laws of physics or something. And every once in a while, somebody notices this and wants to change things up.
When it’s an axiom that’s been around for a few decades, the people who hold to that particular ideal are often chided (sometimes deservedly, sometimes not) by those who are pressing for changes. They’re called “inflexible” or “enslaved to tradition.” They’re labled as the “We’ve never done it that way before,” or “We’ve always done it this way,” people.
But have we ever stopped to think that, in many cases, the changes people seek to make today are the outmoded preferences of tomorrow? Often, we’re not making the church better or more biblical, we’re just adding a new premise here or trading one axiom for another there. Like rearranging deck chairs on a cruise ship. Or the Titanic.
Let’s take a look at some of those new axioms that have materialized over the last couple of decades and are now assumed to be a “given” when it comes to ecclesiology.
1. Pastors need to “cast vision,” and churches need a vision/mission statement.
No, they don’t. Christ is the head of the church, the CEO, if you will. Therefore, He is the only one whose place it is to have a vision for the church and to set a mission statement for it. And He has already done that for us. It was one of the last items on His agenda before leaving earth. It’s called the Great Commission:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
2. Churches have to be attractional.
Should you invite people to church? Absolutely. Should you be kind and welcoming to visitors? Of course. But that’s not what “attractional” means these days. Attractional means assimilating church into the culture so that lost people will think it’s a cool and groovy place and will flock through the door in droves. That’s why you see pastors coming out onto a stage and giving a Tonight Show-esque monologue while dressed like a teenager at a concert, churches playing music that sounds like what you hear on the radio (sometimes music that is on the radio) accompanied by bands that mimic whichever artist is popular at the moment, no choirs, no pews, no crosses, no pulpits, no hymnals, but a Starbucks in the lobby. Everything a sinner is used to in his daily life. Everything that will make him perfectly comfortable.
Where is this model of doing church found in the Bible? If you answered, “nowhere,” you’d be correct. The church, by definition, is made up of believers. Christ Himself is what is attractional to people who have genuinely been born again. And when we meet together, we have one purpose: to worship and grow in Him. The Bible never tells the church to make itself look like the world to bring lost people into the church. Christ tells us, believers, the church, to go out and make disciples, to go out into the highways and byways and urge the lost to trust Christ so that His house might be filled…with believers.
3. Church should be fun.
Nope, not going to find that one in the Bible either. Worshiping Christ should bring us the deepest joy we can fathom, but that’s not the same thing as rock concert, bouncy house, stand up comedian, outlandish props and gimmicks, music video back up dancers, cash and prizes giveaway, “fun”. Church should be joyful, welcoming, warm, and pleasant. It should also be reverent, solemn, and, often, serious. Worshiping Christ, handling and learning His word, partaking of communion and baptism– these are not frivolous things, and the climate of the church should reflect that.
4. When it comes to the size of a local church, bigger is not only better, but more spiritual.
I see articles from denominational leaders and church growth gurus all the time that start with the presupposition that if your church isn’t constantly growing until you’ve reached thousands in attendance and have to go multi-site, you need to get on that problem, pronto. Or that if your attendance numbers are “stuck” around the 200 or 300 mark, it’s a crisis that needs to be addressed. Pastor, you need to do something about that. It’s assumed that you want to do something about that.
Says who? Says people who have made a lot of money selling church growth materials and want to make more, that’s who. The fact of the matter is, mega churches are the exception, not the rule. The average size of a church in the U.S. is 186 people, and 94% of church goers attend a church of under 500 members.
There are many perfectly legitimate and biblical reasons why a local church might be small. Smaller churches foster intimacy in fellowship, accountability in discipleship, and make it easier for pastors to shepherd individuals and small groups. Certainly, a church should welcome any newcomers wishing to join and should seek to minister to the surrounding community, but if zeal for the gospel is in place, there is no shame in being a small church.
5. Our worship music has to be contemporary.
Why? No, really. Why does it have to be pop-contemorary style? Because we’ll lose or fail to attract young people? First of all, there are plenty of young people who, believe it or not, like hymns and traditional worship music. Why aren’t we concerned about alienating them? What about the older people who like hymns? What about the young people who like country music, or classical music, or rap, or screamo, or death metal, or opera? How come we don’t cater to any of their musical preferences (assuming that’s the basis on which you choose the genre of worship music) during the worship hour?
Up until the early ’80’s or so, when you went to church, you expected to sing hymns out of a hymnal. There’s nothing wrong with adding new songs here and there to the church’s repertoire, but there is something wrong with trying to replicate what’s going on in the world in order to entice lost people into the church. When people go to a funeral they expect to hear funeral music. When they go to a fais do do they expect to hear Cajun music. And have you seen how incensed people get when somebody tries to put a fresh spin on the National Anthem? It’s perfectly all right for church music to sound churchy. We don’t need to apologize for that.
6. Leaving a church (or deciding not to join one) because you don’t like contemporary worship music is selfish, petty, and reeks of spiritual immaturity.
Really? I thought you just said we had to use contemporary music to get young people to join and keep them from leaving. Are they selfish, petty, and spiritually immature for having their music preference catered to? Why don’t they have to suck it up and sing hymns? Would you go to a church that used only a genre of music you hate, like rap or opera? Does that make you selfish, petty, and spiritually immature?
It’s time we stopped shaming people for wanting to leave a church that has changed to a genre of music or a worship style that they hate. There will be times in every church when a particular song (or maybe even several) is sung that you don’t like. That’s normal no matter which genre your church uses. But music is a huge part of our worship services, and if, even after making an effort to embrace the music, you are so distracted by the genre that you’re incapable of focus on Christ, you need to go to a church- a doctrinally sound one, mind you – where you can worship.
We make a lot of assumptions about the way we should do church. Maybe it’s time to start questioning some of them.
What are some other church axioms you’ve noticed?
Previous Lessons: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
1. Go back to lesson 3 (link above) and review your answer to the first part of question 5, Israel’s pattern of sin and repentance in 2:16-23. How does today’s passage fit this pattern? How does today’s passage fit the theme verse of Judges (21:25), “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”?
2. Briefly review the end of Judges 6 to set the scene for today’s passage.
3. Using a good Bible map, attempt to locate all of the places mentioned in today’s passage.
4. Read 1-3. How many men did Gideon start out with (3)? How many men did Midian, the Amalekites, and the people of the East have? Do the math (the number of the enemy divided by the number of Gideon’s men) – how many of the enemy were there for every one of Gideon’s men? And yet God said whose army had too many men? (2) Why did Gideon’s army have too many men? (2)
Notice the “spoiler” God gives Gideon in verse 2. How might that have allayed Gideon’s fears and reassured him?
Keep the 22,000 fearful men who left (3) in mind as you read the remainder of today’s passage. What blessings and opportunities did they miss by giving in to their fear?
Looking back at chapter 6 (and ahead to 7:10-11), notice the motif of Gideon’s fearfulness. Compare Gideon’s fearfulness to that of the 22,000 (3). Did Gideon give in to his fears or follow and obey the Lord despite his fears? How was He able to do that? What blessings and opportunities came to Gideon as a result of following and faithfulness despite fear? Think about how many times in Scripture God says “fear not” or “do not be afraid”. How is Gideon a good example to us of how to respond to God and His Word when we are afraid?
5. Read 4-8. Think about God’s reasons (2) for so severely reducing the size of Gideon’s army alongside some of God’s actions we looked at in lesson 6 (link above): God bringing Israel “very low,” God choosing the weakest man from the weakest clan to lead Israel in battle, God having Baal’s altar and the Asherah pole torn down and replaced by His own. How do God’s actions indicate that He wants it clear – to Gideon, Israel, the Midianites, and the world – that He alone is God, that He alone saves, and that He alone is to get the glory for this victory?
Most reputable theologians agree that there is little, if any, spiritual or tangible significance to God using the way the men drank (5) to separate out the 300 men He wanted with Gideon. It was just an expedient and easily visible way to show Gideon who He wanted. But consider God’s sovereignty over such a small thing. Who created these men with either a natural or learned propensity to drink each way? How did God use such a small thing to guide each man’s life in this situation? How does God choosing these particular 300 men and not the 9700 other men demonstrate to us the concept that God has his own reasons for the choices He makes and we aren’t always privy to those reasons? How does all of this impact your understanding of God directing our steps?
With Gideon’s army now reduced to 300, do the math again. How many of the enemy were there to every one of Gideon’s men?
6. Read 9-18. Notice again the motif of Gideon’s fear. How did God reassure him? (9b, 10-11) How does this demonstrate God’s compassion and mercy toward His children who are faithful, yet fearful? Did Gideon have any real reason to be afraid? What was his response to God’s reassurance? (15a)
How do you suppose the Midianites knew who Gideon was? (14) If they knew who Gideon was, what did they also know about God? Did the Midianites have a real reason to be afraid? How could the same dream (13-14) gave courage to God’s faithful servant, but frighten unbelievers?
How does Gideon, the cake of barley bread (13-14), point ahead to Jesus, the Bread of Life that came down from Heaven – and will one day return – with a sword?
7. Read 19-25. Think about the motif of shining light into darkness. (16, 19-20) What does light represent in Scripture? Darkness? How does this passage point us to Jesus, the light of the world? How does it point to us, His followers, as the light of the world? As Gideon experienced temporally (21b), what is often the effect, spiritually, of shining the light of Christ into the enemy’s darkness? Does the darkness or the light eventually win in the end? (24-25)
Think about the fearfulness of Gideon, the 22,000, and the Midianites in today’s passage. Now consider your own fearfulness. Are you now, or have you ever been, in a situation that caused you to be fearful? Did you, like the Midianites, have good reason to be fearful because you were an unbelieving rebel? Were you fearful but faithful as Gideon was? Did you let fear or faith inform your actions? Did fear cause you to flee, like the 22,000? What blessings or opportunities did you miss out on by fleeing in fear, or did you experience by remaining faithful despite your fear? Ask God to help you learn from today’s passage and from your own experience about responding to scary situations in faith despite your fears. You may wish to read my article Fear Not: 9 Biblical Ways to Trade Worry for Trust.
I’m like y’all. I listen to podcasts – probably some of the same ones you listen to. Here are a few particular episodes that have caught my ear lately. (I’m sure there are bunches more great episodes out there, I just haven’t had time to listen to as many podcasts as I’d like.)
Let’s just get the “tooting my own horn” part out of the way right up front. Well…it’s not so much tooting my own horn as sharing a resource with you that I think will be helpful and encouraging.
Earlier this summer on A Word Fitly Spoken, Amy and I released Pride, Pronouns & Prodigals, an episode designed to help you navigate the division and difficulties the platforming of perversion has caused in our society, among our friends, and even in our families. What can you do to be loving, yet faithful to Scripture, if your job requires you to use untrue pronouns for a co-worker? Should you attend a family member’s homosexual “wedding”? What if your adult child chooses a lifestyle of sexual immorality? We talked through these situations and more, taking you back to Scripture, as always.
Maybe it’s because the topic of worship has been on my mind a lot lately, or maybe (more likely) it’s because my friend Chris Huff – a former minister of music with a lot of experience in this particular Matter of Theology – really knows his stuff, but I enjoyed immensely Chris’ teaching on worship in his episode A Retrieval of the Word “Worship”.
At the risk of breaking the entire internet1, I learned a lot from the Sabbath Refresher episode of the What Have You podcast. It’s always fascinating to me to learn about other families’ traditions, so listening to Rachel Jankovic and Nancy Wilson describe how they have hosted Sabbath dinner over the years provided an interesting perspective on family dynamics and practicing hospitality. They also shared a lot of practical tips that would be helpful for anybody who’s having company over for dinner.
If you think Romans 13 means that We the People have to bow and scrape to megalomaniacal tyrants, listen to the Governor Ron DeSantis & the Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate episode of The Sword and the Trowel podcast – and think again. Pastors Tom Ascol and Jared Longshore discuss the biblical need for, and the duty of Christians to stand together and resist tyranny. This would be a great one to pass along to your pastor, your husband, and all of the other Christian men in your life. It’s quite encouraging. Quit you like men, my brothers.
This isn’t a recommendation of one particular episode. It’s a recommendation of every episode. WWUTT is the only podcast I listen to daily, and the only one of which I never miss a weekday episode. Monday – Wednesday, Pastor Gabriel Hughes teaches through a New Testament book (currently, 1 Corinthians), Thursdays he teaches through an Old Testament book (currently, Proverbs), and on Fridays he answers questions from the listeners, usually with his charming wife, Beki.
You might enjoy making WWUTT part of your daily Bible study routine. Study the passage Gabe will be teaching that day, then listen to the podcast to hear his commentary and compare notes.
You need to listen to this podcast. I am personally offended that it’s not number 1 on the charts every week. Let’s get it there. :0)
1I am totally, completely, and thoroughly aware that some of you have strong feelings about Doug Wilson and his family. This is not a blanket endorsement of him, his theology, any instance in which he may have erred, or anyone in his family. This is also not some sort of signal that my own theology is changing in any way. I just enjoyed a podcast episode about tablecloths, centerpieces, and feeding numerous people. That’s it. For. the. love. – please don’t send me any links from websites or social media accounts obsessed with hating Doug Wilson. Comments containing Wilson-related histrionics will not be published.
