When people read the Bible, they may be surprised to find shocking stories of wickedness mixed with stories of great faith, sometimes in the very same people. In other words, it contains stories of people like us. Judges reports on the chaotic situation in Israel after the death of Joshua during which a series of deliverers rescued God’s people time and time again from self-inflicted problems. At the end of the book, things spiraled out of control, but this failure reveals the main point of the book. In the end, the judges could not have lasting success but were signposts pointing forward to the answer to their failures and ours.
According to Ephesians 6:1-4, children are to obey “in the Lord” and parents are to nurture children in the instruction “of the Lord.” That...
New life in Christ includes submission to governmental authorities, love for the other, and putting on Christ for all to see him.
Jesus combined a warning of judgment with a demonstration of the liberating power of the kingdom of God.
