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Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook

Auteur(s): Dr. Steven R. Cook
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Dr. Steven R. Cook is the founder of Thinking on Scripture, a platform that has attracted over one million visitors. Steven is a Christian educator who has taught undergraduate theology at Tyndale Theological Seminary and recently joined the faculty of Chafer Theological Seminary. He is a Protestant, traditional dispensationalist, and a traditional Free Grace Bible teacher. His studies in the original languages of Scripture, ancient history, and systematic theology have been the foundation for his teaching and writing ministry. Steven has written several Christian books, dozens of articles on Christian theology, and recorded more than fifteen hundred hours of audio and video messages. He hosts a weekly Bible study at his home in Arlington, Texas, where he records most of the Bible lessons for his podcast and YouTube channel. Steven’s ministry activity is freelance and entirely voluntary, and he appreciates donations to help with ministry expenses. Since 2004, he has served as a full-time Case Manager with a local nonprofit agency dedicated to assisting poor, elderly, and disabled members of the community.

Copyright 2013 Steven Cook. All rights reserved. Christianisme Pastorale et évangélisme Sciences sociales Spiritualité
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  • The Spiritual Life #60 - The Suffering of Daniel

    The Spiritual Life #60 - The Suffering of Daniel
    Dec 14 2025
    The Suffering of Daniel Daniel’s story begins in the shadow of national tragedy. As a young man, likely in his mid-to-late teens, he was taken captive when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and carried many of Judah’s nobility to Babylon (Dan 1:1–4). Torn from his homeland, stripped of freedom, and thrust into the heart of a pagan empire, Daniel entered a culture saturated with idolatry, sorcery, and political scheming. Babylon sought not only to enslave his body but to reprogram his mind, to erase his identity as a servant of the Lord and remake him into a loyal functionary of the empire. The king ordered that his name be changed, his education redirected, and his diet replaced with food from the royal table (Dan 1:5–7). Yet from the very beginning, “Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself” (Dan 1:8). Daniel was resolved to stand firm in his faith. He understood that his real allegiance was not to Babylon’s king but to the God of heaven. In a foreign land, he refused to lose his spiritual identity. Daniel’s discipline, humility, and doctrinal integrity made him a standout in Babylon. He did not protest his captivity, rebel against authority, or seek escape through human means. Instead, he accepted his circumstances as part of God’s sovereign plan and chose to function as an ambassador for the Lord in enemy territory. God rewarded his faithfulness by granting him “knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom,” and Daniel himself was given “understanding of all kinds of visions and dreams” (Dan 1:17). Through divine promotion, Daniel rose to positions of high influence under successive kings and empires, yet he never compromised his loyalty to God. Living in the center of a hostile, idolatrous culture, Daniel demonstrated that it is possible to maintain spiritual stability and grace orientation even when surrounded by corruption and pressure. Daniel understood that divine viewpoint, not environment, determines stability. Suffering intensified with the passing years. Daniel’s three companions—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—faced the fiery furnace when they refused to bow before Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image (Dan 3:12–18). They told Nebuchadnezzar, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us… but even if He does not, let it be known… that we are not going to serve your gods” (Dan 3:17–18). They were willing to die rather than dishonor God. Their deliverance from the furnace demonstrated divine power, but more importantly, it vindicated their faith and revealed God’s glory before a watching pagan world. Thieme notes, “This historical event illustrates a tremendous principle in the doctrine of suffering. God has designed human suffering for the blessing of the believer. Blessing is only possible when there is a consistent daily intake of Bible doctrine, which leads to spiritual maturity and occupation with Christ.”[1] Likewise, Daniel himself faced the lions’ den when he refused to alter his prayer life under Darius’ decree (Dan 6:10). He understood that prayer was a lifeline to the God who sustained him. Daniel’s long exile, spanning roughly seventy years, was marked by pressure, promotion, and persecution. He served under multiple kings, from Nebuchadnezzar to Cyrus, and in each administration he maintained the same spiritual consistency. Though elevated to positions of immense political power, he remained humble before God, recognizing that all authority is delegated by the Sovereign of heaven (Dan 2:21). His prophetic visions and intercessory prayers reveal a man whose heart was never seduced by Babylon’s wealth or wisdom but fixed on God’s promises to Israel. Through testing, isolation, and exposure to pagan corruption, Daniel became the living embodiment of grace under pressure, a believer functioning in the devil’s world without being conformed to it (Rom 12:1-2; 1 John 2:15-16). Daniel’s captivity demonstrates the divine principle that adversity is God’s classroom for spiritual advance. Like Joseph in Egypt and David in the wilderness, Daniel learned that promotion comes not from human favor but from the Lord (Psa 75:6–7). His entire life illustrates that faith is most often tested in crisis, and that true stability is the result of divine viewpoint thinking applied under pressure. Through exile and affliction, God transformed a Hebrew captive into a statesman-prophet, refining his faith through suffering and using his life as a witness to Gentile rulers. Daniel’s story proves that spiritual victory does not require favorable circumstances, only a heart anchored in divine truth. In every generation, his life stands as a model of how to live faithfully in a pagan world without losing one’s spiritual integrity: “The people who know their God will display strength and take action” (Dan 11:32). Steven R. Cook, D.Min., M.Div. [1] R. B. Thieme, ...
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    57 min
  • Overview of the Book of Ruth

    Overview of the Book of Ruth
    Dec 10 2025

    The book of Ruth unfolds in the moral collapse of the judges, yet it reveals the steady hand of God directing a few believers who chose to trust Him when the nation at large did not. Ruth, a Moabite widow, aligned herself with Naomi and with the God of Israel, and the Lord guided her to Boaz, a man of integrity who fulfilled the role of kinsman-redeemer and foreshadowed the greater Redeemer to come. What begins with famine, death, and despair ends with restoration, joy, and the establishment of the line that leads to David and ultimately to Christ. The narrative shows how God advances His plan through ordinary people who operate on Bible doctrine, exhibit loyal love, and remain faithful in adversity. Even in the darkest generation, His grace is never absent and His providence never idle. Click here for study notes: https://thinkingonscripture.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Overview-of-the-Book-of-Ruth.pdf

    Steven R. Cook, D.Min., M.Div.

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    1 h et 2 min
  • The Spiritual Life #59 - The Suffering of David & Daniel

    The Spiritual Life #59 - The Suffering of David & Daniel
    Dec 7 2025
    The Suffering of King David David’s fugitive years under Saul (1 Sam 22–24) were not wasted time but a period of divine training and refinement. Though anointed king by Samuel (1 Sam 16:13), David was not yet ready to rule. God enrolled him in the school of suffering, isolation, and rejection to develop the inner character necessary for kingship. In the cave of Adullam, David found himself surrounded not by Israel’s elite but by society’s outcasts, “everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented” (1 Sam 22:2). These men became his first followers, and God used them to teach David grace, compassion, and leadership under pressure. In the desert, David learned to live by divine viewpoint, to lean on God’s sufficiency instead of human resources. His classroom was the wilderness; his lessons were hardship, endurance, and faith. Like Israel’s desert testing, David’s adversity exposed the contents of his soul and taught him to rest in God’s perfect timing and immutable faithfulness (Deut 8:2). During this season, David composed two psalms that record the anguish and growth of his soul (Psa 57; 142). Psalm 57 was written “when he fled from Saul in the cave” (Psa 57:1a), likely at Adullam (1 Sam 22:1). Here, David’s faith triumphed over fear. Surrounded by danger, David prayed, “Be gracious to me, O God… for my soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by” (Psa 57:1b). Though hunted, he chose praise over panic, saying, “My heart is steadfast, O God… I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples” (Psa 57:7, 9). Adversity was used as a vehicle to expedite his growth, and David learned that security rests not in circumstances but in divine stability. Psalm 142, written later “when he was in the cave,” probably at En-gedi (1 Sam 24:1–3), reveals a soul exhausted by prolonged pressure. David wrote, “No one cares for my soul” (Psa 142:4), capturing the loneliness of exile and the silence of isolation. Yet even there, David refocused on the Lord, saying, “I cried out to You, O Lord; I said, ‘You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living’” (Psa 142:5). According to Ross, “The faithful must depend on the LORD completely when they are in grave difficulties because there is no one else who truly cares for them.”[1] When human support failed, divine grace sustained him. Through these psalms, we see David’s soul pressed, purified, and reshaped into a man of faith. The results of that refinement soon became evident. Twice David was providentially placed in a position to kill Saul, first in the cave at En-gedi (1 Sam 24:1–7) and later at the hill of Hachilah (1 Sam 26:7–11). Both times David restrained himself, refusing to violate divine authority. David said, “The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed” (1 Sam 24:6). This statement reveals a soul stabilized by Bible doctrine and governed by reverence for God’s sovereignty. David refused to advance through human manipulation or self-promotion. His patience demonstrated that he had learned to wait for the Lord’s vindication, as he said to Saul, “May the Lord judge between you and me… but my hand shall not be against you” (1 Sam 24:12). His restraint was the strength of humility developed through divine viewpoint thinking and prolonged testing (faith in action). These wilderness years, likely spanning seven to ten years, formed the core of David’s divine preparation. Every deprivation was a test; every trial was a lesson in grace orientation, faith-rest, and obedience under pressure. When David finally ascended to the throne, he ruled as a man whose soul had been tempered by adversity. The Lord had fulfilled His purpose, confirming the principle He’d spoken to Israel, “He humbled you and let you be hungry… that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord” (Deut 8:3). Thus, David’s wilderness experience was a means of spiritual sanctification. The very afflictions that threatened his life became the instruments of his spiritual growth. By waiting on the Lord and trusting His timing, David demonstrated genuine humility and teachability, which are marks of a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22). The Suffering of Daniel Daniel’s story begins in the shadow of national tragedy. As a young man, likely in his mid-to-late teens, he was taken captive when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and carried many of Judah’s nobility to Babylon (Dan 1:1–4). Torn from his homeland, stripped of freedom, and thrust into the heart of a pagan empire, Daniel entered a culture saturated with idolatry, sorcery, and political scheming. Babylon sought not only to enslave his body but to reprogram his ...
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    1 h et 8 min
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