Tag Archives: Christ Jesus

Mar 28 2013

Job 11 – Zophar Speaks: You Deserve Worse

English: Job's Sons and Daughters Overwhelmed ...

English: Job’s Sons and Daughters Overwhelmed by Satan, by William Blake. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Zophar decides it is his turn to speak.  Unlike Bildad and Eliphaz, this third of Job’s friends cannot be traced to any particular land or tribe of people, and no close permutation of the name “Naamah” is mentioned anywhere else in scripture.  With friends like this, Job hardly needs enemies.  Not only is Zophar unimpressed and unpersuaded by Job’s claims of innocence, but it is Zophar’s contention that it constitutes defiance of God and therefore, Job deserves even more punishment.

Zophar is certain that he knows Job is a sinner, but the only evidence he has is God’s own omniscience.  It is ironic that he uses his accusing tone alluding to Job’s ignorance of God’s power and Job’s obvious guilt, while his entire presumptive knowledge of the Almighty’s purpose is based on the ultimate in logical fallacies.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.

Mar 21 2013

Job 10 – A Plea to God

Job-004Job continues his answer to Bildad, reiterating that he has a right to complain, but showing in verse 2 that he still trusts the Lord to do the right thing.  Job does not deny being a sinner, but insists that he is not wicked; and he pleads with God to tell him what his sin might be that is causing this harsh judgment on him.  To his credit, he does still give praise to God and recognize His loving care in verse 12:

You have granted me life and steadfast love,
and your care has preserved my spirit

In verse 15, Job points out that his pitiful condition contradicts his protestation of innocence – that it brings him shame because others perceive that his afflictions are due to his own sin.  He restates his wish to die (verses 18-19).  Some see many of Job’s statements as accusatory to God, and bordering on blasphemy.  But if you look closely, you can see great faith and praise in many of these verses (verse 11, for example).

Chapters like this one can be very difficult to keep reading, and at times are filled with very dark poetry:

“…before I go—and I shall not return—
to the land of darkness and deep shadow,
the land of gloom like thick darkness,
like deep shadow without any order,
where light is as thick darkness.”

Do not get discouraged, keep on studying the Book of Job.  It has so much more to offer than mere gloom and suffering, as we will continue to see more and more.  One of the challenges is to recognize the insight it gives us to the mindset of many people who truly are suffering, and even at times see a reflection of ourselves when our faith and our endurance is tested – how we succeed in “staying the course,” as well as how we often fail to do so.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.

Mar 14 2013

Job 9 – Jesus is our Arbiter

Job concedes the point that God does not punish the righteous and even that he has had sin in his life.  But he is compelled to point out that all men have sinned, and he still contends that he can think of none that warrant such harshness toward him, nor can he think of any for which he has not repented.  Anyway, he says, nobody could argue with Him about it.

Georges de La Tour,Job Mocked by his Wife

Georges de La Tour,
Job Mocked by his Wife

He acknowledges God’s awesome power at great length, ascribing His ability to command nature even in the form of great earthquakes, His creation of the heavens and the earth – even mentioning constellations in verse 9.  But he wonders in verse 22 if God is fair.  He believes it would be pointless for him to even try to bear his burden without complaint, for more misery is surely to come.  He sees no reason for it to ever stop because he sees no reason for it to have even begun in the first place (verses 27-31). His wife had not even stood with him.  But Job is hanging on to his integrity, as he feels it is all he has left.

As he points out in verse 33 that there is nobody to serve as an arbiter, one cannot help but see that the scripture is pointing us to Jesus.  Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”   This is the crux of Jesus as the Messiah and our High Priest as prophesied in Psalm 110, and as the Hebrew writer said in Hebrews 4:14-16:

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.

Dec 3 2012

Ephesians 2 – By Grace Through Faith

The ruins of the Roman Theater in Ephesus, Turkey. Paul visited here on his Second Missionary Journey and later wrote the epistle Ephesians to the Christians of Ephesus

The ruins of the Roman Theater in Ephesus, Turkey. Paul visited here on his Second Missionary Journey and later wrote the epistle Ephesians to the Christians of Ephesus

Paul, addressing the Ephesians, interchanges the pronouns “you”, “we”, and “us” (verses 1, 3, and 4, for example), pointing out that we were all lost in our sin.  But God, being rich in mercy, made us alive through Jesus Christ, in whom we were raised up, along with Him.  He says that we are saved by grace through faith.  The significance of that statement is emphasized by making clear that it is not by anything that we did (verse 8), but it is the gift of God.  But one must take account of the whole of Scripture in order to understand this part, as is always the case.  It is by grace that we are saved, certainly.  But it is not by grace alone, otherwise the entire world would be saved without even having belief.  Therefore, faith is a necessary part of that salvation, but faith alone, without grace, cannot save us.  But one must also remember that, as James said (James 2:24),  “a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

He then goes on to remind that the Gentiles were once separated by the Law of Moses, a wall that in Christ Jesus was broken down (verses 13-16); and through Him, Jews and Gentiles alike have access “in one spirit to the father” (verse 18).  Such salvation for all people of the world was always the plan of God through Jesus (Titus 2:11), on which foundation He is the cornerstone (verses 20-21, Isaiah 28:16).

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.