Archive for the ‘Job--BibleTrekToday’ Category

Scripture reading for May 24th: Job 15-17

Have you ever gone to a doctor for a check up and gotten a bad report?  I talked with a person the other day who went to a doctor for help with a problem and after the tests were run, the trusted doctor told this person there was no hope.   The doctor suggested funeral arrangements and getting affairs in order to die!  The doctor was trying to share what he understood from the tests, but God always has the last word!  By the way, that was thirty years ago and this person is still going on in faith!

Job endured some similar attempts by friends to help him!  Job was told by his wife to curse God and die.   (Job2:9)   Job was told by his friends that he must have been involved in some terrible sin to be in the circumstances he was in.   At times, his own emotions brought him to depression and a desire to die. (Job 10:18-19)  Job cried out, “miserable comforters are you all!”  (Job 16:2b)  All of this was part of an attempt by Satan to get Job to deny his faith in God and give in to the circumstances and pressure of those who were judging him.

Deep inside, even though tormented by all these accusations, Job holds to his integrity.  He declares his hands free from violence and his prayer as pure.  (Job 16:16-22)  He knows that he has a witness in heaven who knows the truth and will plead with God for him.  He knows that his time on earth is short, but his cry has come before God.  Where did these thoughts come from?  What did Job see or hear in the natural that might have given this understanding?

God works on the inside of man by revelation.  He shows us through faith this unseen world that is more real, being eternal, than the temporary one we live in.  When we choose to place our trust in God, He enlightens the “eyes of our understanding” in the inner man.  We know that God is for us and that One intercedes for us today, Jesus Christ, the Righteous one!  (Romans 8:31-34)  The Spirit also helps us to pray and is our true comforter!  (Romans 8:26-27)  Though man may fail us, God is our comfort and strength!

Dear Friends,

Greetings in the Glorious Name of Jesus!   It is such a joy to be able to be in God’s house with God’s people to worship the one who willingly gave His life for us!   No one has to force me to go to church; I delight to do that!  It’s not just because I am a pastor either, for I would do this regardless!  It isn’t a sacrifice; it is a great privilege and also a sacred responsibility.  My wife and children are watching me.  They are looking at my life and my leadership.  They are learning by my example.  My friends and neighbors are also watching.  More than any of these, God, Himself is watching and knows my heart!

Esther was part of the Jewish nation in captivity.  She was placed in the King’s palace in a foreign land and when one of the King’s officials plotted the murder of all Jews, she had a decision to make.  It could have cost her life and position, but she fasted and made the necessary sacrifice willingly.  (Esther 4:16)  The end result was the saving of her people from execution. (Esther 9:22)

Job was a great man from the East who trusted in God.  He willingly made sacrifices for his children each day to intercede for their souls. (Job 1:5) They were all killed in a sudden storm, but the end of Job tells of a double return for Job in everything he lost.  He had ten more children, but the implication is that the other ten would be seen again in heaven!  (Job 42:10-13)

As you join today with God’s people, willingly give yourself and your tithes and offerings to see God’s saving grace in your family and nation!  Eternity will reveal the great rewards!

In His Love, Pastor John

Scripture reading for May 22nd: Job 11-14

Job was a believer in God who was caught in a difficult trial.  He lost everything when he once enjoyed prosperity.  He lost his children suddenly through a violent storm.  He then lost his health.  Even his wife counseled him to curse God and die and his friends suggested that what he was getting was not as bad as what he deserved!  These ingredients could have lead one the strongest of men into depression.  Job revealed his thoughts in the midst of this trial.

Zophar, the third friend, directly confronted Job with his need to repent.  (Job 11:13-15)  He questioned Job’s assertion that he was pure and blameless.  Zophar’s theology  placed God so high that no man could understand Him and so just that each person got his due.  The mercy of God was not addressed, nor was Job’s faith.  Some of his theology was correct but incomplete and came across without mercy.  (Job 13:4)

Job, however, knew that God was great and powerful.  (Job 12:13-21)  He also knew that God was just and all would stand before him.  He desired to stand before God and argue his case.  His friends had judged him wrongly and missed the mercy of God.  Job so trusted God, that if God would take his life, he would still trust Him to do what was right.  (Job 13:15)

From recent experience, Job knew the fleeting nature of human life and the troubles it entailed.  His inner desire was for God to hide him in a grave until His anger had passed and then set a time to remember him again.  (Job 14:13)  Job had a desire for resurrection and sensed that God would at some future time call him forth and restore him.  He understood what it looked like in the natural realm, but in his spirit man he knew about eternity.  (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

This ancient discussion of God’s nature and our human nature is still around today.  Man tries to gain understanding of suffering and how to avoid it.  Religion tries to teach a set of rules whereby man controls what happens to him or at least explains it.  God’s word reveals that God is in control of everything and He will work everything out for good to those who trust Him.  (Romans 8:28) (Job 13:15)  Trusting God is the way to fruitful life and hope for the future.

Scripture reading for May 21st: Job 8-10

Job’s dilemma of suffering the loss of his family, property, and health in such a short time caused much pondering of heart and brought his friends to sit with him.  Job had been the greatest man of the East!  (Job 1:3)  He now was a sad and broken man suffering terribly.  He maintained his innocence of known sin and his trust in God throughout this ordeal.  He had many questions and no real answers!  His friends were sincerely trying to help, but their frame of reference was past experience (Eliphaz) and now in today’s reading, logic.

Bildad the Shuhite had been listening to Job and Eliphaz discuss his plight.  Bildad rebuked Job and began by citing God’s justice.  He flatly stated that Job’s children got what they deserved when they were killed by the mighty wind.  God punished them for their sins because God is always just!  It was just logical when looked at in this way.  Bildad encouraged Job to plead with the Almighty if he was pure and upright and God would restore him.  The implication was that he was not really pure, but needed God’s mercy himself if he was to be restored.

Job responded to Bildad with some agreement.  He knew that although he was unaware of known sin, he still carried shame before God.  He knew of God’s greatness and his insignificance in comparison.  Job tells of the greatness of God and how easily God could crush him because of His strength.  If it was His justice, Job felt he would also be in trouble.  (Job 9:19)  Job longed for a mediator who could bridge the gap between man and God.  Someone who could “lay his hand on both of us.”  (Job 9:33-35)  Someone who could remove God’s rod of wrath from Job would enable him to speak without fear.

This deep inner longing of Job is in the heart of every man.  We long for a way to bridge the gap between our small world of sin and suffering and the great world of God and his strength and justice.  We know we are guilty and suffer here on this earth because our disobedience.  We know that punishment awaits us later because of God’s justice.  We also know that we are eternal beings because eternity is in our heart.  Without help, we struggle to figure it out!

Scripture reading for May 20th: Job 4-7

Suffering has always been an issue for the people of God.  Our reasoning goes something like this:  if we are obedient and serve God, we should always be blessed!  When the opposite happens it puts us in a dilemma. We struggle to know whether we have some hidden sin or if God has turned on us for some reason.  Satan loves to suggest to us that God is at fault for our suffering so we should turn away from Him.  Job and his friends are going through this type of discussion in today’s reading.

Eliphaz the Temanite was one of Job’s friends who sat with him in silence for seven days.  (Job 2:11-13)  He saw how miserable Job was and wept with him.  He listened as Job cursed the day of his birth and questioned why he was even born.  (Job 3:11)  He heard his groaning and then felt compelled to speak.  He tried to encourage Job with his remembrance of Job’s past good works.  He told him that innocent men never perished, only those who did evil.  Perhaps behind this was an effort to get Job to check his heart for any evil.

On another level, this was an attempt by Satan to get at Job.  Eliphaz had a spirit glide past his face and he was shaken and alarmed.  This “spirit” stopped and a form stood before his eyes and he heard a voice saying, “Can a mortal be more righteous than God?  Can a man be more pure than his Maker?  If God places no trust in His servants, if he charges His angels with error, how much more those who live in house of clay, whose foundations are dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth!” (Job 4:15-19)  The “accuser” was at work through this friend to taunt Job and stir up mistrust and hard feeling against God.

Job was not comforted by these thoughts.  Although he was still suffering greatly and wanted God to back off, he held to his own faithfulness to God’s word.  (Job 6:10)  Job asked many questions about his own worth.  He wondered aloud at what he had done and why God had made him his target.  He even asked if he had become a burden to God! (Job 7:20)  This is spiritual conflict going on in the mind of Job as he suffered!  No answers came then.

Scripture reading for May 19th: Job 1-3

According to most commentaries, Job is the oldest book of the Bible.  Job was a righteous man who lived sometime before the days of Abraham.  He trusted God and offered sacrifices to God for his children and family.  He avoided evil and feared the Lord.  Job was a blessed man and considered one of the greatest men of the East.  (Job 1:1-3)

The story of Job suddenly jumps from Job’s life on earth to the Throne of Heaven.  There in the world of Heaven, angels came before the Lord and Satan also appeared with them.  Satan and the Lord had a conversation about Job and his blameless life.  Satan accused Job of serving God because of the blessings that God had provided him.  The Lord gave Job’s possessions over to Satan but did not allow Satan to touch Job himself.  (Job 1:6-12)

Job lost his children, flocks, and herds over a short time.  What appeared to be natural disasters struck one after another, robbing Job of his children and all he owned.  He humbled himself and fell to the ground in worship.  “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:21)

In another session in Heaven, Satan again accuses Job of serving God because of his health.  Satan suggests that if his health is gone, Job will curse God.  God allows the test and Job next loses his health on top of all he has already lost.  His own wife suggests that he curse God and die but Job holds his integrity and keeps his faith in the Lord.  (Job 2:9-10)

Satan is the one who works to bring us down.  He has access to Heaven and is known as the “accuser” of the brethren.  He was allowed by God to test Job.  God knew that Job was serving him by faith, not just for what he could get from Him.  God sustained Job through the trials by faith and revelation.  We need not fear these accusations if we are truly walking by faith.  God will always protect us.  Take time today to pray for God’s favor and protection.  The Lord’s prayer asks “but deliver us from evil (the evil one)”.  We need God’s grace!

Scripture reading for June 3rd: Job 40-42

Finally, we come to the end of this long book of endless arguments concerning the nature of suffering, God’s character and justice, and God’s ability to work out everything according to the counsel of His Word.   God continues His questioning of Job, who is now under conviction of being unworthy to say any more. (Job 40:4-5)  Job was to brace himself and give God some answers.  The first question was:  “Would you discredit my justice?“  The next related to the first:  “Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?” (Job  40:8)

Curiously, God then begins to direct Job’s attention to two of the most fierce animals.  Behemoth is a fierce land animal that is perhaps the hippopotamus or elephant.  Leviathon is a fierce water creature that is perhaps the crocodile or fire-breathing dragon.  These two animals bring fear to the hearts of men because of their power and ability to dominate.  But at the end, God says that there is nothing on earth that is these creatures’ equal–a creature without fear.  He is king of all that are proud!  What is God talking about?  Why this discussion of these fearful animals?  Could it be that God is teaching Job about Satan and his downfall, pride?

Job repents and comes to a new understanding of  God’s greatness and trustworthiness.  God instructs the friends to offer sacrifice and have Job pray for them to avert God’s judgment.  Elihu is not mentioned.  We are not told why. After Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored Job to his former prosperity and gave him double all that he had lost.  (Job 42:10)  Job had seven more sons and three daughters.  This is the same as before and implies that he would see his others in heaven as well!  God does everything well!

This story has a happy ending and teaches us all valuable lessons of faith and trust in God.  We won’t always have all the answers and we must be careful when trying to help those going through trial and affliction.  We certainly don’t want to become like Job’s comforters!  We can be thankful that God is in control and that He is merciful and answers prayer.  We can also rest assured that God will work everything for good to those who love Him and keep the faith!

“Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.  As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered.  You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.  The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” James 5:10-11

Scripture reading for June 2nd: Job 38-39

Job had been longing for an audience with God so that he could state his case and find mercy.  His friends had accused him of harboring sin in his life and being under God’s punishment.  They had tried to define God’s ways and actions to him but Job had needed to hear from God Himself!  Job had maintained his integrity and faith in God but had lots of questions for God.  Finally, Job got the desire of his heart and it turned out differently than expected!

God appeared to Job out of a storm or whirlwind.  (Job 38:1)  God’s first question was: “Who is this that darkens My counsel with words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2)    I feel that this is a strong word of rebuke for all of Job’s friends, particularly the last speaker, Elihu.  (He claimed perfect knowledge in Job 36:4.)  God was also there to correct Job’s understanding as well!

The next four chapters are filled with questions that only God can truly answer. There are about seventy questions about the world that God created and about the animal kingdom.  God never answers Job’s questions about why he is suffering.  He never tells Job his purposes for allowing the suffering.  God only shows Job through these questions that He is in control and knows more about creation than we do. He implies that we do not need to know everything while here on earth.  Just knowing God and his great power and total authority over all creation should give us hope and peace.

When it comes down to it, God’s wisdom and understanding make us look small indeed!  To think that this God who created the vast heavens and unique earth would care about man is difficult to understand.  I am humbled and amazed that God would come to Job and personally talk to him!  It reminds me of Jesus Christ when he said: “Come to me all you who weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)  God is humble too!  He stoops low to speak to us and teach us about Himself.  We are blessed to learn and to hear His voice!

Scripture reading for June 1st: Job 35-37

“I get my knowledge from afar; I will ascribe justice to my Maker.  Be assured that my words are not false; one perfect in knowledge is with you.” Job 36:3-4

Have you ever been around a person who thinks he knows everything?  For every question, he has an answer and he even has information you did not ask for.  Elihu seems to be such a person.  He boasts of his great wisdom and does seem to have some good information.  However, as I read this section, I get the feeling that Elihu is not much different from the other three friends.  He seems to talk down to Job and subtly accuse Job of not knowing God.  He claims to know God perfectly.  (Job 36:4)

Elihu stated that God commands sinners to repent and that if they listen, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity.  (Job 36:11)  This argument has already been hashed around by Job and Job reminded them that this was not always the case.  Sometimes the wicked prosper and nothing seems to touch them here on earth.  (Job 21:7-14)  We cannot always presume that our life on earth has to be a certain way based on our behavior. God may allow other things to work out His purposes in our life, but they will all be for our good if we love him.  (Romans 8:28)

Elihu also stated that our sin has no effect on God.  (Job 35:6)  Sin does have an effect on God.  It provokes his anger and all sin is against God first.  Without His Law we would not know sin, good or evil.  God’s revelation of His Law and the consequences of sin show God’s concern.  Of course, Job is before the Law was written but God never changes and His character is the same then as now!

Elihu also warned Job not to turn to evil and accused him of preferring evil to affliction.  (Job 36:21)  This also is presumptuous on Elihu’s part.  When we think that we are perfect in knowledge, we can easily become judgmental and critical of others.  Knowledge puffs us up, but love builds us up!  (1st Corinthians 8:1b)  Elihu’s analogy’s of God’s greatness and majesty must have caused Job to think and further examine his own heart.  Elihu’s last words told of God coming in majesty and splendor, but beyond our reach!  How ironic that God Himself next speaks to Job!

As I ponder these dissertations by Job’s friends, I am reminded of my own need to be more quiet and listen longer before I speak. (James 1:19-20)  No one is perfect in knowledge and understanding but the Lord!  He is our helper and guide!  In all our ways we must acknowledge Him, and He will direct our paths!  (Proverbs 3:5-7)

Greetings in the Wonderful Name of Jesus Christ!  Today is Pentecost Sunday and a time to celebrate the precious gift of the Holy Spirit!  The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity and is the personal gift of the Father who was sent to dwell in followers of Jesus Christ. (Luke 24:49)  Jesus told His followers to wait for this promise and that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. (Acts1:8)  This power would be a divine enablement to be witnesses for the Lord.  God’s command was for these believers to go into all the world and preach the Gospel message with signs that would follow! (Mark 16:15-20)

On the day of Pentecost, 120 believers were gathered in a room of the temple praying and waiting on the Lord when suddenly the room was filled with the sound of a rushing wind.  Visible tongues of fire descended on this company and they all began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.  (Acts 2:1-4) These believers went out into the temple area and caused quite a stir among those Jews gathered from around the world for the Feast of Pentecost.  Each one heard them glorifying God in their own language! (Acts 2:8-10)  What a miracle!  Peter preached that day and many came under conviction through the power of the Holy Spirit!  (Acts 2:37)  They were told to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit!  (Acts 2:38-41)  Three thousand were baptized and added to the church that day!

Today, nearly 2000 years later, God is still empowering believers to be witnesses for Him.  He is still pouring out His Spirit on all flesh.  He is still sending His Church to be witnesses to the nations.  He is still baptizing people in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues!  He is still confirming His Word with supernatural signs!  God shows no partiality and wants all to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth!  (1st Timothy 2:3-4)  If you are not filled with the Holy Spirit, why not pray and ask the Jesus to baptize you with power to be His witness?  You can become even more effective as a witness with power!  God bless you this Pentecost Sunday!  May you be filled with power again and again.  (Ephesians 5:18-21)

Pastor John