Summary #2

Weekly Summary
Job 21-42

This week we finish Job's story. Despite his friends' prodding, Job neither rejects God nor blames himself for the calamity that befalls him. God finally comes to him in a storm, and describes his creation and majesty in amazingly vivid language, causing Job to "repent in dust and ashes" which most likely means "Take comfort in dust and ashes",,, a strange concept to us, but when you think about it, isn't it comforting to know the amazing majesty power of God is beyond our ability, and therefor our responsibility to understand?

God then offers to forgive Job's friends, if he will pray for them. Which, amazingly, he does, without any apparent hesitation. After this, God restores Job to great wealth, doubling his material wealth, and blessing him with seven sons and three daughters. Interestingly, mention is made only of the daughters' names, beauty, and inheritance -- an anomaly in that time when sons were often the only counted offspring.

A few things to think about as we leave Job:

• In book of Job, all kinds of questions and anomalies are presented and they are not resolved. No easy answers or no answers. The entire book of Job is a teaching to us that we can ‘rail’ at God with limits. Part of being righteous and a godly child that you call out to God, complain, and perhaps accuse him.

• The book of Job is set up with apparent contradictions. One reason why the book of Job is such a comfort to people is that they can identify with Job within the context of scripture, and ultimately they can find comfort within the context of a personal relationship with God. The book of Job validates honesty with God.

• The book of Job is a bunch of different puzzles that we can’t solve and we should live with the tension and wrestle with it ourselves rather than try and resolve it.

Job takes an odd place in the story. He does not have a Jewish name and he does not use the traditional Jewish names for God. It seems that he is not a part of the covenant God makes with Abrahma, but he is a righteous man and part of the covenant with Noah as well as a part of the promise God gave to Adam and Eve. Perhaps Job is like a sidebar to the story of God's covenant with his people, foreshadowing the day when Gentiles are welcomed into the covenant as well as teaching us how to deal with misery in ourselves and others.

Be sure to tune in next week as we as we jump back into the heart of the story of the covenant with Abra(ha)m and his descendants. When we left Abram, he was in Haran - not the land of his father, and not the land he was going to. Just sort of waiting...

Day #15

Sermon - Audio
Job 40-42 - Audio
Job 40-42 Daily Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Oct 18

Job 40.1-5: Being confronted with the greatness of God, Job puts aside his arguments and is humbled.

Job 40.6ff:

• God begins his second round with Job. Lots of sarcasm. Climax is description of two amazing animals – behemoth and leviathan. God is saying I have made these amazing creatures, and you can’t. The focus is always on God's power and sovereignty.
• The speech of God does not address Job’s challenge, simply asserts God’s sovereignty. By implication, it answers his challenge, but indirect answer. In Bible, often, there is technique of answering questions indirectly. Jesus and the Pharisees and Sadducees.

40.15ff: The great and powerful creatures (Behemoth and Leviathan) are under God's control. The picture of these animals is awesome.

42.1-6: The final words of Job in God's presence. He owns that God is God and Job is not. He owns that God is sovereign and so Job needs to accept God's actions in his life.

42.6: This is an interesting verse. The word "myself" is not in the Hebrew. The word "repent" is also the word for "comfort" which is a main theme of Job. This verse could be translated, "Therefore I retract, and am comforted in dust and ashes." The idea is that Job retracts not his claims to righteousness, but his arrogance toward God. He finds comfort not in knowing what has happened to him, but in seeing the majesty of God. For Job, God's majesty is enough.

42.6ff: It is interesting that Job's restoration brings twice of all he had before, except for children. That number stays the same. Some commentators say that the number of children remain the same because he finally has not lost his first children, he will see them at the resurrection.

Day #14

Sermon - Audio
Job 38-39 - Audio
Job 38-39 Daily Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Job 38 & 39 - Job has been looking for answers for 37 chapters, in chapter 38 & 39 God will finally answer Job. However, Job does not receive the answer he hoped for (see the bottom for the answer).

Job 38-39 - God goes between referring to Himself as "I" and also starts referring to Himself in the third person, something that is questionably acceptable in today's culture. Just a thought.

Job 38:4 - God points out to Job that even creation itself is way beyond his understanding.

Q - What does God's comment in Job 38:4 tell us about God and our understanding of His nature?

Job 38 & 39 - God does not seemingly heal Job prior to answering him. In fact, He doesn't seem to be healed until after he prays for his "friends" forgiveness (Job 42:10). Just a thought.

Job 38 & 39 - God uses the following phrases when speaking to Job: Have you... Can you... Do you know, etc. God is not seeking an answer from Job, nor a response back from Him. God will tell Job the answer to all his questions...

The Answer = I am Majestic!

God is displaying his majesty before Job, and Job is listening, most likely in fear/reverence before Him (See Job 40:4-5). Job seeks an answer that will point to his vindication, except God tells Job that His majesty is enough of an answer to his questions.

Q - Is God's majesty enough for you? Why or Why not?
Q - Where do you see/feel the majesty of God?
Q - What is our response to the majesty of God?

So there you have it, after reading most of Job, we now get to one of the central themes...Through all our questioning, suffering, doubt, and disbelief...He continues to be Majestic!

Day #13

Sermon - Audio
Job 35-37 - Audio
Job 35-37 Daily Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment


Job 35:1-15 = Elihu continues on his tirade to Job.

Job 35:16 = Elihu is telling Job that each time he is opening his mouth, empty words are pouring out.

Job 36:1-4 = Elihu is claiming that his words are coming on God's behalf and not his own. This is something that is dangerous to claim and should only be done when God has spoken to you. However, at first glance Elihu's words may seem exactly like his friends, but there seems to be a theological shift. It's not as if all of the things that Job's friends were saying are untrue. However, Elihu may be carrying a different tone then the other friends. It seems as if Elihu is answering Job directly on some of his arguments of righteousness.

Q. Why is it important to make sure we teach/rebuke/train with God's story and not our own?
Q. Why is it important for us to continually learn more about God's heartbeat and very nature?

Job 36 = Many of Elihu's claims come because of a Spirit of pride that he seems to think is in Job. He states that this is seen from Job's continual questioning against and unrighteous claims to God.

Job 36 = The righteous will suffer in this life, but it is only to teach and rebuke them. Finally at least one of his "friends" admits that the righteous can suffer for a good purpose.

Q. Do you agree with the above statement? Why or why not?

Job 36:22-37:24 = Elihu is stating the grandness and power of our God. It's interesting to see that the majority of the things listed are dealing with the earth/creation (skies, clouds, winds, storms, light, etc.).

Q. What things on the earth (in creation) make you stand in awe of God?
Q. Do you think we stand in awe of God's earth/creation like they did 3,000-4,000 yrs. ago? Why, Why not?
Q. Why is being in awe of God an important part of the role we play in His story?

Overall Thoughts

*Job doesn't answer Elihu like his other friends. Elihu even challenges Job to speak (33:32), but Job doesn't.
*Job 42:7-8 = God rebukes Job's friends but offers no rebuke for Elihu.
*Why do you think Elihu wasn't rebuked by God? There many thoughts on this, but no definite answer, just something to ponder.

Day #12

Sermon - Audio
Job 32-34 - Audio
Job 32-34 Daily Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Daily Insights: "Took a fearless and searching moral inventory of ourselves." Step 4

As we recover and grow in Christ it is important for each of us to take a fearless and searching moral inventory. Often like Job's friends we are more skilled at taking the inventory of other people than focusing on our own short comings. God never tells us to take the inventory of our friends. It may be important to listen and ask probing questions, but we should never act like we have God given insight into the difficulties and trials others may experience.

1) Chapter 32 - When Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar had nothing more to say, Elihu became the fourth person to speak to Job. This was the first and only time he spoke. Apparently he was a bystander and much younger than the others, but he introduced a new viewpoint. While Job's three friends said he was suffering from a past sin, Elihu said Job's suffering would not go away until he realized his present sin.

2) Chapter 33 - Elihu's point was that God had spoken again and again. He spoke in dreams and visions, through suffering, and by mediating angels. Job already knew that. Elihu accused Job of not listening to God, which was not true.

3) Chapter 34 - God doesn't sin and is never unjust, Elihu claimed. Throughout this book, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu all have elements of truth in their speeches. Unfortunately, the nuggets of truth are buried under layers of false assumptions and conclusions. Although we might have a wealth of Bible knowledge and life experiences, we must make sure our conclusions are consistent with all of God's Word, not just parts of it.

Day #11

Sermon - Audio
Job 29-31 - Audio
Job 29-31 Daily Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

In chapters 29-31, Job reflects on his past life, his present life, and what he wishes would be revealed and justified in the future. Job lacks understanding of how his present situation does not line up according to what he believes to be true about being found righteous before God.

Chapter 29 - Job is remembering his past as a righteous person who knows the heart of God.

Chapter 30 - In this chapter, Job is contrasting his past acts of compassion with his present lack of hope. He is a man that fears God and the very things he is fearful of are now happening to him. But he can't understand why.

Chapter 31 - Job is willing to take the blame for his wrong doings, but at the same time pleads his innocence. He also recognizes that turning from God's way will not benefit his situation. It seems that Job has an understanding of the Ten Commandments. Before the law, there was some level of understanding of right and wrong, probably passed down through oral tradition through Noah.

Day #10

Sermon - Audio
Job 24-28 - Audio
Job 24-28 Daily Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Chapter 24.1-12: We read in these verses of the injustices that people do to one another. Job complains that God does nothing about them. It is the complaint of the ages--why does a good God do so little about evil.

Chapter 25: God's complaint about God and how he deals with humanity leads to an interesting comment from Bildad. Bildad holds that humanity is so low and unimportant in God's eyes that God can ignore what is happening. It is an inadequate view of humankind given what we know from Psalm 8 and from people being created in the image of God.

Chapter 26: Job continues to hold out God's greatness and sovereignty. He gives us a majestic picture of God--but does not demean man in the process.

27.11-12: Job chastises his "comforters" for their unwillingness to see reality. They are so stuck in their belief of how the world operates, that they ignore the way it really does.

Chapter 28 goes in a different direction. It is a wisdom poem that seeks to answer where wisdom can be found. The poem divides into three parts: human abilities, our inability to discover God's wisdom, and God as the one who finally and exclusively holds wisdom.

Day #9

Sermon - Audio
Job 21-23 - Audio
Job 21-23 Daily Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Job 21

• One of the themes of Job is that conventional wisdom is not sufficient in understanding the world. For the last few chapters the claim of conventional wisdom is that the wicked perish and the righteous do well. Job points out that simply does not reflect reality. The wicked often prosper.
• The Biblical writers often struggle with the reality that the wicked prosper. Many Psalms hold that the wicked finally will fall, but they speak that as an article of faith, not in terms of what they see. Habakkuk in his book complains bitterly about the lack of justice. Jeremiah makes a similar complaint in Jeremiah 12.1. All of this reminds us that the Bible doesn't ignore reality.
• During the time between the testaments the belief in life after death became stronger among the Jewish people. It was here that the wicked would perish and the righteous be rewarded.
• Job's friends get to see how good of a job they are doing in caring for him when he tells them that after he speaks they can "mock on" and when he says that they comfort him with "empty nothings".

Job 22

• Eliphaz gives his last speech. It seems as if he doesn't know Job at all as he attacks him on multiple levels.
• Eliphaz holds again that only the wicked suffer, therefore Job must be wicked. These folks know only one tune and are truly a pain.
• How might it bring comfort to you to know that the righteous suffer?

Job 23

• Job complains that God is absent 23.1-12 and that he is too close 23.13-17. There is a certain rhythm in Job of God being too close and so causing suffering and too far away so that Job can't confront him.
• 23.13: Job holds to God's sovereignty, but it does not bring him comfort.

Summary #1

Weekly Summary
Genesis 1-11, Job 1-20

So… we started at the beginning with God, and nothing else. God brings form and beauty to the chaos, starting with light and dark, the heavens and the earth, land and sea, plants, birds, fish, animals … and humans. After creating a world that was “good”, God places humans in the garden with instructions to fill the earth and subdue it. Instead, they eat the fruit that is off limits, and go into hiding from their creator. When God confronts them with the damage they have done, they blame each other and the serpent, but ultimately reap the harvest of what they have sown: they are banned from the garden, and face lives filled with work and hardship and clothing. But they are not without hope: God promises to send one to crush the serpent’s head. Although they are out of the garden, they are not out of God’s story.

As they go along in this newly-broken world, Adam and Eve’s two sons grow up – one a farmer, one a rancher. Both are doing what God called them to do, but Abel brings his first-fruits as an offering to God, and Cain brings the leftovers. When God shows his preference for Able, Cain kills Abel. Again, a human is sent away from the presence of God, but not without any hope: God marks Cain as someone who can not be killed.

As the generations multiply, death steps into the picture: after so many years, each man dies (except Enoch), and they bring us to the familiar story of Noah, who listens to God and builds an ark in anticipation of the flood that God sends to wipe evil people off the earth. Noah, his wife, their sons and daughters-in-law, along with two of every animal (seven of those who were ceremonially clean) are sealed in the ark as the rains fall, wiping out every living thing on the face of the earth.

After the waters recede (can you imagine the devastation after the flood? Katrina x1000) God renews the mandate that he started with Adam and Eve: Noah and his family are to be fruitful and fill the earth. After Noah drinks too much in his tent and is discovered “uncovered” by one of his sons, he curses that son, whose descendants become the Canaanites. Shem’s line is traced down the generations to Terah, Abraham’s father and Lot’s grandfather.

Then we switch over to Job, which happened during the time of Abraham, so far as we can tell. Job is a righteous and rich man. This attracts the attention of Satan, who taunts God, saying that he is only righteous because he is rich. God allows Satan to test this theory, first letting him attack Job’s possessions and family, then when he remains faithful through those losses, allowing Satan to attack Job himself. Job is devastated, but does not curse God, even though his “friends” offer all kinds of bad counsel, and even encourage him to reject God himself.

So... what will happen next? Will Job reject God? Will Job's friends get a clue? Will God give Satan free reign over Job? Tune in next week...

Day #8

Sermon - Audio
Job 17-20 - Audio
Job 17-20 Daily Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Write Insights Here.

Job 17-20

Quick overview

Job: hope for a sufferer--chapter 17

Bildad: punishment for the wicked--chapter 18

Job: my Redeemer lives--chapter19

Zophar: the wicked will die--chapter 20

Notes:

Chapter 17

Notice though the language used by Job the depth of despair that he is experiencing. Imagine what it would be like to speak this way of yourself.

Part of the challenge in this passage is to know who Job is speaking about. Besides himself Job speaks mainly of his friends and of God. Keeping that in mind makes reading this passage easier.

17.1-5: In sorrow and pain Job turns to God asking him to show his “comforters” that he is righteous.

Chapter 18

18: In constrast with the pain of Job, Bildad wants to defend his honor and his mind. His opening words come off humorous and ridiculous.

18.5ff: Bildad speaks of a very basic understanding of how life works. God blesses good people and punishes bad people. Bildad shows his own stupidity by failing to see the nuances of life and wisdom. Again, in the midst of pain it is a bit of humor.

Chapter 19

19.1 Job takes his comforters to task. They are lousy at their job—especially because if they are really his friends they would know his life was one of righteousness.

19.5ff: One of the themes of Job is that in our suffering we don’t have the whole picture (or sometimes any of the picture) of what has brought about our suffering. Job in these verses shows his suffering and that he has no idea why it has come his way.

19.13ff: Because people believe God is angry with Job they abandon him.

19.25-27: The great hope of a redeemer and of resurrection. The Hebrew noun (go}el) translated “Redeemer” is the same word used frequently in the OT to refer to a “kinsman-redeemer,” who had both rights and responsibilities for vindicating a family member.

Chapter 20

Zophar sounds like Bildad.

Day #7

Sermon - Audio
Job 14-16 - Audio
Job 14-16 - Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Job 14:1-12 = Job discusses the full order of things in life: We are born, our lives are short, we die, and then we will be resurrected. Job discusses the difference between human life and nature.

Q. What implications does "shortness of life" on earth have in the story?
Q. How would the passages in Psalm 90:10, Isaiah 40:6-8 and 1 Peter 2:11-12 fit into this?

Job 14:13 = Job is claiming that even Sheol (hell) would be a better place to be then in God's wrath. Job is calling out to God to “remember me,” not as mere human, nor as a divine creation, nor as a wretched sufferer, but simply as the man Job; in his naked personhood." - WBC (Job) -

Job 14:14-16 = This is where we start seeing the true heart of Job. Even though all this stuff is happening to/around him, he longs to be with God who is seemingly doing this to him or at least is allowing it all to happen. This is one of the first times that Job shows signs of "hope" in the possibility for things to change. Job longs for death not just for his pain to be over, but for total vindication from this life.

Job 15 = Eliphaz is concerned that Job is heaping this suffering and persecution upon himself by the things that he is saying. Eliphaz claims that Job is no longer being humble or wise in his laments (v2-6). Eliphaz brings up arguments that Job has used throughout his lamenting and tries to convince Job that there must be something he has done.

Job 16:1-5 = Job is tired of listening to his friends, who supposedly came to comfort him originally (2:11). He wants his friends to see that they are of little to no help to him right now in his current state.

Job 16:6-End = Job ends with some of his strongest language yet. At the end we see Jobs recognition that it is only God who will vindicate him.

Q. Why did Job view the release from this life as a release from prison?
Q. Does this tell us anything about our longings or our eternal passions in the midst of His story?

Day #6

Sermon - Audio
Audio Bible
Online Text
Job 10-13
Daily Insights - Please Comment

Job 10:1 = In modern day terms, "I loathe my life," may equate to "kill me, kill me now." In the chapter before we see that Job knows the correct response toward God, but believes that he has been granted no justice by God.

Job 10:1-19 = Job is questioning God's motives in not only the afflictions he is experiencing, but in the reason for his birth all-together. We can see this by such proclamations made in verse 3 "Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the designs of the wicked?" verses 6-7 "that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, although you know that I am not guilty" and verse 8 "your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether." Job sees his afflictions as completely unmerited and that God is being unjust.

Job 10:15-17 = Job is challenging God on his right standing before Him. Job states that if he is guilty, he would accept these things. However, Job tells God that he is not guilty, and is still being condemned as one who is...actually, even worse.

Job 11 = Zophar, Job's "friend" is right there to call ole' Job to repentance! I could be wrong, but I imagine that's like Mike Tyson telling Mother Teresa to repent. The issue is that Zophar has no evidence for things that Job should repent of. Toward the end of Zophar's plea for Job to repent, he starts telling Job that better days are ahead if Job would just stop being prideful and repent. Job answers in 12:3-4

Q. Where in the Bible can we find some good advice for Zophar?

Job 12 = Job challenges his "friends" accusations. The entire chapter is a statement that this is God's world and that He is in control. His friends are acting as if the reasons for Job's sufferings are so plain to see, Job turns this around on them and tells them that everything in creation (animals, plants, etc), besides them, realizes that it is "the hand of the Lord that has done this." -They are being ignorant-

Job 13:1-12 = In chapter 12 Job responds to the accusations, and now he responds to his "friends" directly. Verse 3 we see him use the phrase "worthless physicians." Job believes that his "friends" have completely mishandled the diagnosis of his situation. Job begins on a tirade of questioning the transparency and authenticity of his "friends" lives. He ends in verse 12 where he switches gears back to God.

Q. Are we quick to diagnose people's problems, or do we sit, listen, and pray with them before jumping to conclusions?

Job 13:15-18 = Job believes that his only hope for justice is in his death. He is ready to plead his case before God. One could say that Job must have had a lot of confidence in his right standing before God to make such statements.

Q. What are some correct responses to have with people living in/with grief?
Q. What are some things that other people have done for you personally during times of grief? Good and Bad.

Day #5

Sermon - Audio
Job 6-9 - Audio
Job 6-9 Daily Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Daily Insights: "We admitted we were powerless over our sin and problems - that our life had become unmanageable" Step 1

There are times in our lives when we are so confused and overwhelmed by the pain in our life that we wish we could die. No matter what we do, we are powerless to change things for the better. The weight of sadness seems too heavy to bear. This is how Job felt. He had always obeyed God, but now he had lost everything.

1) Chapter 6 - Friends are very important. When we are hurting, we depend on them to listen, to weep, and support us. If Job ever needed friends it was now. Yet he finds the very people he depended on for encouragement let him down. When our friends try to help us, we should tell them how they can help us best. When we minister to others, we should always be sensitive to their needs.

2) Chapter 7.11-21 Job turned here to seek God in prayer. Even though he was in great pain, he believed that God was the only one who could take the pain away. Whether or not the pain we feel is a result of our own sins, God is there to comfort. See John 8.1-11

3) Chapter 8.8-22 Bildad was spot-on about some of his theology, but he erred in the application of his faith. God saw Job as blameless, not as unfaithful or sinful. Job's suffering was not the result of a wayward life. It is not our job to guess the purpose of another person's pain. We are called to comfort and support. See 2 Corinthians 1.3-11

Day #4

Sermon - Audio
Job 1-5 - Audio
Job 1-5 Daily Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

What happened to Genesis?

The book of Job is dated to the period of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). Since Genesis 12 begins this period with Abraham, Job is inserted here as part of chronological read through the Bible. Get ready for a journey into a book that reflects life some 1500 years ago and yet shows a struggle with suffering that is real today.

The book of Job as a chapter in the master story of the Bible.

The master story of the Bible tells us what God is like and how people should relate to him. Job was written to address the question of suffering, a subject that is pondered as much today as it was 3,000 year ago.

1) Chapter 1:6. Angels (or Sons of God) could refer to heavenly beings gathered before God like a council before a king. Satan is present at this divine council.

2) Chapter 1:13-19. Look again at the accounts of Job's sufferings. How would you have responded? Job's first response was to bless the name of the Lord.

3) Chapter 3. Job wants rest in the form of death and he laments his suffering. Job uses the themes of light and dark equating to life and death. He wonders if he would have been better off not being born than to have enjoyed life and experienced suffering.

4) Chapters 4-5. Eliphaz' sympathy for Job quickly fades and he feels superior to Job. He tells Job that his moral failures are the reason for his suffering and that Job needs to acknowledge and repent of his sin.