I decided to finish off the book of Job tonight. Since chapters 38-41 are all of a similar theme, God’s response.

I love God’s response to all the questions of “why?” in the book of Job. His answer, “you have spoken without understanding.” Then God delivers a laundry list of natures attributes that demonstrate His power and wonder. It is almost in a much probably firmer way than we are used to or we would like for God to speak to us, but to me I almost hear God saying, “You just have to trust me! Look at everything in nature, trust me I can handle your world!”

Three points that struck me in the last few verses of the final chapter:

1. Even though Job’s friends were very unsupportive during his crisis, he still prayed to God on their behalf and they were protected and blessed due to Job’s ministry unto them, even though they had encouraged Job just to give-up and die when he was in struggle.
2. Job left an inheritance to his daughters (Job 42:15). I don’t believe this verse is in there by accident. I believe it illustrates the abundant fairness of Job. Not due to him being just a good dad, but because he was righteous.
3. Job 42:17 = “And Job died, an old man and full of days.” The book ends with reality though. Even though Job’s health was restored and the rest of his life was a blessing, he at the end of it all still died. We all will have the same fate if the world lasts long enough. Death will eventually meet us all…and we like Job, because we are powerless against death, must trust in the God described in chapters 38 through 41. We must trust He who makes the dawn, He who stops the waves, He who does not fear the javelin, it is He who also gave us victory over the grave through His life, death, and resurrection.

Next Reading: Jeremiah 32-36

My margin notes from the Psalms:

The response to this:

Behold, God is my helper;
    the Lord is the upholder of my life.
5 He will return the evil to my enemies;
    in your faithfulness put an end to them. -Psalm 54:4, 5

and this,

For he has delivered me from every trouble,
    and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies. -Psalm 54:7

Is this…

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
    I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. -Psalm 54:6

Not TITHE–freewill offerings are our token of “thanks” to Jesus for everything!

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The Bible even speaks to what it feels like to be betrayed by a friend…

For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
    then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
    then I could hide from him.
13 But it is you, a man, my equal,
    my companion, my familiar friend.
14 We used to take sweet counsel together;
    within God’s house we walked in the throng. -Psalm 55:12-14

What is the solution when this happens?

Cast your burden on the Lord,
    and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
    the righteous to be moved. -Psalm 55:22

Jesus is a friend that will not forsake even when other friends have!

Next Reading: Job 37 & 38

We all know the story…well all that grew-up in church…of 2 Samuel 11…the infamous story of David, Bathsheba, and Uriah the Hittite. This is a story of many lessons.

• Don’t be where you aren’t supposed to be (the roof at bath time)
• Look away (don’t gaze on a naked woman)
• Idle hands… (David should have been out at war)
• Don’t try and cover things up (you only make them worse)
• Other people get hurt even if we are only thinking we are hurting one person (many husbands died when Joab pulled back support)
• etc.

But one of the most important lessons precedes the story of David and Bathsheba and it is encapsulated in these verses,

And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 700 chariots, and 40,000 horsemen, and wounded Shobach the commander of their army, so that he died there. 19 And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became subject to them. So the Syrians were afraid to save the Ammonites anymore.” -2 Samuel 10:18, 19

Just in case you missed the lesson of those verses in connection to the story of David and Bathsheba here it is from what I wrote in the margins of my Bible:

After great victory is when we are most susceptible to have our greatest fall.

I know the English and flow of that sentence is poor…it was a margin writing.

I don’t say this simply from David’s sorrowful tale. I unfortunately have had some of my biggest blunders after or in the midst of some of my greatest “triumphs.”

So here is the lesson then. I’ve learned to be more on guard in those times and I hope you will too. More on our knees, more in the Word, more in accountability to the Christian community Jesus has put around us!

Next Reading: Psalms 54-56

As is the case in the Bible there are things I cannot fully explain in a way that would fully appease the modern day mind. I think there are things in these 4 chapters of Exodus that would be appalling to our 21st Century Western conditioned minds. For instance, I don’t know that any jury would be willing to give a person the death penalty because their animal killed another person…even if they knew there was a potential it could happen. I am sure there are some that feel if a dog kills a child then the owners should die, but again no jury would enforce such a sentiment.

Yet this is what God commands,

“If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death.” -Exodus 21:29

Also we read this,

 “But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life,24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.” -Exodus 21:24, 25

But it is contradicted by Jesus here,

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’39 But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” -Matthew 5:38, 39

One seems to teach just punishment is equal revenge and the other that equal retribution is to be avoided.

So did God suddenly become enlightened over the ages? Did Jesus and God the Father not agree on this principle in the first place and now that Jesus is on earth and has the captive attention of the people He’s going to get His two cents in? Was God just having a bad day when Exodus 21 was inspired and feeling much better about things by Matthew 5?

I don’t believe any of the above make sense. One common argument is that it is not about the specific laws but the principles. But then one could ask why would God order someone to be killed in order to teach a principle.

If someone were to say, “Well God wanted people to understand the importance of personal responsibility” say in regards to the law of the careless Ox owner, I would say I don’t think I like a God that is willing to take a life in one century to teach me a principle centuries later.

Could I say this…I don’t understand all of these laws…

But I know the God who saved me and loves me and is coming back for me and until He chooses to give me insight I will wonder, but I will not doubt. I will be confused, but I will not be dismayed. I will be curious but I will not search after other gods, because I know that I am not God, He is, and one day I will see…even if that day is not now, or maybe not ’till eternity.

Next Reading: 2 Samuel 10-14

Two types of guilt or “Sorrow” as it reads in my Bible–

“For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” -2 Corinthians 7:10

All humanity is convicted over certain things…we often times call it guilt. I don’t like to use the word “guilt” in association with God, but for lack of a better term at this moment that is what we are going with. Guilt is often misunderstood but Paul here states very clearly what is a Godly “guilt” or conviction and what is a “guilt” conviction from the devil or the world.

If we feel “guilt” conviction and it leads us to repent…now remember repentance is not just saying sorry, or feeling bad, or regretting something. Repentance is all those things, but it is also TURNING AWAY from sin, we may have to turn away several times, but it is still turning away from it. But if we feel a “guilt” that leads us to repent then we are experiencing this in the Spirit of God.

If we feel a “guilt” conviction and we may say sorry, or feel bad, or even have regret, but it does not lead us to turn away from that sin or mistake it is not truly a God led conviction. Also though if we feel “guilt” and even after we repent we continue to feel miserable and like we want to die…then that guilt is a false guilt and it is from the devil! Jesus’ conviction will never lead us towards a desire to die. That is the persecution of the devil!

One other thought I had in this reading:

We see in chapter 8 another reason to give to God’s work here on earth monetarily. Not just in our labors or our words, but actual physical gifts. Paul starts off chapter 8 by sharing about a church that gave generously, even beyond their means.

He then ends chapter 8 with this:

“Therefore openly before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our reason for boasting about you.”                          -2 Corinthians 8:24

Paul is challenging the church in Corinth to show that they are just as loving as this other church….how? Through their monetary gifts. In our modern culture Pastors can get in trouble for saying, “we need to prove our love through our tithes and offerings” and yet it seems like such a position is Biblical…oh and by the way we aren’t proving our love to God in this, this is not a work of legalism, we are doing it as a witness to our fellow brothers and sisters in Jesus and thus encouraging them to do the same.

Next Reading: Exodus 21-24

My notations from this reading:

“And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.” -Mark 15:21

I never noticed this before, Simon of Cyrene’s son’s names are mentioned in this text. Why does that matter to me? It tells me that this one encounter with Jesus changed the life of Simon and thus the life of the entire family, so much so that years after Jesus’ death Mark knew not only the name of the man that carried the cross but he knew his family as well, because Simon and his family were part of the disciples family now. The power of an encounter with Jesus, converting hearts even while He is headed to the cross.

Of course He also converted hearts while hanging on the cross,

And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” -Mark 15:39

The interesting point about this text is that this centurion, a Roman centurion, is the first in all the book of Mark to acknowledge Jesus as the “Son of God” which then in a way is Mark affirming the heart of this Roman soldier.

Then immediately after that the women that followed Jesus were affirmed,

There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. -Mark 15:40, 41

Mark is just going after all the biases in one fell swoop!

“After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. 13 And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.” -Mark 16:12, 13

Based on the two texts above the disciples should have already been out spreading the good news of Jesus’ resurrection…but they weren’t which is why,

“Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.” -Mark 16:14, 15

This text to me is powerful because there are some of us that at times think we would have greater faith if we could have seen Jesus face to face…it seems Jesus doesn’t see that as a legitimate excuse for not believing. The testimony of another is enough in the Lord’s eyes.

Tomorrow’s Reading: 2 Corinthians 6-8