NIGHT TERRORS...

Isaiah 25:8-9 “He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day: ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him: we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”

The following was written by my beautiful daughter, Anna...

Sometimes I get very, very scared.

(Teenager I may be, but I’ve noticed that just because I can sleep without a nightlight and I’m a foot and four inches taller than an emperor penguin does not mean I’m automatically incapable of being scared stiffer than a little girl during a thunderstorm. It just means I’ve gotten better at hiding it. J)

I’m not afraid of the dark (that is, I’m not more afraid of the dark than anyone else who’s ever watched Dr. Who and Shadows in the Library); likewise, I’m not afraid of Gollum or zombies or mummies or spiders. (Of course, just because I’m not afraid of them doesn’t mean I LIKE them.) Thing is, being older means you outgrow some of your more childish fears—and bingo, there’s a whole minefield of worse ones ahead of you. I think I’d prefer being scared of the dark, or scared of the the monster I could always just see peeking around my bedpost, then my current fears.

See, I get scared of God.

Or, more specifically, scared of His reaction to me. You know when people talk about “irrational” fears? (And believe me, when I was younger, I very, very quickly grew to hate that phrase. Who were they to say my fear of spiders or stinkbugs or Gollum peeking around my curtain was irrational??)

Well, I suppose this fear is as about as irrational as it can get—do I honestly think He put Himself through excruciating agony on the cross and descended into the depths of Hades and was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world (for me) , and after He went through all that, He’s just gonna throw me away now?

No, I don’t honestly think that, not when the sun is shining and I am rational and sane. But at night, when I’m in bed thinking through my day and everything I did wrong and how neglectful I was of Him, I’m not very rational. I love Him—not nearly as much as I ought, I’m positive, but I do, as much as I know how—and I want to be with Him and there are times when I can’t wait to get to heaven just so I can see Him in the flesh; there are times when Job 20:25-27 (“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth: And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”) is the perfect expression of what my heart desires.

And that’s around when I get dead scared.

It’s a funny kind of scared—the best way to describe it is to quote a line from ‘The Horse and His Boy’ by C.S. Lewis, when Hwin (that’s a talking mare) goes up to Aslan and says, “I’d rather be eaten by you than fed by anyone else.” It’s sort of like that. I want to see Him, but I get afraid that when I do, He’ll reject me. He’ll see me for the miserable, rotten, filthy sinner I am (although, of course, He knew THAT about me since before time itself) and He’ll cast me off. And—paraphrasing Spurgeon here—if He dealt with me justly and not graciously, He would have let me burn long since.

And then, of course, I realize that being afraid of that is also doubting and base ingratitude…and round and round I go. Vicious cycle.

See, but it was during one of these cycles that I rediscovered this verse. And it calmed me right down.

I deserve death—that’s true enough—but He’s “swallowed it up forever’’. I grieve now, but one unforgettable day He’ll touch my cheek and wipe away the very last tear I’ll ever cry. He’ll erase my rebuke, my sin, from existence. I’m quite assured of that—“For the Lord has spoken.” It’s as much of a certainty as if it had already happened and been carved in stone. Knowing that, we’re able to say, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him: we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”

Isaiah 54 wraps this up nicely:

“Sing, O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman,’ says the Lord. ‘Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited. Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of Hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused,’ says your God. ‘For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,’ says the Lord, your Redeemer. ‘For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord, who has mercy on you. O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of crystal, and all your walls of precious stones. All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it will not come near you. Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake. Behold, I have created the blacksmith who blows the coals in the fire, who brings forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the spoiler to destroy. No weapon formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,’ says the Lord.”

Notes on Job 17-20

“My spirit is broken, My days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me. Are not mockers with me? And does not my eye dwell on their provocation? “Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself. Who is he who will shake hands with me?


Job is feeling like he cannot endure much more as Chapter 17 opens.  He longs for someone to take his side.  ("who is he that will strike hands with me")  Jesus is our Advocate...the word in the Greek for advocate is paracletos...or one who comes along side. I love that!

My eye has also grown dim because of sorrow, And all my members are like shadows.  Upright men are astonished at this, And the innocent stirs himself up against the hypocrite. Yet the righteous will hold to his way, And he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.--Job 17:7-9

Even fair minded men were astonished at Job's plight.  Job, himself, lacked insight as to the reason  for his own suffering and misery.  Job reminds others as well as himself here that the righteous man should hold on the path God has before Him.  He should move forward in faith and continue to live rightly. Even though all around him were heaping scorn and shame upon him....even though his reputation was being slandered...even though he had become a byword among his people, Job would hold fast and would remember that it was not important what man thought but what God thought that mattered.

The last several verses of Chapter 17 find Job about as low as a man can get. (he does manage to go lower though)  All was dark, his good days were all behind him and his hope was in the grave.

Chapter 18:

Bildad speaks next and truly he has lost his patience with Job.  Verse 1 and 4 are some of my favorites.

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: “How long till you put an end to words? Gain understanding, and afterward we will speak. Why are we counted as beasts, And regarded as stupid in your sight? You who tear yourself in anger, Shall the earth be forsaken for you? Or shall the rock be removed from its place?

Job shut your mouth and Job does the world come to an end because you are suffering?? He then goes on to paint for Job 4 pictures of the death of the wicked.  He likens it to: a darkened light, a trapped traveler, a fugitive and a rotting tree.  Thank you Bildad!


Chapter 19:


Job answers Bildad and his other comforters by asking them how long they will continue to accuse him and vex his soul.  You are breaking me into pieces with your words, Job says.  You have not proved anything against me...it is God who has overthrown me.  Job then uses 4 more analogies than Bildad to describe his own situation.


Job is like:


1.  An innocent animal trapped by God
2.  A wrongly accused criminal
3.  a man fenced in by darkness who cannot see the path that leads out
4.  like a king dethroned
5.  like a tree uprooted
6.  like an enemy of God besieged
7.  like a building destroyed
8.  like a man forsaken and forgotten


Oh the irony of verses 23-24...

“Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!  That they were engraved on a rock with an iron pen and lead, forever!

Job got his wish...

In verses 19 through 26 we read great words of faith...some of the greatest in the Bible.

For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

Job KNEW that his Redeemer lives!  When he died, he knew he would see God and one day he would have a new body.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”   

Our hope is heaven!  As we go through trials and difficulties the word is revealed to us in a new and fresh way. We receive an increased understanding of the nature and character of God.  We begin to think on eternity more and more. We long for heaven and hold on less tightly to the things of the world.

Chapter 20

It is Zophar's turn to speak.  And surprise, surprise it is more of the same stuff we have been hearing over and over again.  If we are tired of it, can you imagine how Job feels.  He has not only lost his children, his health and all his worldly goods but now he has to be told over and over again that it is all his fault.  Now we know that Zophar's speech about the wicked does not really apply to Job because we know that Job is a righteous man. Those who are not, however, should take what Zophar says to heart. Worldly success is temporary, riches without God are bitter and there is no rest or peace for the wicked.  In fact, a life lived without God is no life at all..it is vanity and grasping at the wind.  

Revelation Chapter 7 Notes...

Chapter 7 describes a pause between the sixth seal (Chapter 6) and the seventh seventh seal (Chapter 8) and pictures God's care for those that are His.  This was such a comfort to read and to study. What an encouragement this vision must have been to John!  Here we see God at work even in the midst of trouble.  Yes, the tribulation is a time of destruction and great judgment but it is also a time that God, as He always does, will remember mercy.   John sees two groups of people..the sealed by God of the 12 tribes of Israel (the 144,000) and their converts, the tribulation saints.  God has His servants that will proclaim the truth to the world...the time right after the rapture of the church will be a time where salvation will come to many! 

After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads." And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed: --Revelation 7:1-4

The four angels at the four corners of the earth seem to be holding back the coming storm of the seventh seal and are told to delay until the servants of God are sealed.  These redeemed Jews...12,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel, will be responsible for the salvation of many Jews and Gentiles during the Tribulation.   Israel will do what she refused to do in the Old Testament...be a witness for God in the world.  These 144,000 are the first fruits of a ne  redeemed Israel.  God will protect them as they fulfill their mission to bring the gospel message to a world that is facing destruction.

Of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.--Revelation 7:5-8

These 144,000 are protected so that they can continue to witness for Christ.  After their sealing the judgments will begin.

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,  and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen."  Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?" And I said to him, "Sir, you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. --Revelation 7:9-14

Salvation belongs to God!  Again, the tribulation will be a time of salvation.  These are those saved and then martyred during the great tribulation...those who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.  Matthew 24:12-14 says this:

And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Revelation 7 continues:

Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." --Revelation 7:15-17

Look at the blessings to these tribulation saints...

They are near to God...before His throne.  They serve Him day and night...which will be their desire. They enjoy close fellowship with Him.  They are content...satisfied...the Lord is their Shepherd they have everything they need. They are safe..the Lord is their covering and shield.  The Lamb guides them and leads them to fountains of waters.  They are filled with joy...all tears wiped away.

Notes on Job 14-16

To My Daughters...

I love the way Chapter 14 begins...

"Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble

Nice! Life is hard and then you die!  Job goes on from that opener to remind us that  in addition to life being hard and full of trouble, life is also short and we are depraved from the very beginning.  Since this is the case Job asks God to just leave him alone and let him live the rest of his days in peace.  Here is the thing though...no matter how unpleasant your world looks right now God's offer of salvation is there...an eternity in His presence.  Life is short and full of trouble...without accepting God's offer of salvation, eternity could be worse!  The application for us then is that we need to be clothed in his righteousness.  Isaiah 61:10 says this:

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Heaven is our hope...heaven takes the "bite" out of living in this fallen world.

Verses 12-14 of Job say this.

So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, They will not awake Nor be roused from their sleep.  "Oh, that You would hide me in the grave, That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change comes.


Did you get what Job asked us about in that last verse...If a man dies, shall he live again?  Is there life after death?  This is the burning question that lies deep in the heart of each and every one of us.  This question was not answered for fully for Job, but it is answered for us in Christ.

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?--John 11:25-26

When death occurred for a believer prior to Christ he did not go directly to heaven because his sin was not yet paid for.  He would go to the abode of the dead that was divided into two compartments...Paradise and Hades.  Before Jesus ascended into Heaven after his death on the cross, Paul writes that he first descended into the lower parts of the earth where he led captivity captive...that is He took those in Paradise to Heaven.

Remember me, Job says...Jesus did through His finished work on the cross.

Our hope is sure and certain as a believer...heaven awaits.  Jesus writes this to comfort his disciples after speaking to them of his death in John 14.

"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.


Fix your eyes and your hope on what matters...eternity...anything else is just short sighted.

Listen to Job in the last several verses of Chapter 14.  Hear his despair.  But for now Lord you are destroying my hope as water wears away stone, as torrents wash away the soil.  You prevail and man passes on.  You change our countenance. (we grow old and wrinkly) and then you send us away.  Sigh!  Life is dark apart from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  How tragic for those who live this life without its hope.

Job's friends are speaking again in Chapter 15.  They are still trying to get Job to admit that he is a great sinner.  Now we know he is not because the first chapter tells us that these trials are occurring not because Job has sinned but because of his righteousness.  

Here comes Eliphaz, the great comforter (sarcasm) telling Job that he is a bag of wind...full of hot air.  A good opening Eliphaz!  It is not me who condemns you Job.  It is your own lips that testify against you.  Now as I read Eliphaz's words here in Chapter 15, I listened for what his heart might be saying.  I heard fear!  Eliphaz is afraid Job is right.  And if Job is right, Eliphaz could be next on the "Job road of suffering".  Eliphaz does not want to believe that bad things do happen to good people so he is defending his position that the wicked do not prosper.

I loved what Jon Courson says here...He points out that much of what Eliphaz says is true.  Yes, man is born in iniquity and there is none righteous but then compares Eliphaz's words and heart with David's in Psalm 8 who says things similar to what Eliphaz is saying here in chapter 15.

What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?  For You have made him a little lower than the angels,  And You have crowned him with glory and honor.  You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;  You have put all things under his feet,  All sheep and oxen— Even the beasts of the field, The birds of the air,  And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth! --Psalm 8:4-9

The tone of David and the tone of Eliphaz are so very different. David understands God's love for us.  He understands His grace and His mercy toward us.  Eliphaz interpretation and words are missing love.  Jon Courson thinks that the overarching lesson the Lord has for us in Job's miserable counselors is that although they might have a point, they do not have hearts. I have to agree with Jon Courson.  Eliphaz is short on heart.  Some of his assessments were also quite cruel to Job.  Verse 33 really stands out on the cruelty scale.

He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine, And cast off his blossom like an olive tree.

Eliphaz is referring here to the 10 children Job is grieving.  Eliphaz leaves a legacy of a lack of love for all those who read this book.  Through his bad example I am hoping we can see our own lack of compassion for the people God has placed in our lives and speak words of faith to a hurting world rather than words of fear.

Chapter 16 is thus far my favorite chapter in Job because in it we see Job as a type of Christ.  Job responds to his faithless companions by calling the trio a bunch of miserable comforters who speak empty words and have only increased his suffering.  Job tells them that if their positions were reversed, he would strengthen them with his mouth and comfort them with his lips. 

Now the next few verses are amazingly similar to messianic passages in Psalm 22 and Lamentations 3:30.  Read them for yourselves:

He tears me in His wrath, and hates me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; My adversary sharpens His gaze on me. They gape at me with their mouth, They strike me reproachfully on the cheek, They gather together against me. God has delivered me to the ungodly, And turned me over to the hands of the wicked. I was at ease, but He has shattered me; He also has taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces; He has set me up for His target, His archers surround me. He pierces my heart and does not pity; He pours out my gall on the ground. He breaks me with wound upon wound; He runs at me like a warrior.  "I have sewn sackcloth over my skin, And laid my head in the dust.  My face is flushed from weeping, And on my eyelids is the shadow of death; Although no violence is in my hands, And my prayer is pure.

Job becomes a type of Christ here.  These descriptions that we read all point to Jesus.  They are prophetic and Messianic. What was done to Job was done to God's Son.  If these things Job was facing in his life were a sign of sin, then why did Jesus go through these very things.  What a wonderful God we have!  These verses remind us that what suffering God is allowing in our lives is for His glory...just as Christ's sufferings brought glory to God  The cross was the darkest hour in human history, but oh, what good came from it!  It is now the brightest beacon of hope for mankind and the brightest light of God's glory.

Job did not know it, but he was being conformed into the image of God's Son.  God was trusting Job with the fellowship of his sufferings.

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, --Philippians 3:10

We get to know Jesus when we suffer in ways that He suffered.  We form a common bond so to speak...The rejection we feel, the grief we suffer, the persecution we face all conform us into His likeness and draw us nigh unto Him.  As we suffer in one degree or another as Jesus did, we begin to willingly accept it because it is in the dark hours that we truly come to know Him because we understand a bit more about what He Himself suffered for us.

Job goes on to do just what Jesus did on the cross...He committed his soul into His hands.  He committed Himself to Him who judges righteously...it did not matter what man said about Him...God had his record on high.

Verse 29 is beautiful...

My friends scorn me; My eyes pour out tears to God.

Job may not be able to count on his friends but he can count on God and pour out both his tears and his heart to Him.  Corrie Ten Boom says that we will never know the Lord until the Lord is all we have.  This is so true.  When the proverbial rug is pulled out and we can no longer depend on the people or things that we are accustomed to turning to in times of trouble, we begin to learn to lean and depend on God.  It is then we begin to understand that He is the Becoming One...the One who becomes whatever we might need.


Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, As a man pleads for his neighbor! For when a few years are finished, I shall go the way of no return.

We have this today...Jesus is our Advocate with the Father.

Love
Mom

Christophobia: The Judgment

Christophobia: The Judgment: And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who ...

Notes on Job Chapters 10-13

To My Girls,

Picking up at the end of Chapter 10, verse 15...Job is full of confusion.  God, he says, you see my plight and my affliction.   I am terrified.  You hunt me down like a lion and then show your power by crushing me with your weight.  God!  Don't You see my great affliction and misery.  Don't you care, God!??  No matter what I do..whether I am righteous or whether I am wicked...I am still in misery.  Job then pleads with God to leave him alone and give him some rest so that he might find some comfort before he dies. 

Listen to Zophar at the beginning of Chapter 11!! What a miserable comforter this guy is!  Job know that God is exacting from you less than your iniquity deserves. 

Now of course there is some truth there...the bible does say that the wages of sin is death but Zophar is not listening to Job's heart here.  One of my pastors has wisely said that when someone criticizes you or speaks to you unkindly, the best way to handle it is to look for the truth in what they say and  throw the rest out.  This is very good advice.  Oh that we would listen more and close our mouths even more!  That we would pray for mercy both for ourselves and for others.  I love what Chuck Smith says about this verse:

"I think only a fool would come to God and say Lord, give me what I deserve."  Chuck is so right...when I come before the Lord I pray mercy...mercy and more mercy, please!


Now before Zophar had the arrogance to tell suffering Job that God was exacting less from him than what he really deserved, he reminds Job of what he (JOB) had said: 

For you have said, 'My doctrine is pure, And I am clean in your eyes.' But oh, that God would speak, And open His lips against you,

Aaah..but God himself had already spoken his thoughts about Job in chapter 1.

Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?"

Now neither Job nor Zophar were privy to this...but we, as the reader, know what God thinks of Job...and yet we find him suffering and smitten by God.

Chapter 12 finds Job answering and responding to his three "comforters".  Now verse 2 of chapter 12 is my favorite verse in the book of Job with a verse in chapter 13 running a very close second.  Here is what Job 12:2 says:

No doubt you are the people, And wisdom will die with you!

Ha...when you die wisdom will too!  Can you hear the sarcasm in his voice.  This is one of the reasons I love Job.  He is godly and sarcastic!  A winning combination!  I have wisdom too, Job says.  In fact what you guys are saying about God's justice and sovereignty are common knowledge.  In addition, Job has gone through what they have not.  He is going to shine a lamp on their ease and make them uncomfortable.  

Look around men...the wicked do seem to prosper. Asks the beasts...even they get it!  The strongest wins.  And what's more, Job goes on to say,  God controls it all. (vs 12-25). 


Chapter 13 finds Job very very tired of his earthly companions and desiring to speak to His God and reason with Him.  In fact Job tells his earthly counselors that the wisest thing they could do would be to shut their mouths.  My second favorite verse in Job is below.

 "Behold, my eye has seen all this, My ear has heard and understood it. What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you. But I would speak to the Almighty, And I desire to reason with God.  But you forgers of lies, You are all worthless physicians.  Oh, that you would be silent, And it would be your wisdom! --Job 13:1-5


Oh, that you would be silent, and it would be your wisdom.  Don't you love that line! God tells us in Isaiah to come, let us reason together.  And in James He tells us that if we lack wisdom to ask.  Take counsel from God...spend time with Him in a trial..wait on Him. That is where your true help will come from.

Job goes on to say that in their attempt to defend God they are actually offending Him and talking deceitfully.
Their explanations of God's actions were not true.  He then asks them if they are prepared to have God search their own hearts?  Job tells them that even though he does not understand what he is going through or why he is going through it, he is going to trust him.  Here is the famous line from the book of Job.


Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.


I love that...Job is going to trust God no matter what He is doing and no matter what the outcome.  Job's body here is a mass of open sores, his family has been taken from him and his wife has told him to curse God and die.  AND YET...Job cries out in faith.  What an encouragement!!!  Okay...not so good that Job still wants to defend his ways before God and wants God to tell him the reason he is suffering...not exactly trusting God but still...

Job asks God for two things in verses 20 and 21...that He would not withdraw His hand from Him and that the dread of Him would not make him afraid.  He is basically saying like Peter said...Lord to whom would I go...you have the words to eternal life. For me thinking about being without the Lord and His word is like falling into a very dark endless hole from which I would never emerge.  Truly, the thought is terrifying.  Verse 22 and 23 find him asking God once again to make him to know his transgression and his sin. What did I do Lord to merit this kind of misery??  Tell me!

Job wants to move on with his life but can't because God has his feet in the stocks...He is being held prisoner by his punishment and eaten away daily with despair.

Thus ends my notes on 10-13...

Love
Mom

Summary of the Book of Job...

By Bill...

A friend and I are reading through the Bible chronologically and are now in the Book of Job.  Here is a summary written by my husband for those who might be reading along with us and finding the book a bit difficult to comprehend.

Overall, Job illustrates two fundamental truths: no man is righteous and God is sovereign, and in the end, always compassionate and merciful.

Job, had an inaccurate understanding about who he was (a sinner), and who God is (all-powerful and utterly holy).

From our perspective, Job was a "good man", and it was because of his goodness that he became a target of Satan's long war against God. In effect, Satan, who currently has access to Heaven but one one day be cast down forever, challenged God regarding Job.

The challenge was this, paraphrasing: "Job only loves and worships you because you have blessed him with health, wealth and family. Take away these blessings and he will curse you."

Astonishingly, God gives Satan permission to test Job, but notice he can only do to Job what God allows during each testing.

First Job is bereft of wealth and family - even his wife advises him to "curse God and die!" But Job suffered all these things and remained steadfast - "The Lord gives. The Lord takes away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord."

Satan then dares God to take Job's health away and watch him lose faith. God allows this trial as well, but puts definite limits to the afflictions that Satan was powerless to go beyond.

To this physical torture, so tormenting Job wished to die, and cursed the day he was born, was added the self-righteous hypocritical "sympathies of his 4 "friends".

But notice throughout the entire ordeal, while crying out to God, and attempting to defend himself to his companions, Job neither took his own life, nor dishonored God.

In the end, after some 39 chapters of physical and emotional testing, God revealed himself to Job, obliterating all his false pictures of self-righteousness, and displaying His true, awe-inspiring Being.

Job rightfully repented in dust and ashes.

Then God turned His attention to Job's useless friends and informed them that only through Job's prayers on their behalf would they avoid His judgment.They thought they knew God and His purposes, yet were worse in their hearts than Job, to whom they directed their torturous self-righteous superiority.

In the end, God blessed Job with precisely twice the blessings He had bestowed at first.

Job is a book which purposely shatters any conception we have about our holiness in light of God's perfect and radiant holiness.

God claims and exercises jurisdiction and judgment over all creation. No created being, including Satan, can operate beyond His knowledge and will.

And no one is righteous except God:

Here is what God says about natural man:

As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18, NKJV).

Notes on Job Chapters 6-9

These friends of Job are really something else.  But really we are all guilty of acting toward others as they acted toward Job. We are critical and condemning instead of caring.   We try to explain God on our own terms from our own narrow perspective.  Our God works with all of us differently.  We can't put Him into a box.  Eliphaz tells Job to practice what he preaches.  He tells him that he was only reaping what he sowed and that if he was innocent he would not be suffering. Get right with God Job, and you will be blessed!  HA!  Thanks Eliphaz...you are all heart!

Don't base your advice on experience and emotion...they change.  Base it on the word of God which never changes. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. See the person that stands in front of you.  Don't miss the pain and the suffering.  Look with your heart as well as your head.

Chapter 6-7

Job begins chapter 6 by telling us how heavy his grief is.  No one...no one will understand your pain.  No matter how well you explain it they cannot.  They have not walked the same path you have.  God, however, does understand.  He has carried all your pain, grief and sorrow.  His presence is always with you. Pour your heart out to Him.

Job feels targeted by God.  His friends instead of being a comfort and providing words of encouragement have accused him of secret sin.  Instead of applying soothing ointment to his wounds they were pouring salt into them and telling Job that the situation he found himself in was his fault.  Jesus said that in the world we would have tribulation but to be of good cheer He had overcome the world.  While we are in the world, we are to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Job desires death and God withholds it from him.  This made me glad God does not answer all our prayers with a yes.  Our knowledge is so limited!  We see through the glass darkly.  God sees it all and He knows best.

He goes on in verses 13-17 and tells his friends that they are like deceitful brooks.  No comfort when the cold winds blow and provide no refreshment  in the heat of the summer. (brook freezes...brook dries up)

The beginning of chapter 7 finds Job talking about the futility of life and in particular his life now.  He speaks of his days as being spent without hope and says that his eyes will never see good again.   Job doesn't see what all his suffering could accomplish.  He wants God to either forgive him or take his life. He wants peace one way or the other. Job does not have God's eyes and does not see the end from the beginning.  But we walk by faith not by sight.

Chapter 8 Bildad answers Job.  God is just he says...for every cause there is an effect.  If you are suffering, you must be in sin. Job agrees with him in chapter 9 that God is just, but still insists that he is blameless.  By blameless Job does not mean sinless..he means spiritually mature. Job does not continue in any sin.   He walks in the will of God.  Job then lists his three complaints.

1.  He can't contend with Him.  (Now I like that I can't contend with God.  If I could contend with Him, He would not be much of a God!)

2.  He can't answer Him.  Job is speaking of a courtroom.  Since God is the Judge and He has all the power, He wins every time.  Why bother, Job says.  Job goes on to give a beautiful picture of God's sovereignty...well I thought it was beautiful.  Verse 12 says this:


If He takes away, who can hinder Him? Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

I love that...who can say to Him, "What are You doing?"God is sovereign...He does what He wants. Paul says this about God's sovereignty in Romans 9:

But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”  Does not the potter have power over the clay,  from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

Now I really do not have any right to question God.  Even though I know this, I still do.  Job can't present any arguments with God because he has no right to present any arguments to God.  We all know this and yet we still do.  We contend with Him...we argue with Him.  We complain about our circumstances.  We whine about what He may or may not be doing in our lives. 

In verse 33 Job wants a mediator between God and Himself but finds none. We have a mediator in Jesus who meets our deepest need.  Jesus is the mediator between heaven and earth to whom God has committed all judgment..  This was, of course, not yet clear to Job but is crystal clear to us in the Gospel.

Job's Third Complaint  begins in chapter 10.  He does not understand what God is doing.  To Job's human eyes God seems to be destroying His own work.  If that is the case why was Job born in the first place.  God could have saved himself a lot of trouble.

If I sin, then You mark me, And will not acquit me of my iniquity. If I am wicked, woe to me; Even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am full of disgrace; See my misery!

It doesn't seem to make any difference from where Job sits whether he is righteous or wicked...He is still in misery.  Again the answer is in Job 9:33.  We have a mediator in Him.

BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!

Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.  And he said:

      “ Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
      And naked shall I return there.
      The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away;
      Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.--Job 1:20-22

To My Daughters,


Did you catch what Job did immediately after he was told he had not only lost all his possessions but his children also?  Now, you or I might be screaming at God, ranting, raving and/or making foolish charges.  Not Job...He took it all to the Lord and released his emotion through worship!  WOW!

Take the opportunity to do just what Job did when you are facing your own dark time...when you feel like everything is against you or when someone you loved has been taken away.  Pray and ask the Lord to put the truth of His word in your heart at the very hour you need it.  Worship Him because you know that His will for you comes from His heart of love.  Worship Him because He works all things together in your life for your good and His glory.  Worship Him because He is God and He is in control and He truly knows what is best for you.  Worship Him because He sent His Son to die for you when you were still His enemy.  Worship Him because He now lives to make intercession for you. 

Job did not have the benefit of reading Chapter 1 like we all do.  He had no idea what was happening behind the scenes.  We know this was a test that God was allowing in his life.  We know what God really thought of him.   Job has been an example for countless through time. His story reminds us that even though it seems like God has forsaken us there is a lot going on that we do not see.   These verses remind me of all that Job went through.  No one was tested like Job.  And yet he endured and was able to say this:

But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.  

Here is what James says about Job:

My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.


If Job endured, then I can too and so can you!  Job's choosing to worship the Lord at a time of such deep sorrow and loss is and has always been such a comfort to me as I face my own grief and sorrow.  I can wait on the Lord who is compassionate and merciful.  I can wait on Him who loved me enough to die for me.  I can wait on Him because my hope is sure and certain in Heaven.  I can wait because like Moses I choose to see the "invisible" by faith.



By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.


Love
Mom

Notes on Genesis 1-11 for Kathy...

Genesis 1: In the beginning God...there is no proven scientific fact that contradicts a word  from the bible.  The heavens declare His glory. 66 books, 40 different authors, 1600 years in three different languages...not one contradiction.  Unified theme..God's glorious, gracious work of redemption.

Genesis 2:  love and obedience involve choice...if God did not give us a choice our love would mean nothing.  We would be like robots programmed to do His desires.

Eve was deceived, but Adam sinned with eyes wide open.  Adam also did not accept responsibility for his sin but blamed Eve and ultimately God for his sin...the woman you gave me...

Sin always makes us hide from the Lord (Genesis 3:8) Tried to cover their sin with fig leaves...this is a picture of our efforts to come to God on our own terms.  God gives us what we could never provide for ourselves...grace  and infinite mercy which covers us now and for all eternity.   Man's sin and nakedness would never be covered by our own efforts, but by the sacrifice of an innocent One, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.  This is the first sacrifice in the bible...God had to kill an innocent animal to clothe Adam and Eve...Hebrews...without the shedding of blood, there is no covering and no remission of sins. 

1st mention of the gospel in Genesis 3:15. This verse is the first indication that the Messiah would be born of a virgin, because the woman does not possess a seed; rather, she possesses the ovum, which is fertilized by the male's seed.  Isaiah 7:14.

end of chapter 3: Tree of life...was protected.  If Adam and Eve ate from it they would remain permanently in their fallen state with no possibility of redemption.  Here is something beautiful:  the picture of the cherubim and a flaming sword are also seen in the tabernacle, for over the mercy seat, sprinkled with sacrificial blood, were cherubim and the bright Shekinah glory of God.  It is also seen at the empty tomb where two angels clothed in light sat at either end of a slab stained with the sacrificial blood of the lamb of God.  Genesis 3 keeps man away from the tree of life...Jesus invites us to eat of the bread of life.  Are you seeing how integrated a message the bible is...are you seeing that it was written outside of time...by someone who knows the end from the beginning.

Genesis 4: Cain tried to come to God on his own terms not God's.  Abel came to God on God's terms.  God accepted Abel's offering but rejected Cain's.  It is only in Christ, in God's Son that we are accepted by God.  He clothes us with His righteousness.  Jesus said I am the way, the truth and life.  No one comes to the father except through me.  


Genesis 5

The summary of the New Testament Gospel is found in the genealogy in the Old Testament. Read and be amazed...

Read Genesis 5...it is the genealogy of Adam through till Noah.  Chuck Missler dug into the meaning of the Hebrew roots that make up the names...Here is the treasure...the pearl of great price that he found.

Here are the names and their respective meanings.

Adam: (adomah)  "man"

Seth: "appointed" (Genesis 4:25 tells us this)

Enosh: (from root anash, "to be incurable") "mortal", "frail",  "miserable"

Kenan:  "sorrow,:" "dirge," "elegy"

Mahalal'el:  "the Blessed God--(mahalal) "blessed", ; (El) the name for God

Jared:  (from the verb yaradh) "shall come down"

Enoch: "commencement" or "teaching"

Methusaleh: "his death shall bring:--muth, a root that means "death" ; shalach means "bring" or "send forth"

Lamach: "despairing  (from which we get lament or lamentation)

Noah: (derived from nacham) "comfort" or "rest" (Genesis 5:29)

Reading the meaning of those names in order, here is what we get in English:

"Man [is] appointed mortal sorrow; [but] the blessed God shall come down teaching [that His] death shall bring [the] despairing rest." 

Wow!!!!!  The gospel!

Every detail in the bible is there by design...it is a supernatural book written outside of time.  God's plan of redemption was not a knee jerk response reaction to the fall in chapter 3.  God had ordained it before the foundation of the world.

Genesis 5 also makes me think of the verse from Romans...the wages of sin is death.  All in Adam die.  One exception Enoch whom the bible says walked with God...pictures the rapture of the church.  (1 thes 4:17)

The ark of God...Jesus Christ is our place of refuge and safety.  In Christ we are bulletproof.  Notice the invitation of God...He does not say Noah go into the ark...he says Come...the Lord always gives us choice to come to him...never forces himself on us.  And He always goes before us.  Remember also that Noah preached for 120 years...no one came into the ark but those in his family..8 people.  Also notice that it was God who closed the door.  Once that door was closed it was too late for anyone else to come in...I am sure when the waters started to rise there was much clamoring...but God had shut the door.  We are to take the opportunity to believe and Come while it is offered.

The ark rested on in the seventh month of the seventeenth day...this is the same day on the Jewish calendar that Jesus rose from the dead.  The passover takes place on the fourteenth day...Jesus was in the tomb three days and three nights...so on the same day the ark rested.

Genesis 9:27 "The descendants of Japheth are those of us who are of European ancestry.  It is interesting to remember this prophecy, May he dwell in the tents of Shem.  When the descendants of Shem rejected the Messiah, it was the European nations that picked up Christianity, and we dwell in the covering god gave to Shem, that covering of Jesus Christ.   It is primarily the people of Japheth who have embraced the gospel and carried the gospel tot he rest of the world, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Noah thousands of years ago.  At the end of chapter 11 we read that Abraham came from Shem.

Genesis 11:3  "asphalt for mortar" The builders of the ziggurat had the bricks for stone and a tarlike substance, asphalt for mortar.  This triggered John Rockefeller  to think that if there was asphalt there must be oil.  Standard oil began exploring for oil over in the area of Iraq.  That's when the oil deposits were found in the Middle East...following the bible made Rockefeller a rich man.

Genesis 11:31 Abram was supposed to leave his family in Ur and go to a land God would show him.  Here though we see his father Terah leading the way.  Abraham disobeyed God.  It is interesting that Terah's name means delay...  Haran is located halfway between ur and canaan...abram and family stayed here until Haran died.  After his death Abram moves forward again.

ENVY...AND ALL ITS COMPANIONS.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.  But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him. --Genesis 37:3-4

 For wrath kills a foolish man, And envy slays a simple one.--Job 5:2
 
To My Precious Daughters,


So many of us are immersed in the sins of discontentment, and envy Looking around us we lament, "how come he, why not me or why shouldn't I?  Envy brings along a host of other sins including malice and hatred.  Envy is the pain we feel inside when someone gets something we want or we think we deserve.  Malice is the satisfaction we feel when we see them fail.  Slander usually follows. The person who lives in these sins, lives in a prison of their own making and defiles all who come into contact with them with their dissatisfaction, hatred and very often, hypocrisy.

Putting aside Jacob's sin of favoritism for this study, look at what envy, malice and hatred in the heart brought about for Joseph's brothers.  Now God worked what they meant for evil for good and for the saving of the nation but it made them fall so far that they were able to throw their younger brother in a pit and have a picnic lunch surrounded by his pleas for mercy.

Beloved, be content with the possessions, the position and the circumstances that God has blessed you with.  That is right...blessed you with.  Take a few minutes to look back over your life and see how He has delivered you from your own desires.  So often we think we know what we need to be happy.  Don't go there...give it to the Lord.  Allow Him to put you forward or keep you back.  Position, power, prestige and possessions oftentimes come with very high price tags. Your God knows not only what you need but what you can handle. Psalm 84 tells us that the Lord will withhold no good thing from those who fear Him. Know this and surrender to His direction and will for your life. The Lord knows exactly what you need.  He is your manufacturer and has already paid for you with the highest of prices...His Son's death on the cross. 

All of us are vulnerable to envy and like other sins it begins in our hearts which the bible tells us are desperately wicked.  Girls, keep your hearts with all diligence for out of the heart springs the issues of life and it is out of  the abundance of the heart that your mouth will speak.  Evil speaking is a symptom of malice, envy and deceit in your heart.  Be ruthless with these sins.  Feeding them or allowing them to fester will crowd your heart with selfish desires and wrong things and bring about  your ruin.  Fill your heart with Him and His word.  Delight yourself  in the LORD and He shall give you the desires of your heart.  What does that mean, you ask?

As you spend more and more time with the Lord and His word, His desires for you will become your own desires for yourself.   You will begin to not want anything else but His presence and His will in your life.  You will, in fact, fear going your own way.  The more we get to know the Lord, the more we will delight in His presence.  The better we know the Lord the more we will rely on Him because our eyes will be opened to our own fleshly weaknesses and sin. Gladly will we relinquish the control and direction of our life to Him who does all things well!   Gladly will we commit it all to Him!  His desires for us are from His heart of love for us.  Trust Him to do it all well in your life.  He can see around corners...He sees the end from the beginning.  You do not!

Love
Mom

All TheseThings Are Against Me!!

And he returned to his brothers and said, "The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?" So they took Joseph's tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, "We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son's tunic or not?" And he recognized it and said, "It is my son's tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces." Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, "For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning." Thus his father wept for him. Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.--Genesis 37:30-36

To My Daughters:

We have all felt like Jacob at one time or another in our lives.  Grief, loss and betrayal bring about such agony of spirit.  We cry out in despair thinking that everything is against us.  Our faith falters as we look at our circumstances .  Jacob had great affection for Joseph and his heart was rent in two at the loss of his precious son.  The most beautiful aspect of the story of Joseph for me is that the hand of God is apparent on each and every page.  What a comfort this is!!!  No matter what we may be facing in our life at this moment, God is in control.  What others might mean for evil, God meant for good.

But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. 

Beloved, look to the cross when you doubt the love of God.  The same God who sent His Son to die in our stead when we were yet His enemies, will do what is good for us continually now that we have been reconciled.  May we learn to wait on our God and may He increase our faith to see that it all is, in fact, working out beautifully.  May we all learn this lesson and react to difficulty not as Jacob (All these things are against me - Genesis 42:36) but as Joseph did  (Man may have meant this for evil, but God meant it for good).  God is sovereign and He does work all in the lives of those who have placed their trust in Him together for good.  I am standing on Romans 8:28.


And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

And on Psalm 23:6

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.


Love
Mom

JOSEPH A TYPE OF CHRIST...

I love the story of Joseph.  Such a beautiful picture of Christ.   Even if you do not know the Bible well you cannot miss some as you read through Genesis 37-50.  John MacArthur uses the following verses to show Joseph as a type of Christ.  There are many, many more.  A. W. Pink lists 101 and others more.

1.  Joseph was a shepherd of his father's sheep.

Genesis 37:2 This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.


 John 10:11, 27-29"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.

2.  His father loved him dearly. 

Genesis 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.
 
Matthew 3:17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 

3.  Hated by his brothers.

Genesis 37:4  But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.
 
John 7:4-5 For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.
 

4.  Sent by father to brothers.

Genesis 37:13-14  And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them." So he said to him, "Here I am."  Then he said to him, "Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me." So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.
 
Hebrews 2:11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,


5.  Others plotted to harm them. 

Genesis 37:20 Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, 'Some wild beast has devoured him.' We shall see what will become of his dreams!"


John 11:53 Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.


6.  Robes taken from them.

Genesis 37:23  So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. 

John 19:23-24 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be," that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: "THEY DIVIDED MY GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS." Therefore the soldiers did these things.


7.  Taken to Egypt. 

Genesis 37:26  So Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?


Matthew 2:14-15 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON."


8.  Sold for the price of a slave.

Genesis 37:28  Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.


Matthew 26:15 and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?" And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.

9.  Tempted.

Genesis 39:7 And it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me."


Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

10.  Falsely accused. 

Genesis 39:16-18  So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. Then she spoke to him with words like these, saying, "The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me; so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside."
 


 Matthew 26:59-60 Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death,  but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward


11. Bound in chains. 

Matthew 27:2 And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.


Genesis 39:20  Then Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison.

12. Placed with two other prisoners, one who was saved and the other lost. 

Luke 23:32 There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. 

Genesis 40:2-3 And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker. So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined.


13.  Exalted after suffering.  

Genesis 41:41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt."

 Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 


14.  Both 30 years old at the beginning of public recognition. 

Genesis 41:46  Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.


Luke 3:23  Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,

15.  Both wept.

Genesis 42:24 And he turned himself away from them and wept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.

Also see Genesis 45:2, 14,15; and 46:29

John 11:35  Jesus wept.

16.  Forgave those who wronged them. 

Genesis 45:1-15 Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, "Make everyone go out from me!" So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it. Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph; does my father still live?" But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. And Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come near to me." So they came near. Then he said: "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. "Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, 'Thus says your son Joseph: "God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your children, your children's children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you, lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty; for there are still five years of famine." ' "And behold, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth that speaks to you. So you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen; and you shall hurry and bring my father down here." Then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.  Moreover he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers talked with him.
Luke 23:34  Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." And they divided His garments and cast lots.

 17.  Saved their nation 
Genesis 45:7  And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
 
Matthew 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."


18.  What men did to hurt them, God turned to good.  

Genesis 50:20  But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.


1 Corinthians 2:7-8  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

GOD'S GRACE CHANGES EVERYTHING!!

To My Daughters:

Spending lots of time in the "Joseph" section of Genesis.  There is so much application here...so much to meditate on.  This verse, however, in Chapter 44 really gave me pause this morning. (Judah is speaking to Joseph here)

Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.

Judah who had forsaken his brother Joseph and convinced his other brothers to sell him to a company of Ishmaelites as a slave was now willing to intercede for his youngest brother, Benjamin.  In fact, he was not only willing to intercede, he was willing to take his place and become a slave so Benjamin could return to His father.  Are you getting the beautiful picture that is being painted here?

Judah whose name means Praise...from whose descendants the Messiah would come....was not only willing to intercede for Benjamin...He was willing to take his place and become a slave.  What a beautiful picture of what Christ does for us.  He took our sin and the penalty for our sin upon Himself...died in our place so that we could return to our Father in heaven.

What's more...Judah is a picture of a changed life.  He started off foolishly...see chapters 37 and 38 of Genesis, but by God's grace marked a new beginning here.  I think the actual change occurred back in Genesis 43 where Judah told his father that he would be surety for Benjamin.


Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.  I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.  For if we had not lingered, surely by now we would have returned this second time.” 

Truly it was a new and changed Judah that stood before Joseph.  This should be an encouragement to each of us today.  God, by His grace, can give you new life.  He can restore the years that locusts have eaten.  He can work all things that have occurred in your life together for good.  Your only job is to believe and trust Him to do the work  That is what faith can do...and that is the only work of God...to believe. Judah saw his sin...he saw his need and humbled himself before God, his father and his brother, Joseph. God's response is seen in the blessing that comes to the entire world through the descendants of Judah...the Messiah.  I love how Chuck Smith puts it:  "God's Grace Changes Everything."

Love
Mom

Love Does No Harm to a Neighbor...

Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands. And some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”

But Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:  how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?”  And He said to them, “The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered.  So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him.  But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Arise and stand here.” And he arose and stood.  Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?” And when He had looked around at them all, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.  But they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.--Luke 6:1-11

To My Precious Daughters: Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla


Jesus gets to the heart of the issue in this verse.

Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?”

What is the heart of the issue.  The heart is that it is NEVER okay to put laws, traditions and regulations ahead of human need.  The law of love is the key here. Romans 13:8 says this:

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 


If we are owing no one God has placed in our loves anything but love then we are fulfilling the law.  Romans 13 continues:


For the commandments, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," "YOU SHALL NOT MURDER," "YOU SHALL NOT STEAL," "YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS," "YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.


Did you get that last part?  Love does no harm to a neighbor...if you are loving the people in your life with the love that God has shed abroad in your heart then you will always be fulfilling the law.  Love is the perfect bond of perfection.  Love is an adhesive!  It is the bond of unity.  Love encompasses all of God's commands concerning human relationships.  If we truly love our neighbor...and our neighbor is the person whom God has placed in our line of sight at the moment...we will consider his needs as we consider our own. We will care for him as we care for ourselves and we will only do what is in his best interests. Do you see the enormity of what God requires...none of us can fulfill the law...we can't even come close to loving others this way unless the Spirit of God does the work.


Examine your own life through this lens...remember love in each and every situation and circumstance. Truly,  love never fails. 



Love
Mom

Stepping on God's Mercy...

But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.--1 Corinthians 10:5

To My Girls,

I have been studying this one verse for the past several days using The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge to cross reference each part.  My study has taken me to Numbers, Deuteronomy, the Psalms, Hebrews and finally to the book of Jude.

Here is what I read in Numbers 14 that stopped me cold.

According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection.  I the LORD have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.' " 


Now these verses were not new to me.  I have read them many times before.  As I draw nearer and nearer to God, however, I understand more and more the preciousness of His presence in my life.  Truly...I cannot imagine living here on this earth for a nano second without Him anymore.  The thought of His rejection is intolerable and immediately makes anything else I might face in this life light affliction.  It reminds me of the last line from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness that I studied in high school.  "The horror, the horror!"


Murmuring and complaining, stepping on God's mercy, and ultimately unbelief...Psalm 78 tells the story of the children of Israel.  Here is a portion....it is easy reading.

They did not keep the covenant of God; They refused to walk in His law, And forgot His works And His wonders that He had shown them. Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.  He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; And He made the waters stand up like a heap. In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, And all the night with a light of fire. He split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink in abundance like the depths. He also brought streams out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers.  But they sinned even more against Him By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness. And they tested God in their heart By asking for the food of their fancy. Yes, they spoke against God: They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?  Behold, He struck the rock, So that the waters gushed out, And the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?" Therefore the LORD heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel,  Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation. Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven, Had rained down manna on them to eat, And given them of the bread of heaven. Men ate angels' food; He sent them food to the full. He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; And by His power He brought in the south wind.  He also rained meat on them like the dust, Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas; And He let them fall in the midst of their camp, All around their dwellings. So they ate and were well filled, For He gave them their own desire. They were not deprived of their craving; But while their food was still in their mouths,The wrath of God came against them, And slew the stoutest of them, And struck down the choice men of Israel. In spite of this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wondrous works. Therefore their days He consumed in futility, And their years in fear.  When He slew them, then they sought Him; And they returned and sought earnestly for God. Then they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue; For their heart was not steadfast with Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.  But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, And did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, And did not stir up all His wrath;  For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again.  How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert!

The Israelites repeatedly and willfully broke the law of the Lord their God.  They forgot His wonderful works...they forgot His goodness and His kindness to them.  They turned away to idols.  They lusted after things of the world and were never satisfied.  They turned back when He brought judgment upon them but it was all form and no substance..their hearts were not in it.  God's response to them was always tempered with His mercy.  He knew their frame...that they were dust.  But in spite of all the proofs of His love their hearts were still cold to Him.  Now the Lord heard their murmurings, just like He hears ours and was greatly displeased. Many of their hearts were so hard that they were not broken by his judgments nor softened by His mercies.  It is important I think to note that God expressed His displeasure with them by giving them their own way.  Numbers 14: 1-2  says this:

So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!

and then 14:28-29

Say to them, 'As I live,' says the LORD, 'just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. 


This is the wrath of abandonment.  Proverbs chapter 1 verses 24 to 31 says this:  

Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,  Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, When your terror comes like a storm, And your destruction comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD, They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke.  Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
 
Uh oh...They're going to get exactly what they wanted with no restraint. God is stepping back and leaving them to the consequences of their own sinful choices.  They will be filled with their own way and their sin will be their ruin.  Genesis 6:3 tells us that God's Spirit will not strive with us forever. The price for the Israelites as well as for us was/is staggering.  

There are many times as I walk through the trials of this life that I feel that even with His presence it is all too much!  But I can endure because He does the enduring.  He performs all things for me and perfects all things that concern me.  His plan for me here out of His heart of love.  He works all together in my life for my good and His glory.   I cannot fathom journeying through life here on earth without Him. He is my rock, my hope and my joy unending.  It is in Him that I live and it is Him that I live unto.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Nothing can separate me from His love.  Not even me.

I do not lose heart because He is always with me!  My work is not in vain, and  my hope is sure,

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. --Isaiah 40:28-31

Love
Mom