CLANGING CYMBALS...JOB 26

But Job answered and said:“How have you helped him who is without power?
 How have you saved the arm that has no strength? How have you counseled one who has no wisdom?  And how have you declared sound advice to many? To whom have you uttered words?
  And whose spirit came from you? “The dead tremble,
  Those under the waters and those inhabiting them. Sheol is naked before Him,
  And Destruction has no covering.


TO MY DAUGHTERS,

We find Job rebuking Bildad in the first four verses of this chapter for his lack of concern for him, showing that all his friend’s “knowledgeable words” completely missed the point of his need and had been no help. Their words were hurtful rather than encouraging. No matter what their intentions they lacked love and were but clanging cymbals.

Job then goes on to say how no one escapes the eye of God. No matter where you are...God sees. There is nowhere you can flee from His Spirit...earth, sky, waters below or stars above...not even the dead can escape. The final verse of this chapter tells us that we only see the mere edges of His ways....that we hear only a small whisper of Him. But the thunder of His power who can understand?

My mind camped out on the verses...where I saw Jesus. These are the ones you see at the top of this study. Jesus had all wisdom, all knowledge, all power and all might. He was God and yet put aside His deity while He walked the earth. He did all in the power and strength of His Father. He was completely and utterly submitted to His Father in Heaven. Jesus came as a Servant. He came to heal the broken hearted. Luke 4:18 says this:

“ The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
   Because He has anointed Me
 To preach the gospel to the poor;  He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,  To proclaim liberty to the captives
 And recovery of sight to the blind,
 To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

Read the gospels and see the heart of the Father in Heaven for His people. His desire is to heal. His desire is that none of us should perish, but that all would come to life in His Son. God the Father could have annihilated us, but instead He sent His Son to die for us. Our words and our actions here on earth should reflect the essence and character of our Father in Heaven. His heart of love should be evident to all we meet. Job's “comforters” missed the point of love.

Love those around you with the love that the Holy Spirit has shed abroad in your hearts. As you speak to them, remember love. Remember humility. Meet them at their point of need.  

None of us sees the whole picture while we walk the earth. 1 Corinthians 13:8-12 says

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

Truly, we only see the mere edges of His ways and the whispers of His power. 

Love 

Mom

Jesus in Job 25...

This is Bildad's third and final speech.  Do I hear a Yay!  This is the last time I believe that any of these three friends speak.  Elihu the youngest is next up...but not until Chapter 32.  

Chapter 25 is only 6 verses long...

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:“ Dominion and fear belong to Him;  He makes peace in His high places. Is there any number to His armies?  Upon whom does His light not rise? How then can man be righteous before God?  Or how can he be pure who is born of a woman?  If even the moon does not shine, And the stars are not pure in His sight,  How much less man, who is a maggot,  And a son of man, who is a worm?”

Bildad is restating what has been said all along. God is sovereign, majestic, wonderful and you, Job, are a sinner.  God is great and you, Job, are nothing.  Now what Bildad is saying is all true, but the lack of love is obvious.  God's love, God's mercy and God's grace which would have been a comfort to Job here are not even mentioned.  

Jesus as seen Psalm 22 came to mind as I read the following verses...

How then can man be righteous before God? Or how can he be pure who is born of a woman? If even the moon does not shine, And the stars are not pure in His sight, How much less man, who is a maggot,  And a son of man, who is a worm?”

How then can man be righteous before God?  The King James rendering of that verse: "How then can man be justified with God?"  Psalm 22  is a prophetic, messianic psalm that gives a very graphic description of the crucifixion of our Lord.  David wrote this psalm 1000 years before crucifixion became a Roman method of capital punishment. The very first verse of Psalm 22 in fact, was quoted by Jesus on the cross

Psalm 22:6 says this:

But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people.

Ah, here is the answer to Bildad's question.  How could Job be justified before God?  He would be justified through God's Son, Jesus who died for our sin in our place.  

When We Don't Understand...

Dear Girls, 


Chapter 24 finds Job pointing out all kinds of sin that goes on in the world seemingly unchecked.  Job does not deny that judgment comes but that man knows not when....God's timing would be perfect.   


Seeing the wicked prosper is irksome for any of us.  In our flesh we want to see judgment fall.  This must have been particularly painful for Job to watch.  Job was righteous and was among the most tested of God's people. The wicked were prospering all around him AND YET JOB WAS STILL ABLE TO SAY SAY, "THOUGH HE SLAY ME, YET WILL I TRUST IN HIM!"  I love to remember and really think on what Job went through when I begin to question God and what He might be doing in my own life.  What do WE do when we don't understand God.  We fall back on what we do know about God.


And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,


I remember that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts not our thoughts.  and that HE IS GOD!  I think on His mercy and read Hebrews 11.  I remember what Abraham said when he was interceding with God for the wickedness of Sodom. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? I go to the Servant songs in Isaiah...Isaiah 52-53 in particular and I remember the cross.


All it really takes is to look to the cross and remember what He has already accomplished for us and that when we were still His enemies. Shuts my mouth every time. 


Love
Mom


I have copied Psalm 73 below....David speaks to this very thing.  He begins to understand in verse 17.


¹ Truly God is good to Israel,
         To such as are pure in heart.
 ² But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
         My steps had nearly slipped.
 ³ For I was envious of the boastful,
         When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
        
 ⁴ For there are no pangs in their death,
         But their strength is firm.
 ⁵ They are not in trouble as other men,
         Nor are they plagued like other men.
 ⁶ Therefore pride serves as their necklace;
         Violence covers them like a garment.
 ⁷ Their eyes bulge^[a] with abundance;
         They have more than heart could wish.
 ⁸ They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;
         They speak loftily.
 ⁹ They set their mouth against the heavens,
         And their tongue walks through the earth.
        
 ¹⁰ Therefore his people return here,
         And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
 ¹¹ And they say, “How does God know?
         And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
 ¹² Behold, these are the ungodly,
         Who are always at ease;
         They increase in riches.
 ¹³ Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain,
         And washed my hands in innocence.
 ¹⁴ For all day long I have been plagued,
         And chastened every morning.
        
 ¹⁵ If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
         Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
 ¹⁶ When I thought how to understand this,
         It was too painful for me—
 ¹⁷ Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
         Then I understood their end.
        
 ¹⁸ Surely You set them in slippery places;
         You cast them down to destruction.
 ¹⁹ Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
         They are utterly consumed with terrors.
 ²⁰ As a dream when one awakes,
         So, Lord, when You awake,
         You shall despise their image.
        
 ²¹ Thus my heart was grieved,
         And I was vexed in my mind.
 ²² I was so foolish and ignorant;
         I was like a beast before You.
 ²³ Nevertheless I am continually with You;
         You hold me by my right hand.
 ²⁴ You will guide me with Your counsel,
         And afterward receive me to glory.
        
 ²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but You?
         And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
 ²⁶ My flesh and my heart fail;
         But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
        
 ²⁷ For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish;
         You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry.
 ²⁸ But it is good for me to draw near to God;
         I have put my trust in the Lord GOD,
         That I may declare all Your works.

The Point...

And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded." --Luke 5:14

To My Daughters,

There is much in this story in Luke but the part that spoke to my heart last night and this morning is that Jesus told him to tell no one about the healing.  Jesus never drew attention to Himself but always glorified His Father in Heaven.  Our goal should be the same.  It is so easy for Satan to blow us off course by focusing our attention on ourselves...which is, of course, our favorite subject.

We want the attention...we want the credit....we want the accolades.  It should not be about us...it should always be about Him.  Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Our agenda should, of course, be our Masters. Keep your eyes on the goal...stay out of God's way.  Obey Him.  Leave all you do in His hands and allow Him to use it for whatever purposes He might have.  Pray that your right hand will not know what your left hand does.  Truly it is best not to think of ourselves at all because as soon as we do we become weighed down with our own agendas and become distracted from the goal.

Love those that God has put in front of you with His love.  Give godly, biblically based advice when it is asked for.  Pray when you see someone struggling and ask the Lord to make perfect that which concerns them.   Know that it is true that the Lord uses people in the lives of others but also remember that it is the Spirit of God that convicts hearts.  Pray and ask God to show you the motivation of your heart in all that you do and say before you open your mouth.  Trust God to work in their lives as He works in your own.   Let His Spirit be your guide in all things.

Share the gospel as the Lord leads but also pray that your life would speak of His love, His mercy and His grace...that your allegiance to Him would be obvious to all around you and especially that your love for Him would be contagious...that others would see it and want what you have! 

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.


Love
Mom

Notes on Job 21-23

Chapter 21

Bildad and Zophar's reasoned that God blesses the righteous and the wicked suffer.  If Job was suffering then, according to their reasoning, Job was wicked.

Job tells them their words of supposed comfort were based on false assumptions and therefore meaningless. They had a view of God that was shallow and took the "what is in it for me"approach to obedience.  .Job had seen the wicked proposer and gives example after example to back up his claim.

As I said in earlier studies, I believe Job's three friends were living in fear of suffering and trials.  They comforted themselves with wrong doctrine...if they obeyed...God would bless and protect them.  If they did not obey, they would suffer.  This gave them the an illusion of control.  Job refuted their reasoning and this made them angry!

Jesus told us that in this world we would have tribulation.  He was obedient to the point of death...the death of the cross.  Jesus was not wealthy nor was His life filled with much physical comfort. Job's friend's looked at the outside...by their estimation then Jesus would have been among the wicked.  Religion is not outward.  God desires truth in the inward parts.  Man looks upon the outward, God looks at the heart.

Chapter 22


Even though Job's children were dead, his possessions gone and his body wracked with illness, Job held on to God and continued to trust Him.  What a witness Job is for God...what an example of endurance he is for us.  Chapter 22 continues with more of the same from Job's comforters.  Job you are a sinner.  Get right with God and things will get better.  Eliphaz introduces a new twist but still more of the same.

Chapter 23


Chapter 23 is a beautiful chapter of faith from start to finish.  Job expresses his longing here for God.  He wants to present his case before Him.  He wants to understand why he is suffering.  He affirms God's sovereignty (13-17) and his own faithfulness. (verse 11-12) For more on 23 see study called Refining Fire.  Here is the link.

Job 23 - Refiner's Fire...

“Look, I go forward, but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him; When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him. But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.--Job 23:8-10

To My Daughters,

What wonderful words of faith from Job once again.  Chapter 23 begins with Job wanting to present his case before God.  

Oh, that I knew where I might find Him,  That I might come to His seat!  I would present my case  before Him,  

And fill my mouth with arguments.

Often I find myself doing the same thing that Job wants to do here. I lay all that is on my heart out before the Lord...I cry out to Him and present my arguments.   He knows them all but oh how wonderful that I can turn my heart upside down before Him...that I can trust Him with it all!  How wonderful it is also that I never win the argument.  But, of course, in losing I WIN!  As I read the word and pray, a beautiful thing occurs  The Spirit of God changes my heart that at the time is full of "me" to one that is aligned with the will of my Father in Heaven.  The word of God is alive...it is living and powerful and the Spirit of God uses it to make us more like God's Son. 

I, like Job, say, Lord...Though I do not understand what you are doing, I know that in the end you will bring me forth as gold.  I trust you to see me through.  With your help I will obey, I will cling to your word and I will endure through these trials that you have allowed in my life...You will be my strength and your word will be my song. 1 Peter 1:6-9 says this:

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,  that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,  whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,  receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. 

Aaah...faith...the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.  It is by faith that we obtain a good testimony. Faith is our access to grace and it is also a gift from Him.  It is nothing of ourselves...it is all Him.  Our job is to cry out in our time of need and let Him do the rest.  

So glad that our God uses our trials when we believe as a refining process.  He takes away the dross and the impurities and brings us forth as gold. Remember what James has to say about Job in chapter 5 of his letter.  HANG ON TO IT...

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. 

Love

Mom

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).