NOTES ON JOB 32-37

Job 32:1-5 Job's friends cease from speaking because Job is still considering himself righteous. He is not admitting to any secret or protracted sin in his life.  Elihu...the youngest of the four comforters and one who has not spoken before can't keep from speaking now.  He is angry at the other three because they did not provide Job with a real answer and yet condemned him.  He is angry at Job because Job was justifying himself rather than God.




Job 32:6-22 Elihu says that he has held off from speaking because of his youth.  Now, however, he can't hold back.  If he does not speak, he will burst.  Elihu also implies that he will be speaking God's words.  This will be confirmed later on.  I am seeing a big red flag here...how about you?  Since the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God, Elihu would be better off if he kept quiet.  Elihu thinks he knows something.  We all have to be so careful here.  So many of us are quick to judge situations and circumstances we see in the lives of others without knowing all the facts...without having walked a mile in their shoes. We speak without a heart of love for the person we are trying to help.  Arrogance and pride are so easy for me to see in others...so much harder to see it in myself.  Praying that God will show me because I do not want to be an Elihu!!  Ever!  Praying that I will also pray more and speak less!

Job 33:1-7 These words of Elihu are so filled with Elihu that I must put them here.  No words of explanation are needed.  His own words testify to his pride and arrogance.


¹ “But please, Job, hear my speech,
      And listen to all my words.

 ² Now, I open my mouth;
      My tongue speaks in my mouth.

 ³ My words come from my upright heart;
      My lips utter pure knowledge.

 ⁴ The Spirit of God has made me,
      And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

 ⁵ If you can answer me,
      Set your words in order before me;
      Take your stand.

 ⁶ Truly I am as your spokesman^[a] before God;
      I also have been formed out of clay.

 ⁷ Surely no fear of me will terrify you,
      Nor will my hand be heavy on you.

Job 33:8-33 Elihu responds to Job's claims of innocence and also to his claim  that God was his enemy.  The two did not add up.  God is gracious.  He is not your enemy, Job, says Elihu.

Job had also complained that God did not speak to him.  Elihu responds by saying God speaks to us in various ways (dreams, visions, special messengers) and that God does not need to defend his actions before man.  Elihu claims to be God's messenger to show Job that God is not whimsical. He does what He does because He wants to direct Job away from the pit and restore him back to Himself. Elihu is implying that Job was not hearing from God because Job was not listening. Job should listen to one as Elihu to teach him wisdom. God was using Elihu to get Job back on a godly path!  Truly I feel for Job here.

Job 34:1-35:16  Elihu proclaims God's justice.  He is angry at Job because Job has said that God had taken away his justice and that it does not profit a man to delight in God.  Elihu says that God is not manipulated by man's actions and does not do wickedly nor does he pervert justice.  God also does not show partiality.  Elihu says that Job is sinning by how he is speaking about God.   He counsels Job to wait on God and to be patient....


Job 36:1-37:24  Here is where Elihu very clearly claims to be speaking for God.


² “Bear with me a little, and I will show you
      That there are yet words to speak on God’s behalf.
 ³ I will fetch my knowledge from afar;
      I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.


Elihu then goes on to speak of God's goodness, greatness and majesty in His dealings with man be they righteous or wicked and in his dealings with nature. His advice to Job is to stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.  In view of such greatness what can man teach God.  


Applications for us...

If you can get beyond Elihu's arrogance in Chapter 33 (a big IF) he does say some pretty insightful stuff.

Here are some verses that spoke to my heart.


Why do you contend with Him? For He does not give an accounting of any of His words.

Why do we contend with God?  The Lord is sovereign.  He can do what He wishes...He is God.  That sounds pretty frightening but not if we remember that God sent His Son to die for us when we were still His enemy. He has proven His great love for us.  Rest in His love...allow Him to complete the good work He began in you. 

33:14-18  God does speak to us in various ways to keep us from our own purposes.  This is ALWAYS a blessing.

33:19-22  God also speak to us through trials.  Pain has a purpose.  In these verses Elihu tells Job that his suffering is not punishment but to keep him from going in a direction that is harmful.  

Job 33:23-26  I see Jesus in these verses.  Read them for yourself and see what I mean.  

“If there is a messenger for him,
      A mediator, one among a thousand,
      To show man His uprightness,
 ²⁴ Then He is gracious to him, and says,

      ‘ Deliver him from going down to the Pit;
      I have found a ransom’;
 ²⁵ His flesh shall be young like a child’s,
      He shall return to the days of his youth.
 ²⁶ He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him,
      He shall see His face with joy, 
For He restores to man His righteousness.

Jesus paid the ransom...He can give us new life and render to man His righteousness.  WOW! WOW! WOW!  Jesus is the gracious One.  He is our Deliverer.

Job 33:27-28  I see Jesus also in these verses...the gospel is evident.  Read them and see once again for yourself.


²⁷ Then he looks at men and says,

      ‘I have sinned, and perverted what was right,
      And it did not profit me.’
 ²⁸ He will redeem his^[b] soul from going down to the Pit,
      And his^[c] life shall see the light.


Man must first admit that he has sinned and God will redeem him and his life shall see the light!  Can I hear another WOW!!

Chapter 34 again shows us Elihu's arrogance.  We also see that he does not speak accurately in regard to what Job has spoken.  In this he bears false witness against Job.  The application for us in this is to listen carefully and speak only truth.

This verse spoke to my heart:


“For has anyone said to God,

      ‘I have borne chastening;
      I will offend no more;
 ³² Teach me what I do not see;
      If I have done iniquity, I will do no more’?


Our God is the One who sees.  We see through the mirror darkly.  We do not know anywhere near what God knows about our circumstances.  Neither do we know His purposes.  Ask God to show you those things that are not right in your life...that are not pleasing to Him.  Trust Him and wait on Him in whatever situation you are in...He is the God that performs all things well.

Should He repay it according to your terms, (vs 33)


Do you really want God to do things the way you want Him to?  God is my Father...I am but a child...not knowing as Solomon said how to go in or go out.


Thus ends 32-37...on to 38-42.  Some of my favorite chapters.

Notes on Job 29, 30, and 31...

To My Daughters:

Listen to the first few verses of Chapter 29:

Job further continued his discourse, and said: “Oh, that I were as in months past, As in the days when God watched over me; When His lamp shone upon my head, And when by His light I walked through darkness; Just as I was in the days of my prime, When the friendly counsel of God was over my tent; When the Almighty was yet with me, When my children were around me;

Job missed his God and he missed his children. He was feeling alone and abandoned.

The rest of chapter 29 finds Job longing for his past. Now it is helpful and good during times of trial to remember God's faithfulness and his past blessings. I do not think, however, that this is what Job is doing here. It is also normal, when we are grieving, to look back at the past and wish it could be like that again.  This kind of thinking is not very helpful because we are dwelling on what made us happy and comfortable rather than God's eternal desire for our holiness.  All of us do this but to spend much time there is a mistake. We are focusing on that “me, myself and I” rather than looking outward and seeing what God might have for us in the moment...what he might be wanting to accomplish in us and through us in the trial we are facing. 

Putting all that aside if we go through the chapter what you discover is that Job was a very godly man. He spoke with authority and his counsel was sought. He took care of the poor, the fatherless, the helpless and the oppressed. He caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. Righteousness clothed him and justice was his robe. He was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. Job was Jesus to those around him.

Chapter 30 we find Job moving from the past to the present and lamenting his losses. Men mock him...he is their taunting song...a byword. His riches are gone, his body is diseased and is heart is grieved. Verse 20 tells us that he feels that God has deserted him and further down his hope is now darkness. I have felt this way in times of grief. (I am sure not to the extent that Job did)...but all of us at one time or another in our lives will feel cornered with no room to move forward or backward. The only thing we can do is stay in the present and endure. We cannot go back to the past...it is gone. We cannot endure the pain of the present and the future seems dark, full of unknowns and frightening to face.

I am so grateful for Jesus during these times of grief and suffering. I take comfort in the fact that He has gone before and has borne my griefs and carried my sorrows. He does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. My reality is that my past is taken care...my sins are forgiven. My present reality is that He is always with me...that in Him I live and move and have my being. My future is bright because He is my sure and certain hope. I will “awake” in His likeness.

Job continues his claim that he is innocent of any pattern of sin and desires that God would answer him and tell him why he was suffering.  Chapter 31 can be used as a  “spiritual inventory”. Job is going through sins that he did NOT commit.  I liked the list of questions that Warren Wiersbe puts together for us to ask ourselves from chapter 31. I will close with it.

Do you have eyes that wander lustfully (vv. 1–4)

or feet that move deceitfully (vv. 5–8)?

Has lust been fulfilled in overt sin (vv. 9–12)?

Have you treated others as God wants them treated (vv. 13–23)?

Have you coveted wealth or been proud of what you possess (vv. 24–28)?

How do you respond to the suffering of an enemy (vv. 29–30)

or the needs of a stranger (vv. 31–34)?

Are you a faithful steward of the natural resources God gives (vv. 38–40)?

Love

Mom

Wisdom...Job 28

To My Daughters,

Though Job had agreed that the wicked suffer, this did not explain why he was suffering...since Job was righteous.  Job asks his friends to consider that maybe God’s wisdom was beyond their understanding. (You think?) That is the theme of this chapter. “The wisdom of God is not gained by natural or theoretical knowledge. What God does not reveal, we can’t know.

The question then at the outset of this study is how do we gain the wisdom of God if it is not gained by natural means?

Verses 1-11 of Chapter 28 is chockful of mining references. Men spend much time and much effort mining for precious things. 

Verses 12-20 of chapter 28 sum it all up:

12 “But where can wisdom be found?
 And where is the place of understanding?

13 Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living.

14 The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
 And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

15 It cannot be purchased for gold,
 Nor can silver be weighed for its price.

16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
 in precious onyx or sapphire.

17 Neither gold nor crystal can equal it,
 Nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold.

18 No mention shall be made of coral or quartz,
 For the price of wisdom is above rubies.

19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
 Nor can it be valued in pure gold.

20 “From where then does wisdom come?
 And where is the place of understanding?

21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living,
 And concealed from the birds of the air.

22 Destruction and Death say,

 ‘We have heard a report about it with our ears.’

23 God understands its way, And He knows its place.

24 For He looks to the ends of the earth,
 And sees under the whole heavens,

25 To establish a weight for the wind,
 And apportion the waters by measure.

26 When He made a law for the rain, And a path for the thunderbolt,

27 Then He saw wisdom and declared it;
 He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out.

28 And to man He said,

‘ Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, 
And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

Did you get that? No amount of effort on a human being's part will yield God's wisdom. It can't be valued or found in the world. It can't be bought and neither the living or the dead can find it.

Wisdom can only be found in God. The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding. Solomon the wisest man on earth searched out this very matter...here is his conclusion.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

 Fear God and keep His commandments, 
For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, 
Including every secret thing, 
Whether good or evil.--Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

True wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord (Prov. 1:7; 9:10; 15:33; 19:23). When we honor Him and seek to please Him, He teaches us His wisdom and His way

James tells us that if we lack wisdom we are to ask God for it. He will give it liberally and without reproach. 

Paul tells us that the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Jesus Christ. (Colossians 2:3)

I discovered this very thing at the moment of my salvation. A veil was lifted off of my eyes and I understood that the true wisdom I needed...the true wisdom I had desired for so long...would be found in Him. All we need for life and godliness is in the Scriptures. Everything we need to know to get through this day and the next can be found in our God. Stand in awe of Him, girls.  Talk to Him and walk with Him. He is awesome. He is gracious. He is good and He will become whatever you need.  Begin and end each and every day with Him. Be desperate for Him. Search for Him and you will find the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.--Deuteronomy 29:29

Love

Mom

NO CONDEMNATION,,,

Job begins Chapter 27 by defending his righteousness (1-12) and ends (13-23) by making it clear that the wicked do not go unpunished, but that that did not explain why he was suffering.  Job was a righteous man...and yet he was faced unrelenting suffering and grief. 

Where did my heart focus in Chapter 27? I looked at verses 1-10 and thought on righteousness. Christ is my righteousness.  

Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said:

“As God lives, who has taken away my justice, And the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter, As long as my breath is in me,
 And the breath of God in my nostrils, My lips will not speak wickedness,
 Nor my tongue utter deceit. Far be it from me
 That I should say you are right; 
 Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go; My heart shall not reproach me as long as I live. “May my enemy be like the wicked, And he who rises up against me like the unrighteous. For what is the hope of the hypocrite,
 Though he may gain much,
 If God takes away his life? Will God hear his cry
 When trouble comes upon him? Will he delight himself in the Almighty Will he always call on God?” ?--Job 27:1-10

Job holds on to his integrity. He maintains his righteousness.

He refuses to feel personal condemnation for the secret sins his friends suspected he had committed. Which you know...we know he did not.  God Himself told us Job was righteous way back in Chapter 1. Job said that his heart would not reproach him as long as he lived. First John 3, verse 20 says this:

For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

There is no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus. That is our position in Christ.

Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

Christ gave His life for us...He is not going to turn around and condemn us. His sacrifice on the cross made our justification possible. We have what Job wanted...an Advocate with the Father, Jesus the Righteous is on our side.

Job so wanted to take God to court and get his grievances aired and settled. God was not working according to Job's plan. We all want to do this very thing from time to time especially when we feel we are being unfairly treated.

How blessed we are, then, that our righteousness comes from Him...it is His job, not ours, to defend it. Once we are declared righteous by God we cannot be declared unrighteous. He is the God who sees. He knows the truth and is a righteous Judge. The battle is not ours to fight..it is His. Girls, this is one of the hardest things for us humans...to acknowledge our own helplessness and trust God to fight the battles. We want to jump in and when we do we only wind up hurting ourselves and others around us. Wait on God...His timing and plans are perfect! The next time you are offended, falsely accused, or betrayed be still and know that He is God and commit yourself to Him. Follow Jesus' example who was delivered to death for our offenses and "And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth."





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