For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
When people begin promoting injustice, they are setting the stage for a calamity which will rebound upon them. The rage which they promote as a weapon against their opponents will break just as they need it most.
In contrast, those who share their goods with those in need will be honoured. These two proverbs show two different ways in which people can seek to work with the poor. On one hand, we have those who encourage the poor to rage against those who have more and can be perceived as holding the poor back. Those who do this are not fighting injustice, they are promoting it. On the other hand, we have those who strive to aid the poor, giving of their time and resources to help the poor find their way out of poverty. The former will find that the rage they have generated as a tool or a weapon will break in their hands, leaving them defenseless against the attacks they have called upon themselves. The latter will be honoured.
When everything and everyone seems to turn against you, seek out God. Follow the light of His word and depend on His loving care. Praise Him and the salvation that comes from Him. Then He will lead you to His holy place where you can take joy in Him once more. All may conspire against you, but if you follow God’s light their conspiracy will fail. Praise God, even when you feel depressed and He will bring you back to joy.
If we are truly following Christ we do not need to tell others of our faithfulness. We do not need to write letters that describe how wonderful we are. Those that matter will know how God works through us and will pass that on to those who need to know. We can be confident in the same way in which Paul was confident. His confidence was not in his own ability. Rather, he was confident that God would accomplish His goals through him. Let us not trust in our own abilities, nor think that our success shows how wonderful we are. Let us instead trust in God and let our successes be evidence to those around us of how wonderful God is.
Just as Paul was, we too have been made ministers of a new covenant, a new way to approach God. The old way was one based on following the letter of the Law. The new way is based on following the Spirit, which gave the Law in the first place. The Law arrived shiny and bright, but those attempting to follow it to the letter found they needed to cover it over. This resulted in the Talmudic tradition of putting a “fence around the Law.” They needed to come up with ever more convoluted regulations in order to avoid breaking the Law as things changed and the direct application of the letter of the Law became less obvious in the new circumstances. We, however, have the Spirit directing us. We do not seek to follow the letter of the Law, rather we seek to allow God’s Spirit to direct us to do His will. We do not need a “fence around the Law” because we are not seeking to follow the letter of the Law, rather we seek to follow the Spirit, who gave us that Law in the first place.
Job finishes his final monologue with a list which sounds much like Jesus’ teachings, especially the parable of the sheep and the goats. Job lists off a list of sins which he has not committed. The majority of Job’s list is about treating others well and with respect. The only other sins he really mentions are greed, which he identifies as idolatry, and sexual immorality. This part of Job’s monologue is a good guide for us to live by.
When Job is finished the youngest of his friends speaks. Elihu was angry because Job had justified himself rather than God, while the other three had failed to refute Job, yet they condemned him. Elihu had waited to allow his elders to speak first. However, wisdom comes from God, so those who are older are not always wiser than youth. Elihu answers Job’s complaints that God does not speak. God does indeed speak, sometimes in one way, other times in another. God uses many ways to speak to us. If we do not hear God speak, it is because we refuse to listen. God seeks to deliver His message to us so that we will turn from sin to the light and avoid the destruction which sin brings.