I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 38-42.

    After all of this time where Job and his friends were debating, God answers Job. God asks Job a series of questions. Science has provided us with answers to some of these questions, but many of them are beyond the ability of science, or any other method, to answer. Job had demanded that God explain to him why he was suffering, just as we often demand to know why some tragedy has happened. Here God is telling us that, sometimes, we do not know enough to understand the answer. When God confronted Job he recognized that he was wrong to question God’s judgment and justice. While Job was wrong in questioning God’s justice, three of his friends had been wrong in the way in which they attempted to defend God by condemning Job. God told Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar that they needed to request Job to intervene for them with Him because they had been wrong in their accusations against Job. It has always struck me as strange that Elihu is not mentioned either here or at the beginning of the Book.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 34-37.

    I am not sure that Elihu is completely fair to Job, but he makes many good points. He speaks of god’s justice and His power. However, the thing that spoke to me the most was what Elihu says in chapter 34 verses 31 and 32:

Why don’t people say to God, ‘I have sinned,
but I will sin no more’?
Or ‘I don’t know what evil I have done—tell me.
If I have done wrong, I will stop at once’?

The essence of Elihu’s monologue is that no one can say that they are innocent before God. So, in a way, he is saying something similar to Job’s other friends. The key difference being that he does not claim to be without sin while accusing Job of sin. Further the verses I quoted above indicate that we may not be aware of what sins we have committed. We should ask God to show us, so that we can stop committing them, whatever sins they are. Each and every one of us has sinned. None of us is better than another in that respect. It is not our place to condemn others for their sins. We are to acknowledge our sins and strive to commit them no more, and to challenge those around us to do likewise. On a daily basis I call on the Holy Spirit to give me the strength to live that way. I pray for God to fully enter into my life and thus fully drive sin out. I know that I can only succeed in being able to honestly say, “I will sin no more” through the power of the Holy Spirit.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 29-33.

    Once more Job declares his innocence. It is worth reading through chapter 31 and seeing the list of sins which he believed would have justified his suffering. More than one of those sins was a sin of omission rather than a sin of commission. That is, Job considered it just as much of a sin to fail to do the right thing as it was to do the wrong thing. When Job finished speaking his three friends had nothing more to say. They were unable to list a specific sin which Job had committed. However, a fourth friend, who had not been mentioned until now, speaks up. He speaks humbly, acknowledging that he is not wiser than Job or the others, nor does he claim greater stature. In fact, he emphasizes that he is no better than Job. Elihu confronts Job’s accusation that God is silent. He tells Job that God speaks again and again. It is just that we do not recognize His voice. The main point here is that if we do not hear God’s voice it is because we are not listening. Often the reason we do not hear God’s voice when He speaks to us is because we do not like what He is saying.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 16-21.

    Job’s friends continue to argue that he must have sinned because he is suffering. Actually, they argue that the wicked always suffer and the good never do. Job replies that he is innocent and that God must defend his innocence because no one else will stand up for him. Once more Job calls for a mediator between himself and God. As Christians we know that he did indeed have an advocate in heaven who stood before God and argued on his behalf. Then in chapter 19 verses 25 through 27 Job expresses one of the great thoughts of the Bible:

But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
and he will stand upon the earth at last.
And after my body has decayed,
yet in my body I will see God!
I will see him for myself.
Yes, I will see him with my own eyes.
I am overwhelmed at the thought!

This is such a great thought. One of my favorite hymns is based upon this passage. We will indeed see him for ourselves.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 11-15.

    Zophar also accuses Job of being a sinner, solely on the basis of the fact that Job is suffering. Zophar’s logic is as follows: Job is suffering, therefore he must have sinned. As a matter of fact, as bad as Job is suffering, he probably deserves even worse. This is faulty logic. While it is true that actions have consequences and that what we are experiencing is usually a consequence of actions we have taken, not everyone who is suffering is doing so as a result of them doing wrong. Sometimes people suffer for doing right and sometimes people suffer for no reason that we can discern.

    Job’s response starts out somewhat sarcastic, commending them for their great wisdom and advice, when in fact they have told him nothing that is not well known and given him no advice upon which he can act. All they have told him is, “Confess your sins, whatever they are.” Yet when Job tells them that he does not know any sins he has committed all they can tell him is that he must have committed some sins, otherwise he would not be suffering. Job goes on to say that he knows that his suffering comes from the hand of God. He wants to make his case before God so that he can find out what sin he might have committed and amend his ways. If his friends can tell him what he has done wrong, he will gladly amend his ways, but if they cannot they should remain silent.

    I was going over this and writing my thoughts as I read when I came to Chapter 14 verse 14 (and following). There Job asks a question, “Can the dead live again?” He then explores what it would mean if the answer is “Yes”. If the answer is “yes” (and it is indeed “yes”), then we can have hope in the suffering we experience in this life and we can eagerly await the release of death. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that if there is no resurrection of the dead, the entire Christian message is based on a lie. There is indeed a resurrection of the dead and therefore the things which Job says here are true. We are God’s handiwork and He yearns for us. God has offered to seal our sins away from us and cover them over with the blood of Jesus. He has called to us and all we need to do is answer. Then He will guard our steps for God has no desire to watch for our sins.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 6-10.

    Whenever I read parts of Job I struggle with what to write. There is both so much and so little there. OK, little is the wrong word. When reading the Book of Job, it is easy to take the main point, that suffering is not always a result of doing wrong, and leave it at that. But there is clearly more to the book than that because it does not take 42 chapters to make that point.

    Job correctly expresses the idea that it is OK for a person who is suffering to complain about that suffering. Yet, despite his suffering, Job never denied God’s Word or Holiness. His friends on the other hand assumed his guilt. They accused him of wrongdoing with only his suffering as evidence. In his suffering Job begs God to end his life. Yet notice that Job does not at any point attempt suicide. Job wanted to plead his case before God, yet he knew that would be futile. He recognized that even if he were right, he would not be able to make a case that would stand up in God’s courts. Then Job says something which goes to the heart of Christianity. If only there were a mediator who could go between man and God and bring us together. Well, the heart of Christianity is that there IS a mediator between God and man. That mediator is Jesus Christ.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 1-5.

    The basic lesson in Job is that the righteous sometimes suffer and we do not always know why. Every one needs to read Job regularly. It is a reminder that following God does not necessarily lead to prosperity. That sometimes we will be called upon to be faithful in the face of adversity. Even Job’s wife could not stand to see his suffering. She advised him to curse God and die. I do not think we should look down on her for this. She was just at her breaking point from seeing Job suffer and thus angry at God for him. Yet, in all of his suffering Job continued to worship and praise God. We should follow his example.