365 Reflections

Forgive the snarky title, but it's very true. Theological study is never simple. Why? Because life is complicated and God is beyond our knowledge. We can only see dimly, as Paul says.  When Job's first friend speaks after a 7-day silence vigil we says the following: Job 4:1–2 (ESV) Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: 2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? Yet who can keep from speaking? Notice the phrase, "a word". Because he will venture far more than that. He will speak for two chapters. And his theology of suffering is so simple, you get a bit nauseated as he speaks.  He begins: Job 4:7 (ESV) “Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? He's going in for the kill off the top. He wants to cast the blame squarely where he believes it lies - at Job's feet. Job is suffering because Job sinned. Now Eliphaz has watched Job's life for years. He's seen this man speak for others and live piou...

Job 3:2–3 (ESV) And Job said: 3 “Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man is conceived.’ This is the first thing Job says after a 7-day silence sitting in ashes with his friends. Notice what he did not do. He did not curse God. He placed no blame on the Almighty although the Almighty let this happen to Him. Job's first inclination is to deride his own birth, or rather, the day of his birth.  Job moves on from cursing that day to wondering why he was even born or made it to adulthood. Job 3:11–12 (ESV) “Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? 12 Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? At this moment Job enters into a question that we all must answer one day - why are we born? What is our purpose for living if there is so much suffering? For sure, none of us suffer as Job did. But if you squeezed all of our hurts into a three-week time period, it would probably get us to ask why we are even alive....

The story of Job gets worse for a long time before it gets better. The first two chapters present a behind-the-scenes look at the heavenly realities that Job knows nothing about. In chapter 1, Satan wanted Job's blessings ripped from him. In chapter 2, he takes aim at his health. In both instances, God is the one who brings him up.  Job 2:3 (ESV) And 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, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” And Satan's evil is on display in the next verse: Job 2:4–6 (ESV) Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” 6 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.” Now the interest...

As I have had the privilege to walk through the Bible book by book these past 8 years on this blog I have been able to slow down long enough to ask "why is this book in this place"? And I believe there are great valuable truths even in the order of scripture as well as the Words of scripture. So let us ask, "Why does Job follow Esther?" If you consider that Israel at the end of Esther has just been barely saved from an ancient holocaust at the hand of Haman and that their deliverance was so unbelievable it required two letters for confirmation among the people you can see why Job follows this book. For Israel has been descending from their pinnacle since the end of 1 Kings and it seems Esther, which does not mention God at all would be the perfect precursor to Job - the book synonymous with suffering while God seems silent.  Job 1:1–5 (ESV)  There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned aw...

The story of Esther ends with a celebration. The feast of Purim is inaugurated in Jewish life and still remains to this day. So cool. But evidently, some people needed reassurance that the threat against them was indeed over and they had the king's authority to defend themselves AND that they should CELEBRATE.  Esther 9:29–32 (ESV) Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew gave full written authority, confirming this second letter about Purim. 30 Letters were sent to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth, 31 that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them, and as they had obligated themselves and their offspring, with regard to their fasts and their lamenting. 32 The command of Esther confirmed these practices of Purim, and it was recorded in writing. A second letter is necessary for the Jews to hear the news of their victory and ...

Esther 9:1–2 (ESV)  Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s command and edict were about to be carried out, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them. 2 The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could stand against them, for the fear of them had fallen on all peoples. Esther 9 is the complete opposite of every other chapter in this book before it. Thus far we have seen the Jews as a helpless people, with Mordecai targeted for death, Esther as the harem girl for the king's pleasure. But all that has changed. Now Mordecai and Esther are ambassadors of the King and writing the laws of the land into effect to not only save the Jews from extermination but to empower them for triumph over their enemies.  It's a wond...

The quiet and timid, identity-hiding Esther is no more in Esther 8. Now we have the bold, assertive and persuasive she-warrior for God.  She has seen Haman hanged on his own gallows and revealed her relation to Mordecai to King Xerxes. The King has given her Haman's house and Mordecai Haman's position. The turnaround is happening fast and furious. But the edict of the Jewish destruction is still on the schedule and Esther goes to work again, pleading with the King to wipe it out.  His response? To let her and Mordecai write the laws themselves! Esther 8:7–8 (ESV)  Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. 8 But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked...

We have discussed that Esther may have taken the long way to gain the proper audience with the King, but we see that God works through it both to deliver the Jews and grow her in boldness and faith. Esther 7:2–3 (ESV) And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. Let us not miss that wine and feasting were involved here. There are three ways to a man's heart and this verse involves two of them. But Esther's grace always wins the day. At every moment the king sees her he is pleased with her and welcomes her in to his presence and offers to answer whatever request she has. We have already mentioned that this is a picture...

Esther 6:1–4 (ESV) On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. 2 And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 3 And the king said, “What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” The king’s young men who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” 4 And the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. The details of God's deliverance begin to come together in Esther 6. All of it begins with insomnia. This is interesting since this King seemed to like to party in Esther 1. But insomnia was the perfect prescription here as the remedy is perhaps the most boring of activities - ...