365 Reflections

The Apostle Paul famously wrote to the Corinthians about the necessity of the resurrection.  1 Corinthians 15:19 (ESV) If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. He's right. If we only have this life, we are sad people. Religious practice is a lame hobby if we are only gathered in our own midst and singing to a God we will never meet.  Here we are just after the annual celebration of Christ's resurrection and we come to the end of Job's journey. He's been God's instrument to bring peace to his friends by offering sacrifices. Now, as a type of Christ, he experiences a sort of resurrection. First the restoration process of God: Job 42:10–11 (ESV) And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy an...

Job 42:7–9 (ESV) After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8 Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD had told them, and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer. God's words to the friends of Job are striking and without ambiguity. They are wrong and have been wrong about God and Job the whole time. They have spoken mistruths about God. Once again God calls Job, "my servant".  First, God's anger is kindled, "burns" against the three mispoken frien...

Many people like to say they've had an encounter with God. Perhaps they felt something at a certain point that made them feel spiritual or like something touched them on the inside. Those moments can be significant. But they are not always a true encounter with God. What I see Job experience in the last moment of his story is the true results that a true encounter with God produces. Job 42:1–3 (ESV) Then Job answered the LORD and said: 2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. The first expression of Job upon experiencing God is to surrender. "No purpose of (the Lord's) can be thwarted" . Job knows this now. He wanted answers and he came away with surrender to what God was doing in his life.  The second expression of Job is an admittance of his own foolish speech. "...

Job 41:1 (ESV)  Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord?    God now uses a water or sea creature called Leviathan to rebuke Job. It could be some mythical sea creature or a crocodile. We don’t know. But what we do know is that this great beast is utterly unusual to man. He cannot catch it, train it, use it as a pet or tame it.  Job 41:2-5 (ESV)  Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?  3  Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words?  4  Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever? 5  Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on a leash for your girls?  What is God saying? Simply this: Leviathan is wild beyond measure and yet God has made it. If mankind cannot control this small creature in comparison to the Earth, what hope does man have in control of anything God allows - including suffering. This is the fina...

As God answers Job a second time in Job 40 we are introduced to a strange discussion of the "Behemoth."  Job 40:15–18 (ESV) “Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox. 16 Behold, his strength in his loins, and his power in the muscles of his belly. 17 He makes his tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together. 18 His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron. Now you may ask, what does this have to do with God speaking to Job? What is the point? That was my first question. Of course, passages like this make me realize how often the Bible proves itself to be the inspiration of God and not the ideas of man. Who would respond to Job's suffering by talking about a huge animal? It's hard to believe mankind would come up with that idea on their own. No. God did it. And He does it for a reason.  First, the Lord tells Job, "I made (the Behemoth) as I made you." A fierce and strong and dangerous animal ...

In the Lord's speech to Job, God unloads His immense job description for four chapters. And when you read it, you quickly realize, it's a job only GOD is big enough for.  Job 38:39–39:4 (ESV) “Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, 40 when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in their thicket? 41 Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food? 1 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the does? 2 Can you number the months that they fulfill, and do you know the time when they give birth, 3 when they crouch, bring forth their offspring, and are delivered of their young? 4 Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open; they go out and do not return to them. After unpacking how the cosmos works at the direction of God, the Lord talks about the animal kingdom. In some ways, you are seeing God address creation here in the ord...

Job 38:1–3 (ESV) Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: 2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Why does God show up to Job "out of the whirlwind"? He could have come any number of ways. The NIV calls it a "storm" and the Message version says, "violent storm". What is the point here? I think it's pretty simple. We have a God in heaven that will embrace the storm for us and with us. And his storm was far more violent than Job's.  No matter what you're facing today, I can guarantee this - Christ knows what it's like and has been through it already. The storm of the cross was agony and separation. The storm of Christ's cup of suffering endured the wrath of God for you and for me. Second, the Lord speaks out of the "whirlwind" because the breath of God shaped the heavens.  Psalm 33:6 (ESV) By the word of the ...

Are you the kind of person who longs to hear from God's Word? Or are you the kind of person who kind of appreciates it? I would suggest that to the extent you long for His Word you experience His presence. Conversely, the less you long for it, the less you experience Him. God is looking for people who want to hear what He has said. This is the great testament of Scripture itself. And when we get to the climax of Elihu's speech to Job, we find a man in Elihu who LOVES and LONGS for the WORD of GOD.  Job 37:1–4 (ESV) “At this also my heart trembles and leaps out of its place. 2 Keep listening to the thunder of his voice and the rumbling that comes from his mouth. 3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go, and his lightning to the corners of the earth. 4 After it his voice roars; he thunders with his majestic voice, and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard. What does your heart leap for? Elihu's heart lept for God's voice. And he called Job to listen....

Elihu heads into the final stretch of his speech to Job in Job 36. I love how he has defended God every step of the way. While Job has only concerned himself with his plight, Elihu is setting the stage for the dramatic entrance of God.  Job 36:5 (ESV) “Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any; he is mighty in strength of understanding. Job has been concerned primarily with one thing, what he's done to deserve this punishment. As with most people, Job has dwelt only on the personal realities of his experiences. He's questioned why God is punishing him while letting the wicked "go free." I don't judge him at all, I would have fared far worse. But Elihu introduces something interesting to Job in verse 16.  Job 36:16 (ESV) He also allured you out of distress into a broad place where there was no cramping, and what was set on your table was full of fatness. In the New Living Translation: Job 36:16–17 (NLT) “God is leading you away from danger, Job, to a place f...

Everyone will know good and evil. That is a result of the curse. Remember God said after the first transgression about the woman and Adam: Genesis 3:22 (ESV) Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil . Job asks us to look the evil in this world straight in the eye and dig deeper than the surface of our mere discomfort. Our hearts are at stake, and who we become matters greatly to the Lord.  Job has thought it was all useless to be righteous. Thus Elihu asks him: Job 35:3 (NLT) For you also ask, ‘What’s in it for me? What’s the use of living a righteous life?’ Elihu's response: Job 35:5–7 (ESV) Look at the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds, which are higher than you. 6 If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him? 7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him? Or what does he receive from your hand? It is very true that our righteous or wicked livin...

Elihu continues to answer Job in chapter 34.  Job 34:7-9 (ESV) What man is like Job, who drinks up scoffing like water, 8 who travels in company with evildoers and walks with wicked men? 9 For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should take delight in God.’ He first sounds a lot like the three friends with a twinge of condescension for these are familiar attacks on Job. But his words are taken to a far different conclusion. Where Job's three friends assumed his guilt brought just condemnation, Elihu turns a corner and defends the awesome "otherness" of God.  Job 34:12–15 (ESV) Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice. 13 Who gave him charge over the earth, and who laid on him the whole world? 14 If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, 15 all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust. Elihu makes the case for the sovereign wisdom of God. No one put God in charge. H...

I think the figure of Elihu operates in the same way John the Baptist does for Jesus. He prepares the way for Job to encounter God. And as Elihu commences the content of his speech he arrives at the first hint of the sort of ideas he is going to bring to the table in this book.  Job 33:9–12 (ESV) You say, ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me. 10 Behold, he finds occasions against me, he counts me as his enemy, 11 he puts my feet in the stocks and watches all my paths.’ 12 “Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you, for God is greater than man. Elihu is the first person to ask Job to consider that God is not as a man. He is greater than a man. Job has acknowledged God's greatness already but Elihu presents it in the framework of Job's contending with God. Elihu stipulates that God speaks in ways we do not understand and operates in ways we cannot often comprehend.  Job 33:13–18 (ESV) Why do you contend against him, saying, ‘...

In Job 32 we are introduced to a 5th person named Elihu. Job 32:1–5 (ESV) So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God. 3 He burned with anger also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong. 4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he. 5 And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, he burned with anger. Elihu is a young man (note the anger) who stood by during the conversation has found the arguments of Job and the three friends wanting. Now the question before us is, who is this guy? We know who his father is and who his people are but what's his deal? Does he speak truth? Is his anger justified?  Elihu's name means, "He is my God." The first thing he...

In Job 31, he makes his final appeal for justice based on his own habits of personal piety. In verses 1-12 he speaks of his purity in regards to covetousness, sex, and adultery.  Job 31:1–2 (ESV) “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? 2 What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high?  In verses 13-23 he speaks of his righteous acts toward the poor.  Job 31:16 (ESV) “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, In verses 24-28, he talks about his proper attitude toward wealth and possessions. Job 31:24–25 (ESV) “If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence, 25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant or because my hand had found much... Finally, in the last part of the chapter, Job discusses his quest for justice. Job 31:35 (ESV) Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I ha...

Many times we let what people say about us really stick. Especially in times of hardship. That's what happens to Job in Job 30. He spent the previous chapter reminiscing about the glory days of his past. Now in chapter 30, he's talking about the devastating effects his suffering has had on his standing in the community.  Job 30:1 (ESV) “But now they laugh at me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock. I would say that Job has sort of backtracked here. He's no longer interested in a response from God. He's looking at the response of people. This is a fool's errand in so many ways. People are never the proper barometer of our life. So what that they laugh? Their laughter betrays their ignorance. They have no idea that God was bragging about Job's righteous ways - that there was none like him in all the Earth (Job 1:8). He continues later: Job 30:8–11 (ESV) A senseless, a nameless brood, they have been whi...

Sometimes we just want to go back in time, don't we? Especially when life is hard. That's where Job arrives in chapter 29. He looks with longing on the days of old and desires to return. Who can blame him? Nothing good has transpired since the beginning of this story. Brutal loss, tortuous suffering, and endless unsolicited and unwise counsel have been his experience for long enough to make him cry out in anguish for the better days of old.  Job 29:2–5 (ESV) “Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me, 3 when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness, 4 as I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent, 5 when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were all around me,... One thing you will see is that in the English translation of this chapter is how few sentences there are. Job expounds in long sentences recounting the glory of his former years.  He speaks of the leadership role in hi...

Job continues his speech in chapter 28 to talk about the lengths people go for riches but the sad reality that hardly anyone makes the same attempt at gaining wisdom. His words resonate with our generation in powerful ways.  He begins: Job 28:1–2 (ESV) “Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold that they refine. 2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the ore. Then he describes the time put in to search for these natural resources: Job 28:3 (ESV) Man puts an end to darkness and searches out to the farthest limit the ore in gloom and deep darkness. That is, man will seek all night for gold and silver. Then he describes the effort to gain riches: Job 28:9–11 (ESV) “Man puts his hand to the flinty rock and overturns mountains by the roots. 10 He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing. 11 He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle, and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light. Man will literally dig up a ...

There's a skill we often lack in the Christian world. Here it is - to speak truthfully about life, to describe honestly what's going on in our hearts and minds, and to express it audibly. There tends to be a superficiality to our faith that fails to let the sufferers cry, the sinful confess, and the one in misfortune express his frustrations with God. We expect people to be quiet and go to church far too much. We do so in defiance of the model laid out for us in the scriptures time and again and most notably with Job.  Job has held on now for 25 chapters of harassing speech from his friends. You have to imagine that they have only added salt to the wounds of his heart from all the trouble life has given him. But now after three cycles of conversations with them, Job has not given in. You have to credit him with either a strong sense of stubbornness or a very strong sense of conviction about his perspective on life. I give him the latter. Job knows his suffering is uncalled for ...

Job 26:2–4 (ESV) “How you have helped him who has no power! How you have saved the arm that has no strength! 3 How you have counseled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge! 4 With whose help have you uttered words, and whose breath has come out from you? Job responds to the last of the friends' speeches with an intriguing question - where is this coming from? And what a question that is because all their voices have spoken is condemnation and guilt. Who is the author of that? The devil himself.  Here's the thing about the devil. He will first use our desires against us and lead us to sin and then loudly condemn us when it's over suggesting we could NEVER be forgiven. He is indeed the voice of damnation and one day his own damnation will be well deserved. Now there is a question as to whether or not it is actually Job or the continuation of Bildad's final speech from Job 26:5 to the end of the chapter. As I read it, it could be either but I pick...

Job 25:1–6 (ESV) Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: 2 “Dominion and fear are with God; he makes peace in his high heaven. 3 Is there any number to his armies? Upon whom does his light not arise? 4 How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? 5 Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes; 6 how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!” I put the entirety of Bildad's final accusation against Job here because of its brevity and to celebrate this as the final word from the three horrible friends who have not changed in the least as they have sat and mourned with their "friend" in his dire situation.  Some people are all theology and no heart. Job's three friends fit that bill exactly. When I first read Bildad's final speech here in Job 25 I thought, "This guy sounds like a die-hard reformed theologian." He's speaking hard-line "total depravity...