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January 19, Sunday
An audio recording of the following comments is available below:
Reading A19 — Job 8 — Bildad’s Charge Audio link: Job 8 (ESV)
If …If…If — The second friend, Bildad, presented his main charge against Job with three conditional “if” statements (vv. 4-6). First, he assumed that Job’s children were punished by God because they had sinned (v. 4). He then instructed Job to “seek God … for mercy” (v. 5), which assumes that he was guilty and that he had not sought God. Bildad’s third assumption was that Job was not “pure and upright” (v. 6), because, otherwise, God would have restored him already. We know that final assumption is wrong because, three times earlier, God called Job “blameless and upright” (1:1, 8; 2:3). This should alert us to the likely possibility that our “if” assumptions about other people are wrong. Jesus knew what was in the heart of man, but we don’t. As the English author, George Eliot, said, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” neither should we base our evaluation of others on external appearances. We should recognize, however, that people evaluate us by what they see through our circumstances, actions, and attitudes. Jesus instructed us to “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).
January 20, Monday
An audio recording of the following comments is available below:
Reading A20 — Job 9 — Job’s Response to Bildad Audio link: Job 9 (ESV)
What Are You Doing? — Job began his response in basic agreement with Bildad’s question, saying, “how can a man be in the right before God?” (v. 2). God is infinitely greater than man in terms of righteousness because He is the unreachable standard. Yet, Job twice says, “I am in the right” (vv. 15, 20), and once, “I am blameless” (v. 21). So, Job’s evaluation of his own righteousness must have been from man’s perspective. There is much, however, that Job didn’t understand about God and why He does certain things. Because of His infinite goodness, Job asks, how can anyone question God by asking, “What are you doing?” (v. 12). Job didn’t understand (and neither do we much of the time), so he suggested a possible solution for how he could be blameless and still suffer so much. Perhaps, some tragedy falls indiscriminately on all humanity: “He destroys both the blameless and the wicked” (v. 22), rather like Jesus said in a more positive context, that He “sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45). At the beginning of this book, we learned “what God was doing” in His exchange with Satan, but Job didn’t know that. Many times, we also don’t know the reasons for what we see God doing in our lives and circumstances. In those times, we need to trust His great power, wisdom, and love, knowing that He is working all things for our ultimate good (Rom. 8:28).
January 21, Tuesday
An audio recording of the following comments is available below:
Reading A21 — Job 10 — Let Me Know Why Audio link: Job 10 (ESV)
Leave Me Alone — Whereas in the previous chapter, we saw Job primarily speaking about God, using the pronouns “he” and “him” 30 times, in Job 10, he speaks directly to God. He first asks God, “let me know why you contend against me” (v. 2). Like Job, there are many things that go on in our lives and in the world around us that we don’t understand. Why doesn’t God do something? Why did He do that? We don’t know, and we may never understand this side of heaven, but we do know much about God, that He is infinitely good, loving, and powerful. While we wait for heaven’s explanation, we will trust Him, even during our trials that seem unfair to us. Once again, Job declares his innocence, telling God, “you know that I am not guilty” (v. 7). The final request in this chapter is Job’s plea to God to “leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer” (v. 20). He felt overwhelmed by the negative circumstances God had allowed. God will answer Job’s prayer toward the end of this book, and he will find plenty of cheer.
January 22, Wednesday
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Reading A22 — Job 11 — Zophar’s Attack Audio link: Job 11 (ESV)
Blindspot Criticism — Zophar’s attack on Job is even stronger than that of his two friends. He charged Job with using “a multitude of words … full of talk … babble …mock” (vv. 2-3). This is an example of undeserved criticism, the kind of thing we only occasionally endure. Zophar’s challenge seemed right in his own eyes. He was looking at Job’s negative circumstances, and from the perspective of his system of theology, Job had to be guilty before God. That should be a warning to us about assigning blame to people without understanding the whole picture. Zophar would later be rebuked by God for his hasty and empty charges. These three friends probably discussed their feelings about Job’s situation while they were on their way to see him. They had heard about Job’s disastrous circumstances and were coming to try to comfort him. They probably decided before they arrived that Job was guilty of some offense against God, and then seeing his pitiful condition confirmed their suspicions. Their approach was to wake Job up to face the reason for his tragic condition. When we see a friend in need, we should genuinely comfort him, not accuse him.
January 23, Thursday
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Reading A23 — Job 12 — Job’s Response to Zophar Audio link: Job 12 (ESV)
Limits of Wisdom — Zophar had assumed that Job lacked wisdom, saying, “But oh, that God would speak and open his lips to you, and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!” (11:5-6). Job responded with a sarcastic suggestion that Zophar wasn’t as wise as he thought he was: “No doubt … wisdom will die with you” (12:2). In Zophar’s understanding, Job’s calamity was the direct result of his sin. Job responded by basically saying that his friend should take a broader look around him because, “The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure” (v. 6). God’s response to sin or to righteous acts is not so tightly programmed. Not every sin may be immediately punished, and not every righteous act may be immediately rewarded. It is true that God is the ultimate ruler over all, but He is free to reward and punish as He desires and in a timely way that fits into His eternal plan. The next time you think that God is not being fair in what you see happening around you, remember that your wisdom is limited.
January 24, Friday
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Reading A24 — Job 13 — Needing Silence to Speak Audio link: Job 13 (ESV)
Holding Hope — Job had a problem with friends who wouldn’t be silent and with God who wouldn’t speak. Twice, Job asked Zophar for silence; first, because the wisdom of the three friends was faulty and limited (v. 4), and second, because he wanted to speak to God (v. 13). Then, Job made a powerful statement of trust in God: “Though he slay me, I will hope in him” (v. 15; or NKJV: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”). Will those also be our words in our most trying circumstance? Will we wait in hope, even though it may end in death? We have so much more information about God and His ways than Job had. We have the whole Bible. We have confirmation of eternal life because of the resurrection and promise of Jesus. We also have 2,000 years of history of Christians who have followed Christ faithfully. We should have even more hope and more trust, yet we see so many in our time who question God during their hard times. Their focus on circumstances has eroded their hope. What a wonderful example of hope and trust was this very ancient man of God, Job!
January 25, Saturday
An audio recording of the following comments is available below:
Reading A25 — Job 14 — Job Addresses God Audio link: Job 14 (ESV)
Distant Hope — Job shifted to addressing God in verse 20 of the previous chapter, and it continues throughout this chapter. Although “hope” is mentioned twice in this chapter, not all of it is hopeful. A contrast is made between the death of a tree and the death of a man. Job told God that, for a dead tree, “there is hope … that it will sprout again” (v. 7), but that “you destroy the hope of man” (v. 19). The big question in Job’s mind was this: “If a man dies, shall he live again?” (v. 14). He didn’t seem to know about a life after death for mankind. There are very few hints in all the Old Testament that an afterlife exists. After the death of the illegitimate infant born to Bathsheba, David said, “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me” (2 Sam. 12:23), which could have been referring only to the grave. In a more positive sense, future “hope” is seen by David in Psalm 23: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death … I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psa. 23:4, 6). More light was given centuries later through the prophet Isaiah, when he declared about God, that “He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces” (Isa. 25:8). Even later, God made it much clearer through Daniel in Babylon: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2). For the Christian, hope arrived in a Bethlehem manger, and much more light was given to us about the other side of death. It is more than hope now; it is assurance.
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