Bible reading for weekend March 12 -- 14
Mar 12 -- Job 41 and 2 Corinthians 11
Mar 13 -- Job 42 and 2 Corinthians 12
Mar 14 -- Proverbs 1 and 2 Corinthians 13
"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." (Job 42:8)
THE END OF THE MATTER (ch 41-42). God has spoken, and Job is humbled. God restores Job's life with double blessings. Job's prayer will result in God's forgiveness for the three friends. His possessions are returned two-fold, but the same number of children (seven boys, three girls) are given as before, but not doubled. Some think, and I would agree, that this is because Job's children from earlier, unlike the livestock, were not lost, in the sense of forever. They would be restored at the resurrection, which is also alluded to in chapter 19. The family circle would be unbroken.
WHY JOB? Why is this book in the Bible? It's more than just a book about suffering, or how to give proper comfort to others in their pain. As regards the history of redemption, Job points us to Christ. Job, the righteous sufferer, foreshadows Jesus, who is the only truly righteous Man who experiences excruciating suffering, though not for his own sins. Jesus becomes the mediator that Job was seeking (9:32-33; 10:4-5; 16:19-21; 19:25-26). He is the arbiter, the neighbor, the Redeemer who will stand upon the earth. He is like God, but with skin on. There are other important truths:
1) God and his ways are inscrutable. (37:23) At any given moment we do not fully comprehend his purposes for us and the world. We can know God truly, though not exhaustively. And we should be humble about what we think we know.
2) There's an unseen world that interacts with this one (ch 1-2). There is a devil but he's on a leash.
3) God must be known in all of his attributes (37:23). God's purposes encompass not only justice, but also compassion and mercy (Jas 5:11).
4) God is sovereign over all (ch 38-41). The same God who created and guides the galaxies is the One who guides human affairs. J. Vernon McGee once said, "This is God's universe and God does things his way. You may have a better way, but you don't have a universe."
5) Salvation will not come by self-justification but by the justification of God (40:2, 8).
6) Even the wise can become fools (42:7-8). As Will Rogers said, "Never miss a good chance to shut up."
7) There is no final justice without resurrection (19:25-27; 42:13).
8) Finally, Job is an example to us of steadfastness (Jas 5:11). When everything seems to go wrong, believers should stay the course.
PROVERBS. This weekend we begin reading the book of Proverbs. (We will come back to Psalms in August.) Like Job the book of Proverbs is considered "wisdom literature." That is, it is written poetically, and addresses both the big metaphysical issues and the practical details of life. All of the created universe belongs to God. Proper orientation to life begins with reverence, the fear of the Lord. Do you want to be wise? The place to begin is with the heart. Humble yourself, seek the Lord, and turn away from sin and folly. I'll write more on Proverbs in Monday's post.
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"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Corinthians 12:9)
DIVINE JEALOUSY (ch 11). Read about chapter eleven here.
WEAKNESS AND POWER (ch 12). Read about chapter twelve here.
CONCLUSION AND BENEDICTION (ch 13). Read about chapter thirteen here.
About this newsletter: I post three times a week on my Bible reading, following the Robert Murray M'Cheyne (RMM) two-year reading schedule, as arranged by D. A. Carson. Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Another resource I recommend is the NET Bible with its excellent notes at netbible.org.
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