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  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 resurr...

Bible reading for March 10 -- 11 Mar 10 -- Job 39 and 2 Corinthians 9 Mar 11 -- Job 40 and 2 Corinthians 10 "Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it." (Job 40:2) MORE LESSONS FROM NATURE (ch 39-40). God speaks of the mountain goat, the wild donkey, the ostrich, the horse, and the hawk, in order to demonstrate the limitation of human knowledge and power. Each of these creatures -- a creature like Job -- has greater strength, skill, and speed than Job. We are not as wise and capable as we often think.  ON BEHEMOTH AND LEVIATHAN (ch 41-42). There are many opinions about whether these are real creatures to be found in nature, being described with hyperbole, or if these are references to mythological creatures symbolizing death and Satan. Some have suggested these are remnants of dinosaur species. See Constable's comments on the various interpretations . And here's Christopher Ash's interpretation . The over-riding poi...

Bible reading for weekend March 8 -- 9 Mar 8 -- Job 37 and 2 Corinthians 7 Mar 9 -- Job 38 and 2 Corinthians 8 "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?" (Job 38:33) ELIHU FINISHES (ch 37) . Elihu finishes his speech, and in these last two verses he speaks of several of God's attributes: "The Almighty -- we cannot find him; he is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate. Therefore men fear him; he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit" (vv 23-24). God is omnipotent and great in power; he is infinite and inscrutable, that is, beyond our full comprehension; and he is completely righteous, with an impeccable standard of justice. Again, Job and his friends have only been considering a limited view of God, specifically his temporal judgments in human affairs. Elihu's conclusion is that our knowledge of God -- and our lack of knowledge about him -- should lead us to humble o...

Bible reading for weekend March 5 -- 7 Mar 5 -- Job 34 and 2 Corinthians 4 Mar 6 -- Job 35 and 2 Corinthians 5 Mar 7 -- Job 36 and 2 Corinthians 6 "Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable. For he draws up the drops of water; they distill his mist in rain, which the skies pour down and drop on mankind abundantly." (Job 36:26-28)  GOD WILL BE JUSTIFIED (ch 34)  Elihu continues his speech.  God will not act unjustly. In the end his will and his actions will be seen as true and just. "Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, 'That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged'" (Rom 3:4). Some have used the argument that the existence of evil in the world negates the existence of God by showing either his lack of power or his lack of goodness. Evil has not been destroyed, so God must not exist. But the important word "yet" must be inserted. Evil has not yet been de...

Bible reading for March 3 -- 4 Mar 3 -- Job 32 and 2 Corinthians 2 Mar 4 -- Job 33 and 2 Corinthians 3 "'He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.' Behold, God does all these things, twice, three times, with a man, to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be lighted with the light of life."  (Job 33:28-30) A YOUNGSTER SPEAKS UP (ch 32). Sometimes during a big debate or argument -- whether on a personal level, say, between marriage partners, or on a national scale between political parties -- we begin to realize that both sides in the debate are wrong. In today's chapter we are introduced to a new character in the drama, a young man named Elihu. He brings a different perspective, and speaks with passion. Age, experience, position, and reputation do not in themselves produce wisdom -- sometimes students know more than their teachers (Ps 119:99). We don't know much about Elihu, but he is not included in ...

Bible reading for March 1--2 Mar 1 -- Job 30 and 1 Corinthians 16 Mar 2 -- Job 31 and 2 Corinthians 1 "I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him." (Job 31:37)  JOB'S SUMMATION (ch 30) . In chapter 29 Job tells of his past sense of blessedness in his walk with the Lord. In chapter 30 he describes his life as a social pariah. Even the outcasts of the community consider him an outcast of outcasts, and sing disparaging songs about him. His prosperity has passed away like a cloud in the sky. His health is broken; he cannot sleep without pain; the few friends that remain are of no help. We must ask ourselves, how do we respond when we see others suffering, and suffering in a way that we might presume that they are under God's judgment? Do we stay away, stand far off, and avoid contact? Do we just think how thankful we are that it is not us suffering that way? Or, do we like Jesus see and have compassion upon others in their misery and l...

Bible reading for weekend February 26 -- 28 Feb 26 -- Job 27 and 1 Corinthians 13 Feb 27 -- Job 28 and 1 Corinthians 14 Feb 28 -- Job 29 and 1 Corinthians 15 "From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? ... 'God understands the way to it, and he knows its place.'" (Job 28:20, 23)  GOD WILL JUDGE (ch 27). In this chapter Job affirms God's judgment upon the wicked. But he will not, as his friends seem to be urging him to do, call upon the Lord (and confess some sin) to get out from under his judgment. God's plan for redemption is not merely to bring people to call upon the Lord in their troubles, but rather to call upon the Lord at all times and to delight in him: "For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off, when God takes away his life? Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him? Will he take delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times?" (vv 8-10) This has been the pattern of Job...

Bible reading for February 24 -- 25 Feb 24 -- Job 24 and 1 Corinthians 11 Feb 25 -- Job 25-26 and 1 Corinthians 12 "Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?" (Job 26:14) TO A MAN WITH A HAMMER (ch 24). Job's friends have one paradigm they're working with: if you are suffering, then you are being judged and need to repent. This is a case of the popular saying, "to a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail." Job's friends are locked into a worldview, a narrative, about the reason for suffering. Job raises the question of the silence and seeming inactivity of God to bring judgment against evil. In other words, the problem is not just, why do the innocent suffer, but also why do the guilty not suffer (24:1, 12)? As we read Job's examples and descriptions of injustice, take time to ponder. This has been a question that has bothered believers and unb...

Bible reading for February 22 -- 23 Feb 22 -- Job 22 and 1 Corinthians 9 Feb 23 -- Job 23 and 1 Corinthians 10 "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.  My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside." (Job 23:10-11)  "SO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS..." (ch 22) Don't you hate it when you're trying to explain something and a listener jumps in to say, "What you're saying, then, is this..." and runs with your statement to arrive at some bizarre conclusion? (No, that's not what I'm saying!) If it hasn't happened to you, just read a few social media posts to see how that works! That's what Eliphaz is doing in his third speech to Job (chapter 22). First, he agrees with Zophar that Job must surely be mistreating the poor, though there's no evidence of that. Then he says, "But you say, 'What does God know? Can he judge through the deep darkness?...

Bible reading for weekend February 19 -- 21 Feb 19 -- Job 19 and 1 Corinthians 6 Feb 20 -- Job 20 and 1 Corinthians 7 Feb 21 -- Job 21 and 1 Corinthians 8 "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth." (Job 19:25)  EARTHLY HOPE DASHED (ch 19) . Job continues his lament (19:1-12), and expresses how painful is the isolation that he experiences because of his suffering (19:13-19). Family and friends stand at a distance. Not only do they avoid him, but they too most likely doubt his integrity before God. Pain isolates us, and even today, chronic pain can cause others to view us as "problem people" to be avoided. Job feels that his earthly hope has been pulled up like an uprooted tree (v 10).  Amazingly, however, he proclaims a hope beyond this world (vv 25-26). His hope is in the Lord, who is righteous, and it is the Lord himself who will redeem Job. He feels cursed, and others view him as cursed, but he is actually blessed by the Lor...

Bible reading for February 17 -- 18 Feb 17 -- Job 16-17 and 1 Corinthians 4 Feb 18 -- Job 18 and 1 Corinthians 5 "Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high. My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God, that he would argue the case of a man with God, as a son of man does with his neighbor." (Job 16:19-21)  CAN I GET A WITNESS?  (ch 16-17) Job's friends are insisting on a simple and straightforward explanation for his suffering. Job does not buy it. But he is perplexed by what seems to him to be a serious contradiction.  His life circumstances testify (give witness) to Job's being under severe judgment from God (16:8). But he is also confident that God is his witness and the only one who can testify to Job's upright walk (16:19).  At heart, Job believes that God is just. But he wonders who could mediate between a man and God in a human, neighborly way? Hint: only God will be able to do that (1 Tim 2:5).    BILDAD...

Bible reading for February 15 -- 16 Feb 15 -- Job 14 and 1 Corinthians 2 Feb 16 -- Job 15 and 1 Corinthians 3 "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one." (Job 14:4)  IS THERE HOPE? (ch 14). Job fully believes the truth about the depravity of man, as well as about human mortality. But he wonders, what lasting good can come from such extreme suffering? As you read, take time to ponder the metaphors and images he uses . At the end of this speech, he feels his hope is being washed away like the rocks of mountains are undercut and worn down by the relentless action of water. But he also raises a question, "If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come. You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands." (14:14-15)  Is there a resurrection? Can relationship with God be restored? Can something clean come out of the unclean? The OT writers do not say a lot abo...