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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 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 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 10 -- 11 Feb 10 -- Job 9 and Romans 13 Feb 11 -- Job 10 and Romans 14 "Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God?  If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times." (Job 9:2-3) OVERWHELMED. In chapters nine and ten Job is overwhelmed by the thought of the immensity and power of the God to whom he is complaining. If he were to have a righteous cause, as he feels he does (9:2, 15, 20-21; 10:15), how could he ever defend himself before an all-powerful God? Or should he appeal to God's mercy (9:15) or fake happiness (9:27)? Who can argue with such a God? But Job wants to be heard, to be understood, to know that God knows the injustice that Job feels. He is so aware of the great gulf between himself and God, but he remembers God's kindness and love toward him, which now seem only a memory (10:11-13). Job again wonders why he was born only to end life in such a miserable way (10:...

Bible reading for Dec 3.  2 Chronicles 2. "The house that I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods.  But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him?" (2:5-6)  THE WORK BEGINS. The temple that Solomon would build was not to be some kind of container for God, but rather a place to meet with God and to worship him. It would be a beautiful structure, built with precious materials and fine craftsmanship. Most of the labor was provided by resident aliens who were drafted for the work and compensated as indentured servants. Hiram, the king of Tyre and friend of King David, recognized the excellence of Solomon's leadership: "Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you king over them" (v 11).   ===============   1 John 2. "And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will o...

Bible reading for weekend Nov 7-8.  2 Kings 20-21. "And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them." (2 Kings 20:13) HEZEKIAH (ch 20). After being spared from the Assyrian conquest Hezekiah makes the mistake of inviting the king of the now-upcoming Babylonian empire into his house and showing him all his wealth. One does not simply cozy up to a powerful pagan dictator and expect to remain unaffected. Hezekiah was healed by the Lord, and his life extended -- along with the miracle of the shadow moving back -- but he does not use the extra time well. He should have taken God's early retirement offer.  MANASSEH AND AMON (ch 21). Hezekiah is followed by one of the worst kings of Judah, Manasseh. Though Manasseh repents later in life, his reign is filled with many abomi...

Bible reading for March 17: Exodus 28; John 7.  "So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the LORD." (Exodus 28:29)  In Exodus we are in a section dealing with the priests (Ex 28-31).  There is a remarkable parallel between the role of the high priest in the OT and the high priesthood of Lord Jesus revealed in the NT.  For example, compare Ex 28 with Jesus' priestly prayer in John 17 ...  The High Priest's work is.. 1)  A sanctifying work.   The high priest's concern was for the purity of God's people .  "Holy to the Lord" applied not just to the priest but to the people he represented (Ex 28:2, 36-38). The Lord Jesus, as our High Priest, prays for our sanctification, our growth in holiness (Jn 17:14-19).  2)  A unifying work. The names written on the onyx stones upon Aaron's shoulders (28:...