Job's Misery Part Two

10/25/2011 8:58:40 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  Job’s Misery PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                          Reference:  Job 2:1-3:26

                Message of the verses:  Today’s SD will start the last two sub-points under the main point of “Job’s Misery,” as we began the section in the last SD.  Today we will begin with the third sub-point entitled “The voice of the mourners” and it covers Job 2:11-13:  “11 ¶  Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him. 12  When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky. 13  Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.”

                Job’s three friends come to pay him a visit from a long way off, as somehow they heard of his misery and wanted to comfort him, yet when they first laid eyes on him they could not believe what they saw, for Job was physically, and probably mentally a different person than they remembered. 

                I want to say a bit about the place where they found Job, for he was sitting on an ash heap and this is the place where the garbage was thrown out and burned from the town that Job was living in, so when you think of it Job went from the most prominent man in town to one sitting on the garbage dump of the town.

                The three friend when they first saw him tore their clothes and threw dust into the air, and were silent for seven days something that was done when great people died as explained in Genesis 50:10, “When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and sorrowful lamentation; and he observed seven days mourning for his father.” 

                As far as being quiet that was perhaps the best thing that they did for Job, but they would make up for it latter when they began to persecute him with all of their advice and talk that could not have made Job feel better.  Dr. Wiersbe writes, “Don’t try to explain everything; explanations never heal a broken heart.”  It is best to just listen, and perhaps ask the person if they are interested in your opinion for a solution, but if not then don’t give it, just listen.

“The voice of the sufferer (Job 3:1-26)” :  “1 ¶  Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2  And Job said, 3  "Let the day perish on which I was to be born, And the night which said, ’A boy is conceived.’ 4  "May that day be darkness; Let not God above care for it, Nor light shine on it. 5  "Let darkness and black gloom claim it; Let a cloud settle on it; Let the blackness of the day terrify it. 6  "As for that night, let darkness seize it; Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; Let it not come into the number of the months. 7  "Behold, let that night be barren; Let no joyful shout enter it. 8  "Let those curse it who curse the day, Who are prepared to rouse Leviathan. 9  "Let the stars of its twilight be darkened; Let it wait for light but have none, And let it not see the breaking dawn; 10  Because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb, Or hide trouble from my eyes.

    “11 ¶  "Why did I not die at birth, Come forth from the womb and expire? 12  "Why did the knees receive me, And why the breasts, that I should suck? 13  "For now I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept then, I would have been at rest, 14  With kings and with counselors of the earth, Who rebuilt ruins for themselves; 15  Or with princes who had gold, Who were filling their houses with silver. 16 "Or like a miscarriage which is discarded, I would not be, As infants that never saw light. 17  "There the wicked cease from raging, And there the weary are at rest. 18  "The prisoners are at ease together; They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster. 19  "The small and the great are there, And the slave is free from his master.

   “ 20 ¶  "Why is light given to him who suffers, And life to the bitter of soul, 21  Who long for death, but there is none, And dig for it more than for hidden treasures, 22  Who rejoice greatly, And exult when they find the grave? 23  "Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, And whom God has hedged in? 24  "For my groaning comes at the sight of my food, And my cries pour out like water. 25  "For what I fear comes upon me, And what I dread befalls me. 26  "I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.’”

I want to make it clear that Job did not want to end his life, nor was he cursing God, but what he was doing was cursing the day that he was born, for if he had died at birth then he would not be going through all of this misery at this time.  Job was a man who was hurting, and hurting a lot.

Dr. Wiersbe writes “Pain makes us forget the joys of the past; instead, we concentrate on the hopelessness of the future.”  Job was hurting and therefore did not remember all of the good things that had happened to him in the past, but only concentrated on how dark the future was, and then it got worse as his “friends” began to explain to Job why all these things came upon him.

We can see that Job cursed two days, the day he was conceived and the day of his birth.  By cursing blessings he was saying that God was not good for these were good things that happen.  “13  For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. 14  I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15  My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16  Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”  (Psalm 139:13-16)  This is a word from God that a person’s life begins at conception.

Job asked four “whys” as he closed his curing of the day he was conceived and the day he was born.  Asking why to the Lord will not heal us no more than looking at an X ray of a broken bone take away the pain.  Dr. Wiersbe writes these wise words “We live on promises, not explanations; so we shouldn’t spend too much time asking God why.”

Job speaks of the place where the dead go, but the OT people did not have full revelation on this and therefore his thinking was not at all correct, for he thought that there would be a place of rest with all who had lived, and that sounded better to him than what he was going through.  Job does speak of the resurrection of the dead later on in the book.

In his commentary on these verses Warren Wiersbe believes that Job had some intuition that something bad was going to happen to him, and perhaps he even prayed to the Lord about it to give him strength to go through this difficult situation.

We will look at who these three friends of Job were in the next SD.

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  A few years back, 2003 to be exact a similar thing happened to me as far as me believing that there was something going to happen to me.  I knew that there was more to my Christian life than what I was experiencing and so a great tragedy came into my life, along with many others at the same time.  After the tragedy I heard a message at church entitled “Blessings in the Storms of Life.”  This message sustained me through those early years of the tragedy and God did send blessings in this storm as we helped to lead eighteen people in our neighborhood to a saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Not only were we able to lead these people to the Lord, but were able to disciple them as they began their walk with the Lord.  One of these dear saints is now with the Lord as she died at the age of thirty-five.       

                This was the beginning of the Lord making it important in my life to be content, and that has never stopped.  I am far from my goal of saying with Paul, “I have learned to be content,” yet I think about it every day.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.    I trust the Lord for the outcome of the blood test that I have to have this morning as the first one had some problems and they want another one.

2.    I trust the Lord for the safe delivery of our sixth grand-child today, that all would go well as this even is happening a couple of weeks earlier than expected.

3.    Continue to learn contentment.

10/25/2011 9:54:09 AM

Job's Misery Parts one and two

10/24/2011 9:12:33 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  Job’s Misery

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Job 2:1-3:26

                Message of the verses:  Because of the length of the section that we are about to cover I have chosen to break it up into two different SD’s.  We will look at “The voice of the accuser” and “The voice of the quitter” in today’s SD, and then in the next SD we will look at “The voice of the mourners,” and “The voice of the sufferer.”

                “The voice of the accuser” Job 2:1-8:  “  1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. 2  The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it." 3  The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause." 4  Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. 5  "However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face." 6  So the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life."

    “7 Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8  And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.”

                It is not known how long between the time that Job lost all of his family and property that the time that Satan afflicted him.  What we need to look at in this section is what the Lord told Satan and that is that Satan had lost this battle, for all that he had done to Job did not cause him to sin, for Job was without blame in all that happened to him.  The Lord then tells Satan that he had incited “Me” against him to ruin him without cause.  Job had done nothing to incur all that had happened to him, but his friends would continue to tell him that he must have sinned or done something wrong in order to have all these thing happen to him.

                At this time I wish to quote a paragraph from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary:  “Not all physical affliction comes directly from the evil one, though Satan’s demons can cause (among other things) blindness (Matt. 12:22), dumbness (9:32), physical deformities (Luke 13:11-17), incessant pain (2Cor. 12:7), and insanity (Matt. 8:28-34).  Sometimes physical affliction is the natural result of carelessness on our part, and we have nobody to blame but ourselves.  But even then, Satan knows how to use our folly to further his cause.”

                “The voice of the quitter (Job 2:9-10) :  “9  Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!" 10  But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

                Now we come to the part of the story of the book of Job when some women will tell you that Job’s wife endured the same losses in the first attack of Satan that he did and therefore has a right to be upset over what happened to both of them.  I believe that this is true, however Job does not handle it in the same way that she did, for it says “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” 

                Job’s wife was tempting him with the very thing that Satan wanted him to do, but Job did not give into the temptation.  Adam listened to his wife, and Abraham listened to his wife and they both sinned, but Job did not.  Satan can use even those who are close to us to cause us to sin. 

                In looking at his wife’s situation as stated above she had lost all that Job had lost with the exception of her health, and perhaps she was feeling sorry for him and said this so that there would be a quick ending to Job because of the way that he was looking and feeling, perhaps if he cursed God, then God would take his life.

                We see in this that Job would not give up his faith in God nor give up his integrity, and that is exactly what his wife wanted him to give up.  “Job was going to trust God—and even argue with God!—and not waste his sufferings or his opportunity to receive what God had for him.”

                Dr. Wiersbe writes, “In the end, Job’s wife was reconciled to her husband and to the Lord, and God gave her another family (42:13).  We don’t know how much she learned from her sufferings; but we can assume it was a growing experience for her.”

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I like the way that Job answered his wife when she suggested to him that he curse God and then die, for he did not argue with her, and he probably did not yell at her, but simply said that she was speaking as a foolish woman, and that we are to accept both the good and bad things that come from God.  I would suppose that we learn much more from the troubles in our life than from our good times, even though we enjoy the good times more when they are happening to us.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.      “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

2.      “5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”

3.      “10 ¶  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11  Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13  Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14  Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15  and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 16  in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17  And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18  With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,”

4.      “for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.”

10/24/2011 10:15:12 AM

Job's Fidelity

10/23/2011 8:08:31 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  Job’s Fidelity

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                          Reference:  Job 1:20-22

                Message of the verses:  20 ¶  Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21  He said, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD." 22  Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.”

                I must say that when I read these three verses that I am completely amazed at how Job handled the situation that he found himself in.  As mentioned in yesterday’s SD I see complete contentment of heart in these verses as to how Job handled this situation not knowing that he was actually being a man who was involved in a situation that he did not know about.  I truly believe that God knew how Job would react in this situation, and saying that is kind of preposterous because one of the attributes of God is that He is all knowing.

                What Job was saying in verse twenty-one was that God had given to him everything that he had, for he was only a steward of those things that were given to him by the gracious hand of the Lord, and the Lord could take them back again if He desired to do this, and Job perfectly understood this.

                This verse also shows Job looking ahead to his death when he said that naked he would return there.  Job realized like Paul “For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.”  (1Timothy 6:7) 

                Next we see in verse twenty-one that Job looked up and worshiped the Lord, something that Satan said to God that he would not do, but Satan said that he would curse God when these things were taken away from him.  Again God knew that Job would not curse Him.  By worshipping God at a time like this surely shows the maturity of Job.  It reminds me of what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians at the end of his first letter to them when he gave some wonderful advice in three short verses:  “16 Rejoice always; 17  pray without ceasing; 18  in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  We see from Job 1:21 that Job followed these verses, and the reason that I say that Job prayed without ceasing was because he would have had to do this in order to be able to trust the Lord in this dark event that he was going through.

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at verse twenty-two I am truly amazed at what it says, for most people would have blamed God and would have been asking why God?  Why did you allow this to happen to me?  Haven’t I served you, given my tithes to You? Or something like this, but not Job.  Job gave thanks and worshipped the Lord.  I have heard that in everything give thanks” does not mean that you have to be thankful in everything, but by giving thanks you realize that God is in control and is working all of these things out so that it will be for your good and for His glory.  We will see this as the story of Job unfolds.  Many people when they think of the book of Job remember Job’s patience, and that is here, but as we study this book we find that there is much more to Job than just his patience.  Job is a good man to pattern your life after, especially when trouble comes into your life.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.    In everything give thanks.

2.    Pray without ceasing.

3.    Rejoice always.

4.    Put on the spiritual armor:  The belt of truth; the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, take up the shield of faith, take up the helmet of salvation, and take up the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God.

5.    Continue to learn contentment.

10/23/2011 8:50:22 AM   

Job's Adversity

10/22/2011 9:47:12 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  Job’s Adversity

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                          Reference:  Job 1:6-19

                Message of the verses:  “6 ¶  Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7  The LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it." 8  The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil." 9  Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 10  "Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11  "But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face." 12  Then the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him." So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.

    ‘13 ¶  Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14  a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 15  and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." 16  While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you." 17  While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." 18  While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19  and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.’”

                In the account above we see that Job has lost all of his material blessings along with all of his children in one day.  It is because the author of Job has taken us into the throne room of God that we know why all of this happened to Job, but think if we had not known why all of this happened wouldn’t we tend to be like Job’s friends and think that all of this happened because Job had sinned against the Lord is some large way.  I suppose that all of the times that I have read the book of Job that this through had never crossed my mind, for I always looked at the story as it was told and therefore I was always upset with his friends, yet perhaps I would have done the same thing if I did not realize the whole story behind the story.  Job knew what had happened to him, but he did not know why all of this happened to him.

                The first thing we can learn from this is that God is sovereign in all things.  We know from different Scriptures that God is on His throne and so He is the One who is in control.  Not even Satan can do anything to God’s people without God’s permission.  The writer of Job wants his readers to clearly understand that God is in control.

                I don’t know if this second truth will surprise you at all, but we see in the passage above that Satan can come into the presence of God.  I don’t remember who it was, but a long time ago I heard a speaker talking about the destruction of heaven and earth that is found in the latter part of Revelations, I think chapter twenty-one.  The question came up as to why heaven, the place where God lives, be destroyed and the answer that he gave was right from this section of Job, and that is that Satan had access to heaven and therefore it was tainted with sin and therefore would be destroyed.

                There will come a day when Satan will be cast into the lake of fire, but now he is free to roam the earth and cause trouble for God’s people.

                The next truth we see here is that God did not find any fault with Job, but Satan found fault with Job.  Jesus said to the Pharisees in John 8:44:  “"You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”  This is an example of one of Satan’s lies that is finding fault with Job.

                Dr. Wiersbe writes:  “This is a courtroom scene, and God and Satan each deliver verdicts about Job.  As you study this book, keep in mind that God said ‘Not guilty!’  (1:8; 2:3; 42:7)  There is nothing in Job’s life that compelled God to cause him to suffer.  But Satan said ‘Guilty!’  Because e is the accuser of God’s people and finds nothing good in them (Zech. 3; Rev. 12:10).

                “Satan’s accusation against Job was really an attack on God.  We might paraphrase it like this:  ‘The only reason Job fears You is because You pay him to do it.  You two have made a contract:  You protect him and prosper him as long as he obeys You and worships You.  You are not a God worthy of worship!  You have to pay people to honor You.”

                After reading this statement I find it easier to put things into perspective as far as understanding this book better.

                Dr. Wiersbe goes on to say “The fundamental reason for Job’s suffering was to silence the blasphemous accusations of Satan and prove that a man would honor God even though he had lost everything.  It was a battle ‘in the heavenlies’ (Ephesians 6:12), but Job did not know it.  Job’s life was a battlefield where the forces of God and Satan were engaged in a spiritual struggle to decide the question, ‘Is Jehovah God worthy of man’s worship?’”

                The fourth and last truth that emerges from this section of Scripture is “Satan can touch God’s people only with God’s permission, and God uses it for their good and His glory. “

                As believers we are to bring glory to God, and our goal should be what is found in Romans 8:29 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”  Now all of this fits into the thing that I write most every day in my SD, and that is to learn contentment.  Paul writes in the last part of Philippians 4:11 that he had learned to be contented in all things, and the way that he learned it was the same way that Job learned it, and the same way all believers learn and that is going through troubles.  Dr. Wiersbe pointed out at the beginning of his commentary on Job that he realized that in order to write his commentary more effectively that he would have to go through trials, and that is what he told his wife.  He points out that he did go through some trials, but not what they were, and this made it easier for him to relate to Job.  Whenever I think about Paul writing that he had learned contentment I am truly amazed, for this is a difficult thing to learn, but in learning it we become conformed to the Lord which should be all believer’s goal.

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  We are not told all that went through Job’s mind when he received all of this terrible news, but what we do see is a man who handled it in a mature way, trusting the Lord even in all of this tragedy that he was going through, and after all that is the best thing to do.  For this my respect for Job is “off the chart.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.    Put on the spiritual armor; the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the Gospel of peace, take up the shield of faith, put on the helmet of salvation, and take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

2.    Continue to learn contentment.

10/22/2011 10:38:03 AM

Job's Prosperity

10/21/2011 8:36:37 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Job’s Prosperity

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                       Reference:  Job 1:1-5

                Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. 2  Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. 3  His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

    “4 ¶  His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5  When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, "Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did continually.”

                I have mentioned before that I have the greatest respect for Warren Wiersbe and his wonderful ability to write his commentaries on the Word of God to make them understandable to everyone who reads them.  He has a precious gift from the Lord to be able to do this. 

                Before beginning his writing on the book of Job he knew in his heart that there would be trials that lie ahead so that he would be able to understand more about the book of Job, that he would be able to write on it more effectively.  He also challenges his readers to be aware that they too may go through trials in order to better understand what Job went through and to also learn more of the faithfulness of God.  He states in his introduction to this first chapter that there are two things that we should accomplish in our lives as we study this book:  to be patient in our trials and also to be better equipped to help others who are going through trials, and be willing to help others through those trials.

Job 23:10 reads as follows “’But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.’”  Gold does not fear the fire, for what is burned up in the fire is not worth having anyway.

Dr. Wiersbe entitles this first chapter of his commentary “The Drama Begins,” and it will cover the first three chapters of the book of Job and it will reveal four important facts about Job of which the first one is the subject of today’s SD.  It should be no surprise to anyone that he entitles this commentary “Be Patient.”

One of the questions that many people have in this life is why do the innocent suffer?  This is surely one of the themes of the book of Job, for Job did not have any idea as to why he was suffering, for his claim throughout this entire book was that his suffering was not due to any sin that he had committed, as he was accused of by his wife and three friends.  James 5:11 states “We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.”  This shows that Job was a real person and that he was a person who was patient, as the word endurance states. 

Job and his friends were trying to figure out why he was suffering and this takes up the majority of the book as they go back and forth trying to analyze this, but the fact is that none of them knew why Job was suffering because the first section of the book that takes place in heaven and shows why Job was suffering was not known to them. 

John MacArthur writes at the beginning of his Study Bible on Job the following that will shed some light on this theme of why the innocent suffer:

1.      “There are matters going on in heaven with God that believers know nothing about; yet they affect their lives;

2.      Even the best effort at explaining the issues of life can be useless;

3.      God’s people do suffer.  Bad things happen all the time to good people, so one cannot judge a person’s spirituality by his painful circumstances or success;

4.      Even though God seems far away, perseverance in faith is a most noble virtue since God is good and on can safely leave his life in His hands;

5.       The believer in the midst of suffering should not abandon God, but draw near to Him, so out of the fellowship can come comfort—without the explanation; and;

6.      Suffering may be intense, but it will ultimately end for the righteous and God will bless abundantly.”

                The first verse states that Job was from the land of Uz, and that he was “blameless upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.”  There is speculation as to where Uz is located, some think that it was near where the Edomites lived, but I don’t think that this is greatly important.  Most scholars say that Job lived during the time of Abraham, in that era. 

                His Character:  Stating that Job was blameless and upright did not mean that Job was sinless, for there was only One Man who fits that description; Jesus Christ.  Job was complete and mature in character and straight in conduct.  When we look at the word blameless we see the following:  “1c) complete, morally innocent, having integrity 1c1) one who is morally and ethically pure.”  (Online Bible Dictionary)

                Job feared God and shunned evil, See Job 28:28.  Dr. Wiersbe writes the following about the fear of the Lord:  “To fear the Lord means to respect who His is, what He says, and what He does.  It is not the cringing fear of a slave before a master but the loving reverence of a child before a father, a respect that leads to obedience.  ‘The remarkable thing about fearing God,’ said Oswald Chambers ‘is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else.’”

                His Family:  Job was not only prosperous in his character, but he was prosperous in his family as seen in verse two. During the Patriarchal Age it was common to have a large family, as that was a great blessing.  We can see from the text that the children must have enjoyed each other’s company as frequently meet to celebrate birthdays.  We can see from this that Job and his wife did a good job in raising their children.  Job would even offer sacrifices after those birthday gatherings in case any of them sinned.  This does not mean that evil was going on, it was just the way that Job was, and part of his character.

                His Material Possessions:   It seems clear that Job owned his possessions and that his possessions did not own Job.  This is why Satan was accusing God of giving Job all of these possession in order to have Job worship him, yet it is clear that Job, although was happy with all of these possessions, did not worship God because of them.  This will come out later on and is an important part of this book.

                His Friends:  Job had many friends as he was prosperous in having friends.  We will see Job friends were not as supported of him as they could be, but none the less they were his friends, and we can believe that after this whole ordeal was over that their friendship became even stronger.

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  When I think of Job’s character and how he handled the situation that he was put into I wonder in my heart if I would have done this the way he did.  I hope that as I study this book that I will learn much from his character and that by the grace of God, have it as part of my life.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.    Trust that the Lord will reveal to my heart what He has for me to learn as I study this wonderful book of Job.

2.    Put on the whole armor of God:  The belt of truth; the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the Gospel of peace, take up the shield of faith; put on the helmet of salvation; and take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

3.    Continue to learn contentment.

10/21/2011 10:04:44 AM

Mordecai & The End of the book of Ester

10/20/2011 9:02:02 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  Exaltation:  the fame of Mordecai

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  Ester 10:1-3

                Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Now King Ahasuerus laid a tribute on the land and on the coastlands of the sea. 2  And all the accomplishments of his authority and strength, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia? 3  For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and in favor with his many kinsmen, one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the welfare of his whole nation.”

                We come to the end of this wonderful book of Ester by looking at the very short tenth chapter that gives more details of Mordecai and what he accomplished for the Jewish people and also for the Persian Kingdom. 

                Some wonder why verse one speaks of a new tax that was put on the Persian people.  Some believe that this new system was brought about by Mordecai in order to help the Persian Kingdome receive money from its people as a substitute for war and plunder.  This may be the case, but we don’t know for sure as after looking at other commentaries there does not seem to be an agreement.

                I find it interesting that in verse two we see the same language used that was used in the books of 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles at the end of the life of one of the Jewish kings.  I don’t know what this means other than perhaps the person who wrote this book read those other books too.

                At this point I wish to quote the last two chapters from Dr. Wiersbe commentary “Be Committed” as and ending to this book of Ester:  “The exciting drama of Ester is over, but the blessings go right on.  God preserved the Jewish nation so that we today can have a Bible and a Savior.  Now it’s our job to tell the whole world about this Savior and seek to win as many as we can to the Lord.  We are the King’s couriers, and we dare not fail.

                “Ester reaches across the centuries to join hands with believers today, and to say to the church:  Be Committed.”

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  One of the things that I have seen in this book that has pricked my heart, along with a sermon that I heard last Sunday evening at First Baptist Church of Elyria, Ohio was how believers are to support those who are in office.  I have mentioned from time to time that I am not at all in agreement with the present President and Vice President, and yet if I understand my duty as a believer I am to pray for them, for after all it was God who appointed them to this office, and I can be sure that they will bring glory to God.  I only have to think of Pharaoh and how he brought glory to God to understand that even though I am in disagreement with those in office now that they will do the same.  I would suppose that many believers are in the same situation that I am in and find it hard to pray for those in office now, but I will begin to do this and ask for strength and wisdom in order to accomplish this.

                In the next SD I begin the book of Job which is the first book in the Old Testament Wisdom and Poetry section of God’s Word.  This also will begin the next Bible Commentary in Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s series and as always I am looking forward to do this.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Pray for those in authority over me.

2.       Put on the whole armor of God, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, take up the shield of faith, put on the helmet of salvation, and take up the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

3.       Continue to learn contentment.

10/20/2011 9:44:33 AM