Job 40-42
Our last day in Job! This will be fun. Reading
God's response to Job made me think of what Paul said in Romans 9:20, But who
are you, a man, to answer back
to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me thus?"
It finally made sense to me what Paul was saying. He is simply
answering this question in Rome with God's answer to Job. It has nothing to do
with justice or fairness. Both Paul and God are saying that knowing God means
trusting His actions because of His love and wisdom.
One note regarding the wildlife that is
described below, remember that after the flood, things changed slowly. There
was a massive climate change that resulted in the decline in the age of people
and the dying off of certain types of animals. There were few people after the
flood, allowing wildlife to grow undisturbed. Some of the types of animals on
the ark may have lived for a time after the flood, but the climate and
conditions on earth had changed. There were woolly mammoths; but somehow,
through climate or the increased needs of growing human populations, they were
killed off, similar to buffalo in North America. People lived close to rivers
or where there was a supply of water. Although no one knows what the Behemoth
and the Leviathan were, they could have been a large variation of something we
have today that lived in those rivers and were a constant threat and challenge
to the people.
Job 40
Vs. 1-2 The
root of Job's problem had been finding fault with God. He accused God of being
unjust.
Vs. 3-5 This
is the first of Job's two replies to God. In this response he only admits that
he shouldn't have spoken. In the next response, Job is repentant.
Vs. 6-14 I
think v. 7 is funny. "Gird up your loins" (and fight like a ….). Obviously
Job couldn't contend with God. Really, God has just been asking Job questions.
Vs. 15-24 I
have a couple of questions here.
First,
what was the Behemoth? It appears to be something that isn't around anymore. It
seems that the common opinion is that it was a variety of hippopotamus, sort of
what the woolly mammoth was to the elephant. Who knows? Growing up I always saw
hippos as docile, fat animals, living to get fat. Well here are some fun facts
about hippos. Once they were common to all of Africa, including Egypt and the
Nile, and Asia, including the areas around the Euphrates and Jordan rivers, and
even Europe. No famous explorer of Africa was not attacked by a hippo. One explorer had his boat overturned and
had his head and shoulders bit off. Apparently they are incredibly aggressive,
and on land they can outrun a man, even weighing 4000 pounds (the hippo, not
the man). Now that we can kill them with guns, howitzers and atomic weapons,
they are in decline because the ivory of their teeth does not yellow like an
elephant's ivory, making it highly sought after. George Washington's teeth were
not made of wood, but of hippo ivory. So, if there was a variety of hippo back
then that was a little bigger, had a bigger tail and was meaner (imagine that),
it could well have been the Behemoth. And apparently their tail does get stiff when
they are mad, which apparently is always.
Second,
why does God even use this illustration? Well, one reason is that they were
apparently a hazard to anyone living along rivers, which was a lot of people. Another
reason might be to mention that God made this very formidable animal that gave
hunting parties fits. But for me it has more to do with the theme of the book: the
hidden purpose of God. What was the purpose of that animal? Why did God make
it? Who knows, but God knew and designed it as He chose.
Job 41
Enter the
Leviathan. Apparently this was another river dweller, and again the identity is
unknown. It is thought that this could have been a very, very large "mammoth,"
and arrogantly aggressive, variety of crocodile.
Vs. 1-11
This section deals with the Leviathan's inability to be tamed, caught or ruled.
Notice expressions like, can you, or will you. This could be entitled
"The Attitude of the Leviathan."
Vs. 12-34
This could be titled the "The Body of the Leviathan." This is how God
made him.
Vs. 18-21 It
is suggested that this could be poetic description of a crocodile coming up for
air in the bright sun, the light in
its eyes, the smoke coming out of its
nostrils as it lets out air on the surface of the water creating a blowing of
vapor that looked like smoke and fire.
Again,
even a nature lover might ask God why He made the Leviathan. Would it really be
a loss if they went extinct? Does anyone "miss" the T-Rex? If
you had lived near a river, you would never have let your kids go play at the
shore if these things were around. It would have always been on your mind, and
trying to exterminate them would have been a generational endeavor.
In both of
these animals God challenges Job with His power to create, to control and to
determine the working out of lives and the affairs of men by what He did with
these animals. In a way, Satan might be compared to these animals in his
influence on mankind; but there too, God has a leash on Lucifer. God's love and
wisdom simply need to be trusted.
Job 42
Vs. 1-6 Notice
that Job quotes God twice; he confesses and repents.
Vs. 7-9 This is pretty interesting. God calls
Job his servant four times. God says twice that Job spoke rightly of Him, but
the others did not. It never says that the friends prayed for Job, but Job
prayed for them. God was not upset with Elihu. It is interesting that God made
Job forgive and intercede for his friends. It is amazing in the Gospels how
often prayer and extending forgiveness to others are put together. And
whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one, so that
your Father also who is in heaven may forgive
you your trespasses. (Mark 11:25)
So how was
Job right about what he said about God? He was right in saying that his
suffering didn't come because of sin. He was wrong in charging God with
judgment against him. For Job to say that God didn't care was careless. Job
held on irrationally to what he had known to be true of God. His losses and
pain pushed him, and his friends incited him; but Job never cursed God, so
Satan was able to see that there was something in mankind that God could save. Job
and his friends were able to see the Lord in a different light. Always trust the
Lord. His love never fails and the wisdom of His will is guided by that love
and by His incredible wisdom.
Vs. 10-11 Notice
the "condition" in v. 10. It wasn't until after Job prayed for his
friends that the Lord reversed Job's situation. Now the Lord brought on all of
the comfort He had withheld. It was the Lord.
Vs. 12-17 Notice
that it never mentioned any of Job's kids' names except these three daughters.
Tradition
suggests that Job was 70 when this happened to him. And just as his prosperity
was doubled after this event, so was his age. That is the suggested reason that
he lived another 140 years.
As you
read Job now, year after year, you will find new stuff each time you read it. Not
only that, as you follow Christ in the harvest, as things happen to you and to
others, what you've learned here will be used by the Spirit to teach you and to
temper your heart. He will lead you to have a more eternal perspective on this
life, and the Lord will lead you into more and more situations where you will
learn to let go of expectations in this life on earth. As we follow Christ we
learn to trust Him completely and to make Him and what we know of Him enough to
guide us through anything that happens.
2 Corinthians 5:11-21
This is a
very well-known and cool part of the Bible. And to think, all of this is being
expressed like this because of Paul's suffering and a conflict he's having with
a church. It was all designed by God's wisdom.
V. 11 Notice
that Paul talks about their turmoil and its result as the fear of the Lord. In this context, I would say that this fear
is Paul's deep respect for God. And, Paul understood that he was known to God. Paul would never violate
God's trust and cheapen the gospel. This is their motivation for persuading
others. The message of that persuasion, we'll see later, is for people to
repent and be reconciled with God. Paul tried to remain invisible.
V. 12 Note
that the criticism in Corinth that is against Paul and that was shredding the
church is ever present in Paul's mind as he is writing. It was a weight that
Paul constantly bore. Paul was not trying to promote himself. He was living to
promote His Savior and to see men saved and made disciples in the harvest. The
Corinthians should have known this and been able to counter those self-seeking super-apostles,
whose main platform was criticizing Paul.
Vs. 13-15 This
shows that Paul understood the necessity of God making them weak. But instead
of being driven by concern for themselves or driven by fear, look what controlled
them. And look what it made them do. A disciple is always oriented to the
harvest, because the love of Christ is living in his heart and is revealed in
the harvest. If anyone ever wants to know what the driving force behind our
hearts and actions is, it is here. It is not a fear of hell or a desire for
heaven; it is the love of Christ. Check your heart. This has to be or become
what ultimately motivates you in your life.
V. 16 Paul once regarded Jesus as the enemy
and His followers as heretics. That was before he understood what was happening
“spiritually” in the world and in the plan of God. Now Paul said, we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor.
5:7). Our eyes are to be on the spiritual reality, and then we can understand
the physical in terms of the spiritual. Another way to say this is what Paul
says in Romans
8:14, For all who are led by the Spirit
of God are sons of God. We
live on earth now understanding things spiritually, seeking spiritual direction,
being led daily by the Spirit.
V. 17 Notice
that this is a creation, something
made. Salvation is not membership in a club, where membership can be revoked
due to bad behavior. It is being made, created. At salvation something is brought
into life. This is why once we are saved or "created," we are always
saved. You can revoke someone's membership, but you can't "un-create"
something. This spiritual life is created by the Spirit the moment we confess
Christ as Savior and are forgiven. Then the Spirit comes to dwell within to
"mentor" and nurture that new spiritual life, and to help us deal
with that old nature that would destroy us.
Vs. 18-21 Two
things here. Disciples are always oriented to the harvest. Ambassadors is who God made us. To deny who God has made us is to
get ourselves into a life to which we were not called or equipped. Our joy and
strength and purpose are found in following Christ in the harvest as His ambassadors.
Second,
Paul is making sure they understand that this ministry is not something we
grasp, but something that grips us. Paul wasn't putting himself forward, as if
this were his career. Paul describes this life following Christ and speaking
out to the lost as the irresistible identity of anyone who has been seized by
the love of Christ.
V. 21 This
might have been a reminder to that Jewish audience and to those super-apostles
that righteousness is not found in doing things Jewish, but in Christ alone. What
a great truth and just like Isaiah 53.
Psalm 45
Now, I'm
really not given to "spiritualizing" the meaning of the text, saying
its real meaning is in something other than the physical event to which it was
written. However, there is a prophetic element in lots of the Bible where a
verse or event foreshadows something in the future. God shows us this is so. When
we get to the NT and see some of the passages that Jesus or others used, we
look back and say, "I would have never guessed that would also have a
meaning for the future."
This psalm was apparently written for a
wedding. But when you get to v. 6, you realize that this is quoted in Hebrews 1:8, But of the
Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever
and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of
your kingdom." God is saying that this verse has to do with
Jesus being crowned king. This is also when He takes the church as His bride. So
then, let's read the entire psalm as if it is referring to Jesus taking His
throne and meeting with His church at the wedding feast.
Vs.
1-3 If you compare this with Isaiah 53 or Revelation 5:6 where no beauty is
mentioned, it seems that Jesus' full glory will be revealed.
Vs.
4-5 That crowning of Jesus and the taking of the book will unleash judgment on
the nations and peoples of the earth.
Vs.
6-9 This would be an appropriate image of Jesus, the Son of David, receiving His
eternal throne.
Vs.
10-15 I have never grasped the "bride of Christ" except to know it is
a special designation of purity and glory to the bridegroom.
Vs.
16-17 This is definitely imagery referring to Jesus. Look at the end of Isaiah
53 to see this shared reward and glory. I just read what Jesus said to His
disciples the night He was betrayed. You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, 29and I assign to you, as my
Father assigned to me, a kingdom, 30that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones
judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Luke 22:28-30)
Proverbs 22:14
There really
is no such thing as "getting away" with something. If God lets you
kick against the door until you "succeed," you are just walking into
judgment, not blessing.
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year
Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't
work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/
and click on “Every
Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these comments to and for those who are
following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple,
following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship
culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging
each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make
disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our
growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here
or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some
explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My
comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on
Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups
will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with
and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the
harvest.
If you would like a complete description of this model
of being and making disciples you can find it in my book: Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is
still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's
keyed to the NIV, so the result is the commentators are constantly telling you
what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in
fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is
encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the
comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding,
that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but
only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.
Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like documents containing an entire month
of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download
these to use on your computer or to print.
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