READINGS FOR SEPTEMBER 11- SEPTEMBER 17

SEPTEMBER 11

Zophar weighs in now with his own words of “wisdom”. He believes Job’s sins caused his distress. Some of Zophar's words are not consistent with God's word.  However, he speaks some words that are worthy of pondering. (Job 11:7-9)

In Chapter 12 Job tells us that creation understands that the hand of the Lord created them. Paul says that God's power and nature are so clearly seen, that none of us have an excuse not to see it. 

Romans 1:20  
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 

Job pretty much puts Zophar and the others in their places.

Job 13:5
If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom.

Again Job speaks some familiar words recorded in the book of Daniel.

Job 13:15a
Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;

Daniel 3:17-18
If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

Job understood as David did that our days were determined before we were born.

Job 14:5
Man's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.

Psalm 139:16
your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

In chapter 13 Job asks God to stop frightening him with terrors.  He is still having nightmares.  In addition to all the physical ailments afflicting Job, Satan and his minions are bombarding Job to the point of disturbing his sleep with night terrors.  Evidence that Job is also suffering spiritually.  In speaking to God, he asks, "Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?"

Another extremely important verse, overlooked way too often. It explains when we will experience a resurrected body.

Job 14:12
so man lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, men will not awake or be roused from their sleep.

We will experience a resurrected body when “the heavens are no more”. When does that happen?

2 Peter 3:12-13
as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

Revelation 20:11 
And I saw a great white throne, and Him sitting on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And a place was not found for them. 

The dead will receive consciousness when the heavens are no more just as Job said. And no sooner!

This is explained in detail in the book These Last Days - Second Edition.

The quintessential question of all time is posed by Job.
Job 14:14a
If a man dies, will he live again?

Indeed, will we as Believers in Jesus live again? Absolutely! Did Job ever get his question answered? Absolutely! Stay tuned!

SEPTEMBER 12

In Job 15 Eliphaz speaks words of condemnation against Job.  He seems to be saying that Job should be listed among the wicked because of all the things that were taken away; his children, his wealth, his friends, his respect.  Eliphaz falsely accuses Job because he's using the wrong scales with which to measure. 

Job admonishes his “friends” by saying that he has heard all their speeches and he himself would maybe do the same to them and point out their failures as well. But Job adds one more thing to the mix. He tells them that he would also encourage them. 

Part of Job 16 is filled with specific details about Job’s afflictions. "...my gauntness rises up and testifies against me." He is as a skeleton because of lack of nourishment.

"Men open their mouths to jeer at me; they strike my cheek in scorn."
Men taunting Job with their words is disrespect enough but striking his cheek was a major insult. They have also spit in his face. 

"Without pity, he pierces my kidneys and spills my gall on the ground."
Organs are failing, possible kidney stones, vomiting up gall.

Job thinks that God is responsible for all the ailments that are afflicting him.  What Job doesn't understand is that God is allowing Satan to do it.

"I have sewed sackcloth over my skin and buried my brow in the dust."
Job has gone beyond merely wearing sackcloth and sprinkling himself with ashes as a sign of mourning and weeping.  He has buried his brow in the dust in prayer. 

"My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow."
Is Job's eyesight failing?  Cataracts, perhaps?

But Job begins to “see the light” and verbalizes what he already knows, that  he does have that advocate he was wishing for earlier. (Job 9:32-34) He talks about his advocate and intercessor. Sounds as if he also has an understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit as the guarantor of salvation, the one who puts up security for him.

Job 17:3
"Give me, O God, the pledge you demand. Who else will put up security for me?

2 Corinthians 1:21-22
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 

Imagine this...HIS hands were on us as HE anointed us with the oil of the Holy Spirit. HE has put up security for us. HE guarantees us what is to come.

Praise God, we "stand firm in Christ"!

SEPTEMBER 13

Bildad has progressed beyond calling Job to account for his unconfessed sins to charging Job with being evil and not knowing God.  Job admits that has gone astray but says that his error is his concern alone.  Job knows that God has allowed everything to happen. 

Job relates in chapter 18 that he not only has lost all his wealth, possessions, and children, he has lost his friends, prestige, and honor.  Parts of his skin are eaten away.  He is exposed to the elements. Since he is in the city dump there are possible fires there and the stench must be almost unbearable.
In chapter 19 Job relates how he suffers from the words of his "friends". No one comes to his aid. In fact he is deserted by brothers, acquaintances, kinsmen, friends, servants.  At this point we may wonder what has become of Job's wife.  Last we heard of her was when she encouraged Job to curse God and die. He says, "My breath is offensive to my wife?"  He must have had some contact with her during this time. 

While in the rock bottom of this pit, Job has an “epiphany moment”!  He speaks with extreme confidence. 

“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes – I and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”

Earlier, Job questioned if there is life after death. His question is answered while he is in the depths of despair. Job knew!!! He knew about the Redeemer and he knew about everlasting life. He knew that that he would see God, and he would see God in his flesh. His skin, his human body will decay. Yet he will see God in the flesh. The Hebrew word flesh has a related Hebrew word that means fresh, full of vitality, cheerful, announcing good news.  Ponder this...Job will be resurrected in the millennium!  Job will have a fresh body announcing good news as he rules in the Millennium.

When Zophar responds again in chapter 20 he seems to be displaying an "oh, poor me" attitude. In light of all that Job is going through, Zophar is upset by Job's rebuke.

There is a great line in Job 21.
"Can anyone teach knowledge to God..." 
Sometimes we want to tell God what to do, like we know what's best for us.  HA!

SEPTEMBER 14

As usual, Eliphaz, one of Job’s “friends” gives him some advice, part truth, part false. He says that God is rebuking Job and bringing charges against him.  It's not God who's doing this, it's Satan.   

Eliphaz sinks to an all-time low with this question in Job 22, "What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?"  This question makes things so obvious that Eliphaz does not understand God at all!  We know that it gives God GREAT pleasure if we are righteous!

He also levels some serious charges against Job, but there is no evidence in Scripture that Job is guilty of any of them.  In fact Job disputes most of them in chapter 29.

One of Eliphaz's suggestions is this one,

Job 22:21
"Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.
Good advice for all of us, except for that word “prosperity”. Prosperity as a believer is quite different than prosperity as the world views it.

Job responds to Eliphaz with these words,

Job 23:11-12
My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.
If only we as believers would treasure His Words more even than our daily bread.

The following verses kinda gave us the shivers.

Job 24:13
"There are those who rebel against the light, who do not know its ways or stay in its paths.

Job 24:17
For all of them, deep darkness is their morning; they make friends with the terrors of darkness. 

How do people make friends with “the terrors of darkness.”? Why is it that so many people have a “love affair” with horror movies and novels, Halloween activities, and books that portray sorcery and witchcraft as something innocent? 

Job 24:23
He may let them rest in a feeling of security, but his eyes are on their ways.

Deuteronomy 18:10-14
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so.

Points to ponder, wouldn’t you say? This is a passage in the Old Testament that falls under the moral laws and are still in effect today. Also there are New Testament connections to such.

SEPTEMBER 15

So much to write about...

Job speaks to his "friends" in 26:4

Who has helped you utter these words?  And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?

Job is questioning if their words are from God or from Satan.  If a person is not speaking the language of God, he is speaking the language of Satan because anything that is not of God is of Satan. 

Mention is made in Job 28 and 29 of wisdom and how wisdom is hidden. It makes us think of mining for treasure, mining God's Word for hidden treasures  that we bring out nugget at a time to examine and ponder. 

Earlier in Job 22 Eliphaz levels many accusations against Job.  Job disputes them in chapter 29.

Job again relates his plight.  He is still being bombarded psychologically by Satan and his evil spirits with "terrors".   In chapter 30 verse 17 Job relates that "the churning inside me never stops."

Job is suffering from all manner of distress, gut-wrenching calamities.  He has fevers and his skin turns black. Many of these are symptomatic of bubonic plague, delivered by infected rats and/or fleas, which would have been numerous at the city dump, where Job was living. As Job lists all the physical, emotional, and mental pain he is enduring, it seems that the worst pain of all is the spiritual pain that the Spirit of God is not answering him.

In chapter 31 Job refutes all the charges that have been leveled against him by his "friends".

The following verses in today’s reading took us on an amazing journey through Scripture.

Job 26:7
He spreads out the northern [skies] over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.

Job 26:8-11
He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it. He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness. The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke.

Job 26:14
And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?"

Our journey took us to the following Scriptures:

Deuteronomy 4:32
Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of?

Psalm 8:3-6, 9
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

We have only seen the work of God’s fingers. As telescope technology improves we will be able to see beyond that which we can see now. We will discover more star systems and galaxies beyond that. And on and on it goes until man can never see the end of the universe. For if man can see the end of the universe we could see the end of God and that is impossible. The point is the things in the universe declare the power and glory of God. It is so much beyond what we can imagine.

Job 38:4-5
"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?
God is saying "I can do all this can you?"

Job 26:14
And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?"

Contrast whisper and thunder and hear and understand. In this finite world with limited knowledge we can hear the faintest whisper of him. How can we possibly understand the thunder of his power?

And yet….He cares about us individually!

Job 7:17
"What is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much attention, what is man that you are mindful of him,

Psalm 139:13-16
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

We can look at the far end of the universe or look at the far end of a tiny strand of DNA and all we see is the handiwork of a grand creator and designer. 

Nehemiah 9:5b-6
"Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting." "Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

Just as “the multitudes of heaven worship you” so should the multitudes of earth! It starts with the individual. It starts with each of us!

SEPTEMBER 16

Finally, Elihu the youth speaks with some great words of wisdom.  He has patiently waited while his elders spoke. But now…

Job 32:18-20
For I am full of words, and the spirit within me compels me; inside I am like bottled-up wine, like new wineskins ready to burst. I must speak and find relief; I must open my lips and reply.

It appears as if this younger man has the Holy Spirit living within.  Possibly he knows he has heard false accusations against Job and has been unable to speak until his elders have finished. 

There is a New Testament connection as Paul speaks to the young Timothy.

1 Timothy 4:12
Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

Jeremiah the prophet had similar words to say.

Jeremiah 20:9-10a  
Then I said, I will not mention Him, nor speak in His name any more. But His Word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with holding in, and I could not stop.  For I heard the slanders of many, 

Elihu states that he is angry with Job's "friends" because all they had were untruthful charges to bring against Job and they condemned him.

 Job 33:14-17  For God does speak - now one way, now another - though man may not perceive it.  In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride," 

God speaks to us in many ways.  Sometimes it may be in an audible voice, or He may speak through His Word, or through another person, or while we are praying.  Sometimes the Holy Spirit as our teacher holds a highlighter pen in His hand calling attention to specific words in scripture. And sometimes He speaks to us in dreams and visions. 

Job 34:3
For the ear tests words as the tongue tastes food.

Isn’t this a wonderful comparison? We should be like the Bereans.

Acts 17:11
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Job 34:4
Let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good.
A great motto for a Bible study – wouldn’t you say???

Under the heading ALMIGHTY IS JUST (Job 34:10-20) Elihu wisely says that mankind suffers the consequences for sins.  God "repays a man for what he has done; he brings upon him what his conduct deserves."  Is this an example of degrees of punishment in hell?

Under the heading GOD SEES WICKEDNESS (Job 34:21-30) we are reminded that God's "eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step.  There is no dark place, no deep shadow where evildoers can hide."
We can't hide our sins from God.

Under the heading GOD RULES RATIONALLY (Job 36:5-12) Elihu makes the case that it isn't God who's disciplining Job.  When God disciplines, He lets us know what sins we have committed.  He tells us from what we need to repent.  This hasn't happened with Job.

Throughout the remainder of Chapter 36 and all of Chapter 37 Elihu tells of God's greatness and His power. Elihu, the youngest and possibly the wisest of the men sets the stage for God to speak to Job.  

SEPTEMBER 17

If you haven’t done the reading for today, Job 38-42, please do! These passages in Job, words from God are some of the most riveting in all of Scripture!

The young friend, Elihu, tells of God’s greatness and power and sets the stage for God to speak to Job.

God responds to Job's earlier statements from Chapter 31 when Job refutes all the charges brought against him from his "friends".  It's as if Job states his case as a lawyer in a courtroom and then makes his closing statements to the judge.

Job 31:35
"...I sign now my defense - let the Almighty answer me;..."

And so the Almighty responds and answers Job's closing arguments. God asks Job such things as:

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?…Have you given   orders to the morning?…Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?…Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens?…Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?…Do you give the horse his strength?…Does the eagle soar at your command?…”

In answer to God’s questions, Job says that he is unworthy to even reply. It is very remarkable that the Hebrew word picture for the word miracle is “shuts the mouth because it is so great”. Job is answering God that he is so unworthy in the face of the awesomeness of God that he covers his mouth. It is a miracle! Amazing! 

Then God speaks again and tells Job about some remarkable animals that He has created. Read about the behemoth and the leviathan and see what you think they are.  The description in Job 41 sounds an awfully lot like a dragon.

Job 42:5
My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.

Job was allowed to see God the Son. 

Job 42:10
After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.

God gave Job twice as much as he had in the beginning. Let’s review what Job had at the beginning.

Job 1:2-3
He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

Job 42:12-13
The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters.

Why didn’t God double his sons and daughters and give him double the children like He did the animals – and give him fourteen sons and six daughters? Or did He???

Remember what Job regularly did for his children?

Job 1:5
When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's regular custom.

Did we tell you that the book of Job is filled with “jewels”? This is one of them. It is a key statement concerning eternal life for Job’s children. One day when Job is reunited with his children, he will have fourteen sons and six daughters. 

Job 42:16-17
After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their  children to the fourth generation. And so he died, old and full of years.

Was Job given double the lifespan too? In light of all the things that happened in Job’s life, the phrase “full of years” seems a bit of an understatement!

Every time we read the book of Job, we are always reluctant to say good-bye. This time is no different.  And so we say farewell to Job, until we meet again.