Archive for month: February, 2020

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Job 33:1-18.  Let’s go!

Job 33:1-7 (NIV) 
1  “But now, Job, listen to my words; pay attention to everything I say.
2  I am about to open my mouth; my words are on the tip of my tongue.
3  My words come from an upright heart; my lips sincerely speak what I know.
4  The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
5  Answer me then, if you can; prepare yourself and confront me.
6  I am just like you before God; I too have been taken from clay.
7  No fear of me should alarm you, nor should my hand be heavy upon you.

On verses 1-7:  At first when I read these 7 verses, the initial impression I get is that Elihu is a bit long-winded and in love with himself.  Then I thought, “Well, maybe it’s because Elihu is nervous, so he ends up speaking quite verbosely at the beginning.” But the more I study Elihu’s words, the more I think I can appreciate Elihu’s purpose in speaking this way:  Elihu is trying to make it clear to Job where he is coming from.  He is trying to build rapport with Job.  How?

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Job 32:1-22.  Let’s go!

Job 32:1 (NIV) 
1  So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

On verse 1:  Job refuses to budge from his belief that his suffering is not the result of his sin, so Job’s friends finally give up trying to convince Job otherwise (v1).  What can we learn from this?  The best way, and sometimes the only way, to beat your critics is to outlast them.  If you stand your ground long enough, they will eventually go away and stop bothering you.

Job 32:2 (NIV) 
2  But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God.

On verse 2: A young man called Elihu begins to speak.  According to some scholars, the fact that the author of Job has to explain Elihu’s family background in verse 2 suggests that Elihu was not nearly as well known as Job and his three companions.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Job 31:21-40.  Let’s go!

Job 31:21-23 (NIV) 
21  if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court,
22  then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let it be broken off at the joint.
23  For I dreaded destruction from God, and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.

On verses 21-23:  In verses 16-22 Job denies taking advantage of the poor, the widow and the fatherless.  In verse 23 he says he did not sin in this way because of his fear of the Lord and the destruction that God could bring if he sinned in that way. It’s as if Job took seriously Jesus’ parable on the sheep and goats in Matthew 25:31-46 without even hearing it.  In that parable, Jesus describes himself as a King who rewards or punishes people based on how they treated the most vulnerable in society.  This parable is where Jesus famously says, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40) and “whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’” (Matthew 25:45).

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Job 31:1-20.  Let’s go! 

On verses 1-20:  Here in chapter 31, Job makes one last attempt to plead his innocence in different areas.  He even invites a curse to be placed on his life if indeed he is truly guilty of sin in any of those areas.

Job 31:1-4 (NIV) 
1  “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. 
2  For what is man’s lot from God above, his heritage from the Almighty on high? 
3  Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong? 
4  Does he not see my ways and count my every step?
 
On verses 1-4:  Here Job denies ever having looked lustfully at a girl (v1).  Job says his reason for not doing so is because he knows that God sees everything he does (v4) and he would not want to invite disaster on himself by sinning in this way (v2-3).  What can we learn from this?  According to Job, and according to Jesus later in the Gospels (e.g. Matthew 5:28), looking lustfully at someone is sin.  What exactly does it mean to look at someone lustfully?