Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Job 33:19-33.  Let’s go!

Job 33:19-26 (NIV) 
19  Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in his bones,
20  so that his very being finds food repulsive and his soul loathes the choicest meal.
21  His flesh wastes away to nothing, and his bones, once hidden, now stick out.
22  His soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the messengers of death.
23  “Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,
24  to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for him’–
25  then his flesh is renewed like a child’s; it is restored as in the days of his youth.
26  He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God’s face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state. 

On verses 19-26:  Just before these verses Elihu describes one way that God can speak to us: through supernatural means like a vision or a dream (v15-16).  Earlier in chapter 32 we learned that another way that God speaks to us: through godly people.  But visions, dreams and godly people are not the only channels by which God tries to get our attention.   

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 31:1-20.  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?  

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Job 30:1-15.  Let’s go! 

On verses 1-15:  Job has gone from being someone whom others held in high esteem (see Job 29) to one whom others mock.  When Job looks at the people mocking him, he notices that they are men much younger than him, whose fathers were deadbeats whom he would never have associated with (v1-8), “a base and nameless brood” (v8).  The ones mocking Job mock him in song (v9) and spit in his face (v10) without any kind of restraint (v11).  Job describes his mockers in military terms, how they are like an army that besieges him (v12), leaving him without any road to exit or escape (“break up my road” – v13).  They advance against Job like an army attacking a city, the walls of which are already torn down with gaping holes (v14).  As a result, Job lives in terror, feeling unsafe and humiliated (v15).

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Job 28:1-28.  Let’s go!

Job 28:1-11 (NIV) 
1  “There is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.
2  Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.
3  Man puts an end to the darkness; he searches the farthest recesses for ore in the blackest darkness.
4  Far from where people dwell he cuts a shaft, in places forgotten by the foot of man; far from men he dangles and sways.
5  The earth, from which food comes, is transformed below as by fire;
6  sapphires come from its rocks, and its dust contains nuggets of gold.
7  No bird of prey knows that hidden path, no falcon’s eye has seen it.
8  Proud beasts do not set foot on it, and no lion prowls there.
9  Man’s hand assaults the flinty rock and lays bare the roots of the mountains.
10  He tunnels through the rock; his eyes see all its treasures.
11  He searches the sources of the rivers and brings hidden things to light.

On verses 1-11:  Why does Job speak at length about how people mine for silver and gold?  It’s because Job is comparing getting wisdom to mining for precious metals.  In both cases the treasure is hidden beneath the surface, requires an intentional and difficult search to find, is hard to reach (v4), and cannot be perceived by bird or beast (v7-8, 20-21).