The Failure of Logic - Job 18-19

Job 18:5-10 (ESV)

“Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out,

and the flame of his fire does not shine.

The light is dark in his tent,

and his lamp above him is put out.

His strong steps are shortened,

and his own schemes throw him down.

For he is cast into a net by his own feet,

and he walks on its mesh.

A trap seizes him by the heel;

a snare lays hold of him.

A rope is hidden for him in the ground,

a trap for him in the path.

Job’s friend Bildad spoke the above words to Job in the midst of Job’s suffering and pain.   His inference is that Job is wicked and that is why all this disaster has happened to him or is happening to him, currently.   Bildad has no evidence that Job is wicked, however,   Bildad has just observed in his life and probably is using some internal logic that the wicked suffer and the righteous flourish.   This is a nice thought but it is not based upon good theology.   We have no idea of Job’s friend’s background.  Since most date the book of Job sometime between 800 BC and 500 BC we can assume the three friends had the resources of the Torah and some prophetic books.  Solomon’s works would have been finished.  As were a number of the historical books.   The stories of Joseph certainly would have been common knowledge.  The mistreatment of innocent Joseph could have served as a theological lesson for Job’s friends.   They may have even heard the story of Daniel and his three friends, tossed into the fiery furnace.    We are not sure what sources of data Bildad was using for the above passage but it is clear that his logic is that Job is suffering, only the wicked suffer, therefore Job must be wicked.   The challenge with Bildad, and all of us at times, is that his logic has no room for God’s intervention in Job’s life.  Job’s response to Bildad (chapter 19) will actually talk about that thought.  Job believes God has stepped into his life and not in a good way.  Job has no idea why this is happening to him but he does recognize God’s hand in the mix.   If Bildad would just consider God’s intervention, God stepping into a life, God being sovereign over all affairs of man, he might back off his taunting of Job.  The above ten verses are only one-half of his taunt.   Job is suffering and Bildad is blaming Job and accusing him of being a wicked man.   Seems logical.   But when God is engaged in our lives, logic often fails us.   

Love God - Hate the World - Psalms 24-26

Psalms 26:4-5 (ESV)

I do not sit with men of falsehood,

nor do I consort with hypocrites.

I hate the assembly of evildoers,

and I will not sit with the wicked.

Psalm 26 is a song, written by King David, about his relationship with Yahweh.   It is a worship song and meant to be song upon entering into the great assembly (verse 12).   It parallels both Psalm 15 and Psalm 24.   All three songs have a similar theme of coming to God and being pure in walking with God.   In the above two verses we see David speaking to God regarding his relationship with evil men.   He states he hates the assembly of evil doers.   Again, this is in contrast to his wanting to be stand in the great assembly, which is a reference to God’s people:

Psalms 26:12 (ESV)

My foot stands on level ground;

in the great assembly I will bless the LORD.

Those who walk with God should have an appetite for hanging out with those who also want to walk with God.   Those who want to walk with God should hate evil doers.  Note Psalm 15 and 24: 

Psalms 15:4a (ESV)

in whose eyes a vile person is despised,

but who honors those who fear the LORD;

Psalms 24:4 (ESV)

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not lift up his soul to what is false

and does not swear deceitfully.

There is a different mindset for those who love God and want to serve him vs those who want to be engaged in the activities of evil men.  This different mindset is a key indicator of our position before God.   Those who love God do not love the world:

James 4:4 (ESV)

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

David in this song of praise wants to express to God his devotion to God and his despising of the world.   That is pure worship.   

Desperate Times - Desperate Measures - Judges 17-21

Judges 19:27-30 (ESV)

And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home. And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. And all who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; consider it, take counsel, and speak.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.”  That statement is attributed to the Greek physician, Hippocrates.    He lived around 400 BC.   He stated it regarding extreme diseases call for desperate types of treatment.   It might not be accurate to apply his quote to the above passage of Scripture, that occurred almost 1,000 years earlier.   But that is what is happening.   Chapter 19 is the complete story but the synopsis is that a Levite priest (never named) leaves his home to retrieve his wife. At a time of marital conflict the wife had returned to her father’s house.   Having found his wife he heads for home.  But that is when the worse case scenario happens.   When he stops to find an evening respite in the city of Gibeah (from the tribe of Benjamin) unsavory men come and take his wife, abuse her all night long and that causes her death.   The man is so upset about what happened that the above desperate measure takes place.  He cuts the body of his deceased wife into pieces and sends the pieces to the other tribes of Israel.  He was hoping to solicit a response to avenge the rape and murder of his wife.  That is what takes place in chapter twenty.   The key thought here is that in these days there was NO king or authority in the land.  We are repeatedly reminded in this section that there was no leader and everyone did what was right in his own eyes.  This husband was grieved and therefore did what was right in his eyes to avenge his dead wife.   Many of the stories in Judges take on this theme.  God is setting up the need for the nation to turn to Him for leadership.   In chapter 20 that is what the tribes do.  They eventually turn to God for direction.  This man did not turn to God for direction. His anger, grief and rage caused him to desiccate his dead wife’s body.   As sated in the closing lines in the above passage, such a thing has never happened before.   When there is no leadership and there is not authority of God this is what happens ... men do desperate things.   But not things based upon faith.   This will all lead to about 40,000 warriors of the other tribes being killed in this avenging battle.   Then almost 30,000 warriors supporting Gibeah, from the tribe of Benjamin, will also die.   When we do things that please our own eyes these are the consequences.   Without any restraint by God’s word to make decisions that honor God we end up seeing devastation and destruction.   

When In Doubt, Worship! Genesis 32-35

Genesis 34:30 - 35:1 (ESV)

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

The context for the above verses comes out of the story of Jacob (soon to be renamed Israel) and his disappointment in his two sons, Simeon and Levi.   When Jacob arrived in this new part of the land (Shechem) his daughter Diana was defiled by the son of the leader of the land, Hamor.  His son was named Shechem.    Shechem raped Diana and, at the time, Jacob did nothing.  When Simeon and Levi came in from the fields, they made a deal with the men of Schechem to give their sister to Hamor’s son.  But they did so only to deceive them.   They eventually killed all the men of Schechem and took all their wives and children and incorporated them into their own families.   Jacob is furious because he now believes he is a stink in the land.   What Jacob failed to remember was the promise God gave him upon his return to this land.  His very reason to return to the land was because he DID rely upon God’s promise:

Genesis 32:10-12 (ESV)

I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”

Now that he was in this fix, Jacob began to doubt the promises of God.  Isn’t that the case, often?  We trust God’s promises until we are in a tight, stinky spot where we need God’s promises.  But in the mist of this doubting God calls out to Jacob and wants him to continue to worship and believe.   God calls him to Bethel.   Bethel means a house of God.   Right in the midst of Jacobs doubting God calls out for him to worship.   It is in this place of doubt that God calls out.   Jacob obeys and leads his entire family toward Bethel.  What happens?  

Genesis 35:5 (ESV)

And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

In the midst of the challenge with Diana, Jacob had neither faith nor honor.   Yet, God had promised to make a great nation out of him.   He had no reason to fear.  Even in the doubting God was there to assure and to encourage and protect.   We will have times of great doubt when our Sunday promises don’t carry over to our Monday work week.   But God is faithful and will invite us to return to Bethel, a house of God.   When we doubt God and fear man turn to God in worship and praise.  

Walk in Peace - Romans 15-16

Romans 16:20 (ESV)

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Paul is closing his letter to the Romans.  He has laid out the doctrines of justification, sanctification and glorification.  Through faith we are declared righteous by Christ’s blood on our behalf, made holy by Christ and we will soon be risen with Him in newness of life.  The later, glorification, is the least spoken doctrine in Romans, but it is, indeed, taught:

Romans 8:28-30 (ESV)

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

As Paul now ends this book he gives us one more important look at the glorification doctrine.  Not only will we be glorified, but we will also, through the peace of God, be with Christ to crush Satan under our feet.  It is amazing that in the end, not only does God saves us, but He will also use us to give the final blow to Satan’s rule and dominion.   We have read in Paul’s words to the Ephesians that the peace of God is a weapon.  It is given to us in the arsenal God to equip us in our walk with Him.  We are to take up the whole armor of God and stand in Christ’s power having put on ...

 Ephesians 6:15 (ESV)

 ..., as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

So we are taught in these two passages that the peace with have with God (Romans 5:1) is not only a defensive weapon as in the armor of God, but also an offensive weapon we will use to crush Satan’s head.   Satan wants to create disharmony, animosity, hostility, and bedlam; not just between us and God but between us and everyone else.  That was is first strategy from the beginning.  He wanted to disrupt the peace that Adam and Eve had in the garden.  He succeeded by causing them to disobey God.  They then blamed each other for their mutual failings. All inward fighting is oriented in Satan’s lies and deception after he succeeds in enticing us to disobey God.  Jesus came to restore peace between us and God.   Jesus came to restore peace between us and others. That peace with God is extended to have peace with each other.  This is why we take up the armor to our feet of the readiness given by the gospel of peace.   The gospel is about restoring peace with God and with each other.  When walk with God in peace we can defend ourselves from Satan’s attacks.   This is why peace is on our feet as a weapon.  When we are in harmony with God, walking in obedience, we have the peace of God to defend us against Satan’s attacks.  We now read, in the above passage, that in the end, our glorification with Christ, we will have one last participation with Christ to crush Satan under our feet.   The defensive weapon will, in the end, become an offensive weapon.  Having peace with God, in the end, is walking in fellowship with Him as Christ returns to set up God’s kingdom.   Satan will be crushed.   He will be crushed under our feet as we are joined in peace with God, through Christ’s finished work.   Anytime there is disharmony it is because Satan has caused disobedience in our walk with God.   Peace is a defensive and offensive weapon to be used to defeat Satan’s desire to disrupt that peace with God. We are to use what God has given us to defeat him.  Waking in obedience to Christ enables the peace of God to defeat the enemy of God.  Walk in peace!

CROWDS! Matthew 20-22

 Matthew 21:6-11 (ESV)

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the CROWD spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the CROWDS that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the CROWDS said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

The above passage is about typically referred to in the Gospel’s as “Palm Sunday.”  It is the Sunday before the week of Christ death, burial and resurrection.   At this point the “CROWDS” are on His side and are elevating Jesus about all.  You will note that in the above passage the word “CROWD” is used three times.   The power of these “CROWDS” can’t be diminished.  The combined presence these peoples is no small thing.  On the political side, Roman rule forbid CROWDS to assemble.  Caesar prevented up rising with this policy.   On a religious side, for the Jews, a CROWD was what the religious leaders wanted.  But the leaders wanted to CROWDS to marvel at them and to hold them in high esteem.  With these CROWDS assembling to honor Jesus but the political and the Jewish religious establishment were threatened.  Jesus’ fame growing fame among the “CROWDS” of the common people was pushing the buttons of everyone.  If you wonder if these “CROWDS” mattered to the religious leaders, note the following verses that appear in the following chapters, as this “Passion” week unfolds:

Matthew 21:25-27 (ESV)

The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the CROWD, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Matthew 21:45-46 (ESV)

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the CROWDS, because they held him to be a prophet.

CROWD mentality is a dangerous thing.  At times, power flows up. If all those at the bottom rebel the power of the top tumbles.  This is the biggest threat to both the Jewish religious leaders and, later, even Pilate. He was also afraid of the crowds:

Matthew 27:24-26 (ESV)

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the CROWD, saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

No leader, no matter how small or large (in Rome, Pilat was not that powerful) likes a riot by the CROWDS.  Jesus is loved by the CROWDS in the above passage.  But watch what happens here:

Matthew 26:55 (ESV)

At that hour Jesus said to the CROWDS, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me.  

Eventually the CROWDS will turn on Him.  They always turn out against God.   Mob mentality is seldom a good thing.   For Jesus they wanted to worship Him one Sunday.  By that Friday, four days later, they rejoiced in His crucifixion.   

God Is In Complete Control - Isaiah 40-44

Isaiah 44:24-28 (ESV)

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,

who formed you from the womb:

“I am the LORD, who made all things,

who alone stretched out the heavens,

who spread out the earth by myself,

who frustrates the signs of liars

and makes fools of diviners,

who turns wise men back

and makes their knowledge foolish,

who confirms the word of his servant

and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,

who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’

and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,

and I will raise up their ruins’;

who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;

I will dry up your rivers’;

who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,

and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;

saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’

and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”

The above passage is a great summary of the entire book of Isaiah.   God has chosen Judah, from the ends of the earth:

Isaiah 41:9 (ESV)

you whom I took from the ends of the earth,

and called from its farthest corners,

saying to you, “You are my servant,

I have chosen you and not cast you off”;

Isaiah’s prophecy is a such a wide ranging voice from God.   Some prophecies are nothing but doom and gloom (see Nahum).  Some are about the prophet and/or the prophets conversation with God (see Jonah and Habakkuk).   Some about the present and far distant future (see Daniel).  But Isaiah is about both the discipline of Israel and/or Judah and the blessings of Israel and/or Judah.  It is also about how God will use other nations to accomplish either the discipline or the blessing.  Such is the above passage.   The “Cyrus” mentioned, above, is mentioned as the “shepherd” who will fulfill God’s plan.  Cyrus is a future king of the Medes and Persians.   Isaiah is prophesying that this king will be a tool for God.   This is how the book of Isaiah informs us about how God is going to do something for His people by using those who are not His people.  Gos is in charge of the nations.  In chapter 45, we will read next week, we read that Cyrus is call God’s anointed.    The entire book of Isaiah is a story of God providential rule over the affairs of mankind.   We can sit and worry, today, about this ruler and the next.  We can fret about who will lead one country or another.   But the book of Isaiah teaches us that God has this in complete control.  He did during the time of Isaiah and He does now.   

Be Comforters Not Contronters - Job 15-17

Job 15:11-13 (ESV)

Are the comforts of God too small for you,

or the word that deals gently with you?

Why does your heart carry you away,

and why do your eyes flash,

that you turn your spirit against God

and bring such words out of your mouth?

Job is in such a bad state.   He has lost almost everything of earthly significance to him.  He has lost property and prestige.  He has lost children and the respect from his spouse.   He has lost, as the above passage indicates, the comfort of the three friends who came to him to comfort him.   The above passage is spoken by Job’s friend, Eliphaz the Temanite.   All three of Job’s friends have taken a round of dialogue to “comfort” him.  This is why they came to Job:

Job 2:11 (ESV)

Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.

In this chapter they begin round two of their comfort.  The first round did little to help Job.  To put it mildly, they not only didn’t understand the suffering and trauma of an innocent man (innocent, as stated by God in the opening verses of the book), but they also made accusations and formed assumptions based upon their own bias.  There was NO inquire with Job concerning this trauma.  There were only words of judgmental commentary.  In the above lines, specifically, we read Eliphaz’s judgment that Job is failing to hear his three friends comforting words in the spirit they think they are giving the comfort.  He is claiming that Job is being dismissive and counting them as “small.”    This is so bogus.   In the first round they did nothing at all that could be affiliated with comfort.  They condemned Job for his sins, in their opinion, the cause of his trauma.   They had no room in their mind that Satan had done this to Job.   Eliphaz not only falsely accuses Job of rejecting all their, (anything but) “comfort,” he condemns him for his lashing out about his trauma.   Think about this, Eliphaz is UPSET that Job is UPSET about losing his property, power, children and respect.  That is Eliphaz’s new complaint toward Job.  This is the counselor telling (yelling at) the counselee, “you are NOT handling this situation correctly.”   Job is upset.  He is speaking his rage toward God.   That would be somewhat of a healthy thing to do.  The prophet Habakkuk’s utterances take on a similar tone when he is upset that God is using a wicked nation (Babylon) to discipline God’s children (Judah).  Jesus cried out the His father, “Why have you forsaken me.”  The expression of grief and dismay during a time of grief and dismay is healthy.   Eliphaz is condemning Job and wants him to act “differently”.   He has no room in his ears (or heart) to hear Job complain of his pain.  Job does, of course, have much to learn.  God will eventually teach him the lessons He wants Job to learn.  But these three friends have failed.   They are not comforters.  They are confronters.   They are not trying to console Job, they are trying to control Job.   When coming along side those who are traveling a road less desired, these lessons should be learned by all of us.   The more we press others to act like we want during their time of difficulty, the more they will expose the need for us to change are actions. 

Fear of Man and Circumstances, Or Fear God? Psalms 21-23

Psalms 21:13 (ESV)

Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength!

We will sing and praise your power.

Psalm 21 started out with this statement:

Psalms 21:1 (ESV)

O LORD, in your strength the king rejoices,

and in your salvation how greatly he exults!

Throughout the song King David is expressing praise to God for His various attributes.   He writes about:

1.  The graciousness of God to give us both life and rich blessings - these seem to be spiritual and material blessings (vvs. 1-6).  This comes, per David, from God’s steadfast love.  

2. The protection of God.  God not only protects us but also defeats our enemies (vvs. 8-12).    God not only knows the plans of the wicked against God’s children, God destroys them and their plans.   

In the final verse, above, David praises God for his great strength and power.  God can give us blessings and can protect us because of His great strength and power.   In our fears in life we totally underestimate God’s power and strength.   We often come to a place of seeing the circumstances and situations that create our fears and not the power of a faithful and steadfast God who can protect and bless us, despite our fears.   When our eyes delay long over problems and threats of life and don’t dwell intensely on who God is, especially the attribute of His divine power, we are often found in a spiritual fetal position.    The enemy knows God’s power.  They fear and tremble at it:

James 2:19 (ESV)

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

Satan and his minions actually shudder at the thought of God.   We are to bring worship to God in the same way:

Hebrews 12:28-29 (ESV)

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

Also:

Philippians 2:12-13

Lights in the World

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, WORK OUT your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who WORKS IN you, both to WILL and to WORK for his good pleasure.

We are blessed and protected by God because our God is an awesome God.  If the demons tremble at God’s power, why do we doubt God’s power?