Bible Reading Challenge Blog

Once again wisdom is lifted up as that after which we ought to strive.  We are told that we should seek after it as if it were more precious than gold or silver.  But even if we do seek it in vs.6 and 7 it is made perfectly clear to us that it is: “The Lord gives wisdom…he stores up sound wisdom for the upright.”  When we receive wisdom then we will understand righteousness and justice.

I find it fascinating that the author uses the example of a loose woman in vs. 16, while the Hebrew states that it could also mean a strange woman.  This would carry no sexual implications like the term “loose” might.  Not sure why that term was chosen instead of strange.  

The final prize and result of walking in the way of wisdom is that you will never be cut off from the land.  This is absolutely crucial to the Israelites.  Even to this day being cut off from the land that is a part of a post WWII agreement would bring about much conflict.  Whenever I go to Israel it always strikes me of how young of a modern nation it actually is.  This threat of being cut off from the land remains very real.  It is one that has lasted for generations both in seasons of being in the land and in seasons of being away from the land.

This book of the Bible is attributed to Solomon who is said to have written these words in 1:1, 10:1, 25:1.  In fact in many books of the Bible this is entitled the Proverbs of Solomon.  Keep in mind that Solomon is seen as a very wise king (I Kings 4:29-34) and so it makes sense that he was attributed with writing this book of the Bible.

In content it is a compilation of wise sayings.  These sayings seem to revolve around the very beginning nugget of wisdom which we find in vs.7 that tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.  From there we have a personification of wisdom who is seen from vss.20 on as a woman who cries out on the streets to get people’s attention, but not everyone wants to pay attention to wisdom.  People consistently tend to disregard and ignore Wisdom and her leading.  

There have been some attempts to see this Hebrew portrayal of wisdom (hakmah) as a near god, as if this is a rendition of the third person (Spirit).  We do find in the Bible Wisdom described as a person.  I’m pretty certain that this is a metaphor.  I don’t say that because I’m trying to avoid a certain interpretation.  It seems obvious to me that Wisdom is that which leads the author to say in vs.29: “They hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord.”

We will see this theme of Wisdom repeated throughout Proverbs.

And Job lived happily ever after.  I think I am getting ahead of myself, but that is how vs.17 ends and thus ends the book of Job.  Interesting how we see Job actually repent and say that he was sorry that he did not realize exactly who the Lord was, he had heard of Him, but now that he had seen Him, he repents in dust and ashes.  Now the Lord turns his attention to Job’s friends, and it isn’t with a smile on His face.

God will only take a prayer of salvation for Job’s friends from Job himself.  The person who was harmed the most by their insults and their random fallible wisdom was Job.  As a result they are commanded to offer a sacrifice in Job’s presence and only Job can beseech the Lord for his mercy upon these three people.  They approach Job and ask for his help, he helps them, and then the Lord repays Job back twofold.

There is a large part of me that wishes that Job had not been paid back twofold.  I wish that Job had just continued on with his life so that the point could be proven that God is in control and we can’t ever understand the wisdom of God.  All things work for the purposes of the Lord, but the ending makes us think that justice was served and the righteous Job got what he deserved, a double blessing.  

We are finished with Job, now on to Proverbs.

Wow, the Leviathan is a creature not to be messed with.  The difference between the Leviathan and the Behemoth is that the latter is docile and not hurting anyone and is happy to lay around and do nothing.  The Leviathan is a monster, looking to upend the human at any possibility it has.  It will not make a covenant, it will not even pretend to be your friend, it simply has no equal on earth and it is truly the king of the sea and the land.  I’m thinking that we are talking about the crocodile in this picture.  If we are going to take it literally, we are talking about the crocodile.

But, so what?  Why do we need a whole description of the crocodile and its power and its ability to strike fear in the heart of individuals?  The only explanation is that God wanted to remind Job, once again, of who was in charge.  Who is it who created the Leviathan?  It was God, of course, and so God is able to create and direct and control all things.  I like that reassurance.  Job is about to speak and get restored.  That happens in one more chapter.

We have our first back and forth between Job and God.  Notice, Job does not back down.  He doesn’t defend himself and he doesn’t melt into a puddle of humility which you might think a person would when they are confronted by God.  He doesn’t take anything back that he said before, but just states that he will keep silent and allow God to make his statements.  How generous of Job.

The Behemoth is an interesting attribution.  I personally think it is the hippopotamus, but scholars are divided on this.  Some think it is a creature which no longer exists.  But notice that its sole purpose is not to be a danger or to be a killer of people, but it just eats grass and sits around without a clear purpose.  God seems to say that this is okay.  No human can control it, and if you were to try it would put your life in danger, but this animal simply sits around and does nothing and no one can object to that.

Behemoth is the Hebrew term for animal in the plural form.  Just for clarity sake, there are no hippos in the Jordan river.  Some scholars who try to force science into this context claim that there are fossils of hippos that were found in that region.  I don’t have a strong opinion except knowing that this is not the point.  The point is that God does not need to create creatures or people with specific purposes or reasons.  He can just create and not have them spin or toil or do anything for any productive reasons.  You can’t always figure out the purpose of God’s actions.  That’s a great lesson.

While the last chapter was primarily an account of God’s ability to create the earth and all the inanimate objects and plants, this next chapter is God’s providence over all of the wildlife of the earth.  We hear about goats, wild donkeys, wild oxen, ostriches, horses, and the hawk.  That is quite a selection of strong and powerful animals.  I love the verses about the oxen (vs.9) which talk  about the confidence we might have to leave it by the crib.  I know I shouldn’t, because the author did not intend this, but I can’t help but think of the ox and the cattle around the crib of our savior.  We can assume from these verses that they were gentle and that Mary and Joseph had no reason to fear them.

God continues to lay out his credentials to Job as if to show him that he really has not right to question or bring God to trial.  We often want to bring God to trial, especially when we feel that we are being unfairly treated.  I hope and pray that in the end we remember that it is God who has created, it is God who makes decisions based upon grace, and not judgment, it is God who loves us and does all things for our good.

The Lord responds, and boy does He respond.  All of the commentators say that his response is directed at Job and in fact we find that in the first verse.  His response in this chapter, at least, is divided into the creation of the natural universe and the creation of animals.  Water is emphasized extensively in this chapter  because it was, and it remains, the source of all life in that region.  So many wars have been fought over time because of water.  

One of my favorite lines is seen in vs.3 where God commands Job to gird up his loins like a man.  So, this girding up was done before a person went into battle to make sure that everything was just in the right place.  God tells Job that if he wants to put God on trial he better be ready because God is going to come at him.  He better be ready to defend himself because God is going to respond in a way that a person will not be able to defend themselves.

We often find ourselves girded up for battle against God.  But all along God really calls us to gird ourselves up for a life that can be lived in freedom. The battles that we think we have to fight against God, really do not exist.  We are really fighting against our own selves when we do that.

This is the end of the conversation, or the monologue of Elihu and it is also the end of anyone speaking besides God, who comes next, and Job, who will come again a bit later.  Elihu finishes this part by proclaiming the presence of God in nature serves to remind us that God is God, and we are not.  God has created, God has put the heavens in their place.  God has made  the animals to live and to roam upon the earth.  The phrase that should give us pause is seen in vs.14: “Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God.”  

We find in vs.23 a statement that reminds me of Karl Barth who called God: “Totally other.”  God is totally other.  Wait, I mean, God is totally other, while at the same time Jesus came upon this earth as one of us.  God may be totally other, but at the same time God is with us, Emmanuel.  Let’s be clear, we are not God, but God did take the form of a slave.   Read Philippians 2:7 and remember that God chose to become one of us in every way, except he was without sin.  It is also an inspiring voice.  For some reason this song is in my head.

Once again Elihu speaks in a way that is reminiscent of what we would expect God to say.  And yet it also smacks of what the friends of Job said at one time.  Look at vss.11-12.  We read: “If they listen,  and serve him, they complete their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasantness.  But if they do not listen, they shall perish by the sword, and die without knowledge. “

This is absolutely what we think the world ought to look like.  This is exactly the kind of justice we would think God would have.  But it is not what we see played out in the world.  There is a possibility that Billy Joel is more right than Elihu on this one.  Certainly when the young die they get more press.  But it causes us to realize that we live our life for Jesus not because he is going to pay us back in long life or riches.  We life our life for Jesus simply because we are grateful for the grace that we have been given as a result of His ultimate sacrifice for us.  

Elihu continues to castigate Job and asks a rhetorical question that maybe Job could have asked at one time in his life.  What advantage have I?  How am I better off than if I had sinned?  Elihu actually comes up with a good answer.  He says if you are righteous then you actually are able to return something to God.  If you are wicked then it not only affects you but also those around you.  

Elihu accuses Job of empty talk and speech which multiplies ignorance.  There is some wisdom here in Elihu’s talk.  He continues on for a few more chapters and we don’t really have a response to him once he finishes speaking, so we might do well to pay attention to what he has to say.  So much of what Elihu has to say resonates with what Job said earlier in chapter 7.