PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2023-2024

Ecclesiastes is thought to have been written by King Solomon.  The description of himself is such that he can say in vs.12: “I the teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem, applied my mind to seek and to search out wisdom.”  We know that God provided Solomon with the type of wisdom that was godly.  No one else ever had the type of wisdom that Solomon had.  It also states that he had more wealth and more pleasure, and more concubines, and more of basically everything than any other king, yeah, that fits Solomon’s bill.

There are a few significant passages in these first 6 chapters.  The one that everyone knows is found in Ecclesiastes 3, to everything there is a season.  Think about what that means.  To everything there is a season, everything.  There are certainly some things that we would prefer would be eternally out of season, but that simply is not the case according to Solomon, and I’ll take his word for it.  

In chapter 4 we have Scriptures that Stacy and I used for our wedding and you heard the words: “Two are better than one…”  It continues and it provides a wonderful background for friendship and companionship and even marriage if you want to take that metaphor that far.  When it speaks about a threefold cord it isn’t much of a leap to talk about the three cords being the bride, groom, and Jesus.  Now that is a threefold cord.  

Now we begin to get some action.  God speaks out of a whirlwhind.  He addresses Job, but I think he also addresses Job’s friends.  Just think of how you might feel if you are decrepit and have just lost everything and God speaks to you out of a whirlwind.  You would be relieved either way.  Either because your suffering is over or because God is going to bring relief.  He asks Job a bunch of questions that have to do with the Providence of God and which only God can answer.  

Job answers briefly in 40 when he states that he is small and cannot compare with God.  God then lays into him again.  Job answers in 42 and states clearly: “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too  wonderful for me, which I did not know. ”  This posture of humility does wonders.  God then speaks and castigates Job’s friends telling them that Job was right all along and they were so terrible to him that Job has to offer a sacrifice to God because God will not accept one from them, only from Job.

Job offers that sacrifice and God rewards him with double of what he had before.  That isn’t the motivation to pursue righteousness, but it doesn’t hurt.

We pretty much hear from Elihu in this section.  Elihu comes down hard, really hard on Job.  At one point he says: “Those who have sense will say to me, and the wise who hear me will say: ‘Job speaks without knowledge, his words are without insight.'”  Talking about adding insult to injury.  Elihu continues for these 4 chapters plus a couple before them just pounding Job and his statement that he is innocent.  We don’t get a response from Job here at all.  In fact, the next person to speak, but that is for our next day, is God Himself.

In Proverbs we hear the wise one, that would be Solomon, who speaks about the Providence of God.  On the one had we hear: “When justice is done, it is ajoy to the righteous, but dismay to evildoers.”  This would make us think that he is kind of working the line of reasoning that in Job goes against Job.  But then he pulls out “No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel, can avail against the Lord.  The horse is made ready for battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.” 

We find ourselves in a bit of a transition in these verses.  Job continues his defence and states that the way of God is bigger than we could ever predict or understand.  The ways of the bird of prey no one knows, the place of gold and silver to be mined is a mystery, wisdom is a fickle creature whom no one can nail down.  But God knows all of these things and God has established them. 

Job then lays out his righteousness and described how the tables have turned on him.  He describes specific sins like adultery, turning a blind eye to the causes of the poor or the orphan.  He states pretty clearly that this was not his way, he did not sin in this way.  Then we get this phrase: the words of Job ended.  That isn’t exactly the truth, but we do now get the words of Elihu.

Elihu again speaks strongly against Job and states that he has not been righteous.  That is the only explanation for his current condition is his unrighteousness.  He states that God delivers those who are righteous and pursue wisdom so surely he is unrighteous.  We have heard this line of reasoning before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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There is some pretty vivid imagery here that both Job and his “friends” use to describe who God is and who the wicked are.  Job’s friends would describe Job as being wicked because his punishement is proof of his wickedness.  Eliphaz starts us off by asking Job if he thinks that he can at all contribute to God and to God’s plans?  He blames Job for chasing after gold as opposed to chasing after God. 

Job responds and challenges Eliphaz to show when he did that.  In fact, Job continues, he argues that wicked are the ones who benefit and receive rewards because they prey on the weak, the orphan and the widow.  The wicked, Job states: “are exalted a little while, and then are gone.”  Bildad responds and states bluntly that no one can be righteous before God.  Job responds that this may be true, but we cannot lay at the feet of God success as a result of righteousness.  

This goes back and forth somewhat ad nauseum.  

We do have a verse in Job that has become a song, and one that I really love.  Look at vs.25 and we read: “For I know that my Redeeer lives.”  It should take your mind to this:

 I think that is good enough for Job, but let’s move on to the end of Romans.  We find in 14 that declaration that one day every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess…That comes from Isaiah 45:23.  

We find a similar argument with Job and his “friends”.  As he states after the last salvo of Eliphaz in 15: “miserable comforters are you all!”  In his current state he is not in a position to be taught the facts of life.  When we face tragedy it is nearly impossible to receiving teachings, verses that are blessings in other times of life, such as all things work for good for those who trust in the Lord, are actually curses when we find ourselves crushed by the Lord in these times.  Job is experiencing that now with his friends.

In Romans we have some very important reminders about the nature of God and about our nature as well.  We find the very familiar verses in 12:17 where we read: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil…”  I say that every Sunday in my benediction.  Paul’s primary point in these chapters is found 11:11 where we read: “because of their transgression (the Jews), salvation has come to the Gentiles.”  As a result of Israel’s disobedience the door was opened for gentiles, for us, to have a relationship with God.

Another one of Job’s friends speaks and this time he is not very diplomatic.  Basically he asks aloud who is going to stop this Job from speaking lies in regards to his current state.  Everyone knows that God punishes the wicked and rewards the good.  The deduction from this then, of course, is that Job is wicked and must confess his wickedness and then everything will go back to normal.  

Job counters and says you have said nothing new.  But who doesn’t know that God can do whatever God wants to do.  He can stop the water and there will be drought.  He can make the water come and there will be flooding.  All things are in the hands of God and we are not able to dictate, good or bad, according to our actions, good or bad.  It is God’s perogative to act and decide how God wants.  Not according to our actions as if God is somehow tethered and limited by what we do and what we don’t do.  

In Romans there is a bit of a more sophisticated argument in regards to faith and the Israelites.  Paul says a few times a similar theme to what we hear in Job which is found especially in 9:15: I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and  I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.  This points to the fact that God has chosen to act according to His will, and not our desires.  Look at vs.16 in that same chapter:  It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but5 on God’s mercy.  I’ll be happy to rely upon and count on God’s mercy as opposed to my effort.

Once again a friend of Job speaks and once again reminds him that God is just and does not make the rain fall on the just and the unjust, but rather that we reap what we sow.  If we are experiencing hardship and suffering then it must be a result of how we are living which is against God’s will.  Again, this is not what we find in Scripture but it is what we find in common culture that we are rewarded for clean living and punished for our sin here and now on this earth.  That simply is not how God works and that simply is not what we see happening around us.  Job was innocent as much as any person could be innocent, but he still suffered hardship and calamity and tragedy.

Paul has a bit of an answer for that when he states in 8:18 that he considers his present suffering not even comparable to the glory that we will be inheriting in the future.  He goes on and states in 8:28 – “and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  Romans 8 has too many memory verses than any one chapter should have.  Here is another one in 8:37ff – “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, no anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

One of Job’s friends speaks and lays out the clear way of the world.  God will only punish the guilty.  You know how God works, he says, God gives gifts and looks kindly upon those who follow him and love him.  But if we face calamity and tragedy we ought to be able to trace a red line from the tragedy to a sin or a disobedience that we committed.  It sounds logical, but that is not the way of the world at all.

Job responds and says, I understand what you are doing here.  You are basically telling me that I have lost everything and and that I lost my health becasue I must have disobeyed God in some way.  I should just confess that I have done wrong and God will turn everything else around and make it right.  But, Job continues, I don’t know what I have done wrong, in fact, I can argue that I have not done anything wrong at all.  There is no guilt in me.

Keep in mind he is not saying this in a way that someone today might say: I am not a sinner.  Job knows that he is a sinner, but he has done all that he needed to do in order be seen as right in God’s sight.  He has consistently asked for forgiveness, made sacrifices, lived a righteous life as much to his ability as possible.  He is not being attacked because he is unfaithful or because he is not living clean.

In Romans we have my favorite verse in all of Romans 5:8 where we read: God demonstrates his love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  This reveals the type of love that God has for us, completely unconditional.  It isn’t based upon our good works, how nice we are, how much we do for him, but it is based upon God’s mercy and grace, period.