One Year Bible, August 24

JOB 12:1 - 15:35                                                                                                                 
ELIPHAZ (EMOTIONAL RESPONSE): He called Job a hypocrite and believed that all suffering is brought on by hidden sin in our lives.  SOME suffering IS brought on by hidden sin in our lives (Psa 32:3-4) - but this wasn't true in Job's case.

BILDAD (INTELLECTUAL OR LOGICAL RESPONSE): He said Job was a "wind-bag"! That good Bible teaching says "IF you were pure and upright...." you wouldn't be in this condition. "God will not cast away a perfect man."  Therefore, if Job would just turn to God, all would be well again.

ZOPHAR'S (THE WILL):  He told Job that his punishment is actually less than he deserved!  If Job would just repent, he would be restored to the point where he wouldn't even remember all this torment!

ANSWERING OUR CRITICS:  "I am the laughingstock of my friends", but I know God better than you do!  I am in His hands, as is every living thing.   God holds all wisdom and understanding and all power over the righteous AND the wicked.  You say you are speaking for God, but you malign Him and are deceivers.  If you were all that smart, you would just shut up because you don't know what you are talking about!

GOD IS GOOD:  Job is fighting for his faith, so he reaffirms his trust in God, "though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him."  He is my only salvation. God, just (1) don't withdraw Your presence from me; and (2) don't terrorize me.   My life is so short compared to eternity, so God should feel sorry for me.   IF I have sinned, then tell me what I've done!   Must I just wait for death to take me?

HERE WE GO AGAIN: ELIPHAZ:  He believes Job is conceited and arrogant, and so now Eliphaz is mad!  It is the wicked that suffer!   The way Job talks PROVES his iniquity.  Eliphaz believes that man is so corrupt and filthy that he COULD NEVER be righteous before God (a lie).  Eliphaz's reaction shows that Job's experience is a real threat to our preconceived religious ideas.

RESPONSE:   I believe that the story of Job shows us that often we don't know what we're talking about! I had a pastor once who instructed us that when we pray with people at the altar, pray ABOUT their condition before we pray FOR them. Sometimes there is a psychological reason for their sickness that needs to be dealt with first. This is what Job's friends are assuming without asking Job.  So far, they haven't offered any comfort!  Let this be a lesson for us!  If someone is already suffering, at least give them some comfort before you tear them apart!

1 CORINTHIANS 15:29-58                                                                                                     
For most of this chapter, please see yesterday's blog.

TWO MEN:  Adam and Jesus. We are "in Adam" or "in Christ".   There is nothing else. Immature believers (carnal or fleshly) need to know that when they were "in Adam", they were dying, full of darkness and confusion.   Any self-knowledge they had came from the Light of God (Isa 60:3; Psa 43:3).   "In Adam", our flesh was treacherous to God.   So after we are born again, we become people of the Spirit, "in Christ".  The Holy Spirit is the antidote to overcome the poison of sin and death (Rom 8:11).   Anything of the Adamic nature still working in me will make me die.  Jesus is the Head of a NEW RACE - a spiritual people.  We must live by the Spirit because "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." (NOW)

WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED: The real question is "when?"   In fact, we MUST BE CHANGED.   We "inherit" the Kingdom of God at the new birth (see the Sermon on the Mount).   If "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (and it can't), then I MUST be changed to a spiritual person if I want to approach God.  That is what 1 Corinthians is all about.   How that change takes place. That just as seeds get sown into the ground and die, and then "resurrect" to a new plant --- so do we.   "In the twinkling of an eye" is when the light of revelation comes, in a flash, and the Holy Spirit begins His work in us.  Our New Birth is actually a metaphor for the resurrection.  Our BODIES are waiting for their resurrection also. The bodily resurrection of mankind is future and is as sure as Jesus' own resurrection.

RESPONSE:   Much of what we call "life", is actually death.   It belongs to Adam's race, not Christ's.   Nothing is more loathsome than a dead body, but the saints, when they rise, will be changed to glorious and spiritual bodies, fit for heaven.   Sin is what gives death all its hurtful power. The law is not evil, but it empowers sin because, in our flesh, we cannot obey the law or meet its demands. Jesus saved us spirit and soul and body!

PSALM 39:1-13                                                                                                                    
"EVERY MAN IN HIS BEST STATE IS VANITY":  Life that is full of selfishness is EMPTY. Natural man has an EMPTY life that leads to hopeless despair.   The greatest emptiness is to live life for this world alone.  "Vanity" means that it lacks the means to satisfy.   Jer 2:5 says that when we "go after" vain things, we become vain or worthless ourselves.   All false gods destroy their worshippers because you take on the characteristics of what yoy worship or put first. 

PROVERBS 21:30-31                                                                                                           
There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan, no horse that can succeed against the Lord.  Politicians THINK they are in charge of the universe, but NOT SO!  We THINK we "got the victory" in a given situation, but it was actually God's doing!

RESPONSE:   I don't know how people can face life without Jesus!  Such loneliness.  Such powerlessness.  Such darkness of mind and soul.  Such fear.  I don't even like to think about it.