Job 17:1-22 – Defensive Yet Hopeful

Read Job 17:1-16

Sadly, we often judge people by their appearance. Job must have looked dreadful. His body has wasted away, he must have almost been unrecognizable. Do you think his friends’ responses were in any way affected by the way Job looked?

Job described himself a bit in this passage. What do we know about Job’s appearance? His eyes were swollen from weeping, and he had lost a lot of weight. Job believed he was being scoffed by the virtuous and righteous, probably some of those friends he used to have. Rejection. Job’s friends had rejected him. Don’t we tend to get defensive when we feel abandoned and rejected? Job was feeling such pressure. Continue reading “Job 17:1-22 – Defensive Yet Hopeful”

Job 12:1-25 – God is in Control

Read Job 12:1-25

Their words may scoff and bite, but I haven’t heard any laughter myself. But Job calls it out when he says, “yet my friends laugh at me.” If there was some laughter, it would not have been the funny, “that’s a good joke” kind of laughter. It would have been mocking, smirking, disgusted kind of laughter.

Job does a great job of recovering from the blows of his friends. He didn’t have a far fall after he was already so low because of his great loss. Still, Job is thoughtful in his responses even if we can see his agony shining through. Continue reading “Job 12:1-25 – God is in Control”

Job 6:1-7:5 – Job Lashes Back

Read Job 6:1-7:5

Job’s response to Eliphaz didn’t surprise me, did it you? He felt totally exposed and blamed by Eliphaz. Job was suffering greatly, and it did not help him at all to feel like he was being reprimanded by his friend. After all that Job had endured, he felt like he had a “right to complain.” I agree with Job on that.

People complain all the time about one thing or another. Like the weather for instance. Either it’s too hot, too cold, too humid, too rainy, too sunny, you get the idea. People are never content. But Job’s contentedness, or lack thereof, had nothing to do with something so trivial as the weather. Yet people get away with complaining all the time, why couldn’t Eliphaz let Job vent a little bit? Continue reading “Job 6:1-7:5 – Job Lashes Back”

Zephaniah 3:1-8 – What Sorrow Awaits

Read Zephaniah 3:1-8

The reforms of Josiah will not keep the people right with God for long. Zephaniah speaks of how Jerusalem’s rebellion continues. After all the attempts to reacquaint people with God’s laws and expectations, how does the city respond? “No one can tell it anything; it refuses all correction. It does not trust in the Lord or draw near to its God.” How do you think God feels when we pull away?

We have all known people who have left the church community for one reason or another. Perhaps they had a life event happen, and rather than embrace God’s provision, turned away blaming God for the misfortune. Maybe there was some personality clash with church leadership leaving them feeling disillusioned about their faith. People will find reasons to trust their own power rather than the Holy Spirit power we’ve been given.

Continue reading “Zephaniah 3:1-8 – What Sorrow Awaits”
error

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)