As we conclude our study of the Book of Job and consider how the Lord restored Job to his former prosperity, we need to keep in mind that all Job and the friends knew about God prior to Job’s calamities was what was handed down through oral tradition. In fact, there is no ancient evidence of an alphabet prior to Israel’s coming down to Egypt about the time of Joseph’s reign as second in command to Pharaoh.[1] So, knowledge of such things revealed in the New Covenant scriptures, like God forgiving us is dependent upon our willingness to forgive others (Matthew 6:14-15; cp. Ephesians 4:32), simply wasn’t known or understood in the ancient world. Even if such things were known from the beginning, Paul shows us that that kind of knowledge of God would have been lost to mankind by the time of Job (Romans 1:18-25). Read the rest of this entry »
In the final chapter of the Book of Job, the Lord addresses his rebuke to the friends, especially Eliphaz, the wisest of the three. They had defended the oral tradition that had come down to them from generation to generation. This tradition was held by the ancients and incorporated what they believed about God (cp. Job 8:8-9). However, no thought was given to the idea that such a tradition had become corrupted over the centuries (cp. Romans 1:18-25). They held that God is just, and he judges men, according to their deeds, and during their lifetime spent on earth. “What a man sows is what he reaps” (cp. Galatians 6:7) was a doctrine, which they held to absolutely and without question, even when Job proved the doctrine was obviously in error. Yet, not only wouldn’t they admit error, but they used a false doctrine to accuse Job of wickedness. Read the rest of this entry »
46576809 – what’s wrong question handwritten on vintage school slate board isolated on white
The Book of Job opens by describing Job’s character. He is a very good, moral person (Job 1:1). In other words, Job faithfully followed God, and for all intents and purposes, there was absolutely no reason for God to punish him. However, is that what God was doing? Keep in mind that the story of Job takes place in ancient times, probably during the time of Abraham. If Abraham had to be taught what God was like, certainly other folks at that time were ignorant too. Therefore, if they were to learn deep truths about the Lord, God had to break into their lives in some way and bring them to the point, where they would understand him better, and, in doing so, correct their then current, but false, worldview. Read the rest of this entry »
No doubt more had been said between Job and his friends than is recorded in this book, but all we know for certain is found here. Nevertheless, it seems as though Job could have drawn on some unrecorded replies from his observation of what God had created, the earth and the heavens and his creatures on land and the sea and the birds of the air. This understanding seems to fit Zophar’s remark: “Can you by searching find out God?” (Job 11:7), where searching (H2714) has to do with examining, similar to what one does with one’s senses. Zophar continued his reply by speaking of one’s inability to examine the earth, the sea and the heavens (Job 11:8-9), after which he implied Job was as stubborn as a wild ass (Job 11:12). Read the rest of this entry »
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As I mentioned previously in an earlier study of Paul’s first epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul’s letters aren’t arranged according to chronology, but, rather, according to their length, Romans, being the longest epistle, comes first. With this in mind, it is very possible that Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, which is the smaller of the two, may have been his first letter to them, and what we label as his first letter was actually his second. This seems more plausible when we consider that Paul defends his work among them in 1Thessalonians 2, indicating he had knowledge of it being attacked by his enemies. Paul’s first letter was written after a visit made by Timothy and his return to Paul at Athens (1Thessalonians 3:1-7), so he seems to have more knowledge of the condition of the believers in his first letter and may even be responding to believers’ questions in 1Thessalonians 4:13. His second epistle on the other hand, merely draws upon what he has heard about them (2Thessalonians 1:3-4), indicating someone from Thessalonica probably came to visit Paul at Athens with news of trouble there. Read the rest of this entry »
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When the Lamb (Jesus) had taken the book to himself to reveal its contents, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before his feet and worshiped him (Revelation 5:8). The text says that every one of them had harps and golden censors in their hands, however, I don’t believe this means the four beasts and the twenty-four elders had both a censor and a harp in his hands. If that were true, it would be difficult to use either, because both require two hands to use. Read the rest of this entry »
Specifically, John wrote to the seven churches of God, which were in Asia (Revelation 1:4), part of the same area to which Peter sent his epistles (1Peter 1:1). The Apostle Paul also wrote letters to churches in seven places: Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, and Thessalonica. The number seven is used 54 times in 31 verses in this book. It is seven churches, seven spirits, seven horns, seven eyes, seven seals etc. Why seven? Many scholars would conclude it is the number of completeness, perhaps derived from the creation week of Genesis 1 & 2. It took God six days to create the universe and every living thing in it, but he didn’t stop there. He created a day of rest on the seventh day by resting on that day. That is, he ceased his labor on that day, not that God was weary and needed to relax. Later he would command that the seventh day would be used as a day of worship to commemorate the completed or whole creation of God (Exodus 20:8-11). Read the rest of this entry »
In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, when his young son was still on his path home, his father ran to him, while his son was still some distance away (Luke 15:20b). It is implied in this verse that our heavenly Father meets us at some point in our journey back to him. He makes certain that we don’t have to make the full journey of repentance alone. The fact that the father of the young man ran to him would seem quite unfitting in the custom of the day, and this expresses the idea that our heavenly Father will not react toward us, in the manner in which we expect of him. Far from being angry over what we’ve done, he is always ready to give us much more than we desire. Read the rest of this entry »
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In the Parable of the Prodigal Son Jesus tells of the condition that befell the young man after he had left his father. He spent his inheritance on strangers, and afterward found he hadn’t a friend among them. With his wealth gone, he came to realize he was a stranger in a strange land, and, at least for him, there was a famine in that land (Luke 15:14). That is he was alone and destitute with no means of saving himself. Read the rest of this entry »
In Philippians 2:12 Paul tells his readers to each work out his own salvation with fear and trembling. In Peter’s second epistle Peter points to the believer’s part in his own salvation, showing that he has become a partner in or a partaker of divine nature. While God saves mankind from death (Romans 6:23) and gives us eternal life (2Corinthians 5:1-4), those who claim Jesus as their Savior are expected in this present life to in share the cost of salvation. Paul refers to this as offering oneself as a living sacrifice to God. In doing so, we refuse to be conformed to the image of this world by submitting to God’s hand in forming us after the image of his Son (Romans 8:29; 12:1-2; 2Corinthians 3:18). Peter describes the believer’s part as taking place in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, or as we might put it today: in asking ourselves WWJD? Read the rest of this entry »
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Peter claims the believer has been given all things pertaining to life and godliness through “divine power” (2Peter 1:3), but is Peter referring to the Father’s power or that of Jesus? In 1Peter 1:1 Peter writes “…our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Then in verse-2 he again refers to Jesus with “…the knowledge of God, even Jesus our Lord.” The natural implication of the word divine in 1Peter 1:3 points to Jesus, i.e. Jesus’ divine power. It seems out of place, if Peter intends for us to understand the Father, because up to this point he is writing only of Jesus—our God and Savior and our knowledge of him. Why insert divine in reference to God (the Father)? It wasn’t worshipers of God who were being attacked, but worshipers of Jesus. Knowing Jesus as God was an astonishing revelation in the first century, and the mention of divine in verse-3 compliments Peter’s mention of our God and Savior in the first two verses of his epistle. Read the rest of this entry »
While he was on his way to heal a young girl, a woman who had in issue of blood for twelve years (Luke 8:43; Mark 5:27-28) came up behind Jesus and touched him, hoping to go undetected. She believed that by touching Jesus she would be healed, and she thought that going to him among the thronging crowd her presence and purpose would go unnoticed. She was immediately healed, and her bleeding stopped (Luke 8:44). Mark 5:29 says that the woman felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. What she did was reach out and touch one of the four fringes or tassels, which hung from Jesus’ outer garment (Luke 8:44; cf. Numbers 15:38-39; Matthew 23:5). They were there to remind devout Jews of the Lord’s commandments and one’s duty to obey them. It had a set apart or holy significance (Numbers 15:40) that the woman reached out to touch, hoping to be made whole. Read the rest of this entry »
It is a gracious matter to endure suffering, while acting out of one’s desire to be obedient to God (1Peter 2:19), or to behave in a manner pleasing to him. Often, this suffering comes at the hand of others. When Peter addresses the plight of the servant in 1Peter 2:18-20, application can be made to other walks of life, for example one is able to act out Peter’s argument at one’s place of employment. Yet, it needs to be remembered that the primary application is to the one who has no freedom, like slaves and conquered peoples. Read the rest of this entry »
In Luke 5:33-39 Luke records Jesus making four pairs of contrasts: fasting and feasting, an old garment and new cloth, old wineskins and new wine, and old and new wine. All have to do with religious practice and how Jesus disciples relate to God, versus how this was done under the Old Covenant. Some contrast the Church and Judaism, but this isn’t enough. The heart of the matter is not simply Jewish tradition. Rather, the problem is with the Mosaic Law. Moses and Jesus are at odds in this respect, namely, that law and grace simply have no common ground. One cannot cry out for justice and forgive at the same time. Nevertheless, Jesus did not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17)—i.e. to complete it, furnish what it lacked and pay its demands. Read the rest of this entry »
It is interesting that Matthew punctuates his entire Gospel with the theme of Christ fulfilling all things under the Old Covenant. Luke doesn’t do that. Rather, except for a few statements in the final week of Jesus’ public ministry, Luke brackets the whole of Jesus’ words and deeds between Luke 4:19 and 24:44 under the theme of what in Scripture was to be fulfilled. Here in Luke 4:19 Jesus claimed he was the Messiah by saying Isaiah 61 was fulfilled in the ears of his family and friends at Nazareth. Then in Luke 24:44 Jesus told his disciples in the upper room that all things in the Law, Prophets and Writings (Psalms) that were written about him had to have been fulfilled by him. Luke sets forth these two Scriptures as an inclusio.[1] That is, everything that falls between these two verses, he intends for us (and his addressee, Theophilus – Luke 1:3) to understand they concern Jesus fulfilling the Scriptures. Read the rest of this entry »
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