Well… I’m a failure at doing this every day. I also have changed the reading plan as I’ve gone. But I’m staying chronological!! I guess one out of three is… better than none out of three. 

Today I read Bildad and Zophar’s second speeches. There were some very interesting and some very amusing parts to this reading. I must admit that I am getting as frustrated as the people in this book while reading it. Just as Job and his friends are angry with each other for repeating their opinions and refusing to budge, I too am getting tired of hearing those same opinions over and over again. As I’m typing this though, I wonder in what ways that may be a metaphor for our own lives. Sometimes, we just keep arguing with God - or even with other people - and refusing to make any progress. Does God get as frustrated with us as I am with Job and his friends?

I feel like Chapter 18 can be split into two parts. Part 1 would be vs 1-4. Of these my favorite (and a good summary verse) is:

“How long until you stop talking?

Show some sense and then we can talk.” (Job 18:2)

I found this very amusing, but also very honest. In the first section, Bildad tells Job to stop complaining and not to assume that he and his friends are wrong. 

In part 2 (vs. 5-21), Bildad describes the life of a wicked man. He does this because he wholeheartedly believes that Job’s suffering is a direct result of his sin. 

Job responds in much the same way he already has. He recounts his frustration with God and all the things that he has lost. Chapter 19 is very similar to Job’s previous responses, but I did find interest in one passage:

“If you say, ‘How will we pursue him,

since the root of the problem lies with him?’

be afraid of the sword,

because wrath brings punishment by the sword,

so that you may know there is a judgment.” (19:28-29)

This verse intrigued me… But I don’t really understand it. Is Job saying that we should still recognize the power of God? Even though he has spent the past several chapters complaining about how he has been wronged by God? So I looked up Henry’s interpretation of this passage.

“The Spirit of God, at this time, seems to have powerfully wrought on the mind of Job. Here he witnessed a good confession; declared the soundness of his faith, and the assurance of his hope. Here is much of Christ and heaven; and he that said such things are these, declared plainly that he sought the better country, that is, the heavenly. Job was taught of God to believe in a living Redeemer; to look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come; he comforted himself with the expectation of these. Job was assured, that this Redeemer of sinners from the yoke of Satan and the condemnation of sin, was his Redeemer, and expected salvation through him; and that he was a living Redeemer, though not yet come in the flesh; and that at the last day he would appear as the Judge of the world, to raise the dead, and complete the redemption of his people. With what pleasure holy Job enlarges upon this! May these faithful sayings be engraved by the Holy Spirit upon our hearts. We are all concerned to see that the root of the matter be in us. A living, quickening, commanding principle of grace in the heart, is the root of the matter; as necessary to our religion as the root of the tree, to which it owes both its fixedness and its fruitfulness. Job and his friends differed concerning the methods of Providence, but they agreed in the root of the matter, the belief of another world.”

I’ve quickly gotten off track with the whole “Reading the Bible in a Year” thing. But I’m still doing much better than I have ever done before, so I’m keeping with it rather than giving up. 

Good old Job is starting to confuse me a bit. I’m having a hard time keeping track of what all of his friends are saying. Today I read the beginning of the second series of speeches. We return back to friend number one in the quest of getting Job to come out of his funk. 

Job 15 -> Eliphaz’s Second Speech

There are two main parts to Eliphaz’s second speech. In the first part, he condemns Job as one who doesn’t listen to God. One verse from this part that I found particularly compelling was:

“Are God’s consolations not enough for you,

event the words that deal gently with you?” (Job 15:11)

While, as Henry points out, Eliphaz’s claims are not necessarily well-founded, I still liked this verse. I think it applies to all of us at some point in our lives. Sometimes, we just refuse to accept God’s reasoning for things. I know I have before. If something doesn’t make sense in my silly human brain, then it must not be right. HELLO! This is GOD we are talking about. He doesn’t have to be “good enough” for me. He is already SO MUCH BETTER.

In the second part of his speech, Eliphaz returns to the concept mentioned by all three friends thus far: people who suffer deserve it. I can’t pick out one verse to describe his opinions, but read 15:17-35 to understand it. 

But, as Henry points out, Eliphaz has flawed reasoning:

“Eliphaz maintains that the wicked are certainly miserable: whence he would infer, that the miserable are certainly wicked, and therefore Job was so. But because many of God’s people have prospered in this world, it does not therefore follow that those who are crossed and made poor, as Job, are not God’s people. Eliphaz shows also that wicked people, particularly oppressors, are subject to continual terror, live very uncomfortably, and perish very miserably. Will the prosperity of presumptuous sinners end miserably as here described? Then let the mischiefs which befal others, be our warnings. Though no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous, nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby. No calamity, no trouble, however heavy, however severe, can rob a follower of the Lord of his favour. What shall separate him from the love of Christ?”

Much to the contrary of the beliefs of  Job’s friends - not all suffering is punishment for sin. As hard as that is to accept, it’s the truth.

Job 17-18 -> Job’s response to Eliphaz

Job begins his response by telling his friends that they really aren’t being very helpful in this discussion. He says that if he were in their place, we would handle things differently (16:2-5). Then again, he revists his major issue. He just wants to know why he deserves the punishment.

I think that Job’s issue is this: He knows that he is sinful, and maybe that leads him to deserve punishment. But his suffering is so much greater than all those around him, that in order for this to be true, his offenses must be proportionate. As a result he just wants to know what his offenses are. From his point of view, he has been no more sinful that anyone else. Once I stopped to think about this, I realized how striking it is. 

Job follows up this question with this:

“I have sewn sackcloth over my skin;

I have buried my strength in the dust.

My face has grown red with weeping,

and the shadow of death covers my eyes, 

although my hands are free from violence

and my prayer is pure.” (Job 16:15-17)

Job is having a rough time. And he is admittedly grumpy about it. But at the same time, he remains faithful to God. His prayer remains pure.

In all honesty, chapter 17 confuses me a great deal. So, instead of offering my analysis which would be quite flawed, I leave you with Matthew Henry’s commentary of that chapter:

“Job reflects upon the harsh censures his friends had passed upon him, and, looking on himself as a dying man, he appeals to God. Our time is ending. It concerns us carefully to redeem the days of time, and to spend them in getting ready for eternity. We see the good use the righteous should make of Job’s afflictions from God, from enemies, and from friends. Instead of being discouraged in the service of God, by the hard usage this faithful servant of God met with, they should be made bold to proceed and persevere therein. Those who keep their eye upon heaven as their end, will keep their feet in the paths of religion as their way, whatever difficulties and discouragements they may meet with.

Job’s friends had pretended to comfort him with the hope of his return to a prosperous estate; he here shows that those do not go wisely about the work of comforting the afflicted, who fetch their comforts from the possibility of recovery in this world. It is our wisdom to comfort ourselves, and others, in distress, with that which will not fail; the promise of God, his love and grace, and a well-grounded hope of eternal life. See how Job reconciles himself to the grave. Let this make believers willing to die; it is but going to bed; they are weary, and it is time that they were in their beds. Why should not they go willingly when their Father calls them? Let us remember our bodies are allied to corruption, the worm and the dust; and let us seek for that lively hope which shall be fulfilled, when the hope of the wicked shall be put out in darkness; that when our bodies are in the grave, our souls may enjoy the rest reserved for the people of God.”

In all honesty, I was getting a little bit bored with Job. But I really liked today’s reading. I’m thinking Zophar is my favorite of Job’s friends. He calls Job out on his whining, but also offers a positive solution - and one that is more sound than those offered by Job’s two other friends. 

Job 11 -> Zophar’s Speech

Like Job’s two other friends, Zophar isn’t really feeling Job’s complaining. But to me, his response is amusing. I feel like it is more like something one of my friends would say to me if I was complaining non-stop (not that Job’s complaints aren’t justified. Clearly he was having a bad few weeks…)

“Should this stream of words go unanswered

and such a talker be acquitted?

Should your babbling put others to silence, 

so that you can keep on ridiculing

with no one to humiliate you?

You have said, “My teaching is sound,

and I am pure in Your sight.”

But if only God would speak and declare His case against you, 

He would show you the secrets of wisdom,

for true wisdom has two sides.

Know then that God has chosen to overlook some of your sins.” (Job 11:2-6)

The first part of this that amuses me is that Zophar sort of pokes fun at Job for how verbose he is. Job spent the two previous chapters complaining, but Zophar doesn’t think that is reason enough to leave him alone. In fact, Zophar says “You think you have it rough and that you don’t deserve your punishment? You should be glad God isn’t going to give you what you deserve because you’ve got it easy.” 

I think sometimes we need to hear this. No matter how bad our lives seem to get, we deserve worse. Man is sinful and deserving of God’s wrath, but Christ’s death saves us from that. Look into the word “propitiation.” It’s one of my favorites. A complex word, but it explains that we don’t deserve the lives we get.

In verses 7-12, Zophar reminds Job of how small and how ignorant he is in comparison to God. God is omnipotent and omniscient. If we claim to know better than Him, it only proves how little we know.

Finally, after given Job a harsh dose of reality, Zophar offers him a promising suggestion. 

“As for you, if you redirect your heart

and lift your hands up to Him in prayer-

if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it,

and don’t allow injustice to dwell in your tents-

then you will hold your head high, free from fault.

You will be firmly established and unafraid.

For you will forget your suffering,

recalling it only as waters that have flowed by.” (Job 11:13-16)

Notice this: Zophar does not tell Job that if he turns to God His suffering will be removed. Instead, he tells Job that if he focuses and God and leaves his anger behind, he’ll get through it. My favorite line in this passage is “For you will forget your suffering / recalling it only as waters that have flowed by.” So many times I have felt completely overwhelmed by some form of suffering in my life, but now looking back on them, I am just glad that I was able to turn to God and that He carried me through it. 

Job 12-14 -> Job’s Response to Zophar

Job does not disagree with Zophar. In chapter 12 verse 3 he says, “I am not inferior to you. / Who doesn’t know the things you are talking about?” And again in chapter 13 verse 2 he says “Everything you know, I also know; / I am not inferior to you.” Job wants his friends to know that he knows what they are saying is true, but he wants more than an appeasement. He wants an explanation. 

Job spends a great deal of time (vs. 12:17-25) testifying to the awesome power of God. He also states his remaining faith in God: “Even if He kills me, I will hope in Him. / I will still defend my ways before Him” (13:15). But Job wants one more thing from God:

“Only grant these two things to me, God, 

so that I will no have to hide from Your presence:

remove Your hand from me, 

and do not let Your terror frighten me. 

Then call, and I will answer, 

or I will speak, and You can respond to me. 

How many iniquities and sins have I committed?

Reveal to me my transgression and sin. 

Why do you hide Your face

and consider me Your enemy?” (Job 13:20-24)

Job really just wants to know one thing: why him? How many times have you asked God this question? I think it is one of the most common question about suffering. Why do the people who suffer have to suffer? I don’t think we will ever understand it. My opinion is that this is a sacrifice we have to make. God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and omni-a whole lot of other things… At some point, we have to accept that we aren’t going to get it.

Here’s a secret about me… I’m one of those people who stops when things get confusing. Particularly with the Bible. I like to make excuses, but each day, I’m a little overwhelmed by the dialogue in Job. I’m not much for symbolism or ancient references, so I get lost easily. That happened to me in this section. I started reading, then stopped because I got overwhelmed. But my wonderful boyfriend who promised to hold me accountable promised he wouldn’t talk to me tonight until I had finished the reading I had committed to do. So here I am. 

Job 8 -> Bildad’s Speech

So far in Job, we have heard a lot of Job’s discouragement, but in chapter eight a second friend responds to him.

“How long will you go on saying these things?

You words are a blast of wind.

Does God pervert justice?

Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

Since you children sinned against Him, 

He gave them over to their rebellion. 

But if you earnestly seek God

and ask the Almighty for mercy, 

if you are pure and upright, 

then He will move even now on you behalf

and restore the home where your righteousness dwells.” (Job 8:2-6)

Bildad basically says to Job “How long are you going to keep whining? Clearly you deserve this because God isn’t unfair. If you just ask God for mercy and act right, everything will be fixed.” Bildad has a lot to learn… 

My mom always said to me “Life isn’t fair.” Guess what… It isn’t. And I’m quite thankful for that. If it was, God would never have sent His son to die for our sins. But many people still expect that God will allow good things to happen to good people and bad things to happen to bad people. But Job’s story shows us that is not the case. If you remember back to the beginning of the book, God brags to Satan about how righteous Job is. Clearly Job is a good guy. But God does allow something bad to happen to Job. Does this mean God doesn’t love Job? No. It means that the story is bigger than Job.

Bildad entire speech consists of challenging Job to seek God. At the end, he promises Job:

“Look, God does not reject a person of integrity, 

and He will not support evildoers.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter

and your lips with a shout of joy.

Your enemies will be clothed with shame;

the tent of the wicked will exist no longer.” (Job 8:20-22)

Job 9 & 10 -> Job’s Response to Bildad

Job’s friends have begun to make a breakthrough. But only begun… Job says “Yes, I know what you’ve said is true” (Job 9:2). But he still is not completely convinced. In chapter 9, Job talks himself through whether or not he deserves his suffering. 

“How can a person be justified before God?

If one wanted to take Him to court, 

he could not answer God once in a thousand times. 

God is wise and all-powerful.

Who has opposed Him and come out unharmed?” (Job 9:2-4)

Later, he continues:

“How then can I answer Him

or choose my arguments against Him?

Even if I were in the right, I could not answer.

I could only beg my judge for mercy.” (Job 9:14-15)

Job truly believes that his God is just and that if He is punishing Job, then he must deserve it. I really like the way Matthew Henry describes this discussion:

“In this answer Job declared that he did not doubt the justice of God, when he denied himself to be a hypocrite; for how should man be just with God? Before him he pleaded guilty of sins more than could be counted; and if God should contend with him in judgment, he could not justify one out of a thousand, of all the thoughts, words, and actions of his life; therefore he deserved worse than all his present sufferings. When Job mentions the wisdom and power of God, he forgets his complaints. We are unfit to judge of God’s proceedings, because we know not what he does, or what he designs. God acts with power which no creature can resist. Those who think they have strength enough to help others, will not be able to help themselves against it.

Job is still righteous in his own eyes, and this answer, though it sets forth the power and majesty of God, implies that the question between the afflicted and the Lord of providence, is a question of might, and not of right; and we begin to discover the evil fruits of pride and of a self-righteous spirit. Job begins to manifest a disposition to condemn God, that he may justify himself, for which he is afterwards reproved. Still Job knew so much of himself, that he durst not stand a trial. If we say, We have no sin, we not only deceive ourselves, but we affront God; for we sin in saying so, and give the lie to the Scripture. But Job reflected on God’s goodness and justice in saying his affliction was without cause.”

In chapter 10, the contempt towards God which Henry mentions begins to develop. Job tells God that he doesn’t understand and he is angry.

“Your hands shaped me and formed me. 

Will you now turn around and destroy me?

Please remember that You formed me like clay.

Will You now return me to dust?

Did You not pour me out like milk

and curdle me like cheese?

You clothed me with skin and flesh,

and wove me together with bones and tendons.

You gave me life and faithful love,

and Your care has guarded my life” (Job 10:8-12)

Job is angry at God. In fact, he’s not just angry, he’s PISSED. And that’s okay. God knows that we suffer and if there’s anyone to talk to about it, it’s Him. There’s a quote in the sidebar of my Bible that says:

“When you’re suffering, take your complaints to God. Don’t be afraid of hurting his feelings. If you’re mad at him, tell him so. Job did. But hang on to your past experiences with God, letting them remind you that he’s with you - and even if he’s all you have, he’s enough.” - Steven Miller

I really like this quote because sometimes, I feel bad complaining to God. On one hand, I feel like I have no right to complain. And to compound that, I feel like it’s wrong to be mad at God. But it’s okay. Job was righteous and he was still angry with God. Plus, talking to God about the way we feel is much better than being negative to the world. 

Well… so much for keeping on track. I got a little off in the past few days, but I’m staying up tonight until I get it done. I could make plenty of excuses for why I didn’t keep up, but really it’s my own fault. Here to trying not to get behind again!

Also, I’m switching the reading plan a bit again. In chapter 8, Job’s friend Bildad speaks, and then Job responds in chapters 9 and 10, so I didn’t want to split all that up. Instead, I’ll do them all together tomorrow. 

I would like to preface this section with the fact that Biblical monologues have always been a weakness for me. I can get the overall gist, but get a little lost on the details. I’ll use Matt and John (aka some super awesome commentaries) to help me figure out those bits.

Job 6-7 -> Job’s Reply to Eliphaz

In the previous chapters, Job’s friend Eliphaz, the first of three to speak, basically tells Job to turn to God in his troubles. He says that man should not criticize the discipline of God. From what I was able to gather from this section, Job responds by saying “That’s all fine and dandy, but it still sucks!” I’m going to try to break it down a bit to get a better idea. 

At the beginning of chapter 6, Job says:

“If only my grief could be weighed

and my devastation placed with it on a scale.

For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas. 

That is why my words are rash.” (Job 6:2-3)

Job wants his friends to know that he’s not complaining just because. He’s complaining because he is just completely overwhelmed. Everything that could go wrong in his life has. Matthew Henry says:

“Job still justifies himself in his complaints. In addition to outward troubles, the inward sense of God’s wrath took away all his courage and resolution. The feeling sense of the wrath of God is harder to bear than any outward afflictions. What then did the Saviour endure in the garden and on the cross, when he bare our sins, and his soul was made a sacrifice to Divine justice for us! Whatever burden of affliction, in body or estate, God is pleased to lay upon us, we may well submit to it as long as he continues to us the use of our reason, and the peace of our conscience; but if either of these is disturbed, our case is very pitiable. Job reflects upon his friends for their censures. He complains he had nothing offered for his relief, but what was in itself tasteless, loathsome, and burdensome.”

Job continues his argument with a lot of metaphors which I’m sure were quite relevant at the time, but don’t make a ton of sense to me now without reading the commentary. And even once I understand them, it’s a little pointless to explain each of them in the blog. If you are curious, I encourage you to go to John Wesley’s commentary here. He likes to break verses down word by word.

One passage I did particularly like was this one:

“Teach me, and I will be silent.

Help me understand what I did wrong.

How painful honest words can be! 

But what does your rebuke prove?” (Job 6:24-25)

I love the real emotion in this section. How many times have you said to God or to someone else, “If I could just understand why this is happening…” I know that I have. Job is just like any of us in that one of his main difficulties is that he doesn’t understand why he is encountering so many difficulties. 

As Job’s monologue continues in Chapter 7, he continues to speak frankly. He reminds his friends that his life is growing shorter, so he has no reason not to speak his mind:

“Therefore i will not restrain my mouth.

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.” (Job 7:11)

But this is not Job’s purpose. His purpose is mentioned a few verses later. He says to God:

“If I have sinned, what have I done to You, 

Watcher of mankind?

Why have You made me Your target, 

so that I have become a burden to You?

Why not forgive my sin

and pardon my transgression?

For soon I will lie down in the grave.

You will eagerly seek me, but I will be gone.” (Job 17:21)

I would like to state, for the record, that my comment on this section is most likely disagreed with my many people, but I do believe it is supported by the evidence in this book. Many people seem to think that all suffering in life is punishment from God. Punishment for something we’ve done or something we will do. Clearly Job though that was the case with his suffering. But I disagree.

I once heard Louie Giglio say “God paints on a canvas bigger than the eye can see.” We don’t know God’s plan. We never can and never will. I may not understand how my mom’s 28 year old friend being murdered fits into the plan of a loving God, but a few years ago, it did. That doesn’t mean that she or her family were being punished, it just means that she plays a role in the bigger canvas of God’s masterpiece.

We can see that Job suffers not as a punishment, but as a testament to God’s glory. Satan tries to challenge God, but God uses Job as evidence that His people can be faithful. I think this is amazing. If we were in Job’s shoes (which, come to think of it, we sometimes are), we would never see this, but because we are able to take a step back from the story (or the canvas…) and see the context, we see how God is using Job for His glory.

God’s pretty awesome, huh?

I’ve never read Job before, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I started reading today, but it turns out I really like it! Job is another one of those Bible characters by whom I was quickly impressed. 

Before each book of the Bible, my Bible has a two page introduction of information. This includes a one sentence summary, a “purpose,” “The Big Picture,” historical background, etc. For Job, I really liked the section labelled “Purpose,” so I thought I would share:

“Job is the fullest development in Scripture of the problem of evil. The matter is this: since humans, especially the seemingly innocent, suffer pain and evil, then what kind of God must there be? Logic suggests one of three answers: [1] God is righteous, but He is not powerful enough to prevent suffering, [2] God is all-powerful, but He is not truly good and has elements of evil in His nature, or [3] all pain and evil is in fact deserved by the sufferer and sent by God [in other words, the truly innocent do not suffer]. The biblical view finds these answers unacceptable, and the book of Job wrestles with the alternative: God lets the innocent suffer to demonstrate that in His sovereignty He receives glory even when His people suffer and persevere in faith without understanding why. Christ’s death is God’s ultimate answer to the problem of evil.”

Somehow, (I’m not really sure how given my generally logical method of thinking) God blessed me with the ability to accept things on faith. I don’t understand God, but I’m okay with that. I believe that God is so powerful that the human mind literally cannot fathom most of what He does. And I’m cool with that. I figure He is WAY smarter than I am, so I let Him do His thing and just sort of play along. If I don’t understand something, I sort of say “okay” and move on. This isn’t a pattern that applies to my normal life, just to my faith in God. I believe that evidence has proven the factuality and sanctity of scripture and that God has shown Himself in my life countless times, so I just try to accept His plan. 

Unfortunately, this is not a personality with which everyone has been blessed. I am quite thankful for the fact that I don’t feel the need or the desire to hash out things that confuse me about the Bible, but for some people, they cannot accept God until they understand certain things. The presence of evil and its relationship to an all powerful and loving God is one of these “things,” and has been for ages.

I have a friend who is extremely intelligent. He is literally one of the smartest people I know. He grew up in the church, has Christian friends, and attends Christian events, but considers himself an agnostic. I honestly think he wants to believe, but can’t. For him, the major obstacle which he just can’t overcome is evil. There is so much evil and suffering in our world that he, and many, many, others just cannot reconcile it. 

The Book of Job does a good job (haha no pun intended…) of beginning to explain this dilemma.  

Job 1 -> Introduction and Satan’s First Test of Job

I’m quickly coming to realize that there are people in the Bible who truly lived life according to God’s will for them. I keep reading about them and reading verses about God’s opinion of them and just being in awe of how faithful and obedient they are. Of Job, the Bible says, “He was a man of perfect integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1) and “Job was the greatest man among the people of the east” (Job 1:3). 

Before I even read about Satan testing Job, I was impressed by Job’s prayer for his children. 

“Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising earl in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought: Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts. This was a regular practice.”

How often do you pray for someone “just in case?” Job did… regularly.

Job rocked at life so much that God bragged about him to Satan. Satan didn’t believe in Job’s integrity. He told God that Job would deny Him if we wasn’t so blessed. So God told Satan he could test Job by taking away his possessions, but had to leave Job alone. 

So Satan took away Job’s oxen and donkeys (1:15).

And his servants (1:15,16,17).

And his sheep (1:16).

And his camels (1:17). 

And his family (1:18). 

All of these things happened in one day. Job had no time to grieve or to process in between. He found out everything at once. His response?

“He fell to the ground and worshiped saying:

‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb,s

and naked I will leave this life.

The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. 

Praise the name of the Lord.’

Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.” (1:20-22)

So Job passed Satan’s test. But Satan, being a big pain in the bootay, decided that Job was only still faithful to God because he had his health.

Job 2-5 -> Satan’s Second Test (and the first part of the response)

So God allowed Satan to test Job again, but told him he had to spare Job’s life. “So Satan let the Lord’s presence and infected Job with incurable boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head” (2:7). Job’s response?

“Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” (2:10).

Man. This guy is good. But don’t be convinced that his just chilling out with his boils, happy as can be. Throughout chapter 3, he curses the day he was born. He basically has a major vent session, but never loses faith in God. A side box in my Bible says:

“Can we be honest with God? Many people talk about the “patience of Job” as though he just sat around feeling sure that things were going to get better. But read chapter 3, and you’ll see him obviously agitated, wishing he were dead, cursing the fact that he’d been born in the first place. God seems to be OK with us speaking our mind as long as we’re speaking it to him, not poisoning others, and as long as when we get through venting our feelings, we wrap them up in faith and trust, knowing that God is still in control, still working his plan.”

In chapters 4 and 5, Job’s friend Eliphaz responds to his venting session. He says:

“Your words have steadied the one who was stumbling,

and braced the knees that were buckling.

But now that this has happened to you,’

you have become exhausted.

It strikes you, and you are dismayed.”

He basically says to Job: “You’ve always been there for us, but now you’re the one suffering. And it sucks.” However, in 5:8-27, Eliphaz tells Job to pray to God about his suffering and not to reject God’s acts. 

I’m really exciting to keep reading about Job and see how he responds. Chapter 6 begins his response to Eliphaz, so I’ll write about that tomorrow. :-)

**So, apparently this never published last night. My apologies.

Back to Noah we return! In the last chapter, I learned about Noah and his amazing faith. God said, and Noah did. Just like that. God said. Noah did. No questions. This faith and obedience didn’t end as Noah’s story continued. 

Genesis 7:1-8:20 -> Noah and the Flood

Once Noah had built the ark and they were planning for the flood to come, God said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before Me in this generation” (Gen. 7:1). I’m quickly developing a long list of Bible role models. Can you imaging being the only righteous person on the entire planet? The thing is… I can’t. Because I am so very flawed. Reading about people like Noah reminds me that I’ve got a lot of work to do. 

Then, God told Noah that he had a week till everything he knew was destroyed. Personally, I’d be freaking out. But nope. “Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him” (Gen 7:5). Again… Wow.

I guess the thing that stuck out to me as I continued to read about the flood was that Noah’s faith didn’t stop. It rained for forty days and nights and Noah watched as the entire planet was engulfed with water, while the ark rose to be 20 feet above the highest mountains. And he just waited. Because he knew that God had a plan. Then, as the flood waters receded, Noah and his family prepared to start a new life, continually faithful to God. 

Once again, imagine yourself in Noah’s shoes. I would come out of the ark, breathe a little fresh air, and then say “What do I do now?” But Noah’s first action? To build an altar to the Lord (8:20). 

I’m sorry if I just keep talking about how awesome Noah is, but if you read these passages, I think you would have to agree. Plus, God thought he was pretty awesome as well. 

Genesis 8:21-9:17 -> God’s Covenant with Noah

Once Noah finished the altar to God, 

“He [God] said to Himself, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of man, even though man’s inclination is evil from his youth. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.’” (Gen 8:21)

First of all, I would just like to point out that even God talks to himself. I think this makes it okay if I do it. Secondly, I am quite grateful for this covenant. God knows that we are going to be sinful. It is a feature of the free will He has given us, but He has promised that He will not destroy the earth again. I find it rather awe inspiring that God makes promises to man. He owes us nothing, yet He promises us much.

In case we thought we might forget the covenant, God gives us a little reminder. :-)

“And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: I have placed My bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh: water will never again become a deluge to destroy all flesh. The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh on earth.’ God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I have confirmed between Me and all flesh on earth.’” (Gen 9:12-17)

So, next time you see a rainbow, remember that God loves you so much that he took the time to make a covenant with man. (And remember that the world will never again be destroyed by a flood…. That’s good to remember too.)

And just for your enjoyment, I’ve included this picture of a DOUBLE RAINBOW!

I’ve elected not to include my analysis of Chapter 10 due to the fact that it mainly includes amusement at people’s names. :-)

Genesis 11 -> Babylon

I’m going to be quite honest. I have no major thoughts about this chapter. I know that it has significance later, but I’m going to have to come back to it after doing a little research. My apologies. Good old Matt Henry says:

“God’s purpose was, that mankind should form many nations, and people all lands. In contempt of the Divine will, and against the counsel of Noah, the bulk of mankind united to build a city and a tower to prevent their separating. Idolatry was begun, and Babel became one of its chief seats. They made one another more daring and resolute. Let us learn to provoke one another to love and to good works, as sinners stir up and encourage one another to wicked works.”

So, once again, man went against the will of God. Instead of allowing them to do this, God split them up and had them all speak different languages. As a result, we have the many people groups of the world today.

I am out of thoughts for the evening, and it is past my bedtime, but tomorrow I get to read Job!

So today, I’m babysitting. For eight hours. I don’t finish until 11, so I brought my Bible and my computer with me. I was afraid if I didn’t, then I would cop out and go to bed when I get home rather than reading. And getting off schedule on day 3 is kinda lame.

Anyways, prior to reading, I was watching TV with my Bible sitting beside me on the chair. Sarah, the six year old, came up to me and said “What’s that?” When I told her it was a Bible, she said “What kind?” I figured Holman Christian Standard wasn’t what she was looking for, so instead, I said “There’s only one kind of Bible.” She quickly responded with “Nuh uh… there’s lotsa kinds. There’s the God kind, and there’s… well, there’s other kinds, but I can’t remember.”

I’m always a little iffy about crossing lines while babysitting, so I kind of let the conversation end there, but I’ve been thinking about it off and on for the past few hours. The Bible is God breathed. While there are many different translations, the story should be the same. Now, I do know that there are several, shall we call them “strange,” translations of the Bible out there. But that isn’t my point. My point is that the REAL, honestly and expertly translated Bible is not something that we can tailor to our own beliefs. Just as we cannot twist its meaning, we also cannot pick and choose which sections to believe. 

So, next time someone asks you what kind of Bible you have… I hope you respond “THE Bible.”

**NOTE: I am deviating slightly from the online Bible reading plan. I want to keep the flood all on one day, so I’ll read chapter 7 tomorrow.**

Last night, after I finished posting, I went to bed. My mind was racing with everything I had learned in such a short period of time. It makes me think about the fact that we don’t need to be intimidated by the Bible. All I did was give up a little bit of time. I read three chapters, looked over some wise opinions, thought, and prayed. And it’s amazing how much God taught me through that.

As I prayed, I said “Dear God, Thank you for Day 1. Please help me with Day 2.” When I go to sleep tonight, I’ll say “Dear God, Thank you for Day 2. Please help me with Day 3.” I’m not doing anything in this experience. I am not wise and developing great interpretations of scripture. I am just allowing God to work through me. 

Genesis 4:1-16 -> Cain and Abel

Can you imagine committing the first murder? I hate to say it, but murder has become somewhat commonplace in our society. It is constantly in movies, TV, and books. People make jokes about it. Even in our own reality… if we hear about a murder on the news, we shake our heads sadly, but are we really all that surprised? This wasn’t the case in the time of Cain and Abel. There were literally four people on the planet. No one had ever killed another human. So, in the world: population 4, what could motivate someone to kill his own brother?

 ”Now Abel became a shepherd of a flock, but Cain cultivated the land. In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also presented an offering - some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he was downcast.” (vs. 4:2b-5)

First off, I would just like to say that I am thankful that God no longer calls us to make sacrifices and/or offerings (I feel like they aren’t the same thing, but they may be…) of livestock. Secondly, I have to admit that I’ve totally been Cain in this situation.

Cain and Abel each gave something to honor the Lord. Cain’s offering was simply middle-of-the-road, what was easy. It was what was easy to give. In contrast, Abel gave the best of his flock. God showed favor on Abel because of this. 

So many times, God has called me to give, and I have only given what was easy. I’ll give a little less to the offering at church so I can go out to lunch with my friends afterwards. I’ll be nice to a homeless man on the street, but won’t offer to pray for him because it pulls me out of my comfort zone. Instead of giving the best of what God has given me back to him, I only give what is easy or convenient - leaving the best for myself. This is not what is favorable in the eyes of God.

Luke 12:48 says, “Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more.” Are you doing what is expected of you? Or are you like Cain, and simply doing what is easy? 

One of my favorite parts of this story is vs. 6-7:

“Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? and why are you downcast? If you do right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must master it.’”

I just love how simple and logical God is with Cain. If we do what is right and what brings glory to God, we will see favor in His sight. But if we choose not to do that, sin is waiting for us. The imagery in this verse is wonderful. It makes me think of when I was a kid and one of my brothers would stand on the other side of a doorway, just waiting for me to come through so that they could scare or trip me. That is how I imagine sin in this verse. If we simply choose to not walk through the doorway at all, we can master sin.

Hopefully I’m not spoiling the story for you (wait… I think I already did that at the beginning of the post), but Cain goes on to kill his brother out of jealousy. God punishes his actions by promising him no yield from the land and the life of a “restless wanderer.”

You would think that at this point Cain would realize the error of his ways and ask for forgiveness. But as Matthew Henry points out:  ”Cain complains not of his sin, but of his punishment. It shows great hardness of heart to be more concerned about our sufferings than our sins.” I think many times we have so much anger and hardness in our hearts that we refuse to admit our sins. Instead, we complain about our sufferings and how we do not deserve them. 

Genesis 4:17-5:32 -> Begat, begat, begat… (AKA From Adam to Noah)

This is one part of the Bible that I (and many others, I would bet…) often skip right over. In older versions of the Bible, it was a bunch of names I couldn’t pronounced, joined together by a few dozen “begat”s. Now… it’s a bunch of names I pretend to know how to pronounced joined together by a few dozen “fathered”s. But there are a few things about this section that I would like to point out.

1. The lineage of the Bible is important. Just like the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers as borders to Eden, genealogy reports from the time of Adam are a connection to history. They remind us that the story of God and his people is real. 
2. “At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.” - Genesis 4:26. This verse really stuck out to me. So far, humanity has pretty much failed. God created this perfect world, then we filled it with sin. I tried to get fancy and look at the Hebrew, but it’s not much more telling than the English (see here). I read this verse as a moment of surrender. People realized that things are not going right and began to ask for help and began to pray to God. I might be wrong with this interpretation, but I like it. I’ve definitely had moments like that. Moments where I say “God, I screwed up. Help me fix it. Help me focus on You instead of all the other stupid stuff I spend my time doing.”
3. “Enoch walked with God, and he was not there, because God took him.” - Genesis 5:24. I wanna be that awesome. To walk with GOD! I don’t think I’m up to it though. I’m WAY too flawed. I still find this verse convicting of all the things I should be doing. Matthew Henry explains it well:

“To walk with God, is to set God always before us, to act as always under his eye. It is constantly to care, in all things to please God, and in nothing to offend him. It is to be followers of him as dear children. The Holy Spirit, instead of saying, Enoch lived, says, Enoch walked with God. This was his constant care and work; while others lived to themselves and the world, he lived to God. It was the joy of his life. Enoch was removed to a better world. As he did not live like the rest of mankind, so he did not leave the world by death as they did.”

Genesis 6 -> Noah and the Ark (but not the flood!)

Human’s didn’t stop screwing up at verse 4:26. In fact, they continued to become more and more corrupt from the day of Seth until the day of Noah. 

“When the Lord saw that mankind’s wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time, the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” - Genesis 6:5-6

Wow. Now that’s a punch in the gut if I’ve ever felt one! Man screwed up so badly that God regretted ever putting us on this earth. So much in fact, that He decided to destroy it. God decided to eliminate all the sin and corruption that was on the earth. He only allowed Noah, who was “blameless,” and his family to survive. So God called Noah to build an ark…

My friend Rachel once did a devotional on Noah and the Ark that I wish I could replicate now. Sadly, I can’t. But she did an excellent job of depicting the amount of faith that Noah had to build the ark. Most people in Noah’s day had never seen a boat. At all. God asked Noah to build one. A BIG one. 

This is a picture of a replica of the ark, supposedly built to scale, in the Netherlands (For an article on it, see here):

That’s a big boat. 

THEN, as if building the boat wasn’t enough, Noah had to believe that two of every single creature on the planet was just going to waltz right up to him and climb aboard. Noah had an astonishing amount of faith. 

That’s all for tonight… Tomorrow I get to read about how Noah’s faith paid off. :-)