2025 Bible Study Group

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Job 28

Job compares the search for wisdom to miners searching for gold and precious gems. The poetry here is really quite beautiful. Men will go to great lengths, they'll dig underground, they'll risk death, to search for precious gems. And yet God's wisdom is far more valuable than all the precious gems put together, and even more unsearchable. Indeed, it cannot be found and dug up, but it must be given, and God is happy to give it to those who ask Him free of charge. Consider the Scriptures to be your mine, and the truths of God to be your precious gems. You could have all the wealth in the world but it is meaningless if you do not have the capacity to enjoy it. The Word of God is able to give you the capacity for joy in all things, even if you have nothing.

His wisdom here also parallels Proverbs:

28 So He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to turn away from evil is understanding.’ ”

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Job 29 & 30

These chapters make for a better pairing than 28 and 29. In 29, Job longs for the "good old days." Before he had to go through his ordeal, when he still had everything. But now, in 30, he is in "the bad time." He is not the one laughing, but the one being laughed at.

In this life, you will experience a reversal of fortune, many times over. If you are laughing now, you will cry later. And if you are crying now, you will laugh later. The only question is which side your story will ultimately land on.

We've all been where Job is at, when we felt that things couldn't be any worse than they are now. The truth is things can always get worse. For those who hate God, they may be laughing now, but they will cry later. They exhibit the Tragedy. But God loves His saints too much to leave them there, they are destined for the happy ending, they take part in God's divine comedy.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Job 31

Some of the language used by Job in 31 is intense, especially by modern "polite society" standards. But we should be accursed if we censor the Word of God to suit our own idolatrous sensibilities.

Job willingly invokes God's curses on himself if he is indeed guilty of sin. If he has committed adultery, even in his heart, then let his wife sleep with other men. Job takes God's holiness seriously and so should we. Every saint knows that he is guilty before God and that he has no hope save in Christ alone. Anyone who confesses that is an honest man. Anyone who denies that is a hypocrite and a liar.

33 If I have covered my transgressions like Adam, By hiding my iniquity in my bosom...

Love this line. Remember that Justification = Covering. But it is only true Justification if God is the one who covers. We cannot justify/cover ourselves in His sight. We cannot be self-righteous because we are not the Judge. Every hypocrite is justified in his own eyes and none considers themselves to be the villain in their own story. For Job to say this is very telling, that he does not consider himself to be self-covered, but he is trusting that his covering is from someone else.

35 Oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature; Let the Almighty answer me! And the indictment which my accuser has written, 36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it to myself like a crown.

Job feels that God cannot hear him. And if Job were truly guilty, he would happily wear Satan's indictment like a crown. I'm sure you can see the prophecy in this, for Christ was crowned with death in order to make innocent those who believe in Him. He wore the guilty charge so that you may be cleared in His name.

If we are guilty, then is Satan wrong to accuse us? Yes, because he calls us guilty when God has called us innocent, and he calls us innocent when God has called us guilty. He is not only the drug dealer who sells you the drug for a good time, he is the crooked cop who sells you the drug in order to entrap you. Both licentious and legalistic, always falling short of both God's Law and God's Grace.

 

[Gazza]

Job 31

Some of the language used by Job in 31 is intense, especially by modern "polite society" standards. But we should be accursed if we censor the Word of God to suit our own idolatrous sensibilities.

Job willingly invokes God's curses on himself if he is indeed guilty of sin. If he has committed adultery, even in his heart, then let his wife sleep with other men. Job takes God's holiness seriously and so should we. Every saint knows that he is guilty before God and that he has no hope save in Christ alone. Anyone who confesses that is an honest man. Anyone who denies that is a hypocrite and a liar.


Love this line. Remember that Justification = Covering. But it is only true Justification if God is the one who covers. We cannot justify/cover ourselves in His sight. We cannot be self-righteous because we are not the Judge. Every hypocrite is justified in his own eyes and none considers themselves to be the villain in their own story. For Job to say this is very telling, that he does not consider himself to be self-covered, but he is trusting that his covering is from someone else.


Job feels that God cannot hear him. And if Job were truly guilty, he would happily wear Satan's indictment like a crown. I'm sure you can see the prophecy in this, for Christ was crowned with death in order to make innocent those who believe in Him. He wore the guilty charge so that you may be cleared in His name.

If we are guilty, then is Satan wrong to accuse us? Yes, because he calls us guilty when God has called us innocent, and he calls us innocent when God has called us guilty. He is not only the drug dealer who sells you the drug for a good time, he is the crooked cop who sells you the drug in order to entrap you. Both licentious and legalistic, always falling short of both God's Law and God's Grace.

This was a great chapter, probably the best so far IMO.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Job 32

1 Then these three men ceased answering Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned; against Job his anger burned because he was proving himself righteous before God. 3And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. 4Now Elihu had waited with his words for Job because they were years older than he. 5Then Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, so his anger burned.

Job was righteous in his own eyes. Job has the good case (that he is righteous) but defends it poorly (comes across as self-righteous). He will also be corrected by God at the end of the book. As for you, have the same mindset of the Apostle Paul, who recognized that he was righteous before God, but that this righteousness, this justification, was God-given, not self-merited:

Philippians 3:8 I count all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ 9and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, which is from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God on the basis of faith.

To those who do not know the joy of Christ's imputed righteousness and the peace it brings, this comes across as hypocritical. How can you, so clearly a sinner, maintain that you are righteous? This is why Job's friends become angry with him, because they know nothing of imputed righteousness. They do not know that they are the double hypocrites when they say that Job deserves his suffering because he's a sinner, with the subtext being that they are not suffering because they are not sinners.

Elihu is the only friend who is not punished by God at the end of the book so his argument in the following chapters should be listened to more carefully.

 

[Tippy]

Job 27:
Job's final speech

Again points made the the wicked build houses as 'fragile as a spider web'
But 'terror overwhelms them like a flood'

And that 'everyone jeers at them and mocks them'

Analysis:
I feel like this point has been made several times about houses being destroyed etc...but here it is again. Evil? Your house is gonna get destroyed. You might have a ton of cash and be living like a legit G but it's fragile.

Job 28

People know a lot of things 'BUT DO PEOPLE KNOW WHERE TO FIND WISDOM? Where can they find understanding?'

'The fear of the lord is true wisdom,
to forsake evil is real understanding

Analysis:
Book smarts? They ain't all that compared to the knowledge God has.

Job 29:
Job speaks of his former blessings

Even though Job's 'final' speech was two books ago he continues...

Basically Job is reflecting about the good old days with abundandtly produced cow milk (ah yes)
He even caused widows' hearts to sing for joy (not sure how he verified that) but anyway as he says 'I wore justice like a turban' and to be honest? Being real? Job comes off a bit prideful here.

Job 30: JOB speaks of his anguish

Now he is mocked by gaunt worn out wretches (sounds like how I feel when I seem probably like an uncool loser to gen-z vapers in anime hoodies)

He is mad about beng mocked with vulgar songs.

"They despise me and won't come near me, except to spit in my face' man reminds me of my teaching days.

Some interesting comparisons of a 'companion to owls' and a 'brother to jackals'

Job has gone full emo now with a harp that plays sad music

Analysis:

Not much except to say Job is getting madly publicly shamed here and I feel for him.

Job 31:

Job's final protest:

'I made a convenant with my eyes, not to look with lust at a young woman' - amazing quote and I guess that's where that anti-p technology 'covenant eyes' got the name from.

'Lust is a shaeful sin, a crime that should be punished. It is a fire that burns all the way to hell' - agreed!

Job presents himself as basically the Anti-Scrooge who has done nothing but good but been treated horribly

Job 32:

Elihu responds:

Friends are getting a bit bored of the innocence protests. Elihu is now enraged.

He is about to drop a pipe bomb speech and this is for sure gonna be a real 'mic drop' moment as the book ends.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Job 33 & 34

8 “Surely you have spoken in my hearing, And I have heard the sound of your speech: 9 ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am innocent, and there is no guilt in me. 10 Behold, He finds reasons for opposition against me; He counts me as His enemy. 11 He puts my feet in the stocks; He keeps watch over all my paths.’ 12 Behold, let me answer you; you are not right in this, For God is greater than mortal man. 13 “Why do you contend against Him? For He does not give an answer for all His doings.

Elihu exposes Job's whininess. On one hand, we feel that Job is justified to whine. On the other, we should be sanctified to know that God is always working for our good. He is never our enemy if we are in Him and we should not complain about His Providence. But this faithful spirit must come from within, it cannot be impressed on men from without.

23 “If there is an angel as mediator for him, One out of a thousand, To declare to a man what is right for him, 24 Then let him be gracious to him, and say, ‘Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found atonement’; 25 Let his flesh become fresher than in youth, Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor; 26 Then he will entreat God, and He will accept him, And he will see His face with joyful shouts, And He may restore His righteousness to man.

27 He will sing to men and say, ‘I have sinned and perverted what is right, But He has not done what is due to me. 28 He has redeemed my soul from passing into the pit, And my life shall see the light.’ 29 “Behold, God does all these things twice, three times with men, 30 To bring back his soul from the pit, That he may be enlightened with the light of life. 31 Pay attention, O Job, listen to me; Keep silent, and I will speak. 32 Then if you have any speech, respond to me; Speak, for I desire to prove you righteous.

Elihu is pointing to resurrection hope. Redemption is greater than Creation. Job started off good, but then he lost everything. God allowed him to lose everything so that God may Redeem everything for him again. To go from having everything to having nothing is a tragedy. But to go from having nothing to having everything is a comedy. God wants to accomplish the comedy in the life of Job. This is also what God is accomplishing at the grand scale in His Creation. He is turning His Creation into His Redemption. That is why God's Saints suffer, so that they may come to know God as a loving Father when He takes away their suffering.

7 What man is like Job, Who drinks up mocking like water, 8 But he travels in company with the workers of iniquity, And walks with wicked men?

Elihu confronts Job's other friends for their wickedness. They insist that Job is guilty without proving it, they've become his accusers.

14 If He should set His heart on it, If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath, 15 All flesh would breathe its last together, And man would return to dust.

23 For He does not need to consider a man further, That he should go before God in judgment. 24 He breaks in pieces mighty men without searching anything out, And sets others in their place. 25 Therefore He recognizes their labors, And He overthrows them in the night, And they are crushed. 26 He strikes them like the wicked In a public place, 27 Because they turned aside from following Him, And had no insight from any of His ways; 28 So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him, And that He might hear the cry of the afflicted. 29 So if He keeps quiet, who then can condemn? So if He hides His face, who then can perceive Him? He is above both nation and man altogether, 30 So that godless men would not rule Nor be snares of the people.

Elihu proclaims the sovereignty of God. God will also extol His own sovereignty when He enters the scene. People have a false deistic notion that God created the world, took a step back, and is now doing nothing to stop man's free will from turning the whole thing into a circus. I don't know what they're reading but it's not the Bible. God cares very deeply about what happens in His Creation and He is intimately involved in it, giving displays of both His Wrath and Mercy, in order to bring about the purpose of His Creation, it's Redemption. If God were to cease to involve Himself, we would no longer exist for even one moment.

 

[Tippy]

Job 33:

Elihu presents his case against Job

He's making a point that God responds in ways we don't always understand even in dreams or whispers we may not hear. And he uh...disciplines people with pain on their sick beds? That's not cool.

And apparently sometimes angels come and rescue individuals from what seems to be certain death. I can't say I've seen or heard of too many miraculous recoveries as described here.

Analysis:
Honestly, it's a weak argument because he's saying 'actually God works in ways we never even see' and then follows that by illuminating it with an argument of something that everyone would be able to visibly see as God's work including the guy who seemingly dead rose to full health.

A better example and honestly a more realistic one would be to say that yeah we have to pray and listen to God and to try interpret things but the reality is. We don't see! We don't hear. But yeah, let's continue

Job 34:

Elihu accuses Job of arrogance

Again talk of God striking down wicked which I again counter by saying...do we REALLY see that? Look at the world today. I'm not seeing the wicked being taken out.

'He prevents the godless from ruling' but he does NOT do this.

I think one good point is this 'Must God tailor his justice to your demands' because in my (pathetic) view the strongest argument you can make is that basically we don't understand how God works or indeed 'God works in mysterious ways.'

 

[Tippy]

Job 33 & 34


Elihu exposes Job's whininess. On one hand, we feel that Job is justified to whine. On the other, we should be sanctified to know that God is always working for our good. He is never our enemy if we are in Him and we should not complain about His Providence. But this faithful spirit must come from within, it cannot be impressed on men from without.



Elihu is pointing to resurrection hope. Redemption is greater than Creation. Job started off good, but then he lost everything. God allowed him to lose everything so that God may Redeem everything for him again. To go from having everything to having nothing is a tragedy. But to go from having nothing to having everything is a comedy. God wants to accomplish the comedy in the life of Job. This is also what God is accomplishing at the grand scale in His Creation. He is turning His Creation into His Redemption. That is why God's Saints suffer, so that they may come to know God as a loving Father when He takes away their suffering.


Elihu confronts Job's other friends for their wickedness. They insist that Job is guilty without proving it, they've become his accusers.



Elihu proclaims the sovereignty of God. God will also extol His own sovereignty when He enters the scene. People have a false deistic notion that God created the world, took a step back, and is now doing nothing to stop man's free will from turning the whole thing into a circus. I don't know what they're reading but it's not the Bible. God cares very deeply about what happens in His Creation and He is intimately involved in it, giving displays of both His Wrath and Mercy, in order to bring about the purpose of His Creation, it's Redemption. If God were to cease to involve Himself, we would no longer exist for even one moment.

'People have a false deistic notion that God created the world, took a step back, and is now doing nothing to stop man's free will from turning the whole thing into a circus. '

I think it's more that if you look at what's going on in the world it seems to be that the wicked are winning very clearly right now. I think many more would turn to Christ if the evidence for divine interventions in worldly affairs was just a little bit stronger. I'm not talking thunderbolts in the sky here. I'm actually not sure what would be sufficient.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

I think it's more that if you look at what's going on in the world it seems to be that the wicked are winning very clearly right now. I think many more would turn to Christ if the evidence for divine interventions in worldly affairs was just a little bit stronger. I'm not talking thunderbolts in the sky here. I'm actually not sure what would be sufficient.

Sure, people can see the material, but they cannot see the spiritual without the eyes of faith. I want you to see both, but to see the material as corresponding to the spiritual.

In normie Christianity, God's Wrath has been sterilized out of people's thinking. People just don't want to think about Hell, and they especially don't want to hear that it's what they deserve. In effect, nominal Christians have become soft-Marcionites. The Wrathful God is locked away with the Old Testament. The Graceful God is embraced in the New. But both Old and New Testaments stress that God is both Wrathful and Merciful. His character is both Lawful and Graceful.

When you see the wicked "winning," they are in reality losing. Their rise is their fall. Their promotion of sin is an expression of God's Wrath already. In the words of the Apostle Paul: they are storing up wrath for themselves, God hardens their hearts, He gives them over to a reprobate mind, they receive the due penalty for their error. "That which is highly esteemed by men is detestable in the sight of God." It is not God's purpose to win a popularity contest against the devil in this fallen world. His purpose is to redeem the Elect out of this world, banish the old, and bring in the new.

So when you see what we are seeing today (which is nothing new), you shouldn't think that God is sitting this one out, that He is not in control, or that He will not intervene. He is already giving them over to their sin as an expression of His Wrath. He is in the game, He is in control, and He is intervening. As for you, God is intervening in your life via Grace, so that you will not be abandoned to sin, but that you would be energized to follow your Lord and be confirmed to His image.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Job 35

Elihu continues his response to Job.

6 If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him? And if your transgressions are many, what do you do to Him? 7 If you are righteous, what do you give to Him, Or what does He receive from your hand? 8 Your wickedness is for a man like yourself, And your righteousness is for a son of man.

Elihu is essentially saying that when you sin, you are doing nothing to hurt God but you are only hurting yourself. Keep this in mind when you see people who revel in their sin and think they're sticking it to God by doing so. He is also saying that if you are righteous, you still aren't doing God any favors by doing good works. God doesn't need our good works, contrary to what the Sacerdotalists say. Good works are given by God for you to do to your neighbor. God confirms Elihu's testimony here in chapter 41, and Paul cites that chapter and makes the same theological point in Romans 11.

9 “Because of many oppressions they cry out; They cry for help because of the arm of many oppressors. 10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs of praise in the night, 11 Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth And makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’ 12 There they cry out, but He does not answer Because of the pride of evil men. 13 Surely God will not listen to an empty cry, Nor will the Almighty perceive it.

All men have been victimized and cry for justice. Everyone has a victimizer. They suppose this makes them good, and their victimizers evil. But simply pointing at the bad guy and saying, "that's the bad guy" does not mean you are a good guy. All men do this, they point at their bad guys, but none of them wait for God's justice. Instead they take matters into their own hands or put their faith in earthly princes. So God does not hear them or recognize what they're complaining about, because they too are bad guys.

14 How much less when you say you do not perceive Him, The case is before Him, and you must wait for Him! 15 And now, because He has not visited in His anger, Nor has He acknowledged transgression well, 16 So Job opens his mouth vainly; He multiplies words without knowledge.”

In chapter 38, God says the same thing, that Job has darkened counsel without knowledge. God knows all your troubles and He will make it right. It's one thing to know this, it's another to believe it. We are to wait on the Lord, not complain, but to "count it all joy when fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces patience."

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Job 36 & 37

Elihu finishes his testimony to Job before God will step onto the scene.

In 36, he speaks of God's providence. A lot of what he says here has been summed up elsewhere: "God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike." God can extend Common Grace to all men. He can also enact Justice or extend Saving Grace to whom He pleases. It is not our place to dictate to God how He may do these things.

This dovetails into 37. The theme here is that since God is sovereign, men must know their place and should not question Him. "Whether for correction, or for His world, Or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen." The Hebrew word hesed is translated here as 'lovingkindness', and it can be translated as 'steadfast love'. In New Testament terminology, we recognize it by the word 'Grace'. Idolatrous man's tendency is to deny God's right to enact Justice, though they yearn for it on everyone who has wronged them, and to presume to dictate how God may show Grace by restricting it to works, religious rituals, etc. But God's ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are not our thoughts. He governs the universe according to His sovereign plan.

23 The Almighty—we cannot find Him; He is exalted in power And He will not afflict justice and abundant righteousness. 24 Therefore men fear Him; He does not regard any who are wise of heart.”

Because God will not do damage to His Justice, men fear him. God does not regard any who consider themselves wise. So let us become fools for Christ so that we may become wise in His sight.

 

[Tippy]

Job 35:

Elihu Reminds Job of God's justice

Says that sin and good deeds don't even effect God.

And makes a point that just cos he doesn't reply doesn't mean he isn't listening.

My first question is if deeds don't effect him why should we be convinced he's listening?

'You are talking nonsense, Job. You have spoken like a fool' - ends basically with a barrage of adhominem attacks.

Job 36:

Eilhu continued speaking

A lot of similar points about sinners being punished although this part interested me:

'But by means of their suffering, he rescues those who suffer. For he gets their attention through adversity.'

Almost the idea that hard times bring us close to God.

Makes some points about the power of nature, 'who can understand the spreading of the clouds?' exactly.

The image of God hurling lightning bolts at his 'targets' like some sort of strange first person shooter game is fun.

Job 37

More harmony in nature arguments for the existence of God with lines like 'he makes the skies reflect the heat like a bronze mirror' and I've had similar ideas in my head when I've questioned if there truly IS a God or not. I've thought to myself man how can it be that we breathe the air the plants grow from the soil and the bees pollinate and the fish swim int he sea and all these organisms need one another there's this perfectiont o it a sense it has been organised by someone and it wasn't AI!

'We are too ignorant to make our own arguments' yeah this is not the best line for questioning types but I've sometimes told myself that my relationship to God is like an insect's relationship to me. The insect might feel my presence but has no idea exactly what I am. Keeping the faith alongside this knowledge of insignificant ignornace remains a major challenge.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Job 38 & 39

God enters the scene and puts Job in his place.

1 Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, 2 “Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge? 3 Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you make Me know! 4 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

The answer to all of the following is obvious: nowhere. We are nothing. We know nothing. So why do people continue to behave like they are something? And why do they challenge their Maker so?

You see in the secular world, this present age, the assumption is how great man is, how much we know, how important we are, how we don't need God for understanding. That is nothing new. That is the self-idolizing spirit of pride. Let them become foolish so that they may become wise. Without God, you could not even tell a man apart from a woman.

7 When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Here is another link: angels and stars. When the Scripture speaks of stars, it is often speaking of angels. The ancients, our ancestors, would worship the stars because they believed they were gods, but as Scripture says, they were worshiping demons, fallen angels. This is why the inverted pentagram has become associated with Satan, it is a falling star, a fallen angel. You will find this pattern to carry through the Scriptures, even in the New Testament. Consider the meaning when Revelation says that the dragon hurled a third of the stars to the earth.

God continues to describe His governance of the Creation. It should impress on us to feel small. The world is much bigger than us. It will continue long after we're gone, so why do we act like it revolves around us? That shouldn't be.

 

[Tippy]

Job 38 -

The lord challenges Job

This is like a WWE match where there's a last minute run in at the finish and this time it's God instead of Stone Cold Steve Austin or what not.

'Brace yourself like a man' he says and then God goes in pretty hard roasting Job by reminding him he kept the seas inside its boundaries and clothed it with clouds.

He goes into this 'what have you done?' rhetoric reminding Job how God has made the sun rise and many other awesome feats.

One interesting part here is when God says 'Who gives intuition to the heart?' because it's kind of saying that intuition is a gift from God. I've oten thought about this howmaybe our fates are directed by God through intuition telling us what to do (or what not to do) and that's why it feels so awful if you ever do go against your 'gut instinct' yet I've also noticed that sometimes this sense of intution is linked to ego or guilt or fear so it's very hard to discern what's actually God and what's just our own paper ego God's in our own mind's. I guess it would take relentless prayer and possibly even psychdelic drugs to figure that out fully.

Job 39

The lord's challenge continues-

God gives a list of al the gifts he's given animals (or ones he's deprived them of)

Don't have much to add just furthers the point here that Job is accused of being arrogant in his previous arguments and being real? I get why God is mad but at the same time I understand why Job was questioning when his kids had been killed and he had horrific boils all over his face. God is sort of brushing over those details and reminding us about nature alone feels slightly evasive of the circumstances Job found himself in to even ask those questions.

 

[Gazza]

Job 38 -

The lord challenges Job

This is like a WWE match where there's a last minute run in at the finish and this time it's God instead of Stone Cold Steve Austin or what not.

'Brace yourself like a man' he says and then God goes in pretty hard roasting Job by reminding him he kept the seas inside its boundaries and clothed it with clouds.

He goes into this 'what have you done?' rhetoric reminding Job how God has made the sun rise and many other awesome feats.

One interesting part here is when God says 'Who gives intuition to the heart?' because it's kind of saying that intuition is a gift from God. I've oten thought about this howmaybe our fates are directed by God through intuition telling us what to do (or what not to do) and that's why it feels so awful if you ever do go against your 'gut instinct' yet I've also noticed that sometimes this sense of intution is linked to ego or guilt or fear so it's very hard to discern what's actually God and what's just our own paper ego God's in our own mind's. I guess it would take relentless prayer and possibly even psychdelic drugs to figure that out fully.

Job 39

The lord's challenge continues-

God gives a list of al the gifts he's given animals (or ones he's deprived them of)

Don't have much to add just furthers the point here that Job is accused of being arrogant in his previous arguments and being real? I get why God is mad but at the same time I understand why Job was questioning when his kids had been killed and he had horrific boils all over his face. God is sort of brushing over those details and reminding us about nature alone feels slightly evasive of the circumstances Job found himself in to even ask those questions.

Gut instinct is a strange thing. Upon reflection I’d like to think that I’m running at about 80/20. I always “own” the 20% that I get wrong and do everything I can to make up for it. As I’ve aged though, I’m just starting to slow up a bit on the hasty or “gut” decisions. I think it’s God guiding my paths (as always), but Him blessing me with wisdom as I age.

 

[Tippy]

Gut instinct is a strange thing. Upon reflection I’d like to think that I’m running at about 80/20. I always “own” the 20% that I get wrong and do everything I can to make up for it. As I’ve aged though, I’m just starting to slow up a bit on the hasty or “gut” decisions. I think it’s God guiding my paths (as always), but Him blessing me with wisdom as I age.

Yeah, sometimes I felt absolutely certain something was 'gut instinct' but later on I questioned if it was actually just pride in a way.

I like to think even if we let God down with our intuition mistakes he helps guide us back all the same.

I don't know if God has one end in mind for us all of if he's kind of improvising his guidance like a piano player based on our human foolishness.

I generally have followed my gut instinct however I remember specific instances I did not that haunted me until eventually I came to similar choices through a different route later on.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Job 40 & 41

1 Then Yahweh answered Job and said, 2 “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it.”

No one can complain against God, certainly not consistently. Paul makes the same point in Romans 9 when he teaches sovereign election, that man cannot answer back to God.

8 Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?

Love this line. Self-justification = God-condemnation. No matter how you slice it, someone has to take the blame. Either we blame ourselves and God justifies us by taking the blame on the cross. Or we blame God and God condemns us by putting the blame on us. Between us and God, only one of us is good and the other bad. Who we assign as good and bad between those two parties says everything about us, and our eternal destiny. To be friends with the world is to be an enemy of God.

10 “Adorn yourself with exaltation and loftiness, And clothe yourself with splendor and majesty. 11 Pour out the overflowings of your anger, And look on everyone who is proud, and make him low. 12 Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him, And tread down the wicked in their place. 13 Hide them in the dust together; Bind their faces in the hidden place. 14 Then I will also praise you, That your own right hand can save you.

God is essentially saying to Job, "When you can do all the things that I do then I'll give you some credit." But Job cannot save himself by his own power. Only God alone can save.

15 “Behold now, Behemoth, which I made along with you

I've heard people theorize Behemoth to be anything from a dinosaur to a hippo or even a mythical animal. I do not know what it is. The point is that man can do nothing to these great creatures that God made, much less could he compare to God who made them.

11 Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.

Paul quotes this in Romans 11:

35 Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE REPAID TO HIM?

This would be an example of the New Testament citing the Hebrew Old Testament. This text doesn't appear in the Septuagint.

32 Behind it, it makes a wake to shine; One would think the deep to be gray-haired. 33 There is nothing upon the dust like it, One made without terror. 34 It looks on everything that is high; It is king over all the sons of pride.”

God also describes Leviathan to show how much greater He is. Leviathan has more to go off of than Behemoth. It is a sea serpent, but it is probable that it is also demonic. Some say that it is Satan. It certainly is derivative of Satan's authority.

 

[virtue]

@GodfatherPartTwo thank you for the lessons,

But do forget: Those who will become teachers, will be judged more strictly.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Job 42
Last chapter

7 Now it happened after Yahweh had spoken these words to Job, that Yahweh said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger burns against you and against your two friends because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has. 8So now, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.”

What is it that Eliphaz and his friends did not speak about God that was right? They painted God as a legalistic, transactional Judge. And since they saw Him that way, their penance fits the crime. Meanwhile, Job is accepted by God without having to do these things. That should be a strong hint that God is more Graceful than we give Him credit for.

10 And Yahweh restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and Yahweh increased all that Job had twofold.

God not only restores Job to his original estate, but even beyond that. This is the story of God's people. God did not create us to simply remain good in Adam. But the fall happened so that God may restore us, not just to Adam's state, but beyond, to be perfected and redeemed in Christ Jesus. Life is good but resurrection is even better. Death undoes life but resurrection undoes death. If the choice was to be as good as Adam and never sin, or to sin and then be forgiven in Jesus, the second is far better. In Job's case, it was better that God allowed Job to lose everything and for Him to restore it twice over, than for Job to have simply remained in his original estate.