TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
Job 12:1-15:35
1 Corinthians 15:29-58
Psalm 39:1-13
Proverbs 21:30-31
Job 12:2 — Job is quite sarcastic by this point. While much of the wisdom literature genre of this book can be hard to follow, this line seems like one of Shakespeare’s witty retorts!
Job 13:3 — Job echoes the plea that many have, “I desire to reason with God.” We won’t hear from God audibly when we suffer; interestingly, Job didn’t hear from God either about why he suffered.
Job 13:5 — Oftentimes wisdom is found in holding your peace!
Job 13:15 — Here is one of the key verses of Job. It clearly reveals the attitude of one who has suffered financial, family, and physical pain. “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” Job unfortunately continues on, “I will maintain my own ways before him.” Job remains the righteous example that God pointed to, but Job still wants to argue with God.
Job 14:1 — Job seems to be foreshadowing the book of Ecclesiastes!
Job 15:16 — Eliphaz makes a good point – man is abominable and filthy, full of iniquity. Yet, how was Job “perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil (Job 1:1)?”
God forgives iniquity (Numbers 14:19-20, Psalm 65:3). But how do we achieve forgiveness?
- Knowing who to seek forgiveness from – we all need forgiveness from God (Mark 2:7). Which ‘deity’ are you seeking forgiveness from? Only the LORD (Isaiah 45:5)?
- Confessing (identifying) our sins is an important component of seeking God’s forgiveness (Psalm 51:3, 1 John 1:9).
- Repenting (turning) from our sins (Psalm 51:10, Acts 3:19). If we don’t turn from our sins, it’s not that we’re not forgiven, it’s just that we’ve restarted the loop of sin (Luke 11:24-26).
- Turning back to the LORD
- Job 1:1 – fear the LORD and eschew evil
- Joshua 1:8 – meditate on God’s Word and avoid sin
Yes, even though man is filthy and though his sins be as scarlet, they can be as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18)! Job’s friends don’t want to acknowledge that anyone can be righteous. They feel more comfortable declaring that everyone is as wicked as they are. We just have to keep trying to be righteous through religious rituals. But righteousness comes not through religious rituals; it comes from a relationship with the Redeemer!
1 Corinthians 15:29 — There is a prominent group that practices “baptism for the dead by proxy.” WELS (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod) claims that there are over 300 interpretations of this passage. R. C. Sproul thinks this was something weird that Corinthian Christians were doing. As we saw in 1 Corinthians 5:1, they did some weird things in Corinth. CARM (Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry) thinks it was a pagan practice from the neighboring city of Eleusis, and Paul is talking about the Eleusisian pagans and not Christians. TGC (The Gospel Coalition) thinks it was a harmless oddity. It was for believers who died before getting baptized. John Piper is quick to remind everyone that 1 Peter 3:21 is often taken out of context because Peter later qualifies the “Baptism … now saves you” line.
1 Corinthians 15:32 — Was Paul fighting as a gladiator against the wild beasts? From the Pulpit Commentary:
Not literally, for in that case he would have mentioned it in 2 Corinthians 11. as one of his deadliest perils, and it must have been recorded by St. Luke in his full account of St. Paul’s life at Ephesus. A Roman citizen was legally exempt from this mode of punishment. The word points to some special peril incurred in resisting the hostility of the worshippers of Artemis (Acts 20:19), but not to the tumult in the theatre, which did not happen till after this letter was dispatched (1 Corinthians 16:8, 9). The metaphor is not uncommon. Thus in 2 Timothy 4:17 St. Paul alludes to Nero (probably) as “the lion.” David often compares his enemies to wild beasts (Psalm 22:21, etc.). When his jailor informed Agrippa of the death of Tiberius, he did so in the words, “The lion is dead.”
1 Corinthians 15:51 — We shall be changed! What will it be like, Paul?
- It will be different (1 Corinthians 15:37)
- It will be unique (1 Corinthians 15:38)
- It will be incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:42)
- It will be glorious (1 Corinthians 15:43)
- It will be powerful (1 Corinthians 15:43)
- It will be spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:44)
- It will be instantaneous (1 Corinthians 15:52)
- It will be immortal (1 Corinthians 15:53)
Thus death is no longer painful to contemplate, the grave is no longer the victor (1 Corinthians 15:55)! So keep on fighting! We Shall Rise (1 Corinthians 15:58)!
Psalm 39:5 — “… verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.” So, what is our calling? We must wait for the LORD. He is our hope!
Proverbs 21:31 — Where is safety found? The horse? No, the LORD!
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