Seeing beyond this world.

The biggest difference between Job and his friends is that Job had the hope that he would one day see his Redeemer face-to-face - in the flesh. His friends, on the other hand, didn't seem to be able to see life beyond the few short years that man has on earth. Because their sole focus was on what they see with their physical eyes, they had no hope. And that really clouded their view of God and of life.

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How to Know God

One of the things we see consistently in the book of Job is that Job and his friends make the mistake of determining what they think they know about God strictly from their own personal experiences. We should not be quick to condemn, however, since we often do the same thing. We cannot truly know God apart from His revelation of Himself that is found in His Word. We have to evaluate our experiences in light of God's Word, not the other way around.

Whenever I hear someone begin with "The God I know..." or "The Jesus I know..." my antennae immediately go up, because it is likely the person is about to make some statement about God that is based on personal experience and not the Bible. 

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Knowing God vs. Knowing About God

It is really interesting to watch Job's journey as the book of Job progresses. At first we see he knows a lot about God and for the most part that understanding is pretty accurate. He certainly has a much more accurate picture of God than his friends, for sure. He understands God's sovereignty and accepts that the struggles he is experiencing are under God's control. Yet at this point Job still lacks a relationship with God.

We need to be careful not to get caught in the trap that Job experienced early in the book of Job. We need to move beyond just knowing about God to really knowing Him and having an intimate relationship with Him. What are some of the ways that you do that in your life?

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The Theology of Job

In reading the book of Job, we need to be careful not to use it alone as a source for our theology. Job, like many places in the Bible, merely records the conversation between Job and his "friends" without commenting for most of the book on the accuracy of their theology. In some places, they exhibit an accurate understanding of God, but their main premise that Job is being punished by God because of his sin, is totally wrong. 

To me, Job is a book about Job's journey from knowing about God to really knowing God. And while God uses others in that journey, they don't always get it right when it comes to God's purpose in Job's suffering. Job eventually understands that and then God uses him to minister to those "friends".

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Can we be too religious?

In Matthew 23, Jesus pronounces seven woes on the scribes and Pharisees. Not only were these religious leaders called hypocrites by Jesus, but their religiosity had blinded them to the fact that they were actually preventing people from coming to God rather than helping people enter into a relationship with God. Their religious exterior covered up the pride that they had on the inside.

The problem with religion is that it is primarily concerned with externals. Unfortunately we have a tendency to drift toward religion because it is usually easier to clean up our lives on the outside and appear righteous than to allow God to transform our lives from the inside out. That requires dying to self and yielding our lives to the control of Jesus and that is much harder to do than most of us would like to admit.

Let's make sure that we don't become so religious that we shut God out of our lives and the lives of others.

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Why Jesus spoke in parables

One of the things I love about the Bible is that I can read a passage that I've read many times before and find something new that I hadn't seen previously. Such was the case with Matthew 13 - especially verse 18. 

“Hear then the parable of the sower: (Matthew 13:18 ESV)

In that verse, the word "then" is key. It reveals that Jesus is using the parable of the sower to show how His teaching using parables fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that He just quoted. This parable explains why when it comes to spiritual things some people "get it" and some don't. Only those with a heart that genuinely desires God will get and hold onto spiritual truth. That is why the Bible is nonsense to some and indispensable to others.

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Knowing God

All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.(Matthew 11:27 ESV)

It is possible to know about the Father apart from the Son. But it is not possible to really know the Father except through Jesus.

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The cost of following Jesus

In Matthew 8:18-22 Jesus' words seem a bit harsh. 

Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

But the point He is making there is clear. Following Jesus is not always easy. It often requires us to chose to leave other things behind - even good things like family. 

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Praying "us"

It's interesting that Jesus' model prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 uses plural pronouns ("our", "us" and "we"). I'd love to hear your thoughts about why that is significant.

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Using Scripture Profitably

When Jesus is tempted in the wilderness (Matthew 4), He responds to Satan using Scripture. But Satan also tries to use Scripture to tempt Jesus by taking a verse out of context. This shows why it is so important to have a good handle on the Bible as a whole and not just a few favorite verses here and there. That's why it is so crucial to have a plan to read systematically through the Bible on a regular basis.

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A genealogy that shows God's mercy and grace

It is really unusual to see women listed in Bible genealogies. And in his genealogy of Jesus in the first chapter of his gospel, it is interesting that out of all the women who bore the men listed there, Matthew chose to mention the 5 that he does:

• Tamar - a woman who was impregnated by her father-in-law

• Rahab - a prostitute

• Ruth - a Moabite

• Bathsheba - an adultress

• Mary - a young teenage girl

What a great picture of God's mercy and grace. Through these women god produced the Savior that they needed to save them from their sins.

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Waiting patiently for the Lord

I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
(Psalm 40:1 ESV)

I'm not sure that I do a very good job of waiting patiently for the Lord. I have a tendency to be really impatient with God. I want Him to do His work immediately. I wonder how many times I cry out to God and he hears my cry but I've already moved on before I even take time to wait for Him to answer. Anyone else struggle with this?

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Some closing thoughts on 2 Chronicles

As I wrapped up reading through 2 Chronicles over the last 6 weeks, I came away with a couple of overall thoughts:

1. There are consequences to our actions. When the people of Judah had good kings who encouraged the people to follow God, the nation and the people prospered. When the kings were evil and led the people away from God, they were often attacked and conquered by the surrounding countries. Although the consequences for our actions may not always be seen immediately, we do reap what we sow.

2. God is faithful. Even when the people rebelled against Him, God was faithful to keep His covenant promises. He insured that Judah would continue to exist as a people because He had promised that the Messiah would come from the line of David. Man can never overcome God's plans and promises.

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Listening to God

In reading 2 Chronicles 18, I was struck by how Ahab refused to listen to the voice of God because he was so set on doing what he wanted to do instead of what God wanted him to do. And as a result, he lost his life.

We are prone to do the very same thing. It's so easy to get caught up in all our own plans that we either fail to seek God's guidance or we refuse to follow it even when God makes it very plain to us. And even though it might not cost us our physical life, at least not as quickly as it do for Ahab, it does rob us of the joy of living according to God's plans.

So I'm praying for myself, and for all of you, that we would be attentive to God's voice and that we would heed what we hear.

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Finally, a new post...

Obviously I haven't posted for a while. Just got out of the habit.

For the last couple of months, those of you who have been on the 4 year reading plan with me have been reading primarily in 1 and 2 Chronicles. I'll have to admit that all the genealogies at the beginning weren't all that exciting, but going through the history of Israel again through the eyes of the author of Chronicles is a sobering reminder of what happens when we choose to rebel against God. Even though God continues to love us and even disciplines us with the purpose of getting us to repent and return to him, there are serious consequences to our rebellion.

It seems that this passage is particularly relevant to us as a nation today:

When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.(2 Chronicles 7:13-14 ESV)

I really believe that we are witnessing God's judgment on our nation because of the blatant, unrepentant sin that we see in our culture. But this passage reminds us that our responsibility is not to judge, but to pray...and to tell others about Jesus.

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Revelation 12-17

In Revelation 13, the phrase "those who dwell on earth" is important. Those who are described in that way are deceived by the beast and worship him. This really reinforces the importance of realizing that as a follower of Jesus I am only a sojourner here on earth. My permanent dwelling place is in heaven.

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Revelation 1-11

I'm really enjoying reading Revelation again. I especially love the peek that we get into the throne room of God in Revelation 4 and 5 where we see the worship that is going on constantly. And those who have placed their faith in Jesus will get to be part of that one day!

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Daniel 1-6

One of the great mysteries for me in this section of Daniel is how Nebuchadnezzar and Darius both acknowledged the power of Daniel's God. They even expected God to protect and save Daniel and made proclamations that commanded the people to fear Daniel's God. But they still always refer to "the God of Daniel" and do absolutely nothing to make God their own personal God. Unfortunately, that seems to be pretty common in our culture today, too.

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Lamentations

God did exactly what He warned the people He was going to do. But instead of listening to Him, the people chose to listen to false prophets who told them everything was going to be OK.

I feel like our country is in a similar situation today, God's Word is still true, but so many people chose to ignore it and listen to those who justify rebelling against God in the name of tolerance and compassion. But that is not compassion at all since it invites God's judgment.

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Jeremiah 43-52

As I wrap up the book of Jeremiah, I get a deep sense of God's sovereignty. Babylon thought that they had conquered Judah because of its own might. But they were actually being used as a tool by God to discipline His people. And once God was done using Babylon for that purpose, God used other nations to completely destroy that once great empire.

Sometimes I think we get the sense that our country is blessed regardless of our attitude and actions toward God. But God is sovereign and not to be mocked. I think of all the people who openly rebel against the clear teaching of God's Word and then just tack on "God Bless America" to the end of their speeches as if that is some magic phrase that is going to prevent God from judging us as a people. But as a nation we are not immune to God's judgment. But the good news is that the evidence of Scripture is that God always preserves a remnant of those who remain faithful to Him in the face of tribulation.

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