April 2010

Monthly Archive

Fri 30 Apr 2010

Gleanings from the Book of Job 40:6-42:6

Posted @ 6:00 am      {Click to post comment} 
Category: Studies
God’s second discourse to Job

God challenges Job to be His equal

Job 40
6 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:
7 “Get ready for a difficult task like a man.
      I will question you and you will inform me!
8 Would you indeed annul my justice?
      Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right?
9 Do you have an arm as powerful as God’s,
      and can you thunder with a voice like his?
10 Adorn yourself, then, with majesty and excellency,
      and clothe yourself with glory and honor!
11 Scatter abroad the abundance of your anger.
      Look at every proud man and bring him low;
12 Look at every proud man and abase him;
      crush the wicked on the spot!
13 Hide them in the dust together,
      imprison them in the grave.
14 Then I myself will acknowledge to you
      that your own right hand can save you.
Job been demanding God vindicate him.  Although Job acknowledges that only God can vindicate, he seemed to have forgotten his place in creation.  The right of the sovereign is to decide when.

Job was humbled by the first discourse but then silent (I put my hand over my mouth).  Was God’s second discourse to move Job to a point of repentance?

In His first discourse God plumbed the unsearchable depths of the inanimate creation (heavens and earth) as well as the animate in looking at the wonders and oddities of the animal kingdom.  Now, He displays two mighty beasts which no man can tame, one on land and the other in the sea.

Some think these creatures are purely mythical so that God can make His point.  By pointing out 12 members of the animal kingdom to make His point and now focusing in on two it does not seem to flow that these two would be mythical.
 
A land animal not to be tangled with…

 
15 “Look now at Behemoth, which I made as I made you;
      it eats grass like the ox.
16 Look at its strength in its loins,
      and its power in the muscles of its belly.
17 It makes its tail stiff like a cedar,
      the sinews of its thighs are tightly wound.
18 Its bones are tubes of bronze,
      its limbs like bars of iron.
19 It ranks first among the works of God,
      the One who made it
      has furnished it with a sword.
20 For the hills bring it food,
      where all the wild animals play.
21 Under the lotus trees it lies,
      in the secrecy of the reeds and the marsh.
22 The lotus trees conceal it in their shadow;
      the poplars by the stream conceal it.
23 If the river rages, it is not disturbed,
      it is secure, though the Jordan
      should surge up to its mouth.
24 Can anyone catch it by its eyes,
      or pierce its nose with a snare?
“Behemoth” =  beast
Since the 17th century behemoth has been considered to be a hippopotamus, crocodile or the wild buffalo.  During the intertestamental period behemoth was considered to be either a supernatural or mythical creature.

Many modern scholars consider this best fits with a hippopotamus.

Hippos are not typically found in the region Job lived.
The description of a “tail stiff like cedar” seems to better fit an elephant’s trunk than a hippo’s tail.

Could this description also describe a beast we know of called the Brontosaurus?








A Hippo was considered difficult to capture

A furious creature of the sea…

Job 41
1 “Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook,
      and tie down its tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through its nose,
      or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3 Will it make numerous supplications to you,
      will it speak to you with tender words?
4 Will it make a pact with you,
      so you could take it as your slave for life?
5 Can you play with it, like a bird,
      or tie it on a leash for your girls?
6 Will partners bargain for it?
      Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons
      or its head with fishing spears?
8 If you lay your hand on it,
      you will remember the fight,
      and you will never do it again!
9 See, his expectation is wrong,
      he is laid low even at the sight of it.
10 Is it not fierce when it is awakened?
      Who is he, then, who can stand before it?
11 (Who has confronted me that I should repay?
      Everything under heaven belongs to me!)
12 I will not keep silent about its limbs,
      and the extent of its might,
      and the grace of its arrangement.
13 Who can uncover its outer covering?
      Who can penetrate to the inside of its armor?
14 Who can open the doors of its mouth?
      Its teeth all around are fearsome.
15 Its back has rows of shields,
      shut up closely together as with a seal;
16 each one is so close to the next
      that no air can come between them.
17 They lock tightly together, one to the next;
      they cling together and cannot be separated.
18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light;
      its eyes are like the red glow of dawn.
19 Out of its mouth go flames,
      sparks of fire shoot forth!
20 Smoke streams from its nostrils
      as from a boiling pot over burning rushes.
21 Its breath sets coals ablaze
      and a flame shoots from its mouth.
22 Strength lodges in its neck,
      and despair runs before it.
23 The folds of its flesh are tightly joined;
      they are firm on it, immovable.
24 Its heart is hard as rock,
      hard as a lower millstone.
25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified,
      at its thrashing about they withdraw.
26 Whoever strikes it with a sword
      will have no effect,
      nor with the spear, arrow, or dart.
27 It regards iron as straw
      and bronze as rotten wood.
28 Arrows do not make it flee;
      slingstones become like chaff to it.
29 A club is counted as a piece of straw;
      it laughs at the rattling of the lance.
30 Its underparts are the sharp points of potsherds,
      it leaves its mark in the mud
      like a threshing sledge.
31 It makes the deep boil like a cauldron
      and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment,
32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it;
      one would think the deep had a head of white hair.
33 The likes of it is not on earth,
      a creature without fear.
34 It looks on every haughty being;
      it is king over all that are proud.”

Other portions of scripture and even Job 3:8 talk about Leviathan in a mythical sense. (Leviathan was believed to be so terrible as to have the ability to swallow the sun & moon – it could swallow the day never to be seen or heard of again!)
 
Leviathan has been identified as a dolphin or a whale and modern scholarship believes it to be an alligator.

Q: Although must of the physical description could be an alligator – is an alligator really all that fiercesome as compared to other animals?

Q: What about the extensive description of breathing fire (v18-21)?  Even in flowery poetic terms it seems as if there must be something to this.

Many cultures possess a fire-breathing dragon mythology.  Could there be a created beast behind these myths?

The context of God’s discourse has been in talking about His creation.  To write Leviathan off a “mythology” seems out of character for the context in which we are reading this.

Compare the context of Job 3:8’s Leviathan to this description of Leviathan – what are the differences?

Job’s new understanding of God…

Job 42
1 Then Job answered the LORD:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
      no purpose of yours can be thwarted;
3 you asked,
      ‘Who is this who darkens counsel
      without knowledge?’
      But I have declared without understanding
      things too wonderful for me to know.
4 You said,
      ‘Pay attention, and I will speak;
      I will question you, and you will answer me.’
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
      but now my eye has seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself,
      and I repent in dust and ashes!

“You can do all things” – Job already knew God could do all things.  He held to that belief throughout the text.  By this statement I believe job was now acknowledging new insight – There is a purpose in all God does.

Job’s suffering takes on a whole new meaning even though God explains absolutely nothing.

We’ve seen where Job’s hope (trust) lies:
Job 1:20-21  
Job 13:15
Job 19:25

Job does not see the purpose but he sees God and understands that all God does is with purpose.  Trust was already in place, as Job came to this new understanding that nothing God does is without purpose Job’s trust became fuller.

His experience of God became even more intimate.

Q: What “storm” is the Lord taking you through right now, and how can we support you?
All scripture quotations from the New English Translation (NET)
“Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. www.bible.org All rights reserved.”
 

Mon 26 Apr 2010

How to Simulate Life on a Submarine

Posted @ 11:23 am      {Click to post comment} 
Category: Personal
The following list is for those who cannot imagine what it’s like to submerge for more than 2 months at a time on a ballistic missile submarine.  For those of you who have your dolphins – well, there’re a lot of memories here.
 
1. Buy a steel dumpster, paint it gray inside and out, and live in it for 74 days at a time.
 
2. Run all the pipes and wires in your house exposed on the walls.
 
3. Repaint your entire house every month.
 
4. Renovate your bathroom. Build a wall across the middle of the bathtub and move the shower head to chest level. When you take showers, make sure you turn off the water while you soap down.
 
5. Put lube oil in your humidifier and set it on high.
 
6. Once a week, blow compressed air (or use a leaf blower) up your chimney, making sure the wind carries the soot onto your neighbor’s house. Ignore his complaints.
 
7. Once a month, take all major appliances apart and then reassemble them.
 
8. Raise the thresholds and lower the headers of your front and back doors so that you either trip or bang your head every time you pass through them.
 
9. Disassemble and inspect your lawnmower every week.
 
10. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, turn your water heater temperature up to 200 degrees. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, turn the water heater off. On Saturdays and Sundays tell your family they use too much water during the week, so no bathing will be allowed.
 
11. Raise your bed to within 6 inches of the ceiling, so you can’t turn over without getting out and then getting back in.
 
12. Sleep on the shelf in your closet. Replace the closet door with a curtain. Have your spouse whip open the curtain about 3 hours after you go to sleep, shine a flashlight in your eyes, and say “Sorry, wrong rack.”
 
13. Make your family qualify to operate each appliance in your house – dishwasher operator, blender technician, etc. Re-qualify every 6 months.
 
14. Have your neighbor come over each day at 0500, blow a whistle so loud Helen Keller could hear it, and shout “Reveille, reveille, all hands heave out and trice up.”
 
15. Have your mother-in-law write down everything she’s going to do the following day, then have her make you stand in your back yard at 0600 while she reads it to you.
 
16. Submit a request chit to your father-in-law requesting permission to leave your house before 1500.
 
17. Empty all the garbage bins in your house and sweep the driveway three times a day, whether it needs it or not.
 
18. Have your neighbor collect all your mail for a month, read your magazines, and randomly lose every 5th item before delivering it to you.
 
19. Watch no TV except for movies played in the middle of the night. Have your family vote on which movie to watch, then show a different one.  Repeat the same movie several nights in a row.
 
20. When your children are in bed, run into their room with a megaphone shouting that your home is under attack and ordering them to their battle stations, shouting, “Now general quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations!”
 
21. Make your family menu a week ahead of time without consulting the pantry or refrigerator.
 
22. Post a menu on the kitchen door informing your family that they are having steak for dinner. Then make them wait in line for an hour. When you finally get to the kitchen, tell them you are out of steak, but they can have dried ham or hot dogs. Repeat daily until they ignore the menu and just ask for hot dogs.
 
23. Bake a cake. Prop up one side of the pan so the cake bakes unevenly. Spread icing real thick to level it off.
 
24. Get up every night around midnight and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on stale bread. (Call this “Midrats”.)
 
25. Set your alarm clock to go off at random during the night. At the alarm, jump up and dress as fast as you can, making sure to button your top shirt button and tuck your pants into your socks. Run out into the backyard and uncoil the garden hose.
 
26. Every week or so, throw your cat or dog in the pool and shout “Man overboard port side!” Rate your family members on how quickly they respond.
 
27. Put the headphones from your stereo on your head, but don’t plug them in. Hang a paper cup around your neck on a string. Stand in front of the stove, and speak into the paper cup “Stove manned and ready.” After an hour or so, speak into the cup again “Stove secured.” Roll up the headphones and paper cup and stow them in a shoebox.
 
28. Build a fire in a trash can in your garage. Loudly announce to your family, “This is a drill! This is a drill! Fire in the laundry!”
 
29. Place a podium at the end of your driveway. Have your family stand watches at the podium, rotating at 4 hour intervals. This is best done when the weather is worst. January is a good time.
 
30. When there is a thunderstorm in your area, get a wobbly rocking chair, sit in it and rock as hard as you can until you become nauseated. Make sure to have a supply of stale crackers in your shirt pocket. ALT: Find the biggest horse you can, put a 2-inch mattress on his back, and strap yourself to it. Turn him loose in a barn filled with snakes for six hours and try to sleep. Then get up and go to work.
 
31. For former engineers: bring your lawn mower into the living room and run it all day long.
 
32. Make coffee using eighteen scoops of budget priced coffee grounds per pot; let the pot simmer for 5 hours before drinking.
 
33. Have someone under the age of ten give you a haircut with sheep shears.
 
34. Sew the back pockets of your jeans on the front.
 
35. Add 1/3 cup diesel fuel to the laundry.
 
36. Take hourly readings on your electric and water meters.
 
37. Lock yourself and your family in the house for six weeks. Tell them that at the end of the 6th week you are going to take them to Disney World for “liberty.” At the end of the 6th week, inform them the trip to Disney World has been canceled because they need to get ready for an inspection, and it will be another week before they can leave the house.
 
38. Hire someone to hammer on a 55-gal drum at random hours to simulate paint chipping.
 

Fri 23 Apr 2010

Gleanings from the Book of Job 38:39-40:5

Posted @ 6:00 am      {Click to post comment} 
Category: Studies
God Continues to Answer Job
 
Although man has subdued many kinds “of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea” man did not instill their peculiar behaviors, nor can he even tame many of them.
 
The mysteries of animal and bird life beyond Job’s understanding
 
Job 38:39-39:30
The 12 animals mentioned in this section exhibit the creative genius and providential care of God.  That God could create such a diversity and WHY he would even do it is beyond man’s understanding.
39 “Do you hunt prey for the lioness,
      and satisfy the appetite of the lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens,
      when they wait in ambush in the thicket?
41 Who prepares prey for the raven,
      when its young cry out to God
      and wander about for lack of food?
1 “Are you acquainted with the way
      the mountain goats give birth?
      Do you watch as the wild deer give birth to their young?
2 Do you count the months they must fulfill,
      and do you know the time they give birth?
3 They crouch, they bear their young,
      they bring forth the offspring they have carried.
4 Their young grow strong, and grow up in the open;
      they go off, and do not return to them.
5 Who let the wild donkey go free?
      Who released the bonds of the donkey,
6 to whom I appointed the steppe for its home,
      the salt wastes as its dwelling place?
7 It scorns the tumult in the town;
      it does not hear the shouts of a driver.
8 It ranges the hills as its pasture,
      and searches after every green plant.
9 Is the wild ox willing to be your servant?
      Will it spend the night at your feeding trough?
10 Can you bind the wild ox to a furrow with its rope,
      will it till the valleys, following after you?
11 Will you rely on it because its strength is great?
      Will you commit your labor to it?
12 Can you count on it to bring in your grain,
      and gather the grain to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich flap with joy,
      but are they the pinions and plumage of a stork?
14 For she leaves her eggs on the ground,
      and lets them be warmed on the soil.
15 She forgets that a foot might crush them,
      or that a wild animal might trample them.
16 She is harsh with her young,
      as if they were not hers;
      she is unconcerned
      about the uselessness of her labor.
17 For God deprived her of wisdom,
      and did not impart understanding to her.
18 But as soon as she springs up,
      she laughs at the horse and its rider.
19 “Do you give the horse its strength?
      Do you clothe its neck with a mane?
20 Do you make it leap like a locust?
      Its proud neighing is terrifying!
21 It paws the ground in the valley,
      exulting mightily,
      it goes out to meet the weapons.
22 It laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
      it does not shy away from the sword.
23 On it the quiver rattles;
      the lance and javelin flash.
24 In excitement and impatience it consumes the ground;
      it cannot stand still when the trumpet is blown.
25 At the sound of the trumpet, it says, ‘Aha!’
      And from a distance it catches the scent of battle,
      the thunderous shouting of commanders,
      and the battle cries.
26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,
      and spreads its wings toward the south?
27 Is it at your command that the eagle soars,
      and builds its nest on high?
28 It lives on a rock and spends the night there,
      on a rocky crag and a fortress.
29 From there it spots its prey,
      its eyes gaze intently from a distance.
30 And its young ones devour the blood,
      and where the dead carcasses are,
      there it is.”
the Lion



the Raven


the Mountain Goat

the Wild Deer






the Donkey







the Wild Ox







the Ostrich
the Stork












the Horse

the Locust














the Hawk

the Eagle

Job 40
1 Then the LORD answered Job:
2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
      Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!”
3 Then Job answered the LORD:
4 “Indeed, I am completely unworthy — how could I reply to you?
      I put my hand over my mouth to silence myself.
5 I have spoken once, but I cannot answer;
      twice, but I will say no more.”


Job was left with a feeling of inadequacy as he had to admit there was no understanding of their ways or why some of them were create so “oddly”

Job acknowledges his insignificance and his inability to defend himself.  His former self-confidence in coming before his maker and demanding vindication is gone.  It is interesting to note that although Job’s heart changed he did not express repentance, yet.
All scripture quotations from the New English Translation (NET)
“Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. www.bible.org All rights reserved.”
 
Q: Might there be times in our lives when we do finally come before our maker, acknowledging who He is, but not yet fully ready to yield?  Might there be times when God has more to say before we are ready to “really” hear Him?
 

Thu 22 Apr 2010

Rules of Engagement

Posted @ 11:12 am      {Click to post comment} 
Category: Relationships
A great Jedi Knight once said,
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
 
“Do or do not… there is no try.”
 
Fear, a base emotion that tries to rule us all.
 
Fear-based thinking leads down many paths.  Fear-based thinking causes me to squeeze my world for tighter control.  Fear-based thinking causes me to run in shear panic (or freeze in my tracks).  Fear-based thinking pushes away at that which I need most.  Fear-based thinking creates the world of misery I am so trying to avoid, which is why I am afraid in the first place.
 
My world is either based on fear or freedom.  There is no CHOICE in the middle.
 
Fear is a choice.  It is not thrust upon me.  I choose fear or I choose not.  There is no try not to be fearful.
 
I suppose one that is has lived 896 years might have gleaned a bit of insight.
 

Tue 20 Apr 2010

Hopelessness

Posted @ 2:52 pm      {Click to post comment} 
Category: Relationships , Spiritual
It’s a horrible state to be in.  No one wants to be there and I wager to say that a significant number of people have been there at one time or another.
 
Jonah had something of an epiphany from the belly of the fish.

“Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. “ Jonah 2:8

 
Worthless idols?  Little dolls?  How about ideas, how about preconceived notions that this is the way things work; this is what has to happen?
 
How often do we think of thoughts clung to with a tight fist as worthless idols?
 
Wasn’t it thoughts that Jonah was referring to from the depths?
 

Fri 16 Apr 2010

Gleanings from the Book of Job 38:1-38

Posted @ 6:00 am      {Click to post comment} 
Category: Studies
God Begins to Answer Job


“To tell the people that He is with us in all of His power when there is no evidence of it in our lives is a betrayal to God’s people.” Henry Blackaby

teet

Wrong view of God

Correct view of God

Law of Fairness

God


God

Justice
God is not subservient to what we perceive as right or wrong, He is the definition of right and wrong.


Q: What did God think of Job?  (Job 1:6-8, Job 2:3)
Q: How many times has Job requested an audience with God?
Q: In Job 33:13-22 what did Elihu say in response to Job saying that God would not speak to him?
Q: Look at Job 38:1-3, what is God’s method of answering Job?
Albert Barnes said:
God designed to bring [Job] to a proper state of mind before he appeared openly for his vindication. It is the purpose of God, in his dealings with his people, “to bring them to a proper state of mind” before he appears as their vindicator and friend, and hence, their trials are often prolonged, and when he appears, he seems at first to come only to rebuke them. Job had indulged in very improper feelings, and it was needful that those feelings should be subdued before God would manifest himself as his friend, and address him in words of consolation. Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, Albert Barnes 1798-1870


God’s challenge

Chapter 38
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:
2 “Who is this who darkens counsel
      with words without knowledge?
3 Get ready for a difficult task like a man;
      I will question you
      and you will inform me!


“LORD” = Yahweh (Jehovah) = “He brings into existence whatever exists” or “self-existent/eternal one”
Tetragrammaton = the Holy name of God, too sacred to be used for common activities.  It was pronounced by the high priest on Yom Kippur and has not been pronounced since 70 A.D.

“whirlwind” = storm(NIV).  Hebrew is tempest/hurricane

Q: Is this the storm of which Elihu spoke in Job 37:21-24?

Satan used the storm to take Job’s 10 children and God used the storm to speak to Job

“counsel”, remember this drama has been written as a legal discourse.

“you will inform me” – The tables are turned… compare to Job 31:35
 
Q: What is God’s tone in answering God?
 
The mysteries of Earth and Sky beyond Job’s understanding
(cosmology, oceanography, meteorology, astronomy)
Earth’s creation depicted like the construction of a building

4 “Where were you
      when I laid the foundation of the earth?
      Tell me, if you possess understanding!
5 Who set its measurements — if you know —
      or who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its bases set,
      or who laid its cornerstone —
7 when the morning stars sang in chorus,
      and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Creation of the seas depicted like childbirth

8 “Who shut up the sea with doors
      when it burst forth, coming out of the womb,
9 when I made the storm clouds its garment,
      and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 when I prescribed its limits,
      and set in place its bolts and doors,
11 when I said, ‘To here you may come
      and no farther,
      here your proud waves will be confined’?

God controls the sequencing of dawn and darkness

12 Have you ever in your life commanded the morning,
      or made the dawn know its place,
13 that it might seize the corners of the earth,
      and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
      its features are dyed like a garment.
15 Then from the wicked the light is withheld,
      and the arm raised in violence is broken.

Job: Have you ever explored the unseen realms?

16 Have you gone to the springs that fill the sea,
      or walked about in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
      Have you seen the gates of deepest darkness?
18 Have you considered the vast expanses of the earth?
      Tell me, if you know it all!

As a mere human Job cold not follow light to answer these questions

19 “In what direction does light reside,
      and darkness, where is its place,
20 that you may take them to their borders
      and perceive the pathways to their homes?
21 You know, for you were born before them;
      and the number of your days is great!

Job could not understand how God made the rain or snow, where lightening or thunder came from

22 Have you entered the storehouse of the snow,
      or seen the armory of the hail,
23 which I reserve for the time of trouble,
      for the day of war and battle?
24 In what direction is lightning dispersed,
      or the east winds scattered over the earth?
25 Who carves out a channel for the heavy rains,
      and a path for the rumble of thunder,
26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land,
      a desert where there are no human beings,
27 to satisfy a devastated and desolate land,
      and to cause it to sprout with vegetation?
28 Does the rain have a father,
      or who has fathered the drops of the dew?
29 From whose womb does the ice emerge,
      and the frost from the sky, who gives birth to it,
30 when the waters become hard like stone,
      when the surface of the deep is frozen solid?

Job could not hold the Pleiades together or rearrange the stars in Orion (the hunter)

31 Can you tie the bands of the Pleiades,
      or release the cords of Orion?
32 Can you lead out
      the constellations in their seasons,
      or guide the Bear with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens,
      or can you set up their rule over the earth?

Not only did Job not know how these were made, he didn’t even have power to call the rain or lightening

34 Can you raise your voice to the clouds
      so that a flood of water covers you?
35 Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go?
      Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who has put wisdom in the heart,
      or has imparted understanding to the mind?
37 Who by wisdom can count the clouds,
      and who can tip over the water jars of heaven,
38 when the dust hardens into a mass,
      and the clumps of earth stick together?

Job is immediately confronted with his insignificance, for he was not present when God created the Earth.  How could he hope to advise God now?

















































































Pleiades = “the seven sisters” an open star cluster in constellation of Taurus


“the Bear” = Ursa Major/minor (Big Dipper, Little Dipper)
Q: Can man today answer one of more of these questions?  How does that affect our status with God?

Q: If you read between the lines, what was God trying to communicate to Job?

Far from justifying the ways of God to humans, God’s speeches deal wholly with the natural order; the world of creation.  In speaking of the cosmic order and the animal creation, God’s purpose is not to give Job lessons about nature and certainly not to dazzle him with signs of power and intelligence (which Job never for a minute doubted).  It is rather to reconsider the mystery and complexity of the world God has created.  Job is meant to realize that the natural order is parallel to the moral order of the universe. New Bible Commentary, pg 481
All scripture quotations from the New English Translation (NET)
“Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. www.bible.org All rights reserved.”
 
If nature is beyond our grasp, God’s moral purposes may be beyond what we can imagine.
 

Tue 13 Apr 2010

Surprise, Surprise

Posted @ 8:28 am      {Click to post comment} 
Category: Personal , Spiritual
Ever find life is full of surprises?  I like to know what’s next.  No, I need to know what’s next.  When I don’t know what’s expected of me I stand dumbfounded, not knowing what to say or do next.  It doesn’t feel like fear – but it is a paralysis of sorts.
 
Here’s an example.  Last week we had a benefits meeting at work.  As part of the presentation on retirement the presenter asked a basic question.  ”What would you do right now if you could do anything you wanted?”  He called on one gentleman who said something to the effect, “Move to Bermuda and sit on the beach.”  Then he calls on me.  I look at him and nothing comes to mind.  It’s as if my brain sees a blank sheet of white paper.  I feel no fear, I simply feel empty-minded.  Quickly before panic sets in I call up anything.  I don’t know the answer to his question.  That will take thought.  There is no time to think.  But I have to “perform” so I piggy back on what the last guy said and say, “I’d move to Alaska,” then the question is fired back at me, “What part?”  Oh no, you’d think since I have a place in the Mat-Su valley, I’d say there.  But somehow that does not feel “creative” enough.  I think, “what part to I like the best,”  that would be the best place to say.  (At least there is some rational thought in answer a simple question!)
 
Why am I wired in such a way that I need to give the correct answer?  Meaning, I can’t just say anything, I have to be accurate to what I want and that would take time.  I don’t want to say something then have to retract it and say, “I didn’t really mean that now that I thought about it.”  What’s with me.  I do have a need to really weigh and answer these trite questions.  If I don’t take the time I very literally CANNOT think of anything.  My mind becomes blank.  Is that what happens when someone is confronted by a bear in the woods and cannot move from fear?  I don’t know, but I’m guessing it pretty similar.
 
Sunday was a day of surprises.  I organized and hosted a major event for the men of my church.  Months of planning were “adjusted” that morning.  Not by others, by me.  I looked at my agenda and it was clear changes were needed to adapt to the moment.  Guess what?  As awkward as it felt inside me I was comfortable “winging it.”  As I said, most of Sunday was ad lib and I was moved along.  I am sure no one felt the kludgyness I felt, after all they did not know how professionally smooth it had been rehearsed in my head.  That was a work of God.  From the time I began preparing for the day He let me know He was there to carry me.  It wasn’t scary, it was exhilarating like a wild ride down a river.  Not sure what way to go next or if capsizing was moments away but wow!
 
I think I’ll look at surprises a little differently – or so I hope.
 

Mon 5 Apr 2010

Swallowed Whole

Posted @ 9:08 am      {Click to post comment} 
Category: Entertainment
Last night as I watched one of those television shows I’d grown up with I was prompted to jump on the Internet and do a little research.  Instant access to information of all kinds is a blessing and a curse.  But last night it was a blessing.
 
In episode 1 of season 2 of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea the diving bell was swallowed whole by a whale.  A very fast, very big whale.  I for one appreciate the sensational, over the top shows Irwin Allen prolifically produced in the ’60′s.  Allen wanted Voyage to be riddled with science and last night was no exception.  In the “belly of the whale” dying words discussion between Admiral Nelson and his guest in the diving bell, Nelson mentioned the story of a late 19th century sailor swallowed by a whale.
 
James Bartley was that man.  See a synopsis of the story below:

…A whale was sighted, the harpoon boats were launched, and the whale was successfully speared.  In the violence that followed, however, one of the smaller boats capsized, throwing two crew members into the sea.  One of them drowned and the other, said to be a man named James Bartley, disappeared.

 
The whale was eventually subdued and its carcass hoisted onto the ship where the crew started carving it up for blubber.  After a couple of days of work, they got down to the stomach, where some workers noticed something large inside, ‘doubled up’, and showing signs of life.
 
They cut the stomach open and there lay James Bartley, unconscious and somewhat digested, but alive.  They doused him with sea water, put him in the captain’s cabin and after a couple of weeks of recovery, he was back on the job.

Truth or Fiction.com

 
A fantastic story, yes.  A bit fanciful, maybe.  But don’t you love it when the writers incorporate a bit of mythos in with fact to increase the believability?  Where it becomes difficult to separate fact from fiction is where new fiction can begin.
 
When these story elements I find it easier to ignore fishing line pulling submarines thru their diving maneuvers or fantastic stories of men in scuba gear swimming into the mouth of a whale and journeying to it’s stomach  to find their diving bell.
 

Fri 2 Apr 2010

Gleanings from the Book of Job 36:1-37:24

Posted @ 6:00 am      {Click to post comment} 
Category: Studies
Elihu continues..
His forth speech
The justice and majesty of God
Listen up!

Job 36
1 Elihu said further:
2 “Be patient with me a little longer
      and I will instruct you,
      for I still have words to speak on God’s behalf.
3 With my knowledge I will speak comprehensively,
      and to my Creator I will ascribe righteousness.
4 For in truth, my words are not false;
      it is one complete in knowledge
      who is with you.


v3- “speak comprehensively” some translations = “knowledge from afar”

“complete in knowledge” also translated as “prefect in knowledge” in other major translations.  The word has to do with knowledge that is not lacking completeness.

By this Elihu likely was not saying more than “I’m a great communicator with good words – listen!”

God is just

5 Indeed, God is mighty; and he does not despise people,
      he is mighty, and firm in his intent.
6 He does not allow the wicked to live,
      but he gives justice to the poor.
7 He does not take his eyes off the righteous;
      but with kings on the throne
      he seats the righteous and exalts them forever.
8 But if they are bound in chains,
      and held captive by the cords of affliction,
9 then he reveals to them what they have done,
      and their transgressions,
      that they were behaving proudly.
10 And he reveals this for correction,
      and says that they must turn from evil.
11 If they obey and serve him,
      they live out their days in prosperity
      and their years in pleasantness.
12 But if they refuse to listen,
      they pass over the river of death,
      and expire without knowledge.



God will look out for the righteous and He’ll punish the wicked!







Reasons for Jobs calamities:
Friends: You have sinned
Job: God has forsaken me
Elihu: God is helping you to become more humble
13 The godless at heart nourish anger,
      they do not cry out even when he binds them.
14 They die in their youth,
      and their life ends among the male cultic prostitutes.
15 He delivers the afflicted by their afflictions,
      he reveals himself to them by their suffering.
The godless die in their sin, the righteous are delivered
16 And surely, he drew you from the mouth of distress,
      to a wide place, unrestricted,
      and to the comfort of your table
      filled with rich food.
17 But now you are preoccupied with the judgment due the wicked,
      judgment and justice take hold of you.
18 Be careful that no one entices you with riches;
      do not let a large bribe turn you aside.
19 Would your wealth sustain you,
      so that you would not be in distress,
      even all your mighty efforts?
20 Do not long for the cover of night
      to drag people away from their homes.
21 Take heed, do not turn to evil,
      for because of this you have been tested by affliction.
Job: God is wooing you…













Job: don’t turn to evil and suffer more of God’s correction

The majesty and sovereignty of God

22 Indeed, God is exalted in his power;
      who is a teacher like him?
23 Who has prescribed his ways for him?
      Or said to him, ‘You have done what is wicked’?
24 Remember to extol his work,
      which people have praised in song.
25 All humanity has seen it;
      people gaze on it from afar.
26 “Yes, God is great — beyond our knowledge!
      The number of his years is unsearchable.
27 He draws up drops of water;
      they distill the rain into its mist,
28 which the clouds pour down
      and shower on humankind abundantly.
29 Who can understand the spreading of the clouds,
      the thunderings of his pavilion?
30 See how he scattered his lightning about him;
      he has covered the depths of the sea.
31 It is by these that he judges the nations
      and supplies food in abundance.
32 With his hands he covers the lightning,
      and directs it against its target.
33 His thunder announces the coming storm,
      the cattle also, concerning the storm’s approach.
Job 37
1 At this also my heart pounds
      and leaps from its place.
2 Listen carefully to the thunder of his voice,
      to the rumbling that proceeds from his mouth.
3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go,
      even his lightning to the far corners of the earth.
4 After that a voice roars;
      he thunders with an exalted voice,
      and he does not hold back his lightning bolts
      when his voice is heard.
5 God thunders with his voice in marvelous ways;
      he does great things beyond our understanding.
6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall to earth,’
      and to the torrential rains, ‘Pour down.’
7 He causes everyone to stop working,
      so that all people may know his work.
8 The wild animals go to their lairs,
      and in their dens they remain.
9 A tempest blows out from its chamber,
      icy cold from the driving winds.
10 The breath of God produces ice,
      and the breadth of the waters freeze solid.
11 He loads the clouds with moisture;
      he scatters his lightning through the clouds.
12 The clouds go round in circles,
      wheeling about according to his plans,
      to carry out all that he commands them
      over the face of the whole inhabited world.
13 Whether it is for punishment for his land,
      or whether it is for mercy,
      he causes it to find its mark.
14 “Pay attention to this, Job!
      Stand still and consider the wonders God works.
15 Do you know how God commands them,
      how he makes lightning flash in his storm cloud?
16 Do you know about the balancing of the clouds,
      that wondrous activity of him who is perfect in knowledge?
17 You, whose garments are hot
      when the earth is still because of the south wind,
18 will you, with him, spread out the clouds,
      solid as a mirror of molten metal?

Could this be a prelude to God speaking?
 
He is who He is, how can we approach Him?

19 Tell us what we should say to him.
      We cannot prepare a case
      because of the darkness.
20 Should he be informed that I want to speak?
      If a man speaks, surely he would be swallowed up!
21 But now, the sun cannot be looked at —
      it is bright in the skies —
      after a wind passed and swept the clouds away.
22 From the north he comes in golden splendor;
      around God is awesome majesty.
23 As for the Almighty, we cannot attain to him!
      He is great in power,
      but justice and abundant righteousness he does not oppress.
24 Therefore people fear him,
      for he does not regard all the wise in heart.”



If Job could not understand the ways of God that were visible to his eyes, how in the world could he possibly draw up a case against God for the unseen reasons for his suffering?







v22 – God is on His way!  Could this be a precursor to God speaking?
All scripture quotations from the New English Translation (NET)
“Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. www.bible.org All rights reserved.”

Elihu prepared the way for God to speak
  1. He defended God’s justice
  2. He sensitized Job to hi need for humility
  3. He described God’s wonders
  4. He provided Job “food for thought”
  5. He pegged Job’s problem of justifying self at God’s expense


Was Elihu sent from God, sent by satan or just a bystander as scripture records?
Viewpoint
Pro
Con
Sent by God
(not an angel, a man delivering a message)
-He reaffirms Gods justice in all this
-Points Job to Gods sovereignty and majesty
-He is not rebuked by God
-Job does not respond – concurs with truth?
-Announced that God was on his way
-Said Job justified self at God’s expense
-Says that Job add rebellion to his sin (we know from chapter 32 that -God says Job did not sin in what he said)
Sent by satan
-Is counting on Job to curse God by pointing out that God can do as he pleases.  Satan is a master deceiver and is hiding the lie within the truth
-Job does not respond – why argue with a young fool?
-His arguments do not seem strong enough to cause a despairing man to curse God.  If anything Job’s friends arguments seem to more along this tact
A young man in the crowd
-He has no further identification in scripture
-Job does not respond – you had nothing to offer in your youthful arrogance
-Argues more intelligibly to what Job actually said – sent of God?
-Argues that Job has sinned and is now rebelling against God – satan’s trap to put Job over the edge.
 
 

Thu 1 Apr 2010

Finally the Day Has Arrived!

Posted @ 9:27 am      {Click to post comment} 
Category: Rants
I work up this morn and like a good citizen counted all those asleep in my house.  Sealed my census envelope and put in the post.  Now I can be counted as the .01% that followed directions.
 

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