Wisdom's Maker

OT: Job 27-31
NT: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

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Job 28:12-15, 20-24, 28 — But where shall wisdom be found? / And where is the place of understanding? / Mortals do not know the way to it, and it is not found in the land of the living. /The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ / It cannot be gotten for gold, and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.

“Where then does wisdom come from? / And where is the place of understanding? / It is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the air. / Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’ / “God understands the way to it, and he knows its place. / For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees everything under the heavens. / And he said to humankind, ‘Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.’”

Does someone you know think they know more than anyone else knows? Are they so confident in their education, their research, or their instincts that they believe they are qualified to answer any question? Solve any problem? One of the great lies in Western Christianity is the lie that says "with knowledge comes wisdom." In other words, the more you know, the better your decisions will be. It's a great lie. And we love to stake our entire education upon its principle. But does knowledge equate wisdom? Is a wise man truly "wise?" Job wondered about this and he found his answer to be: "not necessarily." Wisdom is not something you can mine for, he writes in chapter 28, nor something you can buy. It does not come by our great effort or our great education. No, wisdom comes from God and only God can give it away.

The Scripture is very clear in this one truth: To be wise is to fear the Lord. To fear the Lord is to obey Him, to keep His precepts. If one lives in accordance to the commands of Christ Jesus, God's Son, he or she will be given wisdom from God. Plain and true. The more you walk with Christ -- regardless of your education -- the wiser you will be. For you will have tested the words of the Lord and found them to be true and trustworthy. You will have held onto the promises of Christ as your hope. You will have walked by the Holy Spirit and gained wisdom through the experiences of that walk. I know of many dear saints of God who never went to college and yet have more wisdom in their thumb than I have in my highly educated brain. Why? They have a lifetime of walking by the Spirit that has been rewarded by the Maker of Wisdom. And it is He who really matters.

Be God's.

The Yearning of the Heart

OT: Job 18-26
NT: 2 Corinthians 5:1-5

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Job 19:25-27 -- I know that my Redeemer lives, / and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. / And after my skin has been destroyed, / yet in my flesh I will see God; / I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. / How my heart yearns within me!

It is a sad thing to lose hope. I'm reminded of a sailor who resigns himself to death when the waters rage high and his boat starts to fill and he cannot see land. "I am ruined!" he declares. "My death will be for naught!" He has lost hope. So he sees nothing but death. Hope keeps us afloat. It is what keeps that sailor treading water until help arrives. It is what kept Job going during his great ordeal. He didn't understand why God was allowing him to suffer but he had hope that he would one day see God face-to-face, and that God would one day reign on the earth.

What Job experienced in his suffering is what I call the "yearning of the heart." It is that soul-deep longing to see God, to speak with him face-to-face, to fall down at His feet. It is a longing to be anywhere but earth, a desire beyond words. Job was longing to see the Lord in his body, even though he knew that time and disease would try to destroy his body. I think that's what he means by "after my skin has been destroyed." Yet Job held on to the hope that even though his suffering was painful and very real, he would one day see God. And he could not wait for that day! Can you?

Be God's.

How Can a Man Be Just?

OT: Job 9-17
NT: Romans 4-5

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Job 8:20; 9:1-3 — "[Bildad the Shuhite said:] See, God will not reject a blameless person, / nor take the hand of evildoers. / Then Job answered: “Indeed I know that this is so; / but how can a mortal be just before God? / If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand."

The question of righteousness or justice permeates every part of human society. We all want to be right. Even more, we all want to set the standard of being right. And then impose that righteousness on everyone else! But what does it take to be right in the eyes of One who is perfect? This is Job's question here. How can a mere man be blameless before God? Job was suffering great trial for a cause unknown. He looked back on his life and everything was going right. He has a good wife, many kids, many flocks and herds and, thus, was a very wealthy man. But it was almost all taken away from him by Satan, who was allowed by God to test Job's faith.

Psalms 14 clues us in to the answer for Job's question. David says that the Lord looks down on mankind to see if there are any of us who are righteous, who are seeking God first, and he sees only wicked men who are fallen. All have turned away. There is none righteous. As a result, mankind was in need of another righteousness — the perfection of one who is more than a man. And so God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to live the perfect life on earth, purchase our salvation on the cross, rise from the dead, and give us His righteousness if we'd only believe in Him. Once we believe in Jesus, His righteousness is automatically transfered to us, and we are now seen as being just in God's sight. How glorious is that!

Be God's.

The Suffering Song

OT: Job 3-8
NT: James 1

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Job 3:20-24 — Why is light given to one in misery / and life to the bitter in soul / who long for death, but it does not come / and dig for it more than for hidden treasures / who rejoice exceedingly / and are glad when they find the grave? / Why is light given to one who cannot see the way / whom God has fenced in? / For my sighing comes like my bread / and my groanings are poured out like water.

Have you ever wondered why many who suffer in life cannot seem to dig themselves out of their misery? They pray and pray, scrape and scrape, and yet they stay in misery. I know the situation very well. Been there, prayed that. Yet I stayed in my situation. No matter how much I cried out to the Lord, He seemed not to care. Job thought the same thing, times 10.

The Lord's ways are mysteries to us. He is the sovereign God of the universe whose smallest thoughts are deeper than our greatest notions. He cares for His children yet He sometimes allows us to suffer on this planet. Why? It has nothing to do with His love for us. He loves us as a father. One answer the Scriptures give is that we often find ourselves in trials and tribulations so that our faith in God's provision may be strengthened and our deliverance may be claimed by the Lord and not ourselves. In both cases, we eventually find ourselves safe in the hands of our Savior.

Be God's.

Job's Really Bad Day

OT: Job 1-2
NT:

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Job 1:13-22 — One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Ever have "one of those days"? You know, when everything seems to go wrong or become more difficult than it seems like it should be? I dare say that we all have them. But I also dare say that none compare to the "one of those days" that Job had. The first chapter of Job is a mystery in the biblical canon. It starts out like a fairy tale "once upon a time..." and contains a strange discourse between God and Satan in which Satan challenges God to let him test Job's faith. God agrees and Satan wrecks Job's life with "one of those days."

So Job lost nearly everything he had, save for his wife and his life, and was devastated. Wouldn't you be? Sitting with boils on his body and disbelief on his mind, Job's wife tells him to curse God and die as a result. After all, Job must have done something wrong to merit such punishment from God! This quandary — the role of suffering and faith — is the theme of the rest of the book. Is God just? If so, why does He allow the righteous to suffer along with the wicked? The answer comes with a thud in the end: God IS just and right and He DOES take care of His faithful ones. But why does suffering happen? Why does God seem to "pick and choose" which persons to help and which ones to ignore? The answers are never easy but they are important. And they are the goal of Job's quest throughout the remainder of this book.

Be God's.

A Day of Rest

I'm taking a day of rest on this Sunday to recharge my batteries and gear up for the next stage of the Devotion's journey: the Wisdom literature.

So far we have made quite a bit of progress since I started journaling my way through the Bible in July of 2007. I still remember Genesis with fondness even though it was over 16 months ago! The history of Israel as recorded in the Old Testament spans from the calling of Abraham in 2200 BC or so to the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem in the 430s BC. The Scripture goes silent over the next 400 years, though God was not finished working with Israel. For a hundred more years Persia ruled over Judah, the southern province that once was a nation, then came Alexander the Great of Greece in the 330's. When Alexander died, his four generals divided the kingdom and Judah fell under the dynasty of one of them. Things got really bad in 165 BC when a Greek ruler named Antiochus Epiphanes decided to enter the holy of holies in Jerusalem and, thus, committed the "abomination that causes desolation" prophesied in Daniel. That action led to a Jewish revolt against Antiochus led by the Maccabees family that earned freedom for Israel. But freedom was short lived. Rome was emerging as a world power and through an effort to secure the nation with Roman help, the Jews lost their independence. Pompey marched through Jerusalem and Israel fell under Roman rule up through the opening of the Gospels.

But there was much more written than a few history books in the Old Testament period, so our journey will resume with good ole Job on Monday. We'll move through the "wisdom" literature and then to the prophets. Until then.... have a great Sunday!

Be God's!

-- Brother John

Esther & the God of Grace

OT: Esther 1-10
NT: 1 Timothy 5:1-8

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Esther 1:1, 2:5-7 — This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush... Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair... who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin king of Judah. Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This girl, who was also known as Esther, was lovely in form and features, and Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died.

The book of Esther is a mystery in the biblical canon. Nowhere in its 10 chapters is the name of God used -- nowhere is God even referenced. For this reason, many early Christians had trouble accepting Esther into the canon of Scripture. Of what value is a book that does not even mention God? The reason the story shows up in our Bibles is that there IS value to this tale about a Jewish girl born in a foreign land who rises to become queen of Persia and saves her people in Persia from genocide. Throughout its pages we see the grace of God in action, first grace upon the extended family of a Jew named Mordecai, and then grace upon a remnant of Judah that decided to stay in Persia rather than return to the Promised Land.

The story takes place after King Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon and set its captives free, including the Jews. At least two major migrations occurred back to the Holy Land, one led by Zerubbabel the royal heir and the other by Ezra the priest. But several groups of exiles decided to stay in their foreign lands. Mordecai was among the Persian settlers. An older man, Mordecai had adopted his young cousin Hadasseh (Esther), who had been orphaned and raised her as his daughter. In doing so, Mordecai showed Esther the grace of God. Later, Esther would rise to the position of queen of the court of Xerxes (King Ahaseurus, not Artaxerxes) through both crafty maneuvering by Mordecai and by her God-given beauty and grace. Through her position, Esther was able to sway the king's mind to save the Jews when Mordecai uncovered a dastardly plot by Haman, an official. Through her brave action, the grace of God was shown to the exiles in Persia and they were spared.

Esther is a neat book that still has value after 2,400 years. It's often relegated to women's studies, sadly, even though it has value for anybody.

Be God's.