May 19 - Evening
(Job continues...)
'"If only you would be altogether silent!
For you, that would be wisdom.
Hear now my argument;
listen to the pleas of my lips.
Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf?
Will you speak deceitfully for him?
Will you show him partiality?
Will you argue the case for God?
Would it turn out well if he examined you?
Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal?
He would surely call you to account
if you secretly showed partiality.
Would not his splendor terrify you?
Would not the dread of him fall on you?
Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
your defenses are defenses of clay.
Keep silent and let me speak;
then let come to me what may.
Why do I put myself in jeopardy
and take my life in my hands?
Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;
I will surely defend my ways to his face.
Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,
for no godless person would dare come before him!
Listen carefully to what I say;
let my words ring in your ears.
Now that I have prepared my case,
I know I will be vindicated.
Can anyone bring charges against me?
If so, I will be silent and die."
- Job 13:5-9
'"If only you would be altogether silent!
For you, that would be wisdom.
Hear now my argument;
listen to the pleas of my lips.
Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf?
Will you speak deceitfully for him?
Will you show him partiality?
Will you argue the case for God?
Would it turn out well if he examined you?
Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal?
He would surely call you to account
if you secretly showed partiality.
Would not his splendor terrify you?
Would not the dread of him fall on you?
Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
your defenses are defenses of clay.
Keep silent and let me speak;
then let come to me what may.
Why do I put myself in jeopardy
and take my life in my hands?
Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;
I will surely defend my ways to his face.
Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,
for no godless person would dare come before him!
Listen carefully to what I say;
let my words ring in your ears.
Now that I have prepared my case,
I know I will be vindicated.
Can anyone bring charges against me?
If so, I will be silent and die."
- Job 13:5-9
Even Though He Slay Me, Yet I Will Pursue Truth and Hope in Him
Job tells his friends that if they want to do something useful they could demonstrate their wisdom by refraining from speaking. Even the book of Proverbs provides this same suggestion to those who do not know what they are talking about:
“Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.” – Proverbs 17:28
Job then says, “Now, listen to me." He begins again trying to explain his problem with the over-simplistic 'common sense' theology his friends are using to defend the character of God and the nature of reality. Job calls their emergent, undeveloped and careless theology “wicked” when he says:
"Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf? Will you speak deceitfully for him? Will you show him partiality? Will you argue the case for God? Would it turn out well if he examined you? Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal?"
Notice how Job asks, “Would it turn out well if he examined you?” and “Could you deceive him?” Job is challenging them to consider that even if they can comfort each other with their idiotic theology, it will not stand up to the truth of God’s nature. Their theology will not serve them well if they want to function in agreement with God’s created universe.
Job’s friends have “secretly showed partiality” to their belief system instead of trying to find true answers for Job and for themselves. Job calls their theology “proverbs of ashes.”
Then he tells them to refrain from talking because he is marching on in pursuit of the Truth and is willing to accept his fate.
This is why Job puts himself in jeopardy and takes his life in his own hands - Job knows there is hope if he can leave behind the deceitful speech of those who twist religion and theology in order to use God’s name in vain to make things suitable to their human needs and views.
Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face. Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless person would dare come before him!
Though the Lord completely destroys Job’s theology and rewrites Job’s worldview, Job will hope in the Truth. Job knows the Truth will ultimately give him the answers and in the end deliver him. He does not want a counterfeit theology.
Then, Job reminds his friends in an accusing tone that, “No godless person would dare come before God” and do this! A godless man has too much self-worship and self-will hiding behind his twisted theology to allow the Lord to examine and correct it.
Paroikia (Gr) – Strangers (Eng) – a Greek word which means “a temporary residency, temporary stay.” Paroikia refers to taking residence in a place without taking or receiving citizenship.
It is used in 1 Peter 1:17 and Hebrews 11:9.
It is used in 1 Peter 1:17 and Hebrews 11:9.
Do I accept counterfeit theology?
Do I show partiality to theology that is focused on my desires and my own self-will?
I will pursue the Truth, even though I have to give up ideologies that are self-serving.
Do I show partiality to theology that is focused on my desires and my own self-will?
I will pursue the Truth, even though I have to give up ideologies that are self-serving.
Bible Reading Descriptions Here
Personal
To say peaceful words
Church
Spiritual growth and production in church programs and activities
Nation
Religious Liberty
World
Ethiopia
Someone to Quote
“The secret of my success?
It is simple. It is found in the Bible,
‘In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.’ ”
- George Washington Carver
Something to Ponder
A man in a church where the reading, preaching and teaching the Word of God is not the principal purpose will have to embrace some other form of spiritual nutrition.The New Testament warns against these pseudo-nutritional additives, enhancements and sweeteners that replace the pure Word of God:
• traditions of men
• myths
• hollow and deceptive philosophies
• empty rituals
• religious regulations
• every wind of teaching
• deceitful, scheming of men
(Ephesians 4:14;
Colossians 2:8, 21-23;
1 Timothy 1:3-4; 4:1-3, 7)
• traditions of men
• myths
• hollow and deceptive philosophies
• empty rituals
• religious regulations
• every wind of teaching
• deceitful, scheming of men
(Ephesians 4:14;
Colossians 2:8, 21-23;
1 Timothy 1:3-4; 4:1-3, 7)
Here’s a Fact
Proverb
"It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury—
how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!"
- Proverbs 19:10
how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!"
- Proverbs 19:10
Coach’s Corner
Truth is surrounded by facts, knowledge and information, but faith itself rests on truth alone.
Jonah 2
New International Version (NIV)
2
1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said:
“In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.
3
You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me.
4
I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’
5
The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6
To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit.
7
“When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.
8
“Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.
9
But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”
10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
New International Version (NIV)
2
1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said:
“In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.
3
You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me.
4
I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’
5
The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6
To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit.
7
“When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.
8
“Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.
9
But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”
10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
2 Samuel 21
King James Version (KJV)
21 Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.
2 And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)
3 Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord?
4 And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.
5 And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,
6 Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them.
7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the Lord's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:
9 And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.
10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
11 And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.
12 And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:
13 And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.
14 And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.
15 Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint.
16 And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.
17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.
18 And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant.
19 And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.
20 And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.
21 And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimeah the brother of David slew him.
22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
King James Version (KJV)
21 Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.
2 And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)
3 Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord?
4 And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.
5 And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,
6 Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them.
7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the Lord's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:
9 And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.
10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
11 And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.
12 And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:
13 And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.
14 And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.
15 Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint.
16 And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.
17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.
18 And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant.
19 And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.
20 And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.
21 And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimeah the brother of David slew him.
22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.