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May 21 + Daily notes & readings

DAY 141

Job is one of the books of wisdom in the Old Testament.  Watch today's Bible Project video to see how that wisdom unfolds.  



DAILY READINGS

Job 4-7 & Psalm 136

DAILY NOTES

Job 4
  • Don't you love it when your friend starts off by saying, "You won't get offended if I say something, right?"
  • It's obvious to Eliphaz that Job is not as innocent as he thinks he is.  He asks, "Who that was innocent ever perished" (vs. 7)?  
  • No one can be righteous before God (vs. 17).  
Job 5
  • Eliphaz continues.  He's already calling Job a fool (vs. 2)?
  • Humanity is born for trouble, apparently, "just as 'sparks' fly upward" (vs. 7).  Have a little Bible study fun and look up "sons of resheph."  That's what gets translated to sparks.
Job 6
  • Job wishes God would hear his request.  He would ask God to "crush" him (vs. 9).  
  • Job asserts that he is an honest person.  Others are not, but he does not follow their way.
Job 7
  • Job seems to have no hope.  There is no where he can turn for comfort.  His days are full of torment and pain.  
  • The "watcher of humanity (vs. 20) has targeted Job, according to Job.
Psalm 136
  • A brief Hebrew history lesson.  Each line recalls a moment of God's power and is accompanied with a call to praise.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

You can't read Job and not remember his friends.  It's been suggested that each one represents a common, ancient thought about God.  That makes sense as you keep reading through the story.  It could be that Job (the story) is challenging each of these common perspectives.

All that aside, let's assume you and I, like Job, have friends.  What do those friends teach us?  What do they remind us of?  How do they inspire us?  In what ways do they enrich our understanding?  How do you reciprocate that kind of friendship?  

We're supposed to learn from each other.  Hopefully, we'll be better comforters than Job's friends.

Stay blessed...john 


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