Skip to main content

May 25 + Daily readings & notes

DAY 145

DAILY READINGS

Job 20-23 & Psalm 140

DAILY NOTES

Job 20
  • Zophar lovingly reminds Job of what the wicked can expect.  Although they work and puff themselves up, they will meet God's wrath.  They are wicked and they do wicked.  
    • Job, you must be wicked, brother.
Job 21
  • What Job is saying is that wicked people enjoy life.  They live in prosperity and die with it, too.  I'm just surprised Job doesn't include names.
Job 22
  • Eliphaz says that Job needs to "return" to God.  There is unrighteousness in his tents and, truly, he has not lived as a righteous person.  
    • According to Eliphaz, Job's wickedness is great and there is no end to his iniquity (vs.5).  What did God say about Job?
Job 23
  • Job seeks a chance to present his case to God.  Surely God would listen and understand.  And Job would be ready to listen to God's response.
  • Job insists that he has "held fast" to the ways of God (vs. 11).
  • But God does what God does.  
Psalm 140
  • There are parts of this psalm that seem to correspond to parts of our reading from Job.
  • The psalmist compares his enemies to snakes.  
  • The prayer is for God to deliver the psalmist and bring judgement to his enemies.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

"They'll get theirs."

You've heard that before, I'm sure.  What we mean by that is somebody has done something wrong and that they'll have to pay for it eventually.  Maybe not right now.  But eventually.

That is true, except when it is not.

That is Job's point today.  We keep hearing that the wicked will be punished.  But as far as Job can tell, wicked people seem to do fine.  They live in luxury, doing what they want.  Isn't that true today, too?  Dictators, drug kingpins, crime bosses, crooked politicians, murderers, etc, they keep on doing what they do until they can't anymore.  I've heard people say that when they die they are getting punished.  But everyone dies.  That can't be punishment itself.

Job also recognizes that when the wicked carry on with their life without the kind of judgement from God that Job's friends expect, the next argument is that their children will bear their punishment.  How does that work?  The evil doers themselves get off, but their children suffer?  Job doesn't understand this either.

What does this mean for us today?  I think it reminds us to be careful what we say about what God is doing.  When a "wicked" person dies tragically or unexpectedly, people are quick to say, "They got theirs."  But what about the "innocent" person who dies similarly?  Did they get theirs, too?  What about the woman in the news yesterday that was struck by a car racing down the street and died?  Did she get hers?  

The opposite is just as tricky.  When someone avoids a plane crash or auto accident, for example, have you ever heard someone else say, "God was with them" or "God was watching over them"?   Does that mean God wasn't with other people or watching others who have died in plane crashes or auto accidents?  

Like Job's friends, we need to be careful with our words.  We don't want to offer up "empty nothings" to hurting people.

Stay blessed...john


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

March 31 + Daily notes & readings

DAY 90 David's family situation continues to spiral.  In today's reading, David's family is torn apart by rape.  As a consequence, David's son sets his eyes on his father's throne. DAILY READINGS 2 Samuel 13-15 & Psalm 90 DAILY NOTES 1 Samuel 13:1-14 Amnon was David's first born son (3:2).  That may shed light as to why David seems to deal with him so easily (Verse 21).  Although he does kind of the same thing later with Absalom. Tamar is Absalom's full sister, half sister to Amnon.  Amnon is lovesick with her.  He devises a plan, with the help of a friend, to have her enter his chamber (bedroom).   Since she was a virgin, she didn't go out and about.  She remained in her house, perhaps protected.   Tamar knows what will become of her if Amnon goes through with his wishes; she will be left aside, unable to marry (see Verse 20).  She seems willing to have become married to Amnon, but his lust clouds h...

January 27 + Daily notes & readings

DAY 27 We'll be reading about atonement today.  T oday's video helps make sense of that biblical theme. DAILY READINGS Exodus 30-31 & Psalm 27 DAILY NOTES Exodus 30:6 Everything has its place.   Exodus 30:10 Once a year would be Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). Exodus 12-15 The Lord's offering is required of everyone equally (of the appropriate age).  Strangely enough, there is a designation of rich and poor.  Everyone has just come from Egypt.  How has that distinction arisen?   Exodus 31:13 It's interesting to compare how the idea of sabbath here relates to previous mentions of it.   Exodus 31:18 Moses had written the words down.  Now, with merely his finger, God has provided the tablets for all to remember the covenant that has been made.   Psalm 27 Have you ever prayed and prayed and prayed for something?  The psalmist seems to know the feeling.  His final adm...

June 19 + Daily notes & readings

DAY 170 DAILY READINGS Jeremiah 7-9 & Psalm 15 DAILY NOTES Jeremiah 7 Notice the emphasis of God's house having God's name.  It belongs to God, but the people, through their unrighteous actions, have made it theirs.  God's house has been turned into a "den of robbers" (vs. 11).  Remember when Jesus said that (Matthew 21:13)? According to Jesus, what was the Temple supposed to be called? Remember when the people tried to use the ark of the covenant as a weapon against the Philistines (1 Samuel 4)?  That was at Shiloh.  Jeremiah brings that event to our minds again as a sign (vs. 14).  God says that human sacrifice was not his command, nor did it come to his mind.  You'll have to do some wrestling with the story of Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac (Genesis 22). Jeremiah 8 Jeremiah (God) says to unearth the kings' bones and lay them before the sun and moon and all the other gods they served and worshiped.  Ouch. Even animals ...