Category: Job – God’s Providence Unfolded

First and foremost,

Job stands alone in the Bible as an ancient book revealing God’s providence in relation to Job’s integrity.

Although most associate Job with suffering and some with the unseen temptations of Satan, God reveals Job as a righteous man who has blessings withdrawn, yet remains righteous.

The LORD also reveals His great glory in closing arguments to the man Job, before completely redeeming his former life with twice the blessings as before.

– Job is perhaps the oldest book of the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible)

in terms of when it was written and chronologically as it takes place during Moses’ recording of the timeline of Genesis.

Some Bibles include Job with the books of wisdom (either before or after Psalms).
Properly Job could be included as Old Testament books of History (preceding the historical books relating Hebrew history during the diaspora to Babylon).
The Hebrew Bible groups Iyov (Job) as Ketuvim (Scriptures) but not chronologically ordered before books of Scriptures, i.e. Psalms, written much later.
And the 17th & 18th c. Bible commentator Matthew Henry likely classifies the book of Job best when he states:

“This book of Job stands by itself, is not connected with any other, and is therefore to be considered alone.

Now is the Time Christmas Advent 3
Does anybody really know what time it is?

Chorus overlap: “I don’t care…”

Does anybody really care?

from ‘Chicago Transit Authority’ (1969)

Time in Perpetuity

I asked you in the first ADVENT post of this calendar year: ‘Have you considered that in the time of Noah and Before Christ GOD cleansed the earth of all but eight?’

Then we looked at the concept of ADVENT as a time of preparation for celebrating the coming of GOD as a man, even as a child born before the witnesses of the A.D. first century.

Advent 2 of Christmas Evangelicalism

Before Christ, Prophesy

We considered prophesy as a type of advent with certain prediction of that which was to come.

When at certain times God speaks to men such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah and others, the LORD warns of times ahead, as well as the consequences of rejection of His Law, commandments and His grace.

A visible advent of our disobedience to God is documented in Scripture and warns of God’s wrath against sin in more times ahead.

What must we do?

Take for instance the LORD’s negotiation with Abraham about Sodom. AND considering the destroyed city ponder this 21st century dilemma:
- HOW are we so different than those who perished in Sodom for their sin?
- Should the Lord spare US for only breaking our marriage covenants with impugnity?
- Are we less sinless than those who created gods of stone from hearts of stone, proclaiming our own self as the god we worship?
Does this Common Era world not appropriate signs of the LORD’s covenant with mankind for sins offensive to God and creation?

And YES, do some so-called churches culturally encourage an all-inclusive sin of Sodom?

Have some churches missed an advent of the judgement to come by fire?
- Are our sins of selfishness any less offensive to the LORD than those of ALL HE destroyed from the earth by the flood?
A righteous man such as Noah or Job would appeal to the LORD for mercy.

Do YOU and do I?

‘Remember now, that You have made me as clay; And would You turn me into dust again?

Job 10:9 LSB

The righteous example of Job

Even Before Christ, Job foresaw the advent of the savior of mankind, the Very Person of God Who IS before all and after all time.

“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
And at the last He will rise up over the dust H6083 of this world.
Job 19:25

A Savior in a manger,

Jesus a child –

a son of man: son of Mary and Son of God – a redeemer for the sins of mankind.

Perpetuity after Time

perpetuity, n.
The quality or state of being perpetual; an instance of this, an endless or indefinite duration or existence; permanence, endlessness.

Oxford English Dictionary

A line, even a timeline representing lifetimes of days and centuries of history extends beyond our sight before its beginning and from its END into measureless eternity.

“Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall behold God, Whom I myself shall behold..

“If you say,

‘How shall we persecute him?’ ‘And the root of the matter is found in him?’ “Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves,

For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,

So that you may know there is judgment.”

Job 19 excerpt

Calculating Calendars within the bounds of the observable

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
תְהִלִּים (Psalm) 19:1b ESV

But HOW does mortal man MEASURE the expanse of the Eternal?

by Calendars (and with timepieces we call ‘clocks’)
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a brief look at ancient & current calendars
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All calendars began with people recording time by using natural cycles: days, lunar cycles (months), and solar cycles (years).

Source linked above.

Let’s try to take this chronologically from the beginning:

Have you ever considered that Adam had no need for a calendar or timeclock?

Calendars Before Christ
- Noah – 360 day calendar
- Moses * 365 day Egyptian calendar
- The astronomical day had begun at noon ever since Ptolemy chose to begin the days in his astronomical periods at noon.
- The Julian calendar began in 45 BC (709 AUC) as a reform of the 10 month Roman calendar by Julius Caesar.
  - Source: linked above
Hebrew Calendar

The history of the Jewish calendar may be divided into three periods—the Biblical, the Talmudic, and the post-Talmudic. Jewish Encyclopedia.com

https://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-maps-timeline-chronology-kings-prophets-assyrians-babylonians-egyptians-synchronisms-tisri-nisan-inclusive-accession-divided-kingdom-dates-931-587bc-new-year-calendar-julian.jpg

Take a look at the link above for a more complete understanding of changes in the Jewish Calendar during the centuries Before the Messiah of Israel.

Bible TimeLine

Timelines, like calendars and cultural customs must have a point of reference. The intersection of measured history and timeless truth becomes central to conflicting narratives of a fallen created peoples of the world.

At the ever-present center of time history records the birth of Jesus Christ.

Calendars of the Common Era

Lines in the shifting sands of time:
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B.C. OR BCE?
A.D. OR CE?
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Let's start from the present and find our center of history and timelines by looking back. 
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Anno Domini

noun a Latin phrase meaning

“in the year of the Lord”, the full form of the abbreviation AD, which is used when referring to a year after Jesus Christ was born

Cambridge Dictionary
- B.C. is short for “Before Christ”
  - B.C. and A.D. references in the Bible.
  - The B.C./A.D. calendar system was not established until around 500 A.D., well after the books of the Bible were written.
- BCE and CE.
- CE stands for “Common Era” BCE is “Before Common Era”
- CE and BCE dates are identical with A.D. and B.C. dates
- (for example, 2000 CE is the same as 2000 A.D.). This is a thinly veiled attempt by atheists and religious people other than Christians to remove Christian religious references from our culture.
MORE READING about the years of our Lord and our Common Era

NEXT: ADVENT 4

We will look at that moment in history and the Messiah in a manger in Bethlehem of Judea..
December 18, 2024
An Adjudicator of Grace in Every Era
What is the first SCRIPTURE that comes to mind when I ask you to tell me about GRACE?
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Go ahead and COMMMENT with the first BIBLE verse YOU recall.

& Tell us what it speaks to YOU that exemplifies GRACE.
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Grace for the Everyday Sinner in 2024 C.E.

Last time in my initial post of this SERIES I introduced GRACE linked to its root words of both the OLD and NEW TESTAMENTS of the Holy Bible.

Since only 15 of the 132 verses naming Grace occur in the Old Testament chances are that the first Bible verse you might SHARE about GRACE will come from the NEW TESTAMENT.

New Covenant GRACE

DYK that “Testament” διαθήκη – diatheke is the rendering of a Hebrew word meaning a “covenant” or agreement?

Was the grace of God different in the OLD TESTAMENT?

Has the grace of God changed in the Common Era of our post-Christian correctness?
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You may as well offer your comments on those two questions as well.
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But before I take on any contemporary question of grace in the Common Era let’s take a look back to one of the oldest illustrations of the Old Testament.

Old Covenant GRACE

JOB – a man blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job..

map source: BibleAtlas.org
Click here to learn more about Job from previous posts and resources.

(I encourage you to ask questions and share comments on these posts as well. – RH)

A man there hath been in the land of Uz — Job his name — and that man hath been perfect and upright — both fearing God, and turning aside from evil.
Job 1:1 Youngs Literal Translation

PERFECT, UPRIGHT AND BLAMELESS?

That could NOT have been this fallen sinner of the Common Era?

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Job was a penultimate Old Testament example of a righteous man as GOD requires of those who worship Him.
Roger@TalkofJesus.com

IF any man deserved GRACE it certainly would have been Job.

Yet Satan is as involved in this unseen story of a mere man as he was in the events of Eden.
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Some Christians will no more consider the impact of unseen evil in our daily lives than did Job's friends and speculative advisors. 

But other than your QUESTION about this post that would be a discussion for another day.)
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Have YOU ever heard OR given such ill-conceived advice as Job’s advisors?

Men and women typically try to conceive answers concerning God’s providence with little consideration or understanding of God’s redeeming grace.

Friendly Unhelpful Observations
- Eliphaz Says the Innocent Do Not Suffer
“Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright wiped out? – Job 4:4

In an earthly sense, is this not an everyday occurrence in every era?

Job answers:

“For the despairing man lovingkindness should be from his friend;
But he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
Job 6:14 LSB

Lovingkindness received from a friend is surly the fruit of grace. But Job does not receive it here.
- Bildad Claims God Rewards the Good
(Yet do the so-called good men and women have their rewards in this brief life?)

If you would seek God earnestly
And plead for the grace of the Almighty,
If you are pure and upright,
Indeed now He would rouse Himself for you
And make your righteous abode at peace.
Though your beginning was insignificant,
Yet your end will increase greatly.
Job 8:5-7 LSB (ill-conceived advice of a friend and advisor to Job)

Ah! — Here Job’s smiling friend offers him a cheap grace of the Almighty bringing His power into his friend’s life NOW!

Job’s best Life could be filled with blessings before his end in death (never mentioned).

Is GRACE simply an increase of life’s everyday blessings?

Job Replies There Is No Adjudicator

Picture now a scene in the Heavenly Court of the Old Testament BEFORE God’s revelation of a perfect Priest and Mediator of Christ the only Son of a better Sacrifice for man’s sin.

JOB ASKS THE ENDURING QUESTION OF EVERY AGE:

But how can a man be in the right before God?
Job 9:2b LSB

If one desired to contend with Him,
He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.

Wise in heart and mighty in power,
Who has stiffened his neck against Him and been at peace?

Where do YOU stand before God
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Job continues his hopeless defense (without the Perfect Powerful Advocate pleading his case for him:
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the One who removes the mountains.. who shakes the earth.. out of its place..

Who alone stretches out the heavens,
And tramples down the waves of the sea..

10 Who does great things, unsearchable,
And wondrous works, innumerable.

11 Were He to sweep by me, I would not see Him;
Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.
12 Were He to snatch away, who could turn Him back?
Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
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After Job's irrefutable argument worthy of any courtroom case he then makes an astounding statement concerning GRACE before the One Lord God.
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“For though I were right,
I could not answer [plead my case];
I would have to plead for the grace of my judge.
Job 9:15 LSB
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I would make supplication to my judge. - KJV
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I would beg mercy of my Judge. – NKJV

Even if I were right, I would have no defense.
I could only plead for mercy. – says the New Living Translation of Job’s silent plea.

“I must appeal for mercy to my accuser and judge” suggests Job.

The MERCY of the LORD relates to HIS graciousness rather than OUR righteousness.
Roger@TalkofJesus.com

A blessing of Numbers 6 guides our prayer and plea

6:25 יָאֵר יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִיחֻנֶּךָּ׃ ס

The Adjudicator of Grace, Mercy and Peace

Many would attempt to plead their own case before the Judge!

I would — possibly even as I accuse every accuser who has brought me before the Authority to determine MY GUILT and PUNISH MY SIN.

Of course ALL of us tend to demand JUSTICE for all, i.e. ‘everybody else’, even while covering every personal trespass against others and expecting MERCY in the disposition of our own case.

Even in a Court of Law in a great America of the past …

Job, A RIGHTEOUS MAN (which NONE OF US are), presents a stellar defense before God, the Father of all mercies.

HOWEVER first, the JUDGE of all men has something to say to the accused who had asked to represent himself before God.

Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

“Who is this that darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?

Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you make Me know!
Job 38:1-3 LSB

After a lengthy introduction to JUSTICE by the JUDGE OF ALL MEN Job will relent in his plea with an appropriate answer.

“WHO NEEDS GRACE?”

The simple answer to our own case in every instance is that WE ALL NEED Mercy, Forgiveness and Grace.

The legal question before the Heavenly Seat of Judgment is:

WHO can represent a SINNER so that I might receive MERCY and GRACE?

Then Yahweh answered Job and said,

2 “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
Let him who reproves God answer it.”

Job recognizes the flaw in attempting to be his own counsel.

Then Job answered Yahweh and said,

“Behold, I am insignificant; what can I respond to You?

I place my hand over my mouth. Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; Even twice, and I will add nothing more.”
Job 40:3-5 LSB

JOB, A RIGHTEOUS MAN, has a dilemma and can only keep silent before his Judge.

In fact, Job has no Advocate and therefore must rely on any undeserved mercy from God the Father of all mankind before Whom he stands guilty.

Is Job’s judicial dilemma common to YOU — even in this 21st century — post-Christian –Common Era?

NEXT:

God-willing, we will defer to our only Mediator and Advocate

“Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven,

And my advocate is on high.
Job 16:19 LSB
January 18, 2024
The Curse of Disease and Death

We don’t understand death. Illness, disease and all the relatives of pain. These challenge our sense of mortality and question our grasp of purpose.

Why did God make it this way?

Wrong question. God created mankind in his image. Sin brought forth death and suffering out of our disobedience to a Father’s command.

Just like understanding death, we cannot eat of the tree of all knowledge the fruit of what the spirit will endure. Death brings judgment of decay and suffering. But what of the spirit resting, the spirit awakened from death?

Why a man can hardly understand the fall of adam, let alone the fall of angels. Yet angels and adam rebel against the righteous authority of Almighty God. These fallen ones affect our lives in ways we cannot know. Yet unseen scores of angels answer the righteous beckoning of a loving heavenly Father, who looks upon the mortal and eternal lives of His own.

A Story of Suffering

We think we know this oldest of stories of a man whose final blessing we cherish. He received twice the blessing. Fair enough. That’s worth some time when God will not help. Right?

You don’t really believe that, do you? At least, not if you are the suffering one or the one living every minute with the anguishing pain of a dear loved one. This is the story of Job we quickly overlook on the way to the double-blessed ending.

Job 1:

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

Question #1

Would that be a man like you? Or a woman like you (if that is your gender)? Was Job a man like me?

Certainly not. I am a sinner time and time again, certainly not ‘blameless‘ nor upright before the Lord God.

[ctt title=”תָּם – täm – blameless: complete, perfect, sound, wholesome, morally innocent, having integrity” tweet=”How are you doing at ‘blameless’ minute by measured minute of your mortal life?” coverup=”jaG0i”]

The fallen angel of disobedience challenges God:

“Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land…

Isn’t that how we pray to the Lord?

Hedge us in. Protect us. Give us those double blessings. It’s as if our mortal minutes were all about God giving us a gardens of blessings in all that we do.

Is that why the Lord created man?

Job’s Bad Day

Job didn’t bring on his own distress as we often do. Yet put yourself in this loving father’s place as he hears of the fates of the sons and daughters he has raised.

15 and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword..

… “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

… the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” – Job 1:21c

Would that have been your (blameless) reaction?

Me neither; but it gets worse. Once again, Satan challenges the Lord at the integrity of Job.

Job 2:

“Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.”

7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

Can you imagine any righteous man suffering like this, though he is blameless? Image the constant suffering, the pain this man endured.

8 And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.

11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place…

12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven.

13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

Tragic Suffering

Have you ever seen it? (Did you for a moment blame God?) Was it your wife, or a parent, perhaps even a child…

Why such suffering!?

Job’s friends came to him because of the report of the evil Job was suffering. The story of Job in the Bible clearly not only shows us the unseen origin of Job’s tormentor, the fallen angel Satan, but also describe Job’s suffering as evil.

רַע

[ctt title=”The evil of suffering sometimes seems larger than God.” tweet=”Remember, though, the Lord suffered for your sins and for mine.” coverup=”Sm646″]

Wickedness, mischief, hurt, trouble, affliction, ill, adversity, harm and other suffering often leading to death have nearly disappeared from our mortal consciousness.

For like good, evil has become a measure of no meaning in the minds of mankind.

Job goes on to lament his very life. Have we not done that when in great distress? Have we not questioned God’s motives in the suffering of man, especially those nearest our mortal hearts?

All the lessons of life taught from Moses to the Prophets to the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John show suffering – consequence of the disease of sin, yet a hope of redemption and cure of righteousness, resurrection from the suffering of this fragile flesh.

To be continued…

March 5, 2017