Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: Christ

King for a Common Era Holy Week 5
KING jesus! KING jesus! The Prophet who drove the money changers out of God’s Temple HAS RETURNED!

Holy Week in the year of our Lord 30
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Without noting several significant private events and conversations of this holy week, including Jesus' celebration of the Passover meal with the Twelve;
 
let's look once more at the witness of PUBLIC encounters of the Lord Jesus in the Temple through actual and FICTIONAL witnesses.
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And he [Jesus] taught daily in the temple.
Gospel of Luke19:47a Καὶ ἦν διδάσκων τὸ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ

Gospel of Matthew 21: New King James Version

23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said,

“By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”

“I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:

The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”
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No Elder could answer Him.
The Prophet from Nazareth then taught us with parables.
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Parables in the Temple

28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons.. ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. .. the second .. said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go.

31 Which of the two did the will of his father?”

33 “Hear another parable:

There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country...

.. Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
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Every listening soul knew that Jesus was speaking of the Shepherds of Israel AND knowing that this teacher from Nazareth called Himself a 'Son.' 
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But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves,

‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’

So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Gospel of Matthew 21:28-29 – New King James Version
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So is this JESUS the coming KING about to conquer Jerusalem from the Herod's (as when HE rode into the city like DAVID)? 

Will this Teacher also turn the tables on OUR corrupt religious leaders, we wondered?
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OTHERS in the TEMPLE also heard Jesus challenge EVERY false philosophy, teachings obligating US to pay indulgences to support their own well-healed corruptness among regular worshipers.

“He will destroy those wicked..

“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?
the Good News of Matthew 21:42 – New King James Version – The Lord JESUS in the Temple, quoting MANY Scriptures to Jewish leaders
- Psa 118:22
- Isa 28:16
  - .. a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
- Zec 3:8-10
In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.
Zechariah 3 :: King James Version (KJV)
3:10 בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא נְאֻם יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת תִּקְרְאוּ אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ אֶל־תַּחַת גֶּפֶן וְאֶל־תַּחַת תְּאֵנָה׃
- Hab 1:5
  - Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
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JESUS IS PREACHING GOOD NEWS TO EVERYONE IN THE TEMPLE -- JEWS AND GENTILES -- BUT NOT SO GOOD for the entrenched rulers of Jerusalem.
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Good News of Matthew 22:

And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son..

“For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Gospel of Matthew 22:14 NKJV – Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast
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Of the Pharisees (who teach of the resurrection, although some it seems would have us pay them to have Yahweh overlook our sins to earn our way to it) Jesus challenged: 
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“Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? .. “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

The Pharisees also tried to test HIM on the LAW.

³⁶“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
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Now I was immediately thinking 'FIRST COMMENDMENT' 
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5:7 לֹא יִהְיֶה־לְךָ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים עַל־פָּנָיַ׃

‘You shall have no other gods before Me.
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The Teacher of the teachers however went straight to the Shammah: 
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שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד׃

Hear, Yisra’el: the LORD is our God; the LORD is one..

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like it:

‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

And just like us, He didn’t think much of the Sadducees either.

“You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

Some who witnessed Jesus’ miracles thought that He might be John the Baptizer risen from death. And other who know Lazarus seemed certain that HE held the power over death because HE IS the Promised One of Israel.

Jesus had asked the Pharisees (who believe the Scriptures about the resurrection):

“What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”
Matthew 22:42 NKJV

The Pharisees’ very Judaic response about “The Son of David” Jesus proved as quite insufficient. The Pharisees did NOT know who the Christ would be.

Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees and …

Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples
Matthew 23:1 King James Version

SO YOU WANT A ‘KING’ JESUS, ALL OF YOU WHO LOVE TO SHOUT OUT ‘HOSANNA‘ WHEN HE ENTERS THE TEMPLE TOWARDS YOU?
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* Some quotes below updated for awoke Common Era [christian] hearing.
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“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

Woe to you, ..[who] for a pretense make long prayers.. travel land and sea to win one [*new visitor to your church and life], and when [*they are] won, you make [*them] twice as much [*sons and daughters] son of hell as yourselves.

“Woe to you, blind guides..

For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith..

“Woe to you [*church leaders & priests]! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26 Blind [*Popes and Pastors], first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

“Woe to you.. hypocrites like whitewashed tombs.. beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.. outwardly appear righteous.., but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

“Woe to you, Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say,

‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’

Are YOU of the multitudes? OR one of His disciples?
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JESUS had hundreds of disciples [followers] and thousands from the crowds in the Temple, multitudes who heard Him preach in this holiest of weeks.
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ARE YOU ONE OF THESE? WOULD YOU have been one of the MULTITUDES who shouted, ‘HOSANNA, KING JESUS!’ who tomorrow might side with ‘leaders‘ denying Him, saying with all the world, CRUCIFY HIM! ‘WE have NO KING but Caesar‘?

OR are you NOW a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ – Jesus the Pascal Lamb of God slaughtered for sinners — a follower who will believe and take up His Cross?

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!

How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
Matthew 23:37-39 NKJV

Communion with His Apostles

Jesus is about to have some private moments with His closest friends and Apostles — a last meal — Communion… followed by betrayal, prayer, arrest… then a trial of injustice under the veil of darkness.

WHAT WILL YOU SAY IF A FRIEND FROM YOUR LIFE IN THE WORLD ASKS YOU ABOUT JESUS?

IS HE THE CHRIST SENT TO SAVE US?

SAVE ME FROM WHAT?

Talk of JESUS .com

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
March 28, 2024
Letters from Proselytes of Galatia to Paul
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Premise: The Apostle Paul likely received one or several letters to which the Apostle responds with Epistles to several churches and certain important persons.
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Who wrote to the Apostle Paul?

Think about this —

Paul and other Apostles come into your town or city, proclaim some Good News, build a church of Christ followers, establish some local leaders. AND then after some time these missionaries leave to go somewhere else into all the world.

ACTS of the Apostles details some of these encounters which occur after numerous encouraging visits of various apostles sent out to them.

Apostles Sent to the Gentiles with a Letter of the Council

Many apostles and letters communicate Good News of one faith in Christ for all the world.

Although we have no preserved documentation of any messages or letters delivered to the Apostle from the Gentiles, I suspect that Paul perceives a crisis of faith in the churches of Galatia — a crisis conveyed to him by faithful disciples of the risen Christ and perhaps even believers considering IF they should abandon The Way of the Lord for a more prevalent cultural Judaism.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The Apostles, including the Twelve and Paul, James and other church leaders communicate in person and by messenger by the Spirit who has sent them out into each mission.

Who are the Galatians?

In Paul’s day, the word Galatia had two distinct meanings. In a strict ethnic sense, Galatia was the region of central Asia Minor (modern Turkiye) .. a Celtic people who had migrated to that region from Gaul (modern France) .. (in) 25 B.C. when Galatia became a Roman province, incorporating some regions not inhabited by ethnic Galatians (e.g., parts of Lycaonia, Phrygia, and Pisidia). In a political sense, Galatia came to describe the entire Roman province, not merely the region inhabited by the ethnic Galatians.

Paul founded churches in the southern Galatian cities of Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe (Acts 13:14–14:23).
Commentary of John MacArthur – BlueLetterBible.org
You will recognize these Galatian cities from Paul's early missions into all the world.
WHY did Paul write to the Galatians?

Regardless of who founded any of the Galatian cities in the A.D. first century Roman Empire, every town had an ethnic challenge common to all churches established by the apostles in every Roman province.

Proselytes – Judaizers fleeing Persecution for the Cross of Christ

The covenantal culture of the Jews opposed the pagan practices of peoples of other cultures. SO the Jews insisted on certain traditional identifications of Jewish men such as circumcision.
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Who are these proselytes?
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Even as Paul, Barnabas, Silas and other apostles had encountered opposition from Jews seeking their own disciples, so had the Lord Jesus.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
Gospel of Matthew 23: 15 LSB
The Lord Jesus Christ describes the culture of Judaizers rejecting their own Messiah

An Apostolic Urgency to Write to the Galatians

PAUL must urgently address the concerns of those men in Galatia struggling in the faith

AND like all Christians, pursued by the Jews.

TWO QUESTIONS HERE:
- WHO represents the earthly authority of GOD?
- IF it is CHRIST, what is PAUL’s authority over the JEW and non-Jew?
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Later, I will get to a Twenty-first century C.E. challenge
of this AUTHORITY in Christ which has now challenged the Church for some 500 years.
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How will the Apostle answer?

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”
Galatians 5:1 KJV

Galatians 1 – Paul’s Authority
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The Apostle begins his Epistle to the Galatians by firmly establishing his authority and leadership of the churches.
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Paul, an apostle—not sent from men
- nor through man,
- but through Jesus Christ
- and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead—
- and all the brothers who are with me,
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Pretty convincing.

Paul opens fire against familiar enemies of Christ (Judaizers).
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6 I marvel that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel, which is really not another, only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
- Paul clearly states that the Galatians must choose:
  - – between him as a representative of God the Father and Christ Jesus OR
  - – teachers of a false and distorted gospel
    
    (which is not good news but a Jewish tradition chained to the Law and regulations of the flesh).
Paul defends not only his credentials and calling by Christ, but once more presents his case of Christ’s freedom to these gentile believers caught between the Gospel and the yoke of the Judaizers.

2:17 But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be!

I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.
Galatians 2:21 LSB
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PAUL goes straight to the QUESTION of deceitful men claiming a GOSPEL other than Christ crucified and risen -- Judaizers seeking to lure these Galatian Christ-followers back to a Law of social Judaism. 
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3 O foolish Galatians, who bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?

THEN the Apostle clearly asks these men of the church a key QUESTION of their calling.

2 This is the only thing I want to learn from you:

Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law,

or by hearing with faith?

“The righteous shall live by faith.”

What does Paul seek to prove here refuting Judaizers requiring circumcision of gentile proselytes?

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying,

“All the nations will be blessed in you.”
Galatians 3:8 LSB

The Apostle QUOTES Hebrew SCRIPTURE from BEFORE the LAW.

From Genesis 22:

22:18 וְהִתְבָּרֲכוּ בְזַרְעֲךָ כֹּל גּוֹיֵי הָאָרֶץ עֵקֶב אֲשֶׁר שָׁמַעְתָּ בְּקֹלִי׃
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 “By Myself I have sworn, declares Yahweh, because you have done this thing and have not spared your son, your only one, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.

“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have listened to My voice.”
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LATER comes THE LAW of Moses by which the Christ was crucified on a Cross as a redemptive Sacrifice for our sins. (It was NOT ONLY for the Jews, but for ALL the seed of Abraham — every sinner.

The Apostle makes further legal arguments and adds an allegory comparing:
- Ishmael & Isaac
- flesh & promise
- Hagar & Sarah,
- Jerusalem and Mount Sanai and slavery,
- Moses & Christ
- the Jerusalem above and freedom. (Study its juxtaposition if you like.)
The Apostle’s closing argument
1. 5:4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are being justified by law; you have fallen from grace!
2. For we through the Spirit, by faith, are eagerly waiting for the hope of righteousness.
3. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.
Faith Reformed in Fact

Jewish faith — to Christian faith — to Scriptural faith informed in the Good News of the Word of God…

Who has believed our message?

The Galatians and every other culture encountered by the Apostles —

~ ano Domini 49 – 50

~ A.D. 49 Paul has just written to the Galatians out of the Apostle’s concern for their failing faith being replaced by a false gospel.
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NEXT: Paul will also write to the THESSALONIANS out of his same love for the children of Christ Jesus the Apostles have led so far.
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WHERE could other gospels lead these Christian flocks of the Empires?

A fall of Rome, a division with an Orthodox New Rome (Constantinople) and Western father of Bishops and Princes competing for pawns of populace.

New temples built as CATHEDRALS for poor pilgrims to look up to God and well-mannered robed men who could actually READ the Holy Bible of God…

And then printing presses and challenges by Reformers pointing to Scripture in place of the yoke of Law and even Church law.

In my heart reigns this one article, faith in my dear Lord Christ, the beginning, middle and end of whatever spiritual and divine thoughts I may have, whether by day or by night.
From Luther’s Introduction, ano domini 1538

THEN what should happen in yet another 500 years once common men and women of the Common Era COULD (yet did not) actually READ the BIBLE?

a brief application …

My HOT reaction to a 1st. c. Hot Topic

Talk of JESUS .com

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
January 26, 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