Home > blog > Job

God at Work in Job

Feb 19th, 2009
by Anthony Delgado.
god-at-work-in-job

sachyn, www.sxc.hu/photo/940459

The final chapters of Job are a depiction of the true meaning of the book of Job. Certainly there are elements from the entire book which one can learn from, but the final chapters show God’s hand at work in the life of Job, calling him to Himself not just for righteousness, but for faithfulness. God first rebukes Job, then Job responds in faith and as a result, Job is restored to the blessing of God.

God rebukes Job first by pointing out his wrongdoing and then by contrasting his power with the humble existence of man. God tells Job that he is foolish because he makes judgment without knowledge (The MacArthur Study Bible, Job 38.2). God then contrasts Himself and His power with Job when He asks if Job ever commanded the sun to rise and fall (The MacArthur Study Bible, Job 38.12) and if he is able to judge the wicked versus the righteous (The MacArthur Study Bible, Job 38.13). God asks if he is able to give wisdom (The MacArthur Study Bible, Job 38.36). Job would know that these things are characteristics only of God because he has an apparent upbringing that has trained him to understand the law.

It is revealed that regardless of his perceived righteousness and adherence to commands, Job lacks true faith. He says that he has heard with his ears, suggesting that he has been told the law, but now he has seen with his eyes. Job now is able to see God in creation and working in his own life (The MacArthur Study Bible, Job 42.5). Before this revelation he had a faith of works, which was dead (The MacArthur Study Bible, James 2:17). It is not that he was in sin in some way or another, as suggested by his friends, which caused him to lose everything and become sick; rather he did not recognize God’s salvation and therefore would perish eternally.

Job confesses his sins and repents (The MacArthur Study Bible, Job 42.6). The confession comes in the word “retract”. The purpose of confession is to acknowledge before God that you recognize His definition of sin and acknowledge your participation in it. In retracting his challenge against God, Job meets this standard for confession. Repentance takes place as well, which is a statement that Job not only recognizes his fault, but that he will make every effort to not do it again. Job is then restored to the blessings of God through this demonstration of faith (The MacArthur Study Bible, Job 42.10-17).

The greatest theme throughout Job is that everything that happens is God’s work in Job. From the beginning God removes His blessings from Job (The MacArthur Study Bible, Job 1,2). The bulk of the story is Job trying to figure out why he has been forsaken by God. Then God rebukes Job for questioning His majesty and authority and wisdom (The MacArthur Study Bible, Job 38). The whole point of the story comes about when God challenges Job to repent. At this point, Job had the choice to either accept God at His word or to walk away, assuming that his own perspective was right. He acted in faith and chose forgiveness and repentance and restoration to the blessings of God.

Works Cited

The MacArthur Study Bible: Updated New American Standard Translation. MacArthur: Thomas Nelson

Inc., 2006.

How We Should Speak

Sep 19th, 2008
by Anthony Delgado.
juliaf, sxc.hu

juliaf, sxc.hu

Believe it or not, the way that you speak says more about you than everything else you do combined. James 3:5 says “the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts” (NIV). For this reason we should adhere to Paul’s advice; “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29 NIV). Our speech should build others up not tear them down. It should be a demonstration of everything we believe, everything that Christ taught. Here is a collection of scriptures intended to encourage us to speak in a way that would honor God.

as long as I have life within me,
the breath of God in my nostrils,
my lips will not speak wickedness,
and my tongue will utter no deceit.
Job 27:3, 4 NIV

My tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praises all day long.
Psalms 35:28 NIV

He whose walk is blameless
and who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from his heart
and has no slander on his tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong
and casts no slur on his fellowman…
He who does these things
will never be shaken.
Psalm 15:2, 3, 5 NIV

Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right.
Proverbs 8:6 NIV

He who walks righteously
and speaks what is right,
who rejects gain from extortion
and keeps his hand from accepting bribes,
who stops his ears against plots of murder
and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil-
this is the man who will dwell on the heights,
whose refuge will be the mountain fortress.
His bread will be supplied,
and water will not fail him.
Isaiah 33:15, 16 NIV

So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
Luke 20:21 NIV

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Ephesians 4:29 NIV

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
James 3:1-12 NIV

For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.
1 Peter 3:10 NIV

The Mystery of Leviathan

Aug 12th, 2008
by Anthony Delgado.

Leviathan is a peculiar word that appears six times in the Old Testament. It’s generally understood meaning is “dragon, serpent, huge sea animal,” according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary. The word is used both literally and figuratively in scripture. In this short examination of the word, we will briefly explore it’s etymology as well as the different ways it appears in scripture.

Job 3:8 (New American Standard Bible)
“Let those curse it who curse the day, Who are prepared to rouse Leviathan.

Job 41 (New American Standard Bible)
1 “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord?
2 “Can you put a rope in his nose Or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 “Will he make many supplications to you, Or will he speak to you soft words?
4 “Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him for a servant forever?
5 “Will you play with him as with a bird, Or will you bind him for your maidens?
6 “Will the traders bargain over him? Will they divide him among the merchants?
7 “Can you fill his skin with harpoons, Or his head with fishing spears?
8 “Lay your hand on him; Remember the battle; you will not do it again!
9 “Behold, your expectation is false; Will you be laid low even at the sight of him?
10 “No one is so fierce that he dares to arouse him; Who then is he that can stand before Me?
11 “Who has given to Me that I should repay him? hatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.
12 “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, Or his mighty strength, or his orderly frame.
13 “Who can strip off his outer armor? Who can come within his double mail?
14 “Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth there is terror.
15 “His strong scales are his pride, Shut up as with a tight seal.
16 “One is so near to another That no air can come between them.
17 “They are joined one to another; They clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18 “His sneezes flash forth light, And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
19 “Out of his mouth go burning torches; Sparks of fire leap forth.
20 “Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21 “His breath kindles coals, And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
22 “In his neck lodges strength, And dismay leaps before him.
23 “The folds of his flesh are joined together, Firm on him and immovable.
24 “His heart is as hard as a stone, Even as hard as a lower millstone.
25 “When he raises himself up, the mighty fear; Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
26 “The sword that reaches him cannot avail, Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.
27 “He regards iron as straw, Bronze as rotten wood.
28 “The arrow cannot make him flee; Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.
29 “Clubs are regarded as stubble; He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.
30 “His underparts are like sharp potsherds; He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31 “He makes the depths boil like a pot; He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
32 “Behind him he makes a wake to shine; One would think the deep to be gray-haired.
33 “Nothing on earth is like him, One made without fear.
34 “He looks on everything that is high; He is king over all the sons of pride.”

Psalm 74:14 (New American Standard Bible)
You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

Psalm 104:25-26 (New American Standard Bible)
There is the sea, great and broad, In which are swarms without number, Animals both small and great.
There the ships move along, And Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it.

Isaiah 27:1 (New American Standard Bible)
In that day the LORD will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, With His fierce and great and mighty sword, Even Leviathan the twisted serpent; And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.

Leviathan is a transliterated word, meaning that it is not an English word and has been borrowed, from the Hebrew word liwyatan. (Although, there is some discussion as to whether liwyatan is actually a Hebrew word.) According to the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, it is assumed to derive from the Arabic root lwy, meaning ‘to twist.’ Here we get the image of a coiled serpent.

We first encounter this word in Job 3:8 (See to the right for scripture). Job is cursing the day of his birth. Job is asking those who “curse the day,”who are prepared to rouse Leviathan” to curse the day he was born (NAS). Job is referring to magicians who practice dark arts and may have the ability to charm snakes or other creatures. Job, then, is likely saying that his birth day should be called a day that brings about evils (leviathan as figurative for evil or Satan).

Later in Job 41, God is revealing his majesty and power to Job through a poetic description of his terrible creation, the leviathan. It is clear that God is describing a literal creature, though the description is quite poetic and makes use of several literal devices, including imagery, hyperbole, metaphor, and simile. Most scholars believe that God is describing the giant Nile crocodile. There is good evidence to support this in the verses, mainly verse 30, which gives the image of a crocodile leaving a trail in the mud as it emerges from the water. However, certain scholars believe this chapter to be proof that dinosaurs (or dragons) once lived at the same time as humans. They particularly point to verses 18-21 to do this. Yet, critics chalk these verses up to hyperbole.

In the Psalms we encounter leviathan twice. The first time is Ps. 74:14. Here it is thought to symbolize Egypt. The imagery depicts the exodus where God crushed the Egyptians and Pharaoh in the Red Sea. The second time is in Ps. 104:25-26. Here, again, creation is being described in detail, so it can be presumed that leviathan is referring literally to a large aquatic creature. Many bible translations state this creature to be a whale of some sort. Yet,

there are commentaries that suggest a serpent-like sea creature that may have since become extinct.

Lastly, leviathan is found twice in Isaiah 27:1. Isaiah is also written in a poetic fashion, thus leviathan is used figuratively. From the previous chapter we read that God will come from his dwelling and punish the people for their sins. Leviathan in this case symbolizes the sinful men that will be destroyed by God. This is similar to the symbolic representation elsewhere as general evils.

Though there is considerable mystery surrounding leviathan and it’s definitive meaning, it’s purpose is clear. We do not need to completely understand if leviathan is the Nile crocodile, a whale, or some extinct giant serpent in order to understand the scripture. Where leviathan is used figuratively, it can usually be summed up to symbolize some sort of evil. Though it is certainly nice to discover the particular evil, it is not necessary. Where

leviathan is used literally, it is clear that it was a mighty, fearsome creature that non could wrestle with, and our God created it. Who, then, could possibly wrestle with God?

Has God Changed His Mind?

Jul 16th, 2008
by Anthony Delgado.

This question was presented specifically in relation to the text of bible. Has God, could God, would God change his mind? The short answer is no. “Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath” (Hebrews 6:17). This is clear that the nature of God is unchanging. Not to mention, timeless. If God exists outside of our world and not only that, but he existed without this world, then he is outside of time. He is not simply watching and He certainly is not learning.
(more…)