Job 34
Elihu continues to accuse Job verse 1- 6
Furthermore Elihu answered
and said
Hear my words – O you wise men – and give ear to me
you that have knowledge – for the ear tries words
as the mouth tastes meat
Let us choose to us judgment
let us know among ourselves what is good
For Job has said
I am righteous
and God hath taken away my judgment
Should I lie against my right?
my wound is incurable without transgression
Elihu continues to misquote Job verse 7- 9
What man is like Job – who drinks up scorning like water?
which goes in company with the workers of iniquity
and walks with wicked men
For he has said
It profits a man nothing
that he should delight himself with God
Elihu defeats the honor of God verse 10- 15
THEREFORE hearken unto me you men of understanding
far be it from God
that HE should do wickedness
and from the Almighty
that HE should commit iniquity
For the work of a man shall HE render to him
and cause every man to find according to his ways
Yea – surely God will not do wickedly
neither will the Almighty pervert judgment
Who has given HIM a charge over the earth?
or who hath disposed the whole world?
IF HE set HIS heart on man
IF HE gather unto himself HIS spirit and HIS breath
All flesh shall perish together – and man shall turn again unto dust
Elihu states that God always is just verse 16- 20
IF now you have understanding – hear this
hearken to the voice of my words
Shall even he that hates right govern?
and will you condemn him that is most just?
Is it fit to say to a king – You are wicked?
and to princes – You are ungodly?
How much less to HIM that accepts not the persons of princes
nor regards the rich more than the poor?
for they all are the work of HIS hands
In a moment shall they die
and the people shall be troubled at midnight
and pass away
and the mighty shall be taken away without hand
Elihu knows that God is watching verse 21- 30
FOR HIS eyes are upon the ways of man
and HE sees all his goings
there is no darkness – nor shadow of death
where the workers of iniquity
may hide themselves
FOR HE will not lay on man more than right
that he should enter to judgment with God
HE will break in pieces mighty men without number
and set others in their stead
THEREFORE HE knows their works
HE overturns them in the night
so that they are destroyed
HE strikes them as wicked men in the open sight of others
BECAUSE they turned back from HIM
and would not consider any of HIS ways
so that they cause the cry of the poor
to come unto HIM
and HE hears the cry of the afflicted
When HE gives quietness – who then can make trouble?
and when HE hides HIS face – who then can behold HIM?
whether it be done against a nation
or against a man only
that the HYPOCRITE reign not
LEST the people be ensnared
Elihu wonders why people don’t confess sin verse 31- 32
Surely it is meet to be said to God
I have born chastisement
I will not offend any more
that which I see not teach YOU me
IF I have done iniquity
I will do no more
Elihu accuses Job of rebellion verse 33- 37
Should it be according to your mind?
HE will recompense it – whether you refuse
or whether you choose – and not I
THEREFORE speak what you know
Let men of understanding tell me
and let a wise man hearken to me
Job has spoken without knowledge
and his words were without wisdom
My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end
BECAUSE of his answers
for wicked men
FOR he added REBELLION to his sin
he clapped his hands among us
and multiplied his words against God
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 6 Should I lie against my right? My wound is incurable without
transgression. (4941 “innocent” [ mishpat] means discretion, justice,
litigation, right, that which is just, or verdict)
DEVOTION: Job is accused of doing something wrong according to the Laws of God. No one is believing that he is right in his case. He seems to be the only one who thinks he is being a wrongful sentence.
People instead of believing him because of his past record of being an honest man are calling him a liar. He can’t seem to get around all those who call themselves “friends” falsely accusing him of something he has not done.
The only evidence they are using are the circumstances surrounded what is going on in his life. He has lost his children and possessions. His “friends” have come and accused him of wrongdoing. Now this final individual is accusing him of being guilty of sin even without proof that he is.
Job continues to claim his right to be without sin in the eyes of the LORD in this case. We are all guilty of sin. Job realizes that all are guilty of sin but in this case he is not guilty.
Even when he knows he is not guilty his suffering is incurable. What can replace your children? What can replace the love they had shown their father? Children are the future generation and now Job had lost the children and grandchildren.
If he was guilty he might not feel so bad about losing them but being not guilty it was very hard to accept.
With this fourth individual accusing him he had reached his limit. His claim of being innocent just seemed to not matter to those who were supposed to care about him.
If you have ever been accused of something you never did and lost everything because of it would you think that God was fair? Job was feeling that his treatment was unfair because he knew that God knew what he had done wrong and what he had not done wrong. God was allowing this for a reason. Job didn’t know the reason but would in the future.
Do we accept wrongdoing by others because they believe we are guilty of something we didn’t do? Should we be willing? God has forgiven us so much and has accepted us into HIS family even though we are sinners.
We might not like being accused of something we didn’t do but Jesus Christ was the ultimate one who was falsely accused and HE went to the cross for our sin being a sinless Savior.
CHALLENGE: Compared to Jesus we have NO INNOCENCE!!
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 21 “For His eyes are upon the ways of man, and HE sees all his goings. ([derek (1870): way, road, distance, journey, manner] of man, and He seeth all his goings)
DEVOTION: Here Elihu acknowledges the omniscience of God. Job did not deny that God was omniscient, but only argued that God was unfair. Our understanding of fairness, however, is based on our own biased understanding of things. God knows all things past, present, and future. God does not describe Himself as fair. In fact, His graciousness surpasses what He would do if only He were fair to us, because He provides for us far beyond what we would ever deserve from Him as His creatures by forgiving our sins and adopting us as His sons and daughters. God’s omniscience also extends to knowing about us intimately, both good and bad. Nothing that we do is hidden from Him, and He does not judge us by our performance. Furthermore, God does not wait to see if we obey Him before He decides what He is going to do (either good or bad). Rather, He chooses to love us and work all things together for our good (Romans 8:28).
The word “eyes” is an anthropomorphism, since God does not have physical eyes in the same manner as we do. However, He is completely aware of all that is going on throughout the earth (2 Chronicles 16:9), supporting those who follow and obey Him with their whole hearts.
CHALLENGE: So our response to Him should be to commit ourselves entirely to obeying Him in reckless abandonment, knowing that He already has worked out what will happen in our lives and gives us the privilege of responding back to Him. Is there a decision in your life that you need to trust God regarding the outcome today? (Marc Wooten – board member)
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: 22 There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity
may hide themselves. (205 “iniquity” [‘aven] means wickedness, deception, evil, calamity, sin, injustice, false, idolatrous, or morally objectionable behavior)
DEVOTION: The Bible continually states that we can’t hide our sins from God. HE knows and sees all that is happening in our life. HE is a righteous Judge. HE wants us to obey HIM in everything we do. HE knows that we are going to sin on a regular basis even after we come to know HIS Son as our personal Savior.
That does not mean that HE will accept this behavior but HE wants us to confess our sins on a regular basis and through the ministry of the Holy Spirit try with HIS help to sin less in our lives.
There is no such thing as sinless perfection in the life of any believer. The only one who practiced this while on this earth was Jesus Christ. All the rest of us have to confess sin each day.
Our sins can never be hide from God’s eyes. HE knows what is happening in every human being because HE is omniscient. HE knows that we needed a Savior and HE provided one in Jesus Christ.
In the Old Testament we see that Job was the priest for his family. HE was praying for them and sacrificing for them. This was before HE called the children of Israel to be HIS people in the Old Testament.
God provided instruction from the time of Adam until now. We just have to listen to the instructions and obey with the help of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This is only true of those who are genuine followers of Jesus Christ.
There are many religious people who are not in a proper relationship with Jesus Christ and they need to establish this relationship with HIM. If you don’t know how to establish this relationship let us know and we can connect you with someone who can help.
CHALLENGE: Without a proper relationship with the LORD eternity will be spent in a place called hell. Witness to your friends if you know Jesus.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 29 When he gives quietness, who then can make trouble? And when HE hids HIS face, who then can behold HIM? Whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only (8252 “quietness” [shaqat] means to be at rest, to be peaceful, marked by absence of sound, pacify, to keep oneself quiet, or cause calm.)
DEVOTION: God can give someone peace or rest even during the storms of life. HE can give calm to the animals in the midst of a storm. Believers can hide under the shadow of his love and realize that they are at peace with the world.
Job is going through a time period of the lack of peace or rest. His life is in turmoil. He has his wife against him. He has his three “friends” against him. Now a fourth individual speaks out against him and he only sees more trouble coming his way because all aspects of peace or quietness seem to be leaving his world.
We can face these same types of periods in our life when everything around us seems to be in turmoil and there doesn’t seem to be any way to settle it down.
Yet we know that the LORD can give us peace in the midst of any storm HE allows in our life. We just have to look to him for that peace. We have to pray for that peace. It is something that some people will never give us but the LORD can overrule their actions and give us peace in spite of their thoughts and actions.
I want peace amidst the storms of cancer in my life. It doesn’t seem like the turmoil will ever end but we know that this life is short and eternity is waiting. Throughout eternity those who know the LORD in a genuine way will have peace that passes all understanding.
While here on this earth we will have the storms of life but even in the midst of storms the LORD can give us a place of peace that no one understands but that individual and the LORD.
We should pray for peace during every storm the LORD allows in our life. HE is the only ONE who can truly give us peace in the midst of a storm. Are you going through a storm?
CHALLENGE: Are you asking for peace? Do you expect HIM to give it to you? HE does love HIS own. Turn to HIM during your storm!!!
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: 37 For he adds rebellion unto his sin, he claps his hands among us, and multiplies his words against God. (5606 “clappeth” [saphaq] means to smite hands with an associative meaning of communicating scorn, derision, scoffing, or despising, strike, slap, suffice, or wallow)
DEVOTION: Elihu concludes this speech with three final accusations against Job. He added rebellion. He despised us. He multiplied his words against God.
Three charges were given against Job. Job is tired enough of all their comments that he is hitting his hands together as a sign of scorn or derision or scoffing at their advice and judgment of him.
Elihu picks up on this and says that he is sinning. All of them have felt that God only sends hard times to those who have sinned a great sin. They have all felt that he was hiding something. The three “friends” thought he had committed outward sin. Elihu thinks that he has a sinful attitude.
Job is just expressing his frustration with his “so called” friends. Remember that we are called to “suffer” for the LORD. Paul was told at the point of salvation that he was going to suffer for the LORD. Paul was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble, so that, he would not sin in that area of his life.
This world is a world of suffering for those who are faithful to the Word. There are good times but they are in the midst of times of trials. Praise the LORD for his help during the trials HE sends our ways. HE gives us a shelter in times of storm.
We need to trust HIM to do what is best for our growth in HIM. We need to learn wisdom in our dealing with people from this book. It is easier to judge than to encourage!!!
Even through it is easier to be a judge than an encourager we are supposed to be ministers of reconciliation. We are supposed to be encouragers of those who are struggling.
CHALLENGE: Learn from the book of Job that God can even test saints who are serving HIM faithfully.
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Prayer of confession verse 31- 32
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 5, 9, 10, 12, 23,
31, 37
He will not do wickedness
Almighty verse 10, 12
HE should commit iniquity
Rich and poor works of HIS hands verse 19
HIS eyes are upon the ways of man verse 21
HE sees all his goings verse 21
HE will not lay upon man more than right verse 23
Judgment of God verse 23
HE knows works of mighty men verse 25
HE overturns mighty men in the night verse 25
HE gives quietness verse 29
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Elihu verse 1- 37
Ear tries words
Know among ourselves what is good
Says Job drinks up scorning like water
Ear tries words
Mouth tastes meat
Let us know what is good
Job drinks up scorning like water
Job in company with workers of iniquity
Job walks with wicked men
Says Job says no profit to man who delights
himself with God
God will not do wickedness
Almighty should commit iniquity
God will not do wickedly
Almighty will not pervert judgment
God has charge over the earth
Job spoken without knowledge
Job words were without wisdom
Says bad things against Job
Wise men verse 2, 34
Men of knowledge verse 2
Job verse 5, 35-37
I am righteous
God has taken away my judgment
My wound is incurable without
Transgression
Spoke without knowledge according
to Elihu
Words were without wisdom according
to Elihu
Answers for wicked men according to
Elihu
Job adds rebellion to his sin according
to Elihu
Multiplies his words against God according
to Elihu
Men of understanding verse 10, 34
King verse 18
Princes verse 18, 19
Rich men verse 19
Poor verse 19, 28
Mighty verse 20, 24
Nation verse 29
Wicked men verse 36
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Transgression verse 6
Scorning verse 7
Workers of iniquity verse 8, 22
Walks with wicked men verse 8
Iniquity verse 8, 10, 22, 32
Wicked verse 8, 12, 18, 26, 36
Wickedness verse 10
Pervert judgment verse 12
Hates right verse 17
Condemn him that is most just verse 17
Ungodly verse 18
Turned back from God verse 27
Not consider any of HIS ways verse 27
Cause the poor to cry verse 28
Make trouble verse 29
Hypocrite verse 30
Rebellion verse 37
Sin verse 37
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Good verse 4
Righteous verse 5
Delight with God verse 9
Men of understanding verse 10
I have born chastisement verse 31
I will not offend any more verse 31
Knowledge verse 35
Wisdom verse 35
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Flesh shall perish together verse 15
Man shall turn to dust verse 15
Die verse 20
Pass away verse 20
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QUOTES regarding passage
Up to this point Elihu has not attempted to use logic but has countered job’s problem with a strong affirmation of God’s righteousness. Without this affirmation all his words would be meaningless. The righteousness of God is self-evident as truth because of the image of God in man. That is the reason man understands justice. Indeed, that Job had a problem on this issue is in itself a reflection of his Creator’s justice, and God cannot be inferior to Job. Elihu’s next words get us deeper into the mystery. They infer that God is the Creator and therefore not accountable to Job (v.13). Further, in vv.14–15 he asserts man’s complete dependence on the continuing exercise of God’s free grace to continue his existence. (Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1012). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
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34:10–15. Sounding like Bildad, Elihu rose to the defense of God’s justice, affirming that God cannot do evil or do wrong (cf. v. 12; 8:3, “Does God pervert justice?”). Though Job had complained that God had denied him justice (27:2), Elihu cited several evidences in support of His unflinching justice. (1) God gives man what he deserves, meting out punishment for sin (34:11). (2) For God to do wrong (v. 10) or pervert justice (cf. 8:3) would be inconsistent with His character and therefore unthinkable (34:12). (3) Having independent authority as the world’s Sovereign, no one could influence Him away from justice (v. 13). (4) As the Sustainer of human life God, if He wished, could withdraw His spirit (or “Spirit,” niv marg.) and breath instantly and everyone would perish at once (cf. 12:10; 27:3; 33:4), but in His goodness to mankind He does not do that. (Zuck, R. B. (1985). Job. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 760). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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Elihu emphasized that God is sovereign, and a sovereign God can be indicted by no law or judged by no court. The king can do no wrong. God was not appointed to His throne, so He can’t be taken from it (Job 34:13). To say that God is unjust is to say that He is not God and therefore has no right to be on the throne. But God controls our very breath and can take our lives away in an instant (vv. 14–15; Acts 17:25, 28). “It is because of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not” (Lam. 3:22).
The Book of Job magnifies the sovereignty of God. From the very first chapter, it is obvious that God is in control; for even Satan is told what he can and cannot do. During the debate, it appears that God is absent; but He is aware of how Job feels and what Job and his friends say. Thirty-one times in the Book of Job, God is called “the Almighty.” Elihu was right on target: God is sovereign and cannot do wrong. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Patient (p. 133). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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Ver. 14. If he set his heart upon man, &c.] Not his love and affections; though there are some he does in this sense set his heart on, and whose souls at death he gathers to himself, but with this sense the next verse will not agree; but to destroy him, as Jarchi adds by way of explanation; if he gives his mind to it, is set upon it and resolved to do it, none can hinder him; or sets himself against him in an hostile way, the issue must be entire ruin and destruction to the race of men; but it is plain this is not the case, or otherwise all must have perished long ago: or if he severely marks the ways and works of men, and deals with them according to the strictness of his justice, which yet he might do without any charge of injustice, none could stand before him; but this he does not, so far is he from any injustice, or any appearance of it. If he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; not his own spirit and breath, drawing in and retaining that within himself, and withholding the influence of it from his creatures, which the Septuagint version seems to favour; but the spirit and breath of man, which are of God, and which, as he gives, he can gather when he pleases. The spirit or rational soul of man is put in him by the Lord; this at death is separated from the body, yet dies not with it, but is gathered to the Lord: and the breath which he breathes into man, and is in his nostrils, and which, as he gives, he can take away, and then man dies. But in doing this he does no injustice; indeed, should he in anger and resentment rise up and deal thus with men in general, the consequence must be as follows. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 3, p. 466). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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13–28. This is a very striking account of the right of God’s sovereignty; and the scope of Elihu’s argument, in these verses, is to shew, that a sense of our creatureship, and more especially when connected with a due apprehension of our guilt and corruption, would induce in every man, even the very greatest and best of men, a patient and humble submission to the divine will in all things. And what Elihu hath observed upon this occasion, must be the cool determination of every enlightened mind: for, where sin sits heavy, sorrows will sit light. And a deep sense of our nothingness, as creatures, and our being worse than nothing, as sinful creatures, will cause every man to put his hand to his mouth, and say with the Church of old, Thou hast afflicted us less than our sins deserve. Ezra. 9:13.( Hawker, R. (2013). Poor Man’s Old Testament Commentary: Job–Psalms (Vol. 4, p. 126). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)
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14 If he set his heart †upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;
Upon man, Heb. upon him, i.e. man, as may seem probable from ver. 11, 15, where man is expressed; and from the next clause of this verse, where he speaks of that spirit and breath which is in man. If his eye and heart be upon man, if he diligently and exactly observe him, and all his ways, and whatsoever is amiss in him, and, which follows upon it of course, resolve to punish him. Or, if he set his heart against (as this particle el is used, Amos 7:15, and elsewhere, as hath been noted before) him, to wit, to cut him off. If he gather unto himself; if it please him to gather to himself, to wit, by death, whereby God is said to take away men’s breath, Psal. 104:29, and to gather men’s souls, Psal. 26:9, and the spirit is said to return unto God, Eccles. 12:7. His spirit and his breath, i.e. that spirit and breath, or that living soul, that God breathed into man, Gen. 2:7, and gives to every man that cometh into the world. (Poole, M. (1853). Annotations upon the Holy Bible (Vol. 1, p. 1007). New York: Robert Carter and Brothers.)
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FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
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Romans 8
What the Law cannot do in delivering us from sin, God does through Christ.
INSIGHT
In Greece, a little boy might run into the kitchen and call “Mama, Mama!” when he wants to find his mother. And late in the afternoon as he hears familiar masculine footsteps approaching the house, he may run out to his father and cry “Abba, Abba!” “Mama” and “Abba” are terms of close family endearment. God loves the whole world, but He loves His spiritual children in a different, special way. With respect and joy, we can express our love back to Him with the tender name, “Abba, Abba.” It’s a term of endearment in the spiritual family. (Quiet Walk)
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SIN
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 John 1:10
This is the failure to realize that we as sinners need forgiveness. It is the failure to realize the nature of sin, to grasp that our own natures are sinful, and to understand that we have all actually sinned and need forgiveness.
There are certain people who seem to say, “Yes, I believe in God, and I like to have fellowship with Him. And yet, you know, I have never been conscious of my sin. I do not understand that doctrine of yours. If you were to preach it to people gathered from the streets, I could understand that. But I have been brought up as a Christian; I have always tried to do good. I have never been conscious of the fact that I am a sinner, that I need repentance, and that I must be converted.”
Well, says John, if that is your position, “[you] make him a liar, and his word is not in [you].” If we do not realize that we are sinners and need the forgiveness of God, if we do not realize that we have always needed it and that we still need it, if we think that we have always been perfect or that now we are perfect as Christians, if we do not realize that we must repent, then, says John, we are making God a liar, for the “him” referred to is none other than God Himself. John here is just stating the whole teaching of the Bible from beginning to end.
What, then, is he teaching? Paul has summarized it perfectly for us in Romans 3; this is his verdict: “There is none righteous, no, not one” (verse 10). That is the doctrine of the Bible; so if we say we have not sinned, we are denying the doctrine of the Bible.
A Thought to Ponder
If we say we have not sinned, we are denying the doctrine of the Bible.
From Fellowship with God, pp. 119-120, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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Rest Well
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
The clock blinked 1:55 a.m. Burdened by a late-night text conversation, sleep wasn’t coming. I unwound the mummy-like clutch of my tangled sheets and padded quietly to the couch. I Googled what to do to fall asleep but instead found what not to do: don’t take a nap or drink caffeine or work out late in the day. Check. Reading further on my tablet, I was advised not to use “screen time” late either. Oops. Texting hadn’t been a good idea. When it comes to resting well, there are lists of what not to do.
In the Old Testament, God handed down rules regarding what not to do on the Sabbath in order to embrace rest. In the New Testament, Jesus offered a new way. Rather than stressing regulations, Jesus called the disciples into relationship. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). In the preceding verse, Jesus pointed to His own ongoing relationship of oneness with His Father—the One He’s revealed to us. The provision of ongoing help Jesus enjoyed from the Father is one we can experience as well.
While we’re wise to avoid certain pastimes that can interrupt our sleep, resting well in Christ has more to do with relationship than regulation. I clicked my reader off and laid my burdened heart down on the pillow of Jesus’ invitation: “Come to me . . .”
By Elisa Morgan (Our Daily Bread)
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The Glory of the Lord
“And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.” (1 Kings 8:10-11)
This remarkable glory cloud filling Solomon’s temple at its dedication had also been present when the tabernacle in the wilderness was dedicated. At that time, Moses recorded how “a cloud covered the tent of the congregation,…and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” Furthermore, this “cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys” (Exodus 40:34-35, 38). There could be no doubt as to His presence.
It is well known that this cloud of divine glory was called the Shekinah. Although this actual word never occurs in the Bible itself, it is closely related to the Hebrew words for “dwell” (shakan) and “tabernacle” (mishkan).
The significant truth here, of course, is not the name but the fact. The glory cloud was removed when Israel became apostate. “And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city” (Ezekiel 11:23).
When God returned to Earth in the person of His Son, “the Word was made flesh, and [tabernacled] among us.” Then, once again, those who had eyes to see “beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14). By His Spirit, He now even lives in the human bodies of those who receive Him, and “Christ in you” becomes our own “hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Then, as we live in His Word, “we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
(HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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Sports Nuts
Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. LUKE 2:52
I’m not saying for one minute that everything about life ought to go back to the way it was in the Eisenhower administration. But I certainly remember that in my childhood, the basketball, baseball and football seasons barely overlapped. If you have children in sports today, however, you know that just one sport can become a year-round proposition. The competition has become so fierce, and the quest for winning so passionate, there’s no end to the amount of extra time your child can spend in training and competition. It’s easy for parents to get sucked into this vortex.
If you’re starting to feel the squeeze in your family, perhaps it’s time to discuss what sports is supposed to be all about in the lives of your children:
1. Character. Sports can be a life laboratory for learning about finishing strong, pushing beyond fatigue and becoming better than you thought you could be. A losing team can teach valuable lessons. Did I tell you I coached Little League two years in a row? Our record was 2-15. Both years. Talk about building character!
2. Relationships. For the rest of their lives, your children will be on teams of some kind—at work, at church, even as a family. Giving up your own agenda for the well-being of the team is a skill that gets better with practice, and sports is a great place to refine it.
3. Fun. It’s easy for some coaches and parents to forget this, but most kids participate in sports to have fun. When their athletic days are over, they ought to have fond memories—the type of memories I have when I look through the scrapbook my dad presented me to commemorate all those years of games and road trips. I wouldn’t give anything for my memories of playing baseball and basketball. Yeah, when it comes to sports, I guess I still like Ike.
DISCUSS
Has sports gotten out of hand in your family? What would it take to rein it back in? (Moments with You Couples Devotional by Dennis and Barbara Rainey)
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THE CROSS TEACHES HOW TO SUFFER
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.
1 Peter 2:21
Christ teaches us how to live, and He also teaches us how to suffer. Because we live in a world of suffering and we need to be taught how to suffer, He teaches us how to suffer. The cross teaches us how to suffer, not only how to live morally and ethically, but how to suffer. “The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” come to us all: people misunderstanding us, injustices done to us, the failure of trusted friends, people in whom we reposed every confidence letting us down, disappointments, loneliness, physical pain. How do you stand up to these things? These are the things that come to all of us. How do we meet them; how do we live? Read what the apostle Peter says about this: “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judges righteously: who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:21-24).
There is the only way, the cross. Christ experienced misunderstanding, injustice, the treachery of friends, loneliness, even his disciples forsaking Him and fleeing from Him. In the dark night, they all forsook Him. And so no experience can ever fall to your lot but that he has gone through it. The treachery, the misunderstanding, the abuse, the injustice, the loneliness, the agony, the sweat.
In every pang that rends the heart,
The Man of Sorrows had a part.
Michael Bruce
Yes, in the light of the fact that He has been made in the likeness of sinful flesh and “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin,” He is able to help us.
A Thought to Ponder: No experience can ever fall to your lot but that Christ has gone through it. (From The Cross, pp. 213-215, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.)
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The Better Hope
“For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.” (Hebrews 7:19)
Men and women have many false hopes in this world, one of which is that they can earn heaven by good works. Even though God’s law is a perfect law, it can never make a person fit for heaven because no one can keep the law perfectly. There is a better hope, however, and that hope is “the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:8) “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
This “hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15) is indeed a wonderful hope. In addition to the one in our text (“better”), there are three other adjectives in the New Testament relative to our Christian hope.
First, it is called a “good hope.” “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father . . . hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace” (2 Thessalonians 2:16).
Next, it is a “blessed hope.” “Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:12-13).
Finally, it is a “lively [or living] hope.” “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).
It is true, of course, that our hope is centered on the eternal future, for “if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:19). Nevertheless, the proved resurrection of Christ makes it a good hope, a blessed hope, and a living hope. (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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“Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
Luke 9:23-26 NIV
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