Christian Paradigm Shifts

Over, and over, and over again is the theme for the next several chapters of Job. With each cycle Job's "comforters", get more and more hostile in their accusation of sin.  Job gets more and more defensive. It is not until chapter 32, when Elihu comes on the scene, when he accuses the "comforters" of really having no answer for Job's suffering and Job for thinking he was more righteous than God. So keep an eye out for their hostility and Job's defense. Until we get to chapter 32, here's the link for more Shannon Mullin's Bible videos.

  "Comforter" #3 is Zophar the Naamathite From Zophar's point of view, Job should be suffering even more. Job 11:6 in the MEV translates the passage:  .... and that He [God] would show you the secrets of wisdom!      For they would double your prudence.      And know that God overlooks some of your iniquity  [He's not giving you what your sins deserve]... The Jubilee 2000 translation says it this way: ...and that he [God] would show thee the secrets of wisdom! For thou dost deserve double according to sound wisdom; and thou dost know that God has forgotten thee because of thine iniquity. Job must be hiding some secret sin. That is why he is suffering and because he won't admit it, he should suffer even more. If Job would admit his guilt then all would go well with him. While it is true that whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces th...

Photo Credit  Today it is Bildad the Shuhite who speaks to "comfort" Job. Bildad basically says what Eliphaz has said except with much more intensity. Bildad's charge is that Job is still suffering because he will not admit his sin.  (See Job 8:2)  Like Eliphaz, Bildad wrongly assumed that people only suffer because of their sins. Bildad was even less sensitive and compassionate, saying that Job's children died because of their wickedness. (Life Application Study Bible note) Jesus addresses a similar issue with his disciples. My favorite story is in John 9 about the man who was born blind. Rabbis developed the principle "there is no death without sin, and there is no suffering without iniquity" They were even capable of thinking that a child could sin in the womb or that its soul might have sinned in a pre-existent state. They also held that terrible punishments came on certain people because of the sins of their pare...

Photo Credit For the next several chapters, three men who have come to comfort Job, really offering no comfort at all. Job has lost his belongings, his children, and now he has a horrible skin disease. In his misery, Job is looking for answers to why all this tragedy has happened to him. It is the same question many of us have asked. We want answers for our troubles. Why me? Why did this circumstance happen? Why this tragedy? We want comfort and understanding from our friends. In our times of tragedy and questioning, we find no answers and we have "friends" who come to us thinking they are helpful but are not. In today's reading, we hear from the first "comforter". Eliphaz the Temanite, replies to Job's statement about wishing he had never been born. Eliphaz acknowledges that Job is blameless (Job 4:6) but he accuses him of murmuring and complaining against God, as only a fool would do, because it would only anger God more. (Quest Study Bible note) Eli...

  As we begin the book of Job, let us take a look at the first 2 chapters. These 2 chapters are key to understanding the rest of the book. Unfortunately, Job and his friends did not have the insight as to what was going on behind the scenes. If they had, their conversation may have gone quite differently. Keep this in mind as we go forward in our reading: The tongues of wise people give good expression to knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out a flood of stupidity. Proverbs 15:2 GWT Our reading today tells about a cosmic conversation between God and Satan. God already know Job was a righteous man who followed him wholeheartedly. God also knew why he served him. The Bible says it this way: In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. Job 1:1-2 Later on the friends will accuse Job of causing his own suffering through sin. Even today, some people...

Photo Credit The Tower of Babel Man plans his way... The people wanted to make a name for themselves and be great. Isn't that human nature? We want to be noticed. We want to be remembered. Unfortunately, sometimes we go about it in the wrong way. We rely on our own plans and schemes to fulfill our ego and our pride rather than relying on the Lord.  That's what the people of Babel did. They attempted to take their destiny into their own hands and by their own self-centered efforts they wanted to displace and exclude God ( See NIV Study Bible note Genesis 11:6) Man planned his way but the Lord directed their steps. (Proverbs 16:9) The things they did not want to happen, happened. The Lord stopped their building, confused their languages, and scattered them. James, the Lord's brother, reminds us not to boast and make our own plans.   Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, ca...

Today and tomorrow the focus is Noah. Noah, a righteous and blameless man, lived during quite a sinful time. The Bible says,  " The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time." Genesis 6:5 Jeremiah repeats this understanding,  " The heart is deceitful above all things      and beyond cure.      Who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9 The Lord can understand it:  " But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7 The Lord understood that the people of Noah's time no longer cared for His ways. While God is long suffering and does not wish that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9), He knew that "on...