Readings for this week
Monday: Job 41
Tuesday: Job 42
Wednesday: Ezekiel 1
Thursday: Ezekiel 2
Friday: Ezekiel 3
Saturday: Ezekiel 4
Sunday: Ezekiel 5
Tuesday: Job 42
Wednesday: Ezekiel 1
Thursday: Ezekiel 2
Friday: Ezekiel 3
Saturday: Ezekiel 4
Sunday: Ezekiel 5
Introduction to Job 41-42
Chapter 41
The LORD said to Job, "Can you catch Leviathan (mythical chaos monster of the sea) with a hook? Everything under heaven is mine. His breath sets coals ablaze. He is king over all the proud."
Chapter 41
The LORD said to Job, "Can you catch Leviathan (mythical chaos monster of the sea) with a hook? Everything under heaven is mine. His breath sets coals ablaze. He is king over all the proud."
Chaos monsters represent the chaos of an incomplete universe. They are not necessarily evil, but they do need to be tamed… and God is their tamer. He shapes their wildness and randomness into harmony with his purposes for Creation.
Chapter 42
Job’s New Perspective
The Lord said to Job:
“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”
Then Job answered the Lord:
“I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”
Our Perspective?
“We want answers… We want explanations. We want to know why we suffer like we do…
And there are times when the only honest, healthy, human thing to possibly do is to shout your questions and shake your fist and rage against the heavens and demand an explanation…
But true wisdom, the kind we find here with Job, the kind that endures, the kind that sustains a person through suffering, that kind of wisdom knows when to speak and when to be silent…
Because your story is not over. The last word has not been spoken. And there may be way more going on here than any of us realize…
So may you be released from always having to know why everything happens the way that it does. May this freedom open you up to all sorts of new perspectives…
And may you have the wisdom to know when to say, ‘I spoke once, but now I will say no more.’”
And there are times when the only honest, healthy, human thing to possibly do is to shout your questions and shake your fist and rage against the heavens and demand an explanation…
But true wisdom, the kind we find here with Job, the kind that endures, the kind that sustains a person through suffering, that kind of wisdom knows when to speak and when to be silent…
Because your story is not over. The last word has not been spoken. And there may be way more going on here than any of us realize…
So may you be released from always having to know why everything happens the way that it does. May this freedom open you up to all sorts of new perspectives…
And may you have the wisdom to know when to say, ‘I spoke once, but now I will say no more.’”
The Epilogue
After the Kingdom of Judah was destroyed and the people were exiled to Babylon, an epilogue was added to the end of this book. We learn that The LORD said to Eliphaz, "You have not spoken rightly of me, as Job has." And God restored Job's fortunes and gave him a new life.
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