This program of daily devotions is designed to take you through the Bible in three years. It is our desire to help you gain a better general understanding of God's Word.
Please understand that in a study this brief, we will be concerned with only the major emphases and context of the Scriptures.
Each day a devotion for one or two chapters is posted, beginning with chapter one of Genesis and going through chapter twenty-two of Revelation. You are free to print each page as it appears. If you miss a day, you may contact us and request that devotion. Please send your request, along with $.50 (p&handling) for each page to:
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Job
CHAPTER 10
1 My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
Have you ever felt like Job? Has there ever been a time in your life when you just felt like it was ENOUGH; or more than you could bear?
2 I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.
3 Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
4 Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?
5 Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man's days,
6 That thou inquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?
7 Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.
Again, Job wants God to show him WHY he is undergoing such terrible circumstances.
8 Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.
9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?
10 Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?
11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews.
12 Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.
13 And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee.
God is the One Who has created us and given us these temporary bodies of flesh. He has, in a sense, CONFINED us to a state of being which is LESS than that He has planned for us.
14 If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.
15 If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;
16 For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.
17 Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.
18 Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!
19 I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,
21 Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;
22 A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.
In all of Job's complaint, he turns to God for reckoning.
Zophar ridicules Job's theology. He calls Job's statements about a man being justified with God by grace LIES (verse 3). And he says that forgiveness of sin upon simple belief and request is a false doctrine (verse 4).
7 Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?
8 It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
9 The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
10 If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?
11 For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?
12 For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt.
Zophar is another of Job's "friends" who would use principals of truth in an errant manner.
13 If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;
14 If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.
15 For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:
16 Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:
17 And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.
18 And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.
19 Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.
Zophar is one of those who believes that a man can live without sin. He tells Job that he should put iniquity away from him.
20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.
Again, let me say, that Zophar uses a right principal in the wrong manner. Please continue in Bible Study with us.
At times we are all like Job. Life seems bitter. There seems to be no end to the trouble and tragedy.
But we cannot see beyond today. Even at our best we cannot know what tomorrow really holds. Neither could Job.
He was a GOOD man, if there IS such a thing. He loved God; he tried to do right; but everything turned against him.
Many people come to this point in their lives and try to commit suicide.
But the point here, in the Bible, is this: we cannot see what plans God may have for us tomorrow. God had great plans for Job.
And Job acted in true faith. He never mentioned suicide. He did desire that death take him. He criticized, he complained; but he never mentioned suicide.
He realizes that God is not like man. God is spirit, and doesn't undergo the difficulties of flesh.
But Jesus went through every temptation known to man. He suffered and he died.
YES! God DOES KNOW our problems. He knows them first-hand.
In Job's thoughts there is the realization of a great truth in verse 7. God KNOWS him! And he BELONGS to God. Therefore NO ONE can take him away from God.
When we truly come to Christ and give our lives to Him, we KNOW that we are safely kept in Him forever no matter what circumstances may come upon us.
It is by GRACE we are given our being (verse 12). And it can only be by GRACE that we shall obtain life in eternity with God (verse 13).
The way of life on earth, and the way of life for eternity is HID in the heart of God. Man cannot know it except God reveal it.
And God has revealed it in Christ Jesus.
He realizes sin is recorded (verse 14), and that without God forgiving man cannot be acquitted from his sinfulness.
But he makes his plea to God alone (verse 15); and begs that God SEE, and give him "comfort" (verse 20).
All Job can see is the present state of his life, and he can see no way that his life at this point brings glory to God. This being the case in his mind, he believes it would be better if he were dead.
The chief purpose of our lives IS to glorify God. But God can get glory even from our illness! In fact, He is doing so in Job's life, even as Job makes his complaint.
Job viewed death as a "darkness" (verses 21-22).
We must understand that the Bible is a progressive revelation from God to mankind. God had not yet revealed the fact that believers are immediately taken to be with Him upon death.
"Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:6-7)
"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." (2Corinthians 5:8)
When a believer dies, he sinks toward "darkness" because of his sin; but the grace of God RETRIEVES him and gathers him into the LIGHT of God.
CHAPTER 11
1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
2 Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?
3 Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?
4 For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.
5 But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;
6 And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.
This is another case of a man utilizing his own personal knowledge of God as the basis for all theological reasoning.
If indeed, God would exact "less than thine iniquity deserveth," then why isn't Zophar suffering even as Job?
God does NOT give us what we deserve. He treats us in grace and not in reciprocation.
It is true that God's Person and Power are beyond man's knowledge and reasoning. It is true that man , the finite, cannot comprehend the Infinite God.
However, it is NOT true that a man cannot search out God! For if a man LOOKS for God, he will certainly FIND Him!
"6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:6-7)
Not only will God be FOUND by those who search for Him, but He will also FORGIVE those who humbly beg His forgiveness.
My friends, let it be known, that NO MAN lives without sin! (Romans 3:23)
And the ONLY way we can "put away" our sin is to surrender to Christ, our Creator and Saviour (Romans 6:23).
Zophar contends that a man can make himself CLEAN (verses 18-19). But God teaches us that if a man says he is without sin, that man is a LIAR!
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1John 1:8-10)
One might also see 1Kings 8:46, and 2Chronicles 6:36.
He is using the word "wicked" to classify a man who has sinned. God uses the word wicked to determine a state of sinfulness from which a man will not repent.
We are ALL sinners ALL the time. But God WILL FORGIVE sin.
Let us then call upon Him, acknowledging our sinfulness and begging His mercy to be applied through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:7)