READINGS FOR APRIL 15, 2024: JOB 40, 1 CORINTHIANS 7, PSALM 31:1-13
JOB 40
This chapter wraps up God’s questioning of Job. The first two verses have God asking Job for a response.
In verses 3-5, Job can answer God. Job is speechless. Job knows that he is unworthy to be talking directly to God. He covers his mouth and prepares to listen.
The rest of the chapter is God again asking rhetorical questions of Job. God addresses the issues of God’s justice and Job’s feeble attempt to seek self-justification. Job had questioned God’s indifference and lack of action toward the actions of the wicked (Chapters 21 & 24). In this chapter, God affirms that it is God who has the ability to determine and administer justice. Job has no control. Job needs to leave this to God.
The rest of this chapter refers to a large animal. We do not know what animal that is being referenced here. Most Biblical translations keep the Hebrew word, Behemoth. God describes the Behemoth as a semi-aquatic, vegetable eating beast that exhibits great strength. Some scholars have noted the similarity between the Behemoth and the hippopotamus. However, that is speculation and not definitive. What is important is that it was a large animal.
God’s questions are asking Job if he can explain how this Behemoth came to be. How does it act and why? Where does it get its strength. Again, the purpose of these questions is to show Job that he is not qualified to ask the questions that he is asking.
1 CORINTHIANS 7
This chapter is about relationships around the marriage covenant. Paul is responding to questions from the Corinthian church about marriage. (I apologize for the explicit sexual language.)
It is right for married couples to have sex with each other (as blunt as possible). There may have been a group of people in the Corithian church that had chosen to abstain from sex in their marriage to not fall into sexual perversion. Paul states that it is wrong for one person in a marriage to withhold sex for an extended period.
In verse 10, Paul is most likely referring to the command that Jesus gave to his disciples (Matthew 5:32, 19:3-9; Mark 10:2-12; Luke 16:18):
“I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” (Matthew 19:9, NIV)
For those of us Christians who have endured divorce, we struggle with this teaching. We can affirm that divorce is not a part of God’s plan for marriage. In a perfect world, every marriage would last until “death do us part.” But for several reasons, the marriage that we were a part of ended in divorce.
We live in a world of sin. We live in a world where “sexual immorality” (adultery, pornography, addictions, etc.) is prevalent. There are marriages where physical, psychological, and emotional abuse has taken over the marriage. There are marriages where lying, cheating, and stealing have placed a serious burden on the union. These unions are destructive and unhealthy.
Paul struggles with the ambiguity of certain situations in marriage as well. In verses 12-16, Paul gives exceptions to Jesus’ instruction if one member of the marriage is a Christian and the other is not. In our modern world, there are reasons in our society where the ending of the marriage is necessary for the health of all parties involved. It is not part of God’s plan. But through sin, the marriage comes to an end.
I believe that if you have been through a divorce in your past there are only a few things you can do at this point. Accept that God’s plan for your marriage was for it to last for a lifetime. Ask God to forgive you for your part (and ONLY your part) of the failure of your marriage. Then maybe the hardest part, forgive your former spouse for their part of the failure. And lastly, know that we have faith in a God who forgives:
But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. (Psalm 86:5, NIV)
The rest of the chapter can get confusing. It begins in verse 17:
Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. (NIV)
This rule of Paul’s has been used by people to reinforce their own beliefs. It was used by slave owners in the Southern States to justify the institution of slavery. It has been used by several “end times” cults to justify their belief that marriage would keep people from being prepared for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. These are only two examples.
Paul’s rule was most likely instituted in churches to keep false teachings from taking over. The rule emphasizes that there is no change of status that you can do by your own action that can make you more worthy of salvation. Jesus accepts you as you are.
PSALM 31:1-13
This psalm is a psalm of lament (an expression of grief.) The reason for this grief is due to a conspiracy that David had to face and overcome. It was so intense that many of David’s supporters and friends abandoned him. Verse 13, which is the middle verse, expresses the reason for the writing of this hymn.
No other psalm expresses a sturdier trust in God when powerful human forces have threatened harm. David has taken refuge in God. He asks God to protect him in this time of trouble. In verse 5, David expresses his total trust and commitment to God. He has entrusted himself into God’s care.
The beginning of Verse 5 is almost the precise words that Jesus expressed as his last words from the cross: “Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit (Luke 23:46, NIV). The other psalm that Jesus quoted from the cross was Psalm 22:1 in Matthew 27:46. Jesus echoes the words that David penned. Jesus work was done and he could now endure death for God’s saving work to proceed to the resurrection.
