March 26

Journey-through-the-Bible-with-us

READINGS FOR MARCH 26, 2024: JOB 26, ROMANS 9, PSALM 23                                                     JOB 26 Job’s response to Bildad would be humorous if his situation were not so tragic. Job’s sarcasm in verses 2-3 could easily be delivered on contemporary shows such as Saturday Night Live.  Essentially, he asks Bildad, "who else’s life have you ruined?”  Starting in verse 5, Job launches into a poetic but utterly serious description of God’s power. It is somewhat hazy from our perspective but had special meaning in Job’s culture. Let define a few terms to help us:

  • “Sheol” in verse 6 is an Old Testament term referring to a dark, undefined place for the dead. This term is replaced in the New Testament by the word “Hades.”  It is a location for the dead, often linked with judgment: “The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death” (Rev. 20:13-14).  Job’s point is God is aware of everything, even in Sheol. 
  • “Abaddon” in the same verse refers to a bottomless pit or abyss: “They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon” (Rev. 9:11). Again, the idea is that even the deepest abyss is not hidden from God. Thus, our actions and thoughts are easily known by Him
  • The word “Rahab” should be familiar to us from the opening genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1. She was the heroic prostitute from Jericho. The word used here, however, has a different Hebrew spelling and has nothing with that important person.  There is consensus that Rahab refers to an ancient sea monster.  Some see connections to the serpent in Gen. 3 or even the beast from the sea in Revelation 13.  In any case, Job is right that God easily shatters and will shatter any literal or spiritual beast. 

Despite how he began the chapter, Job is anything but sarcastic about God’s omniscience and omnipotence. We would be wise not to think that we know better than this almighty God by disregarding what He clearly reveals in His Word. As Job says, his comments are just getting at the fringe of the awesomeness of God. Words fail to accurately describe God’s greatness. 

ROMANS 9 Paul confides to us that, as a Jew himself, he desperately longs for other Jews to come into a saving relationship with God. He even says he would be willing to give up his own salvation if it would help bring his fellow Jews to the Lord. Consider if Paul had this attitude, how much more does Jesus want all people to come to faith in Him. What about us? Do we have this intense sorrow for friends and family who don’t know Jesus as their Savior and Lord?  Paul recounts all of God’s blessings to the Jews over the years: adoption as sons, the covenants, the Mosaic Law, the temple worship, the promises to Israel, and Jesus’s human ancestry. Paul reminds us that even though this promise was originally made to Abraham, not 

READINGS FOR MARCH 26, 2024 CONTINUED: ROMANS 9, PSALM 19                                         all his genetic descendants received the promise: only Isaac not Ismael, only Jacob not Esau. This was God’s choice and, as we are learning in Job, we are not in a position to find fault with what the omniscient God decides. What is God’s choice trying to show? In verses 11, 16, 18, 23, Paul says God shows that it is not Man’s ancestry or works that matters, but God’s mercy. And to whom has God chosen to receive His mercy of salvation?  Paul says God’s chooses to show mercy to those who pursue God’s righteousness through faith, not works (vs.30-32). This extends to believing Gentiles as well as to a believing remnant of Israel (vs. 24 and 27). All are invited to believe (John 3:16). All who believe will be saved and not be disappointed (33). 

Let’s consider two other issues that might raise some eyebrows in this chapter:

  • Did God hate Esau (vs.13)? The famous John 3:16 teaches God loved the world. How could he hate Esau? God’s love for the world excludes no one, Esau included. Paul is expressing God’s choice of Jacob over Esau to receive the promise, just as Jesus tells us to choose Him over all others: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). Jesus is not telling us to hate anyone, but to make Him first.
  • Why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart (vs.17-18)? He did so to show His power throughout the world. Rahab heard about God’s power all the way over in Jericho and 40 years later she placed her faith in God (Exodus 7:3, Joshua 2:10-12, Heb. 11:31). Also, before God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, it was already hard/stubborn (Exodus 7:13-14, 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32, and 9:7). God further hardened his heart in 9:12, 10;20, 10:27, and 14:4. These final hardenings enabled Israel to be given jewels by the Egyptians for the tabernacle and to completely remove the Egyptian army as a threat. In Matthew 13:12, Jesus infers that God still hardens the heart of those who reject His truth.                       

PSALM 23 This exquisite Psalm is possibly the best known and most loved single chapter in the Bible. It is the text for wondrous music and a comfort to grieving families during times of loss.  The beauty and comfort of this chapter is meaningless, however, if the premise of the first line is not a reality in the lives of each individual. QUESTION: IS THE HE OUR SHEPHERD? 

  • Consider Romans 10:9: “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  If we are not saved, Jesus is not our Lord, and thus not our shepherd. Instead, we have chosen to be our own shepherd. 
  • Consider Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” If we are not reading the Bible, the Lord is not our shepherd. Instead, we are turning off the light God provides and choosing to stumble in the dark. 
  • Consider James 1:22: “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.” If we hear but don’t obey the Bible, we are deceived; the Lord is not our shepherd. 
  • Consider 1 Peter 1:25: “The word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word which was preached to you.” If we reject the Bible’s teachings as culturally outdated, the Lord is not our shepherd. Instead, the reigning cultural narrative is our shepherd.