Elihu jumps into the content of his speech with this chapter. Most of this opening portion addressed to Job, Elihu spends telling Job to be quiet and listen to him as he will teach him wisdom. He does give the option for Job to answer him if he can but quickly seems to assume he can’t and just continues with… Read more →

In Job 32 we meet one of the most enigmatic characters in all of the Bible. Elihu wasn’t named among Job’s counsellors/visitors in chapter 1. He isn’t named by God when God rebukes Job’s friends in chapter 42. He has the longest speech of any of the human speakers in Job, yet Job does not reply to him. Elihu tells… Read more →

In this chapter, Job’s final appeal, he stands in his integrity. He outlines a number of “ifs” essentially saying if he is guilty of any offences to which he has been accused, then what he is experiencing is what he deserves. Yet, he does not believe he is guilty of any of these things. He stands before God in his… Read more →

I have to admit, I’m struggling to get my head around Job 30. It seems like Job is lamenting the great turn of events that has come into his life. The life he now has couldn’t be more unlike the life he had as described in chapter 29. Job is now the laughingstock of the town. Those who are younger… Read more →

When New Zealand was initially place in Level 4 Lockdown, today was the day when this phase was to be eased. Yet we learned this past Monday that this phase has been extended to this coming Monday. So we are still in Level 4 Lockdown. Most people I speak to are becoming a bit weary. Even more as we begin… Read more →

Job continues his concluding speech by painting a picture of the source of wisdom. Or rather where one does not find wisdom. His friends/counsellors have come to him offering what they seem to believe is “wisdom”. What they have offered is ideas and perspective completely informed from an “under the sun” vantage point. They have sought to understand Job’s plight… Read more →

As Job continues his final speech, he confidently stands in his integrity before God. He will not, cannot agree with his accusers. He will not be persuaded to agree with them when he knows he is innocent of unconfessed sin. He is confident that, in the end, his lot and the lot of the wicked will be very different. They… Read more →

Job’s three friends who we were introduced to at the end of chapter 2 have finished their attempts to persuade Job. In chapter 26 Job begins his concluding remarks. This speech will stretch all the way through chapter 31. Here at the beginning of his concluding remarks, Job reflects on the unsearchable majesty of God. Job makes observations, primarily from… Read more →

Bildad doesn’t offer much in this very brief reply. Essentially, he replies to Job by saying – you are mistaken if you think anyone can stand before God innocent, everyone and all of creation is impure before Him. A half-truth when presented as the whole-truth is an untruth. Bildad sees no mercy, no grace, no covenant lovingkindness in God. The… Read more →

Chapter 24 is the second part of Job’s reply to Eliphaz. Here, Job replies directly to Eliphaz’s claim that the wicked do not prosper. Essentially, Job says – “really! Look around, I can give a long list of examples of the wicked who seem to prosper in this life and go to their death with no apparent consequences.” When reading… Read more →