Day: January 3, 2021

Job Overview

~ Patricia ~ 5 Comments

Listen, I am going to be transparent.  I LOVE the Bible.  However, when I think about 2 weeks in a book of Poetry I am not motivated.  If there was ever a time to encourage me…this is it!  I am determined to dig deeper in this book.  

Tomorrow we jump into Job (pronounced Jobe).  Job in Hebrew is Iyyov meaning “persecuted” or “where is thy divine father?”

The only time I heard the name Job was on the Tom Cruise film: Mission Impossible.   When I was checking out churches (to fit in, un the South), I heard his name mentioned in church, and I was like “the agent on Mission Impossible??”  Well, we all started somewhere, right?

Here is your visual:

Image result for book of job timeline

On the surface, the book of Job is a simple story: Job, devoted to God, is struck down in the prime of his life.  He and his friends strive to understand the reason for his sudden trials.  God appears and he is restored.  Clearly it’s not that simple…not at all! 

Satan accused the righteous of being faithful to God only for what they could get.  Satan’s confidence that he could turn Job probably came from his small victory in Heaven when he was able to turn holy angels to rebel once.  God allows Satan to try to prove his point but fails.  True Faith is unbreakable.  I am reminded that Jesus said in John 10: 

28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

I am going out on a limb but I think we have all asked ourselves “If God is a loving God, then why do good people suffer?”

We need to keep in mind that believers will suffer because of sin, for correction, for strengthening, and sometimes to reveal His comfort.  But there are times that suffering occurs for purposes that we will never be able to discern.

Job and his friends want to sit around and analyze Job’s suffering to determine the “cause” and “solution”.  Not only were their ideas wrong, but they also made matters worse for Job.  Our “fancy” word for the day is “Theodicy”.  “Theodicy is a branch of philosophy dealing with the issue of evil in light of the existence of God. If God is just and holy and good, then how do evil and misery exist? That’s the question theodicy wrestles with.  So does Lex Luther in the movie Batman vs. Superman 😂.

Here is your cheat sheet:

  • Job: patient under suffering, his Faith was allowed to be tested by God.
  • Eliphaz- friend- believed Job was suffering because of his sins.
  • Bildad- friend- believed Job had not repented of his sins (and until he does he will suffer).
  • Zophar- friend- believed Job should have been suffering more for his sin.  
  • Elihu- (the quiet one) stood up to the 3 friends- believed God was using suffering to mold Job’s character.

So Job will take us  12 days to read. Why do the righteous suffer?  This book will show the power of Satan.  Satan may be mighty, but God is ALMIGHTY.  This book will show the limit of Satan, and the Sovereignty of God.

11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.- James 5:11

 

Genesis 8-11

~ Patricia ~ 7 Comments

So if it is ok with you I would like to go back a little.  First, let’s quickly go back to 6:17-18

17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—

This is the first time Covenant is “said” in the Bible.  There are different types of Covenants from God, this one is Unconditional.  God is making a promise that is one-sided.  But  every covenant has a:

  1. The promise
  2. A sealing (sacrifice)
  3. A sign to remember it

The names of the Covenants are:

  • Noahic (Noah)
  • Abrahamic (Abraham)
  • Mosaic (Moses)
  • Davidic (David)
  • Messianic (Jesus)

Moving on to Chapter 7…..our timeline begins. After making this Ark we begin the familiar Flood story.  Here is a timeline so that we stop thinking this is a 40-day cruise.

Flood

Chapter 8: Here is your map 🙂

Image result for mount ararat topographic map

Why is this map important you ask? Because this was not a local flood, this was a worldwide flood.   Mt. Ararat is over 17,000 feet above sea level.

(BTW, it is killing me not to break down every scripture….)

Let’s go back to Covenant….we have the promise…now let’s seal it. (always with a sacrifice)

8:20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done

Chapter 9: you will need a pencil (or at least re-reread it)  It begins with a new beginning. Now, go through Chapter 9 and underline or circle the word Covenant (many times).  God refers to it as His Covenant.  It is unconditional.  This is a one sided contract. And yes….as we predicted, we had the promise, the sealing, and of course…the sign.  Image result for rainbow

Chapter 9.  OK, so I didn’t grow up in church but I knew a guy named Noah was on an ark with giraffes (always giraffes in the pictures). But what I did not know was how the story ended! 

Image result for noah drunk

Noah has 3 sons.  Japeth, Ham, and Shem. You need to know this…here is how you are going to remember who is who…

  • Japeth “J” sound=Gentiles (me and you)
  • Ham “Pigs smell and are mean”- Cursed nations- Canaan (enemies of God)
  • Shem-starts with an S…Salvation!- The Hebrews

Ham disgraced his Father pointing out and mocking his sin.  The consequence to Ham and his descendants is everlasting.

“Cursed be Canaan! (Canaanites)
    The lowest of slaves
    will he be to his brothers.”

26 He also said, (insert the words if it helps)

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem! (Hebrews)
May Canaan (enemies) the slave of Shem. (Hebrews)
27 May God extend Japheth’s (Gentile’s)territory; 
may Japeth (Gentiles)  live in the tents of Shem,(Hebrews)
and may Canaan (enemies) be the slave of Japheth.”(Gentiles)

LOOK AT THIS….It will make sense to some.  If it doesn’t it will!

Image result for noah genealogy

Chapter 10 Table of nations…. (In an effort to keep this blog from going on forever, here is an abbreviated version of Chapter 10.  However if you ponder on it now, I think it will make sense.

  • Shem (26 nations)- Assyria, Syria, Asia Minor area
  • Ham (30 nations)- Africa, Middles East, Ethiopia, Libya area
  • Japheth (14 nations)- Europe, Iran, India, Central Asia

(70 total nations- I will break some down in comments in case anyone wants some extra information on this)

The line that we are going to follow for most of Genesis will be the nations of Shem

Chapter 11- The Tower of Babel: (Bab El means the Gateway to God)

Image result for ziggurat

Back in Chapter 9:1 is says-“Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.”

11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar (modern day Iraq)  and settled there. (why??  I thought you were supposed to populate the earth?)

3 They said to each other, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. (why are you making your own resources God clearly said he would provide for you) 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city,(a monument to yourself?  Not a temple to worship God like most ziggurats were used for)  with a tower that reaches to the heavens (God already has a plan for that), so that we may make a name for ourselves (Uggg); otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” (Umm, Like God told you to??)

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let usImage result for orange triangledown and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Us verse Image result for orange triangle  situation!

End of Post:  If you decide to read the last part you are officially a Bible Geek.  (join the club, we are fun at parties.) 🤪

Since this year I feel that some of you are ‘geeky’ like me I followed this scripture: 10:25

25 Two sons were born to Eber:  One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.

Why that one?  Good question!  The name Eber is possibly where the word Hebrew originated.  So which line did the Hebrews come from?  Peleg or Joktan? Draw an arrow in your Bible (if you are a geek 🤓) to 11:18  “When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of…    (then to) 26 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.

Ok, one more cool one for those who may have read the Bible before 2021 🤓: Nimrod!

8 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.” 10 The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar. 11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.

Why is this another cool one to look at?   Nimrod means “Rebel” in Hebrew.  He was a mighty warrior ‘before the Lord’ means ‘in front of or against the Lord’.  Nimrod was the 1st ruler of two major cities Babel (Babylon) and Nineveh (Assyria).  The two nations that will take Israel into Captivity in 722 and 586!

I am going to stop at 11:26 and pick that up in a visual when we get back to Genesis!