I had time on my lunch break yesterday so I read “ahead”. I will admit, I had many questions. What is he saying? I am confused? Uggg Poetry! But I work with 2 ladies and we bounced the scriptures off of each other and we made “some” sense of it. (I will admit, I love like this book, I am anxious to get back to Genesis 😂)
Job is flipping the script. If the friends are telling him to repent, be righteous so he can “prosper” as he once did…then why do the ‘wicked’ (unbelievers) live prosperous lives every day? George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Daniel Radcliffe, Uma Thuman, Jodie Foster, Bruce Willis….they seem to be doing ok.
“Why does good stuff happen to bad people and bad stuff happen to good people”…timeless question!!
Job starts with “Listen (Linda 😂), carefully to my words”. Job knows that they have not “listened”, they have their responses ready before they even hear his words. Then he flips their theory. It should have stopped them and given them a moment to think.
7 Why do the wicked live on,
growing old and increasing in power?
8 They see their children established around them,
their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their homes are safe and free from fear;
the rod of God is not on them.
10 Their bulls never fail to breed;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11 They send forth their children as a flock;
their little ones dance about.
12 They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;
they make merry to the sound of the pipe.
13 They spend their years in prosperity
and go down to the grave in peace.
14 Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!
We have no desire to know your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What would we gain by praying to him?’
Chapter 22- FINAL ROUND. Round 3
Did Eliphaz listen to him? Nope! He then starts throwing “possibilities” to Job of what he might have done to sin…
- “Is it for your religion that he rebukes you?
- Is not your wickedness great?
- Are not your sins endless?
- Did you demand security from your relatives for no reason?
- Did you strip people of their clothing, leaving them naked?
- Did you withhold water to the weary and food from the hungry?
- Did you think you were a powerful man?
- Did you send widows away empty-handed?
- Did you break the strength of the fatherless?
- Then in verse 13 Elipahz paraphrases what Job has been saying…but paraphrases it incorrectly, twisting what he was saying (because he was not listening!
(He can make 100 guesses, they are all wrong!)
Eliphaz does have some pearls of wisdom about submission and repentance. But there are 2 factors here: Job does not know about the conversation between God and Satan so he has nothing to reveal. Next, Eliphaz was tying it to “external” prosperity…we submit for internal prosperity.
Chapter 23.
My heart breaks for Job. He has no explanation for such a calamity, other than the advice from his friends that he has secret sins he needs to repent from. He longs to talk to God! He feels so lost.
“But if I go to the east, he is not there;
if I go to the west, I do not find him.
9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.
10 But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
11 My feet have closely followed his steps;
I have kept to his way without turning aside.
12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.
Hang in there….we can get through this book.
Reading the Bible - 2021 
Good morning Trish and thank you so much for doing this again this year.
I know Job is a tough read and hard to discern, but every time I have read it it give me strength.. just imagine the faith and endurance Job had to deal with. I have put myself in that situation and ohh how I imagine I would fail.. and that saddens me , and makes me want to dig so much deeper in Gods word and urn for deeper relationship with him .. also if I must be honest makes me appreciate my life and health for sure☺️ Thank you again Trish every time I read through with you I get something new every time
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Terri, you are such a missionary. There have been so many times I have met a stranger and when I introduce myself they say “I read my Bible because my hairdresser does not stop talking about it”. I am not sure you realize how many people you have turned to the Word. I also know this Book must tug at your heart. It was during our first read-through together 10 years ago Patti went home to be with the Lord. Why? I don’t know. We all wrestle with God. I think of her often when I talk about the Tree of Life being blocked so that we may be blessed with an earthly death so that we can be with Him forever. I love that you use your job as a mission field.
Romans 12:4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
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❤️😭😭😭❤️.
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Well now I’m crying a bit thank you Trish .. I have to tell a somewhat serious yet funny story about Patti .. Sometimes I would read your blog to her because she had that chemo brain thing going on and I said wow Patti I think about his struggle and how bad it was and she totally agreed… then her husband Billy was near by and he said yes Patti I mean how long was he in that fish😂( Patti rolled her eyes and cracked up at his confusion with Job and Jonah) I mean they both start with a J
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Now I am crying (and laughing).
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❤️❤️❤️
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Admittedly, the first time I read Job many years ago, I was not picking up on how troubling their advice was. It sounded so natural to me that they would “try and figure out” the problems – especially for a friend. The more I read, the more it has shaped a further desire for “discernment”.
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and what we have they Job does not is a love letter from God. 66 chapters of it.
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Once again, this scripture seems to be timely. God is pretty cool like that.
Loving this study (but ready for Genesis). Lol
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