No vacancy for position seekerstext of discourseNkor Ioka
CHRISTIAN SUPERNATURAL TEACHINGS, BIBLE CLASS LESSONS, GOSPELS BY LEADER OLUMBA OLUMBA OBU, THE SUPERNATURAL TEACHER AND SOLE SPIRITUAL HEAD, BROTHERHOOD OF THE CROSS AND STAR
A verse by verse commentary on Judges 2 dealing with the angel of the Lord at Bokim. God is angry with His people and they served the Lord as long as Joshua lived, but after he died they went away again.
A verse by verse commentary on Judges 21 dealing with Israel trying to figure out how to give wives to the Benjamites.They let them steal virgins at a dance and by this method save the tribe of Benjamin,
John 9:1–41 has many aspects to it and will require some explanation.
As Jesus is traveling with his disciples, they come upon a blind man who has been blind since birth.
Jesus' disciples ask if the blindness is a punishment from God for the sin of this man or his parents. Jesus, however, explains that the man's blindness has a higher purpose; to show the glory of God in his life.
In a world where war was a commonplace event everyone who grew up needed to learn how to fight or they were sunk. It sounds crazy but God left enemies in the land of Canaan to force the new generation of his people to learn how to fight. If there was no enemy they would have no reason to prepare for warfare, and they would be in big trouble if other nations came and decided to take their land. War preparation was essential for their survival, and so God left enemies in their midst so they would have no choice but to train young men in the use of weapons.
Our little Church is using a Chronological Bible Reading Schedule by Skip Andrews. It can be found here: http://www.churchofchristduluthga.org/
Each Sunday a lesson is given from some of that week's reading. This lesson covers Aug 24-30
No vacancy for position seekerstext of discourseNkor Ioka
CHRISTIAN SUPERNATURAL TEACHINGS, BIBLE CLASS LESSONS, GOSPELS BY LEADER OLUMBA OLUMBA OBU, THE SUPERNATURAL TEACHER AND SOLE SPIRITUAL HEAD, BROTHERHOOD OF THE CROSS AND STAR
A verse by verse commentary on Judges 2 dealing with the angel of the Lord at Bokim. God is angry with His people and they served the Lord as long as Joshua lived, but after he died they went away again.
A verse by verse commentary on Judges 21 dealing with Israel trying to figure out how to give wives to the Benjamites.They let them steal virgins at a dance and by this method save the tribe of Benjamin,
John 9:1–41 has many aspects to it and will require some explanation.
As Jesus is traveling with his disciples, they come upon a blind man who has been blind since birth.
Jesus' disciples ask if the blindness is a punishment from God for the sin of this man or his parents. Jesus, however, explains that the man's blindness has a higher purpose; to show the glory of God in his life.
In a world where war was a commonplace event everyone who grew up needed to learn how to fight or they were sunk. It sounds crazy but God left enemies in the land of Canaan to force the new generation of his people to learn how to fight. If there was no enemy they would have no reason to prepare for warfare, and they would be in big trouble if other nations came and decided to take their land. War preparation was essential for their survival, and so God left enemies in their midst so they would have no choice but to train young men in the use of weapons.
Our little Church is using a Chronological Bible Reading Schedule by Skip Andrews. It can be found here: http://www.churchofchristduluthga.org/
Each Sunday a lesson is given from some of that week's reading. This lesson covers Aug 24-30
This is a study of Jesus being sarcastic. Some record 4 times he used sarcasm, but others have a longer list. He used this type of language in a humorous way, and also in a very serious way. Read and see for yourself.
I decided to write a commentary on this passage because of the challenge of trying to understand what Paul is saying when he asks the Corinthians to hand one of their sinful members over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that he might in the day of the Lord be saved. The man has to be given to his greatest enemy who will do him great harm, but in the end this will be a means by which he will escape
damnation and enjoy salvation. It sounded too crazy for me to pass it up. It is one of those difficult passages of Paul that Peter wrote about in 2Pe 3:16 “As also in all his
epistles, speaking in them of these things;
Beloved Sisters and Brothers,
As true children of so loving a father let us all embrace all our crosses for the love of God and our brothers and sisters.
From the Heart,
Fr. Heart, SVD
CHRISTIAN SUPERNATURAL TEACHINGS, BIBLE CLASS LESSONS, GOSPELS BY LEADER OLUMBA OLUMBA OBU, THE SUPERNATURAL TEACHER AND SOLE SPIRITUAL HEAD, BROTHERHOOD OF THE CROSS AND STAR
10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me.
11 Teach me your way, O LORD;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.
Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence.
Romans 9 is one of the most commonly used proof-texts to support the Calvinistic concept of unconditional election. This presentation briefly examines the arguments made from the text and answers them, vindicating the Bible concept of human free will.
I. About Our Lord Jesus 9
1. A Brief Continuous Biography . • ii
2. His Return, — The Centre and Climax
of All His Plannings • . • i6
n. On the Knees, with the Book, Finding out
Just What It Teaches About His Return . 19
1. GOD IS WORTHY OF PRAISE Based on Psa. 145
2. THE POWER OF PRAISE Based on Psalm 149:1-9
3. THE PINNACLE OF PRAISE Based on Psa. 150
4. UNIVERSAL PRAISE Based on Psa. 117
5. THE PHYSIOLOGY OF PRAISE Based on Psa. 47:1-9
6. THE PLEASURE OF PRAISE Based on Psa. 84
7. A PRAYER OF PRAISE Based on Dan. 2:19-23
8. THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE Based on Heb. 13:15-21
9. PERSISTENCE IN PRAISE Based on Heb. 13:15-21
10. THE PRAISE OF LAUGHTER Based on Psa. 126:1-6
11. HEAVEN'S HALLELUJAH CHORUS based on Rev. 19:1-10
Calvin, “In this Psalm, the faithful oppressed with the cruel tyranny of theirenemies, beseech God to deliver them, there being no other source of hope left forthem except in his protection.”
This is a study of Jesus being sarcastic. Some record 4 times he used sarcasm, but others have a longer list. He used this type of language in a humorous way, and also in a very serious way. Read and see for yourself.
I decided to write a commentary on this passage because of the challenge of trying to understand what Paul is saying when he asks the Corinthians to hand one of their sinful members over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that he might in the day of the Lord be saved. The man has to be given to his greatest enemy who will do him great harm, but in the end this will be a means by which he will escape
damnation and enjoy salvation. It sounded too crazy for me to pass it up. It is one of those difficult passages of Paul that Peter wrote about in 2Pe 3:16 “As also in all his
epistles, speaking in them of these things;
Beloved Sisters and Brothers,
As true children of so loving a father let us all embrace all our crosses for the love of God and our brothers and sisters.
From the Heart,
Fr. Heart, SVD
CHRISTIAN SUPERNATURAL TEACHINGS, BIBLE CLASS LESSONS, GOSPELS BY LEADER OLUMBA OLUMBA OBU, THE SUPERNATURAL TEACHER AND SOLE SPIRITUAL HEAD, BROTHERHOOD OF THE CROSS AND STAR
10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me.
11 Teach me your way, O LORD;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.
Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence.
Romans 9 is one of the most commonly used proof-texts to support the Calvinistic concept of unconditional election. This presentation briefly examines the arguments made from the text and answers them, vindicating the Bible concept of human free will.
I. About Our Lord Jesus 9
1. A Brief Continuous Biography . • ii
2. His Return, — The Centre and Climax
of All His Plannings • . • i6
n. On the Knees, with the Book, Finding out
Just What It Teaches About His Return . 19
1. GOD IS WORTHY OF PRAISE Based on Psa. 145
2. THE POWER OF PRAISE Based on Psalm 149:1-9
3. THE PINNACLE OF PRAISE Based on Psa. 150
4. UNIVERSAL PRAISE Based on Psa. 117
5. THE PHYSIOLOGY OF PRAISE Based on Psa. 47:1-9
6. THE PLEASURE OF PRAISE Based on Psa. 84
7. A PRAYER OF PRAISE Based on Dan. 2:19-23
8. THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE Based on Heb. 13:15-21
9. PERSISTENCE IN PRAISE Based on Heb. 13:15-21
10. THE PRAISE OF LAUGHTER Based on Psa. 126:1-6
11. HEAVEN'S HALLELUJAH CHORUS based on Rev. 19:1-10
Calvin, “In this Psalm, the faithful oppressed with the cruel tyranny of theirenemies, beseech God to deliver them, there being no other source of hope left forthem except in his protection.”
This chapter makes it so clear that you can be in the center of God's will and still have a rough time getting to where God wants you to be. There is opposition and
conflict,and many obstacles to overcome. David has been anointed as king of Israel for many years, and finally Saul's death makes it possible for him to move in the direction of taking that position. However, he has to take small steps and become the king of Judah for over 7 years before he can take the next step of becoming king of all God's people. It was a long and hard journey, and it teaches us that we have every reason to expect that being in God's will does not mean all will come easy, and without a need for patience.
An unknown author wrote,“Most of Jude is a scathing denunciation of false teachers—the smoke almost rises from its pages. The denunciation is sandwiched between two short, three-verse sections in which he exhorts them to faith and love. One of the factors that nearly kept it out of the canon was that Jude quotes two passages from apocryphal books, "The Assumption of Moses" and "The Book of Enoch," both of which were written between the writing of Malachi and beginning of the New Testament. Though they were apocryphal, Jude has no problem quoting
passages from them.”
This Psalm, perhaps more than any other, is marked by its mountains: depth; prayer; conviction; light; hope; waiting; watching; longing; confidence; assurance; universal happiness and joy ... Just as the barometer marks the rising of the weather, so does this Psalm, sentence by sentence, record the progress of the soul.
Paul wrote this epistle from prison in Rome where he had plenty of time as he awaited his trial. Daille wrote, "The imprisonment of St. Paul has done the church more good than the prosperity of the rest of the faithful of that age." This letter was written the same time as the letter to the Ephesians and Philemon, and they all seem to be delivered by the same messengers, Tychicus and Onesimus who was returning to his master, Philemon, who lived in Colosse.
William Barclay wrote, “There is an obvious difference between Paul's Letter to the Romans and any other of his letters. Anyone coming from, say, a reading of the
Letters to the Corinthians, will immediately feel that difference, both of atmosphere and of method. A very great part of it is due to one basic fact--when Paul wrote to
the Church at Rome he was writing to a Church with whose founding he had had nothing whatever to do and with which he had had no personal contact at all. That explains why in Romans there are so few of the details of practical problems which fill the other letters. That is why Romans, at first sight, seems so much more impersonal. As Dibelius put it, "It is of all Paul's letters the least conditioned by the
momentary situation." We may put that in another way. Romans, of all Paul's letters, comes nearest to being a theological treatise. In almost all his other letters he
is dealing with some immediate trouble, some pressing situation, some current error, some threatening danger, which was menacing the Church to which he was
writing. Romans is the nearest approach to a systematic exposition of Paul's own theological position, independent of any immediate set of circumstances.”
1. THE BEGINNING OF THE END Based on Rev. 1:1-2
2. THE BLESSED LIFE Based on Rev. 1:3
3. THE SEVEN CHURCHES Based on Rev. 1:4
4. THE KING IS COMING Based on Rev. 1:7
5. THE PRIORITY OF LOVE Based on Rev. 2:1-7
6. RETURN TO FIRST LOVE Based on Rev. 2:1f
7. RICH IN POVERTY Based on Rev. 2:8-11
8. THE CAPITAL OF HELL Based on Rev. 2:12-17
9. THE ROAD OF REPENTANCE. Based on Rev. 2:18-29
10. GETTING IN Based on Rev. 3:20 and 21:23-27
11. RELATIVELY IMPOSSIBLE Based on Rev. 4:1-11
12. PROGRESS IN HEAVEN Based on Rev. 7:13-17
13. THE ULTIMATE WEDDING Based on Rev. 19:1-9
14. A PAIN FREE PARADISE Based on Rev. 21:1-8
15. THE JOY OF HEAVEN
16. THE MOTIVATION OF HEAVEN
17. NO COWARDS IN HEAVEN Based on Rev. 21:7-8
18. THE MOUNTAIN PERSPECTIVE Based on Rev. 21:9-14
19. THE PRESENCE OF GOD Based on Rev. 21:3
1. SAVED FOR SUCCESS Based on Matt. 14:22-33
2. THE SUCCESSFUL FAILURE Based on Matt. 16:13-26
3. HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL NOBODY Based on John 6:1-13
4. GROWTH IS SUCCESS Based on I Cor. 3:1-9
5. THE BATTLE FOR SUCCESS Based on I Cor. 3:1-15
6. THE MOTIVATION TO SUCCEED Based on I Cor. 3:1-15
7. FRUIT IS SUCCESS Based on II Peter 1:8
8. A GOOD START IS NOT ENOUGH Based on Gen. 3:1f
9. PREREQUISITES FOR PURPOSEFUL LIVING Based on Prov. 2:1-3
10. TAKING LAUGHTER SERIOUSLY Based on Eccles. 2:1-11
11. FUN IS FUNDAMENTAL ZECH. 8:1-19
12. PRACTICING THE PRESENCE Based on Acts 17:22-31
13. STEPS TO CHRISTIAN MATURITY Based on I Peter 2:1-10
14. FELLOWSHIP IS FUNDAMENTAL Based on I John 1:3
15. TRUTH IN ACTION Based on I John 1:6
16. WALKING IN THE LIGHT Based on I John 1:7
The Song of Songs continues with the love adventure of young lovers. It is a poetic romance with roses and lilies and passion. The lovers are in a banquet hall with a banner of love.
Barnes wrote, "The chapter may be regarded as divided into four parts, and four questions in regard to the resurrection are solved:
1. Whether there is any resurrection of the dead? 1Co. 15:1-34.
2. With what body will the dead rise? 1Co. 15:35-51.
3. What will become of those who shall be alive when the Lord Jesus shall come to judge the world? 1Co_15:51-54.
4. What are the practical bearings of this doctrine? 1Co_15:55-58.
1. LET'S PLAY ANGELS Based on Luke 1:26-38
2. THE VIRGIN BIRTH Based on Luke 1:26-38
3. PRE-CHRISTMAS SONG Based on Luke 1:39f
4. THE BEAUTIFUL BENEDICTUS Based on Luke 1:51-80
5. THE MIND OF THE MASTER Based on Luke 2:40-52
6. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SMALL Based on Luke 2:41-52
7. STAR SEARCH Based on Luke 2:41-52
8. TRIUMPH OVER TEMPTATION Based on Luke 4:1-13
9. LABOR AND LEISURE Based on Luke 6:1-11
10. DIGGING DEEP Based on Luke 6:46-49
11. THE DILEMMA OF DOUBT Based on Luke 7_18-35
12. FOCUS ON FEET Based on Luke 7:36-50
13. A MOUNTAIN TOP EXPERIENCE Based on Luke 9:28-36
14. DEFECTIVE DISCIPLES Based on Luke 9:46-50
15. APOSTOLIC INTOLERANCE Based on Luke 9:49-50
16. MAKE KINDNESS THRIVE Based on Luke 10:25:37
17. THE STRUGGLE WITH STRESS LUKE 10:38-42
18. THE LITTLE FLOCK Based on Luke 12:22-34
19. DRESSED FOR THE SECOND COMING Based on Luke 12:35-48
20. THE REALITY OF ACCIDENTS Based on Luke 13:1-5
21. HEAVEN-LIKE HOSPITALITY Based on Luke 14:12-14
22. THE GREAT SUPPER Based on Luke 14:15-24
23. LETTING GO OF YOUR PAINFUL PAST Based on Luke 15:11-32
24. GOD IS OUR FRIEND Based on Luke 15:11-32
25. A PERPLEXING PARABLE Based on Luke 16:1-15
26. DEAD MEN DO TALK Based on Luke 16:19-31
27. THE CHRISTIAN'S DUTY Based on Luke 17:7-10
28. BREAKING OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONES Based on Luke 18:18-30
29. THE UPPER CLASS Based on Luke 22:24-30
30. WORDS OF LOVE Based on Luke 23:26-35
31. A CHRISTIAN CONVERTED Based on Luke 22:31-34, 54-62
32. FORGIVENESS OF SIN Based on Luke 23:34
33. GUILTY BUT PARDONED Based on Luke 23:34
34. LOVE'S RESPONSE TO HATE Based on Luke 23:34
35. THE WORD OF FAITH Based on Luke 23:39-46
36. THE PERFECT PROMISE Based on Luke 23:43
If the messenger being spoken of here is John the Baptist, then the speaker here is Jesus Christ the Messiah, for he says he will prepare the way before me. At the end
of the verse he is the Lord Almighty, and so Jesus is the Lord Almighty. It is the Lord himself who is the Messiah, and so Jesus was truly God in flesh. He was the God of the Old Testament, the Lord Almighty, who came into history as a man. Here is a clear statement of the deity of Christ. He is coming to his temple, and that temple is God's temple.
1. JONAH THE DESERTER Based on Jonah 1:1-3
2. JONAH'S FLIGHT LESSONS Based on Jonah 1:3
3. AWAKENED BY A PAGAN based on Jonah 1:4-6
4. THE LORD OR LUCK Based on Jonah 1:7
5. THE FEAR OF GOD Based on Jonah 1:8-10
6. SCRIPTURE AND SUICIDE Based on Jonah 1:11-12
7. PAGAN PIETY Based on Jonah 1:13-17
8. A HOPELESS SITUATION Based on Jonah 2
9. THE SHORTEST SERMON Based on Jonah 3:1-5
10. GOD'S REPENTANCE Based on Jonah 3:10
11. BECOMING WORLD CLASS CHRISTIANS Based on Jonah 3:10-4:11
12. DOWN IN THE DUMPS Based on Jonah 4:1-4
13. THE PRIORITY OF PERSONS Based on Jonah 4:6-11
14. ARE ALL WHO DIE IN INFANCY SAVED? Based on Jonah 4:11
15. WHO CARES ABOUT CATTLE? Based on Johan 4:11
A brief answer to the question, "Why is the Old Testament so violent?" (because I'm tired of trying to give a super-super-brief answer to the complex question in ten seconds or less).
"Is the Tree of Life in the Bible a metaphor"? A conversation
Liz Marsh
13h ago
In Genesis, maybe the 7 days could be 7 periods of time, such as to the Lord a day is as a thousand years. The story of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil could have represented in story form a general human rebellion against God (still in process) as led by Lucifer as he whispered to them that God is a liar and did not want them to be what they could be, that is gods. It could have represented man can to go beyond Gods will. Because of this, God would have had to put some restrictions on mans access to eternal life with Him, as represented symbolically by the story of removing them from the Garden (the domain of God and the innocent) in which was that Tree of Life.
The book of Judges is filled with tragedy and humor, and though this commentary will deal with all of the tragedy, it will focus on the humor that is often neglected in the study of this book. The first thing about it that is funny is the name itself. Judges gives us an image of men and women with long black gowns holding a gavel and keeping order in the court as they make judgments on people who are
brought to trial. The judges in this book do not bang gavels on their desk, but,instead, they bang farm instruments and animal bones on the heads of the Canaanites, and by this strange means bring some order to the nation. Shamgar
banged his ox goad on the heads of 600 of the enemy and sentenced them to death,and Samson banged his jawbone of an ass on a thousand of them and pronounced the verdict guilty, and sentenced them to capital punishment They were what you call hanging judges for sure, but they were not really judges as we think of them. They were more like Robin Hood and war heroes. They were not behind a desk, but out in the field with hands on executions. They were judge, jury and executioner. If these Judges ever got together and formed their own company a good name would be, "Sears, Burns, Hurtz and Hollers." They were devastating when they passed sentence on any people or town, and there was no appeal, for there was usually no
one left to appeal.
1. JOB THE RIGHTEOUS SUFFERER Based on Job 1:1
2. SUFFERING IS NOT GOOD-A STUDY IN JOB.
3. WHY TRAGEDY? Based on Job 1:6f
4. GOOD AND EVIL Based on Gen. 3:6
5. GOOD AND EVIL II Based on Gen. 3:22-24
6. A SIMPLE SOLUTION TO SUFFERING Based on John 9:1-23
7. ACCIDENTAL SUFFERING Based on Acts 20:7-12
8. THE SEVEN CAUSES OF SUFFERING Based on Luke 13:1-17
9. DEATH AND THE WILL OF GOD ACTS 7:51-60
10. PART II DEATH AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
11. THE MYSTERY OF DEATH Based on I Cor. 15:51-58
12. SUCCESSFUL SUFFERING Based on James 1:1-8
11. GOOD OUT OF EVIL Based on Phil. 1:12-26
12. GOOD OUT OF EVIL PART2 Based on James 1:12
13. A BELIEVER'S RESPONSE TO DEATH based on II Sam. 12:15-23
14. DELIVERED FROM DEATH BASED ON PSALM 116
15. THE VALUE OF DEATH BASED ON PSALM 116
16. THE RIGHT TO QUESTION GOD Based on Hab. 1:1-4
1. THE COURTROOM OF HEAVEN Based on Job 1:6-12
2. JOB'S WIFE Based on Job 2:1-13
3. THE SAINT IN DEPRESSION Based on Job 3
4. DOWN IN THE DUMPS based on Job 3
5. SINFUL SYMPATHY Based on Job 4
6. SANCTIFIED SYMPATHY Based on Job 4
7. JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS Based on Job 5
8. DISCOURAGING COMFORT Based on Job 5
9. JUSTIFIABLE COMPLAINT Based on Job 6
10. SELF DEFENSE Based on Job 6
11. WHY? Based on Job 7
12. JOB AND SELF-ESTEEM Based on Job 27:1-6
13. THE TREASURES OF THE SNOW Job 37:1-14 and 38:22
14. A HAPPY ENDING Based on Job 42:1-6
Jesus was urging us to pray and never give upGLENN PEASE
This is a study of Jesus urging us to pray and never give up. He uses a widow who kept coming to a judge for help and she was so persistent he had to give her the justice she sought. God will do the same for us if we never give up but keep on praying.
This is a study of Jesus being questioned about fasting. His disciples were not doing it like John's disciples and the Pharisees. Jesus gives His answer that gets Him into the time of celebration with new wineskins that do away with the old ones. Jesus says we do not fast at a party and a celebration.
This is a study of Jesus being scoffed at by the Pharisees. Jesus told a parable about loving money more than God, and it hit them hard. They in anger just turned up their noses and made fun of His foolish teaching.
Jesus was clear you cannot serve two mastersGLENN PEASE
This is a study of Jesus being clear on the issue, you cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve God and money at the same time because you will love one and hate the other. You have to make a choice and a commitment.
Jesus was saying what the kingdom is likeGLENN PEASE
This is a study of Jesus saying what the kingdom is like. He does so by telling the Parable of the growing seed. It just grows by itself by nature and man just harvests it when ripe. There is mystery here.
Jesus was telling a story of good fish and badGLENN PEASE
This is a study of Jesus telling a story of good fish and bad fish. He illustrates the final separation of true believers from false believers by the way fishermen separate good and bad fish.
Jesus was comparing the kingdom of god to yeastGLENN PEASE
This is a study of Jesus comparing the kingdom of God to yeast. A little can go a long way, and the yeast fills the whole of the large dough, and so the kingdom of God will fill all nations of the earth.
This is a study of Jesus telling a shocking parable. It has some terrible words at the end, but it is all about being faithful with what our Lord has given us. We need to make whatever has been given us to count for our Lord.
Jesus was telling the parable of the talentsGLENN PEASE
This is a study of Jesus telling the parable of the talents, There are a variety of talents given and whatever the talent we get we are to do our best for the Master, for He requires fruit or judgment.
Jesus was explaining the parable of the sowerGLENN PEASE
This is a study of Jesus explaining the parable of the sower. It is all about the seed and the soil and the fruitfulness of the combination. The Word is the seed and we need it in our lives to bear fruit for God.
This is a study of Jesus warning against covetousness. Greed actually will lead to spiritual poverty, so Jesus says do not live to get, but develop a spirit of giving instead,
Jesus was explaining the parable of the weedsGLENN PEASE
This is a study of Jesus explaining the parable of the weeds. The disciples did not understand the parable and so Jesus gave them a clear commentary to help them grasp what it was saying.
This is a study of Jesus being radical. He was radical in His claims, and in His teaching, and in the language He used, and in His actions. He was clearly radical.
This is a study of Jesus laughing in time and in eternity. He promised we would laugh with Him in heaven, and most agree that Jesus often laughed with His followers in His earthly ministry. Jesus was a laugher by nature being He was God, and God did laugh, and being man, who by nature does laugh. Look at the masses of little babies that laugh on the internet. It is natural to being human.
This is a study of Jesus as our protector. He will strengthen and protect from the evil one. We need His protection for we are not always aware of the snares of the evil one.
This is a study of Jesus not being a self pleaser. He looked to helping and pleasing others and was an example for all believers to look to others need and not focus on self.
This is a study of Jesus being the clothing we are to wear. To be clothed in Jesus is to be like Jesus in the way we look and how our life is to appear before the world.
This is a study of Jesus being our liberator. By His death He set us free from the law of sin and death. We are under no condemnation when we trust Him as our Savior and Liberator.
The PBHP DYC ~ Reflections on The Dhamma (English).pptxOH TEIK BIN
A PowerPoint Presentation based on the Dhamma Reflections for the PBHP DYC for the years 1993 – 2012. To motivate and inspire DYC members to keep on practicing the Dhamma and to do the meritorious deed of Dhammaduta work.
The texts are in English.
For the Video with audio narration, comments and texts in English, please check out the Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF2g_43NEa0
Lesson 9 - Resisting Temptation Along the Way.pptxCelso Napoleon
Lesson 9 - Resisting Temptation Along the Way
SBs – Sunday Bible School
Adult Bible Lessons 2nd quarter 2024 CPAD
MAGAZINE: THE CAREER THAT IS PROPOSED TO US: The Path of Salvation, Holiness and Perseverance to Reach Heaven
Commentator: Pastor Osiel Gomes
Presentation: Missionary Celso Napoleon
Renewed in Grace
The Good News, newsletter for June 2024 is hereNoHo FUMC
Our monthly newsletter is available to read online. We hope you will join us each Sunday in person for our worship service. Make sure to subscribe and follow us on YouTube and social media.
What Should be the Christian View of Anime?Joe Muraguri
We will learn what Anime is and see what a Christian should consider before watching anime movies? We will also learn a little bit of Shintoism religion and hentai (the craze of internet pornography today).
The Chakra System in our body - A Portal to Interdimensional Consciousness.pptxBharat Technology
each chakra is studied in greater detail, several steps have been included to
strengthen your personal intention to open each chakra more fully. These are designed
to draw forth the highest benefit for your spiritual growth.
Homily: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Sunday 2024.docxJames Knipper
Countless volumes have been written trying to explain the mystery of three persons in one true God, leaving us to resort to metaphors such as the three-leaf clover to try to comprehend the Divinity. Many of us grew up with the quintessential pyramidal Trinity structure of God at the top and Son and Spirit in opposite corners. But what if we looked at this ‘mystery’ from a different perspective? What if we shifted our language of God as a being towards the concept of God as love? What if we focused more on the relationship within the Trinity versus the persons of the Trinity? What if stopped looking at God as a noun…and instead considered God as a verb? Check it out…
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian exile.
In Jude 17-23 Jude shifts from piling up examples of false teachers from the Old Testament to a series of practical exhortations that flow from apostolic instruction. He preserves for us what may well have been part of the apostolic catechism for the first generation of Christ-followers. In these instructions Jude exhorts the believer to deal with 3 different groups of people: scoffers who are "devoid of the Spirit", believers who have come under the influence of scoffers and believers who are so entrenched in false teaching that they need rescue and pose some real spiritual risk for the rescuer. In all of this Jude emphasizes Jesus' call to rescue straying sheep, leaving the 99 safely behind and pursuing the 1.
1. HUMOR I JOB MY STUDY
HUMOR I CO ECTIO WITH JOB
If someone asked you what book of the Bible is among the most famous
and the most funny, what would you say? The reason the answer is funny
is because it is so unexpected, for that book would be the book considered
to be so serious as to be without humor, and that book would be Job. You
may
never have heard of it, but it is considered by many to be the longest
comedy in all the Bible. It is filled with irony, sarcasm and insults
much like many a sitcom on television. It is not full of jokes, and it
is not that you are going to laugh your way through it, for it is dealing
with tragedy as bad as they come, and ongoing suffering that is being
endured by a completely innocent man, who has to put up with friends
who
are constantly trying to blame him for it all. It is full of pain, but
it is also a case where tragedy and comedy exist side by side.
William Whedbee of Pomona College wrote a study on Job and this is
part
of what his thesis said, "The Book of Job continues to evoke radically
diverse interpretations. In particular, the problem of the dominant
genre of the book has perennially challenged and frustrated interpreters.
My own thesis is that when the poem of Job is set in its full and final
literary context, replete with Prologue and Epilogue as well as the Elihu
speeches, the most apt generic designation of the book is comedy."
1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was
blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.
If you're looking for the latest buzz
Check out Job from the land of Uz.
You'll have to search the whole wide globe
To find a man greater than Job.
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He was a man blameless and upright
And he chose against all evil to fight.
As through this world of woe he trod,
He lived his life in the fear of God.
This is Israel's first book of poetry and wisdom. We have here not,
the wizard of Oz, but the wisdom of Uz. Uz was in Arabia near the mouth
of the Euphrates river, or in what we today call Iraq. It is amazing
how much of the Bible revolves around this country we now call Iraq,
which is so much in the news.
1. The garden of Eden was in Iraq.
2. Mesopotamia which is now Iraq was the cradle of civilization.
3. oah built the ark in Iraq.
4. The Tower of Babel was in Iraq.
5. Abraham was from Ur, which is in Southern Iraq.
6. Isaac's wife Rebekah is from ahor which is in Iraq.
7. Jacob met Rachel in Iraq.
8. Jonah preached in ineveh - which is in Iraq.
9. Assyria which is in Iraq conquered the ten tribes of Israel.
10. Amos cried out in Iraq.
11. Babylon which is in Iraq destroyed Jerusalem.
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12. Daniel was in the lion's den in Iraq.
13. The 3 Hebrew children were in the fire in Iraq.
14. Belshazzar, the King of Babylon saw the "writing on the wall" in
Iraq.
15. ebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, carried the Jews captive into
Iraq.
16. Ezekiel preached in Iraq.
17. The wise men were from Iraq.
18. Peter preached in Iraq.
19. The "Empire of Man" described in Revelation is called Babylon,
which was a city in Iraq.
Israel is the nation most often mentioned in the Bible. But do you know
which nation
is second? It is Iraq! However, that is not the name that is used in the
Bible. The
names used in the Bible are Babylon, Land of Shinar, and Mesopotamia.
The word Mesopotamia means between the two rivers, more exactly
between
the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The name Iraq, means country with
deep
roots. Indeed, Iraq is a country with deep roots and is a very
significant country in the Bible.
o other nation, except Israel, has more history and prophecy
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associated in it than Iraq
Job was one of the famous Gentiles of the Bible. Some Jews want to claim
him as one of their own,
but the vast majority of commentators, even Jewish ones, agree that he
was likely an Arabian gentile.
There is humor in this even in that many of the greatest people in the
Jewish Bible are gentiles.
Judaism started with a Gentile by the name of Abraham, and here we
have the description of the
most righteous man in the Old Testament, and he is a Gentile.
His suffering is not chastisement to get him back on the right track, for he
never left the right track. His experience does not represent the
typical man, but rather, the suffering of the very righteous. Ezek. 14:14,
20 make clear he was one of the best. The description of Job, that
God agrees with a little later, proves that his suffering has nothing to do
with punishment, for he did nothing worthy of punishment. It also had
nothing to do with discipline and chastisement, for he was blameless and
did not deserve any such thing. His character is such that it destroys
the arguments of his friends that he is suffering because of some secret sin
in his life. It also destroys most other theories as to why the
innocent suffer. The book of Job does not give many answers as to why
the innocent suffer, but it does eliminate most all guesses and theories
that men have come up with. Job ranks next to Jesus in his sinlessness
and in his suffering. Job is the most innocent sufferer that was totally
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man. Only two other men in all of the Bible are on his level of perfection.
In Ezekiel 14 we read these words from the mouth of God himself:
12 The word of the LORD came to me: 13 "Son of man, if a country sins
against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it
to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and
their animals, 14 even if these three men— oah, Daniel [a] and Job—
were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness,
declares the Sovereign LORD. 17 "Or if I bring a sword against that
country and say, 'Let the sword pass throughout the land,' and I kill its
men and their animals, 18 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign
LORD, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own
sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.
ote that 2 of the 3 are Gentiles, and the third became a leader in a
Gentile nation, and spent his life among the Gentiles. One of the most
interesting things about the Jewish Bible, or what we call the Old
Testament, is the role that Gentiles play in God's plan and revelation.
One
of the most common misconceptions is that God chose the Jews because
he loved them more than all other people. The fact is, God chose the
Jews because he needed a particular people to be a tool by which he could
reach all people with the good news of salvation. God has always
been one who so loved the world, that is all people. The purpose of the
Jews was to become a godly nation who could be a blessing to all
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nations because they would bring to all nations the good news of the one
true God.
Job 1:6 One view of Satan is that he was created to do a job that other
angels would not do. His task was to investigate and report back to
God all signs of sin in God's creation due to man's free willed decisions.
The occupational hazard of this kind of job is that in dealing only with
the negative you tend to become negative. Satan got so carried away with
his job of finding bad things that he started to promote the bad
things he was looking for. Power corrupts and we see it in Satan. He
became cruel like the secret police who have the power to abuse. I
Chron. 21:1. Power even in the hands of good people has danger-I Tim.
3:6.
One aspect of humor is being on the inside of what is going on, and
having the privilege of knowing why the person who is going through
something is doing so. We have inside information and so we know the
reason, but Job knows nothing about this meeting in heaven. We
already know that God considers him righteous and not in any way
worthy of judgment. The friends do not know this scene either and so
they
come up with their own theories that condemn Job. But we already know
Job is what he says, innocent and not worthy of such judgement,
and so it is funny to see the friends coming up with their nonsense. We
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can laugh at them for we know where God stands from the beginning.
They look foolish in the light of what we know.
CHAPTER THREE
Swift used to go into his closet every year on his birthday and read this
chapter, and sob as he applied it to himself."
Cursing has been an age old tradition, and even today yet there are curses
that deal with contemporary situations. People call down upon
others bad things. Why do bad things happen to good people? That is the
question of the ages, and one of the answers is that people have
cursed them. Some modern curses are not quite as severe as the old time
witches curses, but they are still bad enough to spoil your day. Some
examples are:
May ketchup always find your shirt
May all the windows you jump through be closed
May all your friends eat beans constantly
May all the water you dive into be a mirage
May all your sandwiches have mold on them
May you have a close encounter with an insane dentist
May a rabbit mistake your nose for a carrot
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May you be the recipient of the south end of a north-facing camel
As ridiculous as these sound they do not compare with the curse of Job on
the day of his birth. This is probably the most radical curse on a
particular day that exists in all of human literature. It is funny because it
is so extreme that it is overkill. o matter how you curse that day you
were born it does not change anything, and so it is meaningless. It does
reveal the depth of Job’s despair and how he hates being alive with all
he has suffered, but it is a strange way of dealing with his pain. If it could
actually be eliminated as he desires then all others born on that day
would not exist, and he would be destroying the lives of how many
thousands who are happy for that day of their birth? There is no humor
in
what Job had suffered, and yet there is because of it being so extreme that
it is ridiculous. Concider this record-Job began the day as a
millionaire but in a series of unfortunate circumstances he would lose all
his wealth.
If that wasn’t enough, a tornado hit the house where his ten children were
and they all died. Then the Bible tells us that Job’s health broke.
Chuck Swindoll gives a summary of Job’s physical pain. He suffered:
• Inflamed ulcerous sores (Job 2:7)
• Persistent itching (Job 2:8)
• Facial disfiguration (Job 2:12)
• Loss of appetite (Job 3:24)
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• Fears and depression (Job 3:25)
• Sores that burst open, scab over, crack and
ooze with pus (Job 7:5)
• Worms that form in the sores themselves
(Job 7:5)
• Difficulty in breathing (Job 9:18)
• A darkening of the eyelid (Job 16:16)
• Loss of weight (Job 19:20)
• Continual pain (Job 30:27)
• High fever with chills and diarrhea
(Job 30:30)
On top of that Job says, “my breath is offensive to my wife” (19:17). After
reading that list it is funny that he would add his bad breath as
part of his terrible suffering.
Job was so disfigured and disgusting that nearly everyone including his
servants rejected him. He was so poor and despised that eventually he
had to go live in the city garbage dump. Warren Wiersbe describes what
living there was like. “In this place the city garbage was deposited
and burned and the city’s rejects lived, begging money from whomever
passed by. Dogs fought over something to eat and city’s dung was
brought and burned. Job, who was once the greatest of all men in the
East was now living in abject poverty and shame.”
[1] 1:5 The Hebrew word bless is used euphemistically for curse in 1:5,
11; 2:5, 9
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HUMOR A D TRAGEDY
Worst Day Of 'My' Life
There was a guy in a bar, just looking at his drink. He stayed like that for
half an hour. Then, this big trouble-making truck driver stepped up
next to him, took the drink from the guy, and drank it all down. The poor
man started crying. The truck driver said, “Come on man, I was just
joking. Here, I'll buy you another drink. I just can't see a man crying.”
“ o, it's not that. This day is the worst of my life. First, I was late
getting to my office. My boss was outrageous, and fired me. When I left
the building to go to my car, I found out it was stolen. The police say
they can do nothing. I got a cab to return home, and when I left it, I
remembered I left my wallet and credit cards there. The cab driver just
drove away. When I got home, I found my wife in bed with the gardener.
I left home and came to this bar. And just when I was thinking about
putting an end to my life, you show up and drink my poison.”
3:1
You might think things can't get worse,
But you'd be wrong, just hear this curse.
May that day on which I was born
Be forever treated with scorn.
May there never be any joy
On that day they said,"It's a boy."
May God in heaven to my voice give hark
And keep that day forever in dark.
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May it never see again the dawn of light,
But remain overshadowed in endless night.
May it be cut from the calender of time
And be totally barren of laughter and rhyme.
May it ever be as dark as the tomb
Because it did not shut the door of the womb.
Let the curse of it be more than double
Because it let me be born to this trouble.
Why oh why did I not die?
Why did my mother have to hear my first cry?
Why did she nurse me and give me my life?
I could have been aborted and escaped all this strife.
Had I been born dead at my birth
I could be lying in peace in the earth.
This thing called living is a vicious pest,
I would rather be in the grave and at rest.
This would have been my choices goal
And thus escape this bitterness of soul.
I long for death like a hidden treasure,
And to be in the grave would be my pleasure.
My tears flow out like streams of water,
For all my hopes have met with slaughter.
There is nothing left and so I cry,
Take my life and let me die.
We have in this chapter the humor of excessive pessimism and cursing.
Anything that is done to such an excess that it becomes ridiculous is a
form of humor. We know because of future chapters that Job had a sense
of humor, but he has completely lost it at this point. He has gone
bonkers over his fate and demonstrates excessive pessimism like no one
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else in history.
After 7 days of sitting in silence and feeling the pain of all he had lost and
all his body was suffering, he opens up and the first thing that comes
out is a curse on the day of his birth. He has had 7 days to brood over all
he had suffered and now he is ready to explode with eloquent anger
that he is alive. It is safe to assume that Job did not want his friends to
sing happy birthday to him anytime soon. He would have cherished a
happy death day, however, but there are few to no tunes for that
occasion. It is understandable why Job is miserable, but why he takes it
out
on the day he was born is hard to understand. The day of his birth is
innocent, and yet he curses it to the greatest extent of language for
cursing. Thank heavens the actual date of his birth is not revealed, for
that would be a very negative date for people to be born. Even though
this curse did not have any effect on the day, it would not be a good omen
to have your day of birth labeled with such a famous curse. So the
good new is, nobody knows the day which Job cursed. Those who fear the
number 13 are no doubt persuaded it was Friday the 13th, but this
is pure speculation.
Job was not alone in cursing the day of his birth, for Jeremiah does the
same thing. Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me!Jer.
15:10. Cursed be the day wherein I was born, Jer. 20:13. Both of these
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men had many years in which they gave thanks to God for being born,
and like everyone else they celebrated the day of their birth. It is a form
of folly to be cursing the day of your birth after you have already
celebrated it many times. That is why we have to assume that this sort of
thing is just a way of expressing how miserable life has become.
Solomon also had his bad days when he thought dying was better than
being born. He was not happy with his birthday. "A good name is
better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s
birth." Eccl, 7:1 So we have in the Bible three stooges who get so
caught up in the negatives of life that they foolishly deny the value of
being born and having life.
Another great man of God, Elijah, had the same pessimistic attitude, but
he did not curse his day of birth, but just said, "kill me."
"I have had enough, Lord," Elijah prayed, "Take my life…" (1 Kings
19:4).
Matthew Henry writes, “It was Job's folly and weakness to curse his day.
We must say of it, This was his infirmity; but good men have
sometimes failed in the exercise of those graces which they have been
most eminent for, that we may understand that when they are said to
be perfect it is meant that they were upright, not that they were sinless.”
Others have felt they wish they could die and be done with this life,
but they never dreamed of cursing the day of their birth. Stedman said, “I
do not know if you have ever felt that way, but I think there have
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been times when I wished I could have dropped out of the scene entirely
and gone home to heaven.”
Martin Luther was typical of the great men of God who found
themselves in the dumps. Chapter 3 of Job could well have been one of his
own songs of the blues. He sounded so much like Job when he wrote, "I
am sick of life, if this life can be called life. Implacable hatred and
strife amongst the great-no hopes of any improvement-the age is Satan's
own; gladly would I see myself and all my people quickly snatched
from it." He could not see the future and how his writing would influence
millions all over the world. Tim LaHaye has written some of the
finest books, and one is, How To Win Over Depression. He wrote this
book because back in 1969 it hit him, and for two and a half years he
went through five periods of depression. The awfulness of it motivated
him to seek answers, and to help others to gain victory. Vance
Havner went through great depression when his wife died, and he wrote,
Though I Walk Through The Valley, to help others who go that same
way.
History is filled with words of pessimism about life and the wish that they
were dead, but as we read them we will notice that Job's is different
in that he was not content to wish he was dead, but he wished that the day
of his birth was dead, and that it never existed. Some just want to
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be dead because they are too lazy to live. Such is the idea behind this little
verse:
Things get so much harder
When we have to leave our bed
Wouldn't life be easier
If we were just dead?
From the desk of Mindles H. Dreck:
Some folk like music, some folk like tea, Some folk like women, they're
not for me. Here is my motto, simple and terse: Everything;s lousy,
and going to get worse! Oh, I wish Oh, I wish Man had never evolved
from a fish. Oh, I wish I were dead, Wish I'd been dropped on my head,
Broken my neck, lost the toss with a bull, Parachute jumped and
forgotten to pull, Oh, I long to be dead, Wrapped in a casket of lead, Wish
I'd been drowned in a barrel of trout, Dived off the pier when the tide
was still out.
The grave, the grave,
Is a fine and private place,
The grave, the grave,
And who the devil wants to embrace?
I wish, I wish I were dead,
Laid out with a lilly in bed,
Wish that I'd drunk some carbolic for fun,
Tested the trigger while cleaning my gun,
Or just shrivelled up in the heat of the sun,
Oh, I wish I were dead, dead, dead,
Oh, I wish I were,
Oh, I wish I were,
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Oh, I wish I were,
I wish I was dead.
The fact is, millions really feel this way, but they do not curse the day of
their birth. It is strange to do such a thing, and strange is funny. It is
funny to think that one whole chapter of the Bible is about cursing of
one's birthday. Is God joking with us, to give us a whole chapter of his
revelation dealing with cursing the day of birth? We need to see the
psychology of this to understand its value. Satan said Job would curse
God to his face if he lost all. Job had to have feelings of unbelievable
anger at God and the mystery of why he was suffering all this tragedy.
He was ready to explode, but he found an outlet for his anger and
depression. Instead of cursing God, he cursed the day of his birth, and he
went on and on to excess because he was so filled with negative emotions
and he needed to release them or Satan would win the battle, for he
would curse God. This chapter is about releasing pent up emotions that
can lead to damaging sin by finding an object to hurl them at that
does not hurt man or God. It is really quite clever of Job, for it is wisdom
in action. It is like taking out your frustration by hitting a pillow
rather than the neighbor that is driving you batty. Couples in conflict are
encouraged to have pillow fights to release their anger. As they
batter one another they will end up laughing and release all the emotions
that makes them want to strangle each other. Anytime an inanimate
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object can be the focus for releasing your anger you have won a major
battle, and that is what we see Job doing in this chapter. Job goes the
final step and chooses to release his anger at what is not even an object,
but a day, and not a soul in all the world will be injured or even
affected by this curse. It is the most violent curse of a day ever, and yet it
is less hurtful to anyone than striking the side of a steel building with
a feather. It is horrible in its expression, but harmless in it effect.
"Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases
to be serious when people laugh."- George Bernard Shaw
VERSE 3
Job, why don't you tell us how you really feel. This is sarcasm that I have
heard when expressing emotions.
C.S. Lewis once said, “We must lay before God what is in us, not what is
not in us.” If you are upset with God, don’t fake it. IT IS OT
ILLEGAL TO EXPRESS YOUR HO EST EMOTIO S A D
FEELI GS TO GOD.
VERSE 4
Here we have a good example of unanswered prayer, for he wanted God
to not care about this day, and to make sure the sun would never
shine on it. Such a weird request with no value is not taken seriously by
God. He ignores all such curses just as he does all of those who every
day are asking him to damn somebody. People are always wanting God to
do some stupid thing or other, and thank God he does not pay
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attention to such nonsense. Job’s parents and family members are still
happy about that day a son was born. They are not happy about what
that son is now going through, but they certainly do not regret having this
son brought into the world and their lives. This is just very personal
bitterness being expressed, and nobody would expect God to honor such a
neurotic request.
VERSE 7
Come on Job, there are babies born on that very day every year, and the
families want to shout for joy. You cannot rob the rest of mankind
of the joy at the birth of children just because your life is in misery. This
is really a picture of ultimate selfishness where Job wants the whole
universe to revolve around his feelings. The fact is, when people are
suffering deeply they do become self-centered, for it is hard to be
concerned with anyone or anything but yourself when pain demands your
full attention.
CHAPTER 6:14-23
Job is now responding to the lack of encouragement he is receiving from
his friends. He does not feel they have helped him at all. In fact, he is
worse off with their presence because they add one more pain to his
misery. He thought it could not get worse, and then his friends start to
speak and he realizes he was wrong. It is not right that they should add to
his pain and he lets them know in not so subtle language.
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The Message puts this verse this way: ""When desperate people give up
on God Almighty, their friends, at least, should stick with them." He
was not getting any good vibes from God, but he expected that his friends
would at least support him."
The humor is in Job's criticism of their worthless comfort.
CHAPTER 12
1-12 in verse:
One thing is for sure, there is no doubt,
When you die, the lights of wisdom will go out.
You guys need to face it, I too have a mind,
And you do not leave me behind.
In pride you make it big show,
But everything you say I also know.
My friends now just laugh at me,
Though once, only my good they did see.
When all goes well men hate to see
The pain of those in agony.
Even foolish men with homemade gods
Are able to beat the suffering odds.
They live a life that is secure
And have no tragedy to endure.
All of nature can show and tell
The very things on which you dwell.
They all know God's hand did this,
For by his hand come pain and bliss.
By his hand all things have breath.
He is the Lord of life and death.
The ear can taste if words are good
Just as the tongue can taste of food.
Is not wisdom among the aged found,
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For long life makes them quite profound.
Today we would use sarcasm like this by saying, okey Einstein, I guess
you know all and the rest of us are mere dunces who must bow to your
every word or live like ignorant idiots. Oh wise ones, what fools we are to
not see you have grasped all the wisdom of the world. Job is saying
you are full of it, with all your conceited arrogance that pretends to have
a monopoly on the truth. This is severe sarcasm and it shows Job's
contempt for their commonplace platitudes they are using to scold him.
CHAPTER 13
1 "My eyes have seen all this,
my ears have heard and understood it.
2 What you know, I also know;
I am not inferior to you.
3 But I desire to speak to the Almighty
and to argue my case with God.
4 You, however, smear me with lies;
you are worthless physicians, all of you!
5 If only you would be altogether silent!
For you, that would be wisdom.
CHAPTER 15 ELIPHAS CRITICISM
CHAPTER 16
Job is saying I have had an ample supply of this kind of advice. You have
been saying the same things over and over and I am sufficiently
filled with your miserable so-called wisdom. I am sick of you acting so
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self-righteous and wise. You are making me sicker instead of soothing
my misery. I did not think it possible to be more miserable than I already
was, but you clever friends found a way to push me to a new low.
Congradulations on being successful in adding another oxymoron to
human language- miserable comforters.
You repeat and repeat over and over the same old cliches that have no
relevance to the issue of my suffering. You are spouting the same old
boring proverbs of the ancients that everyone has heard a million times,
and they carry no weight in giving comfort. In fact, they add to the
misery rather than detract from it. You are multiplying misery with your
meaningless mouthings of speeches without compassion.
16:4
You think that you are something special because you can throw out
advice and counsel to a suffering man that makes you look so superior
to him. Let me assure you that it does not take great talent and wisdom,
for I could make you just as miserable as you are making me if you
were going through the tragic circumstances that I am going through. I
could easily come up with a mean speech like your, and then shake
my head at you for being so pathetic. ote that I said it would be a
speech, not to comfort you, but against you. That is the kind of speeches
you are making, for they are not for me, but against me. You are my
critics and not my comforters.
Job is trying to make it clear that they are not helping the situation. He is
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going to be as mean as they are in hopes they will see how foolish it
is to try and comfort someone with criticism and arguing. I could put
together some long winded boring speeches that insult your intelligence
if our positions were reversed, and I could shake my head at you, which is
an expression of scorn, but lets face it, that is not the way of
friendship.
There is more comedy to come, but this is as far as I get for now.
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