The House You're Building

This section begins the second cycle of argument between Job and his friends as they debate suffering.   Eliphaz, the same person who spoke to him begins the response.   Remember he was the one who claimed he knew of suffering because of a vision he received in the night and what he’d obserbed about life.   The second time around, he no longer wants to appeal for him to repent; he’s seen Job’s other responses and that argument seems pointless now.   His words intensify and his argument too, that Job is wicked and is being punished.   He goes so far as to say that his response to his suffering is rebellion against God (Job 15:13).   Remember as you study that this book is poetic and should be interpreted as such.   When Eliphaz hammers his points, they tend to repeat as in poetry this adds emphasis and intensity to his argument.   Job’s response in chapters 16 and 17 can be summed up by our key verse this week:   My friends sco...

Prepare your heart-Read Psalm 4, paying careful attention to the word righteousness and any other synonyms of the word.   Pray about where your faith is in regard to trusting in the Lord for your righteousness (4:1,5). Good and evil, also called righteousness and wickedness is not a popular concept in American culture.   Our society likes to see shades of gray and justify their actions.   They are afraid of being viewed as intolerant to judge something as “right or wrong.”   Where does your sense of morality lie?   Is it based on the ever changing, fickle, self-seeking and superficial views of others who don’t consider their eternity?   Or on word of truth that is timeless, whose source is the all-knowing, beyond time God who created it all?   Today as you study, how God views the wicked and the righteous in His sight, and take note of the blessings and consequences each role brings.   Proverbs: ·    ...