Partakers Christian Podcasts

Bible Thought - Take Up Your Cross - WOW Word 17

WOW Word - Your Cross

Jesus speaking “Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:23-26 )

What is our response to this to be? As followers of Jesus Christ we are commanded to count the cost of following Him. That is how we carry our own cross for the sake of Jesus Christ. Jesus wants to be number one in the life of all those who choose to follow him! Jesus wants supremacy over everything in our lives, including family, friends, and possessions! Alas, that’s a cost too high for some!

Here is one man who couldn’t give up something to follow Jesus! Let’s call him Basil. Basil runs up to Jesus and wants eternal life, wants it now and asks Jesus about how to get it. He has fully kept the commandments listed by Jesus. However!

However when Jesus said to Basil that in order to follow Him, he would have to give up all his wealth and possessions in order to have treasure in heaven and eternal life, Basil leaves disconsolate and shattered. The life of Basil, this rich young ruler, reflected a life of absorption with his own self-interest and self-importance!. It was a step too far for Basil. He wanted his riches and also everlasting life, but Jesus said he couldn’t have both. He remains the only person that we know of, who left Jesus’ presence sorrowful. That was due to Basil putting his trust in himself, his riches and wealth alone. Now riches, in and of themselves, are not necessarily wrong! But for Basil, well, he was not willing to make the sacrifice required to follow Jesus. He couldn’t count the cost of following Jesus– it was too high a price for him to pay!

What have you given up in and as a result of your decision to follow Jesus? Making sacrifices to follow Jesus is all part of the WOW factor of Jesus. Jesus demands that He is number one and supreme over everything else in your life - yourself, family, others and material goods including money and possessions. How is this done? This is done by consistently ensuring that your works and words match your lifestyle and that no hypocrisy can be found, or indeed will be found. It means standing up for God in the face of adversity. It means loving others even though they hate you.

Just a couple of examples. In the UK, we aren’t systematically persecuted. We are marginalized, ridiculed and ignored but some of our Christian family around the world who daily face death simply because they chose to follow Jesus. They are carrying their cross for Jesus! What about us in the UK? For example: if we as Christians were known by our self-sacrificial love of all others, then Jesus whom we claim to love, follow, worship, and adore would be seen.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote "When Jesus Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. ... Discipleship is not an offer that man makes to Jesus Christ, nor is it hero worship, but intimacy with Christ." (The Cost of Discipleship). Bonnhoeffer knew that as a Christian, a person has to take up their own cross in following Jesus and count the cost of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Finally, let’s look at 1 John 3:16 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for others.” Jesus told us to take up our own cross if we are to follow Him as His Disciple. How is that possible? If we try to do that in our own strength and wisdom, we will fail. If we do that using the power and strength of the Holy Spirit within you, then you will succeed at following Jesus’ command. Are you as a Disciple of Jesus Christ willing to take up your cross? What a difference that would make to the community where you live! 

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Jesus - A Glimpse Of God Part 30

Cross Events

 

Welcome back to our Easter series, AGOG – A Glimpse of God. We are on Day 29 of our adventure, looking together at the life of the most amazing person in human history - Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Today we look briefly at events surrounding Jesus' death.

1. Mockers and scoffers - Matthew 27:38-40 

2. Testimony and tearing - Matthew 27:50-54

3. Dead and Buried - John 19:38-40 ~

4. On Guard - Matthew 27:62-66 

Come back tomorrow for Day 31 of our series AGOG, as we continue to look together at that extraordinary man, Jesus Christ, through the Gospel accounts! We shall see together some of the events surrounding Jesus’ death! See you soon at Partakers!

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Bible Thought - The Cross of Jesus Christ - WOW Word 15

WOW Word - Cross of Jesus Christ ~

Our WOW Word today is Cross! Cross, as in the Cross of Jesus Christ!

John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life”.
Mark 10:45 – “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Even a cursory look at the world around you, will tell you that the world is messed up. Is there any hope? Yes there is! That is why God sent Jesus! Jesus is the hope! Jesus came to serve rather than be served. That is why Jesus came to give His life, so humanity may have a hope! God made the world perfect and humanity was in a harmonious relationship with God. Humanity messed it up and broke the relationship bonds with God. When the time was right, God became human, in order to bring humanity back into relationship with Himself.

That man was Jesus Christ and it was His death on a Roman cross about 2000 years ago which was the act of a generous God reaching out to the world that he loves. Without Jesus’ death on the cross would there be no hope for the world! That He died is without doubt, but why did He have to die and what gain do we have as His Disciples?

Alphy the WOWChurch Cat explains the significance of Jesus' death on the cross for the sake of all humanity. Play or download the mp3 audio to discover what Alphy has to say! Bless ya!

 

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Jesus - A Glimpse Of God Part 29

Jesus Crucified and Dead

~

Welcome back to our series, AGOG – A Glimpse of God. We are on Day 29 of our adventure, looking together at the life of the most amazing person in human history - Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Today we look briefly at Jesus crucified and dead.

So far, we have seen that Jesus has been betrayed by a friend, Judas, who later killed himself. We know also that Jesus was denied three times by a close friend, Peter. Upon that third denial, a rooster crowed and Jesus gave Peter a look of love. Jesus of course, had predicted that Peter would deny him three times… Even when being denied by a close friend, Jesus loved that close friend.

Jesus Crucified

Jesus Dies

Jesus - condemned, crucified and died. Where were the others disciples and other followers of Jesus? Peter had been interrogated about Jesus so was still in the city somewhere. The other disciples had fled and were probably in hiding, wondering why their Master had to die such a death – even though Jesus told them many times it would occur. There is Jesus on the cross – abandoned by all his friends and family. That is except for two people who were very close to Him. They were Mary the mother of Jesus, and also his close friend, John. Both witnessed Jesus’ agonising death. In a matter of sheer poignancy, John and Mary are asked by Jesus to take care of each other as family. As he has said throughout his ministry, Jesus’ mission would involve his death. But that is not the end! Oh no! Not by a long way!

Come back tomorrow for Day 30 of our series AGOG, as we continue to look together at that extraordinary man, Jesus Christ, through the Gospel accounts! We shall see together some of the events surrounding Jesus’ death! See you soon at Partakers!

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Jesus - A Glimpse Of God Part 28

Jesus Betrayed, Denied and Condemned

Welcome back to our  series, AGOG – A Glimpse of God. We are on Day 28 of our adventure, looking together at the life of the most amazing person in human history - Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Today we look briefly at Jesus being betrayed and denied by two of his closest friends and then condemned by both the religious and political authorities.

Jesus Betrayed Luke 22:1-6

Jesus Condemned

Jesus knew that his work of bringing people back to God in a loving relationship did not rest on the actions of a mere Roman governor. Overall, we see that Pilate was more concerned with his own position than he was for justice. Jesus is publicly rejected by the masses and by the religious authorities who proclaim publicly that Caesar is their only King, while forgetting that in reality, God is their King! Jesus is led away to die on his cross as a common criminal. ~

Come back tomorrow for Day 29 of our series AGOG, as we continue to look together at that extraordinary man, Jesus Christ, through the Gospel accounts! We shall see together Jesus final moments before He goes to his crucifixion!

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Jesus - A Glimpse Of God Part 27

Jesus Final Prayers 2

Welcome back to our series, AGOG – A Glimpse of God. We are on Day 27 of our adventure, looking together at the life of the most amazing person in human history - Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Today we look briefly at Jesus prays for all future disciples.

John 17:20-26 “‘My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. ‘Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.’

Jesus has prayed for Himself and for his disciples. Now Jesus prays for all those who have ever believed and also those who will become His followers as the fruit and seed of the disciples. As such, it brings all Christian disciples into intimacy with Jesus and a part of a dynamic relationship with Him. Jesus doesn’t just pray for the rich of faith but also for those who are weak of faith. Jesus’ prayer encompasses all believers, not just some – including the strong with the weak.

What does Jesus pray for all believers? Firstly Jesus prays for unity. That is unity on various levels. Firstly it is unity on the invisible, supernatural level (John 17:21-22). The lives of all Christian disciples are inextricably linked to each other, through the love and obedience of God the Son and God the Father through God the Holy Spirit who lives within all believers.

Christian disciples are united together because Jesus imparts upon them, the glory given to Him by God the Father (John 17:22). This unity is also physical, in so much as through a visible unity, people will come to know Jesus personally and take up the offer of reconciliation with God (John 17:21, 23). This unity is also physically seen, through the telling of the Gospel - a message of reconciliation between God and humanity (John 17:20). That is why different churches must be seen to work together – a visible sign of unity reflecting the invisible unity. Jesus’ prayer in verse 23 “bought to complete unity” seems to signify that this visible unity will be a process. Therefore all believers must be seeking to bring this unity forward.

Then Jesus prays that all believers will stay in Him and in God. When believers are united with God then we can also be united with each other. All believers are in God – Father, Son and Spirit. They are also in us – Father, Son and Spirit. All believers are branches of the same vine – Jesus. Remember recently when we talked about that? When those who are not believers see Jesus’ modern disciples loving others sacrificially, then unity is seen and it is an effective witness to the reality of reconciliation with God, and a vibrant living relationship with Him. And this relationship is borne of God’s love! The same love which God the Father has for God the Son! WOW!

As Jesus closes his prayers, He prays that the mission He has been on will be concluded. Jesus knows he is going to be betrayed, adjudged guilty by both the religious and secular authorities. Jesus knows he is going to be denied by one of his disciples before being condemned to die on a Roman cross. But that want be the end of the story. Jesus has been saying previously that God the Father will raise Him back to life again after death! Jesus wants all believers to see His glory, the glory He had at the beginning and the glory which he wanted his disciples to see! All believers and modern day disciples of Jesus are disciples and believers because of Jesus who has made known and manifest the love of God. There are those who do not know God the Father! Jesus is also praying for them, that they will see believers in action, showing God by loving all generously. Those who are strong are to support those who are weak and by doing so, manifest the love of God.

Come back tomorrow for Day 28 of our series AGOG, as we continue to look together at that extraordinary man, Jesus Christ, through the Gospel accounts! We shall see together Jesus final moments before He goes to his crucifixion!

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Jesus - A Glimpse Of God Part 26

 

Jesus Final Prayers 1

Welcome back to our series, AGOG – A Glimpse of God. We are on Day 26 of our adventure, looking together at the life of the most amazing person in human history - Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Today we start looking briefly at Jesus final prayers in John 17:1-19.

Jesus prays for Himself: Jesus starts off by praying for Himself. Central to this part of His prayer is glorification. That is the glorification of Himself in order that God the Father who sent Him will be glorified. In effect, Jesus is saying “Father, may people see me for who I truly am, your Son. And may they also through Me, see Your true nature Father!”

Praying as He does, just before He knowingly goes to His death on the cross, shows the importance of the cross. For it is through the cross alone. Both God the Father and Jesus will be glorified. Jesus’ death on the cross reveals a God of love, faithfulness and forgiveness. John 17:4 reveals that it was this purpose that He came, in order to complete the work given. Jesus’ entire earthly life has been one to show divine love – to all people of every age and class. All Jesus’ works and words were completed without even a hint of hypocrisy. His entire life was driven by the desire to see sinful people turn to God for reconciliation and forgiveness. Jesus confidently prays that having laid aside His glory by taking on human form, He will return to God’s right hand, having achieved the work of redemption through the cross.

Jesus prays for His Disciples: Now Jesus turns to pray for His disciples. Note how He describes them: they were chosen by God Himself, seen God in Jesus and have received God’s words and obeyed them. Jesus prays that the disciples would be in the safe possession of both the Father and the Son. Despite misunderstanding frequently what Jesus was talking about, the disciples still managed to grasp that Jesus had come from God. Having taught that the disciples will endure persecution and suffering because they are His followers, Jesus prays for their safety.~ They will be safe, not because of their own cunning, character or conduct. They will be safe because of God’s care and protection. As the disciples were God’s possession, He will ensure that they are watched over and protected. This security is also borne from glorifying God and being witnesses for Him. By remaining loyal and obedient to Jesus, obedient to His teachings and telling others about Him, God’s name & nature will therefore protect the disciples. Jesus also prays that they may be filled with joy and be dedicated wholly and solely to Him. The disciples now have a mission and purpose to fulfil – to tell others about this Jesus. Remember they will not be left alone but have the Holy Spirit to counsel and clarify with them.

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Job - Why God? - Part 10

Study 10: Study 10: Job 40:15 - end

Two surprising chapters

The book of Job ends with two very surprising chapters. The first because of its content, emphasising what has gone before and the second because it appears to stand the whole book on its head!

Here is the first part of the first of these chapters (which is actually in the chapter before). It is about Behemoth whose name means something like the ‘beast of beasts’. He is a terrifying creature, very like a hippopotamus with some supernatural additions.

As if that is not enough we now go on to read about the Leviathan. He is just as dangerous sounding as Behemoth, very like a crocodile, again with some supernatural additions. 

We may well ask “what was that all about?” There is no other Biblical reference to Behemoth and not many to Leviathan, though it is possible to see that this latter is a sea or water monster. Both are possibly linked in the culture and literature of that area in that time with gods, the god of death and the god of evil or the Satan himself. Their dual role is strikingly similar to that of the dragon and the beast from the sea of the book of Revelation, the twin figures of evil. Both have power, strength and savagery far beyond human ability to match. Therefore, since they are the creation of the Lord, part of his world and under his control, they set a marker for power, which the Lord stands far beyond. Also, particularly with Leviathan who rules over the sea, which was the well-known symbol of the chaotic, they stand as markers of the chaotic nature of the Lord’s world. Thus they reinforce the statement made in our last study that this is an essentially chaotic world and it is no good pretending otherwise, however difficult it may be to fit that into a scheme of theology and our understanding of the ways of the Lord.

Now we come to the final words of Job in the first 6 verses of the last chapter. Job has finally come to a realisation of what he has been doing wrong and how he can remedy that. He now realises how high above him the Lord is, that all his attempted arguments against what has happened to him were a waste of breath. The Lord has a plan and a purpose for him, although he is unable to see what that is and how it will work out so that he could only see it as part of a chaotic world and accept that it is in the hand of the Lord. He is deeply sorry and upset by what he has done and said so he repents – not of sins in the ordinary sense but of his failure to acknowledge the place and power of the Lord in his life.

The author of the book of Job has brought it to a point, a single climactic statement in a way strikingly similar to the way John would do with his gospel many centuries later. John brings his book to the climax statement “My Lord and My God” by quoting the words of Thomas, obviously intending and hoping that his readers will make that same statement for themselves. Our author brings us to the statement of Job, “My ears have heard of you but now my eyes have seen you!” also obviously intending that we should echo that statement for ourselves. John continued by quoting the words of Jesus, “because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” and if our author had had access to those words I think he too would have used them. We are not going to see the Lord, not likely to do so any way in this life; we are not going to be able to understand all his ways any more than Job did; we are going to get confused by all we hear about him as Job did; but with the eyes of faith we can see him; with the knowledge we do have we can believe – and then we are blessed – his promise, not my assertion.

Question: when did you start hearing about Jesus? When did you begin to see him – to see him properly in the sense Job means? What was the trigger that changed you from hearing to seeing? Could you make that, which was the trigger event for you, into the trigger event for someone else?

In verse 7 we leave behind the poetic dialogues that have constituted most of this amazing book. We are back into the simple prose of the first 2 chapters and this part chapter – the frame of the poetic stuff. Here it is.

The obvious first reaction is surprise. Job has been right all along and his 3 friends have not (Elihu does not get a mention – a major reason for thinking the speech of Elihu was a late addition to the story). So Job, described as ‘my servant’ and thus equated with people like Moses and David, is to act as a priest for them. We must also note that if what these 3 guys said was all so wrong how can we define the truthfulness of scripture – inerrancy, suggesting nothing was in error, does not seem to be the best word to use in spite of its popularity.

And then we are told what Job’s future was. What has all the argument been about if Job was headed to such a lovely future? But is it really such a wonderful future? He gets exactly the same size family as he had before but the first family died and their deaths will have left a scar that will never completely heal. People are people and cannot be substituted one for one just like that. Not even if his daughters are now so much more beautiful than the ones he had before and have such wonderful names. And all those animals, just twice as many of each variety as he had in the first place, did that make life any easier?

We can have no possible expectation of six thousand camels etc. but we know things Job did not know. When Job said, “I know that my redeemer lives” it was only a hope. For us it is a certainty. Because we live after Jesus, who died, rose again and ascended into heaven to prepare a place for us we have a much superior hope to that of poor old Job. We have been told by the writer to the Hebrews that “we have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. We have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. We have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood.”

Yoiks, WOW, Hallelujah and Hooray.

One final comment: this is a great book of the Bible, perhaps unfairly neglected (that really means that I didn’t know it very well at all until I started looking into it for these notes!). Also, more than most of the scripture it will mean different things to different people. I have attempted to chart one particular way through it for my own good and, hopefully, yours as well. Don’t let it stop there. Read it, think about it, meditate on it for yourself and find your own way through this challenging and thrilling writing. May the Lord bless you in so doing.

 

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Jesus - A Glimpse Of God Part 25

 

Jesus Prepares His Disciples 3

Welcome back to our series, AGOG – A Glimpse of God. We are on Day 25 of our adventure, looking together at the life of the most amazing person in human history - Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Today we look briefly again at Jesus preparing His disciples for the coming few days and His departure from them.

John 16:5-17 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. “A little while, and you will see me no more; again a little while, and you will see me.” Some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?”

Jesus is will soon be leaving them. He has told them that they are to keep on loving one another and keep on being obedient to Him. This would be evidence that they are indeed His disciples. He has warned them that they will be persecuted for being His disciples. Jesus has encouraged His disciples by saying he will send the Holy Spirit to be with them, to help them testify about Him.

But, as noted by Jesus Himself, no matter how many times he has told them he is leaving, not one of them has asked where He is going. He has also noted that they are full of sorrow. But Jesus continues with his encouragement about the Spirit who is to come after He has left them!

At the time the disciples still didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about, but they would soon understand completely! The Spirit who would come and live within the disciples, would clarify and proclaim all about Jesus’ teachings and works to them. He would testify about Jesus’ death on the cross and subsequent resurrection. Jesus explains that while He could only be at one place physically at a time, the Spirit could be everywhere at once – regardless of where the disciples were when separated from each other! It was better the Spirit to be in them, than to have Jesus beside them physically!

Jesus announces that the Holy Spirit would speak to the hearts of the disciples and to their fruit. This signifies the intimacy between the holy God and– the disciples and their fruit – that is all believers! The Holy Spirit will come and work in the world, convincing people of their sin (John 16v8); that they are separated from a holy & righteous God (John 16v10) and also in that Satan and all who follow him have already been judged by God!

Once bought to faith, the Holy Spirit will perform several tasks for the Disciples. He will guide them into all truth and develop what is coming in the future (John 16:13). The New Testament is the product of this work and that through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For us today, as fruit of the disciples, the Holy Spirit helps us to apply the Bible to their life in order that Jesus Christ be glorified (John 16v14). The Holy Spirit always ensures that Jesus is glorified! He makes Jesus known – Jesus’ righteousness, power and glory will be the disciples – and also their fruit!

Yes, the twelve disciples will experience sorrow and loss when Jesus is put on trial, crucified and dead. But after the resurrection, their sorrow will turn to great joy – similar to the exceeding joy after the pains of childbirth!

Not only His presence, but the disciples would also have His provision! Through answered prayer, joy abounds (John 16:24)! Prayer will be of necessary importance for the disciples as it is a way to ensure unabated joy – joy even amidst suffering and trouble!

The disciples finally started to understand what Jesus was talking about! They understood that Jesus had perfect Godly knowledge of all things! Though Jesus’ knowledge of their thoughts reveals that their faith was still quite weak and insipid. One more time, Jesus tells them that He is leaving. Indeed, His departure will be soon! One last warning about the time of persecution to come but the disciples are to be of great joy, because Jesus has overcome the world (John 16v33) and nothing can prevail against Him! If the disciples abide with Jesus, then nothing will prevail against Him and He will protect and provide for them.

Come back tomorrow for Day 26 of our series AGOG, as we continue to look together at that extraordinary man, Jesus Christ, through the Gospel accounts! We shall start to see together Jesus in his final prayers! See you soon at Partakers!

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Job - Why God? - Part 9

Study 9: Job Ch 38:1–40:14

The voice from the whirlwind

 

Finally, at last, after all the human argument, the LORD speaks out of the storm - or the whirlwind as most of the translations translate the word here. Even now if we expect conclusive answers to all the questions Job and his friends have thrown up we are going to be disappointed. There are some answers but also some fundamentally unanswered questions; questions that will never find an answer in this world. it is a huge passage but it all needs to be read together. It will lose its force if I break it up into short bits. So here it is.

 

Perhaps the first thing to notice in the very first verse is that it is the LORD, Yahweh, who is speaking. This is the personal name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob given to Moses at the burning bush. I have been referring to God as the Lord throughout these studies because I reckon that is the way that we commonly think of him. By doing so we tend to confuse God the Father with Jesus, but that is no bad thing. But in fact ever since the beginning of the arguments at the start of chapter 3 he has been spoken of as God or God Almighty. Suddenly the relationship is much closer.

 

Job has been dismayed by not having the felt presence of God with him. He said: “If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling! But if I go to the east, he is not there;
 if I go to the west, I do not find him. 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.” Now, suddenly, the Lord is there in front of him in somewhat terrifying fashion.. Not quietly, soothingly, but in the whirlwind. In C. S. Lewis’s famous children books Aslan, the lion, stands for Christ. The children are warned, “ he is not a tame lion”. Our God, the same as Job’s, is not tame.

 

We started study one with 4 questions:

1. does the cause/effect principle operate in the moral and social world?
   
2. has the Lord left us with a basically chaotic world? 
   
3. how can we live wisely in this sort of world? and
   
4. can we trust in the reliability of God if he presides over this sort of world?
   

 

To these we must now add a fifth from Elihu’s arguments - are the problems of life caused by the Lord’s need to discipline us for our good? But this last is not considered in these chapters.

 

We have, I think, a clear answer to question 2: yes, this is a chaotic world. most of the first of these chapters is about the chaos of the weather. In many parts of the world the weather does tend to change according to a fairly steady pattern: warmer (or cooler) every day than the day before. It doesn’t work that way in the UK where a weather pattern scarcely exists! There was clearly enough variation in the weather of the land of Uz for it to be described as chaotic. The next chapter adds to that impression of uncontrollable chaos. 6 animals are described. The first 4 are all just about as wild and untameable as they could possibly be. The last 2, the horse and the hawk, though tameable are depicted as fierce and wild. Chaos rules. OK.

 

The trouble is that the systematic theologies and the Bible dictionaries, drawing on a wide range of scripture say something quite different. Things like: “God upholds his creatures in ordered existence … and governs all events, circumstances and free acts of angels and men.” They can, of course, quote a wide range of texts about counting the hairs on our heads and sparrows falling etc. and are quite right in what they say. This is one of the points where the Wisdom literature (Job, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs) challenges the more conventional outlook of the bulk of Scripture. It is a useful and important challenge. God is in control, but we are not God, so to us it all looks thoroughly chaotic as it did to Job and his friends. Some people seem to think they are only being properly spiritual if they relate everything, good or bad, immediately back to the hand of the Lord. But that is not what the book of Job does. We have been told that all the calamities that fell on Job had a secondary cause. So, although in the last chapter of the book we shall read about “all the trouble the Lord had brought on him” that doesn’t remove the sense that the events described in these 2 chapters are at a second order remove from the Lord and the pervading sense of a chaotic world right through the book and particularly in these last chapters. From our perspective the world is a chaotic place as it was to these guys.

 

Question: have you thought through how you think about and deal with the traumas of life?

Be aware that not everybody will have the same answers to that question. Everyone’s answer will depend on many factors such as personality, church culture, society culture, experiences, etc. it is important to have thought these things out and to have an answer to that question so that you do not lose faith when trouble hits. To say “I no longer believe because this or that happened” is pathetic. The book of Job is designed so that will not happen.

 

The answers to questions 1 and 3, concerning the cause/effect principle and the way to live wisely are not much in view here. But they don’t need to be. The whole book has repeatedly raised the CEP only to show that it does not work, either directly in context or by contrast with the terrible disasters that afflicted Job. Living wisely has also appeared throughout the book. In this passage we are asked “who has the wisdom to count the clouds”, obviously expecting the answer “only the Lord”, thus emphasising that he is the true, only and complete source of real wisdom. We are also told that the ostrich lacks wisdom simply because the Lord did not give her wisdom. Only in the fear of the Lord, in honouring and trusting him, is wisdom to be found.

 

When we have finished probing and analyzing we need to be careful that we have not missed the real force of this speech from the whirlwind. In total it is saying: look at this world in which you live; thrill to the never ending pageant of the weather; be awe struck by the variety and the majesty of the animals that inhabit it; realize how small and insignificant you are. When you, Job, have regained your sense of proportion, stopped agonizing about an impossible desire for what you think would be justice, only then will you be able to accept you are where you are and start living again, start moving forward, gain wisdom. And as it was for Job, so it is for us.

 

Unfortunately many of us will have one big disadvantage Job did not have. So I want to share with you one huge question to which I do not know the answer. It comes to my mind because these chapters are so full of the natural world. I am a small town boy who has always loved the countryside, enjoyed the wind and the rain as well as the sun and escaped to the hills and the country as often as possible. So these 2 chapters are very meaningful to me and give out a great picture of the Lord and his ways.

 

Question: But most of the world’s peoples live in big cities with concrete underfoot and smog overhead. Perhaps that describes your circumstances. If so, how then, where then, do you get your pictures of the Lord from?

 

I know many people live vibrant and meaningful spiritual lives in such situations. I hope you do. But how? Think about it. Discuss it with your friends and draw strength from what the Lord tells you together.

 

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