The immoral say things which are tempting, but what they offer is a trap leading to trouble. Those who fall into such traps have already acted in ways which anger God.
This psalm could easily be advice to young couples (with most of the actual advice being addressed to the young man). The advice for the young man could also be seen as advice to those who desire to exercise government authority. In either case, seek to perform awe-inspiring deeds, but not just any such deeds. No, those deeds should defend truth, humility, and justice. If you are a young man seeking a wife, doing such deeds will attract the type of women who make a good wife. If you are someone who seeks to exercise government authority, such deeds will demonstrate that you are worthy of being granted such power. In either case, you will be blessed by God.
I try to take the same attitude as Paul reveals here. Whether people see me as crazy or sane makes no difference to me (at least, I try to feel that way). If I can bring glory to God by appearing insane, then go ahead and think me crazy. On the other hand, if I can benefit others by appearing rational, I will do by best to appear rational. Either way, I want to be controlled by Christ’s love.
Paul tells us that we are ambassadors for Christ. This is a position of great responsibility. Our actions reflect on God’s character. If we act disreputably, people will think poorly of God. On the other hand, when we live up to our role, people realize that treating us poorly is like treating God poorly. Let us live up to the responsibility God has entrusted us with. Our job is to show people how God is reconciling them, and us, to Himself.
When God answered him, Job realized that his challenges to God were wrong. He realized that his understanding was too limited to judge God. God did not rebuke Job for asking questions. God rebuked Job because he thought he had a right to understand God’s actions and to demand an explanation. When Job stood before God, he reacted with humility. Let us remember to live our entire lives with that humility.
An immoral, adulterous woman (or man) will say things which inevitably lead those who listen to them into a dangerous trap. Those who have already made God angry will fall into that trap.
If we truly understand what it means to fear the Lord we will work to convince others to do the same. In order to accomplish this we must be sincere before God, who can see all of our motives and actions. We may hide some of our motives and actions from people, but we cannot hide them from God. If all of our motives are forthright and open those who hear our testimony and preaching will know that we are sincere. They may think that we are crazy, but I am willing to be crazy if that is what it takes to bring glory to God. On the other hand, there are times when we must show that our beliefs coincide with reality and logic (I need to write a blog on the importance of that for Christian faith some time).
Whether we are acting in ways that seem crazy, or showing how doing God’s will is the only way to be truly sane, Christ’s love should be what is controlling our lives. Christ died for everyone, so let us die to ourselves and live for Him. Rather than seeking that which will give us pleasure, I will do that which brings glory and pleasure to Christ. God has reconciled us to Him. Having done so, He has given us the task of bringing His message of reconciliation to others. God has made us His ambassadors. As His ambassadors we are His personal representatives. In this role, our actions reflect directly on God, let us act accordingly. We are here to call on others to be reconciled with God. It is our responsibility to act towards others as God Himself would act.
I like looking at the way both the NIV and the NLT translate verse 20. The NIV says that we “implore” others to be reconciled with God while the NLT says that we “plead” with others to come back to God. Both of these translations give the sense that there is little, or nothing, we are not willing to sacrifice if only the one we are speaking with will be reconciled to God. What am I unwilling to sacrifice, to give up permanently, in order for another person to come to Christ? How can I learn to be willing to surrender that to God as well?
When Job finally gets what he asked for, a chance to speak with God face-to-face, he recognizes that he was in the wrong. Job realizes that when he questioned God, he was demonstrating his ignorance and foolishness rather than posing legitimate questions for God. This is the reaction that every person has when they finally find themselves before God. When in the presence of God we all realize that when we questioned what God has done it was because we did not know enough to understand, that we are incapable of truly understanding. Job recognized his sin and fully repented his arrogance.
Having humbled Job, God turns to his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. He tells them that their words were even further from the truth than what Job had said. God instructs them to ask Job to pray for them. Noticeably absent from the list of those corrected by God is Elihu. The conclusion of the Book of Job is why it is important to read through the Bible multiple times. We can easily lose track of which things said by which person in the Book of Job (and elsewhere) represents things we should follow and which things represent misunderstandings about God.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
God asks Job to answer His questions. Job replies that he is unworthy. He has spoken, but he has no answer to God’s questions. God then asks some more questions. First, He asks Job if he wishes to discredit God’s justice and condemn God in order to prove that he is right?
God then asks Job if he has the power to match God? Can he humiliate the proud and punish the wicked? God then asks Job if he can tame Behemoth, which God made, the same as He made Job? Then God asks if he can catch Leviathan, also made by God? A description is given of both, Behemoth is an herbivore and Leviathan a carnivore. We are unable to determine if these are fanciful descriptions of real animals (my personal opinion), or descriptions of mythical beasts which the writer thought were real.
Job answers God once more and admits his fault in questioning God’s wisdom. He tells us that he had been talking about things about which he knew nothing. Job repented his anger with God. God then told Bildad, Eliphaz and Zophar that He was angry with them for misrepresenting Him (it is worth noting that God does not say anything against Elihu). God tells them to offer sacrifices and ask Job to pray for them. They do as instructed and Job does pray for them. The book concludes by telling us that Job prayed for his friends and God restored his fortunes to even more than he had had before.
***
I am not sure what to make of this, but it struck me that Job, the one who was suffering, prayed for his friends. Usually when someone we know is suffering, we go to them and pray for them, for them to receive relief from their suffering. In this case, it was the one who was suffering who prayed for those who came to see him, and was then relieved from his suffering. I know that this situation is a special case, but perhaps we should give some thought to asking those who are suffering to pray for us?
Paul told the Corinthians that since he knew what it was to fear the Lord, this knowledge inspired him to attempt to convince others. Paul goes on to say that if he is out of his mind, as some perceive him to be, it is in service to God. On the other hand, if he is in his right mind, it is in order to be of service to his fellow believers. In either case, Paul is compelled to act as he does because of Christ’s love. Because Christ died for all, therefore, in some sense, all have died. As a result, those who continue to live because of their faith in Him should no longer live for themselves, but should live for Christ.
We are no longer to regard anyone from a worldly perspective. If we belong to Christ, He will have made us into a new creation. God has reconciled us to Himself, and thereby given us the ministry of spreading the word of His reconciliation. It is our task to tell everyone we meet that God is in the act of reconciling everyone who will accept to Himself through Christ Jesus. He has made us His ambassadors from the kingdom of God to the nations of this world.
***
This is a word of great hope. God has made us into something new. We do not have to remain stuck in the same old rut of falling into all of our old sins. God has transformed us and will continue to do so every day. More importantly, we need to remember that we are God’s ambassador’s in this world. We may be the only sample of what God is like that some people ever see. We are called upon in every way, every day to act as representatives of God. As ambassadors, we have two jobs. One is telling people how they can emigrate to God’s kingdom because God is seeking immigrants to His kingdom. However, all too often we forget that the other part of being God’s ambassador is convincing people that they want to emigrate to God’s kingdom. We are to live a life that makes others want to be like us.
Magrat spots something to play with
Today’s psalm is a wedding song for a king. The only part of it which touched me today was when the psalmist said that the king defended truth, humility, and justice and then a little later when he said that the king loved justice and hated evil. These are the characteristics of a ruler who will have God’s favor in all of their actions.
Today’s proverb tells us that the words of an immoral woman are a trap into which those who anger God fall. I am not completely clear on what the writer means, but I believe he means that the same behaviors which anger God make one susceptible to the traps in the words of an immoral woman.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
God asks Job if he can answer His questions and Job replies that he has no answers, that he has said too much already. God further asks Job if he is willing to discredit God’s justice merely to justify himself. God then describes two creatures that are too powerful for humans to hunt. There is debate as to whether these were real creatures or mythological ones. On the one hand, the writer certainly seems to be describing creatures that he thought were real beasts. It makes no sense in this context to use creatures that are made up. On the other hand, the descriptions match up with no creatures that we are aware of living in that area in that era. I am of the mind that Behemoth and Leviathan describe real creatures that modern science believes were extinct by this time, although I do not know specifically what.
Job responds that he was wrong to challenge God. Job takes back everything he said and repents. God then turns His attention to Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. God tells them that they had not spoken accurately about Him as Job had done. Interestingly, Elihu is not among those at whom God expresses anger. I am glad that I am done the Book of Job for now because it is a difficult book to study in the manner I am doing this. On the other hand, I can see how it is a book that calls for regular reading in order to put everything in perspective and I am looking forward to when I get to it again next year.
If we know what it is to fear God, we should work to persuade others. It is better to focus on what is in the heart than what is seen, but sometimes we need to point out accomplishments for the edification of those who only respect that. Since Christ died for everyone, those of us who still live should live, not for ourselves, but for Him. If we are in Christ, we have been recreated into a new being.
God reconciled us to Himself through Christ. The other day I read a blog that talked about the atonement of Christ. It mentioned that a standard theory as to the nature of that atonement was that Christ received the punishment that was due to us. That is not wrong. But there is another important way to look at it. Our broken relationship with God is a result of our sin, but it is we who turn from God, not God who turns from us. God does not reject a relationship with us because of our sin. We reject a relationship with God because of our sin. Part of the reason that Christ died for us was to convince us that God still loves us despite our sin. There is much more to this than that and perhaps I will do a blog on it if the Spirit continues to move me on this subject.
We are God’s messengers to deliver this message to people. God wishes to be reconciled with us to the point that He was willing to suffer and die, even though we were the ones who did the wrong that broke the relationship. We should be reconciled to God and spread the word to other sinners that God wants to repair the relationship with them as well.
As I was reading this passage and looking at what it says to me, it was all over the place, jumping from one idea to another. Yet it flows smoothly and all of these ideas fit together nicely in this passage, even though as I tried to highlight them I felt like I was jumping around.
Today’s psalm reads like a royal wedding song to me. First it praises the king for his might and for his faithfulness is defending truth, humility and justice. Then it encourages the queen to put aside her homesickness for her family and friends who are now far away and take comfort in the love of her husband, the king. The lands of rulers who love justice and hate evil will thrive.
Today’s proverb has an interesting construction. It tells us that the mouth of an immoral woman is a dangerous trap that those who anger the Lord will fall into. It does not say that those who fall into the trap of an immoral woman’s words (or mouth) will anger the Lord. It says that those who anger the Lord will fall into the trap. Angering God makes one susceptible to the trap of immorality.
