Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Born Again to a Living Hope 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. Called to Be Holy 13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you. Meditation The grace of God makes Christians alive together with Christ, born again to bear the fruit of a transformed life. In a world of problems and persecution, hope fertilizes faith for fruitfulness. Peter is writing persecuted Christians (“elect exiles”1) suffering for their faith in Asia Minor, seeking to strengthen them through celebration of the all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ. A living faith will fully hope in the person, power, and promises of Jesus. God’s merciful and gracious work has caused Christians to be “born again to a living hope, an inheritance… kept in heaven” for all who believe. God’s power guards us so we can be glad, even in persecution and problems, knowing Jesus will return in glory (3-9). As the prophets spoke of the grace of our salvation (10-12), so the promises of Jesus are true. Christians, then, set our hope on the grace that will come in the final revelation and return of Jesus Christ (13). Living hope bears the fruit of a transformed life, shaped by what has been done in Christ and by the things to come at His return. As God’s children, this looks like obedience manifest in holiness (13-17), knowing we are secure in the blood of Christ (18-21) and grounded in the word of Christ (22-25). Christian hope is alive because Jesus is alive, resurrected from the dead. Had Jesus remained in the tomb, hope would be dead too. Jesus has risen from the grave, so hope rises also to fertilize our life to bear holy fruit for our Savior. Richly Dwelling -What stands out to you about hope in today’s reading? -Is your hope alive, bearing fruit of holiness through a transformed life? -Notice there are NO imperatives in the first twelve verses, only statements and celebration of our identity in Christ because of God’s work through Christ. How does the indicative reality of Christ’s finished work fertilize your hope for fruit of holiness? Where does this need to be cultivated more in your life? Be specific. Key Verse 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead… Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
2 The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 3 Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’ ” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained. 4 And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” 5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” 6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. 7 And the Lord said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” 8 So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. 9 That same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. 10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. 11 And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp. 12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. 13 When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” 14 And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.” 15 As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand.” 16 And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars. 17 And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. 18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’ ” Gideon Defeats Midian 19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. 20 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. 22 When they blew the 300 trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. 23 And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian. 24 Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. 25 And they captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon across the Jordan. Meditation God’s sovereign grace is sufficient for all our needs, “His power is made perfect in our weaknesses” (2 Corinthians 12:9). In a world of uber-abundance, our temptation is to look for power horizontally. God desires for you to know His surpassing power through your weaknesses. Gideon was commissioned to lead Israel into battle against Midian, an army like locusts devouring the country and numbering in abundance (12). Gideon’s original army numbered 32,000 men, seventy percent of whom went home due to fear and trembling at the thought of fighting the Midian army (1-3). Still too many for God to demonstrate His surpassing power, a method of drinking water shrank Gideon’s troops from 10,000 to 300 (4-8). At that time, the Lord reinforced His plan: “Tonight I have given Midian into your hand” (9). Fearful, Gideon himself went to scout the enemy camp only to hear how God went before him (10-14). Gideon worshipped (15) before going into war armed with trumpets, lanterns, and swords (16-18). God routed Midian through Gideon, displaying His surpassing power that was able to overcome the enemy through the weakness of His warriors (19-25). Truly, if God is for us then nothing can stand against us (Romans 8:31). Paul draws on the imagery of Gideon’s victory when describing his ministry. The “surpassing power of God” is the light shining through the cracks and brokenness of our lives, what Paul calls “jars of clay” (1 Corinthians 4). In service to our Savior, our weaknesses are His strength because God’s grace is sufficient. Richly Dwelling -What stands out to you about the narrative of Gideon’s victory, especially in how God chose to display His surpassing power? -Where do you see your weakness as a liability? Where have you seen God use your weaknesses as an asset, an arena to display His surpassing power? -The ultimate power of God is displayed through the person and work of Jesus. By His death, we live. Through His suffering, we are healed. How can the power of God’s love demonstrated through Christ compel you to celebrate your weaknesses, trusting the sufficiency of His grace? Be specific. Key Verse 9 That same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. 2 And he called out with a mighty voice,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. 3 For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.” 4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; 5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 6 Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed. 7 As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ‘I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.’ 8 For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.” 9 And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. 10 They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, “Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.” 11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, 12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls. 14 “The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you, never to be found again!” 15 The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud, 16 “Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls! 17 For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, “What city was like the great city?” 19 And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, “Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste. 20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!” 21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more; 22 and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more, 23 and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.” Meditation Babylon will fall. The system set against God and His people will be subject to God’s judgement. The wicked will be washed away in God’s wrath. Christians must flee from wicked worldliness to experience the salvation of the Lord. Noah came out from the world to be saved from the flood of judgement by the ark. Lot came out of Sodom to be saved from the fire of wrath thrown from Heaven. So too Christians must flee from the idolatrous system of the world. Judgement is coming (1-3), exhortation for God’s people to separate before the judgement comes (4-8). Those cooperating and profiting from the wicked corruption of the city of man will lament (9-19) and the faithful will rejoice when salvation comes and the victory of God is applied in the judgement of Babylon (20-24). Babylon has idolatrous security in the world’s wealth and in the wicked system persecuting Christians. The exhortation is needed because there is unfortunate idolatrous participation of Christians in the wicked world system, both in John’s day and in ours. Part of being a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) is to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14), to refrain from participation in the idolatrous world in preparation of participation in God’s cosmic new creation. Paul uses the words of Isaiah, “Go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord” (2 Corinthians 6:16-17). Christians are a holy temple of God, a royal priesthood. Richly Dwelling -What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially regarding God’s command to flee from the world system? -Where do you see your heart embracing the ways of the wicked world system? The hearts of those you know and love? What does it look like to live a life that is not consumed with the ways of the world? -The victory of God is sure, not a question of “if” but a question of “when.” Christ will come again and the city of man will be judged. Take time now to thank God for his sure victory and to pray for His Spirit to guide you in leading a life devoted to Him. Key Verse 4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; 5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. 6 Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. 7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.
8 I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 10 And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. 11 So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. 12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness 14 your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. 15 As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.” Commendation of Titus 16 But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. 17 For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord. 18 With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. 19 And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. 20 We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, 21 for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man. 22 And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. 24 So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men. Meditation Giving is fruit of a heart rooted in grace. To celebrate grace without giving is artificial and inauthentic, and giving without knowing grace is self-righteous self-promotion. Encouraging the Corinthian church to participate in the collection for the churches, Paul puts the gospel in economic terms: “the grace of our Lord Jesus, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich” (9). God entered into the poverty of our sin to make us rich in love. Jesus became poor that we can know the riches of God’s grace. Paul holds the Macedonian church out as an example, that Christians might “know about the grace in Macedonia” (1), sacrificial generosity growing from grace. Out of their affliction and severe poverty the Macedonians overflowed in generosity (2-3). The grace of God in Christ first drew the Macedonians to God Himself, and then to give themselves to show God’s grace (4-5). Celebrating the gospel, Paul desires other Christians to excel in the act of giving too (6-7). Paul gets practical by highlighting the connection between God’s generosity revealed in Jesus, and His generosity to those who walked by faith in the wilderness generation (10-14). God provides salvation. God provides daily bread. Giving is grounded in grace. Fruitful generosity must be rooted in God’s extravagant love displayed through Jesus giving His life for us. Richly Dwelling -What stands out to you about Paul’s celebration of grace, first of God’s grace in Christ (8) and then the grace of the Macedonian church (1)? -Do you see giving as an act of grace, a way to display the glory of God’s grace for His people? Why or why not? -How does seeing and celebrating the gospel (8) catapult you to want to live generously? Key Verse 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
God Is Love7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. Meditation Recently a man came to me asking for help in knowing assurance in salvation, the primary point of John’s letter (5:13). Moments like this are an honor to patriciate in, and today we see evidence of how God’s spirit seals us in God’s steadfast love (Ephesians 1:13) to assure our hearts. “By this we know…” is the refrain uniting our reading (2, 6, 13). John assures the church we can be certain of what we know by the Spirit of God (1-6), the love that reveals God (7-12), and by abiding in God’s perfect love. In a world where people gather to have ears tickled with false teaching to justify their own passions (2 Timothy 4:3-4), Christians test the spirits to discern Truth. The Spirit of God confesses Christ in the flesh, celebrating the truth of God’s revelation, and leading to love. Love is from God- God is love. Christianity is not about our love for Him but God’s love for us, and we know His love abides in us when we love one another: “If we love one another, God abides in us…” (12). If we say we love God but hate our brother then we deceive ourselves. Abiding in the love of God will bear fruit in showing love of God to the family of God. We can know we abide in Him because of Christ’s Spirit abiding in us. By this Spirit we confess Jesus as Lord, abide in the love of Jesus, celebrate the truth of Jesus, and “have confidence for the day of judgement” (17). Richly Dwelling -What stands out to you from today’s reading? -Where do you wrestle with certainty of truth and abiding in the love of God? -How does the person and work of The Holy Spirit give assurance of salvation seen in abiding in God, resulting in fruit that loves truth, loves God, and loves others? Where do you see this evidenced in your life? Key Verse 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. Then Job answered and said:
2 “Keep listening to my words, and let this be your comfort. 3 Bear with me, and I will speak, and after I have spoken, mock on. 4 As for me, is my complaint against man? Why should I not be impatient? 5 Look at me and be appalled, and lay your hand over your mouth. 6 When I remember, I am dismayed, and shuddering seizes my flesh. 7 Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power? 8 Their offspring are established in their presence, and their descendants before their eyes. 9 Their houses are safe from fear, and no rod of God is upon them. 10 Their bull breeds without fail; their cow calves and does not miscarry. 11 They send out their little boys like a flock, and their children dance. 12 They sing to the tambourine and the lyre and rejoice to the sound of the pipe. 13 They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol. 14 They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways. 15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’ 16 Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand? The counsel of the wicked is far from me. 17 “How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? That their calamity comes upon them? That God distributes pains in his anger? 18 That they are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away? 19 You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’ Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it. 20 Let their own eyes see their destruction, and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty. 21 For what do they care for their houses after them, when the number of their months is cut off? 22 Will any teach God knowledge, seeing that he judges those who are on high? 23 One dies in his full vigor, being wholly at ease and secure, 24 his pails full of milk and the marrow of his bones moist. 25 Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted of prosperity. 26 They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms cover them. 27 “Behold, I know your thoughts and your schemes to wrong me. 28 For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’ 29 Have you not asked those who travel the roads, and do you not accept their testimony 30 that the evil man is spared in the day of calamity, that he is rescued in the day of wrath? 31 Who declares his way to his face, and who repays him for what he has done? 32 When he is carried to the grave, watch is kept over his tomb. 33 The clods of the valley are sweet to him; all mankind follows after him, and those who go before him are innumerable. 34 How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.” Meditation It is impossible to discern the spiritual state of a person by their level of happiness, health, prosperity, or their present suffering. In this fallen world, good things happen to bad people and the wicked have not (yet) experienced the wrath of God. Job begins and ends by silencing his “comforters,” pausing their mocking long enough to refute their attacks. Elphaz insisted only the wicked writhe in pain during their days (15:20), Bildad doubled down this theme (18:5) while Zophar landed the assault (20:5). Their battering of Job was based on his situation, saying Job’s suffering is from his wicked sin. Job refutes them with the obvious- it appears the wicked are doing fine. Job’s response cascades from an opening question: “Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow in might and power?” (7) You only need to look around to see the wicked appear happy (7-16), rarely seem rebuked by God (17-26), and appear to prosper even in death (27-33). Truly, God’s common grace in this life sends rain on the just and unjust (Matthew 5:45). The self-righteous mistake is to equate circumstances with moral status- good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. This falsehood lies at the heart of friction between Job and his friends and steals the power of the gospel. Jesus was more than a good Jew having a bad day. Jesus is God, the definition of good, who took our sin so that through trusting in Him bad people, like us, can receive God’s covenant blessings. Richly Dwelling -What stands out to you about Job’s response? Why? -Do you identify with the observations of Job and the accompanying frustrations of the Psalmist (Psalm 73)? -How does the gospel, the suffering of the only good guy to ever live for the purposes of redeeming bad folks like us, transform your worldview? Key Verse 7 Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power? |
AuthorPastor Mitchell celebrates twenty-four years of marriage with Lisa and together they have four adventurous children. Mitchell is a pastor at First Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, TX. |