Much deep wisdom and beautiful Hebrew poetry today. One of Job’s friends tells of a vision, an apparition, that appeared to him. He accuses Job of having morally failed, such that the Lord would be required to dispense justice upon him. Meanwhile we pick up with Paul’s Letter to the Church in Rome, in which he explains how it is that we are all children of Abraham, Jew and Gentile, when we have faith in Christ. He also explains how it is that Christ undoes the curse of Adam. Good fundamental Christian theology here.
Job 4
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
“If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied?
Yet who can keep from speaking?
Surely you have instructed many,
and have strengthened their feeble hands.
Your words have steadied those who stumbled;
you have braced the knees that were buckling.
But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary.
It strikes you, and you are dismayed.
Is your reverence not your confidence,
and the uprightness of your ways your hope?
Consider now, I plead:
Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
Or where have the upright been destroyed?
As I have observed, those who plow iniquity
and those who sow trouble reap the same.
By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl,
yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
The old lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
Now a word came to me secretly;
my ears caught a whisper of it.
In disquieting visions in the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
fear and trembling came over me
and made all my bones shudder.
Then a spirit glided past my face,
and the hair on my body bristled.
It stood still,
but I could not discern its appearance;
a form loomed before my eyes,
and I heard a whispering voice:
‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God,
or a man more pure than his Maker?
If God puts no trust in His servants,
and He charges His angels with error,
how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,
whose foundations are in the dust,
who can be crushed like a moth!
They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk;
unnoticed, they perish forever.
Are not their tent cords pulled up,
so that they die without wisdom?’
Job 5
“Call out if you please, but who will answer?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
For resentment kills a fool,
and envy slays the simple.
I have seen a fool taking root,
but suddenly his house was cursed.
His sons are far from safety,
crushed in court without a defender.
The hungry consume his harvest,
taking it even from the thorns,
and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
For distress does not spring from the dust,
and trouble does not sprout from the ground.
Yet man is born to trouble
as surely as sparks fly upward.
However, if I were you, I would appeal to God
and lay my cause before Him—
the One who does great and unsearchable things,
wonders without number.
He gives rain to the earth
and sends water upon the fields.
He sets the lowly on high,
so that mourners are lifted to safety.
He thwarts the schemes of the crafty,
so that their hands find no success.
He catches the wise in their craftiness,
and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.
They encounter darkness by day
and grope at noon as in the night.
He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth
and from the clutches of the powerful.
So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth.
Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
For He wounds, but He also binds;
He strikes, but His hands also heal.
He will rescue you from six calamities;
no harm will touch you in seven.
In famine He will redeem you from death,
and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,
and will not fear havoc when it comes.
You will laugh at destruction and famine,
and need not fear the beasts of the earth.
For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
You will know that your tent is secure,
and find nothing amiss when inspecting your home.
You will know that your offspring will be many,
your descendants like the grass of the earth.
You will come to the grave in full vigor,
like a sheaf of grain gathered in season.
Indeed, we have investigated, and it is true!
So hear it and know for yourself.”
Job 6
Then Job replied:
“If only my grief could be weighed
and placed with my calamity on the scales.
For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas—
no wonder my words have been rash.
For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me;
my spirit drinks in their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass,
or an ox low over its fodder?
Is tasteless food eaten without salt,
or is there flavor in the white of an egg ?
My soul refuses to touch them;
they are loathsome food to me.
If only my request were granted
and God would fulfill my hope:
that God would be willing to crush me,
to unleash His hand and cut me off!
It still brings me comfort,
and joy through unrelenting pain,
that I have not denied
the words of the Holy One.
What strength do I have, that I should still hope?
What is my future, that I should be patient?
Is my strength like that of stone,
or my flesh made of bronze?
Is there any help within me
now that success is driven from me?
A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend,
even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
But my brothers are as faithless as wadis,
as seasonal streams that overflow,
darkened because of the ice
and the inflow of melting snow,
but ceasing in the dry season
and vanishing from their channels in the heat.
Caravans turn aside from their routes;
they go into the wasteland and perish.
The caravans of Tema look for water;
the travelers of Sheba hope to find it.
They are confounded because they had hoped;
their arrival brings disappointment.
For now you are of no help;
you see terror, and you are afraid.
Have I ever said, ‘Give me something;
offer me a bribe from your wealth;
deliver me from the hand of the enemy;
redeem me from the grasp of the ruthless’?
Teach me, and I will be silent.
Help me understand how I have erred.
How painful are honest words!
But what does your argument prove?
Do you intend to correct my words,
and treat as wind my cry of despair?
You would even cast lots for an orphan
and barter away your friend.
But now, please look at me.
Would I lie to your face?
Reconsider; do not be unjust.
Reconsider, for my righteousness is at stake.
Is there iniquity on my tongue?
Can my mouth not discern malice?
Job 7
“Is not man consigned to labor on earth?
Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
Like a slave he longs for shade;
like a hireling he waits for his wages.
So I am allotted months of futility,
and nights of misery are appointed me.
When I lie down I think:
‘When will I get up?’
But the night drags on,
and I toss and turn until dawn.
My flesh is clothed with worms
and encrusted with dirt;
my skin is cracked and festering.
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle;
they come to an end without hope.
Remember that my life is but a breath.
My eyes will never again see happiness.
The eye that beholds me will no longer see me.
You will look for me, but I will be no more.
As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up.
He never returns to his house;
his place remembers him no more.
Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep,
that You must keep me under guard?
When I think my bed will comfort me
and my couch will ease my complaint,
then You frighten me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
so that I would prefer strangling and death
over my life in this body.
I loathe my life! I would not live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
What is man that You should exalt him,
that You should set Your heart upon him,
that You attend to him every morning,
and test him every moment?
Will You never look away from me,
or leave me alone to swallow my spittle?
If I have sinned, what have I done to You,
O watcher of mankind?
Why have You made me Your target,
so that I am a burden to You ?
Why do You not pardon my transgression
and take away my iniquity?
For soon I will lie down in the dust;
You will seek me, but I will be no more.”
Romans 4
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, has discovered? If Abraham was indeed justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God.
For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Now the wages of the worker are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation.
However, to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
And David speaks likewise of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
“Blessed are they whose lawless acts are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man
whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”
Is this blessing only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.
In what context was it credited? Was it after his circumcision, or before? It was not after, but before.
And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world was not given through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith is useless and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist.
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb.
Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Now the words “it was credited to him” were written not only for Abraham,
but also for us, to whom righteousness will be credited—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
He was delivered over to death for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification.
Romans 5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him!
For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!
Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.
For sin was in the world before the law was given; but sin is not taken into account when there is no law.
Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the way that Adam transgressed. He is a pattern of the One to come.
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many!
Again, the gift is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment that followed one sin brought condemnation, but the gift that followed many trespasses brought justification.
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive an abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
So then, just as one trespass brought condemnation for all men, so also one act of righteousness brought justification and life for all men.
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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