Job 20, Where we skip Zophar, (Yay!) and I ramble instead, (Uh oh!)

Today's pictures are dedicated to meat.

"Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said: 'Therefore my thoughts answer me, because of my haste within me. I hear censure that insults me, and out of my understanding a spirit answers me," (Job 20:1-3).

Travis' translation, "What you've said bothers me, Job. I'm about to respond to you." In the South, instead of going saying all of that we'd just say, "Baloney", or in Spanish, "Caca del Toro". Is anyone else tired of hearing the same old stuff from Job's friends? It's okay, you can admit it. I'm sick of it myself. They keep saying: "Job, God only punishes the wicked. Bad things only happen to bad people. Now listen to me as I ramble on for another 15 verses saying the same thing in different ways, yada yada yada." I know, I know. It's getting old. Can you imagine how Job feels at this point?

Have you ever watched someone on TV who is arguing some position, (whether it be related to sports, politics, etc), but all they do is keep repeating the same old talking points over and over again? It makes you want to pull your hair out, right? Unfortunately that's where Job finds himself right now and that's where we find ourselves having to listen to and read this from Job's friends over and over again.

So why do I do it? Why do I keep coming back to each chapter and, as accurately as I can, go through what is being said, even if it comes across as boring and overly redundant? For that matter, why should we struggle through hard or boring passages of the Bible? Why not just skim over it? Why don't I just summarize long portions or chapters of the book for you and tell you what it says? I seem like a smart and somewhat nice guy, right? You'd be willing to trust my thoughts on the Bible, right?

It's okay to admit that some or lots of the Bible is hard to read and quite possibly, boring. I'm not naming any names or books for you, but they might rhyme with ShLeviticus and CaNumbers. Don't even let me get started on the difficulty of a book that rhymes with BubRevelation. So why shouldn't we just read nice Christian books on Bible related topics instead of struggling through the Bible for ourselves? There are reasons I have toiled over each chapter of Job in an effort to faithfully understand and explain what is going on. They are the same reasons why you and I should take our time and energy to work through the Bible, even the boring or difficult parts.

Reason #1: Jesus. Most everybody seems to like and respect Jesus, even people who don't like Jesus' followers. So what did Jesus think about the Bible? Jesus said that every word, "every jot and tittle", of the Bible is true and cannot be broken.

"For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished," (Matthew 5:18).
"If he called them gods to whom the word of God came--and Scripture cannot be broken--" (John 10:35).

It is said that about 2/3 of the recorded words of Christ in the Gospels were either direct or indirect quotations of the Old Testament. When Jesus was staring down Satan's temptations in the desert his only answers to Satan's questions were quotations from the book of Deuteronomy, (Luke 4). When Jesus was dying on the cross he quoted Scripture. When he spoke with the Pharisees he quoted from the Bible. When he spoke to common folk he quoted the Bible. You get the idea. Jesus believed in the truthfulness of the Scriptures and they were deeply ingrained into the fabric of everything he did and every word he spoke. He knew the Bible. It was very important to him. My point is that if it's good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for you and me. As one pastor has said, "I never argue with men who rise from the dead."

Not for Jews.

Reason #2: There is no other revelation from God. The Bible is the means by which God has revealed himself, his Son, and his truth. There is no other provision from God, to man, but the Scriptures. There is no mystic who can reveal the truth of God. There is no other document given, that reveals God's truth. There is no man who has heard voices who will reveal the plan and purposes of God. God has given the Bible as a means of knowing truth, knowing Him, and knowing his salvation. God has not given Christian literature, no matter how good it may be, as a primary means of knowing Him or His will. God has not given experience or feeling as a means of knowing what is true. God has given his Word, and we are foolish to neglect it.

Reason #3: It is the Scriptures that bring about changes in your life and mine. What does God say in the Bible about the Bible? "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ." "For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a lamp to my path." "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." (Romans 10:17; Hebrews 4:12; Psalm 119:105; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

We thank thee, O Lord, for Colonel Sanders.

What are the people of God commanded about the Word of God?
 "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus...preach the Word," (2 Timothy 4:1-2). "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth," (2 Timothy 2:15). "But this is the one to whom I will look; he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word," (Isaiah 66:2). "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).

Reason #4: We are meant to think for ourselves, not let others do the thinking and work for us. Paul praised the Bereans in Acts 17 because "they were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so," (11). You are not meant to digest what some other person teaches and simply accept it as fact. You and I are meant to examine what we hear to see if matches up with what God has said. That is why I try to explain what I think and why I think it in the book of Job. I want you to see what I'm thinking and why. I don't want you to just accept what I say. I want you to examine the Scriptures to see if these things were so.

Self explanatory.

We struggle through difficult and sometimes even boring parts of the Bible because it is THE revelation he has given about himself, his truth, and his salvation. He has given no other Word or revelation. We know what is truth because he has told us in the Scriptures. We know about his Son Jesus because we learn about it in the Scriptures. It is the tool by which we know God, grow, and are protected from evil. So even though some of Job is hard and repetitive, we must continue to struggle on and work through it. All the while we are trusting that God will use his Word to transform our hearts and minds.

So we skipped Zophar today, (Yay!). Next time we'll come back to Job in chapter 21. I thank you for allowing me a little interlude and explanation for why we struggle through these chapters. God bless.