Job 11

Job 11:15

"Then, indeed, you could life up your face without moral defect,
And you would be steadfast and not fear.

Zophar is contradicting Job, when he spoke in the verse that I wrote about in the previous chapter.  Zophar is saying that if Job were as upright and blameless for what has happened as he claims to be, that he could, in fact, raise his face to God.  What's more, he would not be afraid to do so.  It appears he thinks a righteous man is not equal to God, but at least worthy of being near God.

This shows how mistaken their view of God is.  Even though Job is innocent of wrongdoing for his current situation, he still definitely has sinned in the past.  A single sin is enough to separate us from God forever.  Job's sacrifices may have covered that sin from his guilt, but they cannot cover the knowledge of his inferiority to God.

Job 10

Job 10:15

'If I am wicked, woe to me!
And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.
I am sated with disgrace and conscious of my misery.

Job is very well aware of his position relative to God.  He knows that if he is evil, if he has done wrong, that God is rightfully condemning him.  He knows that God's judgment is just beginning, if there is indeed something for him to be judged on.

However, even if he is innocent as he believes, I still does not presume that God owes him anything.  He dares not even lift his head up from bowing, for he knows he is not worthy to do so.  He is a mere supplicant, come before the greatest ruler in the universe, and he will do nothing to suggest otherwise.  Whatever issues Job could have, pride is not among them.  If he has not done anything to cause God to mistreat him so, yet God chooses to do it anyway, he is accepting of this fate, and will simply suffer as commanded.

Job 9

Job 9:33

"There is no umpire between us,
Who may lay his hand upon us both.

Job is clearly aware of the vast gulf between God and man.  This gulf is of both physical and authoritative distances.  First, there is an uncrossable physical gap between them.  There is no one who can bridge the gap between God's place in Heaven and man's tiny speck on Earth.  Since no one can span the gap, there is also no one who can keep God from crossing that gap to do what He wishes.

In that vein, there is also a huge gap in authority.  Job speaks of an umpire here, but my first thought is that a better word might be judge.  God's power, authority, and reasons are far beyond man's.  He can literally do anything He wants, and no judge can restrain Him.  He has the authority to do anything, so no judge can overrule Him.  And finally, He wrote the plan of the universe, so no one can tell Him that He's wrong.

Job 8

Job 8:15

"He trusts in his house, but it does not stand;
He holds fast to it, but it does not endure.

This verse is part of a passage describing what happens to those who don't trust in God.  They instead look to temporal things, like their wealth or belongings.  I'm not sure what is referred to by house in this verse, though.  One idea would be that it literally means his house, a building.  If this is the case, then he's saying that even one's home will eventually crumble.  There is nothing permanent in this world, not even the things that protect us.

The other possibility I can think of is that he's talking about his household, his lineage.  Many pride themselves on who their ancestors were, and what they did.  They often look at who came before them, and their children and grandchildren, who will carry on the family line.  In this case, it's a reminder that all people die, and families will eventually fail.  There is no permanence like they want to perceive, for eventually all will die.

Job 7

Job 7:20

"Have I sinned?  What have I done to You,
O watcher of men?
Why have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden to myself?

Here, Job is asking God if there is something wrong, as his friends have suggested.  He rejects their condemnation, but still asks God if he has done something wrong.  I'm not certain if he's is starting to question is lack of wrongdoing, or if he's asking the question as a retort to his friends' criticism.

Either way, he is legitimately asking God why He has targeted him.  A target's only function is to guide the attacker to the correct spot.  In the process, it takes a lot of damage.  Obviously, God's aim doesn't need work, nor does He need practice.  So he must be asking why he's taking all this damage from Him.  He's taking so much damage, in fact, that he's barely holding together, and having to work to keep himself from failing.

Job 6

Job 6:24

"Teach me, and I will be silent;
And show me how I have erred.

Job is looking for an explanation for what happened.  He eagerly wants to know why these things occurred.  His friends claim it's because of some hidden sin on his part, but Job knows that isn't true.  However, he's willing to ask God to show him is he is mistaken in his belief of being upright.

He asks God to show him if he has failed in some way, if there is a cause for his losses.  If this is God's justice on him, then he wants to know what he's done to cause offense.  He's just waiting for God to give him some clue, and he will listen carefully to all that he is told.  So far, his friends have only given general "it must be sin" accusations.  If God will provide specifics, Job will do all he can to learn.

Job 5

Job 5:25

"You will know also that your descendants will be many,
And your offspring as the grass of the earth.

It's probably a good thing that Job was there instead of me when Eliphaz said this.  If it had been me, I probably would have punched him out at that moment.  He's talking about how someone whom God disciplines should be grateful, and what the benefits are to the one who pays attention.

Here is a man who has just lost all his children.  He's lost his sons and daughters in a single day, to what could best be described as a natural disaster.  He's also lost his health, and we have no clue how old he is, except that is sons were grown.  So there's no suggestion that he will ever have children again, yet here's this blowhard talking about how God will bless those who change their ways so that they will have uncounted descendants.  How inappropriate can you get?

Job 4

Job 4:16

"Is stood still, but I could not discern its appearance;
A form was before my eyes;
There was silence, then I heard a voice:

It appears that Eliphaz was spoken to in a dream, but by Satan rather than God or an angel.  He uses one of God's more common methods of communication when He wants to inform someone:  dreams.  From the time of Abraham on, and especially with Joseph, God had used dreams when He needed to get someone information.  Even today, dreams can be used by God to bring people to Christ.

However, this time it's Satan using this method.  Note how he is careful to avoid giving any hint as to what he really is, keeping everything vague and making Eliphaz draw the conclusions.  He didn't lie, or portray himself as something he's not.  He merely did the minimum necessary, and let the humans fill in the gaps.

Job 3

Job 3:13

"For now I would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept then, I would have been at rest,

Job was asking why he couldn't have died before being born.  He's gone on at some length about how he wishes he had never been born, or died in the womb, or never even been conceived.  But for half the chapter, he just moans, and never explains why.  Obviously he's in pain from all his losses, and he wishes he could have avoided them.  But why not simply wish for death now?

Here he explains why.  If he had died as an unborn baby, he would never have known pain at all.  His life has, until recently, been very good.  However, it wasn't perfect, and there had doubtless been things to hurt him before this.  But if he had died before knowing the world, he would have always been at peace.  No joys, but no sorrows either.  At the moment, he sees that as an acceptable trade-off.

Job 2

Job 2:10

But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks.  Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?"  In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

This general sentiment is something that it often seems is missing from some modern Christians.  We are given no promise that God will never allow bad thing to happen to us.  He has not promised that it will be clear skies always.  This is a fallen world, and thing will happen that we don't like, but can't prevent.  That is part of our curse, and must be understood and accepted, before it can be dealt with.

Also, I notice that Job says that the good comes from God, but he doesn't say that about evil.  It may be implied, but it's not stated, and I wonder if Job intentionally did not state it.  While God is all-powerful, He is not (for lack of a better term) all-controlling.  By that, I mean He does not direct every tiny aspect of the universe moment by moment.  Much of it He has started in motion, and allows events to occur based on the rules He set up.  This is not to say that He is uninvolved or uncaring, but He doesn't direct every last raindrop on when and where to fall, or decide that a hurricane should happen now that will kill dozens of people, or initiate an earthquake, or make a rainbow happen after a storm.  He has set the rules by which these things happen, and He allows those rules to go unhelped or unhindered.  But they don't need His hand directly instigating them.

Job 1

Job 1:16

While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

What is this fire of God?  Was it a heavenly blast, like what Elijah called down?  Or was it something more terrestrial?  A meteor strike?  A volcanic eruption?  What would cause such a large event to wipe out his entire sheep herd, 7,000 of them and the land that would take up?

If it was supernatural, how did it happen?  Did God directly cause the fire to come down?  Or was his giving Satan permission enough to allow him the power to release it?  How much of this was God's allowance, versus His doing?

Esther 10

Esther 10:1

Now King Ahasuerus laid a tribute on the land and on the coastlands of the sea.

Why is this verse here?  We just got through talking about the feast of Purim, and about how big Mordecai was, and how important Esther was.  The rest of the chapter is back to talking about Mordecai.  So why in the middle of this does a new tax get mentioned?  It's almost as if there was going to be more to the history, but the author chose to cut it short all of the sudden.

My only guess is that this tribute either went to Esther and/or Mordecai, or else was administered by Mordecai, or Mordecai was in charge of dealing with how the money collected was used.  Not sure which of the three it was, or why it's in here at all, but it seems very random.

Esther 9

Esther 9:12

The king said to Queen Esther, "The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman at the citadel in Susa.  What then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces!  Now what is your petition?  It shall even be granted you.  And what is your further request?  It shall also be done."

It may just be me, but this feels a little bit whiny in my mental ear.  It sounds like he's almost bemoaning how aggressive the Jews have been.  They've killed hundreds in his capitol, so how bad has it been elsewhere in the kingdom?  This is a terrible loss of life!  How could they be so harsh?

Then he goes on to ask Esther what else she wants.  In combination, it's almost like she asking what more it would take to please her.  She's had thousands killed.  What's next?  More needless death and suffering?  Or is her bloodlust satisfied?

In reality, I doubt this was the feeling the king had.  More likely, he was satisfied that the enemies of his wife's people were dealt with, and that a potential hostility and rift in his kingdom had been decisively dealt with.  What more would be needed to make her people safe?

Esther 8

Esther 8:11

In them the king granted the Jews who were in each and every city the right to assemble and to defend their lives, to destroy, to kill and to annihilate the entire army of any people or province which might attack them, including children and women, and to plunder their spoil,

It almost feels like there are two different commands here.  First, there is the decree that the Jews can defend themselves and group together for protection.  This makes sense, because as a group you're now into a numbers game in a fight, where at least any smaller group would be deterred from attacking, because they don't have the numbers to win.  Since Jews normally stay grouped together, this turns into quite a number to stand off against, and therefore much less likely anyone would take a shot at them.

However, it then goes on to say they can go after anyone who might attack them.  Not that does attack, but who might attack.  This just went from a defense to a preemptive strike, with no quarter given.  Anyone they think may be even thinking about attacking them, they can rally together and take out.  Very "Old Testament," but that was what they themselves had been threatened with.

Esther 7

Esther 7:8

Now when the king returned from the palace garden into the place where they were drinking wine, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was.  Then the king said, "Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?"  As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.

I'm not quite sure what was happening here.  Why did Haman fall on the couch?  Was he throwing himself at the queen, begging for his life?  Was he speaking with her, or begging, and was overcome with fear and simply collapsed onto the couch?  Either of these seems reasonable, but obviously the king didn't like what he saw.

It appears he believe Haman was going to try to hurt or kill her, and I'm sure there were laws about behavior in the queen's presence and touching her person.  So Haman's messed up again, either accidentally or without thinking.  The king is charging him with royal assault.  I'm not sure what is means by his face being covered, though.  Was this figurative, or literal?  Could it be that Haman was arrested, and his face literally covered for his imminent execution, like is described for hangings and beheadings in movies?

Esther 6

Esther 6:13

Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him.  Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him."

Haman had just been humiliated by his own mouth.  He thought he was suggesting a way to have himself honored, and instead had to honor his worst enemy.  Now he comes home, and unburdens himself on his wife and friends.  He's wanting comfort, perhaps further inspiration on how to avenge himself on Mordecai.

Instead, all he gets is further doom.  Apparently at least some of his friends are wise counselors, and they can see the writing on the wall.  This is a rather superstitious culture, and having something this humiliating happen right when you're going to ask for a great triumph isn't a good sign.  In this case, just because they're superstitious doesn't mean they're wrong.  Haman is on the way down, but doesn't see it, and can't stop it.

Esther 5

Esther 5:11

Yet all of this does not satisfy me every time I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate."

Haman had the entire world at his fingertips.  He's second in command of the most powerful (and arguably only) nation in the Middle East.  He has carte blanche to do as he pleases.  He's even been able to order the coming extermination of an entire people group.  There is almost literally nothing he can't do.

However, despite all that, his pride is bigger than his power.  There is one man out there who won't bow the knee to him.  One sole man, who does not give him the respect he deserves.  Millions who would do anything he says, yet that one man's quiet defiance is something he can not ignore.  He's already arranged for the man to be killed in a few months, but that's not good enough.  Despite his coming death sentence, on the orders of Haman, he will not change.  And that is enough to make everything else insufficient.

Esther 4

Esther 4:3

In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.

I wonder why exactly they were mourning?  Was it because they thought they were doomed?  Did they think their execution had been announced, and they have lost all hope?  Did they think that this time, God had truly abandoned them to their enemies, and this finally would be the end of their people?

Or were they repenting?  Did they believe they had greatly sinned again, and were trying to turn back to God's path again?  Were they pleading with God for deliverance from this new enemy, after so many years where they had been separated from Him?  For that matter, had they sinned again?  Did they do something in exile that did cause separation, and were just now recognizing it?

Esther 3

Esther 3:15

The couriers went out impelled by the king's command while the decree was issued at the citadel in Susa; and while the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in confusion.

The king has just condemned an entire people to death, signs the decree, sends out the couriers, and goes to party.  Haman, having guided all of this, joins him, and they continue on their lives as if nothing has happened.  Not sure if they're celebrating the coming genocide, or if this was just normal after-work drinks.  They obviously didn't concern themselves with what was done.

Meanwhile, the order is released in the capitol, and everyone gets confused.  Whatever Haman may have felt about the Jews, apparently the population in general didn't feel the same.  They may not have known the Jews existed.  Maybe they simply didn't have any quarrel with them.  Whichever it was, they sure were surprised when their extermination was ordered, and had no idea what was going on.  For that matter, they have have been wondering if their nationality would be next on the purge list.