Intro The Lord answered Job, pulling Job from an inward focus on his suffering to what is beyond: God. By stating who He is and what that means, God inductively taught Job: If I am all-powerful, then I am taking care of you in my way and time. I am even more powerful than the […]
Suffering Through the Lenses of Job, Lesson 7: Job’s Recognition, Repentance, and Restoration
March 19, 2016 by
Suffering Through the Lenses of Job, Lesson 6: The Lord Answers Job
March 19, 2016 by
Intro Elihu came, said his words, and left. We now find God responding to Job’s suffering. The Whirlwind: The Law and Judgement against His Enemies Isaiah 29:6: Judgment will come from the Lord of the Heavenly Armies—with thunder, earthquake, and great noise, with whirlwind, tempest, and flames of consuming fire. Jeremiah 23:19: Look, a […]
The Books of the Old Testament: The Apocrypha
March 17, 2016 by
This article is a supplement to the church bulletin for our Palm Sunday service. The Old Testament reading is from 2 Maccabees 10:1-7, which gives us a better context for understanding the people’s response as Jesus rode into Jerusalem. The text from 2 Maccabees reads: With the Lord leading them, Maccabeus and his followers restored […]
Suffering Through the Lenses of Job, Lesson 5: Elihu
March 9, 2016 by
Intro Throughout his suffering, Job’s understanding his Redeemer gave him hope. Job knew that his suffering here did not define him. He knew that in His flesh he would see God. The resurrection of the body enabled Job to remain in the faith, even as his fallen body suffered and betrayed him. A Fourth […]
Suffering Through the Lenses of Job, Lesson 4: Job’s Redeemer—and Ours!
February 13, 2016 by
Intro and Recap Last week, we explored what God works through the suffering we experience, realizing that at suffering’s deepest root is sin. Nonetheless, God will work what we suffer for our eternal good, just as He worked our salvation through His Son’s suffering on the cross (Romans 8:28, John 3:16). Through faith, then, the […]
Suffering Through the Lenses of Job, Lesson 3: Counsel from Job’s Friends
February 13, 2016 by
Intro We now explore the counsel of three friends of Job. As a backdrop, realizing that Job comes to us in to form of poetry, and also as a story, we should ask, “Why are three friends, not two or four, giving their counsel to Job?” If we look at job as “history,” we would […]
Sola Scriptura: Scripture Alone, Pt. 2
February 4, 2016 by
Review and Overview For Lutherans, our Formula of Concord reads: We believe, teach, and confess that the only rule and norm according to which all teachings, together with all teachers, should be evaluated and judged are the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and of the New Testament alone. [Ep, Summary, 1] Thus, we […]
Suffering Through the Lenses of Job, Lesson 2: The Suffering Begins
February 4, 2016 by
Review of the Literary Genre for Job Although Job was a real person, the events in Job are not written as a historical narrative. Other than the prologue (Job 1:1-2:13) and epilogue (Job 42:7-17), which are highly stylized prose, the rest of Job is a series of poetic speeches (Job 3:1-42:6). These poetic forms show […]
Sola Scriptura: Scripture Alone, Pt. 1
February 4, 2016 by
Sola Scriptura means “Scripture alone,” one of the three “solas” of the Reformation. The idea of “Scripture alone” wasn’t something new in the Church. For example, Gregory of Nyssa (335-395 AD) wrote, “Let the inspired Scriptures then be our umpire, and the vote of truth will be given to those whose dogmas are found to […]
Suffering Through the Lenses of Job, Lesson 1: Introduction
January 23, 2016 by
The Big Picture Events in the Old-Testament book of Job take place in two realms. Amid Job’s suffering, we can see a conflict occurring between Job and Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. The “friends” of Job assert that righteous people enjoy earthly blessings and prosperity, but the wicked suffer. In their worldview, Job must then be […]
