January 8–Read Genesis 8
I may not be the most patient person in the world. I remember that when we bought our house, I just couldn’t understand why the homeowner was unable to provide us with an instantaneous response. The waiting was awful!
Noah knew how to wait. I can’t even fathom how antsy I would have been to get out of that ark. Just think about all the waiting that he had had to do in that wooden box. After the animals all piled in with them, they had to wait seven days for anything to happen! I wonder if they could hear the mocking laughter through the walls of their craft. Then the rains came and covered the earth for a hundred fifty days, after which time the ark rested on Mount Ararat. I think I would have begun to feel relieved that this was the beginning of the end, but their stay wasn’t even half over yet! In all, Noah and his family stayed on the ark for a full year. What an amazing example to us of how God preserves his people and teaches them to be patient and wait on him.
Sing or pray Psalter #100.
January 9–Read Genesis 9
There are so many amazing pictures that God has given us in the rainbow. We recently studied this in Bible class, and I thought Gertrude Hoeksema did a great job of explaining these pictures in Show Me Thy Ways. First there is the beam of white light, which creates the rainbow and signifies God himself. That light is then reflected into seven different colors, a picture of God’s grace, since seven is the number of the covenant. Another ingredient for a rainbow is rain, a picture of how Christ washes away our sin. Besides light and rain, a rainbow also needs a dark background, a picture of God’s anger against our sin. God’s grace shines through this anger and brings us life.
Sing or pray Psalter #395.
January 10–Read Genesis 10
In history right now we are studying the colonization of America. It’s kind of humorous to see how the European countries got excited about sending an expedition to the New World so that they could claim a huge portion of land and name it after themselves. Just put the word “new” in front of it, and you are good to go. With names like New England, New Netherland, New France, and New Spain, they don’t exactly get points for originality.
Genesis 10:9 says of Nimrod that, “He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.” Nimrod was a very powerful and wicked man. He enjoyed the fame and respect that hunting wild animals gave him. Remember, this was soon after the flood, so the ratio of people to animals must have been much different than it is today. Nimrod sought his own glory by protecting mankind, but God used him to protect his church. The same is true with the colonization of America. The wicked nations sent expeditions to the New World only for their own benefit, but God used it to create a new center from which Christianity could be spread to all nations.
Sing or pray Psalter #257.
January 11–Read Genesis 11
When did we stop marrying our siblings? I posed this question to my students a little while back, who looked at me strangely and stated emphatically that they would never want to do such a thing. To this I responded, “Oh course, but when did we start thinking that way?” Man hasn’t always been repulsed by the idea of marrying someone in his own family. Obviously, Adam and Eve’s children married their brothers and sisters, Abram married his half-sister, and Isaac and Jacob both married their cousins. I’m not sure what the answer to this question is, but my guess is that God caused there to be a natural progression away from this practice until it was put into writing in the Mosaic Law (Lev. 18). It’s interesting to note here that this chapter prohibits many different intrafamily marriages, but not a marriage between cousins. As far as I know, these types of marriages are not spoken against in the Bible. Marriages between first cousins were made illegal by the law of the land, and our way of thinking has followed suit.
Sing or pray Psalter #125.
January 12–Read Job 1
If someone asked us what the most powerful bomb in the world was, many of us would say the atomic bomb, and we’d be thinking of the two that were dropped on Japan back in 1945. To some of us, those bombs are viewed as the peak of destructive capabilities. Each killed tens of thousands of people and it’s hard to fathom their power, but they are truly nothing compared to the bombs we have today. The most powerful bomb ever detonated is still the Tsar Bomb from all the way back in 1961, which was a whopping 3,333 times more powerful than the WWII version.
The point of this is not to terrify, but to remind us that God is in complete control. We see that in Job’s life, and it is no less true today. It’s easy to feel as if the United States is pretty well cemented in as the world power for the foreseeable future and not much is going to change, but God can change everything in a moment. This doesn’t cause us to fear, but to rejoice that the one who is in control will make all things for our profit.
Sing or pray Psalter #71.
January 13–Read Job 2
Job’s three friends sat with him in silence for seven days and nights. The following chapters of the book don’t paint a very nice picture of these friends, but here their actions are somewhat commendable. As Matthew Henry points out, it is better not to speak than to say the wrong thing at times of grief.
This reminded me of something from my own childhood. When I was a senior in high school, a classmate of mine was taken to glory. On our senior class trip, a beautiful message from the parents was read to us and bookmarks with Isaiah 40:31 on them were handed out. The night became serious in a moment, and I remember not knowing what to do. The fact that I had no idea how to act in such a situation really bothered me. I sat there in silence as my classmates finally began moving around and talking again, feeling very conscious of my own spiritual immaturity. During the whole hour I sat there, one of my classmates sat in silence beside me. No words were needed, because we both knew how the other was feeling. Words aren’t always necessary to bring comfort.
Sing or pray Psalter #161.
January 14–Read Job 3
Isn’t it kind of funny how quickly we forget? We forget what it felt like to have to wake up every couple hours during the night to care for the baby. We forget just how terrifying it was climbing to the top of that tree. We forget why we went into that career. We forget all the things we like about this or that person, because right now he is doing something that really annoys us. We forget how weak we are, weakness shown by the fact that we forgot about it.
In this chapter, Job forgot about all the joy that he had in life. He cursed the day he was born, giving as his reason, “Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.” Job now saw his whole life as one of sorrow. It is true that the life of the Christian is full of sorrow, but there is also the joy of our salvation shining through that sorrow, as illustrated by the rainbow we discussed earlier.
Sing or pray Psalter #240.
January 15–Read Job 4
Job 4 is the first speech given by one of Job’s “friends”. Eliphaz the Temanite did not come with words of comfort for Job. He did not console Job with words of God’s faithfulness and everlasting love for his people. He did not remind Job that God’s plan is perfect and that he works all things for our good. No, Eliphaz comes with rebuke.
Sometimes there are things that just have to be said even if they hurt, Eliphaz explains. Look at you, Job. You were a great man, giving advice and comfort to all who needed it. People respected you and were comforted by you. Now here you are, brought low by horrible trials of your own.
Eliphaz comes to Job as a theologian. He emphasizes God’s greatness and his judgment of sin. He believes that Job must have done something terrible to be so afflicted. “Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the righteous cut off?” (v.7). His speeches in this chapter and in the chapters to come are filled with this theme.
Sing or pray Psalter #93.
January 16–Read Job 5
This is a rather strange chapter of the Bible, for in it we see Eliphaz say some pretty contradictory things. At the beginning, Eliphaz is trying to prove his theory that these calamities must be coming upon Job because of some horrible sins he has committed. However, beginning in verse 6, he reverts to bringing Job comfort in his affliction. Put this chapter into a classroom setting and it would come out sounding something like the following.
“You’ve worn that shirt three days in a row. It was already dirty yesterday. I think… yep, it smells pretty bad. No offense, but that’s kind of disgusting.”
At this point, you’d definitely be offended, right? Now imagine that your tormentor continues as seen below.
“I like your shoes though. Those are really cool. I’ve always wanted that kind, but mom says the ones I have are good for now. Where did you get them?”
You’d be so upset about the clothing comments that you wouldn’t even hear the compliment about the shoes. This is probably how Job felt. He was so upset about the unjustness of Eliphaz’s accusations that Eliphaz’s words of comfort were hollow to him.
Sing or pray Psalter #210.
January 17–Read Job 6
Job uses a great metaphor in verses 15–21 of this chapter to describe the actions of his three friends. A little stream can quickly turn into a raging river after a heavy rain or when the snow and ice of winter begins to melt. A traveler coming through the area at this time would have more than enough water and would remember the place. However, if the traveler returned during the heat of summer, the stream might be all dried up. During the cooler springtime there was more than enough water, but now that the traveler is in dire need of it in the heat of summer, there is nothing for him to drink. This is just like Job’s three friends. They made a great show of coming to him, but had only accusations to bring. They were there for Job when he had many riches, but when he truly needed them they turned against him.
Sing or pray Psalter #327.
January 18–Read Job 7
When I was student teaching, I had the interesting experience of not only teaching in a Roman Catholic school, but a Catholic school that was also going to be closing its doors at the end of the school year. You want to see people who don’t care about their job, tell a bunch of middle-aged teachers that there won’t be a school for them to teach at the following year. I could have played hide-and-seek with the students throughout the property that entire semester; no one cared.
In this chapter, Job is talking like a teacher who isn’t afraid of getting fired, because he’s going to lose his job anyway. In verses 9 and 10, he talks about how short our life is. It’s no time at all before it’s over. Since he’s going to die anyway, Job claims, in verse 11, he isn’t afraid to voice his complaints. What’s God going to do, kill him? Of course, this is spoken in sinful despair, for Job is forgetting that death is merely the passage into eternal life, his true home.
Sing or pray Psalter #104.
January 19–Read Job 8
Have you ever had a situation in your church or school where you felt as if someone was being disciplined unfairly? You just can’t see any reason why that person should have certain restrictions placed upon him, and you think that something should be done about it. You don’t know the details of the case, due to it’s being a confidential matter, but you strongly feel that the consistory or school board is erring.
We all tend to think we know the answer without even understanding the entire situation. If you want an illustration of that, just ask a classroom full of children how some obscure place name is pronounced. They all have different ideas, each being quite certain his is the correct one. We see this weakness in Job’s three friends. All they know is that horrible things are happening to Job, and that’s enough for them to jump to the conclusion that these things must be the judgment of God coming upon Job for some heinous sins he has committed.
Sing or pray Psalter #369.
January 20–Read Job 9
Job 9:29 says, “If I be wicked, why then labor I in vain?” If God has decreed that he would be a wicked person, then why is he even trying to do good? This idea carries with it a very faulty view of predestination. It’s not as if the wicked would love to do what is pleasing to God, but he’s kept away from it by the God who decided that he would go to hell. This portrays the reprobate as being forced unwillingly into their sin. If Job was truly reprobate, he would not have any desire to do what is pleasing to God in the first place. I felt that this was one weakness in The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. The wicked people were kind of portrayed as those who would believe if only their minds weren’t clouded by the demons. In contrast, Proverbs 2:14 says that the reprobate “rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked.”
Sing or pray Psalter #156.
January 21–Read Job 10
It’s time for your second college class of the morning. You walk into the room, glance to your chair, and find that someone is in your seat! You can’t believe it! What is that person thinking? What would possess anyone to try to sit in a DIFFERENT seat than they did on the first day of class. The seat you pick on the first day is the seat you will sit in all semester. Everybody knows that.
This simple example shows what creatures of habit we are. We need order and structure in our lives. Without it we are like the dead man mentioned in Job 10:22. The dead man has no order in his life, because he lies in darkness. God created light to rule our lives by giving us order, a picture of how he rules over us. Light tells us when to wake up; it allows us to get certain jobs done; it tells us when to go to sleep. Without light we are lost, as the world was during the darkness in Egypt and the three hours of darkness when Jesus was on the cross.
Sing or pray Psalter #73.
January 22–Read Job 11
This past presidential election was pretty ugly. The process brought out the worst in our country, and it hasn’t even ended with election night. You have violent protesters screaming in the streets and holding up signs that say, “Love Trumps Hate.” How does it make sense to protest hatred by showing hatred?
Hypocrisy is a great danger for all of us. It’s easy for us to point it out in others, but so often our minds are clouded to the same thing in ourselves. Here, Zophar rebukes Job extremely harshly for his hypocritical ways, accusations which Job largely didn’t deserve. Ironically, Zophar is being hypocritical himself by coming to Job as a friend, but then turning sharply against him with little basis for much of what he says. This observation is consistent with the way the world often attacks the church. They take the very sin that they are guilty of, such as sinful hatred, and accuse the church of it.
Sing or pray Psalter #351.
January 23–Read Job 12
Isn’t it hard to believe the silly things that we are quick to be proud about? All it takes is for me to believe I’m better at this or that activity than someone else, and before I know it I’m getting pretty impressed with myself. It can be something as simple as winning in a game or receiving a compliment from someone. You might think that this temptation would start to go away as you grow up, but I haven’t found that to be true.
Job 12:2 says, “No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.” Job is here sarcastically saying, “You are the wisest people on the earth, and no one else knows anything.” Job’s friends are convinced that they know all the answers. They know why these things are coming upon Job. They know the words of reproof that Job needs. They know how to live their life, but Job doesn’t know much about living his. They are proud. We are all weak, and one way we exhibit that weakness is by being quick to pride.
Sing or pray Psalter #323.
January 24–Read Job 13
We are reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond in class right now. The setting of the book is colonial America. At that time, not much was known about modern medicine. When someone got sick, the doctor would come to the house to bleed them, thinking that was the best way to get the “poison” out of their body. In reality, this technique only succeeded in weakening the patient further.
In Job 13:4 Job calls his friends, “physicians of no value.” Their presence has given Job no comfort. In fact, due to the harsh words they have spoken, he is actually worse off than he was before. This goes along with the story of the healing of a woman’s blood disease in Mark 5. In verse 26 of this chapter, we read that this woman “had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse.” We need to be knowledgeable doctors in our friendships, not 18th century physicians.
Sing or pray Psalter #78.
January 25–Read Job 14
In Job 14, Job ponders the life of man. Man is born of a woman and is frail (v.1). Man’s days are few and pass quickly by (v.1). They are like a wilting flower and a shadow, in which we do not place our trust (v.2). Man’s days are full of sin (v.4). They are numbered, and God only knows how many days each man will live on this earth (v.5).
In the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12), we learn of a rich man who builds greater barns to store all his earthly riches. Then he sits back and says, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” But God said to him, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” This parable reminds us that God could take us to heaven at any time. Therefore we must use every moment we can to store up our treasures in heaven and not on this earth, “where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal… For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt.6:19–21).
Sing or pray Psalter #105.
January 26–Read Job 15
Eliphaz makes two grave accusations against Job in verse four of Job 15. “Yea thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.” The charges that Job no longer fears God and has given up prayer are severe. “See what religion is summed up in, fearing God and praying to him, the former the most needful principle, the latter the most needful practice. Where no fear of God is no good is to be expected; and those who live without prayer certainly live without God in the world” (Henry).
Eliphaz goes one step farther. He accuses Job of causing these things in others. He says that by Job’s idea that the righteous suffer just as much as the wicked, he makes others lose their fear of God and think they don’t need to pray. If all things come alike to all, everyone will be ready to say, like Asaph says in Psalm 73:13–14, “Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.” We must never give in to this thinking.
Sing or pray Psalter #6.
January 27–Read Job 16
Have you ever listened to two people arguing about something and felt as if neither person was even listening to what the other had to say? I say “listened to,” because when we are involved in such a disagreement we are usually in denial of our own selective hearing. Simply arguing for the sake of arguing doesn’t get you anywhere. Job brings this out in verse 3, by saying, “Shall vain words have an end?” In other words, “We could argue about what all of us did or didn’t do wrong all day, but what’s the point?” Sometimes arguments need to be worked out, but we must not get sucked into the temptation of feeling like we must “win” the argument. This kind of thinking is detrimental to the life of the church. When we actually listen to the points made by the opposing side, we will often find we can begin to understand their position, although we still might not agree with it.
Sing or pray Psalter #371.
January 28–Read Job 17
There is a lot of talk about the grave at the beginning and end of this chapter. In verse 1, Job says, “My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.” Then in verse 13, he adds, “If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.” Matthew Henry does not view these statements negatively. Instead, he points out that it is good for us to be conscious of the fact that we are dying from the moment we are born. Every day brings us closer to the close of our life here on this earth. When we live in the consciousness of that, we “make our bed,” preparing for our death. We don’t fear it, because we know that death is only the passage into eternal life. The grave is just the bed where our body sleeps until it is reunited with our soul at the end of time.
Sing or pray Psalter #33.
January 29–Read Job 18
I remember sitting down and thinking, why isn’t everyone in the world rich? If they have any children, it’s only one or two, and often later in life. They have no tuition to pay or collections to give in the offering plate at church. They don’t have any of the other obligations that come with church membership either. In addition, they are living off two incomes. If you looked at it simply from an outward standpoint like this, it would seem like the wicked live pretty easy and care-free lives. Job touches on this topic himself a little later in the book.
The reality, however, is that the life of the wicked is miserable, as Bildad discusses at length in this chapter. They may have all the worldly possessions on earth, but without God they have nothing. They may own many things, but these things give them no joy. While death is the entrance into heaven for the righteous, for the wicked it is the terrifying end of earthly life and the beginning of everlasting torment in hell.
Sing or pray Psalter #89.
January 30–Read Job 19
Job bemoans his friends’ cruelty. “How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?” Not only these three friends have hurt Job many times with their words, but his friends and family have also forsaken him. “My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me” (v.14). Aren’t Job’s afflictions enough without the added burden of cruel words from family and friends? Job desires that his words be printed in a book and graven in a rock, for he believes that future generations will judge him favorably.
In spite of it all, Job ends with a beautiful confession of faith. “For I know that my Redeemer liveth…” (v.25). Job trusts that God will redeem and vindicate him, and he looks forward to his life in heaven. For he “desires a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called [his] God: for he hath prepared for [him] a city” (Heb. 11:16).
Sing or pray Psalter #203.
January 31–Read Job 20
Matthew Henry states, “Never was any doctrine better explained, or worse applied, than this by Zophar, who intended to prove Job a hypocrite.” Zophar says this because he believes only a wicked man would suffer like Job. According to Zophar, the prosperity of the wicked is short and his doom is sure. “This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God” (v.29).
Matthew Henry continues, “One view of Jesus, directed by the Holy Spirit, and by him suitably impressed upon our souls, will quell a thousand carnal reasonings about the suffering of the faithful.” God’s faithful people do suffer. Take one look at Joseph, David, the Israelites in Egypt, and at Jesus. Jesus, God’s own sinless son, suffered. He was mocked, spit on, whipped, and crucified by his neighbors and countrymen. He was denied by his own disciples. He is denied by us daily. Zophar is forgetting that this life is a pilgrimage and a battlefield.
Sing or pray Psalter #244.
February 1–Read Job 21
In a way, Job agrees with Zophar that the prosperity of the wicked is short and his doom is sure. The wicked do face certain judgment when they die and must stand before God’s judgment seat. However, their suffering does not always visibly begin in this world. Outwardly it often seems as if God is blessing them, as we discussed earlier. Their whole life is full of prosperity. Job gives many examples of this. Their children are established (v.8), their houses are safe (v.9), their cattle reproduce (v.10), they receive honorable burials (vv.32–33), and so on. However, “the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him” (Jude 1:14,15).
Sing or pray Psalter #201.
February 2–Read Job 22
In Matthew 25:41–46, Jesus preaches about how those who persecute his people are persecuting him. Verse 45 says, “Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.” Those who refuse to love God’s people refuse to love God. That is why the accusations of sin that Eliphaz proposes in Job 22 are so serious. When we don’t clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and provide for the widows, we also fail to do these things for Christ. We show Christ, our brother and savior, that we don’t care about the things he has done for us. If it were true that Job had done these things, then the harsh words of the friends would be justified. As it stands, these accusations do nothing but cause division and reveal Eliphaz’s foolishness.
Sing or pray Psalter #51.
February 3–Read Job 23
We recently finished studying the periodic table in school. This fascinating chart is comprised of the hundred or so elements that make up this world God has created. Near the bottom of the table is a row of elements called the rare earth elements. What’s interesting is that these elements aren’t actually rare. You can find bits of them in rocks all over the place. Instead, rare earth elements get their name from the fact that they are very hard to separate out from other elements.
Just as it requires a very difficult process to obtain pure rare earth elements, so Job was going through excruciating trials as God continued to purify him. Job 23:10 says, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” God tries his people that we may be made more like him. These trials are never easy, but the reward received at their final conclusion is always priceless.
Sing or pray Psalter #294.
February 4–Read Job 24
Job 24:1 says, “Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?” There seems to be some question as to what this verse means exactly, as much of the chapter talks about how God sometimes appears to be indifferent to wickedness, but when I read it I immediately thought of the last days. We talk about the fact that we are already in the last days, but we aren’t yet in the time of worldwide persecution. We see the signs of the times all around us, but we have so many earthly things that it is very hard for us to feel that those days are fast approaching. Sometimes I wonder how clearly God’s people will be able to see it coming when the time arrives. Will it be so quick that everyone is surprised, or will God’s people be able to see it coming a few months or years beforehand? Either way, we are called now to “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matt. 25:13).
Sing or pray Psalter #21.
February 5–Read Job 25
“How can man be justified with God?” wonders Bildad in Job 25:4. “Or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?” he continues. We are sinners with every breath we take and God is perfect in his very being. We can do no good, and God can do no wrong. If we are but worms when compared with God (v.6), how are we justified?
Psalm 89:6 says, “For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?” The answer is no one. It is only by God’s grace that we are justified. His grace decreed that Christ shed his blood on the cross so that we are washed as white as snow. “Almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:22). “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
Sing or pray Psalter #141.
February 6–Read Job 26
As we’ve seen often throughout this book already, Job spends much of this chapter talking about how great God is. In verse 13, Job says of God, “his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.” According to Matthew Henry, it is uncertain what this statement is referring to. Some think it refers to our galaxy, the Milky Way. Our galaxy is a spiral galaxy, so it kind of looks like a coiled-up snake. When we see the Milky Way in the sky at night, we are looking at one of the neighboring spirals. Others think it is talking about a particular constellation. Henry himself, however, thinks this reference is probably to leviathan, the beast that God himself talks about at the end of the book. Intimidating creatures like the leviathan, although we don’t really know what they looked like, are a picture of God’s power over creation. Even such great creatures as the leviathan are nothing before their creator.
Sing or pray Psalter #200.
February 7–Read Job 27
Job 27:14 says of the wicked, “If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword.” God’s people live lives of love, but the wicked live lives of hatred and evil. This was also brought out by Isaac when he said to Esau, “And by the sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother” (Gen. 27:40). If we look back at the history of Esau, we will see that the Edomites were indeed multiplied, but it was done with violence. Esau ruled by causing others to fear him. We see this when Jacob comes back to see Esau, and the older brother goes to meet Jacob with four hundred men. History is full of tyrants who ruled purely by trying to frighten off anyone that tried to stand up to them. It is true that God gave the civil government the power of the sword, but that power was given to keep order in the country, not terrorize it. Wicked men always pollute God’s commands and twist them to fit with their own ideas.
Sing or pray Psalter #223.