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Psalm 103: Everlasting, Steadfast Love Toward Those Who Fear the Lord

August 2, 2021 By Ryan Higginbottom

Some psalms are on everyone’s list of favorites. Some have memorable lines; some capture just perfectly what we are feeling but couldn’t put into words.

Sometimes we love these psalms—or portions of these psalms—without looking at them carefully. Today we’ll take a close look at Psalm 103.

Bless the Lord!

Psalm 103 begins with a repeated, jubilant call to bless the Lord (Psalm 103:1). Why should we bless him? There are many, many reasons (Psalm 103:2).

The list of “benefits” that David writes is glorious.

who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:3–5)

What is true of the one who is blessed by the Lord? He is completely forgiven, thoroughly healed, redeemed, crowned with love and mercy, satisfied with good, and renewed in his youth. That sounds pretty good! It’s fitting that David calls “all that is within [him]” to “bless his holy name” (Psalm 103:1).

Merciful and Gracious

In the second portion of Psalm 103, we learn more about this Lord whom we should bless. David tells us not just what God has done, but who he is.

At the heart of this portion of the psalm (Psalm 103:6–14) is a description of God that appears in multiple places in Scripture.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (Psalm 103:8)

The theme of God’s steadfast love is also apparent later in this section.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. (Psalm 103:11)

The rest of this section explains the meaning of verse 8. He does not repay us according to our iniquities (Psalm 103:10). He removes our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:12). God is compassionate toward us like a father toward his children (Psalm 103:13). Part of his compassion is shown in remembering our frame, that we are dust (Psalm 103:14).

We need to observe the text carefully. God does not show compassion to everyone; he shows compassion to those who fear him (Psalm 103:13). Fearing the Lord is also a requirement for receiving God’s steadfast love (Psalm 103:11).

From Everlasting to Everlasting

The third portion of this psalm is short but presents a profound contrast. Man’s days are brief, like grass or a flower of the field. They are fragile and can blow away in the wind (Psalm 103:15–16).

There is a fabulous connector at the beginning of verse 17: but. In contrast to the brevity of man’s days, David writes that “the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 103:17). In the flow of this section of the psalm, the subject of this clause is surprising. If man’s days are finite, we expect to read that the Lord’s days are infinite. But David emphasizes that the Lord’s love is everlasting! He comes back again and again to God’s love.

This section of the psalm reiterates the bounds of God’s steadfast love. It is for those who fear him (Psalm 103:17). Those who fear him are marked by keeping his covenant and doing his commandments (Psalm 103:18). This is all God’s prerogative, of course, since “his kingdom rules over all” (Psalm 103:19).

Bless the Lord!

Psalm 103 ends with another call to bless the Lord. Though the psalm begins with a personal, internal call to the soul, it ends with a summons for all creation—including our souls—to bless the Lord.

God’s obedient angels should bless him (Psalm 103:20). All his ministers who do his will should bless him (Psalm 103:21). Even all his works should bless the Lord (Psalm 103:22).

Application From a Favorite Psalm

This is a psalm of exultation, rejoicing in who God is for the people of his covenant. David calls himself and all of creation to meditate on God’s unending love. What is David’s main point in writing this psalm?

God abounds in everlasting, steadfast love toward those who fear him. So, bless the Lord!

As we wrap up, what are some possible applications? I know that I need to grow in the fear of the Lord, and I can help my Christian friends grow in this fear as well. I can also search for any false ideas about God’s love that I might believe and replace them with the truths from this psalm. Finally, I can call others to bless the Lord with me, rejoicing in all his benefits and his great compassion.

Identifying Stanzas in Lamentations

July 30, 2021 By Peter Krol

For a number of years, I have been following Joe Carter’s excellent Bible reading plan: Read an entire book of the Bible 20 times. Pick another; read it 20 times. Repeat. I just finished working through Lamentations, which was surprisingly refreshing. As my wife just had a baby, I don’t have time to compose a full interpretive walkthrough just yet. But I’d like to comment briefly on the book’s literary units.

Lamentations seems quite straightforward, with five main poems, matching the five chapters in our English Bibles. This seems all the more straightforward when you learn (perhaps from a commentary or study note) that the first four chapters are all acrostic poems in Hebrew, where each verse (or, in the case of chapter 3, every three verses) starts with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

In fact, my initial take on the book labeled the five chapters with the following headings:

Grief
Loss
Wrestling
Shellshock
Appeal

But David Dorsey, in his masterpiece The Literary Structure of the Old Testament, makes a compelling case for recognizing an additional structure superimposed over the acrostic structure. Upon reading the entire book in one sitting, day after day, I observed that the poems ebb and flow with periodic shifts in the pronouns. For example, chapter 1 begins in third person (“the city … she … her … Judah … Zion … Jerusalem” — Lam 1:1-11) but shifts to first person exactly halfway through, as the people express their groaning (“I … my … me … my” — Lam 1:12-22).

I hadn’t yet sat down to map out the shifts and consider how they might affect the structure and flow of thought. But I was not surprised when I read Dorsey’s analysis pulling it all together. By collecting the pronoun-shifts into the main stanzas, Dorsey (p.251) identifies 13 sections (perhaps we’d consider them lengthy stanzas?) in the book, which match up in mirror-image pairs:

she—Zion—is desolate and devastated (Lam 1:1-11)
- I—Zion—was betrayed and defeated (Lam 1:12-22)
  - he—Yahweh—has caused this in his anger (Lam 2:1-8)
    - they—princes, maidens, nurslings, children, mothers—suffer (Lam 2:9-12)
      - you—Zion—should cry out to God (Lam 2:13-22)
        he—Yahweh—has afflicted (Lam 3:1-20)
        CLIMAX: Yahweh’s great love! (Lam 3:21-32)
        he—Yahweh—afflicts humans (Lam 3:33-39)
      - you—Yahweh—to you I cry out (Lam 3:40-66)
    - they—princes, maidens, nurslings, children, mothers—suffer (Lam 4:1-10)
  - he—Yahweh—has caused this in his anger (Lam 4:11-16)
- we—the people of Zion—were betrayed and defeated (Lam 4:17-22)
we—the people of Zion—are desolate and devastated (Lam 5:1-22)

The heartbreaking poetry of Lamentations is quite moving, and it gives us a vocabulary for our own losses and laments. And the book’s structure greatly helps us to recognize the book’s overall message, which is one of profound hope in the midst of the deepest suffering. Even when the king who was supposed to save is himself wrecked (Lam 4:20), the law and the prophets have failed to provide the life and direction you need (Lam 2:9), and the place where God and man are supposed to be able to dwell together in peace is no more (Lam 5:18)—there is a big “but” writ large across time and space:

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of Yahweh never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lam 3:21-22)

The structure gives us every reason to look to the book’s center for the key message, which just might become a hinge for our perspectives on dark situations. As Ryan put it, when he explained why the context of Lamentations 3 matters:

We should remember the steadfast love of the Lord every day, but we need reminders most when we feel it least. When we’re tempted to lose heart, when our souls are cast down, we need to remember what God is really like.
Join the author of Lamentations. Recall the mercies of God throughout history and in your own life. Remember that he is your portion. Wait for him; he will have compassion according to his abundant, steadfast love.

Context Matters: In the World, but Not of the World

July 19, 2021 By Ryan Higginbottom

Perhaps you’ve heard that Christians are (or ought to be) in the world but not of the world. You’ve learned that those who follow Jesus should interact with their friends and neighbors (the world) but they should also be distinct, with different priorities and standards.

This phrase is common in Christian circles, but many may not know where it comes from. Is this a biblical saying? If so, are we using it correctly? If we read the Bible as a whole and not as an inspirational-motto jukebox, we’ll see that some familiar expressions take on a deeper meaning than we originally thought.

Within the Gospel of John

Let’s dispense with one thing first. “In the world but not of the world” does not appear in the Bible. Rather, it is a simple phrase that joins two sayings of Jesus together in a memorable way.

We find the pieces of this phrase in Jesus’s “high priestly prayer” in John 17. Jesus prays this prayer at the end of his last meal with his disciples, after Judas leaves to betray him (John 13). Jesus addresses the remaining disciples for three chapters (John 14–16) regarding his departure and the coming of the Holy Spirit. At the beginning of John 17, Jesus turns from talking to the disciples to praying to his Father for those same disciples.

In the World

My hunch is that “in the world” was pulled from John 17:11.

And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. (John 17:11)

Jesus was thinking about his departure from earth, contrasting where he will be (“no longer in the world”) with where the disciples will be (“in the world”). By “in the world,” Jesus means that the disciples are walking around on the earth like other living humans. This conclusion follows from the beginning of Jesus’s prayer.

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. (John 17:4–5)

Not of the World

The second part of this saying occurs a few verses later in Jesus’s prayer.

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (John 17:14–16)

Whereas “in the world” was used by way of contrast between Jesus and his disciples, the phrase “not of the world” is used to show similarity. The disciples are not of the world just as Jesus is not of the world.

Jesus spoke of this idea in John 15:19. The disciples are not of the world because Jesus chose them out of the world. Put differently, the disciples are “the people whom [God] gave [Jesus] out of the world” (John 17:6). There is a fundamental difference between the disciples and other people now. Instead of being of the world, they are of Jesus.

Jesus’s Requests

The context of words and phrases in the Bible always matters. Both parts of this little saying are located within Jesus’s prayer. How are they connected to his requests?

With regard to the disciples being “in the world,” Jesus asks his Father to “keep them in your name…that they may be as one, even as we are one” (John 17:11). Jesus wants God to guard them, so that none will be lost (John 17:12). The end goal of this preservation is a divine unity.

Part of what identifies the disciples as not being “of the world” is that Jesus has given them his word (John 17:14). Jesus prays that his Father would not “take them out of the world,” but that he would “keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). A related request falls two verses later: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).

A Helpful Phrase

Sometimes in these Context Matters posts, we correct a popular understanding of a verse. In this case, “in the world, but not of the world” is not found in Scripture, but the phrase is a helpful summary of biblical truths.

How much greater the reminder this phrase can provide, therefore, when we remember its components lie at the heart of Jesus’s prayer for his followers. Jesus still (and always) prays for his people, so we might conclude he prays these things for us now.

Those who follow Christ are in the world in a way that Jesus no longer is. Because we are still in the world we should ask God to keep us in his name that we might be one.

Those who follow Christ are, like him, not of the world. For this reason the world may hate us. So we should ask God to keep us from the evil one and sanctify us in his truth.

Context matters.

For more examples of why context matters, click here.

3 John: Speaking the Truth in Love to Challenging Leadership Situations

July 16, 2021 By Peter Krol

The Bible’s shortest book is easy to neglect but rewards a close look. This brief communication from “the elder” to “the beloved Gaius” (3 John 1) models for us both the heart and the practice of sincere ministry in a fallen world. Verse 1 introduces the twin themes of love and truth, which permeate the letter.

Regarding love: John loves Gaius (3 John 1), and Gaius loves the stranger-brothers (3 John 5-6), fellow Christians who are outsiders to his church community. Regarding truth: Gaius walks in it (3 John 3-4), we may become fellow workers for it (3 John 8), and one’s goodness may be commended by it (3 John 12).

Putting the two themes together, we see that Christian brothers have testified to both Gaius’s truth (3 John 3) and his love (3 John 6). It would appear that his love for the stranger-brothers was expressed—or could be further expressed—by planting himself firmly in the truth (i.e. walking in it), stroking in the same direction as the truth (i.e. becoming a fellow worker for it), and heeding its commendations (i.e. receiving its testimony). By contrast, therefore, he could fail to love others by departing from the truth, working against it, or being condemned by it.

This is all quite abstract, though, is it not? A survey of the themes will take us only so far. We’ll profit even further by following the letter’s train of thought from beginning to end.

Literary Markers

Once “the elder” identifies his recipient as “the beloved” Gaius, he then directly addresses this “beloved” three more times: 3 John 2, 5, 11. Those three addresses (“Beloved”) mark three sections for the letter’s body. We could potentially also peel off 3 John 13-15 as the letter’s closing. So we can observe the following structure:

Greeting – 1
Body – 2-12
- Beloved, part 1 – 2-4
- Beloved, part 2 – 5-10
- Beloved, part 3 – 11-12
Closing – 13-15

I’ve already shown how verse 1 introduces the letter’s themes, so let’s now walk through the letter’s body and closing.

Gaius’s Health – 2-4

The elder has heard reports that things are well with Gaius’s soul, as demonstrated by the fact that he continues walking in the truth (3 John 2b-3). And just as things are already going well with Gaius’s soul, the elder now prays as well that all may go well with him, and especially that he may be in good health (3 John 2). We could paraphrase these verses as follows:

As I have heard from those who have seen you in action, your soul is clearly doing well. I’ll ask God to make it continue to be so, and for that health to overflow to your body and life circumstances.

Now why is the elder singling out Gaius to receive this letter in the first place? The elder has heard reports referring specifically to Gaius’s attachment to the truth, so Gaius must be some sort of leader or public figure in the church. He is not unknown or unseen. Perhaps he’s a fellow elder in this congregation, responsible to help shepherd the flock. And the elder is praying diligently for the health of not only Gaius’s body but also his situation (“that all may go well with you”).

Gaius’s Church – 5-10

The elder now turns to describe what is going down in Gaius’s church. He begins by celebrating what is good (3 John 5-8) before frankly evaluating what is not good (3 John 9-10).

The good: Gaius is acting faithfully and with love, by sending out these itinerant, stranger-brothers in a manner worthy of God (3 John 5-6). He has entertained angels, and he’s treated them as he would treat the Lord himself, were he physically present. And Gaius hasn’t slowed down the mission in any way: He will “send them on their journey.” He’s making their mission more effective and less burdensome. Because they bear the name of Christ and have left so much behind (3 John 7), we ought to support people like this. This makes us fellow workers for the truth. There is much good to celebrate in this church and in Gaius’s leadership.

The bad: The elder has previously written to the entire church (though many commentators will disagree with me, I don’t see any compelling reason why he couldn’t be referring to 2 John here), but a man named Diotrephes won’t acknowledge his authority to proclaim truth or command obedience (3 John 9). Diotrephes not only talks wicked nonsense against the elder, but he also refuses to welcome the stranger-brothers and puts those who welcome them out of the church (3 John 10). So Diotrephes must be a leader within the church, exercising church discipline against those who accept the elder’s authority and obey his commands regarding what sort of missionaries they ought to support.

So although there is much to celebrate in the perspective and behavior of one of the church’s leaders (Gaius), there is just as much to condemn in the perspective and behavior of another one of the church’s leaders (Diotrephes). There is something deeply flawed here within the structure of the church that would permit Diotrephes to act unilaterally against the apostle’s instructions. This leaves the itinerant missionaries’ health in danger, at least in part because the entire church’s health is in question.

And this leads the elder to propose a way forward.

Gaius’s Assistant – 11-12

With the third and final address to Gaius as “beloved,” the elder commands him to imitate good and make sure not to imitate evil (3 John 11). What is this all about? How does the context shape the way we should understand this instruction?

Remember that Diotrephes is talking “wicked nonsense” (3 John 10). The elder now cautions Gaius not to be snookered by him. Don’t imitate him or his behavior. The elder goes as far as to suggest that Diotrephes has not even seen God (3 John 11). But Gaius—you who do good (3 John 3)—you are from God. You don’t need to get caught up in Diotrephes’s charismatic personality, his demands for loyalty, or his veneer of spirituality. And by all means, do not support his domineering approach to leadership.

The elder doesn’t leave Gaius with only the problem on his hands. Before he goes, he proposes a way forward to help Gaius make it right. This ugliness must be rectified before too long.

In 3 John 12, the elder commends another man, named Demetrius, who has received a good testimony from everyone and from the truth itself. The elder throws in his own testimony and that of his associates as well!

There’s much that’s not said here, so we don’t know precisely who Demetrius is. But there’s got to be a reason why the elder brings him up. The most credible options I’ve come across are that Demetrius was either the messenger who delivered the elder’s letter to Gaius, or another member of Gaius’s church—perhaps someone who had been overlooked for leadership because Diotrephes had seized the reins. But either way, the letter’s train of thought suggests that the elder is commending Demetrius to help Gaius lead the church in the truth, and to deal with the problem of Diotrephes. The elder wants Gaius to know that Demetrius would make a good fellow worker in the truth. A partner in the fight. A support in the mission of loving the stranger-brothers in truth.

In other words, Gaius does not have to stand alone in resisting the abusive leadership of Diotrephes.

Closing – 13-15

Now this is more than a little ugly. The elder has called out this guy (Diotrephes) by name, but in a way that remains surprisingly respectful and circumspect. He now concludes on an ominous note, however. There’s a lot more to say about this, but I’m not going to commit it to writing (3 John 13). Let’s do this face to face (3 John 14). These words have a more sinister tone than those that close 2 John, despite their similarity. There is no suggestion here that face time will have the result that “our joy may be complete” (2 John 12). Instead the final greetings are accompanied by a wish for “peace” (3 John 15).

Conclusion

Body and soul are intertwined. Though Gaius’s own soul is doing well, that health must seep out into his own body, and into the body of Christ of which he is a part. And since our greatest, healthiest joy derives from seeing one another walk in the truth (3 John 4), we must celebrate the good, identify the bad, and rectify the ugly. The good news of 3 John is that we don’t have to face such things alone.

Interpretive Outline

Speaking the truth in love – 3 John 1
Three wishes for the beloved church leader:
1. Prayer for the health of the whole person and community – 2-4
2. Celebration/confrontation of the brutal facts – 5-10
3. Assistance in the trenches – 11-12
More truth remains to be spoken in love – 13-15

This post is part of a series of interpretive overviews of the books of the Bible.

Job: How to Fear the Lord When Everything Falls Apart

July 2, 2021 By Peter Krol

The book of Job is difficult, like Shakespeare is difficult: It’s old, it’s a play, and it’s poetry. But drink deeply from its fountain, and the refreshment will astonish you.

Literary Markers

There is a clear shift from narrative (chapters 1-2) to poetry (chapters 3-41) and back again (chapter 42). Therefore the lengthy poetic speeches serve as the book’s body, with the narratives playing the role of prologue and epilogue.

The poetic units of thought are clearly marked by narrative statements regarding who is speaking. Make a simple list of the order of speeches, and a shape will emerge:

Narrative prologue: Job 1:1-2:13
Job – Job 3:1
Eliphaz – Job 4:1
Job – Job 6:1
Bildad – Job 8:1
Job – Job 9:1
Zophar – Job 11:1
Job – Job 12:1
Eliphaz – Job 15:1
Job – Job 16:1
Bildad – Job 18:1
Job – Job 19:1
Zophar – Job 20:1
Job – Job 21:1
Eliphaz – Job 22:1
Job – Job 23:1
Bildad – Job 25:1
Job – Job 26:1
Job – Job 27:1
Job – Job 29:1
Elihu – Job 32:6
Elihu – Job 34:1
Elihu – Job 35:1
Elihu – Job 36:1
Yahweh – Job 38:1
Yahweh – Job 40:1
Job – Job 40:3
Yahweh – Job 40:6
Job – Job 42:1
Narrative epilogue – Job 42:7-17

So a cursory glance at the list shows us that Job interacts with three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. Then Job monologues on his own. Then a fourth friend, Elihu, monologues. Then Yahweh interacts with Job.

Let’s walk through these sections.

The Setup

The thing that gets Job into this mess is that he fears God and turns away from evil (Job 1:1). For that reason, when Satan goes looking for trouble in all the wrong places, God draws a bull’s-eye on his main man (Job 1:7-8, 2:2-3). Make no mistake: God draws Satan’s attention to Job, because Job fears God. If that fact doesn’t terrify you, I don’t know what will.

Consider what’s at stake here. Both the narrator (once) and God (twice) unequivocally assert Job’s fear of God (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3). And this fear is the very thing Satan calls into question: “Does Job fear God for no reason?” (Job 1:9). Satan places his bet: “Job doesn’t really fear God; he just loves the nice things God gives him. Take those things away, and his ‘fear of God’ will melt into face-to-face cursing of God” (paraphrase of Job 1:10-11, 2:4-5). God goes all in: “Game on” (Job 1:12, 2:6).

The narrator’s key question is this: Will Job still fear God when he loses everything he loves?

Job’s Fear

Job takes up his lament in chapter 3 with his own key question: Why is this happening to me? He knows nothing of God’s bet with Satan. He has no explanation for his loss, his bereavement, or his pain. He curses the day of his birth and the night of his conception (Job 3:1-7). He even asks others to join him in cursing that day and that night (Job 3:8).

But when he turns to consider God, he has no curse. He has only questions filled with dread (Job 3:20-26).

Dialogue with Three Friends

Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar then speak in turn, for three cycles, and Job responds to every one of their speeches. Eliphaz and Bildad both speak three times, but Zophar does not speak in the third cycle and so gives only two speeches.

It is clear that the three friends believe Job to be suffering because he must have some secret sin of which he has not yet repented (Job 4:7, 8:3-7, 11:4-6, etc.). It is likewise clear that Job believes himself to be innocent of sin (Job 6:10, 9:21-22, 13:18, etc.).

But whether Job sinned or not is only on the surface of the debate. The subsurface debate—and the reason for so many speeches—is the question of how to respond to suffering. In particular: What does it mean to fear the Lord in your suffering? The three friends believe that if Job really feared God, he would confess his secret sins (Job 4:6-7, 15:4, etc.). And Job believes that if they really feared God, they wouldn’t say such stupid things (Job 6:14, 12:2-6, etc.). Job argues time and again that fearing God means holding fast to him even when it looks and feels as though he has turned against you (Job 13:15-16).

We should also see that Job’s thinking changes, while the friends’ thinking doesn’t. Compare the friends’ first speech (Job 4:17) with their last speech (Job 25:4), and you’ll hear the wheels spinning and the broken record player turning and turning and turning and turning. Yet Job begins in league with them (Job 4:2-5), moves to a dark place (Job 7:7-8), and ends in a very different, yet still dark, place, knowing full well that his God will still see him when he dies (Job 26:5-6).

How does Job get from point A (God won’t see me) to point B (God will see me)? In chapter 14, Job realizes that his suffering would have a purpose if he could be resurrected; but he quickly discards that hope. In chapter 16, he discovers that his suffering would have a purpose if he had a mediator; but he quickly discards that hope as well. Then in chapter 19, he puts the two hopes together—envisioning a resurrected mediator—and he absolutely freaks out. In the next few speeches he discards even that hope as being too good to be true, yet the possibility of it changes him forever.

Job’s Closing Arguments

Job completes his dialogue with these friends in chapter 27, where he draws three conclusions:

I have not sinned – Job 27:2-6
My friends have become my enemies – Job 27:7-12
Wicked men (like my enemies) deserve God’s devastating judgment – Job 27:13-23

Chapter 28 stands apart, with a very different tone and style than any other speech in the book. This poem’s “voice” is more like that of the playwright than that of any characters in the play. This chapter celebrates the fact that humanity will never find God’s wisdom through their own devices. Only by fearing the Lord can any person be able to find wisdom.

Job’s last major speech is directed at God, not the three friends, and makes three arguments:

My best days are lost and gone – Job 29
My worst days have come upon me – Job 30
I dare God to speak up and challenge my innocence – Job 31

One More Friend

A new character named Elihu shows up quite suddenly in Job 32:2, and interpreters have widely diverging opinions on whether we ought to affirm Elihu’s speeches (like God’s) or reject them (like the other three friends). The most viewed post in the history of this blog takes up this matter, so I direct your attention there for a deeper dive. But here is a summary of the evidence:

Elihu’s argument is different. Where they argued, “Before Job began suffering, he must have sinned,” Elihu argues, “Since Job began suffering, he has sinned.” He doesn’t focus on the cause of Job’s suffering, but the response to it.
Elihu brings not platitudes, but concrete evidence of sin on Job’s part (Job 33:8-11, 33:13, 34:5-6, 35:2-3, 36:23).
Elihu speaks more times (4) than any of the other friends. Job never issues a rebuttal, despite Elihu inviting him to do so (Job 33:32-33).
Elihu distances himself and his arguments from the other three (Job 32:3, 11-18). He clearly believes he is in a different category than they are.

Elihu’s four speeches ring with incredible truth desperately needed by any innocent sufferer:

God has not been silent; he speaks through your pain (Job 32-33).
God is not unjust; he will eventually strike the wicked (Job 34).
Righteous living is not pointless, though we are insignificant next to God (Job 35).
You’re in no place to criticize God; remember to fear him (Job 36-37).

The Whirlwind

Just as Elihu completes his arguments, Yahweh shows up in a whirlwind to affirm them.

In his first speech (and the tag to it in Job 40:1), Yahweh employs the natural creation to show how Job has acted as a faultfinder. In his second speech, Yahweh employs the supernatural creation to show how Job has misplaced his fear and ought to recenter it on his God.

Narrative Epilogue

In the closing narrative, Yahweh sets things straight between Job and the first three friends. Though he called Job to repent of his arrogance (Job 42:6), he simultaneously commends Job’s faith in holding fast to Yahweh and his righteousness in judgment (Job 42:7).

And then Yahweh does something no other god of any other nation would ever do: He puts himself in the place of a thief, and he returns twofold restitution to Job for all he lost. A God of such grace cannot ever be manipulated or controlled. May we all learn to fear the one who sent his own son to die like a criminal, then resurrected him as mediator of a new covenant, for the salvation of the world.

If this God would allow the innocent Job (and Jesus) to be treated as though he were guilty, perhaps he can also make it so the guilty (like us) could be treated as though we were innocent (2 Cor 5:21).

Conclusion

This book’s main idea is not so much about suffering in itself, but about how to respond to suffering in the fear of the Lord.

Interpretive Outline

Narrative Prologue: One who fears God chosen to suffer – Job 1-2
- Act I: Cursing one’s life while still fearing God – Job 3
  - Act II: Why we must respond to suffering in fear of God – Job 4-26
    - Act III: Informed judgment of those who refuse to fear God — Job 27
      - Act IV: The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God – Job 28
    - Act V: Uninformed judgment of him who needs to deepen in the fear of God – Job 29-31
  - Act VI: How to respond to suffering in fear of God – Job 32-37
- Act VII: Reaching new heights in the fear of God – Job 38:1-42:6
Narrative Epilogue: Our dangerous Deity puts the fear of God in people, in part by taking the blame for their suffering – Job 42:7-17

For more interpretive walkthroughs of books of the Bible, click here.

29 Things Job Taught Me About the Fear of God

June 25, 2021 By Peter Krol

Steve Day (2009), Creative Commons

Of course, Job has much to say to help those who suffer. But the book’s main point is more focused: What does it mean to fear the Lord when you suffer?

So how would I answer that question? In the interest of describing a wide range of potential application from this theatrical masterpiece, here are 29 things I’ve learned from the book of Job about the fear of God:

It’s more than respectful reverence. It should have a good dose of holy terror (Job 23:14-17).
Of course, such terror begins with recognizing God’s hatred of my sin (Job 14:16-17).
But the truly terrifying thing about God is not that he crushes sinners indiscriminately, but that he will go to any length to rescue some by destroying their flesh so they can see him face to face (Job 19:25-27).
Therefore, God’s work in my life will sometimes make me wish for death (Job 3:20-26, 6:8-10, 7:16).
Some people mistakenly think their fear of God, and not God himself, gives them confidence (Job 4:6).
Fearing God does not require me to try fixing everyone’s problems. It’s not my job to correct every sin I can see in others (Job 6:14, 21-23).
I will rarely understand why God does what he does (Job 9:11-12).
The fear of God doesn’t depend on sensing God’s presence or blessing in my life (Job 23:8-13).
If I fear God, I will have nothing to hide. I will be open to instruction and exposure (Job 6:24).
I must allow God to have his way with me. Whatever the cost (and however terrifying), I will hold fast to him and him alone (Job 13:15).
I won’t be surprised when God appears to act unjustly (Job 9:19-24), but I won’t simply put on a happy face (Job 9:27-29) or trust my own righteousness (Job 9:30-31).
Fearing God means realizing I can do nothing to help myself. I must have a mediator come between God and me (Job 9:32-33, 16:19). (Spoiler: His name is Jesus – Acts 4:12, 1 John 2:1.)
When I fear God, I will know death is inevitable but not unstoppable (Job 16:7-17, 19:26-27).
Those who value their traditions more than God will interpret my fear of God as irreverence (Job 15:4-6).
Such detractors will get themselves in big trouble if they don’t change (Job 19:28-29, 27:7-23). They’ll learn to fear God whether they like it or not (Job 13:7-12, 42:7-9).
When I fear God, I can say, “I don’t know” (Job 26:14).
The only court of opinion that matters is God’s (Job 23:2-7).
The fear of God will transform me into something truly valuable (Job 23:10).
I can’t find the fear of God anywhere on earth. I’ll never be able to look inside and find it in my heart. It must come from God (Job 28:12, 20-21, 23-28).
The process of gaining and growing in the fear of God will not be fun (Job 1-2, 38-41), but it will be more than worth it (Job 28:12-19). “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
God is always speaking to me (Job 33:13-14): sometimes through words (Job 33:15-18) but usually through pain (Job 33:19-28). Though he speaks not to accuse but to deliver (Job 33:29-33), it still sure hurts a lot.
To grow in the fear of God, I need to remember that God has:
1. The authority to do whatever he wants with me, whenever he wants to do it (Job 36:5-16).
2. The ability to to do whatever he wants with me, whenever he wants to do it (Job 36:22-37:13).
In other words, God is always behind my affliction — not because he’s out to get me, but because he loves me. This is why men fear him (Job 37:14-24).
God has all knowledge and power, and I do not (Job 38:1-39:30).
I cannot bring evil to an end (Job 40:8-14), but God can (Job 40:19, 41:10-11). He hasn’t yet chosen to do so; thus I can’t predict how he will use deep suffering in my life.
I can’t stop God (Job 42:2).
I will never understand my suffering (Job 42:3).
If I find myself growing bitter toward my suffering, it may be appropriate to hate what I’ve become and turn it around (Job 42:4-6).
This God who stands over and above the suffering in my life — and who thus is beyond reproach in any way — chooses to take the blame for what is wrong (Job 42:10). How terrifying and unpredictable is that?

How has the book of Job deepened your fear of God? In the next post on Job, I’ll pull everything together into a comprehensive walkthrough.

Identifying Behemoth and Leviathan in the Book of Job

June 18, 2021 By Peter Krol

Kevin (2007), Creative Commons

In Job 40-41, God introduces Job to two new characters. Behemoth is a powerful beast with strong legs (Job 40:16), a stiff tail (Job 40:17), and a carefree riverside existence (Job 40:20-23). Leviathan dwells in the sea (Job 41:1, 7), breathes fire (Job 41:18-21), and crushes hunters (Job 41:25-29). Who are these two creatures?

I grew up hearing that these chapters prove both 1) the existence of dinosaurs, and 2) the co-habitation of humans with them. The Bible shows that archaeology and paleontology are worthwhile pursuits. Hurrah!
Later I discovered that many interpreters in church history have considered Behemoth and Leviathan to be poetic exaggerations of the hippopotamus and the crocodile. Some translations even footnote the titles as such (for example, NASB, NRSV).

Both identifications miss the point of the text. Take note of God’s train of thought over both of his speeches:

Job, you’ll never understand the behavior of mountain goats or ostriches. And you will never domesticate the lion, the wild ox, or the war-horse. Stop justifying yourself…And by the way, you can’t control the hippo or crocodile, either. But I can.

That one certainly doesn’t work. The dinosaur interpretation does a little better:

Job, you’ll never understand the behavior of mountain goats or ostriches. And you will never domesticate the lion, the wild ox, or the war-horse. Stop justifying yourself…And by the way, you can’t control these two dinosaurs, either. But I can.

Both interpretations, however, miss a few key facts:

God’s first speech covers the entire natural creation (Job 38:4). Reading from the beginning, you’ll notice a remarkable similarity to the order of things in Genesis 1. The resemblance is complete enough not to warrant revisiting the created order in the second speech.
The main question in God’s second speech is whether Job can not merely be angry at his suffering but actually bring it to an end (Job 40:9-13). If so, that would justify Job’s putting God in the wrong and saving himself from his own situation (Job 40:8, 14). Of course, Behemoth and Leviathan show this idea to be ludicrous.
Job’s final response comes from a completely blown mind. “You can do all things…No purpose of yours can be thwarted…I have uttered what I did not understand…Now my eye sees you…I despise myself…” (Job 42:1-6).

The second speech advances the first, giving Job (and us) a picture of God’s supreme control, not only over the natural creation, but even over supernatural suffering and evil. Behemoth and Leviathan represent these things in Job’s life. Unlike Job, God can, in fact, bring suffering and evil to an end. Satan could not snap a thread of Job’s garment without God’s explicit permission (Job 1:12, 2:6). And Satan cannot resist the snapping of his own neck if God wills it.

Let him who made [Behemoth] bring near his sword! (Job 40:19)

Who then is he who can stand before me? Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. (Job 41:10-11)

God gives Job a taste of this power when he brings Job’s earthly suffering to an end (Job 42:12-17). And when God gives Job exactly twice what he lost (compare with Job 1:2-3), he plays the part of a thief who must repay double (Ex 22:7-9). Not that God is a thief, mind you; but he takes the place of a thief along with his blame.

Sort of like another divine warrior who had power to bind Satan (Mark 3:27) and triumph over the rulers and authorities through the cross (Col 2:13-15). And he did it, playing the part of a thief (Mark 15:27). He will one day destroy every ferocious beast (Rev 19:20-21), Satan (Rev 20:9-10), and death itself (Rev 20:14).

When Paul runs out of words to describe God’s unsearchable justice and unfathomable wisdom, he turns to the speech about Leviathan in Job 41 (Romans 11:33-36). Paul must have realized that speech was getting at something bigger than hippos and crocodiles.

Job, you’ll never understand the behavior of mountain goats or ostriches. And you will never domesticate the lion, the wild ox, or the war-horse. Stop justifying yourself…And by the way, you can’t ever bring your suffering to an end. But I can.

Why God Speaks to Job Twice

June 11, 2021 By Peter Krol

Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further. (Job 40:4-5)

With these famous words and a pregnant hand-to-mouth gesture, Job begins backing away from the God of all creation. In severe suffering, Job has accused God of doing wrong and of remaining silent. But God arrives, speaking out of the whirlwind, to put Job in his place. Job 38:1-39:30 records God’s first speech, recounting the wildness, inscrutability, and uncontrollable power of God’s creation. Duly humbled, Job tries to slink away like an amateur diver whose loosely tied trunks slipped off at surface impact.

But God will have nothing of the sort. “Oh no, you don’t. I’m not done with you yet”:

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.” (Job 40:6-7)

Thus begins a second tirade from the LORD against his servant Job (Job 40:6-41:34), whom God will coerce into speaking one last time (Job 42:1-6).

Why? Why the second speech from God? Why isn’t God willing to let it go when Job humbles himself?

Comparing Job’s Responses

Undoubtedly, Job’s first response (Job 40:3-5) is one of humility and self-degradation. “I am small…I’m shutting up now…” But Christopher Ash observes that Job says nothing about God. While God’s first speech properly demotes Job’s self-esteem, it does not yet promote God’s gargantuan superiority.

In other words, Job has justified himself (Job 31:1-40) and not God (Job 16:7-17); this is Elihu’s chief critique (Job 32:2). And God must get Job not only to stop justifying himself but also to begin justifying God.

So Job releases his self-justification after God’s first speech. But it’s not until after the second speech that he confesses God “can do all things” (Job 42:2a), no purpose of his “can be thwarted” (Job 42:2b), and that “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you” (Job 42:5).

How does God get him there?

Comparing God’s Speeches

God’s first speech focuses on the natural creation. It begins with an obvious question: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” (Job 38:4). It continues with a tour of the heavens and the earth (Job 38:5-38). And it ends with a litany of wild creatures beyond Job’s capacity either to understand or to domesticate: lion, raven, mountain goat, wild donkey, wild ox, ostrich, war-horse, hawk (Job 38:39-39:30). In conclusion, God identifies Job as a faultfinder and dares him to justify himself any further (Job 40:1-2).

Seeing his minuscule role in the natural creation, Job properly humbles himself and shuts up (Job 40:3-5).

But God’s second speech must blow Job’s mind even further, and to do so it focuses on the supernatural creation. If Job is to begin justifying God, he must clearly see that he’ll never see clearly. Though he knows how much it hurts to suffer, he’ll never know why God would appoint such suffering in the lives of his beloved people. In short, God must appear bigger, more powerful, and more mysterious than ever before.

So God’s second speech targets the heart of the matter:

Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? Adorn yourself with majesty…Pour out the overflowings of your anger…Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand. Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below. Then will I acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you.” (Job 40:9-14)

In other words: “Can you do more than get angry at suffering and evil, Job? Can you actually bring them to an end?”

jaci XIII (2010), Creative Commons

He follows up with two case studies, Behemoth (Job 40:15-24) and Leviathan (Job 41:1-34). These ancient but legendary storybook creatures poetically embody all that is wrong with the world and with Job’s life. They seem tame (Job 40:20-23), but really are not (Job 40:24). They will not play nice (Job 41:1-9). They cannot be defeated (Job 41:12-34).

Such is the problem of evil. It will not go away, and Satan ever wanders to and fro looking for someone to devour (Job 1:6-12, 2:1-7). Job can do nothing about this. Not ever. “No one is so fierce that he dares to stir [Leviathan] up” (Job 41:10a).

But someone else can. God asks, “Who then is he who can stand before me?” (Job 41:10b).

And this God will send his Son to wage war on the beast from the land and the beast from the sea (Rev 13). He is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and wages war (Rev 19:11). He will finally capture these beasts and hurl them into the lake of fire (Rev 19:20-21), along with both Satan (Rev 20:10) and death itself (Rev 20:14).

Please remain steadfast in Christ and persevere to the end, Job (James 5:11). God will bring a day with no tears or death, no mourning, nor crying, nor pain (Rev 21:4). Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

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Context Matters: God’s Ways Are Higher Than Our Ways

June 7, 2021 By Ryan Higginbottom

Perhaps you’ve heard that God’s ways are higher than our ways, that his thoughts are above our thoughts. You’ve been told that God is so great, and our minds are so small in comparison, that we cannot grasp his motivations or his logic.

I’ve heard well-meaning Christians tell others that God’s ways are beyond us in an effort to bring comfort and assurance. We cannot figure out what God is doing, our lives feel out of control, but don’t worry—God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts. It’s okay—even predictable—that we wouldn’t track with what God is up to.

But is this what that verse in Isaiah is meant to convey? Are we using this phrase in its proper context? When we learn to read the Bible as a book instead of as an independent collection of sentences and phrases, we’ll find that some of the most familiar passages mean something different than we’ve assumed.

The Context in Isaiah

This passage about God’s ways being higher than ours comes from Isaiah, and it’s worth reproducing a good portion of the passage here.

“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:6–9)

Peter has already written about the big-picture structure of Isaiah. Chapters 40–55 hang together, and this passage falls near the end of that section. This portion of the prophecy describes how God will use a Servant to pardon the iniquity of his people.

Crucially, for our purposes, this part of Isaiah is about forgiveness, reconciliation, and the restoration of God’s people.

The Context in Isaiah 55

This chapter begins with God’s famous invitation: “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Is 55:1). God is calling those who hear to live by means of an everlasting covenant with him (Is 55:3).

Those who listen should “seek the Lord” and “call upon him” (Is 55:6). The call is to the wicked and the unrighteous, to “return to the Lord,” for God will “have compassion” and “abundantly pardon” (Is 55:7).

The often-quoted verses (Is 55:8–9) are connected to verses 6–7 by the word “for.” This is a simple but powerful observation. God’s thoughts are different than our thoughts—this explains his eagerness to welcome and forgive. Our ways are not his ways, because we are neither in a position to pardon the repentant, unrighteous man nor are we inclined to show this compassion.

The chapter ends with an explanation about how God intends to accomplish this plan of forgiving those who forsake their wicked ways. It will happen through his word; it will go forth, accomplish his purposes, and not return to him empty (Is 55:11). As a result, the people rejoice, and nature will “break forth into singing” (Is 55:12).

Our Compassionate God

In terms of kindness, God’s ways are high above ours. Isaiah mentions God’s compassion three times in the previous chapter (Is 54:7, 8, 10), so this is a familiar theme by the time we reach chapter 55.

Let’s return to our earlier question. Yes, God is infinitely wiser and more complex than we are; his plans are beyond our ability to unravel. But when Isaiah writes about God’s thoughts being higher than our thoughts, he’s referring to God’s welcoming love to repentant sinners. We should worship and adore the God whose compassion overflows in this way that ours does not.

Context matters.

For more examples of why context matters, click here.

Why Elihu is So Mysterious

June 4, 2021 By Peter Krol

At a recent pastor’s conference on the book of Job, a leader asked the attendees whether the speeches of Elihu (Job 32-37) should be trusted, like God’s (Job 38-41), or discarded, like those of Job’s three friends (Job 4-5, 8, 11, 15, 18, 20, 22, 25). The show of hands was evenly divided. I couldn’t believe my eyes; every attendee was fully committed to studying and explaining God’s word carefully, and yet there was a widespread and fundamental disagreement on how to read a significant part of the book of Job.

Have you wondered how to read Elihu? Can we get to the bottom of the mystery?

Let Me Introduce Elihu

Anirban Ray (2013), Creative Commons

He pops on the scene out of nowhere: “Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger” (Job 32:2). He speaks a few times and then vanishes. God clearly vindicates Job and condemns Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar (Job 42:7-8), but he says nothing about Elihu.

Casual readers of Job barely notice Elihu. If they have the guts not to skip from chapter 2 to chapter 38, their eyes glaze over long before they meet Elihu in chapter 32. They sink in a bog of poetry; words swirl together into an indistinguishable mire, and Elihu comes and goes while readers are still gasping for air. Some don’t realize he’s not one of the “three friends.”

In addition, we’re clearly told that Elihu is young (Job 32:4, 6), raving mad (Job 32:2, 3, 5 – four times!), and full of criticism for Job (Job 33:12, 34:7-8, 34:35-37, etc.). Yet God clearly claims that Job has “spoken of me what is right” (Job 42:7-8). What’s all the fuss? This case should be closed.

Why Elihu is Just Like the Other Three

Here is the main challenge: Elihu draws the same conclusion as Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. That’s why many interpreters think Elihu is just like them.

Eliphaz: “Job has sinned” (Job 4:7, 15:4-6, 22:5).

Bildad: “Job has sinned” (Job 8:5-6, 18:4).

Zophar: “Job has sinned” (Job 11:6, 20:29).

Elihu: “Job has sinned” (Job 34:7, 37; 35:16).

Of course, the reader knows Job has not sinned: “There is none like [Job] on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil” (Job 1:8, 2:3). But Elihu charges him with sin, just as the other three do. What’s all the fuss? This case should be closed.

Why Elihu is Just Like God

Though God clears Job of all charges (Job 42:7-8), notice that his declaration comes after Job repents in dust and ashes (Job 42:6). Before this repentance, God calls Job a faultfinder (Job 40:2) who speaks without knowledge (Job 38:2) and puts God in the wrong (Job 40:8).

Elihu also desires to justify Job of all charges (Job 33:32). He accuses Job of finding fault with God (Job 33:9-11), speaking without knowledge (Job 34:35), and putting God in the wrong (Job 34:5-6, 36:23).

Why Elihu is Not Like the Other Three

Though their conclusion is the same, their arguments are completely different. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar perpetually argue: “Before you began suffering, you must have sinned.” Elihu’s case is different: “Since you began suffering, you have sinned.” The three concern themselves with Job’s hidden conduct; Elihu concerns himself with Job’s present speech.

We can see the difference in the evidence they bring. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar have no evidence, only presumption, though Job begs them for the merest shred (Job 6:28-30). Elihu, however, constantly brings specific evidence to support his charges: “You say…You say…You say…You say…” (Job 33:8-11, 33:13, 34:5-6, 35:2-3, 36:23).

The poet signals a difference in the number of speeches and responses he gives to each character. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar get no more than three speeches apiece, with the speeches growing shorter as the book progresses. Elihu gets four speeches. Job refutes every speech of the three with eight speeches of his own; Job never responds to Elihu’s speeches, though Elihu asks for a response (Job 33:32-33).

Elihu himself distances himself from the other three. Furious at the stalemate and their inability to answer Job, Elihu promises he has something new to say: “[Job] has not directed his words against me, and I will not answer him with your speeches” (Job 32:14). The poet likewise distances Elihu from the other three. In one of the few narrative and evaluative statements of the book, he declares that Elihu “burned with anger also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong” (Job 32:3).

Conclusion

Confusion abounds over Elihu because he sounds like Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, drawing the same conclusion: Job has sinned. But as we penetrate the poetry, we see that what Elihu means by his conclusion is not what they mean by it. His four speeches ring with incredible truth desperately needed by any innocent sufferer:

God has not been silent; he speaks through your pain (Job 32-33).
God is not unjust; he will eventually strike the wicked (Job 34).
Righteous living is not pointless, though we are insignificant next to God (Job 35).
You’re in no place to criticize God; remember to fear him (Job 36-37).

And God reinforces Elihu’s fourth point with some of his most aggressive and fear-inducing words in all the Bible (Job 38-41). May we all repent of justifying ourselves and remember to fear him.

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