Bible Study Chat #26

Job 5:1–27 (NIV)
“Call if you will, but who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
2 Resentment kills a fool,
and envy slays the simple.
3 I myself have seen a fool taking root,
but suddenly his house was cursed.
4 His children are far from safety,
crushed in court without a defender.
5 The hungry consume his harvest,
taking it even from among thorns,
and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
6 For hardship does not spring from the soil,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground.
7 Yet man is born to trouble
as surely as sparks fly upward.
8 “But if it were I, I would appeal to God;
I would lay my cause before him.
9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.
10 He bestows rain on the earth;
he sends water upon the countryside.
11 The lowly he sets on high,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12 He thwarts the plans of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.
13 He catches the wise in their craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are swept away.
14 Darkness comes upon them in the daytime;
at noon they grope as in the night.
15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth;
he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
16 So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth.
17 “Blessed is the man whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

18 For he wounds, but he also binds up;
he injures, but his hands also heal.
19 From six calamities he will rescue you;
in seven no harm will befall you.
20 In famine he will ransom you from death,
and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
21 You will be protected from the lash of the tongue,
and need not fear when destruction comes.
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine,
and need not fear the beasts of the earth.
23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your tent is secure;
you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.
25 You will know that your children will be many,
and your descendants like the grass of the earth.
26 You will come to the grave in full vigor,
like sheaves gathered in season.
27 “We have examined this, and it is true.
So hear it and apply it to yourself.”

Hebrews 12:5–11 —And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, *because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” *Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? *If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. *Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! *Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. *No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. *


Psalm 94:12 —Blessed is the man you discipline, O Lord, the man you teach from your law; *

Psalm 119:75–76 —I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me. *May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant. *

Proverbs 3:11–12 —My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, *because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. *

1 Corinthians 11:32 —When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. *

James 1:12 —Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. *

Revelation 3:19 —Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. *

Fearnot posted: I wrote a few notes to myself for when I were to post on ch.5 but they are in the living room by my chair....which hubby is sleeping in how
I don't want to wake him up, but I wanted to let u know, I have read it etc.
One thing I do remember without referring to was that v. 7...
7) Yet man is born to trouble
as surely as sparks fly upward.
reminds me of John 16:33
"33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.”
Hopefully I will find my notes later but by then, others may have posted some of the same ideas, thoughts etc. which is fine.

That's fine Barbara. By the way, speaking of notes, how are you doing on note taking now? Are you getting better at making them a lot shorter? I remember when I first started and it seemed like it was just totally impossible, but after awhile, it did become easier and now it's just second nature.

 

Originally Posted by eva_from_greece

And then Jobs friends start to say what they believe. They are right to say that God protect his children and the people who are evil will be punished. But, as I said before, its difficult to say if they are accusing Job or if they are trying to tell him to have hope because God will lead him out of this. At the end of the book its obvious that they have judged Job, but until then it was confusing for me.

 

It doesn't matter what you thought before Eva, you know the truth now that they were judging him. So now when you read it, especially after everything that's been explained, you should be able to read these chapters and see what they're really doing. Remember, you have to put yourself back in their time and try to understand what their belief system was. Once you do that, it becomes obvious that they were judging him.

 

Originally Posted by Catt:

Yeah, I didn't understand much of it at first either. Now, I can see their
bias against Job. I think before, it was enough, trying to understand what
these old guys were saying. Let alone, any extra nuances behind their words.
You know, I think people still do that today with sick people.
They are fearful of them, so they avoid them or think up reasons why
it couldn't ever happen to them.
It used to be much worse. 4o years ago they used to hide people with disabilities away.
Now, they are in the same schools as everyone else. We are a lot more comfortable and accepting.
There was a little girl who had this (Minus the black skin and worms) in my
youngest sons grade school. The teacher explained what it was and that
it is not catching. The slightest friction gave her blisters that hurt. She
had to leave public school after a while. But we learned about tolerance and
not being afraid of some one with an auto immune disease.

 

Originally Posted by Fearnot

Cindy you nailed it as always!!! I have been disciplined in the ways you suggested, getting as much 'rest' as possible, and having fun ( it used to be reading fiction, but now that the computer is in my life, it is playing games and watching series on netflick etc.)
Oh yes, you are right, I did that sort of memorizing BEFORE FH. And tho the large amount of verses I had memorized verbatim, helped me from time to time, and I was also in an excellent Bible study program for 7 or 8 years ( BSF which I have mentioned to you before)
I either had such a loooooong way up to go
or
that you watered what BSF laid as a foundation
and
you had an understanding of how I was hung up in my past ( which there is not really time to do in a large Bible study)
It seems like I never memorized the verses about taking thoughts captive....I knew 'of' the verse and I even vaguely understood it...
However, You were able to help me 'truly' apply scripture to my life.
I had applied some scripture to my life ( I stopped a lot of endless arguing with hubby, etc. but I never got to the bottom of my pity party).
Ohhhhh I am reading the other thread, but I am behind due to having only having a few hours on hubby's computer....
and I was right, the delivery of my computer screen has been delayed due to our unusual weather here on the cost. It is now targeted to arrive Mon.or Tue. then hubby has to put it on
So forgive my slowness....I am reading but I am behind but once I get my own computer back......

 

Barbara, what you're saying isn't at all unusual. In fact, I'd say that's probably true for most folks. It takes time before it sinks in that we not only have to know scripture, but we need to understand it and not with human understanding but with the mind of Christ. And once we do understand it that way, even that won't help us if we don't actually apply it to our lives. The difference is that once we're understanding with the mind of Christ, (through asking Him to guide and teach us) that understanding as we read and study is what God uses to change us. It's His Word that changes us, but only as we understand it with the mind of Christ. With that understanding, His Word causes us to want to apply it to our lives and then as we begin to do so, He gives us the strength, ability and whatever else we need in order to apply it, and the change begins to happen. See what I mean?

All I did was help you open yourself to the Lord and He guided you and taught you His Word. As He did so, you were able to apply it to your past as well as your present. He even prepared you for that to be able to happen because by then you were ready to give up your thinking that the world or some of it's ways could help you. You'd already come to the conclusion that God and God alone was the only one that could really help you. I don't think you were sure if He would help you yet, but you were ready to admit that the world's ways had failed you so you were ready to really give Him a try. On top of that, everything you'd learned beforehand about God and His Word actually helped, because the Lord was able to build on all of that, showing what was true, what wasn't and how it all fit together.

Let's face it, self pity is the "in thing" in today's world. That and "dysfunctional families". Satan, through the worldview has just about everyone convinced that their family is dysfunctional and has everyone full of self pity. He promotes the idea that we should always want things that are better then the things we already have and that we should want more of them too. The funny thing is that all our families ARE dysfunctional before we're saved. You can't have anything but that unless both parents are saved anyway, but of course that's not what the world is talking about when they say it. It's only as our families begin to follow God's plan for them that they become functional, loving, godly families. As for self-pity, that's how Satan wants everyone to feel because it causes them to be totally useless to Christ and unable to be in His Will, and of course, less likely to turn to Him for help or at the least less likely, if not unable to believe that He can really help them.

Yes, I was and am blessed that the Lord used me to help guide you to Him, but He was the one who did it all and the most wonderful thing of all is that He will never stop. Even if we were to never speak again till we meet in heaven, He will finish what He's begun in you! You know that of course, and know too that you haven't "needed" me for a very long time. I hope you also realize now that this was never a one way street. Even as the Lord used me to guide and help you, He was teaching me at the same time, and helped me learn a great deal from you as well. I love the fact that ever since you began to abide in the Lord, we can now just be friends and enjoy sharing and growing in God's Word together as sisters in the Lord.