Creative Space for Wanderers
Bildad continues the rant against Job, “When will you end these speeches? Be sensible, and then we can talk” (), then provides a list of attributes to support his argument. In particular, I found this statement to be cruel: He has no offspring or descendants among his people, no survivor where once he lived. That’s a …
Continue reading “Bildad’s hurtful words and Job’s Response”
and Round Two Eliphaz takes the gloves off and pounds Job with 10 confrontational questions in rapid succession, Would a wise person answer with empty notions…? Would they argue with useless words…? Are you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills? Do you listen in on God’s council? Do you …
Zophar picks up where Bildad left off with another cold slap in the face: “Is this talker to be vindicated? Will your idle talk reduce others to silence? Will no one rebuke you when you mock? To add insult to injury, Zophar then mocks Job by reducing his arguments to the phrase: “My beliefs are …
and Psalm 71 is a great hymn of praise for every stage in life: birth to youth to old age. Twice David appeals to God in his “old age” and throughout this is a song of hope. Job didn’t have the psalms to play, no worship team to help him get back on track, just …
As Beth pointed out in yesterday’s post, the story of Job is set in Abraham’s time. In these ancient days before the temple was established, before judges and kings, people still had to deal with the lifelong debate about why bad things happen to good people. As part of the wisdom literature, this singular work shows …
and Years ago I was taking a psychology class and for some forgotten reason I used Psalm 70 as the text for a song I used as my presentation. This was not a Christian college, though the name was Saint Leo College, and certainly not a Christian class, but it was my rogue attempt at …
Josiah Finishes Well Josiah receives the message from Huldah well. Her words from the Lord give him inspiration. (Note: Interesting that a male dominated culture has no problem seeking the advice of a female prophet.) Josiah invited everyone in Jerusalem, from the least to the greatest, to hear the Word of the Lord. He read …
Continue reading “Josiah’s Reforms; Fall of Jerusalem; Captivity”
and Hezekiah contract some deadly disease and is about to die when Isaiah comes to pay him a visit. Not one to beat around the bush, Isaiah tells him to “Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover” (). Hezekiah accepts the word of the prophet, turns aside …
Continue reading “Hezekiah’s Life Extended; Manasseh’s Evil”
Chapter 19 continues the story with Hezekiah’s response to the verbal abuse and physical threats from the Assyrians. All wearing sackcloth, they know they are doomed without God’s help. Hezekiah sends a team to Isaiah, heads down, they are completely humbled and ask merely that he would “pray for the remnant that still survives” (). …
Continue reading “Hezekiah’s Prayer and Jerusalem’s Deliverance”
and Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, became king of Judah when he was 25 years old and reigned for 29 years during the height of Isaiah’s prophetic years. Finally, after reading about horrible leadership we see these words: He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. …