For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth!—Job 19:25
Are you with me in the Legacy Reading Plan? We wrap up the “Winter” Season by reading three books in March: Job, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. We’ll return to Joshua at the edge of the Promised Land in April!
Read this familiar verse again with me: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth!” In the midst of great personal pain and suffering, Job cried out with astonishing words of hope. Would you or I be able to do the same?
In brief, the book of Job tells the story of a man who loses everything—his precious family, his great wealth, and even his health are compromised. Through these many trials, Job wrestles with the question, “Why?” Or more accurately, “Why me?”
Job’s story opens with a heavenly debate between God and Satan, in which God grants Satan limited access to affect Job’s life and then moves through three cycles of earthly debates between Job and his friends. While Job’s friends and comforters actually accuse him of sin, and though Job himself finds himself doubting God, he maintains his faith through his ordeals. And at the conclusion of the story, Job humbly acknowledges God’s sovereignty over all of life.
The lesson here for us is profound, for the solution to our disappointments in this life is not found in asking the question, “Why?” It is found in trusting God in the midst of our whys. In other words, God does not protect us from difficulties, but He promises to see us through them, providing the needed strength as we rest and trust in Him.
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32 comments:
Premise = Fear is the reciprocal of faith.
Scripture = "For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, And what I dreaded has happened to me." (Job 3:25, NKJV).
Point = Did Job's fear bring down his hedge of protection? Did Job "keep his faith throughout" like Hanks says?
Eternity! :-)
How naive and unsophisticated does a person have to be to take a story like Job literally? Historical narratives don't contain word for word dialog especially in the form of prose and poetic debate. I mean REALLY people. No seminary in the world teaches this book as historical nor does any serious commentary or scholar. Job is an ancient folktale similar to the Aramaic 'Ahikar' and the Egytian 'Instruction of Ankhshehonky' and 'The Admonitions of Ipuwer.' Four texts from 2nd millennium Mesopotamia furnish even closer parallels: the Sumerian 'A Man and His God, "I Will Praise the Lord of Wisdom," The Babylonian Theodicy," and "A Dialogue Between a Master and His Slave."
Do you people ever wonder how a book like this came about? Who was around to record all these conversations in Job? Isn't it more likely that Job is an ancient story handed down through the ages that found its way into the Bible? Of course it is but satisfactory explanations for things are never good enough for Bible believers. They always have to have their unbelievable magical explanations for everything.
In other words people, if you believe Job and his friends were real people, the way Hank does, then you're a hopeless fool and a brainwashed moron, like he is.
Eternity!!!
"It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen." - 1Timothoty 6:13
I'm not quite sure how Christians think they are immortal and will see God some day. The Bible clearly says these beliefs are NOT true. Anonymous, eternity has nothing to do with you. When you die your brain will shut down (most of it has already) and that's it, you're dead. You won't know you're dead or anything else. You'll be just like you were before you were born. That's the fate we humans share with every other biological organism on the planet. None of your lies will change that.
Eternity! Think upon this very deeply. Thank you.
Hank - This is very timely information in my life - Thanks as always for your ministry! Bless you!
ETERNITY!
Boris, If you do not believe in a personal God, you do not have to read the Blog. There is no reason to waste your time attacking people personally. In this Blog Hank says there is a lesson to be had here. He does not say he believes it is historical narrative or just a story. You are welcome to take your disdain elsewhere.
ETERNITY! I'm speaking to primarily myself...here and now.
Dustbane,
I could say the same thing to you. If you don't like my comments don't read them. I know it's painful to read the truth about your evil and false religion. Tough. You shouldn't have let OTHER PEOPLE indoctrinate you with false religious superstitions. There's a way out of this cult you're in. All you have to do is pick up the Bible and read it carefully. The Bible is the biggest cause of atheism, unbelief - call it what you will, there has ever been.
Wow. I'm sorry you are so full of anger you feel compelled to spend your time trashing people you don't know because they disagree with you. Who knows, you might otherwise have an intelligent conversation. Sad really.
Thanks for your valuable comments, Dustbane. Glad to have you here. Please take Boris' comments with a grain of salt. Ok?
For great Inspiration:
Please 'google' [Hubble] Images now. Thanks in advance.
As the timeless adage goes..."A picture is worth a thousand words." There is proof that only a great Creator could have designed creation. Only a Designer, as in Artist Extraordinaire could have created such Masterpieces! There is a GOD! *bright smile* Lyrics from Christian song: "When I look at the stars, I feel like myself." Enjoy!
What an interesting conversation. The comments are a debate/debate between Christian believers and a seemingly atheist who enjoys speaking his mind. I agree with Anonymous and take Boris with a grain of salt. He has a right to his opinion and a right to speak it here. Rather than focus on Boris, which is a total waste of time, I would like to comment on Hank's thoughts on the story of Job.
Job is desribed as a righteous man. Satan believes it's because God has blessed him. Satan approaches God and says Job will turn away from Him if He will withdraw His blessings. God defends Job by telling Satan this is not true. He allows Satan to prove He is right. Satan really zapped Job with all the calalmity, grief, and sickness anyone could imagine. His wife was totally unsupportive and his friends blamed Job for his misery. At no time did Job lose his faith in God.
It is interesting to me that this whole story takes a turn for the positive for Job when God told him to pray for his friends. Job obeyed and prayed for his friends who accused him and believed he was sinful. All that Job lost was restored to him. To me the lesson here is not to question God about anything that takes place in your life, good or bad. Always pray for those who seem to be in conflict with you, are antagonistic with you, who don't understand you. God will take care of you.
I will pray for Boris.
The story of Job is really about not questioning authority, no matter how outrageous that authority might behave. Similarly, when Abraham takes his son to give him as a sacrifice to God, the message is "Do what you are told no matter how insane it might seem." That is the kind of message a typical tyrant would deliver to his subjects, not like an uplifting message from a loving God. These are messages designed by men to enhance their own authority, not messages from God. These are stories made up by men to intimidate other people into following them blindly.
In Job 19:17 Job says: "My breath is repulsive to my wife; I am lonesome to my own family." What family? Other than his wife, Job's entire family was already dead. Hmmm..... It is never explained why three foreigners have to make sacrifices and an Edomite as was Job (cf. Job 1:1) has to pray to the Israelite God. Details such as these aren't important in fiction which is what the story of Job is. No amount of special pleading from desperate Christians will ever change that fact.
Fiction or not, we can learn many things in the book of Job. What we take from the book is undoubtedly predicated on our disposition on life before we pick it up. Some may focus on the horrific experiences Job went through inexplicably all with God’s limited blessing and use that to vilify God. It would seem that is the only response the perishing could have since their eyes have not been opened and the things of God are foolishness to those who are perishing. Others may focus on how God gave Job an audience unlike any other and eventually restored him and gave him a new family. Unlike any other being, God is omniscient and knew full well how Job would respond. It was Job who was given the opportunity to get to know God through his pain. That is one thing we are guaranteed in this life. It is our choice (free will) how we respond to it. If we don’t experience enough pain to understand how very little we actually control in life, we have little hope of getting to know God. In a way, this story is here to serve as a lesson for how it is ok to be hurt and admit powerlessness. It is ok to be angry even with God so long as in our anger we do not sin. Unless we experience everything Job did, he becomes the one we can point to and say at least we don’t have it that bad. Even the finest gold has to have the impurities melted away. What is to give light must endure burning. Whether we are children of God or children of the prince of darkness, we are still just children wholly incapable of comprehending the mind of the infinite unless he reveals it to us through stories and life experiences such as this.
BORIS, Go away already. No one here is going to believe anything you say. You have no credibility to back up your claims. The Bible is a piece of our history weather you like it or not. Those events took place. Get off of your high and mighty ignorant butt and do some serious research. If you continue the personal attacks, i have some smart advice for you. Take a trip down to CRI and arrange a meeting with Hanigraff personally. Or cower behind a computer and continue your personal attacks but to what end? You are not getting anywhere or is this some personal self-satisfaction you get by doing these things. If that is the case, you need help. Find a hobby dude.
Boris does have a right to his opinion but my point is while we can dialog back and forth as Christians he continues the attacks, however if we all simply ignore him then it seems like a good idea. If the heart remains closed then best to move on.
From creation to the crucifixion, NONE of the events described in the Bible really occurred. If they did there would be evidence for at least some of them. Let's see what evidence you have from OUTSIDE the Bible that anything INSIDE the Bible is really true. I've done my research, paid my dues learning the languages and origins of the Bible. NONE of you people have done this, have paid your dues learning ANYTHING about the Bible including Hank Hanegraaff. Do you think Hanegraaff can read ancient Hebrew or Koine Greek? Can any of you? No you cannot. None of you have a clue as to what the Bible really says in the first place because you can't read it. All you know is what you've been told by other believers, other PEOPLE. What you were told is simply not true and that's obvious to anyone with a fifth grade education. The Bible is 100 percent fiction and nothing you liars say will ever change that.
I'm not going away. I've got all you people very very worried and very very scared that I'm right. You can say I don;t but that will be just another of your Christian lies.
My apologies Boris. I did not realize we were in the presence of such greatness. I initially thought you were simply broad-brushing or stereotyping. I did not realize you were not just spouting baseless speculation, but that you were actually omniscient yourself. You aren’t just full of yourself – you are just very old because you were there when the world was formed - you were there when the first being received its spark of self-realization. That being the case, perhaps you can tell us how things really happened? Perhaps you can explain how bacterial flagellum got the right combination in the evolutionary lottery to continue existence? Maybe you can explain why humans are the only ones to have some how evolved the ability to speak and reason while other creatures (who would assuredly benefit from it) have not? It occurs to me that perhaps the best thing is to not cast pearls before the swine and completely ignore you. To pretend you don’t exist much like you pretend you have all the answers. You are not faulted for your opinion and the fact that it differs. You are faulted for your unprovoked aggression. Still, I do pity the sad lonely life of desperation you must lead. I hope it turns around for you in the near term because your ultimate future (at least it appears) isn’t looking so bright.
Dustbane,
Once again I must point out that your problems with science are certainly nothing new. Bible believers have fought against, lied about and denied EVERY scientific discovery and theory ever made ever since the Bible has existed, even the ones made by other Christians. When have scientists ever had to revise any of their findings in the face of the never ending, centuries long complaints from Bible believers?
Perhaps you should take Augustine's advice to Christians and don't expose your ignorance and lack of education by talking about the natural universe. There is no such thing as "bacterial flagellum." ROFL! There are thousands, perhaps millions of varieties among different bacteria, not to mention other very different kinds of flagella on archaebacteria and eukaryotes. For example the Salmonella flagellum has 22 additional proteins that some other bacteria lack in their flagella. Do design proponents suggest that each was a separate creation, or did they evolve? Eubacterial flagella, archebacterial flagella and cilia use entirely different designs for the same function. That is to be expected if they evolved separately but it makes no sense if they are the work of the same designer. Life is designed from the bottom up, not by a designer. That is a fact.
The larger brain size of primates arose before language. Before language, some communication was already done via gestures and vocalizations. Once proto-language began vocal tract and neural connections for producing and controlling speech would have begun evolving. Once language became a central part of human behavior language acquisition comes more readily due to the Baldwin effect: the plasticity of learning allows natural selection for language ability to proceed more quickly. Other species do indeed have languages and do communicate very complex messages, ants and bees for example. Some sea mammals have languages which contain over 100 words.
I don't have a lonely life and I'm certainly not desperate. These are things Bible believers must tell themselves because they can't stand the fact that unbelievers refuse to be the miserable unhappy people believers tell us we should be. I have a lot of fun mocking and making fun of religion and religious people.
Now I answered your questions about science. If you have any more questions you can take them down to ANY CHRISTIAN college and university that teaches science and they will answer your questions. But you won't do this and we both know why don't we Dustball? Because the Christian academic community teaches evolution, common descent, Big Bang cosmology and all the rest of the science you creationists deny and fight against. Humiliating isn't it? The Christian academic community agrees with ME and NOT you. Why is that? Hahahahahaha.
>>>ETERNITY!!!<<<
God - no evidence.
Jesus Christ - no evidence.
angels - no evidence.
demons - no evidence.
Satan - no evidence.
afterlife - no evidence.
Heaven - no evidence.
Hell - no evidence.
supernatural miracles - no evidence.
creationism - no evidence.
Stories in the Bible- no evidence. Major figures in the Bible - no evidence.
I mean REALLY people. Why do you wonder why so few people believe anymore? You've got no evidence for ANYTHING that you believe. That's why they call it faith and we call you STUPID.
^^^ETERNITY!!!^^^
All my love in JESUS,
~Mrs. Ann Onymous~
http://www.garyhabermas.com/
http://www.garyhabermas.com/books/why_believe/whybelieve.htm
ETERNITY!
~Mr. & Mrs. Onymous~
Onymous Family Helpers
Happy Int'l Women's Day! :-)
Please check out the following:
Atheist Central?
raycomfortfood.blogspot.com
His entry for today (Monday) March 8, 2010 is AWESOME!
"Sometimes you have to forgo doing what's popular in order to do what's right!" - Monique O.
"For truth to be truth, it always has to be true!" - Pastor
I give every idea a fair hearing before even considering dismissing it. How about you?
"You cannot love one until you have learned to love all!" -Aristotle
You're right about having to fight battles. But the WAR has been won by the Lover of our Souls, JESUS CHRIST!
In JESUS' service with agape' love forever,
~Mr. & Mrs. Onymous~
This is my last comment on this particular blog acknowledging Boris:
“I want nothing to do with any of you losers.” – Well then why do you keep coming around wasting your time? The more you speak the more you reveal your ignorance and lack of actual research anyway. You couldn’t be more wrong on multiple counts (in fact the vast majority of your inane emotionally charged statements are patently false most likely done intentionally to try and incite anger) but since you are only here to “mock and make fun” you will not get so much as a single key stroke from me to convince you otherwise and I highly suggest others to follow suit. You have made your choice so you should live with it in peace like everyone else here is trying to do. You could not possibly be expected to understand anything about reasonable faith because you are dead in your sins. Jesus may tolerate you but I don’t care for your mind or your mouth. So as for myself, I will let the dead bury the dead, shake the dust from my feet on your doorstep and reply to you no further. So say what you like and continue to rampage on but the end result will still be the same and you will spend eternity in the same futility. Hope you enjoy it because if you are wrong and there is something more than just ceasing to exist, then you will still have left behind many people who dislike you and it will be too late for you to change your tiny mind.
**ongoing PRAYER SESSION for all Jews who were devastated by the holocaust of history** Please feel free to participate in intercession with us. No Pressure!
Thank you respectfully & kindly.
All our love in JESUS' power,
~Mr. & Mrs. Onymous~
I would rather have Boris here posting comments than not have him here at all...and if the truth were told, Boris is likely closer to meeting Jesus than those who are completely apathetic about spiritual matters.
ETERNITY!!!>>> ROCK ON!!!>>>
All our best into infinity...
~Mr. & Mrs. Onymous~
Ray Comfort is an idiot and a proven liar: "See, when we bring up a lot of these irrelevant issues [evolution and anything else other than the threat of Hellfire and eternal torment], we're confining ourselves to the human intellect. The place of argument. Listen to Colossians 1:21. "The ungodly are enemies of God IN THEIR MIND." That's what the Bible says: the human mind is an enemy of God. The mind is a place of hostility, enmity towards God. [...] What we must do is learn to do what Jesus did. To circumnavigate the human intellect and go directly for the conscience. I can't emphasize the importance of this." Ray Comfort
This is an exquisite example, an absolute proof that the only reason Ray Comfort or any other Bible believer believes what they do is to escape the tortures of Hell. Ray even admits that there isn't ANYTHING else in the world of ANY importance. The ONLY thing that is important is avoiding hell. This is proof that all you Bible believers have been completely frightened out of your minds by OTHER PEOPLE. You can bark all you want about your Jesus this and Jesus that but you're scared to death of Jesus, scared of hell and most importantly scared to live. This is why you all hate and envy me so much: because I'm NOT AFRAID. You people are all COWARDS. The one trait all Christians share: COWARDICE.
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