Job's life is such a misery to him all he wants is for God
to turn away from him. David expressed this same sentiment in Psalm 139. It is a painful thing to hear Job asking the
Lord to simply leave him alone and allow him to live out the rest of his
days. Surely Job had not thought in such
ways prior to this suffering, his life was pleasant and full of blessing. Now, he is sorting out how to understand a
God who either brings such suffering or allows it. His experience of God causes him to despise
this life completely. He asks questions
such as why does sin matter so much to God, why does man matter so much? Indeed, why should we, insignificant in the
universe, created from the dust of the earth, the remnants of creation, be
significant to the God who created the universe? Job is getting some perspective.
God's timing for things is rarely our own. Jesus' brothers don't understand His mission.
They don't believe to start with, why should they if they have been with Him
and haven't seen Him do miracles until now?
They can't possibly understand that He isn't simply a wonder-worker and
that He isn't trying to attract a crowd and make a name for Himself. Jesus says He isn't going but then He does
go, in a similar way to that of His words to His mother at the wedding in Cana
in John 2. He has made a name for
Himself and it isn't altogether good, there is a divide among the people about
Him. Is He a good man or a
deceiver? The leaders seem to have
already made a preliminary decision and so it is unwise to discuss Him openly.
Two men have visions, one a Gentile and the other a disciple
of the Jewish Messiah. Cornelius was a
man who had done everything to become a Jew but accept circumcision. He was a devout man and he prayed continually
to God. His devotion is rewarded by a
visitation from an angel while he prayed that spoke of his devotion being
rewarded. What did Cornelius make of the
instruction to send someone to Peter?
Did he know who Peter was? Peter,
likewise, is praying and sees a vision while he is an a
"trance." In the vision Peter
is told that now there is no clean and unclean with respect to food. In order for the Gentile mission to go
forward these restrictions must be lifted, otherwise there will be no way to
associate with the Gentiles to evangelize them.
It is also important that Peter, as the leader of the Jerusalem
delegation, receive this word rather than Paul so that when Paul goes
exclusively to the Gentiles there will be no problem or division. The mission is bigger than anyone realized.
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