Job has heard enough from his friends, he certainly doesn't
need them to take God's side against him.
His sarcasm towards these men is well-placed, they have misrepresented
both Job and God. Job knows his
innocence is unquestionable and, even in the face of his experience, believes
in a good and just God. He is making a
mistake, however, in his own theology.
He sees God as the one who is slaying him. He also believes, at least partially, in the
correspondence of righteousness and earthly blessedness. God is not his enemy, in fact the Lord has
extolled Job's virtues to satan, his true enemy. He is, at least, looking in the right place
for answers.
First, they claim to be Abraham's children and that they
have never been slaves? Abraham's
descendants were slaves for 400 years in Egypt and have been slaves to the
Babylonians as well. There is, however,
a worse slavery, one that is eternal, and that is a slavery to sin. The offer to set them free is an eternal
offer. They also claim to be God's
children and yet Jesus says they cannot be God's children because they don't
recognize and accept Him and He has been sent from the Father. Truth matters and they are rejecting it in
favor of a lie and in doing so are proving to be from the Father of lies. Can you imagine how offensive this would be
if someone said it to you?
Serious persecution begins.
James is put to death and, because that was popular with the Jews,
Herod decided to put Peter in jail. Why was Peter set free and rescued but not
James? If Job's friends' theology were
right, neither of these would have happened unless there was some sin in their
lives and James' was certainly much worse.
Instead, Jesus told us to expect to be persecuted and to suffer for the
sake of righteousness and for His sake.
Peter's rescue by the angel is too much for even him to believe is true,
he thinks it is a vision until the angel no longer accompanies him. Although the church is praying for Peter's
release, Rhoda hears Peter at the door, tells the others who quickly conclude
she is out of her mind and that it is Peter's angel, whatever that means. Why didn't Rhoda let him in? Is the James to whom Peter refers the Lord's
brother since James the brother of John had been martyred?
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