Here are some key moments where Job questions God:

• Job's Lament (Chapter 3): Job begins by cursing the day of his birth, expressing deep anguish and questioning why he was born only to experience such suffering (Job 3:1-26).
• Desire for an Audience with God (Chapters 9-10): Job expresses a desire to present his case before God, questioning why he is being afflicted despite his innocence. He longs for a mediator who could bridge the gap between him and God (Job 9:32-35, 10:1-7).
• Job's Challenge to God's Justice (Chapter 13): Job boldly declares his willingness to argue his case before God, questioning the justice of his suffering and asserting his integrity (Job 13:3, 13-23).
• Job's Frustration with God's Silence (Chapter 23): Job expresses frustration over God's silence and his inability to find God to present his case. He maintains his confidence in his own righteousness and longs for an explanation (Job 23:1-10).
• Job's Final Defense (Chapters 29-31): In his final monologue, Job reflects on his past life of prosperity and justice, contrasting it with his current suffering.
• He questions why he is being punished and maintains his innocence, listing his righteous deeds and challenging God to answer him (Job 31:35-37 “Oh, if only someone would give me a hearing! I’ve signed my name to my defense—let the Almighty One answer! I want to see my indictment in writing. Anyone’s welcome to read my defense; I’ll write it on a poster and carry it around town. I’m prepared to account for every move I’ve ever made— to anyone and everyone, prince or pauper.[1]).

 
God responds to Job not with answers, but with questions that reveal His vast knowledge and power.

• This divine encounter shifts the focus from human reasoning to God's majesty and wisdom.
• God asks Job about the creation of the earth, the boundaries of the sea, the dawn, and the intricacies of nature

GOD CONFRONTS JOB
Have You Gotten to the Bottom of Things?
JOB 38
1 And now, finally, God answered Job from the eye of a violent storm.

• What is the emphasis used here by God?
• Powerful? No emotion?

He said:
2–11    “Why do you confuse the issue?
        Why do you talk without knowing what you’re talking about?
        Pull yourself together, Job!
        Up on your feet! Stand tall!
        I have some questions for you,
        and I want some straight answers.
        Where were you when I created the earth?
        Tell me, since you know so much!
        Who decided on its size? Certainly you’ll know that!
        Who came up with the blueprints and measurements?
        How was its foundation poured,
        and who set the cornerstone,
        While the morning stars sang in chorus
        and all the angels shouted praise?
        And who took charge of the ocean
        when it gushed forth like a baby from the womb?
        That was me! I wrapped it in soft clouds,
        and tucked it in safely at night.
        Then I made a playpen for it,
        a strong playpen so it couldn’t run loose,
        And said, ‘Stay here, this is your place.
        Your wild tantrums are confined to this place.’
12–15   “And have you ever ordered Morning, ‘Get up!’
        told Dawn, ‘Get to work!’
        So you could seize Earth like a blanket
        and shake out the wicked like cockroaches?
        As the sun brings everything to light,
        brings out all the colors and shapes,
        The cover of darkness is snatched from the wicked--
        they’re caught in the very act!
16–18   “Have you ever gotten to the true bottom of things,
        explored the labyrinthine caves of deep ocean?
        Do you know the first thing about death?
        Do you have one clue regarding death’s dark mysteries?
        And do you have any idea how large this earth is?
        Speak up if you have even the beginning of an answer[2]
 
These questions are not meant to belittle Job but to remind him of the Creator's infinite wisdom and the limitations of human understanding.

• God's questions cover the natural world, from the stars to the animals, showcasing His sovereignty over all creation.

JOB 39
1–7       “Do you know the month when mountain goats give birth?
        Have you ever watched a doe bear her fawn?
        Do you know how many months she is pregnant?
        Do you know the season of her delivery,
        when she crouches down and drops her offspring?
        Her young ones flourish and are soon on their own;
        they leave and don’t come back.
5–8     “Who do you think set the wild donkey free,
        opened the corral gates and let him go?
        I gave him the whole wilderness to roam in,
        the rolling plains and wide-open places.
        He laughs at his city cousins, who are harnessed and harried.
        He’s oblivious to the cries of teamsters.
        He grazes freely through the hills,
        nibbling anything that’s green.
9–12    “Will the wild buffalo condescend to serve you,
        volunteer to spend the night in your barn?
        Can you imagine hitching your plow to a buffalo
        and getting him to till your fields?
        He’s hugely strong, yes, but could you trust him,
        would you dare turn the job over to him?
        You wouldn’t for a minute depend on him, would you,
        to do what you said when you said it?
13–18   “The ostrich flaps her wings futilely--
        all those beautiful feathers, but useless!
        She lays her eggs on the hard ground,
        leaves them there in the dirt, exposed to the weather,
        Not caring that they might get stepped on and cracked
        or trampled by some wild animal.
        She’s negligent with her young, as if they weren’t even hers.
        She cares nothing about anything.
        She wasn’t created very smart, that’s for sure,
        wasn’t given her share of good sense.
        But when she runs, oh, how she runs,
        laughing, leaving horse and rider in the dust.
19–25   “Are you the one who gave the horse his prowess
        and adorned him with a shimmering mane?
        Did you create him to prance proudly
        and strike terror with his royal snorts?
        He paws the ground fiercely, eager and spirited,
        then charges into the fray.
        He laughs at danger, fearless,
        doesn’t shy away from the sword.
        The banging and clanging
        of quiver and lance don’t faze him.
        He quivers with excitement, and at the trumpet blast
        races off at a gallop.
        At the sound of the trumpet he neighs mightily,
        smelling the excitement of battle from a long way off,
        catching the rolling thunder of the war cries.
26–30   “Was it through your know-how that the hawk learned to fly,
        soaring effortlessly on thermal updrafts?
        Did you command the eagle’s flight,
        and teach her to build her nest in the heights,
        Perfectly at home on the high cliff face,
        invulnerable on pinnacle and crag?
        From her perch she searches for prey,
        spies it at a great distance.
        Her young gorge themselves on carrion;
        wherever there’s a roadkill, you’ll see her circling.”[3]
 
JOB 40
God then confronted Job directly:
        “Now what do you have to say for yourself?
        Are you going to haul me, the Mighty One, into court and press charges?”
JOB ANSWERS GOD
I’m Ready to Shut Up and Listen
3–5     Job answered:
        “I’m speechless, in awe—words fail me.
        I should never have opened my mouth!
        I’ve talked too much, way too much.
        I’m ready to shut up and listen.”[4]
Job acknowledges his insignificance and chooses to remain silent, recognizing that he has spoken of things he does not understand.

• Lesson in Humility: Job's encounter with God's majesty leads him to a deeper understanding of his own limitations and the greatness of God.

 
III. God's Continued Challenge and Job's Repentance (Job 40:6-42:6):

• Behemoth and Leviathan:
• God continues to challenge Job by describing the behemoth and leviathan, creatures that symbolize God's power and the uncontrollable aspects of creation (Job 40:15-41:34).

JOB 40
15–24   “Look at the land beast, Behemoth. I created him as well as you.
        Grazing on grass, docile as a cow--
        Just look at the strength of his back,
        the powerful muscles of his belly.
        His tail sways like a cedar in the wind;
        his huge legs are like beech trees.
        His skeleton is made of steel,
        every bone in his body hard as steel.
        Most magnificent of all my creatures,
        but I still lead him around like a lamb!
        The grass-covered hills serve him meals,
        while field mice frolic in his shadow.
        He takes afternoon naps under shade trees,
        cools himself in the reedy swamps,
        Lazily cool in the leafy shadows
        as the breeze moves through the willows.
        And when the river rages he doesn’t budge,
        stolid and unperturbed even when the Jordan goes wild.
        But you’d never want him for a pet--
        you’d never be able to housebreak him!”
 
I Run This Universe
JOB 41
1–11    “Or can you pull in the sea beast, Leviathan, with a fly rod
        and stuff him in your creel?
        Can you lasso him with a rope,
        or snag him with an anchor?
        Will he beg you over and over for mercy,
        or flatter you with flowery speech?
        Will he apply for a job with you
        to run errands and serve you the rest of your life?
        Will you play with him as if he were a pet goldfish?
        Will you make him the mascot of the neighborhood children?
        Will you put him on display in the market
        and have shoppers haggle over the price?
        Could you shoot him full of arrows like a pin cushion,
        or drive harpoons into his huge head?
        If you so much as lay a hand on him,
        you won’t live to tell the story.
        What hope would you have with such a creature?
        Why, one look at him would do you in!
        If you can’t hold your own against his glowering visage,
        how, then, do you expect to stand up to me?
        Who could confront me and get by with it?
        I’m in charge of all this—I run this universe![5]
Wiersbe found 77 unanswerable questions that God asked Job in chapters 38 through 41, which proved Job both ignorant and impotent.

• Since Job could not understand or determine God's ways with nature, he obviously could not comprehend or control God's dealings with people.
• Who is the truly wise person?
• It is not Job, or his three older friends, or his younger friend, Elihu, but God.
• He alone is truly wise.

 
Job's Repentance: 

• Job's final response, where he repents in dust and ashes.
• Job admits that he spoke of things beyond his understanding and acknowledges God's sovereignty (Job 42:1-6).

JOB 42
1–6     Job answered God:
        “I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything.
        Nothing and no one can upset your plans.
        You asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water,
        ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’
        I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me,
        made small talk about wonders way over my head.
        You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking.
        Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’
        I admit I once lived by rumors of you;
        now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears!
        I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise!
        I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.”[6]
 
IV. Restoration and Blessing (Job 42:7-17):

• God's Rebuke of Job's Friends:
• God rebukes Job's friends for not speaking rightly about Him.
• Job's role as an intercessor for his friends highlights his restored relationship with God (Job 42:7-9).

7–8     After God had finished addressing Job, he turned to Eliphaz the Temanite and said, “I’ve had it with you and your two friends. I’m fed up! You haven’t been honest either with me or about me—not the way my friend Job has. So here’s what you must do. Take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my friend Job. Sacrifice a burnt offering on your own behalf. My friend Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer. He will ask me not to treat you as you deserve for talking nonsense about me, and for not being honest with me, as he has.”
9       They did it. Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did what God commanded. And God accepted Job’s prayer.[7]
 
Restoration of Job's Fortunes:

• God blesses Job with twice as much as he had before, including new children and a long, prosperous life (Job 42:10-17).

10–11   After Job had interceded for his friends, God restored his fortune—and then doubled it! All his brothers and sisters and friends came to his house and celebrated. They told him how sorry they were, and consoled him for all the trouble God had brought him. Each of them brought generous housewarming gifts.
12–15   God blessed Job’s later life even more than his earlier life. He ended up with fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand teams of oxen, and one thousand donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. He named the first daughter Dove, the second, Cinnamon, and the third, Darkeyes. There was not a woman in that country as beautiful as Job’s daughters. Their father treated them as equals with their brothers, providing the same inheritance.
16–17   Job lived on another 140 years, living to see his children and grandchildren—four generations of them! Then he died—an old man, a full life.[8]
 
What God did not say to Job is as surprising as what He did say.

•  He did not mention Job's suffering
•  He gave no explanation of the problem of evil
•  He did not defend Himself against Job's charge of injustice
•  He made no comment on the retributive principle.
•  God simply revealed Himself to Job and his companions to a greater degree than they had known, and that greater revelation silenced them.

 
The reader is told why Job was suffering in the Prologue, but that is to show that Job was innocent.

• So the book is teaching us through the divine theophany [visible manifestation of God] that there is something more fundamental than an intellectual solution to the mystery of innocent suffering.
• Though the message reaches Job through his intellect, it is for his spirit."

 
V. Key Themes and Applications:

• God's Sovereignty and Wisdom: 
• God's ways are higher than ours, and His understanding is beyond our comprehension (Isaiah 55:8-9 - 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. 9 “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.[9]).

Humility and Trust: 

• Embrace humility and trust in God's character, even when circumstances are difficult or confusing.
• Like Job, we can find peace in acknowledging God's greatness and our dependence on Him.

Restoration and Hope: 

• There is always the hope of restoration and the assurance of God's presence.
• While Job's story includes material restoration, the deeper message is one of spiritual renewal and the reaffirmation of God's faithfulness.

Conclusion: 
Reflect on your encounters with God's majesty.

• Seek a deeper understanding of God's character and trust in His wisdom and love, even in the midst of life's challenges.

Like Job, you can find hope and restoration in your relationship with God.

[1] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005), Job 31:35–37.
[2] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005), Job 38:1–18.
[3] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005), Job 39:1–30.
[4] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005), Job 40:1–5.
[5] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005), Job 40:15–41:34.
[6] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005), Job 42:1–6.
[7] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005), Job 42:7–9.
[8] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005), Job 42:10–17.
[9] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Is 55:8–9.

God Allows

• I cannot understand the sovereignty of God.
• “The Chosen” clip

 
JOB 2
9 His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”

• This is a lady who lost all her children.
• Now, she is watching her husband suffer.

10 “You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her.

• He did not call her “foolish”.
• Foolish means to be spiritually ignorant or without discernment.
• You can be knowledgeable but not have wisdom.
• Her advice was out of character.
• She knew better than to speak as she did.

Job's response to his wife shows his admirable respect for her and his self-control.
“Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.

• “God is good”.
• In times of severe testing, our first question must not be, “How can I get out of this?” but “What can I get out of this?”
• Though many people today conclude, as Job's wife did, that the reason for suffering is that God is unjust, this is never the reason good people suffer.
• The basis for the relationship between God and man is not retribution, with good deeds resulting in prosperity and evil deeds yielding punishment in this life.
• These two tests of Job reveal much about Satan:
• 1 ) He is accountable to God.
• 2) God knows Satan's thoughts.
• 3) Satan is an accuser of the righteous.
• 4) He knows what is going on in the world and in the lives of individuals, though there is no evidence in Scripture that he can read people's minds.
• 5) He has great power over individuals and nature, but his power is subject to the sovereign authority of God.
• 6) He is not omnipresent, nor omniscient, nor omnipotent.
• 7) He can do nothing without God's permission, and God's permission involves limitations on him.
• 8) God remains aware of what His people are experiencing in connection with Satan's activity.

 
JOB’S THREE FRIENDS
11 Now when Job’s three friends—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about all this adversity that had happened to him, each of them came from his home. They met together to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.

• Actually, four men came to visit Job, though the writer did not mention Elihu's presence until chapter 32.
• Sufferers attract fixers the way roadkills attract vultures.
• Empathy and sympathy, while related, have distinct meanings.
• Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person, while sympathy is feeling sorry for someone's misfortune.
• In essence, empathy involves "feeling with" someone, while sympathy involves "feeling for" them

12 When they looked from a distance, they could barely recognize him.

• They knew he was diseased, so they kept their distance.

They wept aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust into the air and on his head.

• Throwing dust over one's head signified identifying with the dead.

13 Then they sat on the ground with him seven days and nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that his suffering was very intense.[1]

• A week was the usual time of mourning for the dead.
• Their commitment to him, as seen in their patient waiting to address him, shows their genuine friendship.
• How many friends do you have that would travel a long distance to visit you in an illness and sit with you silently for seven days out of respect for your pain?
• Wes: Can I get your input this evening or tomorrow on sitting with someone in their grief? A client of mine's wife just died suddenly — him, his family, and the business will need someone to be present with them in their grief.
• Wes: I listen well, and know I offer a caring presence… what to say or what else should I know?
• Rusty: You pretty much know. Number one, be present; number two, shut up; and number three, listen to the Holy Spirit
• Rusty: There is not much you can say to bring comfort at that moment other than just to be there.

 

• Don't try to explain everything; explanations never heal a broken heart.
• If his friends had listened to him, accepted his feelings, and not argued with him, they would have helped him greatly, but they chose to be prosecuting attorneys instead of witnesses.

 

• The prologue of the book (chs. 1—2) sets the stage for what follows by informing us, the readers, that Job's suffering was not due to his sins.
• None of the characters in the story knew this fact except God and Satan.
• The next major part of the book begins with a personal lament in which Job expressed his agony (ch. 3).
• Three cycles of speeches follow in which Job's friends dialogued with him about his condition (chs. 4—27).
• Job then voiced his despair in two soliloquies (chs. 28—31).
• Next, Job's fourth friend, Elihu, offered his solution to Job's suffering (chs. 32—37)

 
JOB 3
The wish that he had not been born (1-10).
The wish that he had died at birth (11-19).
The wish that he could die then (20-26).
24 I sigh when food is put before me,
and my groans pour out like water.
25 For the thing I feared has overtaken me,
and what I dreaded has happened to me.
26 I cannot relax or be calm;
I have no rest, for turmoil has come.[2]

• Have a headache or pain so bad that you can’t concentrate on what needs to be done.
• Pain humbles the proud.
• It softens the stubborn.
• It melts the hard.
• Silently and relentlessly, it wins battles deep within the lonely soul.

 

• Throughout the three cycles of speeches, Job's friends did not change their position.
• They believed that God rewards the righteous and punishes sinners in this life, which is the theory of retribution.
• They reasoned that all suffering is punishment for sin, and since Job was suffering greatly, he was a great sinner.
• They believed that what people experience depends on what they have done (cf. John 9:2).
• While this is true often, it is not the fundamental reason that we experience what we do in life, as the Book of Job proceeds to reveal.
• At the heart of the debate between Job and his three friends is a question, Who is wise?
• Who has the correct insight into Job's suffering?
• Both Job and the friends set themselves up as sources of wisdom and ridicule the wisdom of the other (11:12; 12:1-3, 12; 13:12; 15:1-13).
• As we will see, this question, 'Who is wise?' dominates the whole book."

JOB 4 (Eliphaz the Temanite)
7 Consider: Who has perished when he was innocent?
Where have the honest been destroyed?
8 In my experience, those who plow injustice
and those who sow trouble reap the same.[3]
 
JOB 8 (Bildad the Shuhite)
4 Since your children sinned against him,
he gave them over to their rebellion.
5 But if you earnestly seek God
and ask the Almighty for mercy,
6 if you are pure and upright,
then he will move even now on your behalf
and restore the home where your righteousness dwells.[4]
 
JOB 11 (Zophar the Naamathite)
13 As for you, if you redirect your heart
and spread out your hands to him in prayer--
14 if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it,
and don’t allow injustice to dwell in your tents--
15 then you will hold your head high, free from fault.
You will be firmly established and unafraid.[5]

• As the speeches unfolded, Job's friends became increasingly critical, vicious, and specific in their comments about Job.
• However, they started most pleasantly.
• Let me summarize chapters 4-37 for you:
• Job's friends each emphasized a different aspect of God's character, though they all saw Him as a judge.
• Eliphaz pointed out the distance between God and man, His transcendence (4:17-19; 15:14-16), and stressed God's punishment of the wicked (5:12-14).
• Bildad said that God is just (8:3), great (25:2-3), and that He punishes only the wicked (18:5-21).
• God's inscrutability (His being impossible to understand) impressed Zophar (11:7), who also stated that God punishes the wicked quickly (20:23).
• Eliphaz spoke to Job with the most respect and restraint, Bildad was more direct and less courteous, and Zophar was the most blunt and brutal.
• Eliphaz based his arguments on experience (4:8; 5:3; 15:17), Bildad on tradition (8:8-10), and Zophar on mere assumption or intuition (20:1-5).
• Eliphaz viewed life as a mystic, Bildad as an attorney, and Zophar as a dogmatist.
• Bildad and Zophar picked up themes from Eliphaz's speeches and echoed them with slightly variant emphases (cf. 5:9 and 22:12 with 8:3, 5; 22:2a with 11:7, 11; 15:32-34 with 18:16 and 20:21-22; and 5:14 with 18:5, 6, 18 and 20:26).

 
God gets the last word on Job’s story in chapters 38-42.
 
JOHN 9
1 As he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him. 4 We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”[6]

• The disciples did not look at the man as an object of mercy but rather as a subject for a theological discussion.
• It is much easier to discuss an abstract subject like 'sin' than it is to minister to a concrete need in the life of a person.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Job 2:9–13.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Job 3:24–26.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Job 4:7–8.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Job 8:4–6.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Job 11:13–15.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Jn 9:1–5.

God Allows

• Why did God let “allow” to enter the picture when He had the ability to control everything… and still does?
• Free will
• When did God “allow”?
• Somewhere before Genesis 2
• I cannot understand the sovereignty of God.
• But I do know that God is love.

1 John 4
8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice, for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is made complete in us. 13 This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as the world’s Savior. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God. 16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.[1]
 
The Book of Job

• This book, like many others in the Old Testament, got its name from the central character in it rather than from its writer.
• Concerning the time the events recorded took place, there have been many views, ranging from the patriarchal age of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (beginning about 2100 B.C.) to the second century B.C.
• While Job may have written it, there is no concrete evidence that he did.
• The name "Job" means "hated" or "much persecuted."
• Perhaps Job was a nickname that his friends gave him during his suffering.
• Job is the title of the book in the Hebrew, Greek (Septuagint), Latin (Vulgate), and English Bibles.
• The book does not identify its writer. Furthermore, the ancient Hebrews could not agree on who wrote it.

 
It is quite clear from this book that God inspired it to reveal answers to questions that arise from God's nature and His dealings with human beings.

• Specifically, it answers the question: What is the basis on which God deals with people?
• Elsewhere in the Old Testament, we find God typically repaying good with good and evil with evil, but that is not how He dealt with Job.
• The book of Job places the stress on God's ways, not Job's suffering.

 
God blesses people for two reasons.

• These are: first, His sovereign choice to bless; second, people's response of trust and obedience to Him.
• Because we cannot control God's sovereign choice to bless some people more than others, we tend to forget that.
• We tend to focus on what we can control to some extent, namely, securing His blessing by trusting and obeying Him.
• This is understandable and legitimate, but it leads to a potential problem.
• The problem is that we may conclude that we can control God.
• Since God blesses those who trust and obey Him, and He curses those who do not, we may conclude that if we trust and obey God, He owes us blessing in this life.

 
JOB AND HIS FAMILY
JOB 1
1 There was a man in the country of Uz named Job.

•  Uz was probably located southeast of the Dead Sea.
• Show Map

He was a man of complete integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil.

• The fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, was the hallmark of Job.
• Wisdom is to know that there is a God and He created us to love Him and others.

2 He had seven sons and three daughters. 3 His estate included seven thousand sheep and goats, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east.

• Evidently there were several other great (wealthy) men in that part of the world in his day, but Job surpassed them all.

4 His sons used to take turns having banquets at their homes. They would send an invitation to their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

• Seven sons, a banquet for each night of the week.

5 Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them.

• Evidently, he offered sacrifices each week for his children in case they had committed sins in their merriment.
• There were ten whole sacrifices offered by Job on each opening day of the weekly round, at the dawn of the Sunday; and one has therefore to imagine this round of entertainment as beginning with the first-born on the first day of the week."
• The author uses the numbers three, seven, and ten, all symbolic of completeness, to demonstrate that Job's wealth was staggering.

For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.
 
SATAN’S FIRST TEST OF JOB
6 One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them.

• The term "sons of God" elsewhere refers to angels (38:7), though it usually refers to human beings.
• These verses reveal that angels, including Satan, periodically report to God on their activities.

7 The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”
“From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered him, “and walking around on it.”

• Did God need to ask Satan where he was?
• Similar to asking Adam & Eve, “Where are you?”

8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.”

• Rather than offering up Job as a suggestion.
• Possibly another rhetorical question.

9 Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Haven’t you placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

• Satan is implying that God has paid Job to love Him.

11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

• The Satan believes nothing to be genuinely good—neither Job in his disinterested piety nor God in His disinterested generosity.

12 “Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, do not lay a hand on Job himself.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.

• This is just a reminder to Satan of what already was.
• Satan is also called the “prince of the power of the air” in Ephesians 2:2.
• He is the “ruler of this world” in John 12:31.
• These titles and many more signify Satan’s capabilities.
• He wields a certain amount of authority and power in this world.
• He is not a king, but a prince, a ruler of some sort.
• In some way he rules over the world and the people in it: “The whole world is under the control of the evil one” (1 John 5:19).


• This is not to say that Satan rules the world completely; God is still sovereign.
• God, in His infinite, inscrutable wisdom, has allowed Satan to operate in this world within the boundaries God has set for him.
• Satan’s limits are clearly seen in Job.
• Satan must give an account of himself to God, and it seems he must have God’s “allowance” to carry out his plans.
• At no time can Satan do all he wants, for God restricts his actions.

13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and reported, “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing nearby, 15 the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
16 He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported, “God’s fire fell from heaven. It burned the sheep and the servants and devoured them, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
17 That messenger was still speaking when yet another came and reported, “The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
18 He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house. 19 Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people so that they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
20 Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head.

• Tearing one's robe typically expressed great grief in the ancient Near East.
• It symbolized the rending of one's heart.
• Shaving the head evidently symbolized the loss of personal glory.
• When a person mourned, he or she put off all personal adornments, including what nature provided.
• Hair in the ancient world was a symbol of one's glory.

He fell to the ground and worshiped, 21 saying:
Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will leave this life.

• Mother’s womb is another term for earth.

The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
22 Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.[2]

• A man may stand before God stripped of everything that life has given him, and still lack nothing.

 
SATAN’S SECOND TEST OF JOB
JOB 2
1 One day the sons of God came again to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before the Lord. 2 The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”
“From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered him, “and walking around on it.”
3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited me against him, to destroy him for no good reason.”
4 “Skin for skin!” Satan answered the Lord. “A man will give up everything he owns in exchange for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
6 “Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “he is in your power; only spare his life.” 7 So Satan left the Lord’s presence and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself while he sat among the ashes.[3]

• Job's illness resulted in an unclean condition that made him a social outcast (cf. Exod. 9:9-11).
• He had to take up residence near the city dump where beggars and other social rejects stayed.
• He had formerly sat at the city gate and enjoyed social prestige as a town judge (29:7).

The change in his location, from the best to the worst of places, reflects the change in his circumstances, from the best to the worst of conditions.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Jn 4:8–16.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Job 1:1–22.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Job 2:1–8.

586 BC – King Nebuchadnezzar came in, destroyed the Temple at Jerusalem, and took the Israelites into Babylonian captivity.
 
Artaxerxes I (465-424 BCE): Artaxerxes is the king mentioned in the Book of Ezra who allows Ezra to return to Jerusalem to teach the Law and implement reforms (Ezra 7:1-28).

• He is also the king during Nehemiah's time, who permits Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city's walls (Nehemiah 2:1-8).

 

• A period of 58 years separates Ezra 6 from Ezra 7 (515-458 B.C.). During this time, the events in the Book of Esther took place in Persia and, specifically, in Susa, one of the Persian capitals.
• In Judah, the Jews did not continue to fortify Jerusalem.
• They were content to worship at the temple.
• Their earlier zeal to return to the Mosaic Law, which included separation from non-Jews, waned.
• Over this 58-year period, some of them intermarried with unbelieving Gentiles (9:1-2).
• Evidently, the Levites neglected the teaching of the Law (7:25; cf. Neh. 8:1-12), and temple worship became more formal than heartfelt (7:23).

 
EZRA’S ARRIVAL
EZRA 7
1 After these events, during the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Ezra--

• In Jerusalem, Ezra's ministry consisted primarily of leading the people to return to observance of their Law.
• Since his time, the Jews have regarded Ezra as a second Moses, because he re-established Israel on the Mosaic Law.

Seraiah’s son, Azariah’s son,
Hilkiah’s son, 2 Shallum’s son,
Zadok’s son, Ahitub’s son,
3 Amariah’s son, Azariah’s son,
Meraioth’s son, 4 Zerahiah’s son,
Uzzi’s son, Bukki’s son,
5 Abishua’s son, Phinehas’s son,
Eleazar’s son, the chief priest Aaron’s son
6 —came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he requested because the hand of the Lord his God was on him. 7 Some of the Israelites, priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants accompanied him to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.
8 Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, during the seventh year of the king. 9 He began the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month and arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month since the gracious hand of his God was on him.

• Ezra and his companions left Babylon in the spring of 458 B.C.
• Ezra and his fellow travelers completed their 900-mile journey exactly four months later because of God's enablement.[

10 Now Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.

• Ezra's resolve provides an excellent example for every believer.
• He first proposed to study the Law of God, then to apply that teaching to his own life, and then to teach others the revealed will of God.
• This was the key to Ezra's impact.
• He is a model reformer in that what he taught he had first lived, and what he lived he had first made sure of in the Scriptures.

 
LETTER FROM ARTAXERXES
11 This is the text of the letter King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, an expert in matters of the Lord’s commands and statutes for Israel:

•  Ezra held a position in the Persian court equivalent to Secretary of State for Jewish Affairs.
• Artaxerxes gave any of the Jews in his kingdom permission to return to the Promised Land, if they chose to do so.

12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, an expert in the law of the God of the heavens:
Greetings.
13 I issue a decree that any of the Israelites in my kingdom, including their priests and Levites, who want to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. 14 You are sent by the king and his seven counselors to evaluate Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your possession. 15 You are also to bring the silver and gold the king and his counselors have willingly given to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, 16 and all the silver and gold you receive throughout the province of Babylon, together with the freewill offerings given by the people and the priests to the house of their God in Jerusalem. 17 Then you are to be diligent to buy with this money bulls, rams, and lambs, along with their grain and drink offerings, and offer them on the altar at the house of your God in Jerusalem. 18 You may do whatever seems best to you and your brothers with the rest of the silver and gold, according to the will of your God. 19 Deliver to the God of Jerusalem all the articles given to you for the service of the house of your God. 20 You may use the royal treasury to pay for anything else needed for the house of your God.
21 I, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers in the region west of the Euphrates River:
Whatever Ezra the priest, an expert in the law of the God of the heavens, asks of you must be provided in full, 22 up to 7,500 pounds of silver, 500 bushels of wheat, 550 gallons of wine, 550 gallons of oil, and salt without limit. 23 Whatever is commanded by the God of the heavens must be done diligently for the house of the God of the heavens, so that wrath will not fall on the realm of the king and his sons. 24 Be advised that you do not have authority to impose tribute, duty, and land tax on any priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

• And he allowed the temple personnel to be tax-free.
• All this was to be done "diligently" and "with zeal".

25 And you, Ezra, according to God’s wisdom that you possess, appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people in the region west of the Euphrates who know the laws of your God and to teach anyone who does not know them. 26 Anyone who does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, let the appropriate judgment be executed against him, whether death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.
27 Blessed be the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who has put it into the king’s mind to glorify the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, 28 and who has shown favor to me before the king, his counselors, and all his powerful officers. So I took courage because I was strengthened by the hand of the Lord my God, and I gathered Israelite leaders to return with me.[1]
 

• Artaxerxes' decisions were influenced by a combination of respect for the Jewish people's religious traditions, the desire for political stability, and trust in the leadership abilities of Ezra and Nehemiah.

 
THOSE RETURNING WITH EZRA
EZRA 8
1 These are the family heads and the genealogical records of those who returned with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:

• 2-14 lists all the people and their descendants who returned to Israel with Ezra.
• Seems as if Ezra is writing in first person now.

15 I gathered them at the river that flows to Ahava, and we camped there for three days. I searched among the people and priests, but found no Levites there.

• No Levites had volunteered to return to Judah.
• In view of his plans for the restoration, Ezra needed more Levites than those already in Judah.
• Ezra gathered leaders and sent them to Casiphia where he knew there were temple servants.
• 250+ Levite men came to Ezra.

 
PREPARING TO RETURN
21 I proclaimed a fast by the Ahava River, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us, our dependents, and all our possessions.

• Fasting in the New Covenant is a personal decision that can be used to refocus on Christ and His grace.
• It is not a requirement or a means to gain spiritual merit, but rather an opportunity to remember and celebrate the freedom and blessings we have in Jesus.

22 I did this because I was ashamed to ask the king for infantry and cavalry to protect us from enemies during the journey, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek him, but his fierce anger is against all who abandon him.” 23 So we fasted and pleaded with our God about this, and he was receptive to our prayer.
24 I selected twelve of the leading priests, along with Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers. 25 I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the articles—the contribution for the house of our God that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the Israelites who were present had offered. 26 I weighed out to them 24 tons of silver, silver articles weighing 7,500 pounds, 7,500 pounds of gold, 27 twenty gold bowls worth a thousand gold coins, and two articles of fine gleaming bronze, as valuable as gold. 28 Then I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, and the articles are holy. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of your ancestors. 29 Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the Lord’s house before the leading priests, Levites, and heads of the Israelite families in Jerusalem.” 30 So the priests and Levites took charge of the silver, the gold, and the articles that had been weighed out, to bring them to the house of our God in Jerusalem.
 
ARRIVAL IN JERUSALEM
31 We set out from the Ahava River on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. We were strengthened by our God, and he kept us from the grasp of the enemy and from ambush along the way. 32 So we arrived at Jerusalem and rested there for three days. 33 On the fourth day the silver, the gold, and the articles were weighed out in the house of our God into the care of the priest Meremoth son of Uriah. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him. The Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui were also with them. 34 Everything was verified by number and weight, and the total weight was recorded at that time.
35 The exiles who had returned from the captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, and seventy-seven lambs, along with twelve male goats as a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering for the Lord. 36 They also delivered the king’s edicts to the royal satraps and governors of the region west of the Euphrates, so that they would support the people and the house of God.[2]
 
ISRAEL’S INTERMARRIAGE
EZRA 9
1 After these things had been done, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the surrounding peoples whose detestable practices are like those of the Canaanites, Hethites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. 2 Indeed, the Israelite men have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has become mixed with the surrounding peoples. The leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness!”

• The Mosaic Law strictly forbade intermarriage with the native Canaanites (Exod. 34:11-16; Deut. 7:1-5; cf. Lev. 18:3).

3 When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and robe, pulled out some of the hair from my head and beard, and sat down devastated.
 
EZRA’S CONFESSION
4 Everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me, because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles, while I sat devastated until the evening offering. 5 At the evening offering, I got up from my time of humiliation, with my tunic and robe torn. Then I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God. 6 And I said:
My God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face toward you, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads and our guilt is as high as the heavens. 7 Our guilt has been terrible from the days of our ancestors until the present. Because of our iniquities we have been handed over, along with our kings and priests, to the surrounding kings, and to the sword, captivity, plundering, and open shame, as it is today. 8 But now, for a brief moment, grace has come from the Lord our God to preserve a remnant for us and give us a stake in his holy place. Even in our slavery, God has given us a little relief and light to our eyes. 9 Though we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our slavery. He has extended grace to us in the presence of the Persian kings, giving us relief, so that we can rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.
10 Now, our God, what can we say in light of this? For we have abandoned the commands 11 you gave through your servants the prophets, saying, “The land you are entering to possess is an impure land. The surrounding peoples have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness by their impurity and detestable practices. 12 So do not give your daughters to their sons in marriage or take their daughters for your sons. Never pursue their welfare or prosperity, so that you will be strong, eat the good things of the land, and leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.” 13 After all that has happened to us because of our evil deeds and terrible guilt—though you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have allowed us to survive,--14 should we break your commands again and intermarry with the peoples who commit these detestable practices? Wouldn’t you become so angry with us that you would destroy us, leaving neither remnant nor survivor? 15 Lord God of Israel, you are righteous, for we survive as a remnant today. Here we are before you with our guilt, though no one can stand in your presence because of this.[3]

• Ezra's prayer contains four primary characteristics: solidarity, confession, readiness to change, and faith in God's mercy.

 
SENDING AWAY FOREIGN WIVES
EZRA 10
1 While Ezra prayed and confessed, weeping and falling facedown before the house of God, an extremely large assembly of Israelite men, women, and children gathered around him. The people also wept bitterly. 2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite, responded to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the surrounding peoples, but there is still hope for Israel in spite of this. 3 Therefore, let’s make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the law. 4 Get up, for this matter is your responsibility, and we support you. Be strong and take action!”

• Even today, some Jewish leaders view intermarriage with non-Jews as the significant threat to the continuation of Judaism:
• Therefore, the greatest danger to Jewish survival outside Israel today is not anti-Semitism but assimilation, epitomized by the threat of intermarriage.

5 Then Ezra got up and made the leading priests, Levites, and all Israel take an oath to do what had been said; so they took the oath. 6 Ezra then went from the house of God and walked to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib, where he spent the night. He did not eat food or drink water, because he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.
7 They circulated a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles should gather at Jerusalem. 8 Whoever did not come within three days would forfeit all his possessions, according to the decision of the leaders and elders, and would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.
9 So all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered in Jerusalem within the three days. On the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people sat in the square at the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain. 10 Then the priest Ezra stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt. 11 Therefore, make a confession to the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the surrounding peoples and your foreign wives.”
12 Then all the assembly responded loudly, “Yes, we will do as you say! 13 But there are many people, and it is the rainy season. We don’t have the stamina to stay out in the open. This isn’t something that can be done in a day or two, for we have rebelled terribly in this matter. 14 Let our leaders represent the entire assembly. Then let all those in our towns who have married foreign women come at appointed times, together with the elders and judges of each town, in order to avert the fierce anger of our God concerning this matter.” 15 Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah opposed this, with Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supporting them.
16 The exiles did what had been proposed. The priest Ezra selected men who were family heads, all identified by name, to represent their ancestral families. They convened on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter, 17 and by the first day of the first month they had dealt with all the men who had married foreign women.
 
THOSE MARRIED TO FOREIGN WIVES
18 The following were found to have married foreign women from the descendants of the priests:
from the descendants of Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. 19 They pledged to send their wives away, and being guilty, they offered a ram from the flock for their guilt;
20 Hanani and Zebadiah from Immer’s descendants;
21 Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah from Harim’s descendants;
22 Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah from Pashhur’s descendants.
23 The Levites:
Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
24 The singers:
Eliashib.
The gatekeepers:
Shallum, Telem, and Uri.
25 The Israelites:
Parosh’s descendants: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah;
26 Elam’s descendants: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah;
27 Zattu’s descendants: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza;
28 Bebai’s descendants: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai;
29 Bani’s descendants: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth;
30 Pahath-moab’s descendants: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh;
31 Harim’s descendants: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, 32 Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah;
33 Hashum’s descendants: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei;
34 Bani’s descendants: Maadai, Amram, Uel, 35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, 36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, 37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, Jaasu, 38 Bani, Binnui, Shimei, 39 Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, 40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, 41 Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, 42 Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph;
43 Nebo’s descendants: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah.
44 All of these had married foreign women, and some of the wives had given birth to children.[4]
 

• Ezra then returned to Babylonia, where tradition said he died and where his alleged tomb may still be visited.
• The Book of Ezra-Nehemiah presents Ezra as a strong personality.

He did not emphasize the law as an end in itself; instead, he was convinced that the covenant community needed to return to God by taking seriously his revelation and applying it to every aspect of life.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ezr 7:1–28.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ezr 8:1–36.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ezr 9:1–15.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ezr 10:1–44.

• King Ahasuerus showed Esther favor, and she requested a dinner with him and Haman.
• Haman was fuming at the thought of Mordecai, so he had 75-foot gallows built.

 
MORDECAI HONORED BY THE KING
ESTHER 6
1 That night sleep escaped the king, so he ordered the book recording daily events to be brought and read to the king.

• The reading of the equivalent of the Congressional Record would have put the king to sleep under normal circumstances

2 They found the written report of how Mordecai had informed on Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, when they planned to assassinate King Ahasuerus. 3 The king inquired, “What honor and special recognition have been given to Mordecai for this act?”
The king’s personal attendants replied, “Nothing has been done for him.”
4 The king asked, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman was just entering the outer court of the palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him.
5 The king’s attendants answered him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.”
“Have him enter,” the king ordered. 6 Haman entered, and the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king wants to honor?”
Haman thought to himself, “Who is it the king would want to honor more than me?” 7 Haman told the king, “For the man the king wants to honor: 8 Have them bring a royal garment that the king himself has worn and a horse the king himself has ridden, which has a royal crown on its head. 9 Put the garment and the horse under the charge of one of the king’s most noble officials. Have them clothe the man the king wants to honor, parade him on the horse through the city square, and call out before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king wants to honor.’ ”
10 The king told Haman, “Hurry, and do just as you proposed. Take a garment and a horse for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the King’s Gate. Do not leave out anything you have suggested.”

• He may have known that Haman was anti-Semitic long ago.
• It seems incredible that Ahasuerus would issue such a decree without finding out whom it would eliminate.

11 So Haman took the garment and the horse. He clothed Mordecai and paraded him through the city square, calling out before him, “This is what is done for the man the king wants to honor.”
12 Then Mordecai returned to the King’s Gate, but Haman hurried off for home, mournful and with his head covered. 13 Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai is Jewish, and you have begun to fall before him, you won’t overcome him, because your downfall is certain.” 14 While they were still speaking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and rushed Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared.[1]
 
HAMAN IS EXECUTED
ESTHER 7
1 The king and Haman came to feast with Esther the queen.

• It was the practice for the most highly honored of the nobles to attend only the king's breakfast so they could later entertain their guests in the same manner.

2 Once again, on the second day while drinking wine, the king asked Esther, “Queen Esther, whatever you ask will be given to you. Whatever you seek, even to half the kingdom, will be done.”
3 Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if the king is pleased, spare my life; this is my request. And spare my people; this is my desire. 4 For my people and I have been sold to destruction, death, and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept silent. Indeed, the trouble wouldn’t be worth burdening the king.”

• Her whole speech is designed to present her as one who, like Mordecai, has uncovered a plot against the king.
• She pleads for the king to save her own life and the lives of her people because it is in his best interest to do so.

5 King Ahasuerus spoke up and asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?”,
6 Esther answered, “The adversary and enemy is this evil Haman.”
Haman stood terrified before the king and queen. 7 The king arose in anger and went from where they were drinking wine to the palace garden. Haman remained to beg Queen Esther for his life because he realized the king was planning something terrible for him. 8 Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Would he actually violate the queen while I am in the house?” As soon as the statement left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.

• Had Haman knelt as much as a foot away from the queen's couch, the king's reaction could still have been justified.
• A criminal is unworthy any longer to look on the face of the king

9 Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “There is a gallows seventy-five feet tall at Haman’s house that he made for Mordecai, who gave the report that saved the king.”
The king said, “Hang him on it.”
10 They hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s anger subsided.[2]
 
ESTHER INTERVENES FOR THE JEWS
ESTHER 8

• Even though Haman was now dead, the Jews were not yet safe.
• This section of the text records what Esther and Mordecai did to ensure the preservation of the Jews who then lived throughout the vast Persian Empire.

1 That same day King Ahasuerus awarded Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Mordecai entered the king’s presence because Esther had revealed her relationship to Mordecai. 2 The king removed his signet ring he had recovered from Haman and gave it to Mordecai, and Esther put him in charge of Haman’s estate.

• If God can change the heart of an Ahasuerus, He can change any heart--any heart!

3 Then Esther addressed the king again. She fell at his feet, wept, and begged him to revoke the evil of Haman the Agagite and his plot he had devised against the Jews. 4 The king extended the gold scepter toward Esther, so she got up and stood before the king.
5 She said, “If it pleases the king and I have found favor with him, if the matter seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let a royal edict be written. Let it revoke the documents the scheming Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. 6 For how could I bear to see the disaster that would come on my people? How could I bear to see the destruction of my relatives?”
7 King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, “Look, I have given Haman’s estate to Esther, and he was hanged on the gallows because he attacked the Jews. 8 Write in the king’s name whatever pleases you concerning the Jews, and seal it with the royal signet ring. A document written in the king’s name and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked.”

• Esther's commitment to her people, which jeopardized her safety, was very selfless and accounts for the high honor the Jews have given her since these events transpired.

9 On the twenty-third day of the third month—that is, the month Sivan—the royal scribes were summoned. Everything was written exactly as Mordecai commanded for the Jews, to the satraps, the governors, and the officials of the 127 provinces from India to Cush. The edict was written for each province in its own script, for each ethnic group in its own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.
10 Mordecai wrote in King Ahasuerus’s name and sealed the edicts with the royal signet ring. He sent the documents by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses bred in the royal stables.

• The first decree, to destroy the Jews, had gone out on April 17, 474 B.C. (3:12).
• The Jews had over eight months to prepare for the day their enemies might attack them, which was March 7, 473 B.C.
• Ahasuerus published this second one, allowing the Jews to defend themselves, on June 25, 474 B.C.

11 The king’s edict gave the Jews in each and every city the right to assemble and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate every ethnic and provincial army hostile to them, including women and children, and to take their possessions as spoils of war.

• I think the children and women in view were those of the Jews, not the enemies of the Jews.

12 This would take place on a single day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar.
13 A copy of the text, issued as law throughout every province, was distributed to all the peoples so the Jews could be ready to avenge themselves against their enemies on that day. 14 The couriers rode out in haste on their royal horses at the king’s urgent command. The law was also issued in the fortress of Susa.
15 Mordecai went from the king’s presence clothed in royal blue and white, with a great gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. The city of Susa shouted and rejoiced, 16 and the Jews celebrated with gladness, joy, and honor. 17 In every province and every city where the king’s command and edict reached, gladness and joy took place among the Jews. There was a celebration and a holiday. And many of the ethnic groups of the land professed themselves to be Jews because fear of the Jews had overcome them.[3]

• “Holiday" is literally "good day"
• This was not the Feast of Purim but a celebration in anticipation of Purim.
• Purim follows the Jewish lunar calendar.
• This year was March 13 & 14th.

 
VICTORIES OF THE JEWS
ESTHER 9
1 The king’s command and law went into effect on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar. On the day when the Jews’ enemies had hoped to overpower them, just the opposite happened. The Jews overpowered those who hated them. 2 In each of King Ahasuerus’s provinces the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who intended to harm them. Not a single person could withstand them; fear of them fell on every nationality.
3 All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the royal civil administrators, aided the Jews because they feared Mordecai. 4 For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.
5 The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them. They did what they pleased to those who hated them.

• Mordecai was now so powerful in the Persian government that the lesser officials sided with the Jews out of fear of him.

6 In the fortress of Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men, 7 including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. 10 They killed these ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. However, they did not seize any plunder.
11 On that day the number of people killed in the fortress of Susa was reported to the king. 12 The king said to Queen Esther, “In the fortress of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Haman’s ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Whatever you ask will be given to you. Whatever you seek will also be done.”

• The fact that these people were even willing to attack when they knew the Jews would protect themselves is proof that anti-Semitism was very strong throughout the empire.

13 Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews who are in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today’s law, and may the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hung on the gallows.” 14 The king gave the orders for this to be done, so a law was announced in Susa, and they hung the bodies of Haman’s ten sons. 15 The Jews in Susa assembled again on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men in Susa, but they did not seize any plunder.

• The purpose of hanging the bodies of Haman's 10 executed sons on the gallows was to disgrace them and to discourage other enemies of the Jews from attacking them.
• The Jews were free to strike back without reservation, in retaliation
•  But it is clear that they applied self-control.
• The Jews certainly defended themselves against their enemies, against those who attempted to wipe out their race, but the Jews resisted the temptation to go too far.
• They had been given permission to take material advantage of their enemies' defeat, but they refused to do that.
• They held back.
• Think of it this way: Not only did the Jews gain mastery over their enemies, they gained mastery over themselves.

16 The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces assembled, defended themselves, and gained relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them, but they did not seize any plunder. 17 They fought on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar and rested on the fourteenth, and it became a day of feasting and rejoicing.
18 But the Jews in Susa had assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days of the month. They rested on the fifteenth day of the month, and it became a day of feasting and rejoicing. 19 This explains why the rural Jews who live in villages observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a time of rejoicing and feasting. It is a holiday when they send gifts to one another.

• The Jews in the outlying areas of the empire celebrated on March 8, and the Jews in Susa celebrated on March 9.
• The deliberate decision not to enrich themselves at the expense of their enemies would not go unnoticed in a culture where victors were expected to take the spoil.

20 Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all of King Ahasuerus’s provinces, both near and far. 21 He ordered them to celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar every year 22 because during those days the Jews gained relief from their enemies. That was the month when their sorrow was turned into rejoicing and their mourning into a holiday. They were to be days of feasting, rejoicing, and of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.
23 So the Jews agreed to continue the practice they had begun, as Mordecai had written them to do. 24 For Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them. He cast the pur—that is, the lot—to crush and destroy them. 25 But when the matter was brought before the king, he commanded by letter that the evil plan Haman had devised against the Jews return on his own head and that he should be hanged with his sons on the gallows. 26 For this reason these days are called Purim, from the word pur. Because of all the instructions in this letter as well as what they had witnessed and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews bound themselves, their descendants, and all who joined with them to a commitment that they would not fail to celebrate these two days each and every year according to the written instructions and according to the time appointed. 28 These days are remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim will not lose their significance in Jewish life and their memory will not fade from their descendants.

• Purim is the only Jewish holiday that is mentioned in the Bible but not in the Torah, and our only information about its origin comes from the Book of Esther.
• The absence of explicit reference in the text to God helping His people does not deny His help.
• Instead, it reflects the attitude of the Jews who chose to ignore God's commands, through Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, to return to the Promised Land.
• They had pushed God aside in their lives, as Mordecai and Esther apparently had done to some extent.
• Nevertheless, God remained faithful to His promises, in spite of His people's unfaithfulness 

29 Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote this second letter with full authority to confirm the letter about Purim. 30 He sent letters with assurances of peace and security to all the Jews who were in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, 31 in order to confirm these days of Purim at their proper time just as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had established them and just as they had committed themselves and their descendants to the practices of fasting and lamentation. 32 So Esther’s command confirmed these customs of Purim, which were then written into the record.[4]
 
MORDECAI’S FAME
ESTHER 10
1 King Ahasuerus imposed a tax throughout the land even to the farthest shores. 2 All of his powerful and magnificent accomplishments and the detailed account of Mordecai’s great rank with which the king had honored him, have they not been written in the Book of the Historical Events of the Kings of Media and Persia? 3 Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was famous among the Jews and highly esteemed by many of his relatives. He continued to pursue prosperity for his people and to speak for the well-being of all his descendants.[5]

• God delights in lifting up nobodies and using them as somebodies.

The Book of Esther shows how God has remained faithful to His promises in spite of His adversaries' antagonism and His people's unfaithfulness.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Es 6:1–14.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Es 7:1–10.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Es 8:1–17.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Es 9:1–32.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Es 10:1–3.

1 Samuel chapters 1 and 2 introduce us to the story of Hannah, a woman deeply distressed by her inability to have children.

• In her anguish, she prays fervently to the Lord, promising that if He grants her a son, she will dedicate him to the Lord's service.

1 SAMUEL 1
10 Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears. 11 Making a vow, she pleaded, “Lord of Armies, if you will take notice of your servant’s affliction, remember and not forget me, and give your servant a son, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.”[1]

• God hears her prayer, and she gives birth to Samuel, whom she later brings to the temple to fulfill her vow.

20 After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, because she said, “I requested him from the Lord.”[2]
 
27 I prayed for this boy, and since the Lord gave me what I asked him for, 28 I now give the boy to the Lord. For as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” Then he worshiped the Lord there.[3]
 
Chapter 2 begins with Hannah's prayer of thanksgiving, a beautiful expression of praise and acknowledgment of God's sovereignty and faithfulness (1 Samuel 2:1-10).

• The narrative then shifts to the corruption of Eli's sons, who are priests but act wickedly, contrasting with the growing favor of young Samuel, who serves the Lord faithfully (1 Samuel 2:12-17, 26).

 
1 SAMUEL 2
12 Eli’s sons were wicked men; they did not respect the Lord 13 or the priests’ share of the sacrifices from the people. When anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling 14 and plunge it into the container, kettle, cauldron, or cooking pot. The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh. 15 Even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the one who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he won’t accept boiled meat from you—only raw.” 16 If that person said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you can take whatever you want for yourself,” the servant would reply, “No, I insist that you hand it over right now. If you don’t, I’ll take it by force!” 17 So the servants’ sin was very severe in the presence of the Lord, because the men treated the Lord’s offering with contempt.[4]
 
26 By contrast, the boy Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people.[5]
These chapters highlight themes of faith, prayer, and God's faithfulness in answering prayers.

• They also set the stage for the rise of Samuel as a significant prophet and leader in Israel, emphasizing God's ability to work through humble and faithful individuals to accomplish His purposes.

27 A man of God came to Eli and said to him…[6]
35 “ ‘Then I will raise up a faithful priest for myself. He will do whatever is in my heart and mind. I will establish a lasting dynasty for him, and he will walk before my anointed one for all time.[7]
 
SAMUEL’S CALL
1 SAMUEL 3
1 The boy Samuel served the Lord in Eli’s presence. In those days the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread.
2 One day Eli, whose eyesight was failing, was lying in his usual place. 3 Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was located.
4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.” 5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“I didn’t call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
6 Once again the Lord called, “Samuel!”
Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“I didn’t call, my son,” he replied. “Go back and lie down.”
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

•  It probably means that the boy had not yet come to know Yahweh as he was about to know Him, having heard His voice speaking directly to him 

8 Once again, for the third time, the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 He told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 The Lord came, stood there, and called as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel responded, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
11 The Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel that will cause everyone who hears about it to shudder. 12 On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I said about his family, from beginning to end. 13 I told him that I am going to judge his family forever because of the iniquity he knows about: his sons are cursing God, and he has not stopped them. 14 Therefore, I have sworn to Eli’s family: The iniquity of Eli’s family will never be wiped out by either sacrifice or offering.”
15 Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16 but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
“Here I am,” answered Samuel.
17 “What was the message he gave you?” Eli asked. “Don’t hide it from me. May God punish you and do so severely if you hide anything from me that he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything and did not hide anything from him. Eli responded, “He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is good.”
19 Samuel grew. The Lord was with him, and he fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied. 20 All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, because there he revealed himself to Samuel by his word
 
1 SAMUEL 4
And Samuel’s words came to all Israel.[8]
 
THE ARK CAPTURED BY THE PHILISTINES
Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped at Ebenezer while the Philistines camped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines lined up in battle formation against Israel, and as the battle intensified, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about four thousand men on the battlefield.
3 When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord defeat us today before the Philistines? Let’s bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh. Then it will go with us and save us from our enemies.” 4 So the people sent men to Shiloh to bring back the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 When the ark of the covenant of the Lord entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a loud shout that the ground shook.
6 The Philistines heard the sound of the war cry and asked, “What’s this loud shout in the Hebrews’ camp?” When the Philistines discovered that the ark of the Lord had entered the camp, 7 they panicked. “A god has entered their camp!” they said. “Woe to us! Nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who will rescue us from these magnificent gods? These are the gods that slaughtered the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 9 Show some courage and be men, Philistines! Otherwise, you’ll serve the Hebrews just as they served you. Now be men and fight!”
10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was severe—thirty thousand of the Israelite foot soldiers fell. 11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
 
ELI’S DEATH AND ICHABOD’S BIRTH
12 That same day, a Benjaminite man ran from the battle and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn, and there was dirt on his head. 13 When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair beside the road waiting, because he was anxious about the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the entire city cried out.
14 Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” The man quickly came and reported to Eli. 15 At that time Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes didn’t move because he couldn’t see.
16 The man said to Eli, “I’m the one who came from the battle. I fled from there today.”
“What happened, my son?” Eli asked.
17 The messenger answered, “Israel has fled from the Philistines, and also there was a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off the chair by the city gate, and since he was old and heavy, his neck broke and he died. Eli had judged Israel forty years.
19 Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news about the capture of God’s ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth because her labor pains came on her. 20 As she was dying, the women taking care of her said, “Don’t be afraid. You’ve given birth to a son!” But she did not respond or pay attention. 21 She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and to the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 “The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “because the ark of God has been captured.”[9]
 
In 1 Samuel, chapters 5 to 7, we see the journey of the Ark of the Covenant after the Philistines captured it.

• In chapter 5, the Philistines place the Ark in the temple of their god Dagon, but the statue of Dagon falls before the Ark, and the people of Ashdod are afflicted with tumors.
• Realizing the power of the God of Israel, the Philistines move the Ark to different cities, but each city experiences similar plagues (1 Samuel 5:1-12).

 
1 SAMUEL 5
11 The Ekronites called all the Philistine rulers together. They said, “Send the ark of Israel’s God away. Let it return to its place so it won’t kill us and our people!” For the fear of death pervaded the city; God’s hand was oppressing them. 12 Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.[10]
In chapter 6, the Philistines decide to return the Ark to Israel, sending it back on a cart with offerings of gold as a guilt offering.

• The Ark arrives in Beth-shemesh, where the people rejoice, but some are struck down for looking into the Ark, highlighting the holiness of God and the importance of reverence (1 Samuel 6:13-19).

 
1 SAMUEL 6
13 The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed to see it. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.

• The ark was extremely important in Israel's national life. It was where Yahweh manifested His presence, and it symbolized God's presence.

15 The Levites removed the ark of the Lord, along with the box containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. That day the people of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16 When the five Philistine rulers observed this, they returned to Ekron that same day.
17 As a guilt offering to the Lord, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18 The number of gold mice also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities of the five rulers, the fortified cities and the outlying villages. The large rock, on which the ark of the Lord was placed is still in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh today.
19 God struck down the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the Lord. He struck down seventy persons. The people mourned because the Lord struck them with a great slaughter.[11]
 
Chapter 7 describes the Ark's journey to Kiriath-jearim, where it remains for twenty years.

• During this time, Samuel calls the Israelites to repentance, urging them to turn away from foreign gods and serve the Lord alone.
• The people respond, and Samuel leads them in a time of national repentance and prayer.
• God delivers Israel from the Philistines..

 
1 SAMUEL 7
12 Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, explaining, “The Lord has helped us to this point.”

• Map

13 So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israel’s territory again. The Lord’s hand was against the Philistines all of Samuel’s life. 14 The cities from Ekron to Gath, which they had taken from Israel, were restored; Israel even rescued their surrounding territories from Philistine control. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites. [12]
These chapters emphasize God's holiness, the importance of reverence, and the power of repentance and turning to God for deliverance.

• They also highlight Samuel's role as a spiritual leader who guides Israel back to faithfulness.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 1:10–11.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 1:20.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 1:27–28.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 2:12–17.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 2:26.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 2:27.
[7] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 2:35.
[8] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 3:1–4:1.
[9] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 4:1–22.
[10] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 5:11–12.
[11] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 6:13–19.
[12] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 7:12–14.

JUNE 29, 67 AD - Paul and Peter Are Martyred

• According to early church tradition, this is the day that Paul is beheaded in Rome during Nero’s reign.
• Around the same time, Peter is found confounding the magic of Simon Magus, who is favored by Nero.
• Peter is imprisoned and leads a captain of the guard to Christ, along with many others.
• Peter is scourged, then crucified upside down because he does not feel worthy to die as did his Lord.
• Aristarchus from Thessalonica, Erastus from Corinth, Trophimus from Ephesus, Joseph Barsabbas from Jerusalem, and Ananias of Damascus, along with many other Christians, are all martyred under Nero’s reign in A.D. 68
• Andrew, the apostle and brother of Peter, is crucified in Patras, Greece on an x-shaped cross.49
• Luke is crucified with him.
• After preaching the gospel in India, Armenia, Southern Arabia, and Ethiopia, Bartholomew (also called Nathanael) one of the Twelve, is beaten and crucified in Albanopolis, Armenia.
• John Mark brings the gospel to Alexandria, Egypt.
• While there, he enrages a mob by telling them that the pagan god, Serapis, is worthless.
• Mark is dragged with a rope around his neck through the streets by horses and then imprisoned for the night.
• The following morning, the same ordeal is repeated until his death.

 
Nero and Vespasian June 9, 68

• After fourteen years of Nero’s reign, the Roman people can no longer tolerate their cruel and embarrassing emperor.
• So they revolt against Nero.
• The Senate declares him to be a public enemy of the State, and soldiers pursue him.
• Upon hearing this, Nero hides at the home of one of his freedmen in a villa outside of Rome where he commits suicide.
• His famous last words are: “What an artist the world is losing in me.”

 
Crisis in the Churches of the Dispersion

• False teachers have subtly infiltrated the dispersed Jewish churches and are spreading a false doctrine that perverts God’s grace to be license to sin.
• These false brethren have successfully disguised themselves as true believers and have managed to partake of the Lord’s Supper with the church.
• These false teachers can be described as follows: They are distorting the gospel by advocating sexual license under the banner of God’s grace.
• They are “dreamers,” seeing visions that originate from themselves and not from the Lord.
• They slander angels, which means they despise the Law of Moses that was delivered by angels.
• They indulge their own needs when eating the Lord’s Supper.
• They are grumblers and malcontents, pursuing their own will rather than God’s.
• They are arrogant and use flattery to take advantage of God’s people.
• They are scoffers, laughing at moral purity and Divine judgment.
• They are devoid of the Spirit of God and provoke divisions in the church.
• Jude possesses a copy of Peter’s second letter.
• In it, he sees the fulfillment of Peter’s prediction about the coming of false teachers coming to pass before his eyes.54
• Jude, the half-brother of Jesus and brother of “James the Just,” is burdened about this problem.

 
JUDE WRITES THE LETTER OF JUDE Year: A.D. 68

• To: The dispersed Jewish Christians in and outside of Palestine Provocation: Jude exposes and announces condemnation on the false teachers who have infiltrated the churches.
• He also reminds and exhorts the believers to return to and contend for the original faith that the apostles delivered to them.… [1]

 
GREETING
JUDE
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James:

• Jude reveals himself to be a bond-servant of God, or a willing servant of God, because of His mercy and grace.
• Jude, being the brother of James, was likely also the brother of Jesus.

To those who are the called, loved, by God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.

• God the Father is keeping all of His children for Jesus Christ.
• This is a passage that speaks very clearly of eternal security.
• Believers are kept by God and offered as a gift to Jesus.

2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

• A true knowledge of God results in mercy and grace from God, which breeds peace and contentment within the lives of believers.
• We are dearly loved by God who has done everything we need for a safe and secure salvation.

 
JUDE’S PURPOSE IN WRITING
3 Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all.

• Jude wants his readers to fight for truth because it is the very message from God to the world.
• This Gospel of grace is what God has handed down to the saints for delivery to the world.
• Jude is concerned about the message of God’s grace being perverted and leading people to deception.

4 For some people, who were designated for this judgment long ago,, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.

• The false teachers encouraged a life of celebration of sin and also had some form of denial of Jesus’s identity.
• All false teachings, as defined by the Bible, deny some aspect of Jesus, and encourage godless behavior.
• In this context the godless behavior is abusing grace through sinful behavior.
• The false teachers were likely appealing to eternal security as a reason to sin all-the-more.
• Such teachings are often the result of having heard the truth about God’s grace in Christ.
• If God’s grace is truly free, then it can naturally be twisted to encourage sin.
• A legalistic Gospel would never yield false teachings.

 
APOSTATES: PAST AND PRESENT
5 Now I want to remind you, although you came to know all these things once and for all, that Jesus saved a people out of Egypt and later destroyed those who did not believe;

• The believers knew the Gospel and knew God at the core of their beings.
• Jude is appealing to this reality as he reminds God’s children about the truth.
• The Gospel of grace is indeed free, according to James, but it will never lead to sinful behavior.
• God is not a fan of sin which is precisely why Jude recounts the Old Testament story of the Exodus.

6 and the angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deep darkness for the judgment on the great day. 7 Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns committed sexual immorality and perversions, and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

• Sodom and Gomorrah have been personified as the epitome of sexual immorality.
• These two cities are an example of what happens to those who reject the Gospel in general, and the false teachers encouraging sin in particular.
• There is an eternal punishment which awaits all who are not in Christ through faith.

8 In the same way these people—relying on their dreams—defile their flesh, reject authority, and slander glorious ones. 9 Yet when Michael the archangel

• The false teachers seem fascinated by communication with angelic beings.
• Yet these teachers know nothing of true angels or demons.

was disputing with the devil in an argument about Moses’s body,

• No Old Testament data, or New Testament data, testifies to the argument mentioned in this passage.
• We do know that Moses died and was buried, so perhaps Satan accused Moses after his death.
• Satan may have been arguing that Moses was not deserving of resurrection.

he did not dare utter a slanderous condemnation against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

• Michael did not appeal to his position as an archangel to rebuke Satan.
• Instead, Michael appealed to the Lord’s power to fight the devil.

10 But these people blaspheme anything they do not understand. And what they do understand by instinct—like irrational animals—by these things they are destroyed.

• The false teachers are acting as authoritative representatives of God, but they actually do not know anything.
• If one invests in their message, they will find only immorality and discontent.

11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, have plunged into Balaam’s error for profit, and have perished in Korah’s rebellion.

• The “way of Balaam” is merchandising one’s gifts and ministry just for the purpose of making money.
• It is using the spiritual to gain the material.[2]
• The story of Core (Korah) is found in Numbers 16, and it too centers on rebellion against authority.
• Korah and his followers resented the leadership of Moses and dared God to do anything about their rebellion.[3]
• All 3… the tragedy of rejecting authority.

 
THE APOSTATES’ DOOM
12 These people are dangerous reefs at your love feasts as they eat with you without reverence. They are shepherds who only look after themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by winds; trees in late autumn—fruitless, twice dead and uprooted.

• Jude is clearly not speaking about Christians.
• This presents an important factor in who the Bible labels as false teachers.
• True biblical false teachers are never true Christians.

13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameful deeds; wandering stars for whom the blackness of darkness is reserved forever.
14 It was about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied: “Look! The Lord comes with tens of thousands of his holy ones 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly concerning all the ungodly acts that they have done in an ungodly way, and concerning all the harsh things ungodly sinners have said against him.”

• All that we know about Enoch from Scripture is found in Genesis 5:18–24; Hebrews 11:5; and these two verses in Jude.
• He is called “the seventh from Adam” to identify him as the godly Enoch, since Cain had a son of the same name (Gen. 4:17).[4]
• Bible scholars tell us that this quotation is from an apocryphal book called The Book of Enoch.
• The fact that Jude quoted from this nonbiblical book does not mean the book is inspired and trustworthy, any more than Paul’s quotations from the Greek poets put God’s “seal of approval” on everything they wrote.
• The Spirit of God led Jude to use this quotation and make it a part of the inspired Scriptures.[5]
• All who reject Christ will experience judgment and conviction.
• Jude, therefore, believes these false teachers to be under condemnation and awaiting an everlasting darkness.

16 These people are discontented grumblers, living according to their desires; their mouths utter arrogant words, flattering people for their own advantage.
17 But you, dear friends, remember what was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.

• Notice that Jude differentiates between those false teachers and believers.
• Jude has not been addressing believers in a condemning way.
• Instead, he recognizes their holiness in the midst of the false teachers and insists that they were even warned of such teachers.

18 They told you, “In the end time there will be scoffers living according to their own ungodly desires.” 19 These people create divisions and are worldly, not having the Spirit.

• The false teachers did not have the Spirit of God within them.
• Therefore, they were not Christians, nor were they led by the Spirit.
• This would have been critical for the early church to grasp so they did not embrace the lies being taught.

 
EXHORTATION AND BENEDICTION
20 But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith,

• The Gospel builds up God’s children.
• Whereas it condemns all who reject Christ, it continuously encourages and matures Christians.

praying in the Holy Spirit,

• This is not speaking of talking in some sort of mystical tongue.
• Instead, Jude is describing the location of the Christian in Christ and calling Christians to pray to God with their location in mind.

21 keep yourselves in the love of God,

• Jude encourages Christians to remind themselves constantly of God’s love.
• It is God’s love that will always lead us into a deeper understanding of the truth.

waiting expectantly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. 22 Have mercy on those who waver; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; have mercy on others but with fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

• Jude is making it clear that there are different types of people.
• Some, likely believers, doubt aspects of God’s truth.
• These people are to be encouraged through gentleness and patience.
• Others, who do not know God, are to be loved to Christ that they may be rescued from the fire.

24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.[6]

• Jude ends with an encouragement to Christians.
• Our salvation and security are God’s problem and agenda.
• It is God’s job to keep us spiritually safe and to help us persevere in the Spirit.
• God is able to make us stand in the midst of any attack of the world, and also at the final judgment.
• Christians will stand proudly in the love of Christ as God judges all who have rejected His Son.
• This includes the false teachers mentioned in this letter.[7]

[1] Viola, Frank. The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: An Extraordinary Guide to Understanding the New Testament. Destiny Image. Kindle Edition.
[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 554.
[3] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 555.
[4] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 557.
[5] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 557.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Jud 1–25.
[7] Farley, Andrew. www.BibleCommentary.com. Jude.

​GOD’S FAITHFULNESS

 Definition of faithfulness
o Faithfulness. Maintaining faith or allegiance; showing a strong sense of duty or
conscientiousness. In biblical Hebrew, “faith” and “faithfulness” are
grammatically related. Although both concepts are important in the OT, there is
no English word exactly equivalent to the Hebrew terms. The most relevant
Hebrew verbal root (related to our word “amen”) carries such meanings as
“strengthen,” “support,” or “hold up.” 1
o Faith. In the OT and NT carries several meanings. It may mean simple trust in
God or in the Word of God, and at other times faith almost becomes equivalent
to active obedience. It may also find expression in the affirmation (support) of a
creedal (Christian) statement. Thus it also comes to mean the entire body of
received Christian teaching or truth. 2

 So faith is one of these core properties in Christianity. We see that Paul speaks of this in
Romans1:17
o 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is
written: The righteous will live by faith.
 The IT that Paul is speaking of is the spreading of the Gospel.
 Some of your translations may say God is revealed by faith to faith.
 So we clearly see that this is the first thing we must do-have faith.
o What is God’s response to faith?
o John 5:24 (NASB95)

24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes
Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed
out of death into life.
 Salvation.
 Forgiveness.
 Grace.
 These are all forms of His Faithfulness.

 Deuteronomy 7:9
o 9  Know that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps his gracious
covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep
his commands. 3
o What should our response be to His faithfulness?
 Faith.
 Seeking His heart (continued sanctification).
 Reading His word.

 These are all appropriate forms of our faithfulness as a response to His
faithfulness.

o Let me ask you guys another question:
 Do you think that God is faithful even when we are not faithful in our
response to Him?
 I am going to let you marinate on that for a minute while I tell you a little
bit of my backstory.

o Testimony
 I want to take you back to March 31 1981. – Nelson
 September 19 1981 – Brenda
 Shuffled to Aunt and Uncle.
 Recovered alcoholic.
 Lost parents to murder suicide.
 Moved out when I was 15.
 Walked away from God.
 Fast forward to 2008 married.
 2010 burn.
 Reassess life.
 Brought me back to Jesus.
 True blessing.
 Fast forward to 2015 Great banquet.
 Trying to do things in my own strength.
 Broken, addiction, lost.
 Holy Spirit I have always been here for you, I AM your Father!
 God is always faithful.
 Even when we are not faithful in our response God is faithful.
o 2 Timothy 2:13

13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 4

 Do you ask what if someone doesn’t believe? Is God faithful then?
 Romans 3:3–4 (NASB95)
3 What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of
God, will it?
4 May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it
is written,
“That You may be justified in Your words,
And prevail when You are judged.”
 KNOW WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST
 Identity
o Once we know our identity it makes all this so easy to see His faithfulness.
o He changes your heart.
 You want to be faithful to God because His Spirit is living inside you.

o There is no guilt or shame so you don’t want to hide and be unfaithful.
 Forgiven, Perfect, a Saint, Holy, and Redeemed.
o You allow the Spirit to live your life for you.
 Stories and parables throughout Bible to prove-
o Abraham and Sara
 Abraham and Isaac.
o The prodigal son.
 WE are His children, He always wants us to draw near to Him.
o To be in relation with Him.
o In doing so we are not so blinded to see His faithfulness.
o May not notice His faithfulness, but it is always there.
 Romans 8:18
o 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to
be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

 Closing
o Challenge and encourage.
o New Year’s Resolutions.
o This year’s Faithful resolution.
 Faithfulness.
 Reading His word.
 Prayer.
 Supplication to know His heart.

1 Sacks, S. D. (1988). Faithfulness. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, pp. 764–765). Grand Rapids,
MI: Baker Book House.
2 Lyon, R. W. (1988). Faith. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 761). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Book House.
3 Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Dt 7:9). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
4 New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (2 Ti 2:13). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.