Genesis 19-21

Genesis 19

 ^1-2 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening. Lot was sitting at the city gate. He saw them and got up to welcome them, bowing before them and said, "Please, my friends, come to my house and stay the night. Wash up. You can rise early and be on your way refreshed."
   They said, "No, we'll sleep in the street."
 ³ But he insisted, wouldn't take no for an answer; and they relented and went home with him. Lot fixed a hot meal for them and they ate.
 ^4-5 Before they went to bed men from all over the city of Sodom, young and old, descended on the house from all sides and boxed them in. They yelled to Lot, "Where are the men who are staying with you for the night? Bring them out so we can have our sport with them!"
 ^6-8 Lot went out, barring the door behind him, and said, "Brothers, please, don't be vile! Look, I have two daughters, virgins; let me bring them out; you can take your pleasure with them, but don't touch these men—they're my guests."
 ⁹ They said, "Get lost! You drop in from nowhere and now you're going to tell us how to run our lives. We'll treat you worse than them!" And they charged past Lot to break down the door.
 ^10-11 But the two men reached out and pulled Lot inside the house, locking the door. Then they struck blind the men who were trying to break down the door, both leaders and followers, leaving them groping in the dark.
 ^12-13 The two men said to Lot, "Do you have any other family here? Sons, daughters—anybody in the city? Get them out of here, and now! We're going to destroy this place. The outcries of victims here to God are deafening; we've been sent to blast this place into oblivion."
 ¹⁴ Lot went out and warned the fiancés of his daughters, "Evacuate this place; God is about to destroy this city!" But his daughters' would-be husbands treated it as a joke.
 ¹⁵ At break of day, the angels pushed Lot to get going, "Hurry. Get your wife and two daughters out of here before it's too late and you're caught in the punishment of the city."
 ^16-17 Lot was dragging his feet. The men grabbed Lot's arm, and the arms of his wife and daughters—God was so merciful to them!—and dragged them to safety outside the city. When they had them outside, Lot was told, "Now run for your life! Don't look back! Don't stop anywhere on the plain—run for the hills or you'll be swept away."
 ^18-20 But Lot protested, "No, masters, you can't mean it! I know that you've taken a liking to me and have done me an immense favor in saving my life, but I can't run for the mountains—who knows what terrible thing might happen to me in the mountains and leave me for dead. Look over there—that town is close enough to get to. It's a small town, hardly anything to it. Let me escape there and save my life—it's a mere wide place in the road."
 ^21-22 "All right, Lot. If you insist. I'll let you have your way. And I won't stamp out the town you've spotted. But hurry up. Run for it! I can't do anything until you get there." That's why the town was called Zoar, that is, Smalltown.
 ²³ The sun was high in the sky when Lot arrived at Zoar.
 ^24-25 Then God rained brimstone and fire down on Sodom and Gomorrah— a river of lava from God out of the sky!—and destroyed these cities and the entire plain and everyone who lived in the cities and everything that grew from the ground.
 ²⁶ But Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt.
 ^27-28 Abraham got up early the next morning and went to the place he had so recently stood with God. He looked out over Sodom and Gomorrah, surveying the whole plain. All he could see was smoke belching from the Earth, like smoke from a furnace.
 ²⁹ And that's the story: When God destroyed the Cities of the Plain, he was mindful of Abraham and first got Lot out of there before he blasted those cities off the face of the Earth.
 ³⁰ Lot left Zoar and went into the mountains to live with his two daughters; he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his daughters.
 ^31-32 One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is getting old and there's not a man left in the country by whom we can get pregnant. Let's get our father drunk with wine and lie with him. We'll get children through our father—it's our only chance to keep our family alive."
 ^33-35 They got their father drunk with wine that very night. The older daughter went and lay with him. He was oblivious, knowing nothing of what she did. The next morning the older said to the younger, "Last night I slept with my father. Tonight, it's your turn. We'll get him drunk again and then you sleep with him. We'll both get a child through our father and keep our family alive." So that night they got their father drunk again and the younger went in and slept with him. Again he was oblivious, knowing nothing of what she did.
 ^36-38 Both daughters became pregnant by their father, Lot. The older daughter had a son and named him Moab, the ancestor of the present-day Moabites. The younger daughter had a son and named him Ben-Ammi, the ancestor of the present-day Ammonites.

Genesis 20

 ^1-2 Abraham traveled from there south to the Negev and settled down between Kadesh and Shur. While he was camping in Gerar, Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She's my sister."  ^2-3 So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her. But God came to Abimelech in a dream that night and told him, "You're as good as dead—that woman you took, she's a married woman."
 ^4-5 Now Abimelech had not yet slept with her, hadn't so much as touched her. He said, "Master, would you kill an innocent man? Didn't he tell me, 'She's my sister'? And didn't she herself say, 'He's my brother'? I had no idea I was doing anything wrong when I did this."
 ^6-7 God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know your intentions were pure, that's why I kept you from sinning against me; I was the one who kept you from going to bed with her. So now give the man's wife back to him. He's a prophet and will pray for you—pray for your life. If you don't give her back, know that it's certain death both for you and everyone in your family."
 ^8-9 Abimelech was up first thing in the morning. He called all his house servants together and told them the whole story. They were shocked. Then Abimelech called in Abraham and said, "What have you done to us? What have I ever done to you that you would bring on me and my kingdom this huge offense? What you've done to me ought never to have been done."
 ¹⁰ Abimelech went on to Abraham, "Whatever were you thinking of when you did this thing?"
 ^11-13 Abraham said, "I just assumed that there was no fear of God in this place and that they'd kill me to get my wife. Besides, the truth is that she is my half sister; she's my father's daughter but not my mother's. When God sent me out as a wanderer from my father's home, I told her, 'Do me a favor; wherever we go, tell people that I'm your brother.'"
 ^14-15 Then Abimelech gave Sarah back to Abraham, and along with her sent sheep and cattle and servants, both male and female. He said, "My land is open to you; live wherever you wish."
 ¹⁶ And to Sarah he said, "I've given your brother a thousand pieces of silver—that clears you of even a shadow of suspicion before the eyes of the world. You're vindicated."
 ^17-18 Then Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his maidservants, and they started having babies again. For God had shut down every womb in Abimelech's household on account of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

Genesis 21

 ^1-4God visited Sarah exactly as he said he would; God did to Sarah what he promised: Sarah became pregnant and gave Abraham a son in his old age, and at the very time God had set. Abraham named him Isaac. When his son was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded.  ^5-6 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born.
   Sarah said,

      God has blessed me with laughter
      and all who get the news will laugh with me!
 ⁷ She also said,

      Whoever would have suggested to Abraham
      that Sarah would one day nurse a baby!
       Yet here I am! I've given the old man a son!
 ⁸ The baby grew and was weaned. Abraham threw a big party on the day Isaac was weaned.
 ^9-10 One day Sarah saw the son that Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, poking fun at her son Isaac. She told Abraham, "Get rid of this slave woman and her son. No child of this slave is going to share inheritance with my son Isaac!"
 ^11-13 The matter gave great pain to Abraham—after all, Ishmael was his son. But God spoke to Abraham, "Don't feel badly about the boy and your maid. Do whatever Sarah tells you. Your descendants will come through Isaac. Regarding your maid's son, be assured that I'll also develop a great nation from him—he's your son, too."
 ^14-16 Abraham got up early the next morning, got some food together and a canteen of water for Hagar, put them on her back and sent her away with the child. She wandered off into the desert of Beersheba. When the water was gone, she left the child under a shrub and went off, fifty yards or so. She said, "I can't watch my son die." As she sat, she broke into sobs.
 ^17-18 Meanwhile, God heard the boy crying. The angel of God called from Heaven to Hagar, "What's wrong, Hagar? Don't be afraid. God has heard the boy and knows the fix he's in. Up now; go get the boy. Hold him tight. I'm going to make of him a great nation."
 ¹⁹ Just then God opened her eyes. She looked. She saw a well of water. She went to it and filled her canteen and gave the boy a long, cool drink.
 ^20-21 God was on the boy's side as he grew up. He lived out in the desert and became a skilled archer. He lived in the Paran wilderness. And his mother got him a wife from Egypt.
 ^22-23 At about that same time, Abimelech and the captain of his troops, Phicol, spoke to Abraham: "No matter what you do, God is on your side. So swear to me that you won't do anything underhanded to me or any of my family. For as long as you live here, swear that you'll treat me and my land as well as I've treated you."
 ²⁴ Abraham said, "I swear it."
 ^25-26 At the same time, Abraham confronted Abimelech over the matter of a well of water that Abimelech's servants had taken. Abimelech said, "I have no idea who did this; you never told me about it; this is the first I've heard of it."
 ^27-28 So the two of them made a covenant. Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. Abraham set aside seven sheep from his flock.
 ²⁹ Abimelech said, "What does this mean? These seven sheep you've set aside."
 ³⁰ Abraham said, "It means that when you accept these seven sheep, you take it as proof that I dug this well, that it's my well."
 ^31-32 That's how the place got named Beersheba (the Oath-Well), because the two of them swore a covenant oath there. After they had made the covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech and his commander, Phicol, left and went back to Philistine territory.
 ^33-34 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and worshiped God there, praying to the Eternal God. Abraham lived in Philistine country for a long time.

The Message

When I read through these words, I alternate between wanting to cry from discouragement and wanting to shout for joy, and I see myself mirrored in both circumstances.

Lot was a mess, a mixture of serving his own interests and being able to discern where his loyalties (if not his heart) ought to lie. And what was up with him offering his daughters to the perverts at his front door??? Even if he knew they would turn down the offer, what did hearing their father say such a thing do to those young women's hearts? I wonder, too, if that incident played a part in their subsequent decision to get their father drunk enough to impregnate them. I suspect that, at some level, them experiencing their earthly father protecting them so poorly led them to conclude that their heavenly Father would similarly ignore not only their needs, but also the deep desires of their hearts, and so they took it upon themselves to meet those desires.

I want to title chapter 20, "Here We Go Again," with an exasperated sigh attached. And yet God still makes good on His promise to gift Abraham and Sarah with a son in their very old age. What a contrast to the situation with Lot's daughters! Those girls and Sarah both longed to have children. Both they and Sarah concocted and carried out plans to get them what they wanted, with long-term disastrous consequences in both cases. And yet God continued to pursue His people's hearts, continued to reveal Himself to them, continued to lavish His love upon them, continued to fulfill their dreams in ways they could never have conceived.

So I wonder, how will He fulfill the dreams I hold dear, the very ones I suspect He has placed within me, the ones I have no hope of legitimately fulfilling in my own power? That is the adventure to which He invites me, I think. Do I trust Him enough to enter into it?

Genesis 16-18

Genesis 16

 ^1-2 Sarai, Abram's wife, hadn't yet produced a child. She had an Egyptian maid named Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, "God has not seen fit to let me have a child. Sleep with my maid. Maybe I can get a family from her." Abram agreed to do what Sarai said.  ^3-4 So Sarai, Abram's wife, took her Egyptian maid Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. Abram had been living ten years in Canaan when this took place. He slept with Hagar and she got pregnant. When Hagar learned she was pregnant, she looked down on her mistress.
 ⁵ Sarai told Abram, "It's all your fault that I'm suffering this abuse. I put my maid in bed with you and the minute she knows she's pregnant, she treats me like I'm nothing. May God decide which of us is right."
 ⁶ "You decide," said Abram. "Your maid is your business."
   Sarai was abusive to Hagar and Hagar ran away.
 ^7-8 An angel of God found her beside a spring in the desert; it was the spring on the road to Shur. He said, "Hagar, maid of Sarai, what are you doing here?"
   She said, "I'm running away from Sarai my mistress."
 ^9-12 The angel of God said, "Go back to your mistress. Put up with her abuse." He continued, "I'm going to give you a big family, children past counting.

   From this pregnancy, you'll get a son: Name him Ishmael;
      for God heard you, God answered you.
   He'll be a bucking bronco of a man,
      a real fighter, fighting and being fought,
   Always stirring up trouble,
      always at odds with his family."
 ¹³ She answered God by name, praying to the God who spoke to her, "You're the God who sees me!
   "Yes! He saw me; and then I saw him!"
 ¹⁴ That's how that desert spring got named "God-Alive-Sees-Me Spring." That spring is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
 ^15-16 Hagar gave Abram a son. Abram named him Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave him his son, Ishmael.

Genesis 17

 ^1-2 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God showed up and said to him, "I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt! I'll make a covenant between us and I'll give you a huge family."  ^3-8 Overwhelmed, Abram fell flat on his face.
   Then God said to him, "This is my covenant with you: You'll be the father of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, meaning that 'I'm making you the father of many nations.' I'll make you a father of fathers—I'll make nations from you, kings will issue from you. I'm establishing my covenant between me and you, a covenant that includes your descendants, a covenant that goes on and on and on, a covenant that commits me to be your God and the God of your descendants. And I'm giving you and your descendants this land where you're now just camping, this whole country of Canaan, to own forever. And I'll be their God."
 ^9-14 God continued to Abraham, "And you: You will honor my covenant, you and your descendants, generation after generation. This is the covenant that you are to honor, the covenant that pulls in all your descendants: Circumcise every male. Circumcise by cutting off the foreskin of the penis; it will be the sign of the covenant between us. Every male baby will be circumcised when he is eight days old, generation after generation—this includes house-born slaves and slaves bought from outsiders who are not blood kin. Make sure you circumcise both your own children and anyone brought in from the outside. That way my covenant will be cut into your body, a permanent mark of my permanent covenant. An uncircumcised male, one who has not had the foreskin of his penis cut off, will be cut off from his people—he has broken my covenant."
 ^15-16 God continued speaking to Abraham, "And Sarai your wife: Don't call her Sarai any longer; call her Sarah. I'll bless her—yes! I'll give you a son by her! Oh, how I'll bless her! Nations will come from her; kings of nations will come from her."
 ¹⁷ Abraham fell flat on his face. And then he laughed, thinking, "Can a hundred-year-old man father a son? And can Sarah, at ninety years, have a baby?"
 ¹⁸ Recovering, Abraham said to God, "Oh, keep Ishmael alive and well before you!"
 ¹⁹ But God said, "That's not what I mean. Your wife, Sarah, will have a baby, a son. Name him Isaac (Laughter). I'll establish my covenant with him and his descendants, a covenant that lasts forever.
 ^20-21 "And Ishmael? Yes, I heard your prayer for him. I'll also bless him; I'll make sure he has plenty of children—a huge family. He'll father twelve princes; I'll make him a great nation. But I'll establish my covenant with Isaac whom Sarah will give you about this time next year."
 ²² God finished speaking with Abraham and left.
 ²³ Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all his servants, whether houseborn or purchased—every male in his household—and circumcised them, cutting off their foreskins that very day, just as God had told him.
 ^24-27 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised. His son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised. Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised the same day together with all the servants of his household, those born there and those purchased from outsiders—all were circumcised with him.

Genesis 18

 ^1-2 God appeared to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. It was the hottest part of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing. He ran from his tent to greet them and bowed before them.  ^3-5 He said, "Master, if it please you, stop for a while with your servant. I'll get some water so you can wash your feet. Rest under this tree. I'll get some food to refresh you on your way, since your travels have brought you across my path."
   They said, "Certainly. Go ahead."
 ⁶ Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. He said, "Hurry. Get three cups of our best flour; knead it and make bread."
 ^7-8 Then Abraham ran to the cattle pen and picked out a nice plump calf and gave it to the servant who lost no time getting it ready. Then he got curds and milk, brought them with the calf that had been roasted, set the meal before the men, and stood there under the tree while they ate.
 ⁹ The men said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?"
   He said, "In the tent."
 ¹⁰ One of them said, "I'm coming back about this time next year. When I arrive, your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was listening at the tent opening, just behind the man.
 ^11-12 Abraham and Sarah were old by this time, very old. Sarah was far past the age for having babies. Sarah laughed within herself, "An old woman like me? Get pregnant? With this old man of a husband?"
 ^13-14 God said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh saying, 'Me? Have a baby? An old woman like me?' Is anything too hard for God? I'll be back about this time next year and Sarah will have a baby."
 ¹⁵ Sarah lied. She said, "I didn't laugh," because she was afraid.
   But he said, "Yes you did; you laughed."

¹⁶ When the men got up to leave, they set off for Sodom. Abraham walked with them to say good-bye.
 ^17-19 Then God said, "Shall I keep back from Abraham what I'm about to do? Abraham is going to become a large and strong nation; all the nations of the world are going to find themselves blessed through him. Yes, I've settled on him as the one to train his children and future family to observe God's way of life, live kindly and generously and fairly, so that God can complete in Abraham what he promised him."
 ^20-21 God continued, "The cries of the victims in Sodom and Gomorrah are deafening; the sin of those cities is immense. I'm going down to see for myself, see if what they're doing is as bad as it sounds. Then I'll know."
 ²² The men set out for Sodom, but Abraham stood in God's path, blocking his way.
 ^23-25 Abraham confronted him, "Are you serious? Are you planning on getting rid of the good people right along with the bad? What if there are fifty decent people left in the city; will you lump the good with the bad and get rid of the lot? Wouldn't you spare the city for the sake of those fifty innocents? I can't believe you'd do that, kill off the good and the bad alike as if there were no difference between them. Doesn't the Judge of all the Earth judge with justice?"
 ²⁶ God said, "If I find fifty decent people in the city of Sodom, I'll spare the place just for them."
 ^27-28 Abraham came back, "Do I, a mere mortal made from a handful of dirt, dare open my mouth again to my Master? What if the fifty fall short by five—would you destroy the city because of those missing five?"
   He said, "I won't destroy it if there are forty-five."
 ²⁹ Abraham spoke up again, "What if you only find forty?"
   "Neither will I destroy it if for forty."
 ³⁰ He said, "Master, don't be irritated with me, but what if only thirty are found?"
   "No, I won't do it if I find thirty."
 ³¹ He pushed on, "I know I'm trying your patience, Master, but how about for twenty?"
   "I won't destroy it for twenty."
 ³² He wouldn't quit, "Don't get angry, Master—this is the last time. What if you only come up with ten?"
   "For the sake of only ten, I won't destroy the city."
 ³³ When God finished talking with Abraham, he left. And Abraham went home.

The Message

So, Hagar. Her name means "stranger." I assume she had no choice in the matter of Abram getting her pregnant, in Sarai using her in a scheme to "help" God out with accomplishing what what He'd promised Abram. But God heard her (Ishmael means "God hears") and He saw her. The Living God paid attention to her to the point of speaking the words she needed to hear, the words that would enable her to keep going, that blessed her, that caused her to worship.

Why, instead of telling her to return to Sarai and endure her abuse, didn't God provide another, an easier way for Hagar? Why didn't He thwart Sarai's self-serving plan in the first place? Why doesn't He prevent any of us from enduring our own abuses, from receiving our own wounds of the heart? My head tells me that it's likely so He can bind up–and ultimately heal–those wounds. But my heart isn't reconciled with that yet. In fact, it flat-out resents God using pain to bring me to the point of surrendering to Him.

So, as much as I want to claim otherwise, I haven't yet allowed Him access to all the nooks and crannies of my heart. I haven't reached the point of being able to worship Him with abandon.

He still has much work to do in me. I still need to surrender much to Him, to trust Him to do that work, to heal my wounds.

Genesis 12-15: Trusting God for the Change I Need

Genesis 12

Abram and Sarai

 ¹ God told Abram: "Leave your country, your family, and your father's home for a land that I will show you.

 ^2-3 I'll make you a great nation
      and bless you.
   I'll make you famous;
      you'll be a blessing.
   I'll bless those who bless you;
      those who curse you I'll curse.
   All the families of the Earth
      will be blessed through you."  ^4-6 So Abram left just as God said, and Lot left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people they had gotten in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan and arrived safe and sound.
    Abram passed through the country as far as Shechem and the Oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites occupied the land.
 ⁷ God appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your children." Abram built an altar at the place God had appeared to him.
 ⁸ He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent between Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there and prayed to God.
 ⁹ Abram kept moving, steadily making his way south, to the Negev.
 ^10-13 Then a famine came to the land. Abram went down to Egypt to live; it was a hard famine. As he drew near to Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, "Look. We both know that you're a beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you they're going to say, 'Aha! That's his wife!' and kill me. But they'll let you live. Do me a favor: tell them you're my sister. Because of you, they'll welcome me and let me live."
 ^14-15 When Abram arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians took one look and saw that his wife was stunningly beautiful. Pharaoh's princes raved over her to Pharaoh. She was taken to live with Pharaoh.
 ^16-17 Because of her, Abram got along very well: he accumulated sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, men and women servants, and camels. But God hit Pharaoh hard because of Abram's wife Sarai; everybody in the palace got seriously sick.
 ^18-19 Pharaoh called for Abram, "What's this that you've done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she's your wife? Why did you say, 'She's my sister' so that I'd take her as my wife? Here's your wife back—take her and get out!"
 ²⁰ Pharaoh ordered his men to get Abram out of the country. They sent him and his wife and everything he owned on their way.

Genesis 13

 ^1-2 So Abram left Egypt and went back to the Negev, he and his wife and everything he owned, and Lot still with him. By now Abram was very rich, loaded with cattle and silver and gold.  ^3-4 He moved on from the Negev, camping along the way, to Bethel, the place he had first set up his tent between Bethel and Ai and built his first altar. Abram prayed there to God.
 ^5-7 Lot, who was traveling with Abram, was also rich in sheep and cattle and tents. But the land couldn't support both of them; they had too many possessions. They couldn't both live there—quarrels broke out between Abram's shepherds and Lot's shepherds. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living on the land at the time.
 ^8-9 Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have fighting between us, between your shepherds and my shepherds. After all, we're family. Look around. Isn't there plenty of land out there? Let's separate. If you go left, I'll go right; if you go right, I'll go left."
 ^10-11 Lot looked. He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well watered (this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like God's garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar. Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan. Lot set out to the east.
 ^11-12 That's how they came to part company, uncle and nephew. Abram settled in Canaan; Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent near Sodom.
 ¹³ The people of Sodom were evil—flagrant sinners against God.
 ^14-17 After Lot separated from him, God said to Abram, "Open your eyes, look around. Look north, south, east, and west. Everything you see, the whole land spread out before you, I will give to you and your children forever. I'll make your descendants like dust—counting your descendants will be as impossible as counting the dust of the Earth. So—on your feet, get moving! Walk through the country, its length and breadth; I'm giving it all to you."
 ¹⁸ Abram moved his tent. He went and settled by the Oaks of Mamre in Hebron. There he built an altar to God.

Genesis 14

 ^1-2 Then this: Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim went off to war to fight Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar.  ^3-4 This second group of kings, the attacked, came together at the Valley of Siddim, that is, the Salt Sea. They had been under the thumb of Kedorlaomer for twelve years. In the thirteenth year, they revolted.
 ^5-7 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him set out and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El Paran on the far edge of the desert. On their way back they stopped at En Mishpat, that is, Kadesh, and conquered the whole region of the Amalekites as well as that of the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.
 ^8-9 That's when the king of Sodom marched out with the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar. They drew up in battle formation against their enemies in the Valley of Siddim—against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five.
 ^10-12 The Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into the tar pits, but the rest escaped into the mountains. The four kings captured all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, all their food and equipment, and went on their way. They captured Lot, Abram's nephew who was living in Sodom at the time, taking everything he owned with them.
 ^13-16 A fugitive came and reported to Abram the Hebrew. Abram was living at the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and Aner. They were allies of Abram. When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken prisoner, he lined up his servants, all of them born in his household—there were 318 of them—and chased after the captors all the way to Dan. Abram and his men split into small groups and attacked by night. They chased them as far as Hobah, just north of Damascus. They recovered all the plunder along with nephew Lot and his possessions, including the women and the people.
 ^17-20 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and his allied kings, the king of Sodom came out to greet him in the Valley of Shaveh, the King's Valley. Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine—he was priest of The High God—and blessed him:

   Blessed be Abram by The High God,
      Creator of Heaven and Earth.
   And blessed be The High God,
      who handed your enemies over to you.
   Abram gave him a tenth of all the recovered plunder.
 ²¹ The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me back the people but keep all the plunder for yourself."
 ^22-24 But Abram told the king of Sodom, "I swear to God, The High God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, this solemn oath, that I'll take nothing from you, not so much as a thread or a shoestring. I'm not going to have you go around saying, 'I made Abram rich.' Nothing for me other than what the young men ate and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; they're to get their share of the plunder."

Genesis 15

 ¹ After all these things, this word of God came to Abram in a vision: "Don't be afraid, Abram. I'm your shield. Your reward will be grand!"  ^2-3 Abram said, "God, Master, what use are your gifts as long as I'm childless and Eliezer of Damascus is going to inherit everything?" Abram continued, "See, you've given me no children, and now a mere house servant is going to get it all."
 ⁴ Then God's Message came: "Don't worry, he won't be your heir; a son from your body will be your heir."
 ⁵ Then he took him outside and said, "Look at the sky. Count the stars. Can you do it? Count your descendants! You're going to have a big family, Abram!"
 ⁶ And he believed! Believed God! God declared him "Set-Right-with-God."
 ⁷ God continued, "I'm the same God who brought you from Ur of the Chaldees and gave you this land to own."
 ⁸ Abram said, "Master God, how am I to know this, that it will all be mine?"
 ⁹ God said, "Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, and a dove and a young pigeon."
 ^10-12 He brought all these animals to him, split them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. But he didn't split the birds. Vultures swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram scared them off. As the sun went down a deep sleep overcame Abram and then a sense of dread, dark and heavy.
 ^13-16 God said to Abram, "Know this: your descendants will live as outsiders in a land not theirs; they'll be enslaved and beaten down for 400 years. Then I'll punish their slave masters; your offspring will march out of there loaded with plunder. But not you; you'll have a long and full life and die a good and peaceful death. Not until the fourth generation will your descendants return here; sin is still a thriving business among the Amorites."
 ^17-21 When the sun was down and it was dark, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch moved between the split carcasses. That's when God made a covenant with Abram: "I'm giving this land to your children, from the Nile River in Egypt to the River Euphrates in Assyria—the country of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites."

The Message

It resonates deeply with me that throughout this passage God is inviting Abram to trust Him over and over: first in leaving the only home he had ever known (chapter 12), then in believing that God would give him the heir he so deeply desired (15:4), and finally in believing he would have descendants beyond counting (15:5).

I can easily substitute my name and circumstances into the first few verses of chapter 15.  It would read like this:

¹ This word of God came to Cathy while she was meditating on Scripture: "Don't be afraid, Cathy. I'm your shield. Your reward will be grand!"  ^2-3 Cathy said, "God, Master, what use are your gifts as long as I have this significant wound to my heart that most of my family won't acknowledge, resulting in them not wanting to be in relationship with me?" Cathy continued, "See, this is so painful that I do everything I can to avoid feeling the pain, even to the point of missing out on big chunks of life and living more like an adolescent than an adult." ⁴ Then God's Message came: "Don't worry, they don't have to validate your pain. Instead I'll heal that wound and allow you to flourish."

So the question is, when will I believe that He's really good enough to want to heal that wound for me? It scares the snot out of me to let go of that woundedness because, as twisted as it sounds (and is!), I've derived much of my identity from it. But that also means I've allowed the Enemy to use it against me. It's time for that to end.

God, give me one opportunity tomorrow to trust You for a bit of change. I need to have a place to build a figurative altar I can revisit to remind me of Your faithfulness and give me the courage to take the next step towards the transformation I know You want to accomplish in my life.  

Job 40-42

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."

God's Second Set of Questions

I Want Straight Answers

 ^6-7 God addressed Job next from the eye of the storm, and this is what he said:

"I have some more questions for you,
   and I want straight answers.

 ^8-14 "Do you presume to tell me what I'm doing wrong?
   Are you calling me a sinner so you can be a saint?
Do you have an arm like my arm?
   Can you shout in thunder the way I can?
Go ahead, show your stuff.
   Let's see what you're made of, what you can do.
Unleash your outrage.
   Target the arrogant and lay them flat.
Target the arrogant and bring them to their knees.
   Stop the wicked in their tracks—make mincemeat of them!
Dig a mass grave and dump them in it—
   faceless corpses in an unmarked grave.
I'll gladly step aside and hand things over to you—
   you can surely save yourself with no help from me!

 ^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!"

Job 41

I Run This Universe

 ^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!

 ^12-17 "But I've more to say about Leviathan, the sea beast,
   his enormous bulk, his beautiful shape.
Who would even dream of piercing that tough skin
   or putting those jaws into bit and bridle?
And who would dare knock at the door of his mouth
   filled with row upon row of fierce teeth?
His pride is invincible;
   nothing can make a dent in that pride.
Nothing can get through that proud skin—
   impervious to weapons and weather,
The thickest and toughest of hides,
   impenetrable!

 ^18-34 "He snorts and the world lights up with fire,
   he blinks and the dawn breaks.
Comets pour out of his mouth,
   fireworks arc and branch.
Smoke erupts from his nostrils
   like steam from a boiling pot.
He blows and fires blaze;
   flames of fire stream from his mouth.
All muscle he is—sheer and seamless muscle.
   To meet him is to dance with death.
Sinewy and lithe,
   there's not a soft spot in his entire body—
As tough inside as out,
   rock-hard, invulnerable.
Even angels run for cover when he surfaces,
   cowering before his tail-thrashing turbulence.
Javelins bounce harmlessly off his hide,
   harpoons ricochet wildly.
Iron bars are so much straw to him,
   bronze weapons beneath notice.
Arrows don't even make him blink;
   bullets make no more impression than raindrops.
A battle ax is nothing but a splinter of kindling;
   he treats a brandished harpoon as a joke.
His belly is armor-plated, inexorable—
   unstoppable as a barge.
He roils deep ocean the way you'd boil water,
   he whips the sea like you'd whip an egg into batter.
With a luminous trail stretching out behind him,
   you might think Ocean had grown a gray beard!
There's nothing on this earth quite like him,
   not an ounce of fear in that creature!
He surveys all the high and mighty—
   king of the ocean, king of the deep!"

Job 42

Job Worships God

I Babbled On About Things Far Beyond Me

 ^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."

God Restores Job

I Will Accept His Prayer

 ^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.
 ^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.

 Job 40-42, The Message

I've been a Christian for just a hair over 37 years now (March 3, 1974), and I'm not so sure I don't live by rumors of God, as Job says in 42:5. Oh, I don't for a nanosecond doubt that I belong to Jesus and that I'll spend eternity with Him, but I don't have the intimate knowledge of Him that I thirst for…at least, when I allow myself to feel that thirst. I have to make myself read the Bible most of the time, and it takes a fair amount of effort to spend time praying, meditating on Scripture, and listening to God. I have this notion that if I allowed Him more access to my heart, I likely wouldn't have to fight so against myself to spend time with Him, that I'd just enjoy Him more.

My therapist (actually, I think of her more as a spiritual director) tells me that I should be prepared, though, because Jesus will almost certainly shake up my life and upend what I know to be true and right if I do allow Him unfettered access to my heart. (Will I still know those same truths when I come out on the other side of this process? Hmm…) Her case in point is the last few verses of this book. Job (or whomever wrote this account) recorded the names of his three daughters born after God restored his fortunes, but not his sons'. He gave those daughters inheritances equal to their brothers'. According women such status at that time would have been unheard of. If Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar were scandalized at Job's behavior during the time God allowed Satan to mess with him, can you imagine what they thought when Job utterly shattered the paradigm of how men treat women? Yikes! Talk about having one's world turned upside down!

Part of me wonders, "Uh-oh; what am I asking for, here?" But there's another part of me (a very good one, I think) that giggles at the prospect of God using me to disrupt the people in my life to the end of Him gaining more entrance into their hearts and lives. Now if I can just figure out how to minimize my own discomfort at Him doing the same to me… I'm kidding!!! Well, sort of… As my therapist would say, "How human of me!" 

Job 38-39

Job 38

God Confronts Job

Have You Gotten to the Bottom of Things?

 ¹ And now, finally, God answered Job from the eye of a violent storm. 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.

 ^19-21 "Do you know where Light comes from
   and where Darkness lives
So you can take them by the hand
   and lead them home when they get lost?
Why, of course you know that.
   You've known them all your life,
   grown up in the same neighborhood with them!

 ^22-30 "Have you ever traveled to where snow is made,
   seen the vault where hail is stockpiled,
The arsenals of hail and snow that I keep in readiness
   for times of trouble and battle and war?
Can you find your way to where lightning is launched,
   or to the place from which the wind blows?
Who do you suppose carves canyons
   for the downpours of rain, and charts
   the route of thunderstorms
That bring water to unvisited fields,
   deserts no one ever lays eyes on,
Drenching the useless wastelands
   so they're carpeted with wildflowers and grass?
And who do you think is the father of rain and dew,
   the mother of ice and frost?
You don't for a minute imagine
   these marvels of weather just happen, do you?

 ^31-33 "Can you catch the eye of the beautiful Pleiades sisters,
   or distract Orion from his hunt?
Can you get Venus to look your way,
   or get the Great Bear and her cubs to come out and play?
Do you know the first thing about the sky's constellations
   and how they affect things on Earth?

 ^34-35 "Can you get the attention of the clouds,
   and commission a shower of rain?
Can you take charge of the lightning bolts
   and have them report to you for orders?

What Do You Have to Say for Yourself?

 ^36-38 "Who do you think gave weather-wisdom to the ibis,
   and storm-savvy to the rooster?
Does anyone know enough to number all the clouds
   or tip over the rain barrels of heaven
When the earth is cracked and dry,
   the ground baked hard as a brick?

 ^39-41 "Can you teach the lioness to stalk her prey
   and satisfy the appetite of her cubs
As they crouch in their den,
   waiting hungrily in their cave?
And who sets out food for the ravens
   when their young cry to God,
   fluttering about because they have no food?"

Job 39

    "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."

Job 38-39, The Message

When I first read this passage, looking at it through my dysfunctional grid of reality, I thought God was bullying Job, letting loose with a litany of what are truths, but stated with a boatload of snark. But then I read it again, and I noticed 38:3, where He sets the tone for all that follows by saying, "Pull yourself together, Job! Up on your feet! Stand tall!" Young's Literal Translation of 38:3a reads, "Gird, I pray thee, as a man, thy loins…"; the Hebrew word translated "man" is geber, which Strong's Concordance explains as "man, strong man, warrior (emphasizing strength or ability to fight)."

Hardly the sort of language and imagery to demean or humiliate someone, is it?

I think God was urging Job to embrace the man He created him to be and, at the same time, to rest in how infinitely more omnipotent, omnipresent, creative, and limitlessly intelligent  He is. In essence, He said, "Man up, Job; grow a pair; steel your spine. Then listen to who I am and remember that I want to live through you."

God wasn't out to humiliate Job for crying out about his suffering, but was rather inviting him to trust Him more fully. I suspect Job's reaction was something like mine is when I go to the beach and lose myself in the roar of the waves, the feel of the wind, and the salty smell of the air. Something in me relaxes as I am reminded of God's power, and I am able to worship.

Job 35-37

Job 35

Elihu's Third Speech

When God Makes Creation a Classroom

 ^1-3 Elihu lit into Job again: "Does this kind of thing make any sense?
   First you say, 'I'm perfectly innocent before God.'
And then you say, 'It doesn't make a bit of difference
   whether I've sinned or not.'

 ^4-8 "Well, I'm going to show you
   that you don't know what you're talking about,
   neither you nor your friends.
Look up at the sky. Take a long hard look.
   See those clouds towering above you?
If you sin, what difference could that make to God?
   No matter how much you sin, will it matter to him?
Even if you're good, what would God get out of that?
   Do you think he's dependent on your accomplishments?
The only ones who care whether you're good or bad
   are your family and friends and neighbors.
   God's not dependent on your behavior.

 ^9-15 "When times get bad, people cry out for help.
   They cry for relief from being kicked around,
But never give God a thought when things go well,
   when God puts spontaneous songs in their hearts,
When God sets out the entire creation as a science classroom,
   using birds and beasts to teach wisdom.
People are arrogantly indifferent to God—
   until, of course, they're in trouble,
   and then God is indifferent to them.
There's nothing behind such prayers except panic;
   the Almighty pays them no mind.
So why would he notice you
   just because you say you're tired of waiting to be heard,
Or waiting for him to get good and angry
   and do something about the world's problems?

 ¹⁶ "Job, you talk sheer nonsense—
   nonstop nonsense!"

Job 36

Those Who Learn from Their Suffering

 ^1-4 Here Elihu took a deep breath, but kept going: "Stay with me a little longer. I'll convince you.
   There's still more to be said on God's side.
I learned all this firsthand from the Source;
   everything I know about justice I owe to my Maker himself.
Trust me, I'm giving you undiluted truth;
   believe me, I know these things inside and out.

 ^5-15 "It's true that God is all-powerful,
   but he doesn't bully innocent people.
For the wicked, though, it's a different story—
   he doesn't give them the time of day,
   but champions the rights of their victims.
He never takes his eyes off the righteous;
   he honors them lavishly, promotes them endlessly.
When things go badly,
   when affliction and suffering descend,
God tells them where they've gone wrong,
   shows them how their pride has caused their trouble.
He forces them to heed his warning,
   tells them they must repent of their bad life.
If they obey and serve him,
   they'll have a good, long life on easy street.
But if they disobey, they'll be cut down in their prime
   and never know the first thing about life.
Angry people without God pile grievance upon grievance,
   always blaming others for their troubles.
Living it up in sexual excesses,
   virility wasted, they die young.
But those who learn from their suffering,
   God delivers from their suffering.

Obsessed with Putting the Blame on God

 ^16-21 "Oh, Job, don't you see how God's wooing you
   from the jaws of danger?
How he's drawing you into wide-open places—
   inviting you to feast at a table laden with blessings?
And here you are laden with the guilt of the wicked,
   obsessed with putting the blame on God!
Don't let your great riches mislead you;
   don't think you can bribe your way out of this.
Did you plan to buy your way out of this?
   Not on your life!
And don't think that night,
   when people sleep off their troubles,
   will bring you any relief.
Above all, don't make things worse with more evil—
   that's what's behind your suffering as it is!

 ^22-25 "Do you have any idea how powerful God is?
   Have you ever heard of a teacher like him?
Has anyone ever had to tell him what to do,
   or correct him, saying, 'You did that all wrong!'?
Remember, then, to praise his workmanship,
   which is so often celebrated in song.
Everybody sees it;
   nobody is too far away to see it.

No One Can Escape from God

 ²⁶ "Take a long, hard look. See how great he is—infinite,
   greater than anything you could ever imagine or figure out!

 ^27-33 "He pulls water up out of the sea,
   distills it, and fills up his rain-cloud cisterns.
Then the skies open up
   and pour out soaking showers on everyone.
Does anyone have the slightest idea how this happens?
   How he arranges the clouds, how he speaks in thunder?
Just look at that lightning, his sky-filling light show
   illumining the dark depths of the sea!
These are the symbols of his sovereignty,
   his generosity, his loving care.
He hurls arrows of light,
   taking sure and accurate aim.
The High God roars in the thunder,
   angry against evil."

Job 37

    "Whenever this happens, my heart stops— I'm stunned, I can't catch my breath.
Listen to it! Listen to his thunder,
   the rolling, rumbling thunder of his voice.
He lets loose his lightnings from horizon to horizon,
   lighting up the earth from pole to pole.
In their wake, the thunder echoes his voice,
   powerful and majestic.
He lets out all the stops, he holds nothing back.
   No one can mistake that voice—
His word thundering so wondrously,
   his mighty acts staggering our understanding.
He orders the snow, 'Blanket the earth!'
   and the rain, 'Soak the whole countryside!'
No one can escape the weather—it's there.
   And no one can escape from God.
Wild animals take shelter,
   crawling into their dens,
When blizzards roar out of the north
   and freezing rain crusts the land.
It's God's breath that forms the ice,
   it's God's breath that turns lakes and rivers solid.
And yes, it's God who fills clouds with rainwater
   and hurls lightning from them every which way.
He puts them through their paces—first this way, then that—
   commands them to do what he says all over the world.
Whether for discipline or grace or extravagant love,
   he makes sure they make their mark.

A Terrible Beauty Streams from God

 ^14-18 "Job, are you listening? Have you noticed all this?
   Stop in your tracks! Take in God's miracle-wonders!
Do you have any idea how God does it all,
   how he makes bright lightning from dark storms,
How he piles up the cumulus clouds—
   all these miracle-wonders of a perfect Mind?
Why, you don't even know how to keep cool
   on a sweltering hot day,
So how could you even dream
   of making a dent in that hot-tin-roof sky?

 ^19-22 "If you're so smart, give us a lesson in how to address God.
   We're in the dark and can't figure it out.
Do you think I'm dumb enough to challenge God?
   Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?
No one in his right mind stares straight at the sun
   on a clear and cloudless day.
As gold comes from the northern mountains,
   so a terrible beauty streams from God.

 ^23-24 "Mighty God! Far beyond our reach!
   Unsurpassable in power and justice!
   It's unthinkable that he'd treat anyone unfairly.
So bow to him in deep reverence, one and all!
   If you're wise, you'll most certainly worship him."

Job 35-37, The Message

My initial reaction to Elihu's third speech is to take him to task and point out that, though he understands God as a mighty Creator, he seems to be completely unaware of His heart of compassion that delights in intimate fellowship with each of us. But then I realize that is apparently what my heart believes about God–at least most of the time–and I think that view of Him largely fuels how I live. Ugh.

What good is intellectual knowledge about God unless I allow my heart to believe it and therefore allow it to change how I love both Him and other people?

Job 32-34

Job 32

Elihu Speaks

God's Spirit Makes Wisdom Possible

 ^1-5 Job's three friends now fell silent. They were talked out, stymied because Job wouldn't budge an inch—wouldn't admit to an ounce of guilt. Then Elihu lost his temper. (Elihu was the son of Barakel the Buzite from the clan of Ram.) He blazed out in anger against Job for pitting his righteousness against God's. He was also angry with the three friends because they had neither come up with an answer nor proved Job wrong. Elihu had waited with Job while they spoke because they were all older than he. But when he saw that the three other men had exhausted their arguments, he exploded with pent-up anger.

 ^6-10 This is what Elihu, son of Barakel the Buzite, said:

   "I'm a young man,
   and you are all old and experienced.
That's why I kept quiet
   and held back from joining the discussion.
I kept thinking, 'Experience will tell.
   The longer you live, the wiser you become.'
But I see I was wrong—it's God's Spirit in a person,
   the breath of the Almighty One, that makes wise human insight possible.
The experts have no corner on wisdom;
   getting old doesn't guarantee good sense.
So I've decided to speak up. Listen well!
   I'm going to tell you exactly what I think.

 ^11-14 "I hung on your words while you spoke,
   listened carefully to your arguments.
While you searched for the right words,
   I was all ears.
And now what have you proved? Nothing.
   Nothing you say has even touched Job.
And don't excuse yourselves by saying, 'We've done our best.
   Now it's up to God to talk sense into him.'
Job has yet to contend with me.
   And rest assured, I won't be using your arguments!

 ^15-22 "Do you three have nothing else to say?
   Of course you don't! You're total frauds!
Why should I wait any longer,
   now that you're stopped dead in your tracks?
I'm ready to speak my piece. That's right!
   It's my turn—and it's about time!
I've got a lot to say,
   and I'm bursting to say it.
The pressure has built up, like lava beneath the earth.
   I'm a volcano ready to blow.
I have to speak—I have no choice.
   I have to say what's on my heart,
And I'm going to say it straight—
   the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
I was never any good at bootlicking;
   my Maker would make short work of me if I started in now!"

Job 33

 ^1-4"So please, Job, hear me out, honor me by listening to me.
What I'm about to say
   has been carefully thought out.
I have no ulterior motives in this;
   I'm speaking honestly from my heart.
The Spirit of God made me what I am,
   the breath of God Almighty gave me life!

God Always Answers, One Way or Another

 ^5-7 "And if you think you can prove me wrong, do it.
   Lay out your arguments. Stand up for yourself!
Look, I'm human—no better than you;
   we're both made of the same kind of mud.
So let's work this through together;
   don't let my aggressiveness overwhelm you.

 ^8-11 "Here's what you said.
   I heard you say it with my own ears.
You said, 'I'm pure—I've done nothing wrong.
   Believe me, I'm clean—my conscience is clear.
But God keeps picking on me;
   he treats me like I'm his enemy.
He's thrown me in jail;
   he keeps me under constant surveillance.'

 ^12-14 "But let me tell you, Job, you're wrong, dead wrong!
   God is far greater than any human.
So how dare you haul him into court,
   and then complain that he won't answer your charges?
God always answers, one way or another,
   even when people don't recognize his presence.

 ^15-18 "In a dream, for instance, a vision at night,
   when men and women are deep in sleep,
   fast asleep in their beds—
God opens their ears
   and impresses them with warnings
To turn them back from something bad they're planning,
   from some reckless choice,
And keep them from an early grave,
   from the river of no return.

 ^19-22 "Or, God might get their attention through pain,
   by throwing them on a bed of suffering,
So they can't stand the sight of food,
   have no appetite for their favorite treats.
They lose weight, wasting away to nothing,
   reduced to a bag of bones.
They hang on the cliff-edge of death,
   knowing the next breath may be their last.

 ^23-25 "But even then an angel could come,
   a champion—there are thousands of them!—
   to take up your cause,
A messenger who would mercifully intervene,
   canceling the death sentence with the words:
   'I've come up with the ransom!'
Before you know it, you're healed,
   the very picture of health!

 ^26-28 "Or, you may fall on your knees and pray—to God's delight!
   You'll see God's smile and celebrate,
   finding yourself set right with God.
You'll sing God's praises to everyone you meet,
   testifying, 'I messed up my life—
   and let me tell you, it wasn't worth it.
But God stepped in and saved me from certain death.
   I'm alive again! Once more I see the light!'

 ^29-30 "This is the way God works.
   Over and over again
He pulls our souls back from certain destruction
   so we'll see the light—and live in the light!

 ^31-33 "Keep listening, Job.
   Don't interrupt—I'm not finished yet.
But if you think of anything I should know, tell me.
   There's nothing I'd like better than to see your name cleared.
Meanwhile, keep listening. Don't distract me with interruptions.
   I'm going to teach you the basics of wisdom."

Job 34

Elihu's Second Speech

It's Impossible for God to Do Evil

 ^1-4Elihu continued: "So, my fine friends—listen to me,
   and see what you think of this.
Isn't it just common sense—
   as common as the sense of taste—
To put our heads together
   and figure out what's going on here?

 ^5-9 "We've all heard Job say, 'I'm in the right,
   but God won't give me a fair trial.
When I defend myself, I'm called a liar to my face.
   I've done nothing wrong, and I get punished anyway.'
Have you ever heard anything to beat this?
   Does nothing faze this man Job?
Do you think he's spent too much time in bad company,
   hanging out with the wrong crowd,
So that now he's parroting their line:
   'It doesn't pay to try to please God'?

 ^10-15 "You're veterans in dealing with these matters;
   certainly we're of one mind on this.
It's impossible for God to do anything evil;
   no way can the Mighty One do wrong.
He makes us pay for exactly what we've done—no more, no less.
   Our chickens always come home to roost.
It's impossible for God to do anything wicked,
   for the Mighty One to subvert justice.
He's the one who runs the earth!
   He cradles the whole world in his hand!
If he decided to hold his breath,
   every man, woman, and child would die for lack of air.

God Is Working Behind the Scenes

 ^16-20 "So, Job, use your head;
   this is all pretty obvious.
Can someone who hates order, keep order?
   Do you dare condemn the righteous, mighty God?
Doesn't God always tell it like it is,
   exposing corrupt rulers as scoundrels and criminals?
Does he play favorites with the rich and famous and slight the poor?
   Isn't he equally responsible to everybody?
Don't people who deserve it die without notice?
   Don't wicked rulers tumble to their doom?
When the so-called great ones are wiped out,
   we know God is working behind the scenes.

 ^21-28 "He has his eyes on every man and woman.
   He doesn't miss a trick.
There is no night dark enough, no shadow deep enough,
   to hide those who do evil.
God doesn't need to gather any more evidence;
   their sin is an open-and-shut case.
He deposes the so-called high and mighty without asking questions,
   and replaces them at once with others.
Nobody gets by with anything; overnight,
   judgment is signed, sealed, and delivered.
He punishes the wicked for their wickedness
   out in the open where everyone can see it,
Because they quit following him,
   no longer even thought about him or his ways.
Their apostasy was announced by the cry of the poor;
   the cry of the afflicted got God's attention.

Because You Refuse to Live on God's Terms

 ^29-30 "If God is silent, what's that to you?
   If he turns his face away, what can you do about it?
But whether silent or hidden, he's there, ruling,
   so that those who hate God won't take over
   and ruin people's lives.

 ^31-33 "So why don't you simply confess to God?
   Say, 'I sinned, but I'll sin no more.
Teach me to see what I still don't see.
   Whatever evil I've done, I'll do it no more.'
Just because you refuse to live on God's terms,
   do you think he should start living on yours?
You choose. I can't do it for you.
   Tell me what you decide.

 ^34-37 "All right-thinking people say—
   and the wise who have listened to me concur—
'Job is an ignoramus.
   He talks utter nonsense.'
Job, you need to be pushed to the wall and called to account
   for wickedly talking back to God the way you have.
You've compounded your original sin
   by rebelling against God's discipline,
Defiantly shaking your fist at God,
   piling up indictments against the Almighty One."

Job 32-34, The Message

Wow. Elihu lays out his theology for all to see. On the surface, perhaps, it sounds pretty orthodox, but chapter 34:29-37 are very telling. These last verses in this passage indicate Elihu believes God to be a distant, disconnected, somewhat benevolent judge, rather than who Job knows Him to be: a Father who longs for and delights in intimate relationship with His children.

I know intellectually that Job's view of God is who He really is, and that who Elihu believes Him to be is small, safe, predictable, and…well…boring. At the same time, though, I must admit that a part of me wants Him to be that domesticated god, rather than the wild, passionate, and thoroughly unpredictable Lover of my soul. All too often I live as though He is Elihu's god rather than Job's Yahweh, his Adonai. I am terrified to, as my friend Carl puts it, let Him be God, to trust that His plans for me are infinitely more glorious than anything I could ever hope to concoct for myself. I'm a bit embarrassed at seeing the situation spelled out like this in black and white; it seems illogical and silly. But it's my reality, and the pace at which I am turning my back on it seems glacially slow.

I feel a pull to wrap up this post with a nice, Christian-ese bow by saying something like, "All this makes me yearn for Heaven more, and I know this is all part of my sanctification." Of course those things are true, but I'm not resting in them right now. I feel unsettled, as though I'm missing an important piece of the puzzle that is my relationship with God. And I suspect that's exactly where I need to be, exactly where He will meet me if I have the emotional and intellectual honesty to stay in that tension.