I love the first part of chapter 41. God uses a description of the leviathan to show that man can not control everything. He shows that even if you try you will face a terrible struggle to accomplish it. He goes on to describe the leviathan in even more detail to show how terrible the leviathan is and that it can not be conquered. The leviathan used here is later used in many myths, religions and now even TV shows and movies.
Chapter 42 brings us to Job's response to God. Job admits that he was wrong and spoke of things he did not understand. Job finally repents and God then confronts Job's three friends. God tells them that he is angry with them because they have not spoken what is right. They in return need to offer up an offering and have Job pray for them. The Lord then blesses Job with twice as much as he had. After reading the description of what he was given you can tell that Job was an amazingly wealthy man. I mean even in today's times he would be doing pretty well off with the amount of animals that he was given. That also brings us to the end of the book of Job. We have officially read one full book of the Bible. It feels like a great accomplishment for me at least. I have attempted to read through the Bible many times and have never made it this far before.
Matthew 16 once again has the pharisees asking Jesus to show them a sign. He replies to them saying that they know how to interpret the sky but can not interpret a sign of the time. I think that may have been a polite way of saying even if I show you a sign you will not understand or believe it to be a sign. I will have to admit the next little bit confused me just as it did the disciples. The last portion made me realize what he was talking about and then His whole yeast story made sense to me. Peter's confession of Christ is yet another one that I have not fully grasped yet. Jesus ask Peter who he is and Peter replies that He is the Christ. Jesus then blessed him because he did not find this out through man but through the Father in Heaven. This I understand what makes me wonder is the last sentence. Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. (Matt. 16:20) This is not the first time we have heard Jesus say that they are not to tell anyone who he is. I do not know why they are not allowed to tell anyone who he is. I think if I were a disciple I would be shouting it from the rooftops so people can come and believe in him.
Tomorrow's reading is:
Genesis 23, 24 and Matthew 17
41. I really appreciate your insights on this chapter b/c I had a hard time getting much out of it.
ReplyDelete42. I thought this was a very unsatisfying ending to Job. As if the writer was ready to be done telling the story and just ended it quickly. All that reading about Job's suffering I was hoping for something a little more climactic. I'm so curious what Job thought about this time in his life when he was an old, wealthy man. It was a huge victory for me to finish a whole book of the Bible too.
16. I had no idea "Red sky at night, sailors delight; red sky at morning, sailors warning" was so old. I was very confused by the middle section of this chapter. Jesus blesses Peter, tells him he will build the church on him, lavishes him with praise. Then, 6 verses later, calls him Satan. The highs and lows of Peter's day that day. I think that Jesus doesn't want the disciples to tell who he is b/c he wants people to find out for themselves. Like in a sitcom when rich/famous people don't tell the person they are dating the are rich/famous b/c the want the person to like them for them. That's sort of a weird analogy but that is kind of what I think is going on. He doesn't want people to follow him and believe in him simply b/c they have been told he's the son of God. He wants them to find that faith themselves to believe without being told.