Are you “able to comfort those who are in any trouble”? You can if you share the comfort of God (2 Cor 1:4). The taciturn man thinks you shouldn’t speak unless you can improve on silence. Job’s friends thought otherwise. Who were these men? James Gunn helpfully writes, “Eliphaz was a philosopher; Bildad a theologian; and […]
Right or wrong. Right or left. The two uses of the word “right” may be confusing. But thankfully, in the story of catching 153 fish, the right side was the right side. And therein lies a great lesson worth catching too. […]
A hedge might be called the evidence of God’s sovereign care. But what if the hedge is breached? A hedge is a living wall. It may be decorative, but still it walls some things out and other things in. Sometimes a hedge is grown from a thorny plant, like a privet, to more effectively impede […]
James Calvert was born January 3, 1813, the son of a tenant farmer. As a boy, he was apprenticed to a printer, skills he later used in preparing the first Fijian Bible. When he, his wife Mary, and two others left for the Fiji Islands in 1838, they were putting their lives on the line. […]
“My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps 73:26). For twenty-four verses, Job pours out his lament. It’s too late to unbirth himself or wish he were stillborn. So now he turns his thoughts to the welcomed relief that death would bring to his tortured […]
Read More… from July 24, 2025 — Don’t Dance With Destruction
Job rewinds his life back to its beginning: the baby’s first cry, the parents’ joy. If only it never happened! After seven days of silence, sitting with his friends, Job finally broke the silence. “After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth” (Job 3:1). This is not the previous word used for “curse.” Here […]
Times of testing test friendships, too. “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (Prov 17:17). Bad news travels fast. “Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite” (Job 2:11). With […]
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (Isa 43:2). When, not if. Through, not into. “So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head” (Job 2:7). One NIH scientist thinks Job’s disease was scabies. […]
Yes, he’s a bully. He picks on the vulnerable, kicking us when we’re down. But just wait till Jesus shows up! “Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job…” (Job 2:7). Who is this vile creature who loves to curse people as God loves to bless? We’ve already met him as the “accuser […]