Milo

DO THE WICKED PAY?
Job 15–21

“How often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does calamity come upon them, the fate God allots in His anger?” (Job 21:17)

Though Job’s friends insisted differently, we all know, as Job knew, that every wicked man is not repayed in this life for his evil deeds.

Background
The fate of the wicked. Both Testaments describe God as a moral Judge who punishes the wicked and rewards the righteous. Job and his friends shared this view of God. But Job’s friends assumed God must punish the wicked in this life. Thus it seemed to them that since Job was suffering so greatly, he must have sinned greatly.
Job knew he was innocent. And he had observed wicked people who prospered in this life. Their theology was nonsense, for it was contradicted by evidence they refused to even consider.
As the New Testament emphasizes, God does punish the wicked and reward the righteous. But not necessarily in this life. Yes, the books will be balanced. But this will take place only at history’s end.
In this dialogue only Job seems to have eternity in view as he said, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God” (19:25–26).
How tragic that some Christians adopt the simplistic view of Job’s friends, and see all suffering as punishment for sin. God does permit innocent saints to suffer at times, and at times the wicked do prosper. The day of judgment, when all will be made clear, lies in the future. Until then we need to comfort, not accuse, our suffering brothers and sisters.

Overview
Eliphaz insisted that the wicked suffer terror and distress in this life, implying that Job must be wicked (15:1–35). Job replied that he had been upright, yet was assailed by God (16:1–17:16). Bildad picked up Eliphaz’s theme, graphically describing the fate of the wicked (18:1–21). Job, upset by his friends’ attacks, again shared feelings of abandonment (19:1–20). Yet he concluded with a magnificent affirmation of faith (vv. 23–27). Zophar added his own poem describing the ghastly fate of the wicked (20:1–29).
Job, after quoting his accusers, argued that in fact the wicked often prosper. The clichés his counselors used to imply Job is wicked were nonsence (21:1–34).

Understanding the Text
“Man, who is vile and corrupt” Job 15:1–35. Eliphaz was angry at Job for what he saw as arrogant self-defense. Eliphaz viewed man as sinful, while God acted as if bound by some fixed law, forced invariably to punish the rebel. There was no room in Eliphaz’s theology for the notion that flawed human beings have value to God, or that God is moved by love rather than by a mechanical sense of justice which forces Him to react to each sin with appropriate, measured punishment.
Eliphaz’s dialogue was filled with barbs hurled directly at Job. Again and again he brought up things that had happened to Job to illustrate punishments God directs against the wicked (cf. vv. 21; 1:17; 15:30, 34; 1:16; 15:28; 1:19; 15:29; 1:17).
Nothing causes us to rethink our concept of God like suffering. When suffering comes to us or to loved ones, we need to remember that our God is a God of love.

“Even now my witness is in heaven” Job 16:1–17:16. Job feared that he would die before his friends acknowledged his innocence. Thus he begged the earth not to cover his blood. Yet he was confident that witnesses in heaven knew he was right. Even though he felt devastated that “God assails me and tears me in His anger,” he had hope that a heavenly friend and intercessor would testify to his righteousness and that he would be vindicated.
It’s hard when friends wrongfully accuse us or misunderstand us. Then our hope, like Job’s, is that ultimately we will be vindicated by the God who seems to attack us when we suffer.

“The lamp of the wicked is snuffed out” Job 18:1–21. Bildad continued the friends’ effort to impose their views of God on Job. Once Job accepted their premise, that God only and always punishes the wicked, Job’s defenses would crumble. He would doubt his own innocence, and no longer hold to what he considered his “integrity.”
The image here is a powerful one. In Old Testament times a small lamp was kept burning in even the poorest homes all night long. A house with a snuffed-out lamp was an abandoned, empty house. Building on this image of desolation, Bildad described the calamities that befall the wicked.
We too are often tempted to use our theology—or a Bible verse—as a club to beat down the defenses of others. Surely Job’s friends were wrong to attack Job in this way, rather than encouraging him with reminders of the love of God. Let’s not err as they did in our use of God’s Word.

“Those I love have turned against me” Job 19:19. Job’s suffering, and his insistence that he had been wronged, had alienated not only his friends but even his loved ones.
Rather than treat Job with respect, even little children ridiculed him. His servants paid no attention to him, and his intimate friends detested him.
One of the most painful aspects of an illness or any other personal disaster is the impact it has on others’ attitudes. The very time supportive love is most needed, friends and acquaintances back away.
It may be uncomfortable for us to spend time with persons like Job. But, as Job cried out, it is while people suffer that they have the greatest need for friends who will “have pity on me.”
Again we’re reminded that when another person is hurting is no time for theological discussion. What a hurting person needs is a hand to hold, a caring voice to listen to, and some evidence from friends that he or she is still loved and valued.
It is striking that Job, deserted by his friends, continued to have a strong faith in the God he felt has misused him. “I know that my Redeemer lives,” Job affirmed. One day, long after this life was over, Job expected that “in my flesh I will see God.”

DEVOTIONAL
The Blessed Bad Guy
(Job 21)
Just now our newspaper is filled with reports of a battle between a man and his ex-wife over a multimillion dollar Lotto win. Scan the reports, and the impression grows that both these winners are “bad guys.” From what each one says about the other—and I suspect both are right—each is a moral loser, selfish, and sinful.
It’s just one more illustration of the bad guy striking it rich, while the poor, deserving Christian has to keep on struggling.
Of course, if Eliphaz or Bildad or Zophar read our local paper, they’d never see that article. All three were careful to reject any evidence that might call their theology into question.
That’s what exasperated Job in the end, and led him to confront his friends. God always punishes the wicked? Honestly, “How often is the lamp of the wicked [really] snuffed out?” God crush the evil man? Be honest now! “Have you paid no attention” to the fact that the world over “the evil man is spared from the day of calamity”?
What Job finally shouted was, in effect, “Why don’t you get real! Why don’t you face facts? Why don’t you consider what we all know, that sometimes bad guys actually are blessed? That the bad guys often hit the Lotto jackpot, while God’s good guys struggle to make a living?”
Job’s point was a good one. His friends preferred to distort reality in order to hold on to a flawed theology.
Later God would speak to Job’s friends, and condemn them because “you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has” (42:7). Job, who struggled to understand God despite confusing and even contradictory evidence, had “spoken of Me what is right.” Job had been willing to challenge, not God, but his beliefs about God. Job’s three friends took their beliefs for God Himself, and refused to reexamine them, even when clear evidence in their society called those beliefs into question.
This too is a lesson for you and me. Our trust is to be in God, not in our theology. Life constantly calls us to reexamine our beliefs about God, while holding firmly to the conviction that God exists, loves us, and is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Heb. 11:6). We can trust God completely. We should not have that same trust in our understanding of God’s ways.
As Job’s friends finally learned, the bad guy sometimes is blessed in this life, while the good guy suffers. When facts like these don’t fit our theological pigeonholes, it’s time to discard the holes and develop a better understanding of our Lord.

Personal Application
Don’t be afraid to question your beliefs. God won’t be upset. Really.

Quotable
“He permits His friends to suffer much in this world that instead He may crown them all the more gloriously in heaven, and make them more like His only begotten Son, who never ceased to do good and to suffer injury while He was on earth that He might teach us patience by His example.”—Robert Bellarmine

Job

INTRODUCTION
Set in the second millennium B.C., when wealth was measured in cattle and the patriarch served as family priest, the epic of Job explores the relationship between human suffering and divine justice. Job, a righteous man, was crushed by sudden disasters. His three friends argued that God was punishing him for some hidden sin. Job resisted, but could find no alternate explanation for what had happened to him. In a lengthy poetic dialogue marked by the most difficult Hebrew in the Old Testament, Job and his friends struggled to understand the ways of God and the meaning of human suffering.
Though there are many examples of similar literature in the ancient East, Job is set off from them by its vision of God and its in-depth exploration of the issue of suffering. It is impossible to establish a date for the writing of this epic or to know its author.

OUTLINE OF CONTENTS
I.
Disasters Strike Righteous Job
Job 1–3
II.
Job Dialogues with Three Friends
Job 4–31
A. Did God cause Job’s suffering?
Job 4–14
B. Do the wicked really suffer?
Job 15–21
C. Had Job committed hidden sins?
Job 22–31
III.
Elihu Breaks the Impasse
Job 32–37
IV.
God Speaks Out
Job 38–42

JOB’S ANGUISH
Job 1–14

“I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil” (Job 3:26).

Job’s inner anguish mirrors our own when we are struck by some unexpected tragedy and struggle to understand why.

Background
The Structure of the book. Job begins and ends with brief prose sections. The opening portrays God giving Satan permission to attack Job in an effort to make Job curse the Lord. Satan stripped Job of his possessions, family, and health, but failed the challenge as Job worshiped rather than cursed God.
The book then moves to an extended poetic exploration of God’s role in human suffering. Job and his three friends believed God punishes sin. Job’s friends concluded that Job had sinned. But Job was sure he had not knowingly done wrong. As the dialogues probed the question of suffering, Job found himself confronting not only his three friends but his own assumptions about God.
The dialogue ended in an impasse, which was broken by a younger listener, Elihu. He pointed out that God sometimes uses suffering to instruct, not to punish. Thus Job’s suffering did not necessarily mean he had sinned, nor did it mean God is unjust.
God Himself then spoke, not to explain what He had done, but to point out that His nature is beyond human comprehension.
Job then repented and was commended by God. The Lord restored Job’s health, doubled his wealth, and blessed him with a new family and lengthened life.
While the outline of this story is simple, the contents of the book are profound, probing as they do one of the most basic issues in human experience.

Overview
The setting is established: God permitted Satan to take Job’s wealth, his family, and his health (1:1–2:10). Job shared his feelings with three friends (v. 11–3:26). In a cycle of attacks and defenses, each friend proclaimed God’s justice, and suggested that Job deserved what had happened to him (4:1–5:27; 8:1–22; 11:1–20). Job defended himself against all of their charges (6:1–7:21; 9:1–10:22; 12:1–14:22).

Understanding the Text
“This man was blameless and upright” Job 1:1–5. The phrase does not mean Job was sinless. The Hebrew word for “blameless,” tamim, indicates a person whose motives are pure and who lives a good moral life. Job’s wealth may have impressed his neighbors. But his reverent awe for God and his decision to shun evil are keys to his character.
What shocks us is that terrible trouble could strike such a godly man. We feel that if Job is vulnerable, surely each of us is.
This is one of the important messages of Job. Relationship with God does not guarantee an easy life. Our relationship with God is more significant than that!

“Have you considered My servant Job?” Job 1:6–2:11 God is the One who drew Satan’s attention to Job, and gave him permission to cause the devastating series of tragedies that struck Job on a single day.
Satan contended that Job honored God only because God had given him material blessings. Satan claimed Job would “curse You to Your face” if God permitted Satan to take those blessings away.
Job did not act as Satan expected, but instead worshiped, acknowledging God’s right to take what He had given (1:20–21).
Satan then claimed Job would curse God if his own life were threatened. So God permitted Satan to afflict Job with a painful and loathsome disease. Again Job refused to curse God, saying, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (2:10)
At this point Satan passed from the scene, defeated, and is not mentioned again. But Job’s suffering continued, showing us that God had His own purposes in permitting the satanic attack on Job.
One reason that God permits Christians to suffer is to display the reality of relationship with the Lord. Believers suffer when hurt, as other human beings do. But our continuing faith in God’s goodness testifies to all that God does make a difference. God is glorified as Christians continue to hope in the Lord despite suffering. Like Christ, at this stage of the story Job has “entrusted himself to Him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23).

“Why did I not perish at birth?” Job 3:1–26 Three friends who visited Job were so shocked at his condition that they sat, silent, for seven days. At last Job opened the dialogue.
Job’s earlier words had expressed his beliefs. Now he shared his feelings, and we discern an anguish so great that Job wished he had never been born.
It’s not wrong for a gap to exist between what we believe and our emotions. Intellectually Job realized that God is free to act as He chooses. Emotionally Job was in the grip of anguish and fear.
When suffering strikes us, we often respond as Job did. We do trust in God. But our emotions are in turmoil, and we have “no peace, no quietness, no rest” (see v. 26). Such emotion is natural, for at best we human beings are finite, limited, and weak. How encouraging to realize through Job’s experience that faith and fear can be present at the same time. Emotional turmoil is not evidence of a lack of faith, but rather an opportunity for us to affirm the reality of what we believe despite our feelings.

“Who, being innocent, has ever perished?” Job 4:1–5:27 Eliphaz, one of the three friends, was unable to respond to the powerful emotions Job had shared. Instead he brought up a point of theology. It’s not the upright who are destroyed, but those who “plow evil” (4:7–8). Job must appeal to the God who corrects, and who can heal (5:17–18). If Job were right with God, the Lord would have protected him from disaster and Job would know peace (vv. 20–27).
Many of us, like Eliphaz, listen for concepts and not feelings. Eliphaz did not respond to Job’s feelings or even acknowledge them. He might have said, “Job, I know you’re hurting. I hear how devastating this is to you, and I do care.” Instead Eliphaz jumped in with an oblique accusation, suggesting that Job’s suffering must be his own fault.
When you or I respond to a person who is suffering with a theological statement, even with pious reassurance that “God must have a purpose in something so terrible,” we miss our opportunity to minister. What a sufferer needs to know is that someone cares. An experience of the love of God through a caring friend is the first and greatest need of those who suffer.

“If only my anguish could be weighed” Job 6:1–7:21. Job tried again to share his feelings and his tormented thoughts. He felt cut off from God, and crushed by Him (6:8–10). As a despairing man Job had hoped for a sign of devotion from his friends, not accusations.
Job continued to focus on his feelings, speaking out “in the anguish of my spirit” and complaining in the “bitterness of my soul” (7:11). Life had lost all meaning for Job. He could not understand what he had done to God to deserve what had happened, or why, if he had sinned, God did not simply forgive him (vv. 17–21).
In this speech, part of which is directed to the Lord, Job expressed the doubts and uncertainties which tormented him even more than the loss and pain. Job’s experience again helps us identify what happens within us when tragedy strikes. The very foundation of our existence—our conviction that God is good—is brought into question.
If we understand this we can accept our own doubts and uncertainty without feelings of guilt. And we can empathize with others who experience tragedy.

“How long will you say such things?” Job 8:1–22 Bildad was uncomfortable with Job’s self-revelation. To protect himself from the flood of emotions, he too turned to theology. Bildad was unwilling to accept what Job felt because those emotions seemed to imply that the Almighty “pervert[s] what is right” (v. 3).
Bildad’s solution? “Surely God does not reject a blameless man” (v. 20). If Job got right with God, the Lord would “yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy” (v. 21).
Bildad’s error was a common one. He assumed that he knew so much about God he could speak for Him! “God doesn’t reject the blameless” is transformed from a general truth to an unbreakable rule, binding God’s own freedom of action. Bildad never once imagined that he might not know God well enough to explain the Lord’s purposes in Job’s life!
When you and I know others who suffer, we must avoid Bildad’s error. We can’t explain “why” because we are not wise enough to grasp God’s purposes in another person’s life. All we know for sure is that God loves all human beings, and that He does have a purpose in what happens to each one.

“I know that this is true” Job 9:1–10:21. Job was aware that what his friends had said was true. But this only made his torment greater. Job believed himself blameless (9:21), and thus had no explanation for what had happened to him. It was this that made his anguish so bitter! He couldn’t even plead his case with God, for God had not brought any charges against him.
Again Job was forced to question the meaning of life itself. Why had he even been born? How much better it would have been if Job had died in infancy!

“Will no one rebuke you?” Job 11:1–20 Job’s third friend was outraged by this talk. God must not be questioned!
But Zophar couldn’t resist suggesting that Job must have sinned to suffer so, and that if Job would only “put away the sin that is in your hand” life would be brighter, for God would relieve his suffering.
Again, be warned. The person who assumes that he knows another individual’s heart, much less understands all of God’s ways, is almost certain to be wrong. To take such a position is spiritual pride, surely as great a sin as any we accuse others of committing.

“What you know, I also know” Job 12:1–14:22. Job responded with sarcasm. Job too knew the general truths about God that his friends had used against him. But Job also knew that in his case suffering could not be punishment for some known sin. Again Job addressed his complaint to God. Human beings are so weak. Why did God do this to him? Why not just permit Job to die and so avoid the brunt of what he experienced as the anger of God?
Again we sense the anguish that any believer experiences when his or her suffering cannot be explained. We know general truths about God. But we cannot know the specific reasons for what is happening to us. And suffering feels like God’s anger, directed against us, rather than feeling like love.
How important to remember at such times that God does love us still.

DEVOTIONAL
God’s Hedge
(Job 1–2)
The doctor happened to look in on her as she lay in the labor room. What he saw brought a half dozen people on the run. My wife had suffered a massive placental separation, and only quick action by the doctor saved her and our daughter Joy.
There was only one problem. Joy had been without oxygen for several minutes. When she was born her face was blue, and the doctor warned that there might be brain damage.
There was. Today Joy, at 28, lives in a community for retarded adults in Arizona’s Verde Valley. She will live there or in a similar facility all her life.
It’s hard to express the bittersweet experience of bringing up a daughter who is strong and healthy, and yet suffers from irreversible retardation. Each visit is a reminder of what might have been, but can never be.
Yet at the same time each visit is a reminder that Joy is who God intended her to be. A young, strong, loving girl, who laughs and cries, rejoices and complains, who prays and sings and works up to her limited capabilities. Each visit is a reminder of Satan’s complaint, recorded in Job 1:9. “Have You not put a hedge around him [Job]?” Haven’t You protected him from me, so that I can’t touch him or anything that he owns?
Satan’s complaint portrays an important reality. God has put a hedge around every believer. He actively protects us from the dangers that threaten on every side. Only if God lowers the hedge—and that for His own purposes—can disaster strike.
When Joy was born, God lowered the hedge. I don’t know why. But I believe He had His own good purpose. And I know that God raised the hedge again. God has protected our Joy, and given her as blessed a life as she could expect to live.
I can identify other times when God lowered the hedge around me. But each time the hedge has gone up again, and blessing has followed. Each time the hedge has gone down, I’ve become more aware of how often God’s hedge has surrounded me and guarded me from harm.

Personal Application
When God lowers the hedge around you, consider the many more times you have had His protection.

Quotable
“How desperately people brush up their little faith in times of sorrow. It is quite easy to see that religious faith prospers because of, and not in spite of, the tribulations of this world. It is because this mortal life is felt as an irrelevancy to the main purpose in life that men achieve the courage to hope for immortality.”—Reinhold Niebuhr

HONORABLE LIVES
Hebrews 13

“We are sure that we have a clear conscience and a desire to live honorably in every way” (Heb. 13:18).

Exhortations to honorable living grow naturally out of the most exalted doctrine.

Overview
The writer closes with exhortations (13:1–19), with one of the most powerful doxologies in Scripture (vv. 20–21), and with personal greetings (vv. 22–25).

Understanding the Text
“Keep on loving each other as brothers” Heb. 13:1. Nearly every New Testament letter contains an exhortation to love. This is only appropriate, as the night before His crucifixion Jesus emphasized his “new commandment” (John 13:33–34). Christ’s followers are to love one another as Jesus loved them.
This verse, however, has a distinctive emphasis. “Keep on” loving. The emphasis is important. As we come to know others better and better, more and more of their flaws are likely to appear. How many a gal has come home, excited over meeting “the” man, only to become disenchanted a few weeks or months later.
We Christians, however, don’t have the liberty of disenchantment. Or of disengagement. Someone born to my parents is my sister or my brother, not by my choice, but by virtue of shared parentage. We may choose our mates, but we don’t choose brothers and sisters. And somehow, despite everything, in most families siblings learn not only to get along, but to love each other as well.
It’s like this in God’s family. We are family, not by our choice, but by God’s. We have the same Father, and so we all belong. Period. We can become disenchanted. But we can’t withdraw, or reject someone whom God has accepted.
And so Hebrews 13:1 sets a distinctive challenge before us. “Keep on” loving.
How good to know that, as we keep on loving, love will find a way. Through love we will be a blessing, and find blessing.

“Do not forget to entertain strangers” Heb. 13:2–3. Hospitality was one of the most important of ancient virtues. No hotels or motels dotted the first-century countryside. Tired and hungry people often appeared in town or at one’s door, hoping for a place to stay.
There are distinct aspects to the Christian’s relationships with others. We are to keep on loving Christian brothers. And we are to entertain strangers. Whether the people we meet are in or out of God’s family, we are to show loving concern.
The writer went even further. The believer is to “remember those in prison.” A person in prison isn’t free to come to your church. He’s not free to knock on your door. You have to take the initiative and search out the person in jail.
What’s more, it is uncomfortable to take that initiative. When someone comes to your house, you’re on your own turf. You are relatively secure. When you go beyond the places you normally frequent, you feel uncertain and unsure. There you can’t insulate yourself from others’ suffering. It’s unpleasant at the very least.
But if we remember all that Hebrews tells about what God has done for us in Christ, we understand why we need to relate to brothers, strangers, and prisoners. Christ’s gift of redemption is a love gift offered to every man. Christ’s blood was shed for the stranger and the outcast as well as the brother. We need to go where Christ would go if He were here.

“Keep your lives free from the love of money” Heb. 13:4–6. It’s easy to say. But how do we find contentment, when everything in our society shouts at us, insisting that we desire more?
The answer is, remember that in God you already possess everything.
The stock market can fall, and you will lose everything. Thieves can break in, and your possessions will disappear. The economy can crash and interest rates rise. In this world there simply is no security in wealth, or the things that money can buy. But when God is with you, and when you have His promise, “Never will I leave you,” you enjoy the ultimate security.
God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Owner of the cattle on a thousand hills, is your helper. There is nothing that can threaten the man or woman who walks hand in hand with the Lord.

“Remember your leaders” Heb. 13:7. What a fascinating way to put this. The writer didn’t say, “Remember what your leaders taught.” He didn’t say “Remember what your leaders told you to do,” even though they “spoke the Word of God to you.” What the writer said was, “Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”
We are to remember them, for their example teaches us something that their words cannot. As we consider the faith they live by, we learn to live by faith.

“Our hearts to be strengthened by grace” Heb. 13:9–14. The ceremonial foods on Old Testament altars symbolized God’s sustaining grace. You and I, however, have no need of symbols. We have Christ Himself, who suffered to make us holy.
Going “outside the camp” indicates breaking out of Old Testament faith and ritual. There is nothing left for us inside them, for with their symbolism fulfilled in Christ, they are now empty shells. And so the author said, “Let us then go to Him.”
If you want your heart to be strengthened by grace, follow this prescription. Go directly to Him.

“A sacrifice of praise” Heb. 13:15. Let’s not come empty-handed to the Lord. And let’s not rush into His presence, shouting out our needs and demanding attention without first paying attention to Him.
What we bring Christ as our sacrifice today is praise. And He is worthy to be praised.
Perhaps it’s not surprising, but even in this we find that God thinks of us, even as He asks us to consider Him. When we do focus our attention on the Lord, and praise Him for His great attributes, we pray with much greater confidence. Rehearsing His praises strengthens our faith, and faith is essential to answered prayer.

“We have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way” Heb. 13:18. If this is true of us, and reflects our heart’s desire, we will do more than praise God. Our lives will bring Him praises.

“The God of peace” Heb. 13:20–21. These verses contain one of the most beautiful benedictions in the Old or New Testaments. It is a “must memorize”: a passage that can bring confidence as well as focus to your life.

DEVOTIONAL
Let Yourself Be Led
(Heb. 13:17)
It’s almost hidden, tucked in with a number of other exhortations that the writer of Hebrews hurried to add as he closed his epistle. Most who do notice it seem to take it wrongly, as if the writer were encouraging a hierarchy of leaders, who had the right to demand obedience.
I don’t believe the first readers had that impression for several reasons. In the Greek the phrase reads peithesthe tois hegoumenois hyman kain hypeikete. The Greek work peithesthe means, “Let yourselves be persuaded, or convinced.” A fair English paraphrase would be, “Open your hearts to the persuasion of your leaders.”
The word translated “leaders” here is used for rulers and princes, but originally meant “to lead or guide.” The idea seems to be that spiritual leaders are to be those who have traveled the road of faith (see v. 7), and thus can serve as guides for others.
The single word hypeikete is rendered by the English phrase, “Submit to their authority.” Originally it was used in classical Greek to describe soft and yielding substances. The root idea is not “give in,” but “be disposed to yielding.”
Putting this together the instruction focuses on the attitude that you and I are to maintain as we travel the Jesus road, led by others who have traveled on farther than we. What the first readers would have understood is this charge: “In your relationship with those who are your leaders and guides to godliness, be sure you maintain a yielding disposition, and remain open to their persuasion.”
It’s an approprirate exhortation here at the close of Hebrews. In Jesus we have a superior revelation, a superior High Priest, a better covenant, and a better faith. And we are called by God to experience, through faith, every blessing provided by the Son of God. How important, as we travel the Jesus road with others, to choose as leaders those who have gone on ahead—and to let ourselves be led.

Personal Application
Though responsible for your own choices in life, remain open, and let yourself be led by godly men and women.

Quotable
“The question, ‘Who ought to be the boss?’ is like asking, ‘Who ought to be the tenor in the quartet?’ Obviously, the man who can sing tenor.”—Henry Ford

DIVINE DISCIPLINE
Hebrews 12

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:11).

To benefit from discipline we must respond to it.

Overview
The example of Jesus stimulates us to struggle against sin (12:1–4). We are to view hardship as God’s discipline of dearly loved sons (vv. 5–11), and strengthen our resolve to live holy lives (vv. 12–17). For God has not spoken to us in a distant law, but in a nearby Christ (vv. 18–24), whose kingdom is not to be despised (vv. 25–29).

Understanding the Text
“A great cloud of witnesses” Heb. 12:1–3. Some consider this a reference to saints and angels observing us, as the crowd in a great stadium cheers on those on the playing field. Others see us observing the saints of ages past, taking heart from their consistent testimony (witness) to God’s faithfulness.
Either understanding motivates us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.”
What a great responsibility, to know that what we do impacts others’ commitment to Jesus Christ.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” Heb. 12:2–3. Jesus is the “pioneer” (author) of our faith, in that He followed the path of faith all the way to its end. He trusted all the way to death, and then broke out of the grave to open the way to glory.
Jesus is also the perfecter of faith. In Jesus we see faith’s ultimate nature perfectly expressed. Perfect faith is complete trust in God, however awesomely death and destruction crowd in around us.
No wonder the writer said, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.” When we are frightened, seeing Jesus will enourage us to keep on trusting. When we are tired, seeing Jesus will give us strength to go on. When we want to turn back, focusing on Jesus will reassure us that the glory ahead is well worth the present pain.

“In your struggle against sin” Heb. 12:4. One of history’s great saints, John Chrysostom, whose exile inA.D 403 was caused by his denunciation of powerful churchmen for their pretentions and lack of charity, wrote from exile: “there is only one thing to be feared, Olympias, only one trial, and that is sin.”
Jesus as faith’s pioneer and perfecter reminds us that we are better off to choose suffering rather than to choose sin. Christ resisted choosing sin “to the point of shedding His blood.” You and I are most unlikely to have so grim a choice to make.
So let’s not feel sorry for ourselves when suffering comes. Let’s rejoice that whatever our suffering, we have not and will not choose sin in order to avoid it.

“The Lord’s discipline” Heb. 12:7. As the early decades of the Church Age passed, Christians found themselves under increasing pressure. There was often hostility from neighbors. In some localities there was unofficial persecution. In others there was official persecution by Roman authorities. So the Book of Hebrews, written as it seems to have been toward the end of the 60s, speaks as do other later New Testament epistles, of suffering and pain.
Here the writer of Hebrews asks us to view hardship and suffering as discipline. God has not abandoned Christ’s followers. God is simply treating them as any wise father treats dearly loved sons.
It may seem strange, but this perspective makes any hardship we face so much easier. We no longer have to cringe away, wondering what we’ve done that God should punish us so. Instead we reach up in our pain, convinced that even our suffering is an expression of the love of God.
If you know God loves you, you can endure almost anything.
And if you ever doubt that God could permit His loved ones to suffer, consider Jesus. The pioneer and perfecter of our faith suffered the ultimate anguish, though He is God’s dearly beloved Son.

“God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness” Heb. 12:7–13. Two things reassure us when God disciplines. We remember that Jesus suffered first. And we remember that God has graciously explained His motive for discipline.
One thing that bothers us is not knowing “why.” We lose our job, and in our fears about the future cry out, “Why?” We lose a loved one, and agonize, “Why him, and why not me?” We suffer from a lingering illness and, try as we may, we can find nothing “good” in it. We begin to doubt Romans 8:28, and again we ask, “Why?”
God doesn’t give us reasons for specific hardships. But He does explain, carefully, what He is doing. God is treating us as any good parent treats his own children. God is disciplining us “for our good, that we may share in His holiness.”
Don’t expect an economic benefit from the loss of a job, an emotional benefit from the loss of a loved one, or a health benefit from a serious illness. But do expect a spiritual benefit from any hardship. If you and I submit to God (v. 9), He will work in our lives, and through suffering we will grow in holiness. Even more, we will reap a rich “harvest of righteousness and peace” from the training hardship is intended to provide.

“See to it that no one misses the grace of God” Heb. 12:14–17. The very hardship which is intended to bless can ruin us.
Whether suffering strengthens or weakens us depends on our response to it. If we look at suffering only as an evil, and become bitter, the discipline God intended as a love gift will become a burden and a thorn.
Such people miss the grace of God. No, not the grace expressed in bringing the specific trial. But the grace that marks our entire relationship with God, and the grace that is available to strengthen us in our difficulties. A focus on God’s grace will lead to an experience of God’s grace in our situation, and that will free us from bitterness, and we will grow.

“You have not come to a mountain that can be touched” Heb. 12:18–24. When the people of Israel gathered at Mount Sinai to receive the Law, lightning flashed and thunder grumbled threateningly. The people drew back in fear, and Moses alone approached the Lord. It was hard to sense the grace of God there.
But we Christians come not to Sinai but to Zion. There we meet Jesus Himself, as thousands of angels sing for joy. We come to God through Jesus, and experience an intimacy that was only dreamed of in Old Testament times.
Let’s be careful that we do not refuse the God we know so well when He speaks. If those who knew Him less well suffered for ignoring His Word, how much more will we lose; we who know Him so intimately?

“A kingdom that cannot be shaken” Heb. 12:25–28. God shakes the earth. The image reminds us how insubstantial and unstable the material universe is. Out of all that is, only human beings will exist out beyond time and into eternity. Everything else will disappear.
How good God is, then, to permit us to suffer in this world, if the benefits of holiness and righteousness that divine discipline develops will persist long beyond time.
God is good. And when He disciplines us, it is for our good as well.

DEVOTIONAL
Child Abuse!
(Heb. 12:5–11)
Kids pick up on things so quickly. I suspect that’s why one parent we know was threatened by her 11-year-old. “Make me do it,” he said to his mother, “and I’ll call 911 and tell them child abuse.”
Mom kept cool. “Go ahead. I may spend a couple of days in jail. But they’ll put you in a foster home. No Nintendo. No color TV in your room. No stereo. No tapes or CDs. No room of your own.” The boy thought for a moment and then said, “OK, Mom.”
It wasn’t like that when I was a boy. I suspect some of the things that happened to me would have raised cries of concern today. Like the time Dad took me out in the garage and whipped me with a leather belt. Or the time I ran away, again, and my disgusted father took the collar off my dog Ezra and put it around my neck! “I can trust Ezra more than I can trust you,” he told me, and drove away.
I sat outside that warm summer morning, totally crushed, until Dad returned from his mail route and let me go. But even then I would never have cried, “child abuse.” Even then I was perfectly aware that Dad loved me, and that what he did was not so much an expression of his anger as it was an expression of his concern. Dad disciplined me, not for his pleasure, but for my benefit. And somehow I knew.
How wonderful it is for you and me, when tragedy strikes, to be able in our misery to look up and know that we are loved. How wonderful it is, when we can’t understand “why,” to know we’re not the victims of child abuse, but the recipients of love.
Children today who shout “child abuse” when loving parents discipline them reject one of Mom’s and Dad’s greatest love gifts. They will surely be the poorer for it. And Christians today, who utter that same shout when troubles come, have forgotten the depths of God’s love, and miss out on one of life’s greatest gifts: the certainty that God is with us, always. And that He cares.

Personal Application
Let God’s discipline of believers serve as a model for your nurture of your boys and girls.

Quotable
“Troubles are often the tools by which God fashions us for better things.”—Henry Ward Beecher

TRIUMPHS OF FAITH
Hebrews 11

“These were all commended for their faith” (Heb. 11:39).

Faith is more clearly expressed in the way people live than in what they claim to believe.

Overview
The nature and value of faith are revealed (11:1–3) and illustrated in this honor roll of Old Testament saints (vv. 4–40).

Understanding the Text
“Faith is being sure of what we hope for” Heb. 11:1–3. To our society “faith” seems insubstantial: it is persistently holding on to notions that can’t be proven and thus are flimsy and unreal. In Scripture, the reverse is true. Faith is confident expectation that what we cannot see is more solid and real than the material universe.
The root of this kind of faith is our conviction that “the universe was formed at God’s command.” God has priority over things we can taste and touch and see and feel. God is more real than they are, because God is the source of their existence.
The ancients, and believers today, are commended for such faith. When you and I realize that God is the ultimate reality, and act on this conviction, we have a faith which makes a difference in our life, and will enable us to triumph.
Anything less than conviction translated into action falls short of biblical faith.

“By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice” Heb. 11:4. Genesis 4 indicates that both Cain and Abel knew God required animal sacrifice. Why else would God speak to Cain after rejecting his sacrifice of fruits and vegetables, saying if he “did well” he could still be accepted? The difference between the two is that Abel responded to God’s word. Only Abel did as the Lord required.
This is the first evidence of a true faith. We respond to God’s Word, and choose to do the things that please Him.
It’s striking that Abel’s act of faith led directly to his death. His brother’s jealous anger was stimulated by Abel’s obedience. But it is even more striking when Hebrews tells us that by faith Abel “still speaks.” Abel is dead as far is this world is concerned; his body dust. Cain too is long dead. But Abel, pronounced righteous by God on the basis of his faith, “still speaks.” Abel’s faith brought him the gift that faith brings you and me: eternal life.

“By faith Enoch was taken from this life” Heb. 11:5–6. Abel exhibited saving faith; and Enoch a faith that holds the believer close to Lord.
We know little of Enoch from the Old Testament except that he “walked with God” and after a time “he was no more, because God took him away” (Gen. 5:24). How does the writer know so much about Enoch from such brief mention? Simply by virtue of the fact that Enoch did please God, and “without faith it is impossible to please God.”
No one can approach God without faith. It takes faith to believe that God exists when He cannot be seen. And it takes even more faith to believe that God rewards those who seek Him, when rewards so often are delayed.
Anyone who walks with God will find his faith tested. When you and I flip a light switch, the light goes on. When you turn the faucet, water flows. Push the “on” button, and your TV screen is filled with flickering pictures. The reward of our actions is immediate, and invariable. But many times you and I pray, and it seems no answer comes. We cry out to God, but our troubles persist. It takes very little faith to expect a light to go on when it always does. It takes much more faith to walk with God. For your belief that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him will be sorely tested again and again.
But don’t be discouraged. As each hero in this hall of fame demonstrates, your faith will make a difference in the way you live your life. And in the blessings you enjoy.

“By faith Abraham . . . obeyed and went” Heb. 11:8–10. Some people find it almost impossible to take risks. “I’d like to try,” they think, “but what if I failed?” Abraham reminds us that faith frees us to venture confidently into the unknown.
Too fearful to pray aloud? Too unsure to express your opinion? Like to try a new job, but frightened to leave the old? Want to share a word of witness, but anxious about how others might react? Faith frees us to step out even when, like Abraham, we don’t know where we are going.
How does faith help? Faith reminds us that God, who guides and directs us, also goes with us. We need not fear risks when faith tells us that the Lord is by our side.

“They were longing for a better country” Heb. 11:13–16. There is such a thing as heavenly dissatisfaction. The Old Testament saints on this honor roll experienced it. They just didn’t feel at home in this world. Somehow something was lacking.
Archeologists have shown that Abraham lived in Ur during a vital and prosperous age. Ur offered luxuries and wealth, and Abraham possessed both. But Abraham wasn’t satisfied, and so set out in search of something better. This is one evidence of a growing faith: we become dissatisfied with the things of the world. We can be thankful for all the good things God has given us. But faith makes us aware that nothing we have is enough to satisfy our deepest needs.
The text says that these people were “living by faith when they died.” They never found the completion or fulfillment they searched for. You and I won’t either, for we were created for heaven, not for earth. We too may spend our lives “longing for a better country.” But, through faith, we will spend eternity enjoying it!

“By faith Abraham, when God tested him” Heb. 11:17–19. There comes a time in each of our lives when God will test us. And the test will be like that of Abraham, when God demanded he sacrifice his son, Isaac.
This is the test of full surrender. It is the test that calls on us to give up our heart’s desire, because God asks us to. Only a unique faith will enable us to do this, and to surrender all.
What is that unique faith? The Old Testament text tells us that when Abraham went up to Mount Moriah to offer Isaac, he told his servants to wait, saying that “the lad and I” will return. Hebrews explains. Abraham had been promised descendants through Isaac. Abraham was so thoroughly convinced God would keep His promise that he believed God would raise Isaac from the dead if that was necessary.
God has promised us His very best. He has assured us that all things work together for the good of those who love Him. We are able to surrender all when we have the faith to believe that, if God asks it, renouncing our heart’s desire is both right and good.
How close Abraham must have been to God, to trust Him so. Let us stay close to the Lord too, that we too might have a faith that surrenders all.

“By faith Moses” Heb. 11:24–28. Moses’ life too exhibits faith. As the “son of Pharaoh’s daughter” Moses was in line for the throne of Egypt, or at the least high position in that affluent land. No pleasure would have been denied him. Yet Moses spurned the “pleasures of sin” and chose to identify himself with God’s people, even though they were then a race of slaves.
Let’s identify ourselves with God’s people too, no matter how popular it may be to ridicule the “born again.” Disgrace for the sake of Christ still has higher value than all the treasures of this world.

“By faith the prostitute Rahab” Heb. 11:31. Faith rules no one out, but draws a great circle that encompasses all. Whatever our past, faith opens the door to relationship with God and a new, righteous life.

“God had planned something better for us” Heb. 11:32–40. Faith does not guarantee anyone a life free of stress or pain. Many over the millennia have suffered and even died for their faith. Yet faith won for each the commendation of God.
Faith wins even more for you and me. The Old Testament saints looked forward to a salvation they could not understand. We look back to a salvation assured by Calvary. And through the Spirit of God we enjoy a relationship with the Lord which can be more real to us than to the Old Testament saints.

DEVOTIONAL
Earthquake Zone
(Heb. 11:1–7)
A sports columnist, reporting from San Fransisco on an upcoming football game between the 49ers and another team, wrote of the silence. That city, usually bursting with tourists, was all but deserted. The earthquake that struck in October 1989 frightened visitors away.
What’s surprising was that it seemingly hadn’t shaken many residents. Throughout California millions continue to live along earthquake fault lines, with never a thought of moving to avoid the devasting tremors that they must know will certainly come.
This was what made Noah such an unusual person, and a rightful recipient of God’s commendation. Noah had never even seen rain, for in his day springs watered the earth (Gen. 2:6). But when God announced that a great Flood would destroy life on earth, Noah built the ark in which his family and animal life were preserved.
The Hebrews 11 honor roll has helped us define faith. Faith views God as more real than the material universe He created (vv. 1–3). Faith saves, for Abel “still speaks” even though his body is long dead (v. 4). Faith enables us to walk with God, even when visible rewards of seeking Him are delayed (vv. 5–6). But now the writer contrasts the wisdom of faith with the foolishness of unbelief.
Noah took God’s warning of an utterly unknown danger seriously. In “holy fear” he acted on it. Noah had never experienced floods or rainfall. But he believed God when he was warned. His response “condemned the world,” in that his faith exposed the utter unbelief of those whom Noah continually warned while he and his family labored on the ark (cf. 1 Peter 3:20).
What a stunning portrait of today. The Gospel shouts out the Good News that in Christ we can be saved from coming judgment. Those with faith respond with “holy fear,” and hurry to Christ for refuge. But the unbeliever scoffs, and continues to ignore warning of imminent disaster.
The fact that so many choose to stay on in California’s earthquake zones reminds us how unreal the future is for most human beings. Most of us live as though today were everything, and tomorrow unreal. But Scripture tells us that there, just over the horizon of tomorrow, a juggernaught of judgment waits. It is unwise to live on a fault line in an earthquake zone. But it is utterly foolish to remain outside of Christ, exposed to the judgment that most surely will come.

Personal Application
Tomorrow is real. Take it into account as you live today.

Quotable
“We should all be concerned about the future because we will have to spend the rest of our lives there.”—Charles F. Kettering