Day 31
Job 19:1-21:34
(19 | 20 | 21)
Job remains unconvinced that he's actually done anything wrong. But if he has, he believes that that's his problem, that his friends shouldn't be concerned about that. They should be concerned about God's judgement on their own lives first and foremost. Additionally, his friends should be pitying him not trying to bring him down further, he argues. Job laments everything he's lost. Yet even in this, he continues to exalt God, and looks forward to the day when they can meet.
Zophar seems to feel insulted and feels prompted to reel off the fate that befalls the godless and the wicked. He highlights how ephemeral their existence is, as well as any happiness they may feel. Quite what he feels he's contributing to the conversation at this stage, I'm not sure. Maybe I've missed something, but I don't see what Zophar's reply really has to do with Job's point. Anyway.
Job observes that the lives of the godless - more than that, the lives of those who reject God - seems to remain unaffected. Job acknowledges that it is usually the offspring of the godless who feel God's punishment, but asks that the policy be changed so that it is the perpetrators who feel God's wrath. Job reads between the lines of what his friends have been saying, and tells them that their words are nothing but nonsense and lies.
Matthew 21:1-17
(21:1-17)
From the very start of his ministry, Jesus and, eventually, his disciples have been preaching the gospel, or good news. From our modern perspective, the good news is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the fact that he sacrificed himself as an atonement offering for all our sins. However, at the time, the gospel had a different meaning. It signalled the coming of a new emperor or king - "Guys, the emperor is dead. But don't despair, I bring good news! We have a new emperor!". They would have heard it last around a decade previously when the emperor Augustus Caesar was succeeded by Tiberius. So when Jesus and his disciples were preaching the good news, they were preaching about the coming of a new king.
People who were aware of Jesus and his reputation as the Son of David were expecting his entry to Jerusalem to be the start of the toppling of the Roman Empire's control of Israel. So it's telling that Jesus chooses to arrive, not on a stallion, but on a donkey. In previous chapters, Jesus says that he did not come to be served, rather he came to serve. His arrival in Jerusalem is not a claim to the throne, rather it is an indication of his coming to serve the lost sheep of Israel.
Jesus' anger at merchants turning his Father's house of prayer into a den of robbers is because the merchants were ripping people off. The money used to pay the temple tax had to be in a certain currency. Worshippers coming from all over brought different currency. This money had to be changed in order to be valid, so the merchants did so - for a hefty commission. Additionally, merchants were ripping off worshippers for animals for sacrifice. The sacrifice laws in Leviticus stipulated which animals had to be used for different types of offering, and how many should be used in each case. If you didn't have the animals yourself, you could buy them - again, the prices were over the top. So this is what Jesus was so enraged about.
Psalm 18:1-6
(18:1-6)
David sang this psalm to God when he had been delivered from his enemies, and specifically from Saul, the reigning King of Israel from whom the anointing of God had been removed, and transferred to David. The first six verses glorify God, and thank him for answering David's call.
Job 19:1-21:34
(19 | 20 | 21)
Job remains unconvinced that he's actually done anything wrong. But if he has, he believes that that's his problem, that his friends shouldn't be concerned about that. They should be concerned about God's judgement on their own lives first and foremost. Additionally, his friends should be pitying him not trying to bring him down further, he argues. Job laments everything he's lost. Yet even in this, he continues to exalt God, and looks forward to the day when they can meet.
Zophar seems to feel insulted and feels prompted to reel off the fate that befalls the godless and the wicked. He highlights how ephemeral their existence is, as well as any happiness they may feel. Quite what he feels he's contributing to the conversation at this stage, I'm not sure. Maybe I've missed something, but I don't see what Zophar's reply really has to do with Job's point. Anyway.
Job observes that the lives of the godless - more than that, the lives of those who reject God - seems to remain unaffected. Job acknowledges that it is usually the offspring of the godless who feel God's punishment, but asks that the policy be changed so that it is the perpetrators who feel God's wrath. Job reads between the lines of what his friends have been saying, and tells them that their words are nothing but nonsense and lies.
Matthew 21:1-17
(21:1-17)
From the very start of his ministry, Jesus and, eventually, his disciples have been preaching the gospel, or good news. From our modern perspective, the good news is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the fact that he sacrificed himself as an atonement offering for all our sins. However, at the time, the gospel had a different meaning. It signalled the coming of a new emperor or king - "Guys, the emperor is dead. But don't despair, I bring good news! We have a new emperor!". They would have heard it last around a decade previously when the emperor Augustus Caesar was succeeded by Tiberius. So when Jesus and his disciples were preaching the good news, they were preaching about the coming of a new king.
People who were aware of Jesus and his reputation as the Son of David were expecting his entry to Jerusalem to be the start of the toppling of the Roman Empire's control of Israel. So it's telling that Jesus chooses to arrive, not on a stallion, but on a donkey. In previous chapters, Jesus says that he did not come to be served, rather he came to serve. His arrival in Jerusalem is not a claim to the throne, rather it is an indication of his coming to serve the lost sheep of Israel.
Jesus' anger at merchants turning his Father's house of prayer into a den of robbers is because the merchants were ripping people off. The money used to pay the temple tax had to be in a certain currency. Worshippers coming from all over brought different currency. This money had to be changed in order to be valid, so the merchants did so - for a hefty commission. Additionally, merchants were ripping off worshippers for animals for sacrifice. The sacrifice laws in Leviticus stipulated which animals had to be used for different types of offering, and how many should be used in each case. If you didn't have the animals yourself, you could buy them - again, the prices were over the top. So this is what Jesus was so enraged about.
Psalm 18:1-6
(18:1-6)
David sang this psalm to God when he had been delivered from his enemies, and specifically from Saul, the reigning King of Israel from whom the anointing of God had been removed, and transferred to David. The first six verses glorify God, and thank him for answering David's call.
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