Verse of the Day: (23:10) But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
1.Gold (23:1-17)
Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. (23:12)
Gold is precious and expensive because it is a rare commodity. When Job inspired by the Holy Spirit mentioned that God knew what he was going through, he actually knew to a certain extent that God was testing his faith. Though Job lamented the great suffering that God had afflicted him, yet in his heart He knew that God was working in his life. In fact, during this difficult time, he kept listening to what God had to say to him, and hence drew closer to Him than ever before. Indeed, we are closer to God during the trials of our life as we desperately need Him to comfort us. This is why the trial of our faith is more precious than the gold that perishes, as it truly authenticates our dependence on God. God’s ultimate goal is for us to testify His greatness and goodness amid our sorrow and suffering so that all shall come to know that He is the true and living God. (1 Peter 1:6-9)
2.God (24:1-12)
Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them. (24:12)
Job cried out to God as to why He did not judge and punish the wicked who deceived and oppressed the weak and the helpless, and took every opportunity to enrich themselves at the expense of others including the poor and the needy. He was at his wit’s end as it seemed that God was not judging them, and that they could get away with their crimes and wickedness. Indeed, though the wicked may not be punished in this world, yet one day God shall punish them in hell. Though the righteous may suffer now, yet one day they shall enjoy heaven with God. Indeed, blessed are they who trust and obey God for they shall have the right to the tree of life and be with Him forever. (Revelation 22:1-21)
3.Good (24:13-25)
He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow. (24:21)
Job mourned and groaned that God allowed the wicked to oppress the widow and the weak, while the righteous were crying out for help. However, let us know that all things work together for good to them who love God and are the called according to His purpose. God allows crises and challenges in our lives so as to strengthen and solidify our faith in Him, and that we shall eventually come forth as gold. Our present suffering is nothing compare to the glory that He shall reveal to us in His home in heaven. (Romans 8:18-39)
Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to endure my trial so that I shall come forth as gold.
Verse of the Day: (21:15) What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
1.Almighty (21:1-26)
His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty. (21:20)
Why do the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer? This was Job asking the Almighty God when his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, insisted that only the wicked would suffer and the righteous would prosper, and that since Job lost his precious family and possessions, he must be a wicked man. Job’s friends subscribed to the belief that the Almighty shall only bless the righteous and punish the wicked. Though Job rejected their presumption, yet he himself doubted God as to why He allowed suffering in his life, even though he had been righteous. He questioned God as to His identity and as to what were the benefits of the righteous who served and pray to Him, if all they received from Him were pain and grief. Job’s friends not only never comfort and encourage him, but they falsely accused him of hypocrisy. Job did not understand that God was testing his faith, until at the end of his life, when he prayed for his friends who misunderstood him that God blessed him with another 10 children and doubled his wealth. (Job 42:10-17) Indeed, though the wicked may enjoy and prosper in this life, but when they die, they shall be eternally condemned to hell, and though the righteous may suffer in this life, but when they die, they shall be in heaven enjoying God’s presence forever. (Revelation 21:1-27)
2.Ask (21:27-34)
Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens. (21:29)
Job concurred with his friends that God shall punish the wicked but he wavered in his faith as to why He allowed him to suffer much even when he was trusting Him. Indeed, we may not fully understand why God allows severe trials in our lives, but let us keep asking Him to grant us patience and wisdom, knowing that one day, we shall receive the crown of life in heaven which He has promised to those who love Him. (James 1:1-27)
3.Acquaint (22:1-30)
Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. (22:21)
Eliphaz rejected Job’s justification that God was testing him in all his suffering, as he sharply rebuked Job that he should truly acquaint with God, and repent his hypocrisy and wickedness. Job strongly disagreed with Eliphaz as he knew that God was His Redeemer, and he had been faithfully serving Him. (Job 19:25-27) Indeed, God is our Redeemer and Almighty, and let us continue to love and serve Him now and forever. (Psalm 55:12-23)
Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to love and serve You, the Almighty, now and forever.
Verse of the Day: (19:25) For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
1.Reproach (19:1-24)
These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me. (19:3)
Job vented his frustration at his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, as the last ten times they had repeatedly reproached him for committing secret sins. Though time and again he had patiently explained to them that he had not done any wickedness yet they would not believe him. They believed that God would not severely afflict His people unless they had rebelled against him, and therefore they believed that Job must have sinned against Him. Job’s faith was tested to the fullest as though he trusted God yet it seemed God was like his enemy tormenting him with his tragic loss and ill health. His life crumbled down as his wife treated him like a stranger, his friends falsely accused him, and everyone despised him. Indeed, let us only look to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and serve and please Him, as only He understand our reproach as He had also suffered reproach for us, and eventually gave His life at the cross but for the sins of the world. (Romans 15:1-3)
2.Redeemer (19:25-29)
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: (19:26)
God must have spoken to Job of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who shall one day come to this earth, and redeem man from the curse of the first sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve. (Genesis 3:1-21) By faith, Job believed that one day he would die, and worms would destroy his body, yet he knew that his soul would never die because God, his Redeemer, shall live forever. Indeed, Jesus came and died on the cross, and He was made a curse for us, and whoever believes in Him shall never die, but shall see his Redeemer, and live with Him in His eternal home in heaven forever. (Galatians 3:13-14)
3.Reveal (20:1-29)
The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him. (20:27)
Zophar counselled Job to admit his sins, and insisted that God would never afflict His people if they had not committed any evil. He believed that Job must have oppressed the people in his pursuit of his wealth, and this was why God punished him by taking away his precious possessions and dearest children. He believed that God had finally revealed Job’s iniquity, and the only way out for him was to repent his sins. However, Zophar was wrong, as Job did not sin against God. Indeed, let us only heed God’s high calling, as only He shall reveal to us His perfect will in our service for Him. (Philippians 3:13-15)
Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, thank You that I never die because Jesus, my Redeemer, lives forever.
Verse of the Day: (18:7) The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his counsel shall cast him down.
1.Sorrow (17:1-16)
Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow. (17:7)
Job lamented about life especially his great sorrow and struggle with the immense loss of his precious children and possessions. Job’s eyes were covered with tears of sorrow and his life was like a shadow waiting to vanish and be with God and his loved ones in pearly heaven. Job had the confidence that he had done his best with his daily devotion and sacrifices of burnt offerings for his sins and those of his loved ones. He believed that they had lived lives that were pleasing to their God. Indeed, let us continue to love and serve God amid sorrow and pain, as one day when we get to glorious heaven we shall have no more sorrow or pain, as we are with Him and our loved ones forever. (Revelation 21:1-4)
2.Steps (18:1-18)
For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare. (18:8)
Bildad, Job’s friend, rebuked Job for treating him and Eliphaz and Zophar as though they were his enemies just because they had counselled him to repent of his hypocrisy and wickedness. Bildad presumed that Job’s steps of strength had become his weakness as he had fallen into secret sins, and that the only way out for him was to truly repent them. However, little did they know that God was actually testing Job, and not that he had reaped the consequences of his sins. Let us thus keep walking in the steps of the strength of our Lord Jesus Christ as only He is our Strength in time of our crises. (1 Peter 2:21-25)
3.Son (18:19-21)
He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings. (18:19)
Job was a patient man as he kept enduring all his friends’ false accusations including Bildad’s presumption that the death of his 7 sons and 3 daughters was God’s curse upon him such that his name shall no longer be remembered on this earth. (James 5:11) Though God’s judgment and curse are upon the wicked yet He is patient and not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. In fact, at the end of Job’s life, not only God blessed him another 7 sons and 3 daughters, but He also blessed him twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10-17) Let us thus be careful and sensitive when we counsel those who are in crises, and fervently pray for God’s comfort to be upon them. Let God be the Judge, and let us counsel wisely that ultimately all shall come to know that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God, the Saviour of the whole world. (1 John 5:1-21)
Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to follow Your steps from here to Your home in heaven.
Verse of the Day: (16:22) When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.
1.Wise (15:1-19)
Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? (15:2)
Eliphaz, Job’s friend, believed that God shall richly bless His righteous people, and severely judge the hypocrites and wicked ones, like Job. He rebuked Job for justifying his sins and refusing to confess and repent them. He falsely accused Job of being a hypocrite as in behaving like a righteous man but inwardly he was wicked. Job was immensely hurt by Eliphaz’s judgment as he knew that he had not committed any known sins. Unless and until Job used God’s wisdom to know that it was His test of his faith in Him, he would never come to terms with his suffering. Indeed God’s wisdom is never man’s wisdom, as even His foolishness is wiser than man’s. Let us thus seek God and His wisdom as only in His wisdom shall we fully understand our trial and suffering. (1 Corinthians 1:18-31)
2.Wicked (15:20-35)
The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor. (15:20)
Eliphaz believed that Job’s sufferings were the direct consequences of his wickedness and rebellion against God. He mocked at Job that he would never succeed in deceiving God as He is omniscience, omnipotent and omnipresent. Job must have been very frustrated by Eliphaz’s false accusations. Indeed, let us flee from sins and wicked men lest they influence us to commit wickedness together with them. (1 Corinthians 5:11-13)
3.Way (16:1-22)
I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all. (16:2)
Not only Job’s friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar failed miserably to comfort him, worst still they aggravated his pain and grief by judging and falsely accused him of being a hypocrite and wicked man. Job told his friends that it was easy for them to judge and falsely accuse him, but wait until they were in his dire situation than they would know that it was God’s hand upon him. Though Job could not fully understand God’s way, yet he fully trusted Him in everything. He might have murmured and complained about his friends who were now like his enemies, and the intense pain and grief of his loss of his precious children and possessions, but deep down in his heart, he knew without a shadow of doubt that the Almighty God was his only refuge and hiding place. Job knew that man’s life was just a few years as compared to God’s eternity, and he could just patiently wait for Him to call him to His eternal home in glorious heaven. Indeed, what a day it shall be when we all get to heaven! Let us truly believe in and receive Jesus Christ, God’s Son, as He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, to God, our Heavenly Father. (John 14:1-6)
Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, thank You that I know that Jesus Christ is the only Way to heaven.
Verse of the Day: (13:15) Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
1.Trust (13:1-19)
Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God. (13:3)
Again Job told his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, that he was equal to them and in no way inferior to them, and what happened to him might also happened to them, as he believed that he had not committed any known sins. In fact, Job sharply rebuked them for being liars, and of no help to him in his pain and suffering, and they would be wiser if they just be silent, and not falsely accused him for committing secret sins. At this point of time, Job knew that he must continue to trust in God though he could not fully understand His ways. Indeed, God would only reveal to Job when he finally surrendered his life to His sovereign will. Let us thus fully trust in God, and not in ourselves, or others, as only He can truly grant us salvation, and miraculously raise the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:8-11)
2.Things (13:20-28)
Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee. (13:20)
Job prayed to God that he would not hide himself from Him if He would grant him 2 things; the first thing was that He would not frighten or hurt him, and the second thing was that He would answer him. God fulfilled his requests as He truly loved him. God was testing Job’s faith so that he himself would know that he fully trusted Him no matter what happened to him. Indeed, we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, and to them who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28-39)
3.Trouble (14:1-22)
Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. (14:1)
Job lamented that he was never in control of anything. He had planned for his future and his children’s future, but all came down to nothing, as God took the lives of his precious children as if He took away his future from him. Job concluded that the life of a man born of a woman was short lived, yet full of trouble. He compared life with a flower that shall soon withered away, and a shadow that shall soon vanish. Job questioned God concerning the meaning and purpose of life. He had come to a point where he desired to die, and be with God, and his dearest children who had gone ahead of him. He reasoned with God that he would rather die than to live through life with all the suffering. These were the thoughts running in Job’s mind, until God finally enlightened him in the end. Indeed, in this world we shall have trouble, but let us be of good cheer, for God is merciful, and full of comfort, and He shall have mercies on us, and shall comfort us in all our trouble, so that in turn, we are able to comfort others who are also in trouble. (2 Corinthians 1:1-7)
Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to completely trust in You whether in life or in death.
Verse of the Day: (12:23) He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again.
1.Iniquity (11:1-20)
And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth. (11:6)
It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. Instead of encouraging Job, all his friends including Zophar were judging him, and telling him not to justify himself for his iniquities, and kept persuading him to confess and repent of his sins, and to truly get right with God. Zophar even went to the extent of telling Job not to be self-righteous and proud, and that his tragic loss could be even worse. It must have grieved and hurt Job very much as his friends not only did not comfort him, but they hurt him with allegations that he had sinned against God. Let us thus be sensitive when dealing with or counselling people who have lost their loved ones as we need to empathise with them, and be careful with our words, and be silent, and just be with them, and praying for them. (James 3:1-12)
2.Inferior (12:1-8)
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these? (12:3)
Though Job knew that God was omnipotent, omniscience and omnipresent, and that God knew that he did not commit any known sins, yet he wondered as to why He allowed these crises to befall him. This was why Job answered Zophar that he was not inferior to him. Indeed, we are all sinners saved only by God’s grace, and no one or church is superior or inferior to anyone or church as we are all His people. Let us therefore fully trust and obey God knowing He knows best what is best for us. (2 Corinthians 12:1-13)
3.Increaseth (12:9-25)
Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? (12:9)
Job knew that only God had the answers to all his crises as His hand was in control of everything. God creates the earth and every living thing including man made in His image, and He can give and also take away our very lives. God also gives and takes away the power of leaders of all nations. Today, as we witness the trade war of 2 superpowers – America and China – and the threats and effects of global warming, we can conclude that God allows these crises and challenges to remind us that our lives are like vapours, and that we must repent our sins, and receive Jesus, the Son of God, as our personal Saviour. Let us thus believe in Jesus as He must increase in our hearts, and we must decrease, and one day we shall have a heaven to gain, and a hell to shun. (John 3:25-36)
Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to submit to You as You are in control of everything.
Verse of the Day: (9:26) They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.
1.Earth (9:1-25)
Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. (9:6)
Job replied to Bildad, his friend, that he had examined himself, and did not find any known sins that he would reap the consequences of his tragic losses of his children and possessions. He believed he was almost a perfect man and in control of his life, and God had blessed him with a loving family and abundance of possessions, until suddenly he lost them in one day! Only at the later stage of his life, did he realise that it was Satan who asked God for permission to test his faith, by taking away everything that he had. Thank God, Job did not charge Him foolishly, realising that he had no control of his life, and it is only God who is in control of his life and everything. Indeed, God is in control of everything, as He is the Creator and Maker of the entire universe, the sky, the stars, the earth, the seas and the creatures, including man, made in His own image. (Acts 14:8-18)
2.Eagle (9:26-35)
Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both. (9:33)
Though Job’s days were as swift the eagle swooping its prey, yet he wished he could soon be with God as he missed his precious children. In fact, he was prophesying of the Messiah, the Daysman or Mediator, who shall not only reconcile God with man, but who truly understood what man had to go through in this life. Indeed, Jesus, the Messiah, came and went through worst suffering than Job, when He was humiliated and subsequently crucified not for His own sins, but the sins of the whole world. Let us keep looking to Jesus, and keep waiting upon Him, as we renew our strength, and mount up with wings as eagles, and run and not be weary, and walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)
3.Eyes (10:1-22)
Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth? (10:4)
Job asserted that only when he saw his crises through God’s eyes, and not his eyes would he understand what God was teaching him, otherwise he was weary of his life, and was in bitterness, and wished he was never born. Only in God’s eyes could he see light, otherwise he saw darkness even when there was light. This was especially so when Job searched his heart, and did not find any known sins he had committed that warranted the great crises. He knew of others who were evil and wicked, and yet they were not experiencing what he experienced. He could not understand God’s way, and only when he saw his crises in God’s eyes did he understand that they were for his good. Indeed, whatever we are going through, let God open our eyes that we see our crises in His eyes, that they are good for us, as they solidify and strengthen our faith in Him. (Acts 26:15-18)
Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, my life is in Your hand as it is as fast as the eagle swooping on its prey.
Verse of the Day: (8:20) Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers:
1.Preserver (7:1-21)
I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself? (7:20)
Job cried to God to take him home to heaven as his intense pain and agony of his severe ailment and the loss of his precious children and possessions overwhelmed him. He knew that God is a Preserver and Taker of lives, and he wished that He would take his life so that he could be with Him and his loved ones in heaven. He confessed to God that he had sinned against Him, and that he should be the one that God would take his life instead of his precious children. Indeed, when God takes away our loved ones, we wish we can be with Him and our loved ones in heaven, yet we must learn to wait upon Him that He preserved us blameless till He calls us home or His glorious return. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
2.Pure (8:1-19)
If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous. (8:6)
Bildad, Job’s friend, encouraged Job to confess and repent his sins as he believed that his tragic loss was the result of his sins against the Almighty God. Indeed, it is logical for people including Christians to think that tragedy happens to people because of the consequences of their wicked deeds as in the sowing and reaping principle. However, in God’s spiritual realm it may not be always the case. Here God was testing Job’s faith because of the Devil’s false accusation that he would definitely deny Him when all his loved ones and possessions were taken from him. It is not that God does not know Job’s faith, but it was to prove to the Devil, and to Job himself, that he truly had great faith in his God amid tragedy. Let us therefore continue to keep a pure and holy mind and heart amid tragedy knowing that God’s peace is with us now and forever. (Philippians 4:6-9)
3.Perfect (8:20-22)
They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought. (8:22)
Bildad asserted that God would not allow Job to suffer so much if he was a perfect man in God’s righteousness. Therefore Job must have done much wickedness to deserve these punishments, and that God shall only forgive him when he truly confessed and repented his sins. Let us thus be humble, sober and vigilant knowing that the Devil is like a roaring lion seeking to destroy our testimony with false accusation and we must keep trusting God that He shall help and make us perfect in Him through His grace. (1 Peter 5:6-11)
Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to become a perfect man only in Your righteousness.
Verse of the Day: (6:24) Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
1.Touch (5:1-27)
He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. (5:19)
Eliphaz, Job’s friend, insisted that Job should confess and repent his sins, as he had reaped what he had sowed. In fact, he told Job that he should be happy that God had corrected him. Though it was painful and tragic for Job to lose his precious loved ones and possessions, yet it was necessary to prove that whom God loved He chastised. Eliphaz strongly believed that no evil shall touch God’s believers if they had committed no sin. Eliphaz was wrong as evil can touch God’s believers as He allows it to test our faith. Indeed, our seven or last trouble is death, and if we truly believe in God, even death to a believer is sleep, as when we awake, we shall see Jesus, our Saviour, in His home in heaven. Let us thus continue our faith in God as He shall deliver us from all troubles, even death, and shall ultimately prevail all evils even as they touch us. (Hebrews 11:28)
2.Terrors (6:1-23)
For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me. (6:4)
Job explained to Eliphaz that he knew where he was coming from, yet he kept sharing with him his grief as God’s terror was upon him. Indeed, our grief may be God’s test on our faith, but let us look to Job, and especially Christ, who was made to be sin for us who knew no sin, so that we are made God’s righteousness in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:11-21)
3.Teach (6:24-30)
Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things? (6:30)
Job pleaded with God to teach him to control his tongue so as to stop complaining and murmuring because of the pain and agony that he was going through. He kept asking God where he had gone wrong or what sins he had committed that had resulted in the tragic losses. Job did not fully understand that his great trials were the result of God granting the Devil’s permission to test the genuineness of his faith. Let us therefore learn from Job’s example of his great perseverance and persistence of his faith even though he did sin against God, so that as we go through the same trials, we can persevere through them, and teach others of the lessons we have learnt. Let us also learn to control our tongues, as we go through life storms and struggles, and instead of complaining and murmuring, let us be thankful and grateful to God for all the pain and agony we went through. It is easier said than done, yet we must truly strive to do what is right before God, so that we shall eventually finish our Christian race with His commendation and praise! (2 Timothy 2:1-2)
Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please teach me to search my heart and confess and repent of my sins.
