Week 37 Clarity After the Storm
“Experience is a good teacher, but her fees are very high.”
Father William Ralph Inge
Passage
7“But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you; And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you.
8“Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you; And let the fish of the sea declare to you.
9“Who among all these does not know That the hand of the Lord has done this,
10In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?
11“Does not the ear test words, As the palate tastes its food?
12“Wisdom is with aged men, With long life is understanding.
13“With Him are wisdom and might; To Him belong counsel and understanding.
Job 12:7–13 (NASB95)
Background
Quote- William Ralph Inge (6 June 1860 – 26 February 1954) was an English author, Anglican priest, professor of divinity at Cambridge, and dean of St Paul's Cathedral, he was widely known by his title as Dean Inge. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times.
Inge was a prolific author. In addition to scores of articles, lectures, and sermons, he also wrote over 35 books. Inge was a columnist for the Evening Standard for many years, finishing in 1946.
He is best known for his works on Plotinus and neoplatonic philosophy, and on Christian mysticism, but also wrote on general topics of life and current politics.
He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times.
Inge was a strong proponent of the spiritual type of religion—"that autonomous faith which rests upon experience and individual inspiration"—as opposed to one of coercive authority. He was therefore outspoken in his criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church. His thought, on the whole, represents a blending of traditional Christian theology with elements of Platonic philosophy. He shares this in common with one of his favourite writers, Benjamin Whichcote, the first of the Cambridge Platonists.
Passage-The book of Job is Narrative History. Its author is unknown yet it is possible that Job himself wrote it. It is possible that Job is the oldest of any book of the Bible written approximately 2100-1800 B.C. Key personalities of this book include Job, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the Naamathite, and Elihu the Buzite.
In Job, we see a man who God allows to be directly attacked by Satan. He is an example of faithfulness as he loses everything important to him yet remains faithful to God. Its purpose is to illustrate God’s sovereignty and faithfulness during a time of great suffering.
Lesson Notes
Opening Statement
How do we learn from other people? We listen, but sometimes it is very hard to listen to the wisdom of people we disagree with or see as strange. Does being a Christian and a child of God put an obligation on us to listen differently to all people?
Ask: Why is “wisdom with aged men” as in verse twelve from Today’s Passage?
Point: They have survived the mistakes of youth and learned something from the trials and tribulations those mistakes took them through.
Ask: Why is God suggesting to Job to let the birds, the beasts, the earth, and the fish teach Job?
Point: God is the Creator of all things. In the thing created, we can see the hand of the Creator through the orderly and specific way things are made. Please re-read verse ten from today’s passage:
10In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?
Job 12:10 (NASB95)
Ask: Does it bother you to hear that your life and very breath is in God’s had as in verse ten?
Point: For those who name themselves Christians it should not. Please read the following:
11‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB95)
Ask: Is that all there is? Does it just work that God does it all?
Point: No. It does not “just work” because God does it all. Please read the following:
12‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
13‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
14‘I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’
Jeremiah 29:12–14 (NASB95)
Ask: That sounds like God causes all our problems. Does He?
Point: Sometimes, yes but only to correct behavior He doesn’t approve of and to cause His children to become better people. Please read the following:
5and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
6For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”
Hebrews 12:5–6 (NASB95)
Ask: Are all our storms in life the result of God punishing us?
Point: No. Some are the results of our bad decisions. Please read the following:
7Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
8For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
9Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.
Galatians 6:7–9 (NASB95)
Ask: If God loves us and wants the best for His children why does He punish us at all?
Point: To help us grow and improve, growing closer to His ways instead of worldly ways. Please read the following:
9The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
2 Peter 3:9–10 (NASB95)
Ask: What do repentance from sin and having clarity after the storm have to do with each other?
Point: On the other side of hardships we should evaluate those difficulties and see if the storms were caused by our bad decisions or something God would like us to change about ourselves.
Ask: Is there a third option to the causes of hardship, difficulties, and storms in life?
Point: Yes. Collateral damage from being around someone else’s chastisement or bad decisions.
Ask: What do we do if we’re caught up in difficulties we have no control over?
Point: Please read the following as the closing statement:
5The coastlands have seen and are afraid; The ends of the earth tremble; They have drawn near and have come.
6Each one helps his neighbor And says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7So the craftsman encourages the smelter, And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil, Saying of the soldering, “It is good”; And he fastens it with nails, So that it will not totter.
8“But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of Abraham My friend,
9You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its remotest parts And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you.
10‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
Isaiah 41:5–10 (NASB95)
Questions for the Week
Question 1 Re-read the closing statement passage from Isaiah above.
Question 2 Contemplate how you are “My servant” that God is referring to here, “…whom I have taken from the ends of the earth.”
Question 3 How do you serve God as His servant in the context of Isaiah’s passage?
Question 4 Re-read the Isaiah passage again but this time consider yourself a servant of God in the roll of reassuring other servants whom God has called in such a way that they believe verse 10.
Question 5 Do you believe verse 10 is true about yourself and your position with God?
Question 6 What can you do or what steps can you take to reinforce or if you don not feel it describes you, step into the position of a servant of God so verse ten is true about you?
Definitions
Servant
sur-vuhnt
noun
a person employed by another, especially to perform domestic duties.
a person in the service of another.
a person employed by the government: a public servant.
Hebrew Strong’s Number: 5650
Hebrew Word: עֶבֶד
Transliteration: ʿebed
Phonetic Pronunciation: eh’-bed
Root: from <H5647>
Cross Reference: TWOT - 1553a
Part of Speech: n m
Vine’s Words: Serve (To)
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
servant 744
manservant 23
bondman 21
bondage 10
bondservant 1
on all sides 1
[Total Count: 800]
from <H5647> (`abad); a servant:- × bondage, bondman, [bond-] servant, (man-) servant.