The Patience Of Job
…You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. (James 5:11)
It’s truly amazing the conclusions we will arrive at when we let the explanations given in the epistkes oncerning the experiences we read in the holy scriptures shape our thinking and understanding
42 chapters of the account of the life of Job is summarized by apostle James in one loaded verse
A verse that says so much to us about how to interpret what we have read despite how it appears
Keep in mind that James received his explanation and understanding of the holy scriptures (old testament) directly from Jesus who taught them for 40 days after he rose from the dead
The patience of Job here is a reference to his faith
James says what we see revealed out of Job’s steadfastness in the midst of his trials is how tender and merciful God really is such that what would have destroyed Job became an avenue for God to restore him
God didn’t send the trials
Satan did
The revelation that it wasn’t God behind his afflictions eventually brought Job out and he enjoyed God’s mercy and full restoration
The book of Job is not about how long it takes God to come to our aid or how we need to struggle first before he helps us
It’s about God’s tender mercies despite our errors
So as we read all that is written in the old testament, we are to arm ourselves with the explanations given to us via the epistles as interpretations of the actual events
For instance :
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
— (2 Corinthians 11:3)
In simple terms we are told here that what took place in the garden of eden was a spiritual transaction that involved the mind of Eve
Her mind was corrupted
No physical fruit was eaten. Fruit was only used as a figure of speech to explain what took place
Jesus taught that what goes into a man’s mouth ( physical food) cannot defile him. It is what comes out via his thoughts that can
Eve’s mind was corrupted from the simplicity (sincere and single minded generousity) which God had offered by Satan’s deception
May the revelation of God’s tender mercies keep you and yours
Amen!
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