Scripture Focus: Job 10.20-22
20 Are not my few days almost over?
    Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy
21 before I go to the place of no return,
    to the land of gloom and utter darkness,
22 to the land of deepest night,
    of utter darkness and disorder,
    where even the light is like darkness.

Reflection: Visions of Death
By Erin Newton

It is hard to imagine living in a time when faith in God did not also have a clearer picture of life after death. Today, we are immersed in visions of heaven—warm light, shining streets of gold, endless peace. This truth was not yet revealed in the days of Job.

We often place our hope during suffering in the restoration in the life to come. How can Job endure his suffering, continue in his faith without such assurance in an afterlife?

Job is not alone in his perspective of death. The Old Testament depicts death as a shadowy existence, non-activity, a place where you are cut off from communion with God. Death is accepted as the natural order of humanity. How does that affect Job and his peers? It shifts one’s concentration to this life.

The pinnacle of existence in the Old Testament was a long life devoted to the worship of God. Seeking God in one’s youth could ensure the maximum time available to serve and praise God in a lifetime. The goal to teach younger people about God would provide a sense of eternal service. The hymns of praise we envision around the throne of God would be sung here on earth from generation to generation.

The great tragedy was when a life was cut short, and a person died young. We resonate with this type of pain. While those before Christ would emphasize how the person cannot praise God in death, we tend to focus on missed opportunities of human living.

We have been granted the benefit of a fuller picture of God’s grace and mercy. We can read of heaven and the eternal praise offered to God by saints of old. The tragedy of a short life can be redeemed in the eternal life with God. This is the hope we cling to.

But what if we embrace the here-now mentality of Job? How can we view this life as worth living and worth living to its fullest? How can our present sufferings still be a life of praise?

Job continues in his faith by seeking God. He’s brutally honest, but he keeps talking. God will answer in time.

At the end of our desperation, we will continue to think of heaven and find peace in that vision. We cannot now unsee what has been revealed. Praise God for such a gift.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. — Psalm 86.4

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Job 10 (Listen 2:12) 
John 10 (Listen 4:44)

Read more about How Not to Read Scripture
If the Bible is an instruction manual, we should skim it and toss it in the closet. No one ever found joy and companionship re-reading an instruction manual.

Read The Bible With Us
It’s never too late to join our Bible reading plan. Get to know the Bible better, at a sustainable, two-year pace, and improve your relationship with God.

https://mailchi.mp/theparkforum/m-f-daily-email-devotional

Scripture Focus: Job 10.12-14
12 You gave me life and showed me kindness, 
and in your providence watched over my spirit. 
13 “But this is what you concealed in your heart, 
and I know that this was in your mind: 
14 If I sinned, you would be watching me 
and would not let my offense go unpunished. 

From John: As we embark on this new order of reading the Bible, it seems appropriate to look back on this rewritten reminder from 2020 of how NOT to read the Bible.

Reflection: How Not to Read Scripture
By John Tillman

In part of today’s passage, Job describes a God who seems deceptive. Job accuses God of using kindness to mask a secret desire to harm Job when he inevitably sins. Is this God real? Should we be ducking for cover from a God who is out to get us?

Sometimes when we read the Bible we forget who is talking and why. It is not always God talking. Every phrase is not always an actionable directive or nugget of “truth” we can apply. We need to see the bigger picture.

In this passage, God is not telling us that he is out to get us. Job is sharing his emotionally charged opinion with his friends. Job is conjecturing, not speaking for God. Later, God will condemn Job’s words as “darkening his counsels” and being “words without knowledge.” (Job 38.1-3)

We also can “darken God’s counsels” when we speak words from the Bible without knowledge. It is an error to think of the scripture as the “words of God” instead of the “Word of God.” The Bible is God’s Word—his perfect revelation, but it is not a transcript of God’s unambiguous commands. The Bible is a work of art, not a manual.

Some may fear this lowers the Bible’s authority or lessens the miraculous spiritual nature of the Bible. The opposite is true. We rob the Word of God of its power when we think of it as merely an owner’s manual of unimaginative, dictated instructions. No analogy is perfect but the instruction manual analogy for the Bible is particularly flawed. 

If the Bible is an instruction manual, we should skim it and toss it in the closet. This is how many DO treat it but this is how not to read scripture. No one ever found joy and companionship from re-reading an instruction manual. 

The Bible is more akin to a pointillistic painting. When you zoom in far enough, all you might see is a few dots of red, blue, or yellow. You have to step back to see the likeness the artist has created.

This is why is it vital that Christians read the whole Bible and read it regularly and why we follow a whole-Bible reading plan. In this way, we are equipped to view the Word of God as a work of art that reveals who God is, what God is doing, and what God expects us to do. 

*View the world’s most famous pointillistic painting, “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte”, by Georges Seurat at this link.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy Name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. — Psalm 103.1-2a

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Job 10 (Listen – 2:12)
Psalm 17 (Listen – 1:58)

Read more from How to Read Prophetic Judgment
There are many prophecies that are meant to comfort us. But the more typical function of prophecy is to cause us discomfort.

Join us! Walk through the Bible with us…
Share this subscription link with friends, family, or your community of faith. Find meaning in the Bible this year!

https://mailchi.mp/theparkforum/m-f-daily-email-devotional

Scripture Focus: Job 10.12-14
      You gave me life and showed me kindness, 
         and in your providence watched over my spirit. 
      “But this is what you concealed in your heart, 
         and I know that this was in your mind: 
      If I sinned, you would be watching me 
         and would not let my offense go unpunished. 

Reflection: How Not to Read Scripture
By John Tillman

In part of today’s passage, Job describes a God who seems deceptive. Job accuses God of using kindness to mask a secret desire to harm Job when he inevitably sins. Is this God real? Should we be ducking for cover from a God who is out to get us?

Sometimes when we read the Bible we forget who is talking and why. It is not always God talking and every phrase or group of words is not always an actionable directive or nugget of “truth” we can apply. We need to see the bigger picture.

In this passage, God is not telling us that he is out to get us. Job is sharing his emotionally charged opinion with his friends. Job is conjecturing, not speaking for God. Later, God will condemn Job’s words as “darkening his counsels” and being “words without knowledge.” (Job 38.1-3)

We also can “darken God’s counsels” (or obscure his plans, as the NIV puts it) when we speak words from the Bible without knowledge. It is an error to think of the scripture as the “words of God” instead of the “Word of God.” The Bible is God’s Word—his perfect revelation, but it is not a transcript of God’s unambiguous commands. The Bible is a work of art, not a manual.

Some may fear this lowers the Bible’s authority or lessens the miraculous spiritual nature of the Bible. The opposite is true. We rob the Word of God of its power when we think of it as merely an owner’s manual of unimaginative, dictated instructions. No analogy is perfect but the instruction manual analogy for the Bible is particularly flawed. If it were true, we should skim the Bible and toss it in the closet with the rest of the instruction manuals. This is how not to read scripture. No one ever found joy and companionship from re-reading an instruction manual. 

The Bible is more akin to a pointillistic painting. When you zoom in far enough, all you might see is a few dots of red, blue, or yellow. You have to step back to see the likeness the artist has created.

This is why is it so vital that Christians read the whole Bible and read it regularly. (This is why we follow a whole-Bible reading plan.) In this way, we are equipped to view the Word of God as a work of art that reveals who God is, what God is doing, and what God expects us to do. 

*View the world’s most famous pointillistic painting, “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte”, by Georges Seurat at this link.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Early in the morning I cry out to you, for in your word is my trust. — Psalm 119.147

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Job 10 (Listen -2:12)
Romans 14 (Listen -3:28)

Read more about How to Read Prophetic Judgment
There are many prophecies that are meant to comfort us. But the more typical function of prophecy is to cause us discomfort.

Read more about A Berean Palate
The Thessalonians were prone to being riled up by exaggeration and falsifications. Just like we are.