For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
1 Tim. 3
What observations do you make about the requirements for an overseer (or elder or pastor—the titles are used interchangeably in the NT)? Two things in particular stuck out to me this morning about the overseers’ qualifications. The first has to do with how he manages his family. It’s easy to notice the part that says that his children must obey him. The part I tend to miss, though, is that he must manage his family “in a manner worthy of full respect.” (1 Tim. 3:4b). How he manages his family matters. An overseer should understand that in God’s kingdom, those in authority don’t rule with an iron fist as man does. Rather, they serve those under their authority with love, as Jesus did.
The second thing I noticed was Paul’s comment about the danger in giving such authority to recent converts. There is a certain power that comes with positions of leadership. Somehow that power tends to loom larger in our eyes than the responsibility that also comes with it. If a person is not well grounded in the ways of God’s kingdom, that power can more easily turn to conceit. That is, pride in one’s self. But that wasn’t the part that stood out to me. Rather, it was Paul’s statement that this conceit would cause the man to “fall under the same judgment as the devil.” (1 Tim. 3:6b). It was the devil’s pride in self that made him think he could compete with God. Paul is saying that conceit makes us gods in our own eyes. We know from the devil that such pride will never stand.
Job 18-19
What kind of man is Bildad describing? Why does he assume Job fits the description? What is Job’s response…again? Job’s situation was extreme. Job’s friends simply couldn’t wrap their heads around the possibility that it wasn’t deserved. In fact, his situation was so severe that, under their assumptions, they believed he must have done something very horrible. Since Job continued to assert his innocence of any terrible misdeed, Bildad went to the next available assumption – Job must not know God.
Job truly did lose everything, escaping, as he said, “only by the skin of my teeth.” (Job 19:20b). He couldn’t even find a little comfort from his friends. His steadfastness in the midst of all of it astounds me. He never once second guessed the truth of either God’s sovereignty or his innocence. Though he believed that God was attacking him for no cause, still he longed for the day he would see God with his own eyes. And he made a statement that makes no sense to me in the context of his situation. “I know that my redeemer lives” (Job 19:25a). The only thing I can figure is that Job was convinced that once God’s attack was over, even if at his death, he would find new life in God’s presence.
I am beginning to believe that God gave us Job’s story as an image of what it is to be a believer in Christ. “I know my redeemer lives” is yet another reference to Christ, in my view. So the message I am seeing in this book is that, as followers of Jesus, we will suffer unjustly. We might lose everything, with even our family and our friends turning on us. Everything will be working to get us to “curse God and die!” (Job 2:9b). No matter what we face, though, even if we think we have lost everything, we must cling steadfastly to the truth. We must KNOW that God is God, that we are righteous in Christ, and that we have a mediator and advocate before God. All because we know our Redeemer lives.