Grains of Sand

Exodus 5-7 “ This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Let my people go… ’” (5:1). And as much as Pharaoh tried to stop God, there was no way God wasn’t going to accomplish his purposes. The ruler of Egypt was defiant and said he didn’t know this God so why should he obey him (5:2). He made excuses for his own convenience: “These people have too much time on their hands, let’s give them more to do and they’ll stop wanting to take off” (5:4ff). He made life impossible for the Israelites by withholding the materials they needed to do the work assigned to them (5:14ff). The people were upset and so was Moses because of all these obstacles (5:22f). But God … The Lord renewed his promises to his people: “ …I am the Lord…I will bring you out…I will free you…I will redeem you with an outstretched hand and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God…I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifte...

Exodus 1-4 It’s true that you can’t apply literally everything you read in Scripture. But it’s fascinating to me that the timing of my “exodus” from Venezuela so perfectly combines with my devotional reading. I certainly wouldn’t say, for example, that I have been a slave here and that God has needed to rescue me from servitude (1:11ff). Nor would I say that I’ll have to kill someone in the process of leaving! (2:11-12). And I’m not into circumcision (4:24ff). But there are overriding principles that I will take away with me from this passage that directly relate to this major move. 1. God is with me as he was with the midwives, Moses and his family (1:20, 21; 2:1-10) and the Israelites. He will rescue me from whatever I need rescuing from. 2. God is sending me and I confess, not to any reluctance to go (unlike Moses), but to some anxiety as to being able to fulfill the upcoming mission (3:11). But here again I claim the promises that God gave to Moses: “ I will be with you…Who gave ma...

Job 38-42 GOD SPEAKS! I’m putting myself in Job’s shoes. Lynda, where were you when I …? These chapters are particularly appropriate today as God speaks to Job using his mighty works among the animals to teach Job who's in charge. I hadn’t intended to take Abby and Lou Lou Belle back to Canada with me, but at the very last minute it seems I have no choice. I am thrilled to be able to keep them but terrified by the journey and the trauma that this move will mean to them. And God speaks today to tell me that he who displays his majesty through the animals will not abandon Lou and Abby on their journey either. Therefore, Lynda is going to do a “Job” and follow his lead: “ My ears have heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes ” —Job 42:5, 6.

Job 35-37 In these final three chapters of the conversation between Job and his friends, Elihu continues his discourse. The one thing we learn from these friends is that one can speak truth and still be in error. That’s a scary thought, a theological disaster. But when we speak in our arrogance, taking what is truth and twisting it to suit our purposes, we run the risk of ending up like Job’s friends—condemning the innocent, attributing to God what is not his, and bringing down on ourselves his judgment. God is about to speak, actually to piggyback on Elihu’s words as he “counsels” his friend. The truth that we find in these chapters is another eloquent description of the wonders of God—something God will pick up on in the following chapters. Elihu rightly asks who is capable of understanding the ways of God. He might think he is (36:3, 4) but he is about to find out otherwise. Still, his description is elegant: “ God is exalted in his power…How great is God—beyond our understanding! T...

Job 32-34 “ But Elihu…became very angry with Job for justifying myself rather than God…because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him ” (32:2). We’re always right. An alternate text says that the “him” at the end of this statement does refer to Job being condemned, but rather states that because they couldn’t refute Job they had agreed that God was at fault and had condemned God. He will later say (34:12) “ It is unthinkable that God would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice. ” Elihu’s argument in chapter 33 is eloquent, and true. But once again he is assuming that Job is guilty of something that has brought down God’s anger on his head. However apart from that he paints a beautiful picture of how God restores those who come to him in repentance and faith. “ He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God’s face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state. Then he comes to men and says, ‘I sinned, and perverted what was r...

Job 25-27 These chapters are short, but powerful. Job’s description of a part of God’s works is absolutely amazing: “ He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing. He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it. He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness. The pillars of the heaven quake, aghast at his rebuke. By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces. By his breath the skies become fair; his hands pierced the gliding serpent. And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power? ” —Job 26:7-14. There are some who believe that if God created the world, he then left it to run on its own. From these verses we know that Job certainly wasn’t one of those. He believed that though nature...

Job 21-24 Job’s friends have told him that the evil he is suffering has come on account of his own wickedness. He proceeds to refute that by reminding them that there are plenty of wicked men who prosper and never suffer, not even once, during their lifetimes. So absence of prosperity, good health, or whatever, is not necessarily a sign of God’s judgment. The presence of these things is not a sign of his pleasure either. That argument doesn’t seem to impress Eliphaz: “ Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you? Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless ” —Job 22:4, 5. He then goes on to list all the nasty things Job has done. Since we have already been told that Job was a righteous man (1:8), we can only imagine that Eliphaz is “talking through his hat” as my father used to say. He is in error when he assumes: “ Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his wo...