suffering

Led by the Spirit

Paul associated being led by the Spirit with being children of God (Romans 8:14). Paul said, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:16-17). Being led by the Spirit implies that action or motion is taking place and that believers are the ones who are following. Paul talked about in his own life how he had finished his course and had kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7). Paul also said in his letter to the Ephesians that before we were saved, we were dead in the trespasses and sins in which we once walked, “following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:1-3).Paul contrasted the course of his life with following the course of this world to show us that being a child of God should change the course of our lives and that this is evidence that we have truly been saved.

Paul made the distinction between walking according to the flesh and walking according to the Spirit to illustrate his point that we must make an intentional effort to align ourselves with God’s will. Paul said:

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:3-8)

The Greek word that is translated set their minds, phroneo (fron-ehˊ-o) means “to exercise the mind, i.e. entertain or have a sentiment or opinion; by implication to be (mentally) disposed (more or less earnestly in a certain direction); intensive to interest oneself in (with concern or obedience)” (G5426).

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for believers to set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Paul said, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you” (Romans 8:9). The Greek word that is translated dwell, oikeo (oy-keyˊ-o) means “to occupy a house, i.e. reside (figurative, inhabit, remain, inhere); (by implication) to cohabit” (G3611). Paul referred to believers as God’s temple in his first letter to the Corinthians. Paul asked, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). Jesus told his followers that the Holy Spirit would come and would dwell in them. Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper. To be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17).

Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17) and said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). The Greek word that is translated guide, hodegeo (hod-ayg-ehˊ-o) means “to show the way” (G3594). When believers are led by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit shows them the way that they need to go. Jesus identified himself as the way, the truth, and the life, and said, “No one comes to the Father except though me” (John 14:6). The Greek word hodos (hod-osˊ), which is translated way, means “a road; (by implication) a progress (the route, act or distance); (figurative) a mode or means” (G3598). The book of Hebrews tells us the way or means that Jesus was referring to, was the way of access into the direct presence of God (Hebrews 9:8). It says, Jesus, “entered once for all into the holy places not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). The writer of Hebrews tells us the truth about all of this is that Jesus, “offered himself without blemish to God, purifying our conscience from dead works to serve the living and true God” (Hebrews 9:14).

Paul’s declaration that believers must suffer with Christ, “in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:17) provides insight into why it is difficult for us to be led by the Spirit. Speaking of the believer’s future glory, Paul said, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:18-21). The sufferings of believers serve the purpose of setting God’s creation free from its bondage to corruption. Sufferings are things that believers go through that produce hardship or pain (G3804). Bondage is the condition of those who are subject to death and of those who are subject to the fear of death (G1397). Hebrews 2:14-15 indicates that it is the devil who has the power of death and that he makes those who fear death subject to lifelong slavery. Through suffering, believers are delivered from the fear of death and are perfected in their faith (Hebrews 2:10-11), resulting in their future glorification with Christ (Romans 8:17, 30).

Paul encouraged believers to look at the suffering that leads to their future glorification through the lens of God’s everlasting love. Paul compared the redemption of believers’ bodies to the process of childbirth and said that the Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God. Paul said:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:26-30)

Paul indicated that believers are called according to God’s purpose, which is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). Being conformed into the image of Christ means that there should be a likeness between us, our lives should resemble his (G1504).

Paul described the process of being conformed into the image of Christ in his letter to the Colossians. Paul said believers must put off the old self and put on the new self through intentional acts of obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Paul stated:

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:5-17)

Paul said that we must put off anger, wrath, malice, slander and obscene talk from our mouths and put on love, “which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:8, 14). The goal of believers being led by the Spirit through the process of sanctification is to achieve perfect harmony.

Paul assured believers that their sufferings could not separate them from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35). Jesus alluded to this when he told his disciples that the Helper would be with them forever (John 14:16). Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). Paul said that believers have the assurance that they will be victorious in their sufferings because of God’s everlasting love. Paul asked, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:35, 37). Paul concluded his discussion of being led by the Spirit with the statement about the Holy Spirit’s ability to keep us connected to God’s love. Paul said, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

God’s faithfulness

Job’s suffering caused him to doubt God’s faithfulness. Job was certain that he had done nothing to deserve the calamities that had come upon him and argued with his friends, stating, “God has put me in the wrong and closed his net about me. Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice. He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness upon my paths. He has stripped from me my glory and taken the crown from my head” (Job 19:6-9). Job’s internal conflict had reached its highest point. Job knew that the conclusions of his friends were misapplied and that he had committed no sin worthy of such affliction. He felt that God had turned against him without cause. Job had “yet to realize that sorrow and trials in the lives of believers come from the hands of a loving God” (note on Job 19:8-22).

It says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that God is faithful, and will not let you be tempted or tested “beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” The Greek word that is translated faithful, pistos (pis-tosˊ) is derived from the word peitho (piˊtho), which generally means “to persuade another to receive a belief” (G3982). Another word that is derived from peitho is pistis (pisˊtis), which refers to “reliance upon Christ for salvation” and as a technical term is indicative “of the means of appropriating what God in Christ has for man, resulting in the transformation of man’s character and way of life. Such can be termed gospel faith or Christian faith (Romans 3:22ff.)” (G4102). Jesus taught his followers about pistis and often made note of it being demonstrated by those whom he healed. Jesus told a woman that had been suffering from a discharge of blood for twelve years, “Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:22). Later, Jesus asked two blind men who had approached him, “’Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then he touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith be it done to you’” (Matthew 9:28-30).

Job declared his belief in Christ when he told his friends, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25). “Job clearly believed that death did not bring about the end of one’s existence” (note on Job 19:25-27), but Job was wrong in his conclusion that God had taken away his right and had made his soul bitter (Job 27:2). Paul explained in his letter to the Ephesians that it is necessary for believers to put off thoughts that are associated with their former manner of life and to be renewed in the spirit of their minds (Ephesians 4:22-23). Paul instructed the Ephesians to “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31). It was Job’s responsibility to control his emotional reactions to what was happening to him and to keep putting his trust in God who had not turned against him, but was testing his faith.

The thing that Job was unaware of was that God had allowed Satan to afflict him to prove that Job would not as Satan suggested, curse God to his face (Job 1:11). James explained in his letter to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion, that trials of various kinds produce steadfastness or patience. James said, “And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:3-4). Later, James commended Job for his patience, stating, “As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (James 5:10-11). Paul also wrote about the benefit of suffering in his letter to the Romans. Paul said, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).

Peter talked about suffering and linked it with Christ’s sufferings. Peter indicated that suffering could be God’s will for a believer. Peter said:

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved,
    what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (1 Peter 4:12-19)

Peter said that we should entrust our souls to our Creator when we are suffering because of God’s faithfulness. The Greek word that is translated entrust, paratithemi (par-at-ithˊ-ay-mee) means “to place alongside” (G3908). The root word tithemi was used by Jesus several times to refer to him laying down his life for us (John 10:11, 15, 17, 18). John said, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16).

James pointed out in his letter that there is a difference between hearing the Word of God and doing the Word of God. James said, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:23-25). Perseverance means that we continue to entrust our lives to God, even though we are suffering and don’t know why. Job testified to his commitment to God when he told his friends, “Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face” (Job 13:15). “Despite the fact that he did not understand why he was suffering so miserably, Job continued to trust in God” (note on Job 13:15). Job later testified, “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food” (Job 23:10-12). “Even though he did not understand the reasons behind his particular afflictions, Job expressed confidence that God was working in his life (v. 10) and reiterated his personal commitment to God (vv 11, 12)” (note on Job 23:10-12).

Job 38:1-2 states that God answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge.” Following this, God asked Job more than seventy questions. “These questions were not given to answer the mystery of Job’s suffering or to vindicate God himself. They were intended to help Job realize that God’s ways are higher than man’s ways and that he is worthy of complete trust even in the most desperate of circumstances” (note on Job 38:1-42:6). Before Jesus was crucified, he made it clear to his disciples and others that knew him that God was going to raise him from the dead three days later (Matthew 12:40; 27:40; 27:63; Mark 8:31; 15:29). Paul said God’s faithfulness in doing this is the reason why we should also put our trust in him (Acts 13:32, 38-39). In addition to this, Paul said that we can count on God to keep us blameless, as he did Job, when our faith is tested (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). After God completed his interrogation, Job answered the LORD and said, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted…Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know…I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:1-6).

My Redeemer

Job’s theological debate with his friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar led him to finally exclaim in exasperation, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” (Job 19:25-27). “Job clearly believed that death did not bring about the end of one’s existence” (note on Job 19:25-27). Job also acknowledged that God alone was his Redeemer. Job said that his Redeemer lives. The word Job used for lives in the Hebrew is chay (khahˊ-ee), suggesting that Job knew his Redeemer was not only God, but also someone like himself that was made of physical substances like flesh and blood (H2416). The Hebrew word that is translated Redeemer, ga’al (gaw-alˊ) first appears in the Bible in the book of Genesis. When Jacob blessed his son Joseph, he identified God as his Redeemer but referred to him as “the Angel.” Jacob said:

“May the God before whom my grandfather Abraham
    and my father, Isaac, walked—
the God who has been my shepherd
    all my life, to this very day,
the Angel who has redeemed me from all harm—
    may he bless these boys.
May they preserve my name
    and the names of Abraham and Isaac.
And may their descendants multiply greatly
    throughout the earth.” (Genesis 48:15-16, NLT)

It seems likely that Jacob was associating his Redeemer with the Angel of the LORD. “There is the distinct possibility that various Old Testament references to the ‘angel of the LORD’ involved preincarnate appearances of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Things are said of the angel of the LORD that seem to go beyond the category of angels and are applicable to Christ…The designation ‘angel of the LORD’ is used interchangeably with ‘the LORD’ and ‘God’ in the account of Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3:2-6). Exodus 23:21 states that the angel of the LORD has the power to forgive sins, a characteristic belonging to God alone (cf. Mark 2:7; Luke 7:49) and that he has the name of God in him. No man can see the full glory of God and live (Exodus 33:20), but Jesus Christ, in whom all the fullness of deity was manifested in bodily form, has made God the Father known (John 1:18; Colossians 2:9)” (note on Exodus 23:20-23).

Job said his Redeemer would at the last “stand upon the earth” and “after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another” (Job 19:25-27). “Job may have used the expression ‘at the last’ in hope of vindication in his lifetime (at the conclusion of his time of suffering), or he may have meant some time after his death when God would clear him of any wrong” (note on Job 19:25-27). John talked about the judgment that will take place after Satan is defeated in Revelation 20:11-15. John stated:

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

John does not identify who was seated on the great white throne. Jesus told his disciples that the final judgment would take place, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne” (Matthew 25:31). In another conversation about future events, Jesus said, “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels: and then he shall reward every man according to his works” (Matthew 16:27, KJV). Works is “spoken of a course of action or conduct, especially of right, duty, virtue, to do, meaning to exercise, to practice (Acts 26:20; Romans 2:25; 7:15; 9:11; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 4:9). Acts 26:20 indicates that these works are deeds in keeping with repentance.

Repentance in a religious sense implies “pious sorrow for unbelief and sin and a turning from them unto God and the gospel of Christ (Matthew 3:8, 11; 9:13; Mark 2:17; Luke 3:8; 5:32; 15:7; Acts 5:31; 20:21; 26:20; Romans 2:4; Hebrews 6:6; 2 Peter 3:9)” (G3341). “At the end of God’s discourse, Job acknowledged that he had experienced the Lord in a new light (Job 42:5) and had gained an increased awareness of the sovereignty of God (Job 42:3). He repented of his complaints against God (Job 42:6) and submitted himself to God’s will, even if it included suffering that was seemingly undeserved” (note on Job 42:1-6). After the LORD rebuked Job’s friends, it says in Job 42:10, “And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.”

The LORD restored Job to a former state of prosperity (H7622) after he prayed for his friends (Job 42:10). Job interceded for his friends in the same way that Abraham prayed for Abimelech the king of Gerar (Genesis 20:7) and Nehemiah interceded on behalf of the people of Israel when he heard that those who had survived the exile were in great trouble because the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and its gates were destroyed by fire (Nehemiah 1:3). The role of the kinsman redeemer is portrayed in the book of Ruth as one of rescuing those who are destitute and lacking any hope for the future (Ruth 1:12-13). Theologically, the Hebrew word ga’al “is used to convey God’s redemption of individuals from spiritual death” (H1350). Paul explained the spiritual condition of the unsaved in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul said:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind…Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:1-12)

Job said that God had walled up his way so that he could not pass and had set the darkness upon his path, stripped him of glory and taken the crown from his head (Job 19:8-9). Job’s internal conflict had reached its highest point. He felt that God had turned against him without cause (note on Job 19:8-22). Job said, “He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, and my hope has he pulled up like a tree” (Job 19:10). In reality, God had not done any of the things that Job supposed he had but was showing Job that his “ways are higher than man’s ways and that he is worthy of complete trust even in the most desperate of circumstances” (note on Job 38:1-42:6).

Miserable comforters

Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, came to show him sympathy and comfort him (Job 2:11), but they thought Job’s suffering was punishment for sin (note on Job 11:1). The things that Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar said to Job caused him to lash out against his friends (Job 16:11-17) and to declare, “miserable comforters are you all” (Job 16:2). The Hebrew word that is translated comforters, nacham (naw-khamˊ) is properly translated as “to sigh, i.e. breathe strongly; by implication to be sorry, i.e. (in a favorable sense) to pity, console” (H 5162). Nacham is also translated as to repent. “To repent means to make a strong turning to a new course of action. The emphasis is on turning to a positive course of action, not turning from a less desirable course. Comfort is derived from ‘com’ (with) and ‘fort’ (strength). Hence, when one repents, he exerts strength to change, to re-grasp the situation, and exert effort for the situation to take a different course of purpose and action. The stress is not upon new information or new facts which cause the change as it is upon the visible action taken.” The reason why Job said his friends were miserable comforters was because they were telling him things he already knew (Job 12:3; 13:2). Job’s friends weren’t helping him turn to a new course of action but were increasing his emotional grief and the brokenness in his heart (Job 9:28).

David wrote about a similar situation in his life in Psalm 69. David began this psalm by crying out to God for relief from his suffering. David cried, “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink deep into the mire, where there is no foothold; I have come to the deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God” (Psalm 69:1-3). David went on to say:

You know my reproach,
    and my shame and my dishonor;
    my foes are all known to you.
Reproaches have broken my heart,
    so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none,
    and for comforters, but I found none. (Psalm 69:19-20)

The verse that follows these, “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink” (Psalm 69:21) pertains to Jesus Christ. All four of the gospels state that Jesus was given sour wine to drink while he was hanging on the cross (Matthew 27:48; Luke 23:36; John 19:29), although Mark refers to it as “wine mixed with myrrh” (Mark 15:23). John tells us that this was done to fulfill Scripture and occurred just before Jesus said, “’It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30).

It says in Hebrews 4:15 that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus knew that his disciples would struggle at times to make sense of what they were going through in their lives and would need help fulfilling the assignment of spreading his gospel throughout the world (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus told his disciples that they would be given “another Comforter” (John 14:16, KJV) that would dwell within them and would be in them (John 14:17). Jesus said, “These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:25-26, KJV).

Jesus implied that he was his disciples’ Comforter when he told them he would give them another Comforter (John 14:16, KJV). Jesus said the Holy Spirit would teach his disciples all things and would bring to their remembrance all that he said to them (John 14:26). Jesus spoke words of comfort to his followers throughout his three-year ministry. Jesus’ words were comfort to the disciples because they helped them to re-grasp the situation, and to exert effort for the situation to take a different course of purpose and action (H5162), which was to turn the world upside down with the message of the gospel (Acts 17:6). The Greek word that is translated gospel in Matthew 4:23, 9:35, 24:14 and 26:13, euaggelion (yoo-ang-ghelˊ-ee-on) means “a good message” (G2098). When the disciples preached the gospel in the book of Acts, it was identified as euaggelizo (yoo-ang-ghel-idˊ-zo) or “to announce good news” (Acts 8:12, 35; 10:36; 13:32; 14:15). It says in Hebrews 4:3 that the works of the gospel “were finished from the foundation of the world, but “those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:6). Disobedience means to disbelieve or “not to allow oneself to be persuaded or believe” (G544).

Job tried to convince his friends that they were wrong about his situation, but they would not be persuaded. These miserable comforters continued to berate Job until the LORD stepped in and “answered Job out of the whirlwind” (Job 38:1). Chapters 38-42 of Job “record more than seventy questions that God asked Job. These questions were not given to answer the mystery of Job’s suffering or to vindicate God himself. They were intended to help Job realize that God’s ways are higher than man’s ways and that he is worthy of complete trust even in the most desperate of circumstances” (note on Job 38:1-42:6). Following the LORD’s discourse, Job concluded, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6). The Hebrew word nacham, which was translated comforters in Job 16:2, is translated here as repent, indicating that the LORD was successful in his effort to comfort Job.

Arguing with God

Job’s suffering made him want to argue with God. Job told his friends, “Oh that my vexation were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances! For then, it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash, For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me” (Job 6:2-6). Job continued, saying, “Therefore, I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul” (Job 7:11). Job described his inner struggle as the anguish of my spirit and the bitterness of my soul. Man is viewed as consisting of two parts (or substances), material and immaterial, with the body being the material and spirit and soul denoting the immaterial. “Animals are not said to possess a spirit; this is only in man, giving him the ability to communicate with God” (G5590).

Job’s friend Zophar believed that Job was suffering because he had committed some horrible secret sin for which he was being punished (note on Job 11:1). Job denied that he had done anything wrong, indicating “that the hand of the LORD has done this” (Job 12:9), and then, Job stated, “Look, I have seen all this with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears, and now I understand. I know as much as you do. You are no better than I am. As for me, I would speak directly to the Almighty. I want to argue my case with God himself” (Job 13:1-3, NLT). “Job was deeply discouraged. He felt like God was against him (Job 13:21), was intentionally silent (Job 13:22), had turned away from him (Job 13:24), and was dredging up past sins (Job 13:26). Further contributing to his discouragement, Job’s friends became misguiding voices (Job 42:7). Attempting to defend God they actually misrepresented him, speaking lies (Job 13:4), using faulty arguments (Job 13:7-8), and talking in clichés (Job 13:12). They should have kept quiet (Job 13:15; cf. 2:13) and simply listened. Job felt as worthless as rotting wood or a moth-eaten coat (Job 13:28). Job didn’t realize God was aware of his suffering (Job 40:2), yet he stayed hopeful (Job 13:15). [1]

God wants us to be honest with him. “It takes faith to pray when you are in pain. Belief in God creates challenging questions, and lament provides the opportunity to reorient your hurting heart toward what is true.” [2] Many of the psalms that David wrote were laments. David poured out his heart to God with desperate candor, giving believers an example of what it looks like for us to truly lament. David began with a confession of his faith, stating, “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous” (Psalm 25:1-3). David’s argument for God being gracious to him was that he took refuge in the LORD. David said:

Turn to me and be gracious to me,
    for I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
    bring me out of my distresses.
Consider my affliction and my trouble,
    and forgive all my sins.

Consider how many are my foes,
    and with what violent hatred they hate me.
Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
    Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
    for I wait for you. (Psalm 25:16-21)

David asked the LORD to forgive all his sins. The Hebrew word that is translated forgive, nasa (naw-sawˊ) means “to lift…especially in reference to the bearing of guilt or punishment of sin (Genesis 4:13; Leviticus 5:1). This flows easily then into the concept of the representative or substitutionary bearing of one person’s guilt by another (Leviticus 10:17; 16:22). David understood that he needed a redeemer, someone who could pay the penalty for his sin on his behalf. David lamented, “Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD…For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great” (Psalm 25:6-7, 11).

The concept of the substitutionary bearing of one person’s guilt by another was established in the Passover when the LORD passed over the houses of the Israelites that had the blood of a lamb on the lintel and two door posts during their Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 12:21-23). When John the Baptist saw Jesus for the first time, he announced to the people around him, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Jesus acknowledged his role as the redeemer of Israel when he told his disciples, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26-28). The Greek word that is translated ransom, Lutron (looˊ-tron) means “something to loosen with, i.e. a redemption price (figurative, atonement)” (G3083).

John explained in his first letter that we must confess our sins in order to be forgiven by God. John said, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10). John went on to explain Jesus’ role as our advocate. It says in 1 John 2:1-2, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” A propitiator is one who appeases anger and brings reconciliation with someone who has reason to be angry with us (G2434). Jesus did this when he paid the penalty for our sin by shedding his blood on the cross.

The Greek word that is translated advocate in 1 John 2:1, parakletos (par-akˊ-lay-tos) means “an intercessor…one who pleads the cause of anyone before a judge” (G3875). Jesus used the word parakletos when he told his disciples shortly before his death, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (John 14:16). In the same way that Jesus is our advocate with the Father, the Holy Spirit helps us by interceding on our behalf through prayer. Jesus identified the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth, and said the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. And then, Jesus said, “You know him for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).

Job wanted to speak directly to the Almighty. Job said, “I want to argue my case with God himself” (Job 13:1-3, NLT). Job later stated, “God might kill me, but I have no other hope. I am going to argue my case with him” (Job 13:15, NLT). Job’s suffering brought him to the point where he was willing to risk his own life in order to be justified before God. It says in Hebrews 4:16 that we should, “With confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” because “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus’ sinless perfection wouldn’t mean much if he were only God, but Jesus Christ came to earth and lived as a human so that his death on the cross would fulfill our need for a human sacrifice, someone like us with a human nature, who was able to live his life according to God’s standard, complete submission and perfect obedience to God’s Word (Matthew 5:48).

Job’s internal conflict reached its highest point after his friend Eliphaz accused him of not having a relationship with God (Job 15:4) and Bildad implied he was going to hell (Job 18:14-21). Job pleaded, “Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!” (Job 19:21). Job had “yet to realize that sorrow and trials in the lives of believers come from the hands of a loving God” (note on Job 19:8-22). Job finally cried out in desperation:

“Oh that my words were written!
    Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Oh that with an iron pen and lead
    they were engraved in the rock forever!
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
    and at the last he will stand upon the earth. (Job 19:23-25)

Job had been arguing with God and his friends because he believed he had a redeemer, but up until this point, Job wasn’t aware that his Redeemer was God (note on Job 19:25-27). The Hebrew word that is translated Redeemer, ga’al (gaw-alˊ) means “to be next of kin” or “to act as a redeemer for a deceased kinsman…this word is used to convey God’s redemption of individuals from spiritual death” (H1350). Jesus’ ability to act in the role of the kinsman redeemer was based on his relationship to King David (Matthew 1:1-17) to whom God promised, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:12-13).

When the LORD answered Job (Job 38-41), he pointed out that “no man has any authority to judge God” (note on Job 40:8). God asked Job, “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?” (Job 40:2, NLT).  Job responded, “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers? I will cover my mouth with my hand. I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say” (Job 40:4-5, NLT).

[1] The Spiritual Growth Bible, Dealing with Discouragement, p. 495.

[2] Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament, p. 38.

False accusations

Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar were initially shocked by their friend’s appearance. It says in Job 2:12, “when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him.” After Satan took away all of Job’s possessions and killed his ten children (Job 1:13-19), Satan “struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes” (Job 2:7-8). In response to Job’s suffering, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar “raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great” (Job 2:12-13).

After Job lamented his birth (Job 3:3-26), Job’s friends tried to explain the cause of Job’s suffering. “Much of what they said in their conversation with Job (chapters. 4-37) was true but was misapplied to Job’s situation. They did not recognize that God was testing Job and instead assumed that Job’s suffering was proportionate to some sin he had committed. It may even be that they were unknowingly used by Satan in his attempt to cause Job to sin” (note on Job 2:11-13). Zophar made false accusations against Job and tried to get him to repent. Zophar’s statement, “Know then that God exacts of you less than you deserve” (Job 11:8), seems callous, and even cruel given the extent of Job’s suffering and loss. Zophar “based his response on reasoned theology rather than on personal experience or tradition. Unfortunately, because he began with the presupposition that suffering is punishment for sin, he arrived at nearly the same conclusion as Job’s other two friends. Unlike Eliphaz and Bildad, however, Zophar believed that Job had committed some horrible secret sin for which he was being punished” (note on Job 11:1).

Job viewed his circumstances as a calamity that had been brought on him by God. Job acknowledged God’s sovereignty, stating, “Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:9-10), but he didn’t realize that Satan was the one who had carried out the attack against him, and that its purpose was to test his belief in God. In his plea to God, Job confessed:

“I loathe my life;
I will give free utterance to my complaint;
    I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
I will say to God, Do not condemn me;
    let me know why you contend against me.
Does it seem good to you to oppress,
    to despise the work of your hands
    and favor the designs of the wicked? (Job 10:1-3)

Job’s brutal honesty was the result of a spiritual battle that was going on in his mind. Job was trying to make sense of what was happening to him and he was at a loss to figure out why God would want to destroy everything that he had given him. Job told God, “Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether” (Job 10:8).

Job’s lament is similar to others that are recorded in the book of Psalms. King David wrote in Psalm 38:

O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,
    nor discipline me in your wrath!
For your arrows have sunk into me,
    and your hand has come down on me.

There is no soundness in my flesh
    because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
    because of my sin.
For my iniquities have gone over my head;
    like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

My wounds stink and fester
    because of my foolishness,
I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
    all the day I go about mourning.
For my sides are filled with burning,
    and there is no soundness in my flesh.
I am feeble and crushed;
    I groan because of the tumult of my heart. (Psalm 38:1-8)

In Psalm 39, David wrote:

“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
    My hope is in you.
Deliver me from all my transgressions.
    Do not make me the scorn of the fool!
I am mute; I do not open my mouth,
    for it is you who have done it.
Remove your stroke from me;
    I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
When you discipline a man
    with rebukes for sin,
you consume like a moth what is dear to him;
    surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah

God described David as “a man after his own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14), and yet, David’s life was far from perfect. David was rebuked by Nathan the prophet for committing adultery and murder (2 Samuel 12:9), and near the end of his life, David conducted an unauthorized census (2 Samuel 24:1).

We know that the accusations Job’s friends made against him were false because God said before he allowed Satan to test Job that he was “a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil” (Job 1:8). Job’s response to Zophar’s false accusation suggests that he may have regretted his faithfulness to God. Job told Zophar, “I am a laughingstock to my friends, I who called to God and he answered me, a just and blameless man am a laughingstock” (Job 12:4). The Hebrew word that is translated just, tsaddiyq (tsad-deekˊ) “is often applied to God, who is the ultimate standard used to define justice and righteousness (Exodus 9:27; Ezra 9:15; Psalm 7:1112]). As a substantive, the righteous is used to convey the ideal concept of those who follow God’s standards (Malachi 3:18)” (H6662). “Job did not claim to be perfect but recognized his need for God’s mercy (Job 9:15). At the same time, Job continued to insist that he had done nothing worthy of the affliction he was experiencing” (note on Job 9:1-10:22).

James used Job as an example in his discussion of patience in suffering. James said, “For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.” (James 5:10-11, NLT). James described Job as “a man of great endurance.” The Greek word that is translated endurance, hupomone (hoop-om-on-ayˊ) means “A bearing up under, Patience, endurance as to things or circumstances. Particularly, with the genitive of thing borne, as evils (2 Corinthians 1:6). Generally, meaning endurance, patience perseverance or constancy under suffering in faith and duty (Luke 8:15; 21:19; Romans 2:7; 8:25; 2 Corinthians 1:6; 6:4; 12:12; Colossians 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:4; 3:5; Hebrews 10:36; 12:1; James 1:3, 4; 5:11; 2 Peter 1:6; Revelation 1:9; 2:2, 3, 19; 3:10; 13:10; 14:12). Specifically patience as a quality of mind, the bearing of evils and suffering with a tranquil mind (Romans 5:3, 4; 15:4, 5; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 3:10; Titus 2:2)” (G5281).

James said in his letter that believers should count it all joy when they meet trials of various kinds, because the testing of our faith produces steadfastness (hupomone) (James 1:3). James went on to say, “And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:4). James associated being perfect and complete with hupomone, the quality that Job possessed. Developing patience as a quality of mind was discussed by Paul in his letter to the Romans. Paul said:

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 5:1-5, NLT)

Paul said that we are made right in God’s sight by faith and our faith brings us into a place of undeserved privilege. Paul identified endurance as something that develops strength of character and leads to a confident hope of salvation. Just as with Job, when we run into problems and trials, it’s not because we have done something wrong. If we have placed our faith in Jesus Christ, all of our sins have been forgiven. We have problems and trials because God wants us to grow stronger in our faith and to become mature (perfect and complete) as believers (James 1:4).

A spiritual attack

The Apostle Paul talked about spiritual warfare in the context of the armor that Christians need to wear in order to overcome their enemy, the devil. Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:10-12). The spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places that Paul was referring to were angels that rebelled against God, who will one day be cast into a lake of fire where they will spend eternity (Revelation 20:10). Until that time, God has allowed these fallen angels to remain a part of the world we live in, and sometimes he gives them permission to attack believers.

The story of Job is an example of Satan being permitted to test the faith of one of God’s servants. Satan is not free to act in the affairs of mankind; he has to ask God to remove the protection he provides and submit himself to whatever God chooses to do (note on Job 1:6-12). We are told in Job 1:6-7, “there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, ‘From where have you come?’ Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’” Satan’s interest in mankind has to do with his objective of disrupting God’s plan of salvation. The Apostle Peter warned Christians about their enemy, the devil. Peter told believers they need to, “Be soberminded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him firm in your faith, know that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9).

Peter described the devil as an adversary. The Greek word that is translated adversary, antidikos (an-tidˊ-ee-kos) means “an opponent (in a lawsuit); specially Satan (as an arch-enemy)” (G476). Satan is the accuser of men before God. In Job’s case, Satan “challenged the motive behind Job’s reverence for God. Satan claimed that Job lived as he did because God had blessed him” (note on Job 1:9-12). Peter said the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). What I believe Peter meant by this is that Satan feeds on the negative emotions that get stirred up when people are suffering. The Hebrew word ʿatstsebeth (ats-tsehˊ-beth), which is translated suffering in Job 9:28, refers to “the grief that comes from being brokenhearted (Psalm 147:3)…or grief that causes the spirit to be broken (Proverbs 15:13)…this term clearly refers to emotional suffering and not physical pain or injury” (H 6094).

Job’s suffering was linked to the hopelessness of his situation. Job explained to his friends:

“Has not man a hard service on earth,
    and are not his days like the days of a hired hand?
Like a slave who longs for the shadow,
    and like a hired hand who looks for his wages,
so I am allotted months of emptiness,
    and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’
    But the night is long,
    and I am full of tossing till the dawn.
My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt;
    my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh.
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle
    and come to their end without hope.” (Job 7:1-6)

Job compared his circumstances to hard service because of the struggle he was having making it from day to day. Job said he had been through months of emptiness and nights of misery. The Hebrew word that is translated emptiness, shavʾ (shawv) refers to “desolating evil…The primary meaning of the word is deceit, lie, or falsehood” (H7723).

Jesus told the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32). One of the key characteristics of God’s word is that it is inerrant, which means “without error.” Paul said in his letter to Timothy, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16). Peter also said, “No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21). When Jesus told the Jews that they would know the truth, he meant that they would be able to recognize that which is derived from God and that which is based on false religion or more specifically, the lies of the devil. Jesus told the Jews, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

Job described his extreme distress in his response to his friend Eliphaz. Job said:

“Oh that my vexation were weighed,
    and all my calamity laid in the balances!
For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
    therefore my words have been rash.
For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
    my spirit drinks their poison;
    the terrors of God are arrayed against me.” (Job 6:2-4)

Job continued his complaint by stating:

“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
    I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
    I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Am I the sea, or a sea monster,
    that you set a guard over me?
When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
    my couch will ease my complaint,’
then you scare me with dreams
    and terrify me with visions,
so that I would choose strangling
    and death rather than my bones.
I loathe my life; I would not live forever.
    Leave me alone, for my days are a breath. (Job 7:11-16)

Job spoke out of the anguish of his spirit and the bitterness of his soul. Job’s trouble was the result of a spiritual attack by an invisible enemy that wanted to destroy his faith in God. Satan had boasted to the LORD, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh and he will curse you to your face” (Job 2:4-5), but Job didn’t respond as Satan expected. Job said, “I would choose strangling and death rather than my bones. I loathe my life; I would not live forever” (Job 7:15-16).

“In the midst of his misery (Job 7:13-16), Job asked some honest questions of God” (note on Job 7:17-21). Job said:

What is man, that you make so much of him,
    and that you set your heart on him,
visit him every morning
    and test him every moment?
How long will you not look away from me,
    nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?
If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?
    Why have you made me your mark?
    Why have I become a burden to you?
Why do you not pardon my transgression
    and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in the earth;
    you will seek me, but I shall not be. (Job 7:17-21)

Job’s question, “Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity?” (Job 7:21) was based on his understanding of God’s plan of salvation. The Hebrew word that is translated pardon, nasa (naw-sawˊ) means “to bear or to carry and is used especially in reference to the bearing of guilt or punishment of sin (Genesis 4:13; Leviticus 5:1). This flows easily into the concept of representative or substitutionary bearing of one person’s guilt by another (Leviticus 10:17; 16:22). Job wanted God to pardon his transgression and take away his iniquity, which is exactly what Jesus did hundreds of years later when he died on the cross for the sins of the world (Matthew 20:28).

The spiritual attack against Job was possible in part because Christ had not yet redeemed mankind. Job was aware that his redemption had not yet taken place, but he still claimed it as the basis for his right standing before God. Job said, “Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser” (Job 9:20-21). Job understood that he could not be in the right before God without someone to advocate on his behalf. Job said of God, “For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together” (Job 9:32). Job, then concluded, “There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both” (Job 9:33). Job wanted an arbiter, one who could stand between him and God and decide the outcome of his case, but there was no one at that time who could do it.

Paul encouraged his spiritual son Timothy to pray for all people. Paul said, “This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time” (1 Timothy 2:3-5). The term mediator means “a go-between” (G3316). Today, when Satan brings an accusation against someone, if the person has placed his trust in Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross, Jesus testifies on his behalf and is able to forestall a spiritual attack; but this does not happen automatically, we must ask for Jesus’ help. Paul said believers must, “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10), and then, he instructed believers who find themselves in the midst of a spiritual attack to rely on “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Ephesians 6:17-18). The word of God is a powerful weapon because it contains irrefutable truth. The spiritual attack against Job eventually reached a turning point when he openly declared the truth about Jesus Christ. Job said, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another” (Job 19:25-27; Revelation 22:4).

God’s discipline

Satan’s attack on Job left him with nothing but his wife to go on with. After his health was destroyed, Job’s wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die” (Job 2:9). The sight of Job’s physical condition pushed his wife to despair (note on Job 2:9, 10). Afterward, Job was visited by three friends. Job 2:11-13 tells us:

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

“Job’s sores may have disfigured him so badly that he could barely be recognized by his friends. They shared in his sorrow (vv. 12, 13) but did not understand that affliction does not always signify punishment (see John 9:3). Much of what they said in their conversations with Job (chs. 4-37) was true but was misapplied to Job’s situation. They did not recognize that God was testing Job and instead assumed that Job’s suffering was proportionate to some sin he had committed. It may even be that they were unknowingly used by Satan in his attempt to cause Job to sin” (note on Job 2:11-13).

Job’s friend Eliphaz was the first to speak to him. Eliphaz told Job, “Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves: therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal. He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no evil shall touch you” (Job 5:17-19). Eliphaz thought that God was trying to teach Job a lesson. The Hebrew word that is translated discipline, muwsar (moo-sawrˊ) is properly translated as “chastisement” and is used in a figurative sense to refer to “reproof, warning, or, instruction” (H4148). “The discipline of the Lord is not to be despised, for it is a demonstration of His love for His children (Job 5:17; Proverbs 3:11; cf. Hebrews 12:5, 6). The supreme demonstration of God’s love came when Jesus Christ bore the ‘chastisement of our peace’ (Isaiah 53:5).” Isaiah 53:5-6 states, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—everyone—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The main point of this passage is that Jesus suffered for the sins of others and that we all deserve the punishment that he received.

A word that is derived from muwsar that has a similar meaning is yasar (yaw-sarˊ). Yasar appears in the opening verse of Psalm 38, which was written by King David. David said:

O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,
    nor discipline me in your wrath!
For your arrows have sunk into me,
    and your hand has come down on me.

There is no soundness in my flesh
    because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
    because of my sin.
For my iniquities have gone over my head;
    like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

My wounds stink and fester
    because of my foolishness,
I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
    all the day I go about mourning.
For my sides are filled with burning,
    and there is no soundness in my flesh.
I am feeble and crushed;
    I groan because of the tumult of my heart.

O Lord, all my longing is before you;
    my sighing is not hidden from you.
My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
    and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,
    and my nearest kin stand far off. (Psalm 38:1-11)

David’s depiction of God’s discipline is very similar to what Job experienced. David was aware of his sin and later on said in his psalm that he had confessed his sin and was sorry for it (Psalm 38:18) and was waiting for the God of his salvation to come to his rescue (Psalm 38:22). Hebrews 12:5-11 explains the reason why God not only disciplines us, but also allows our suffering to go on for much longer than we would like it to. It says:

And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
    and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (NIV)

Even though God’s discipline is painful, it is intended to change our character and make us more like Jesus. Holiness, the result of God’s discipline, is “spoken of those who are purified and sanctified by the influences of the Spirit, a saint. This is assumed of all who profess the Christian name” (G40). It says in Hebrews 12:7 that God is treating us as children when he disciplines us and that it is a sign that we are true sons and daughters.

God referred to Job as his servant and told Satan there was none like him on the earth (Job 1:8). The Hebrew word that is translated servant, ʿebed (ehˊ-bed) is a term that is “applied to those who worship God (Nehemiah 1:10); and to those who minister or serve Him (Isaiah 49:5, 6). The phrase, the servant of the Lord, is the most outstanding reference to the Messiah in the Old Testament” (H5650). The Apostle Paul referred to himself as “a servant of Jesus Christ” in his letter to the Romans (Romans 1:1). ʿEbed is also used to refer to people under the authority of a king. After seeing a Roman centurion demonstrate great faith (Matthew 8:5-9), Jesus told his disciples, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:10-11).  

God indicated that Job was “a blameless and upright man” (Job 1:8). That meant that Job was a mature believer, one who understood what sin was and had learned to avoid it. It says in Job 1:22 after he lost everything, “Job did not sin or charge God with wrong,” and after he lost his health, “Job did not sin with his lips” (Job 2:10); but Job did curse the day of his birth (3:1), and because of his suffering, “long for death” (3:21). In response to Eliphaz’s argument against him, Job replied:

“Oh that my vexation were weighed,
    and all my calamity laid in the balances!
For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
    therefore my words have been rash.
For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
    my spirit drinks their poison;
    the terrors of God are arrayed against me.” (Job 6:2-4)

Job admitted that his words had been rash. Job was on the defensive because it felt like God was attacking him.

“Job pled with his friends to realize that their accusations were false and that he had committed no sin worthy of the affliction he was experiencing” (note on Job 6:28-30), but later, after God had confronted him, Job changed his position. “At the end of God’s discourse, Job acknowledged that he had experienced the Lord in a new light (Job 42:5) and had gained an increased awareness of the sovereignty of God (Job 42:3). He repented of his complaints against God (Job 42:6) and submitted himself to God’s will, even if it included suffering that was seemingly underserved” (note on Job 42:1-6). Job told the LORD, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust in ashes” (Job 42:5-6). It seems at this point that Job realized his redeemer (Job 19:25) was not a distant figure, but was an actual person that was involved in what was happening to him. This realization caused Job to despise himself, and to repent in dust in ashes (Job 42:6).

Spiritual growth

Peter’s first letter was written to converted Israelites who were living in “the five Roman provinces in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey)” (Introduction to the First Letter of Peter). Peter focused his attention on two key aspects of these Christians’ lives, submission and suffering. Peter began by stating that God the Father “has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5). The phrase caused to be born again is “used metaphorically for a change of carnal nature to a Christian life; to regenerate…It is equivalent to being a child of God” (G313). Peter used the pronoun us to indicate that he was a member of God’s family too and as such, was speaking to himself as well as his audience when he said, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious that gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7). Peter connected the inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you with being grieved by various trials in order to show that there is a reason why Christians suffer. Peter indicated that “the salvation of your souls” is the outcome of trusting in God (1 Peter 1:9).

The Greek word that is translated outcome, telos (telˊ-os) means “to set out for a definite point or goal” and is properly translated as “the point aimed at as a limit, i.e. (by implication) the conclusion of an act or state” (G5056). The thought that telos conveys is that there is a purpose for things that happen and that the processes we go through as Christians have an end to them. Telos is often translated as the end in reference to Jesus’ ministry and his purpose for coming into the world. Peter talked about the end in the context of being stewards of God’s grace and suffering as a Christian. Peter said, “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:7-8) Peter went on to say, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12-13). Peter’s final statement, “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good” (1 Peter 4:19) suggests that doing good is a part of suffering and that it has an effect on our souls. In order to rejoice and be glad when Christ’s glory is revealed, it seems that Peter expected believers to go through a process of suffering that would change their souls and result in Christ’s resurrection being realized in their own lives.

The Apostle Paul talked about being transformed by the renewal of your mind and said that Christians are to be a living sacrifice. Romans 12:1-2 states:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The renewal that Paul was talking about was a qualitative change. “Therefore, a renewing or a renovation which makes a person different that in the past” (G342). The Greek word nous (nooce) defines the mind “as the seat of emotions and affections, mode of thinking and feeling, disposition, moral inclination, equivalent to the heart (Romans 1:28; 12:2; 1 Corinthians 1:10; Ephesians 4:17, 23; Colossians 2:18; 1 Timothy 6:5; 2 Timothy 3:8; Titus 1:15)” (G3563). Paul expanded his teaching on the renewal of the mind in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul said:

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:17-24)

Paul said that unbelievers are “darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart” (Ephesians 4:18). Darkness was being used metaphorically to describe a mind that is void of spiritual truth. Jesus told his followers, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Luke’s gospel tells us that after Jesus’ resurrection, he appeared to his disciples and told them, “’These are my words that I have spoken to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:44-45). The Greek word that is translated opened, dianoigo (dee-an-oyˊ-go) means “to open thoroughly, literally (as a first-born)” (G1272). Jesus’ opening of the minds of his followers was likely considered to be a part of the process of being born again. They received directly from Jesus an initial understanding of the Scriptures that had to do with his death and resurrection, repentance and forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:46-49) so that his disciples could proclaim the gospel and start bringing others to a saving knowledge of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

Peter indicated that new Christians need to be fed, just like newborn babies. Peter said that having purified our souls by obedience to the truth, we should love one another earnestly from a pure heart, “since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:22-23). And then, Peter went on to say, “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1 Peter 2:1-2). The Greek word that Peter used for spiritual milk, logikos (log-ik-osˊ) is derived from the word logos (logˊ-os) which has to do with “the expression of thought…in this respect it is the message from the Lord, delivered with His authority and made effective by His power…’The Personal Word,’ a title of the Son of God” (G3056). “Logikos pertains to the reasoning faculty, reasonable, rational and is used of the service rendered by believers in presenting their bodies a living sacrifice. The sacrifice is to be in accordance with the spiritual intelligence of those who are new creatures in Christ and are mindful of the mercies of God; in contrast to those offered by ritual and compulsion (Romans 12:1)…It is found also in 1 Peter 2:2, ‘(milk) of the word’ and so here the nourishment may be understood as of that spiritually rational nature which, acting through the regenerate mind, develops spiritual growth. God’s word is not given so that it is impossible to understand it, or that it requires a special class of men to interpret it; its character is such that the Holy Spirit who gave it can unfold its truths even to the young convert” (G3050).

In his second letter, Peter talked about spiritual growth in the context of believers becoming partakers of the divine nature. Peter said:

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-8)

Peter indicated that believers must supplement their faith, which meant that something needed to be added to faith in order for it to be effective. The Greek word epichoregeo (ep-ee-khor-ayg-ehˊ-o), which is translated supplement, comes from the root words epi (ep-eeˊ) and choregeo (khor-ayg-ehˊ-o). Choregeo is where the English word choreography comes from. Choreography is the sequence of steps and movements in dance. I believe Peter was laying out for believers the sequence of steps that need to be followed in order for them to produce spiritual fruit. Peter said, “supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love” (2 Peter 1:5-7), suggesting there might be a progressive flow from one spiritual attribute to the next.

Paul talked about the way of love in his first letter to the Corinthians. Paul said:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:4-13)

Paul said, “The greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). The Greek word meizon (mideˊ-zone) associates greatness with age (G3187). Paul may have been thinking of the greatness of love in terms of spiritual maturity or as indicator of spiritual growth. Paul said that when he was a child, he spoke like a child, but “When I became a man, I gave up childish ways” (1 Corinthians 13:11). Peter indicated that pure spiritual milk would help believers to grow up into salvation (1 Peter 2:2).

Peter referred to the qualities that produce spiritual growth as things that need to be practiced. He said, “If you practice these qualities you will never fall” (2 Peter 1:10). In this instance, fall has to do with committing sin (G4417). Peter’s assertion that you will never fall if you practice the qualities of virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love make it seem as if it is possible for a believer to live a perfect life. The point that I believe Peter was trying to make was not that practice makes perfect, but that a continual effort toward spiritual growth will keep you from experiencing moral failure. Paul explained in his letter to the Romans that Israel’s rejection of their Messiah made it possible for the entire world to be reconciled to God (Romans 11:15) and indicated that Israel would at some point in the future be grafted back into the family of God (Romans 11:24). Paul said, “As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28-29). The irrevocableness of God’s gifts and calling is based on the impossibility of us changing God’s will for our lives. In particular, God’s plan of salvation was instituted before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4) and our predestination for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit who seals us until we acquire possession of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14). Peter may have intended the qualities he identified in 2 Peter 1:5-7 to be a gauge of our spiritual progress, rather than a prescription for our spiritual success.

The life of Samson is an Old Testament example of stunted spiritual growth. We know that Samson had faith because he is listed in Hebrews 11:32 as one of those “who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight” (Hebrews 11:33-34). Samson’s marriage to one of the daughters of the Philistines was used by God as an opportunity against the Philistines, but it resulted in Samson returning to his parents’ home “in hot anger” (Judges 14:19). God gave Samson superhuman strength in order to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines (note on Judges 13:24) and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him on multiple occasions (Judges 14:6, 19; 15:14), but Samson didn’t seem to make much spiritual progress during the twenty years that he judged Israel. Samson’s lack of wisdom is evident in the decisions he made about getting involved with foreign women. After Samson’s Philistine wife “was given to his companion, who had been his best man” (Judges 14:20), it says in Judges 16:1, “Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her.” During the night, the Gazites set an ambush for Samson, “But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron” (Judges 16:3). Samson’s ability to escape the ambush may have caused him to become reckless or perhaps selfish with the gift that God had given him. “The true source of Samson’s great strength was not in his long hair or in abstaining from strong drink. His might came from the Spirit of the LORD (Judges 15:14) and was provided by God to accomplish his will” (note on Judges 15:14, 15).

After Samson’s escape from the ambush in Gaza, Judges 16:4-6 tells us:

He loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.”

The Philistines objective of overpowering Samson would not have been possible if Samson had refused to reveal the source of his superhuman strength to Delilah. “Samson’s admission to Delilah resulted in the breaking of his covenant, the Nazirite vow, and God left him as a result (Judges 16:20). His strength returned one more time, however, allowing him to decimate the Philistine leaders (Judges 16:30). This came about only after he humbly acknowledged that God was the true source of his strength (Judges 16:28)” (note on Judges 16:17).

Samson demonstrated virtue, the manifestation of God’s divine power, but that seems to be where his spiritual growth stopped. Peter said that believers should “make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and your virtue with knowledge, and your knowledge with self-control” (2 Peter 1:5-6). The Greek word gnosis (gnoˊ-sis), which is translated knowledge, “means primarily ‘a seeking to know, an enquiry, investigation’” (G1108). Gnosis is derived from the word ginosko (ghin-oceˊ-ko). In the New Testament ginosko frequently indicates a relation between the person ‘knowing’ and the object known; in this respect, what is ‘known’ is of value or importance to the one who knows, and hence the establishment of the relationship” (G1097). Self-control “is the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites…In 2 Peter 1:6, it follows ‘knowledge,’ suggesting that what is learned requires to be put into practice” (G1466). Samson’s failure to learn from his experience with his first wife (Judges 14:17) resulted in him revealing information to Delilah that could be used against him. It says in Judges 16:16-17, “And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. And he told her all his heart.” The Hebrew word that is translated vexed, qatsar (kaw-tsarˊ) means “to harvest” (H7114) and is usually translated reap. Paul said in his letter to the Galatians, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to the flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7-8).

Samson’s humble acknowledgement that God was the true source of his strength showed that his knowledge of God had been expanded through his experience of being betrayed by Delilah (Judges 16:18) and the suffering that followed (Judges 16:21). It says in Judges 16:28 that Samson called to the LORD. The Hebrew word qara (kaw-rawˊ) refers to “an encounter through the idea of accosting a person met” and is properly translated “address by name…To ‘call’ on God’s name is to summon his aid” (H7121). Judges 16:28 states, “Then Samson called to the LORD and said, ‘O Lord, God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.” Samson called the LORD, Lord. The Hebrew word Adonay (ad-o-noyˊ) means “’Lord’ par excellence or ‘Lord over all,’ even as it sometimes does in the form adon (cf. Deuteronomy 10:17, where God is called the ‘God of gods, and Lord of lords’; Joshua 3:11, where He is called the ‘Lord of all the earth’). The word adonay appears in Genesis 15:2: ‘And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless….’” (H138). According to Revelation 19:16, the name “King of kings and Lord of lords will be written on Jesus’ robe and on his thigh at the time of his second coming. It seems that before he gained the victory over his enemies (Judges 16:29-30), Samson had to recognize and acknowledge Jesus in this way.

God’s discipline

Moses’ preparation of the people of Israel to enter the Promised Land focused on the essential responsibilities they had in keeping their covenant with God. One of the things that Moses wanted the people to do was to consider the discipline of the LORD. Moses said:

“You shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land, and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day, and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place, and what he did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel. For your eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord that he did.” (Deuteronomy 11:1-7)

Moses described the discipline of the LORD as “his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, his signs and his deeds” (Deuteronomy 11:2-3) and then, went on to identify specific things that the people had seen God do in order to discipline them. Discipline is a type of personal involvement in the lives of others that is usually motivated by love. Hebrews 12:3-17 states:

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
    nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and chastises every son whom he receives.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

The writer of Hebrews associated discipline with making straight paths for our feet and indicated that holiness is required for us to see the Lord (Hebrews 12:13-14). The Greek word that is translated see, optanomai (op-tanˊ-om-ahee) means “to gaze (i.e. with wide-open eyes, as at something remarkable)” (G3700). This particular kind of vision is different that simple voluntary observation or mechanical, passive vision. Optanomai has to do with spiritual discernment and one’s ability to understand spiritual truth.

Knowing and seeing the discipline of the LORD are connected with our personal experience as a believer. Jesus told his followers, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many might works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21-23). The Greek word that is translated knew, ginosko (ghin-oceˊ-ko) “signifies ‘to be taking in knowledge, to come to know, recognize, understand,’ or ‘to understand completely,’…”In the New Testament ginosko frequently indicates a relation between the person ‘knowing’ and the object known; in this respect, what is ‘known’ is of value or importance to the one who knows, and hence the establishment of a relationship” (G1097). Epiginosko “suggests generally a directive, a more special, recognition of the object ‘known’ than does ginosko (G1097); Sometimes epiginosko implies a special participation in the object ‘known,’ and gives greater weight to what is stated…Cf. the two verbs in 1 Corinthians 13:12, ‘now I know in part (ginosko); but then shall I know (epiginosko) even as also I have been known (epiginosko),’ ‘a knowledge’ which perfectly unites the subject with the object” (G1921).

The Hebrew word that is translated discipline in Deuteronomy 11:2, musar, (moo-sawrˊ) appears throughout the book of Proverbs and is used figuratively in speaking of “warning or instruction; also restraint” (H4148). Musar is used three times in the first seven verses of Proverbs 1 which “provide the title (v. 1), the purpose (vv. 2-6), and the theme (v.7) of the book as a whole” (note on Proverbs 1:1-7). It states:

The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

To know wisdom and instruction,
    to understand words of insight,
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
    in righteousness, justice, and equity;
to give prudence to the simple,
    knowledge and discretion to the youth—
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
    and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
    the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
    fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:1-7)

According to Solomon, instruction or discipline is connected with wisdom and intelligence and therefore, it is silly to disrespect the person that gives it to you. Proverbs 3:1-12, which encourages believers to trust in the LORD with all their hearts, contains the original text that is cited in Hebrews 12:5-6. It states:

My son, do not forget my teaching,
    but let your heart keep my commandments,
for length of days and years of life
    and peace they will add to you.

Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;
    bind them around your neck;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good success
    in the sight of God and man.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
    and refreshment to your bones.

Honor the Lord with your wealth
    and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
then your barns will be filled with plenty,
    and your vats will be bursting with wine.

My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline
    or be weary of his reproof,
for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
    as a father the son in whom he delights. (Proverbs 3:1-12)

Solomon warned believers against leaning on their own understanding or being wise in their own eyes. The point that Solomon was trying to make was that our minds and God’s mind do not work the same way. God’s way of doing things is superior to our own and he is able to accomplish anything he wants to. Isaiah 55:6-11 states:

“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
    and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
    and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

Thinking “signifies a mental process whereby some course is planned or conceived” (H2803). Typically, people do this without giving any consideration to God’s thoughts about the matter or his ways of doing things compared to their own. Isaiah’s argument in favor seeking the LORD was that God is compassionate and he is willing to forgive our mistakes.

Judges 1:1 tells us that “After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the LORD, ‘Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?’” “The expression ‘inquired of the LORD’ refers to the fact that the civil ruler of Israel had the right to ask the high priest to consult the Urim and Thummin for him (Numbers 27:21). This was the means that God set up for the judges, and later the kings, to know his judgment on any particular matter” (note on Judges 1:1). The Urim and the Thummin were necessary in Old Testament times because the Holy Spirit was not yet available to believers. When one of Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them how to pray, Jesus said to them:

“When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
    for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”

And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:2-13)

Jesus used the example of an unfortunate friend to illustrate his point that God always responds to our requests for help and then, concluded with the statement, “how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13). The Holy Spirit is our primary means of direct communication with God. Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27). The Holy Spirit doesn’t intercede on our behalf in order to make our request known to God, but, so that God can communicate his will to us.

After the people of Israel “inquired of the LORD, ‘Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?’ The LORD said, ‘Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.’” (Judges 1:1-2). The answer the people received gave them the confidence to move forward and resulted in successful conquests, but a pattern developed where there was a failure to complete the conquest. Judges 1:19 states, “And the LORD was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron.” Judah’s inability to drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron was not a matter of it being impossible. Israel’s conquests in Northern Canaan involved a great horde of soldiers, “in number like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots” (Joshua 11:4). The problem that developed was that the people who had seen the great work that the LORD had done for Israel all died. “And there arose a generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:7, 10). Israel’s disobedience caused the angel of the LORD to tell them, “I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you…And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Judges 2:3, 11-12).

Israel’s early abandonment of the LORD was predicted before Moses’ death. Deuteronomy 31:16-18 states, “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Behold you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us? And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods.” The LORD hiding his face meant that his favor had been withdrawn, making it seem as if he was no longer present with his people (H5641). The LORD was certainly aware of what was going on because he continued to intervene on their behalf when they got into trouble. Judges 2:16-22 tells us:

Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not.”

The statement, “They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways” (Judges 2:19) indicates that the people of Israel were at that point doing “what was right in their own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 21:25), rather than inquiring of the LORD. The Hebrew word that is translated practices, maʿalal (mah-al-awlˊ) refers to “an act (good or bad)” (H4611). Maʿalal is derived from the word ʿalal (aw-lalˊ) which specifically means “to glean” or to produce an effect, “by implication (in a bad sense) to overdo” (H5953).

Psalm 50 provides some additional insight into what was going on during the period of time between Joshua’s death and the installation of Israel’s first king. Psalm 50:7-17 states:

“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
    O Israel, I will testify against you.
    I am God, your God.
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
    your burnt offerings are continually before me.
I will not accept a bull from your house
    or goats from your folds.
For every beast of the forest is mine,
    the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the hills,
    and all that moves in the field is mine.

“If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
    for the world and its fullness are mine.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
    and perform your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
    I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

But to the wicked God says:
    “What right have you to recite my statutes
    or take my covenant on your lips?
For you hate discipline,
    and you cast my words behind you.

God indicated that his people were continually sacrificing burnt offerings to him, but for the wrong reasons. The Israelites weren’t thankful for the things that the LORD had done for them; they were trying to earn God’s favor. God associated the wicked with being able to recite his statutes and being identified with his covenant, but indicated that the wicked were not open to his correction or willing to apply his word to themselves. Subjugation to God’s discipline was an important aspect of the relationship that was demonstrated between God and his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus used the parable of the two sons to emphasize his point that it is necessary for us to change our minds in order to do what God wants us to. Jesus asked, “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him” (Matthew 21:28-32).