Job CCCXLII

 1 John 4:1, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

Given that these words were penned some two thousand years ago, it’s not a new problem. There have always been those who took it upon themselves to color outside the lines, to believe things contrary to what the Word of God and the teachings of the apostles clearly stated, and John felt the need to reiterate something obvious yet, for some, simultaneously difficult to grasp: not every spirit is of God! Not every dream is of divine origin, nor does every dream have some revelatory meaning. Not every experience one has is automatically of divine origin, nor does every experience originate from God.

It is incumbent upon us, as individuals, to test the spirits not via the prism of our understanding, inclination, or predisposition but via the prism of God’s word. It has the final say-so. It is the final authority, and no matter how much one might want to believe they played rock, paper, scissors with God while sitting on His lap, the Word says it is an impossibility; therefore, it did not happen, and if it did, it wasn’t God!

I’m not so much denying that someone had an experience. What I am unequivocally denying is that it was of divine origin, that it was of God, or that God went against His own established Word because he was so desperate for someone to comb His beard.

Whether out of ignorance of the source, or a tacit and willful cooperation with evil matters not as far as those who are caught in their web are concerned, only their individual punishment and the severity thereof. Yes, I believe, in His wisdom God views those unwittingly deceived, and those willingly doing the bidding of Satan, having pledged their allegiance to him, differently. While one who is deceived may see the way of truth given time, and acknowledge the error of their ways, one who has knowingly embraced the darkness is far less apt to be redirected.

Your duty as well as mine is to be wise, sober-minded, and test the spirits to see their origin, to see from whence they come, and what their intentions are. Our wanting to believe something happened cannot override the truth, nor the means by which the truth is attained.

Whether out of boredom, instinct, or hunger, when the wolf slaughters the sheep, the sheep are still as dead regardless of motive.  

Job’s second statement is equally as profound as his first: no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. The God who knows the end from the beginning has a purpose in all things and for all things, even if we cannot clearly see it or define it. Just because I can’t see what’s on the other side of the valley, or past the mountain range before me, doesn’t mean nothing else exists beyond them.

If God purposes a thing, that thing will come to pass no matter what forces array themselves against it, or how insistently the influential and powerful might protest, and attempt to avoid it. No purpose of God’s, whether for an individual or a nation, can be withheld from Him, and when He declares a thing, nothing man can do can stand in the way of fulfilling His divine plan.

You try to stand in the way of an oncoming hurricane, and do your best to keep from being swept away, but you’ll still be swept away. Job understood that man cannot stand against the plan of God and succeed. He understood that God’s purpose will prevail, even if entire armies array themselves against it. We either submit to the will of God, or resist it. Those are the only two options afforded to us. It’s in knowing the nature of the God we serve that we can have peace in the midst of the storm. It’s in the awareness that He is a good Father that we do not rage, rebel, or grow indignant during the trials of life, because God sees beyond today into tomorrow and knows what the future holds in ways we cannot hope to.

My wife is a hawk when it comes to what our daughters eat. From the moment they were able to verbalize their dismay, there were conversations aplenty as to why the other kids at school brought such culinary delights as Sour Patch Kids, Nerds, Oreos, Doritos, and Twinkies for their snacks, while they were relegated to slices of apple, grapes, pears, figs, and other less appetizing fare. The hard no on soda pop almost caused a civil war, but my wife held her ground, and their palate molded itself to the healthier fare she offered.

A few weeks ago, our oldest ran into a girl she’d gone to kindergarten with as we walked around the lake in our town. It was a chance encounter, and although they're the same age, the other girl looks very different. It’s not so much that Victoria noticed her size, and yes, I know, I’m not one to talk, but this girl was husky to put it mildly. Barring a medical condition, which this girl did not have, if your twelve-year-old is wearing adult-size XXL clothing, you may have failed in your mission to watch what they eat. What Victoria did notice was the acne that covered her face, another byproduct of a steady diet of chemicals, food dyes, and ingredients most adults can’t pronounce. On the drive home, she tapped my wife on the shoulder from the backseat and said, “Thank you, momma.”

“For what?” my wife asked, genuinely curious, to which Victoria answered, “Just thank you.”

I’d seen her reaction upon meeting her kindergarten friend after all these years, and I knew exactly what she was thanking my wife for.

You and I may not currently see the benefits of the chastening, or the trials we are going through, but one day, when we are mature enough, when enough time has passed, when the suffering of this present time is eclipsed by the glory that will be revealed in us, we will have no choice but to thank Him. When understanding finally dawns, we will fall to our knees and thank God for His mercy, His love, His grace, His correction, as well as for the trials that matured us and grew our faith. It may not be today, but it will surely come to pass one day.  

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Job CCCXLI

Job 42:1-6, “Then Job answered the Lord and said: “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

It took forty-two chapters, but Job finally comes to his epiphany. Some men take far longer to reach this monumental realization that shifts the perspective of everything else in one’s life, namely that God can do everything. There is no purpose of His that can be withheld from Him, and others, in their stubborn stiff-neckedness, never do, insisting until their last breath that they are in control, the masters of their destiny, and the captains of their ship. They fail to understand that whether they accept the reality that God does as He wills, and no purpose of His can be withheld from Him, or they kick against the goads, resist Him, and throw fists at their own shadows in frustration, God will still have His way.

There are two distinct statements in Job’s first sentence as he begins to answer God. The first is his profound realization that God can do everything. He didn’t say he thought, hoped, believed, or presumed God can do everything; he knew. Deep down in the marrow of his bones, without doubt or equivocation, Job knew that God can do everything.

That statement alone is more profound than one might think, especially given the spiritual confusion blanketing the contemporary church. On the one side, you have individuals who insist that God has a governor of sorts, in that they can declare things that are not within the parameters of God’s will for them, and somehow God is compelled to do as they demand. That would mean that God is beholden to the whims and wants of men, and if I declare a thing, He is honor-bound to make it happen. To such individuals, God’s will and purpose are not supreme; they are arbitrary and only come into play as long as His will and their will coincide.

It’s tempting, isn’t it, the idea that I can declare a thing and it must be so regardless of God’s will or purpose. There was even a book, and merch to go along with this premise, by a self-styled Texas pastor who will remain unnamed. I’m sure you can Google it.

The will of God is supreme. You can declare until you’re blue in the face, and if that is not God’s will for you, all you’ll end up with is bitterness and resentment, because unlike Job you have not come to the understanding that not only can God do everything, but no purpose of His can be withheld from Him.

On the other side of the coin, you have those who outright deny God’s authority and ability to do everything, insisting that whatever they’ve decided no longer applies to this modern age is something that God can no longer do. I’ve heard it, as have we all, and each time it’s as cringeworthy as the last: God doesn’t do that anymore! Says who? Did God say it? If He didn’t, then don’t assume or presume to know the mind of God, and declare something He never did.

It runs the gamut, and once you begin to think about how many things men say God doesn’t do or can’t do anymore, it’s frightening how often the attempt to supplant and appropriate the authority of God is made.

I know you can do everything! No carveouts, no addendums, no exceptions, no limitations; everything means everything. Yes, due to our own limitations, we sometimes have difficulty grasping the reality that God can do everything, but my inability to run a five-minute mile does not mean that no one else could ever run a five-minute mile. It has been proven and documented that some, albeit a finite number, can indeed run a five-minute mile. So an appropriate response to the reality of the situation ought to be, I can’t do it, but I know it’s possible, because others have.

Then, by your own logic, you can’t dismiss any of the claims people have made of being teleported to heaven in a porta-potty or visiting ice cream land for a double scoop of mint chocolate chip. Not so. While it is possible for someone to run a five-minute mile, they must still run it. If they rode a bike, they are disqualified. If they used a motorcycle to get to the mile marker in less than five minutes, they are disqualified. They must attempt the feat on foot, as everyone who accomplished it before them did.

There are rules set forth that were established since the beginning, and they cannot be broken, ignored, brushed off, or countermanded.

Exodus 33:17-20, “So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight and I know you by name.'” And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”’

That’s the rule, clear as day, and if God would not break it for one such as Moses, He will not break it for anyone. Our desire for new experiences cannot make us turn a blind eye or disregard the order God has established in His word. To do so is to court and invite the one who masquerades as an angel of light to sow chaos, deceit, and confusion.  

With love in Christ.

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Job CCCXL

 Job 41:23-34, “The folds of his flesh are joined together; they are firm on him and cannot be moved. His heart is as hard as stone, even as hard as the lower millstone. When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid; because of his crashings they are beside themselves. Though the sword reaches him, it cannot avail. Nor does spear, dart, or javelin. He regards iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him flee; slingstones become like stubble to him. Darts are regarded as straw; he laughs at the threat of javelins. His undersides are like sharp potsherds; he spreads pointed marks in the mire. He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment. He leaves a shining wake behind him; one would think the deep had white hair. On earth there is nothing like him, which is made without fear. He beholds every high thing; He is king over all the children of pride.”

If even one such as Job, whom God deemed blameless and upright, could not justify himself before God, what hope do we have? What hope do we have of standing in our own righteousness? What hope do we have of working our way into heaven? What hope do we have of standing before the all-knowing God and maker of all that is, the Creator who spoke the behemoth and leviathan into being, and insisting that it was by our machinations, labors, the traditions we held to, or rites and rituals we practiced that we are worthy and deserving of being welcomed into His kingdom?

It is not man who justifies himself before God; it is God who justifies man by the faith one exhibits in the sacrifice and atoning power of the blood of His only begotten Son, Jesus. Does this mean we ought not to strive? No, Jesus Himself said that we must strive to enter through the narrow gate. Does this mean we ought not to be holy? No, God Himself said that we ought to be holy, for He is holy. It’s not an either-or proposition.

What it does mean is that all our striving, all our perceived holiness, would not tip the scales in our favor without the grace, mercy, love, and redemption of the God we serve, who facilitated our being reconciled to Him anew through what Jesus did on the cross.

It’s not works salvation; there’s no such thing, but by the same token, faith without works is dead, as the Book also states. True faith compels us to be active in our pursuit of sanctification. It will not allow us to be sedate and stagnant, or remain in the sorry state Jesus found us in.

Faith is transformative. If the faith a man claims to have does nothing to draw him closer to God, compel repentance, and create a hunger for more of Him, then it is not true faith but words spoken on the wind.

James 1:27, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit the orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”

Millennia before James penned these words, Job was practicing them. By his own words, he never turned away the hungry, the poor, or the downtrodden; he went out of his way to care for the widow and the orphan, and his heart was always tender toward those in need. Likewise, he feared God and shunned evil, committing his ways to the Lord. Even so, Job could not justify himself.

When it comes to this topic, there are two distinct camps: the first is to raise a hand, then stare at your navel for the rest of your days, because by the raising of the hand and the saying of a prayer you’ve secured your place in eternity. The second is to whip oneself into a frenzy, endlessly checking off boxes of performative tasks someone told you must be completed, even if your heart’s not in it and you’re just going through the motions. Usually the motivation isn’t love or a desire for more of God, but a ritualistic sort of muscle memory, like brushing your teeth in the morning or taking a shower when you get home from work.

When Job cared for the poor, it was not performative. When he fed the hungry, it wasn’t hoping someone would see him doing it. When he cared for the widow and the orphan, it wasn’t for brownie points, but a sincere desire to be a comfort and a source of joy. He did these things because they were the right thing to do, and not because he believed doing them would make him holier. Nobody had to force Job’s hand to do good; nobody had to twist his arm or present him with the choice between a carrot and a stick. His relationship with God framed his worldview in such a way that if he could be a comfort, a help, the means by which the hungry could be fed and the naked clothed, he did not hesitate.  

James 2:18, “But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

If man is undone at the sight of God’s creation, how much more so ought he be before the God who created them? If one feels small standing before the behemoth or the leviathan, how much smaller ought he feel standing before God? The evidently similar reactions to the presence of God we see throughout the Bible are not the exceptions; they are the norm. This is how creation rightly reacts when presented with its Creator, not flippantly, arrogantly, or laissez-faire, but with reverence, holy fear, and a vivid knowledge of how insignificant we are in the presence of His infinite power.

We are precious in God’s sight because He deemed it so.     

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Job CCCXXXIX

 Job 41:12-22, “I will not conceal his limbs, his mighty power, or his graceful proportions. Who can remove his outer coat? Who can approach him with a double bridle? Who can open the doors of his face, with his terrible teeth all around? His rows of scales are his pride, shut up tightly as with a seal; one is so near another that no air can come between them; they are joined one to another, they stick together and cannot be parted. His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. Out of his mouth go burning lights; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke goes out of his nostrils, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. His breath kindles coals, and a flame goes out of his mouth. Strength dwells in his neck, and sorrow dances before him.”

You can tell when someone is passionate about a given topic and when they’re just phoning it in. It doesn’t take long to conclude whether the individual in question knows what they’re talking about or they’re just hoping a pointless word salad absent substance will be enough to convince you of their imagined body of knowledge.

Whether it’s birds, cars, the different species of wildlife in a given area, or regional history, someone’s true passion for the topic shines through, whether they mean for it to do so or not. I’ve heard plenty of sermons where passion was so lacking that it was obvious the preacher was just doing his job. Scroll down the iPad, going through the bullet points of a canned sermon, sprinkle in a joke or two, and take up the offering at the end. Another week, another paycheck, and to them that’s all that it was: a job.

The crowd’s reaction, or lack thereof, was of little concern, as were the raised eyebrows when they tried to imply something the biblical text obviously did not allude to; but they pressed on, delivered their twenty-five-minute sermon, unperturbed or unaffected by the absence of impact or spiritual unction.

I’ve also had the honor of being in services where the preacher was passionate about God, the things of God, the ways of God, and the Word of God. You could see the passion in their demeanor, in their eyes, and in the words they spoke, giving them the respect they deserved as being God’s message to His creation, inspired, profound, and impactful, because they followed the urging of the Holy Spirit and not some words they’d scratched on a piece of paper.

You can always tell when there is passion behind an action, and in God’s detailing of the leviathan, one can’t help but notice how passionate He is about His creation. It’s akin to starting up a conversation with a bona fide car guy, who can go on for days about how an engine works, and why you need to change the spark plugs because two out of four are misfiring. While you’re trying to figure out what a spark plug is, he’s painstakingly explaining combustion to you, and all you can do is stand there, listen, and absorb.

Nothing God has created, nothing He spoke into existence, was thrown together haphazardly. There was no moment during the process of creation when God shrugged His shoulders and said, good enough, that’ll do, or the oft-repeated, perfect is the enemy of the good. When God beheld what He had created and said, “it is good,” His version of Good is perfection, for nothing else would suffice.

Take any of God’s myriad of creations, whether a beast of the air, a beast of the sea, and everything in between, and He can tell you why He fashioned them the way He did, all the detail that went into it, and how it was created in such a way as to coexist with the ecosystem to which it was assigned.

But sure, it was all an accident, a serendipitous quirk of the universe where everything from a microbe to a cell to chromosomes to behemoths and leviathans had a purpose and was created with such specificity as to boggle the mind. It’s easy enough to say something that dumb, but far harder to back it up with any reason or logic.

Even those who lean on the crutch of evolution to explain the majesty of creation can’t come up with a viable explanation as to how everything evolved so perfectly. You’ve never seen a zebra with gills, or a tiger with flippers, a dolphin with hooves, or a seal with horns, but sure, it was all by accident, perfectly aligned and put together, but by accident.

Absence of evidence exists only in the minds of those who refuse to open their eyes and acknowledge God’s design in all that surrounds them. It is the refuge of the dull-witted, and those who suffer from god complexes, because to admit that there is One greater than them, One who created them, and put bone upon bone, and sinew atop those bones, One who is responsible for the spark of life that animates them, is to acknowledge God Himself, and be confronted with the reality that one day they will have to stand before Him.

It is unlikely that Job ever saw a leviathan up close and personal, but God’s vivid description of His creation paints a word picture so clear that one can close their eyes and imagine the size, scope, majesty, and ferocity of this beast of the deep. This wasn’t a sketch or an outline; it wasn’t an ink blot where one can imagine whatever they will if they stare at it long enough, but a detailed account of what went into its creation and the minute details that went into its forging.

We may sing songs about serving an awesome God, and about Him being a God of wonder, but can our feeble minds ever truly grasp the extent of His majesty? Are we even able to perceive His greatness while in these husks of flesh? We can get a glimpse from time to time, but as far as the fullness thereof, I do believe we fall short. We worship Him because He is worthy, far beyond what we can comprehend, and the knowledge that this infinite, indescribable, omnipotent God loves us should be more humbling still.       

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Job CCCXXXVIII

 Job 41:1-11, “Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook, or snare his tongue with a line which you lower? Can you put a reed through his nose, or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he make many supplications to you? Will he speak softly to you? Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him as a servant forever? Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you leash him for your maidens? Will your companions make a banquet of him? Will they apportion him among the merchants? Can you fill his skin with harpoons, or his head with fishing spears? Lay your hand on him; remember the battle – never do it again! Indeed, any hope of overcoming him is false; shall one not be overwhelmed at the sight of him? No one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up. Who then is able to stand against Me? Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.” 

Other than offering Elihu a backhanded rebuke, God had thus far addressed none of the others who thought themselves wiser, of greater understanding, and more righteous than Job. God’s words were laser-focused on the man everyone had written off, discarded, avoided, and judged as being wicked, stubborn, and unwilling to admit to the sin he had surely committed.

When God does eventually get around to answering Job’s friends, it isn’t an answer to their prayers and supplications, as was the case with Job, but a rebuke for the words they spoke in haste, without understanding what was taking place. God’s conversation with Job is an answer to prayer. God’s address to Job’s friends is a rebuke and condemnation of their words and actions. The two are not the same.  

It’s been said before, but it bears repeating: what men think of you, how men see you, how men judge you, is irrelevant; how God views you is all that matters. The desire of one’s heart ought not to center on how best to be pleasing in their sight, but to be pleasing in God’s sight. It is He who is the judge over His creation. It is He who weighs the hearts of men and sees them as they are.

Everything under heaven is Mine. That encapsulates the extent of God’s power to the point that His omnipotence is undeniable. Everything. Not some things, or most things, but everything. This is the God we serve. Not one limited in authority, not one of minimal power, not one who wishes He could do something but can’t because His reach does not extend that far.

Nothing is impossible with God! But if that’s the case, why haven’t I gotten my wish list? Why don’t I have the things I want? Once again, because you’re not God, and His will, plan, and purpose are paramount rather than our wants or desires. If Jesus had to submit to the authority of God’s will, what makes any of us think we don’t?

Matthew 26:39, “He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”’

When we pray God’s will be done in our lives, it’s not only when it aligns with our will, when they are in harmony, or when it requires no valley, trial, testing, or hardship. Without the fiery furnace, the three young men would not have had the testimony of God’s power to sustain them through it. Without the lion’s den, Daniel would not have seen God shutting up the mouths of the lions. Without the suffering and loss, the book of Job would not exist, nor would we have as great an understanding of God’s power to restore and rebuild as we do. You may not see the purpose in something, but God does. As long as we remain faithful, true, and obedient, His plan will reveal itself and in understanding it, we will glory in Him all the more.

Often, we focus on the battle and not on the victory that is sure to come if we endure and persist, cling to our integrity, and praise Him even in the midst of the storm. We see the night, but not the dawn, the affliction but not the cessation thereof, the sorrow but not the comforting hand of He who sees all and knows all.

The enemy is masterful at keeping us focused on the suffering of this present time, and not the future glory, because given enough time, marinating in despondency and hopelessness turns into bitterness and disillusionment.

If the book of Job teaches us anything, it’s that God is there even when it seems He isn’t. He is near even when He seems far off. He is present and engaged even when He seems indifferent, and when the world seems to be spinning out of control, everything under heaven is still His.

While the behemoth is a beast of the land, the Leviathan God refers to is a creature of the sea, one which men feared and could not bring down, but which God treats as a pet, playing with him as with a bird. The imagery is astounding and humbling all at once, because the things men fear most are things well within God’s control, for while even the hope of overcoming one as fearsome as Leviathan is a false one for any man, it is no great thing for God to leash him and take him as a servant forever.

Whether viewed through the lens of an allegory of the supernatural that seeks to depict the power of God even over the most fearsome beasts of land and sea, or the literal beasts themselves, the point is clear: Everything under heaven is His, and He rules over all of His creation!

This is the God we serve. Not some idol fashioned of wood and stone, not some dead thing, unresponsive and unconcerned with our trials, but a living, active, all-powerful God, who is in control of everything.

Isaiah 26:4, “Trust in the Lord forever, for in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength.”

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Job CCCXXXVII

 Man didn’t save me; Jesus did. He didn’t save me from slipping on a banana peel or touching poison ivy; He saved me from hell, from the eternal darkness, and from the fire that is never quenched. My salvation and redemption, just like yours, came at a cost that wasn’t paltry or insignificant, but one that was astronomical: a life for a life. Not the life of another, but His life; not the pain of another but His pain. He did not delegate the responsibility of redemption or reconciliation to God because there was no one He could delegate it to. It is to Jesus that I owe my undying fealty, loyalty, devotion, and love, because He did what no other could on my behalf.

Anyone attempting to supplant or replace Jesus in your life, insisting that they, rather than Him, should be followed and obeyed, didn’t die for you! Remember that the next time you entertain the idea that following after a man is an option because it’s more convenient, less time-consuming, or because they demand less of you than Jesus would.

Jesus warned, but it seems His warning fell on deaf ears. He spoke of a time when men would come in His name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and would deceive many. That time is here. That time is now, and it’s only going to get worse going forward.     

Job 40:15-24, “Look now at the behemoth, which I made along with you; he eats grass like an ox. See now, his strength is in his hips, and his power is in his stomach muscles. He moves his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit. His bones are like beams of bronze, his ribs like bars of iron. He is the first of the ways of God; only He who made him can bring near His sword. Surely the mountains yield food for him, and all the beasts of the field play there. He lies under the lotus trees, in a covert of reeds and marsh. The lotus trees cover him with their shade; the willows by the brook surround him. Indeed the river may rage, yet he is not disturbed; he is confident, though the Jordan gushes into his mouth, though he takes it in his eyes, or one pierces his nose with a snare.”

There are those among us who desire to know God and understand the mysteries thereof; then there are those whose only reason for desiring discourse with Him is to prove how wise they are in their own eyes and tell Him how they would have done it differently. Likewise, there are those who approach God in humility and reverence, submitting to His will, deferring to His wisdom, and obeying His commands, and those whose pride will not allow them to bow before His majesty, and if ever they approach Him it is with a combative spirit, challenging His authority, and insisting that they are on equal footing even though they are His creation, and He their creator.

God is patient with those with sincere hearts. If we ask for bread, He will not give us a stone, and if we ask for understanding, He will not be vague or ambiguous. We can neither plead ignorance of God’s will nor His commands, because the Word is clear on both accounts, and only those whose desire isn’t to serve Him, but to find ways of bypassing what He has commanded, pretend as though He wasn’t clear.

God does not withhold pertinent, necessary information, nor does He play coy when we desire more of Him. He doesn’t require that we enter a credit card number to get behind a paywall where all the good information is, but freely reveals His will to us because He is motivated by love, and love alone.

God so loved the world! That sentence alone can readily be contemplated for an entire lifetime, and we would still only grasp the edges of the depth of what it means, and what all it implies. Is it because we are so lovable? Is it because we deserved redemption at the cost of the life of God’s only begotten Son? Or is it because God loved His creation, unworthy and undeserving as it was?

God could have been short with Job; He could have answered in a handful of words, but He took the time to explain His authority so thoroughly that Job was left speechless, in awe of the God he served and all the detail that went into everything He created.

As far as the behemoth goes, and what it is, the learned men of our day as well as those who came before them, have concluded that it’s a catchall term for large, four-legged, ponderous animals, whether the hippopotamus or the elephant; many are inclined to believe that God was referring to a hippo when addressing Job because of the description He proffers of the behemoth opening its mouth and the Jordan gushing therein.

Some, however, insist that God was speaking of dinosaurs when referring to the behemoth, although more often than not it’s wishful thinking rather than any substantive evidence that Job lived during the time of the dinosaurs. Between the two, I would err on the side of caution and say God was speaking of a hippopotamus rather than a dinosaur; then again, I’m not often given to flights of fancy and unsubstantiated claims. Whatever it was God was referring to as far as the behemoth is concerned, the purpose of the example He used is more relevant than what the animal itself was. God was attempting to highlight the clear purpose and design of His creation, including for something as cumbersome, slow, and indomitable as the behemoth.

Even for something like the behemoth, God made sure the mountains yielded food, the lotus trees provided shade, and the Jordan satisfied its thirst. It is neither troubled nor worried about what it will eat or what it will drink, and the raging river does not disturb it. The behemoth is confident not because it has the wherewithal to provide for itself, but because it knows it has been provided for. Even the behemoth can teach us lessons on how we should approach life, only if we are willing to learn.   

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Job CCCXXXVI

 In all the questions God asked Job, He was also attempting to show him the depth and breadth of the chasm between the wisdom of man and the wisdom of God. Job was humble enough to acknowledge what he did not know, but God made clear the breadth of it by pointing out just how many there were. Everyone acknowledges that they don’t know everything, at least anyone who isn’t delusional, but the realization of just how much they don’t know is often jarring and discombobulating.  

We are predisposed to being wise in our own eyes, and those who see it as their defining trait tend to surround themselves with fools simply so they could highlight their own understanding. Every ship of fools must have a captain, and in the land of the blind, the man with one eye is king. When God steps into the picture, however, no matter how highly a man might think of himself, it is for naught, for God isn’t simply wise; He is wisdom personified. Elihu learned as much when God dismissed him as speaking words without knowledge, even though he’d spent a considerable amount of time trying to convince Job and his three friends otherwise.

Accusations aren’t evidence; assumptions aren’t facts, and even the wisest among us understands in part. Knowing this, the best course of action, without fail, is to defer to God, because whether we defer to Him or not, submit to His wisdom or don’t, He will have the final word, and His judgments will be absolute and irrevocable. It’s akin to a grain of sand disagreeing with the crashing waves, or a pebble disagreeing with the rushing river. God will do as He wills, and no created thing, whether man or beast, can stand in His way or hinder His plan from coming to fruition.

We choose to submit ourselves to God and abide by His Word, or attempt to twist it or altogether circumvent it because the desire of our heart is not to be pleasing in the sight of the Lord, but to do as we will and still have the hope of squeaking by and somehow making it into heaven. It doesn’t even have to be something egregious, just small changes here and there that attempt to change the intended meaning of what the gospel says.

Take, for example, one of the most often-heard claims within Christendom over the past few decades: that God has a wonderful plan for your life. It is indisputable that God has a plan for your life, but the Bible never says it’s wonderful, at least not as long as we are in these husks of flesh, making our way to eternity. One word changes both the implied expectations and the meaning of the entire phrase. The wonderful, glorious part comes after, when we stand before God and hear “Well done.” Jesus Himself said that in this world we would have tribulation, yet the expectation of many nominal believers is the wonderful life the smiling snake-oil merchant spoke of, and when tribulation comes, their entire world gets turned on its ear because of one word added to the truth of Scripture.  

The dichotomy between how Job’s friends reacted to his claim of being blameless, having found nothing in his heart of wickedness or evil, and how God reacted, knowing Job was, in truth, all that he claimed to be, is unnerving. On the one hand, Elihu and Job’s three friends could not believe that one could attain such a level of blamelessness, while God, knowing Job was blameless, saw him as one in need of grace and mercy.

Any other man or woman during Job’s generation would have fallen short of his blamelessness and uprightness, but when compared to the righteousness of God, Job himself fell short. Lest anyone be tempted to boast of their righteousness, remember this and be humbled anew.   

Both the presence of God, the voice of God, and the wisdom of God humble man. There can be no other response. Anyone walking away from an encounter with God feeling proud, puffed up, accomplished, and validated hasn’t had an encounter with the one true God. God is not in the cheerleading business. He doesn’t have to cheer every time you finish your peas and carrots because He does not see you as an infant but as a soldier. He doesn’t see you as a toddler but as a warrior.

We sing songs about being in the Lord’s army but act nothing like the soldiers we claim to be. If we are in the Lord’s army, He commands, and we obey, and if, perchance, something requires improvement, whether in the wielding of our weapons or the carrying out of our duties, He lets us know.

Yes, there was a time when you were a lost sheep and the good Shepherd left the ninety-nine and went after the one, but you are a lost sheep no longer. You have been found, you have been saved, you have been sanctified, and you cannot remain in the same spiritual condition as you were when your spiritual eyes were opened. It’s past time that those expecting God to rummage through His pockets for a hanky to wipe their noses learn to put on their armor and stand because they’ve been in a state of spiritual infancy for as long as they’ve been alive.

Stop expecting God to be a mother hen and gravitating toward people who infantilize you to the point of thinking you are incapable of studying the Word of God for yourself. There’s a difference between being babied and being trained, between being pandered to and being discipled. Given that itching ears are all the rage, it’s no surprise the contemporary church is in the deplorable spiritual condition it’s in.

The purpose of a preacher, a teacher, a pastor, a bishop, or an evangelist isn’t to make you dependent on them, but to point the way to Jesus. Anyone who claims to be any of these things and does otherwise has the ulterior motive of controlling you rather than showing you the way by which you can be made free.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.