Hey, Bible readers. I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

We're in the Book of Job for nine more days. We're already 25% of the way through it. This book can be challenging for some people. Maybe it drives their patience or just feels like a real downer. Interestingly, though, a lot of people say that Job is their favorite book of the Bible, but most of them don't feel that way until they've read it all the way through. So if I may, let me offer you a challenge that one of our team members likes to present to people. She says, Don't quit in Job. You can quit before Job or you can quit after Job, but don't quit in Job. I love that advice. And obviously, it's too late for you to quit before Job, so you're stuck with us. This book ends with praise and triumph, so be sure to stick around for the party. We're getting closer to it every day.

Today, we met Job's third friend, Zophar. We've already heard from Eliphaz and Bildad who gave their reasons they thought we're responsible for Job's life falling apart. The hard part about listening to these guys is that sometimes they do say things that are true. It's not like it's all wrong. For example, when Zophar is talking about God in 11:6, he says, He exacts less of you than your guilt deserves. First of all, this is generally true of all of us, not just Job. We talked about this yesterday. God is merciful. We all deserve death, yet he lets us live. That's his mercy. And the fact that we get to live God's Earth and breathe God's air and eat God's food, that's so much more than we deserve. That's his grace. He does exact less of us than our guilt deserves. So far said a lot of true things about God. It was when he started drawing conclusions about Job that things took a left turn. And we get to hear Jobes reply where he started getting sarcastic with his friends. Did you catch that? In 12:2, he said, No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.

In 12:5, Jobes had some words of wisdom for those of us who want to comfort grieving friends. He said, In the thought of one who is at ease, there is contempt for misfortune. It is ready for those whose feet slip. Job was pointing out that those who aren't struggling don't seem to understand those who are. In fact, they often have contempt for them, not compassion. It seems like Job was beginning to sense his friend's contempt for him. Maybe some of this was rooted in their jealousy. I know it sounds crazy to be jealous of Job at this point, but this was a man who had everything, who was honorable and respected. And this might be the first time in their lives that they've had a chance to feel superior to him. Maybe they jumped at the chance to try to identify his sins because of their own insecurities. In 12:9, Job acknowledges that God is the author of everything, even when he isn't the active agent in it. God didn't commit these actions toward Job, but if God could have stopped it and he didn't, doesn't it still terminate on him? This is a really mysterious aspect of God's character.

Don't try to overlook it, but don't try to understand it fully just yet. God's not the agent of evil, but it's a necessary part of the story he's writing. We will continue to talk more and more about this as we move through scripture, but don't get hung up on it. Don't let it turn you off from reading. Resist the urge to reach conclusions about God based on what you think at this point, and especially, Resist the urge to reach conclusions about God based on what you think humans deserve. And Unless you're primarily recalling that we deserve nothing but hell and death. I'll be honest, most, if not all, of my frustrations about God's actions are rooted in the lie that I deserve something. Deserve is my least favorite word. It's disgusting to me. It's entitled. You will see it in advertising everywhere. Companies will appeal to your entitlement, try to get you to feed on your self-centeredness. It's disgusting to me, especially because I know how gullible I am when it comes to appealing to my comfort and pleasure. What did you see about God's character today in your reading? It might be different than what I saw, and it probably is, but here's my God shot for today.

I saw that God is our hope. In 13:15, Job said these incredible words, Though he slay me, I will hope in him. Job knew the only place his hope was found. After all had been through, even as a righteous man who was being wrongly called to account by his friends, he knew that the mercy of God was his only salvation, not even the understanding of his friends. If you're in a dark place, dig deep into the story of Job. He gets it. And his words have been turned into a beautiful song called, Though You Slay Me, which we've linked to in the show notes. I think it will be a real comfort to you, so be sure to swipe up and listen to that. Not only is God our hope in the darkest night, but ultimately, he's where the joy is.

Do you want your kids to love scripture, too?

Then let me introduce you to the TBR Kids Devotional, 365 Reflections and Activities for Children and Families. We've heard from so many of you that you like to recap with your kids, so this is a way to help your kids read, understand, and love the Bible more. It's designed for ages six and up, and it follows the same reading plan that we're all on. Plus, it has fun and meaningful activities every day. It's also a great tool for those of you who home school. To pick up your copy or copies, if you have multiple kids, go to the tbr store at thebiblerecap. Com/store, or click the link in the show notes. And when you pre-order, you'll get a PDF of the first 45 days so you can start right away before it's released on January 30th. My friends at Hope Nation have another fun song battle for all the Christian music lovers out there. Whether your 2023 included music by Brandon Lake, Lauren Dagle, or for King & Country, recaps all the best music from the year. Watch with your family or share it with your church small group. Click the link in the show notes to check it out.