Learning from Foolish Counsel (Job 20)

Learning from Foolish Counsel (Job 20)

The interaction between Job and his friends must have been a sight to behold. As we have made our way through their speeches, we have observed mounting frustration amongst the three counsellors. Each speech is more vociferous and blunter than the preceding one. These...
Why? (Job 19)

Why? (Job 19)

In his book, The Finishing Touch, Chuck Swindoll tells the story of Glenn Chambers, a young believer with a lifelong desire to pursue missionary service in Ecuador. On 15 February 1947, Chambers sat in a Miami airport awaiting the take-off that would jet him to his...
Gospel-Centred Suffering (Job 16–17)

Gospel-Centred Suffering (Job 16–17)

Some thirty years ago, Marshall Shelley wrote a book titled Well-Intentioned Dragons: Ministering to Problem People in the Church. The blurb on the book begins this way: “Every church has them—sincere, well-meaning Christians who leave ulcers, strained relationships,...
Conquering the System (Job 12–14)

Conquering the System (Job 12–14)

We have observed in Job a definite distinction between Job’s approach to suffering and that of his friends. His friends shared a very neat and simple systematic theology, in which God blesses the righteous and punishes the wicked. Job’s affliction was evidence that he...
Offended by Grace (Job 15)

Offended by Grace (Job 15)

Of Job’s three friends, Eliphaz had approached his first speech the most gently. To be sure, he had misdiagnosed the situation, but he had done so in a gentle manner. Bildad and Zophar had expressed far greater frustration and had been far blunter in their approaches....