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January 25 Bible Reading:
Job 37-38
Psalm 25
Shabbat Va’era (Exodus 6:2-9:35)
**Click to read Christine Miller’s Bible study for today.
Shabbat shalom! It was a sweet, quiet, and restful morning, just me and Abba reading before the rest of the family woke up.
Elihu brings up an interesting point about weather. Since I live in a time when I can check the 10-day forecast on my weather app at any time, I forget that the weather forecast is a guess — and that only YHVH knows where the thunder will rumble, where the lightning will split the sky, where the snow will fall, and whether the rain will be gentle or heavy. The whirlwind, whether it’s a dust devil or a devastating tornado, comes only by His command, as well as the bitter north winds, the ice sculptures of the sea, and the swirling clouds.
He is glorious indeed!
But check out the three reasons YHVH controls the weather, given in Job 37:13.
- For correction (literally, the rod)
- For His land
- For mercy
I personally wonder if a terrible thunderstorm was brewing in the southwest when Elihu spoke these words, because Job 38 begins:
“Then YHVH answered Job out of the whirlwind…”
Honestly, that must have been terrifying! Don’t forget that Job’s children all died when a whirlwind struck their house and came down on the young people (Job 1:19).
I know that the first three men who came to Job would have been thinking that the tornado was coming to correct Job’s hidden wickedness. It is a logical conclusion, but it isn’t the only reason storms come. Remember, some storms come because YHVH’s eyes are ever on His created world, and He is simply watering the earth, even if we don’t understand His logic or methods.
And storms also come because of His mercy. Again, from our human perspective, this doesn’t make much sense, but we must never forget the loving heart of our Father.
And that’s the point of these two chapters, isn’t it?
“Who is this who darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
Now prepare yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding” (Job 38:2-4).
YHVH has a higher “clearance level” than we do. We are not on His level, and we don’t know why He does what He does. And most of the time, He isn’t going to tell us.
And faith is having a humble heart, willing to admit that we are on a need-to-know basis and that we can survive not knowing.
Trust and obey,
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Yeshua
But to trust and obey.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture in this blog post taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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To Study Further:
- Psalm 25:12-14 talk about the special blessings that come to those who fear YHVH. The fear of the YHVH is defined as keeping His precepts. It is an action, not a mood or feeling. You can read more about this here. And for those who fear Him, what does Psalm 25:14 say He will show them?
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