Sunday Scripture

  It's time for another Sunday Scripture!  This is part of an ongoing series on my simple study of Rachel Wojo's Everything Beautiful.  You can read about the plan here if you are interested in it for yourself: Everything Beautiful Bible reading plan. My answers and input on this series are a combination of what I learned back in 2018, and what I found in looking over the Scriptures now, six years later.  I'm attempting to SOAP the passages too, though some of them are longer. [Quick reminder that S stands for Scripture; O stands for for observation; A stands for application, and P stands for prayer.]  Today's study is from Job 12:7-13.  

S= "But ask, now, the beasts; and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee.
"Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
"Who knoweth in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?
"In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
"Doth not the ear try words?  and the mouth taste his meat?
"With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.
"With Him is wisdom and strength; He hath counsel and understanding."  (Job 12:7-13)

O= These verses are part of Job's rebuttal to Zophar's charge: How can Job claim innocence?

Back in verses 2-3, Job responds to his critics: "No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.  But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you; yea, who knoweth not such things as these?"

Believer's Bible Commentary notes:  "Anyone knows that God is wise and powerful, but how do they explain the excruciating sufferings of a man who once received answers to his prayers, and the contrasting prosperity of the ungodly?"

This is what Job is saying in verse 5: "I am as one mocked of his neighbor, who calleth upon God, and He answereth him:  the just upright man is laughed to scorn."  He goes on to point out that his accusers are attacking him when he is about to fall: "He that is ready to slip is ... despised in the thought of him that is at ease."

The commentary summarizes verses 7-12: "Even the world of nature -- the beasts and the birds and the fish -- shows God's arbitrariness in destroying some and protecting others.  If Job's critics tested words as carefully as they tasted food, they would agree with the ancients, who uniformly agreed with what Job had said."

Cross-references for "whose hand" (v.10) --  "And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will Thou be wroth with all the congregation?"  (Numbers 16:22)

"And thou hast lifted thyself up against the Lord of heaven ... and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know, and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified."  (Daniel 5:23)

"For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring."  (Acts 17:28)

"Soul" (v.10) could be read "life".

"Mankind" (v.10) can be read "flesh of man".

"Mouth" (v.11) can be read "palate."

Warren Wiersbe writes in With the Word: "Job replied to all three friends and reminded them that he had wisdom as well as they.  In fact, all creation knew the things that they said to him.  God is great.  His hand made everything (v.6) and His hand keeps everything alive (v.10).  Job wanted to die and escape his suffering, but God held his life in His hand."

A= For this Scripture, there were also a number of ways to apply it as prompted in the journal.  

"God woke you up this morning because He has a meaningful plan for you." -- Rachel Wojo

My thoughts about this: This statement obviously fits with the words of verse 10 -- "In the hand of the LORD ... is the breath of all mankind."

 

"If your life is in God's hand, have you anything to fear?" -- Warren Wiersbe

 
Rachel also shares a "focus word" in each of the devotional pages.  For this lesson the focus word is "breathe". 

 

The question was asked: How can I realign the eyes of my heart to see the Father's present of everyday elegance?

My response in 2018:Even the fact that He gives us breath should make us stop and think.  He does indeed have a meaningful plan.  If He were finished with us, we would be in heaven.

Answering this same question in 2024: Life feels a little uncertain right now with our national circumstances.  But I must look to all that I know about God and not to the circumstances.  And there is so much truth about God just in these few verses from Job!

This prompt was given, along with a list: Today I will keep my eyes open for God's beauty in one or more of these places.

These are the places I circled: The words I read; the music I hear; the people I encounter; the food I eat;  the air I breathe; the weather I experience; the rest I receive.

In 2024 I can note that for the people I encounter, we recently reunited with old friends in Canada.  What a blessing to see them still growing, still walking with God through every circumstance of life.

For the food I eat, I recalled the carefully planned and prepared, delicious food our friends made for us.  They work full time (though they took vacation time the week we were with them) so they prepared much ahead of time.  So much thought and care was beautiful!

For the rest I receive, I mentioned how well we slept during our visit, even though we were in a different time zone and were getting to bed later than usual.

A journaling prompt was this:  Everything God made is beautiful.  Where have I noticed God's beauty in the last 24 hours?

My response in 2018: In the gorgeous profusion of colors and designs in the Easter flowers at church.  In glorious blue sky and sunshine.  In words from the Bible and also those penned by hymn writers concerning Christ's resurrection.

For my response in 2024, I added: In the beauty of ocean and dunes.  In the color and form of shells.  In the gracefulness of a great blue heron.

P= "Lord,  I thank and praise You that You give breath to all mankind.  I praise You that in Your wisdom and understanding you have a plan for each of our lives.  I pray that You will help me to get serious about living out that plan each and every day of my life.  I thank and praise You for how You will help me to do this, in Jesus' name, Amen."

 And there is this week's Sunday Scripture!  I pray it's a blessing to someone.