The Berean Pursuit
Then Job answered:
"Listen carefully to my words;
let this be your consolation to me.
Bear with me while I speak;
then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
Is my complaint against a man?
Then why should I not be impatient?
Look at me and be appalled;
put your hand over your mouth.
When I remember, terror takes hold,
and my body trembles in horror.
Why do the wicked live on,
growing old and increasing in power?
Their descendants are established around them,
and their offspring before their eyes.
Their homes are safe from fear;
no rod of punishment from God is upon them.
Their bulls breed without fail;
their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.
They send forth their little ones like a flock;
their children skip about,
singing to the tambourine and lyre
and making merry at the sound of the flute.
They spend their days in prosperity
and go down to Sheol in peace.
Yet they say to God: 'Leave us alone!
For we have no desire to know Your ways.
Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him,
and what would we gain if we pray to Him?'
Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands,
so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
Does disaster come upon them?
Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction?
Are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff swept away by a storm?
It is said that God lays up one's punishment for his children.
Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it.
Let his eyes see his own destruction;
let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
For what does he care about his household after him,
when the number of his months has run out?
Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
since He judges those on high?
One man dies full of vigor,
completely secure and at ease.
His body is well nourished,
and his bones are rich with marrow.
Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul,
having never tasted prosperity.
But together they lie down in the dust,
and worms cover them both.
Behold, I know your thoughts full well,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
For you say, 'Where now is the nobleman's house,
and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?'
Have you never asked those who travel the roads?
Do you not accept their reports?
Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity,
delivered from the day of wrath.
Who denounces his behavior to his face?
Who repays him for what he has done?
He is carried to the grave,
and watch is kept over his tomb.
The clods of the valley are sweet to him;
everyone follows behind him,
and those before him are without number.
So how can you comfort me with empty words?
For your answers remain full of falsehood."
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
"Can a man be of use to God?
Can even a wise man benefit Him?
Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous?
Does He profit if your ways are blameless?
Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you
and enters into judgment against you?
Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your iniquities endless?
For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers
and deprived the naked of their clothing.
You gave no water to the weary
and withheld food from the famished,
while the land belonged to a mighty man,
and a man of honor lived on it.
You sent widows away empty-handed,
and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
Therefore snares surround you,
and sudden peril terrifies you;
it is so dark you cannot see,
and a flood of water covers you.
Is not God as high as the heavens?
Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are!
Yet you say: 'What does God know?
Does He judge through thick darkness?
Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us
as He traverses the vault of heaven.'
Will you stay on the ancient path
that wicked men have trod?
They were snatched away before their time,
and their foundations were swept away by a flood.
They said to God, 'Depart from us.
What can the Almighty do to us?'
But it was He who filled their houses with good things;
so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
The righteous see it and are glad;
the innocent mock them:
'Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire has consumed their excess.'
Reconcile now and be at peace with Him;
thereby good will come to you.
Receive instruction from His mouth,
and lay up His words in your heart.
If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored.
If you remove injustice from your tents
and consign your gold to the dust
and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,
then the Almighty will be your gold
and the finest silver for you.
Surely then you will delight in the Almighty
and lift up your face to God.
You will pray to Him, and He will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
Your decisions will be carried out,
and light will shine on your ways.
When men are brought low and you say, 'Lift them up!'
then He will save the lowly.
He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands."
Then Job answered:
"Even today my complaint is bitter.
His hand is heavy despite my groaning.
If only I knew where to find Him,
so that I could go to His seat.
I would plead my case before Him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
I would learn how He would answer,
and consider what He would say.
Would He contend with me in His great power?
No, He would certainly take note of me.
Then an upright man could reason with Him,
and I would be delivered forever from my Judge.
If I go east, He is not there,
and if I go west, I cannot find Him.
When He is at work in the north, I cannot behold Him;
when He turns to the south, I cannot see Him.
Yet He knows the way I have taken;
when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
My feet have followed in His tracks;
I have kept His way without turning aside.
I have not departed from the command of His lips;
I have treasured the words of His mouth
more than my daily bread.
But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him?
He does what He desires.
For He carries out His decree against me,
and He has many such plans.
Therefore I am terrified in His presence;
when I consider this, I fear Him.
God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me.
Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,
by the thick darkness that covers my face.
A Psalm of David.
I will sing of Your loving devotion and justice;
to You, O LORD, I will sing praises.
I will ponder the way that is blameless-
when will You come to me?
I will walk in my house
with integrity of heart.
I will set no worthless thing
before my eyes.
I hate the work of those who fall away;
it shall not cling to me.
A perverse heart shall depart from me;
I will know nothing of evil.
Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret,
I will put to silence;
the one with haughty eyes and a proud heart,
I will not endure.
My eyes favor the faithful of the land,
that they may dwell with me;
he who walks in the way of integrity
shall minister to me.
No one who practices deceit
shall dwell in my house;
no one who tells lies
shall stand in my presence.
Every morning I will remove all the wicked of the land,
that I may cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD.
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go, pour out on the earth the seven bowls of God's wrath."
So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and loathsome, malignant sores broke out on those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
And the second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it turned to blood like that of the dead, and every living thing in the sea died.
And the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they turned to blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say:
"Righteous are You, O Holy One,
who is and was,
because You have brought these judgments.
For they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets,
and You have given them blood to drink,
as they deserve."
And I heard the altar reply:
"Yes, Lord God Almighty,
true and just are Your judgments."
Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given power to scorch the people with fire. And the people were scorched by intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues; yet they did not repent and give Him glory.
And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness, and men began to gnaw their tongues in anguish and curse the God of heaven for their pains and sores; yet they did not repent of their deeds.
And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East.
And I saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs coming out of the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. These are demonic spirits that perform signs and go out to all the kings of the earth, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.
"Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed."
And they assembled the kings in the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came from the throne in the temple, saying, "It is done!"
And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and a great earthquake the likes of which had not occurred since men were upon the earth-so mighty was the great quake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath.
Then every island fled, and no mountain could be found. And great hailstones weighing almost a hundred pounds each rained down on them from above. And men cursed God for the plague of hail, because it was so horrendous.