NL-Day032 Exodus 3-4; Job 32; James 1

EXODUS 3-4:
In yesterday's beginning to Exodus, we heard of Moses' birth and his young adulthood in Egypt. He murdered a man and had to flee for his life, going to Midian. We also read of his helping the seven daughters of Reuel, a scene that I can't read without thinking of the Cecil B. DeMill movie.

JOB 32:
Job having finished his defense, Elihu takes the stage. HC Mears says,

Eliphaz basically said, “God never makes a mistake. What have you done to bring this on yourself?” Bildad essentially said, “God is just. Confess your sin.” Zophar suggested, “God is all-wise. He knows man.” Elihu, God's man, said the wisest thing: “God is good; look up, and trust Him.”

Note that at the end of the book, Elihu is not mentioned as having misrepresented God. He does seem to speak wisely, but we can fault him for his arrogance.

JAMES 1:
Yesterday in 1Peter 5, Peter gave a very important encouragement to elders within the church. And among other things, he gave an important words about spiritual battle with Satan. I summarize his commands as Stay alert, Stand firm, and Remember.

The letter of James is similar to 1 Peter in several ways. In the first verse of both letters, both mention that their audience is dispersed throughout the world. Both describe their audience using Jewish catch phrases. James is also similar to Peter in the way he sets out several themes and keeps returning to them. Moyer says of this book, “As soon as we read through the letter of James we say to ourselves, ‘This man was a preacher before he was a writer.’”

James is probably the oldest book of the New Testament, written perhaps only 15 years after Jesus' death and before the first council of Jerusalem in AD 50. This was written, not by the disciple named James, but by James the half brother of Christ. While Jesus was alive, James was not a believer. But he came to believe when Jesus appeared to him shortly after His resurrection. Some time after this and before his martyrdom in AD 62, James was the leader of the church in Jerusalem.

James does not call himself ‘the brother of Jesus’ but His slave!

NLT Translation notes:
Jam. 1:1 This letter is from James, a slave of God and of [our Lord Christ Jesus//the Lord Jesus Christ].
6 But when you ask him, be sure that [you fully believe that God is willing to give you that wisdom you are asking for./ /your faith is in God alone.]Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.
17 Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. [But unlike those heavenly lights, God//He] never changes or casts a shifting shadow.
24 You see [that you have dirt on your face, and then just//yourself,] walk away, and forget what you [looked/look] like.

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.