Insightful Musings on the Scripturesby
Ray Sparre, NU class of '67
Ray has a wealth of experience as a Husband, Father, Pastor, Missionary, and student of the Word. He believes and practices his faith where the rubber meets the road. You'll find his writings to be practical, insightful, and grounded in a truly Christ-centered world view.
Below are links to a printable daily Bible reading guide which Ray has followed, and an archive of all his daily devotional writings for 2010 and 2011.
| Sparre Home Page | Daily Reading Guide | 2011 Devotion Archives | 2010 Devotion Archives |
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28 Nov 11
Greetings, special people.
I sure wanted to get this off earlier. Too many things get in my way. But I did get in a little jog about 8am. Then I did a run to pick up a batch of sawmill blades before returning to attend a special luncheon at Wilsons. I managed to get a little work done. Presently, Becki is at her swim exercise session at the City Pool.
Have a good evening.
Love, Dad/Ray
28 November 2011
Job 38
Focus: “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?” Job 38:2.
“Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm.” That’s how this section begins. God finally speaks—dramatically, forcefully, and audibly. He doesn’t normally communicate that way, but He did here. That concise introduction calls for some further thought.
“The LORD answered Job.” Was God addressing only Job? I don’t think so. At least He spoke loud enough for the other guys to hear—and be spanked and humiliated. The first thing God says has to be like a punch in Elihu’s gut. After all, he’s the one who claimed “perfect knowledge” (Job 36:4). And since there is no more mention of Elihu in the record, I wonder if he simply dropped dead from heart failure.
“…out of the storm.” What storm? Was there some kind of spectacular squall that developed from which God spoke in a voice of thunder? Or was it reference to the verbal, philosophical, and theological storm that raged between Job and his “friends?” I’m inclined toward the latter.
“Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?” Of course, no one is up to answering that question. What a question! I see contained in it one of the most fundamental flaws and failures among finite mortal men—that of adding confusion to the obvious which plays out to mess up knowledge. The basis for my judgment begins with the premise that God offers profound “counsel” to men in the form of objective reality that He expects to be processed by means of a special gift He has given to humans—the gift of objective reasoning. For example, in view of obvious DESIGN, there has to be a DESIGNER. Failure here is like getting the first button in the wrong hole—so the shirt can never be properly buttoned from that point on.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to apply this kind of objective reasoning to the matter of gender and sexuality—something that has risen to become a big point of controversy in our own ailing society. Noting obvious anatomical design distinctions between male and female, how can anyone arrive at an objective conclusion other than that homosexuality is perversion—contrary to design. Duh! Any other conclusion darkens the counsel of the obvious. Yet we are surrounded with people attempting to use lots of words and arguments without knowledge to justify that version of sexuality.
Speaking of God’s gift to humans in the form of the ability to think objectively, my memory goes back to a college course I took once in physiological psychology. There must be a lot lacking in the physiology of my own psychology because I don’t remember much. But I do remember becoming psychologically exhausted from my awe of the incredible anatomy and function of the human brain and nervous system—a phenomenon that had to be designed—no way could it have developed accidentally over time. And that’s one of the blasting questions that God drops on Job—“Who endowed the heart with wisdom, or gave understanding to the mind” (v. 36). In other words, “How in the world do you think you came up with the ability to think?” And while we’re at it, we could compose a related and valid question for those we’ve already mentioned who are so preoccupied and obsessed with sex—“How in the world do you think you came up with the ability to do sex?”
The LORD sets forth a barrage of humiliating rhetorical questions. That’s the main content of the chapter. Measuring and positioning the earth, forming the force of gravity, marking the levels of the oceans, establishing a system for storing and distributing water on the earth by means of clouds and rain, snow and ice, creating a division between day and night, overseeing life and death for living things, fabricating light, establishing the seasons, orchestrating lightning and thunder, managing the stars and constellations, embedding instincts within the animals—these are just some of the features of God’s role and function in the universe that cannot be equaled by any finite creature—leaving us very vulnerable and dependent. In my puny opinion, that simple fact stacks up to be profound COUNSEL. Please don’t do anything to darken it.
“All is perspective. To a worm, digging in the ground is more relaxing than going fishing.” - Clyde Abel