Wed.’s Devo - Restoration

Read: Job 40:1-42:17; 2 Corinthians 5:11-21; Psalm 45:1-17; Proverbs 22:14 After God finished speaking he asked if Job still had anything more to criticize him about. Job was so humbled he had nothing to say. God continued. He asked Job about what he had spoken of God not being just. He asked Job if he was as strong as God. God told him about Behemoth who was afraid of none of his surroundings and Leviathan that could not be caught or tamed because that was how God made them to show his own power and strength. No man can conquer these animals and especially Leviathan because God made it to be the king of the beasts. Job confessed that he had questioned God’s wisdom and he was wrong. Before, he had only heard about God, but now he had encountered him and he was completely undone and repented. God then spoke to Job’s three friends and told them that he was angry with them because they had spoken so wrongly about Him. He told them to take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a burnt offering for themselves and Job would pray for them. God would accept Job’s prayer for them and give them mercy instead of what they deserved. They obeyed and when Job prayed for them, he restored everything to Job in duplicate. He gave him back twice what he had lost and restored his family. He had lost 7 sons and 3 daughters so he got 7 sons and 3 more daughters. His daughters were the most beautiful of the land. Job lived 140 years after that long enough to see four generations of his children and grandchildren before he died. This book is so refreshing because we see that God indeed sees everything and is totally just and does discipline and judge the guilty. And he does justify the innocent and restore and reward their obedience. God does stand up for himself and his people. In Corinthians, Paul is explaining the shift he made in his thoughts about Jesus. He knew of Jesus first as a man but now he knows him as the Christ. Jesus’ goal was to reconcile people back to God and that is our goal as his ambassadors. Lord, may your love control us and may we be reconcilers to You.