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AUGUST 12
“God has given them a spirit of stupor, for the world, and their failure riches for the
Eyes that they should not see Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
And ears that they should not hear, 13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I
To this very day.” am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my min-
istry, if by any means I may provoke to jeal-
14
And David says: ousy those who are my flesh and save some of
9
15
“Let their table become a snare and a them. For if their being cast away is the rec-
trap, onciling of the world, what will their accept-
A stumbling block and a recompense ance be but life from the dead?
16
to them. For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also
Let their eyes be darkened, so that
10 holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 And if some of the branches were broken off,
they do not see,
And bow down their back always.” and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in
among them, and with them became a partak-
11 I say then, have they stumbled that they er of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do
18
should fall? Certainly not! But through their not boast against the branches. But if you do
fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has boast, remember that you do not support the
come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches root, but the root supports you.
12
DAY 11:What kind of relationship did Job have with God?
Job’s biography begins with a 4-part description of his character:“blameless and upright, and
one who feared God and shunned evil”(1:1).He prayed for his children and was concerned about their
relationship with God (v.5).He was successful and wealthy—the stereotype of a blessed man.In fact,
God adds His own glowing approval of Job,using the same traits that open the book (v.8).
Faced with the sudden, crushing loss of everything—children, servants, herds—Job’s initial
response was to grieve and recognize God’s sovereignty.“‘The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken
away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’ In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong” (vv.
21b,22).
Under the harsh judgments of his friends, Job eventually struggled to understand why God
seemed unwilling to settle matters. Once God did speak, at least part of Job’s problem becomes
clear—he confused a relationship with God with familiarity with God.The Lord did not rebuke Job’s
faith or sincerity;instead,God questioned Job’s insistence on an answer for his difficulties.By allow-
ing Job to hear just a little of the extent of his ignorance, God showed Job that there was a great
deal of knowledge he would never understand. As a creature, Job simply had no right to demand
an answer from his Creator. Job’s final words are filled with humility and repentance:“I have heard
of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You.Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in
dust and ashes”(42:5,6).
Job spent his last days enjoying the same kind of relationship he had earlier with God. He
prayed for his friends and raised another family of godly children. He lived a full life.

Yes, you cast off fear,
4
AUGUST 12 5 And restrain prayer before God.
For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
And you choose the tongue of the
crafty.
Job 15:1–16:22
6 Your own mouth condemns you, and
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered not I;
15 and said: Yes, your own lips testify against you.
“Should a wise man answer with empty “Are you the first man who was born?
2 7
knowledge, Or were you made before the hills?
And fill himself with the east wind? 8 Have you heard the counsel of God?
3 Should he reason with unprofitable Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
talk, 9 What do you know that we do not know?
Or by speeches with which he can do What do you understand that is not in
no good? us?

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