Other comments on this day's readings can be found here.
Reading 1 - Job 4
Eliphaz (who speaks in Job 4; 5; 15; 23) rests his philosophy
on general observation and special revelation (Job 4:8; 5:3,27; 15:17; 4:12-16;
15:18,19). He is committed to a fixed theory, with a much too narrow view of
providence (Job 5:3-16; 15:20-35): that is, that no innocent man suffers or
perishes (Job 4:7). Therefore, according to Eliphaz, Job suffers because he
sinned.
Reading 2 - Jon 4:5
"Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city.
There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would
happen to the city" (Jon 4:5).
"In high dudgeon he went out of the city (on its east side
because there was high ground, and on the west Calah abutted on the wide
fast-flowing Tigris). There he built himself a booth, of the sort he had made in
early days at Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles; and there he would
discipline his impatient soul with patience. Perhaps, after all, his
remonstration to the angel would bring thunderbolts from heaven, something
comparable to Sodom's grim fate and would 'turn Nineveh to ashes, condemning it
with an overthrow.' What a satisfaction it would be to himself and to his
countrymen to see a politically-inflated Nineveh wiped out!" (Harry Whittaker,
"Jonah").
Jonah chose his "ringside" seat and waited, hopefully, for the
heaven-sent destruction of the great city. But... nothing happened! Do we --
sometimes -- wait eagerly for what will NOT happen... because we misunderstand
the character of God, or His prophetic timetable?
Reading 3 - Heb 10
Heb 10:23: "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith
without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)"
"The second 'Let us' [the first is in v 22] is connected with
hope, although the AV obscures the matter by translating 'elpis' in this sole
instance by the word faith. 'Let us hold fast the confession of our hope, that
it waver not; for he is faithful that promised.' Hope is grounded upon promise,
even the promises made unto the fathers. God is faithful; the promise is sure.
Only man's part is in doubt; their beginning was right in their confession of
Christ. The end would also be so if they held fast to that confession. Every
generation sees its quota of waverers, and to every generation may this appeal
be made, 'Let us hold fast' " (John Carter, "Hebrews" 192,193).
Heb 10:24 : "And let us consider how we may spur one another
on toward love and good deeds."
"Do everything in love: love of God and love of man. Forget
yourself. Forget all your own desires: they will never give you any real
satisfaction -- only frustration and disappointment. There is nothing there: so
quit looking for it there. Get independent of personal pleasure and desire. That
is the greatest emancipation possible. It frees you to get into the real joys
and satisfactions -- which are all in love of, and work for, God. This
beautifies the character and purifies the flesh" (GV Growcott).
Heb 10:25: "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are
in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-- and all the more as
you see the Day approaching."
" 'I am too tired' -- 'I prefer to hear the lecture' -- 'Bro
So-and-so is the speaker, and I never get any good from his addresses'. These
are not justifiable excuses for absence from the Breaking of Bread. Christ's
command is this: 'This do in remembrance of me' (1Co 11:24), and for us to
ignore the command is to imperil our salvation. Was ever a divine appointment
set aside without incurring disastrous consequences to ourselves and God's
displeasure towards us? Those who absent themselves from the Lord's Table should
think of this. To refrain wilfully from assembling together on the first day of
the week is not only to display a shocking lack of appreciation of the
importance and profit of the appointment, but it is a direct insult to Christ"
(AT Jannaway).