ch.18 - Bildad responds for the second time
Bildad now accuses Job of being 'wicked' Job 18:5 and so his assessment contrasts with that of Yahweh given in Job 1:8

ch.19 - And Job responds again
19:3 'ten times' must be a figure of speech as his friends have only spoken five times to him according to the record so far.

18:5 In colloquial English this might be rendered 'When will you just shut up and listen to us?'

19:26 There is much speculation as to whether Job believed in the resurrection. However we note that Jesus, quoting Job's words (Matthew 5:8) says that the meek will see God and clearly Jesus is speaking of the blessedness of those who are to be raised from the dead.

18:7-8 So Bildad is saying, in a round about way, that all Job's problems are of his own making!

19:2 So Job sees the words of his friends as destructive, not constructive - and they really thought they were helping him! Food for thought!

LIKE CHILDREN

Matt 18:3-4 - Jesus said that to attain a future reward we have to be humble like little children. And while knowledge is necessary for salvation (Rom 10:2; Hos 4:6) we have to be careful we don't get puffed up with knowledge (1Cor 8:1; Luke 18:9-14). However in Job we see a less admirable side of children along with fair weather friends and family Job 19:13-19; Job 6:14-15 

RESURRECTION and JUDGEMENT

Job 19:25-26 suggests resurrection and standing on the earth as a complete being. The word flesh Heb. basar (1320) means flesh, body, person, body, self, etc. while Job 31:14 suggests being called to account at an implied judgement Dan 12:2;Isa 26:19,21.

18:2  Bildad’s annoyance, maybe exasperation, is seen with his words which might be styled ‘when are you going to shut up …’.

19:5  Now Job’s true understanding of what his friends were doing is seen. He thought that they, rather than comforting him, were exalting themselves above him. Hence they would not, as we saw in Job 17:3 , identify with his problem. Again something for us to think carefully about. Do we empathise with those we know who are in sorry or do we laud it over them, thinking that we are in abetter position of understanding than they?

19:3 Whilst Job says ‘ten times’ his friends have collectively answered him only 5 times. Job is speaking colloquially, as Jacob probably did – Gen 31:7

18:2  Job spent the largest part of his last speech focussing upon the grave and death as being a solution to his problems. All that Bildad can say is ‘you talk a lot, shut up and let me say something’ so we see there was no compassion, no empathy, no sympathy.

Bildad continues cutting, judgmental remarks against Job.  He believes that Job must be wicked because God has punished him.  We shall see later that the LORD is trying Job to refine his character, and not punishing him for wickedness.

19:25,26  Job seems to be expressing a belief in judgment and resurrection.  Unfortunately, Job does not expound upon this, and so we are left with an incomplete understanding of what he meant. However, Job is accounted righteous, and an example to follow (Eze 14:14,26; James 5:11).  With those endorsements, we should be surprised if Job were not in the Kingdom.

A promised latter day redeemer on earth - Job 19:25;Zech 14:1-4,9,16;Isa 9:6-7;2:2-4;Matt 24:3,36,37,44.

19:4 Job is, in effect, saying if he has done anything wrong he does not understand what it might be.

Zephaniah is in four parts:
1] The coming invasion of Nebuchadnezzar a figure of the day of the Lord, 1.1-2.3.
2] Predictions of judgment on certain peoples, 2.4-15.
3] The moral state of Israel for which the captivity was to come, 3.1-7.
4] The judgment of the nations followed by kingdom blessing under Messiah, 3.8-20.

1:8 The 'strange apparel' of Zephaniah answers to not having a wedding garment in Matthew 22:12

The punishment on the princes and the kings children is seen as being fulfilled by Pharaoh Necho and Babylon when we examine the relationship of the descendants of Josiah and notice who was made ruler over Judah.

THE FAMILY TREE OF JOSIAH

2 Chronicles 36:8 1 Chronicles 29:10 The  'king' is Josiah and the princes and sons are those who followed up to the final captivity of the Babylonians.

V4 At this point of Josiah's reign he had not done away completely with Baal worship. Josiah began his reformation in the twelth year of his reign (2Chron 34:4,8) and it appears that it took a few years to completely do away with it. 

Zephaniah, whose name means Yahweh sheltered (hidden), prophesied around 625 BC.  Josiah's reformation came about 621 BC, in which Zephaniah was probably involved.  Zephaniah's prophecy concerns judgement of the Day of the Lord.  Hebrew prophecy often has a dual application, and so the first application of the Day of the Lord judgement occurred when Nebuchadnezzar captured Judah.  The second application will be when Christ returns and confronts the opposing nations. 

1:9 Leaping upon the threshold was a practice that Israel had learnt from the Philistines who would not tread on the threshold after Dagon fell down – 1Sam 5:5 – so Israel, rather than celebrating Yahweh’s victory over idols chose to copy the behaviour of those who recognised their idol could not stand before Yahweh.

1:4 In saying ‘the remnant of Baal’ we learn the real reason for the terrible judgements that Zephaniah is pronouncing on Jerusalem. They were involved in Baal worship. Whilst Josiah was a good king it appears that the people were still serving Baal.

1:2   Josiah was a good king so it might seem strange that the prophet is pronouncing judgement upon Judah. However, as can be seen from a careful reading of the historical narrative that whilst Josiah was a good king the people did not, by and large, follow his good lead.

1:2   Josiah was a good king so it might seem strange that the prophet is pronouncing judgement upon Judah. However, as can be seen from a careful reading of the historical narrative that whilst Josiah was a good king the people did not, by and large, follow his good lead.

V.5  The Jews had a duality of worship.  On the one hand, they worshipped Yahweh, but at the same time they worshipped the Ammonite god Milcom (Molech).  They felt that as long as they paid their vows to the LORD, then they could go off and do other things.  But, the LORD cannot tolerate a duality of worship (Exo 20:3).  The same applies to us.  We cannot worship the LORD but, at the same time, worship something else.  This is made clear with regards to material wealth (Matt 6:24).  But, the same principle applies to anything that takes time, energy, and concentration away from serving the LORD.

1:5 The description of the way that the people were involved in worshipping false Gods is similar to the way that the contemporary prophet speaks – Jer 7:8-10

1:17 The warning that the people ‘will walk like blind men’ reminds the hearers of the prophet’s message of what Moses had warned – Deut 28:29

3:10 1 Thessalonians 5:2 The brethren and sisters knew that Jesus would come 'as a thief' because Jesus told his disciples as much in the Olivet prophecy. Matthew 24:43 Confirming that they knew the 'times and the seasons' Paul reminds them that they are not in darkness. 1 Thessalonians 5:4 In a similar way Peter 2 Peter 3:10 reminds his Jewish audiences that despite apparent delays the destruction of Jerusalem will take place.

And Jesus takes up his own warning Revelation 3:3 16:15 giving two warnings to his disciples lest they become complacent.

Patiently waiting

V.4,9  - The Lord wants to give as many as possible a chance to repent

Speeding the return of Christ?

V.11-12 - does this mean we may have an affect as to when Christ returns by our behavior and prayers?

Twisting scripture

V.16 - not everything is easy to understand in the Bible and unfortunately some will distort scripture resulting in their own destruction.  1Cor 14:33; 2Tim 2:15; Acts 17:11 - Difficulties in interpretation or the occasional paradox can be resolved by delving more carefully into scripture.

3:17  Knowing the gospel does not render us immune to error. Those to whom Peter wrote knew the gospel, yet Peter was concerned lest they fell away. We are in the same situation and just as likely as they to fall away. The antidote is fellowship with helpful brethren and attention to Scripture.

3:8 In saying that a day is as a thousand years Peter is making no vague comment. He is quoting Psa 90:4. Thus sowing that Scripture delineates how God works, thus criticizing those – 2Pet 3:4 – who have said that because time has passed since Jesus spoke the Olivet prophecy that God will not keep His word about the ‘coming’ of Jesus.

3:6-7    The world that ‘perished’ was the world before the flood. The world that is ‘reserved unto fire’ ended with the overthrow of the temple and the end of the Mosaic order in AD 70.

V.3 Scoffers of the Truth have always existed, but they became particularly prevalent in the first century and onward.  Today, we live in a world that has declared God is dead; creation came about by a cosmic accident, not by divine design; Humanism is worshipped.  We must be careful not to entertain any idea that cannot be borne out by the Word of God.

V.10 The earth will not be literally destroyed.  It will be cleansed of all that offends the LORD.  After this cleansing, a new order of righteousness and bounty will exist (v.13).

3:3 The ‘new heavens and new earth’ quotes Isa 65:17 thus showing us that area of Isaiah is speaking of the time of the kingdom of God.

3:15We do well to remember that our God is ‘longsuffering’ God’s mercy and willingness to forgive is the whole basis for our salvation.