More Than a Romantic Proposal!

http://www.fotosearch.com/

Filipinos who watch the popular sitcom in the Philippines, entitled "I Love Betty La Fea" may recall this scene when the leading man, Armando asked Betty, "Are we?" to which the latter, responded, "We are!"(meaning, they are "on"/ it's them!) Such scene thrilled the fans - but no more than it thrilled Armando who danced to the tune"we are!" A similar but indirect proposal is made in Proverbs ( A Book from the Old Testament, any version of the Christian Bible); a direct one is again made later on in the New Testament.

Proverbs is about a wise man's advice to a young man/ men, to pursue wisdom. Wisdom in this book, is personified* as a woman.** At the same time folly(reckless behavior) is personified as a woman too.

According to the persona*** other men distract a young man's pursuit of wisdom and is led astray. How does a young man identify these kinds of men? Proverbs refers to them as "men who try to get ahead in the world by exploiting others "(Chapt. 1:10-19)**** and "women who seek sexual pleasure outside the bond of marriage" (Chapts 5; 6:20-25; 7).

On the other hand, genuine wisdom can be recognized by looking at the characteristics of "the wife of noble Character" (Chapt. 31:10 - Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character): ...
WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT though is - who is this woman of noble character? Who is the "she" being referred to in "she is worth far more than rubies" ( 31:10). "She" refers to wisdom.

Wisdom here has a two-fold meaning:

1. the quality of being wise, referring to character
(chapts.1-9; chapts. !:7 - "the fear of the Lord"

2. a person**** -wisdom is subtly personified in the person of Jesus Christ (1 Col1: 30 and Col 2:3.Matt 13:44-46 - Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl)

If one can recognize folly by "men who try to get ahead ...and by women who seek sexual pleasure ... what is the face of wisdom? How can one recognize it? the face of wisdom is a "wife of noble character" ( a metaphor). Chapter 31: 10 however, tells us that "a wife of noble character who can find?"

If there is no perfect person of such noble character, the "young man"*** in the poem/Proverbs is advised by the persona to "marry wisdom"***** (Chapt. 31:1-9) - a prophetic view of what is to come, when Jesus in the New Testament invites us for marriage ( holy communion - last supper). take this bread and this cup - another way of saying, "Will you be mine?"

When we do choose to marry Jesus/wisdom, Jesus in us makes us the perfect woman of noble character!
________________________________________________________________________ * personified as a woman - this is a poem and an allegory. A poem uses figurative language, in this case, personification - wisdom is characterized as a woman.

** Books in the Old Testament are an allegory - meaning, they are not to be taken literally, but mean something else.

***persona refers to the point of view/perspective or the speaker of the poem who is the wise man; while, "young man" figuratively speaking is any man/woman/reader of Proverbs.

****these men and women represent folly/recklessness/unwise behavior.

*****or "lady wisdom" ( Chapts 1-9).

****Old Testament - Cross References
1. The way and what wisdom speaks in Proverbs 1:23-33 find similar voices/perspectives in: Isaiah 1: 4; 5:21; Isaiah 65; Job 28 - to name a few

2. wisdom is more precious than rubies and nothing you desire compare to her - proverbs 3: 15; 8:11; 31:10

3. Proverbs' reference to the Tree of Life has parallels with the same mention of the tree in other books ( Prov. 3:18;m*:18-19; 11:30; Gen 2:9)

The Old Testament leads us to the coming of the Savior/bridegroom.

New Testament
1Col !:30 - Christ, the wisdom and power of God - it is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God.

Chunk IV. How Does God Love YOU?

What is the persona ( in this case, the writer) in the Book of Job trying to say? The persona presents God's perspective of Job and contrasting this with how Satan views the latter. Let me summarize this in an outline

God's Vision"s of Job vs. Satan's
1. Job is "upright ... no one on earth like him" 1:8
( Satan's view: because he is blessed 1:9)

2. Job is still upright ( after great suffering- livestock, servants, sons and daughters were killed 1:13-16) (Satan's: strike his flesh 2:5)
PD Photo.org
3. Job is consistently faithful (even after being afflicted with painful sores from his feet to his head and suffering contempt from his wife 2:7) (Satan's: look for his weakest points) Chapts. 1-2

What follows are the friends' perception of Job. Job's friends' advices (Chapts. 3-41) are unsought-for, all-knowing, self-righteous accusations to this tune - you must have sinned terribly, you are being punished, the righteous is rewarded and the wicked is punished (paraphrase of Chapts. 4,5,11,14,15,18,20,22,25

What about Job's perception of himself? "I am innocent. I am an upright man." His reactions can be summed up in the following: confused, complained (god is unfair), questioned (why did God allow these to happen to me?), doubted God's love for him, cursed the day he was born BUT NEVER CURSED GOD - chapts. 3,6,7,10,12,13,16,17,21,23,24,26,27.

III. How Does God Love YOU?

http://www.beautifulfreepictures.com/images-N/nature/pictures-1.htm

"Job" - Chapter 2
God repeats His view of Job "have you considered my servant Job?"There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil" 2:3. He tells Satan that the latter has failed with Job - " and he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me to go against him without reason" 2.3. Satan persists with his view of Job, " strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face" 2.5. To which again, God being confident of his servant Job, accepts the second tests - "very well then, he is in your hands" 2.6. Verse seven tells us that Job is afflicted with painful sores - "from the soles of his feet to the top of his head." Further, his wife losing patience with God and husband, challenges him to curse God. Job however, delivers excellently God's view of him: "... foolish woman, shall we accept good from God and not trouble?" and "in all this, Job did not sin in what he said" 2:10.

II. How Does God Love You?

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

Why does a loving God allow man to suffer? This is a common question that has plagued any reader of "Job" (the book). This is an issue that challenges God's sovereignty.

God's sovereignty in this book begins when God asks Satan,"have you considered my servant,*Job?" 1:8 God does not stop here /nor does the writer, through his main character, God, he establishes the character of Job "there is no one on earth like him; he is blameless** and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil" 1:8. This is countered by Satan, "Does Job fear** God for nothing?" 1:9 "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household ..." 1:10 Satan then puts up this challenge: "stretch out your hand and strike everything that he has and he will surely curse you to your face." 1:11

Please take note, that Satan's challenge already reveals how he views Job: self-serving, Job's righteousness in which God delights, serves Job's purposes - richly blessed and protected, he naturally is faithful to God; it is easy to be righteous, when all goes well ...). To which God confirms His view of Job when he accepts Satan's challenge "very well then everything he has is in your hands ..." The rest is known to any reader of "Job," Job suffers immensely: his livestock, servants, sons and daughters are killed. 1:13-16. Job however maintains uprightness and integrity -

Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
May the name of the Lord be praised. 1:21

"In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." 1:22
__________________________________________________________________
Definition of terms
*servant - a designation for one who stands in a special relationship with God and is loyal in service

**blameless and upright - both have the same meaning - leading a morally upright life. NOT sinless.

How Does God Love YOU?

http://www.beautifulfreepictures.com/images-N/nature/pictures-1.htm

Let me re-tell Job's story - a long one, so let me give it to you in chunks! Don't forget the definition of lover in What is a Lover? ( see same blog site, His Love) Intro to His Love. Enjoy your walk!

For quotations and notes, I will be using my personal Bibles:
The NIV Study Bible, Zondervan, 1985,U.S.A. and
The Devotional Study Bible, Zondervan, 1997, Japan

In "the land of Uz, there lived a man named Job." This man is presented as "blameless, upright; he feared God and shunned evil" - Chapt. 1.1. This man is blessed, "he had seven* sons and three daughters" and literally rich, "he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys,** and had a large number of servants" - 1:3. At the same time, Job is a faithful, religious man, "early in the morning he would sacrifice burnt offerings for his children... this was Job's regular custom."*** In short, Job is a respected and famous man of his time and place -"he was the greatest man among all the east."1.3
___________________________________________________________________
Quoted from the NIV Study Bible, p. 934
Cultural notes
*seven - in ancient Jewish culture, seven was an ideal number,signifying completeness
**donkeys that produced offspring were very valuable.
***before the ceremonial lawss of Moses were introduced, the father of the household acted as priest.

Poverty - A State of the Mind

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

A poverty- mentality is one whose mind is bound to one’s means – one’s earning capacity, income, money in the bank, assets, etc or the lack of any of these;
a prosperity-mentality on the other hand, is a mind that is free of any limitation because it is focused not on one’s assets nor liabilities, not on one’s cash-on-hand or credit limit BUT on the immeasurable riches of GOD.
What is our basis for the freedom to believe that God’s limitless wealth IS OURS?

LET’S REST and look at Genesis (Old Testament, Christian Bible, any version – I’m using the NIV) 1: 26 “Then God said, let us make man …and let them rule …” 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, Fill the earth and subdue it
1:29 I give you every seed-bearing plant and every tree that has fruit …” What is the point of this quotation? That in the beginning, God already intended paradise for man – provided everything that man needed! God provided food and all– dominion included!

Even if Man, through Adam and Eve failed to see such immeasurable provision by eating from the forbidden tree (Gen. 2:17), YET God never failed to provide for them – Gen. 3: 21 “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them …” Later, we are to know that such clothing, mind you, was not only literal BUT figurative and prophetic– in the same way that God clothed Jacob through the latter’s mother, so that Jacob would get the privilege of the birthright ( Gen.27:15-16),, our first parents also were clothed with garments taken from the skin of an animal that was slaughtered (Gen. 3;21) if only to reveal to man, what His Son would do – He would shed his own blood and cover our incapability by clothing us with His Capability, SO THAT WE BE FIT for our birthright. What birthright? That of being made in the image and likeness of God (Gen.1:26)!

Going back to the question – “What basis do we have for thinking that God’s immeasurable wealth is ours?” If the background provided in Genesis is not enough, Let’s recall what God asked Peter, who already was walking in water “Why did you doubt?” (Jesus Walks on the Water, Matthew 14:28-31)

What is a Lover?

One definition of lover is someone devoted to /adores a particular thing (Encarta Dictionaries). Let's just say that a lover is someone keen, enthusiastic, fond of someone or something; a lover esteems, respects, honors, is crazy about/is committed to someone. ( synonyms taken from Encarta Dictionaries). Please keep this definition in mind as we trudge along ...


(photo taken from Bigfoto.com.ads by Google)

Intro to "His Love"

Intro to "His Love"

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? ( Romans 8:38, NIV Study Bible, Zondervan)

'His Love" is a look at God's love for man - a rev-sitting of the Old Testament. God compared his love to many graphic illustrations in each book, with one goal in mind, that man recognize the true lover when he comes ...

I'm dedicating this to anyone who seeks a genuine relationship - with the One who will truly love you -only one person can selflessly give you that without ceasing - He knows you by name!

I invite you to trek with me - to re-read The Bible, as a product of God's overwhelming fondness for man - for us/ me - for YOU! This trek won't be chronological in sequence - Genesis to Revelation
(though, I hope to be able to do this one day) BUT as the inspiration/the Spirit leads me to complete a study/reading!

Have a blissful walk!