“I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.”

Job 42:5

Job lost almost everything — his wealth, children, health, and public honor. His friends commiserated with him in silence for an entire week. Then Job broke the silence, beginning a cycle in which his friends respond to his complaints with the prevailing, but mistaken, wisdom of the day: the innocent prosper and the wicked are punished. If Job would only repent, they reasoned, God would restore him. But Job maintained his innocence.

In the process of working through his pain, Job began to wonder about God’s character. He saw God as being out of touch with human suffering, even unmoved by it. Job wanted someone to explain God to him and him to God (9:33; cf. Jn. 1:18).

In the end, God broke the cycle of empty human wisdom by giving two speeches. First, God asked Job whether he understood how creation was governed (38:1-40:2), to which Job pleaded ignorance and pledged his silence (40:3-5). Then, God contrasted his power with the most terrible creatures in the ancient world (40:6-41:34). Again, Job was humbled (42:1-6).

Instead of answers to Job’s questions, God gave him something more valuable: perspective. God is the king of the universe. He has perfect knowledge and hidden purposes which are above us. Job knew he was out of his depth and changed his attitude (42:6).

And through his suffering, something beautiful occurred. Job was not beat down into the dirt of discouragement. Just the opposite. He was lifted up to new heights. He had seen God in a new light. “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you” (42:5). In his pain, he felt entitled to question God, to bring him down to his own level as if God were answerable to him. But after coming face to face with the Almighty, he had a deeper understanding of God. But this was an understanding he would never have known had he not experienced such loss.

God makes a habit out of meeting people in their pain. Jesus came to share in and take on our pain. He became that “arbiter” that Job prayed for in Job 9:33. Through Jesus, we can not only endure suffering but be transformed by it (Rom. 5:3-5; 8:31-39; 2 Cor. 4:16-18; Heb. 12:5-11; Jas. 1:2-4; 1 Pet. 1:6-9; Rev. 2:10; etc.). James encourages patience in suffering and points to Job and the good “purpose of the Lord” as motivation (Jas. 5:11).

When our pain seems too much to bear, the cross reminds us of God’s power and wisdom. In Christ, even when we suffer we know that his divine compassion and mercy have not failed (Lam. 3:23). Job had no idea what was going on behind the scenes. He had no understanding of God’s purpose for his affliction (Job 1:6-2:7) nor its outcome (42:10-17). Many times, neither do we. But what sustains us through the furnace of affliction is God’s control to cause all things to work together for good to those who love him (Rom. 8:28). The happy ending in Job is just a shadow of what we will receive if we remain “steadfast under trial” (Jas. 1:12).

Hezekiah was sick unto death (Isa. 38:1) but endured his sickness by faith. He said, “Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back” (Isa. 38:17). Hezekiah had discovered a new appreciation for God’s love but he did so through “great bitterness.” So it will be for us when we confront the evil and bitterness of this world with faithful endurance.

Now, we “see in a mirror dimly.” God’s image is obscure. But as we persevere by faith our spiritual perception of him will continue to sharpen until we finally see him “face to face” (1 Cor. 13:8).

And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand! For as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”

1 Samuel 25:32-35

There are times when God, in his sovereign wisdom and mercy, restrains us from committing terrible acts against him, ourselves, and others. 1 Samuel 25 illustrates this restraining mercy of God. David, the Lord’s anointed but not-yet-sitting-king, was traveling through the wilderness when he sought the aid of a rich man named Nabal. But Nabal was “harsh and badly behaved” (1 Sam. 25:4) and regarded David as a rebellious upstart. He repaid David’s kindness to his shepherds (1 Sam. 25:6-8) with dismissal. In a moment of anger, David had his men prepare for battle and sought retribution from Nabal by destroying his entire house (1 Sam. 25:9-13, 21-22).

But Nabal’s wife Abigail, a “discerning and beautiful” woman (1 Sam. 25:4), heard the news of her foolish husband’s treatment of David and interceded with words of wisdom, humility, and kindness (Prov. 15:1) as well as gifts for David’s troop (1 Sam. 25:14-31).

Not only was David’s wrath placated and Abigail’s house delivered from death, but David himself was saved from the “bloodguilt” of revenge (1 Sam. 25:26). Abigail knew David would be king and wanted him to take the throne with a clear conscience. She said to David, “And when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.” (1 Sam. 25:30-31)

Because of Abigail’s faithful intercession, David could see clearly again. But David understood that it was really God who sent Abigail to stop him from doing violence and breaking the covenant (1 Sam. 25:32-35). He was saved from the pain of guilt he would have suffered later had he committed murder.

God’s restraining mercy is still active today in our lives. His word restrains us from great evil but, as in the story of David and Abigail, when we forget his words he may also send his servants to remind us of what is right. This is one aspect of God’s providence; God provides what we need in the moment (Gen. 22:8, 14). He is able to place certain people in our path to help us on our way.

I can’t count the number of times Rachael has “restrained” me from doing wrong or speaking out of turn and “delivered” me from embarrassment or much worse. The same can be said of my brothers and sisters in Christ who, through their good example and wisdom, hinder me from sinning and help me choose what is right.

The obvious question is are we the kind of people God can use to encourage others to do what is right and discourage them from doing what is wrong? (Heb. 3:12-13) We can be like Abigail and God can use us to limit evil and promote righteousness. Is this not what Jesus meant by being “light” and “salt” (Mt. 5:13-16)?

Whenever we experience God’s restraining mercy, let us do what David did by recognizing the Lord’s hand and praising him. “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.” (2 Thess. 1:3)

“For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.”

Deuteronomy 10:17-19

The word “awesome” is abused in our modern vernacular. I know I’ve been guilty of using it to describe rather trivial things. But in the Bible, “awesome” most often describes the works God has done, the places God has been, and the character of God himself. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word yaré means something so big, terrifying, and powerful, it causes astonishment and awe in us. The same word translated “awesome” in Deuteronomy 10:17 is translated “terrifying” later in verse 21.

Whenever God ‘made an appearance’ among his people, they  were consistently awestruck. Israel was scared to death at the foot of Mt. Sinai, when God gave the Law through Moses. Ezekiel saw God riding on a lightning storm/cosmic chariot across the plains of Babylon and responded by falling down as if he were dead. Isaiah met with God in the heavenly throne room and declared his own ruin in the face of the King’s holiness. An astonished Daniel saw the “Ancient of Days” giving the dominion of the universe to one “like a son of man.” When John turned to see the voice of many waters he came face to face with our resurrected and glorious Lord. John responded just like Ezekiel, “I fell at his feet as though dead.”

These “theophanies” (intense visual manifestations of God’s glory to humanity) broke all categories of human experience. They were so awesome, that when the biblical writers tried to convey their encounters with God, they resorted to the words “like,” “as,” “had the appearance of” or “the likeness of” because what they saw was so unique it was far beyond the limits of their vocabulary.

Among the many attributes of God which make him “awesome,” is his tenderness toward the lowly. In fact, his condescending grace is rooted in his transcendent greatness. God is awesome because his love reaches across the infinite gap between us and him. We see these ideas in Deuteronomy 10, particularly in verses 17-19.

God is transcendent, the “God of gods and Lord of lords.” On the basis of this greatness, God is “not partial” and “takes no bribe.” God is self-sufficient and needs nothing outside of himself. God does not take bribes not only because he is just (Deut. 16:19; Prov. 17:23) but also because he has no motive to take a bribe. He who already owns everything cannot be bribed with anything.

He shows no “partiality” for the same reason. He does not try to curry anyone’s favor through special treatment because he has no need to. God is above all that. He doesn’t need to create a debt with anyone through favoritism because all created beings are intrinsically and eternally in his debt already. If he wants to get something done, he will do it. He doesn’t need coercive strategies.

On the basis of his transcendent self-sufficiency, Moses says, “He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.” Since God can’t be bribed by the rich and has no deficiency to be remedied through favoritism, he cares for those who can’t afford bribes and have nothing to attract his partiality — orphans, widows, and refugees.

The application for us is to love like God loves. We are beneficiaries of God’s kindness. If we will recognize our widow-like, orphan-like, refugee-like spiritual condition of helplessness (Mt. 5:3), and rely on God’s love and power, we will have the power to love as he loves. This is why James says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (Jas. 1:27)

“…each one was hearing them speak in his own language…”

Acts 2:6

Shared language unifies. Different languages divide. Paul wrote, “There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me.” (1 Cor. 14:10-11) People who share a common language tend to stick together. We even use the expression, “You are speaking my language” to show our understanding and agreement with what is said. But when we can’t communicate with one another we find it frustrating and division results.

This all began with the tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9). Noah and his descendants were told to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen. 9:1). Genesis 11 begins, “Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.” In a conceited effort to make “a name” for themselves, the people disobeyed God’s mandate and settled in the land of Shinar to build a city and “a tower with its top in the heavens.” Of course, any effort undertaken in pride which opposes God’s will is doomed to fail. God saw the potential of this unified city (Gen. 11:6) and interceded by confusing their language, “so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” (Gen. 11:7). This had the effect of dispersing the population and frustrating their construction project. The place was called “Babel,” which sounds like the Hebrew word for “confusion,” and it still keeps that connotation today in English (cf. Acts 17:18).

In ancient Babylonian texts, the name “bab-ili” meant “the gate of god.” At the top of the Babylonian ziggurat, which was probably the kind of tower the people were building in Genesis 11, was a small temple which was meant to be a kind of “gate” into heaven. The hubris of the tower of Babel was the beginning of a pattern.

Babel eventually became the world power known as “Babylon.” Following the pattern set forth in Genesis 11, the Babylonian empire became drunk on their own power and was ruined (Dan. 4:30-33; Isa. 13:17-22). In the prophets and the book of Revelation, Babylon came to represent all those who exalt themselves and oppose God (Rev. 17:1-6). Just as in Genesis 11, the “Babylons” of the world are doomed to fall (Rev. 17:14; 18:1-3; cf. Isa. 21:9; Jer. 51:8). God’s people are told to “come out” of that symbolic city of wickedness and pride and enter instead into Jerusalem to find peace, mercy and true safety with God (Heb. 12:22-24; Rev. 21:2-4).

What does this have to do with language? God once used language as a tool to divide and scatter people (Gen. 11). But in Acts 2, he used language to unite and gather them! On the day of Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection, the apostles, filled with God’s Spirit and on God’s holy mountain (Isa. 2:2-4), preached the gospel in different languages to gather his scattered people into one nation again (Acts 2:1-11). The gospel is the only message that can unite diverse people and make peace where there was once hostility (Eph. 2:11-22) because it addresses the universal problem of sin (Rom. 3:23).

John was once shown a vision of this diverse, unified body of people all shouting in harmony their gratitude and praise for what God has accomplished through Jesus (Rev. 7:9-10):

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

In Christ, we all “speak the same language,” the language of the gospel. In Christ, there is unity, understanding and peace because we have left “Babylon” and entered the “New Jerusalem.”

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

Acts 2:42

After Jesus was raised from the dead and appeared to the apostles, he told them to go to Jerusalem and wait to be baptized by the Holy Spirit who would lead them in the expansion of God’s kingdom. When they received the Spirit, thousands of people were converted and the church began to grow. Throughout the book of Acts, Luke describes the growth of the church in several summary statements. The first one is a great example. In Acts 2:38-47, Luke introduces four specific practices of the early church:

1. The apostles’ teaching — attention to God’s word and works
2. The fellowship — shared participation and resources
3. The breaking of bread — also known as the Lord’s Supper
4. The prayers — a regular pattern of worship

These four acts of devotion (Acts 2:42) are repeated and expanded in the following verses:

1. Wonders and signs were done through the apostles (43)
2. The church shared their resources (44-45)
3. They continued to break bread (46)
4. And praise God together (47)

Then Luke writes, “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47) The section begins with a description of people responding to the gospel with repentance and baptism, and receiving the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38-41) The next section shows the things the church did that follow a forgiven, Spirit-filled life. (Acts 2:42-47) Luke intentionally frames these patterns of devotion with summary statements about the growth of the church (Acts 2:41, 47).

Noticing this sequence helps us understand God’s design for the growth of the church. Repentance, baptism, and the forgiveness of sins come first in the text because they come first in the life of every Christian. When we change our minds about God (repentance), we turn away from our sins and toward Jesus. We surrender ourselves to him in faith by being baptized. This is the turning point of our lives where we receive the forgiveness of sins and are put into a right relationship with God (Father, Son, and Spirit, Mt. 28:19).

Once in God’s family, we begin to live a radically different life. This new life is spent in the regular patterns of devotion outlined in Acts 2:42 — learning, sharing, feasting, worshiping. All four of these acts of devotion contribute to both the individual growth of Christians and the collective growth of the church (Acts 2:41, 47).

These repeated statements of growth remind us of God’s intention for humans in the beginning. When God created humans in his image, he generously provided for all their needs and taught them to “be fruitful and multiply.” (Gen. 1:27-31) This command is repeated to Noah after the floodwaters cleansed the earth. He was also blessed and told to “be fruitful and multiply.” (Gen. 9:1-7) Later on, Abram and Sarai, who were too old to have children, were blessed by God who promised he would “greatly multiply” their descendants bringing blessing to the world. (Gen. 12:2; 15:5; 17:2; 26:4, etc.)

The beginning of God’s church is like a new creation. God’s newly formed people are blessed and multiply, bearing fruit for him filling the earth with God’s glory. Through Jesus, God fulfilled his promise to Abraham to “bless all nations.” (Acts 3:25-26) Now, through the church, God’s blessing of life continues to multiply as we devote ourselves to these four activities: we devote ourselves to learning about God and his work; we devote ourselves to sharing life as one family; we devote ourselves to remembering Christ’s sacrifice in the Lord’s Supper; and we devote ourselves to praising God together.