Day 160

Biblical Morality

Read: Job 31-33

The three “friends” have charged Job with some sin which they think must be the cause of his suffering. Job now examines his life, and in doing so provides us with a good list of the morality which the Bible demands. God demands honesty (31:5). God demands sexual purity (v. 9). Job recognizes that if he had a sexual relationship with another man’s wife it “would be a heinous crime” (v. 11). In a day when adultery is taken so lightly, we need to reaffirm the biblical standard and how wrong it is to break that standard.

God requires that we treat people who work for us with consideration (v. 13). He demands that we feed and clothe the poor (v. 16). He does not want us to put our trust in our money (v. 24). How careful we must be lest we do just that. We must not rejoice when people who hate us suffer misfortune (v. 29). We must take a responsible attitude toward natural resources (v. 38). Here we have a good summary of the kind of morality required by God in his Word.

Now, a certain young man who has been listening to the debate speaks up. Elihu has respect for age, and rightly so, yet he has been disappointed by what Job has said and equally disappointed in the arguments of the three “friends.” But while he is rather pompous in his claim to have an answer, what he says sheds no light on the problem of Job.

PRAYER
Father, help us to examine ourselves by the standards found in your Word. In Jesus’ name. Amen.