Daily Dose of Hope

March 18, 2025

Day 3 of Week 51

Scripture:  Job 18-20; Psalm 141; Revelation 15

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, everyone!  This is the podcast and devotional that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan.  Let’s get right into our Scripture for today.

Our Old Testament reading is from Job, chapters 18-20.  In chapter 18, we find the response of one of Job’s friends.  I’m beginning to think they aren’t really friends, and they certainly aren’t comforting.  He basically tells Job to stop his chatter and admit that he is an evil man.  Only things like this happen to men who are evil and turn away from God.  His directness is a bit uncanny. 

In chapter 19, Job responds and asks why his friend would torment him?  What is the purpose?  Job is grief-stricken because he is not hearing from God.  He feels like God’s hand has struck him.  Job is all alone.  He has nothing and he asks for his friends to try to understand and take pity on him. 

Chapter 20 brings another response from one of Job’s friends.  It is similar to the last.  Only God will strike the wicked.  Keep in mind, that was the general thought at the time.  If one is sinful and wicked, then he will reap punishment from God.  That is the way God’s justice works, doesn’t it?  Job resists such a statement while his friends have totally bought in.  Of course, none of this is happening to them so it’s easy to make blanket statements about justice.

Let’s move over to Revelation 15.  The first vision in this chapter is that of seven angels.  These angels carry the last judgements that God will use in the tribulation.  This is a time of celebration, as the believers sing songs of worship to the Lord. 

Revelation presents God's final judgments on sin in three groups of seven. The first set of judgments was represented by the opening of seals on a scroll in chapter 5. The second set was represented by trumpets in chapter 8. This last pattern will involve bowls, symbolically filled with the wrath of God. This segment also indicates that the sanctuary in heaven was filled with smoke during this time, preventing anyone from approaching God until the judgments were completed.  More on this tomorrow...

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki