Taking a break

Will be back to Job in a little bit!

Haven't stopped contemplating the message of the Bible though. Just thinking about things in a topical fashion for a little while.

Job 21

Job 21 is the halfway mark in the 42 chapter drama of Job.

The structure of the book has been a speech by one of Job's three friends with a response by Job and it is a back and forth between them.

Here Job speaks again ...

Then Job replied:
Listen carefully to my words;
let this be the consolation you give me.
Bear with me while I speak,
and after I have spoken, mock on.

Job is exasperated! He has essentially given up trying to argue his case to his friends. All he can do is ask them to listen even if in the end they aren't convinced and decide to poke fun at him.

Is my complaint directed to man?
Why should I not be impatient?
Look at me and be astonished;
clap your hand over your mouth.
When I think about this, I am terrified;
trembling seizes my body.
Why do the wicked live on,
growing old and increasing in power?

The friends had been arguing that the wicked falter. And by implication, since Job's life had gone down the drain, then he must have been wicked.

Job continues to argue, it isn't that simple, the wicked often do very well in this world.

He elaborates with the following examples:

They see their children established around them,
their offspring before their eyes.
Their homes are safe and free from fear;
the rod of God is not upon them.
Their bulls never fail to breed;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
They send forth their children as a flock;
their little ones dance about.
They sing to the music of tambourine and harp;
they make merry to the sound of the flute.
They spend their years in prosperity
and go down to the grave in peace.

And not only are they, the wicked doing well, they mock god while they are prospering ...

Yet they say to God, 'Leave us alone!
We have no desire to know your ways.
Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What would we gain by praying to him?'

Yet, though the wicked prosper, Job doesn't want anything to do with them ...

But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.

However, its a struggle for Job. Even if he doesn't want to be a part of the ways of the unrighteous, he wonders what is God up to? He wonders why doesn't God strike them down?

Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?
How often does calamity come upon them,
the fate God allots in his anger?
How often are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff swept away by a gale?
It is said, 'God stores up a man's punishment for his sons.'
Let him repay the man himself, so that he will know it!
Let his own eyes see his destruction;
let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
For what does he care about the family he leaves behind
when his allotted months come to an end?

Despite his obvious frustration, Job still allows God to be God.

Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
since he judges even the highest?
One man dies in full vigor,
completely secure and at ease,
his body well nourished,
his bones rich with marrow.
Another man dies in bitterness of soul,
never having enjoyed anything good.
Side by side they lie in the dust,
and worms cover them both.
I know full well what you are thinking,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
You say, 'Where now is the great man's house,
the tents where wicked men lived?'

Job saw that in the end, death is the great equalizer. But somehow, it seems not quite right to Job that good people and bad people wind up dead and that the bad people didn't seem to receive their just punishment while they were alive.

He challenges his friends, grab some people on the road and ask them if I am right about this?

Have you never questioned those who travel?
Have you paid no regard to their accounts-
that the evil man is spared from the day of calamity,
that he is delivered from the day of wrath?
Who denounces his conduct to his face?
Who repays him for what he has done?
He is carried to the grave,
and watch is kept over his tomb.
The soil in the valley is sweet to him;
all men follow after him,
and a countless throng goes before him.
So how can you console me with your nonsense?
Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!

Indeed, if the grave is the very last stop and calamity and wrath and payment for sin must take place in this present life then one would be quite stuck: life is truly totally unfair.

If we believe that justice is an absolute concept and we look at our life experience then we have to conclude either (1) we are incorrect in our beliefs because the wicked can prosper in this life or (2) there must be an afterlife where the scales of justice are righted.

On the other hand, if there is no God to right the scales of justice in the afterlife then we have to say that justice is not an absolute concept but merely what those with power can enforce.

God, there are terrible injustices in the world today. It is horrible to know that people are bought and sold in human trafficking. Help those who are fighting that evil. Strengthen our poor power to fight such wickedness. In addition to strengthening the hands of those who stand against such wickedness, move in the hearts of those who do perpetrate such sin. Just as you opened the eyes of slave ship captain John Newton, open the eyes of today's slave traders to see they are wrong and need to make it right by stopping what they do. Lord, have mercy! Amen.

Job 20

Previously, in Job 1-2 the stage is set for the drama of Job's sufferings.

Job 3-14 is the first set of speeches where we hear Job followed by a friend in dueling monologues.

This pattern is continued in Job 15-21 with a second set of dueling monologues.

Here in Job 20, we hear Zophar give his second speech ...

Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer
because I am greatly disturbed.
I hear a rebuke that dishonors me,
and my understanding inspires me to reply.
Surely you know how it has been from of old,
ever since man was placed on the earth,
that the mirth of the wicked is brief,
the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.
Though his pride reaches to the heavens
and his head touches the clouds,
he will perish forever, like his own dung;
those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?'
Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found,
banished like a vision of the night.
The eye that saw him will not see him again;
his place will look on him no more.
His children must make amends to the poor;
his own hands must give back his wealth.
The youthful vigor that fills his bones
will lie with him in the dust.

Do you think what Zophar says is true?

Indeed, death is the great equalizer. The good and the bad, the great and the lowly, the rich and the poor, all of us share the same fate.

True enough. But does it address where Job is at?

Job knows this is true. What he is complaining about is, where is God?

Job's concern is: I've really tried my best to live a right life and my situation seems just as bad or even worse than the fate of wicked people. What gives?

Zophar goes on ...

Though evil is sweet in his mouth
and he hides it under his tongue,
though he cannot bear to let it go
and keeps it in his mouth,
yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;
it will become the venom of serpents within him.
He will spit out the riches he swallowed;
God will make his stomach vomit them up.
He will suck the poison of serpents;
the fangs of an adder will kill him.
He will not enjoy the streams,
the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;
he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.
For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute;
he has seized houses he did not build.
Surely he will have no respite from his craving;
he cannot save himself by his treasure.
Nothing is left for him to devour;
his prosperity will not endure.
In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;
the full force of misery will come upon him.

Do you think Zophar is taking a jab at Job?

One could say that Job was "In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full force of misery will come upon him..."

Indeed, distress and misery overtook Job. In Zophar's paradigm, it is the price to be paid by the wicked.

When he has filled his belly,
God will vent his burning anger against him
and rain down his blows upon him.
Though he flees from an iron weapon,
a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.
He pulls it out of his back,
the gleaming point out of his liver.
Terrors will come over him;
total darkness lies in wait for his treasures.
A fire unfanned will consume him
and devour what is left in his tent.
The heavens will expose his guilt;
the earth will rise up against him.
A flood will carry off his house,
rushing waters on the day of God's wrath.
Such is the fate God allots the wicked,
the heritage appointed for them by God.

Zophar mobilizes very vivid word pictures to describe the fate of the wicked.

I think this passage, along with a lot of other ones where Job's friends speak, illustrates the perils of making judgments about people's lives.

In isolation, what each of Job's friends say is mostly true. But in the context of Job's life, what they say is not pertinent.

The wrong lesson to draw from Job is to say we never make determinations about people's lives.

In life, we are asked to be discerning. After all, Jesus, in one of many picturesque statements, says, Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

Jesus could be as tough as nails as he was with the religious leaders of the day. He could also be compassionate like he was in the various people he healed. And in some interactions, he was a mix of both.

So indeed, it may be cliche to say, what would Jesus do?

But he is our example.

We have to be honest and admit Jesus did have tremendous advantages in that he had a hotline to God the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit!

We have access as well through prayer and the filling of the Holy Spirit, but humility demands I acknowledge that my heart isn't always pure, nor is my mind constantly focused God-ward and I'm a broken and leaky vessel for the Holy Spirit to be poured into.

Thus, I come to exercise discernment about people's lives with great caution and humility. Yet, we are asked to help each other in life and when necessary helping may mean reading someone the riot act. Hopefully, we will do a better Job than Job's friends.

Lord, clear the clutter of my mind so I focus on you. Keep working on my heart clearing away things that are wicked within me. Strengthen my will to want what you want. Nurture the coals within me that burn for you and stamp out the ones that lead me away from the paths of righteousness. Help me to be wise in how I lead others onto that same path. Amen.

Job 19

Job 19 was this morning's reading.

Then Job answered and said:
How long will you torment me
and break me in pieces with words?
These ten times you have cast reproach upon me;
are you not ashamed to wrong me?

The old cliche is sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. I suppose in some situations that may be so. But when you are in pain and your friends are saying hurtful things, it can be pretty tough to bear.

Job said "10 times you have cast reproach" reflects how badly beaten down he feels by his friends. He could be counting specific insults given by his friends in which case maybe there were 10 zingers that he has counted. If you are keeping score at home, up to this point Eliphaz has spoken twice, Bildad twice and Zophar once. Zophar is about to speak in Job 20. Thus, the friends have spoken five times which would make 10 an exaggeration. But I think the point is taken in any case that he feels broken up by his friend's lack of support.

And even if it be true that I have erred,
my error remains with myself.
If indeed you magnify yourselves against me
and make my disgrace an argument against me,
know then that God has put me in the wrong
and closed his net about me.
Behold, I cry out, 'Violence!' but I am not answered;
I call for help, but there is no justice.
He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass,
and he has set darkness upon my paths.
He has stripped from me my glory
and taken the crown from my head.
He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone,
and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.
He has kindled his wrath against me
and counts me as his adversary.
His troops come on together;
they have cast up their siege ramp against me
and encamp around my tent.

Job's recitation of his woes used word pictures of battles and nature torn down. As he saw it, it was as if God was at war with him. The next part of his monologue took the pain to another level as he felt abandoned by the people in his life ...

He has put my brothers far from me,
and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me.
My relatives have failed me,
my close friends have forgotten me.
The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger;
I have become a foreigner in their eyes.
I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;
I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy.
My breath is strange to my wife,
and I am a stench to the children of my own mother.
Even young children despise me;
when I rise they talk against me.
All my intimate friends abhor me,
and those whom I loved have turned against me.
My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh,
and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends,
for the hand of God has touched me!
Why do you, like God, pursue me?
Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?

Brothers, relatives, close friends, guests, servants, wife, children, intimate friends ...

Job feels everyone close or far in relationship have abandoned him.

Is there any hope in Job right now?

Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Oh that with an iron pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever!
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!
If you say, 'How we will pursue him!'
and, 'The root of the matter is found in him,'
be afraid of the sword,
for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
that you may know there is a judgment.

Probably the most famous part of the Book of Job!

The great statement that God redeems and that those whom God redeems will stand before God in the flesh.

There are many ideas of the afterlife: there isn't one, only the soul survives but the body is destroyed or the soul migrates to another body. But here, Job in this life will die (my skin has been thus destroyed) but Job, as himself, will meet God (yet in my flesh I shall see God).

And what might Job feel upon meeting God?

"My heart faints within me!"

We only know God partially right now and at times we glimpse the greatness of God but I admit a lot of times God seems hard to figure out. But one day, I, like Job will meet God and will fall down before him!

What else does Job say here?

" ... wrath brings the punishment of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment."

Justice. We all feel there is something not quite right about the way things are and so we work to make them right. But we know for those who "get away with it" in this life, they will have to face the God of Justice.

Lord, Job was battered by the suffering of this life and wounded by the words of his friends. Yet, he kept seeking you however imperfectly. In the final analysis, what is the alternative? To take the path of Job's wife and say curse God and die? You are the author of life, you are the righteous judge and you are the redeemer. Where else am I going to go for true life? Lord, help me to lay my sin before you for you to take away. God, help me to lay before you my burdens and sorrows for you to weave into my life making me a more holy and loving person. Amen.

Job 18

Job 18 tonight.

I link to Biblegateway.com because with ease you can change to another translation and you can even get translations into many languages other than English!

I've tended to post using NIV, TNIV, ESV, NKJV. I've occasionally gone with the NLT and once in a while the Message. I personally like the NASB because I grew up with it. But cutting and pasting it from the Biblegateway.com is tough because I have to remove so many footnotes!

On the spectrum of more literal to less literal, I believe the order would be NASB -> NKJV -> ESV -> NIV/TNIV -> NLT -> Message.

For personal reading, I've been going with the NIV/TNIV. But for more serious examination, I'd supplement with the NASB. Within this blog, I've mostly used NIV/TNIV but have and will occasionally use one of the other ones to keep things fresh!

But back to Job 18 ...

Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
How long before you stop talking?
Speak sense if you want us to answer!
Do you think we are mere animals?
Do you think we are stupid?
You may tear out your hair in anger,
but will that destroy the earth?
Will it make the rocks tremble?

Paraphrase: Job, shut up, you think we are dummies?

There is a time and place for "an intervention" when you whack somebody with a frying pan to knock some sense into them. I think this might not be one of those occasions!

Surely the light of the wicked will be snuffed out.
The sparks of their fire will not glow.
The light in their tent will grow dark.
The lamp hanging above them will be quenched.
The confident stride of the wicked will be shortened.
Their own schemes will be their downfall.
The wicked walk into a net.
They fall into a pit.
A trap grabs them by the heel.
A snare holds them tight.
A noose lies hidden on the ground.
A rope is stretched across their path.

Paraphrase: the wicked will get their just punishment in time.

Generally true but irrelevant to Job because he is not wicked. He has sought as fully and sincerely as possible to keep a right standing with God. Bildad is giving knitting instructions to a guy trying to land a plane in rainstorm.

Terrors surround the wicked
and trouble them at every step.
Hunger depletes their strength,
and calamity waits for them to stumble.
Disease eats their skin;
death devours their limbs.
They are torn from the security of their homes
and are brought down to the king of terrors.
The homes of the wicked will burn down;
burning sulfur rains on their houses.
Their roots will dry up,
and their branches will wither.
All memory of their existence will fade from the earth,
No one will remember their names.
They will be thrust from light into darkness,
driven from the world.
They will have neither children nor grandchildren,
nor any survivor in the place where they lived.
People in the west are appalled at their fate;
people in the east are horrified.
They will say, This was the home of a wicked person,
the place of one who rejected God.

Paraphrase: Look Job, if you don't turn around and fly right, this is what is going to happen to you. I didn't flap my gums with all this poetry just because I like the sound of my voice (well, maybe I do). I'm telling you all this because you are going down this path!

Application question: When do we do "an intervention?" How do we know if a situation warrants taking a frying pan to someone to get them to see straight? Jesus definitely did that on some occasions! And once we decide an intervention is necessary, how do we do it?

I'm sure Bildad and the others think they are helping Job see things more clearly. But of course, we know they are wrong!

So I suppose we can learn the "negative" lessons here... how not to do an intervention!

(1) Saying things that aren't even applicable to the situation. The friends keep insisting Job sinned but Job has declared that he has tried his best to be in good standing before God.

(2) Strong words are sometimes necessary but personal attacks don't help. The beginning part of Bildad's statements are way too sarcastic!

(3) Say your piece and leave it at that. In the end, people have free will. You can take a horse to water but you can't make her drink. Some of the poetic rhetoric by Bildad is just that: a way to be emotionally manipulative. We can't control people. If we think they are on the wrong path, you tell them so but in the end if they are adults, they are responsible for their lives.

Lord, give me wisdom when I even dare think about giving advice to people. And give me humility should I share that advice. And give me love that is seeking the welfare of the other person and not trying to prove a point. And indeed, sometimes, the wisest, humble and loving thing to do is just listen. Help me to know when to do which. Amen.

Job 17

Job 17 this quiet Saturday afternoon while the laundry is going.

My spirit is broken,
My days are extinguished,
The grave is ready for me.
Are not mockers with me?
And does not my eye dwell on their provocation?

As a young person, most of the time I am filled with a "fighting" spirit... BRING IT ON ... and other such Die Hard-ish kind of bravado.

But there have been times when I feel so beaten down that I can relate in a small way to Job's despair here. He wants to raise the white flag of surrender, to throw in the towel, to tip the king over in resignation.

Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself.
Who is he who will shake hands with me?
For You have hidden their heart from understanding;
Therefore You will not exalt them.
He who speaks flattery to his friends,
Even the eyes of his children will fail.

For today's reading, I clicked on the NKJV text. The phrasing ... Who is he who will shake hands with me? is interesting. Too bad I don't read Hebrew. I wonder what it says because in the NIV the phrasing is ... Who else will put up security for me? I wonder which is the more "literal" translation? Or are they both trying to bring into our language and culture an idea from the Hebrew language.

But anyway, using the NKJV imagery, is Job asking, God will you promise me to be with me? Will you shake hands with me on that God?

Job seeks vindication and the presence of God?

Job then takes a poke at his friends saying they don't understand.

But He has made me a byword of the people,
And I have become one in whose face men spit.
My eye has also grown dim because of sorrow,
And all my members are like shadows.
Upright men are astonished at this,
And the innocent stirs himself up against the hypocrite.
Yet the righteous will hold to his way,
And he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.

Job feels he is the object of derision. He is in the land of sorrows and shadow. Yet, he believes there are upright who see his situation and are astonished unlike his friends who assume he must have secret sin he won't release. Job believes the innocent are riled up by the situation. He believes the righteous will stick to their guns even in light of what is happening to him.

When I look at the world and see injustice there is the temptation to just toss up my hands and join in. You know, what the heck, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. BUT, if we believe there is a God who cares about righteousness then we can't do that. Job despite everything is still hanging onto this thread. It seems a thin thread right now but he is hanging onto it!

But please, come back again, all of you,
For I shall not find one wise man among you.
My days are past,
My purposes are broken off,
Even the thoughts of my heart.
They change the night into day;
‘The light is near,’ they say, in the face of darkness.
If I wait for the grave as my house,
If I make my bed in the darkness,
If I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’
And to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’
Where then is my hope?
As for my hope, who can see it?
Will they go down to the gates of Sheol?
Shall we have rest together in the dust?

Job again slips back into despair talking of death as the next stop in the journey of life for him.

I'm not certain how certain the translators are about the paragraph divisions in these texts. But this chapter had four stanzas.

The first one is quite bleak. The second and third ones exhibit some glimmers of hope. In the second he calls on God to shake hands with him as a promise and in the third he takes comfort that there are some who are outraged at his situation and aren't assuming the worst like his friends. But in the fourth, the existential realty of death is a heavy burden on him.

I was at a church camp and the speaker made an interesting remark that has stuck with me. Part of the job of the people in the church is to help each prepare for death.

Job's friends weren't being much help were they?

Lord, sustain those saints who are long on years and experience the aches and pains of this life. In the proper time, release them from the bonds of this earth that they may experience the fullness of your healing and joy of your presence. For us younger saints, help us to use the vigor of our youth for you and not waste it on things that do not last. Amen.

Job 16

Continuing onward to Job 16.

Job punched back at his friends...

Then Job replied:
I have heard many things like these;
miserable comforters are you all!
Will your long-winded speeches never end?
What ails you that you keep on arguing?
I also could speak like you,
if you were in my place;
I could make fine speeches against you
and shake my head at you.

His friends didn't say anything that Job didn't know already. He felt, c'mon guys, you are no help at all! I have heard everything you have said because I've said them to myself already!

But my mouth would encourage you;
comfort from my lips would bring you relief.

Real wisdom is needed in life on what to say to people in pain. How does one encourage and comfort?

Often times words do seem awfully useless. But yet, sometimes words are all we got to give someone. Can't help but think of James 3 where the power of the tongue (words) for good and evil are directly discussed.

If there is sin there, how do we speak truth that can restore?

If there is suffering there, how do we speak truth that encourages and comforts?

Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;
and if I refrain, it does not go away.

Ever been there?

What is there to do when there is nothing that can be done?

Tearful nights, sleepless dawns.

Can't help but think of Robert Kennedy quoting Aeschylus' Agamemnon on the night Martin Luther King was assassinated:

"In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."

Job continued to bare his heart to God and his friends ...

Surely, O God, you have worn me out;
you have devastated my entire household.
You have bound me - and it has become a witness;
my gauntness rises up and testifies against me.
God assails me and tears me in his anger
and gnashes his teeth at me;
my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.
Men open their mouths to jeer at me;
they strike my cheek in scorn
and unite together against me.
God has turned me over to evil men
and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.
All was well with me, but he shattered me;
he seized me by the neck and crushed me.
He has made me his target;
his archers surround me.
Without pity, he pierces my kidneys
and spills my gall on the ground.
Again and again he bursts upon me;
he rushes at me like a warrior.
I have sewed sackcloth over my skin
and buried my brow in the dust.
My face is red with weeping,
deep shadows ring my eyes;
yet my hands have been free of violence
and my prayer is pure.
O earth, do not cover my blood;
may my cry never be laid to rest!

This is the power of poetry at work: the visual words, the cadence of phrases, the deep emotions pour forth giving form to thoughts from within.

Yes, it sounds sacrilegious to be this angry at God!

As a "religious" person, I often think of myself as "a sinner in the hands of an angry God." And that picture is true! But here the tables are turned somewhat where God is in the hands of an angry sufferer.

Later on in Job, God responded and Job cowered in the presence of God and rightly so.

The choice was before him: "curse God and die" or engage God honestly and see what happens.

Indeed, Job goes on knowing he needed help ...

Even now my witness is in heaven;
my advocate is on high.
My intercessor is my friend
as my eyes pour out tears to God;
on behalf of a man he pleads with God
as a man pleads for his friend.
Only a few years will pass
before I go on the journey of no return.

Job didn't know about Jesus and what that would mean theologically. However, Job knew the human condition. He knew his condition. If he, if we, are to stand before God, we need help.

Lord, thank you that Jesus is my advocate before you. I can pour out tears to you and you will hear because Jesus has restored my relationship to you, O God. Amen.

Job 15

Previously,
Job 1-2 Narrative Prologue
Job 3 - Job's lament
First cycle of poems
Eliphaz - Job 4-5, Job replies - Job 6-7
Bildad - Job 8, Job replies - Job 9-10
Zophar - Job 11, Job replies - Job 12-14

I was recently at the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit in San Diego. One highlight of the exhibit was the videos from the UCLA Qumran Visualization Project.



One of the scrolls on display was an Aramaic translation of the Book of Job. It was kind of a strange moment to think that I had just a little bit in common with that scribe 2000 years in the past and 1/2 a world away!

What did he think about when he wrote out Job 15?

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
Would a wise man answer with empty notions
or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
Would he argue with useless words,
with speeches that have no value?

Them is fighting words!

He goes on with more jabs.

But you even undermine piety
and hinder devotion to God.
Your sin prompts your mouth;
you adopt the tongue of the crafty.
Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;
your own lips testify against you.

It seems that each speech by the friends of Job is getting progressively more aggressive. Eliphaz's prior speech in chapter 4 seemed downright mild in comparison!

Are you the first man ever born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
Do you listen in on God's council?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
What do you know that we do not know?
What insights do you have that we do not have?
The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,
men even older than your father.

It is certainly true enough that Job probably wasn't the first man to suffer and wonder what the heck is going on. In someway, Job is "everyman" or at least every man who has tried to live rightly with faith in God. Someone who hasn't tried to live rightly would have no right to complain. And someone with no faith in God would have no God he or she would want to complain to!

Are God's consolations not enough for you,
words spoken gently to you?
Why has your heart carried you away,
and why do your eyes flash,
so that you vent your rage against God
and pour out such words from your mouth?
What is man, that he could be pure,
or one born of woman, that he could be righteous?
If God places no trust in his holy ones,
if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,
how much less man, who is vile and corrupt,
who drinks up evil like water!

Such powerful words!

Sometimes when I'm feeling like the score is disappointment in life 5 me 0, I feel pretty low. As a person of faith, I ask myself, Are God's consolations not enough for you, words spoken gently to you? Do I really have the right to complain?

One thing I live by (I confess I often don't succeed) and I wonder if you think it is wrong of me to do this but I try to act happier than I actually am. Friends who know me will tell me I often fail at this! However, this is something I strive for. You see sometimes by acting happy you soon become happy. And even if that doesn't happen, I might still have an impact on those around me in a positive way. Do you think this is a good thing?

There is a scene in the film Cinderella Man when the character played by Rene Zellwegger is at the end of her rope with the children. When she is with them, she maintains a positive outlook. However, she then steps outside her home and breaks down and cries. She tried to act more happily than she felt because she wanted to protect her children.

The whole premise of the film Life is Beautiful is similar to this.

However, when I'm alone with God. I am at more liberty to be myself. Is this the right approach?

One last thought, from Job 1-2, we find that God has placed trust in Job in contrast to Eliphaz's point If God places no trust in his holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes, how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks up evil like water!

Eliphaz continues very confidently and belligerently ...

Listen to me and I will explain to you;
let me tell you what I have seen,
what wise men have declared,
hiding nothing received from their fathers
(to whom alone the land was given
when no alien passed among them):
All his days the wicked man suffers torment,
the ruthless through all the years stored up for him.
Terrifying sounds fill his ears;
when all seems well, marauders attack him.
He despairs of escaping the darkness;
he is marked for the sword.
He wanders about - food for vultures;
he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
Distress and anguish fill him with terror;
they overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack,
because he shakes his fist at God
and vaunts himself against the Almighty,
defiantly charging against him
with a thick, strong shield.
Though his face is covered with fat
and his waist bulges with flesh,
he will inhabit ruined towns
and houses where no one lives,
houses crumbling to rubble.
He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure,
nor will his possessions spread over the land.
He will not escape the darkness;
a flame will wither his shoots,
and the breath of God's mouth will carry him away.
Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless,
for he will get nothing in return.
Before his time he will be paid in full,
and his branches will not flourish.
He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,
like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.
For the company of the godless will be barren,
and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes.
They conceive trouble and give birth to evil;
their womb fashions deceit.

Such vivid word pictures!

It is passages like these especially that tell me this story isn't "literal" in the sense this is a transcript of Job and his three friends sitting on the porch contemplating the mysteries of life. Do you and I talk in poetry to each other?

What probably happened was that the author of Job put into beautifully imaginative poetry the kinds of thoughts people have when they wrestle with the age old questions of justice, suffering, faithfulness, God and friendship.

Shakespeare's works aren't literally true but they are based loosely on real life events and embody real life experiences of the human condition.

So on the substance, is Eliphaz right?

9 times out of 10, people do get their comeuppance. The wheels of justice in this life sometimes do work and those who do wrong pay a price for their ways. But the difference in the story is that it is one thing to see the foibles of the rich and famous documented on the television news and then for them to wind up in jail. They are getting their just dessserts.

It is another thing to see someone suffering and assume they have some sin which we haven't seen.

Is Job suffering because he sinned?

Thus, as one may say, the premise of the question doesn't apply.

Lord, help me to take consolation in you during the difficult times. Help me to be loving to those around me who are in pain. Help me to be discerning about my sin and other's sin and slow to make judgments about others. And when I do make judgments on others, help me to do so with extreme humility and ready to give mercy and compassion with the goal of restoration and not to tear down. Amen.

Job 14

Am looking at Job 14 this morning.

Job is continuing the monologue he started back in Job 12.

Man who is born of woman
Is of few days and full of trouble.
He comes forth like a flower and fades away;
He flees like a shadow and does not continue.
And do You open Your eyes on such a one,
And bring me to judgment with Yourself?
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
No one!
Since his days are determined,
The number of his months is with You;
You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.
Look away from him that he may rest,
Till like a hired man he finishes his day.
For there is hope for a tree,
If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that its tender shoots will not cease.
Though its root may grow old in the earth,
And its stump may die in the ground,
Yet at the scent of water it will bud
And bring forth branches like a plant.
But man dies and is laid away;
Indeed he breathes his last
And where is he?
As water disappears from the sea,
And a river becomes parched and dries up,

Do you think about death a lot?

I don't. Certain events in life (death of someone I know, a personal health problem, some tragedy in the news) will cause me to think about death. And when I sit and think about it, I do have to say what Job is saying here: we are here and gone just like that.

Can I wake up every morning and think, I'm going to die today? I suppose it might focus my mind more on gratitude and making the most of the opportunity of life? Or would it just be depressing leading me to not even bother going out the door?

Of course, we have to allow Job this time of reflection because of his circumstances.

As one pastor shared with me, I don't have to preach too loud at funerals. At other times, pastors can get a megaphone in our face and we don't listen!

So man lies down and does not rise.
Till the heavens are no more,
They will not awake
Nor be roused from their sleep.
Oh, that You would hide me in the grave,
That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,
That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
If a man dies, shall he live again?
All the days of my hard service I will wait,
Till my change comes.
You shall call, and I will answer You;
You shall desire the work of Your hands.

Do you think Job believes in an afterlife?

A lot of times, Job talks of death and it seems like he is saying, that's it, you are in the ground and there is nothing more.

This passages seem to hint that he believes there might be something more.

What do you think?

Is it the part of me that knows of Jesus and the resurrection that biases me to think that Job had at least a hint of an afterlife?

From the next passage, I can't help but feel that Job is of two minds about the afterlife. At times, it seems like he thinks there is nothing more and at other times he seems to be hinting he believes there is more.

For now You number my steps,
But do not watch over my sin.
My transgression is sealed up in a bag,
And You cover my iniquity.
But as a mountain falls and crumbles away,
And as a rock is moved from its place;
As water wears away stones,
And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
So You destroy the hope of man.
You prevail forever against him, and he passes on;
You change his countenance and send him away.
His sons come to honor, and he does not know it;
They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.
But his flesh will be in pain over it,
And his soul will mourn over it.

It does seem bleak doesn't it?

I think the "hint" of an afterlife is that Job seems to care about justice as he talks about sin.

For now You number my steps,
But do not watch over my sin.
My transgression is sealed up in a bag,
And You cover my iniquity.

Job believes he has sin in his life but that God has forgiven him of his sins.

The simple calculation is that he is suffering right now and so he must have sin. If there is no afterlife, where is the vindication of his standing before God?

Perhaps, that is a reach of convoluted logic.

Lord, the physical life is precious to me. You want me to do justice in this life but I know there is still lots of injustice. You want me to show mercy to people in this life but sometimes that just doesn't seem like enough to make up for has happened. You want me to walk humbly with you but it seems hard when things happen that don't make a lot of sense. Help me to be like Job to be able to say like him,
If a man dies, shall he live again?
All the days of my hard service I will wait,
Till my change comes.
You shall call, and I will answer You;
You shall desire the work of Your hands.
Amen.