Job 24

Job 24...

As I read the second half of Job's current monologue (started in Job 23), he is going all over the place: on one hand, the wicked getting away with it, on the other, the vulnerable suffering, and yet on another hand, the wicked getting whacked by God.

The wicked getting away with it...

Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment?
Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?
There are those who move boundary stones;
they pasture flocks they have stolen.
They drive away the orphan's donkey
and take the widow's ox in pledge.
They thrust the needy from the path
and force all the poor of the land into hiding.

I'm guessing moving boundary stones would be a way to rob somebody of their land or extending the reach of one's own. And how evil is it to steal someone's flock? And to top that evil they take advantage of the orphan, the widow, the needy and the poor. It is bad enough to cheat and steal but to do so at the expense of the downtrodden is a double dose.

The vulnerable suffering...

Like wild donkeys in the desert,
the poor go about their labor of foraging food;
the wasteland provides food for their children.
They gather fodder in the fields
and glean in the vineyards of the wicked.
Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.
They are drenched by mountain rains
and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.
The fatherless child is snatched from the breast;
the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.
Lacking clothes, they go about naked;
they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
They crush olives among the terraces;
they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst.
The groans of the dying rise from the city,
and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.


image source: http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20071228/2007_12_27t125755_450x347_us_pakistan_bhutto.jpg

Injustice is commonly cited in the argument against God.

But what if God has asked us to be guardians of justice?

How much of the injustice in the world is the fault of the wicked and how much of it is the fault of the good who fail to act?

There is a saying: all that is required for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.

Nonetheless, Job presses his case against God...

But God charges no one with wrongdoing.
There are those who rebel against the light,
who do not know its ways
or stay in its paths.
When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,
kills the poor and needy,
and in the night steals forth like a thief.
The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk;
he thinks, 'No eye will see me,'
and he keeps his face concealed.
In the dark, thieves break into houses,
but by day they shut themselves in;
they want nothing to do with the light.
For all of them, midnight is their morning;
they make friends with the terrors of darkness.

Job is upset... God, these people are getting way with being evil!

Yet, Job backtracks...

Yet they are foam on the surface of the water;
their portion of the land is cursed,
so that no one goes to the vineyards.
As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,
so the grave snatches away those who have sinned.
The womb forgets them,
the worm feasts on them;
the wicked are no longer remembered
but are broken like a tree.

The wicked do pay a price! Which do you really believe Job? Job is all over the map! Don't we get that way sometimes? I know I do and Job has "given us permission" to bare the wrestling match of our souls before God.

They prey on the barren and childless woman,
and to the widow show no kindness.

Job returns to the wicked briefly but again slams back to God is going to get them...

But God drags away the mighty by his power;
though they become established, they have no assurance of life.
He may let them rest in a feeling of security,
but his eyes are on their ways.
For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;
they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
they are cut off like heads of grain.
If this is not so, who can prove me false
and reduce my words to nothing?

Job ends chapter 24 where he began in chapter 23... with confidence in the ultimate justice of God.

Lord, today, evil reared its head in the killing of Bhutto and many others in Pakistan. It looks like the wicked are marching to victory in that country. You are the king of all kings and the nations are but a drop in a bucket compared to you. I do not know how to pray and what to ask for. Yet, I'm compelled to express my anguish before you. I pray that the wicked see the wickedness of their ways and surrender to the authorities. And if they do not see the evil of their chosen path, then I ask that you bring justice to the evil doers who would kill so wantonly so that they would not take more life. I place these requests before you and trust your justice and mercy and sovereignty. Amen.

Job 23

image source: http://www.ffrf.org/fttoday/2006/nov/images/addis-doubt-church-cartoon.jpg

Job 23

Then Job answered and said:
Today also my complaint is bitter;
my hand is heavy on account of my groaning.

Ever felt like this?

I can think of a few things I could (and do!) complain to God about.

Oh, that I knew where I might find him,
that I might come even to his seat!
I would lay my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
I would know what he would answer me
and understand what he would say to me.
Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
No; he would pay attention to me.
There an upright man could argue with him,
and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.

Job believes that if he got an audience with God, he would be heard.

I have to confess I wonder if Job is over reaching here?

I think of Isaiah who got an audience with God in Isaiah 6. In verse 5, Isaiah says: Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!

Yet, as one who lives on the other side of Jesus, I can call upon Hebrews 10:19: Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus.

Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,
and backward, but I do not perceive him;
on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.

The great question for those who believe: how do I know that God is actually there?

None of Job's senses can detect God, yet ...

But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.

Do I believe that God is working in my life and that my faith will come out as good as gold after going through tough times?

My foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and have not turned aside.
I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

Makes me think of that phrase, "man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Deut. 8:3, Matt. 4:4, Luke 4:4)

Job is oscillating between doubt and faith. He goes on to make great statements of faith in the sovereignty of God ...

But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back?
What he desires, that he does.
For he will complete what he appoints for me,
and many such things are in his mind.

This ineffable and unfathomable aspect of God leads to tremendous humility and even fear ...

Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
when I consider, I am in dread of him.
God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me;

Yet, God has in his wisdom preserved this wrestling match of faith and doubt for believers for all time because what Job went through, we do as well and Job says this in the face of his fears and doubts ...

yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,
nor because thick darkness covers my face.

Lord, let me not be silent. There are doubts that I feel and complaints that I have and I bring them to you. Though human eyes reading this blog will not know and human ears of my friends may not understand, I know I can enter into your presence with a mixture of boldness, humility and fear. As I await wisdom, correction and vindication, give me the strength to walk in your ways and in obedience to your words. Lord, help friends of mine who have given up seeking you to seek you once again. Help friends who are in the midst of trial to be affirmed. Help friends who have never sought you to somehow realize that you are closer than they think and that Christmas is more than just stuff but about life with you. Amen.

Job 22

Am back!

To recap Job:
Ch. 1-2, sets the stage
Ch. 3-14, 1st set of monologues where Job speaks, friends respond, Job responds and so on. All three friends speak
Ch. 15-21, 2nd set of monologues, all three of Job's friends speak and Job responds.
Ch. 22-26, 3rd set of monologues, only two of Job's friends speak and Job responds.
Ch. 27-31, Job speaks at length
Ch. 32-37, Elihu, a fourth friend speaks at length
Ch. 38-41, God and Job speak
Ch. 42, conclusion.

Picking things up at Job 22 ...

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
"Can a human being be of benefit to God?
Can even the wise benefit him?
What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?

Eliphaz is simply wrong.

The god described by Eliphaz is (1) unmoved by his creatures doing right and (2) only interested in zapping those who go astray as described by Eliphaz later on.

We know from Job 1 God is aware of Job's righteousness and is pleased by it.

"Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?
Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?
You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;
you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
You gave no water to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,
though you were a powerful man, owning land -
an honored man, living on it.
And you sent widows away empty-handed
and broke the strength of the fatherless.
That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril terrifies you,
why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.

We have no indication that Job sinned and if that is correct than Eliphaz is slandering Job.

If I were Job at this point, I'd punch Eliphaz in the nose!

"Is not God in the heights of heaven?
And see how lofty are the highest stars!
Yet you say, 'What does God know?
Does he judge through such darkness?
Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.'

Eliphaz returned to the idea that god is too powerful and distant to really care what is going on. I suppose Eliphaz is holding onto a "deist" kind of god where god simply doesn't interact with us with the possible exception of a final judgement when we all die.

The materialist would say there is no god at all. The pantheist would say god is in the creation.

A theist would believe there is a god and god actually cares what is happening and can interact with us.

Will you keep to the old path
that the wicked have trod?
They were carried off before their time,
their foundations washed away by a flood.
They said to God, 'Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?'
Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.
The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,
'Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire devours their wealth.'
"Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.

Interestingly, Eliphaz appears to backtrack on the remoteness of god by advising Job to go to god and own up to sin which he believes that Job committed but didn't admit to.

The following are fine sounding words and would be appropriate in other contexts. But in this one it is just more salt in an open wound ...

Accept instruction from his mouth
and lay up his words in your heart.
If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
If you remove wickedness far from your tent
and assign your nuggets to the dust,
your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
then the Almighty will be your gold,
the choicest silver for you.
Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.
You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
What you decide on will be done,
and light will shine on your ways.
When people are brought low and you say, 'Lift them up!'
then he will save the downcast.
He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."

This last part is indeed fine sounding. As typical Christian people, we have probably said such words to others or have heard such sentiments in sermons.

But what we should say is by context.

You might say that Eliphaz was about 33% right in this passage. But in context he was 100% wrong.

Lord, I don't get to give advice often. But when i do have that opportunity, help me to be wise. Help me to spend more time listening than talking. Grant me discernment to know if there is sin how to address it and when there is not to comfort the suffering soul. As the Christmas season is here, people's emotions may be closer to the surface. Open my eyes to be perceptive to the needs of others. Amen.

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.