Am looking at Job 11 this morning.
Zophar, the third of Job's friends spoke here.
Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
Are all these words to go unanswered?
Is this talker to be vindicated?
Will your idle talk reduce men to silence?
Will no one rebuke you when you mock?
You say to God, My beliefs are flawless
and I am pure in your sight.
Oh, how I wish that God would speak,
that he would open his lips against you
and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom,
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.
Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
They are higher than the heavens - what can you do?
They are deeper than the depths of the grave - what can you know?
Their measure is longer than the earth
and wider than the sea.
When I read Job, I sometimes think about what is needed in a pastoral sense. In most cases, a human response, an emotional response is the first response and are often wordless. When one sees pain in a beloved person, there is the desire to comfort with one's presence and to offer meaningful touch in a hug, in holding hands, in offering a shoulder to cry on.
One could then move toward a verbal response. These verbal responses would still be in the realm of the human and emotional response. They would include expressions of love, support, understanding and promises of continued presence.
When does one move to a verbal and theological response?
I suppose in fairness to Job's friends, Job did start talking in emotional as well as theological terms and thus opened the door to their responses.
We may fault the three friends for not being very sympathetic to the emotional parts of Job's tirades and going straight for the theological.
Indeed, Zophar has done this here.
To his credit, some of his response mirrors what God will say later on: God is beyond our full comprehension!
But Zophar couldn't resist going into ground trodden by the other two friends.
If he comes along and confines you in prison
and convenes a court, who can oppose him?
Surely he recognizes deceitful men;
and when he sees evil, does he not take note?
But a witless man can no more become wise
than a wild donkey's colt can be born a man.
Yet if you devote your heart to him
and stretch out your hands to him,
if you put away the sin that is in your hand
and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,
then you will lift up your face without shame;
you will stand firm and without fear.
You will surely forget your trouble,
recalling it only as waters gone by.
Life will be brighter than noonday,
and darkness will become like morning.
You will be secure, because there is hope;
you will look about you and take your rest in safety.
You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,
and many will court your favor.
But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
and escape will elude them;
their hope will become a dying gasp.
The bottom line: you sin, you suffer, you do good, you are blessed.
Theoretically it is all pretty straightforward.
What Zophar says is usually true. What Job's friends have been saying is usually true.
One of the things in life is that we have our "big premise" which we hold to be true. However, individual cases will vary.
I can think of two films in recent memory where the film makers play with the idea of "you think this way about this person" and then they show you, yes, it is partly true but the story of their life is a little more complicated.
The films American Beauty and Crash very much played into stereotypes and dash those stereotypes to drive their stories. The films are R rated for all the reasons you would expect so I wouldn't recommend them to everyone. But the point of the films are that things aren't always what they seem. The "bad" guy might actually have some redeeming qualities. And the "good guy" might not be so good after all.
But back to Job ... when we see the righteous man suffering, we have a stone in our shoe. We feel there is something wrong with this movie. As humans, we naturally feel the need for an explanation and so we come up with some obvious one:
(1) Job messed up and he is now paying the price
(2) God messed up and we should walk away from God or accept there is nobody out there at the controls.
As humans living our day-to-day life, we do need to exercise discernment. We do need to the best of our ability, call them as we see them. God gave the 10 Commandments and other things like that as a guide for life. And to the best of our ability we make determinations in our life how to live up to it and how to what extent someone else is living up to it.
Theoretically it is all pretty straightforward but this must be all done with humility in recognition that things aren't always as they appear to be.
I do fault Job's friends for endlessly plowing the same ground. I do give them credit for showing up. So much of friendship is showing up. They did drop the ball on the verbal empathy part though!
Lord, some days I look around and see the unfairness of the world in the lives of others and sometimes I feel life has been unfair to me. At those moments, I feel sad. I do wonder if perhaps I have sinned in some way and I deserve my lot in life. But I bring my sin to you and trust that you forgive me of them. I desire to live as full a life as possible. Living in the USA, I have so many opportunities for which I'm grateful. As a sinner, I know I fall short of the high standard you set and am thankful for forgiveness. And I trust in your strengthening to help me live a life to do the right thing more often than not and to love the people you bring into my life. But I often feel that what I have to give them may not be what they need or what I have to give them is not wanted. Yet, you have called me to love others and I realize I may have to often love completely without complete understanding of those I love. And because of the mysterious of how you work and because of the illusiveness of the people I love, I am humbled and must walk in humility before you leaving into your hands so many things that are beyond my control. Please bless me today that I may be a blessing to others. And please bless me because I trust in your goodness to me for my true happiness. Amen.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Job 10:1-22
Job 10.
Wow!
I don't know about you but when I'm discouraged to the point of being in the fetal position I have almost zero ability to articulate what it is I'm feeling. Job here in vivid poetic language described his despair.
I loathe my very life;
therefore I will give free rein to my complaint
and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.
I will say to God: Do not condemn me,
but tell me what charges you have against me.
Does it please you to oppress me,
to spurn the work of your hands,
while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?
Do you have eyes of flesh?
Do you see as a mortal sees?
Are your days like those of a mortal
or your years like those of a man,
that you must search out my faults
and probe after my sin -
though you know that I am not guilty
and that no one can rescue me from your hand?
Your hands shaped me and made me.
Will you now turn and destroy me?
Remember that you molded me like clay.
Will you now turn me to dust again?
Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese,
clothe me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews?
You gave me life and showed me kindness,
and in your providence watched over my spirit.
But this is what you concealed in your heart,
and I know that this was in your mind:
If I sinned, you would be watching me
and would not let my offense go unpunished.
If I am guilty - woe to me!
Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,
for I am full of shame
and drowned in my affliction.
If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion
and again display your awesome power against me.
You bring new witnesses against me
and increase your anger toward me;
your forces come against me wave upon wave.
Why then did you bring me out of the womb?
I wish I had died before any eye saw me.
If only I had never come into being,
or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!
Are not my few days almost over?
Turn away from me so I can have a moment's joy
before I go to the place of no return,
to the land of gloom and deep shadow,
to the land of deepest night,
of deep shadow and disorder,
where even the light is like darkness.
What could one possibly add to that?
What pastoral and devotional message can we get from here?
I took at look at the notes of one of my study Bibles and this is what the editor said: Job imagines that God is angry with him, an innocent man (Job 9:28), and that he takes delight in the wicked. Such words are a reminder that the sickroom is not the place to argue theology; in times of severe suffering, people may say things that require a response of love and understanding. Job himself will eventually repent, and God will forgive (Job 42:1-6).
Lord, grant to those who minister to the sick wisdom. Help me in my journey of faith to have understanding upon those who are in difficulty. And when I'm the one in difficulty, may I receive your comfort and the gracious understanding of those you have given me to share the adventure of life with. Amen.
Wow!
I don't know about you but when I'm discouraged to the point of being in the fetal position I have almost zero ability to articulate what it is I'm feeling. Job here in vivid poetic language described his despair.
I loathe my very life;
therefore I will give free rein to my complaint
and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.
I will say to God: Do not condemn me,
but tell me what charges you have against me.
Does it please you to oppress me,
to spurn the work of your hands,
while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?
Do you have eyes of flesh?
Do you see as a mortal sees?
Are your days like those of a mortal
or your years like those of a man,
that you must search out my faults
and probe after my sin -
though you know that I am not guilty
and that no one can rescue me from your hand?
Your hands shaped me and made me.
Will you now turn and destroy me?
Remember that you molded me like clay.
Will you now turn me to dust again?
Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese,
clothe me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews?
You gave me life and showed me kindness,
and in your providence watched over my spirit.
But this is what you concealed in your heart,
and I know that this was in your mind:
If I sinned, you would be watching me
and would not let my offense go unpunished.
If I am guilty - woe to me!
Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,
for I am full of shame
and drowned in my affliction.
If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion
and again display your awesome power against me.
You bring new witnesses against me
and increase your anger toward me;
your forces come against me wave upon wave.
Why then did you bring me out of the womb?
I wish I had died before any eye saw me.
If only I had never come into being,
or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!
Are not my few days almost over?
Turn away from me so I can have a moment's joy
before I go to the place of no return,
to the land of gloom and deep shadow,
to the land of deepest night,
of deep shadow and disorder,
where even the light is like darkness.
What could one possibly add to that?
What pastoral and devotional message can we get from here?
I took at look at the notes of one of my study Bibles and this is what the editor said: Job imagines that God is angry with him, an innocent man (Job 9:28), and that he takes delight in the wicked. Such words are a reminder that the sickroom is not the place to argue theology; in times of severe suffering, people may say things that require a response of love and understanding. Job himself will eventually repent, and God will forgive (Job 42:1-6).
Lord, grant to those who minister to the sick wisdom. Help me in my journey of faith to have understanding upon those who are in difficulty. And when I'm the one in difficulty, may I receive your comfort and the gracious understanding of those you have given me to share the adventure of life with. Amen.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Job 9:25-35
Looking at Job 9:25-35 this morning. Job continues the rant ...
Now my days are swifter than a runner;
They flee away, they see no good.
They pass by like swift ships,
Like an eagle swooping on its prey.
With great imagery, Job recognizes the shortness of his life. Though I think he, and us for that matter, may regret that life passes by so swiftly, the main source of angst is the sense that at times it seems all rather futile ...
If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,’
I am afraid of all my sufferings;
I know that You will not hold me innocent.
If I am condemned,
Why then do I labor in vain?
If I wash myself with snow water,
And cleanse my hands with soap,
Yet You will plunge me into the pit,
And my own clothes will abhor me.
For He is not a man, as I am,
That I may answer Him,
And that we should go to court together.
Nor is there any mediator between us,
Who may lay his hand on us both.
Let Him take His rod away from me,
And do not let dread of Him terrify me.
Then I would speak and not fear Him,
But it is not so with me.
Those who don't think there is a god who "balances the scales of justice" in the afterlife will often say, why can't humans do good for the intrinsic worth of doing good? Why do I need a god to punish and reward me for doing the right thing and avoiding the wrong thing?
Indeed, we want to believe that we would "do the right thing" even if nobody saw us do so or would reward us after the fact. I'm sure parents want their kids to do the right thing simply because it is right.
That is a nice argument. But I guess the problem is the reality that many people don't do the right thing. The reality is that people do the wrong thing and get away with it. So with one hand, the skeptic will say I don't think we need a god to reward us to do the right thing. And with the other hand they will say, so many people get away with stuff, where is god anyway?
Seems to me like the classic heads I win, tails you lose scenario. The skeptic says we don't need god to reward us for doing the right thing and we blame god for the evil in this world. So I suppose the only "logical" solution is to say there really isn't any such thing as the right thing and the wrong thing? How do you feel about that?
But back to poor Job, he really feels that life is unfair. Can't dispute him on that point.
But doubt and difficulty has two sides much like the famous Chinese word for crisis: When written in Chinese, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.
Job is on a knife's edge. He is honest about his pain. He is honest about trying to honor god and as far as he can tell, he has, yet the reality of his pain can't be denied. What will he do? What will he do?
Lord, I know I can complain and whine too often. Part of it is emotional venting. But at the core, I have a choice... what do I do next? Lord, help me to have a more grateful attitude and a more courageous mindset. Help me to say, Bring IT on. But as the disciples said, Lord, I believe help my unbelief. Amen.
Now my days are swifter than a runner;
They flee away, they see no good.
They pass by like swift ships,
Like an eagle swooping on its prey.
With great imagery, Job recognizes the shortness of his life. Though I think he, and us for that matter, may regret that life passes by so swiftly, the main source of angst is the sense that at times it seems all rather futile ...
If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,’
I am afraid of all my sufferings;
I know that You will not hold me innocent.
If I am condemned,
Why then do I labor in vain?
If I wash myself with snow water,
And cleanse my hands with soap,
Yet You will plunge me into the pit,
And my own clothes will abhor me.
For He is not a man, as I am,
That I may answer Him,
And that we should go to court together.
Nor is there any mediator between us,
Who may lay his hand on us both.
Let Him take His rod away from me,
And do not let dread of Him terrify me.
Then I would speak and not fear Him,
But it is not so with me.
Those who don't think there is a god who "balances the scales of justice" in the afterlife will often say, why can't humans do good for the intrinsic worth of doing good? Why do I need a god to punish and reward me for doing the right thing and avoiding the wrong thing?
Indeed, we want to believe that we would "do the right thing" even if nobody saw us do so or would reward us after the fact. I'm sure parents want their kids to do the right thing simply because it is right.
That is a nice argument. But I guess the problem is the reality that many people don't do the right thing. The reality is that people do the wrong thing and get away with it. So with one hand, the skeptic will say I don't think we need a god to reward us to do the right thing. And with the other hand they will say, so many people get away with stuff, where is god anyway?
Seems to me like the classic heads I win, tails you lose scenario. The skeptic says we don't need god to reward us for doing the right thing and we blame god for the evil in this world. So I suppose the only "logical" solution is to say there really isn't any such thing as the right thing and the wrong thing? How do you feel about that?
But back to poor Job, he really feels that life is unfair. Can't dispute him on that point.
But doubt and difficulty has two sides much like the famous Chinese word for crisis: When written in Chinese, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.
Job is on a knife's edge. He is honest about his pain. He is honest about trying to honor god and as far as he can tell, he has, yet the reality of his pain can't be denied. What will he do? What will he do?
Lord, I know I can complain and whine too often. Part of it is emotional venting. But at the core, I have a choice... what do I do next? Lord, help me to have a more grateful attitude and a more courageous mindset. Help me to say, Bring IT on. But as the disciples said, Lord, I believe help my unbelief. Amen.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Job 9:11-24
Continuing on in Job 9:11-24...
Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
God is different from us. I can't claim I have "seen" God. However, I believe that God is at work in this world. One can't see the wind but one can see the effect of the wind.
But in any case, Job is feeling very abandoned at this moment.
Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back?
Who will say to him, 'What are you doing?'
Would you ever have the nerve to tell God, "What *are* you doing?" This passage tells us that Job is tremendously honest. It is kind of like a private in the army asking the 5 star general, what are you doing?
Job continues ...
"God will not turn back his anger;
beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab.
How then can I answer him,
choosing my words with him?
Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.
If I summoned him and he answered me,
I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
For he crushes me with a tempest
and multiplies my wounds without cause;
he will not let me get my breath,
but fills me with bitterness.
If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty!
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?
Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;
though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
I am blameless; I regard not myself;
I loathe my life.
It is all one; therefore I say,
He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.
When disaster brings sudden death,
he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he covers the faces of its judges --
if it is not he, who then is it?
Pretty harsh words, eh?
Job accuses God of being indifferent to his situation, that God crushes both the blameless and the wicked and that life is not fair.
In Yancey's book, Disappointment with God he makes that point: we know life is not fair and we then equate life with God, therefore, God is not fair. We may feel this way but is life and God actually this way?
One of my Christian guy buddies way back in the high school and college days used to off-handedly say, yeah, I suppose if God was really fair to us there would be two smoking holes in the ground right now. I suppose to many people that sounds harsh. But if we think about it, if God is totally holy and we are not, how can we stand?
But of course poor Job has been trying real hard to be right before God and as far he knows, his slate is clean. And we know from Job 1-2, indeed, his accounts are regarded as clear with God!
The reality of this world is that bad things happen to good people so life is unfair but life is not equal to God. The rain falls on the good and the bad. Drought befalls the good farmer and the bad farmer. That is the way of the world right now.
As for the problem of sin, God has made provision through the Cross.
My "theology" allows for God to intervene in other ways but my understanding of the "omnipotence" of God is not that God intervenes all the time but rather God can do what God wants to do whenever God wants to. Because God wants humans to have free will means that God often opts to back-off. Yancey called this "divine shyness." God is really caught between a rock and a hard place: intervene too much people and God will seem overbearing, hold back and people wonder where is God? Thus, God is trying to draw the "inside straight flush" of accomplishing God's purposes yet respecting the free will of human creatures.
At this moment in the story, I think Job would find this explanation unsatisfying and understandably so. I suppose by the end of the story though, he would agree with Yancey.
So what do I take from this story: when people shake their fist at God, don't get too worked up. If Job, a really righteous guy, did so and it is in the Bible then God isn't stunned to hear it.
Lord, life at times can be quite difficult. In my prayer times, I can bring to you some of the tough situations in the lives of people I know. I trust in your wisdom as to when you decide to intervene and when you decide not to. I also want to take to heart that I am my brother's keeper and that on some occasions your answer to the prayer is for me to do something. Help me today to keep my eyes out for how you are at work in those subtle ways that led my friends to say, hmm, maybe that was a God thing. Amen.
Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
God is different from us. I can't claim I have "seen" God. However, I believe that God is at work in this world. One can't see the wind but one can see the effect of the wind.
But in any case, Job is feeling very abandoned at this moment.
Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back?
Who will say to him, 'What are you doing?'
Would you ever have the nerve to tell God, "What *are* you doing?" This passage tells us that Job is tremendously honest. It is kind of like a private in the army asking the 5 star general, what are you doing?
Job continues ...
"God will not turn back his anger;
beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab.
How then can I answer him,
choosing my words with him?
Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.
If I summoned him and he answered me,
I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
For he crushes me with a tempest
and multiplies my wounds without cause;
he will not let me get my breath,
but fills me with bitterness.
If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty!
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?
Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;
though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
I am blameless; I regard not myself;
I loathe my life.
It is all one; therefore I say,
He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.
When disaster brings sudden death,
he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he covers the faces of its judges --
if it is not he, who then is it?
Pretty harsh words, eh?
Job accuses God of being indifferent to his situation, that God crushes both the blameless and the wicked and that life is not fair.
In Yancey's book, Disappointment with God he makes that point: we know life is not fair and we then equate life with God, therefore, God is not fair. We may feel this way but is life and God actually this way?
One of my Christian guy buddies way back in the high school and college days used to off-handedly say, yeah, I suppose if God was really fair to us there would be two smoking holes in the ground right now. I suppose to many people that sounds harsh. But if we think about it, if God is totally holy and we are not, how can we stand?
But of course poor Job has been trying real hard to be right before God and as far he knows, his slate is clean. And we know from Job 1-2, indeed, his accounts are regarded as clear with God!
The reality of this world is that bad things happen to good people so life is unfair but life is not equal to God. The rain falls on the good and the bad. Drought befalls the good farmer and the bad farmer. That is the way of the world right now.
As for the problem of sin, God has made provision through the Cross.
My "theology" allows for God to intervene in other ways but my understanding of the "omnipotence" of God is not that God intervenes all the time but rather God can do what God wants to do whenever God wants to. Because God wants humans to have free will means that God often opts to back-off. Yancey called this "divine shyness." God is really caught between a rock and a hard place: intervene too much people and God will seem overbearing, hold back and people wonder where is God? Thus, God is trying to draw the "inside straight flush" of accomplishing God's purposes yet respecting the free will of human creatures.
At this moment in the story, I think Job would find this explanation unsatisfying and understandably so. I suppose by the end of the story though, he would agree with Yancey.
So what do I take from this story: when people shake their fist at God, don't get too worked up. If Job, a really righteous guy, did so and it is in the Bible then God isn't stunned to hear it.
Lord, life at times can be quite difficult. In my prayer times, I can bring to you some of the tough situations in the lives of people I know. I trust in your wisdom as to when you decide to intervene and when you decide not to. I also want to take to heart that I am my brother's keeper and that on some occasions your answer to the prayer is for me to do something. Help me today to keep my eyes out for how you are at work in those subtle ways that led my friends to say, hmm, maybe that was a God thing. Amen.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Job 9:1-10
Previously, in Job, we got the "behind the scenes" look in Job 1-2.
Job 3 is Job's first monologue where he laments his situation.
Job 4-5 is Eliphaz's first monologue where his argument is mainly, God blesses the good people and won't mistreat the innocent. The hidden message: Job you must have sinned.
Job 6-7 is Job's reply which contains the disappointment in his friend for the implication of his words. Job acknowledges the finite and transient nature of his life but wonders what God is up to.
Job 8 is Bildad's first monologue where he picks up Eliphaz's argument but is explicit about the connection between sin and suffering.
Job 9 is Job's reaction.
Will look at his speech from verses 1-10 only though the speech runs through chapter 10.
Then Job replied:
Indeed, I know that this is true.
But how can a mortal be righteous before God?
In Job's response to Eliphaz, he was much hotter under the collar. This time, Job is a bit more restrained. He acknowledges the "logic" of what Bildad says. Indeed, can anyone of us truly stand before a holy God? The answer is obviously no.
Though one wished to dispute with him,
he could not answer him one time out of a thousand.
Nonetheless, Job would like to have an audience with God but he knows he would stand no chance. And Job is quite realistic about where he stands before God ...
His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.
Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?
He moves mountains without their knowing it
and overturns them in his anger.
He shakes the earth from its place
and makes its pillars tremble.
He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;
he seals off the light of the stars.
He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea.
Job is upset with God yet he doesn't lose sight of the fact that God is God and he isn't. He is keenly aware that the creator of the universe is very powerful and with a mere word the features of the physical world could be altered.
As a someone who loves the sciences and grew up with the NASA space program and astronomy shows on PBS, I love the next part ...
He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
Since I don't read Hebrew, I wonder how literal are these translations? I suppose the translators might have inferred these constellations from the text?
I wonder if Job had in mind "Ursa Major?"
Image source: http://stardate.org/nightsky/constellations/ursa_major.html
Orion is one of the most recognizable constellations. If I pointed to it today and Job was with me, would he say, yup, that is what I had in mind when I said that?
Image source: http://stardate.org/nightsky/constellations/orion.html
One of the most famous star clusters is the Pleiades ...
Image source: http://stardate.org/resources/gallery/gallery_detail.php?id=32
I find it heart warming and compelling that Job who lived thousands of years ago would look at the sky with awe and wonder at the same things I do today. Though separated by time and cultures, our common humanity is seen in this bit of astronomy. And it takes the breath away and Job says ...
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
I hear you Job. Amen.
Job 3 is Job's first monologue where he laments his situation.
Job 4-5 is Eliphaz's first monologue where his argument is mainly, God blesses the good people and won't mistreat the innocent. The hidden message: Job you must have sinned.
Job 6-7 is Job's reply which contains the disappointment in his friend for the implication of his words. Job acknowledges the finite and transient nature of his life but wonders what God is up to.
Job 8 is Bildad's first monologue where he picks up Eliphaz's argument but is explicit about the connection between sin and suffering.
Job 9 is Job's reaction.
Will look at his speech from verses 1-10 only though the speech runs through chapter 10.
Then Job replied:
Indeed, I know that this is true.
But how can a mortal be righteous before God?
In Job's response to Eliphaz, he was much hotter under the collar. This time, Job is a bit more restrained. He acknowledges the "logic" of what Bildad says. Indeed, can anyone of us truly stand before a holy God? The answer is obviously no.
Though one wished to dispute with him,
he could not answer him one time out of a thousand.
Nonetheless, Job would like to have an audience with God but he knows he would stand no chance. And Job is quite realistic about where he stands before God ...
His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.
Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?
He moves mountains without their knowing it
and overturns them in his anger.
He shakes the earth from its place
and makes its pillars tremble.
He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;
he seals off the light of the stars.
He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea.
Job is upset with God yet he doesn't lose sight of the fact that God is God and he isn't. He is keenly aware that the creator of the universe is very powerful and with a mere word the features of the physical world could be altered.
As a someone who loves the sciences and grew up with the NASA space program and astronomy shows on PBS, I love the next part ...
He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
Since I don't read Hebrew, I wonder how literal are these translations? I suppose the translators might have inferred these constellations from the text?
I wonder if Job had in mind "Ursa Major?"
Image source: http://stardate.org/nightsky/constellations/ursa_major.html
Orion is one of the most recognizable constellations. If I pointed to it today and Job was with me, would he say, yup, that is what I had in mind when I said that?
Image source: http://stardate.org/nightsky/constellations/orion.html
One of the most famous star clusters is the Pleiades ...
Image source: http://stardate.org/resources/gallery/gallery_detail.php?id=32
I find it heart warming and compelling that Job who lived thousands of years ago would look at the sky with awe and wonder at the same things I do today. Though separated by time and cultures, our common humanity is seen in this bit of astronomy. And it takes the breath away and Job says ...
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
I hear you Job. Amen.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Job 8:8-22
Am looking at Job 8:8-22 this evening.
Bildad continues his monologue ...
Ask the former generation
and find out what their ancestors learned,
for we were born only yesterday and know nothing,
and our days on earth are but a shadow.
Will they not instruct you and tell you?
Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?
Bildad appealed to human experience. Though our own life might be finite, there is the collective wisdom of the ages. What does Bildad think those years of knowledge tell?
Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?
Can reeds thrive without water?
While still growing and uncut,
they wither more quickly than grass.
Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
so perishes the hope of the godless.
He used a botanical metaphor: plants die without water. Likewise, people who forget God are in trouble.
Bildad goes on to say why those who forget God are in trouble...
What they trust in is fragile;
what they rely on is a spider's web.
They lean on the web, but it gives way;
they cling to it, but it does not hold.
They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine,
spreading its shoots over the garden;
it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks
and looks for a place among the stones.
But when it is torn from its spot,
that place disowns it and says, 'I never saw you.'
Surely its life withers away,
and from the soil other plants grow.
Surely God does not reject the blameless
or strengthen the hands of evildoers.
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.
Your enemies will be clothed in shame,
and the tents of the wicked will be no more.
All true Bildad.
But all irrelevant to Job's situation.
The reasoning he is using is: if A (plants without water) then B (they die). If A (you forget God) then B (you are in big trouble). So Job since you are in B then A must be true!
As a matter of logic that isn't necessarily true. Using a lousy example, if (A) Romeo and Juliet are in love then (B) they died. Does it logically follow that those who died were in love? Nonsense. I never took a logic class but I'm sure they must have a name for this kind of logical fallacy.
Nonetheless, it isn't a good idea to forget God.
Bildad continues his monologue ...
Ask the former generation
and find out what their ancestors learned,
for we were born only yesterday and know nothing,
and our days on earth are but a shadow.
Will they not instruct you and tell you?
Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?
Bildad appealed to human experience. Though our own life might be finite, there is the collective wisdom of the ages. What does Bildad think those years of knowledge tell?
Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?
Can reeds thrive without water?
While still growing and uncut,
they wither more quickly than grass.
Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
so perishes the hope of the godless.
He used a botanical metaphor: plants die without water. Likewise, people who forget God are in trouble.
Bildad goes on to say why those who forget God are in trouble...
What they trust in is fragile;
what they rely on is a spider's web.
They lean on the web, but it gives way;
they cling to it, but it does not hold.
They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine,
spreading its shoots over the garden;
it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks
and looks for a place among the stones.
But when it is torn from its spot,
that place disowns it and says, 'I never saw you.'
Surely its life withers away,
and from the soil other plants grow.
Surely God does not reject the blameless
or strengthen the hands of evildoers.
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.
Your enemies will be clothed in shame,
and the tents of the wicked will be no more.
All true Bildad.
But all irrelevant to Job's situation.
The reasoning he is using is: if A (plants without water) then B (they die). If A (you forget God) then B (you are in big trouble). So Job since you are in B then A must be true!
As a matter of logic that isn't necessarily true. Using a lousy example, if (A) Romeo and Juliet are in love then (B) they died. Does it logically follow that those who died were in love? Nonsense. I never took a logic class but I'm sure they must have a name for this kind of logical fallacy.
Nonetheless, it isn't a good idea to forget God.
Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?Psalm 1:1-3 tells us:
Can reeds thrive without water?
While still growing and uncut,
they wither more quickly than grass.
Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
so perishes the hope of the godless.
Blessed is the manJohn 14:1-4 says:
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."Lord, we all jump to conclusions. Bildad did. Help me to keep a clear head about me when I deal with people who are in tough spots. It is very easy to assume they did something wrong. In some cases that is so. But in all cases, I want to respond with love and grace. Clearly, I don't want to forget you in my day-to-day life. Alas, I know I often do run off in my own direction without even a second thought about your ways. Help me to be alert to what your wisdom is in my life. And when I'm not sure, help me to slow down and bring the situation to you for your guidance. Amen.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Job 8:1-7
Taking a look at Job 8:1-7.
Reading Job isn't so easy. It is kind of like reading only the bad news parts of the newspaper without ever reading any of the good news or "fun news." But will keep marching through and use it to guide my reflections on life and faith on this blog.
Here, a second friend, Bildad, speaks up.
The message is similar to Eliphaz's in Job 4-5 though Bildad is more direct. Bildad immediately goes after Job ...
Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
How long will you say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a great wind?
Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
Eliphaz said a few nice things about Job in chapter 4 before making essentially the same argument.
Eliphaz talked in general terms about the relationship between innocence and blessing, sin and suffering. Bildad personalized it immediately ...
If your children have sinned against him,
he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
What Bildad said has elements of truth. Indeed, God is just though we may not see the full scales of justice balanced until the afterlife. There are consequences to sin but because we live in a fallen world suffering befalls both the innocent and the guilty. So I suppose one might say Bildad's observations don't convey the whole picture of what is going on.
But clearly, here is an example of NOT speaking the truth in love. I once heard someone tell me, speaking the truth in love is hard because so often we speak the truth without love and that is cruel. Likewise, we can speak in love without truth and that turns out to be hypocrisy.
Bildad goes on to say more that have grains of truth but because we have the totality of Scripture in our hands we know his perspective is incomplete...
If you will seek God
and plead with the Almighty for mercy,
if you are pure and upright,
surely then he will rouse himself for you
and restore your rightful habitation.
And though your beginning was small,
your latter days will be very great.
Bildad's perspective seemed limited to the here and now. If justice as an ideal actually exists and there is a god who is just then an afterlife is necessary to balance the scales of justice. Illustrating this idea is a dramatic moment in the film Gladiator where the Russell Crowe's character Maximus spoke to the man who ordered the death of his family and tried to have him killed as well:
As a personal note, though I understand the sentiments of Christians who are pacifists, I respectfully do not hold to their view. If God cares about justice then with a great deal of humility on our part, we need to seek justice in the here and now. Thus, for instance, criminals need to be punished and to the best of our ability we should find punishments that match the crime neither over doing it or under doing it. Likewise, in conflicts between nation-states and in the era of terrorism, conflicts with non-state actors, there is a place for justice involving careful use of violence.
As a final thought for the morning, one can make arguments for the existence of God: there is a creation, therefore a creator, there is design in the world therefore a designer, there is a concept of god in the minds of humans therefore there is an actual god, there is a sense of morality within us therefore there is a source for morality from god. People don't have to buy any of these arguments as they certainly don't constitute proof in any strong sense of the word but they are suggestive of god.
But the last one is the most intriguing. We do feel a sense of outrage at the injustice in the world. Where does that come from? We have two choices:
(1) Our outrage is purely emotionally with no foundation in any real concepts of justice. We watch the animal world and see the brutality of animals to each other in cannibalistic behavior and slaughter of prey by predator with zero remorse. One may conclude that justice is irrelevant but survival is.
(2) The outrage comes from a sense of justice thus the argument for god based on morality. But then comes the next problem, how do we feel about a god who is just allowing some much injustice to exist? That is a tough one.
As a Christian, it is an article of faith that I believe that God ultimately will balance the scales of justice. Job and people like him, in this life or the next will be vindicated (in the story, Job is vindicated in this life). Likewise, bad guys, like people who gleefully plan for car bombing children, they too will be punished in this life or the next.
Lord, have mercy on us all! There is a lot of injustice around the globe. My prayer is that there would be individual acts of compassion and mercy in many pockets of the world. And indeed, my prayer also is that for those who have been granted power, help them to use their power for justice but with humility and caution. Amen.
Reading Job isn't so easy. It is kind of like reading only the bad news parts of the newspaper without ever reading any of the good news or "fun news." But will keep marching through and use it to guide my reflections on life and faith on this blog.
Here, a second friend, Bildad, speaks up.
The message is similar to Eliphaz's in Job 4-5 though Bildad is more direct. Bildad immediately goes after Job ...
Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
How long will you say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a great wind?
Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
Eliphaz said a few nice things about Job in chapter 4 before making essentially the same argument.
Eliphaz talked in general terms about the relationship between innocence and blessing, sin and suffering. Bildad personalized it immediately ...
If your children have sinned against him,
he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
What Bildad said has elements of truth. Indeed, God is just though we may not see the full scales of justice balanced until the afterlife. There are consequences to sin but because we live in a fallen world suffering befalls both the innocent and the guilty. So I suppose one might say Bildad's observations don't convey the whole picture of what is going on.
But clearly, here is an example of NOT speaking the truth in love. I once heard someone tell me, speaking the truth in love is hard because so often we speak the truth without love and that is cruel. Likewise, we can speak in love without truth and that turns out to be hypocrisy.
Bildad goes on to say more that have grains of truth but because we have the totality of Scripture in our hands we know his perspective is incomplete...
If you will seek God
and plead with the Almighty for mercy,
if you are pure and upright,
surely then he will rouse himself for you
and restore your rightful habitation.
And though your beginning was small,
your latter days will be very great.
Bildad's perspective seemed limited to the here and now. If justice as an ideal actually exists and there is a god who is just then an afterlife is necessary to balance the scales of justice. Illustrating this idea is a dramatic moment in the film Gladiator where the Russell Crowe's character Maximus spoke to the man who ordered the death of his family and tried to have him killed as well:
My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.Though we trust in God for the righting of the scales of justice ultimately, I think there is a place for striving for justice in the here and now.
As a personal note, though I understand the sentiments of Christians who are pacifists, I respectfully do not hold to their view. If God cares about justice then with a great deal of humility on our part, we need to seek justice in the here and now. Thus, for instance, criminals need to be punished and to the best of our ability we should find punishments that match the crime neither over doing it or under doing it. Likewise, in conflicts between nation-states and in the era of terrorism, conflicts with non-state actors, there is a place for justice involving careful use of violence.
As a final thought for the morning, one can make arguments for the existence of God: there is a creation, therefore a creator, there is design in the world therefore a designer, there is a concept of god in the minds of humans therefore there is an actual god, there is a sense of morality within us therefore there is a source for morality from god. People don't have to buy any of these arguments as they certainly don't constitute proof in any strong sense of the word but they are suggestive of god.
But the last one is the most intriguing. We do feel a sense of outrage at the injustice in the world. Where does that come from? We have two choices:
(1) Our outrage is purely emotionally with no foundation in any real concepts of justice. We watch the animal world and see the brutality of animals to each other in cannibalistic behavior and slaughter of prey by predator with zero remorse. One may conclude that justice is irrelevant but survival is.
(2) The outrage comes from a sense of justice thus the argument for god based on morality. But then comes the next problem, how do we feel about a god who is just allowing some much injustice to exist? That is a tough one.
As a Christian, it is an article of faith that I believe that God ultimately will balance the scales of justice. Job and people like him, in this life or the next will be vindicated (in the story, Job is vindicated in this life). Likewise, bad guys, like people who gleefully plan for car bombing children, they too will be punished in this life or the next.
Lord, have mercy on us all! There is a lot of injustice around the globe. My prayer is that there would be individual acts of compassion and mercy in many pockets of the world. And indeed, my prayer also is that for those who have been granted power, help them to use their power for justice but with humility and caution. Amen.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Job 7:12-21
Looking at Job 7:12-21 this night.
Am I a sea monster or a dragon
that you must place me under guard?
I think, My bed will comfort me,
and sleep will ease my misery,
but then you shatter me with dreams
and terrify me with visions.
I would rather be strangled -
rather die than suffer like this.
I hate my life and don’t want to go on living.
Oh, leave me alone for my few remaining days.
Job is continuing to pour out his heart. For those who don't read the Bible often, I wonder how surprised are they when they come across a passage like this?
It sounds sacrilegious to say something like this! The Bible in this regard is as real as the dirt on the ground in sharing the messiness of life.
What are people, that you should make so much of us,
that you should think of us so often?
When David penned Psalm 8, I wonder if he had Job on his mind?
The feeling of deja vu all over again continues ...
For you examine us every morning
and test us every moment.
Why won’t you leave me alone,
at least long enough for me to swallow!
If I have sinned, what have I done to you,
O watcher of all humanity?
Why make me your target?
Am I a burden to you?
Why not just forgive my sin
and take away my guilt?
For soon I will lie down in the dust and die.
When you look for me, I will be gone.
David says similar things in Psalm 139.
Scholars believe that Job might be one of the oldest books in the Hebrew Scriptures. David may well have grown up hearing from his elders the story of Job and those words came to his mind as he wrote Psalm 8 and Psalm 139?
In any case, both men describe God as being very much aware of who they are and in David's case this knowledge brings a sense of awe. Poor Job feels it is a burden.
What does it feel like to be God to hear Job speak with such dispair?
In Job 1-2, God takes pride in the righteousness of Job. As far as God is concerned Job's life is very worthy and not a waste.
What might God say to the angels in the heavenly realms as this is taking place?
Perhaps ... "I wish I could intervene right now and let Job know everything is okay. But I have a greater purpose for Job in what he is going through. His story of faith will be told for many successive generations. His example of honest wrestling with Me will be a source of inspiration for multitudes to come in the hundreds and thousands of years to come. I will let this play out a bit longer before I enter the stage."
Lord, I've seen friends take up this kind of persistent faith blended with honest struggle. I want to be able to be like that when I face difficulty. I want to be able to step back and see that perhaps God's view on it is different than my own. It isn't easy but if indeed you are watching then my reactions mean a lot more that I could imagine. In this regard, there are no insignificant people. Help me to care for others with this in mind. Amen.
Am I a sea monster or a dragon
that you must place me under guard?
I think, My bed will comfort me,
and sleep will ease my misery,
but then you shatter me with dreams
and terrify me with visions.
I would rather be strangled -
rather die than suffer like this.
I hate my life and don’t want to go on living.
Oh, leave me alone for my few remaining days.
Job is continuing to pour out his heart. For those who don't read the Bible often, I wonder how surprised are they when they come across a passage like this?
It sounds sacrilegious to say something like this! The Bible in this regard is as real as the dirt on the ground in sharing the messiness of life.
What are people, that you should make so much of us,
that you should think of us so often?
When David penned Psalm 8, I wonder if he had Job on his mind?
The feeling of deja vu all over again continues ...
For you examine us every morning
and test us every moment.
Why won’t you leave me alone,
at least long enough for me to swallow!
If I have sinned, what have I done to you,
O watcher of all humanity?
Why make me your target?
Am I a burden to you?
Why not just forgive my sin
and take away my guilt?
For soon I will lie down in the dust and die.
When you look for me, I will be gone.
David says similar things in Psalm 139.
Scholars believe that Job might be one of the oldest books in the Hebrew Scriptures. David may well have grown up hearing from his elders the story of Job and those words came to his mind as he wrote Psalm 8 and Psalm 139?
In any case, both men describe God as being very much aware of who they are and in David's case this knowledge brings a sense of awe. Poor Job feels it is a burden.
What does it feel like to be God to hear Job speak with such dispair?
In Job 1-2, God takes pride in the righteousness of Job. As far as God is concerned Job's life is very worthy and not a waste.
What might God say to the angels in the heavenly realms as this is taking place?
Perhaps ... "I wish I could intervene right now and let Job know everything is okay. But I have a greater purpose for Job in what he is going through. His story of faith will be told for many successive generations. His example of honest wrestling with Me will be a source of inspiration for multitudes to come in the hundreds and thousands of years to come. I will let this play out a bit longer before I enter the stage."
Lord, I've seen friends take up this kind of persistent faith blended with honest struggle. I want to be able to be like that when I face difficulty. I want to be able to step back and see that perhaps God's view on it is different than my own. It isn't easy but if indeed you are watching then my reactions mean a lot more that I could imagine. In this regard, there are no insignificant people. Help me to care for others with this in mind. Amen.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Job 7:1-11
image source: http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/role_map_worker.htm
Looking at Job 7:1-11 this morning.
Job is giving a monologue here ...
Do not mortals have hard service on earth?
Are not their days like those of hired laborers?
Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,
or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,
so I have been allotted months of futility,
and nights of misery have been assigned to me.
When I lie down I think, 'How long before I get up?'
The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.
My body is clothed with worms and scabs,
my skin is broken and festering.
Summation: life is tough.
In my world of molecular biology:
Do not lab rats (people like me) go to the lab and do experiments
Do we not long to get good data so the team in the lab can publish papers
Are we not alloted months of efforts in the lab that seem futile
How long before the paper gets accepted for publication
The wait drags on whether the lab gets funding from the grant.
And when we get the grant, we can then go do more experiments.
And so our days are filled this way and yet ...
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,
and they come to an end without hope.
Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;
my eyes will never see happiness again.
The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;
you will look for me, but I will be no more.
As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
so those who go down to the grave do not return.
They will never come to their homes again;
their places will know them no more.
Summation: life is short.
We know it could all end in a snap of a finger. We may complain about the seemingly endless cycles of our work a day lives but we fight tooth and nail to live because we don't want to die.
Of course, this is a rather bleak assessment of our lives. Job at this moment is definitely on the downside of things and it reflects where he is at. I suppose in happier days, he might take the perspective of Ecclesiastes 3.
Therefore I will not keep silent;
I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit,
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
And I suppose this is one of the lessons of the book of Job: we are given permission to speak out and complain to God.
I think of the book of Job as a dramatic play and there are three layers of reality being portrayed. One layer is God's view at the beginning and end of the book. Another layer is the wisdom shared by Job's friends of which some things they say are true and some aren't. And then there is the layer of Job's experience and his choices. He clearly chooses faith but emotionally and intellectually, he has dissonance, an understandable dissonance which he brings to God unedited.
I think when we hear Job ranting and railing, we aren't supposed to be trying to figure out a complex theology lesson about what he says. I feel we are to react and reflect about the reality of life. Job was and by extension we are faced with an existential choice: be honest and bring it to God in full force honesty and hurt or walk away.
Lord, compared to Job, my life is pretty good. Yup, got my list of things I'm anxious about. Got a few complaints. I bring them to you. I will not keep silent about them. And I thank you that you do hear. Thank you that I have a community of faith to be with me in good and bad. Job's friends were far from perfect but they were there. I know I'm far from a perfect friend for others but help me to be there and to try to speak (and NOT speak) guided by your wisdom. Amen.
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