Job 5

Eliphaz continues speaking today. Job 5:1-7 sounds very bleak, offering little hope whatsoever. Call now; is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? (v. 1) In other words, “Don’t bother looking for any help. Nobody is coming.” And then in vv. 6-7: For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground, but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. That is, “You must have brought all this trouble on yourself, but that just goes to say that you are human; pain comes to everyone, and you are nothing special.”

But then Eliphaz seems to change his tone somewhat, apparently offering some hope. Job 5:8-26 sounds very much like what we might find elsewhere in Scripture, rather like Psalm 91. Eliphaz’s advice here seems pretty good. Certainly, Job 5:8-11 is on target. Eliphaz begins to go a little astray in Job 5:12-16 in that he suggests that God moves against the wicked swiftly and surely (even though a little looking around in this world would suggest otherwise). But Job 5:17 is certainly true and is echoed in Hebrews 12:5-11. And the rest of the chapter offers encouragement for anyone committed to the LORD (though again, a little life observation would suggest that the blessings do not necessarily come quickly or even at all in this life, so perhaps we should not view these verses as “promises” per se). In the final verse, Job 5:27, Eliphaz ends with a rather self-assured, “Trust us; we know what we’re talking about.” But it is still offered “for your good.”

Nevertheless, although these latter verses sound uplifting and positive, the implication is that the fault lies with Job and that to reap such blessings he must stop sowing whatever vile sin he must be guilty of. Since we know the “back story” here, we know that Eliphaz is wrong in his assessment of Job — and of himself. (He clearly assumes himself to be more righteous than Job, since he himself is not suffering; in fact, given the stark realities of Job’s condition, he concludes everyone must be more righteous than Job…) So telling Job to mend his ways is somewhat out of line. But what about the next guy? What do we say to a friend struggling with life? Repentance is generally a pretty good first step, and so we hear both John the Baptist and Jesus preaching, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Mt. 3:2; 4:17) Nevertheless, if we offer such counsel, we must do so in humility with gentleness and understanding, not making the mistake of Eliphaz and assuming some kind of superior righteousness of our own.

But then, what about ourselves? What message do we send to ourselves when we find ourselves facing pain, suffering, or difficult circumstances? Yes, we should evaluate our actions and attitudes and see if there is anything that we did to contribute to the problem. (If we commit a crime and land in jail, we should put two and two together and realize that actions have consequences…) But if we have already repented or otherwise don’t find anything, do we nevertheless continue to blame ourselves, playing the role of Eliphaz to our own Job? Do we trust God for the forgiveness He offers through the Cross? Do we accept discipline as the act of a loving Father? Do we trust that Christ shares and understands our suffering? Let’s sit with those questions a bit today.

Job 4

Today we meet the first of Job’s friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, who wastes little time on niceties or saying anything to cheer or comfort Job. Instead, he chides Job as being impatient (even though we now speak of “the patience of Job”). He recognizes that Job has previously instructed and advised others (from his prior position of comfort and prosperity) but now does not seem inclined to receive any such advice when Job is the one in need. He offers Job verse 6: Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope? And of course the real answer to that question is “Yes”, but I get the feeling that Eliphaz is not sincerely asking that question as an attempt to encourage Job, but rather as a form of mockery, along the lines of those who mocked Jesus on the Cross: He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if He desires him. (Mt. 27:43; Ps. 22:8) The “gotcha” part of it is the “integrity of your ways” phrase, with the implication that, if Job had true integrity, he would admit his faults.

Eliphaz’s worldview becomes abundantly clear in Job 4:7,8 where we see the “bad things happen to bad people” perspective. But before we smugly judge Eliphaz as “obviously wrong”, remember that he is unaware of the spiritual “back story” and that his perspective is not entirely incorrect. In Proverbs we shall repeatedly see that foolishness, wickedness, and laziness all tend to bring forth poverty and downfall, whereas wisdom, righteousness, and hard work tend to produce prosperity. Or consider Psalm 37:25: I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.

I find Job 4:12-21 to be very interesting. Here Eliphaz claims to have had some spiritual encounter through dreams, “visions of the night” in which a spirit spoke to him. We have a few options here. Eliphaz could simply be making this up, creating a story to bolster his position with an (unprovable) claim of supernatural insight. Or he may well have had a natural dream, brought on by an unfortunate choice of toppings for a late-night pizza delivery, a dream that he misinterprets as having spiritual origins. Or he may well have had a true spiritual encounter. Regardless of the validity of the story, what does the spirit say to Eliphaz? “Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?” (v. 17) Good questions, to which we must all answer, “Well, no, not standing on our own.” (But we can and do find such standing in Christ.) But the next statement is what I really find interesting: “Even in His servants He puts no trust, and His angels He charges with error; how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like the moth.” This sounds to me like a proud spirit who looks with disdain on mortals who just happen to be made in the image of God while he himself is not. If so, then while there may be some truth in what this spirit says, we must consider the source…

Job 3

Today we get the first inkling of the depths of Job’s misery, and the first verse reveals his sentiment: Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. He feels it would have been better to die unborn than to live in this evil existence. Down through the ages millions have joined Job in similar sentiments. Suffering is real, and we search for ways to escape. Some choose suicide. Some try to escape their pain through alcohol, drugs, or other addictions. Unfortunately, the thought of dying unborn is echoed by those who promote abortion as a “solution” to challenging pregnancies. After all, why bring a child into this world only to be subjected to pain, misery, and the vagaries of this life? (They forget that choosing death for the child is not their choice to make…) This is decidedly not God’s perspective, who brought Job into the world in the first place. But Job’s suffering is very real, and he expresses it honestly — and bitterly — and we likewise must wrestle with the realities of real and terrible suffering in this life.

One small thing that I find interesting in today’s reading is in Job 3:23, where Job complains of God’s having hedged him in (apparently in the sense that Job is trapped in his circumstances). I find that curious because back in Job 1:10 Satan asserted that God was protecting Job: Have You not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? So, the very thing that Satan viewed as God’s protection, Job now sees as a curse. Hmmm.

It can be easy for us to want to tell Job (or others who are suffering), “Buck up! It’s not so bad.” Or to say, “I feel your pain” when we really have no idea. Or we might rebuke Job for being so “self-focused” and encourage him to “look outside himself”, never having really connected with the depth of his misery. Or we could easily go the other direction and fall into the same sort of despair, focusing on the suffering to such an extent that we lose sight of any hope. So how should we listen to Job? How might we enter into his suffering and truly sympathize with him while not falling into such despair? That, I think, is one challenge for us today.

Job 2

Fred has sporadic internet service while traveling so you are stuck with me for a few days. Unfortunately, my morning routine is not as consistent as Fred’s, so I offer no guarantees with regard to getting posts out before noon on any given day…

Today we get the rest of the “back story” for Job, the interaction between the LORD and Satan that leads to Job’s suffering. I have always found it interesting (and somewhat disconcerting) that in both yesterday’s reading (Job 1:8) and today’s (Job 2:3), it is the LORD that draws Satan’s attention to Job: Have you considered my servant Job…? It is clear that Satan is the one who is directly responsible for all the calamity that befalls Job, including his bodily suffering, but it is all under God’s permission and sovereignty. (Job 2:6) In fact, this is the last we hear about Satan. Throughout the rest of the book, everyone considers the LORD to be the source of Job’s suffering.

A word to spouses: Don’t be like Job’s wife! She enters the story today as the first person to give Job some advice, and it is horrendous advice: Curse God and die. (Job 2:9) Fortunately, Job refuses to listen to that advice. Instead, he responds with a question that “prosperity gospel” advocates (along with many Evangelicals) would do well to heed: Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? (Job 2:10)

Finally, we meet Job’s friends, and we should learn from them here. They weep in sympathy with Job and sit with him, not saying anything. That is the best comfort they could give, and often that is the best we can do as well.

The Lord gave Satan permission to afflict Job: “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not reach out and put your hand on him.” (v. 12a) So what did Satan do? He afflicted Job four different times – the Sabean attack, killing or stealing the oxen and the donkeys; fire from heaven destroying the sheep; the Chaldean raid on the camels; and the tornado killing all of Job’s sons and daughters. Essentially all the wealth that Job owned… It struck me how persistent Satan can be. And Job’s reaction: Despite all this, Job did not sin, nor did he blame God. (v. 22) With this last sentence, it’s a good start to our Job reading.

Today we’re shifting gears and turning from the Psalms to the Book of Job for a while. In today’s reading we get the “back story”, the context that explains what is really going on. But Job — and his friends who show up shortly — are unaware of what is going on “behind the scenes” and are left to try to figure things out for themselves. Job and his friends all have basically the same worldview with an understanding that “good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people”. As we shall see, that perspective leads Job’s friends to come to the obvious conclusion that, since Job has suffered so horrendously he must be guilty of some horrible hidden sin, and they “comfort” Job with that accusation, advising him to confess and repent. Some “comfort”! Job, on the other hand, knows he is not guilty of anything so heinous and demands an opportunity to plead his case that he is being treated unfairly. Unfortunately, Job’s position ultimately amounts to accusing God of being unjust.

There are many difficulties here for us. First, whether we admit it or not, we generally tend to agree with the perspective that “good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people”, and we all struggle with observed life experiences that argue otherwise. Which of us, upon sentencing of some infamous criminal don’t say, “He’s getting what he deserves” or, when some child is afflicted with leukemia don’t ask, “Why? No child deserves that!” Some conclude that God must not exist (or, worse, that He is evil or capricious), because otherwise how could a good God allow evil and suffering to exist?

Further, although Job’s friends are dead wrong about Job, there is at least some truth in what they say — truth that is echoed elsewhere in Scripture: God does bless the righteous and God does oppose evil and will ultimately set all things right. Just take a look at Deuteronomy 28, Proverbs, and some of the Psalms we have already read. Yet the overall message of Job argues against that simplistic view — at least for this life. And that is part of what makes this book so valuable: we see the Bible wrestling with truly difficult questions, refusing to just feed us spiritual pablum.

Interestingly, Job’s friends are trying to “justify” or “defend” God against Job’s assertions of unfairness. Yet they are doing so in ignorance and ultimately do not accurately speak for God. (See Job 42:7.) God does not need their “help”. Note also that, in the end God does show up, but he does not directly answer Job’s questions. Instead, He just says something akin to “Sit down and shut up!” And we need the humility to say, with Job, “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” (Job 42:3)

So, fair warning… Be careful how you read Job! Bear in mind who is speaking. Is it Job? Is it one of his friends? Is it the younger upstart Elihu (in Job 32-37)? Is it God Himself (in Job 38-41)? Don’t just accept the verses that “sound good” to you and reject verses that are challenging. And don’t just accept what Job says or reject what his friends say. Neither perspective is completely right or completely wrong. (The only speaker we can say is completely right is God Himself…) Ask yourself whether you agree with the speaker and why. And then ask whether you should agree with the speaker — which is clearly a different question! Ask yourself whether you sometimes try — like Job’s friends — to “help” God and whether your efforts are really in line with His Truth. Ultimately, take the time to really listen to what the Lord is saying through this book. Wrestle with its questions alongside Job. Review your own worldview and whether it might need some adjustment. In the end, we should find ourselves with a deeper understanding of God.

As Debbie posted two days ago, Psalm 22 ends with praise. It’s intriguing to imagine Jesus praying this portion of the psalm while He is dying on the cross. Maybe that’s a lesson – in the midst of the hardest hardships, maybe the best response is praising God for His goodness, for all that He has done. That might help to relieve anxiety and fears.

I was struck by verses 27 and 28: All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will worship before You. For the kingdom is the LORD’s and He rules over the nations. I recall a sermon a few weeks ago where our preacher said that the Jews knew they were God’s chosen people – and they acted like it! They kept their blessings to themselves; they forgot that they were to be God’s agents to the rest of the world. These verses emphasize that point. Peter clearly recognized that fact in Acts 10,11 when the Holy Spirit fell on Gentiles as he was speaking. Our preacher went on to say that we Christians often behave like that – enjoying our blessings and not sharing them to those around us. We need to be Mission people!

Psalm 22:11-21

Debbie’s post yesterday enlightened me for today. I can now picture Jesus reciting this psalm during His time on the cross – no doubt, this psalm and other psalms. And it makes all the difference to read through this psalm and imagine Jesus reciting it to Himself, even shouting out some of the verses.

A main reason for my familiarity with this psalm is from my childhood, when we had Stations of the Cross every Wednesday evening during Lent. Two of the verses in Psalm 22 are in those Stations: But I am a worm and not a man, a reproach of men and despised by the people… (v. 6) and They have pierced My hands and feet, I can number all My bones. (vv. 16-17a) So I have these words from my childhood plus Gospel readings with Jesus’ own words and the prophetic words and actions of onlookers. No wonder Psalm 22 is so familiar to me!

Psalm 22:1-10

At the outset of this journey through the Psalms, there were only five that I could call by number where I knew something of their content. Psalm 22 is one of those five – this one because of prophecy fulfilled with Jesus’ death on the cross. Today we see two of those prophecies/words fulfilled. The first is today’s first verse: My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Those words were repeated by Jesus on the cross: And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, … “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46) Then we see a second sentence of prophetic words from today’s reading: He trusts in the Lord; let Him deliver him… (v. 8a). These words parallel the Jews’ jeering words from the foot of the cross: He trusts in God; let God deliver him now if He wants him. (Matthew 27:43a) Christians cannot read these words (and later words in this Psalm) without cringing, without going to the cross themselves. Powerful.