Milo

APRIL 14

Reading 104

JOB’S INNOCENCE Job 28–37

“Does He not see my ways and count my every step?” (Job 31:4)Job’s powerful defense portrays a practical piety that can serve you and me as a guide to godliness. And Elihu reminds us that suffering can be a gift.

Background

Elihu’s contribution. Job and his friends had reached an impasse. They believed God punished the wicked. They believed that Job’s torments were usually reserved for the wicked. The three friends concluded that Job had sinned. Job, who knew he had lived a godly life, believed that God was making him suffer unjustly. Elihu broke the impasse by showing that God may use suffering to correct or instruct. It was not necessary for Job’s friends to condemn him without evidence, or for Job to despairingly conclude that God is unjust! Elihu demonstrated that God may have purposes other than punishment in permitting human tragedies. Job still suffered. But he no longer had to feel that God was against him. How important it is when we experience suffering to sense that God is bending near, definitely on our side.

Overview

The author inserted his own commentary on wisdom (28:1–28) before reporting Job’s powerful affirmation of his innocence (29:1–31:29). Then a young listener, Elihu, spoke out (32:1–22). Both Job (33:1–33) and his friends (34:1–37) were wrong about God. The Lord is both just and considerate, and may use suffering redemptively as well as to punish (35:1–36:15). Moved by the thought that God cares enough to woo individuals “from the jaws of distress,” Elihu concluded with a paeon of praise to God, who “does not oppress” (36:16–37:24).

Understanding the Text

“Where can wisdom be found?” Job 28:1–28 Many commentators believe this poem in praise of wisdom was penned by the author, not spoken by Job. If so, it reflects on the futility of the preceding argument of Job with his friends. Human beings can wrest precious metals from the earth, but only God has access to wisdom (cf. v. 23). Archeologists have shown that many mining techniques utilizing vertical and horizontal shafts were used thousands of years before Christ. Man is able to find earth’s hidden treasures, but wisdom, which lies in the realm of the spiritual, is beyond human reach. Yet God has revealed a way of wisdom that is simple and clear: “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.” Like Job, you and I may not know the purposes God has in the things that happen to us. But we, also like Job, can choose to honor the Lord and live righteously. If we do, we will be wise as well as good. “I dwelt as a king among his troops” Job 29:1–25. Job recalled what life was like before he was stricken. He was honored, wealthy, treated with the utmost respect. Job fully expected life to go on this way for him, until he finally died of old age. This is one of the most unsettling aspects of any tragedy—a death in the family, loss of employment, or a serious sickness. Hopes are shattered and our notion of what the future holds is mangled into uncertainty. At such times a person needs to sense God’s supportive presence. No wonder Job suffered anguish. To Job, who felt that he was being punished, God had suddenly become both distant and unfair. We can handle suffering if we are supported by a warm sense of God’s presence and His love. Without this, suffering becomes unbearable. “But now they mock me” Job 30:1–31. Job not only found himself suffering now, but found that everyone’s attitude toward him had changed. Men mocked rather than honored him (vv. 1–15). God afflicted rather than blessed him (vv. 16–23). And no one helped or comforted as “the churning inside me never stops” (vv. 24–31). Often those in the hospital feel their changed situation as intently as Job did his. A doctor friend of mine underwent surgery and extended follow-up treatment for cancer. He told me how awful it was for him, to go from being treated with the awe doctors are used to, to being told when to eat, when to sleep, when to roll over for another shot—all in a voice an adult might use with a young child. How can we bear such attacks on our personhood? Only with loving support from others, and with the assurance that comes from knowing God still loves and values us. “If I have walked in falsehood” Job 31:1–40. This chapter contains a “negative confession.” Each “if” statement explains what Job did not do. Looking at them, we gain a clear picture of a virtuous life as lived by an Old Testament saint. Studying this passage, you and I can learn how to “shun evil,” which Job 28:28 calls true and godly wisdom. “Elihu had waited before speaking” Job 32:1–33:7. In Old Testament times older persons were viewed with respect. In that culture it was expected years of experience would make a person wise. Out of respect for his elders Elihu, a young observer, had kept quiet until now. But he had become increasingly agitated as he saw flaws in the positions taken by both Job and his friends. Elihu has been criticized by commentators for being wordy and redundant. Yet, as Elihu pointed out, sometimes even younger folk, who aren’t used to organizing their thoughts as well as others, are given insights by the Spirit of God (33:1–4). Elihu reminds us that God can speak to us through others—even our children! We are not to judge the validity of what a person says by his or her age, race, or background. “You have said” Job 33:8–36:26. Unlike Job’s friends, Elihu did not conclude that Job had sinned. Elihu did say that Job was wrong speaking of God as he had when defending himself, and frequently quoted Job’s words (cf. 32:12; 33:1, 31; 34:5–7, 35–36; 35:16). Job had concentrated on God’s justice. In so doing, he had overlooked God’s love and compassion. Job had to try to see his suffering in the context of love, not of justice. In view of God’s love, suffering must be intended for good, perhaps to bring the wicked to repentance and blessing (36:5–15). Without making any judgment as to why God had permitted Job to suffer, Elihu suggested God’s purpose was compassionate and redemptive. We need to adopt Elihu’s perspective when we experience suffering. We too need to filter our pain through a vision of God as loving rather than of God as Judge. “Who can understand?” Job 36:27–37:24 Elihu was moved to conclude with praise of God’s power and wisdom. How great God is! How His wisdom surpasses anything to which mere man can aspire! No human being can hope to understand God’s purposes, for He and they are “beyond our reach.” We can only remember that “He does not oppress.” Should suffering come, we must trust ourselves to God, remembering that He is truly concerned for all who know Him.

DEVOTIONAL

Shine on Me (Job 33)

More Americans died in the Civil War than in all the other wars in which the United States has been involved, combined. Families lost husbands, fathers, and sons. Some 26 percent of the men in the South perished in the struggle, and by the end of the war many women and children there were literally starving. Those years, 1861–1865, were marked by intense suffering all over the United States. Yet during the war the South, and particularly its army, was swept by revival, as many thousands came to know Christ. Against the background of suffering and spiritual renewal, a letter found on the body of a Confederate soldier shows how, in the darkest times, the light of God shines on us. I asked for strength that I might achieve. He made me weak that I might obey. I asked for health that I might do greater things. I was given grace that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy. I was given poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men. I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life. I was given life that I might enjoy all things. I received nothing that I asked for. All that I hoped for. My prayer was answered.

Personal Application

Mine the silver of God’s good gifts from the ore of your suffering.

Quotable

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to arouse a deaf world.”—C.S. Lewis

APRIL 13

Reading 103

JOB’S CONDEMNATION Job 22–27“Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?” (Job 22:5)Job’s defense of himself and his disturbing questions about God’s justice upset his friends. In their eyes such impious thoughts proved that Job must be numbered with the wicked.

Overview

Eliphaz was shocked at Job’s apparent attack on God’s justice (22:1–18), and urged Job to repent (vv. 19–30). Job complained bitterly that he was unable to meet with God or understand His purposes (23:1–17). Yet despite evidence to the contrary, Job remained convinced that God is a just Judge (24:1–25). Bildad affirmed the friends’ belief that God is inaccessible to sinful man and so vindication is impossible (25:1–6). Job rejected this (26:1–4), and celebrated God’s omnipotence (vv. 5–14). Taking his stand as a person falsely accused (27:1–12), Job affirmed his belief that God is just (vv. 13–23).

Understanding the Text

“Can a man be of benefit to God?” Job 22:1–18 Eliphaz was now convinced of Job’s utter wickedness. How could Job even suggest that God might not immediately punish the wicked? Job could not possibly be vindicated by God, for the very fact that Job now suffered proved he had been a great sinner (cf. vv. 6–11). Job may have hidden his wickedness from men, but God saw what was happening even though He is veiled from our sight. It is true that in his anguish Job had challenged his understanding of God’s ways. But Eliphaz was wrong to take this as a rejection of God Himself. We too need to be careful not to take questioning for rejection, even when the questions seem as heretical to us as Job’s questioning of God’s justice did to Eliphaz. “Submit to God and be at peace with Him” Job 22:19–30. Eliphaz was not without compassion. He still showed concern for his old friend, even though he was now convinced Job had always been a secret sinner. Eliphaz’s solution was simple: Get right with God. If Job repented, “Then the Almighty will be your God.” If Job repented, “You will pray to Him, and He will hear you.” How frustrating this advice must have been to Job, who knew that he was right with God! And how wrong Eliphaz was. Later Eliphaz himself would be forgiven only because God accepted the prayers of righteous Job on his behalf! Eliphaz, who believed so firmly that God is a just Judge, missed one important point. If God truly is Judge, then human beings must leave judgment to the Lord. Eliphaz’s complete misinterpretation of Job’s suffering reminds us that we must withhold judgment when those around us go through trying times. “If only I knew where to find Him” Job 23:1–17. Despite his anguish and doubts, Job wanted to find God, not run from Him! Job was convinced that God had been unfair to him, for, “My feet have closely followed His steps; I have kept to His way without turning aside.” The blows that had struck Job had terrified him, and “made my heart faint.” Yet despite his fear, Job actively searched for God. Perhaps this is the greatest evidence of Job’s godliness. Despite everything, Job wanted to draw close to God. Despite his fears, despite his conviction that God had not been fair, Job trusted God enough to want to know Him better, and was convinced that “when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” How wise Job was in this. Our one best response to trials is to draw closer to the Lord. “God charges no one with wrongdoing” Job 24:1–25. In contrast to Eliphaz, who saw God bound by necessity to impose balanced punishment on sinners now, Job realized that God is free to act as He chooses. What Job did not understand was “Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment?” What principles does God follow in exacting punishment? Job agreed with his friends that God does judge. But experience proved that He does not always judge now. It’s important when questioning our beliefs to be clear about what we challenge. “God is Judge” is unmistakably affirmed in Scripture. How and when God judges may well be in doubt. To question the how and when of things isn’t to challenge the basic truth. And, even if we find no answer to questions of how and when, there is no reason to discard the basic biblical truth. “How then can a man be righteous before God?” Job 25:1–6 Bildad did not respond to Job, but made a significant statement. God was so pure that He can really have nothing to do with man, “who is but a maggot.” His statement was true, but distorted. Man is fallen, and in his sinful state “only a worm.” Yet man was made in God’s image, and God’s grace reaches down to transform worms into the very image of God’s own Son. Job’s view of himself as a righteous man, who has carefully obeyed God’s laws and been committed to doing God’s will, is in closer harmony with Scripture than the view of Job’s friends that man is a maggot. God does not view us as worthless. And He does care when we honor Him by doing what is right. “My tongue will utter no deceit. I will never admit that you are in the right” Job 26:1–27:23. Job’s friends had spoken as if they took Job for a fool (26:1–4). Yet he knew fully the greatness of God (vv. 5–14). At the same time Job insisted that God had “denied me justice.” Job’s friends believed he deserved all that had happened to him, and argued that Job’s denials were an affront to the Lord. Job totally rejected this interpretation. To confess sin never committed would “deny my integrity.” As long as he lived Job would “maintain my righteousness.” Job then eloquently affirmed God as a God of justice, the very theme that his friends had emphasized again and again. There is, however, a fascinating turn here. In Old Testament times, a person who falsely accused another of a crime was subject to the penalty for that crime. Job, the innocent, had been accused of wickedness by his friends. As God is a God of justice, wouldn’t He impose on the friends the penalty for wickedness that they assumed was Job’s due? God does not hold guiltless the person who falsely accuses another, even when his or her motives may be the best.

DEVOTIONAL

Man, the Maggot (Job 25–27)

There’s something dreadfully wrong when the pregnant teen says, “I’m no good. I’m worthless. I’m no good at all.” There’s something wrong when the drug addict shakes and quivers and mutters, “I’m nothin’, man. Nothin’.” There’s even something wrong when we open our hymnals and sing the familiar words, “Oh sacred head, now wounded . . . did He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I.” Oh, I know. We are sinners, every one. As Paul wrote in Romans, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature” (Rom. 7:18). But this doctrine is very different from popular “maggot theology.” Maggot theology says that because man is sinful, God doesn’t really care what happens to us. Maggot theology insists that nothing a person can do can please God, or make any contribution to His glory. Maggot theology, exemplified by Eliphaz and Bildad, seeks to exalt God by demeaning man. What’s wrong with maggot theology? Just this. God made man in His own image, so every human being has worth and value in His sight. Because we are important to God, we human beings are intrinsically important! To view man as a maggot is to deny Scripture’s revelation that man is the crown of creation. Even more, to dismiss man as maggot is to trivialize the death of Christ. Jesus died to save individual human beings and to transform our race. If we were not vitally important in God’s sight He would not have given up His Son for us. Job did not accept maggot theology. Without understanding why, Job knew that it was important for him to maintain his integrity. Job could not have known about the contest in heaven, or that his stand made a contribution to the glory of God. Yet Job knew that he was important—so important that unfair treatment was wrong, and that denying himself would be as wrong as denying God Himself. Today you and I need to realize that we truly are important to the Lord. He made us. Christ died for us. The way we live will either bring glory to God, or cause others to ridicule Him. Yes, we are sinners. But sinners or not, we are human beings, and every member of our race has value in the sight of our God.

Personal Application

Don’t let a sense of sin destroy your awareness that you truly are important to God.

Quotable

“Our condition is most noble, being so beloved of the Most High God that He was willing to die for our sake, which He would not have done if man had not been a most noble creature and of great worth.”—Angela of Foligno

APRIL 12

Reading 102

DO THE WICKED PAY?

Job 15–21“How often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does calamity come upon them, the fate God allots in His anger?” (Job 21:17)Though Job’s friends insisted differently, we all know, as Job knew, that every wicked man is not repayed in this life for his evil deeds.

Background

The fate of the wicked. Both Testaments describe God as a moral Judge who punishes the wicked and rewards the righteous. Job and his friends shared this view of God. But Job’s friends assumed God must punish the wicked in this life. Thus it seemed to them that since Job was suffering so greatly, he must have sinned greatly. Job knew he was innocent. And he had observed wicked people who prospered in this life. Their theology was nonsense, for it was contradicted by evidence they refused to even consider. As the New Testament emphasizes, God does punish the wicked and reward the righteous. But not necessarily in this life. Yes, the books will be balanced. But this will take place only at history’s end. In this dialogue only Job seems to have eternity in view as he said, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God” (19:25–26). How tragic that some Christians adopt the simplistic view of Job’s friends, and see all suffering as punishment for sin. God does permit innocent saints to suffer at times, and at times the wicked do prosper. The day of judgment, when all will be made clear, lies in the future. Until then we need to comfort, not accuse, our suffering brothers and sisters.

Overview

Eliphaz insisted that the wicked suffer terror and distress in this life, implying that Job must be wicked (15:1–35). Job replied that he had been upright, yet was assailed by God (16:1–17:16). Bildad picked up Eliphaz’s theme, graphically describing the fate of the wicked (18:1–21). Job, upset by his friends’ attacks, again shared feelings of abandonment (19:1–20). Yet he concluded with a magnificent affirmation of faith (vv. 23–27). Zophar added his own poem describing the ghastly fate of the wicked (20:1–29). Job, after quoting his accusers, argued that in fact the wicked often prosper. The clichés his counselors used to imply Job is wicked were nonsence (21:1–34).

Understanding the Text

“Man, who is vile and corrupt” Job 15:1–35. Eliphaz was angry at Job for what he saw as arrogant self-defense. Eliphaz viewed man as sinful, while God acted as if bound by some fixed law, forced invariably to punish the rebel. There was no room in Eliphaz’s theology for the notion that flawed human beings have value to God, or that God is moved by love rather than by a mechanical sense of justice which forces Him to react to each sin with appropriate, measured punishment. Eliphaz’s dialogue was filled with barbs hurled directly at Job. Again and again he brought up things that had happened to Job to illustrate punishments God directs against the wicked (cf. vv. 21; 1:17; 15:30, 34; 1:16; 15:28; 1:19; 15:29; 1:17). Nothing causes us to rethink our concept of God like suffering. When suffering comes to us or to loved ones, we need to remember that our God is a God of love. “Even now my witness is in heaven” Job 16:1–17:16. Job feared that he would die before his friends acknowledged his innocence. Thus he begged the earth not to cover his blood. Yet he was confident that witnesses in heaven knew he was right. Even though he felt devastated that “God assails me and tears me in His anger,” he had hope that a heavenly friend and intercessor would testify to his righteousness and that he would be vindicated. It’s hard when friends wrongfully accuse us or misunderstand us. Then our hope, like Job’s, is that ultimately we will be vindicated by the God who seems to attack us when we suffer. “The lamp of the wicked is snuffed out” Job 18:1–21. Bildad continued the friends’ effort to impose their views of God on Job. Once Job accepted their premise, that God only and always punishes the wicked, Job’s defenses would crumble. He would doubt his own innocence, and no longer hold to what he considered his “integrity.” The image here is a powerful one. In Old Testament times a small lamp was kept burning in even the poorest homes all night long. A house with a snuffed-out lamp was an abandoned, empty house. Building on this image of desolation, Bildad described the calamities that befall the wicked. We too are often tempted to use our theology—or a Bible verse—as a club to beat down the defenses of others. Surely Job’s friends were wrong to attack Job in this way, rather than encouraging him with reminders of the love of God. Let’s not err as they did in our use of God’s Word. “Those I love have turned against me” Job 19:19. Job’s suffering, and his insistence that he had been wronged, had alienated not only his friends but even his loved ones. Rather than treat Job with respect, even little children ridiculed him. His servants paid no attention to him, and his intimate friends detested him. One of the most painful aspects of an illness or any other personal disaster is the impact it has on others’ attitudes. The very time supportive love is most needed, friends and acquaintances back away. It may be uncomfortable for us to spend time with persons like Job. But, as Job cried out, it is while people suffer that they have the greatest need for friends who will “have pity on me.” Again we’re reminded that when another person is hurting is no time for theological discussion. What a hurting person needs is a hand to hold, a caring voice to listen to, and some evidence from friends that he or she is still loved and valued. It is striking that Job, deserted by his friends, continued to have a strong faith in the God he felt has misused him. “I know that my Redeemer lives,” Job affirmed. One day, long after this life was over, Job expected that “in my flesh I will see God.”

DEVOTIONAL

The Blessed Bad Guy (Job 21)

Just now our newspaper is filled with reports of a battle between a man and his ex-wife over a multimillion dollar Lotto win. Scan the reports, and the impression grows that both these winners are “bad guys.” From what each one says about the other—and I suspect both are right—each is a moral loser, selfish, and sinful. It’s just one more illustration of the bad guy striking it rich, while the poor, deserving Christian has to keep on struggling. Of course, if Eliphaz or Bildad or Zophar read our local paper, they’d never see that article. All three were careful to reject any evidence that might call their theology into question. That’s what exasperated Job in the end, and led him to confront his friends. God always punishes the wicked? Honestly, “How often is the lamp of the wicked [really] snuffed out?” God crush the evil man? Be honest now! “Have you paid no attention” to the fact that the world over “the evil man is spared from the day of calamity”? What Job finally shouted was, in effect, “Why don’t you get real! Why don’t you face facts? Why don’t you consider what we all know, that sometimes bad guys actually are blessed? That the bad guys often hit the Lotto jackpot, while God’s good guys struggle to make a living?” Job’s point was a good one. His friends preferred to distort reality in order to hold on to a flawed theology. Later God would speak to Job’s friends, and condemn them because “you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has” (42:7). Job, who struggled to understand God despite confusing and even contradictory evidence, had “spoken of Me what is right.” Job had been willing to challenge, not God, but his beliefs about God. Job’s three friends took their beliefs for God Himself, and refused to reexamine them, even when clear evidence in their society called those beliefs into question. This too is a lesson for you and me. Our trust is to be in God, not in our theology. Life constantly calls us to reexamine our beliefs about God, while holding firmly to the conviction that God exists, loves us, and is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Heb. 11:6). We can trust God completely. We should not have that same trust in our understanding of God’s ways. As Job’s friends finally learned, the bad guy sometimes is blessed in this life, while the good guy suffers. When facts like these don’t fit our theological pigeonholes, it’s time to discard the holes and develop a better understanding of our Lord.

Personal Application

Don’t be afraid to question your beliefs. God won’t be upset. Really.

Quotable

“He permits His friends to suffer much in this world that instead He may crown them all the more gloriously in heaven, and make them more like His only begotten Son, who never ceased to do good and to suffer injury while He was on earth that He might teach us patience by His example.”—Robert Bellarmine

Job

APRIL 11

Reading 101

JOB’S ANGUISH Job 1–14

“I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil” (Job 3:26).Job’s inner anguish mirrors our own when we are struck by some unexpected tragedy and struggle to understand why.

Background

The Structure of the book. Job begins and ends with brief prose sections. The opening portrays God giving Satan permission to attack Job in an effort to make Job curse the Lord. Satan stripped Job of his possessions, family, and health, but failed the challenge as Job worshiped rather than cursed God. The book then moves to an extended poetic exploration of God’s role in human suffering. Job and his three friends believed God punishes sin. Job’s friends concluded that Job had sinned. But Job was sure he had not knowingly done wrong. As the dialogues probed the question of suffering, Job found himself confronting not only his three friends but his own assumptions about God. The dialogue ended in an impasse, which was broken by a younger listener, Elihu. He pointed out that God sometimes uses suffering to instruct, not to punish. Thus Job’s suffering did not necessarily mean he had sinned, nor did it mean God is unjust. God Himself then spoke, not to explain what He had done, but to point out that His nature is beyond human comprehension. Job then repented and was commended by God. The Lord restored Job’s health, doubled his wealth, and blessed him with a new family and lengthened life. While the outline of this story is simple, the contents of the book are profound, probing as they do one of the most basic issues in human experience.

Overview

The setting is established: God permitted Satan to take Job’s wealth, his family, and his health (1:1–2:10). Job shared his feelings with three friends (v. 11–3:26). In a cycle of attacks and defenses, each friend proclaimed God’s justice, and suggested that Job deserved what had happened to him (4:1–5:27; 8:1–22; 11:1–20). Job defended himself against all of their charges (6:1–7:21; 9:1–10:22; 12:1–14:22).

Understanding the Text

“This man was blameless and upright” Job 1:1–5. The phrase does not mean Job was sinless. The Hebrew word for “blameless,” tamim, indicates a person whose motives are pure and who lives a good moral life. Job’s wealth may have impressed his neighbors. But his reverent awe for God and his decision to shun evil are keys to his character. What shocks us is that terrible trouble could strike such a godly man. We feel that if Job is vulnerable, surely each of us is. This is one of the important messages of Job. Relationship with God does not guarantee an easy life. Our relationship with God is more significant than that! “Have you considered My servant Job?” Job 1:6–2:11 God is the One who drew Satan’s attention to Job, and gave him permission to cause the devastating series of tragedies that struck Job on a single day. Satan contended that Job honored God only because God had given him material blessings. Satan claimed Job would “curse You to Your face” if God permitted Satan to take those blessings away. Job did not act as Satan expected, but instead worshiped, acknowledging God’s right to take what He had given (1:20–21). Satan then claimed Job would curse God if his own life were threatened. So God permitted Satan to afflict Job with a painful and loathsome disease. Again Job refused to curse God, saying, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (2:10) At this point Satan passed from the scene, defeated, and is not mentioned again. But Job’s suffering continued, showing us that God had His own purposes in permitting the satanic attack on Job. One reason that God permits Christians to suffer is to display the reality of relationship with the Lord. Believers suffer when hurt, as other human beings do. But our continuing faith in God’s goodness testifies to all that God does make a difference. God is glorified as Christians continue to hope in the Lord despite suffering. Like Christ, at this stage of the story Job has “entrusted himself to Him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23). “Why did I not perish at birth?” Job 3:1–26 Three friends who visited Job were so shocked at his condition that they sat, silent, for seven days. At last Job opened the dialogue. Job’s earlier words had expressed his beliefs. Now he shared his feelings, and we discern an anguish so great that Job wished he had never been born. It’s not wrong for a gap to exist between what we believe and our emotions. Intellectually Job realized that God is free to act as He chooses. Emotionally Job was in the grip of anguish and fear. When suffering strikes us, we often respond as Job did. We do trust in God. But our emotions are in turmoil, and we have “no peace, no quietness, no rest” (see v. 26). Such emotion is natural, for at best we human beings are finite, limited, and weak. How encouraging to realize through Job’s experience that faith and fear can be present at the same time. Emotional turmoil is not evidence of a lack of faith, but rather an opportunity for us to affirm the reality of what we believe despite our feelings. “Who, being innocent, has ever perished?” Job 4:1–5:27 Eliphaz, one of the three friends, was unable to respond to the powerful emotions Job had shared. Instead he brought up a point of theology. It’s not the upright who are destroyed, but those who “plow evil” (4:7–8). Job must appeal to the God who corrects, and who can heal (5:17–18). If Job were right with God, the Lord would have protected him from disaster and Job would know peace (vv. 20–27). Many of us, like Eliphaz, listen for concepts and not feelings. Eliphaz did not respond to Job’s feelings or even acknowledge them. He might have said, “Job, I know you’re hurting. I hear how devastating this is to you, and I do care.” Instead Eliphaz jumped in with an oblique accusation, suggesting that Job’s suffering must be his own fault. When you or I respond to a person who is suffering with a theological statement, even with pious reassurance that “God must have a purpose in something so terrible,” we miss our opportunity to minister. What a sufferer needs to know is that someone cares. An experience of the love of God through a caring friend is the first and greatest need of those who suffer. “If only my anguish could be weighed” Job 6:1–7:21. Job tried again to share his feelings and his tormented thoughts. He felt cut off from God, and crushed by Him (6:8–10). As a despairing man Job had hoped for a sign of devotion from his friends, not accusations. Job continued to focus on his feelings, speaking out “in the anguish of my spirit” and complaining in the “bitterness of my soul” (7:11). Life had lost all meaning for Job. He could not understand what he had done to God to deserve what had happened, or why, if he had sinned, God did not simply forgive him (vv. 17–21). In this speech, part of which is directed to the Lord, Job expressed the doubts and uncertainties which tormented him even more than the loss and pain. Job’s experience again helps us identify what happens within us when tragedy strikes. The very foundation of our existence—our conviction that God is good—is brought into question. If we understand this we can accept our own doubts and uncertainty without feelings of guilt. And we can empathize with others who experience tragedy. “How long will you say such things?” Job 8:1–22 Bildad was uncomfortable with Job’s self-revelation. To protect himself from the flood of emotions, he too turned to theology. Bildad was unwilling to accept what Job felt because those emotions seemed to imply that the Almighty “pervert[s] what is right” (v. 3). Bildad’s solution? “Surely God does not reject a blameless man” (v. 20). If Job got right with God, the Lord would “yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy” (v. 21). Bildad’s error was a common one. He assumed that he knew so much about God he could speak for Him! “God doesn’t reject the blameless” is transformed from a general truth to an unbreakable rule, binding God’s own freedom of action. Bildad never once imagined that he might not know God well enough to explain the Lord’s purposes in Job’s life! When you and I know others who suffer, we must avoid Bildad’s error. We can’t explain “why” because we are not wise enough to grasp God’s purposes in another person’s life. All we know for sure is that God loves all human beings, and that He does have a purpose in what happens to each one. “I know that this is true” Job 9:1–10:21. Job was aware that what his friends had said was true. But this only made his torment greater. Job believed himself blameless (9:21), and thus had no explanation for what had happened to him. It was this that made his anguish so bitter! He couldn’t even plead his case with God, for God had not brought any charges against him. Again Job was forced to question the meaning of life itself. Why had he even been born? How much better it would have been if Job had died in infancy! “Will no one rebuke you?” Job 11:1–20 Job’s third friend was outraged by this talk. God must not be questioned! But Zophar couldn’t resist suggesting that Job must have sinned to suffer so, and that if Job would only “put away the sin that is in your hand” life would be brighter, for God would relieve his suffering. Again, be warned. The person who assumes that he knows another individual’s heart, much less understands all of God’s ways, is almost certain to be wrong. To take such a position is spiritual pride, surely as great a sin as any we accuse others of committing. “What you know, I also know” Job 12:1–14:22. Job responded with sarcasm. Job too knew the general truths about God that his friends had used against him. But Job also knew that in his case suffering could not be punishment for some known sin. Again Job addressed his complaint to God. Human beings are so weak. Why did God do this to him? Why not just permit Job to die and so avoid the brunt of what he experienced as the anger of God? Again we sense the anguish that any believer experiences when his or her suffering cannot be explained. We know general truths about God. But we cannot know the specific reasons for what is happening to us. And suffering feels like God’s anger, directed against us, rather than feeling like love. How important to remember at such times that God does love us still.

DEVOTIONAL

God’s Hedge (Job 1–2)

The doctor happened to look in on her as she lay in the labor room. What he saw brought a half dozen people on the run. My wife had suffered a massive placental separation, and only quick action by the doctor saved her and our daughter Joy. There was only one problem. Joy had been without oxygen for several minutes. When she was born her face was blue, and the doctor warned that there might be brain damage. There was. Today Joy, at 28, lives in a community for retarded adults in Arizona’s Verde Valley. She will live there or in a similar facility all her life. It’s hard to express the bittersweet experience of bringing up a daughter who is strong and healthy, and yet suffers from irreversible retardation. Each visit is a reminder of what might have been, but can never be. Yet at the same time each visit is a reminder that Joy is who God intended her to be. A young, strong, loving girl, who laughs and cries, rejoices and complains, who prays and sings and works up to her limited capabilities. Each visit is a reminder of Satan’s complaint, recorded in Job 1:9. “Have You not put a hedge around him [Job]?” Haven’t You protected him from me, so that I can’t touch him or anything that he owns? Satan’s complaint portrays an important reality. God has put a hedge around every believer. He actively protects us from the dangers that threaten on every side. Only if God lowers the hedge—and that for His own purposes—can disaster strike. When Joy was born, God lowered the hedge. I don’t know why. But I believe He had His own good purpose. And I know that God raised the hedge again. God has protected our Joy, and given her as blessed a life as she could expect to live. I can identify other times when God lowered the hedge around me. But each time the hedge has gone up again, and blessing has followed. Each time the hedge has gone down, I’ve become more aware of how often God’s hedge has surrounded me and guarded me from harm.

Personal Application

When God lowers the hedge around you, consider the many more times you have had His protection.

Quotable

“How desperately people brush up their little faith in times of sorrow. It is quite easy to see that religious faith prospers because of, and not in spite of, the tribulations of this world. It is because this mortal life is felt as an irrelevancy to the main purpose in life that men achieve the courage to hope for immortality.”—Reinhold Niebuhr

Job

INTRODUCTION

Set in the second millennium B.C., when wealth was measured in cattle and the patriarch served as family priest, the epic of Job explores the relationship between human suffering and divine justice. Job, a righteous man, was crushed by sudden disasters. His three friends argued that God was punishing him for some hidden sin. Job resisted, but could find no alternate explanation for what had happened to him. In a lengthy poetic dialogue marked by the most difficult Hebrew in the Old Testament, Job and his friends struggled to understand the ways of God and the meaning of human suffering. Though there are many examples of similar literature in the ancient East, Job is set off from them by its vision of God and its in-depth exploration of the issue of suffering. It is impossible to establish a date for the writing of this epic or to know its author.

OUTLINE OF CONTENTS

I.	Disasters Strike Righteous Job	Job 1–3
II.	Job Dialogues with Three Friends	Job 4–31
	A. Did God cause Job’s suffering?	Job 4–14
	B. Do the wicked really suffer?	Job 15–21
	C. Had Job committed hidden sins?	Job 22–31
III.	Elihu Breaks the Impasse	Job 32–37
IV.	God Speaks Out	Job 38–42