Job's friend Bildad said some cruel things in yesterday's passage. He not only suggested Job is a sinner, but that his children were also sinners and that they lost their lives because of it. Today we study the first part of Job's answer to him. He agrees that much of Bildad's doctrine is sound: that the one who forsakes God reaps the consequences, that God is able to restore joy to the one who returns to Him, that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked (although the reward is not necessarily prosperity in this life as Bildad believes). In his answer Job agrees with the parts of Bildad's speech that are correct, and he kindly passes over the harsh words about his children.
"Then Job replied: 'Indeed, I know that this is true. But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God? Though they wished to dispute with Him, they could not answer Him one time out of a thousand. His wisdom is profound, His power is vast. Who has resisted Him and come out unscathed?" (Job 9:1-4) Job says, "Even if a man could gain an audience with God, how could he ever win an argument with Him? I believe in my heart I have not brought these tragedies on myself, but God's wisdom is so far above mine that I wouldn't even know how to speak to Him if I stood in front of Him."
"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. He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. When He passes me, I cannot see Him; when He goes by, I cannot perceive Him. If He snatches away, who can stop Him? Who can say to Him, 'What are You doing?' God does not restrain His anger; even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at His feet." (Job 9:5-13) If Job got his wish and could stand before God to plead his case, what could he say to the One who causes avalanches and earthquakes, who covers the heavens with clouds, who walks on the waters, who created the constellations, who is invisible, who is all-powerful, who gives life and takes life away?
Job's words remind me of those of David when he considered the vastness of the heavens and the intelligent Creator of them. David felt very small in comparison. "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is mankind that You are mindful of them, human beings that You care for them?" (Psalm 8:3-4) I grew up out in the country where there were no streetlights and I spent many a childhood summer evening sitting outside gazing up at the stars. The incredible and unknowable vastness of the universe filled me with a sense of awe, but it also reminded me how small I am in comparison. And it made God somehow seem so utterly different from mankind. How can we know the mind that spoke worlds and suns into existence? How can we commune with an intelligence so high above ours? How can we find common ground with the One we cannot even see? Yet this God who is so superior to us, so holy and righteous, loves us and desires fellowship with us. It's more than the human mind can comprehend.
"How then can I dispute with Him? How can I find words to argue with Him? Though I were innocent, I could not answer Him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy." (Job 9:14-15) Job says, "If I saw God face to face I believe His majesty would overwhelm me. I could not speak a word. If I could see God in all His glory, I would also see myself in all my weakness, and there would be nothing I could do but throw myself on the mercy of the court." Job has the righteousness that comes by faith, but he is not sinless. Though in Chapter One we learned Job is the most righteous man on earth in his days, he is not perfect. The innocence he speaks of is the confidence he has in knowing there has never been such a sin in his life that would cause him to deserve all that's happened to him.
Job says something in verse 15 I don't want us to miss. "Though I were innocent, I could not answer Him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy." Even if Job had perfectly kept every law of God, he would still stand trembling in fear before such a holy Judge, because even at our best "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags". (Isaiah 64:6) Even if we perform all that is asked of us "We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do." (Luke 17:10) When we see God in all His glory we will see ourselves in all our weakness. When we view His perfection we will be faced with our imperfection. And what is there to do? We can only plead with our Judge for mercy. But thanks be to the God who loves us, He made a way for us to receive His mercy. Though we are so far beneath Him, the perfect Son of God gave Himself for us, so that when we who have believed in Him stand before our Judge, Christ Jesus stands there with us. He is our mighty Defender who says to the Judge, "I have paid the penalty. I have taken this one's sins upon Myself. For My sake, You must declare this one not guilty."
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
When Bad Things Happen To Good People: A Study Of The Book Of Job. Day 11, Job's Friend Bildad Speaks
The second of Job's three friends speaks up today and his words are more cruel than those of Eliphaz.
"Then Bildad the Shuhite replied: 'How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind. Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right? When your children sinned against Him, He gave them over to the penalty of their sin.'" (Job 8:1-4) Eliphaz accused Job of being a sinner, but Bildad goes a step further. He asserts that Job's children were sinners and God punished them for it. In his mind, since God is never unjust, their fate must have been deserved.
We don't know whether Job's children were living in sin or not. We were told in Chapter One that he was in the habit of making sacrifice on their behalf just in case they had "sinned and cursed God in their hearts". (Job 1:5) I think this indicates Job saw no outward signs of rebellion toward God but wanted to cover all bases just in case sin was hidden in their hearts. What we do know is that the afflictions that fell on the family of Job were not sent as punishment for any deeds they may have committed. This tragedy, difficult as it is for us to accept, is for a different purpose.
Bildad is offended that Job dares to question God. He believes instead that Job ought to be thankful he wasn't considered as wicked as his children, since God has allowed him to live. Now he thinks the best thing Job can do is humble himself and repent and submit to the Lord. "But if you will seek God earnestly and plead with the Almighty, if you are pure and upright, even now He will rouse Himself on your behalf and restore you to your prosperous state. Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be." (Job 8:5-7)
Bildad and Job's other two friends are firm believers in an Old Testament form of the prosperity gospel. They view their relationship with God as a contract: they are obligated to do what is right and God is obligated to reward them with material blessings. The lack of material wealth is evidence to them that the person is not keeping up his end of the bargain. The fatal flaw in this theology is that in our fallen world the fortunes of many are made by deceit and wickedness. How to explain this obvious contradiction? What about Psalm 73 which is the lament of a godly man regarding the prosperity of the wicked? Asaph, the author, says he envied the arrogant when he saw their wealth increasing. He noticed they didn't have to struggle in the same ways as the poor. Their income allowed them to enjoy better nutrition and health, plus their minds were free of the stresses of ordinary people. Asaph was bitter over what he saw as the unfairness of such a thing. But when he talked to God about it, he realized that the wicked who prosper on the earth better enjoy it while they can, for they will be cast down to ruin. But as for the godly, who may or may not attain material wealth, God is always with them, holding them by their right hand, guiding them with His counsel, and preparing an eternal home for them. When Asaph saw the sharp contrast between the eternal fate of the wicked and the eternal fate of the righteous, he came to the same conclusion Job will later come to, "When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You." (Psalm 73:21-22) This doesn't mean we can't feel upset by our circumstances or that we can't ask God why He allows certain things to happen. David, considered a man after God's own heart, often poured out all his feelings to the Lord even when those feelings were ugly. As God's children we have the freedom to say, "Daddy, why?" And like an earthly father, our heavenly Father has the freedom to explain His reasons to us or not. My earthly father sometimes provided me with an explanation for his decisions and sometimes he didn't, either because I wouldn't have understood them or because as the higher authority he was not accountable to me. I won't pretend to like it, but God doesn't owe us an explanation.
Bildad goes on to say if Job doesn't believe his words, he should ask the older and wiser folks in the community and they will back him up. "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?" (Job 8:8-10)
Now he draws upon an illustration from plant life. A plant that is not deeply rooted and does not draw upon a source of water will perish. To him this is the same as a person whose life is not rooted and grounded in the Lord. There's nothing wrong with this doctrine; it's similar to the Lord's parable about the man who built his house upon the sand and the man who built his house on the solid rock. What's wrong here is that Bildad is accusing Job of having forsaken the Lord, something he did not do. "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. 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." (Job 8:11-19)
"Surely God does not reject one who is 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." (Job 8:20-22) Bildad concludes his discourse with an unhelpful platitude. Of course God is able to fill the mouths of the godly with laughter. Of course He gives joy to the righteous. But Bildad believes God has rejected Job because he is a sinner, and that is not the case. God has not rejected Job in any way. God loves Job. God has more respect right now for Job than He has for any of Job's friends, as we will learn later on. Bildad is more of an enemy than a friend, though he's completely blind to this. He makes a statement in verse 22 that he probably thinks sounds very spiritual, never dreaming that he is one of those who will be clothed with shame. In Chapter 42 the Lord will declare He is angry with Job's three friends. They will have to repent and make sacrifice. In addition, they will have to accept the fact that the man they have so unjustly maligned is considered more righteous than they. The Lord will humble them for their pride and they will meekly have to allow Job, the man they thought was a sinner, to pray for them.
"Then Bildad the Shuhite replied: 'How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind. Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right? When your children sinned against Him, He gave them over to the penalty of their sin.'" (Job 8:1-4) Eliphaz accused Job of being a sinner, but Bildad goes a step further. He asserts that Job's children were sinners and God punished them for it. In his mind, since God is never unjust, their fate must have been deserved.
We don't know whether Job's children were living in sin or not. We were told in Chapter One that he was in the habit of making sacrifice on their behalf just in case they had "sinned and cursed God in their hearts". (Job 1:5) I think this indicates Job saw no outward signs of rebellion toward God but wanted to cover all bases just in case sin was hidden in their hearts. What we do know is that the afflictions that fell on the family of Job were not sent as punishment for any deeds they may have committed. This tragedy, difficult as it is for us to accept, is for a different purpose.
Bildad is offended that Job dares to question God. He believes instead that Job ought to be thankful he wasn't considered as wicked as his children, since God has allowed him to live. Now he thinks the best thing Job can do is humble himself and repent and submit to the Lord. "But if you will seek God earnestly and plead with the Almighty, if you are pure and upright, even now He will rouse Himself on your behalf and restore you to your prosperous state. Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be." (Job 8:5-7)
Bildad and Job's other two friends are firm believers in an Old Testament form of the prosperity gospel. They view their relationship with God as a contract: they are obligated to do what is right and God is obligated to reward them with material blessings. The lack of material wealth is evidence to them that the person is not keeping up his end of the bargain. The fatal flaw in this theology is that in our fallen world the fortunes of many are made by deceit and wickedness. How to explain this obvious contradiction? What about Psalm 73 which is the lament of a godly man regarding the prosperity of the wicked? Asaph, the author, says he envied the arrogant when he saw their wealth increasing. He noticed they didn't have to struggle in the same ways as the poor. Their income allowed them to enjoy better nutrition and health, plus their minds were free of the stresses of ordinary people. Asaph was bitter over what he saw as the unfairness of such a thing. But when he talked to God about it, he realized that the wicked who prosper on the earth better enjoy it while they can, for they will be cast down to ruin. But as for the godly, who may or may not attain material wealth, God is always with them, holding them by their right hand, guiding them with His counsel, and preparing an eternal home for them. When Asaph saw the sharp contrast between the eternal fate of the wicked and the eternal fate of the righteous, he came to the same conclusion Job will later come to, "When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You." (Psalm 73:21-22) This doesn't mean we can't feel upset by our circumstances or that we can't ask God why He allows certain things to happen. David, considered a man after God's own heart, often poured out all his feelings to the Lord even when those feelings were ugly. As God's children we have the freedom to say, "Daddy, why?" And like an earthly father, our heavenly Father has the freedom to explain His reasons to us or not. My earthly father sometimes provided me with an explanation for his decisions and sometimes he didn't, either because I wouldn't have understood them or because as the higher authority he was not accountable to me. I won't pretend to like it, but God doesn't owe us an explanation.
Bildad goes on to say if Job doesn't believe his words, he should ask the older and wiser folks in the community and they will back him up. "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?" (Job 8:8-10)
Now he draws upon an illustration from plant life. A plant that is not deeply rooted and does not draw upon a source of water will perish. To him this is the same as a person whose life is not rooted and grounded in the Lord. There's nothing wrong with this doctrine; it's similar to the Lord's parable about the man who built his house upon the sand and the man who built his house on the solid rock. What's wrong here is that Bildad is accusing Job of having forsaken the Lord, something he did not do. "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. 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." (Job 8:11-19)
"Surely God does not reject one who is 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." (Job 8:20-22) Bildad concludes his discourse with an unhelpful platitude. Of course God is able to fill the mouths of the godly with laughter. Of course He gives joy to the righteous. But Bildad believes God has rejected Job because he is a sinner, and that is not the case. God has not rejected Job in any way. God loves Job. God has more respect right now for Job than He has for any of Job's friends, as we will learn later on. Bildad is more of an enemy than a friend, though he's completely blind to this. He makes a statement in verse 22 that he probably thinks sounds very spiritual, never dreaming that he is one of those who will be clothed with shame. In Chapter 42 the Lord will declare He is angry with Job's three friends. They will have to repent and make sacrifice. In addition, they will have to accept the fact that the man they have so unjustly maligned is considered more righteous than they. The Lord will humble them for their pride and they will meekly have to allow Job, the man they thought was a sinner, to pray for them.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
When Bad Things Happen To Good People: A Study Of The Book Of Job. Day 10, Job Answers Eliphaz, Part 3
Today's passage concludes Job's answer to his friend Eliphaz. Of the three friends who came to mourn with Job, Eliphaz was the first to speak and his words have not been comforting. Job's answer to Eliphaz turns into an appeal to God before he is finished.
"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." (Job 7:1-5) Like a slave who labors all day, Job yearns for night when he can rest, but he finds no rest. His skin illness causes him intense itching and great pain. It isn't known whether the worms he speaks of are literal or figurative. It could be that some of his wounds are infested with maggots, or he might simply be speaking of the crawling sensation of the itching that he endures day and night.
"My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and they come to an end without hope." (Job 7:6) Day after day passes by in a blur but his circumstances get no better.
"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 one who goes down to the grave does not return. He will never come to his house again; his place will know him no more." (Job 7:7-10) Job reminds the Lord how fragile he is, that he was created from the dust and that all any person truly possesses on this earth is the breath currently in the body. This sorrow is too much and Job thinks it will kill him eventually. He plainly states that there is one life to live and he clearly does not believe in the theory of reincarnation. When he says that the one who goes down to the grave does not return, he isn't disclaiming life after death, but is saying that man is not reborn on the earth.
At this point Job is no longer speaking to Eliphaz and may even be hardly aware his friends are there. His complaints are lifted up to the Lord. "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. Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You put me under guard? When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, even then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, so that I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine. I despise my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning." (Job 7:11-16) Job says he is trapped. He feels like the sea for which God has set boundaries. He feels he's being treated like a dreadful monster that must be imprisoned. He cannot be happy or comfortable anywhere. In the daytime he is confronted with all he has lost. In the night he tosses and turns and has terrible dreams. He wishes God would turn His back on him and be done with him if it means his misery would end.
"What is mankind that You make so much of them, that You give them so much attention, that You examine them every morning and test them every moment?" (Job 7:17) Job asks the Lord, "Why do You even concern Yourself with man? We are lowly and surely unworthy of Your attention. Why do You even take notice of us? Why does it matter how we are living and whether we endure under trial? You are too high above us to bother with us; why not just leave us alone?" In his calamity Job has come to view God as a harsh taskmaster who always finds fault. But God is not examining Job every morning and finding him lacking. We know something Job doesn't, that God has praised Job's faith above the faith of every person who was on the earth at that time. God is pleased with Job. God loves Job. His circumstances are not proof that God hates him, but in his misery Job thinks, "If this is love, then I dread to think what hate is. I'd rather God didn't love me. I'd rather He left me alone. I don't know what He intends to accomplish with my misery but I want no part of it. Even if He intends something good, I'm not interested in it."
The troubles I've experienced in this life don't even begin to compare to Job's, but I've had days when I'd just as soon God stopped working on me. Even if my circumstances were intended to build faith and character, I preferred to remain as I was rather than endure trials. I didn't know what God's purpose was and I might not have understood it if He had explained it to me, but what I really wanted was for Him to go bother someone else and leave me alone. I had no interest in growing in the faith if it was going to be painful. I was in wholehearted agreement with the anonymous quote, "I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much." Job would have agreed with that statement too. He is tired and discouraged and sick and he no longer cares about the purpose of his trials. He just wants to be done with them.
"Will You never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant? If I have sinned, what have I done to You, You who see everything we do? Why have You made me Your target? Have I become a burden to You? Why do You not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins? For I will soon lie down in the dust; You will search for me, but I will be no more." (Job 7:19-21) Job is not admitting that sin is the cause of his sorrows. He's not agreeing with his friends who think he's brought this on himself by some awful deed. He simply recognizes that he is a sinner in the same way all other men and women are sinners. Job makes mistakes and Job has to repent of his mistakes just like everyone else. What he's saying is something like this, "Lord, even though I'm weak and prone to error, how does that really hurt You? You are so high above us and so untouchable. My sins can't harm You. But even so, if You are offended by me, do You not also possess the power to forgive me? Who else can make me clean? My righteousness is in You. If I am a sinner, it's Your laws I have transgressed, and that means You alone can pardon me. Please grant me the sense that You love me and are pleased with me, and do it soon, for my life is about to end."
I don't believe any trial lasts one second longer than it needs to in order to accomplish God's purpose, but we would prefer to skip the trials altogether, wouldn't we? I've tried to run from every unpleasant circumstance that has ever come against me. Even if God sat me down and patiently explained to me the purpose for my troubles and what He intended to accomplish through them, I think I'd be likely to say, "No thanks. I see what You're getting at but if these circumstances are what it takes to get me to the finish line that You have in mind, I think I'll pass." Maybe that's why God doesn't always tell us what He's doing. Even if we could understand it we'd still be likely to say no. If given the choice to remain as we are or to increase our faith through troubled times, it's human nature to choose the easy path.
I'm thankful that the Lord Jesus Christ, perfect Son of God, didn't have that attitude when it came to fulfilling His purpose. He was able to look past His suffering and see the end result. "For the joy set before Him He endured the cross." (Hebrews 12:2) Jesus wasn't concerned only with the here and now. He didn't say to the Father, "No thanks. I see what You're doing here and I understand this will save the souls of all who will trust in Me, but the price is just too high." What if Jesus had taken the easy way out? Where would we be now? What hope would we have?
"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." (Job 7:1-5) Like a slave who labors all day, Job yearns for night when he can rest, but he finds no rest. His skin illness causes him intense itching and great pain. It isn't known whether the worms he speaks of are literal or figurative. It could be that some of his wounds are infested with maggots, or he might simply be speaking of the crawling sensation of the itching that he endures day and night.
"My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and they come to an end without hope." (Job 7:6) Day after day passes by in a blur but his circumstances get no better.
"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 one who goes down to the grave does not return. He will never come to his house again; his place will know him no more." (Job 7:7-10) Job reminds the Lord how fragile he is, that he was created from the dust and that all any person truly possesses on this earth is the breath currently in the body. This sorrow is too much and Job thinks it will kill him eventually. He plainly states that there is one life to live and he clearly does not believe in the theory of reincarnation. When he says that the one who goes down to the grave does not return, he isn't disclaiming life after death, but is saying that man is not reborn on the earth.
At this point Job is no longer speaking to Eliphaz and may even be hardly aware his friends are there. His complaints are lifted up to the Lord. "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. Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You put me under guard? When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, even then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, so that I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine. I despise my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning." (Job 7:11-16) Job says he is trapped. He feels like the sea for which God has set boundaries. He feels he's being treated like a dreadful monster that must be imprisoned. He cannot be happy or comfortable anywhere. In the daytime he is confronted with all he has lost. In the night he tosses and turns and has terrible dreams. He wishes God would turn His back on him and be done with him if it means his misery would end.
"What is mankind that You make so much of them, that You give them so much attention, that You examine them every morning and test them every moment?" (Job 7:17) Job asks the Lord, "Why do You even concern Yourself with man? We are lowly and surely unworthy of Your attention. Why do You even take notice of us? Why does it matter how we are living and whether we endure under trial? You are too high above us to bother with us; why not just leave us alone?" In his calamity Job has come to view God as a harsh taskmaster who always finds fault. But God is not examining Job every morning and finding him lacking. We know something Job doesn't, that God has praised Job's faith above the faith of every person who was on the earth at that time. God is pleased with Job. God loves Job. His circumstances are not proof that God hates him, but in his misery Job thinks, "If this is love, then I dread to think what hate is. I'd rather God didn't love me. I'd rather He left me alone. I don't know what He intends to accomplish with my misery but I want no part of it. Even if He intends something good, I'm not interested in it."
The troubles I've experienced in this life don't even begin to compare to Job's, but I've had days when I'd just as soon God stopped working on me. Even if my circumstances were intended to build faith and character, I preferred to remain as I was rather than endure trials. I didn't know what God's purpose was and I might not have understood it if He had explained it to me, but what I really wanted was for Him to go bother someone else and leave me alone. I had no interest in growing in the faith if it was going to be painful. I was in wholehearted agreement with the anonymous quote, "I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much." Job would have agreed with that statement too. He is tired and discouraged and sick and he no longer cares about the purpose of his trials. He just wants to be done with them.
"Will You never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant? If I have sinned, what have I done to You, You who see everything we do? Why have You made me Your target? Have I become a burden to You? Why do You not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins? For I will soon lie down in the dust; You will search for me, but I will be no more." (Job 7:19-21) Job is not admitting that sin is the cause of his sorrows. He's not agreeing with his friends who think he's brought this on himself by some awful deed. He simply recognizes that he is a sinner in the same way all other men and women are sinners. Job makes mistakes and Job has to repent of his mistakes just like everyone else. What he's saying is something like this, "Lord, even though I'm weak and prone to error, how does that really hurt You? You are so high above us and so untouchable. My sins can't harm You. But even so, if You are offended by me, do You not also possess the power to forgive me? Who else can make me clean? My righteousness is in You. If I am a sinner, it's Your laws I have transgressed, and that means You alone can pardon me. Please grant me the sense that You love me and are pleased with me, and do it soon, for my life is about to end."
I don't believe any trial lasts one second longer than it needs to in order to accomplish God's purpose, but we would prefer to skip the trials altogether, wouldn't we? I've tried to run from every unpleasant circumstance that has ever come against me. Even if God sat me down and patiently explained to me the purpose for my troubles and what He intended to accomplish through them, I think I'd be likely to say, "No thanks. I see what You're getting at but if these circumstances are what it takes to get me to the finish line that You have in mind, I think I'll pass." Maybe that's why God doesn't always tell us what He's doing. Even if we could understand it we'd still be likely to say no. If given the choice to remain as we are or to increase our faith through troubled times, it's human nature to choose the easy path.
I'm thankful that the Lord Jesus Christ, perfect Son of God, didn't have that attitude when it came to fulfilling His purpose. He was able to look past His suffering and see the end result. "For the joy set before Him He endured the cross." (Hebrews 12:2) Jesus wasn't concerned only with the here and now. He didn't say to the Father, "No thanks. I see what You're doing here and I understand this will save the souls of all who will trust in Me, but the price is just too high." What if Jesus had taken the easy way out? Where would we be now? What hope would we have?
Monday, March 13, 2017
When Bad Things Happen To Good People: A Study Of The Book Of Job. Day 9, Job Answers Eliphaz, Part 2
Job's three friends have been no help. They came to comfort him but have managed to do the very opposite. Eliphaz so far has been the only one speaking but according to Job's words today they are all in agreement with each other. They believe Job is somehow to blame for his misfortune.
Job points out that, even if they had been right and he had been living in sin, their attitude toward him is wrong. If he had truly been responsible for all his troubles, their job would have been to help restore him to the faith in a spirit of love and gentleness. He says, "Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty." (Job 6:14) If Job had lived in our times he would be saying something like, "You aren't behaving like Jesus would. If you feared the Lord and wanted to be like Him you would treat me with compassion."
He expected encouragement and support but instead has found nothing but wrongful judgment. "But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow, but that stop flowing in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels." (Job 6:15-17) These friends are fair weather friends. They were fine companions during the good times but they've been as unreliable as a temporary stream during the bad times.
The support of these friends is as fleeting as a flash flood in the desert. Job cannot find anything in their words that satisfies his thirsty soul, so he compares them to sources of water that dry up and disappoint the weary traveler. "Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go off into the wasteland and perish. The caravans of Tema look for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope. They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed." (Job 6:18-20)
I believe Job sees straight to the root cause of his friends' failure when he says, "Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid." (Job 6:21) Job's calamity has shaken them. He has always appeared to be the real deal. He talked the talk and he walked the walk. As far as they can tell, he's been the most godly man they've ever known. They can't accept the fact that sometimes bad things happen to good people. They won't accept it because that would mean tragedies could also happen to them. They only way they can feel secure is to attack Job and accuse him of sin. And it has to be a hidden sin, something no one suspected, because as they examine his life they can find no evidence of wrongdoing. They conclude that this sin is something known only to God and that God, who saw this secret sin, is punishing Job publicly and making an example of him.
"Have I ever said, 'Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom for me from your wealth, deliver me from the hand of the enemy, rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless?'" (Job 6:22-23) He says, "What have I ever asked you for? I've never once called upon you in need. But now when all I truly need is your love and support, you withhold it from me. I ask you for something that will cost you nothing, yet you refuse."
"Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong. How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove? Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat my desperate words as wind? You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend." (Job 6:24-27) Job challenges them to prove he has been living wrong and that he is in error when he complains about his troubles. Though such words would hurt (how painful are honest words) he is willing to accept them if they are true. King Solomon once pointed out that the wounds from a friend can be trusted (Proverbs 27:6) but he was speaking of true friends, not the type of friends Job has. True friends might hurt us with the truth, but they will do so in love. A true friend will feel compelled to come privately to us and express concern that we are going down the wrong path. These wounds hurt, but they are faithful wounds which lead to healing and restoration. The wounds Job's companions are inflicting on him do not have the power to help. They are not faithful wounds. They are cruel words coming from men who are so frightened by Job's calamities that they must either find fault with him or else face the fact that bad things sometimes happen even to the godly.
Job says, "Men like you who would wound a friend without cause are as bad as those who mistreat the orphan and the needy. You are willing to kick the one who is already down. You had one job, and that was to come here and mourn with me and to lend me the comfort of your presence. Instead you've made me feel worse than I did before."
"But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face? Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake. Is there any wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern malice?" (Job 6:28-30) I think these men have been unable to look Job in the eye while Eliphaz accused him of sin and while they maintained judgmental attitudes. They can't look him in the eye because they can't back up their belief that he deserves his troubles. So now he demands that they look him in the face and see that he is being honest with them. He knows of nothing standing between him and God. Of course he makes mistakes from time to time just like any other human being, but he is a man quick to repent when he realizes he has stumbled. He has not been living with some secret sin, cherishing wickedness in his heart. His relationship with the Lord has always been the most important thing in his life and he has never allowed anything to hinder it. He pleads with his friends, "Don't you know me well enough to realize that I can tell good from evil? Can I not recognize sin in my life? Do I not understand the word of God? Would I not be able to tell if there was something so wicked in my life that I deserved the loss of everything I had?"
Something that struck me during this study of Job is that his situation is not as unique as I had always believed. Since the beginning of time many men and women have lost everyone and everything they had. They've lost most or all of their family members due to wars, natural disasters, plane crashes, train derailments, and terrorist attacks. Just think of the atrocities of the Holocaust when entire families and fortunes were wiped out. Consider the massive loss of life that occurred in New York when the Twin Towers were attacked. It's possible to lose an entire family and an entire fortune in a single day, just as Job did. Does this mean these people were such terrible sinners they deserved their fate? No, no more than the eighteen people upon whom the tower of Siloam fell were worse than any other people, according to the Lord Jesus. (Luke 13:4) Bad things sometimes happen to good people. There is nothing you or I possess that we cannot lose except our relationship with the Lord. If that happens, is He going to be enough for us? This is where Job finds himself. He has lost his children and his fortune, his wife is in a crisis of faith and unable to help him, and his friends are behaving like enemies. He has nothing left but the Lord. Is He going to be enough? Will His grace be sufficient for Job as it was for the Apostle Paul? (2 Corinthians 12:9) Will his love be more important to Job than life itself, as David declared? (Psalm 63:3) Will he be able to trust the Lord even when he doesn't understand?
Job points out that, even if they had been right and he had been living in sin, their attitude toward him is wrong. If he had truly been responsible for all his troubles, their job would have been to help restore him to the faith in a spirit of love and gentleness. He says, "Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty." (Job 6:14) If Job had lived in our times he would be saying something like, "You aren't behaving like Jesus would. If you feared the Lord and wanted to be like Him you would treat me with compassion."
He expected encouragement and support but instead has found nothing but wrongful judgment. "But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow, but that stop flowing in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels." (Job 6:15-17) These friends are fair weather friends. They were fine companions during the good times but they've been as unreliable as a temporary stream during the bad times.
The support of these friends is as fleeting as a flash flood in the desert. Job cannot find anything in their words that satisfies his thirsty soul, so he compares them to sources of water that dry up and disappoint the weary traveler. "Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go off into the wasteland and perish. The caravans of Tema look for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope. They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed." (Job 6:18-20)
I believe Job sees straight to the root cause of his friends' failure when he says, "Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid." (Job 6:21) Job's calamity has shaken them. He has always appeared to be the real deal. He talked the talk and he walked the walk. As far as they can tell, he's been the most godly man they've ever known. They can't accept the fact that sometimes bad things happen to good people. They won't accept it because that would mean tragedies could also happen to them. They only way they can feel secure is to attack Job and accuse him of sin. And it has to be a hidden sin, something no one suspected, because as they examine his life they can find no evidence of wrongdoing. They conclude that this sin is something known only to God and that God, who saw this secret sin, is punishing Job publicly and making an example of him.
"Have I ever said, 'Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom for me from your wealth, deliver me from the hand of the enemy, rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless?'" (Job 6:22-23) He says, "What have I ever asked you for? I've never once called upon you in need. But now when all I truly need is your love and support, you withhold it from me. I ask you for something that will cost you nothing, yet you refuse."
"Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong. How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove? Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat my desperate words as wind? You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend." (Job 6:24-27) Job challenges them to prove he has been living wrong and that he is in error when he complains about his troubles. Though such words would hurt (how painful are honest words) he is willing to accept them if they are true. King Solomon once pointed out that the wounds from a friend can be trusted (Proverbs 27:6) but he was speaking of true friends, not the type of friends Job has. True friends might hurt us with the truth, but they will do so in love. A true friend will feel compelled to come privately to us and express concern that we are going down the wrong path. These wounds hurt, but they are faithful wounds which lead to healing and restoration. The wounds Job's companions are inflicting on him do not have the power to help. They are not faithful wounds. They are cruel words coming from men who are so frightened by Job's calamities that they must either find fault with him or else face the fact that bad things sometimes happen even to the godly.
Job says, "Men like you who would wound a friend without cause are as bad as those who mistreat the orphan and the needy. You are willing to kick the one who is already down. You had one job, and that was to come here and mourn with me and to lend me the comfort of your presence. Instead you've made me feel worse than I did before."
"But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face? Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake. Is there any wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern malice?" (Job 6:28-30) I think these men have been unable to look Job in the eye while Eliphaz accused him of sin and while they maintained judgmental attitudes. They can't look him in the eye because they can't back up their belief that he deserves his troubles. So now he demands that they look him in the face and see that he is being honest with them. He knows of nothing standing between him and God. Of course he makes mistakes from time to time just like any other human being, but he is a man quick to repent when he realizes he has stumbled. He has not been living with some secret sin, cherishing wickedness in his heart. His relationship with the Lord has always been the most important thing in his life and he has never allowed anything to hinder it. He pleads with his friends, "Don't you know me well enough to realize that I can tell good from evil? Can I not recognize sin in my life? Do I not understand the word of God? Would I not be able to tell if there was something so wicked in my life that I deserved the loss of everything I had?"
Something that struck me during this study of Job is that his situation is not as unique as I had always believed. Since the beginning of time many men and women have lost everyone and everything they had. They've lost most or all of their family members due to wars, natural disasters, plane crashes, train derailments, and terrorist attacks. Just think of the atrocities of the Holocaust when entire families and fortunes were wiped out. Consider the massive loss of life that occurred in New York when the Twin Towers were attacked. It's possible to lose an entire family and an entire fortune in a single day, just as Job did. Does this mean these people were such terrible sinners they deserved their fate? No, no more than the eighteen people upon whom the tower of Siloam fell were worse than any other people, according to the Lord Jesus. (Luke 13:4) Bad things sometimes happen to good people. There is nothing you or I possess that we cannot lose except our relationship with the Lord. If that happens, is He going to be enough for us? This is where Job finds himself. He has lost his children and his fortune, his wife is in a crisis of faith and unable to help him, and his friends are behaving like enemies. He has nothing left but the Lord. Is He going to be enough? Will His grace be sufficient for Job as it was for the Apostle Paul? (2 Corinthians 12:9) Will his love be more important to Job than life itself, as David declared? (Psalm 63:3) Will he be able to trust the Lord even when he doesn't understand?
Sunday, March 12, 2017
When Bad Things Happen To Good People: A Study Of The Book Of Job. Day 8, Job Answers Eliphaz, Part 1
Job's friend Eliphaz finds it offensive that Job has dared to curse the day of his birth and complain about his circumstances. It's easy (but wrong) for Eliphaz to judge Job's attitude because he cannot possibly understand Job's feelings. Job wishes he could somehow show Eliphaz just how deep his pain is, "Then Job replied: 'If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas---no wonder my words have been impetuous.'" (Job 6:1-3)
Job says, "Maybe I did go too far with what I said, but this grief has overwhelmed me. How can a man think straight when he feels like this?" Eliphaz has done something that most or all of us have done. He has looked at Job's situation and felt he would handle it in a different way. The truth is that none of us can know how we would react to anything until it happens to us.
"The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God's terrors are marshaled against me. Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder?" (Job 6:4-5) Job knows Eliphaz and his other friends may be shocked by some of the things he has said, but they need to put themselves in his shoes. Livestock are content when their needs are provided, and it's only when they are suffering lack that they cry out. This is the condition in which Job finds himself. Up til now all his needs and many of his wants in life have been satisfied. But now all that he cherished has been taken away, how can he help but cry out?
"Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow? I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill." (Job 6:6-7) Some translations render "sap of the mallow" as "white of an egg", but the words Job uses in the original text are not clear. We know only that he speaks of something completely tasteless, so tasteless that it's disgusting to eat. Life for Job has become tasteless and intolerable. He's disgusted with it and he wants no more of it.
"Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose His hand and cut off my life! Then I would still have this consolation---my joy in unrelenting pain---that I had not denied the words of the Holy One. What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?" (Job 6:8-13) Job believes he would be better off dead. He is not willing to take his own life; he leaves the number of his days up to the Creator. But he wishes the Lord would put an end to this misery. At least then he would receive his reward in heaven for having remained faithful. But he can't picture anything good happening to him in this world. His children are gone and they are not coming back. His servants and his livestock are gone and are not coming back. His wife, the person closest to him, is suffering a crisis of faith and has not been able to strengthen him spiritually. His three best friends, instead of encouraging him, think he is a sinner and has brought this on himself. Job looks into the future and envisions nothing but more pain.
Job is in despair. He has lost hope. He's reached the point that he can't even imagine things getting better. I've only felt that hopeless once in my life, so far anyway. When I was in my twenties I suddenly came down with a weird illness that inflamed every joint in my body. It lingered for about a year altogether and I could never have imagined such pain from head to toe if it hadn't happened to me. There were days I was in so much pain that just to get out of bed and walk to the kitchen made tears spurt out of my eyes with every step. I saw five different doctors who couldn't give me any clear diagnosis or tell me for sure whether I would ever get better. I endured a great deal of testing for things that kept coming back negative, and all that the doctors could tell me was to keep taking my anti-inflammatory pills. As if the physical agony weren't enough, I was consumed with fear of the future because I didn't know if my condition would progress. What if I ended up unable to walk? Unable to work? What if I couldn't ever do any of the things I wanted to do? For the first time in my life I started having severe panic attacks. I felt like I was down in a deep hole and would never get out. During those dark hours I lost all hope. I couldn't imagine ever feeling better. I never considered taking my own life but I could understand what drives people to do it. I felt I was under spiritual attack, that Satan had decided to kick me while I was down, and this is probably how he incites people to take their own lives. He just keeps kicking them til they give up all hope. Job says he has given up hope and I wouldn't be surprised to know that Satan wants him to take his life. If Job repudiates the gift of life, in Satan's mind this is a slap in the face to the Giver of life. It may be the closest Satan can get Job to come to cursing God, but he's willing to settle for it. One less godly man in the world would suit Satan just fine.
I have a lot of sympathy for Job because I've felt hopeless too. I've felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel, that there was nothing ahead but more misery. Satan only tells us these lies when we're weak enough to believe them. It's probably only because Job knew the word of God and believed God alone should have the power over life and death that the devil wasn't able to convince him to take his own life. I wouldn't have the right to judge Job if he had, but I'm thankful he didn't. He's an example to all of us when we feel like giving up. He left the day of his death up to the God who created him. Because a man like Job who suffered the loss of so much was able to persevere under trial and remain faithful to God, we know we can too.
Job says, "Maybe I did go too far with what I said, but this grief has overwhelmed me. How can a man think straight when he feels like this?" Eliphaz has done something that most or all of us have done. He has looked at Job's situation and felt he would handle it in a different way. The truth is that none of us can know how we would react to anything until it happens to us.
"The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God's terrors are marshaled against me. Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder?" (Job 6:4-5) Job knows Eliphaz and his other friends may be shocked by some of the things he has said, but they need to put themselves in his shoes. Livestock are content when their needs are provided, and it's only when they are suffering lack that they cry out. This is the condition in which Job finds himself. Up til now all his needs and many of his wants in life have been satisfied. But now all that he cherished has been taken away, how can he help but cry out?
"Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow? I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill." (Job 6:6-7) Some translations render "sap of the mallow" as "white of an egg", but the words Job uses in the original text are not clear. We know only that he speaks of something completely tasteless, so tasteless that it's disgusting to eat. Life for Job has become tasteless and intolerable. He's disgusted with it and he wants no more of it.
"Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose His hand and cut off my life! Then I would still have this consolation---my joy in unrelenting pain---that I had not denied the words of the Holy One. What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?" (Job 6:8-13) Job believes he would be better off dead. He is not willing to take his own life; he leaves the number of his days up to the Creator. But he wishes the Lord would put an end to this misery. At least then he would receive his reward in heaven for having remained faithful. But he can't picture anything good happening to him in this world. His children are gone and they are not coming back. His servants and his livestock are gone and are not coming back. His wife, the person closest to him, is suffering a crisis of faith and has not been able to strengthen him spiritually. His three best friends, instead of encouraging him, think he is a sinner and has brought this on himself. Job looks into the future and envisions nothing but more pain.
Job is in despair. He has lost hope. He's reached the point that he can't even imagine things getting better. I've only felt that hopeless once in my life, so far anyway. When I was in my twenties I suddenly came down with a weird illness that inflamed every joint in my body. It lingered for about a year altogether and I could never have imagined such pain from head to toe if it hadn't happened to me. There were days I was in so much pain that just to get out of bed and walk to the kitchen made tears spurt out of my eyes with every step. I saw five different doctors who couldn't give me any clear diagnosis or tell me for sure whether I would ever get better. I endured a great deal of testing for things that kept coming back negative, and all that the doctors could tell me was to keep taking my anti-inflammatory pills. As if the physical agony weren't enough, I was consumed with fear of the future because I didn't know if my condition would progress. What if I ended up unable to walk? Unable to work? What if I couldn't ever do any of the things I wanted to do? For the first time in my life I started having severe panic attacks. I felt like I was down in a deep hole and would never get out. During those dark hours I lost all hope. I couldn't imagine ever feeling better. I never considered taking my own life but I could understand what drives people to do it. I felt I was under spiritual attack, that Satan had decided to kick me while I was down, and this is probably how he incites people to take their own lives. He just keeps kicking them til they give up all hope. Job says he has given up hope and I wouldn't be surprised to know that Satan wants him to take his life. If Job repudiates the gift of life, in Satan's mind this is a slap in the face to the Giver of life. It may be the closest Satan can get Job to come to cursing God, but he's willing to settle for it. One less godly man in the world would suit Satan just fine.
I have a lot of sympathy for Job because I've felt hopeless too. I've felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel, that there was nothing ahead but more misery. Satan only tells us these lies when we're weak enough to believe them. It's probably only because Job knew the word of God and believed God alone should have the power over life and death that the devil wasn't able to convince him to take his own life. I wouldn't have the right to judge Job if he had, but I'm thankful he didn't. He's an example to all of us when we feel like giving up. He left the day of his death up to the God who created him. Because a man like Job who suffered the loss of so much was able to persevere under trial and remain faithful to God, we know we can too.
Saturday, March 11, 2017
When Bad Things Happen To Good People: A Study Of The Book Of Job. Day 7, Eliphaz Continues To Blame Job
Job's friend Eliphaz believes Job's sorrows are a result of sin and he counsels Job that his trouble didn't come to him without cause. Some of the things Eliphaz will say about the Lord in today's passage are beautiful and true, but have you ever heard anyone take the Scriptures and try to beat someone over the head with them? This is the manner in which Eliphaz uses the word of God. He so strongly believes Job must have done something horribly wrong that he wants to force him into repentance and submission. The word of God says what it says, and no one can change it, but there is a right way and a wrong way to use it when ministering to others. The speech of Eliphaz today contains more judgment than love, and I don't think we can reach people without love. Even if Job's troubles had been the consequences of sin, the correct way to counsel him would have been in a loving spirit, recognizing that we are all equally capable of falling into sin. "Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently." (Galatians 6:1a)
Eliphaz continues his speech and I can't help but picture him enjoying the sound of his own voice. "Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple." (Job 5:1-2) This verse is apparently difficult to translate, since I found several different opinions on it. Eliphaz seems to be telling Job that no mortal man and no angel can relieve him of his predicament. The solution to his problem (which Eliphaz believes is sin) lies in the only One who can forgive sin. When we get to verse 6 he will urge Job to appeal to God for help.
Now Job's friend speaks about what he has observed in life. He believes bad things only happen to bad people. This has been his experience. "I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward." (Job 5:3-7) Eliphaz says, "The foolish man (the one without spiritual understanding) may prosper for a time. But his children will go astray and end up in court. His crops will be eaten by others and his wealth will be spent by others. These things don't happen for no reason. These things happen as a result of sin."
Scholars disagree on the meaning of "Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward". Some say Eliphaz is stating that trouble is unavoidable in life: that as surely as sparks fly upward from a fire, trouble will surely come. The problem with this translation is that Eliphaz is very adamant that trouble only comes because of sin, therefore he must believe trouble is avoidable if men and women will only do what's right. Another opinion on this verse is that man should seek to rise above his troubles, just as sparks fly upward from a fire. This translation makes more sense to me, that Eliphaz is cautioning Job not to be consumed by sorrows but to appeal to the Lord to be lifted out of the fire of affliction.
"But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before Him. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. He provides rain for the earth; He sends water on the countryside. The lowly He sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away. Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night. He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; He saves them from the clutches of the powerful. So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth." (Job 5:8-16) The things Eliphaz says here about God are true. Several others in the Bible speak similar words about the Lord, including Mary the mother of Jesus in the first chapter of Luke. God does indeed perform miracles and wonders. He honors the humble and lowly and lifts them up. He brings down the wicked. He is the champion of the poor and needy. These things are all beautiful and true. Eliphaz knows the word of God, but he doesn't speak the truth in love to his brother in the faith. He uses the word of God as a weapon, insinuating there is something between Job and the Lord that is preventing the Lord from helping him. He suggests that the dark days Job are experiencing are a result of craftiness and schemes. Perhaps, he thinks, Job gained some of his wealth by being dishonest. Maybe he cheated someone in business. Maybe he oppressed the widow and the orphan. Eliphaz doesn't know what Job's sin might be, but he believes God knows, and he thinks Job ought to get things right with God.
"Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty." (Job 5:17) King Solomon, centuries after the lifetime of Job, would say, "My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline, and do not resent His rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in." (Proverbs 3:11-12) This also is true, that the Lord treats us as His children and gives us correction when needed. However, Job has examined his heart and he knows his terrible circumstances aren't because he needed correction. Eliphaz is not willing to believe this. He says, "Job, your problems are because you are being corrected by God. You should not fight against Him. Instead you should be thankful. The Lord loves you and He is disciplining you as a father would discipline a wayward son."
"For He wounds, but He also binds up; He injures, but His hands also heal. From six calamities He will rescue you; in seven no harm will touch you. In famine He will deliver you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword. You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes. You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the wild animals. For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you. You will know that your tent is secure; you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing. You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth. You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season. We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself." (Job 5:18-27) This is a lovely passage of poetry and there is nothing basically wrong with Eliphaz's interpretation of spiritual doctrine. We find many of these same promises throughout the Bible. But Eliphaz completely ignores a secondary definition of discipline and how God might use it in the believer's life. We tend to think of discipline as correction, just as Eliphaz does, but discipline also means training, preparation, development, exercise, self-mastery, instruction, and nourishment. God may send this type of discipline into the believer's life, not as a rebuke for sin, but to further develop the godly character which is already present. We can be living right in the middle of God's will, walking as closely with Him as we know how, and still experience troubles. Imagine how hurtful it would be if our friends came over and accused us of being sinners and told us if we would only repent everything would be made right again. The speech of Eliphaz is a shining example of what not to do. He knows the word of God but applies it incorrectly. He uses it not as the balm of comfort but wields it as a surgeon's scalpel. He's determined to get to the heart of the matter and he believes the heart of the matter is sin. He doesn't care how deeply he has to wound Job to get to it. This is not how the Lord Jesus spoke to those who sought Him and believed on Him. Jesus was in the business of healing and making whole. He used the word of God in love, to make people better and to help them be everything God wanted them to be. The example we should follow in using the Scriptures is the example Jesus set.
Eliphaz continues his speech and I can't help but picture him enjoying the sound of his own voice. "Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple." (Job 5:1-2) This verse is apparently difficult to translate, since I found several different opinions on it. Eliphaz seems to be telling Job that no mortal man and no angel can relieve him of his predicament. The solution to his problem (which Eliphaz believes is sin) lies in the only One who can forgive sin. When we get to verse 6 he will urge Job to appeal to God for help.
Now Job's friend speaks about what he has observed in life. He believes bad things only happen to bad people. This has been his experience. "I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward." (Job 5:3-7) Eliphaz says, "The foolish man (the one without spiritual understanding) may prosper for a time. But his children will go astray and end up in court. His crops will be eaten by others and his wealth will be spent by others. These things don't happen for no reason. These things happen as a result of sin."
Scholars disagree on the meaning of "Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward". Some say Eliphaz is stating that trouble is unavoidable in life: that as surely as sparks fly upward from a fire, trouble will surely come. The problem with this translation is that Eliphaz is very adamant that trouble only comes because of sin, therefore he must believe trouble is avoidable if men and women will only do what's right. Another opinion on this verse is that man should seek to rise above his troubles, just as sparks fly upward from a fire. This translation makes more sense to me, that Eliphaz is cautioning Job not to be consumed by sorrows but to appeal to the Lord to be lifted out of the fire of affliction.
"But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before Him. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. He provides rain for the earth; He sends water on the countryside. The lowly He sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away. Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night. He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; He saves them from the clutches of the powerful. So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth." (Job 5:8-16) The things Eliphaz says here about God are true. Several others in the Bible speak similar words about the Lord, including Mary the mother of Jesus in the first chapter of Luke. God does indeed perform miracles and wonders. He honors the humble and lowly and lifts them up. He brings down the wicked. He is the champion of the poor and needy. These things are all beautiful and true. Eliphaz knows the word of God, but he doesn't speak the truth in love to his brother in the faith. He uses the word of God as a weapon, insinuating there is something between Job and the Lord that is preventing the Lord from helping him. He suggests that the dark days Job are experiencing are a result of craftiness and schemes. Perhaps, he thinks, Job gained some of his wealth by being dishonest. Maybe he cheated someone in business. Maybe he oppressed the widow and the orphan. Eliphaz doesn't know what Job's sin might be, but he believes God knows, and he thinks Job ought to get things right with God.
"Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty." (Job 5:17) King Solomon, centuries after the lifetime of Job, would say, "My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline, and do not resent His rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in." (Proverbs 3:11-12) This also is true, that the Lord treats us as His children and gives us correction when needed. However, Job has examined his heart and he knows his terrible circumstances aren't because he needed correction. Eliphaz is not willing to believe this. He says, "Job, your problems are because you are being corrected by God. You should not fight against Him. Instead you should be thankful. The Lord loves you and He is disciplining you as a father would discipline a wayward son."
"For He wounds, but He also binds up; He injures, but His hands also heal. From six calamities He will rescue you; in seven no harm will touch you. In famine He will deliver you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword. You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes. You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the wild animals. For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you. You will know that your tent is secure; you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing. You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth. You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season. We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself." (Job 5:18-27) This is a lovely passage of poetry and there is nothing basically wrong with Eliphaz's interpretation of spiritual doctrine. We find many of these same promises throughout the Bible. But Eliphaz completely ignores a secondary definition of discipline and how God might use it in the believer's life. We tend to think of discipline as correction, just as Eliphaz does, but discipline also means training, preparation, development, exercise, self-mastery, instruction, and nourishment. God may send this type of discipline into the believer's life, not as a rebuke for sin, but to further develop the godly character which is already present. We can be living right in the middle of God's will, walking as closely with Him as we know how, and still experience troubles. Imagine how hurtful it would be if our friends came over and accused us of being sinners and told us if we would only repent everything would be made right again. The speech of Eliphaz is a shining example of what not to do. He knows the word of God but applies it incorrectly. He uses it not as the balm of comfort but wields it as a surgeon's scalpel. He's determined to get to the heart of the matter and he believes the heart of the matter is sin. He doesn't care how deeply he has to wound Job to get to it. This is not how the Lord Jesus spoke to those who sought Him and believed on Him. Jesus was in the business of healing and making whole. He used the word of God in love, to make people better and to help them be everything God wanted them to be. The example we should follow in using the Scriptures is the example Jesus set.
Friday, March 10, 2017
When Bad Things Happen To Good People: A Study Of The Book Of Job. Day 6, Eliphaz Criticizes Job
Job's friends have kept silent for seven days and seven nights, but after hearing him mournfully cursing the day he was born, one of the friends decides to speak up. What he says is not going to be helpful.
"Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: 'If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking?'" (Job 4:1-2) This man is from Teman, a city of Edom, renowned for its wise men. Jeremiah the prophet would later refer to Teman by asking, "Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?" (Jeremiah 49:7b)
Eliphaz places a great value on wisdom and he now reminds Job of the words of wisdom he has spoken in times past to others who have been grieved. "Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands. Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees. But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed." (Job 4:3-5) Eliphaz says, "Get a grip, Job. Remember all the advice and godly counsel you've given to others in their time of need? Well, now it's time to start taking your own advice."
This is a cruel way to speak to a man who has lost ten children, his health, and his livelihood. I can easily picture Job being the type of person who rushes to comfort his friends and neighbors, who prays with them, who speaks the word of God to them and promises them that God still loves them and is going to help them. But we all know it's a lot harder to remain strong when trouble knocks on our own door. That's when we see what we are made of. And so far Job has proven to be made of pretty honorable stuff. He has not cursed God, as Satan said he would, and he has not blamed God in any way. Instead he's simply been raising a mournful cry of grief in which he expresses the wish to have never been born than to have lost all his children. Any parent could sympathize with that.
Eliphaz now attacks Job's character, insinuating that if his faith and his obedience are real, he should rely on them. If he truly is the man of God he appears to be, surely things will turn out alright. "Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?" (Job 4:6)
Now this friend, who might as well be an enemy at this point, insinuates Job has sin in his life and is reaping the consequences of it. "Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed? As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it. At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of His anger they are no more. The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken. The lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered." (Job 4:7-11) Eliphaz doesn't believe bad things sometimes happen to good people. It's true that there's a Biblical principle of reaping what we sow, but we also find the Biblical principle that "everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted". (2 Timothy 3:12) Being a godly Old Testament believer didn't exempt people from the troubles of this fallen world. Being a Christian doesn't automatically divert all disaster from us. Many times we do bring our problems on ourselves, but those consequences are easier to bear because we know we deserve them. The hardest troubles to bear are those which come upon us while we are living as wholeheartedly for the Lord as we can. It's especially hard to bear our troubles when we have "frenemies" like Eliphaz who suspect us of harboring sin.
I think people like to believe we've somehow caused all our problems because it gives them a sense of security. If they can find some way to blame us for our circumstances, it makes them feel safe from the same type of circumstances. Eliphaz doesn't believe bad things sometimes happen to good people because he doesn't want to believe it. Up til now Job has been the most godly man he's ever known, so if a man like Job can suffer without having done anything wrong, Eliphaz knows he himself is in danger, for he's a less godly man than Job. The only way he can comfort himself is by saying things that fail to comfort Job. He insists Job is somehow at fault.
Eliphaz now relates to Job and the other two men the tale of a vision he claims to have had. He uses this vision to back up the authority of his words. "A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it. Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people, fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake. A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end. It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice: 'Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker. If God places no trust in His servants, if He charges His angels with error, how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth! Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever. Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?'" (Job 4:12-21)
This friend dismisses Job's claims to possess the righteousness which is by faith. He says, "Even some of the angels sinned and God is going to judge them. Who are you, who are lower than the angels, who were made from the dust of the earth? If the angels sinned, then you have sinned even more. There has to be something wrong in your life. You might as well get it out in the open and deal with it." I believe when Job testified that his troubles weren't a result of punishment for wrongdoing, he was certain of it. When tragedy strikes it's natural for the believer to examine his heart to ascertain whether or not he has brought the tragedy on himself. Job was not a perfect man, but he wasn't living an unrepentant lifestyle. He knows in his heart that he isn't reaping the ugly fruits of sin. He doesn't understand his circumstances, but he knows he didn't cause the deaths of his children or the deaths of some of his servants or the loss of all his livestock or the illness that now wracks his body. During the seven days and nights when Job didn't speak a word, I believe he had settled the matter. He found nothing standing between himself and God, nothing that would have caused such disaster to enter his life.
Job was able to make the bold and sincere statement that he was righteous before God because his faith made him righteous. This is the same statement the imperfect David made when he affirmed that God had delivered him from his enemies because "the Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has rewarded me". (Psalm 18:20) Both these men could claim righteousness not because they were perfect and sinless, but because they trusted in the One who is perfect and sinless. Their righteousness was not their own, but the righteousness imputed to them by the Lord. This is the same righteousness we who are in Christ claim for ourselves. We are still weak and mortal beings, prone to sin and capable of mistakes, but we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. When God looks at us, He sees the Son. When Satan stands before God and brings up our sins, God can no longer see them because they are under the blood of Christ. He cannot refuse this righteousness to anyone who has accepted the Son because to do so would be to reject the sacrifice the Son made. If Satan chooses to appear before God today and accuse us of sin and unrighteousness, if he starts bringing up all the ugly things in our past, God is able to say, "I don't find those sins written in My book. My Son has blotted them out. When I look at these believers, I see My precious children, the children Christ purchased with the high price of His own life. See, can't you tell they belong to Me? Every day they look more and more like My Son."
"Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: 'If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking?'" (Job 4:1-2) This man is from Teman, a city of Edom, renowned for its wise men. Jeremiah the prophet would later refer to Teman by asking, "Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?" (Jeremiah 49:7b)
Eliphaz places a great value on wisdom and he now reminds Job of the words of wisdom he has spoken in times past to others who have been grieved. "Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands. Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees. But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed." (Job 4:3-5) Eliphaz says, "Get a grip, Job. Remember all the advice and godly counsel you've given to others in their time of need? Well, now it's time to start taking your own advice."
This is a cruel way to speak to a man who has lost ten children, his health, and his livelihood. I can easily picture Job being the type of person who rushes to comfort his friends and neighbors, who prays with them, who speaks the word of God to them and promises them that God still loves them and is going to help them. But we all know it's a lot harder to remain strong when trouble knocks on our own door. That's when we see what we are made of. And so far Job has proven to be made of pretty honorable stuff. He has not cursed God, as Satan said he would, and he has not blamed God in any way. Instead he's simply been raising a mournful cry of grief in which he expresses the wish to have never been born than to have lost all his children. Any parent could sympathize with that.
Eliphaz now attacks Job's character, insinuating that if his faith and his obedience are real, he should rely on them. If he truly is the man of God he appears to be, surely things will turn out alright. "Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?" (Job 4:6)
Now this friend, who might as well be an enemy at this point, insinuates Job has sin in his life and is reaping the consequences of it. "Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed? As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it. At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of His anger they are no more. The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken. The lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered." (Job 4:7-11) Eliphaz doesn't believe bad things sometimes happen to good people. It's true that there's a Biblical principle of reaping what we sow, but we also find the Biblical principle that "everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted". (2 Timothy 3:12) Being a godly Old Testament believer didn't exempt people from the troubles of this fallen world. Being a Christian doesn't automatically divert all disaster from us. Many times we do bring our problems on ourselves, but those consequences are easier to bear because we know we deserve them. The hardest troubles to bear are those which come upon us while we are living as wholeheartedly for the Lord as we can. It's especially hard to bear our troubles when we have "frenemies" like Eliphaz who suspect us of harboring sin.
I think people like to believe we've somehow caused all our problems because it gives them a sense of security. If they can find some way to blame us for our circumstances, it makes them feel safe from the same type of circumstances. Eliphaz doesn't believe bad things sometimes happen to good people because he doesn't want to believe it. Up til now Job has been the most godly man he's ever known, so if a man like Job can suffer without having done anything wrong, Eliphaz knows he himself is in danger, for he's a less godly man than Job. The only way he can comfort himself is by saying things that fail to comfort Job. He insists Job is somehow at fault.
Eliphaz now relates to Job and the other two men the tale of a vision he claims to have had. He uses this vision to back up the authority of his words. "A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it. Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people, fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake. A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end. It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice: 'Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker. If God places no trust in His servants, if He charges His angels with error, how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth! Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever. Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?'" (Job 4:12-21)
This friend dismisses Job's claims to possess the righteousness which is by faith. He says, "Even some of the angels sinned and God is going to judge them. Who are you, who are lower than the angels, who were made from the dust of the earth? If the angels sinned, then you have sinned even more. There has to be something wrong in your life. You might as well get it out in the open and deal with it." I believe when Job testified that his troubles weren't a result of punishment for wrongdoing, he was certain of it. When tragedy strikes it's natural for the believer to examine his heart to ascertain whether or not he has brought the tragedy on himself. Job was not a perfect man, but he wasn't living an unrepentant lifestyle. He knows in his heart that he isn't reaping the ugly fruits of sin. He doesn't understand his circumstances, but he knows he didn't cause the deaths of his children or the deaths of some of his servants or the loss of all his livestock or the illness that now wracks his body. During the seven days and nights when Job didn't speak a word, I believe he had settled the matter. He found nothing standing between himself and God, nothing that would have caused such disaster to enter his life.
Job was able to make the bold and sincere statement that he was righteous before God because his faith made him righteous. This is the same statement the imperfect David made when he affirmed that God had delivered him from his enemies because "the Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has rewarded me". (Psalm 18:20) Both these men could claim righteousness not because they were perfect and sinless, but because they trusted in the One who is perfect and sinless. Their righteousness was not their own, but the righteousness imputed to them by the Lord. This is the same righteousness we who are in Christ claim for ourselves. We are still weak and mortal beings, prone to sin and capable of mistakes, but we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. When God looks at us, He sees the Son. When Satan stands before God and brings up our sins, God can no longer see them because they are under the blood of Christ. He cannot refuse this righteousness to anyone who has accepted the Son because to do so would be to reject the sacrifice the Son made. If Satan chooses to appear before God today and accuse us of sin and unrighteousness, if he starts bringing up all the ugly things in our past, God is able to say, "I don't find those sins written in My book. My Son has blotted them out. When I look at these believers, I see My precious children, the children Christ purchased with the high price of His own life. See, can't you tell they belong to Me? Every day they look more and more like My Son."
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