Good evening all!
I figured that while I had a little down time, I would go through today's readings with you (as well as yesterdays) to give some insights on what we're reading). So here we go:
1) First, remember Job's outburst from yesterday? Well, the more I read, I learned that if you look carefully, he all but cursed God (for instance, he wished he'd never been born, questioning God's hand in creating him; he wished the daylight would disappear into darkness, whereas light is a sign of God's glory, etc.).
2) So, with that in mind, we notice the friends are reacting to Job's statements. What these friends say to Job doesn't sound too far off the mark theologically; yet, the text wants us to realize that there is something wrong with what they are telling Job - thus, we've got to work harder to find out what they do and say that is wrong (because it doesn't appear so plainly here).
3) Eliphaz could be saying one of two things in his speech from 4:1-5:27. He may be saying that because of Job's sin, these calamities befell him (which is a misapplication of the truths he cites), or he may be saying that because human sin generally exists, these calamities and works of evil exist in the world, which would be true. But Eliphaz claims that Job has acted foolishly, and therefore we see how a transcendent God (who is all powerful, bigger than and apart from the world) reacts toward such foolishness. Then Eliphaz connects these calamities with God's discipline, but offers hope the righteous - that he/she will always be delivered by God. "For He inflicts pain, and gives relief; He wounds, and His hands also heal." The very God who injured Job and his family is the same God who will also restore his fortunes and his life. But as Smick points out, "In the light... of Job's experiences...there is a thoughtless cruelty inherent in applying the words of v. 19-26 to him." For instance, while Eliphaz says that if Job benefits from God's discipline, his children would be many; however, his children are dead. Perhaps the truth in all this, then is that although Eliphaz knows his "theology" (his understanding of God), he doesn't have a clue about what God's divine purpose in all these things really is. His words do nothing to help Job deal with his grief. So in the end, sometimes even the smartest among us can miss the point. And when we are counseling those who grieve, we must be careful not to use pious cliches or empty theologizing to help a person "get over it." We do very little to help the person. Even though the disciplining nature of suffering might be worth contemplating when one suffers, this is not revealed to be the purpose of the case at hand.
4) Job now begins two chapters worth of attacks, first against the counselors, and then against God. His words, however, come from his limited knowledge of God's greater plan and Job's determination to speak the truth as he sees it. He views God in these chapters as the one who caused this anguish and misery to befall him, as if God were shooting arrows at him. To him, death would have been a great relief because he felt so burdened by what was happening to him. Not only does Job take God to task, but he also argues against those who were trying to console him, saying that their words were bad medicine, they were undependable, cruel, and viewed him as unworthy of their help.
5) Then Bildad, friend #2, begins to speak. Job has just plead for compassion and kindness from them, and Bildad, though he heard Job's words, they had no impact on him. Instead, he is a total jerk. He tells Job that his sons got exactly what they deserved for their wild living and that Job was on his way to the same fate. Further, there is a tone of arrogance to what he has to say. Interestingly, Smick says, "No doubt a large part of the problem was their academic commitment to a viewpoint they refused to alter, namely, that sin brings suffering and suffering is evidence of sin" (906). In short, Bildad models for us a clear model of how we should not counsel those who grieve - namely, that we should listen to what the person has to say, to become involved, to have respect for their integrity, and never forget that we may not fully understand the mystery of what God is doing in the situation. We should not attempt to pin the blame for the calamity on the person's behavior - no matter how tempting that might be, because that's not necessarily the reason the calamity befell them.
6) Job answers Bildad by saying, "Clearly you're missing the point." It's obvious to Job that the problem lies in human inability to be righteous. And God knows this. The problem, as Job sees it, is that he cannot even dispute his case before God. God, in his infinite wisdom and power, says Job, is almost like a great tyrant who does whatever he wants with no regard for the people he is lording over. Job wishes that there were a mediator, one who could plead his case before God. He truly believes that God is unjust in his dealings; even though Job contends that he himself is righteous, God would condemn him for what he says, and though Job is guiltless, God will declare him guilty. "It's not fair," says Job, "I hate my life." In fact, he might go a step further than that. There's a not-so-nice acronym that gets used in our world of text-messaging that I think, if Job lived today, would probably use at this point. No, Job says, "I could try and 'put my problems in a bubble and blow them away,' but what good would it do? I'm still wicked before God - why not just be miserable anyway? He is not a human that I could take him to court. There is no mediator, no umpire , no attorney, who will mediate for me, no one to plead my case. Oh, I wish he'd just stop this craziness!"
Job continues: "I HATE my life. I am very bitter in the depths of my soul. God, are you in any way capable of understanding what it means to be human? Can you understand what you are doing from my point of view? Are you like the human sinner that goes around seeking my demise? How can you be so unjust that you would do this to me?
7) Then Zophar, friend #3 steps in. He ridicules Job and criticizes him for saying what he did. "How dare you think that you're a good person. You're a sinner like everyone else! And who are you to question God - if you can't even fathom the immensity of the cosmos, what makes you think you could begin to understand what God is doing? The only thing you should do at this point is repent, and then your life will be happy and carefree again, and nothing bad will harm you!" Except that Job really is a righteous person, and bad things still happened to him. Apparently, Zophar wasn't paying attention to Job either. The man is pouring out his heart and soul, and the anger and bitterness he feels toward God, who seems to be unjust to him. And all these crummy friends want to do is throw pious cliches at him, or chastise him for questioning God, or make his predicament seem unworthy of such anger.
Clearly, these friends do not understand their role at this point. But what I want to point out here is not so much their failure to listen, but what we hear Job saying when we listen to him. Go back and look over that again. What you will hear are the same statements and cries that so many people who feel abandoned and hurt by God have to say about Him. The more we read this, the more we can fully understand and take in the depth of Job's emotion. Perhaps we can even relate to it. And when we do, this will help us learn more of what God is saying to us through the book.
Wow. Now I'm caught up. That took me three hours off and on to write, but it's done. May God bless you and grant you a peaceful rest.
In Christ,
Pastor Nathan
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