Job and his friends
This year I am in a group that is reading the Bible chronologically. Today, we are in Job 6-9 where Job is confronted by his friends about his situation. Job has had everything except his life taken away from him. From what his friends are saying to him, it is implied that he sinned somewhere along with way, so that God has taken everything from him. It is interesting to read Job's reply to them in Job 6
"For the despairiing man there should be kindness from his friends; Lest he forsake the fear of the Almighty" Job 6:14
Then Job goes on to compare his friends to a wadi. A wadi is a dry river bed in the desert. It would fill with rain when it did rain and other times remain dry. Job says that these friends are like a river bed, that travelers see in the distance and are hopeful that it has water. But, when they arrive all their hopes are dashed to pieces because it is dry.
Job is insistent that he is innocent of doing anything against God. He sounds pretty sure of himself. I'm not sure that I would be so confident. Numerous times here he declares his innocence.
Job 6:10b "And I rejoice in unsparing pain that I have not denied the words of the Holy One".
Job 7:20 "Have I sinned? What have I done to Thee, O watcher of men?"
Job 9:21 "I am guiltless."
Job's friends continue to insist that he is guilty of something. Job's friend Bildad says that his sons must have committed some sin and that is why God is judging them Job 8:4. What is going on here? They are trying to reconcile what they see with the idea that God is holy and just. They are trying to understand the suffering they see and their only answer is that Job must have sinned. Because in their eyes, the righteous are blessed and the sinful are judged.
But, we know that the innocent do in fact suffer on earth, sometimes through the fault of others. We see that in Aurora, Colorado and Newtown, Ct where shooters entered places like schools and cinemas and shot people down for no good reason. We don't blame the kids for that or the people in the movie theater. We shouldn't blame the guns because guns don't aim themselves at people. What Job and his friends are dealing with is the difference between what they believe and what they see happening. They realize they can't blame God, so it must be Job's fault. When the truth of the matter is that the righteous sometimes do suffer just like those who are lost. It is the result of living in a sinful world that is fallen. Sometimes bad things happen.
The real questions is, "Where is God in the middle of all this?" To which I would reply that unlike the Muslim God or the Buddhist idea of God that the christian God is a God who came down from his glory to join us in our suffering. He took up a human body and suffered and then died. He can therefore relate to us as someone who understands us in our suffering and weakness. He did not remain remote somewhere in the sky, uncaring and unconcerned. In fact, Isaiah calls Jesus a man of sorrows Isaiah 53:3.
One of the shortest verses in the bible is in John 11:35 "Jesus wept." He saw what our sin does to our relationships and the pain that it causes. He saw how the death of our friends and family grieves us. He saw and sees the pain that our sin causes to ourselves and others. He came to redeem us from that. To give us hope even when standing in the middle of a graveyard. That one day he will make everything right, bring back our loved ones to us and the one day death will be no more.
"For the despairiing man there should be kindness from his friends; Lest he forsake the fear of the Almighty" Job 6:14
Then Job goes on to compare his friends to a wadi. A wadi is a dry river bed in the desert. It would fill with rain when it did rain and other times remain dry. Job says that these friends are like a river bed, that travelers see in the distance and are hopeful that it has water. But, when they arrive all their hopes are dashed to pieces because it is dry.
Job is insistent that he is innocent of doing anything against God. He sounds pretty sure of himself. I'm not sure that I would be so confident. Numerous times here he declares his innocence.
Job 6:10b "And I rejoice in unsparing pain that I have not denied the words of the Holy One".
Job 7:20 "Have I sinned? What have I done to Thee, O watcher of men?"
Job 9:21 "I am guiltless."
Job's friends continue to insist that he is guilty of something. Job's friend Bildad says that his sons must have committed some sin and that is why God is judging them Job 8:4. What is going on here? They are trying to reconcile what they see with the idea that God is holy and just. They are trying to understand the suffering they see and their only answer is that Job must have sinned. Because in their eyes, the righteous are blessed and the sinful are judged.
But, we know that the innocent do in fact suffer on earth, sometimes through the fault of others. We see that in Aurora, Colorado and Newtown, Ct where shooters entered places like schools and cinemas and shot people down for no good reason. We don't blame the kids for that or the people in the movie theater. We shouldn't blame the guns because guns don't aim themselves at people. What Job and his friends are dealing with is the difference between what they believe and what they see happening. They realize they can't blame God, so it must be Job's fault. When the truth of the matter is that the righteous sometimes do suffer just like those who are lost. It is the result of living in a sinful world that is fallen. Sometimes bad things happen.
The real questions is, "Where is God in the middle of all this?" To which I would reply that unlike the Muslim God or the Buddhist idea of God that the christian God is a God who came down from his glory to join us in our suffering. He took up a human body and suffered and then died. He can therefore relate to us as someone who understands us in our suffering and weakness. He did not remain remote somewhere in the sky, uncaring and unconcerned. In fact, Isaiah calls Jesus a man of sorrows Isaiah 53:3.
One of the shortest verses in the bible is in John 11:35 "Jesus wept." He saw what our sin does to our relationships and the pain that it causes. He saw how the death of our friends and family grieves us. He saw and sees the pain that our sin causes to ourselves and others. He came to redeem us from that. To give us hope even when standing in the middle of a graveyard. That one day he will make everything right, bring back our loved ones to us and the one day death will be no more.
