job

Concluding Thoughts on the Book of Job

/ japfth / Leave a comment

Introduction: Again and again I return to the Wisdom Literature in Scripture—especially Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. Why? Well, those books especially deal the most with enduring existential questions: 1) Why is there so much suffering?; 2) What is man’s root problem?; 3) Is there a solution?; 4) If so, what is it?; 5) Why is evil so often permitted and goodness so often punished? There are more questions addressed in the Wisdom Literature, of course, but the aforementioned are some of the main ones.

Context, Context, Context: The Book of Job explores these questions in excruciating detail. This morning as I completed my reading through it yet again, I was again moved to my core. Why? Well, because God answers Job. Beginning in chapter 38 of the Book of Job, God answers. And Job is changed. As are Job’s friends. Job’s fortunes are restored; they are, in fact, doubled (Job 42:10). Job is commended personally by God (Job 42:7).

Teaching: Job repented of his presumptuousness and pride: “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further” (Job 40:4-5). Job was, in short, humbled. He came to more fully understand God’s sovereignty and his (Job’s) finitude. Job was made to know his limitations. In other words, humility precedes honor: that was one of the verities Job was taught. Pride is our root problem; we assume a posture of importance before God and God has to remind us that we are creatures of dust that he formed. He is the Creator; we are the creatures. When we get that theology into our viscera, it changes us. It humbles us in order that we will look to God.

Chapters 38-42 of Job are some of the most moving closing chapters of any piece of literature one will find. Why? Because they illustrate the utter magnificence of God, God’s wisdom, and God’s sovereignty. God levelled scathing rebukes at the short-sighted theology of Job’s friends. Simultaneously, God gave Job an inestimable gift—namely, himself. God was there . . . through it all. And God was good . . . through it all. And great blessing followed great suffering.

Encouragement: All of us know some measure of suffering. It’s unprofitable to compare our levels of suffering. All of us know sickness, sorrow, death, loss, grief, betrayal, and more. Those are all experiences of the human condition, of fallenness, of a broken world. We all understand that in our bones. But what is also true is that God is still there; he still is sovereign in, through, and over our suffering. In the incarnation, God the Son became one of us in order to take on flesh and suffer in our stead. This is what Job’s story is to drive us to understand. The Suffering Servant, Jesus, came in order to bear the punishment that we prideful creatures deserve. And the response of the wise person is to do as Job did—repent and flee to God. Don’t minimize the beauty and pathos of Job 42:12: “And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning.” Let us attend to that wisdom, meditate upon it, and be transformed by it. God blesses his people—but there is always a cross before a crown.

Studies in Job (Part 2)

/ japfth / Leave a comment

In the beginning, Job’s three friends got it right. That is, when they saw their friend being subjected to immense loss and suffering, they shut up. They simply but tenderly just came alongside their friend.

Text: 11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. 12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. 13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. (Job 2:11-13)

Sometimes the wise thing to do is say nothing. Just come alongside the hurting person and weep with those who weep. Just be there. It’s not the time to sermonize. It’s not the time for a lecture. It’s a time just to be a friend to the person that’s hurting. And sometimes being a wise friend means shutting up and just letting him/her know you’re there if and when the proper time comes to talk.

Encouragement: When we study the life of Job, when we read the entire book again and again, we see a man that God used to teach him (and us by extension) that God uses our suffering to remind us that he is there in it. He was there before it. He will be there after it. And sometimes the wisest and most loving thing we can do is be silent.

Chaplain Daily Touchpoint #376: Studies in Job (Part 2)

/ japfth / 2 Comments

Question: What does true friendship look like?

Text:

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. (Job 2:11-13)

Context, Context, Context: Always keep the big picture in mind. The big picture in Job is the question of the sovereignty of God, the so-called problem of evil, and what true faith looks like.

Job’s wife, bitter and shortsighted, told Job, “Curse God and die” (Job 2:9b). How’s that for wifely counsel? Um, no thanks, ma’am. Impetuousness is unwise. Cursing God is foolish. Better to learn from God.

Sinners can deny God, curse God, and rebel against God, and more, but you cannot outrun God. Just ask Jonah. Job’s wife was a fool.

Friendship: But for a little while, Job’s three buddies were wise. Here’s what they did: they came alongside their friend. They didn’t sermonize (not yet, anyway). They didn’t lecture. They didn’t pretend to have it all figured out. They just were present with Job.

Encouragement: Have you ever been through a period in your life when what you needed most was just to know you weren’t alone, that you had a network of friends that came alongside you, and said (or just demonstrated without words) that they were there with you? I certainly have. And the value of those people is beyond words. Why? Because they just came alongside you.

As a little illustration just from my lane as a soldier, I do quite a bit of hiking and walking and jogging. I don’t like to run, but I have to do it. There are times when my lungs and knees scream at me: “Stop!” But you know what? It’s a lot easier to keep going when a buddy beside you says, “Come on; we’ve got this. Just one more mile.” And you know what? That mile is doable. You make it to the end and think, “Yep, we did it. Together.”

Chaplain Daily Touchpoint #375: Studies in Job (Part 1)

/ japfth / Leave a comment

Introduction: It is among the oldest of narratives. It is the narrative of Job in Scripture. It deals with some of the toughest and most existential questions we ask as people: 1) Why such evil?; 2) How do I trust in the goodness of God amidst such formidable suffering?; and 3) What does wise faith in the true and living God look like?

Because I love the wisdom in the Book of Job, I am having to battle for brevity here. This is, after all, just a blog. But here’s the bottom line up front regarding how the Book of Job begins. Job was truly a good man. He was “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil” (1:1). Right there in the very first verse, so much theology and wisdom is packed.

Why do I say that? Because God is showing you the themes of the book from the very beginning. The problem of being ‘good’ in a world that is plagued by sin and suffering, but also–and this is crucial–that Job “feared God.” Why’s that so important? Because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Pr 9:10). Most people fear other people, but Job was wise. His fear was of the Lord. That is a point not to be minimized.

Fear of man leads to people-pleasing and manipulation and other sins. But Job’s fear was of God. He had an accurate theology. Therefore, his anthropology was solid.

And in the very first chapter of Job, God summons Satan and asks him, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” (1:8).

Many folks have a misreading of Job. They think Satan was the one who initiated Job’s trials. Not true; God did. God set it all in motion. He not only allowed it, but He ordained it. God is the sovereign, not Satan. (Don’t miss that.)

And in verses 13-19 of Job 1, Job’s life was obliterated. His sons, daughters, sheep, servants, and more were killed. And his property was destroyed.

We think we have bad days? Just read the narrative of Job!

Job’s Response:

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. (Job 1:20-22)

Encouragement/takeaway: The next 41 chapters of Job are going to explore the themes nested in chapter one. It’s all there–goodness, suffering, theodicy, the righteousness of God, the craftiness of Satan, heartbreak, tragedy, loss, redemption, restoration, agony, ecstasy, and more. For now, just think on this: “Job did not sin or charge God with wrong” (1:22). Job trusted the Lord to be the Lord; Job was going to learn that God was not and is not afraid of honest questions. And God is good. Job ends on a high note–with benediction and praise. For now, though, just follow Job’s unfolding tests, and connect them to yours, and lean into–not away from–the God who rules all of history. Every square inch of it. God knows. God sees. And God is good.