"If only I had never come into being, or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!...Turn away from me...before I go...to the land of deepest night, of utter darkness and disorder, where even the light is like darkness." (From my Wisdom Literature reading for the day, Job 10:19-22, NIV)
I refuse devotionals which only use proof texts and "favorite" passages. For this, I know, I have lost readers over the years. Yet, "The Word of God," Jesus, speaks to us every day, day after day, month after month, year after year; He speaks His redeeming, lifesaving Words, Words which do not, as so much preaching and teaching over the centuries have, attempt to defend the Faith from accusations of bigotry, "unfairness," even barbarism, etc., and give explanations where there just are none, that is, at least, none which you and I can understand.
Reading through the Book of Job every quarter is always an interesting adventure. First of all, one deals with large passages which are later condemned by the Lord God. In Job 42:7, the Word of God says to one of Job's three friends, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has." Now as you consider some of the things Job's friends said to him, some of them seem to be quite good, even we could say "accurate." It is the seeming irony we find in Balaam. His prophesies seem to affirm rather than contradict God's purposes for the Hebrews. My only conclusion in all of this is that there is much more than words involved when people speak. And it is that phenomenon of which we should always be aware.
Secondly, one "overhears" Job in what seems to be complaint, some would call it "unbelief" or even "wrong confession." This again is only to the shallow observer. "....You have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has." Again, perhaps in all that we read in Holy Writ we need to be catching the (excuse the bad word) theology, the heart, the God-relationship of the person speaking. All which is in Scripture is of the Holy Spirit. And while it does not necessarily state the "approval" of the Godhead, we see that He tells us the history of man in his relationship with his Maker, truthfully, not covering up the weaknesses, the questionings, even sin of some of the great Biblical "heroes." Jesus speaks Truth, because He is Truth.
I am also reading in Joshua, the killing of everyone in towns, men, women, children, livestock. The people who read the Bible with humanist, by that I mean, reasoning without the New Birth, reasoning of, "that-is-not-fair," or, "that's-just-not-right," find themselves no longer reading the Bible. In their own brand of morality and self righteous judgment on God and His ways, they have forgotten, "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord."
Our text is from the heart of a soul in despair. We can determine from God's approval, "....spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has," we can see that Job was not accusing God; he was not blaming God. He did not take all the "evil" which had come upon him as a justification to give up, to quit, to renounce faith in God. Rather, the confession, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him," rings loudly throughout the Book. This is Job. This is Job in the depths of suffering, Job in the depths of confusion, Job of the, "If only I had never come into being, or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!" At the end of the Book we see a Job triumphant, victorious, seeing beyond what he could see. This is Job, who as Abraham, "rejoiced to see [Jesus'] day; he saw it and was glad."
I refuse devotionals which only use proof texts and "favorite" passages. For this, I know, I have lost readers over the years. Yet, "The Word of God," Jesus, speaks to us every day, day after day, month after month, year after year; He speaks His redeeming, lifesaving Words, Words which do not, as so much preaching and teaching over the centuries have, attempt to defend the Faith from accusations of bigotry, "unfairness," even barbarism, etc., and give explanations where there just are none, that is, at least, none which you and I can understand.
Reading through the Book of Job every quarter is always an interesting adventure. First of all, one deals with large passages which are later condemned by the Lord God. In Job 42:7, the Word of God says to one of Job's three friends, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has." Now as you consider some of the things Job's friends said to him, some of them seem to be quite good, even we could say "accurate." It is the seeming irony we find in Balaam. His prophesies seem to affirm rather than contradict God's purposes for the Hebrews. My only conclusion in all of this is that there is much more than words involved when people speak. And it is that phenomenon of which we should always be aware.
Secondly, one "overhears" Job in what seems to be complaint, some would call it "unbelief" or even "wrong confession." This again is only to the shallow observer. "....You have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has." Again, perhaps in all that we read in Holy Writ we need to be catching the (excuse the bad word) theology, the heart, the God-relationship of the person speaking. All which is in Scripture is of the Holy Spirit. And while it does not necessarily state the "approval" of the Godhead, we see that He tells us the history of man in his relationship with his Maker, truthfully, not covering up the weaknesses, the questionings, even sin of some of the great Biblical "heroes." Jesus speaks Truth, because He is Truth.
I am also reading in Joshua, the killing of everyone in towns, men, women, children, livestock. The people who read the Bible with humanist, by that I mean, reasoning without the New Birth, reasoning of, "that-is-not-fair," or, "that's-just-not-right," find themselves no longer reading the Bible. In their own brand of morality and self righteous judgment on God and His ways, they have forgotten, "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord."
Our text is from the heart of a soul in despair. We can determine from God's approval, "....spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has," we can see that Job was not accusing God; he was not blaming God. He did not take all the "evil" which had come upon him as a justification to give up, to quit, to renounce faith in God. Rather, the confession, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him," rings loudly throughout the Book. This is Job. This is Job in the depths of suffering, Job in the depths of confusion, Job of the, "If only I had never come into being, or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!" At the end of the Book we see a Job triumphant, victorious, seeing beyond what he could see. This is Job, who as Abraham, "rejoiced to see [Jesus'] day; he saw it and was glad."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You so much that my regular journey through Your Words is not without You holding my hand. Amen.
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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
