Getting What He Deserves?

Job 15:25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God and defies the Almighty,
26 running stubbornly against him with a thickly bossed shield;
27 because he has covered his face with his fat and gathered fat upon his waist
28 and has lived in desolate cities, in houses that none should inhabit,
    which were ready to become heaps of ruins;
29 he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure,
    nor will his possessions spread over the earth;
30 he will not depart from darkness; the flame will dry up his shoots,
    and by the breath of his mouth he will depart.

As the friends of Job seek to "comfort" and counsel him, Eliphaz jumps in with a stinging accusation: The problem is that Job does not fear God. He pictures Job as a rebellious and self-righteous arrogant man who is simply getting what he deserves.  How often do our minds go that way: looking at people going through hard times and coming up with reasons why they deserve it? That is not the way we should think or talk - even if there is some truth to it. We are to want what is best for them. Notice, as well, a tinge of jealously on the part of Eliphaz, as he talks about the fat on the face and waist of Job.  Had he been hoping something like this would happen to Job to bring him down?

We Really Need to Talk...

 

Job 13:22 Then call, and I will answer;
    or let me speak, and you reply to me.
23 How many are my iniquities and my sins?
    Make me know my transgression and my sin.
24 Why do you hide your face
    and count me as your enemy?
25 Will you frighten a driven leaf
    and pursue dry chaff?
26 For you write bitter things against me
    and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.

As Job continues to struggle, and his friends try to "help," he still wrestles with his situation and with God.  He feels like there is this barrier between himself and God. He really wants to know what is wrong. Job is our example to be sure. We never want to get to the point that we are so self-assured and self-righteous as to think we are beyond correction. He really wanted to have this conversation with God and get to the truth, not just yell at God. May that be our perspective: "God, we really need to talk. Do you want to go first, or me?"

The Arbiter

 

Job 9:25 “My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they see no good.
26 They go by like skiffs of reed, like an eagle swooping on the prey.
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer,’
28 I become afraid of all my suffering, for I know you will not hold me innocent.
29 I shall be condemned; why then do I labor in vain?

30 If I wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye,

31 yet you will plunge me into a pit, and my own clothes will abhor me.

32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together. 33 There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both.

As Job wrestled with his predicament, he felt helpless. There was no just "putting on a happy face" and get over it. He realized that his complaint was against God and he was "out of His league." He needed an arbiter, someone who would go between and bring things to a resolution. Eventually, Job came to see that God was not against Him, but actually on his side. We all need The Arbiter, Jesus Christ as our Advocate. As God and Man, He can and does bring the resolution we need. Life IS worth it. We can go on. God is not done with us yet. 

Honest Conversation

 

Job 6:24 “Teach me, and I will be silent;
    make me understand how I have gone astray.
25 How forceful are upright words!
    But what does reproof from you reprove?
26 Do you think that you can reprove words,
    when the speech of a despairing man is wind?
27 You would even cast lots over the fatherless,
    and bargain over your friend."

Job's friends had offered what they thought was a fair evaluation of Job's situation. He responded to them that they did not really understand his plight.  From his perspective, God had not been fair. But he is willing to listen to his friends, only he wants them to have compassion and not self-righteousness.  They were being heartless and insensitive in both what they were saying and how they were saying it. 

Helping a friend through a hard time is not always easy.  We want to help them see the picture clearly and objectively, but we also need to be willing to listen compassionately and with the fulness of the character of God in view. It is hard. It takes time. (The book of Job is a long conversation.) But true friends to that.

Finishing Well...

 

Job 5:24 You shall know that your tent is at peace,
    and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
25 You shall know also that your offspring shall be many,
    and your descendants as the grass of the earth.
26 You shall come to your grave in ripe old age,
    like a sheaf gathered up in its season.
27 Behold, this we have searched out; it is true.
    Hear, and know it for your good.”

The "advice" of Job's friends is often scrutinized for being heartless, but what we see here is an honest discourse to help a friend work through his grief.  As his friends wind down their first address, they wrap up with the words above.  This does truly describe what we all might hope to find at the end of this life: peace, and heirs to continue on with what we have tried to do in life.  They are encouraging Job to not give God a bad rap for the life He has given, but to reorient his life to make the best of what he still has left. Job's life was not over.  Goodness was still possible. There is light at the end of the tunnel.  Go ehead and finish well. 

The Human Cry: "Why?"

Job 3:23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
    whom God has hedged in?
24 For my sighing comes instead of my bread,
    and my groanings are poured out like water.
25 For the thing that I fear comes upon me,
    and what I dread befalls me.
26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
    I have no rest, but trouble comes.”

The account of Job really hits home to most because it describes the human experience. Life is going along the way we hope and plan, then something hits. Or many things hit, one after another. Every possible problem that comes to mind comes to pass. We think the worst and become prophets. We worry. It is not that God has changed in His character or plan, but that we realize we are not the captains of our souls or creators of our destiny.  Our minds stop processing reality and our souls cannot keep up with the changes. That leads us to the series of "Whys?" like in this chapter.  We need to "get out of our heads." It can be a bumpy path, but the end of the trip is worth it.

Remembering Justice

 Esther 9:25 But when it came before the king, he gave orders in writing that his evil plan that he had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 26 Therefore they called these days Purim, after the term Pur. Therefore, because of all that was written in this letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had happened to them, 27 the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and all who joined them, that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year, 28 that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.

The book of Esther is an amazing and intriguing account of how God spared his people while they were away from the promised land. It is a lesson repeated throughout history which at times has been forgotten, even by the Jews. When accounts of justice like this are forgotten, the history of treacherous acts repeats itself and we need to learn it all over again.  May we remember and sustain justice all our days.