Year 2, Day 132: Job 38

Today we begin with God’s discourse.

J 

Clarity In God’s Perspective

God makes His position pretty clear right out of the gates.  “Who is it that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?”  Ouch.  I don’t think God is sugar coating anything here.  Basically, God just looked to Job and said, “You think you are wise, but you speak as though you have no wisdom within you.”  Again, let me reiterate: ouch.

I’ve got quite a bit to say here about this topic, so bear with me a little.  I think this verse is worth focusing on.  You see, people are all the time giving spiritual advice along these lines, “Tell God what you are thinking.  He’s a big God, he can take it.”  I think there are three lines of thought that we must consider regarding this advice. 

1. First, the advice is absolutely right.  God is big enough to take it.  We aren’t going to hurt God with our words. 
2. Second, God does already know what we are thinking before we say it.  So in a sense, we have no reason not to say it. 
3. However, there is a third point that needs to be considered.  Are we big enough to receive the rebuke that we are going to deserve by speaking our mind?

This is a huge point.  Remember that Job is righteous.  God pronounced him righteous in the beginning and God is going to still pronounce him righteous in a few chapters.  Yet even though Job is righteous he is still deserving of God’s lowering the boom upon him in this verse.  There is no denying it.  So yeah, go ahead and say what you want to say to God.  He is big enough and He already knows what you are thinking.  But if you are going to be so bold as to confront God with your words, be prepared to be put in your place, too.

I don’t mean that as a threat, so please don’t hear it as one.  We should be about open communication with God.  But the reality is that every single one of us always has something that can be corrected, improved, made better, etc.  When we go to God with any kind of complaint, frustration, irritation, or whatever there is always something that God is going to say about us and what we can improve first.  That’s what I mean.  When we go to God with our irritations and frustrations and things like that, we should anticipate that part of the education process is God beginning by educating us and changing us.

We can see this same thing going on in most of the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures.  When Elijah goes into the cave to find God and ask God why he is being persecuted, is it not Elijah who God corrects first and foremost?  (See 1 Kings 19)  When Habakkuk complains to God about what he is seeing with his eyes, God turns to Habakkuk and begins the education with the truth that Habakkuk wouldn’t believe what God was about to do even if he was able to see the plan in action.  (See Habakkuk 1)  None of us can comprehend the mind of God, so when we decide to probe the mind of God we must expect the lesson to start with us.

Now, mind you, I don’t think that is any reason to not approach God with our frustrations and complaints.  In truth, I think that is every more the reason to do it!  When we are frustrated and unable to make sense of the world, we must confess that at least part of the problem is ourselves!  In those moments we aren’t seeing through God’s eyes anymore.  We aren’t on the same page as God.  So when we are frustrated or confused we should go to God and look forward to that correction because we are in need of it!

When we go before God, we should expect correction.  That’s my point.  I’m not saying we should refrain from going before God because we fear the correction that comes.  Rather, I am saying that we go before God and embrace the correction that we know we desperately need.

Wow.  I’ve killed almost all of my space on a single verse in Job 38.  See?  I told you that I was looking forward to God’s reply!

Further Examples

The truth is that the rest of the chapter is simply giving examples of what I have already spoken about.  God gives example after example of how Job’s perspective simply cannot grasp God’s perspective.  Job may think himself wise, objective, and all-knowing but the reality is that he is just a single man with a quite limited understanding of the world.

In this I think we have every reason to be humbled.  Take the greatest scientist in the world.  That person may know everything about their field, but can how deeply can they speak to a non-related area of science?  For example, can an astrophysicist speak very knowledgably about doing a kidney transplant?  Can that scientist speak meaningfully about the poetry of Edgar Allen Poe?  Can that scientist know precisely what the weather is like on the opposite side of the world at every given moment?  Do you see what I am getting at here?  We can rise to great heights from a human perspective.  But even the greatest among us lacks an amount of knowledge that is far greater than the amount of knowledge that the person actually knows!

We can be great from a human standard, but from God’s perspective we know so very little.  Take a minute today and think about all the things you know absolutely nothing about.  Then consider that God is an expert on everything that you know nothing about.  Then consider that God is an expert on all the things that you don’t even realize that you don’t even know about them!  That should help inspire some awe towards God and remind us just how cool it is that God chooses to be in a relationship with us and made that relationship possible with Christ.

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Year 2, Day 131: Job 37

The Last of the Human Advice

I’m not going to lie.  I am excited that this is the last chapter of human advice.  Beginning tomorrow, we get to read God’s response to everything that’s happened in Job in the prior 37 chapters.  I’m really looking forward to putting this human wisdom behind us and hearing from God directly. 

But, we have one more chapter to deal with in Elihu’s portion of the book.  I have to be honest.  Except for the snafu he made yesterday, it has been advice from a pretty good spiritual perspective.

This chapter is likewise an awesome chapter as Elihu continues his focus on God.  Elihu reminds us that the snow falls on God’s command.  The rain falls on God’s commands.  In fact, it is even God who loads the sky with moisture so that the clouds can even bring the rain or the snow!  Elihu tells us that the peals of thunder and the flashes of lightning are evidence of His voice.  It is even God who balances the clouds in the sky in the first place!

What is the conclusion that Elihu reaches through this vast discovery?  Who can question the greatness of God?  Who can question His power, His command over nature, or even His presence in our life?  Who are we to come and speak to God as though we deserve that right?  Who are we to think that we even deserve to be acknowledged in His great presence?  What can we do in comparison to what God has already set in motion – much less what He will continue to do in the future?

Elihu uses God’s greatness to come to an absolute place of truth.  What can mankind do but fear God?  That is an incredibly true question.  However, remember that in the ancient times fear didn’t mean a phobia as much as it meant a healthy respect formed out of awe.  I am to fear God, but that doesn’t mean I am to be afraid of God.

Since Elihu speaks so much about weather in this chapter, let me give a weather related example. I am in awe of the sheer power of tornados.  I remember living in Minnesota – which is famous for having plenty of twisters in the late spring and summer.  One day I remember sitting out on the front lawn staring up in amazement as I counted 7 orange funnels in the sky around me.  Fortunately, these were all small tornadoes that did hardly any damage besides knocking a few limbs off of trees.  But that was a day that I learned to respect the tornado – even to be in awe of its power.  I am not paralyzed by the thought of a tornado striking my house, but I am in awe of the power that a tornado can display should it want to strike my house.

In a similar way of thinking, that’s the point Elihu is making to Job and the three friends.  We are not supposed to fear God in such a way that we are phobic in relationship to Him.  We need not live every moment of every day in fear that He might judge us and strike us dead.  But we are to live our life in complete and utter amazement and awe at just what God is actually capable of doing.  Yes, occasionally that will evoke some feelings of fear.  But we need not be phobic of God.

I’d like to give a modern example of Elihu’s argument.  I confess that I am a science nut – especially when it comes to the universe.  I don’t always agree with the scientific perspective on creation or how the universe will eventually come to an end, but I still like to listen and have it expand my mind.  One day I was watching a show with Brian Cox as the narrator.  He made the claim that scientists have now come to believe that the end of the universe will come some point trillions upon trillions upon trillion upon trillions of years into the future.  I wish I could remember how much time he said exactly, because it is a really big number.  In fact, he said that the number of years is so big that if every atom in the universe represented one year that the universe had left to live, there wouldn’t be enough atoms in the whole universe to represent the amount of time left.  That’s a really big number!

Why is this cool?  Well, it is cool because he then made a very interesting claim.  He said that this number is important to him because when we compare the amount of time that our earth will actually be capable of supporting life to that big number what we discover is that life can only exist on earth for one billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a percent.  To be honest, I think I left out a few billionths in that last sentence.  In other words, our earth can support life for an infinitesimally small percentage of the time that our universe can exist.  Brian Cox said that was amazing to him because it demonstrates to him that the time we have here is pretty special.  Compared to the life span of the universe, the time for life to be able to exist on earth is absolutely microscopic.

Why have I made you read through all of that science?  Well, for me it shows a reason to be in awe of God.  When God created the universe, He knew where to put life so that it would thrive.  He knew that the time frame for life to exist on the place where He put us is so small that mathematically we struggle to even represent it numerically.  He had a very small window of time with little margin for error.  Yet, our God managed to hit that window of time perfectly.  He knew the right place, the right time, and the right way to bring life into existence on this planet of His creation that we call home.  He gave us the right atmosphere, the right layers in the atmosphere to keep out the harmful cosmic stuff.  He gave us the exact distance from the sun we need to support life.  He gave us large outer planets to gravitationally speaking help shelter us from meteor strikes.  I can go on and on with how infinitesimally small the odds of life happening on earth actually are.  But the reality is that He did it.  He was able to put life into that infinitesimally small window of opportunity.  That’s amazing.  It’s awe-inspiring.  It is something to ponder as we hear Elihu talk about the greatness of God and how we have no right to do anything but to fear Him.

Once we realize that the only right we have is to fear Him … then we realize how great it is that He invites us into more than that.  He invites us into a relationship.  He invites us into a meaningful life experience that exceeds what we deserve and what we are capable of producing on our own.  Indeed, God is good.  As we close out the human speeches in the book of Job, I hope that you are filled with this sense of awe of how good God actually is.

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Year 2, Day 130: Job 36

And The Human Influence Appears

Unfortunately, all good things are eventually corrupted by humanity.  In today’s case, we find that Elihu is the one being corrupted by his own humanity.  Elihu has been on a roll thus far, handing out some pretty good advice and bringing some good thoughts to the conversation.  But like all things, when we are on a roll and being successful we are the most vulnerable to self-inflicted failure.

Look at how Elihu continues his speech at the beginning this chapter.  He says, “I will show you.”  He then says, “I have yet something to say on God’s behalf.”  Then he says, “For truly my words are not false; one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.”  These are some fairly arrogant words.  These are words spoken by a person who is fairly high on his own success.  Even though he does seem to throw God a bone when he adds, “I will get my knowledge from afar and ascribe righteousness to my Maker,” it is clear that Elihu is swelling with self-assurance as he steps into the spotlight and speaks to the older men around him.  He said some good things and experienced success.  But like most humans, that leads him too far.

It is always sad to see this happen, but it is completely and totally human.  It is precisely what drives our human competitiveness.  The more success we feel, the more invincible we convince ourselves we are.  The more invincible we think we are, the more bravado we display and the more we are convinced that we can take on the world.  What happens in the middle of all of this?  We completely forget to depend upon God.  Yes, we might give a platitude or two to God as Elihu does in this chapter.  But in reality, the more success we encounter the more likely we will fall into the trap of self-assurance and failing to depend upon God.  We must take this lesson seriously, because it is an element of what it means to be human.

The Fall

Let’s move along into the rest of this chapter.  Since I’ve developed a bit of a reputation in this blog for loving clichés, I’m going to come back to another cliché.  Pride comes before the fall.  We’ve just seen how Elihu becomes proud and boasting in this chapter.  The next thing we see in the chapter is bad theology.  Here comes the fall.

Elihu says, “He does not keep the wicked alive, but gives the afflicted their right.  He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous, but with kings on the throne he sets them forever, and they are exalted.”  What is it that Elihu is now proclaiming?  This sounds an awful lot like a theology of glory to me.  It sounds like Elihu is declaring that the wicked are punished in this life while the righteous are exalted in this life.  From an eternal perspective this might be true.  Eternally, the righteous will be granted eternal life while the unrighteous will be in a place of “gnashing of teeth.” 

However, on this side of death it is not the case that the righteous are exalted and the unrighteous are punished.  I think every one of us knows plenty of examples of when a righteous deed didn’t receive any positive results and when someone acting in an unrighteous manner received far more benefit than they deserved.  The wicked often prosper.  Good guys often finish last.

Now we see that Elihu has actually fallen into the same trap as Job’s earlier three friends.  His self-righteousness has led him down the path of bad theology.  He is making the same flawed arguments that he originally stood up to speak against.  We should take note of this, because this is another flaw in humanity.  If we are not careful, we will find ourselves launching into the same error in judgment that drives us nuts when we see it in others.

The Solution To The Problem: Focus Upon God

Fortunately for Elihu, when he begins to focus on God at the end of this chapter he gets his story straightened out.  We are well served to extol His work.  We are well served to sing His praises.  It does us good to remember that there are none like Him and that He controls things that we cannot.

Hopefully it is clear what it is that allows Elihu to get back on track.  When Elihu focused on himself, his theology was weak and misaligned.  But when he focused on God his theology came back around and he began to speak meaningful words once more.  This seems like such a simple lesson, but it is a lesson that we must all learn and relearn over the course of our lives.

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Year 2, Day 129: Job 35

What Does God Benefit From Me?

I love the theology that Elihu begins to bring out in this chapter.  Elihu really gets to the heart of why it is that we act.  Elihu says that he has heard Job saying: “How am I any better off than if I had sinned?”  He then follows it up by later asking: “If you are righteous, what do you give to Him?”

If we look at the first of these quotations, we get to the real heart of the human relationship with God.  The human is the self-monger.  Me.  Me.  Me.  What do I get out of life?  What’s in it for me?  How can I benefit?  How can I come out ahead?

The fundamental question that all of us need to ask is: Is life really about me?  Is life really supposed to be decided on how I benefit?  Is this the example that I see with Jesus on the cross?  Did Jesus die for His benefit?

To focus on our own benefit really misses the point with God.  Paul got it right in Galatians 2:20 when he says “I have been crucified with Christ.”  It doesn’t matter whether I am any better off than if I had lived a life of sin.  What matters is whether or not I was a tool in the hand of God and if His kingdom was advanced.  At the end of the day, to even ask the question about my being better off shows an innate lack of understanding.  It is God and God’s kingdom that is important.  My status is nothing next to the fact that God has chosen to offer to include me in His kingdom.

This leads us quite naturally into the next question: what does my righteousness bring to God?  Unlike the prior question, this question can at least be found in the same ballpark as God.  At the very least, the question focuses on God as the center.  The question acknowledges that God is the focal point to life.

However, there is a bit of arrogance in the question.  There is a sense that if I am righteous I make God better.  Clearly that is not the case.  My righteousness does not enhance God’s character at all.  God’s righteousness is quite capable of standing on its own!

However, there is also a truth to the question.  As I spoke earlier, I should be concerned with availing myself to be God’s tool.  I should be concerned with what God can do through me.  Thus, I may not be able to add anything to God, but I can be concerned about allowing God to demonstrate His greatness through me.  Thus, not only is the focus on God, but the understanding that God is the initiator of the action as well.  And in this comment we can see the fallacy of the question.  It is not my righteousness that brings anything to God.  Rather, my humbleness and willingness to bow before Him that allows His righteousness to shine through me.

When I Cry Out To God

The second half of the chapter seems to be primarily about when and why people cry out to God.  It’s no hidden truth that people cry out to God when they are in the depth of despair.  Unfortunately, this is a tragic reality.  In many cases, it exposes us for who we are.  Perhaps what’s worse is that it demonstrates to God just how shallow and vain we are.  When we only cry out to God in the midst of our despair we demonstrate our emptiness.

We should be in relationship with God all the time.  If we are going to be a people who claim to have our focus in the right area we need to demonstrate it when things are going well in addition to showing it when things are going poorly.  We should be a people that take all of our joys, concerns, praises, strife, celebration, and even our normalcy to God.

All in all, I think Elihu makes some great points about faith.  So far, his words have been well worth listening to.  Focus on God, allow God to work through us, and come to God in the midst of all of our life.  Those are great points to keep throughout life.

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Year 2, Day 128: Job 34

Finding Fault with Job

Chapter 34 is a chapter designed to argue the claim that Job has hinted at throughout his speeches: God is unjust for allowing Job to be punished in a way in which he is undeserving.  Job has made this claim, but he has tried to make this claim in such a way as to still remain faithful and believing in God.  That is a very difficult position to take, and most of Elihu’s speech in this chapter is designed to confront that position.

God is Just

One of the first points that Elihu makes is that God cannot be unjust.  Period.  God is by definition just.  You cannot have a square triangle or a spherical prism; you cannot have an unjust God.  This is one of the fundamental differences between the true worship of the Hebrew God and the worship of the false gods of the rest of the ancient (and modern!) cultures.  Most ancient cultures attempted to appease their gods out of fear of punishment because their gods could be spiteful and unjust.  The God of the Hebrew people – the one we call the true God – is not spiteful.  He is just.  When He does something, it is by definition just. 

Therefore, what Elihu argues in this chapter is that although Job has tried to not really put God on trial – he actually has ended up putting God on trial.  Every time Job claims that what is happening to him is not justifiable and God should be doing something else, Job is subtly claiming that God is not God.  If by definition God is just, then to claim that God does something unjust is also by definition claiming that God is not God.

Okay, this is all pretty deep.  But I think it is a worthwhile understanding to try and work our way through.  The point is this: we must be absolutely sure that we place our entire faith upon God before we claim to take Him as our God.  If we claim Him to be God and then draw His actions into question, by definition we are challenging his status as God.  And that’s a pretty serious challenge.  We may not be trying to challenge God.  But if we question Him we are by definition challenging His status as God of our life.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I don’t want to present the case that God is responsible for everything that happens in this world.  That is certainly not the case.  God has given mankind free will.  We have the ability to obey God’s ways or to disobey them.  When we choose to disobey God’s ways, then we also choose to live in the consequences of that sin.  For the record, we also choose to potentially force the people around us to live in the consequences of that sin, too.  We need to be careful that we do not lay the consequences of our sin at God’s feet and hold Him responsible.  In the paragraphs above I am claiming that all of God’s actions are just.  I am not claiming that everything that happens in this world is just.  Only those things that God ordains are justified because He is God.

So we realize that we must not only be faithful but also discerning.  When we claim to follow God, we must necessarily be prepared to believe that everything God does and asks of us is just.  By definition the things of God are just.  But we must also be willing to discern those things that are from God and those things that are the consequences of our free will applied in a sinful direction.

Finding the Human Error

This gets us back to Job, his friends, and Elihu.  Job claimed he was righteous and thus God was acting unjustly in punishing an innocent man.  Job’s friends claimed that God was just in punishing Job and therefore Job must not be righteous.  Both of these points are wrong because of their short-sightedness.  God has another agenda that is unknown to these people.  God is just in what happens to Job and Job is righteous and experiencing these things for reasons other than unrighteousness.  It is possible for God to be just, Job to be declared righteous, and for Job to still experience strife.

The point of all of this?  If we are going to claim to follow God we must be open to finding out the motivation behind God’s ways rather than simply declaring God unjust when we don’t understand.  We must be dedicated to upholding the righteousness and justness of God.  Of course, He doesn’t need us to do so; He is God and we should want to!  If we find ourselves thinking that God is unjust because of what is happening to us, we need to step back and be cautious about proceeding down that train of thought.

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Year 2, Day 127: Job 33

Elihu and Job

Elihu’s first approach is to confront Job.  From my personal perspective, this makes a ton of sense.  Job has answered righteously in many respects and his faults in this conversation are few.  It is with Job that Elihu is going to have the most in common.  It is with Job that the task is easiest.  It makes sense to start with Job.

Finding Common Ground

The first thing that we see is Elihu trying to build a bridge with Job.  Elihu tells Job “Behold, I am toward God as you are.”  In other words, Elihu is letting Job know that he agrees with Job’s understanding of our redeemer coming from God.  He then says “I too was pinched off from a piece of clay.”  In other words, Elihu is telling Job that he is just a flawed human man like the rest of us.  He then says, “Behold, no fear of me need terrify you.”  Elihu is telling Job that Job owes him no explanation and neither does Job need to feel the need to justify himself to Elihu.  Then Elihu adds, “my pressure will not be heavy upon you.”  Elihu is telling Job that he is going to try and speak correction, but speak it in love.

This is really a phenomenal approach from Elihu.  It is a wonderful tactic to take, especially in relation to the tactics of the three earlier friends.  Elihu wants to speak words of truth, but he wants to speak them in a way that diffuses the situation.  Elihu isn’t interested in conflict or winning.  Elihu is interested in truth-telling.  This is a huge point and shows some spiritual maturity on Elihu’s behalf.

Elihu Demonstrates His Skill at Listening

Elihu then quotes Job’s words.  We should note that Elihu is not doing so to throw Job’s words back in his face but rather to let Job know that Elihu was actually listening to him.  Again, this is a very good practice.  In counseling situations it is especially helpful to often tell the other person, “Let me tell you what I heard you say, just to make sure I heard what you wanted to say.”  This helps ensure that the participants of the conversation feel heard as well as making sure everyone is on the same page.

Opening Up To Other Possibilities

Then Elihu launches into his main point against Job.  Elihu is telling Job that sometimes pain and suffering come for a reason other than righteousness.  Sometimes strife comes to teach us a lesson – regardless of whether we are righteous or unrighteous.  Sometimes we encounter things in our life so that we can struggle against them, turn to God, and draw closer to Him.  Once we have drawn closer to Him we can then bring glory to His name even in the midst of the strife.

Elihu’s point is really to open up the minds of Job and his friends.  Up until now, the whole book of Job has been a discussion centered on righteousness and righteousness alone.  Arguments have been made as to Job’s righteousness or unrighteousness.  What Elihu is telling Job is that righteousness may not even be important to the conversation.  God may be up to something that doesn’t have to do with whether or not Job is righteous.  There is truth to Elihu’s claim!

Who among us can know what God’s plans are?  Who among us can fathom the mind of God?  Who among us can say with any confidence that they know with 100% certainty what God is up to in our life?

Sure, God may occasionally use strife to punish unrighteous behavior in this world.  Yes, God may occasionally use strife to teach us how to grow closer to Him.  But are there other things that God is up to?  Absolutely!  God might use strife to make us stronger.  God might use strife in us to teach a lesson to others.  God might be setting up something down the road that we cannot ever imagine or foresee.  And this is just the tip of the iceberg.  The reality is that there are a myriad of reasons that God can have for doing what He does.  We need to be open about the idea that things happen for other reasons that “punishment.”

I think Elihu gives us pretty good advice here in this chapter – especially for the Christian.  The reality is that none of us are righteous on our own merit.  But God declares us righteous through the merit of Jesus Christ.  If we genuinely believe that, why are we so concerned about “punishment” from God?  Why are we always so focused on a “theology of glory?” 

Aside: A theology of glory is one in which we believe that if I do good things then God will bless my life more because I have done good things.  It is really prominent in the modern American church.  A theology of glory often leads to a prosperity gospel.

Should we not get past this idea of “punishment” and quit assuming that everyone who is having a rough go of it has done something bad?  Shouldn’t we who are declared righteous through no merit of our own consider that God might have more up His sleeve than punishing or rewarding us – as though we are merely His pets or infantile children?

God is up to more than we can imagine.  And I honestly don’t think that His goal is to hand out treats when we do the right thing and swat us with a newspaper when we are bad.  I think God’s agenda is substantially bigger than that.  I think Elihu is on the right track with his attempt to open up the minds of Job and his friends.

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Year 2, Day 126: Job 32

Elihu

Now Elihu steps up to speak.  Elihu was apparently a younger man than Job’s three earlier friends.  He let the older people talk – listening to their speeches and gleaning what he can glean before he figures out what he wants to say.  Perhaps it was motivated by respect for one’s elders, but in the end it is an absolutely brilliant strategy.  Elihu gets to listen to all the people and he can respond after hearing them “show their cards.”  It may be good to respect ones elders and listen to what wisdom they can give, but it is equally good to take time to listen and gain information before speaking.  It has been a painful process for me to learn, but I think I too am starting to learn when to talk and when it is better to sit and listen.

Before we get to any of Elihu’s speech, I do want to talk about the description of the motivation behind Elihu’s speech.  Elihu was angered at Job’s friends because of the fact that their “wisdom” led nowhere.  I know how that feels.  How many times have we read through their speeches and heard what had great potential to be wisdom instead turn out to be worldly centered speech for the purpose of self-justification?  I have found myself angry at Job’s three friends’ inability to speak truth.

Then we hear that Elhiu is angry at Job because he has justified himself.  Again, I find agreement with Elihu.  Job has said many good things in this book, but the one error that he has made is drawing God’s defense of him into question because of his conviction about his own righteousness.  Yes, we know that God has declared Job righteous – but our own “being declared righteous by God” is no reason to call God’s character into question when it appears to us that God is distant.

So as we begin, I find myself in a similar position to Elihu.  I can’t wait to see how this pans out for the next few chapters!

Elihu Has No Filter

I have to laugh at verse 9, though.  “It is neither the old who are wise nor the aged who understand righteousness.”  On one hand, this seems to go against the whole “respect your elders” or even the “honor your father and mother.”  If we look at Elihu’s words from a sense of respect, they can seem a little blasphemous. 

On the other hand, Elihu is really spot-on.  One does not become wise just by growing old.  One becomes wise by humbling oneself before God.  The same is true with righteousness.  It is not our years that teach us about righteousness, it is God.

Now, I will concede that age does tend to bring about a greater perspective.  A greater perspective of experience typically brings about on openness to humbleness.  This humbleness opens us up to God’s wisdom.  That is how we become wise and understand righteousness.  Thus I can absolutely agree that on the average wisdom and an understanding of righteousness is found in greater quantities among the aged.  But one need not be aged to be wise or to have an understanding of righteousness.  Neither is one wise or understand righteousness just because someone has a great age.

Great At Flattery

That pretty much takes us to the end of the chapter, where we have an absolutely great verse.  “For I do not know how to flatter, else my Maker would soon take me away.”  I’ll confess that although I have read through the Bible in its entirety many times, I do not ever remember pausing to meditate on this particular verse.  It is a great verse.

Have you ever met a person who is great at flattery?  They flatter one person, then the next, then the next.  Soon it becomes apparent that flattery is a tool and not genuine.  Flattery is a tool that people use to get one person on their side or to maneuver themselves into the position that they desire.

I don’t think flattery is something that has a place in the church.  I really think Elihu is wise here.  As they say, flattery will get you nowhere.  I really think that is how it should be in God’s kingdom.  If someone has something positive to say, let them genuinely exhort one another.  But don’t give out platitudes just to sway people to a particular opinion.  State the opinion in openness and honesty and let the truth be what decides the day.

So far, I think I have to say that I have some pretty good respect building for Elihu.  He might be young and he might be a bit of a maverick.  But he is absolutely speaking truth thus far – especially for a human being.

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Year 2, Day 125: Job 31

Job’s Last Defense

Job 31 is the end of Job’s defense.  What a defense it really is!  This is a great chapter in which Job finally returns home to seeing what is important.  This is a chapter in which we can finally see a great portrait of righteousness.  It is here that we see righteousness abound brightly in Job’s words.  Here we gain confidence that although Job has faltered along the way, he has never lost the faith.

Verses 5-8 speak about falsehood.  Job has not lived a life of deceit.  He has not lived a life of cheating other people.  He has not lived a life of trying to cheat God, either.  He has taken the pursuit of righteousness seriously.

Verses 9-12 talk about sexual purity.  Keep in mind that Job likely lived in a time and a place where polygamy was a reasonably well accepted way of life for men.  For Job to speak about being sexually pure and not being turned aside to be enticed by any woman besides his wife it is a pretty bold claim.  We could even say that such a claim would be in the vast minority.  We understand that Job’s sense of righteousness can be seen through his view of sexual purity.

Verses 13-15 speak about observing the rights and needs of employees (or slaves).  In other words, Job is speaking seriously to watching over those who are under him.  Job has tried to treat those under him fairly because he knows that he desires to be treated fairly should he have a complaint with God.

Verses 16-23 talk about watching over the poor and those in the community who cannot do anything to help their condition.  Job speaks about caring for the fatherless.  Remember that in Job’s day it was the man who could buy and sell food, clothing, etc.  So without a father the children would not have much access to food, clothing, and maybe even shelter.  Job also talks about caring for the poor.  He was a source of help to them.

Verses 24-28 speak about Job’s ability to put his trust in God rather than wealth.  In fact, these verses talk about Job’s ability to have wealth in a way that the wealth does not instead have him.  The verses speak about Job’s ability to not use his wealth as a reason for thinking himself better than others.

Verses 29-37 talk about relationships and Job’s view of other people.  He has not gloated over the downfall of people who are now gloating over his downfall.  He has not tried to hide the times when he made mistakes.  He has tried to be upright in his dealings with others.

Verses 38-40 talk about Job’s relationship with nature.  Job has not pushed the land too hard.  Job has not demanded of the land more than the land could reasonably bear.  He has been a good steward.

All in all, we have a really good image of righteousness in this chapter.  We can see a righteous perspective on these topics: sex, money, relationships, stewardship, caring for those under us, caring for the poor, caring for the orphans.  I’m not saying Job is completely innocent; given the fact that he talks about not hiding his failings I don’t think Job is claiming perfection, either.  But we do have a really good summary of what righteous behavior encompasses.  I give Job much credit for coming through his physical trial and the trial of his friends and still being able to give a reasonable perspective on righteousness.

Keep in mind that as I have spoken I have occasionally spoken in ways that may sound like works-based righteousness.  If that comes across, let’s not forget that earlier Job has spoken about knowing that his redeemer lives.  Job has already given us a picture of knowing that his righteousness comes from heaven.  Therefore, we can be confident as we read this chapter that Job is speaking about these acts as a response to righteousness, not an attempt to make himself righteous because of these works.  Job is not saying he is righteous because of these things.  Job is claiming that he does these things because of his righteousness.  We should think similarly as Job.

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Year 2, Day 124: Job 30

Perspective on Job’s Life

In Job 30 we get a fairly honest perspective about life from Job.  At first blush it might sound like he’s being a little whiney.  It also might sound like he’s being a bit judgmental about people that he used to look down upon.  And if he is doing these things, then he should be rebuked.  But honestly, I don’t think much of this is really where Job is coming from.  I think in this chapter we see a man who has exhausted his logical arguments and he is finally worn down.  I think this chapter is by and large simply an emotional plea when there is nothing left to give.

Look at what Job talks about.  Job begins by lamenting over just how far he has fallen.  He has become someone who is looked down upon.  Even his friends have come into his midst to try and tell him just how much he is actually to blame.  There can be no doubt that with the decline in his health and the devastation to his family that Job’s community has begun to consider him an anathema.

The reality is that this is how it goes.  Communities should gather around those in need.  But so often when a person falls as Job has, the community stands around and mocks.  Or they assume guilt.  Or they laugh.  Or they take advantage of the person.  Or they talk about them behind their back. 

I think Job is speaking here about how genuinely worn out this experience has made him.  Look at what he says.  “My soul is poured out within me.”  Job is worn down.  It’s tough trying to understand what is happening when the people who should be helping to support you turn on you and treat you the way Job’s community has done.

Not only is Job emotionally worn down, but he is also physically in pain.  The blisters and sores on his skin have taken affect.  His skin is turning black and falling off.  That can’t be pleasant.  Job also talks about his bones aching.  No doubt his physical illness has wracked his whole body with pain.

It’s hard enough dealing with the emotional stress, but then when we add physical stress it becomes even more difficult to see any hope.  As human beings, so much of our attitude begins with physical health.  When we get a good night’s rest, when we have a nutritious diet, and when we can get outside and get some sun-filled exercise we can really help our emotional health out.  But with physical pain, lack of sleep, and little desire to go outside then the physical ailment only compounds the emotional stress.  Job laments how the physical and the emotional pain are having a cumulative effect.

But unfortunately, it doesn’t end with the emotional and physical pain.  Job also has spiritual stress in his life.  A fair bit of this spiritual stress is self-imposed – and made worse with the advice from his friends – and Job can’t help but wonder if God has humbled him.  He can’t help but think that God has cast him aside.  He can’t help but feel like when he cries out to God that God does not answer.  We know this to be untrue, but we should also be able to see how Job could think this way. 

Keeping Faith In The Dark Times

Through this chapter, I think we can get a feeling for one way that human beings find their spirituality being diminished.  I’m not saying that Job falls out of faith, certainly he doesn’t.  God will give us that verdict in a few chapters.  But we can see here how the combination of physical stress and emotional stress diminishes Job’s feeling of being connected to God.  As a human – filled with a limited perspective and flawed reasoning ability – we often can’t help having the real world negatively impact our spiritual connection to God.

Unfortunately, this is exactly opposite of how it should be.  Our spiritual connection to God should influence the physical realm, not the other way around.  God promises to be with us.  That promise should carry us through physical pain and emotional distress.  The spiritual should be the most important and it should be the spiritual that impacts the rest of our life.

But we are human.  It is far easier to let the perceivable world detract from the spiritual.  But thanks be to God that God knows this and works to remind us differently.  Job may be at a point in his life where he is emotionally and physically worn down.  God may even ultimately give him correction where it is due.  But God does not leave Job where he is.  God will work in spite of Job’s humanity and bring Job back to a restored relationship with Him.

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Year 2, Day 124: Job 30

Perspective on Job’s Life

In Job 30 we get a fairly honest perspective about life from Job.  At first blush it might sound like he’s being a little whiney.  It also might sound like he’s being a bit judgmental about people that he used to look down upon.  And if he is doing these things, then he should be rebuked.  But honestly, I don’t think much of this is really where Job is coming from.  I think in this chapter we see a man who has exhausted his logical arguments and he is finally worn down.  I think this chapter is by and large simply an emotional plea when there is nothing left to give.

Look at what Job talks about.  Job begins by lamenting over just how far he has fallen.  He has become someone who is looked down upon.  Even his friends have come into his midst to try and tell him just how much he is actually to blame.  There can be no doubt that with the decline in his health and the devastation to his family that Job’s community has begun to consider him an anathema.

The reality is that this is how it goes.  Communities should gather around those in need.  But so often when a person falls as Job has, the community stands around and mocks.  Or they assume guilt.  Or they laugh.  Or they take advantage of the person.  Or they talk about them behind their back. 

I think Job is speaking here about how genuinely worn out this experience has made him.  Look at what he says.  “My soul is poured out within me.”  Job is worn down.  It’s tough trying to understand what is happening when the people who should be helping to support you turn on you and treat you the way Job’s community has done.

Not only is Job emotionally worn down, but he is also physically in pain.  The blisters and sores on his skin have taken affect.  His skin is turning black and falling off.  That can’t be pleasant.  Job also talks about his bones aching.  No doubt his physical illness has wracked his whole body with pain.

It’s hard enough dealing with the emotional stress, but then when we add physical stress it becomes even more difficult to see any hope.  As human beings, so much of our attitude begins with physical health.  When we get a good night’s rest, when we have a nutritious diet, and when we can get outside and get some sun-filled exercise we can really help our emotional health out.  But with physical pain, lack of sleep, and little desire to go outside then the physical ailment only compounds the emotional stress.  Job laments how the physical and the emotional pain are having a cumulative effect.

But unfortunately, it doesn’t end with the emotional and physical pain.  Job also has spiritual stress in his life.  A fair bit of this spiritual stress is self-imposed – and made worse with the advice from his friends – and Job can’t help but wonder if God has humbled him.  He can’t help but think that God has cast him aside.  He can’t help but feel like when he cries out to God that God does not answer.  We know this to be untrue, but we should also be able to see how Job could think this way. 

Keeping Faith In The Dark Times

Through this chapter, I think we can get a feeling for one way that human beings find their spirituality being diminished.  I’m not saying that Job falls out of faith, certainly he doesn’t.  God will give us that verdict in a few chapters.  But we can see here how the combination of physical stress and emotional stress diminishes Job’s feeling of being connected to God.  As a human – filled with a limited perspective and flawed reasoning ability – we often can’t help having the real world negatively impact our spiritual connection to God.

Unfortunately, this is exactly opposite of how it should be.  Our spiritual connection to God should influence the physical realm, not the other way around.  God promises to be with us.  That promise should carry us through physical pain and emotional distress.  The spiritual should be the most important and it should be the spiritual that impacts the rest of our life.

But we are human.  It is far easier to let the perceivable world detract from the spiritual.  But thanks be to God that God knows this and works to remind us differently.  Job may be at a point in his life where he is emotionally and physically worn down.  God may even ultimately give him correction where it is due.  But God does not leave Job where he is.  God will work in spite of Job’s humanity and bring Job back to a restored relationship with Him.

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Year 2, Day 123: Job 29

Job’s Perspective

I’ve done a lot of praising Job lately, so today I’m going to have a reminder that Job is human, too.  But before I go into this, let me explain that I think this is a healthy thing to remember.  So often we think of the book of Job in terms of: 

• Job’s three friends as the enemies, 
• Job as the pure victim, and 
• God as the righteous judge. 

That’s not quite right.  This is a better perspective: 

• Job’s three friends are genuinely rooted in truth but misguided in their application of truth, 
• Job is a human being who largely has it right but who occasionally allows his humanity to lead him astray, and 
• God absolutely is the righteous judge.

Do you see the difference?  The first is a black-and-white evaluation of right and wrong.  The latter is a muddled understanding of how each person in the story shows moments of truth and moments of human failing (in varying degrees, of course).  I think it is important to remember that with human beings, none of us are righteous – although we all handle our unrighteouness in substantially different ways.  So when I speak here about Job, I’m not judging him.  I am merely illustrating his humanity. 

Job begins this chapter talking about “the days when God watched over me,” “when his lamp shone upon my head,” “by his light I walked through darkness,” and “I was in my prime.”  Do you hear what error Job has fallen into?  Job has himself begun to equate prosperity with God’s love.  The very thing that Job has fought and resisted all these chapters is seeping into his own argument!

This just goes to show us what kind of enemy we are to ourselves.  Even a person that God has declared righteous is not immune to his own humanity.  In this perspective, we indeed are our own worst enemy.

That speaks about the seeping destruction of prosperity theology.  We get into trouble when we assume that God is with us when things go well and God is not with us when things go poorly.  The reality is that God is always with us and it is we who turn our back on God.  From a worldly perspective, when things are going well it is probably more likely that we are turning our back on God!  Prosperity theology is not the answer.  Job knows better.  His humanity is getting the better of him here.

The Presence of God’s Righteousness

Yet, in the middle of this passage we do get a glimpse of God’s righteousness shining forth through Job’s humanity.  That is a very good thing.  What is it that made Job righteous?  Was it his wealth and prosperity?  No.  What made Job righteous was being the eyes for the blind.  He was the feet for the lame.  He was the father to the needy and friend to the foreigner.  He was the vigilante against the unrighteous.

There is righteousness.  There is the presence of God!  The presence of God is not in our wealth or our status or our position.  The presence of God is not in prosperity theology where I can have a great life!  The presence of God is in our humbleness.  It is in our love for God’s ways.  It is in our love of the neighbor.

Returning to the Perspective of Job

If only Job would have stopped talking after saying those things.  But no, he keeps talking.  Have you ever noticed how when we keep talking we often just make things worse?  One of the hardest lessons for me to learn is knowing when to shut up! 

After speaking about true righteousness, Job returns to his failed human understanding of righteousness.  He returns to the idea of status and honor among the people.  He returns to how it felt when people listened to him and knew to be quiet when he spoke.  He returns to the feeling he had when he could be confident while other people were not confident.  He returns to a human understanding of righteousness.

Job’s human.  He’s like me.  He’s like all of us.  We all make this mistake – and in truth it is really just the same mistake that his three friends made.  Job knows the truth, but because of his humanity he is misguided in his application. 

Righteousness is not found in temporal blessings and materialistic gain.  Righteousness is not found in our place of honor.  Righteousness is found in God and in knowing that whether life is going well or poorly, God is there beside us.

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Year 2, Day 122: Job 28

The Mastery of Mankind

As I studied this passage, I was confronted by a question.  It seems like a modern question, but it is really the question that Job honestly asks – although let’s remember the end of this chapter which demonstrates that he honestly knows the answer as well.  Here’s the question: is there anything that man cannot master?

Look at the examples that Job gives.  Mankind has dug through the earth.  Mankind has moved mountains.  You might wonder at this comment and humanity’s ability to move mountains in the days of Job, but remember that anyone who was anyone had surely heard about what the Egyptians were doing prior to and during the time of Job: building pyramids.  That is easily seen as being able to cut open the earth and move mountains!

Want another example?  Mankind pulls iron out of the earth – and yes, iron was known to the people of Job’s day.  Steel might not have been known, but iron certainly was!  But what these verses are talking about is mankind’s ability to take minerals out of the earth and forge them into incredible tools.  Sure, we’ve gotten better at it as time went on, but they were already pretty good at pulling out copper, tin, lead, silver, gold, and turning these minerals into useful items.

We even pull out gemstones from within the earth.  We can pull out sapphires, rubies, pearls, diamonds, and other such gems.  We can take them and adorn ourselves with them.  But we can also take them and do some amazing other stuff with them – especially given the sheer hardness of diamond.

More examples of what mankind can do?  Well, we can reshape the courses of rivers.  Job certainly was aware of how the Babylonians had altered the river that went through their capitol city!  We can use dams to create power – the ancient people were skilled at using dams to create the power behind things like the grinding of wheat.  And I’m sure they had more than that!

I can keep going on, but I think you get my point.  As human beings, we can do some pretty amazing stuff.  Even during Job’s lifetime we could do some amazing things.  If we take a look around and see our modern technological advancements, we can only add to Job’s list of what we can accomplish.

So I echo the question underlying Job’s poem here in this chapter.  Is there anything that mankind cannot do?

A Truthful Reply

As Job ends his speech here, we find the answer.  Mankind cannot own wisdom.  We cannot possess wisdom.  We cannot dig wisdom out of the earth.  We cannot forge wisdom.  We cannot divert wisdom from where it is and cause it to flow into us.  We might be technologically advanced and we might be intelligent.  But as a race, we are not wise.

If anyone doubts this, just look around.  I don’t mean to jump from soapbox to soapbox, but I ask for a little leeway here.  Let’s look at politics.  Does anyone think it is wise to continue to have a political system where the overarching opinion has become “we can’t trust any of them?”  Or let’s look at the legal system.  We’ve created a monster where judges hand out huge settlements because people don’t realize that coffee is hot and Nutella might not be the world’s next health food.  Maybe we should look at our pastimes.  As a fan of hockey and football, I’m not foolish enough to fail to understand that we throw millions – perhaps billions? – of dollars every year into entertainment, violent tendencies, and competitions that are fundamentally meaningless.  {Sorry guys, but let’s be honest.  Does it really matter who wins the Stanley Cup or the Lombardi Trophy?  Other than bragging rights and “woo-hoo” moments that fade in a week … do those things really matter?}

Do you see what I am saying?  Our cultures are not built on wisdom!  Want some examples?

America – and most of the “developed” world – is not too far from facing a potable water shortage.  But do we hear much about it?  Our government – and most of the developed world outside of Switzerland – is flailing in its own lack of fiduciary control.  But is anything being done about it?  Our hobbies and pastimes lead us into short attention spans and over-competitiveness.  But we follow headlong anyway.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love football, hockey, TV, movies, a good book, rock music, and letting someone else be in charge of the government as much as the next guy.  But those things do not bring about wisdom.  Wisdom is the one thing that mankind will never master.  We won’t master it because we don’t have the patience, the desire, or the righteousness to master it.  It’s not in us.  Period.

How can I make that claim?

Look at how Job ends this chapter.  The fear of the Lord is wisdom.  Turning away from evil is understanding.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t see a world that is willing to turn away from evil much less fear God.  If we can’t even see those as good things worthy of pursuing, why would we ever think we shall master wisdom?

I’m sorry this has been a pretty depressing blog post.  But it is a pretty real one, too.  It is good to remember that as human beings we tend to repeatedly focus on the wrong things in life.  We think we have all the answers when in truth the beginning of finding the answers is admitting that we don’t usually even know how to ask the right questions.

Wisdom?  Ha.  It will always elude humanity.

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Year 2, Day 121: Job 27

Faith Dominates Poor Theology

This chapter of Job inspires two thoughts within me.  The first thought comes out of the first six verses.  I do think Job is a little harsh in his evaluation of God in the first verse.  Has God taken away his rights?  Has God really made his soul bitter?

Yet, even thought Job shows his humanity in a bit of error, his faithfulness dominates the error.  He will not turn to falsehood as long as there is God.  Job will not leave his integrity – which ultimately is rooted in the identity of God.  Job may make the occasional mistake – and being human he is certainly neither perfect nor righteous.  But he will not abandon God.  As we see in these chapters, Job would rather offend and abandon his friends before abandoning his God.  That is faith.  {I’m not trying to say that we should seek to abandon our friends, just to be clear…}

Where Is The Hope of the Godless?

My other thought this morning comes from the rest of the chapter.  Job asks a very probing question in verse 8.  Where is the hope of the godless should God walk away from them?  Speaking from an ultimate perspective, what do the godless have to hope in?

Look then at what Job says.  Notice that Job uses the words “wicked” and “godless” almost like synonyms … and there’s a lesson in that itself!  When the wicked is under distress, where is their hope?  When the wicked are starving, where is their hope?  When pestilence comes, what is their hope?  When their possessions are stolen, what is their hope?  We can go on and on with Job’s speech in this chapter, but you get my point.

In my own thoughts, I bring this into today’s life.  When someone’s house burns down, where do people turn?  Insurance companies?  Do people genuinely think that the insurance company is there to give them money?  Don’t get me wrong … insurance companies aren’t cruel and heartless and they do pay out in claims.  But they are fundamentally a business based on the science of actuary {examining financial risk}.  Insurance companies are built on a model of making money.  The money coming in for premiums has to be larger than the money going out for claims.  Insurance companies may serve a role, but do we really want to put our hope in insurance?  {After all, look at what happened to the insurance companies when something like Hurricane Katrina hit!}

When someone gets cancer, where do they turn?  Medicine?  Can we cure cancer reliably?  Even if we do put someone’s cancer in remission, can we ultimately stave off death?  Is not death inevitable for us all?  Should we really put our hope in medicine?  Sure, it is one thing to pursue a medicinal treatment, but is that where we should put our ultimate hope?

I’m going to speak pretty bluntly here, but I need to today.  I’ve always been amazed that the godless can go through life happy and cheery.  Please don’t get me wrong.  I know plenty of godless people who do manage to find the way to go through life happily.  But I do have to ask, where is the ultimate source of their hope?  Do they really find joy in the concept that when a person dies existence is terminated forever?  Is that a concept that inspires hope?  Is there hope to be found in the idea that there is nothing after death?  Is there hope to be found in the idea that whether I live righteously or not and whether I die with any dignity or not … it doesn’t even matter?*

As Job asks, what is the hope of the godless?

Many will call me stupid for the claim I am about to make.  But I live for the hope of the eternal.  Call me stupid for believing in something that takes faith, but that’s just how it is with me.  The belief that death is not the end brings me incredible hope.  That is what I need to get out of bed every day.  The belief that I will live with my God in a life that actually is the way He designed it to be does bring me great hope.  The fact that I believe this promised life cannot be taken away from me allows me to look square into life and know that whatever comes my way is endurable.

I might not look forward to it, but I know I can endure life even if it should end with me having cancer, a stroke, or Alzheimer’s.  I know I can endure someone pointing a gun towards me and terminating my life without feeling the need to retaliate because of the hope I have in God.  Should I become poor and homeless, I know I can go on preaching in the homeless shelters about the hope that I have in God.  The hope of the eternal is powerful stuff in my book.  I am glad Job asked about the hope of the godless, because it only serves to remind me about the hope of the godly!  I pray you have this hope as well.

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*I genuinely don’t mean to be making fun of people who choose not to believe in God, so please do not hear my words that way.  I am exploring a fundamental debate in our society.  What is more important in one’s life: control or hope?

I think for the atheist that control is more important than hope.  Control of one’s destiny trumps the despair that comes with thinking that life terminates upon death.  For the faithful one, control is less important than hope.  Hope in the continuation of life trumps the human need for absolute control.

Thus, I don’t mean to be slandering those of an atheist perspective.  Rather, I mean to be drawing out the internal prioritization of people and why they make the choice to believe or not believe.  I hope my words and my questioning do not offend.