1/12/10
Job 21-23
Job Replies: The Wicked Often Go Unpunished
Job 21:1 Then Job answered:
and let this be your consolation.
3 Bear with me, and I will speak;
then after I have spoken, mock on.
4 As for me, is my complaint addressed to mortals?
Why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me, and be appalled,
and lay your hand upon your mouth.
6 When I think of it I am dismayed,
and shuddering seizes my flesh.
7 Why do the wicked live on,
reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
8 Their children are established in their presence,
and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from fear,
and no rod of God is upon them.
10 Their bull breeds without fail;
their cow calves and never miscarries.
11 They send out their little ones like a flock,
and their children dance around.
12 They sing to the tambourine and the lyre,
and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.
13 They spend their days in prosperity,
and in peace they go down to Sheol.
14 They say to God, ‘Leave us alone!
We do not desire to know your ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’
16 Is not their prosperity indeed their own achievement?
The plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.
17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
How often does calamity come upon them?
How often does God distribute pains in his anger?
18 How often are they like straw before the wind,
and like chaff that the storm carries away?
19 You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’
Let it be paid back to them, so that they may know it.
20 Let their own eyes see their destruction,
and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what do they care for their household after them,
when the number of their months is cut off?
22 Will any teach God knowledge,
seeing that he judges those that are on high?
23 One dies in full prosperity,
being wholly at ease and secure,
24 his loins full of milk
and the marrow of his bones moist.
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having tasted of good.
26 They lie down alike in the dust,
and the worms cover them.
27 “Oh, I know your thoughts,
and your schemes to wrong me.
28 For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?
Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’
29 Have you not asked those who travel the roads,
and do you not accept their testimony,
30 that the wicked are spared in the day of calamity,
and are rescued in the day of wrath?
31 Who declares their way to their face,
and who repays them for what they have done?
32 When they are carried to the grave,
a watch is kept over their tomb.
33 The clods of the valley are sweet to them;
everyone will follow after,
and those who went before are innumerable.
34 How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?
There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”
Do we not all feel this way? For me, this is the most powerful chapter in Job. It is a summary of questions that every thoughtful person considers. Yes, I know the end of the Book, Revelation I mean, but just as important I know the end of this book. We are to recognize the gulf that separates us from God.
We can never understand a Holy Other who is both immanent and transcendent, near and far, merciful and just, awesome but tender. Is not sanctification a derivative of trust? We trust the other driver not to cross the double yellow line, we trust the grocer, pastor, doctor, pilot, even, sadly, the politician. Sooner or later all of these betray our trust, but God is faithful. How is it we trust each other more than we trust God? Too often I trust the stranger in the other car to follow the rules of the road, but then grow uncomfortable waiting on God. When I pray I often have to get past all this shame before I feel like I am really praying. When I think of God I am always, always amazed at God’s patience.
I think we all have quiet moments, some planned, but most beyond our control, quiet moments when we get a glimpse of who we really are. The self-help books are aimed at how those moments make us feel. Their goal is to deliver us from that inner sadness. This iPod, Twitter, texting world is all about not allowing us to have quiet moments. Keep moving, keep active, whatever you do don’t stop and reflect. Our senses are so bombarded during the day that we have to be medicated to sleep at night, but whatever we do, don’t stop to be alone with your thoughts. That is why I love the Eagles song, Learn to be Still.
Eliphaz Speaks: Job’s Wickedness Is Great
Job 22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
Can even the wisest be of service to him?
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous,
or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?
4 Is it for your piety that he reproves you,
and enters into judgment with you?
5 Is not your wickedness great?
There is no end to your iniquities.
6 For you have exacted pledges from your family for no reason,
and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 You have given no water to the weary to drink,
and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
8 The powerful possess the land,
and the favored live in it.
9 You have sent widows away empty-handed,
and the arms of the orphans you have crushed.
Oh man, this is just like modern television, the internet, gossip, etc. It doesn’t matter whether or not you have your facts straight, just throw it out there. Eliphaz has a point to make (aka agenda) so he will twist, turn, spin, the events to support his position, just like today. It has not been that long ago when the most important thing was integrity. I have four sons, 28-32. If I even mention the “I” word to one of them I can see a shadow come across their face as they take their defensive position, shut down and hunker behind their wall of condescending patience with their old man. Why have integrity and honesty gone out of fashion? I heard Dallas Willard say that no one is teaching morality. If schools teach morality they will be sued. We see that all the time. Carrying a Bible is almost the same as carrying a gun. (Now that is funny, but true.) Many pastors hesitate to teach morality for fear of being out of date, old fashioned and soon jobless. Was it Kris Kristofferson who said, “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose?” Ah Eliphaz, you are a modern man indeed.
and sudden terror overwhelms you,
11 or darkness so that you cannot see;
a flood of water covers you.
12 “Is not God high in the heavens?
See the highest stars, how lofty they are!
13 Therefore you say, ‘What does God know?
Can he judge through the deep darkness?
14 Thick clouds enwrap him, so that he does not see,
and he walks on the dome of heaven.’
15 Will you keep to the old way
that the wicked have trod?
16 They were snatched away before their time;
their foundation was washed away by a flood.
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone,’
and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things—
but the plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.
19 The righteous see it and are glad;
the innocent laugh them to scorn,
20 saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,
and what they left, the fire has consumed.’
21 “Agree with God, and be at peace;
in this way good will come to you.
22 Receive instruction from his mouth,
and lay up his words in your heart.
Truth is truth wherever you find it. Even Eliphaz can speak some truth. Picture a miner sifting for gold. How much does he throw away to find flakes of gold? Sifting is a process. Discernment is a process. Just because the potatoes on your plate taste great don’t assume the okra will too.
if you remove unrighteousness from your tents,
24 if you treat gold like dust,
and gold of Ophir like the stones of the torrent-bed,
25 and if the Almighty is your gold
and your precious silver,
26 then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,
and lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will pay your vows.
28 You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 When others are humiliated, you say it is pride;
for he saves the humble.
30 He will deliver even those who are guilty;
they will escape because of the cleanness of your hands.”
Job Replies: My Complaint Is Bitter
Job 23:1 Then Job answered:
his hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him,
that I might come even to his dwelling!
4 I would lay my case before him,
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would learn what he would answer me,
and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
No; but he would give heed to me.
7 There an upright person could reason with him,
and I should be acquitted forever by my judge.
8 “If I go forward, he is not there;
or backward, I cannot perceive him;
9 on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him;
I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.
10 But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I shall come out like gold.
11 My foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and have not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured in my bosom the words of his mouth.
13 But he stands alone and who can dissuade him?
What he desires, that he does.
14 For he will complete what he appoints for me;
and many such things are in his mind.
I have been wrestling with this very thing. “For he will complete what he appoints for me.” Do we not all yearn for this? Why are we here? What are we to do? Will God accomplish in me, (noticed it is God who does the completing, not me) God’s will or will I die a useless vessel, a cracked pot that never watered the seeds along the way?
Have you noticed the wonderful feeling from doing physical work, the sense of accomplishment, the joy of doing a job well? Then there is the feeling of being spent, but nothing is accomplished. When I die I so much want the former and not the latter. Don’t we all?
Last year we house sit for one of Lily's clients. This retired couple went to the Congo to see gorillas! As Lily finished cleaning their kitchen I walked around and around their paved, almost figure eight driveway. The first part of the figure eight is one hundred eighty steps. Inside this section are several old, tall, and stately trees that littered their pavement with golden leaves. The other part of the figure eight is one hundred ten walking steps. On its perimeter is a barn. Within its perimeter is a building for storage. It is surrounded by trees, but since they are on the outside of the driveway there are not as many leaves.
As I walked around and around, scuffling the leaves, I tried to focus all of my attention on being present to the colors, the smell of rain, and the touch of the cool breeze. I spend too much energy making my present anxious about tomorrow. Worry about what I will be doing or not doing tomorrow causes me more stress than thoughts of dying. The screech of the neighborhood hawk brought me back to the present. Oregon is such a wonderful place. Ken and Hana's house and landcaping is like a park, but it isn’t our home. I remember looking forward to going home and sleeping in our own bed.
As I walked I did what I do so often, wondered why I am here. If, as Job says, God wants to do something through me what is it? I remember thinking how available Lily and I are to go anywhere and do anything. Mostly it seems I am available and vulnerable to bouts of worry.
Job cried for justice. I cry to justify my existence, even though I know that God says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.”
when I consider, I am in dread of him.
16 God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me;
17 If only I could vanish in darkness,
and thick darkness would cover my face!