Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

"Should a multitude of words go unanswered,

and a man full of talk be judged right?

Should your babble silence men,

and when you mock, shall no one shame you?

For you say, 'My doctrine is pure,

and I am clean in God's eyes.'

But oh, that God would speak

and open his lips to you,

and that he would tell you the secrets of his wisdom!

For he is manifold in understanding.

Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.

"Can you find out the deep things of God?

Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?

It is higher than heaven--what can you do?

Deeper than Sheol--what can you know?

It's measure is longer than the earth

and broader than the sea.

If he passes through and imprisons

and summons the courts, who can turn him back?

For he knows worthless men;

when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?

But a stupid man will get understanding

when a wild donkey's colt is born a man!

"If you prepare your heart,

you will stretch out your hands toward him.

If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,

and let not injustice dwell in your tents.

Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish;

you will be secure and will not fear.

You will forget your misery;

you will remember it as waters that have passed away.

And your life will be brighter than the noon day;

its darkness will be like the morning.

And you will feel secure, because there is hope;

you will look around and take your rest in security.

You will lie down and none will make you afraid;

many will court your favor.

But the eyes of the wicked will fail;

all way of escape will be lost to them,

and their hope is to breathe their last."

It's interesting because a lot of what Zophar says is probably correct strictly speaking. The first two paragraphs, although overly accusatory, are true when he talks about the incomprehensibility of God and how Job must be humble before him.

The last paragraph is a continuation of Job's friends' prosperity gospel. They believe having worldly success and being in favor with God go hand in hand, and the one doesn't come without the other. Unfortunately I think there may be quite a few people today who believe the same thing. In fact, I think we all do to some extent. There is something in us that tells us that if we are in favor with God we will be blessed in a worldly way, and if we are in sin, then we'll be cursed. While this is sometimes true (and the proverbs will confirm that), it is by no means always true, and as I've said before, is sometimes the opposite.

It is a stange statement in the middle: "But a stupid man will get understanding when a wild donkey's colt is born a man!" I suppose by that he means that the stupid will never gain understanding. It could be that he is insluting Job by saying he's never going to understand. Or it could be just a general statement. I don't know.

Until next time...

All scripture quotations are from the ESV.

Then Job answered and said:

"Truly I know that it is so:

But how can a man be in the right before God?

If one wished to contend with him,

one could not answer him once in a thousand times.

He is wise in heart and mighty in strength

--who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?--

he who removes mountains, and they know it not,

when he overturns them in his anger,

who shakes the earth out of its place,

and its pillars tremble;

who commands the sun, and it does not rise;

who seals up the stars;

who alone stretched out the heavens

and trampled the waves of the sea;

who made the Bear and Orion,

the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;

who does great things beyond searching out,

and marvelous things beyond number.

Behold he passes by me, and I see him not;

he moves on, but I do not perceive him.

Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back?

Who will say to him, 'What are you doing?'

"God will not turn back his anger;

beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab.

How then can I answer him,

choosing my words with him?

Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;

I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.

If I summoned him and he answered me,

I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.

For he crushes me with a tempest

and multiplies my wounds without cause;

he will not let me get my breth,

but fills me with betterness.

If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty!

If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?

Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;

though I am blameless, hw would prove me perverse.

I am blameless; I regard not myself;

I loathe my life.

It is all one; therefore I say,

He destoys both the blameless and the wicked.

When disaster brings sudden death,

he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;

he covers the faces of its judges--

if it is not he, who then is it?

"My days are swifter than a runner;

they flee away; they see no good.

They go by like skiffs of reed,

like an eagle swooping on the prey.

If I say, 'I will forget my comlaint,

I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer,'

I become afraid of all my suffering,

for I know you will not hold me innocent.

I shall be condemned;

why then do I labor in vain?

If I wash myself with snow

and cleanse my hands with lye,

yet you will plunge me into a pit,

and my own clothes will abhor me.

For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,

that we should come to trial together.

There is no arbiter between us,

who might lay his hand on us both.

Let him take his rod away from me,

and let not dread of him terrify me.

Then I would speak without fear of him,

for I am not so in myself.

"I loathe my life;

I will give free utterance to my complaint;

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

I will say to God, Do not condemn me;

let me know why you contend against me.

Does it seem good to you to oppress,

to despise the work of your hands

and favor the designs of the wicked?

Have you eyes of flesh?

Do you see as man sees?

Are your days as the days of man,

or your years as a man's years,

that you seek out my iniquity

and search for my sin,

although you know that I am not guilty,

and there is none to deliver out of your hand?

Your hands fashioned me and made me,

and now you have destroyed me altogether.

Remember that you have made me like clay;

and will you return me to the dus?

Did you not pour me out like milk

and curdle me like cheese?

You clothed me with skin and flesh,

and knit me together with bones and sinews.

You have granted me life and steadfast love,

and your care has preserved my spirit.

Yet these things you hid in your heart;

I know that this was your purpose.

If I sin, you watch me

and do not acquit me of my iniquity.

If I am guilty, woe to me!

If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head,

for I am filled with disgrace

and look on my affliction.

And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion

and again work wonders against me.

You renew your witnesses against me

and increase your vexation toward me;

you bring fresh troops against me.

"Why did you bring me out from the womb?

Would that I had died before any eye had seen me

and were as though I had not been,

carried from the womb to the grave.

Are not my days few?

Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer

before I go--and I shall not return--

to the land of the darkness and deep shadow,

the land of gloom like thick darkness,

like deep shadow without any order,

where light is as thick darkness."

I love how in the Bible God's power is always associated with nature. That is how I see God as well. Unfortunately, I don't spend enough time there to appreciate Him as I should. I think modern society doesn't actually. I tend to think that is why urban people are more likely to be against God: because they are so disconnected with the beauty of nature. And for some reason people seem to think how amazing evolution or modern science is instead of seeing how amazing God is when they see awesome stuff in nature. I think both of those things point towards God more, not less, than a world without them.

In this passage, Job totally understands that he cannot understand God. Although he thinks he is in the right and "blameless", he isn't sure, he says, "Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser." and later, "Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse." Job understands he needs mercy, even though in the eyes of the world, and even God, as we see at the beginning of the book, he is still in a way perverse. Strange, but it rings true with the rest of scripture.

It's interesting that he says in the next verse, "I am blameless; I regard not myself; I loathe my life." I don't know if he means there that his blamelessness is because of his lack of regard for himself, or whether he doesn't regard himself because he doesn't believe his life is worth anything during this suffering. It's interesting to think about the former case, because indeed that is how we become blameless: we have to set ourselves aside and pursue God and other's interests instead of our own. That is what Jesus did perfectly: he didn't regard himself so that he could do God's will and serve us instead.

This passage has a lot more in it than I expected. A couple more points:

Who is the Rahab referred to? Other possible references include later in Job: By his power he stilled the sea; by his understanding he shattered Rahab," or in the Psalms: "You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them. You crushed Rahab like a carcass; you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm," and in Isaiah: "Egypt's help is worthless and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab who sits still," and, "Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depts of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?" So all in all, this appears to be referring to some kind of Hebrew myth associated with the sea. Some kind of creature/person who God overcame. Some quick Wikipediation, and it appears I am correct; some kind of Hebrew sea-demon. Interesting, but not very significant.

I can't help but notice as I read Job's words how sovereign he believes that God is. I can't claim to have read any other ancient writings about other people's gods, but I would venture a guess that they don't attribute as much to their gods as Job does to God here. He believes God fully formed him and is responsible for his sufferings full well knowing the consequences of that. He believes God can rescue him from his suffering but choses not to.

We'll continue next week with the response of Zophar. By the way, I couldn't determine the structure of the book very specifically, but for a while it goes back and forth between Job and his friends.

Well I haven't been keeping up with this well at all. I think I might jump around a bit more because I am lazy and I can't stay motivated though a book with 42 chapters. We'll look at Colossians for a while and see what we can get out of that.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Chris, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing--as it also does among you since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

That will do for today. So we get the intro, Paul and Timothy writing. I guess they wrote quite a few of the new testament books together, or else Paul did and Timothy was near him when he did it: at least Philipians, Colossians, 2 Corinthians, and 1&2 Thessalonians.

The first thought I have is, what would Paul pray about me if he wrote me a letter?

I doubt he would say "since we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven."

I don't think my faith is very well known, especially among unbelievers. And I don't think my love of the saints is very noteworthy.

But note what motivates the Colossians' faith and love! It is the hope they have laid up for them in heaven! How often does that motivate us? But it should be the only motivating factor.

Most of my motivations for loving others is to look good in front of them, or to gain approval, or to get something back. Rarely (if ever) is it out of a genuine love of them and a hope in Christ.

Hmm. Ok well that's all for now. Let me know if you think of anything else in that section.

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

"How long will you say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a great wind?
Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
If your children have sinned against him,
he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
If you will seek God
and please with the Almighty for mercy,
if you are pure and upright,
surely then he will rouse himself for you
and restore your rightful habitation.
And though your beginning was small,
your latter days will be very great.

"For enquire, please, of bygone ages,
and consider what the fathers have searched out.
For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,
for our days on earth are a shadow.
Will they not teach you and tell you
and utter words out of their understanding?

"Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
While yet in flower and not cut down,
they wither before any other plant.
Such are the paths of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless shall perish.
His confidence is severed,
and his trust is a spider's web.
He leans against his house, but it does not stand;
he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.
He is a lush plant before the sun,
and his shoots spread over his garden.
His roots entwine the stone heap;
he looks upon a house of stones.
If he is destroyed from his place,
then it will deny him, saying, 'I have never seen you.'
Behold, this is the joy of his way,
and out of the soil others will spring.

"Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,
nor take the hand of evildoers.
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,
and your lips with shouting.
Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more."

I just started working and I'm really tired so I won't have many good comments here. I just wanted to continue working through this.

A lot of what Bildad says here is probably true. He seems to have a more immediate and certain concept of God's blessing those who are righteous than is evident in the story of Job and in the whole of life. In general I think it is true that God does tend to bless the rightous with prosperity and success on this earth, it is by no means absolutely true, and in fact, I think we should consider it a blessing when we suffer because it means we are more mature Christians who are ready to recieve those things. James in the New Testament, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let your steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." I think it is better for us to sufer, in fact, than for us to cruise through life. But that suffering is not necessarily a result of our own sinfulness (although sometimes it is), even though Bildad thinks that the two are totally connected.

Bildad thinks the two are as connected as a reeds and water, and papyrus and marsh. But I disagree, and I think the story of Job does as well. In this fallen world, sometimes (it seems like most of the time actually) the corrupt and sinful flourish, and the righteous don't. Job is a righteous man, but he suffers. Although he is eventually restored, that doesn't always happen, and it was through no doing of his own.

Then Job answered and said:

"Oh that my vexation were weighed,
and all my calamity laid in the balances!
For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
therefore my words have been rash.
For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass,
or the ox low over his fodder?
Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?
My appetite refuses to touch them;
they are as food that is loathsome to me.

Oh that I might have my request,
and that God would fulfil my hope,
that it would please God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
This would be my comfort;
I would even exult in pain unsparing,
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should be patient?
Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?
Have I any help in me,
when resource is driven from me?

"He who withholds kindness from a friend
forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
My brothers are treacherous as a torrent-bed,
as torrential streams that pass away,
which are dark with ice,
and where the snow hides itself.
When they melt, they disappear;
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
The caravans turn aside from their course;
they go up into the waste and perish.
The caravans of Tema look,
the travellers of Sheba hope.
They are ashamed because they were confident;
they come there and are disappointed.
For you have now become nothing;
you see my calamity and are afraid.
Have I said, 'Make me a gift'?
Or, 'From your wealth offer a bribe for me'?
Or, 'Deliver me from adversary's hand'?
Or, 'Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless'?

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

'But now, be pleased to look at me,
for I will not lie to your face.
Please turn; let no injustice be done.
Turn now; my vindication is at stake.
Is there any injustice on my tongue?
Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?

"Has not man a hard service on earth,
and are not his days like the days of a hired hand?
Like a slave who longs for the shadow,
and like a hired hand who looks for his wages,
so I am allotted months of emptiness,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
When I lie down I say, "When shall I arise?'
But the night is long,
and I am full of tossing till the dawn.
My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt;
my skin hardens, the breaks out afresh.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle
and come to their end without hope.

"Remember that life is a breath;
my eye will never again see good.
The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more;
while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone.
As the cloud fades and vanishes,
so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up;
he returns no more to his house,
nor does his place know him any more.

"Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Am I the sea, or a sea monster,
that you set a guard over me?
When I say, 'My bed will comfort me,
my couch will ease my complaint',
then you scare me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
so that I would choose strangling
and death rather than my bones.
I loathe my life; I would not live for ever.
Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.
What is man, that you make so much of him,
and that you set your heart on him,
visit him every morning
and test him every moment?
How long will you not look away from me,
nor leave me alone till I swallow my spittle?
If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?
Why have you made me your mark?
Why have I become a burden to you?
Why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in the earth;
you will seek me, but I shall not be."

Let me try to summarize briefly what Job has just said.

First he wants to adequately describe to Eliphaz what he is going through, but he can't. Eliphaz is not having much pity for Job and it's because it doesn't seem like Eliphaz really knows what Job is going through. Job says "Oh that my vexation were weighed", saying he wishes he could measure his pain and properly commicate that. He uses themes of food here to describe how he can no longer enjoy food and how God has poisoned him.

Next Job again wishes his own death. This is probably part of describing how bad it is to Eliphaz and his friends. He has nothing left, and as I mentioned early in this study, he has no resources left: how can he help himself? He says, "Have I any help in me, when resource is driven from me?" He goes on to say that his brothers have forsaken him. Family should have been by him at this tough time, not necessarily friends. We see in fact at the end of the book that Job has brothers and sisters who apparently have forsaken him during this tough time, but who return at the end, "The came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house." It is just as Job says, that his brothers come and go with the weather as a mountain stream.

Job then entreats Eliphaz and his friends to explain exactly what they think he's done wrong, when he says, "make me understand how I have gone astray." He wants them to be just with their words and stop falsely accusing him.

He then returns to the themes of work and rest to describe his suffering, comparing his life to that of a hired hand or slave because he cannot sleep or rest with the afflictions he has.

Most interestingly, he does not hold back his complaints from the Lord. I think we often do that, if we're going through a tough time. We like to say to God, "well, I know you've got a plan, and you'll work stuff out, and things aren't so bad right now, but please do this...", but we fail to really get honest with God about how we feel. Job doesn't have a problem with that. He tells it exactly like he feels it and blames God fully for his problems: "For the arrows of the Almighty are in me," "Why have you made me your mark?" Job knows that God is in control, and is Ultimately responsible for everything that is happening to him. He want's to know why God seems to be punishing him, understandably!

Is Job right in doing so? Well, he is called blameless at the beginning of the book and at the end where God says to Eliphaz: "For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." So clearly Job isn't commiting an aggregious sin by being Honest with God. That should be a great comfort. If we have doubts, or problems, we should feel free to take them before God. Sure, once we read the bible, and discover the truth, we might end up looking like fools, as Job does at the end, but we will be working through our problems, and ultimately we'll grow as a result.

My final comment is that Job understands, even in his old covenent position, that God should pardon his iniquity, in saying "Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity?" I am constantly amazed by Job's redemptive understanding.

All bible passages are from the ESV

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

"If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
Yet who can keep from speaking?
Behold, you have instructed many,
and you have strengthened the weak hands.
Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
and you have made firm the feeble knees.
But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
it touches you, and you are dismayed.
Is not your fear of God your confidence,
and the integrity of your ways your hope?

"Remember: who that was innocent ever perished?
Or where were the upright cut off?
As I have seen, those who plough iniquity
and sow trouble reap the same.
By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,
the teeth of the young lions are broken.
The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

"Now a word was brought to me stealthily;
my ear received the whisper of it.
Amid thoughts from visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
dread came upon me, and trembling,
which made all my bones shake.
A spirit glided past my face;
the hair of my flesh stood up.
It stood still,
but I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
there was silence, then I heard a voice:
'Can mortal man be in the right before God?
Can a man be pure before his Maker?
Even in his servants he puts no trust,
and his angels he charges with error;
how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like the moth.
Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces;
they perish for ever without anyone regarding it.
Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them,
do they not die, and that without wisdom?'

"Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple.
I have seen the fool taking root,
but suddenly I curse his dwelling.
His children are far from safety;
they are crushed in the gate,
and there is no one to deliver them.
The hungry eat his harvest,
and he takes it even out of thorns,
and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
For affliction does not come from dust,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
but man is born to trouble
as the sparks fly upwards.

"As for me, I would seek God,
and to God would I commit my cause,
who does great things and unsearchable,
marvellous things without number:
he gives rain on the earth
and sends water on the fields;
he sets on high those who are lowly,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.
He catches the wise in their own craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
They meet with darkness in the daytime
and grope at noonday as in the night.
But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth
and from the hand of the mighty.
So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts her mouth.

"Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves;
therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.
For he wounds, but he binds up;
he shatters, but his hands heal.
He will deliver you from six troubles;
in seven no evil shall touch you.
In famine he will redeem you from death,
and in war from the power of the sword.
You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue,
and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
and shall not fear the beasts of the earth.
For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
You shall know that your tent is at peace,
and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
You shall know also that your offspring shall be many,
and your descendants as the grass of the earth.
You shall come to your grave in ripe old age,
like sheaf gathered up in its season.
Behold, this we have searched out; it is true.
Hear, and know it for your good."

So Elpihaz starts off replying to Job, after seven days and seven nights of silence.

First it seems that Eliphaz thinks Job is weak for being dismayed in his current condition, since he used to instruct and comfort people who were in suffering before. Eliphaz thinks Job should get confidence and hope from the fear of God and his integrity. Elpihaz thinks that the innocent won't have problems, but that those who are iniquitous do (clearly implying that Job is at fault). Then he gets a little over dramatic and describes this voice that told him that mortal men can't be in the right before God, and that even angels are rebuked.

Then it seems as if Eliphaz is saying that the rich fool suffers for his selfishness. He takes a pretty low blow at Job, associating him with the rich fool by saying that his children are crushed in the gate, just as Job's children were crushed in their house. Eliphaz seems to be saying that since Job was so selfish (which we have no other evidence for), no one will come to his aid and God is punishing him.

Then Eliphaz says that he would seek God, since God is in control. Most of what he says about God seems good and right.

Finally he says that even though God is punishing Job now, He will restore him later.

It seems though that Eliphaz is teaching that God always immediately blesses those who turn to him, and punishes those who are injust or sinful. And he also seems to be saying that Job shouldn't worry that God is punishing him, because no men are pure before God, and that God will punish but restore him.

All in all, it seems like Eliphaz doesn't really comfort Job in his suffering, he tells him to get over it. I doubt that is an effective way to help someone in suffering, and as we'll see, next Job just wants to communicate exactly how much pain he is in, but can't find the words to do it.

All scripture passages are from the ESV.

It's been a while since I've posted, but I'm going to go ahead and jump right back into Job. For those who have missed the beginning of Job, I strongly encourage you to go back and read the beginning of Job, and if you want to, my posts about it.

After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job said:
"Let the day perish on which I was born,
and the night that said,
'A man is conceived.'
Let that day be darkness!
May God above not seek it
nor light shine upon it.
Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.
Let clouds dwell upon it;
let the blackness of the day terrify it.
That night--let thick darkness seize it!
Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
let it not come into the number of the months.
Behold, let that night be barren;
let no joyful cry enter it.
Let those curse it who curse the day,
who are ready to rouse up Leviathan.
Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
let it hope for light, but have none.
nor see the eyelids of the morning,
because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb,
nor hide trouble from my eyes.
Why did I not die at birth,
come out from the womb and expire?
Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
For then I would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept; then I would have been at rest,
with kings and counsellors of the earth
who rebuilt ruins for themselves,
or with princes who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.
Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child,
as infants who never see the light?
There the wicked cease from troubling,
and there the weary are at rest.
There the prisoners are at ease together;
they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.
The small and the great are there,
and the slave is free from his master.

"Why is light given to him who is in misery,
and life to the bitter in soul,
who long for death, but it comes not,
and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,
who rejoice exceedingly
and are glad when they find the grave?
Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?
For my sighing comes instead of my bread,
and my groanings are poured out like water.
For the thing that I fear comes upon me,
and what I dread befalls me.
I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, but trouble comes."

Some themes I immediately notice are: light vs. darkness, life vs. death, pain vs. rest.

First, Job curses the day of his conception/birth. He basically wishes he'd never been conceived. The language reminds me of the creation account in Genesis:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, "Let there be light", and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.


Job's seems to be wishing the act of creation undone on his day of conception. Indeed, he wishes it had been fruitless, because in contrast to God's creation, he believes that his life is not good, and shouldn't have been made. I suppose the darkness represents the lack of anything, in the same way that darkness meant the lack of anything in the creation account. God creates light first, and then the rest of creation.

Next he moves on to wondering why, seeing as he was conceived, he didn't die on his first day. He wishes he had been stillborn, dead at birth, or died young. He talks then about where he would be had that happened. This reflects the Hebrew belief in Sheol, the afterlife they believed awaited them. It seems all went there and were given rest - princes, stillborn children, the wicked, prisoners, slaves and masters, small and great. All except the living.

Finally, he wonders why, seeing as he lived through his childhood, he survives through all this suffering. He wishes he would die from all the pain, but somehow he goes on living (God has told the Devil to spare his life, in fact, God is maintaining his life). To Job this isn't a good thing, but he doesn't realize what awaits him after he is restored.

Job was conceived in darkness, and lived a fairly happy life (it appears from the beginning of the book) until he is struck by Satan. Then he wishes to return to death, un-life, or wishes he'd never been born. Eventually though, he will be restored, and will realize he was wrong for wanting to return from where he came. This seems like a theme in the Bible. The Israelites wanted to return to their Slavery in Egypt instead of enduring through the wilderness hardships (through the power of God) into the promised land. In the same way, sometimes we wish the gospel had never been revealed to us and want to return to a worldly way of life. Only through the power of God can we push on and be delivered. In fact, Job wanted out, but God preserved him, and he lived on, and eventually was blessed. It was in fact God's doing that Job lives, since God had forbidden Satan from ending Job's life.

This was written fairly quickly. Might edit later. Thanks for reading.

All scripture passages are from the ESV.

I'm going to take a break from Job for a post and discuss something that I thought about today a fair amount. I have no idea how long its going to take me. It could be a paragraph, or it could take several pages. We'll see.

I suppose the most applicable scripture passage is Romans 6, but I suggest you read all of Romans from start to finish in one sitting if you haven't already done that. It's actually surprisingly easy to read. But if you haven't read it or don't want to, no worries, read on.

This thought was spurred by several conversations and me reading Romans, and also from a Sunday school lesson I taught a while back.

The conversations I've had have been with people who are religious, but have a problem believing in the all-sufficient grace of God through Jesus Christ.

I was talking to a Muslim friend I had a long time ago, and explaining what I thought were the differences between Christianity and Islam. I thought (and still do) that the key difference is the fact that Christians don't work for their salvation. They are saved by grace alone, and their works have no bearing on their salvation. He was confused, wondering how on earth this could be true. He said if this was true, why do Christians do good things. I've had this conversation with Catholics as well, some of whom also believe a form of works salvation, where we are saved by mostly grace but we also have to be good.

Unless you are a protestant Christian or a more reformed Catholic, you might be confused right now, but bear with me. This is the big deal with Christianity.

How can I be saying that we are saved totally by Grace, and our works don't help us towards eternal life? Why wouldn't we just do whatever we want and then let God take care of us?

Well, Paul discusses that very issue in Chapter 6 of Romans, thankfully. He starts off in chapter 6 by saying,

"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?"

This chapter of Romans takes a seriously long time to understand... like a life time. But sometimes I get little glimpses of it, and I wanted to share that today.

My friend Paul Duffin was teaching Sunday school this morning on The Resurrection of Christ. He was basically over viewing the Apostle Paul's teaching on our Unity with Christ, which is central to the Apostle Paul's teaching.

The fact that Christ was raised means we are raised with him metaphorically now (and physically later). What that means is that we are raised from our death (in sin) to "newness of life." Our default state, from birth, is sinful rebellion from God (for more information, read the beginning of Genesis, and specifically about the fall of man. Adam and Eve rebelled, and so now we are naturally in a state of rebellion, until Christ returns and fully redeems the world.) But since we are united to Christ, we are pulled out of our slavery and death in Sin into a new life of worship of God.

So what does THAT all mean? Well, that sometimes isn't all that helpful when read on its own. But let's consider some of the other things that Paul says later in the chapter and in Romans. Why are Christians good? There isn't anything practical there for us to DO. It still seems like we're just saved and that's it, we can do whatever we want. That is pretty much true. The catch is, what we want changes! He says further on in chapter 6 that we should be slaves to righteousness, not sin.

What does it mean to be a slave to something? Being a slave to sin, is being governed by your own sinful desires, desires apart from God. It's like being addicted to something that isn't good. It may feel good at the time, but the end result is death:

"For you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

The trick of the whole thing is that you don't just stop sinning of your own accord, because you try hard enough. Jesus changes your desires, and then you desire to stop sinning. It's not like we grudgingly give up our adultery (of any form, or pornography), or our constantly self serving attitude, our disregard of others or any other sin we might have that is controlling us. Jesus, through his Resurrection, sets us free from the sins that own us, and instead he owns us and shapes our desires to be his. Ultimately, this is extremely good for us. The bible also lets us in on a little secret. It's actually good for us to be "good". I think it takes a lot of wisdom to understand this, and I don't fully understand it. But occasionally I get glimpses of that too. Proverbs says:

"Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
would have none of my counsel
and despised my reproof,
therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
and have the fill of their own devices."
"The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight,
but the wicked falls by his own wickedness."
"The wicked is overthrown through his evil doing,
but the righteous finds refuge in his death."

And in Ecclesiastes:

"Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things, God will bring you into Judgement."

And in Galatians:

"Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially those who are of the household of faith."

Notice the theme: the wicked aren't punished necessarily by outside forces. It is their own wickedness that punishes them. Interestingly, God has constructed the world so that in most cases, wickedness is destructive, not only of those victimized by it, but by those who are committing it.

So it is also in our own interest (but not our own power) to do good, not for our eternal salvation, but for our current happiness. I am not advocating some kind of prosperity gospel here though. Because actually, although the effect of doing good is good, often we then become the victim of much wickedness and see persecution because of it. But this kind of suffering is different from a self inflicted one, and in fact can and should give us great joy. James says,

"Count it all joy, my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness."

The kind of joy referred to here though is not the joy of a self-interested person as is often thought of when happiness is concerned...

And of course in the context of Job, of course the righteous can suffer.

There is a ton more to be said here, and I'm sure there are hundreds of other supporting scripture passages. For now I'll leave it at that, because otherwise this will turn into a rant. Please feel free to comment.

Notes to me: Other things to talk about: Importance and centrality of salvation by Grace alone.

All scripture quotations are from the ESV.