I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 38-42.

    Throughout the book Job had challenged God to answer him. Now God does so. Job had questioned why God acted as He did, questioning whether His acts were truly just. Now God replies by asking Job some questions. Faced with God’s questions Job realized that he did not know enough to question God’s decisions. Looking at the questions which God asked Job, we see that science has learned the answer to many of them, but the point still stands: Our limited minds are not capable of knowing and understanding enough to second guess God. It is human nature for us to question God when we see injustice in the world. However, if we truly seek God, He will reveal Himself to us, and like Job, we will find that we have to confess that we lacked understanding and repent of our anger towards God. In the end we see that it was Job’s three friends, who defended God with inaccurate generalizations made universal, who were condemned by God. Job called on God for answers when he perceived wrong in the way the world worked. His friends declared that what Job perceived must be the way things ought to be. God’s response was that Job was correct to think that it looked wrong, but that Job did not know enough to understand what was going on.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 34-37.

    Elihu continues and reprimands Job for claiming to be sinless. He reminds us that God sees everything we do; no matter what subterfuge we try we cannot hide our actions from God. In His time, God will judge each and every one of us for our actions. We do not get to set the time for us to stand before Him. God does not twist justice and shows no favoritism. He judges the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless by the same standard. When the oppressed cry out to God, He hears them. If He chooses not to speak or act, how can we possibly know enough to criticize His choice? When we suffer we have two just choices. We can say to God, “I have sinned, but I will sin no more.” Or we can ask, “I do not know what evil I have done-tell me. If I have done wrong I will stop at once.” What is being said here echoes what is said many other places in the Bible. In particular, Paul says in Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” If we do not know what sin we are committing most frequently, we should ask God to reveal it to us so that we can stop doing so.

    Elihu has another insight for us here. One which I do not believe is touched upon elsewhere in the Bible. Our sins do not affect God. The Laws which God commands us to obey are not for God’s benefit, rather they are for ours. Violating the Laws which God has given us brings no harm to God. We are the ones who are harmed when we violate His Laws and commands; we and our fellow humans beings. In the same way, God does not benefit when we do what is right. Once again, doing what is right benefits us and our fellow man. God has given us his rules and laws for our benefit, we are hurting ourselves and our fellow man when we choose not to follow them.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 29-33.

    Job discusses how good his life had been and relates how bad it now is. Then he lists off sins which he believes are deserving of his suffering, but declares that he is not guilty of any of them. I am not going to write about those sins, but it is worth our time to read what Job says here because we should strive to live up to the life he claims for himself. Job demands that God answer and tell him what he has done to deserve the suffering he is experiencing.

    When Job is finished a new person speaks, Elihu. Elihu was not mentioned at the beginning when we are told the names of Job’s other friends and he is not mentioned at the end when God condemns what the other three had to say to Job. Those two facts mean that we should look at Elihu’s comments differently from the other three friends. Elihu starts with humility. First he acknowledges that he is younger than the others and remained silent in order to give his elders time to speak. Now that they are silent he begins to speak and he starts by declaring that he is no better than Job. I cannot emphasize enough how important this is. Elihu makes it clear that he is not speaking to Job as his moral superior.

    From there Elihu goes on to challenge Job’s complaint that God does not speak to him. God speaks to people again and again, even though we often fail to recognize His voice. If we do not hear God’s voice it is not because He does not speak. Rather it is because we fail to listen. Let us listen to God’s words as He speaks them to us, whether in dreams at night, or random encounters with strangers. If we listen to God and confess our sins to Him, He will listen to us and accept our repentance.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 22-28.

    Job’s friends continue to argue with him and accuse him of some terrible sin while Job maintains his innocence. Then Job speaks of wisdom. For all of mankind’s ability to do more than animals he is no more able to find wisdom on his own than those animals. We can dig into the earth for copper, iron, gold, and precious gems. We can smelt the ores of those metals in fire to purify them. We can build great works to obtain resources. We can examine the earth and determine where to dig to find the minerals which we desire. But we cannot find wisdom without turning to God. Understanding and wisdom come only from God. True wisdom is fear of the Lord and avoiding evil demonstrates understanding.

    All of this reminds me of my throw away line to my friends who are non-believers. I often tell them, “Stay out of trouble.” To which they often reply, “That’s no fun.” I answer that with, “If you don’t get caught, you are not in trouble.” The conversation usually ends there, but sometimes they will take it further by saying that sometimes it is fun to get caught. Which brings the next statement, “If you like the consequences, you weren’t really caught.” Left unsaid is the important corollary, if you don’t like the consequences, you were caught, even if no one else knows. On those occasions where I discuss this philosophy further, I mention to people that, as far as I am concerned if someone gets hurt, you got caught. The point of this whole discussion here is that when I was younger I realized that I strove to choose my actions to be calculated to stay out of trouble. As I got older, and I believe wiser, I realized that there were times where I did not get caught by others, but I did not like what happened and that felt as bad as getting caught by others. Which as God moved in my spirit led me to the realization that my sins led me to consequences I did not like. God does not tell us not to sin for arbitrary reasons. He tells us not to sin because He knows we will not like the consequences.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 16-21.

    Job once more complains that instead of offering him comfort in his suffering, his friends accuse him of unspecified, but horrible, sins. Everyone assumes that he is some kind of reprehensible person because of the misfortune he has suffered. We should take this to heart and remember not to assume that those who are poor and/or sick have done something to deserve their suffering. We should treat them as individuals and learn their specific circumstances before reaching any kind of judgment. We should not assume that the homeless person is homeless because of their own actions, even though that is true for most of them. Even if those who are suffering are doing so because of their own sins, we should strive to have mercy on them; it is not our place to punish people for their sins. Let us leave that to God.

    Bildad and Zophar both repeat the idea that the wicked inevitably suffer for their wickedness. While I do indeed believe that there is truth to this, Job points out that the wicked often appear to prosper, even when disaster strikes the wicked often seem to come through unscathed. Sometimes, it even seems as if their wickedness provides them the means to avoid suffering. Further, Job points out that we often praise the wicked. Even after they have died and no longer have the power to harm us for speaking of the evil they have done we often speak glowingly of them. Let us learn not to judge people as righteous because they are prosperous and powerful, doing so grinds the salt in the wounds of those they have abused.

    I cannot end my discussion of this passage without touching on one of the great statements of faith. Despite his suffering and torment, despite the depression Job clearly struggled with, he said something astoundingly inspiring:

But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
and he will stand upon the earth at last.

And after my body has decayed,
yet in my body I will see God![a]

I will see him for myself.
Yes, I will see him with my own eyes.
I am overwhelmed at the thought!

I hope that you too know that your Redeemer lives. If not, I pray that God will reveal Himself to you. The knowledge that God has provided us with a Redeemer who will mediate between us and Him provides us with the hope to continue to strive to overcome depression.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 11-15.

    As I begin reading this I am reminded of a post by a friend on Facebook about suicide awareness which I saw this morning, expressing their struggle with depression. In today’s passage the third of Job’s friends replies to him. Zophar tells Job that he deserves to suffer and almost certainly deserves to suffer even more than he is. According to Zophar only the wicked suffer, while the godly always lead pleasant lives. Even if this was not wrong, it would be a terrible thing to say to someone whose suffering is already causing them to flirt with the idea of dying, as Job’s previous comments make clear is true of Job. However, Job responds by telling Zophar, and the other two, that they are no better than he. And this is one of the first things we must make clear when we confront those whose sin is causing their suffering: I am no better than you. Actually, that is a message for us to communicate to anyone who is suffering.

    AS I further read Job’s response to Zophar I am struck by how often some of what he says is echoed by those who are suicidal. All too often we mock those who are struggling and provide a push to those who contemplating taking their own life. While at the same time allowing those who bring harm to others to live in peace. It would be better for us to remain silent in the presence of those who are suffering than to give them the same useless advice proffered by Job’s friends.

    I mentioned yesterday that I struggle with reading the Book of Job because of the need to keep in mind what God says to the people in it at the end. Well, in many ways that is a good reason to read through the book time and again, the book contains a lot for us to learn. And this brings us to another passage in it which I struggle to write about clearly:

Can the dead live again?
   If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle,
   and I would eagerly await the release of death.
You would call and I would answer,
   and you would yearn for me, your handiwork.
For then you would guard my steps,
   instead of watching for my sins.
My sins would be sealed in a pouch,
   and you would cover my guilt.

Job started this with a rhetorical question for which he thought the answer was “No”. He then goes on to tell us how things would be different for those suffering from depression if the answer was “Yes”. And that is the wonderful thing because, in Christ, the answer is indeed, “Yes, the dead can live again.” Which means that we do not need to fear death. In fact we can embrace our coming death because what awaits us beyond it is so much better. But there is more to it than that, because the dead can live again, God yearns for us and guards our steps. He has sealed our sins in a pouch and has covered our sins with the blood of Jesus.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 6-10.

    I always struggle with the Book of Job because of the need to keep in mind God’s condemnation of what Job’s friends say and His rebuke of Job. If you read Job, it is obvious that the first and most important lesson of the book is that suffering is not evidence that the sufferer is any more a sinner than anyone else. However, the length of the book tells us that there is more to be learned than just that. As I mentioned yesterday, Job is an example to us that we can faithfully serve God in the midst of suffering: that being faithful in the face of suffering may be our calling. I am going to paraphrase what Job said in the first part of today’s passage, “If I died now, I could be happy because, despite my pain and suffering, I have not denied God nor turned against Him.” So, whatever pain and suffering we face in this life, let us follow Job’s example and remain faithful to God in the midst of them.

    Then Bildad responds and more explicitly blames Job’s suffering on his sin…without ever pointing out what that sin might be. This is perhaps one of the most important places to note that God condemned Job’s three friends. Bildad assumes that Job’s children died in their tragedy because of their sin, even though he knows of no sin which they committed. Further, Bildad is sure that those who prosper are godly and that the godly will prosper. Bildad is unequivocally wrong. Those who are suffering are not necessarily greater sinners than others and those who prosper are not necessarily godly.

    Job speaks once more and tells us how much greater than us God is. He is mighty and powerful beyond the limits of our ability to imagine. God’s greatness inspires fear in us, as it should. Job complains that the fear which God inspires in us makes it impossible for us to plead our case before God, it would do so even if we were innocent of sin. Then Job expresses the plea that all men who understand God’s greatness and goodness have felt, if not expressed: “If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together.” And this is the great message of Christianity. There is indeed a mediator to bring Man and God together. That mediator is Jesus Christ.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 1-5.

    Sometimes I think that the translators have done us a disservice by using “Satan” as a proper name. The Hebrew word means “adversary” and I think it would aid our understanding of this passage, and several others, if the translators had used “The Adversary” rather than “Satan”. Of course, this usage of Satan goes back to the New Testament writers who chose to use a transliteration of the Hebrew word in their Greek writings. Nevertheless, everywhere in the Bible where we see the word “Satan” we should be aware that the original writers were thinking “The Adversary” or perhaps just “adversary”.

    Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of this book is the fact that Job suffered in order to prove to Satan that he would not stop living righteously, even in the midst of suffering. And here is where reading “Satan” rather than “The Adversary” affects our thinking. (I am struggling with how to word the thought which struck me today reading this). Most of us have heard someone say something similar to what Satan said here about Job, or its opposite:

“Well, of course he/she is law-abiding and upright. See how privileged they are!”

OR

“Well, it is no wonder they commit crimes, look at all of the things they have suffered.”

Sometimes people suffer so as to serve as examples to the people who say such things, or more importantly to the people who excuse their sin using such arguments. There are people who will not stop honoring and serving God, even when they suffer. And having all of the blessings of this world does not mean that someone will necessarily do so. There are people who have been healthy and wealthy their entire lives for whom everything seems to go their way.

    Another important point to remember when reading the Book of Job is that at the end God tells Job’s friends that they were in the wrong regarding what they said to him. So, in light of that, I am going to look at this first exchange between Job and Eliphaz. When Job’s three friends arrived they sat and mourned his suffering with him in silence for seven days. Finally Job expressed his deep depression. I find two themes in Job’s statement. He wishes he had never been born rather than suffer the way that he was and he asks why he is suffering. Eliphaz replies by saying that suffering comes to those who have done wrong, that it is how God corrects us for doing wrong. By saying this Eliphaz implies that Job must be suffering because he did something wrong. If only Job would confess and repent of his sins his suffering would cease.