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.

It is tempting to think that the Book of Job is just about realizing that just because someone is suffering does not mean that they have committed some heinous sin.  However, if that was all it was about, it would not need to be as long as it is.  Zophar voices another of the mistakes which we can make.  He tells Job that all he needs to do to end his depression and suffering is lift his hands to God in prayer and leave all iniquity behind him.  Zophar says that if Job does that, his life will be joyful once more.  Elsewhere in the Bible we see that there is something to this idea, but the context here reveals to us that it is not completely true.  Job’s response to Zophar should show us that when attempting to comfort those who are suffering sometimes it is better to remain silent than to offer what we think are solutions, but are really accusations.

In several of Job’s responses to his friends we see foreshadowing of Jesus’ ministry.  In yesterday’s passage, Job asked for a mediator between himself and God.  A role which Jesus died on the cross to take.  In today’s passage, Job tells us that if the dead can live again, then he could have hope in the anguish he suffered.  Further, Job tells us that if the dead can live again, God would guard our steps and cover over our sins.  Jesus rose from the dead to fulfill that very hope.

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.

While reading the Book of Job it is important to remember that in the end God confronts Job and condemns his three friends for their lack of compassion.  As a result, this is one of those parts of the Bible which most needs repeated reading to know where the person speaking is expressing a truth we should take to heart and where they are expressing a thought we should reject.  Keeping that in mind I believe that most of what Job says near the beginning of the Book expresses opinions we should value and only later in the Book does he begin to fall into self-pity.  When we suffer we are not sinning when we spend some time expressing how badly we feel.  It is OK to express our anguish.  Closely related to that, Job tells us that pointing out where someone is causing their suffering will hurt their feelings but has value.  However, telling someone that their suffering is because they have done wrong when we do not know anything they have done wrong is worse than useless.  Suffering is not evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the one suffering.

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.

I am sure that I have noted this in previous years, but the one who appeared before God and started Job’s suffering is literally the accuser.  Whether this is a title, or merely the role played by this individual is open to debate.  Personally, I believe that the decision by the translators of the New Living Translation to capitalize the word “accuser” in this is accurate and we should view the word “Satan” as it appears after this as “Accuser”.  That is what Satan is.  He is the Accuser.  He accused Job of only worshiping and praising God because he was wealthy.  Then later when Job continued to worship and praise God after losing all of his wealth, he accused Job of only doing so because he was healthy.  Yet, the Accuser was wrong.  Job continued to praise God even after he lost his wealth and continued to praise Him when he became sickly.  Even in the depths of depression which he began to suffer, Job did not stop worshiping God.

We should be willing to accept both the good and the bad from the hand of God.  In fact, we should rejoice when we experience what the world views as bad things because they mean that God has found us worthy to share in Jesus’ suffering.  There is another lesson to this passage as well.  All of us hear the voice of Satan when he accuses us of not being good enough, or of only doing good because of rewards.  The Accuser tries to convince us to give up because our sins count as more than God’s forgiveness.  Or to convince us that if only we did more good that is what it would take to gain God’s approval.  The Accuser tells us that our suffering means that God does not love us, but Jesus tells us that God does love us and suffering is one of the signs of God’s love.