Mount St. Helens in Washington State exploded catastrophically on May 18, 1980, at 8:32 am. Fifty-seven people were killed; 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways, and 185 miles of highway were destroyed. The eruption blew away the top 1300 feet of the mountain and replaced it with a 1 mile wide horseshoe-shaped crater. The avalanche that followed contained approximately ¾ of a cubic mile of debris! (www.wikipedia.com).
Chapter ten is Job’s Mt. St. Helens: “I WILL GIVE FULL VENT TO MY COMPLAINT!” Hartley writes, “He (Job) concludes that God is either an incompetent Judge or a malicious Tyrant.” It is perhaps difficult for us (unless we have been deathly ill fighting off tormenting pain) to swallow some of things Job has to say in this chapter (one plausible interpretation of verse 13 will curl your toes). In his thinking Job seems to slip back to the lament of chapter three, the very dark “I wish I was dead” chapter. Francis I Anderson writes, “At the present the only outcome that Job can imagine is the gloom of death.”
10:1 “I loathe my own life; I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.” 2 I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me; let me know why Thou dost contend with me.’”
“WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!?! cries Job. (I was going to type that in size 48 font, but Blogger won’t let me). Job was a desperately sick man whose fellowship with God was broken…and he didn’t know why.
“The gospel of Christ,” writes Francis I Anderson, “has not brought to any man a guarantee of less misery than Job’s. It has brought rather the sharing of Christ's sufferings without which a person is but half a Christian.”
That statement of Anderson’s probably won’t be seen on any motivational posters. And in some quarters of churchdom I suppose it could be interpreted as a lack of faith. But consider something: the world’s greatest church planter and theologian, Paul the Apostle, emailed this to the Christians at Corinth, “For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life." (II Cor. 1:8)
At times Paul struggled desperately in the ministry. I have a feeling that the same black cloud that afflicted Spurgeon and other great men and women of God also afflicted that bald and bowlegged preacher that turned the world upside down. Paul’s greatness was seen in his honest humanity -- he never painted an incorrect picture of “Life with Christ.” “It’s worth everything!” he wrote his beloved church at Philippi, “But it will also cost you everything!”
The Message puts verse one this way, “I can’t stand my life – I hate it!” Job was bitter, very bitter…but he wasn’t sour. Despite his agony and sickening appearance he was determined to gain an audience with God.
Hartley writes, “For Job’s testing to be as severe as possible Job must be unaware of God’s confidence, for trust in God is tested to the ultimate when circumstantial evidence calls into question the integrity of one’s devotion to God. God’s silence intensifies a person’s testing far more than physical and emotional pain.”
10:3 “Is it right for Thee indeed to oppress, to reject the labor of Thy hands, and to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked? 4 Hast Thou eyes of flesh? Or dost Thou see as a man sees? 5 Are Thy days as the days of a mortal, or Thy years as man's years, 6 That Thou shouldst seek for my guilt, and search after my sin?”
“To look favorably” (vs. 3) means to smile upon. Translation: God, You won’t smile on me, but You smile on the plans of those that hate you!
The Message paraphrases verse 6 this way, “So what’s this all about anyway – this compulsion to dig up some dirt, to find some skeleton in my closet?”
10:7 According to Thy knowledge I am indeed not guilty; yet there is no deliverance from Thy hand. 8 Thy hands fashioned and made me altogether, and wouldst Thou destroy me? 9 Remember now, that Thou hast made me as clay; and wouldst Thou turn me into dust again? 10 Didst Thou not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese; 11 Clothe me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews?”
Essentially Job is saying that God has taken such great pains and toiled so relentlessly to create, mold and shape him – how could he now be throwing his creation in the garbage can? Some of the words found in verses 7-11 are found in the creation story in Genesis 1 and 2 and also in Psalm 139 – a Psalm that recounts God's incredible care and marvelous creativity. But Job wonders why he is now on the verge of being turned back into dirt. Hartley states, “Job wants to make God aware that His rough treatment is about to smash His vessel.”
10:12 “Thou hast granted me life and lovingkindness; and Thy care has preserved my spirit.”
Lovingkindness is one of the great words of the Old Testament. The Hebrew word is “chesed” and is the equivalent of the New Testament word “agape (love).” It is a love that carries the thought of the unfailing devotion of a greater to a lesser in a covenant relationship. It is unfailing love. It is a steadfast love. It is a love that contains the idea of tenacious devotion.
The problem? Circumstances dictate that God’s devotion is gone, the unfailing has failed, the steadfastness has collapsed. God has seemingly abandoned Job and Job wants to know “WHY?”
Conclusion: There may (make that “will”) come times in your life when you need to vent. Chuck Swindoll tells the poignant story of his friend whose very young son was tragically killed when he drowned in a swimming pool. For the entire night the man drove the freeways of Los Angeles. Swindoll writes (quoting his friend), “During those hours I screamed out to God expressing all the grief and the anger and the sadness and the confusion from deep within my soul...I said things to Him in that car that I’d never said before to anybody…” Around dawn he pulled up to his house, put his head down on the steering wheel, and just sobbed. In recounting that story, Chuck Swindoll’s friend said this, “I was comforted with this thought: God can handle it. He can handle everything I said.”
God can handle it when you vent! He can handle all of your questions, your doubts your struggles. Pour out your struggles to Him today.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Boiled Tumbleweeds (Job 9:20-35)
Despair, gloom, disheartenment, despondency and hopelessness: all are words that refer to a state of mind caused by circumstances that seem too much to cope with. (www.dictionary.com) In verse 23 Job talks about “the God who mocks the despair of the innocent.” We will go through the verses in the second half of chapter nine and then comment on verse 23 at the end (and explain the title).
9:20-22 “Though I am guiltless, my mouth will condemn me; though I am blameless, He will declare me guilty. 21 I am blameless; I do not take notice of myself; I despise my life. 22 It is {all} one; therefore I say, 'He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’”
Blameless (or perfect, righteous, innocent, guiltless) is used in each of these three verses, but the word was also used in chapters 1 and 2 where God himself declared Job to be “blameless.” Job is not in any way claiming to be sinless, but simply that he was a person of integrity whose current misery (and seeming punishment) doesn’t mesh with his inner character. The Message puts verse 22 this way, “Since either way it ends up the same, I can only conclude that God destroys the good right along with the bad.” His conclusion? “What’s the use?”
9:24 “The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges. If {it is} not {He,} then who is it?”
Translation: Everything on this planet stinks! When we go through hard times it can color our outlook on the whole world.
9:25 "Now my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good. 26 They slip by like reed boats, like an eagle that swoops on its prey.”
My nights seemingly drag on forever, but yet my life seems to fly by without purpose. And God is the eagle, and I…well I’m just a rodent trying to escape a 150 mph dive-bombing raptor!
9:27 “Though I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my {sad} countenance and be cheerful,’ (The MSG has “Even if I say, ‘I’ll put all this behind me, I’ll look on the bright side and force a smile”) 28 I am afraid of all my pains, I know that Thou wilt not acquit me.”
Translation: I’ve read the book “Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale; I’ve read “Happiness is a Choice” by Minirth/Meier; I’ve listened to Zig Ziglar and John Maxwell and all of their motivational CD’s; I’ve determined just to walk out of the mully grubs (is that how you spell that?). But then a fresh wave of pain and nausea pulls me back down into my pit of gloom.
9:29 "I am accounted wicked, why then should I toil in vain? 30 "If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, 31 Yet Thou wouldst plunge me into the pit, and my own clothes would abhor me.”
The Psalmist Asaph cried out at one point (during a time when it seemed that the wicked were getting off scott free and he was being disciplined every morning), “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure, and washed my hands in innocence.”
Verse 31 “My own clothes would abhor me...” Everyone else does, I guess my clothes might as well also.
9:32 "For {He is} not a man as I am that I may answer Him, that we may go to court together. 33 There is no umpire between us, who may lay his hand upon us both.”
If only Job could have known about Calvary…where a man named Jesus interposed with His precious blood!
9:34 “Let Him remove His rod from me, and let not dread of Him terrify me. 35 {Then} I would speak and not fear Him; but I am not like that in myself.”
King David saw that same rod a little differently, “Thy rod and thy staff comfort me!” (Psalm 23)
But back to verse 23, "If the scourge kills suddenly, He mocks the despair of the innocent.” (The Message puts it this way, “When calamity hits and brings sudden death, He folds His arms, aloof from the despair of the innocent.”)
First, you can clearly see how Job’s bitterness has colored his theology, “God mocks the despair…” Secondly, God never does fold His arms in sort of a divine aloofness, neglecting the cries of His people. And thirdly, even though Job couldn’t see it, there was a way out of his despair!
Despair is defined as a total loss of hope (from having everything fail), deep gloom and disheartenment, a loss of ambition, a loss of hope so complete as to result in a more or less permanent state of passive despair (from www.dictionary.com). It is how the people of the Great Plains felt during the 1930’s, during the time mammoth dust storms and “black blizzards.” The severe drought during the Great Depression plus the unwise cultivation of vast areas of the Great Plains led to immense dust storms that engulfed the Great Plains from (at times) the Dakotas to Texas. People literally suffocated from the choking dust (babies died from “dust pneumonia”). Whole towns were devastated and depopulated. In order to survive, out of desperation some farmers fed their livestock tumbleweeds and eventually boiled them in brine and fed them to their families.
One person’s recounting of those years mentioned that people would ring their hands in despair, unable to cope with circumstances that seemed far too great to bear.
Perhaps you are staring into the abyss of “unable-to-cope-with” circumstances.” God cares about you. He does not fold His arms and stand aloof from your troubles. He is only a prayer away!
9:20-22 “Though I am guiltless, my mouth will condemn me; though I am blameless, He will declare me guilty. 21 I am blameless; I do not take notice of myself; I despise my life. 22 It is {all} one; therefore I say, 'He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’”
Blameless (or perfect, righteous, innocent, guiltless) is used in each of these three verses, but the word was also used in chapters 1 and 2 where God himself declared Job to be “blameless.” Job is not in any way claiming to be sinless, but simply that he was a person of integrity whose current misery (and seeming punishment) doesn’t mesh with his inner character. The Message puts verse 22 this way, “Since either way it ends up the same, I can only conclude that God destroys the good right along with the bad.” His conclusion? “What’s the use?”
9:24 “The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges. If {it is} not {He,} then who is it?”
Translation: Everything on this planet stinks! When we go through hard times it can color our outlook on the whole world.
9:25 "Now my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good. 26 They slip by like reed boats, like an eagle that swoops on its prey.”
My nights seemingly drag on forever, but yet my life seems to fly by without purpose. And God is the eagle, and I…well I’m just a rodent trying to escape a 150 mph dive-bombing raptor!
9:27 “Though I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my {sad} countenance and be cheerful,’ (The MSG has “Even if I say, ‘I’ll put all this behind me, I’ll look on the bright side and force a smile”) 28 I am afraid of all my pains, I know that Thou wilt not acquit me.”
Translation: I’ve read the book “Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale; I’ve read “Happiness is a Choice” by Minirth/Meier; I’ve listened to Zig Ziglar and John Maxwell and all of their motivational CD’s; I’ve determined just to walk out of the mully grubs (is that how you spell that?). But then a fresh wave of pain and nausea pulls me back down into my pit of gloom.
9:29 "I am accounted wicked, why then should I toil in vain? 30 "If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, 31 Yet Thou wouldst plunge me into the pit, and my own clothes would abhor me.”
The Psalmist Asaph cried out at one point (during a time when it seemed that the wicked were getting off scott free and he was being disciplined every morning), “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure, and washed my hands in innocence.”
Verse 31 “My own clothes would abhor me...” Everyone else does, I guess my clothes might as well also.
9:32 "For {He is} not a man as I am that I may answer Him, that we may go to court together. 33 There is no umpire between us, who may lay his hand upon us both.”
If only Job could have known about Calvary…where a man named Jesus interposed with His precious blood!
9:34 “Let Him remove His rod from me, and let not dread of Him terrify me. 35 {Then} I would speak and not fear Him; but I am not like that in myself.”
King David saw that same rod a little differently, “Thy rod and thy staff comfort me!” (Psalm 23)
But back to verse 23, "If the scourge kills suddenly, He mocks the despair of the innocent.” (The Message puts it this way, “When calamity hits and brings sudden death, He folds His arms, aloof from the despair of the innocent.”)
First, you can clearly see how Job’s bitterness has colored his theology, “God mocks the despair…” Secondly, God never does fold His arms in sort of a divine aloofness, neglecting the cries of His people. And thirdly, even though Job couldn’t see it, there was a way out of his despair!
Despair is defined as a total loss of hope (from having everything fail), deep gloom and disheartenment, a loss of ambition, a loss of hope so complete as to result in a more or less permanent state of passive despair (from www.dictionary.com). It is how the people of the Great Plains felt during the 1930’s, during the time mammoth dust storms and “black blizzards.” The severe drought during the Great Depression plus the unwise cultivation of vast areas of the Great Plains led to immense dust storms that engulfed the Great Plains from (at times) the Dakotas to Texas. People literally suffocated from the choking dust (babies died from “dust pneumonia”). Whole towns were devastated and depopulated. In order to survive, out of desperation some farmers fed their livestock tumbleweeds and eventually boiled them in brine and fed them to their families.
One person’s recounting of those years mentioned that people would ring their hands in despair, unable to cope with circumstances that seemed far too great to bear.
Perhaps you are staring into the abyss of “unable-to-cope-with” circumstances.” God cares about you. He does not fold His arms and stand aloof from your troubles. He is only a prayer away!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Job Versus Perry Mason (and the Crusher)
Two men looked through bars…one saw mud…and the other saw stars.
So goes the little poem about how two people, looking out through the bars of their circumstances, can have such differing perspectives. While in their prison, one sees possibilities and is filled with hope; the other dwells on the rottenness of life and is filled with despair.
In this episode Job sees both mud and stars.
In chapters 9 and 10 we are made acutely aware of Job’s deep agitation and turmoil. One moment he determines to be happy, but in the next he is racked with unbearable pain. He talks about the constellations and the wonders of God one second; and then a few lines later he complains about being attacked by a God Who has forgotten to be kind.
We will take a brief overview of the first sixteen verses and focus on verses 17 and 18; verse 17 in particular reveals something rather intriguing.
The language of chapter nine is that of lawyers and litigation and the court (with a little bit of WWE Belt Wrestling thrown in). Believe it or not, Job essentially wants to take God to court. He feels that he has been given a life sentence of misery without so much as a preliminary hearing. Hartley writes, “In an ancient court the winner was the one who argued so convincingly and persuasively that the opponent was put to silence…Job wants to charge God with violating his obligation of kindness.” There is also a hint of the ancient practice of “belt-wrestling” in which opponents, while tethered together with a belt, fought till one prevailed. Thus Job seems to be taking on both Perry Mason and the Crusher (make that John Cena for the younger generation).
9:1 Then Job spoke again: 2 “Yes, I know all this is true in principle. But how can a person be declared innocent in God’s sight? 3 If someone wanted to take God to court, would it be possible to answer him even once in a thousand times? 4 For God is so wise and so mighty. Who has ever challenged him successfully?
Job wonders, “How can a man be declared innocent or win a legal argument with God?” (The Hebrew word is “tsadaq,” meaning “to be righteous in character and conduct;” its used extensively in Job). Essentially he is asking, “I haven’t sinned so grievously so as to be punished so extensively. How can I win a court case against God?” But he knows that Perry Mason never lost a case, and neither has God! (Come to think of it, I guess Perry did lose in “The Case of the Terrified Typist”).
“Who has ever challenged him successfully?” The KJV has “defied” and the word describes the way in which a warrior would brace himself and make his neck hard or stiff in preparation for battle.
9:5 “Without warning, he moves the mountains, overturning them in his anger. 6 He shakes the earth from its place, and its foundations tremble. 7 If he commands it, the sun won’t rise and the stars won’t shine. 8 He alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea. 9 He made all the stars—the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the southern sky. 10 He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles."
Perhaps Job is (in a round about way) referring to himself in this passage about the power of God – the mountains were moved and turned upside down without warning – and so was I!
“He made all the stars – the Bear and Orion and Pleiades…” I wonder if, during those lonely ash heap nights, he ever thought about the camping trips he had gone on with his kids and how they tried to find the Big Dipper and other constellations as they slept under the stars. It must have left him heartbroken to think back to those days.
“He does great things too marvelous to understand” And yet I am infested with worms…and my kids are dead. Hartley writes, “Job gives vent to the deep agitation of his inner thought. In this speech he tends to state a position boldly, then abandon it when he sees its difficulty and jump to another idea, which is also quickly abandoned. Other times he reverts to despair, almost utter despair…His jumping about reflects his frustration at the lack of any insight into the reasons for his plight.”
9:11 “Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him. When he moves by, I do not see him go. 12 If he snatches someone in death, who can stop him? Who dares to ask, ’What are you doing?’ 13 And God does not restrain his anger. Even the monsters of the sea are crushed beneath his feet. 14 “So who am I, that I should try to answer God or even reason with him? 15 Even if I were right, I would have no defense. I could only plead for mercy. 16 And even if I summoned him and he responded, I’m not sure he would listen to me."
Verse 12 states, “Who dares ask Him, ‘What are you doing?’” Haven’t you ever felt like crying out, “God what is going on?!?” During a particularly puzzling period of time a few months ago, while I was praying I looked up to the basement ceiling and asked, “Lord are you writing this down?” Or perhaps it’s an interrogation type of scenario with the brilliant klieg lights shining in God’s eyes, “Where were you on November 17th when my kids died?”
Note the courtroom type of language in this paragraph: I have no defense…I can only plead for mercy…if I summoned Him…
9:17 “For He bruises me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause. 18 “He will not allow me to get my breath, but saturates me with bitterness. 19 “If {it is a matter} of power, behold, {He is} the strong one! And if {it is a matter} of justice, who can summon Him?"
Note the words:
He bruises me with a tempest (He attacks me with a hurricane)
He won’t allow me to catch my breath
He saturates me with bitterness – I am glutted with calamity!
But note especially the key phrase “without cause”. The author of Job seems to use these pivotal words to tie together the main characters in a striking fashion. They are used when:
Satan speaks of Job in 1:9, “Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nothing (without any ulterior motives)?”
God speaks to Satan in 2:3, “And the LORD said to Satan, "…And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to ruin him without cause (gratuitously or undeservedly)!"
Job refers to God in 9:17, “For He bruises me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause (devoid of reason or purpose).”
Job’s plea to both God and his friends? There is NO REASON why I am going through this! And the striking thing is – God agrees with him! (But Job doesn’t know that).
Verse 19 seems to sum up the first 18 verses when Job says, “If you think I can take on Reginald “The Crusher” Lisowski and win, He is the strong one! And if it’s a matter of arguing with Perry Mason in a court of law, I will just trip over my own tongue!”
Conclusion: Hartley writes this which seems to get to the very core of Job’s trial, “This dimension of the trial strikes a raw nerve in Job. God allows him to be tested in a way that leads Job to question the very basis of faith, namely, that God is just and good. No stronger test exists for a faithful servant of God. On the other hand, God has such confidence in his servant that he is not afraid to have his own goodness appear tainted to Job.”
Remember, the severity of your trial is probably not a measure of the lack of faith on your part, but rather the measure of trust that God has in you!
So goes the little poem about how two people, looking out through the bars of their circumstances, can have such differing perspectives. While in their prison, one sees possibilities and is filled with hope; the other dwells on the rottenness of life and is filled with despair.
In this episode Job sees both mud and stars.
In chapters 9 and 10 we are made acutely aware of Job’s deep agitation and turmoil. One moment he determines to be happy, but in the next he is racked with unbearable pain. He talks about the constellations and the wonders of God one second; and then a few lines later he complains about being attacked by a God Who has forgotten to be kind.
We will take a brief overview of the first sixteen verses and focus on verses 17 and 18; verse 17 in particular reveals something rather intriguing.
The language of chapter nine is that of lawyers and litigation and the court (with a little bit of WWE Belt Wrestling thrown in). Believe it or not, Job essentially wants to take God to court. He feels that he has been given a life sentence of misery without so much as a preliminary hearing. Hartley writes, “In an ancient court the winner was the one who argued so convincingly and persuasively that the opponent was put to silence…Job wants to charge God with violating his obligation of kindness.” There is also a hint of the ancient practice of “belt-wrestling” in which opponents, while tethered together with a belt, fought till one prevailed. Thus Job seems to be taking on both Perry Mason and the Crusher (make that John Cena for the younger generation).
9:1 Then Job spoke again: 2 “Yes, I know all this is true in principle. But how can a person be declared innocent in God’s sight? 3 If someone wanted to take God to court, would it be possible to answer him even once in a thousand times? 4 For God is so wise and so mighty. Who has ever challenged him successfully?
Job wonders, “How can a man be declared innocent or win a legal argument with God?” (The Hebrew word is “tsadaq,” meaning “to be righteous in character and conduct;” its used extensively in Job). Essentially he is asking, “I haven’t sinned so grievously so as to be punished so extensively. How can I win a court case against God?” But he knows that Perry Mason never lost a case, and neither has God! (Come to think of it, I guess Perry did lose in “The Case of the Terrified Typist”).
“Who has ever challenged him successfully?” The KJV has “defied” and the word describes the way in which a warrior would brace himself and make his neck hard or stiff in preparation for battle.
9:5 “Without warning, he moves the mountains, overturning them in his anger. 6 He shakes the earth from its place, and its foundations tremble. 7 If he commands it, the sun won’t rise and the stars won’t shine. 8 He alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea. 9 He made all the stars—the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the southern sky. 10 He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles."
Perhaps Job is (in a round about way) referring to himself in this passage about the power of God – the mountains were moved and turned upside down without warning – and so was I!
“He made all the stars – the Bear and Orion and Pleiades…” I wonder if, during those lonely ash heap nights, he ever thought about the camping trips he had gone on with his kids and how they tried to find the Big Dipper and other constellations as they slept under the stars. It must have left him heartbroken to think back to those days.
“He does great things too marvelous to understand” And yet I am infested with worms…and my kids are dead. Hartley writes, “Job gives vent to the deep agitation of his inner thought. In this speech he tends to state a position boldly, then abandon it when he sees its difficulty and jump to another idea, which is also quickly abandoned. Other times he reverts to despair, almost utter despair…His jumping about reflects his frustration at the lack of any insight into the reasons for his plight.”
9:11 “Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him. When he moves by, I do not see him go. 12 If he snatches someone in death, who can stop him? Who dares to ask, ’What are you doing?’ 13 And God does not restrain his anger. Even the monsters of the sea are crushed beneath his feet. 14 “So who am I, that I should try to answer God or even reason with him? 15 Even if I were right, I would have no defense. I could only plead for mercy. 16 And even if I summoned him and he responded, I’m not sure he would listen to me."
Verse 12 states, “Who dares ask Him, ‘What are you doing?’” Haven’t you ever felt like crying out, “God what is going on?!?” During a particularly puzzling period of time a few months ago, while I was praying I looked up to the basement ceiling and asked, “Lord are you writing this down?” Or perhaps it’s an interrogation type of scenario with the brilliant klieg lights shining in God’s eyes, “Where were you on November 17th when my kids died?”
Note the courtroom type of language in this paragraph: I have no defense…I can only plead for mercy…if I summoned Him…
9:17 “For He bruises me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause. 18 “He will not allow me to get my breath, but saturates me with bitterness. 19 “If {it is a matter} of power, behold, {He is} the strong one! And if {it is a matter} of justice, who can summon Him?"
Note the words:
He bruises me with a tempest (He attacks me with a hurricane)
He won’t allow me to catch my breath
He saturates me with bitterness – I am glutted with calamity!
But note especially the key phrase “without cause”. The author of Job seems to use these pivotal words to tie together the main characters in a striking fashion. They are used when:
Satan speaks of Job in 1:9, “Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nothing (without any ulterior motives)?”
God speaks to Satan in 2:3, “And the LORD said to Satan, "…And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to ruin him without cause (gratuitously or undeservedly)!"
Job refers to God in 9:17, “For He bruises me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause (devoid of reason or purpose).”
Job’s plea to both God and his friends? There is NO REASON why I am going through this! And the striking thing is – God agrees with him! (But Job doesn’t know that).
Verse 19 seems to sum up the first 18 verses when Job says, “If you think I can take on Reginald “The Crusher” Lisowski and win, He is the strong one! And if it’s a matter of arguing with Perry Mason in a court of law, I will just trip over my own tongue!”
Conclusion: Hartley writes this which seems to get to the very core of Job’s trial, “This dimension of the trial strikes a raw nerve in Job. God allows him to be tested in a way that leads Job to question the very basis of faith, namely, that God is just and good. No stronger test exists for a faithful servant of God. On the other hand, God has such confidence in his servant that he is not afraid to have his own goodness appear tainted to Job.”
Remember, the severity of your trial is probably not a measure of the lack of faith on your part, but rather the measure of trust that God has in you!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Rushes and Spiders and Roots, Oh My! (Job 8:11-21)
Evangelist Ravi Zacharias has a radio program titled, “Let My People Think.” (www.rzim.org). Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar (EBZ) should have tuned in once in a while. Francis I. Anderson points out that it seems that one of the purposes for the writing of the book of Job was to show how inflexible the theology of EBZ was, and how it was held to so unthinkingly. No one should discount the wisdom and theology gained by past generations who “contended earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3) But the problem here is a forcing of Job’s circumstances into such a severe and simplistic theology.
8:11 "Can the papyrus grow up without marsh? Can the rushes grow without water? 8:12 While it is still green {and} not cut down, yet it withers before any {other} plant. 8:13 So are the paths of all who forget God, and the hope of the godless (the KJV has “hypocrite”) will perish,”
Papyrus can grow 8-10 feet tall in the marshes along the Nile and other rivers. It was the “plastic” of ancient times – anything from shoes to boats to paper to baskets to clothes were made from this luxuriant reed. The height and greenness of the papyrus speaks of the pride of man and his luxuriant prosperity. The word “grow” in verse 11 is the same as “increase” in Psalm 73:12, “Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches (they grow into a ten foot reed).” Obviously a rush/reed/papyrus has no life in itself; it is only tall and green because it abides in the marsh. It is not self-sufficient. If it were to some how walk away from Marshfield, the overnight result would be a total witherfication. So what the Bildad Bible Seminary seems to be teaching here is, “Job, you divorced yourself from your only source of life (your marsh or swamp water) and that's why you are withering. You are dried up, diseased, and devastated because you aren’t abiding in the vine!”
Note also that the KJV uses the word “hypocrite” in verse 13. That is essentially how Job was viewed by his friends; he was “The Great Pretender” and wasn’t really who he presented himself to be.
On the phrase “So are the paths of all who forget God…” in verse 13, Hartley states, “The forgetting of God is not a mere lapse of memory, but the willful decision to live with no regard either for God or for his precepts.” This then is the crux of the matter – Job has forgotten God (he has moved out of the swamp) and thought his papyrus could grow all by itself.
(NIV) 8:14 “What he trusts in is fragile; what he relies on is a spider’s web. 8:15 He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold.”
There is a wonderful verse in Deuteronomy 33:27, “The eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms…” But as per Bildad, underneath Job were not the Everlasting Arms, but a pretty flimsy spider’s web! Hartley writes, “The web represents the frailest of all things…anyone who grabs on to a spider web to break his fall finds no support at all. With this illustration Bildad warns Job that no earthly or personal security on which he might rely is any stronger than a spider’s web.”
The lyrics of the hymn “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” were written by Anthony J. Showalter as a way to minister to two of his students who had recently lost their wives in death. Bildad probably thought, “You know Job, instead of clinging to God, you’re clinging to a web. Shouldn’t you be singing the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” instead of “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms?”
Remember that not everything that EBZ said was incorrect. It is true that if we trust in our own talent or ability or wealth, it is as if we are leaning on a spider web or walking away from the swamp water. It’s just that their diagnosis as to why Job was suffering completely missed the mark. Job wasn’t leaning on a spider’s web, he hadn’t rebelled against God, and yet here he was at the town dump.
(NIV) 8:16 “He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden; 8:17 it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks and looks for a place among the stones. 8:18 But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, ‘I never saw you.’ 8:19 Surely its life withers away, and from the soil other plants grow.”
When the godless (as Bildad implies Hypocrite Job really is at his core) feels most secure, God will uproot him as a gardener would do a weed. And even though the roots of the weeds are wrapped around rocks (say that real fast three times), and seem very secure, the Divine Gardener will rip out all of the roots. JFB writes this in reference to vs. 18-19, “The very soil is ashamed of the weeds lying withered on its surface, as though it never had been connected with them. So, when the godless falls from prosperity, his nearest friends disown him. Bildad thus justifies the conduct of the friends toward Job.”
Translation? “Job, God has ripped you up out of the ground because of your hypocrisy and has disowned you. And so should we!” Later in the book, Job calls EBZ “sorry comforters.” When you realize what they had said to Job, you understand why!
8:20 "Lo, God will not reject {a man of} integrity, nor will He support the evildoers. 8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting. 8:22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame; and the tent of the wicked will be no more."
The word “integrity” is the same as that used in chapters 1-2 where, on at least three occasions, God uses it to describe (in admiration) his servant. Translation: “If you follow my advice,” says Bildad, “And repent, instead of being clothed with worms and dirt and scabs, your enemies will be clothed shame.”
(One writer observed that it’s interesting how God and Satan debate the character of Job, while Job and EBZ debate the character of God.)
Conclusion: Hartley sums up Bildad’s first speech thusly, “A prisoner of tradition, Bildad refuses to allow any experience, particularly Job’s, to temper his doctrine…There are no exceptions to his doctrine: The blameless are always blessed by God and the wicked always punished. Any circumstances to the contrary are either illusory or momentary.”
As one bumper sticker puts it, “We shouldn’t be so open minded that our brains fall out.” But neither should we be so rigid and simplistic in our thinking. The book of Job moves poetically and relentlessly toward the appearance of God at the town dump in a supernatural storm and the worship of that Majesty despite unanswered questions and unhealed circumstances. I would have loved to have been a mouse in the corner to see the expressions of EBZ when that happened.
EBZ = Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar
NASV = New American Standard Version
NIV = New International Version
OT = Old Testament
K&D = Commentary by Keil and Delitzsch (from PC Bible Study)
JFB = Commentary by Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown (from PC Bible Study)
Adam Clarke = Adam Clarke Commentary (from PC Bible Study)
Barnes = Barnes Notes (from PC Bible Study)
Hartley = The New International Commentary on the Old Testament:
The Book of Job by John E. Hartley
Swindoll = Job, Profiles in Character from Charles R. Swindoll
FIA = Tyndale OT Commentaries: Job by Francis I. Anderson
8:11 "Can the papyrus grow up without marsh? Can the rushes grow without water? 8:12 While it is still green {and} not cut down, yet it withers before any {other} plant. 8:13 So are the paths of all who forget God, and the hope of the godless (the KJV has “hypocrite”) will perish,”
Papyrus can grow 8-10 feet tall in the marshes along the Nile and other rivers. It was the “plastic” of ancient times – anything from shoes to boats to paper to baskets to clothes were made from this luxuriant reed. The height and greenness of the papyrus speaks of the pride of man and his luxuriant prosperity. The word “grow” in verse 11 is the same as “increase” in Psalm 73:12, “Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches (they grow into a ten foot reed).” Obviously a rush/reed/papyrus has no life in itself; it is only tall and green because it abides in the marsh. It is not self-sufficient. If it were to some how walk away from Marshfield, the overnight result would be a total witherfication. So what the Bildad Bible Seminary seems to be teaching here is, “Job, you divorced yourself from your only source of life (your marsh or swamp water) and that's why you are withering. You are dried up, diseased, and devastated because you aren’t abiding in the vine!”
Note also that the KJV uses the word “hypocrite” in verse 13. That is essentially how Job was viewed by his friends; he was “The Great Pretender” and wasn’t really who he presented himself to be.
On the phrase “So are the paths of all who forget God…” in verse 13, Hartley states, “The forgetting of God is not a mere lapse of memory, but the willful decision to live with no regard either for God or for his precepts.” This then is the crux of the matter – Job has forgotten God (he has moved out of the swamp) and thought his papyrus could grow all by itself.
(NIV) 8:14 “What he trusts in is fragile; what he relies on is a spider’s web. 8:15 He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold.”
There is a wonderful verse in Deuteronomy 33:27, “The eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms…” But as per Bildad, underneath Job were not the Everlasting Arms, but a pretty flimsy spider’s web! Hartley writes, “The web represents the frailest of all things…anyone who grabs on to a spider web to break his fall finds no support at all. With this illustration Bildad warns Job that no earthly or personal security on which he might rely is any stronger than a spider’s web.”
The lyrics of the hymn “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” were written by Anthony J. Showalter as a way to minister to two of his students who had recently lost their wives in death. Bildad probably thought, “You know Job, instead of clinging to God, you’re clinging to a web. Shouldn’t you be singing the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” instead of “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms?”
Remember that not everything that EBZ said was incorrect. It is true that if we trust in our own talent or ability or wealth, it is as if we are leaning on a spider web or walking away from the swamp water. It’s just that their diagnosis as to why Job was suffering completely missed the mark. Job wasn’t leaning on a spider’s web, he hadn’t rebelled against God, and yet here he was at the town dump.
(NIV) 8:16 “He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden; 8:17 it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks and looks for a place among the stones. 8:18 But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, ‘I never saw you.’ 8:19 Surely its life withers away, and from the soil other plants grow.”
When the godless (as Bildad implies Hypocrite Job really is at his core) feels most secure, God will uproot him as a gardener would do a weed. And even though the roots of the weeds are wrapped around rocks (say that real fast three times), and seem very secure, the Divine Gardener will rip out all of the roots. JFB writes this in reference to vs. 18-19, “The very soil is ashamed of the weeds lying withered on its surface, as though it never had been connected with them. So, when the godless falls from prosperity, his nearest friends disown him. Bildad thus justifies the conduct of the friends toward Job.”
Translation? “Job, God has ripped you up out of the ground because of your hypocrisy and has disowned you. And so should we!” Later in the book, Job calls EBZ “sorry comforters.” When you realize what they had said to Job, you understand why!
8:20 "Lo, God will not reject {a man of} integrity, nor will He support the evildoers. 8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting. 8:22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame; and the tent of the wicked will be no more."
The word “integrity” is the same as that used in chapters 1-2 where, on at least three occasions, God uses it to describe (in admiration) his servant. Translation: “If you follow my advice,” says Bildad, “And repent, instead of being clothed with worms and dirt and scabs, your enemies will be clothed shame.”
(One writer observed that it’s interesting how God and Satan debate the character of Job, while Job and EBZ debate the character of God.)
Conclusion: Hartley sums up Bildad’s first speech thusly, “A prisoner of tradition, Bildad refuses to allow any experience, particularly Job’s, to temper his doctrine…There are no exceptions to his doctrine: The blameless are always blessed by God and the wicked always punished. Any circumstances to the contrary are either illusory or momentary.”
As one bumper sticker puts it, “We shouldn’t be so open minded that our brains fall out.” But neither should we be so rigid and simplistic in our thinking. The book of Job moves poetically and relentlessly toward the appearance of God at the town dump in a supernatural storm and the worship of that Majesty despite unanswered questions and unhealed circumstances. I would have loved to have been a mouse in the corner to see the expressions of EBZ when that happened.
EBZ = Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar
NASV = New American Standard Version
NIV = New International Version
OT = Old Testament
K&D = Commentary by Keil and Delitzsch (from PC Bible Study)
JFB = Commentary by Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown (from PC Bible Study)
Adam Clarke = Adam Clarke Commentary (from PC Bible Study)
Barnes = Barnes Notes (from PC Bible Study)
Hartley = The New International Commentary on the Old Testament:
The Book of Job by John E. Hartley
Swindoll = Job, Profiles in Character from Charles R. Swindoll
FIA = Tyndale OT Commentaries: Job by Francis I. Anderson
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