Dead stumps, dried up lakes, and worn down mountains. In this chapter Job weaves together all three metaphors as he tries to convey his “hope erosion.”
14:1 “Man, who is born of woman, is short-lived and full of turmoil. 2 Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain. 3 You also open Your eyes on him and bring him into judgment with Yourself. 4 Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one! 5 Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; and his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.”
There are four different Hebrew words for “man” in this chapter:
“adam” (vss. 1 & 10) – originally meaning “ruddy [red, man created from red clay?]” or “from the ground”; it refers to mankind in general, man as being created in God’s image.
“geber” (vss. 10 & 14) – warrior man, mighty and noble man.
“iysh” (vs. 12) – man as an individual, man in his manliness, husband man.
“enosh” (vs. 19) – man as weak and mortal and vulnerable.
Each word points to a different quality of man. The implication is that the sufferings Job touched every area of his life.
God’s design for man (vs. 1) was that he would be “full of days” and “short of turmoil.” But Job intentionally reverses it…he finds that his life is “short of days” and “full of turmoil.” His short-of-days life withers like a wildflower and is as fleeting as a shadow (vs. 2).
When you are young life doesn’t seem to be fleeting. My shop teacher in Junior High placed a sign below the clock in the back of the class. If you turned around to look at it (wondering how many eons it would be till the end of shop class), the little sign reminded you that “Time will pass…will you?” And when you are old life doesn’t seem to be very long at all. As the famous philosopher Grant Gonyo (our 75 year old Sunday School teacher) loved to state, “Man is too soon old and too late smart.”
In verse 5 Job reminds us that mortals have a limited life span, “You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer.” (New Living Translation)
14:6 “Turn Your gaze from him that he may rest, until he fulfills his day like a hired man. 7 For there is hope for a tree, when it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and its shoots will not fail. 8 Though its roots grow old in the ground and its stump dies in the dry soil, 9 at the scent of water it will flourish and put forth sprigs like a plant. 10 But man dies and lies prostrate. Man expires, and where is he? 11 as water evaporates from the sea, and a river becomes parched and dried up, 12 So man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no longer, He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep.”
A missionary told the story of how his dad, wanting to rid the yard of a tree stump, decided to blast it out with dynamite. Kaboooom! For several seconds it rained wood. But part of it hit a transformer on a power line (which took out the electricity) and part of it went through their roof! It seems however that some trees, even if they are blasted into eternity, will keep sprouting (bamboo?). Hartley notes, “Even though a stump may be dormant for a long time, a good soaking rain often spurs new growth.” “But man dies…” writes Job in verse 10. Job is not like a tree that could grow again if a supply of water became available; he is more like a dried up lake than a dead tree stump. If you Google “dried up lakes in the Sahara,” you will find some interesting articles about how the Sahara (or at least parts of it) at one time was lush and green. Immense lakes covered vast portions of this arid area. But they dried up. And that is how Job feels – his water (the presence of God) has completely vanished and his life seems to be nothing but arid ashes.
14:13 "Oh that You would hide me in Sheol, That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You, that You would set a limit for me and remember me! 14 If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait until my change comes. 15 You will call, and I will answer You; You will long for the work of Your hands."
Job frantically and desperately wants to find a refuge from the storm and from the hideous monster he has become. Since it seems that his ash heap residence and life on earth will afford no relief from his misery, he asks that God would hide him in Sheol, the underworld, the Old Testament designation for the abode of the dead. (In most instances it is incorrect to translate this word as simply “the grave.”). But because Sheol is “the land of no return and the place where one is forgotten” (Hartley), something has to be done to remind God that Job is in the netherworld! The words “remember me” are the same words that Joseph cried out to his cellmate (a former prominent servant to Pharaoh) when Joseph was wrongly thrown into prison, “When you get out of here, remember me and mention me to Pharaoh and get me outta here!” (Genesis 40:14).
The end of verse 13 states, “…that You would set a limit for me and remember me!” The New Living Translation has it, “But mark your calendar to think of me again!” God, don’t forget that you’ve temporarily hidden me down here; set up a reminder in Outlook, and let it keep popping up until you come down to Sheol and get me out!
Verse 14b reads, “…until my change (or renewal) comes.” The word “change” comes from the same word as “sprout” in verse 7. Job may not “sprout” again like a tree from a dried up stump, but he does believe that he will live again! It’s not a full-blown New Testament type of resurrection that he has in view, but nevertheless these are words of tremendous faith.
The words “long for” (desire, yearn) in verse 15 come from a word meaning “to grow pale.” It implies that God will one day again “long for” His servant Job with such intensity that He will grow pale! (God does “long for” Job at the present time, but Job is unaware of it).
14:16 “For now You number my steps, You do not observe my sin. 17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and You wrap up my iniquity."
To gain a sense of what Job is saying here, let me quote Hartley a little more extensively, “The picture could be that of storing valuables like gems or silver coins in a bag. Such valuables were put into a bag, which was fastened or daubed with wax, and pressed with a seal. The bag could not be opened without breaking the seal. Or the picture could be that of an old accounting practice in which a stone was placed in a bag to represent one item of a commodity, e.g. a sheep. Whenever a sheep was added or deleted from the flock, a stone was added or removed from the bag. The basic question of interpretation is, does God seal Job’s sins in a bag in order to put an end to Job’s accountability for them, or does He store them in a bag in order that He might open that bag at the final judgment and execute a full sentence against Job for all his sins?”
From the context it seems to me that the latter is in view here (“that He might open that bag at the final judgment and execute a full sentence against Job).
14:18 "But the falling mountain crumbles away, And the rock moves from its place; 19 Water wears away stones, its torrents wash away the dust of the earth; so You destroy man’s hope. 20 You forever overpower him and he departs; You change his appearance and send him away. 21 His sons achieve honor, but he does not know it; or they become insignificant, but he does not perceive it. 22 But his body pains him, and he mourns only for himself."
“Water wears away stones…” Hope doesn’t just suddenly disappear; more often than not it gradually wears away. Hope erodes. In the version “The Message,” Eugene Peterson translates verses 18 and 19 this way, "Meanwhile, mountains wear down and boulders break up, stones wear smooth and soil erodes, as You relentlessly grind down our hope.” An unrelenting grinding down of hope. Each fresh jab of pain, each sleepless night, each taunt and jeer from a neighbor caused Job’s hope to wither.
Perhaps hope has eroded in your life. You didn’t just determine one day to give up, but the ongoing difficulties, the chronic illness or the “one thing after another” storms have eroded your faith and resolve and hope. Job’s difficulties will intensify in the next few chapters and his hope will erode even further. But God came to Job, and God will come to you! Don’t give up hope!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
El-Shaddai Goes Leaf Chasing (Job 13:1-28)
13:1 Behold, my eye has seen all this, My ear has heard and understood it. 2 What you know I also know. I am not inferior to you. 3 But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue with God.
Against the insinuations of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar (EBZ), Job very strenuously defends his spiritual insight. In his pre-disaster, pre-sickness days, Job had well understood the theology of the ancients and the tradition of the fathers. But instead of following the remedy offered by EBZ (“Repent and plead for mercy"), he earnestly desires to meet God in court.
The Amplified version translates verse 3 in an interesting way, “Surely I wish to speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue and reason my case with God that He may explain the conflict between what I believe of Him and what I see of Him." There have probably been many times when we have wanted God to explain “the conflict between what we believe of Him and what we see of Him.”
13:4 But you smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians. 5 O that you would be completely silent, and that it would become your wisdom! 6 Please hear my argument, and listen to the contentions of my lips.
“You are putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg!” is what Job thinks of the theological salve offered by EBZ. Instead of “smear with lies” the King James has “But you are forgers of lies…” (Umbreit puts it this way, "...artful twisters of vain speeches"). EBZ so misinterpret Job's plight and so contort both the character of Job and God that Job says their arguments mirror the sign over the old blacksmith's shop, “All kinds of fancy twistings and turnings done here.”
In verses 5-6 note the words “silence” and “hear” and “listen”. We will come back to this when we look at verse 17.
The Message puts the second part of verse 6 this way, “Consider my side of things!” The problem is that in EBZ’s theological box there is no side labeled “The paradox of Job.”
13:7 Will you speak what is unjust for God, and speak what is deceitful for Him? 8 Will you show partiality for Him? Will you contend for God? 9 Will it be well when He examines you? Or will you deceive Him as one deceives a man? 10 He will surely reprove you, if you secretly show partiality. 11 Will not His majesty terrify you, and the dread of Him fall on you?
Note the words “show partiality” in verses 8 and 10. It is literally “accept faces.” It is the opposite of what the Pharisees commended Jesus for, “You are not a respecter of persons…” The New Living Translation puts verse 10, “No, you will be in trouble with Him if you secretly slant your testimony in His favor.” Judges are not to pay attention to wealth or poverty or to a person’s power or lack thereof. True justice applies the law equally.
13:12 Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes, your defenses are defenses of clay. 13 Be silent before me so that I may speak; then let come on me what may. 14 Why should I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hands? 15 Though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.
Various versions put the beginning of verse 13 this way:
Your wise sayings are only dust
Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes
Your remembrances are like unto ashes
Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes
Your maxims are proverbs of ashes
Your wise sayings are knickknack wisdom
Your platitudes are as valuable as ashes
Hartley points out that it is probably not coincidental that Job refers to the easily-recited platitudes of EBZ as “proverbs of ashes” while he himself is sitting on a heap of ashes! Hartley also writes, “Maxims are popular and pithy sayings that are easily remembered…Job refers to them as ‘answers of clay’: before the truth their wisdom will crumble like a ceramic pot.”
We will comment on verse 15 at the end, but note again the legal language at the end of the verse (and throughout this chapter).
13:16 This also will be my salvation, for a godless man may not come before His presence. 17 Listen carefully to my speech, and let my declaration {fill} your ears. 18 Behold now, I have prepared my case; I know that I will be vindicated. 19 Who will contend with me? For then I would be silent and die.
There is an art to listening well, but unfortunately a lot of us are not very good at it. We at times have already formulated a response before the person speaking is even finished. Or half way into the conversation we tune out the other individual and wonder when they will be finished (so that we can tell them our story). Listening well takes energy and implies that we value the individual. I think Jesus loved listening (really listening) to people and their stories and their problems. That’s probably one of the reasons why they found Him so different from the other religious teachers of the day.
Notice the cry of Job’s heart in these verses:
13:5 O that you would be completely silent, and that it would become your wisdom!
13:6 Please hear my argument, and listen to the contentions of my lips.
13:13 Be silent before me so that I may speak; then let come on me what may.
13:17 Listen carefully to my speech, and let my declaration {fill} your ears.
In verse 17 he ardently pleads, Listen DILIGENTLY (carefully, closely, attentively are words used in other versions). Hartley writes, “(Job wants them to listen) without missing a single word. He knows that partial attention leads to misunderstanding and wrong conclusions.”
Determine to genuinely listen to someone today. Don’t talk about your problems; just listen thoughtfully to their difficulties. You can bring a great blessing to someone’s life by being a genuine listener.
13:20 Only two things do not do to me, then I will not hide from Thy face: 21 Remove Thy hand from me, and let not the dread of Thee terrify me. 22 Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, then reply to me. 23 How many are my iniquities and sins? Make known to me my rebellion and my sin. 24 Why dost Thou hide Thy face, and consider me Thine enemy? 25 Wilt Thou cause a driven leaf to tremble? Or wilt Thou pursue the dry chaff? 26 For Thou dost write bitter things against me, and dost make me to inherit the iniquities of my youth. 27 Thou dost put my feet in the stocks, and dost watch all my paths; Thou dost set a limit for the soles of my feet, 28 While I am decaying like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.
The crux of the entire book is found in the first part of verse 24, “Why dost Thou hide Thy face (from me)…” The word “face” is found more than 70 times in this remarkable book, 6 times in this chapter alone. Hartley states, “A person’s countenance reveals his basic attitude toward another person.” And Francis I Anderson writes, “It is the hiddenness of God that is horrifying him.”
In verse 25 Job asks, “Wilt Thou cause a driven leaf to tremble?” Many years ago I had the opportunity of going out into the woods in the fall to go leaf hunting for our daughters’ school projects. We pursued leaves! But Job wonders why the God of the universe would pursue him (a dried up leaf) so unrelentingly!
The chapter doesn’t exactly finish on a high note, “While I am decaying like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.” Translation? “In the end he lived miserably ever after.”
But in the midst of the misery and maggots a faith explosion takes place! In verse 15 Job’s heart shines brilliantly before our eyes, “Though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him!!!” It is one of the most famous verses found in this wonderful book (and perhaps in the entire Bible).
Though He slay me (and it certainly looks like He will), yet I will hope in Him! In our Christian life we can either have an “If/Then” or a “Though/Yet” attitude. In Genesis chapter 28 God had just made a breathtaking promise to Jacob. The patriarch then responded to this promise by saying, "IF God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father's house in safety, THEN the LORD will be my God (Genesis 28:20-21).
IF….THEN. If God does A & B & C for me, then I will do X & Y & Z for Him. But Job’s attitude was exceedingly different, “Though he slay me, yet I will hope in him!” The prophet Habakkuk had that same spirit, “THOUGH the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, {though} the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, YET I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:17-18).
Determine to be a “Though/Yet” Christian.
Against the insinuations of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar (EBZ), Job very strenuously defends his spiritual insight. In his pre-disaster, pre-sickness days, Job had well understood the theology of the ancients and the tradition of the fathers. But instead of following the remedy offered by EBZ (“Repent and plead for mercy"), he earnestly desires to meet God in court.
The Amplified version translates verse 3 in an interesting way, “Surely I wish to speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue and reason my case with God that He may explain the conflict between what I believe of Him and what I see of Him." There have probably been many times when we have wanted God to explain “the conflict between what we believe of Him and what we see of Him.”
13:4 But you smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians. 5 O that you would be completely silent, and that it would become your wisdom! 6 Please hear my argument, and listen to the contentions of my lips.
“You are putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg!” is what Job thinks of the theological salve offered by EBZ. Instead of “smear with lies” the King James has “But you are forgers of lies…” (Umbreit puts it this way, "...artful twisters of vain speeches"). EBZ so misinterpret Job's plight and so contort both the character of Job and God that Job says their arguments mirror the sign over the old blacksmith's shop, “All kinds of fancy twistings and turnings done here.”
In verses 5-6 note the words “silence” and “hear” and “listen”. We will come back to this when we look at verse 17.
The Message puts the second part of verse 6 this way, “Consider my side of things!” The problem is that in EBZ’s theological box there is no side labeled “The paradox of Job.”
13:7 Will you speak what is unjust for God, and speak what is deceitful for Him? 8 Will you show partiality for Him? Will you contend for God? 9 Will it be well when He examines you? Or will you deceive Him as one deceives a man? 10 He will surely reprove you, if you secretly show partiality. 11 Will not His majesty terrify you, and the dread of Him fall on you?
Note the words “show partiality” in verses 8 and 10. It is literally “accept faces.” It is the opposite of what the Pharisees commended Jesus for, “You are not a respecter of persons…” The New Living Translation puts verse 10, “No, you will be in trouble with Him if you secretly slant your testimony in His favor.” Judges are not to pay attention to wealth or poverty or to a person’s power or lack thereof. True justice applies the law equally.
13:12 Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes, your defenses are defenses of clay. 13 Be silent before me so that I may speak; then let come on me what may. 14 Why should I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hands? 15 Though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.
Various versions put the beginning of verse 13 this way:
Your wise sayings are only dust
Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes
Your remembrances are like unto ashes
Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes
Your maxims are proverbs of ashes
Your wise sayings are knickknack wisdom
Your platitudes are as valuable as ashes
Hartley points out that it is probably not coincidental that Job refers to the easily-recited platitudes of EBZ as “proverbs of ashes” while he himself is sitting on a heap of ashes! Hartley also writes, “Maxims are popular and pithy sayings that are easily remembered…Job refers to them as ‘answers of clay’: before the truth their wisdom will crumble like a ceramic pot.”
We will comment on verse 15 at the end, but note again the legal language at the end of the verse (and throughout this chapter).
13:16 This also will be my salvation, for a godless man may not come before His presence. 17 Listen carefully to my speech, and let my declaration {fill} your ears. 18 Behold now, I have prepared my case; I know that I will be vindicated. 19 Who will contend with me? For then I would be silent and die.
There is an art to listening well, but unfortunately a lot of us are not very good at it. We at times have already formulated a response before the person speaking is even finished. Or half way into the conversation we tune out the other individual and wonder when they will be finished (so that we can tell them our story). Listening well takes energy and implies that we value the individual. I think Jesus loved listening (really listening) to people and their stories and their problems. That’s probably one of the reasons why they found Him so different from the other religious teachers of the day.
Notice the cry of Job’s heart in these verses:
13:5 O that you would be completely silent, and that it would become your wisdom!
13:6 Please hear my argument, and listen to the contentions of my lips.
13:13 Be silent before me so that I may speak; then let come on me what may.
13:17 Listen carefully to my speech, and let my declaration {fill} your ears.
In verse 17 he ardently pleads, Listen DILIGENTLY (carefully, closely, attentively are words used in other versions). Hartley writes, “(Job wants them to listen) without missing a single word. He knows that partial attention leads to misunderstanding and wrong conclusions.”
Determine to genuinely listen to someone today. Don’t talk about your problems; just listen thoughtfully to their difficulties. You can bring a great blessing to someone’s life by being a genuine listener.
13:20 Only two things do not do to me, then I will not hide from Thy face: 21 Remove Thy hand from me, and let not the dread of Thee terrify me. 22 Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, then reply to me. 23 How many are my iniquities and sins? Make known to me my rebellion and my sin. 24 Why dost Thou hide Thy face, and consider me Thine enemy? 25 Wilt Thou cause a driven leaf to tremble? Or wilt Thou pursue the dry chaff? 26 For Thou dost write bitter things against me, and dost make me to inherit the iniquities of my youth. 27 Thou dost put my feet in the stocks, and dost watch all my paths; Thou dost set a limit for the soles of my feet, 28 While I am decaying like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.
The crux of the entire book is found in the first part of verse 24, “Why dost Thou hide Thy face (from me)…” The word “face” is found more than 70 times in this remarkable book, 6 times in this chapter alone. Hartley states, “A person’s countenance reveals his basic attitude toward another person.” And Francis I Anderson writes, “It is the hiddenness of God that is horrifying him.”
In verse 25 Job asks, “Wilt Thou cause a driven leaf to tremble?” Many years ago I had the opportunity of going out into the woods in the fall to go leaf hunting for our daughters’ school projects. We pursued leaves! But Job wonders why the God of the universe would pursue him (a dried up leaf) so unrelentingly!
The chapter doesn’t exactly finish on a high note, “While I am decaying like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.” Translation? “In the end he lived miserably ever after.”
But in the midst of the misery and maggots a faith explosion takes place! In verse 15 Job’s heart shines brilliantly before our eyes, “Though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him!!!” It is one of the most famous verses found in this wonderful book (and perhaps in the entire Bible).
Though He slay me (and it certainly looks like He will), yet I will hope in Him! In our Christian life we can either have an “If/Then” or a “Though/Yet” attitude. In Genesis chapter 28 God had just made a breathtaking promise to Jacob. The patriarch then responded to this promise by saying, "IF God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father's house in safety, THEN the LORD will be my God (Genesis 28:20-21).
IF….THEN. If God does A & B & C for me, then I will do X & Y & Z for Him. But Job’s attitude was exceedingly different, “Though he slay me, yet I will hope in him!” The prophet Habakkuk had that same spirit, “THOUGH the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, {though} the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, YET I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:17-18).
Determine to be a “Though/Yet” Christian.
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