Sarcasm can be defined as “a form of irony in which apparent praise conceals another, scornful meaning. For example, a sarcastic remark directed at a person who consistently arrives fifteen minutes late for appointments might be, “Oh, you’ve arrived exactly on time!” (From dictionary.com).
Sarcasm is derision and ridicule gift wrapped as a compliment. The word literally means “to strip off the flesh.”
26:1 “Then Job responded, 2 ‘What a help you are to the weak! How you have saved the arm without strength! 3 What counsel you have given to one without wisdom! What helpful insight you have abundantly provided! 4 To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit was expressed through you?’”
Following Bildad’s appalling sermon in chapter 25, Job came to the conclusion that words needed to be said in an unvarnished way. Tossing tact aside, Job replied to Bildad with sarcasm – he “stripped the flesh off” Bildad’s arguments (and indirectly those of Eliphaz and Zophar). He spoke directly to Bildad (the “you” is singular) – he held nothing back. Job’s sores and pain have focused his thinking. The Message puts verses 2-4 this way, “Well, you’ve certainly been a great help to a helpless man! You came to the rescue just in the nick of time! What wonderful advice you’ve given to a mixed-up man! What amazing insights you’ve provided! Where in the world did you learn all this? How did you become so inspired?”
The second half of verse three from the King James Version read like this, “…you have declared the thing as it is.” Translation: "You Bildad (and you alone) have pulled back the veil separating the seen from the unseen and revealed what is truly taking place in God’s heavenly courtroom." Francis I Anderson states that “Bildad is abysmally ignorant of God and His ways….”
What follows in verses 5-14 is, as Francis I Anderson puts it, “One of the most fascinating cosmological passages in the entire Bible.” In this series of 10 verses, Job takes his audience from the depths of hell to the heights of heaven.
26:5 “The departed spirits tremble under the waters and their inhabitants. 6 Naked is Sheol before Him, and Abaddon has no covering.”
Sheol (the Netherworld, Hell, the place of no return) and Abaddon (Destruction) are the most secret and obscure of places. But not only can Jehovah see through the dark clouds (22:13), Hell/Sheol/Abaddon lie naked before His gaze.
26:7 “He stretches out the north over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing.”
There are two phrases in this chapter that I find so remarkable. The first is found here in verse 7, “…he hangs the earth upon nothing.”
Here is Job, in such physical, emotional and spiritual misery, lifting us heavenward to the enormity of God and His creation. The God that he serves, the God who seems to be so utterly absent, is the God Who “hangs the earth upon nothing.” Charles Swindoll states, “How profoundly simple the first verse of Genesis is…’In the beginning God created…’”
Design argues for a Designer (whether that "design" be on our planet or in reference to where this little blue orb is situated in the galaxy). Volumes could be written about this part of verse 7. But here are just a couple of thoughts taken from www.evidenceofdesign.com/privileged-planet/, “The book (The Privileged Planet) focuses on twenty factors about earth that make it uniquely able to sustain complex life as it does. For example, in our solar system, earth alone is in a position for complex life to exist…. The chance of each of these factors being true they guessed at 1 out of 10, a very conservative estimate. However, for all twenty to be true in one planet is 1/10 times 1/10, etc. for twenty times, or one in a trillion trillionth chance. That isn’t very great!!”
26:8 “He wraps up the waters in His clouds, and the cloud does not burst under them.”
As one stores wine in a wineskin, so God stores up enormous volumes of water in the “cloudskins.” Our planet is overflowing with a myriad of meteorological wonders.
26:9 “He obscures the face of the full moon and spreads His cloud over it.”
The sun is 400 times farther away than the moon, but it just “happens” to be 400 times the size of the moon. It is this size-to-distance ratio that makes viewing a total solar eclipse on earth possible. According to astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez (one of the authors of “Privileged Planet), in 65 other heavenly bodies that he studied, observing such an eclipse is not possible.
26:10 “He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters at the boundary of light and darkness.”
Have you ever viewed that website/slideshow that shows the transition from day to night across our planet (I think from the point of view of the space shuttle)? It’s quite remarkable to behold. (You can check it out at http://toadhaven.com/Earth%20At%20Night.html
26:11 “The pillars of heaven tremble and are amazed at His rebuke. 12 He quieted the sea with His power, and by His understanding He shattered Rahab. 13 By His breath the heavens are cleared; His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent.”
The King James translates the first part of verse 13 this way, “By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens…” As a chef in a fine restaurant would garnish one of the courses of the meal, so God decorates the heavens. One commentator puts it this way, “As a palace is adorned with stately paintings, so God has ‘garnished the heavens.’”
26:14 “Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; and how faint a word we hear of Him! But His mighty thunder, who can understand?”
“The fringes of His ways…” What a remarkable statement! Some of the other versions translate this verse this way:
Amplified: “Yet these are but (a small part of His doings) the outskirts of His ways or the mere fringes of His force…”
AV: “Lo, these are parts of his ways…”
Darby: “Lo, these are the borders of his ways…”
ESV: “Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways…”
NLT: “These are just the beginning of all that he does, merely a whisper of his power…”’
“An atmosphere of wonder (is what Job creates by his speech),” says Francis I. Anderson. And what lies beyond the “fringes”? As per this same commentary, “…the remainder of God's unexplored infinity.” I like that – “God’s unexplored infinity!” What we behold in the splendor of the heavens is just the faintest whisper of His power and simply the outline of all that He can do! How can we put into words that which we cannot comprehend? One writer states, “At best a human being catches only a glimpse of God's marvelous ways.”
Romans 11:33 states, “Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” In his commentary on Job, Charles Swindoll wrote that Dr. Walvoord, then president of The Dallas Theological Seminary, referred to this verse during his commencement address to Swindoll’s graduating class. Walvoord then stated, “There will be times when you will try to unscrew the inscrutable.” Swindoll continues in his commentary, “We prefer things fathomable, or, if you will, scrutable; we can't fathom the unfathomable so let’s not try to unscrew the inscrutable.” ("Inscrutable" is defined as something not easily understood, something impenetrable, something mysterious or incapable of being investigated.)
Think about this: Job, in his pitiable condition, speaks about the enormity and majesty of God. There could not be a greater divergence between the last words of Bildad (“How much less man, that maggot, and the son of man, that worm!”) in 25:6 and these words of Job in 26:14. Each Sunday pastors have a choice: to leave their congregations feeling as deflated as though Bildad himself had just preached Job 25; or lifted heavenward as though Job had just preached to them from chapter 26.
Trying to comprehend the incomprehensible…to fathom the unfathomable…to unscrew the inscrutable. “These are just the fringes (outline) of His ways…” Grasping even a whisper of the vastness, the majesty, and the wisdom of the God of the Bible only serves to magnify God’s love for mankind demonstrated through Calvary.
“These are just the fringes of His ways!” Would that we would, in the midst of difficulties and our own ash-heap situations, be not big complainers, but big God-ders!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
"Despicable He" Job 25:1-6
It is said that if a lawyer’s case is strong, the lawyer should hammer on the facts. But if the case is weak, he (or she) should hammer on the table.
In chapter 25 Bildad hammers on the table. The shortest man in the Bible (Bildad the Shoe-Height) gives us the shortest chapter in Job. Adam Clarke writes, “This is the last attack on Job…” Concerning this brief address from Bildad:
Job is undoubtedly relieved it is such a short sermon – chapter 25 is only 6 verses long.
This is the last we hear from the three comforters.
Verse 6 is appalling in its implication.
25:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, 2 “Dominion and awe belong to Him Who establishes peace in His heights. 3 "Is there any number to His troops? And upon whom does His light not rise?"
Francis I Anderson states, “The discussion is nearly exhausted, the comforters have run out of fuel.” Bildad’s philosophy seems to be, “When you don’t have anything to say, say something!” Job’s argument in the preceding chapter was (in a nutshell), “Why do many of those who either hate God or totally disregard His laws seem to suffer no consequences when they oppress the poor, the widows and the orphans?” Job’s line of reasoning is totally ignored by Bildad – he seems to just cover his ears at the undeniable point Job had made and responded with a bluster, “Well, God is sovereign….and you’re ____________________” (We will wait till verse six to fill in this blank).
“Dominion and awe belong to Him…” Translation: So why are you, Job, even bothering to query God? You are far too powerless and puny to question God’s sovereignty. Even in God’s heavenly court no one would dare challenge the rule of God. So it is not wise of you to stir up Heaven and make such a commotion.”
The Comforters came to Uz in chapter two simply to be with their friend during such a tragic hour. They were to be commended for their desire to comfort their friend. But frustrated that Job wouldn’t yield to their “Job you must have sinned so you need to repent” solution, they left their original mission of mercy and their dialogue became increasingly sharp and cruel. It culminates with these disgusting verses of Bildad.
Throughout the dialogue from chapter 4 through chapter 25, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar refused to concede that their theology might be deficient in the mercy department and that their belief system needed a “There Are Some Things We Can’t Figure Out” chapter.
Barnes writes, “At this stage of the controversy, since they had nothing to reply to what Job had alleged, it would have been honorable in them to have acknowledged that they were in error, and to have yielded the palm of victory to him. But it requires extraordinary candor and humility to do that; and rather than do it, most people would prefer to say something—though it has nothing to do with the case in hand.”
25: 4 "How then can a man be just with God? Or how can he be clean who is born of woman?"
How do you get from verse 3 to verse 4? How do you get from “God’s angel armies are without number” to “How can a man have a proper relationship with God?” Adam Clarke writes, “This speech of Bildad is both confused and inconclusive. His reasoning is absurd, and he draws false conclusions from his premises.”
Trapp paraphrases Bildad’s thought in verse 4, “How can frivolous man, sorry man, morbis mortique obnoxius, man subject to diseases and death; how can such a man, so mortal and miserable, a mass of mortalities, a map of miseries, a very mixture and compound of dirt and sin, be justified with God?”
Bildad seems to be saying, “Job, you mass of mortalities, you map of miseries, you mixture and compound of dirt and sin…can never win a court battle with God. You can never be ‘justified’ in the heavenly courtroom.” Throughout the dialogue Job has never claimed an inherent sinlessness as his basis for approaching God. It was simply his dogged persistence to have his relationship restored with Him that has led him to pursue this course of tenacious and daring faith in God.
25:5 “If even the moon has no brightness and the stars are not pure in His sight, 6 how much less man, that maggot, and the son of man, that worm!"
Perhaps at this point Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar are arguing with Job at night under the crystal clear Arabian sky. It would be a breathtaking sight – four men at the city dump, waging theological warfare under the canopy of an innumerable number of stars. (I guess actually there would be five men…Elihu hasn’t been introduced to us yet).
Job is sick, a hospice-deathbed kind of sick. He is emaciated; his blackened and scab encrusted skin is flaking off. Insect larvae make their homes in many of his unbandaged sores. And he is too weak even to stand.
Bildad sees the sickly shell of this man named Job and comes to the ultimate conclusion that it would be as disgusting to have God meet Job out at the ash heap as it would be to present El-Shaddai with a platter of maggots. It is astonishing how different Bildad’s view of Job’s character is from God’s -- he has never looked into his heart. I Samuel 16:7 reminds us, “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’’
There are two words in verse 6 that are degradingly expressive – maggot and worm. The first word (maggot) alludes to man’s corruption. Calling someone “a maggot” (either directly or indirectly [as Bildad is here]) is slang for a low and wretched person. The second word (worm) refers to a crawling worm and implies that man is weak and groveling.
To paraphrase: Job, you are a walking dunghill, a disgusting mass of maggots.
It seems inconceivable, but these are Bildad’s last words of “encouragement” to Job, “How much less man that maggot and the son of man that worm.”
Bildad truly is “Despicable He.”
Adam Clarke writes in summary chapter 25, “Thus ends Bildad the Shuhite, who endeavored to speak on a subject which he did not understand; and, having got on bad ground, was soon confounded in his own mind, spoke incoherently, argued inconclusively, and came abruptly and suddenly to an end. Thus, his three friends being confounded, Job was left to pursue his own way; they trouble him no more; and he proceeds in triumph to the end of the thirty-first chapter.”
The three Comforters obstinately hold fast to their theology of “retribution” and have failed to bring even a moment of respite to Job’s misery. Against such a backdrop of abandonment discouragement, Job’s story of faith shines even brighter.
Until we get a little further toward the end, these chapters of Job can get a little depressing. But it’s good to frequently remind ourselves of the endgame and the outcome of God’s dealings with us.
Maybe you are struggling through a dark period in your life. And maybe it seems that lately the people that have tried to encourage you have the middle name of “Bildad.” Below is James 5:11 from 6 different versions of the Bible. Perhaps they will bring some faith and encouragement to your situation. I particularly like how Eugene Price in The Message translates this verse.
Hang in there…and never give up!
The Bible in Basic English: We say that those men who have gone through pain are happy: you have the story of Job and the troubles through which he went and have seen that the Lord was full of pity and mercy in the end.
The Amplified Version: You know how we call those blessed (happy) who were steadfast. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the Lord’s end, inasmuch as the Lord is full of pity and compassion and tenderness and mercy.
The English Standard Version: Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
The Message: What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You’ve heard, of course, of Job’s staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That’s because God cares, cares right down to the last detail.
The New Living Translation: We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.
Philips Version: Remember that it is those who have patiently endured to whom we accord the word "blessed". You have heard of Job’s patient endurance and how the Lord dealt with him in the end, and therefore you have seen that the Lord is merciful and full of understanding pity.
In chapter 25 Bildad hammers on the table. The shortest man in the Bible (Bildad the Shoe-Height) gives us the shortest chapter in Job. Adam Clarke writes, “This is the last attack on Job…” Concerning this brief address from Bildad:
Job is undoubtedly relieved it is such a short sermon – chapter 25 is only 6 verses long.
This is the last we hear from the three comforters.
Verse 6 is appalling in its implication.
25:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, 2 “Dominion and awe belong to Him Who establishes peace in His heights. 3 "Is there any number to His troops? And upon whom does His light not rise?"
Francis I Anderson states, “The discussion is nearly exhausted, the comforters have run out of fuel.” Bildad’s philosophy seems to be, “When you don’t have anything to say, say something!” Job’s argument in the preceding chapter was (in a nutshell), “Why do many of those who either hate God or totally disregard His laws seem to suffer no consequences when they oppress the poor, the widows and the orphans?” Job’s line of reasoning is totally ignored by Bildad – he seems to just cover his ears at the undeniable point Job had made and responded with a bluster, “Well, God is sovereign….and you’re ____________________” (We will wait till verse six to fill in this blank).
“Dominion and awe belong to Him…” Translation: So why are you, Job, even bothering to query God? You are far too powerless and puny to question God’s sovereignty. Even in God’s heavenly court no one would dare challenge the rule of God. So it is not wise of you to stir up Heaven and make such a commotion.”
The Comforters came to Uz in chapter two simply to be with their friend during such a tragic hour. They were to be commended for their desire to comfort their friend. But frustrated that Job wouldn’t yield to their “Job you must have sinned so you need to repent” solution, they left their original mission of mercy and their dialogue became increasingly sharp and cruel. It culminates with these disgusting verses of Bildad.
Throughout the dialogue from chapter 4 through chapter 25, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar refused to concede that their theology might be deficient in the mercy department and that their belief system needed a “There Are Some Things We Can’t Figure Out” chapter.
Barnes writes, “At this stage of the controversy, since they had nothing to reply to what Job had alleged, it would have been honorable in them to have acknowledged that they were in error, and to have yielded the palm of victory to him. But it requires extraordinary candor and humility to do that; and rather than do it, most people would prefer to say something—though it has nothing to do with the case in hand.”
25: 4 "How then can a man be just with God? Or how can he be clean who is born of woman?"
How do you get from verse 3 to verse 4? How do you get from “God’s angel armies are without number” to “How can a man have a proper relationship with God?” Adam Clarke writes, “This speech of Bildad is both confused and inconclusive. His reasoning is absurd, and he draws false conclusions from his premises.”
Trapp paraphrases Bildad’s thought in verse 4, “How can frivolous man, sorry man, morbis mortique obnoxius, man subject to diseases and death; how can such a man, so mortal and miserable, a mass of mortalities, a map of miseries, a very mixture and compound of dirt and sin, be justified with God?”
Bildad seems to be saying, “Job, you mass of mortalities, you map of miseries, you mixture and compound of dirt and sin…can never win a court battle with God. You can never be ‘justified’ in the heavenly courtroom.” Throughout the dialogue Job has never claimed an inherent sinlessness as his basis for approaching God. It was simply his dogged persistence to have his relationship restored with Him that has led him to pursue this course of tenacious and daring faith in God.
25:5 “If even the moon has no brightness and the stars are not pure in His sight, 6 how much less man, that maggot, and the son of man, that worm!"
Perhaps at this point Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar are arguing with Job at night under the crystal clear Arabian sky. It would be a breathtaking sight – four men at the city dump, waging theological warfare under the canopy of an innumerable number of stars. (I guess actually there would be five men…Elihu hasn’t been introduced to us yet).
Job is sick, a hospice-deathbed kind of sick. He is emaciated; his blackened and scab encrusted skin is flaking off. Insect larvae make their homes in many of his unbandaged sores. And he is too weak even to stand.
Bildad sees the sickly shell of this man named Job and comes to the ultimate conclusion that it would be as disgusting to have God meet Job out at the ash heap as it would be to present El-Shaddai with a platter of maggots. It is astonishing how different Bildad’s view of Job’s character is from God’s -- he has never looked into his heart. I Samuel 16:7 reminds us, “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’’
There are two words in verse 6 that are degradingly expressive – maggot and worm. The first word (maggot) alludes to man’s corruption. Calling someone “a maggot” (either directly or indirectly [as Bildad is here]) is slang for a low and wretched person. The second word (worm) refers to a crawling worm and implies that man is weak and groveling.
To paraphrase: Job, you are a walking dunghill, a disgusting mass of maggots.
It seems inconceivable, but these are Bildad’s last words of “encouragement” to Job, “How much less man that maggot and the son of man that worm.”
Bildad truly is “Despicable He.”
Adam Clarke writes in summary chapter 25, “Thus ends Bildad the Shuhite, who endeavored to speak on a subject which he did not understand; and, having got on bad ground, was soon confounded in his own mind, spoke incoherently, argued inconclusively, and came abruptly and suddenly to an end. Thus, his three friends being confounded, Job was left to pursue his own way; they trouble him no more; and he proceeds in triumph to the end of the thirty-first chapter.”
The three Comforters obstinately hold fast to their theology of “retribution” and have failed to bring even a moment of respite to Job’s misery. Against such a backdrop of abandonment discouragement, Job’s story of faith shines even brighter.
Until we get a little further toward the end, these chapters of Job can get a little depressing. But it’s good to frequently remind ourselves of the endgame and the outcome of God’s dealings with us.
Maybe you are struggling through a dark period in your life. And maybe it seems that lately the people that have tried to encourage you have the middle name of “Bildad.” Below is James 5:11 from 6 different versions of the Bible. Perhaps they will bring some faith and encouragement to your situation. I particularly like how Eugene Price in The Message translates this verse.
Hang in there…and never give up!
The Bible in Basic English: We say that those men who have gone through pain are happy: you have the story of Job and the troubles through which he went and have seen that the Lord was full of pity and mercy in the end.
The Amplified Version: You know how we call those blessed (happy) who were steadfast
The English Standard Version: Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
The Message: What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You’ve heard, of course, of Job’s staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That’s because God cares, cares right down to the last detail.
The New Living Translation: We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.
Philips Version: Remember that it is those who have patiently endured to whom we accord the word "blessed". You have heard of Job’s patient endurance and how the Lord dealt with him in the end, and therefore you have seen that the Lord is merciful and full of understanding pity.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
"It Seems..." Job 24:1-25
Does God care?
Sometimes it "seems" that He does not.
From all appearances, it may seem that Deists are correct in their theology. Deists believe that there is a God, but that He keeps Himself more or less aloof from His creation. “Deism pictures God as the great ‘Clockmaker’ who created the clock, wound it up, and let it go…Deism pictures God as ambivalent, uncaring, and uninvolved.” (From www.gotquestions.org/deism.html).
Sometimes it feels like God has wound up the clock of our lives and then faded into the background. God’s “seeming” inactivity may cause us to conclude that we serve a Detached Deity.
24:1 “Why are times not stored up by the Almighty, and why do those who know Him not see His days?”
Francis I. Anderson writes, “The claim of (Job’s) friends, that God regularly enforces justice in the world, is not born out by the facts.”
Translation of verse 1? “Why doesn’t God publish His docket (a list of His court cases against the wicked), and post His schedule of judgments on Facebook? And why doesn’t He send out a cadre of angelic law enforcement personnel to serve subpoenas on all of the criminal sinners in the world? And when will He begin to defend those who have been wrongfully charged?”
The bulk of the chapter is simply an inventory of crimes against the world’s downtrodden. Hartley divides the chapter between civil injustice (verses 2-11) and criminal injustice (verses 12-17). Francis I Anderson states, “What makes the list disturbing is that most of the evils, such as removing a landmark, are things forbidden again and again in the laws that the Lord gave to Israel. Hence the question...’Why doesn't He enforce them?’”
24:2 “Some remove the landmarks; they seize and devour flocks."
The wicked craftily move the property lines – something so abhorrent that Deuteronomy places those that do so under a curse. With brazenness (and seeming impunity), the boundary-movers then pasture the stolen sheep on the stolen property!
24:3 “They drive away the donkeys of the orphans; they take the widow’s ox for a pledge. 4 They push the needy aside from the road; the poor of the land are made to hide themselves altogether. 5 Behold, as wild donkeys in the wilderness they go forth seeking food in their activity, as bread for their children in the desert. 6 They harvest their fodder in the field and glean the vineyard of the wicked. 7 They spend the night naked, without clothing, and have no covering against the cold. 8 They are wet with the mountain rains and hug the rock for want of a shelter. 9 Others snatch the orphan from the breast, and against the poor they take a pledge. 10 They cause the poor to go about naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaves from the hungry. 11 Within the walls they produce oil; they tread wine presses but thirst."
The catalog of wrongs done to society’s less fortunate is quite striking:
Vs 3 Orphans are stripped of their only means of support.
Vs 3 Widows also lose their means of livelihood.
Vs 4a The needy are driven to the back roads.
Vs 4b The poor are under such oppression they need to hide themselves.
The next few verses are how the version of the Bible “The Message” sees the misery of the Unfortunates:
Vs 5 The poor, like stray dogs and cats, scavenge for food in back alleys.
Vs 6 They sort through the garbage of the rich, eke out survival on handouts.
Vs 7 Homeless, they shiver through cold nights on the street; they’ve no place to lay their heads.
Vs 8 Exposed to the weather, wet and frozen, they huddle in makeshift shelters.
Vs 9 Nursing mothers have their babies snatched from them; the infants of the poor are kidnapped and sold.
And the oppressed toil under back-breaking conditions and yet never have enough to make ends meet:
Vs 10 They carry the sheaves -- yet are hungry.
Vs 11 They press out the grapes -- yet are thirsty.
Francis I Anderson states, “At some point the description of the plight of the dispossessed changes to the wretchedness of overworked laborers, exploited with low wages, clad in rags, hungry for the harvest that they gather for the well fed owner.”
Barnes writes in his commentary, “Injury done to an orphan is always regarded as a crime of special magnitude.” God takes special note of the poor, the widow, and the orphan – the “Unfortunates” that are often exploited by the rich and the powerful.
Brutal and miserable working conditions, low wages, inhumane treatment of exploited workers – if God’s laws were formulated to prevent such social oppression, then why doesn’t the God of those laws do something?
We are left with the impression that God has vacated the galaxy. It "seems" that God doesn't care.
Job continues in verse 12, "From the city men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out; Yet God does not pay attention to folly.”
Adam Clarke writes in his commentary, “I (visited) a district in London, to know the real state of the poor. (We) found each dwelling full of people, dirt, and wretchedness. Neither old nor young had the appearance of health: some were sick, and others lying dead, in the same place! Several beds, if they might be called such, on the floor in the same apartment; and, in one single house, sixty souls! These were groaning under various evils; and the soul of the wounded, wounded in spirit, and afflicted in body, cried out to God and man for help! It would have required no subtle investigation to have traced all these miseries to the doors, the hands, the lips, and the hearts, of ruthless landlords or to oppressive systems…”
24:13 “Others have been with those who rebel against the light; they do not want to know its ways Nor abide in its paths. 14 The murderer arises at dawn; He kills the poor and the needy, and at night he is as a thief. 15 The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Saying, ’No eye will see me.’ And he disguises his face. 16 In the dark they dig into houses, they shut themselves up by day; they do not know the light. 17 For the morning is the same to him as thick darkness, for he is familiar with the terrors of thick darkness."
Job moves from an inventory of wrongs done to societies lowest to the activities of the criminals themselves – the murderer, the thief, and the adulterer. In all of their activities, the night is their ally and midnight is their morning. (Verse 16 has an interesting phrase – “In the dark they dig into houses…” It was believed that the demons of the house protected the doorway so the thief would literally dig through the mud wall rather than antagonize a supernatural being.)
Yet God just "seems" to stand by – nothing appears to be rectified, wickedness does not seem to be restrained and wrongs don’t seem to be righted.
Verses 18-24 from The New Living Translation: “But they disappear like foam down a river. Everything they own is cursed, and they are afraid to enter their own vineyards. The grave consumes sinners just as drought and heat consume snow. Their own mothers will forget them. Maggots will find them sweet to eat. No one will remember them. Wicked people are broken like a tree in the storm. They cheat the woman who has no son to help her. They refuse to help the needy widow. God, in his power, drags away the rich. They may rise high, but they have no assurance of life. They may be allowed to live in security, but God is always watching them. And though they are great now, in a moment they will be gone like all others, cut off like heads of grain.”
Job concludes, 24:25 “Now if it is not so, who can prove me a liar, and make my speech worthless?"
Job still trusts God, but he is baffled by His silence. And for all appearances, it seemed that the right would fail and wrong would prevail.
On Christmas Day, 1864, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, one of America’s best known poets, penned the words to his poem, “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day.” The words were born out of the devastating circumstances of Longfellow’s life and the terrible cost of the Civil War. His wife had died as the result of a tragic fire in their home, their son was severely wounded in the war, and the end of our nation’s terrible conflict seemed no where in sight. For this beloved poet, it seemed that the right would fail and wrong would prevail. But, as the old Christmas carol states, he concluded otherwise:
"Christmas Bells"
(The original poem, complete with all seven stanzas)
"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!"
As Christians, we reject "Deism." We firmly believe in a God that intensely loves His creation and in a God Who is actively involved in the affairs of this world today. We believe in the God "Whose eye is on the sparrow, and Who watches over me." In just a few chapters and in a dramatic way, Job will find that “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep!”
(Lyrics from www.whatsaiththescripture.com)
Sometimes it "seems" that He does not.
From all appearances, it may seem that Deists are correct in their theology. Deists believe that there is a God, but that He keeps Himself more or less aloof from His creation. “Deism pictures God as the great ‘Clockmaker’ who created the clock, wound it up, and let it go…Deism pictures God as ambivalent, uncaring, and uninvolved.” (From www.gotquestions.org/deism.html).
Sometimes it feels like God has wound up the clock of our lives and then faded into the background. God’s “seeming” inactivity may cause us to conclude that we serve a Detached Deity.
24:1 “Why are times not stored up by the Almighty, and why do those who know Him not see His days?”
Francis I. Anderson writes, “The claim of (Job’s) friends, that God regularly enforces justice in the world, is not born out by the facts.”
Translation of verse 1? “Why doesn’t God publish His docket (a list of His court cases against the wicked), and post His schedule of judgments on Facebook? And why doesn’t He send out a cadre of angelic law enforcement personnel to serve subpoenas on all of the criminal sinners in the world? And when will He begin to defend those who have been wrongfully charged?”
The bulk of the chapter is simply an inventory of crimes against the world’s downtrodden. Hartley divides the chapter between civil injustice (verses 2-11) and criminal injustice (verses 12-17). Francis I Anderson states, “What makes the list disturbing is that most of the evils, such as removing a landmark, are things forbidden again and again in the laws that the Lord gave to Israel. Hence the question...’Why doesn't He enforce them?’”
24:2 “Some remove the landmarks; they seize and devour flocks."
The wicked craftily move the property lines – something so abhorrent that Deuteronomy places those that do so under a curse. With brazenness (and seeming impunity), the boundary-movers then pasture the stolen sheep on the stolen property!
24:3 “They drive away the donkeys of the orphans; they take the widow’s ox for a pledge. 4 They push the needy aside from the road; the poor of the land are made to hide themselves altogether. 5 Behold, as wild donkeys in the wilderness they go forth seeking food in their activity, as bread for their children in the desert. 6 They harvest their fodder in the field and glean the vineyard of the wicked. 7 They spend the night naked, without clothing, and have no covering against the cold. 8 They are wet with the mountain rains and hug the rock for want of a shelter. 9 Others snatch the orphan from the breast, and against the poor they take a pledge. 10 They cause the poor to go about naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaves from the hungry. 11 Within the walls they produce oil; they tread wine presses but thirst."
The catalog of wrongs done to society’s less fortunate is quite striking:
Vs 3 Orphans are stripped of their only means of support.
Vs 3 Widows also lose their means of livelihood.
Vs 4a The needy are driven to the back roads.
Vs 4b The poor are under such oppression they need to hide themselves.
The next few verses are how the version of the Bible “The Message” sees the misery of the Unfortunates:
Vs 5 The poor, like stray dogs and cats, scavenge for food in back alleys.
Vs 6 They sort through the garbage of the rich, eke out survival on handouts.
Vs 7 Homeless, they shiver through cold nights on the street; they’ve no place to lay their heads.
Vs 8 Exposed to the weather, wet and frozen, they huddle in makeshift shelters.
Vs 9 Nursing mothers have their babies snatched from them; the infants of the poor are kidnapped and sold.
And the oppressed toil under back-breaking conditions and yet never have enough to make ends meet:
Vs 10 They carry the sheaves -- yet are hungry.
Vs 11 They press out the grapes -- yet are thirsty.
Francis I Anderson states, “At some point the description of the plight of the dispossessed changes to the wretchedness of overworked laborers, exploited with low wages, clad in rags, hungry for the harvest that they gather for the well fed owner.”
Barnes writes in his commentary, “Injury done to an orphan is always regarded as a crime of special magnitude.” God takes special note of the poor, the widow, and the orphan – the “Unfortunates” that are often exploited by the rich and the powerful.
Brutal and miserable working conditions, low wages, inhumane treatment of exploited workers – if God’s laws were formulated to prevent such social oppression, then why doesn’t the God of those laws do something?
We are left with the impression that God has vacated the galaxy. It "seems" that God doesn't care.
Job continues in verse 12, "From the city men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out; Yet God does not pay attention to folly.”
Adam Clarke writes in his commentary, “I (visited) a district in London, to know the real state of the poor. (We) found each dwelling full of people, dirt, and wretchedness. Neither old nor young had the appearance of health: some were sick, and others lying dead, in the same place! Several beds, if they might be called such, on the floor in the same apartment; and, in one single house, sixty souls! These were groaning under various evils; and the soul of the wounded, wounded in spirit, and afflicted in body, cried out to God and man for help! It would have required no subtle investigation to have traced all these miseries to the doors, the hands, the lips, and the hearts, of ruthless landlords or to oppressive systems…”
24:13 “Others have been with those who rebel against the light; they do not want to know its ways Nor abide in its paths. 14 The murderer arises at dawn; He kills the poor and the needy, and at night he is as a thief. 15 The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Saying, ’No eye will see me.’ And he disguises his face. 16 In the dark they dig into houses, they shut themselves up by day; they do not know the light. 17 For the morning is the same to him as thick darkness, for he is familiar with the terrors of thick darkness."
Job moves from an inventory of wrongs done to societies lowest to the activities of the criminals themselves – the murderer, the thief, and the adulterer. In all of their activities, the night is their ally and midnight is their morning. (Verse 16 has an interesting phrase – “In the dark they dig into houses…” It was believed that the demons of the house protected the doorway so the thief would literally dig through the mud wall rather than antagonize a supernatural being.)
Yet God just "seems" to stand by – nothing appears to be rectified, wickedness does not seem to be restrained and wrongs don’t seem to be righted.
Verses 18-24 from The New Living Translation: “But they disappear like foam down a river. Everything they own is cursed, and they are afraid to enter their own vineyards. The grave consumes sinners just as drought and heat consume snow. Their own mothers will forget them. Maggots will find them sweet to eat. No one will remember them. Wicked people are broken like a tree in the storm. They cheat the woman who has no son to help her. They refuse to help the needy widow. God, in his power, drags away the rich. They may rise high, but they have no assurance of life. They may be allowed to live in security, but God is always watching them. And though they are great now, in a moment they will be gone like all others, cut off like heads of grain.”
Job concludes, 24:25 “Now if it is not so, who can prove me a liar, and make my speech worthless?"
Job still trusts God, but he is baffled by His silence. And for all appearances, it seemed that the right would fail and wrong would prevail.
On Christmas Day, 1864, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, one of America’s best known poets, penned the words to his poem, “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day.” The words were born out of the devastating circumstances of Longfellow’s life and the terrible cost of the Civil War. His wife had died as the result of a tragic fire in their home, their son was severely wounded in the war, and the end of our nation’s terrible conflict seemed no where in sight. For this beloved poet, it seemed that the right would fail and wrong would prevail. But, as the old Christmas carol states, he concluded otherwise:
"Christmas Bells"
(The original poem, complete with all seven stanzas)
"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!"
As Christians, we reject "Deism." We firmly believe in a God that intensely loves His creation and in a God Who is actively involved in the affairs of this world today. We believe in the God "Whose eye is on the sparrow, and Who watches over me." In just a few chapters and in a dramatic way, Job will find that “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep!”
(Lyrics from www.whatsaiththescripture.com)
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