Job, Your Theology is Upside Down!

We are often impressed when men and women, while under the most extreme pressure and the most trying of circumstances, remain calm and composed. Perhaps they do not raise their voices and perhaps they seem to radiate a certain stoic steadfastness. We may conclude by their serene demeanor that “What tremendous faith they must have!” In the only New Testament reference to Job, James says this, “You have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings…” (5:11). The Greek word for patience (or rather “endurance”) is hupo-mone and means “the ability to abide under.” Thayer defines it as “the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings.”

Uhmmm, excuse me Mr. Thayer, but Job seems to have swerved just a wee little bit from his hupomone/endurance (and has almost run off the road).

Francis I Anderson writes, “A calm and heavenly frame for a closer walk with God is not the uniform standard for biblical religion.” If it were, Job would be excluded from the club.

In this passage (7:11-21) Job is intense, vehement, furious, sarcastic, and bitter. And his theology has turned upside down!

7:11 "Therefore, I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.”

Hartley writes that the three “I will’s” reveal Job’s determined resolve and “for one plagued by such excruciating pain, silence is not golden!” If Job were to respond to an altar call and kneel down at the front of the church and pray, they wouldn’t be quiet and reverential King-James-English types of prayers. They would be a torrent of emotion that would probably shock the average “Shhhhhhh, this is church!” churchgoer. Writes FIA, “So Job makes his way to God with prayers that are sobs.”

7:12 "Am I the sea, or the sea monster, that Thou dost set a guard over me?"

In ancient mythology and in sort of a divine WWF Smackdown fashion, the gods would fight for control of the planet. The sea (Yam) and the sea monster (Tannin) engaged in a cosmic battle with Baal or some other god. So Job seems to be saying, “Am I (this bag of bones covered with worms and dirt) some sort of threat to You that You have to throw me into this prison of misery? This is ludicrous the way I am being treated!”

7:13 "If I say, 'My bed will comfort me, My couch will ease my complaint,' 7:14 Then Thou dost frighten me with dreams and terrify me by visions; 7:15 So that my soul would choose suffocation, death rather than my pains.”

During the day he thinks that if he could just lie down and get some sleep, he would feel better. But then when he does sleep, he is tormented by nightmares. And at times, probably as a result of his sickness, he coughs so violently that it is hard for him to catch his breath; he feels as though he is strangling (some commentators point to this as a symptom of elephantiasis).

7:16 "I waste away; I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are {but} a breath."

In verse 7 of this chapter Job cried out, “Remember me!” (I paraphrased that just a little). But here he says, “Leave me alone!” As we wind our way through this chapter (and the entire book), we witness the wild swings in Job’s thinking and emotions.

7:17 "What is man that Thou dost magnify him, and that Thou art concerned about him, 7:18 That Thou dost examine him every morning, and try him every moment?"

These words parallel a portion of Psalm 8. Hartley writes, “Job is so frustrated at God’s hostility that he parodies two hymnic lines in praise of God’s exaltation of humanity…Job experiences God’s vigilance as unrelenting oppression…it seems to Job that God’s gaze is a continual effort to find and punish his every flaw.” Notice the three “Thou’s”: Thou dost magnify…Thou art concerned…Thou dost examine. Three phrases that should bring comfort; but Job uses them in a caustic way that borders on sarcasm.

7:19 “Wilt Thou never turn Thy gaze away from me, nor let me alone until I swallow my spittle?"

The Vander Ark paraphrased version: “God, can’t you even give me just a moment of privacy!? Can’t you just let me spit in peace?!”

7:20 “Have I sinned? What have I done to Thee, O watcher of men? Why hast Thou set me as Thy target, so that I am a burden to myself? 7:21 “Why then dost Thou not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust; and Thou wilt seek me, but I will not be."

In these last two verses, three words are used to describe sin in its every facet (sinned, transgression, iniquity); and the two words for forgiveness in the last verse (pardon, take away) emphasize the completeness of God’s forgiveness.

But note Job’s scathing sarcasm: “What have I done to Thee, O Watcher of men?” Normally we take great comfort in the fact that “His eye is on the sparrow, and He watches over me!” Or the fact that He knows the very number of hairs on our head (I am down to 113 by the way).

In Job’s severe and life-threatening illness, his theology had turned so completely upside down. In chapter three he complained that God had hedged him in so that he couldn’t escape his troubles, when in fact chapter one revealed that God had a force field hedge around him so that the enemy couldn’t attack him! And in chapter 6 (vs. 9) he wished that God’s hand would just strike one final blow upon him and get it over with, when in fact it was the hand of Satan that was causing him so much trouble (and only the command of God that kept Satan’s hand from killing him!). And now in verse 20 he sarcastically asks God why He has set him up as a target in His cosmic shooting gallery, blasting away at him with everything from 22’s to M-16’s to Howitzers. And yet Satan was the shooter; God was all the while defending Job (and admiring him!).

If your world seems to have turned upside down lately, don’t let your theology do the same. Remember that God is fighting for you! We may not understand what is happening to us (nor the “why”), and our own personal “Job chapter 38 encounter with God” may be a long way off, but God’s grace is sufficient to carry you through.