The killing fields of Pol Pot’s Cambodia.
The gas chambers of Hitler’s Germany.
The car accident that takes the life of a son or daughter (while the drunk driver escapes without a scratch).
The senseless drive-by shooting of a ten year old boy.
And the ghostly shadow and disease ridden body of the Sheik of Uz.
Is God good?
And does God care?
Our theology tells us that He is and that He does (and that He is and does all of the time).
But to Job (and to so many “Jobs” down through the ages) at times it “seems” that He is not good and that He does not care. For all practical purposes it appears that the God of Glory has abandoned Mr. and Mrs. Job.
Their prayers have gone unheeded and their tears have gone unnoticed. (Or so it seems)
Three rounds of dialogue with Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar haven’t yielded an ounce of comfort. And Job comes extremely close to believing that a life of integrity spent loving God doesn’t matter.
Francis I. Anderson writes, “The full answer to Job’s suffering cannot therefore be found in questions about justice. Beyond justice there is a benevolence in God that calls men to trust Him. More simply stated, the issue is whether a person can continue to believe that God is really good. Then he will be able to sing in the dark no matter what happens. The search for an explanation by tracking Job’s sufferings to their origin and cause has failed. More light will be gained in the search for their outcome and goal.”
This then is the direction that this young, brash preacher by the name of Elihu is taking us.
33:1 “However now, Job, please hear my speech, and listen to all my words. 2 Behold now, I open my mouth, my tongue in my mouth (palate) speaks.”
Unlike the Comforters, Elihu addresses the main character by name. And he asks that Job would listen attentively to all that he had to say in the same way that he had listened so attentively to Job (32:11). Whereas the Comforters tossed sincerity and impartiality aside during the heat of the argument, Eliphaz determined that he wouldn’t follow their course. (They also seemed to forget that they were visiting a very sick man in the hospice wing of Uz Memorial Hospital and were not having a theological debate in seminary)
Note how the version called The Message puts verse 1, "So please, Job, hear me out, honor me by listening to me.” Whether it be a coworker or a boss or our spouse or children or our neighbor, we give honor to someone when we listen attentively to what they have to say.
33:3 “My words are from the uprightness of my heart, and my lips speak knowledge sincerely.”
Some word historians conjecture that the word “sincere” came from a Latin word (or words) meaning “without wax.” Apparently in Roman time, if marble sculptures had any small flaws, the blemishes could be hidden by using wax as sort of a caulk. But people wanted to know that what they were about to purchase was “sin-cere.” So sometimes the buyer would have their sculpture sit in the hot sun for a time before the actual purchase to see if wax began to melt out of any imperfections. While engaging Job, Elihu wanted to be “without wax” or sin-cere – forthright, honest and genuine.
33:4 “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. 5 Refute me if you can; Array yourselves before me, take your stand. 6 Behold, I belong to God like you; I too have been formed out of the clay.”
In the phrase, “The Spirit of God has made me…” perhaps Elihu is simply saying, “Hey Job, I’m just like you!”
Note the word “array” in verse 5. One of the lexicons explains this word as being a verb of preparation, a setting in order with sort of a militaristic tone. Elihu is asking Job to “prepare your word-weapons.” Between Elihu and Job, this was to be linguistic combat – a verbal war of words.
In verse 6 Elihu again emphasizes the fact that “I’m just like you.” Note the words, “I too have been formed out of the clay.” “Formed” carries the idea of “pinched;” so we have the picture of a potter grabbing a slab of clay and pinching off a chunk to begin to shape his masterpiece.
In this verbal combat in the land of Uz, it was clay versus clay.
33:7 “Behold, no fear of me should terrify you, nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you.”
Elihu at times did get a little wrapped up in himself. When they heard this statement of Elihu’s, I imagine Job and the three comforters just rolled their eyes and muttered, “Oh brother!”
33:8 “Surely you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard the sound of your words:”
One of the marks of a good listener is their ability to restate (back to the one who had just spoken) what they heard them say. They may say something like, “Ok, I think this is what you are saying, am I hearing you correctly?” So Elihu, in the following verses, summarizes what he had heard from Job during the long debate with the Comforters.
33:9 “’I am pure, without transgression; I am innocent and there is no guilt in me. 10 Behold, He invents pretexts against me; He counts me as His enemy. 11 He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches all my paths.’”
Part of Elihu’s synopsis (particularly verse 11) is almost a word for word recital of what Job had stated earlier in chapter 13, “Why dost Thou hide Thy face, and consider me Thine enemy?...For Thou dost write bitter things against me, And dost make me to inherit the iniquities of my youth. Thou dost put my feet in the stocks, and dost watch all my paths…” (24-27)
Hartley writes, “(Job) never asserts that he has not sinned. His position is that he cannot recall having committed any transgressions that would require such harsh punishment.” And Poole writes, “Remember, (some of the words of Job) shocked the friends (and Elihu); perhaps Job never crossed the line of explicitly accusing God of malice or dishonesty -- but he sure came close to it and it was hard for the four not to come to the conclusion that he had. But Trapp reminds us, “Only out of the greatness of his grief and the unkindness of his friends did job finally cast out some rash and harsh words against God.”
33:12 “Behold, let me tell you, you are not right in this, for God is greater than man.”
Note the first part of this verse (“Behold, let me tell you, you are not right in this”). At times, we need Elihus in our own lives who will have the courage to say to us, “You are not right in this.” We need people who will look us in the eye and tell it like it is. To paraphrase Trapp, “Someone who flatters is simply a courteous murderer.” God puts certain individuals into our lives who will speak the truth, and speak it even if it may not be done out of love. We certainly do need people who will love us unconditionally and show us tremendous compassion in our trials and troubles. But we also need the “without-wax” people (John Wayne cowboy types?) who will level with us.
My family and I pastored a church in North Dakota in the 1980’s and had a wonderful time of revival and grew to love the people. A few years later the Lord led us to pastor a church in northern Wisconsin where again God did wonderful things and we fell in love with the congregation. But in between the church in North Dakota and the church in Wisconsin, we pastored a home missions church for three years where we seemed to have entered “The Great Tribulation” (and the last half where the world is in total chaos and turmoil). To put it simply, it was a very, very painful time (but necessary). Somewhere during the second or third year at that church, an older gentleman who attended off and on came to visit me. During our conversation, he said simply this, “If you had half the personality of your wife, this church would grow!”
I was mad enough to spit BB’s.
But he was right. Not in his conclusion as to how to get the church to grow, nor in his conclusion that I should try to be someone I wasn’t (the two previous pastors were very gregarious whereas I was more the studious type). But during those difficult times my attitude had gone south and people could sense it.
It was either at that meeting or a subsequent one that, after we both had our say, we began to pray for one another. And suddenly the love of God began to flood our hearts in such a marvelous way that we hugged each other as the tears flowed down our faces.
Individuals may say things to us in a manner that conveys anything but an attitude of love. But what they say may be true and it is in those “gut-check” moments that we should simply pray something like, “Lord, I don’t like what that person had to say, but is it true?” (“Oh the gift that God would give us, to see ourselves as others see us.”) And if our prayers are genuine and earnest, the Holy Spirit will definitely reveal to us if we need an attitude check-up. Paul wrote in Philippians 3:15, “…and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you.”
Finally, notice the second part of verse 12, “…for God is greater than man.” Francis I Anderson writes, “The truth that God is greater than man is so obvious as to be banal (devoid of freshness or originality, something that is trite).”
But I disagree. When going through dispiriting circumstances, we often need to be reminded of the greatness and majesty of our God.
It’s as if this young preacher is saying, “Job, I know you’re going through a horrible time, and I can’t imagine the depth of your sorrow and pain. But somehow, someway, somewhere God has a plan in all of this! All you see right now is death and destruction and disease, but God is greater than your current situation!”
It is when our circumstances are “clothed with worms and a crust of dirt” (Job 7:5) that we need to see Him is clothed in radiant splendor.
Got circumstances? And are they “clothed in a crust of dirt?” Remember, God is the Grand Architect of Circumstances. Take time to worship Him who guides the universe. The song, “Revelation Hymn” speaks of the glory and majesty of God (click on the link at the left for a YouTube video of this song).
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
Mr. Mentos-in-Coke and the Lost Art of Listening (Job 32:11-22)
“He is insightful one moment, and insipid the next.” That’s Swindoll’s pointed summary of this young man by the name of Elihu. Filled with perception at one turn, and then shortly thereafter overflowing with blandness. One moment the sermon’s a stem winder, the next it’s a real yawner (a count-the-number-of-ceiling-tiles-during-the-sermon type of yawner). Elihu's a real enigma.
32:11 “Behold, I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, while you pondered what to say. 12 I even paid close attention to you; indeed, there was no one who refuted Job, not one of you who answered his words.”
After each of Job’s speeches the Comforters probably huddled up and said something like, “Ok guys, let’s figure out how to respond to this line of reasoning.” Note the word “pondered” in verse 11. It means “to weigh mentally, to consider something deeply and thoroughly” (“ponder” and “pound” come from the same root word and both connote “giving weight to”). The Comforters didn't respond immediately; they took time to think about what Job had said and how to refute his arguments.
But even though Eliphaz, Bildad and Elihu were deliberate in their response, Trapp’s synopsis of their line of reasoning is not too flattering, “…for the which you have eviscerated your brains, and well nigh cracked your sconces, but all to no purpose; since you hover in generals…you brought only such reasons as were not cogent (coherent), and used such discourses as did never come at the business; which was no better than a laborious loss of time.”
Eviscerated brains, cracked sconces and a big waste of time. Wow.
Note these phrases of Elihu, “I waited for your words…I listened to your reasonings…I paid close attention…” Even though Elihu was young (and brash), he had developed the trait of being a good listener and had given the most sincere attention to the Comforter’s reasonings. But when it was all said and done, he looked around with incredulity and wondered aloud, “That’s it? That’s all you’ve got???”
More on the “lost art of listening” at the conclusion.
32:13 “Do not say, ’We have found wisdom; God will rout him, not man.’”
This is a difficult verse to interpret; but perhaps Barnes hits the correct note in his commentary, “That is, this (Job’s trial) has been permitted and ordered in such a manner that it might be manifest that the truths which are to convince Job come from God and not from man. You were not permitted to refute or convince him, for if you had been you would have been lifted up with pride, and would have attributed to yourselves what belongs to God. This is in accordance with the entire drift of the book, which is to introduce the Almighty Himself to settle the controversy when human wisdom failed.”
32:14 “For he has not arranged his words against me, nor will I reply to him with your arguments.”
To use a well-worn phrase, Elihu doesn’t have a dog in this fight – he is not speaking out of a desire for revenge. At times the Comforters had become sarcastic in their approach, even going so far as to say that Job’s kids got what they deserved. Elihu wisely abandoned that line of attack.
32:15 “They are dismayed, they no longer answer; Words have failed them.”
The New Living Translation puts it, “You sit there baffled, with nothing more to say.”
“Words have failed them…” All of their arguments and all of their reasonings have become not unlike the ash heap around them.
Note especially the word “dismayed.” It means “demoralization stemming from frustration” and was used of the panic of the Israeli army before the giant Goliath in I Samuel 17:11 (“When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid”).
The word is also used in Jeremiah 48:1 “Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; ‘Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.’” Misgab means “strong or high fortress, an inaccessible place.”
As the fortress of Misgab was “dismayed” (demoralized and destroyed), so the fortress arguments of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar collapsed. The Comforters had begun so confidently and their theology had seemed so unassailable. But now their systematic theology was no more than, as Trapp colorfully puts it, incoherent discourse from cracked sconces.
Job’s life may have crumbled to ashes, but so has the Comforters’ cherished theology. Job sat on the ash heap of his former life; the Comforters sat on the ash heap of their former collapsed theology.
32:16 “Shall I wait, because they do not speak, because they stop and no longer answer?”
The law firm of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar had never lost a case. But this time there is no rebuttal, there are no closing arguments; just a look of bewilderment on the face of Elihu at the sight of a “dismayed” theology.
32:17 “I too will answer my share, I also will tell my opinion.”
Barnes comments, “There is a delicate expression of modesty in the Hebrew which does not appear in our translation. In all this we may discern a degree of courtesy, and a delicate sense of propriety (on the part of Elihu).”
32:18 “For I am full of words; the spirit within me constrains me.”
Note the contrast between verse 15 (“…words have failed them”) and this verse (“I am full of words…”). Elihu seems to be a rich storehouse of words. On the phrase “I am full of words…” Francis I Anderson, quoting Rowley, states tersely, “None would dispute that!” It seems that some commentators have a favorable view of Elihu (e.g. Barnes), while others have a more critical view (e.g. Anderson). And it also seems that commentators are divided as to whether Elihu was just filled with himself or whether he was truly filled with the Spirit of God. But perhaps it was a little of both (not unlike some of our prophetic messages heard in churches today).
32:19 “Behold, my belly is like unvented wine, Like new wineskins it is about to burst.”
Elihu is Uz’s version of a “YouTube-Mentos-in-Diet-Coke.” He is without a doubt ready to blow, and ready to blow big-time!
32:20 “Let me speak that I may get relief; let me open my lips and answer.”
Wine makers normally would put a tiny hole in the wineskin or in the cask to prevent the cask or wineskin from bursting. Unless Elihu speaks, he is going to explode. And when he does speak he comes at the baffling predicament of Job from a completely different angle. So perhaps what we have here is sort of the new wine in the new wineskin (Elihu) versus the old wine in the old wineskins (Eliphaz/Bildad/Zophar).
32:21 “Let me now be partial to no one, nor flatter any man. 22 For I do not know how to flatter, else my Maker would soon take me away.”
The word “flatter” comes from an old French word meaning “to lick” or “to stroke.” To flatter is to praise insincerely – especially in order to win favor.
Barnes writes, “The conviction that we are soon to appear before God, where all are on a level, and where every mask will be stripped off, and everything appear as it is, would prevent us from ascribing to others qualities which we know they do not possess, and from giving them titles which will only exalt them in their own estimation, and hide the truth from their minds.”
Note these verses from Proverbs on the subject of flattery:
Proverbs 28:23 “He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue.” The Message puts it, “In the end, serious reprimand is appreciated far more than bootlicking flattery.”
Proverbs 29:5 “A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.” The Message puts it this way, “A flattering neighbor is up to no good; he’s probably planning to take advantage of you.”
Back to the “lost art of listening.” Someone has penned, “I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” Did you catch that? If not let me put it this way, “I know you think you thought you knew what you thought I said, but I’m not sure you understood what you thought I meant!”
I am not sure who penned those but they certainly are a little humorous (and more than a little hard to follow).
Do we communicate well, and are we good listeners? For all of Elihu’s faults, he did seem to really listen well.
Gill writes this in his commentary, “Elihu waited for them (the words of the Comforters), as for the rain, and the latter rain, to be revived, refreshed, and edified therewith…he endeavored to get into the sense and meaning of their words; not only attended to what they did say, but to what he thought they meant to say: some are not so happy in their expressions; and yet, by what they do say, with close attention it may be understood what they aim at, what is their drift and design; this Elihu was careful to attain unto, not barely to hear their words, but penetrate, if possible, into their meaning.”
Do we fail when it comes to the art of listening? We would do well to emulate Elihu.
32:11 “Behold, I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, while you pondered what to say. 12 I even paid close attention to you; indeed, there was no one who refuted Job, not one of you who answered his words.”
After each of Job’s speeches the Comforters probably huddled up and said something like, “Ok guys, let’s figure out how to respond to this line of reasoning.” Note the word “pondered” in verse 11. It means “to weigh mentally, to consider something deeply and thoroughly” (“ponder” and “pound” come from the same root word and both connote “giving weight to”). The Comforters didn't respond immediately; they took time to think about what Job had said and how to refute his arguments.
But even though Eliphaz, Bildad and Elihu were deliberate in their response, Trapp’s synopsis of their line of reasoning is not too flattering, “…for the which you have eviscerated your brains, and well nigh cracked your sconces, but all to no purpose; since you hover in generals…you brought only such reasons as were not cogent (coherent), and used such discourses as did never come at the business; which was no better than a laborious loss of time.”
Eviscerated brains, cracked sconces and a big waste of time. Wow.
Note these phrases of Elihu, “I waited for your words…I listened to your reasonings…I paid close attention…” Even though Elihu was young (and brash), he had developed the trait of being a good listener and had given the most sincere attention to the Comforter’s reasonings. But when it was all said and done, he looked around with incredulity and wondered aloud, “That’s it? That’s all you’ve got???”
More on the “lost art of listening” at the conclusion.
32:13 “Do not say, ’We have found wisdom; God will rout him, not man.’”
This is a difficult verse to interpret; but perhaps Barnes hits the correct note in his commentary, “That is, this (Job’s trial) has been permitted and ordered in such a manner that it might be manifest that the truths which are to convince Job come from God and not from man. You were not permitted to refute or convince him, for if you had been you would have been lifted up with pride, and would have attributed to yourselves what belongs to God. This is in accordance with the entire drift of the book, which is to introduce the Almighty Himself to settle the controversy when human wisdom failed.”
32:14 “For he has not arranged his words against me, nor will I reply to him with your arguments.”
To use a well-worn phrase, Elihu doesn’t have a dog in this fight – he is not speaking out of a desire for revenge. At times the Comforters had become sarcastic in their approach, even going so far as to say that Job’s kids got what they deserved. Elihu wisely abandoned that line of attack.
32:15 “They are dismayed, they no longer answer; Words have failed them.”
The New Living Translation puts it, “You sit there baffled, with nothing more to say.”
“Words have failed them…” All of their arguments and all of their reasonings have become not unlike the ash heap around them.
Note especially the word “dismayed.” It means “demoralization stemming from frustration” and was used of the panic of the Israeli army before the giant Goliath in I Samuel 17:11 (“When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid”).
The word is also used in Jeremiah 48:1 “Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; ‘Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.’” Misgab means “strong or high fortress, an inaccessible place.”
As the fortress of Misgab was “dismayed” (demoralized and destroyed), so the fortress arguments of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar collapsed. The Comforters had begun so confidently and their theology had seemed so unassailable. But now their systematic theology was no more than, as Trapp colorfully puts it, incoherent discourse from cracked sconces.
Job’s life may have crumbled to ashes, but so has the Comforters’ cherished theology. Job sat on the ash heap of his former life; the Comforters sat on the ash heap of their former collapsed theology.
32:16 “Shall I wait, because they do not speak, because they stop and no longer answer?”
The law firm of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar had never lost a case. But this time there is no rebuttal, there are no closing arguments; just a look of bewilderment on the face of Elihu at the sight of a “dismayed” theology.
32:17 “I too will answer my share, I also will tell my opinion.”
Barnes comments, “There is a delicate expression of modesty in the Hebrew which does not appear in our translation. In all this we may discern a degree of courtesy, and a delicate sense of propriety (on the part of Elihu).”
32:18 “For I am full of words; the spirit within me constrains me.”
Note the contrast between verse 15 (“…words have failed them”) and this verse (“I am full of words…”). Elihu seems to be a rich storehouse of words. On the phrase “I am full of words…” Francis I Anderson, quoting Rowley, states tersely, “None would dispute that!” It seems that some commentators have a favorable view of Elihu (e.g. Barnes), while others have a more critical view (e.g. Anderson). And it also seems that commentators are divided as to whether Elihu was just filled with himself or whether he was truly filled with the Spirit of God. But perhaps it was a little of both (not unlike some of our prophetic messages heard in churches today).
32:19 “Behold, my belly is like unvented wine, Like new wineskins it is about to burst.”
Elihu is Uz’s version of a “YouTube-Mentos-in-Diet-Coke.” He is without a doubt ready to blow, and ready to blow big-time!
32:20 “Let me speak that I may get relief; let me open my lips and answer.”
Wine makers normally would put a tiny hole in the wineskin or in the cask to prevent the cask or wineskin from bursting. Unless Elihu speaks, he is going to explode. And when he does speak he comes at the baffling predicament of Job from a completely different angle. So perhaps what we have here is sort of the new wine in the new wineskin (Elihu) versus the old wine in the old wineskins (Eliphaz/Bildad/Zophar).
32:21 “Let me now be partial to no one, nor flatter any man. 22 For I do not know how to flatter, else my Maker would soon take me away.”
The word “flatter” comes from an old French word meaning “to lick” or “to stroke.” To flatter is to praise insincerely – especially in order to win favor.
Barnes writes, “The conviction that we are soon to appear before God, where all are on a level, and where every mask will be stripped off, and everything appear as it is, would prevent us from ascribing to others qualities which we know they do not possess, and from giving them titles which will only exalt them in their own estimation, and hide the truth from their minds.”
Note these verses from Proverbs on the subject of flattery:
Proverbs 28:23 “He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue.” The Message puts it, “In the end, serious reprimand is appreciated far more than bootlicking flattery.”
Proverbs 29:5 “A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.” The Message puts it this way, “A flattering neighbor is up to no good; he’s probably planning to take advantage of you.”
Back to the “lost art of listening.” Someone has penned, “I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” Did you catch that? If not let me put it this way, “I know you think you thought you knew what you thought I said, but I’m not sure you understood what you thought I meant!”
I am not sure who penned those but they certainly are a little humorous (and more than a little hard to follow).
Do we communicate well, and are we good listeners? For all of Elihu’s faults, he did seem to really listen well.
Gill writes this in his commentary, “Elihu waited for them (the words of the Comforters), as for the rain, and the latter rain, to be revived, refreshed, and edified therewith…he endeavored to get into the sense and meaning of their words; not only attended to what they did say, but to what he thought they meant to say: some are not so happy in their expressions; and yet, by what they do say, with close attention it may be understood what they aim at, what is their drift and design; this Elihu was careful to attain unto, not barely to hear their words, but penetrate, if possible, into their meaning.”
Do we fail when it comes to the art of listening? We would do well to emulate Elihu.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Wisdom From An Uneducated Toy Maker (Job 32:1-11)
It is not an exaggeration to say that, while an unnerving silence hung over the ash heap, at any moment the Comforters expected something horrific to happen to Job – perhaps even an event along the lines of a chapter-one calamity. Hartley writes, “Job's avowal of innocence is so audacious and final that it leaves the Comforters speechless. All are terrified, waiting for an answer from the heavens. But God remains silent.”
32:1 “Then these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.”
Whenever there was a debate in the Land of Uz, whoever failed to make a reply was declared the loser. So to everyone in AshHeapville it seemed that Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar (and by extension God Himself) have lost.
But perhaps “stalemate” would be a better way to describe the tense atmosphere at the ash heap. No one can see how both God AND Job can be right. To paraphrase Trapp, Job is viewed as stubborn, contentious, self-conceited and opinionated. But from Job’s point of view Job is merely resolute and tenacious and true to himself.
But it is now that the story takes an unexpected twist. Standing just offstage an unannounced fifth man suddenly appears…the long-winded young gun by the name of Elihu.
More than one commentator characterizes Elihu as “comic relief” – someone who would pierce the tense atmosphere. Youthful and bombastic is how Hartley characterizes him. There is a fair amount of speculation as to his identity: perhaps a relative of Abraham, perhaps the writer of the book of Job, or even perhaps the prophet Balaam in his youth. Whoever he is, he certainly does seem to provide a theological bridge leading up to the appearance of God in chapter 38.
32:2 "But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram burned; against Job his anger burned because he justified himself before God."
One thing is for sure: Elihu may have been young and pompous and bombastic, but he was really MAD. So mad that his nose caught on fire! Four times in vs. 2-5 it is stated that “his anger burned.” Trapp translates it literally, “Then burnt the nose of Elihu...” It wasn’t the smell of burnt toast at the ash heap, it was the smell of burning and flaring nostrils! His anger had been simmering for a long, long time, and when the opportunity finally came, it boiled over.
Swindoll tells us that these four speeches of Elihu in the Biblical text (chapters 32-37) are longer than 12 of the Old Testament books and 17 of the New Testament books! This bombastic, long-winded bystander was mad and he decided to get it all out.
His nose-on-fire anger was directed first toward Job. Why? Because “he justified himself before God.” Or as Barnes puts it, “He understood Job…as being more willing that aspersions should be cast on the character and government of God, than to confess his own sin.” Poole writes, “He took more care to maintain his own innocence than God’s glory.”
32:3 "And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job."
What an incredible summation of the Comforters stance in the Book of Job, “They had found no answer and yet had condemned Job!”
The Graybeards have utterly failed to comfort Bag-O-Bones.
32:4 “Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were years older than he. 5 And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men his anger burned. 6 So Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite spoke out and said, ‘I am young in years and you are old; therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think.’”
In his commentary, Adam Clarke wrote, “How young he was, or how old they were, we cannot tell; but there was no doubt a great disparity in their ages; and among the Asiatics the youth never spoke in the presence of the elders, especially on any subject of controversy.”
The word “young” means “small of days” or “insignificant”; “old” comes from a root word meaning “stooped for age.” There is apparently a wide gulf in their ages. The Comforters were the ancients and conceivably had a widespread reputation for being sages or men whose wisdom was renowned. They were men of great experience and great wisdom.
32:7 “I thought age should speak, and increased years should teach wisdom. 8 But it is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding. 9 The abundant in years may not be wise, nor may elders understand justice. 10 So I say, ’Listen to me, I too will tell what I think.’ 11 Behold, I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, while you pondered what to say.”
One of the former church members at Hawthorne Assembly of God, the most learned professor Grant Gonyo used to say, “We are too soon old and too late smart.” Trapp writes, “There are beardless sages and grey headed children.”
Note the words “wisdom” or “wise” and “understanding” or “understand” in these verses. Although synonymous, here is how the Theological Wordbook of the OT defines each:
Old Testament “wisdom” (hakam) is quite distinct from that of other ancient world views. It was practical as distinguished from the ivory tower theoretical wisdom of the Greeks. In the non-Hebrew cultures the energy or power to become and remain moral was seen to reside in the intellect. Knowledge was virtue, and according to Plato, if a person had perfect knowledge he could live the good life. However, the emphasis of OT wisdom was that the human will was to be subject to God. Therefore, Hebrew wisdom was not theoretical and speculative -- it was practical, based on revealed principles of right and wrong and was to be lived out in daily life. The source of all wisdom is a relationship with a personal God who is holy, righteous, and just. That wisdom lead to a fear of the Lord (which in actuality is just the beginning of wisdom). Wisdom could then be defined as a simple trust in God and the avoidance of sin.
The word “understanding” (bîn) could also be seen as “insight.” The verb refers to knowledge which is superior to the mere gathering of data. “Bîn” is a power of perceptive insight. While understanding is a gift of God, it does not come automatically. The possession of it requires a persistent diligence. It is more than IQ; it connotes character. One is at fault if he doesn’t have it and in fact, not to pursue it will incur God’s punishment.
Job did not need someone to spew theories and speculations about the reasons for his suffering. He definitely needed someone to provide some practical, perceptive insight. It would surprisingly come from this young man named Elihu.
We’ve come a long way since chapter 2 and verse 13, “Then they (the Comforters) sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that {his} pain was very great.”
They would have been much farther ahead had they simply continued to say nothing, and instead helped to scratch his itching mass of sores with a broken piece of pottery.
In his book “When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough,” Harold Kushner relates a touching story of how one uneducated elderly man could bring comfort when the educated professionals could not:
“Many years ago, when I was young, a business associate of my father’s died under particularly tragic circumstances, and I accompanied my father to the funeral. The man’s widow and children were surrounded by clergy and psychiatrists trying to ease their grief and make them feel better. They knew all the right words, but nothing helped. They were beyond being comforted. The widow kept saying, “You’re right, I know you’re right, but it doesn’t make any difference.” Then a man walked in, a big burly man in his eighties who was a legend in the toy and game industry. He had escaped from Russia as a youth after having been arrested and tortured by the czar’s secret police. He had come to this country illiterate and penniless and had built up an immensely successful company. He was known as a hard bargainer and a ruthless competitor. Despite his success, he had never learned to read or write. He hired people to read his mail to him. The joke in the industry was that he could write a check for a million dollars, and the hardest part would be signing his name to it at the bottom. He had been sick recently, and his face and his walking showed it. But he walked over to the widow and stared to cry, and she cried with him, and you could feel the atmosphere in the room change. This man who had never read a book in his life spoke the language of the heart and held the key that opened the gates of solace where learned doctors and clergy could not.” (When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough” pg. 109-110)
32:1 “Then these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.”
Whenever there was a debate in the Land of Uz, whoever failed to make a reply was declared the loser. So to everyone in AshHeapville it seemed that Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar (and by extension God Himself) have lost.
But perhaps “stalemate” would be a better way to describe the tense atmosphere at the ash heap. No one can see how both God AND Job can be right. To paraphrase Trapp, Job is viewed as stubborn, contentious, self-conceited and opinionated. But from Job’s point of view Job is merely resolute and tenacious and true to himself.
But it is now that the story takes an unexpected twist. Standing just offstage an unannounced fifth man suddenly appears…the long-winded young gun by the name of Elihu.
More than one commentator characterizes Elihu as “comic relief” – someone who would pierce the tense atmosphere. Youthful and bombastic is how Hartley characterizes him. There is a fair amount of speculation as to his identity: perhaps a relative of Abraham, perhaps the writer of the book of Job, or even perhaps the prophet Balaam in his youth. Whoever he is, he certainly does seem to provide a theological bridge leading up to the appearance of God in chapter 38.
32:2 "But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram burned; against Job his anger burned because he justified himself before God."
One thing is for sure: Elihu may have been young and pompous and bombastic, but he was really MAD. So mad that his nose caught on fire! Four times in vs. 2-5 it is stated that “his anger burned.” Trapp translates it literally, “Then burnt the nose of Elihu...” It wasn’t the smell of burnt toast at the ash heap, it was the smell of burning and flaring nostrils! His anger had been simmering for a long, long time, and when the opportunity finally came, it boiled over.
Swindoll tells us that these four speeches of Elihu in the Biblical text (chapters 32-37) are longer than 12 of the Old Testament books and 17 of the New Testament books! This bombastic, long-winded bystander was mad and he decided to get it all out.
His nose-on-fire anger was directed first toward Job. Why? Because “he justified himself before God.” Or as Barnes puts it, “He understood Job…as being more willing that aspersions should be cast on the character and government of God, than to confess his own sin.” Poole writes, “He took more care to maintain his own innocence than God’s glory.”
32:3 "And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job."
What an incredible summation of the Comforters stance in the Book of Job, “They had found no answer and yet had condemned Job!”
The Graybeards have utterly failed to comfort Bag-O-Bones.
32:4 “Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were years older than he. 5 And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men his anger burned. 6 So Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite spoke out and said, ‘I am young in years and you are old; therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think.’”
In his commentary, Adam Clarke wrote, “How young he was, or how old they were, we cannot tell; but there was no doubt a great disparity in their ages; and among the Asiatics the youth never spoke in the presence of the elders, especially on any subject of controversy.”
The word “young” means “small of days” or “insignificant”; “old” comes from a root word meaning “stooped for age.” There is apparently a wide gulf in their ages. The Comforters were the ancients and conceivably had a widespread reputation for being sages or men whose wisdom was renowned. They were men of great experience and great wisdom.
32:7 “I thought age should speak, and increased years should teach wisdom. 8 But it is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding. 9 The abundant in years may not be wise, nor may elders understand justice. 10 So I say, ’Listen to me, I too will tell what I think.’ 11 Behold, I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, while you pondered what to say.”
One of the former church members at Hawthorne Assembly of God, the most learned professor Grant Gonyo used to say, “We are too soon old and too late smart.” Trapp writes, “There are beardless sages and grey headed children.”
Note the words “wisdom” or “wise” and “understanding” or “understand” in these verses. Although synonymous, here is how the Theological Wordbook of the OT defines each:
Old Testament “wisdom” (hakam) is quite distinct from that of other ancient world views. It was practical as distinguished from the ivory tower theoretical wisdom of the Greeks. In the non-Hebrew cultures the energy or power to become and remain moral was seen to reside in the intellect. Knowledge was virtue, and according to Plato, if a person had perfect knowledge he could live the good life. However, the emphasis of OT wisdom was that the human will was to be subject to God. Therefore, Hebrew wisdom was not theoretical and speculative -- it was practical, based on revealed principles of right and wrong and was to be lived out in daily life. The source of all wisdom is a relationship with a personal God who is holy, righteous, and just. That wisdom lead to a fear of the Lord (which in actuality is just the beginning of wisdom). Wisdom could then be defined as a simple trust in God and the avoidance of sin.
The word “understanding” (bîn) could also be seen as “insight.” The verb refers to knowledge which is superior to the mere gathering of data. “Bîn” is a power of perceptive insight. While understanding is a gift of God, it does not come automatically. The possession of it requires a persistent diligence. It is more than IQ; it connotes character. One is at fault if he doesn’t have it and in fact, not to pursue it will incur God’s punishment.
Job did not need someone to spew theories and speculations about the reasons for his suffering. He definitely needed someone to provide some practical, perceptive insight. It would surprisingly come from this young man named Elihu.
We’ve come a long way since chapter 2 and verse 13, “Then they (the Comforters) sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that {his} pain was very great.”
They would have been much farther ahead had they simply continued to say nothing, and instead helped to scratch his itching mass of sores with a broken piece of pottery.
In his book “When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough,” Harold Kushner relates a touching story of how one uneducated elderly man could bring comfort when the educated professionals could not:
“Many years ago, when I was young, a business associate of my father’s died under particularly tragic circumstances, and I accompanied my father to the funeral. The man’s widow and children were surrounded by clergy and psychiatrists trying to ease their grief and make them feel better. They knew all the right words, but nothing helped. They were beyond being comforted. The widow kept saying, “You’re right, I know you’re right, but it doesn’t make any difference.” Then a man walked in, a big burly man in his eighties who was a legend in the toy and game industry. He had escaped from Russia as a youth after having been arrested and tortured by the czar’s secret police. He had come to this country illiterate and penniless and had built up an immensely successful company. He was known as a hard bargainer and a ruthless competitor. Despite his success, he had never learned to read or write. He hired people to read his mail to him. The joke in the industry was that he could write a check for a million dollars, and the hardest part would be signing his name to it at the bottom. He had been sick recently, and his face and his walking showed it. But he walked over to the widow and stared to cry, and she cried with him, and you could feel the atmosphere in the room change. This man who had never read a book in his life spoke the language of the heart and held the key that opened the gates of solace where learned doctors and clergy could not.” (When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough” pg. 109-110)
Sunday, July 31, 2011
An Aching Abyss...A Plea to an Unkind Friend (Job 31:35-37)
Oswald Chambers wrote, “There is only One Being Who can satisfy the last aching abyss of the human heart – and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.” (My Utmost for His Highest, page 212).
An “aching abyss” – such an apt description of the heart of Job in his mournful cry for his lost Friend.
Job has, in this the last chapter of his speeches, enumerated at least 14 specific sins (ranging from lust to the abuse of his land) and made some exceedingly strong if/then curse statements, “If I have committed this sin, then let this curse overtake me.” (At this point Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar probably began to slowly step away from the ash heap – certain that one of God’s lightning bolts was going to strike Job at any moment.)
Job simply wanted to know the reason (any reason) why such tragedy and affliction have befallen him. “Why have I been thrown into this dark and dank dungeon of pain and calamity when I haven’t even had the courtesy of a trial? I’ve been sentenced…but where’s the indictment?” The Comforters Three were certain of the underlying cause, and in their minds a trial was not necessary. To them the root cause of the ruinous storms in chapters 1 and 2 was as plain as the boils on Job’s face – it was SIN. And just to throw a little salt in the wound of their friend they coldly declared, “Your kids got what they deserved!”
For a while now Job has wanted to take his Friend to court. In this chapter in particular the legal setting has become very apparent. We have:
• The Plaintiff: the one who brings suit (action) in a court of law (plaintiff comes from a word meaning “to complain”). What is interesting is that Job thinks the plaintiff is God, when in fact the “Complainer-In-Chief” is Satan!
• The Defendant: Job
• An Affidavit: a declaration in writing made under oath, for use as evidence in court. Job has, in chapter 31, given us his affidavit and signed it (verse 35, “Behold, here is my signature.”)
• The Jury – Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar? From the opening statements they held up signs in the jury box, “GUILTY!”
What Job cries out for in these verses is:
• An Indictment: a formal accusation initiating a criminal case; a charge or written-out formal accusation of a crime.
• A Hearing: the investigation of a matter by a court of law, especially the preliminary inquiry into an indictable crime.
• A Verdict: the finding or answer of a jury given to the court concerning a matter submitted for their judgment; in Latin its “verum dictum” – meaning “true word” or “truly spoken.”
(The above paraphrased definitions are from www.dictionary.com)
How would we feel if we had been thrown into prison but never had a hearing or a trial or even had the charges against us (the indictment) read publicly? In Job’s mind he has been sentenced (and is in a prison of pain) but hasn’t even been formally charged!
31:35 “Oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me! And the indictment which my adversary has written…”
Let’s read this verse from two other versions of the Bible. From the Amplified Version, “Oh, for a hearing! Oh, for an answer from the Almighty! Let my adversary write out His indictment and put His vague accusations in tangible form in a book!” And from the Message, “Oh, if only someone would give me a hearing! I’ve signed my name to my defense—let the Almighty One answer! I want to see my indictment in writing.”
Job has signed an affidavit declaring his innocence, now he cries out for a hearing, “OH THAT I HAD ONE TO HEAR ME!” Remember these verses from chapter 23, "Behold, I go forward but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.” (vs. 8-9). To quote Hartley, “It is important to observe that Job does not seek the restoration of his wealth or his family. Instead, he addresses his most fundamental need – a right relationship with God (and his neighbors)…” I can’t on this blog, but if I could I would try to convey the depths of Job’s emotional anguish by writing the following in size 72 Arial Bold font:
I WANT, I NEED, A HEARING!!!
Chapter 31 is Job’s affidavit – he has signed it, and if he has falsified any part of it, he is liable to suffer a torrent of divine curses. He feels he has been sentenced – but there has never been a clear indictment nor a verdict rendered!
Notice these words in verse 35 that give us a glimpse of the turmoil in Job’s heart: the Almighty…my adversary. Remember this verse in chapter 29:4? “As I was in the prime of my days, when the friendship of God {was} over my tent.” But now he sees God as his Adversary, his Antagonist, the One Who judicially opposes him. In his mind he is making a plea to an unkind Friend!
“Why?!?!” punctuates this book from beginning to end; all through this saga Job has only been confronted with vague accusations. He simply wants to meet the Plaintiff in a court of law. Trapp writes, “That the Almighty would respond to me…that He would give a reason why He dealt so harshly with me.” He wants to clearly hear the specific charges against him and then make his defense. Job desperately desires that his case be delayed no longer; he wants it immediately moved to first place on that day’s court docket.
Hartley writes, “Legally, he has demanded that Shaddai answer him….(and) since God has not responded, Job, as defendant, has sworn an oath in order to compel God, the Plaintiff, to file His complaint and then substantiate it. If God remains silent, then the entire world will know that the defendant has been falsely accused.”
Did you catch that? The silence of God would in essence be a declaration of “Not Guilty!”
31:36 “Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it to myself like a crown.”
The Message paraphrases verse 36 this way, “Anyone’s welcome to read my defense; I’ll write it on a poster and carry it around town.”
Adam Clark gives some interesting background to what Job is referring to in this verse, “In one case a large, heavy plank, through which there is a hole to pass the head…with the crime written upon it, rests on the criminal’s shoulders; and this he is obliged to carry about for the weeks or months during which the punishment lasts. It is probable that Job alludes to something of this kind…and, far from considering this a disgrace, would clasp it as dearly as he would adjust a crown or diadem to his head.”
Job could not, according to Barnes, express his innocence in any stronger terms; this verse cries out, “I’M INNOCENT!”
Francis I. Anderson writes, “Far from being abashed, Job is belligerent to the last, eager to have his case settled, confident of the outcome.” Whether Job is “belligerent to the last” or not, one thing is for sure – Job demonstrates a Navy Seal Trainee iron-resolve to the very end.
31:37 “I would declare to Him the number of my steps; like a prince I would approach Him.”
Hartley notes, “Although frustrated at God’s apparent hostility, Job has, throughout the dialogue, kept a high view of God in his thinking.” Perhaps Job has become a little bitter (and perhaps a little belligerent), but he hasn’t stopped believing.
When Job writes, “I would declare to Him the number of my steps,” he is saying that not only has he walked uprightly, but his every step can be thoroughly examined.
And when he says, “…like a prince I would approach Him,” I get the feeling that Job may want to rethink his position. I like Job (I admire his character) but methinks he needs a little lowly mindedness. Take a sneak peak if you will at chapters 38-42. A supernatural F5 Tornado shows up at the ash heap and God in essence says to Job, “Ok Wise Guy, put your pants on and start your princely approach!” I don’t know of too many people who have ventured close to a twister and maintained an upright position.
Conclusion: Finishing his commentary on chapter 31 Hartley writes, “In these chapters Job is a model of how the human spirit can struggle against all aspects of suffering…while God remains hidden.”
The aching abyss of Job’s heart cries out for God to “unhide” Himself. Perhaps the words to this song “More of You” express his longing…
(I couldn’t find a YouTube video of this song to attach a link…if you find one let me know :>))
(by Bill and Gloria Gaither, words by Bill Paxson)
Chorus:
More of You, more of You.
I've had it all but what I need, just more of You.
Of things I've had my fill. And yet, I hunger still,
Empty and bare; Lord hear my prayer, For more of You.
I'm not trying to find just some new frame of mind
That will change my old point of view
For I've been through it all, deep inside nothing's changed, I'm not new,
I'm not seeking a gift or emotional lift but one thing I'm longing to do,
Is to lift up my cup and let You fill it up, with just You.
I have searched all around, in the husks that abound,
but I find no nourishment there.
Now my strength’s almost gone and I feel the pull of despair.
But my thirst drives me on, as I stumble along,
over ground so barren and dry.
But the streams just ahead, living water, ‘Lord fill me.’ I cry.
An “aching abyss” – such an apt description of the heart of Job in his mournful cry for his lost Friend.
Job has, in this the last chapter of his speeches, enumerated at least 14 specific sins (ranging from lust to the abuse of his land) and made some exceedingly strong if/then curse statements, “If I have committed this sin, then let this curse overtake me.” (At this point Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar probably began to slowly step away from the ash heap – certain that one of God’s lightning bolts was going to strike Job at any moment.)
Job simply wanted to know the reason (any reason) why such tragedy and affliction have befallen him. “Why have I been thrown into this dark and dank dungeon of pain and calamity when I haven’t even had the courtesy of a trial? I’ve been sentenced…but where’s the indictment?” The Comforters Three were certain of the underlying cause, and in their minds a trial was not necessary. To them the root cause of the ruinous storms in chapters 1 and 2 was as plain as the boils on Job’s face – it was SIN. And just to throw a little salt in the wound of their friend they coldly declared, “Your kids got what they deserved!”
For a while now Job has wanted to take his Friend to court. In this chapter in particular the legal setting has become very apparent. We have:
• The Plaintiff: the one who brings suit (action) in a court of law (plaintiff comes from a word meaning “to complain”). What is interesting is that Job thinks the plaintiff is God, when in fact the “Complainer-In-Chief” is Satan!
• The Defendant: Job
• An Affidavit: a declaration in writing made under oath, for use as evidence in court. Job has, in chapter 31, given us his affidavit and signed it (verse 35, “Behold, here is my signature.”)
• The Jury – Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar? From the opening statements they held up signs in the jury box, “GUILTY!”
What Job cries out for in these verses is:
• An Indictment: a formal accusation initiating a criminal case; a charge or written-out formal accusation of a crime.
• A Hearing: the investigation of a matter by a court of law, especially the preliminary inquiry into an indictable crime.
• A Verdict: the finding or answer of a jury given to the court concerning a matter submitted for their judgment; in Latin its “verum dictum” – meaning “true word” or “truly spoken.”
(The above paraphrased definitions are from www.dictionary.com)
How would we feel if we had been thrown into prison but never had a hearing or a trial or even had the charges against us (the indictment) read publicly? In Job’s mind he has been sentenced (and is in a prison of pain) but hasn’t even been formally charged!
31:35 “Oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me! And the indictment which my adversary has written…”
Let’s read this verse from two other versions of the Bible. From the Amplified Version, “Oh, for a hearing! Oh, for an answer from the Almighty! Let my adversary write out His indictment and put His vague accusations in tangible form in a book!” And from the Message, “Oh, if only someone would give me a hearing! I’ve signed my name to my defense—let the Almighty One answer! I want to see my indictment in writing.”
Job has signed an affidavit declaring his innocence, now he cries out for a hearing, “OH THAT I HAD ONE TO HEAR ME!” Remember these verses from chapter 23, "Behold, I go forward but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.” (vs. 8-9). To quote Hartley, “It is important to observe that Job does not seek the restoration of his wealth or his family. Instead, he addresses his most fundamental need – a right relationship with God (and his neighbors)…” I can’t on this blog, but if I could I would try to convey the depths of Job’s emotional anguish by writing the following in size 72 Arial Bold font:
I WANT, I NEED, A HEARING!!!
Chapter 31 is Job’s affidavit – he has signed it, and if he has falsified any part of it, he is liable to suffer a torrent of divine curses. He feels he has been sentenced – but there has never been a clear indictment nor a verdict rendered!
Notice these words in verse 35 that give us a glimpse of the turmoil in Job’s heart: the Almighty…my adversary. Remember this verse in chapter 29:4? “As I was in the prime of my days, when the friendship of God {was} over my tent.” But now he sees God as his Adversary, his Antagonist, the One Who judicially opposes him. In his mind he is making a plea to an unkind Friend!
“Why?!?!” punctuates this book from beginning to end; all through this saga Job has only been confronted with vague accusations. He simply wants to meet the Plaintiff in a court of law. Trapp writes, “That the Almighty would respond to me…that He would give a reason why He dealt so harshly with me.” He wants to clearly hear the specific charges against him and then make his defense. Job desperately desires that his case be delayed no longer; he wants it immediately moved to first place on that day’s court docket.
Hartley writes, “Legally, he has demanded that Shaddai answer him….(and) since God has not responded, Job, as defendant, has sworn an oath in order to compel God, the Plaintiff, to file His complaint and then substantiate it. If God remains silent, then the entire world will know that the defendant has been falsely accused.”
Did you catch that? The silence of God would in essence be a declaration of “Not Guilty!”
31:36 “Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it to myself like a crown.”
The Message paraphrases verse 36 this way, “Anyone’s welcome to read my defense; I’ll write it on a poster and carry it around town.”
Adam Clark gives some interesting background to what Job is referring to in this verse, “In one case a large, heavy plank, through which there is a hole to pass the head…with the crime written upon it, rests on the criminal’s shoulders; and this he is obliged to carry about for the weeks or months during which the punishment lasts. It is probable that Job alludes to something of this kind…and, far from considering this a disgrace, would clasp it as dearly as he would adjust a crown or diadem to his head.”
Job could not, according to Barnes, express his innocence in any stronger terms; this verse cries out, “I’M INNOCENT!”
Francis I. Anderson writes, “Far from being abashed, Job is belligerent to the last, eager to have his case settled, confident of the outcome.” Whether Job is “belligerent to the last” or not, one thing is for sure – Job demonstrates a Navy Seal Trainee iron-resolve to the very end.
31:37 “I would declare to Him the number of my steps; like a prince I would approach Him.”
Hartley notes, “Although frustrated at God’s apparent hostility, Job has, throughout the dialogue, kept a high view of God in his thinking.” Perhaps Job has become a little bitter (and perhaps a little belligerent), but he hasn’t stopped believing.
When Job writes, “I would declare to Him the number of my steps,” he is saying that not only has he walked uprightly, but his every step can be thoroughly examined.
And when he says, “…like a prince I would approach Him,” I get the feeling that Job may want to rethink his position. I like Job (I admire his character) but methinks he needs a little lowly mindedness. Take a sneak peak if you will at chapters 38-42. A supernatural F5 Tornado shows up at the ash heap and God in essence says to Job, “Ok Wise Guy, put your pants on and start your princely approach!” I don’t know of too many people who have ventured close to a twister and maintained an upright position.
Conclusion: Finishing his commentary on chapter 31 Hartley writes, “In these chapters Job is a model of how the human spirit can struggle against all aspects of suffering…while God remains hidden.”
The aching abyss of Job’s heart cries out for God to “unhide” Himself. Perhaps the words to this song “More of You” express his longing…
(I couldn’t find a YouTube video of this song to attach a link…if you find one let me know :>))
(by Bill and Gloria Gaither, words by Bill Paxson)
Chorus:
More of You, more of You.
I've had it all but what I need, just more of You.
Of things I've had my fill. And yet, I hunger still,
Empty and bare; Lord hear my prayer, For more of You.
I'm not trying to find just some new frame of mind
That will change my old point of view
For I've been through it all, deep inside nothing's changed, I'm not new,
I'm not seeking a gift or emotional lift but one thing I'm longing to do,
Is to lift up my cup and let You fill it up, with just You.
I have searched all around, in the husks that abound,
but I find no nourishment there.
Now my strength’s almost gone and I feel the pull of despair.
But my thirst drives me on, as I stumble along,
over ground so barren and dry.
But the streams just ahead, living water, ‘Lord fill me.’ I cry.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
The Skeleton Has No Skeletons (Job 31:24-40)
Emaciated and exhausted, bitter and battle-worn; the Skeleton is perhaps more dead than alive. In just a few verses Job’s defense will end. And yet Job doggedly perseveres in his search for the presence of God. Francis I Anderson writes, “This priceless testament is a fitting consummation of ‘The words of Job.’”
31:24 "If I have put my confidence in gold, and called fine gold my trust, 25 If I have gloated because my wealth was great, And because my hand had secured so much;”
When you read these two verses from various versions of the Bible, you come across such words as trust, hope, confidence, faith, and security. They are words that should define our relationship with God; but too often they instead are wrongly applied to our relationship with gold or wealth.
Covetousness endangers us because it transfers the heart from the Creator to the creature. Hartley writes, “Riches pull hard at the heart of their owner to trust in them, for with their possession go power, prestige, and freedom from want.” Wealthy people (and those that wish to wealthy) may hold themselves as better than others and safer than others.
Eliphaz had urged Job to “relax your grip on your money and abandon your gold-plated luxury.” (22:24) But a “confidence in gold” wasn’t Job’s problem. He wasn’t clenching a fistful of dollars – he was pursuing the uncreated God.
31:26 “If I have looked at the sun when it shone or the moon going in splendor, 27 and my heart became secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth, 28 that too would have been an iniquity calling for judgment, For I would have denied God above.”
One writer says that we now move from covert idolatry (a love of gold) to overt idolatry (a love of the sun & moon). People throughout history have worshipped the sun – the Egyptians had their Heliopolis (The City of the Sun), and Sun-Worship continues to this day. The phrase, “the moon going in splendor” is literally “the moon walking in brightness.” The New Living Translation puts it “Have I looked at…the moon walking down its silver pathway,” That’s a very poetic phrase.
If I have thrown a kiss toward the moon (a widespread pagan practice), I would then have committed treason against the Almighty, and I would have denied the “God Who is Above.” I like that portion of verse 28; the God we serve is “The God Who is Above.”
31:29 "Have I rejoiced at the extinction of my enemy, or exulted when evil befell him? 30 No, I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life in a curse.”
As we have stated before, Job’s integrity was anything but superficial, it went to the core of his being. These verses speak to his inner honesty. And its perhaps more literal to translate it, “Have I shouted for joy during repeated times in the past when bad stuff had happened to the one(s) hating me?” Job is emphatic in his denial – “I have never!” He never longed for a premature death for his enemies. And he comes very close to the standard set centuries later by Jesus.
Do I rejoice at the misfortune that befalls someone I don’t like? Is there a secret joy or inward pleasure when my “enemy” gets wheat he had coming. To paraphrase Francis I Anderson, “Is there a momentary surge of pleasure at the ruin of an enemy (which may be a coworker or family member or neighbor)?
31:31 “Have the men of my tent not said, ’Who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat’? 32 The alien has not lodged outside, for I have opened my doors to the traveler.”
Job was the original Motel 6; he always left the light on for strangers that happened to be traveling through his area. Job knew that to not show hospitality was a disgraceful act. Mr. and Mrs. Job perhaps even went so far as to, when evening rolled around send their servants into the town square to look for any wayfarers that were not able to find lodging.
In his commentary, Barnes quotes Burckhardt when he writes about these verses and the custom of Job’s land, “A traveler may alight at any house he pleases; a mat will be immediately spread for him, coffee made, and a breakfast or dinner set before him. In entering a village it has often happened to me, that several persons presented themselves, each begging that I would lodge at his house. It is a point of honor with the host never to receive the smallest return from a guest.” He goes on to point out that a traveler of that region may fare better as a guest than he would at his own home.
31:33 "Have I covered my transgressions like Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, 34 because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, and kept silent and did not go out of doors?”
The Skeleton didn’t have any skeletons in his closet. Job’s books could be opened for public view and he would not be ashamed of anything that was brought to light. Hartley writes, “He shied away from the slightest taint of hypocrisy.” Our nation cries out for men and women of integrity. In the marketplace, in the home and in the political arena we need more Jobs. Congressman Anthony Weiner should have followed Job’s example.
But then, so should I.
We are silly to think that we, who are all window, should be anything but transparent before God, Who is all Eye (paraphrasing Trapp). Job didn’t claim a sinlessness; when he failed he was open and honest to his family, friends and business associates. Job never worried about being exposed. Trapp writes, “No man was ever kept out of heaven for his confessed badness, (though) many are for their supposed goodness.”
31:35 “Oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature; Let the Almighty answer me! And the indictment which my adversary has written, 36 surely I would carry it on my shoulder, I would bind it to myself like a crown. 37 I would declare to Him the number of my steps; like a prince I would approach Him.”
We will make these three verses into a separate devotional.
31:38 “If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together; 39 If I have eaten its fruit without money, Or have caused its owners to lose their lives, 40 Let briars grow instead of wheat, And stinkweed instead of barley."
Many commentators think these verses are out of place and should be put directly after verse 34 or in some other position in this chapter. I have one thing to say to that…NYET! It would seem that vs. 35-37 should be the closing; some translations of the Bible have even rearranged this chapter a little to put them in a “neater order.” But this isn't Robert Frost composing a poem or Chuck Swindoll preparing a sermon. This is a very sick man (who is probably more dead than alive) at the city dump struggling to find God. So I don’t think we should expect to find a neatly outlined three or five point poem-sermon. FIA writes, “It is a poem, recited by a miserable outcast on the city rubbish dump…it is Job's last passionate outburst; and the author has given it an earnestness and a torrential quality by composing it with a measure of incoherence.”
Job essentially never mistreated the land (perhaps an early environmentalist without the “I-worship-trees” aspect found in much of today’s green movement). And he never mistreated those that worked his land – the land rested, his cattle rested, and his laborers rested. Job didn’t run a sweatshop.
At least 14 specific sins are enumerated in this chapter. If we were to detach the claims made by Job in this chapter from the rest of the book, we would rightly conclude that Job has become more than a little self-righteous – the word “I” appears almost 30 times. But that is not the case and God’s testimony of Job bears that out.
31:40b The words of Job are ended.
We have traveled a long way from chapter 1, but we still have the privilege of mining 11 chapters (6 of them by long-winded Elihu). Job has thrown down the gauntlet; we would not be too far off to say that he has subpoenaed God! If God does not answer, then Job is will be resoundingly declared “Not Guilty!” by the community. We will explain all of that in the next devotional.
Job’s pain has not subsided in the least, and yet his thinking has crystallized and he has risen above his former despondency. Under extreme duress, Job has resolutely sustained a search for the hidden God. In a short while “the Golden Splendor” will appear out of the north. But for now, El-Shaddai is agonizingly silent. One of threads that we find woven throughout this story is simply this: the persistent and unyielding struggle of a man determined to find God against a backdrop of dark and formidable circumstances.
Perhaps God has seemed so silent and so distant to you.
Do not give up your pursuit of Him.
31:24 "If I have put my confidence in gold, and called fine gold my trust, 25 If I have gloated because my wealth was great, And because my hand had secured so much;”
When you read these two verses from various versions of the Bible, you come across such words as trust, hope, confidence, faith, and security. They are words that should define our relationship with God; but too often they instead are wrongly applied to our relationship with gold or wealth.
Covetousness endangers us because it transfers the heart from the Creator to the creature. Hartley writes, “Riches pull hard at the heart of their owner to trust in them, for with their possession go power, prestige, and freedom from want.” Wealthy people (and those that wish to wealthy) may hold themselves as better than others and safer than others.
Eliphaz had urged Job to “relax your grip on your money and abandon your gold-plated luxury.” (22:24) But a “confidence in gold” wasn’t Job’s problem. He wasn’t clenching a fistful of dollars – he was pursuing the uncreated God.
31:26 “If I have looked at the sun when it shone or the moon going in splendor, 27 and my heart became secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth, 28 that too would have been an iniquity calling for judgment, For I would have denied God above.”
One writer says that we now move from covert idolatry (a love of gold) to overt idolatry (a love of the sun & moon). People throughout history have worshipped the sun – the Egyptians had their Heliopolis (The City of the Sun), and Sun-Worship continues to this day. The phrase, “the moon going in splendor” is literally “the moon walking in brightness.” The New Living Translation puts it “Have I looked at…the moon walking down its silver pathway,” That’s a very poetic phrase.
If I have thrown a kiss toward the moon (a widespread pagan practice), I would then have committed treason against the Almighty, and I would have denied the “God Who is Above.” I like that portion of verse 28; the God we serve is “The God Who is Above.”
31:29 "Have I rejoiced at the extinction of my enemy, or exulted when evil befell him? 30 No, I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life in a curse.”
As we have stated before, Job’s integrity was anything but superficial, it went to the core of his being. These verses speak to his inner honesty. And its perhaps more literal to translate it, “Have I shouted for joy during repeated times in the past when bad stuff had happened to the one(s) hating me?” Job is emphatic in his denial – “I have never!” He never longed for a premature death for his enemies. And he comes very close to the standard set centuries later by Jesus.
Do I rejoice at the misfortune that befalls someone I don’t like? Is there a secret joy or inward pleasure when my “enemy” gets wheat he had coming. To paraphrase Francis I Anderson, “Is there a momentary surge of pleasure at the ruin of an enemy (which may be a coworker or family member or neighbor)?
31:31 “Have the men of my tent not said, ’Who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat’? 32 The alien has not lodged outside, for I have opened my doors to the traveler.”
Job was the original Motel 6; he always left the light on for strangers that happened to be traveling through his area. Job knew that to not show hospitality was a disgraceful act. Mr. and Mrs. Job perhaps even went so far as to, when evening rolled around send their servants into the town square to look for any wayfarers that were not able to find lodging.
In his commentary, Barnes quotes Burckhardt when he writes about these verses and the custom of Job’s land, “A traveler may alight at any house he pleases; a mat will be immediately spread for him, coffee made, and a breakfast or dinner set before him. In entering a village it has often happened to me, that several persons presented themselves, each begging that I would lodge at his house. It is a point of honor with the host never to receive the smallest return from a guest.” He goes on to point out that a traveler of that region may fare better as a guest than he would at his own home.
31:33 "Have I covered my transgressions like Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, 34 because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, and kept silent and did not go out of doors?”
The Skeleton didn’t have any skeletons in his closet. Job’s books could be opened for public view and he would not be ashamed of anything that was brought to light. Hartley writes, “He shied away from the slightest taint of hypocrisy.” Our nation cries out for men and women of integrity. In the marketplace, in the home and in the political arena we need more Jobs. Congressman Anthony Weiner should have followed Job’s example.
But then, so should I.
We are silly to think that we, who are all window, should be anything but transparent before God, Who is all Eye (paraphrasing Trapp). Job didn’t claim a sinlessness; when he failed he was open and honest to his family, friends and business associates. Job never worried about being exposed. Trapp writes, “No man was ever kept out of heaven for his confessed badness, (though) many are for their supposed goodness.”
31:35 “Oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature; Let the Almighty answer me! And the indictment which my adversary has written, 36 surely I would carry it on my shoulder, I would bind it to myself like a crown. 37 I would declare to Him the number of my steps; like a prince I would approach Him.”
We will make these three verses into a separate devotional.
31:38 “If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together; 39 If I have eaten its fruit without money, Or have caused its owners to lose their lives, 40 Let briars grow instead of wheat, And stinkweed instead of barley."
Many commentators think these verses are out of place and should be put directly after verse 34 or in some other position in this chapter. I have one thing to say to that…NYET! It would seem that vs. 35-37 should be the closing; some translations of the Bible have even rearranged this chapter a little to put them in a “neater order.” But this isn't Robert Frost composing a poem or Chuck Swindoll preparing a sermon. This is a very sick man (who is probably more dead than alive) at the city dump struggling to find God. So I don’t think we should expect to find a neatly outlined three or five point poem-sermon. FIA writes, “It is a poem, recited by a miserable outcast on the city rubbish dump…it is Job's last passionate outburst; and the author has given it an earnestness and a torrential quality by composing it with a measure of incoherence.”
Job essentially never mistreated the land (perhaps an early environmentalist without the “I-worship-trees” aspect found in much of today’s green movement). And he never mistreated those that worked his land – the land rested, his cattle rested, and his laborers rested. Job didn’t run a sweatshop.
At least 14 specific sins are enumerated in this chapter. If we were to detach the claims made by Job in this chapter from the rest of the book, we would rightly conclude that Job has become more than a little self-righteous – the word “I” appears almost 30 times. But that is not the case and God’s testimony of Job bears that out.
31:40b The words of Job are ended.
We have traveled a long way from chapter 1, but we still have the privilege of mining 11 chapters (6 of them by long-winded Elihu). Job has thrown down the gauntlet; we would not be too far off to say that he has subpoenaed God! If God does not answer, then Job is will be resoundingly declared “Not Guilty!” by the community. We will explain all of that in the next devotional.
Job’s pain has not subsided in the least, and yet his thinking has crystallized and he has risen above his former despondency. Under extreme duress, Job has resolutely sustained a search for the hidden God. In a short while “the Golden Splendor” will appear out of the north. But for now, El-Shaddai is agonizingly silent. One of threads that we find woven throughout this story is simply this: the persistent and unyielding struggle of a man determined to find God against a backdrop of dark and formidable circumstances.
Perhaps God has seemed so silent and so distant to you.
Do not give up your pursuit of Him.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Twenty Two “If’s” (A Slow Fade, Not) Job 31:1-23
From his thought life to his private life to his public life, the man of incomparable endurance remained unwavering in his insistence on his integrity. He never claimed to be sinless, but both in the attitude of his heart and in his outward actions, Job strenuously denied any wrong doing as being the source of his calamity and awful sufferings.
This chapter (of approximately 670 words) is simply the detailed “nuts and bolts” version of the 15 word testimony given in 1:1 “And that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil.” Job takes all of the charges laid against him throughout the first 30 chapters by the Comforters Three and makes a final appeal to his Heavenly Judge.
“If-I-have-done-something-wrong-may-lightning-strike-me” clauses abound in this chapter. Of the ten different versions of the Bible I looked at, on average 22 “if’s” show up. FI Anderson writes concerning a defendant’s claim of innocence in that society, “A crime could be disowned by calling down a curse on oneself if one had committed it….Job lists specific crimes, and denies them all. The form Job uses is, ‘If I have done X, then let Y happen to me!’” This ancient form of jurisprudence becomes crystal clear in verses 22-23, “IF I raised my hand against an orphan…THEN let my shoulder be wrenched out of place and let my arm be torn from its socket!”
31:1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? 2 And what is the portion of God from above or the heritage of the Almighty from on high? 3 Is it not calamity to the unjust and disaster to those who work iniquity? 4 Does He not see my ways and number all my steps?”
A 1,000 word devotional could easily be written on each little section of this chapter. There is so much packed into this chapter that we are barely going to scratch the surface.
I think it is striking that Job begins his claim to wholeness by looking first at the inside (the thought life) and then that which is acted out in every day life. It seems that at the outset Job wants to emphasize that his life wasn’t hollow; “A hypocrite I am not!” is the implication.
The Message translates verse one this way, "I made a solemn pact with myself never to undress a girl with my eyes.” King David should have had such character. He probably envisioned a Bathsheba-bedroom scene in his mind long before he undressed her in the privacy of his own home. The lustful glance of the eye can happen with both sexes. At a meeting I attended in our office a few months back, we were viewing some reports on the screen in the conference room when someone remarked about the colorfulness of the reports. “It’s a lot of eye candy,” remarked the leader of the meeting. Said the young woman sitting next to me, “That’s not my idea of eye candy!” Trapp writes about the Persian lady who, at the wedding of Cyrus, was asked how she liked the bridegroom. She simply replied, “I saw no one but my husband.”
Job’s train of thought is this: “If I had not made the covenant in verse 1, then I should only expect what follows in verse 3: ruin, calamity, destruction, and doom.” (What is so remarkable is that what Job says should happen to the wicked has happened to him. From an outsider’s point of view everything cries, “Job you are guilty!”)
31:5 “If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hastened after deceit, 6 let Him weigh me with accurate scales, and let God know my integrity. 7 If my step has turned from the way, my heart followed my eyes, or if any spot has stuck to my hands, 8 Let me sow and another eat, And let my crops be uprooted.”
Note the phrase in verse 5, “…hasted after deceit.” It carries the sense of enjoyment and excitement. Trapp writes this about verse 6, “Job would not rest in his own heart’s applause; neither would he be borne down by his friends’ false charges; but puts himself into God’s hands to be weighed.”
The word “integrity” is the Hebrew word “tamim”. We have touched on this word before (it lies at the heart of this marvelous book). I am paraphrasing from the Theological Word Book of the OT (TWOT): It carries the fundamental idea of completeness…it is used in the Bible of an entire day or a healthy vine. The word then moves naturally toward that which is ethically sound and upright. Noah was said to be "tamîm" in Genesis 6:9. But Scripture’s preeminent example of the “tam man” (the perfect man) is Job.
Notice the phrase in verse 7: “…my heart followed my eyes.” Job understood the progression of sin as outlined in Genesis 3:
Eve saw
Eve desired
Eve took
Eve ate
Eve shared
31:9 "If my heart has been enticed by a woman, Or I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway, 10 Then may my wife grind for another, And let others kneel down over her. 11 For that would be a lustful crime; Moreover, it would be an iniquity punishable by judges. 12 For it would be fire that consumes to Abaddon, And would uproot all my increase.”
Job moves from the thought life in verse one to the acting out of the though life in this verse. Barnes writes concerning verse 10, “Let her be subjected to the deepest humiliation and degradation. Probably Job could not have found language which would have more emphatically expressed his sense of the enormity of this crime, or his perfect consciousness of innocence. The last thing which a man would imprecate on himself, would be that which is specified in this verse. The meaning here is, ‘Let my wife be the mill-wench to another; be his abject slave, and be treated by him with the deepest indignity.’”
The Message paraphrases verse 12 this way, “Adultery is a fire that burns the house down; I wouldn’t expect anything I count dear to survive it.” And yet today adultery is glorified on such TV shows as ABC's “Desperate Housewives.” (It could be that the root cause of our nation’s economic woes is not an economics issue at all, but rather a moral one.)
31:13 "If I have despised the claim of my male or female slaves When they filed a complaint against me, 14 What then could I do when God arises? And when He calls me to account, what will I answer Him? 15 Did not He who made me in the womb make him, And the same one fashion us in the womb?”
This is a remarkable statement. Adam Clarke writes, “In ancient times slaves had no action at law against their owners; they might dispose of them as they did of their cattle, or any other property. The slave might complain; and the owner might hear him if he pleased, but he was not compelled to do so. Job states that he had admitted them to all civil rights; and, far from preventing their ease from being heard, he was ready to permit them to complain even against himself, if they had a cause of complaint, and to give them all the benefit of the law.”
This was the “Declaration of Independence” of Job’s day, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal…”Job’s view of the employer/employee relationship was far ahead of his time, and sounds somewhat similar to Paul’s statement in Colossians 4:1, “Masters, be just and fair to your slaves. Remember that you also have a Master—in heaven.”
31:16 "If I have kept the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, 17 Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the orphan has not shared it 18 [But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And from infancy I guided her], 19 If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering, 20 If his loins have not thanked me, And if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep, 21 If I have lifted up my hand against the orphan, Because I saw I had support in the gate, 22 Let my shoulder fall from the socket, And my arm be broken off at the elbow."
One writer says, “Job now turns to another class of virtues, regarded also as of great importance in the patriarchal ages, kindness to the poor and the afflicted; to the fatherless and the widow.
Note in this passage the number of “if” clauses (5 of them) and the various classes of society Job touches on: the poor, the widows, the orphans, and the needy.
Verse 16: “the poor…” This word describes a state of deprivation which in its extremity issues in a cry to God (TWOT). Job didn’t crush the hopes of the widow through long disappointed waiting.
Verse 17: Job didn’t, when dining at a fancy restaurant and seeing the hungry peering though the windows, pull down the shade so it wouldn’t bother him.
Verse 18: Job was a father to the fatherless; he and his wife graciously demonstrated the gift of hospitality to the down and out of their community.
Verse 19: Trapp writes concerning Pope Alexander V, “He was so liberal to the poor, that he left nothing to himself; so that he would merrily say, that he was a rich bishop, a poor cardinal, and a beggarly pope. This Pope Alexander then was a rare bird at Rome.”
Verse 20: Paraphrasing Trapp, “But a little handful of Job’s wool is much better than a mouthful of such airy courtesies as found in James 2:15-16, ‘If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?’”
Verse 21: Job never used his strength and influence to take advantage of the unfortunate.
Verses 16-21 listed the “IF’s”.
Verse 22 gives us the “THEN”: “Then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place! Let my arm be torn from its socket!”
231:3 “For calamity from God is a terror to me, And because of His majesty I can do nothing.”
Of this verse Barnes writes, “He could have escaped the judgment of people. He had power and influence enough not to dread the penalty of human law. He could have done it in such a way as not to have been arraigned before any earthly tribunal, but he remembered that the eye of God was upon him, and that he was the avenger of the fatherless and the widow.”
Conclusion: Job probably slow danced with his wife, but he never did the “slow fade.” He never made the little decisions that led from “white” to the lightest shade of gray which then led to darker shades of gray and eventually to decisions that were blatantly wrong. The group “Casting Crowns” sings about this in their song “Slow Fade.” The lyrics are below and a link to their music video is on the left.
"Slow Fade" (written by Mark Hall)
Be careful little eyes what you see
It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade
Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you're thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day
Oh be careful little eyes what see
Oh be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above is looking down in love
Oh be careful little eyes what you see
This chapter (of approximately 670 words) is simply the detailed “nuts and bolts” version of the 15 word testimony given in 1:1 “And that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil.” Job takes all of the charges laid against him throughout the first 30 chapters by the Comforters Three and makes a final appeal to his Heavenly Judge.
“If-I-have-done-something-wrong-may-lightning-strike-me” clauses abound in this chapter. Of the ten different versions of the Bible I looked at, on average 22 “if’s” show up. FI Anderson writes concerning a defendant’s claim of innocence in that society, “A crime could be disowned by calling down a curse on oneself if one had committed it….Job lists specific crimes, and denies them all. The form Job uses is, ‘If I have done X, then let Y happen to me!’” This ancient form of jurisprudence becomes crystal clear in verses 22-23, “IF I raised my hand against an orphan…THEN let my shoulder be wrenched out of place and let my arm be torn from its socket!”
31:1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? 2 And what is the portion of God from above or the heritage of the Almighty from on high? 3 Is it not calamity to the unjust and disaster to those who work iniquity? 4 Does He not see my ways and number all my steps?”
A 1,000 word devotional could easily be written on each little section of this chapter. There is so much packed into this chapter that we are barely going to scratch the surface.
I think it is striking that Job begins his claim to wholeness by looking first at the inside (the thought life) and then that which is acted out in every day life. It seems that at the outset Job wants to emphasize that his life wasn’t hollow; “A hypocrite I am not!” is the implication.
The Message translates verse one this way, "I made a solemn pact with myself never to undress a girl with my eyes.” King David should have had such character. He probably envisioned a Bathsheba-bedroom scene in his mind long before he undressed her in the privacy of his own home. The lustful glance of the eye can happen with both sexes. At a meeting I attended in our office a few months back, we were viewing some reports on the screen in the conference room when someone remarked about the colorfulness of the reports. “It’s a lot of eye candy,” remarked the leader of the meeting. Said the young woman sitting next to me, “That’s not my idea of eye candy!” Trapp writes about the Persian lady who, at the wedding of Cyrus, was asked how she liked the bridegroom. She simply replied, “I saw no one but my husband.”
Job’s train of thought is this: “If I had not made the covenant in verse 1, then I should only expect what follows in verse 3: ruin, calamity, destruction, and doom.” (What is so remarkable is that what Job says should happen to the wicked has happened to him. From an outsider’s point of view everything cries, “Job you are guilty!”)
31:5 “If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hastened after deceit, 6 let Him weigh me with accurate scales, and let God know my integrity. 7 If my step has turned from the way, my heart followed my eyes, or if any spot has stuck to my hands, 8 Let me sow and another eat, And let my crops be uprooted.”
Note the phrase in verse 5, “…hasted after deceit.” It carries the sense of enjoyment and excitement. Trapp writes this about verse 6, “Job would not rest in his own heart’s applause; neither would he be borne down by his friends’ false charges; but puts himself into God’s hands to be weighed.”
The word “integrity” is the Hebrew word “tamim”. We have touched on this word before (it lies at the heart of this marvelous book). I am paraphrasing from the Theological Word Book of the OT (TWOT): It carries the fundamental idea of completeness…it is used in the Bible of an entire day or a healthy vine. The word then moves naturally toward that which is ethically sound and upright. Noah was said to be "tamîm" in Genesis 6:9. But Scripture’s preeminent example of the “tam man” (the perfect man) is Job.
Notice the phrase in verse 7: “…my heart followed my eyes.” Job understood the progression of sin as outlined in Genesis 3:
Eve saw
Eve desired
Eve took
Eve ate
Eve shared
31:9 "If my heart has been enticed by a woman, Or I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway, 10 Then may my wife grind for another, And let others kneel down over her. 11 For that would be a lustful crime; Moreover, it would be an iniquity punishable by judges. 12 For it would be fire that consumes to Abaddon, And would uproot all my increase.”
Job moves from the thought life in verse one to the acting out of the though life in this verse. Barnes writes concerning verse 10, “Let her be subjected to the deepest humiliation and degradation. Probably Job could not have found language which would have more emphatically expressed his sense of the enormity of this crime, or his perfect consciousness of innocence. The last thing which a man would imprecate on himself, would be that which is specified in this verse. The meaning here is, ‘Let my wife be the mill-wench to another; be his abject slave, and be treated by him with the deepest indignity.’”
The Message paraphrases verse 12 this way, “Adultery is a fire that burns the house down; I wouldn’t expect anything I count dear to survive it.” And yet today adultery is glorified on such TV shows as ABC's “Desperate Housewives.” (It could be that the root cause of our nation’s economic woes is not an economics issue at all, but rather a moral one.)
31:13 "If I have despised the claim of my male or female slaves When they filed a complaint against me, 14 What then could I do when God arises? And when He calls me to account, what will I answer Him? 15 Did not He who made me in the womb make him, And the same one fashion us in the womb?”
This is a remarkable statement. Adam Clarke writes, “In ancient times slaves had no action at law against their owners; they might dispose of them as they did of their cattle, or any other property. The slave might complain; and the owner might hear him if he pleased, but he was not compelled to do so. Job states that he had admitted them to all civil rights; and, far from preventing their ease from being heard, he was ready to permit them to complain even against himself, if they had a cause of complaint, and to give them all the benefit of the law.”
This was the “Declaration of Independence” of Job’s day, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal…”Job’s view of the employer/employee relationship was far ahead of his time, and sounds somewhat similar to Paul’s statement in Colossians 4:1, “Masters, be just and fair to your slaves. Remember that you also have a Master—in heaven.”
31:16 "If I have kept the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, 17 Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the orphan has not shared it 18 [But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And from infancy I guided her], 19 If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering, 20 If his loins have not thanked me, And if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep, 21 If I have lifted up my hand against the orphan, Because I saw I had support in the gate, 22 Let my shoulder fall from the socket, And my arm be broken off at the elbow."
One writer says, “Job now turns to another class of virtues, regarded also as of great importance in the patriarchal ages, kindness to the poor and the afflicted; to the fatherless and the widow.
Note in this passage the number of “if” clauses (5 of them) and the various classes of society Job touches on: the poor, the widows, the orphans, and the needy.
Verse 16: “the poor…” This word describes a state of deprivation which in its extremity issues in a cry to God (TWOT). Job didn’t crush the hopes of the widow through long disappointed waiting.
Verse 17: Job didn’t, when dining at a fancy restaurant and seeing the hungry peering though the windows, pull down the shade so it wouldn’t bother him.
Verse 18: Job was a father to the fatherless; he and his wife graciously demonstrated the gift of hospitality to the down and out of their community.
Verse 19: Trapp writes concerning Pope Alexander V, “He was so liberal to the poor, that he left nothing to himself; so that he would merrily say, that he was a rich bishop, a poor cardinal, and a beggarly pope. This Pope Alexander then was a rare bird at Rome.”
Verse 20: Paraphrasing Trapp, “But a little handful of Job’s wool is much better than a mouthful of such airy courtesies as found in James 2:15-16, ‘If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?’”
Verse 21: Job never used his strength and influence to take advantage of the unfortunate.
Verses 16-21 listed the “IF’s”.
Verse 22 gives us the “THEN”: “Then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place! Let my arm be torn from its socket!”
231:3 “For calamity from God is a terror to me, And because of His majesty I can do nothing.”
Of this verse Barnes writes, “He could have escaped the judgment of people. He had power and influence enough not to dread the penalty of human law. He could have done it in such a way as not to have been arraigned before any earthly tribunal, but he remembered that the eye of God was upon him, and that he was the avenger of the fatherless and the widow.”
Conclusion: Job probably slow danced with his wife, but he never did the “slow fade.” He never made the little decisions that led from “white” to the lightest shade of gray which then led to darker shades of gray and eventually to decisions that were blatantly wrong. The group “Casting Crowns” sings about this in their song “Slow Fade.” The lyrics are below and a link to their music video is on the left.
"Slow Fade" (written by Mark Hall)
Be careful little eyes what you see
It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade
Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you're thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day
Oh be careful little eyes what see
Oh be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above is looking down in love
Oh be careful little eyes what you see
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
At Night The Monster Comes (Job 30:16-31)
Two friends from school came to visit the paralyzed teenage girl in the hospital ICU. Upon seeing their friend for the first time, they stood for a few seconds in awkward silence by her bedside and then ran out of the room. In the hallway one of the girls vomited and the other sobbed. A few days later another friend named Jackie stopped in to visit. The young patient insisted that her friend bring her a mirror. For the first time since the accident she saw what she looked like. “The person in the mirror had eyes that were bloodshot and sunken into dark cavities far back into her skull. Her skin color had faded to a dull yellow, and teeth were black from medication. Her head was still shaved, with metal clamps on either side. And her weight had shrunk from 125 to 80 pounds.” She pleaded with her friend, “Help me die. Bring some pills, or a razor blade even. I can’t live inside a grotesque body like this. Help me die, Jackie.”
Such is Philip Yancey’s description of Joni Eareckson Tada’s anguish (following her swimming accident) in his book “Where Is God When It Hurts.” (Pages 131-132)
The second half of Job chapter 30 (verses 16-31) is Job’s final “Bring me a mirror!” accounting of his horrible illness.
30:16 “And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction have seized me. 17 at night it pierces my bones within me, and my gnawing pains take no rest.”
This is the bottom for Job. Francis I Anderson writes, “In a final burst of grief, Job wrestles with the sheer pain of his disease as if it were objectively a terrifying monster, chewing at his flesh day and night.” The New Living Translation puts verse 16 this way, “And now my life seeps away. Depression haunts my days.” His life is ebbing away. The gloom of Elie Wiesel’s “Night” hangs over Job’s ash heap (“Night” is an account of the horrors of a German concentration camp during WWII.). And his eyelids can’t even find a moment’s rest: “At night my bone hath been pierced in me, and mine eyelids do not lie down!” (Young’s Literal Translation).
30:18 “By a great force my garment is distorted; it binds me about as the collar of my coat. 19 He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.”
Verse 18 could be interpreted a few different ways: 1) Job’s illness has so disfigured his body that his garment has become distorted, or 2) because of his running, open sores his clothing has become cemented and glued to his ulcerated body, or 3) he is in so much pain it feels as if God has grabbed his collar and pulled his clothing so tight that every cell seems to cry out in agony.
And in a chameleon-like way, Job is beginning to resemble his environment: sitting on dust and ashes he has “become like dust and ashes.”
30:20 “I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me. 21 You have become cruel to me; with the might of Your hand You persecute me.”
“I cry but You do not answer…” The word “answer” appears more often in Job than in any other Old Testament book (twice as often in fact).
“You have become cruel to me…” The word “cruel” (Hebrew “akzar”) connotes insensitivity and lack of compassion. I think in the midst of our struggles and pain and testing (our “Night”), when we say things we shouldn’t, that God understands and totally forgives. Why do I say that? Because in chapter 42 when God is reprimanding Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, He says, “You have not spoken of Me what is right, as my servant Job has.” That’s pretty cool.
And the word “persecute” is "satam" – an obvious play on the word “Satan” from chapters one and two. Job is saying to Jehovah, “You are cherishing animosity against me!” (Hartley)
30:22 “You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride; And You dissolve me in a storm. 23 For I know that You will bring me to death and to the house of meeting for all living.”
In a sarcastic tone Job continues, “In times past You made me to ride upon the heights of blessing and intimacy with You, but now? You raise me up only to dissolve my hopes and dreams!”
Verse 23 implies that Job did not anticipate deliverance this side of death. “My home is gone, and I am heading to the gloomy home of Sheol.”
30:24 “Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, or in his disaster therefore cry out for help? 25 Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?”
Undoubtedly Mr. and Mrs. Job would often, around the breakfast table, think about those in town that they could be a blessing to that day. Job thought often about those whose lot in life was difficult (those “who were having a bad day” is a loose literal rendering). He felt for the common man (in the next chapter there is an incredible statement about his attitude toward his employees).
So Job reasons, “If I felt compassion for those in a heap of ruins, shouldn’t someone (God?) stretch out Their hand for me?”
30:26 “When I expected good, then evil came; when I waited for light, then darkness came. 27 I am seething within and cannot relax; Days of affliction confront me.”
Good and evil; light and darkness. The “before” and “after” for the Job family. Verse 27 is literally, “My bowels are boiling…” Inside and out Job was in misery.
30:28 “I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help. 29 I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.”
I like to think that Mrs. Job has not abandoned her husband. Even though forsaken by the rest of the family, by his friends and the community, Mrs. Job came each day to try to give a moment’s comfort to her husband’s fevered and blistered body.
30:30 “My skin turns black on me, and my bones burn with fever. 31 Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, and my flute to the sound of those who weep.”
His skin blackens, flakes and peels off. Fever torments him constantly. “ABANDONED!” is written over this Castaway on the ash heap. He is discarded, forsaken, and deserted.
Francis I Anderson sums up this portion of Job by stating, “Job ends his lamentation on the physical agonies of his illness, unrelieved by a kind word or friendly touch. His friends sat with him (2:13) but they did not weep with him.”
I would like to close this section of Job with a few words from Philip Yancey’s book “Where Is God When It Hurts” –
“No one can package or bottle “the appropriate response to suffering.” And words intended for everyone will almost always prove worthless for one individual person. If you go to the sufferers themselves and ask for helpful words, you may find discord. Some recall a friend who cheerily helped distract them from the illness, while others think such an approach insulting. Some want honest, straightforward confrontation; others find such discussion unbearably depressing. In short, there is no magic cure for a person in pain. Mainly, such a person needs love, for love instinctively detects what is needed…In fact, the answer to the question, “How do I help those who hurt?” is exactly the same as the answer to the question, “How do I love?” If you asked me for a Bible passage to teach you how to help suffering people, I would point to I Corinthians 13 and its eloquent depiction of love. That is what a suffering person needs: love, and not knowledge and wisdom. As is so often His pattern, God uses very ordinary people to bring about healing.” (Page 173)
Such is Philip Yancey’s description of Joni Eareckson Tada’s anguish (following her swimming accident) in his book “Where Is God When It Hurts.” (Pages 131-132)
The second half of Job chapter 30 (verses 16-31) is Job’s final “Bring me a mirror!” accounting of his horrible illness.
30:16 “And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction have seized me. 17 at night it pierces my bones within me, and my gnawing pains take no rest.”
This is the bottom for Job. Francis I Anderson writes, “In a final burst of grief, Job wrestles with the sheer pain of his disease as if it were objectively a terrifying monster, chewing at his flesh day and night.” The New Living Translation puts verse 16 this way, “And now my life seeps away. Depression haunts my days.” His life is ebbing away. The gloom of Elie Wiesel’s “Night” hangs over Job’s ash heap (“Night” is an account of the horrors of a German concentration camp during WWII.). And his eyelids can’t even find a moment’s rest: “At night my bone hath been pierced in me, and mine eyelids do not lie down!” (Young’s Literal Translation).
30:18 “By a great force my garment is distorted; it binds me about as the collar of my coat. 19 He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.”
Verse 18 could be interpreted a few different ways: 1) Job’s illness has so disfigured his body that his garment has become distorted, or 2) because of his running, open sores his clothing has become cemented and glued to his ulcerated body, or 3) he is in so much pain it feels as if God has grabbed his collar and pulled his clothing so tight that every cell seems to cry out in agony.
And in a chameleon-like way, Job is beginning to resemble his environment: sitting on dust and ashes he has “become like dust and ashes.”
30:20 “I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me. 21 You have become cruel to me; with the might of Your hand You persecute me.”
“I cry but You do not answer…” The word “answer” appears more often in Job than in any other Old Testament book (twice as often in fact).
“You have become cruel to me…” The word “cruel” (Hebrew “akzar”) connotes insensitivity and lack of compassion. I think in the midst of our struggles and pain and testing (our “Night”), when we say things we shouldn’t, that God understands and totally forgives. Why do I say that? Because in chapter 42 when God is reprimanding Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, He says, “You have not spoken of Me what is right, as my servant Job has.” That’s pretty cool.
And the word “persecute” is "satam" – an obvious play on the word “Satan” from chapters one and two. Job is saying to Jehovah, “You are cherishing animosity against me!” (Hartley)
30:22 “You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride; And You dissolve me in a storm. 23 For I know that You will bring me to death and to the house of meeting for all living.”
In a sarcastic tone Job continues, “In times past You made me to ride upon the heights of blessing and intimacy with You, but now? You raise me up only to dissolve my hopes and dreams!”
Verse 23 implies that Job did not anticipate deliverance this side of death. “My home is gone, and I am heading to the gloomy home of Sheol.”
30:24 “Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, or in his disaster therefore cry out for help? 25 Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?”
Undoubtedly Mr. and Mrs. Job would often, around the breakfast table, think about those in town that they could be a blessing to that day. Job thought often about those whose lot in life was difficult (those “who were having a bad day” is a loose literal rendering). He felt for the common man (in the next chapter there is an incredible statement about his attitude toward his employees).
So Job reasons, “If I felt compassion for those in a heap of ruins, shouldn’t someone (God?) stretch out Their hand for me?”
30:26 “When I expected good, then evil came; when I waited for light, then darkness came. 27 I am seething within and cannot relax; Days of affliction confront me.”
Good and evil; light and darkness. The “before” and “after” for the Job family. Verse 27 is literally, “My bowels are boiling…” Inside and out Job was in misery.
30:28 “I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help. 29 I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.”
I like to think that Mrs. Job has not abandoned her husband. Even though forsaken by the rest of the family, by his friends and the community, Mrs. Job came each day to try to give a moment’s comfort to her husband’s fevered and blistered body.
30:30 “My skin turns black on me, and my bones burn with fever. 31 Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, and my flute to the sound of those who weep.”
His skin blackens, flakes and peels off. Fever torments him constantly. “ABANDONED!” is written over this Castaway on the ash heap. He is discarded, forsaken, and deserted.
Francis I Anderson sums up this portion of Job by stating, “Job ends his lamentation on the physical agonies of his illness, unrelieved by a kind word or friendly touch. His friends sat with him (2:13) but they did not weep with him.”
I would like to close this section of Job with a few words from Philip Yancey’s book “Where Is God When It Hurts” –
“No one can package or bottle “the appropriate response to suffering.” And words intended for everyone will almost always prove worthless for one individual person. If you go to the sufferers themselves and ask for helpful words, you may find discord. Some recall a friend who cheerily helped distract them from the illness, while others think such an approach insulting. Some want honest, straightforward confrontation; others find such discussion unbearably depressing. In short, there is no magic cure for a person in pain. Mainly, such a person needs love, for love instinctively detects what is needed…In fact, the answer to the question, “How do I help those who hurt?” is exactly the same as the answer to the question, “How do I love?” If you asked me for a Bible passage to teach you how to help suffering people, I would point to I Corinthians 13 and its eloquent depiction of love. That is what a suffering person needs: love, and not knowledge and wisdom. As is so often His pattern, God uses very ordinary people to bring about healing.” (Page 173)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)