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The God Who Sees
Job 24
Where is God in the middle of widespread injustice, poverty, oppression, suffering, heartache, trials, persecution, calamity, struggle…? Job wants to know if God keeps office hours so he can ask God about all of the suffering around him.
“Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days?”
Job 24:1Great question, Job. I hear you. I hear that you feel unheard, unseen, unconsidered, neglected by God. So many can relate to you in this, Job.
I think of Hagar, pushed into sexual slavery by the man and woman God had made a covenant with. But, who was she? Just a woman, serving her mistress, Sarai, and carrying Abram’s child. Hagar ran for her life into the wilderness, and God was there in the wilderness with her. He sends His angel to comfort her and instruct her. And that is when she knows – she is seen. God sees her. He hears her. She is looked after, cared for, by the One who sees everything about her (Genesis 16, 21).
So, Job, I know that God sees you too. He saw you, covered in boils and ashes, weeping for the children you buried. He saw you, afflicted by the drone of comfortless friends, and He sees all who suffer.
Job gives a detailed description of the condition of the world, his world then, and even more so, our world today. We are not getting better. We are not improving. The Second Law of Thermodynamics has a tight grip on us all, body, mind, and soul. Every part of our world is affected. Without an outward force acting on our behalf, we would be lost to degradation, decay, disorder and eventually, death. Humanity is not evolving; we are dying. Job lists the signs of entropy he sees: oppression of the poor, theft, suffering, death. We face these same struggles today, thousands of years later. Job’s perspective is that God does not address these injustices.
“From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God charges no one with wrong.”
Job 24:12
Job then gives a description of those who seek evil, pursuing it with drive and passion. He names those who murder, commit adultery, thieves, those who wait for the cover of darkness so they won’t be seen.
“There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths.”
“…they do not know the light. For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.”
Job 24:13-17These are the ones who walk in darkness (Isaiah 9:2-6), those who love the dark because they want to do sinful things (John 3:19-21), and those who trip and fall because they can’t see the truth in the dark (Proverbs 4:18-19). But the children of God are not like this. We are are the children of light who walk in the light with God (Ephesians 5:1-14; I John 1:5-10).
Job repeats what his friends say about the wicked, those who walk in darkness and love it like a dear friend. His friends have the view that the wicked will get their due in this life and will be forgotten when they die.
“You say, ‘Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the land; no treader turns toward their vineyards. Drought and heat snatch away snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned. The womb forgets them; the worm finds them sweet; they are no longer remembered, so wickedness is broken like a tree.’”
Job 24:18-20But Job says something different (vv. 21-25). He views the wicked as recipients of God’s provision and protection while they live. Then, once they die, they are forgotten. He seems to have the idea that they live it up in this life and are none the worse for wear because of it. YOLO, as the Millennials used to say. Both Job and his friends are missing some key pieces of truth. Here is what God says about, or rather says to, the wicked:
“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:6-9His ways are not our ways indeed. His thoughts are far above ours. We are Boanerges (Luke 9:51-56; Mark 3:17), desiring fire and brimstone on the heads of the wicked, when God would send the rain of mercy and healing (Isaiah 55:10-11). So, yes, He sees; He knows; He cares for those who suffer, the oppressed, the poor, the weak, the trampled. He is El Roi, so named by Hagar; He is the God who sees. God hates the wickedness of those who walk in the dark; He sees that too. He calls to all – seek Him. He will show mercy.
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Really Afraid for a Really Good Reason
Job 23
He says if we seek Him we will find Him, when we seek for Him with all our heart (Jeremiah 29:13). But I’ve been seeking with every ounce of strength in my heart before and found only dark rooms and empty hallways. Please, explain the dead silence. Explain the locked doors. Tell me about the lights turned off and the CLOSED sign in the front window. I imagine Job felt this when he says, “Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat!” But Job doesn’t get lost in this empty hallway, and neither should we. He settles his own heart on the unchanging truths of God, and so must we. Though he can not see God, Job believes God is doing some work on him…molding him, trying him, sure, but also refining him! Making Job into gold that has been purified.
“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.”
Job 23: 10-12Job rightly fears this all-knowing, sovereign God. His knowledge of the Holy brings him to true fear…not the kind that we play around with, the little snakes and spiders that worry us. No, Job has reverent fear, awe and trembling, in the face of the One True God. Job is not afraid of the storm, rather, he is in awe of the storm’s Maker.
“But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does. For he will complete what he appoints for me, and many such things are in his mind. Therefore I am terrified at his presence; when I consider, I am in dread of him.”
Job 23: 13-15The darkness is nothing next to the light of God’s holiness. Job doesn’t fear the dark. How could he? He knows the Light. His reverent fear is focused exactly where it should be focused – on God Himself. Job is grappling with the truth from Psalm 13. He seems to have a good grasp on the first four verses, and the last two verses of this song will come to him later, once God has spoken.
“How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed over him,’ lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.”
Psalm 13As I consider the awe and trembling God inspires, the reverent fear He draws from His people in His presence, I am reminded that it is His mercy that motivates our fear. He is holy in all things. Our sin separates us from Him (Isaiah 59:1-2). But in love, He has welcomed us to Him through the mercy provided by Christ’s death on the cross (Colossians 1: 15-23). God’s forgiveness of our sins is the catalyst to our reverent fear.
“Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope…”
Psalm 130: 1-5 -
Careful not to Choke on the Bones
Job 22
Well we’ve come to the middle-ish part of Job’s story. His suffering has been well documented. His friends have opined and advised ad nauseum. Job has offered his own solemn questions, sorrows, and personal doubts to God Himself. But wait…there’s more. Just a few last words from Eliphaz and then Bildad (chapter 25). Sigh. It shouldn’t be this way. Friendship should strengthen and lift up. Friends should speak truth and vitality into the dead and doubting spaces. Fine. Say your last words, Eliphaz. We’ll endure your accusations for one more chapter. But watch out, friend, as you take a portion of Eliphaz’s word stew; there are bones in this soup that can choke you.
Storytime: When I was a girl, my older brother and my dad would often go fishing in the warm seasons. I was banned from those fishing trips due to my reasonable requirements for a flush toilet in nature and my inability to be quiet. But that’s another story. The fish. They would bring fish home for supper. Whatever they caught and cleaned we would eat. Catfish, crappies, perch, bass. We would sit down to a delicious meal of pan fried fish, and I would sigh. Fish dinners meant at least an hour of dissecting each bite before allowing it into my mouth. See, there were bones. Lots of sharp, surprising bones. I lived in fear of choking on fish bones. Mom always served bread with a fish dinner in case someone got a bone stuck in their throat. I would anxiously line the edge of my plate with each bone I found. Each bite was so tiny I could hardly taste the fish at all! It wasn’t until years later, when I was served a native rainbow trout, cooked with the head and tail still on, that I discovered the delight of eating fish. My husband and his grandparents taught me how to remove the entire spine and bones from a cooked trout all at once. It was magical. I lost my fear of eating fish once I saw the whole skeleton off to one side.
This chapter is filled with bones. We’ll need to dissect it carefully…each morsel of it. Eliphaz shares his last recorded words with Job. First, he asks some tricky questions.
1. Can a man be profitable to God?
2. Can you please God by being blameless or righteous?
3. Does your fear of God bring Him into judgement with you?
4. Isn’t your evil abundant?
Then, Eliphaz offers his accusations. He asserts Job’s sin must be enormous, manifold. He accuses Job of ignoring the widows, the poor, the needy (v. 6-11). He accuses Job of living his BEST life as the most powerful man, the most favored man in the land, while others suffer (v. 8). He accuses Job of viewing God as distant, unaware, winking at evil (v. 12-14). And he accuses Job of walking in the wickedness of the men of old, men who have rebelled against God and pushed Him away, even though God blessed them. (v. 15-20).
Finally, Eliphaz offers his advice. He urges Job to agree with God so that God will bless him and give him peace (v. 21-30). All the hearts and flowers and cotton candy and bubblegum and good feelings will be yours, Job! Nothing bad will happen to you anymore. God will establish your way with success. You’ll be walking on sunshine and roses.
Eliphaz offers a suped-up, shiny, rose colored prosperity Gospel to Job. If Job follows the prescription he will be hugely blessed. This has similar effect as climbing the Scala Sancta on one’s knees. Do _______ to receive _______. Except, all you get is bloody knees and more questions.
Lord, let me remember, thunder it in the depths of my heart! “The righteous shall live by faith” (Roman’s 1:17). When I am tempted to view You, the Almighty, like a magic 8 ball, or a genie in a bottle, adjust my perspective. Shine the light on any self-righteous thinking in my heart, Lord.
“The motive which leads men to crawl upon their knees up these famous stairs is the worldwide principle of self-salvation. DO is the popular gospel of unregenerate human nature. IT IS ALL DONE is the glad tidings of the grace of God.”
C. H. Spurgeon, upon visiting the Scala Sancta in Rome“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Titus 3:4-7There is one delicious morsel in this bone stew Eliphaz serves. Verses 25 and 26 shine with a deep truth – God is our treasure! When we seek God’s wisdom, we find true treasure (Proverbs 1-3). And knowing Christ is so great a treasure, that everything else is garbage in comparison (Philippians 3:7-11).
“…the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver. For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.”
Job 22:25-26Eliphaz, when we get to the end of the book and all the words have been said; when Bildad says the last words of accusation; and, after Elihu speaks up in righteous anger; once Job finishes his appeal to God; when God answers…when God Himself answers! Then, Eliphaz, you will look up and see the great treasure you have been missing all this time. Job will minister to you in prayer, and you will see. Then you will say with all the saints…
“There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. Teach me your ways, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord, my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.”
Psalm 86:8-13 -
He Said What He Said
Job 21
Hang on a minute. Let me say what I’m gonna say. Then you can carry on with your mocking. But just think for a second – was I talking to you? No? Then maybe you should shut-up.
Okay, so maybe Job didn’t say it quite like that. He said what he said, though. He calls his verbose friends mockers, and says, “lay your hand over your mouth,” which in the Hebrew probably, well kind of, means “shut-up.”
Have you gotten to that point in a conversation before? You’ve heard enough of everything. They’ve said all the words you can handle right then. You just want them to shut-up already. Except it sounds more like, “Let’s revisit this later after I’ve had time to process.” Or, possibly, “Well, bless your heart.”
I think Job has endured enough accusation from fellow sinners. What He really wants is an answer from the Almighty. He has questions about the wicked.
“Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power? Their offspring are established in their presence, and their descendants before their eyes.”
Job 21:7-8The wicked seem to prosper in everything they do. Nothing seems to be out of reach for them. They live well, and they die peacefully. How is this possible when they refuse to acknowledge God? Job goes on…
“They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways. What is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’”
Job 21:14-15The wicked are all about that bottom line. Job asks an important question. Why do the wicked seem to thrive even in their wickedness? Psalm 73 gives a wonderful answer for this question. Though it may seem that the wicked receive only good things in this life, that isn’t the whole picture.
“But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”
Psalm 73:2-3The psalmist, Asaph, goes on to describe the decadent luxury and proud malice the wicked live in. Asaph describes their rebellion against God, their scoffing, foolishness, ease, and wealth. He is discouraged by their apparent success despite being against God.
“But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.”
Psalm 73:16-17Asaph’s whole mindset changes once he spends time in God’s presence, worshipping God in His sanctuary. Asaph sees that the end of the wicked is certain. God has set them in “slippery places.” But Asaph recognizes that God has established the steps of the righteous. They walk on sure ground.
“Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Psalm 73:23-26Notice the great contrast here! Such a beautiful reversal. Though the wicked seem to be “blessed” beyond measure in this life, it is really the righteous who are truly, fully blessed. Their portion is God Himself. Consider this well, friend…consider it, self. God Himself is your good portion, inheritance, blessing. And He is yours forever.
God has not abandoned Job in his struggle. God remains Job’s strength, his rock of safety. God is still Job’s good portion forever. And ours. Even in the swampy pit of sorrow, suffering, hardship, or trial. God has not left us alone. Job’s friends aren’t reminding him of these solid, bracing truths. They offer him nothing but empty talk. Job calls it “empty nothings.”
Lord, in my suffering, please remind me of Your truth. You are my portion forever! Bring me to Your sanctuary. Let me see You as Asaph saw, Your glory, Your strength, and Your hand holding me. Then, I will be able to offer rich comfort to hurting friends, words of wisdom, and truth that builds up.
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With Friends Like These…
Job 20
Just pause for 20 seconds in the grocery checkout line and read the magazine covers. First, note how they are all aimed at women, mainly because marketing companies know women typically do the household shopping. Second, note how each headline creates a crisis (oh, no!) and then offers the magic solution (oh, good). Are you tired all the time? You may have a vitamin deficiency – just follow the three step plan to get your health back on track. Struggling with your hormones? Eat these five super foods. Having trouble sleeping? You need to read the secrets contained within to finally get a good night’s rest.
Can you imagine magazine headlines that only identify problems? Only bad news, not even an attempt at a quasi-solution. This is what Zophar offers – just bad news. He is the original Negative-Nellie. He magnifies the crisis Job is experiencing, but offers no comfort or help, no thoughts and prayers, no casserole dish, no death-by-chocolate cake, no recipe for magic celery juice.
Zophar lumps Job in with the wicked, warning him that he will, like the unrighteous, decay like a pile of his own poop (v. 7). He will disappear from memory completely (v. 9). He will “fly away like a dream” (v. 8).
Verses 12 through 25 offer a vivid description of the wicked as gluttonous hogs, never satisfied or full, always seeking the next sweet taste, longing for fullness that can never be found. It’s a good description of the discontent sin brings, very well stated. But, does this describe Job in his current state?
What do we do with ill-fitting criticism? How should we respond to a friend who confronts? What if their confrontation is off center, not based on all the facts? We must follow the clear direction in Ephesians, chapter 4, as we “maintain unity,” build up the body of Christ in love, and practice forgiveness with each other. When a friend confronts in love, we can accept the truth and grow from it. When a friend confronts in error, we can redirect to the truth and still grow from it.
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.”
“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
Ephesians 4:1-3, 15-16Job defends himself in the next chapter and directs his friends to some good truth. Truth brings freedom and peace. Job will see the truth before the end, as will his friends. Their reunion and reconciliation will be sweet.
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Thoughts on Easter – But, What Do I Know?
Job 19
On a recent drive to a city south of us, I was reminded, Winter is not forever; Spring does come back around each year. On the drive down, we commented on the green haze around the trees, the bright blue sky with the fluffiest clouds, and the warmth from the sun through the car windows. The Susquehanna River was beautiful with her banks covered in bright green grass.
And then the snow came. Just three or four inches. Just enough to make me doubt the arrival of Spring. Just enough to convince me we are stuck in an eternal time loop. On our drive home, the various houses with Christmas lights still up and shining only served to convince me further – We are truly stuck in a wintry time loop! Christmas is days away, and I have to do the baking and shopping.
They call this an “onion snow.” Which I guess means we will have a fabulous crop of onions come fall. But all I have are onion tears over the daffodils and hyacinth frozen in the flower beds.
There are things we know, things we do not doubt for a minute. We know that Winter has an end (dubious though it may currently seem). We know that Spring will come. She fell asleep for one dang minute and Winter played a mean prank. But! Spring is certain. We know it! We plant seeds indoors in anticipation of a future garden. We watch for Robins and listen for the frogs in the evenings.
There were things that Job thought he knew. He thought he knew why God would allow so much suffering in his life. He thought God had purposed the suffering against him, aiming His bow, sending the arrows to their mark. He thought there would be no justice for him, no one to speak on his behalf. He thought God had turned against him and made him an enemy. He knew his friends and family were turning away from him, pulling back from him, avoiding him. He knew God was pursuing him. He knew God would judge him at the last. These were the things he thought he knew.
“…know then that God has put me in the wrong and closed his net about me. Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice. He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness upon my paths. He has stripped from me my glory, and taken the crown from my head. He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, and my hope he has pulled up like a tree. He has kindled his wrath against me and counts me as his adversary.”
Job 19:6-11Job feels the isolation that suffering brings. That feeling of being put in “time-out” while everyone else gets to live life as usual. That anxiety of being around people who you know love you – you know they do – but who also are incapable of understanding the pain you feel, or the sorrow, or the shame, etc. And then the wonder, or doubt, or questioning of whether someone can really love you if they don’t actually understand you. The irony of this feeling makes me chuckle – that we assume we are not understood, and so we are isolated. Yet, everyone feels misunderstood. So, in reality, we do understand each other; we can relate to the feeling of being misunderstood. This is mental gymnastics on a high wire, and it makes me dizzy. Job explains his own situation of isolation and being left out:
“He has put my brothers far from me, and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me. My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me.”
“My breath is strange to my wife, and I am a stench to the children of my own mother.”
“All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me.”
Job 19:13-14, 17, 19So Job knows how he feels. He knows how his friends and loved ones treat him. He thinks he knows the purpose and motives of God. But there was something else, something broader that Job knew in the marrow of his own bones. There was a truth that would not let go of him, even in the middle of his suffering and sorrow and shame and doubt. Even when he himself had let go, without strength, support, or comfort. Even still, there was a bigger truth, shining brighter and filling the air, so that he breathed it in to his lungs and lived on it, in the face of death itself. He longed for this truth to be written with an iron pen in stone, so that it could not be forgotten. A memorial. His epitaph, if you will, from his own lips.
“Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!
For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!”
Job 19:23-27What do you know? What have you convinced yourself of – the things you think you know? And what is true?
It is true that our Redeemer stood with His own two feet on the earth. He walked, and ate, hugged, cried, slept, and healed. He stilled the storm, and stopped the mouths of accusers. He drove out the religious fakers in the temple and lifted little ones onto His lap. He was lifted from the earth onto a cruel cross, His hands and feet pierced, His head torn with thorns. Then He was killed by wicked men for wicked people, me included. He suffered the weight of our sin, bearing every evil thought and action, yes, even that. He was stabbed in His side, so that blood and water flowed. He was laid in a tomb, cut from the rocks for a rich man, lent to the Creator of those very rocks. His body was still, silent, wrapped in grave clothes for three days. When He died, He conquered sin. He fulfilled the law as our perfect sacrifice. He ransomed, saved, delivered, justified, and freed. When He arose, He destroyed death. He gives believers His life, new life, everlasting life. He ascended into heaven, and He will return, once again standing upon the earth. And when I die, I will see Him with my own eyes as Job has already.
Spring is a sure thing. The snow will melt and the daffodils will defrost (I can hope!). But my Redeemer is more certain than the seasons, more sure than the sunrise. And when I see Him, the suffering and sorrow will melt like snow.
“But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing…”
John 20:11-14a -
The Hunt for Words
Job 18
It’s so hard to give more time to Bildad. But God allows him this space to say what he said, to accuse Job yet again. And if I am weary of the words Bildad utters, how much more was Job weary! And if Job was weary of Bildad’s inane diatribe, how much more God, Who knows all things?
Notice that Bildad says less and less as the book progresses. He is truly the one who is on a hunt for words. He’s running out of ideas, lacking creative ways to incriminate his friend. We will hear from Bildad once more in the story, in chapter twenty-five. His final words are a mere six verses. His accusations are losing air like a leaky balloon.
“How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and then we will speak. Why are we counted as cattle? Why are we stupid in your sight? You who tear yourself in your anger, shall the earth be forsaken for you, or the rock be removed out of its place?”
Job 18:1-4Bildad questions if Job feels he is so important that the whole earth should be affected by his complaint or by his suffering. Yes, actually. Job may have understandably thought this. When we suffer or experience loss, it seems as though everything should stop and grieve with us, grieve for us. Yet, life is determined to go on around us as if nothing has changed – flowers bloom, rain falls, cars zip past; our hearts keep beating even, steady and solemn. I have often looked at grief as a step outside of time, just for a bit. Just long enough to catch our breath, notice the loss, experience the sorrow, and then step back into the swiftly-flowing stream. I understand why some hold to the tradition of stopping the clocks in a household when a family member dies – a tangible way to express this feeling of stopping the world for our grief.
Bildad seems confident that Job has committed sin and is being punished for it. He describes what happens to the unrighteous man, implying this is what is coming for Job. Bildad is missing the truth again, or rather, misapplying the truth. God does punish the wicked, but He also shows mercy, allowing time for them to repent. Here are some nuggets of truth in Bildad’s description of the unrighteous man:
- He lives in darkness (v. 5-6).
- He falls into his own traps (v. 7-10).
- He lives in constant fear (v.11).
- His strength fails (v.12).
- Death comes for him (v. 13-16).
- His name and legacy are erased (v. 17-19).
- He becomes an object lesson of what not to do (v. 20).
- He experiences all of this because he does not know God (v. 21).
The takeaway? Bildad doesn’t know everything he thinks he knows – about God, about Job, about himself. God is just and will judge the wicked in His determined time. Job is suffering, imperfect, and in need of compassion and encouragement. Bildad has once again missed the mark in his accusation of Job. Are we surprised? Not at all. All three of Job’s friends have been wrong in their assessment from day one. At least they’re consistent.
But here is the truth I want to grab hold of and really consider: The unrighteous do not know God. Though He has declared Himself in all of creation (Psalm 19), though His wisdom cries out to the simple to follow her (Proverbs 1-3), though He has come and lived with us as Immanuel (Isaiah 7-8; Matthew 1), the unrighteous have closed their eyes and stopped their ears to His beautiful call. We have no excuse. He has revealed Himself to us and has shown us His righteousness (Romans 1-3). Those who continue in wickedness do so by personal choice. They live in darkness, fall into their own traps, fade away, lose strength, and die in their unrighteousness by choice. Failure and fear, darkness and death are decisions with eternal impact.
“Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous, such is the place of him who knows not God.”
Job 18:21 -
Broken and Spilled Out
Job 16 & 17
Every couple of years, I like to contemplate my own demise. When I say “like,” I mean I do it, whether I like to or not. When I say “contemplate,” I mean I obsess over the inevitable approach of my last breath. When I say “demise,” I mean when I exit stage right, and the curtain is not closed but forever lifted. This isn’t a planned exercise, but it is trackable, depressing, joyful, poignant, and full of hope. And heavy as the grave.
This contemplation is not a longing to die, but an earnest desire to be Home. I’m homesick, y’all. That’s it. Every couple of years, my brain and my body sigh a really big sigh saying, “Are we there yet?” I blame it on aging, this broken world, wars and rumors of wars. I get bone-tired of the car ride.
I use this time of contemplation as a focused meditation on what Home will really be like. What or Who will I see first? Will I cry? Will I laugh? What about the food? My youngest son says he thinks we’ll be able to hear colors and smell music. I tell him I think we’ll be able to fly. Out of context, our conversation sounds a bit like we’re discussing drugs Walter Bishop mixed up in his Harvard lab.
Job’s response in chapters sixteen and seventeen offer a glimpse into his contemplation of his own death. He is tired of his suffering, and is ready to be done. Eliphaz has just finished accusing him (again) of being wicked and proud. Job, in defending himself, directs blame at God for all his suffering. His friends have offered nothing but accusation, causing Job to title them “miserable comforters” who speak “windy words.” He offers an alternative approach; they could offer solace and strength instead!
“I also could speak as you do, if you were in my place; I could join words together against you and shake my head at you. I could strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.”
Job 16: 4-5“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Proverbs 18:21But they continue to accuse, and Job is weary. He feels the hand of God is heavy against him. In Verses six through fourteen, Job makes a list of ways that God has broken him:
- “…God has worn me out…”
- “…he has made desolate all my company.”
- “And he has shriveled me up…”
- “He has torn me…”
- “…and hated me…”
- “…gnashed his teeth at me…”
- “…sharpened his eyes against me.”
- “God gives me up to the ungodly…”
- “…casts me into the hands of the wicked.”
- “…he broke me apart…”
- “…seized me by the neck…”
- “…dashed me to pieces…”
- “…set me as his target…”
- “…slashes open my kidneys…”
- “…does not spare….”
- “…pours out my gall on the ground.”
- “…He breaks me with breach upon breach…”
- “…he runs upon me like a warrior.”
In this list, Job refers to God as his “adversary.” He has misidentified the enemy. Yes, God has allowed all of the suffering that Job is experiencing. With one word, one thought, God could remove every arrow and heal Job. But God has allowed this suffering for His good reasons.
I guess, what I’m trying to say is that our life journey, however challenging it may be, has a purpose and is good. God makes it good. For those who belong to Him, God is not the enemy. He has not left us alone in our suffering, but is ever-present, strengthening, directing, and comforting. Most comforting is the remembrance that He has suffered on our behalf (Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, Mark 14&15). From Isaiah 53…
- “He was despised and rejected by men…”
- “…a man of sorrows…”
- “…acquainted with grief…”
- “…he has borne our griefs…”
- “…and carried our sorrows…”
- “…he was pierced for our transgressions…”
- “…crushed for our iniquities…”
- “…upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace…”
- “…the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
- “He was oppressed…”
- “…afflicted…”
- “…like a lamb that is led to slaughter…”
- “…it was the will of the LORD to crush him…”
- “…he has put him to grief.”
These descriptors should strengthen and encourage us repeatedly. When the weights of the journey are hellish and burdensome, I must remind myself of His great sacrifice and suffering on my behalf. I must remind myself that He is near and He understands. Job knows, though in the fog of grief and suffering, he has lost sight of it temporarily.
It seems that Job is well-studied in the creation accounts. He speaks so often of the dust, evoking creation images. He lays his remaining strength in the dust (v.15), weeps profusely (v.16), and offers his hands and heart to God in prayer (v.17). Then he asks the earth to not hide his blood in the ground, language that calls to mind Abel’s blood that speaks from the ground where it was spilled (Genesis 4:10-12; Hebrews 11:4). Does Job not remember the adversary in these accounts? The serpent that hates, lies, steals, and kills? The sin that has infected the whole world? Does he remember the promised Deliverer? I think he does. He speaks hopefully of the one who testifies on his behalf in heaven.
“Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high.”
Job 16:19In Mark 14, we read of the precious offering given by the woman with the alabaster flask. She breaks it open and pours the expensive nard ointment all over Jesus’ head. Later, Jesus hands the broken bread to his disciples saying, “This is my body,” and serves the wine to them saying, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” He was broken and spilled out as the perfect offering for sinners. He is the One who testifies on our behalf, our “witness in heaven.”
At the end of chapter sixteen and in chapter seventeen, Job shares his contemplation on his own demise. He knows death waits for him as it does for us all, and he reckons that the grave is as ready for him as he is for the grave. There is a longing that years, experience, sorrow, and suffering bring into sharp focus. Towards the end of her one hundred two years, my grandmother would often sit in silence for a few minutes before saying, “Oh, honey-girl, I need to get home. I just need to get home.”
“For when a few years have come I shall go the way from which I shall not return.”
“My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me.”
“My eye has grown dim from vexation, and all my members are like a shadow.”
Job 16:22; 17:1, 7Death comes for all of us. The statistics remain the same, generation after generation; one in one dies. You can change the sample size, demographics, the criteria, the measures and conditions of the experiment however you want; it will not change the outcome. 100% of all participants on the earth will die. Job doesn’t hope to escape death. He knows he will face it, he thinks soon.
“My days are past; my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart. They make night into day: ‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’
“If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness, if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’ where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?”
Job 17:11-16I am grateful beyond words that we have the canon of Scripture. Though Job says, “Where then is my hope,” we can say “My hope is in the LORD.” The One who made all things, created a home for us, gives light and life and breath and everything to us, He is our hope.
“Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.
Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.”
Psalm 33:18-22 -
Steadfast
Job 15
Do we get tired of ourselves, the sound of our own voices, the mix-tape on a loop in our brain, accusing, maybe excusing ourselves? Does our inner criticism wear us down? Do the words and opinions of others, even those dear to us, crush us, maybe break us?
We have read the accusations and criticism of Job’s friends. We have heard the constant drip, the lack of true compassion and the scrape of their self-righteous voices. We have read and heard, but we have not endured it in person. We haven’t felt it as Job did, covered in boils and sores, dust and ash, in mourning and fear and shame. We have looked on from a distance. But that doesn’t mean we can’t relate.
Perhaps your own experiences are equally painful. You may relate to the suffering of Job in many, specific ways. He certainly endured much affliction and sorrow as so many have on this broken world. Job has tenaciously held on to his integrity as his friends have blasted him with accusation. Brace yourselves, readers. Eliphaz has more to say, and it isn’t the encouraging sympathy card one might expect.
“Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? Should he argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good? But you are doing away with the fear of God and hindering meditation before God. For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty. Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips testify against you.”
Job 15:2-6There is this fancy, evil game our minds play when we want to avoid a personal problem or sin. Let me rephrase: There is an evil game MY mind plays when I want to avoid dealing with a personal problem or sin. It’s a dangerous form of spiritual gymnastics. I cast blame onto someone else, or onto a circumstance, or a physical limitation, or…fill in the blank, instead of accepting responsibility for my own sin. This can quickly become a hellish habit, challenging to break.
Sigmund Freud and other psychologists have tried to classify this sinful mindset as “projecting,” transferring feelings, fears, and/or faults onto others to avoid personal responsibility. But this is not a psychological bent in the human experience; this is a characteristic of sinful human nature. It is a tactic, not a trait. Adam and Eve both used this wicked tactic in the garden (Genesis 3). Adam shifted the blame to Eve and even to God Himself, and Eve caught that hardball and passed it, like a hot potato, to the serpent – bump, set, spike. The blame gets shifted, but God knows the truth.
In Job 15, Eliphaz once again casts the blame onto Job. JOB is the one who is in sin. JOB is the one who is talking unprofitably. JOB is the one who doesn’t fear God. And yet, Eliphaz’s own words are testifying against him. Don’t give up on Eliphaz yet, reader! God deals with his sin at the end of this book, and it is heartening, encouraging to see.
Next, Eliphaz questions Job’s wisdom, mocking him by asking if Job thinks he is as old as the hills. He questions Job’s motives (again), assuming (again!) that Job is turned away from God, refusing His comforts. Has Eliphaz forgotten that sorrow can drive a man to God? Has he forgotten that the cries of the wounded are at once shocked and afraid and desperate? Has he forgotten what torment and despair do to the mind and the body? Those who have been broken should have emotional muscle memory and an ability to empathize with the hurting.
Dig deep, Eliphaz. Have you lived all this time and not faced sorrow? Somewhere in your gut lies the key to compassion, the code to unlock the vault of sympathy for a hurting friend. Just turn that key once in the lock; open the box; hear the rusted hinges complain; let the memories flood; the tears fall; let mercy flow. Those who have experienced comfort are able to offer comfort to the hurting (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). This is our calling; friend to friend, wounded heart to heart.
Eliphaz expands on the punishment of the wicked. In his estimation, the wicked are in constant fear of the punishment they deserve. Has he met a wicked man? I would guess he has forgotten that “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:10-18). There is an end to the wicked that is in God’s hands and in His time. His mercy waits for all who will repent.
“Righteous are you, O LORD, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive? You plant them, and they take root; they grow and produce fruit; you are near in their mouth and far from their heart. But you, O LORD, know me; you see me and test my heart toward you.”
Jeremiah 12:1-3“Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrong doers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.”
Psalm 37:1-5In reading the remainder of Psalm 37, God’s plan for the wicked who reject Him is made clear: they will be punished; there will be an end to them someday. But the righteous should be busy living in light of God’s Word. The righteous must be focused on delighting in the LORD, waiting for Him, running to Him in time of trouble.
“The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.”
“The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble. The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.”
Psalm 37: 23-24, 39-40Through this stacked up litany of accusations against him, Job has remained steadfast. He has held fast to his own integrity. He has turned to God again and again to ask why. He has mourned and suffered and been torn and tormented, but he has not cursed God in all of this. In the face of friends who accuse instead of comfort, Job has been very patient, longsuffering. He is not a sinless man as we will read when God confronts him at the end of the book. He is a broken, tired, wrung out man, seeking the forgiveness, mercy, comfort and wisdom of God. If you are sitting in the same or similar ashes as Job, be steadfast, friend. God is full of beautiful mercy. He is not finished with the good work he is doing.
“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”
James 5:7-11We have heard of the steadfastness of Job, but have we opened our eyes to see the purpose of the Lord? Have we looked for His good mercy, His gentle compassion. He is at work among us! We can remain steadfast in the face of deep sorrow, suffering, conflict, accusation, and trials. Lord, show me Your purpose, Your mercy, Your compassion. Let Your purpose be the central focus, the hearth fire of my life. Amen.
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Most Miserable
Job 14
God’s Word is air and water and bread. I am currently malnourished, dehydrated, and suffocating. How could I let this happen? I understand the vitality of a well-fed soul. Why have I allowed famine to creep in? It happens in small choices, tiny decisions that don’t seem important at the time but can gradually steer a person off course. So here I am, starved and parched and out of breath, with the cleanest air, purest water, and richest feast available just steps away. Open the Book. Read His words. Listen. Obey. Repeat forever. Easy. Nope. Hard work.
I relate too much to Job’s pretentious friends. I relate too much to Job’s doubtful wife. I relate to Elihu, who appears out of nowhere at the end with a bit of youthful zeal and surprising wisdom. I relate to Job in his sorrow, anger, self-righteousness, and his multitude of questions. And I relate to Job’s humiliation as God rightfully corrects him without any detailed explanation. Job doesn’t get to know. I relate! So of course I’m feeling all the feelings as an invested, empathetic reader.
I see how God is using the book of Job to reveal unhealed wounds. I see His holiness and power and hear His gentle call, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden…” I see how He is shining a spot light on the hidden corners, where sin has been stowed away and left to mold or fester. I know God heals and forgives and gives rest.
The thing is, I thought I would deal with sin less as I aged. I kind of banked on that. I thought age would bring wisdom and self-control in greater measure. I even remember asking older Christians about this years ago. Their vague responses make sense now. It is most certainly not any easier. In fact, I find the Christian life has become more of a challenge. And any wisdom I have gained serves only to point out how deep sin can go in my own heart, how tightly those bitter roots dig in. But the realization is also sweet. My heart, instead of becoming hardened to sin, has become more tender as I get older. Humility and contrition are dear companions. There are definitely more tears. It is as C. H. Spurgeon says: “…the biting frost loosens the soil.”
“Man who is born of woman is few of days and full of trouble. He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.”
Job 14:1-2“Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one.”
Job 14:4See this is where the light breaks through and dead things come back to life. This is where I’m reminded of the importance of being saturated with God’s Word. I remember II Corinthians 5. I know there is One who can make an unclean thing completely clean. There is only One. He reconciles us to Himself through the death of Jesus Christ.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
II Corinthians 5:17-21Job describes the hope a cut tree has – at the very scent of water the tree might start to revive and grow again (Job 14:7-9). He contrasts this hope with the permanence of human death. He doesn’t see hope for renewal or life after a man dies. He only sees the erosion of man’s hope and the slow decay of his body over time as he ages and eventually dies.
“But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he? As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up, so a man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep.”
Job 14:10-12When I consider Jesus and the life He brings, I am overwhelmed with gratitude. His words to Nicodemus are light to us. A man can be born again. A man can be dead in sin and be born as a new creation in Christ. Nicodemus echoes Job’s question (John 3:4) Jesus is clear that this birth is a spiritual birth. He isn’t talking about the labor and delivery of a baby; he is talking about being born in the Spirit. This is eternal life. This is life that does not age.
Job is feeling his own age in his constant suffering. He dwells on death, the erosion of the body, the mind, and the decay of hope. And if we did not know, if we were ignorant of the life we have in Christ, or, if He had not raised from the dead to give us that life, then, we would be most miserable, as Paul says. If there is no resurrection, no eternal life in Christ, then we are pathetic, pitiable, and without any hope (I Corinthians 15:14-19). But He has risen! Our hope is alive, even if the mountains fall and crumble, even if the earth washes away and death comes closer.
“But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place; the waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so you destroy the hope of man. You prevail forever against him, and he passes; you change his countenance and send him away. His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it not. He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns only for himself.”
Job 14:18-22So Job is quiet again, and his friend Eliphaz will share some more of his delightful thoughts in the next chapter. Job ends his statement with his thoughts on death and the decay of hope. I am so glad we can think of Romans 5 and be encouraged. We have a glorious hope in Christ, hope that doesn’t bring shame, even in the middle of serious suffering. In fact, that suffering is a conduit of endurance and character and hope.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Romans 5:1-5
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Christina Grubb 