Job
3
Martin Luther said of Job, "This book is more magnificent and sublime than any other book of scripture." We've seen the drama unfold - a wealthy, powerful sheikh who hit rock bottom. It's the story of a tormented man, the bitter complaint of someone who is tasting the very dregs in the bottom of the cup of life. Job feels he's just rotting away. "My days have no meaning," he says to God. "Let me alone" (chapter 7 verse 16). This is a book that deals with the mystery of pain and the great riddle in life, "Why do the righteous suffer?"
Three friends have sat in silence with Job for seven days. It was good that they were with him, that they sat where he sat, as they sought to absorb the enormity of the heart breaking events that had suddenly ram-raided his settled lifestyle. It's when they start talking that more trouble ensues.
Eliphaz opened the debate, but his premise was completely wrong. Job is not being punished for sin. Now it's Bildad's turn to speak. He's a traditionalist; full of old sayings, pious platitudes and slick cliches. In chapter 8 verses 8-9 Bildad declares, "Ask the former generations and find out what their fathers learned, for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow." He comes out with some crude and blunt statements. He asserts that Job's ten children must have been sinning against God and have received their just desserts (verse 4). What a cruel thing to say to someone recently bereft of all his offspring.
Bildad declared, "Surely God does not reject a blameless man or strengthen the hands of evildoers" (verse 20). That was a widespread Old Testament belief. Obey God and you'll be blessed: disobey God and big trouble will follow. However, that explanation doesn't fit Job's situation. All too frequently it seems, the innocent suffer and the evildoers prosper.
It's very clear that Bildad is a rather heartless comforter. He failed completely to speak into Job's situation, thus revealing he didn't really know God or Job or himself. Suffering is a mystery and there are no pat answers. To the "Frequently Asked Questions" of the human condition, there are no "one click of the mouse" answers.
Because Job's comforters are so insensitive to his tragic situation, they tend to wind him up and bring out the worst in him. Job is baffled. "Where is God in all this? I know His wisdom is profound, His power is vast --- He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea ... He performs wonders that can not be fathomed, miracles that can not be counted ... but where is He now, in my life?" Here's the bewilderment of a man who's lost God. He can't think straight after all he's been through. So he says in chapter 9 verse 11, "When He passes me, I can not see Him; when He goes by, I can not perceive Him."
Not knowing that his faith is on trial and that God has permitted Satan to steal from Job, the patriarch believes that all this turmoil is God's doing and it is manifestly unfair.
In chapter 9 verse 21 Job says, "Although I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life. It is all the same, that is why I say, 'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked'" (verse 22). In frustration he cries, "If it is not He, then who is it?" (verse 24). Job would really like to have a one-on-one with God to find out what's going on. "If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, someone to remove God's rod from me, so that His terror would frighten me no more" (verses 33-34). Job's heart-felt cry is for a mediator - someone who, as a man, knew what it felt like to be despised and rejected and acquainted with grief - someone who could speak to God for him.
In chapter 10 Job gives free rein to his complaint and speaks out in the bitterness of his soul. Sometimes when we're depressed or in great pain we say things we don't really mean. He's not happy with God. He asks, "Does it please You to oppress me, to spurn the work of Your hands, while You smile on the schemes of the wicked?" (chapter 10 verse 3). Job is frustrated. God, 'You know that I am not guilty and that no one can rescue me from Your hand. Your hands shaped me and made me. Will You now turn and destroy me? Remember that You moulded me like clay. Will You now turn me to dust again? (verses 7-9). Job is hurting. He feels 'drowned in his affliction', as if God is stalking him like a lion. Verse 17 says, 'Your forces come against me wave upon wave.' In deep distress he wishes he had never been born or, if still born, he'd been carried from the womb to the tomb. He wishes he'd been locked away in the darkness of death.
Job cries out to God in impatience. He was not a patient man. Patience and humility are spiritual fruit produced in our lives through trying experiences. James chapter 5 verse 11 says, "As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion."
When we're in the thick of it and feel we can't take any more, remember, "The Lord is full of compassion and mercy" even when it doesn't look like it. Remember what the Lord finally brought about after Job persevered.