[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (KD) as a reading update (reflection) from one chapter of the Bible a day]
𝕁𝕆𝔹 𝟠:𝟚-𝟛
"How
long will you say these things, and the words of your mouth be a great wind?
Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right?"
After
Eliphaz, now Bildad. This guy was harsher than Eliphaz. He rebuked Job for
complaining against God.
He
was actually not defending God. Nobody can defend God BTW. He said so because
he had a presupposition that Job was a sinner who deserved this punishment and
must be humble before God.
He
didn't even spare Job's children and said that they too were sinners deserving
of this punishment. Sure, everyone is a sinner, but Job's suffering was not a
punishment, certainly not for any of his sins or his children's sins. It's an
affliction wrought on him by Satan to prove his faithfulness and God's victory
over Satan.
𝕁𝕆𝔹 𝟡:𝟚
"In
truth I know that this is so; But how can a man be in the right before
God?"
I
am not righteous like Job nor have been afflicted like Job, I am not even half
his age I suppose. However, I can sense and have experienced to some level what's
written in this book, which I also suppose everyone has to some degree.
Job
affirmed the theology of Bildad that's why he said, "In truth I know
that is so." However, he couldn't agree with Bildad's application that
Job and his children were punishment-bound sinners. Job contended that he was
guiltless (v21). We can have a right doctrine yet apply it wrongly😬
He
also affirmed the sayings of his first friend, Eliphaz, and quoted one of his
statements, "How can a man be right with God?" (4:17).
Job knew this very well, but he also knew what his friends didn't know. He knew
the theology of Ps. 130:3 even before that Psalm was written that God
forgives sinners that He may be feared. That's why Job contended before, asking,
“why won't God just forgive my sins?” (7:21) and even in this
chapter, v34, Job asked that discipline/punishment be removed and mercy
be given!
Martin
Luther couldn't love God until he was made to see the mercy of God. He knew God
was right and actually because of that he hated God before he discovered God's
mercy. Spurgeon didn't like God before his conversion. He knew God was right to
send him to hell, but his soul was not in peace until He was made to see the
mercy of God. Even for me, if I don't know the mercy of God, I would never be a
Christian. Christians are those who have found the mercy of God. Job was
looking for the mercy of God.
In
this time of divine testing, it was so severe that he concluded wrongly that
though God is sovereign, He seemed to be unfair! (v22) Which BTW Abraham
[perhaps his contemporary] contended and proved Job to be wrong in (Gen.28:25).
And Job, at the end of the book did confess in ashes and dust that he had been
wrong to think like that and that he knew little about the sovereignty of God.
Did
you ever question the fairness of God? The only answer to that question is,
"Repent in ashes and dust!" Or you would be someday just as Job did!
Sometimes, I asked the fairness of God, and many times, I have repented already
by the mercy of God. And as I live in this world, I think once a while I will
be tempted to ask again, and I must remember this verse to keep in mind!
𝕁𝕆𝔹 𝟙𝟘:𝟟
“According
to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty, Yet there is no deliverance from Your
hand.”
Interesting
statement from Job. Compared to some other human beings we can be like angels.
But in the standard of God, everyone is a filthy sinner.
However,
Job’s statement is the opposite. He
contended that he was not a sinner before God's knowledge. That's actually a
theological expression of God's righteousness. That when God grants salvation,
He sees the recipient as righteous, blotting away his sins!
𝕁𝕆𝔹 𝟙𝟙:𝟚-𝟛
"Shall
a multitude of words go unanswered, And a talkative man be acquitted? ‘Shall
your boasts silence men? And shall you scoff and none rebuke?’"
Zophar,
the third friend is harsher and is indicting Job more than the Bildad and Eliphaz.
And he claims to know what Job does not get it! Job will respond to him later
on. And God will rebuke him later on as
well!
𝕁𝕆𝔹 𝟙𝟚:𝟜
"I
am a joke to my friends, The one who called on God and He answered him; The
just and blameless man is a joke."
Natural
man always mocks and ridicules the things of God.
Even
Job's friends, I suppose were also far godlier, righteous, and even wealthier
and wiser than many of their generation dared to hold Job in contempt.
BTW,
our world is different now. In the religious world of Job, they believed a righteous
man should prosper. In my religious world now, many people believe that a
righteous man (pastor, evangelist, and missionary) should live in poverty!
Interesting!
😂
𝕁𝕆𝔹 𝟙𝟛:𝟙𝟝
"Though
He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before
Him."
The
unwavering faith of Job. I am troubled if I feel my friend is unhappy with me.
I am troubled if I feel my parents are unhappy with me.
What
relief is there for someone who thinks God is unhappy with him? I can't imagine
the extent of trouble Job was going on. Because, as we see in v23 and
26, Job was conscious of his sins. Yet, He did trust God's salvation till
death — that He alone was the joy, hope, and meaning of his existence.
BTW,
while Job's faith is to be commended, he erred in at least 2 areas: 1. He
thought he can argue with God, but at the end of the book, God gave him a
chance, Job uttered no argument and repented in ashes.
2.
He thought God was counting his sins. In reality, God did not remember any sins
of Job. God declared him to be righteous and blameless. Even in the end, God
just asked him questions about the power of God. God didn't indict of his sins.
That's
you and me too. Once we are His children, God sees us blameless and there's no
record of sins against us!
𝕁𝕆𝔹 𝟙𝟜:𝟟
"For
there is hope for a tree, When it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And
its shoots will not fail."
Job
felt that a tree's life is better than being a man. But he was not trying to be
an environmentalist here! It's the disappointed Job.
Indeed,
some trees lived long enough. Even after they were cut down, they still grow.
Man, once dead, has no hope. No second chance. No reboot button like electronic
goods.
However,
in the following verses Job expressed his firm belief in the resurrection! And
thus, man's life is better than tree after all!