February 17th, 2010 by Kristi Stephens

To catch up on the posts in this series that you may have missed, they are all indexed here.

On Monday we looked at the fact that Job’s friends had a view of God that was too small – they were operating from a perspective of “retribution theology,” which basically means that righteousness will always result in prosperity, sin will always result in suffering and poverty.  Their wrong assumptions about the nature and ways of God caused them to accuse Job of wrongdoing, when in reality Job was suffering because of Satan’s attack upon this faithful God-fearer.

Now today we’re going to take a look at Job’s response to his suffering.  It seems that many of us have been taught to view Job as the hero of this story.  The thing is, he does respond in faith and worship at the beginning of the book (as we discussed last week)… but he falters.  Never forget that the Bible is not about people!

When we were going through the first few chapters, did these verses jump out at you?

1:22 – In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
2:10 – In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

Those are very specific statements!  When the “narrator” of a Biblical account makes specific, recurring statements like this, take notice!  There’s a reason!

As the dialogue between Job and his friends unfolds, we clearly see Job’s friends’ wrong theology showing up.  Unfortunately, we also see some things in the dialogue from Job which should raise a red flag.

Job 9:14-17
“How then can I dispute with him?
How can I find words to argue with him?

Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;
I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.

Even if I summoned him and he responded,
I do not believe he would give me a hearing.

Job 13:3

But I desire to speak to the Almighty
and to argue my case with God.

Job 13:17-23
Listen carefully to my words;
let your ears take in what I say.

Now that I have prepared my case,
I know I will be vindicated.
Can anyone bring charges against me?
If so, I will be silent and die.

“Only grant me these two things, O God,
and then I will not hide from you:

Withdraw your hand far from me,
and stop frightening me with your terrors.

Then summon me and I will answer,
or let me speak, and you reply.

How many wrongs and sins have I committed?
Show me my offense and my sin.

Job 19:6-9

…then know that God has wronged me
and drawn his net around me.

Though I cry, ‘I’ve been wronged!’ I get no response;
though I call for help, there is no justice.

He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;
he has shrouded my paths in darkness.

He has stripped me of my honor
and removed the crown from my head.

You see, Job was also operating from retribution theology.

February 15th, 2010 by Kristi Stephens

Today we’re continuing on in our look at the book of Job as we seek to answer that ever-present question, “How could a good God…?”  To catch up on the posts in this series that you may have missed, they are all indexed here.

Now, if you’ve read through the book of Job recently, you probably buzzed through the first few chapters and then may have found yourself wandering in a fog through chapters 4 through 37.  These chapters contain a cycle of dialogue between Job and his friends which fall into a pattern.  (“E” for Eliphaz, “B” for Bildad, “Z” for Zophar.)

What is going on in these chapters?!

Here are a few quotes drawn from the dialogue – obviously this is a VERY brief summation, but hopefully it will help us glimpse the larger picture.

(From Eliphaz) Job 4:7-8

Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?

Where were the upright ever destroyed?

As I have observed, those who plow evil

and those who sow trouble reap it.

Job 5:17

Blessed is the man whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

(From Bildad) Job 8:3-6

Does God pervert justice?
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

When your children sinned against him,
he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.

But if you will look to God
and plead with the Almighty,

if you are pure and upright,
even now he will rouse himself on your behalf
and restore you to your rightful place.

(From Zophar) Job 11:14-15

if you put away the sin that is in your hand
and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,

then you will lift up your face without shame;
you will stand firm and without fear.

February 10th, 2010 by Kristi Stephens

Yesterday we closed the “Should we accept good from God and not trouble?” post with this question:

What was it that allowed Job to respond this way?  To lose everything he held dear and fall on the ground in worship?  For the honest cry of his heart to be “may the name of the Lord be praised?”

Thank you to those of you who took the time to join the discussion – so many great thought-provoking comments!

One of the things I have ended up discussing frequently with friends in recent months is keeping a proper balance in our view of God.

Sometimes we meditate only on God’s love – we content ourselves with a very “fluffy” and shallow view of God; a view of God that expects Him to do whatever it takes to keep us happy and comfortable.  We are shocked and sometimes even angry when He allows pain and difficulty into our lives – and we resort to that “how could a good and loving God do this to me?” question.

Sometimes we emphasize God’s sovereignty and holiness and overlook His love.  We develop almost a fatalistic view of our relationship with Him – expecting Him to make us suffer and bring every imaginable difficulty into our lives.  Rather than living in joy and freedom, feeling secure in His love and grace, we cower before Him and wait for the giant shoe in the sky to fall on us.

Both of these extremes are wrong – both simplify God’s incredible nature and make Him too small.  There must be a balance. We must keep both views of God in tension in order to land on Truth.  Keeping both sides of God’s nature in view makes our God big enough to handle our questions – big enough to handle our suffering.  Big enough to trust.

When I have walked with God and am unshakably confident in both His love and grace as well as in His sovereignty and holiness, I can face the difficulties of life with confidence.  I know that my Father who knows and loves me has deemed this trial to be of benefit to me in some way.  I know that He is not capricious – He is not making me suffer out of neglect or lack of concern.  I can trust that He sees the bigger picture.  I can also trust that He will walk with me every step of the way – He will never leave me.

Remember back to Job – Job didn’t have the privilege of reading the Job 1:6-12.  He didn’t know that God had lovingly held him up for Satan to inspect – because God treasured him so dearly and was glorified through Job’s faithful life.  He didn’t know that God had allowed Satan to afflict him within very specific boundaries.

From Job’s perspective, all he knows is that he has faithfully walked with God… and then in one single day he lost everything he held dear.  This was no random coincidence – clearly this was a supernatural occurrence.

But Job responds with unshakable faith.   He knows that God is good.  He knows that he deserves nothing on his own – naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will depart… He knows that God is sovereign.

And so he can fall to the ground in worship and say, surely with a tremor in His voice – “may the name of the Lord be praised.”

Do you find that you tend to get out of balance in your view of God?  Which end of the spectrum do you tend to overemphasize (love and grace, or sovereignty and holiness)?  Do you think this changes how you respond to difficulties in your life?

All the posts in this series are indexed here.

February 9th, 2010 by Kristi Stephens

In the last post we paraphrased Satan’s accusations against Job: “Job is only faithful to You because You have blessed him. Take away the blessing, and he’ll curse You just like I did.”

Chilling accusations.

Do you ever wonder that about yourself?  Do you hear gut-wrenching stories of pain and loss from other people and wonder if you would stay faithful to the Lord?

I know I have wondered that about myself. So today, let’s take a closer look at Job’s story.

In chapter one we find Job losing everything in one day.  Everything.

His 500 yoke of oxen, 500 donkeys, and every servant with them except one.
His 7,000 sheep and every servant with them except one.
His 3,000 camels and every servant with them except one.
…and every one of his seven sons and three daughters.

And then notice Job 1:20-22 -

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head.

Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

and naked I will depart.

The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;

may the name of the LORD be praised.”

In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

He fell to the ground in worship!  That gives me chills!

Not only that, but in the next chapter when we find Job being afflicted with physical suffering the vast majority of us could never even come close to comprehending, notice his words and the statement about him in 2:10 -

“…Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”  In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.