Life is NOT Simple
Job 12:2–4 (ESV) “No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you. 3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these? 4 I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called to God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.
Joe's response at the end of the first cycle of conversation with his less-than-desirable friends is to call them out for their lack of understanding. I appreciate this about Job. He doesn't simply just listen to his friends or those who claim to be wise. And I would suggest to every Christian - do likewise! The New Testament tells us to live with discernment over what we hear:
1 John 4:1 (ESV) Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
John makes clear, there is no shortage of bad/false spiritual messages in the world. So it is our job to test them against Scripture, to see what is true and what is simply from the heart of a man or woman filled with both good "intentions" and pride.
Let us also remember the book of Job is wisdom literature. Therefore the aim of this text is to teach us wise living. And wisdom demands discernment!
Job 12:5 (ESV) In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for those whose feet slip.
First, Job calls out their lack of experience with trouble. He's been through the pain and they have not. Yet those who do not suffer are often so willing to explain it away to those who do.
Then Job calls out their argument that God always punishes the wicked.
Job 12:6 (ESV) The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand.
This is true to this day. There are many who sit in comfort having exploited neighbors and the poor alike. Where is the justice due them? Job calls out his friends' simplistic narrative of justice in the world. Sometimes the wicked are not punished as they should be.
For the rest of the chapter, Job unpacks the reality that God is ultimately in charge of the fortunes of all.
Job 12:23–24 (ESV) He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away. 24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a trackless waste.
The friends offered simple solutions for Job to change his life - repent, seek forgiveness, confess your unrighteousness. This advice maintained a "plug-and-play" mindset to life. Life is not like that. Job maintains his innocence in this matter and sets his trust on God's wisdom even though it seems out of reach for him amidst his trouble.
So what are we to do with this?
We are to learn that simple answers to the complicated nature of life are not always the right answers. We are prone to offer such simple answers when we are not the ones suffering. And moreover, the justice we seek in this life may be absent in this life. Here begins Job's (and our) quest for something beyond what this life can offer. We need true justice beyond the complications of this present world stricken with sin. We need heaven to come, we need God's will to be done.
Comments
Post a Comment