365 Reflections

In Job 31, he makes his final appeal for justice based on his own habits of personal piety. In verses 1-12 he speaks of his purity in regards to covetousness, sex, and adultery.  Job 31:1–2 (ESV) “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? 2 What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high?  In verses 13-23 he speaks of his righteous acts toward the poor.  Job 31:16 (ESV) “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, In verses 24-28, he talks about his proper attitude toward wealth and possessions. Job 31:24–25 (ESV) “If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence, 25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant or because my hand had found much... Finally, in the last part of the chapter, Job discusses his quest for justice. Job 31:35 (ESV) Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictme

Many times we let what people say about us really stick. Especially in times of hardship. That's what happens to Job in Job 30. He spent the previous chapter reminiscing about the glory days of his past. Now in chapter 30, he's talking about the devastating effects his suffering has had on his standing in the community.  Job 30:1 (ESV) “But now they laugh at me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock. I would say that Job has sort of backtracked here. He's no longer interested in a response from God. He's looking at the response of people. This is a fool's errand in so many ways. People are never the proper barometer of our life. So what that they laugh? Their laughter betrays their ignorance. They have no idea that God was bragging about Job's righteous ways - that there was none like him in all the Earth (Job 1:8). He continues later: Job 30:8–11 (ESV) A senseless, a nameless brood, they have been whi

Sometimes we just want to go back in time, don't we? Especially when life is hard. That's where Job arrives in chapter 29. He looks with longing on the days of old and desires to return. Who can blame him? Nothing good has transpired since the beginning of this story. Brutal loss, tortuous suffering, and endless unsolicited and unwise counsel have been his experience for long enough to make him cry out in anguish for the better days of old.  Job 29:2–5 (ESV) “Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me, 3 when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness, 4 as I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent, 5 when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were all around me,... One thing you will see is that in the English translation of this chapter is how few sentences there are. Job expounds in long sentences recounting the glory of his former years.  He speaks of the leadership role in his

Job continues his speech in chapter 28 to talk about the lengths people go for riches but the sad reality that hardly anyone makes the same attempt at gaining wisdom. His words resonate with our generation in powerful ways.  He begins: Job 28:1–2 (ESV) “Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold that they refine. 2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the ore. Then he describes the time put in to search for these natural resources: Job 28:3 (ESV) Man puts an end to darkness and searches out to the farthest limit the ore in gloom and deep darkness. That is, man will seek all night for gold and silver. Then he describes the effort to gain riches: Job 28:9–11 (ESV) “Man puts his hand to the flinty rock and overturns mountains by the roots. 10 He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing. 11 He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle, and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light. Man will literally dig up a moun

There's a skill we often lack in the Christian world. Here it is - to speak truthfully about life, to describe honestly what's going on in our hearts and minds, and to express it audibly. There tends to be a superficiality to our faith that fails to let the sufferers cry, the sinful confess, and the one in misfortune express his frustrations with God. We expect people to be quiet and go to church far too much. We do so in defiance of the model laid out for us in the scriptures time and again and most notably with Job.  Job has held on now for 25 chapters of harassing speech from his friends. You have to imagine that they have only added salt to the wounds of his heart from all the trouble life has given him. But now after three cycles of conversations with them, Job has not given in. You have to credit him with either a strong sense of stubbornness or a very strong sense of conviction about his perspective on life. I give him the latter. Job knows his suffering is uncalled for

Job 26:2–4 (ESV) “How you have helped him who has no power! How you have saved the arm that has no strength! 3 How you have counseled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge! 4 With whose help have you uttered words, and whose breath has come out from you? Job responds to the last of the friends' speeches with an intriguing question - where is this coming from? And what a question that is because all their voices have spoken is condemnation and guilt. Who is the author of that? The devil himself.  Here's the thing about the devil. He will first use our desires against us and lead us to sin and then loudly condemn us when it's over suggesting we could NEVER be forgiven. He is indeed the voice of damnation and one day his own damnation will be well deserved. Now there is a question as to whether or not it is actually Job or the continuation of Bildad's final speech from Job 26:5 to the end of the chapter. As I read it, it could be either but I pick

Job 25:1–6 (ESV) Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: 2 “Dominion and fear are with God; he makes peace in his high heaven. 3 Is there any number to his armies? Upon whom does his light not arise? 4 How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? 5 Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes; 6 how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!” I put the entirety of Bildad's final accusation against Job here because of its brevity and to celebrate this as the final word from the three horrible friends who have not changed in the least as they have sat and mourned with their "friend" in his dire situation.  Some people are all theology and no heart. Job's three friends fit that bill exactly. When I first read Bildad's final speech here in Job 25 I thought, "This guy sounds like a die-hard reformed theologian." He's speaking hard-line "total depravity

In the last chapter, we saw a glimpse of the transition Job (and we) needs to make as he suffers through this season. He's moving from asking "why" to "what for" in regards to his suffering. Well, in chapter 24 Job starts to flesh out a bunch of the "whys" of life.  Job 24:1 (ESV) “Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days? This first question becomes the baseline for Job's argument in this chapter. Job questions the timing of God's judgment. Then he embarks on a laundry list of issues he has with the ways of the world.  Job 24:2–4 (ESV) Some move landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them. 3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow’s ox for a pledge. 4 They thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves. He then emphasizes the plight of the poor: Job 24:5–8 (ESV) Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert the poor go out to their toil,