Today’s Scripture: Job 6-9
The majority of this passage is consumed with Job’s continued pleas, both with his friends and with God. In regard to his friends, he compares them to the Wadis of Palestine, bodies of water that dry up in the summer, just when water is needed most. While he is in need of comfort because of the tragedies that have befallen him, his friends instead come to his side and accuse him of sin. It is a difficult concept to grasp from our worldview, but imagine having a close friend or relative die (only one of the many things that has happened to Job at this point), and having everyone around you say, “You must have done something to deserve this.” Job is adamant that he has not — and so the conflict arises.
It is important to point out Job’s diligence in making sacrifices to God, which was stressed in yesterday’s passage. It’s not that Job thinks he is perfect and incapable of sin. He is well aware of his propensity to sin, and even if he doesn’t know if he has sinned or if his family members have sinned, he routinely makes sacrifices to atone for sin just in case. Job is not just being prideful toward his friends when he argues their viewpoint. In 6:24-25 he tells them, “Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong. How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove?” He would be willing to listen to their harsh words if they were true, but given their false nature, Job’s integrity won’t allow it.
When Job’s friend Bildad makes his first speech, we see some insight into the reasons for their mindset. He says in 8:20, “Surely God does not reject a blameless man or strengthen the hands of evildoers.” The problem here is that the retribution principle assigns human logic to God. Aside from the fact that it is not God who is doing this to Job (as we see from the introduction and his conversation with Satan), to assume that God will work in the world according to what we think is right is to err greatly. God, all-knowing, all-powerful, knows what is best for us far better than we do.
It is Job’s reply to Bildad that bears more truth than perhaps even Job intended. First, he questions, “If it is not he, then who is it?” In other words, if it is not God who causes calamity and destruction in the lives of the righteous, who is it? Again, as readers we have a different view than the characters, so in this instance we can say undoubtedly that it is Satan. However, let’s apply that to our own situations. When the innocent are killed by the hand of man, can we not say that it is the work of Satan to tempt people to sin in that way? When wickedness fills the earth, can we not pinpoint the source to be the evil one who has dominion over the earth? We have already seen his crafty ways in Genesis 3, when he used lies and deceit to lure Eve and then Adam into disobeying God in the Garden of Eden. We cannot be naive enough to think he will not do the same to us.
Job’s words at the end of chapter 9 offer a ray of hope, whether intentionally or not. He pleas for an advocate in 9:33-34, “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.” Though this allusion was perhaps unintended by the author, this seems to be a foreshadowing of Christ. Knowing how Satan has defiled His creation, God has a plan of redemption in store for mankind, waiting at the cross for the sins of the world to rest on He who can take them away. Now, that doesn’t imply that tragedy won’t continue to happen. Though redemption is offered, Satan still has dominion over the earth until the time of Christ’s return, which we’ll see in the Revelation of John. What it does mean, though, is that sin no longer binds us — that sacrifice is no longer required in atonement for sin (because the perfect sacrifice has already been made for us), and that there is no longer any excuse for the retribution principle. What Job is pleading for here is just that — justification of his integrity. Though he seems to be found guilty with no charge, he is asking for someone to plead with God on his behalf, so that his integrity may be spared.
Tomorrow’s Scripture: Job 10-13
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