Category: JOB

ReVerse passage – Job 9:32-35 (day six)

He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. John 3:30

It seems to me that Job’s view of God only increases. Even at his lowest point or his loudest complaint, his perspective of God doesn’t seem to diminish. Often in our suffering, the world seems to shrink around our sorrow and pain; it is hard for us to see beyond our looming fear.

Not so with Job, his increasing view of God leads him to make some insightful conclusions and revelations about God and himself.

It got me wondering, what if it is my diminished view of God that keeps me from fully realizing my identity in Jesus, or bearing the kind of fruit he desires for me? Seems to me, he must increase, and I must decrease.

ReVerse passage – Job 9:32-35 (day five)

“Then I could speak to him without fear,
but I cannot do that in my own strength.”

In the midst of Job’s suffering and lamenting, he understood the chasm that separated him from God. This chapter of Job incredibly points out our need for Jesus and the importance of why He would come. Without Jesus, there is fear of judgment and fear of getting what we deserve. But with Jesus, there is freedom to trust and believe in the grace, love, and compassion of the Father. Without Jesus, there is a chasm between us and God. But with Jesus, He bridged the chasm for us and we get to have a relationship with Him. Because Jesus took our punishment, we have the privilege and honor of speaking directly with the Creator of all things, and that should cause us to stop and be thankful all the more. We are able to speak to the Lord, the Most High, without fear of death and punishment because of Jesus. I am so grateful for Him. Aren’t you?

Re:Verse passage – Job 9:32-35 (day four)

There is no one like God!  Who can stand before Him as His equal, much less His superior?  Job is saying that there is no one to arbitrate with God.  For an arbitrator to resolve a conflict between two parties, he must hold some level of authority over both of them.  Job says there is no one who can arbitrate with God because no one has any authority over God.

Knowing this truth, Job is in despair as to what to do.  He wants to put aside his sufferings as if they were not happening.  He cannot understand what is going on or why God has turned His face from him.  Job says that it is fear that keeps him from trusting God.  Fear of the unknown has paralyzed Job’s spirit.

How often are we paralyzed with fear?  Fear of uncomfortable circumstances, fear of mounting bills and debts, fear of health challenges, fear of relationships gone bad…we can be consumed with fear.  What if we prayed first? …what a novel idea!  Since God is God and has no equal, why don’t we ask Him for His perspective, for His provision, or for His power?  Job eventually got there but why don’t we start there?

Re:Verse passage – Job 9:32-35 (day three)

“There is no umpire between us,
Who may lay his hand upon us both.”

From time to time in his long articulation of his plight, Job says something that begs the question – at least as his words reach our ears in the year of our Lord 2022. Job says, “If only there were a mediator between God and me.” (The translation “umpire” seems kind of humorous, but it gets the job done.) The question Job’s utterance begs is this: Is there no mediator? Job takes it as a given that there is not. But that was then; this is now. And what a “now” it is. Jesus is that mediator – the only one between God and man, as Hebrews teaches us. This mediator, though, is no neutral party, but a fellow sufferer with us, that we might also know his resurrection.

Re:Verse passage – Job 9:32-35 (day two) “Then I would speak and not fear Him; But I am not like that in myself. vs. 35

This short passage is better understood in the context of the entire chapter. In verse 1 Job asks “But how can a man be in the right before God?” The verses that follow lay out the clear distinctions between a man and the awesome powerful God. What is interesting to me is Job is not asking for equality with the Lord. He is not trying to level the playing field so that his complaints will carry more weight. He is simply acknowledging the chasm. It is difficult to imagine a more dire situation than Job is currently in, but it is important for us to note his recognition of God’s authority. This doesn’t stop job’s complaint, but it also doesn’t ask God to stop being sovereign. Cry out, make your hurts known to the Lord, but give space to remember his ways are not ours.

 

Re:Verse passage – Job 7:1-21 (day seven)

Am I the sea, or the sea monster,
That You set a guard over me? vs 12

Why is Job written primarily in poetry as opposed to narrative? Poetry tells a story that narrative cannot. Narrative is fact. Poetry shows us emotions. It becomes a bottomless pit of creativity as each line of the poem takes on its own image that can have a multitude of meanings. Here for example, Job asks God if he is the sea. Why? Because Job feels in this moment “that his suffering is disproportionate to the weight of his being” (ESV Study Bible). He feels that God has given him a burden that is too big for a human to carry. Job is single handedly refuting the modern catchphrase (not from scripture) that says, “God won’t give you more than you can handle?” He feels in this moment that God has given him more than he can handle. He is able to communicate all those feelings to us by simply drawing out a metaphor in one line of one verse of one chapter of his entire lament. Isn’t poetry beautiful?

Re:Verse passage – Job 7:1-21 (day six)

 As the Scriptures say,

One of the most painful parts of Job is the lack of resolution-until the very end of course. Through the suffering, conversations, debate and complaining, we long for just a little bit of resolution along the way, but it is no where to be found. Just silence, or the annoying drip of his friends accusatory words.

In this way Job is intended to remind us of what real life is like. When does everything resolve itself when you want or expect it to? Does everything wrap up nicely at the end of every day? Does every conversation or argument conclude with a story book ending like out of some rom-com?

In an interesting kind of way, Job (the whole story) reminds us that God knows what real life is like, and not only, but he is sympathetic to our weaknesses. And that alone is enough to keep me moving forward, one foot after the other.

Re:Verse passage – Job 7:1-21 (day five)“Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins?”

One of the reasons I love the scriptures is they help us see that the people in these pages and stories are… just like us. When we feel like there is injustice (to us or others) we get angry, we question God.  That’s exactly what’s happening with Job. His experience has convinced him that his sacrifices have been sufficient to reflect his genuine repentance and faith. Except now. Or so he thinks (thanks in part to his friends). But what if in the midst of Job’s questions and anger, God is teaching a longer and larger lesson found in the revelation we have in the New Testament. What if even thousands of years before Christ came, God was showing that Job’s suffering was pointing to the redemptive suffering at the cross. And that in the midst of suffering, the Lord was giving us “language of lament”. First, Job’s words. Then, Jesus’ words. Now, our words.

Re:Verse passage – Job 7:1-21 (day four)

Job was trying to understand.  By his evaluation, he had done nothing wrong.  Job recognized that there was sin and iniquity in his life, but why wasn’t God forgiving him when he confessed before Him?  Even Job’s friends were offering explanations as to what was going on.  The assumption was that bad things only happen to bad people.  Job and his friends were looking at circumstances rather than relationships.

You and I are like that…we want an explanation!  Why did this bad thing happen to me and good came to that other sinful, unregenerate person?  There is a reason why God is God and we are not!  Our finite understanding  and limited knowledge may never know the answers to some of life’s questions.  Often times, our relationship with God comes back to one thing…faith!  Faith in God and faith in His love for us!  We have to trust that God knows best.  We serve an all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, all-loving, infinite God.  Praise the Lord!