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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Job 13-14
Though I’m not sure just what to think of them, a few of Job’s comments certainly made me think!
- “Would you show partiality to [God]…Would it go well if He examined you?” (Job 13:8a, 9a). I can’t say I’ve really thought of it like that before. But of course – a just God would not accept injustice on His behalf. God is not like man, who tends to accept whatever benefits him. It makes me think of the Pharisees, who used God’s law as an excuse for injustice against others.
- Job is a difficult book to understand. Along with the overall point, I also find it difficult to decipher the meaning in all of the flowery, poetic speech. As for Job, I know that he steadfastly declared his innocence. He knew his hardship was not due to anything he did wrong. As a result, I get the impression that He believed God did not care for him. And I imagine that belief is what left him feeling hopeless. In spite of that, this particular speech suggests to me that Job still recognized God as his only hope. “Even if He kills me, I will hope in Him.” (Job 13:15a). Job wanted answers from God. But more than that, I think Job wanted to know that God cared. “Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?” (Job 13:24). Perhaps that thought hurt as much as his physical suffering.
- “When a person dies, will he come back to life? If so, I would wait all the days of my struggle until my relief comes.” (Job 14:14). I find this interesting because we now know that the answer to this question is not ‘no’. Jesus led the way so that all who put their hope in Him will have life from death, just as He did. Because we know what Job did not, we can do what Job said he would do. We can wait all the days of our struggle until our relief comes. Because we know it will come.
Job 15
Eliphaz would have done well to listen to himself. He said, “What is a mere human, that he should be pure, or one born of a woman, that he should be righteous?” (Job 15:14). If he really believed that to be the case, then who was he to stand, pointing a condemning finger at Job? Weren’t Job’s friends the ones undermining the fear of God? Yes, we know that, without Christ, no man stands innocent before God. But if Job, who was careful to seek God and shun evil, was deserving of his suffering, why did his friends not consider that they might be deserving too? If anything, Job’s situation should have put the fear of God into them! Instead, their self-righteous pride convinced them that there must have been a reason; that Job must have brought it on himself.
The lesson for me – never forget that we are ALL unrighteous against God’s perfect standard. Thus, it is not ours to judge with condemnation. Like the mob that brought the adulterous woman before Jesus, we are all guilty of something; all deserving of death. I do not deserve God’s mercy any more than the next guy. And if my situation is better than someone else’s, it does not make me a better person. This doesn’t mean that we accept unrighteousness in others. But it does mean that we don’t condemn them for it or assume ourselves better than them because of it.