May 8, 2010 (Job 10-23)

Job continues to dialog with his friends about his situation. Because I know the "behind the scenes" story, I kind of dismiss what his friends say (they are saying it's because of his sins that he is being punished). So Job dialogs back and forth, lamenting the futility of life, but then makes the following statement:

²⁵ “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
and he will stand upon the earth at last.
²⁶ And after my body has decayed,
yet in my body I will see God!
²⁷ I will see him for myself.
Yes, I will see him with my own eyes.
I am overwhelmed at the thought!

Job goes on to talk of the seeming futility of living a godly life, when he looks at the lives of 'the wicked'.

^21:7 “Why do the wicked prosper,
growing old and powerful?
⁸ They live to see their children grow up and settle down,
and they enjoy their grandchildren.
⁹ Their homes are safe from every fear,
and God does not punish them.
¹⁰ Their bulls never fail to breed.
Their cows bear calves and never miscarry.
¹¹ They let their children frisk about like lambs.
Their little ones skip and dance.
¹² They sing with tambourine and harp.
They celebrate to the sound of the flute.
¹³ They spend their days in prosperity,
then go down to the grave in peace.
¹⁴ And yet they say to God, ‘Go away.
We want no part of you and your ways.
¹⁵ Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him?
What good will it do us to pray?’
¹⁶ (They think their prosperity is of their own doing,
but I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.)

¹⁷ “Yet the light of the wicked never seems to be extinguished.
Do they ever have trouble?
Does God distribute sorrows to them in anger?
¹⁸ Are they driven before the wind like straw?
Are they carried away by the storm like chaff?
Not at all!

It reminds me of the Psalms and Asaph says basically the same thing:

^{Psalm 73:16} When I tried to understand all this,
it was oppressive to me

¹⁷ till I entered the sanctuary of God;

then I understood their final destiny.

But regardless of what Job knows to be true of God, it still did not mitigate the pain he was going through. Even a man with the integrity of Job succumbed to feelings of utter despair in his journey:

¹⁰ “But he knows where I am going.
And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.
¹¹ For I have stayed on God’s paths;
I have followed his ways and not turned aside.
¹² I have not departed from his commands,
but have treasured his words more than daily food.
¹³ But once he has made his decision, who can change his mind?
Whatever he wants to do, he does.
¹⁴ So he will do to me whatever he has planned.
He controls my destiny.
¹⁵ No wonder I am so terrified in his presence.
When I think of it, terror grips me.
¹⁶ God has made me sick at heart;
the Almighty has terrified me.
¹⁷ Darkness is all around me;
thick, impenetrable darkness is everywhere.

This is a good reminder that no matter what we go through, we must keep our eyes on Jesus. Job was begging for a mediator that would stand in the gap between him and God. He didn't have one - but we do.