January 2-3, 2011 (Job 1-24)

I want to finish this book to get to the end, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. There is much to learn from Job, and I think the message so far is "Don't judge others". We know how God has moved in the past, we know the principles of His word, but we don't know hearts and we aren't God.

Job was a righteous man. When God allowed Satan to strip him of everything - his livestock (wealth), his servants (livelihood), and his children (all of them) - he responded by being overcome with grief, but he did not sin. Instead:

^1:21 He said,

“I came naked from my mother’s womb,
and I will be naked when I leave.
The Lord gave me what I had,
and the Lord has taken it away.
Praise the name of the Lord!”

²² In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Wow - if only I could attain such a faith and devotion to God.

And as if that was not enough, God allowed Satan to inflict him personally with a terrible case of boils from head to foot. I did a quick google search on boils - not pretty. They talk primarily about a single boil - hard to imagine boils from head to foot. Very painful, very ugly. When Job's friends heard what he was going through, they came to console him. Here is what they encountered:

^2:12 When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief. ¹³ Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.

At last Job spoke, wishing he had never been born. And throughout the following chapters he basically talks of his confusion - He wondered what he had done wrong for God to treat him this way. The truth is, he had done nothing wrong. God was allowing Satan to test him. (I don't understand that, but I am not one to question God.) Job begged for a mediator that would allow him to meet with God - but there was none. Thankfully we have one - Jesus. But in the mean time, all his friends were telling him God was punishing him for his sins. In all of chapter 9, Job agrees that is what is typical - ^9:2 “Yes, I know all this is true in principle.

But how can a person be declared innocent in God’s sight?, but he also goes on to say who can challenge God for what He decides to do. ^9:12 If he snatches someone in death, who can stop him?
Who dares to ask, ‘What are you doing?

But then it seems as if Job's suffering has clouded his judgement and in chapter 10 he laments his life. He starts off with extreme faith, recounting that it was God who formed him 10:11-12. But then he gets off track with this:

^10:13 “‘Yet your real motive—
your true intent—
¹⁴ was to watch me, and if I sinned,
you would not forgive my guilt.
¹⁵ If I am guilty, too bad for me;
and even if I’m innocent, I can’t hold my head high,
because I am filled with shame and misery.
¹⁶ And if I hold my head high, you hunt me like a lion
and display your awesome power against me.
¹⁷ Again and again you witness against me.
You pour out your growing anger on me
and bring fresh armies against me.

He goes back and forth, from faith to doubt. There are some questions he doesn't know the answers to.

^14:14 Can the dead live again?
If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle,
and I would eagerly await the release of death.
¹⁵ You would call and I would answer,
and you would yearn for me, your handiwork.
¹⁶ For then you would guard my steps,
instead of watching for my sins.
¹⁷ My sins would be sealed in a pouch,
and you would cover my guilt.

Jesus is the answer to the question in verse 14 - Jesus is the one by whom our 'sins are sealed in a pouch' - covered by His blood.

There was a lot more good stuff in these chapters, but the other thing that struck me was the difference between 'youth' and 'the aged' as described in these verses:

^12:12 Wisdom belongs to the aged,
and understanding to the old.

¹³ “But true wisdom and power are found in God;
counsel and understanding are his.

^13:26 “You write bitter accusations against me
and bring up all the sins of my youth.

We make mistakes when we are young - the trick is, learning wisdom from our mistakes and not repeating them.