We are in Job again in our yearly trek through the Scripture. Job is hard to read. It is a real job to struggle through the self important, pompous, pretentious ahhh donkeys as they instruct Job as to why he is so tribulated. (Is that a word?) You just want to jump up and down and shout, "Just wait until chapter 42 and you will see!" But, we cannot tell them. In fact, they already know as this is just a report from close to 3,000 years ago.
Whenever we read Job we must recall that it is not all "inspired." God directed Job, I believe, to write it, and to faithfully record what his "friends" said, but those words are not reflective of Divine thinking or acting. Some of the statements may be "true," as those that announce that the wicked are punished–usually–and the good are usually rewarded. But those are not divine wisdom. They may be witty and accurate, but when they were wrongly applied to Job, they became, literally, lies.
Even Job's lament in chapter 3 is not inspired. Early in my "public speaking and teaching" career, I used Job 3 to point out the futility life and the superior condition of the dead and even those who were never born. (Never mind how someone who was not born has any consciousness.) To Job's understanding, in the middle of extreme suffering, death or non-existence was the superior option. He was in the depths of depression and was not thinking rationally. He came out of it. I only taught that once.
A kind older, and very godly lady, (Mrs. Egle for those of you who know Stratton) approached me after the lesson and asked if I had read that somewhere. I proudly announced that I had developed the thought myself as I read. "Finish the book, and see if your interpretation is correct," she counseled. I did, and it wasn't.
Verse 25 of chapter 3 gives us an insight into Job's incipient paranoia.
"For what I fear comes upon me, And what I dread befalls me."
He was afraid of "losing it all." And it happened. That might be instructive for us. Don't hold what you have too tightly. When it is ripped away, it may take a finger or two with it. The good news, Chapter 42, is that he got it all back, doubled. But by that time, he had a more godly appreciation for his "stuff." That is a good lesson for us all.
Eliphaz, in chapter 4, declares that the righteous never suffer. I guess we could call him the earliest "name it and claim it" guy; or the original prosperity gospel evangel. He gives us his "source" or expert witness in v. 12-15.
"Now a word was brought to me stealthily, And my ear received a whisper of it. Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, When deep sleep falls on men, Dread came upon me, and trembling, And made all my bones shake.
"Then a spirit passed by my face; The hair of my flesh bristled up."
If you get a vision that makes your "hair stand up," I would recommend that you pinch yourself awake and get outta there. And stop eating anchovy with hot sauce pizza before retiring. Who or whatever it was, it was not good. You can read it to feel the condemnation and even contempt for Job oozing out of every phrase. Look at verse 3 of chapter 5.
"I have seen the foolish taking root, And I cursed his abode immediately."
Well, thank you Mr. High and Mighty. You da man. I hope that you never fall into trouble. In the final verses of chapter five he announces the good fortune of those who listen to the Lord.
"Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves, So do not despise the discipline of the Almighty."
We often hear this quoted, and it is true. But in the context, Eliphaz was accusing Job of needing reproving and his continued suffering was prima facie evidence that Job had not responded to God's "reproof." I guess you could say he was "judging" Job. Careful Elie.
His final retort clinches it: "Behold this; we have investigated it, and so it is. Hear it, and know for yourself."
Is this the "royal we" or merely that the other dudes had joined in the search for the "truth" of Job's circumstances? Either way we can conclude that this particular speaker has provided neither solace nor succor.
Next. Like I said, this is a hard job. And it is hard on Job.
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