Thursday, January 7, 2010

Can I just say "ditto" on Chapters 14-16?

I just read Job, Chapters 14-16. I could pretty much just copy and paste what I said yesterday and call it a blog. There is a reason why the book of Job is in the Bible, it just isn't totally clear to me yet. Even in the midst of all his suffering, Job still believes he is righteous in God's sight. Job 1:1 confirms his belief was true in God's sight: There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. God Himself said of Job in vs 8: "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" Clearly, Job had not done anything to deserve the heavy consequences in the chapters to come. (too bad Job's friends didn't have the benefit of reading the first chapter of Job) I'm guessing that the whole point of this book is to show that Job truly did serve God out of love and not because of all the blessings he had received from the hand of God. (But I still have 25 chapters to go, I guess I'm jumping the gun a bit on my conclusions.) That even if he lost everything he would still worship God for who He is. Which he did. Ahhh, couldn't we just end this book here? This man went to hell and back (on earth) in my opinion. Now Job clearly gives the impression in his speech to his "friends" that he attributes all this calamity to God. But we have the benefit of the New Testament to read, and we know better. In vs. 12 God tells Satan: "Behold, all that he has is in your hand..." (emphasis mine) Clearly we see that Satan is the one that brought the calamity on Job and just so there's no confusion as to who brought the calamity, Job 2:7 states: So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. How could Satan have the right to do this in the first place? Remember, a few chapters ago back in Genesis in the garden when man handed over the dominion and authority they had to Satan?....just to verify that fact in the New Testament, check out Luke 4:5 where Satan is trying to tempt Jesus: And the devil took him (Jesus) up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." (emphasis mine) Can you give something to someone that you don't have? (I just can't go on without interjecting something here. Jesus Christ went to the cross to get this authority and dominion back for us, and He did!) Satan had authority over man (and still does for those who don't submit to the authority of Christ in their life by accepting Christ as Savior and Lord) but clearly, with some limitations. Some people think that the power Satan has is equal to the power of God. Not even close. Satan is no match for God. (1 John 4:4 - Greater is He that is in you than he who is in the world)
One thing I do love about Job, he is NOT budging on his righteousness before God. He's clear on that. But he does want to know why. Aren't we in some ways a lot like Job? I have never gone through anything comparable to Job, but there has been a time in my life that I asked God: Why? The answer is still not totally clear to me, but again like Job, I see God's hand of love and restoration on my life. Like I said, I know how this book ends.
TTYT....(that's my text talk for "talk to you tomorrow"...)

1 comment:

  1. Hey...watch out on spoiling the ending for those of us that haven't read the whole book! haha...thx for blogging

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