Job25to28: GOD'S POWER, JUSTICE and WISDOM

(A) Introduction. Read Job25to28

This lengthy section begins with a short, blunt interjection from Bildad. He begins by stressing God's power by which he brought order to the universe. He hints at God's providential blessing: the sun rises and shines upon us all. So according to Bildad this makes it impossible for a man to be righteous before God. If by God's standards the moon and stars fail to measure up how can mortal men. (Where Bildad got the idea that God is dissatisfied with the moon and the stars is beyond me!) The Shuhite concludes by describing man as a maggot!

COMMENT:

(a) There is nothing in what Bildad said that is a comfort to Job. It did not help him to be told that God is in control. It was under God's control that he was suffering!

(b) The fact that God is all powerful and has made the universe in general and the earth in particular fit for humans to live in does not make it inevitable that men and women will be unrighteous. Adam and Eve were not unrighteous until they rebelled against God. Jesus, the second Adam, was a man and as a man lived a perfectly righteous life.

(c) It is to God's discredit to call men maggots. We are God's creation and made in his image. We are not insignificant because from the beginning God had a plan of redemption that shows how precious we are to him.

Consequently it is not appropriate for preachers and hymn writers to call men and women worms or maggots. Ray Stedman writes in his commentary on Job: When Bildad refers to human beings in such ugly terms, he reflects a narrow theology that does not fit the facts. You are not a worm. You are a precious lovely child of the King. That is your identity in the eyes of your loving Father.

(B) Job's threefold response:

(1) He acknowledges God's power. Job26.

(a) First of all Job condemns Bildad for failing to comfort him. The Shuhite has left the weak and powerless without hope and has no advice for those deficient in understanding. Job questions Bildad's sources; wherever did he get his ideas from!

Wiersbe writes: If Bildad's words came from God they would have done Job good but they came from Bildad so did him no good.

(b) Job does acknowledge that God's power is revealed by what he accomplished as creator. He does so in a way that is not scientific. It is no good pretending otherwise - like a few commentators whose scientific knowledge is on a par with Job's!!

It is by God's design that:

  • The heavens are stretched out. Since its beginning the universe has expanded as if pulled in all directions.

  • The starry heaven is a thing of beauty.

  • The earth spins on its axis and orbits the sun. It requires no visible means of support. The rotation of the planet gives rise to a horizon above which the sun appears to rise and below which it appears to set.

  • Clouds contain water in tiny, floating droplets. Rain making processes in some clouds turn these microscopic droplets into bigger raindrops. This is only possible because of the very unusual properties of water.

  • Earthquakes shake the highest mountains.

  • The moon is just the right distance from the earth to produce a manageable tidal range.

(c) Job concludes by accepting that what he knows of God's power is very limited. He says: "And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him" 26v14.

COMMENT:

  • However much we know about the universe we know but little of all there is to know - hence, how faint the whisper we hear of him.

  • If we knew all there is to know about the universe it would not tell us much about God's other attributes - his faithfulness, justice and mercy - hence, how faint the whisper we hear of him.

  • It is only as we know Jesus that we begin to understand God's character better and something about the remarkable dimensions of his love. John writes in his gospel: No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known. Jn1v18.

(2) He is ambivalent about God's justice. See ch27.

Job is guilty of a degree of confusion in this passage about God's justice. It is understandable that some commentators consider verses 11 to 23 are another brief contribution from Zophar.

Let's see what the chapter has to say:

(a) Job asserts that God is treating him unjustly. See 27v1to6. He says: "Assuredly as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made me taste bitterness of soul ...... ." 27v2. Job refuses to admit that he has wronged God and reaffirms his integrity. "I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it, my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live." 28v6.

COMMENT

We are not used to godly men speaking with such conviction about their righteousness. We are more in sympathy with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn who when he suffered from cancer said that his many sins deserved far, far more pain.

However, by the standards of the time and in the opinion of God, Job was an upright man. So by the Theology of his day, which Job himself subscribed to, he did not deserve the terrible things that were happening to him.

(b) Job turns against his friends. See27v7to12. I agree with Wilson that Job is being ironical in this passage. His friends, who turned out to be false comforters, hurtfully ascribe his suffering to his wickedness but as they are no better than him he hopes they get treated in the same way as himself. If he is one of the "wicked" so are they and so consequently they deserve the same fate as the "wicked." They will be numbered among the godless who are cut off from life and denied access to God in time of distress just as Job has been. In such circumstances Job's friends will find it impossible to delight in God

Job ends by seeming to say that his life reveals the way God acts. It is not the simplistic way his three counsellors seem to think. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar have seen for themselves how God acts and it isn't in the way they keep insisting on. Consequently their advice is meaningless nonsense. It flies in the face of experience.

COMMENT:

There is a warning in Job's words for all those Christians who still think we get what we deserve in this life.

Jesus spoke about the Pharisees who prayed on street corners, whitened their faces to give the impression of having fasted and sought the best seats at feasts. He said of them: "They have their reward." Yes, they built a high reputation among men for holiness but Jesus did not think that was worth very much and it was the only reward they were going to get.

A lot of men and women who do not exalt themselves, who are poor in spirit, who do not get any reward on earth, will be amongst the most decorated saints in glory. There will be some surprises when Jesus gives out the medals. The first will be last and the last first!

(c) The utter destruction of the wicked. See27v13to23. This passage is not really compatible with Job's previously expressed observation that in this life it is often the righteous who suffer and the wicked who don't.

So, I think that Job is still being ironical. The wicked are still in inverted commas. He tells his misguided counsellors what can happen to a "wicked" man like himself and therefore to "wicked" men like themselves.

Job lists the calamities that happen to a "wicked" man like himself and by inference may befall "wicked" men like his counsellors:

  • Loss of family to sword, hunger and plague.

  • Die un-mourned by their widows.

  • Gold spent and clothes worn by others.

  • Homes become as insecure as a moth's cocoon or a watchman's shed. Job's eldest son's house was not proof against a tornado!

The "wicked" man, without family, wealth, home or sympathy is exposed to terrible destructive forces - forces akin to those generated by a tornado. "It claps its hands in derision and hisses him out of his place."

Perhaps Job is referring to the swirling, bitter, destructive thoughts and abject despair that attends a life ruined by one catastrophe after another.

COMMENT:

We should never underestimate the satanic attacks on a fellow Christian's faith in times of intense loss and sorrow. Some of our brothers and sisters in Christ have an overwhelming need for our sympathy, prayers and practical support. We should avoid offering facile explanations and pious platitudes.

This extract from, 'Our Daily Bread', for Dec 26th 2013 should give us pause for thought:

After 20 children and 6 staff members were murdered in a school in Connecticut, America, the entire nation was stunned that such a horrific thing could happen. Everyone focused on the tragedy and questions surrounding it. What kind of person would do such a thing, and why? How can we prevent it from happening again? How can we help the survivors? Amid the chaos, an unlikely group moved in and made a difference.

From Chigago came dogs - specially trained golden retrievers that offered nothing except affection. Dogs don't speak, they simply offered their presence. Children traumatised by the violence opened up to them, expressing fears and emotions they had not spoken about to any adult. Tim Hetzner of Lutheran Church Charities said, "The biggest part of their training is just learning to be quiet."

There is a valuable lesson for us here. Sometimes the best thing we can do is just offer our presence.

(3) Job seeks God's wisdom. See ch 28.

Chapter 28 is a marvellous piece of writing - a wisdom poem of exquisite beauty. The points Job makes:

(a) Men will go to extraordinary lengths to get precious metals and stones. See 23v1to11.

"Man's hand assaults the flinty rock and lays bare the roots of the mountains. He tunnels through the rock; his eyes see all its treasures. v9and10.

This is of course still true. We have but to consider the tremendous effort made to get oil. Rigs occur is some of the most inhospitable places on earth.

Today, a successful mining enterprise depends upon Geological know how, engineering skills, investment and perseverance.

(b) Wisdom is more valuable than precious metals and stones. It cannot be bought with the finest gold... nor can its price be weighed in silver .... the price of wisdom is beyond rubies. v15 and v18.

We need to pause and ask what wisdom is. Various definitions exist:

  • A disposition to find the truth coupled with an optimum judgment as to right actions.

  • The power to see and inclination to choose the best and highest goal together with the surest means of attaining it. After J Packer.

  • Knowing how to behave toward God and man and doing so. After J.F.M.Reed!

If wisdom is more precious than rubies why aren't we keener to obtain it? We need to emulate the miner:

  • The wise man acquires knowledge about how to act toward God and man. For example: A soft answer turns away wrath.

  • This knowledge has to be applied in the realities and circumstances of life. It is important to be able to devise the appropriate soft answer when it is required.

  • A cost is involved. There is no doubt that a soft answer will cost us the satisfaction of giving vent to our true feelings.

  • Self-control is needed. In the example wounded pride, a vicious beast, will need to be under control.

(c) Wisdom is an attribute of God. Wisdom may appear elusive to man - "It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing." v21. But it is not elusive to God - "God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells" v23.

For example, God knows the sort of climate range conducive to life on earth. His creative act took this into account and put limits upon wind speeds, rainfall totals and destructive meteorological events like thunderstorms. There would be devastating consequences with only small changes in the speed of the earth's rotation, distance from the sun, size and distance to the moon, angle at which the earth's axis is tilted to the plane of orbit and proportion of land to sea. Such is the wisdom God displays in his creation that we should heed any advice he gives on the subject.

(d) God's tip to mankind on how to acquire wisdom. Job has God saying to men: "The fear of the Lord - that is wisdom, and to shun(turn from) evil is understanding."

If we fear the Lord we will submit to him and obey him which results in us turning away from evil. Or as G.H. Wilson puts it: True wisdom, then, is not mastery over life but to acknowledge dependence on God.

Paul described Christ as: The power of God and wisdom of God. 1Cor1v24. Jesus is the wisdom of God in many ways: the manner of his birth; the teaching he gave; the example he set; the sacrifice he made and the gift he bequeathed.

I especially like what Jesus taught about wisdom: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the wind blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." Mt7v24and25.

That is something we can all understand. True wisdom knows what Jesus taught and puts it into practice. That pleases God and benefits man.

ANY COMMENTS FOR JOHN REED: E-mail jfmreed@talktalk.net

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