Job: a book report...

So I finally finished reading Job after months of slow intermittent reading that involved plenty of discouragement, conflict, push back and empathy.

It was discouraging because of the repetitive nature of the book, and because of its general pattern of condescension and lack of respect. Job didn't respect his friends and they didn't respect him either. And we witness them going through several back and forths in a completely circular manner. It really is discouraging.

Conflict arose at several places, mainly because of a clash with scientific reason, or just plain lack of any reason at all (so... Leviathan in Ch 41 is a dragon...? "His sneezings flash forth light..." Um. Really?). But Job is not a textbook kind of book in the Bible, not prose but poetry. Things are exaggerated and elaborate analogies are made in spite of the more complex scientific understanding not yet having been revealed (e.g. Job 21:24 says, "the marrow of his bones moist," when at the time Job was written, the function of marrow had not yet been discovered. This particular conflict of mine was overcome by my being reminded that things were named (or described) long before they were understood, and people back then would have seen the difference in the marrow of healthy animals verses sickly animals. Marrow, rather than referring specifically to the spongey tissue that produces blood cells, referred to fat, which was often equated to health...). As usual, everything I confronted that stirred up doubt in me was quashed with educated theological guidance and interpretation based on context, language, the understanding of historical phrasing, as well as by getting a grasp on the intended audience.

The push back came when Job claimed to be righteous. "I put on righteousness, and it clothed me," Job says in Ch 29. I have a hard time believing I'm saved, let alone that I'm righteous in the eyes of God. This part was hard for me to reconcile because of my perspective as a New Testament Christian saved by God's grace. Nothing I do will earn my way into the kingdom of God. Nothing I say or give or promise will buy me that right. Only by the grace and mercy of God will He allow me to be with Him. But back then, it wasn't that way. You did all these things, sacrificial, ritualistic things, to get right with God. Job did all those things and therefore, within that context, rightly concluded that he was right with God. But still, his speeches rubbed me like blatant arrogance and it made it hard to feel for him.

After finishing Job, I heard a sermon wherein the pastor mentioned a verse from Job Ch 1, after Job had lost almost everything he had, including his children:

"And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.'"

And that hit me. Finally. That verse speaks of a profound love of God. In the midst of some of the worst crushings a man can endure, he still praised God. After thirty-six subsequent chapters full of arguing and criticism, I lost sight of that.

The last chapters were also humbling. No matter what we know of God, what we might attribute to God, what we might convey of God, we are powerless, ignorant, weak, and insignificant, unknowing and unable to comprehend the true greatness of God and His infinite power, grace, sovereignty, mercy and love for us.

I had set out to empathize with a man whose world collapses, ended up resenting him pridefully and finally, bowed down beside him, humbling myself before God, begging for mercy.

4"Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?
I lay my hand on my mouth.
5 I have spoken once, and I will not answer;
twice, but I will proceed no further." (Ch 40)

So, to me, Job is not so much a book about suffering, but about how I am his friends, lecturing him on who God is when I have no idea myself. I am every character throughout the Bible who doubts, wrongly rebukes, judges, and ultimately who hangs Jesus on the cross. I am the one who is most in need of mercy because while I may be humble to the God I know, the fact that I believe I know God at all shows my pride. The fact that I judged Job, even after all he'd been through, showed my pride and lack of empathy. Language barriers, interpretation barriers, historical context- whatever issues I might be able to blame my response on simply point out my unwillingness to doubt my pride. Had I been humble, I would have believed Job. I would have believed God in chapter 1 when He said to Satan:

"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?"

Yes, I still have a lot to learn.