In today's passage in Job, it begins for us reading Bildad's advice for Job. Bildad wastes no time in accusing Job and his children for sinning against God (Job 8:4). In the previous verse he said that God was not unjust, so they must be receiving punishment for their wrong doings. He also told Job that God rewards the righteous and punishes the sinner (vs 20). He advised Job to look to God and to get on his knees in repentance so that he could be restored (vs 5-6).
Job responded by agreeing with Bildad on the characteristics of God, but disagreed and remained solid in his position of being innocent. Job does not believe that he is sinless, but he wishes he could have a day in court so that he can prove he is innocent of the kind of sin that deserves the suffering he is enduring. In his despair he voices complaints about God, but he does not curse God as satan said he would.
In chapter 9:33, Job expressed his desire for an arbitrator between himself and God. Job is confident that such a person exists, and that through him justice and vindication will occur. Today we are fortunate because we have that mediator - Jesus Christ!
We have a huge advantage over Job by being able to read his story and see what God is doing. Not knowing all the information, Bildad falsely presumed that Job and his children sinned sufficiently to earn the punishment received.
Do we ever think that God is now punishing us for something we once did, or doubt the righteousness of God's justice?
In 1Corinthians 4, it was verse 2 that stood out for me, "Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful." Stewardship comes to mind.
Everything we have is God's. He is the source of all our wealth, our personal talents, and even the memories we have embedded in our brains - everything. God wants us to be content with everything we have, knowing that He will provide for us everything we need. He just asks for one thing in return - to use it all wisely, recognizing that it belongs to the Lord and that one day we will be held accountable for how we treated His possessions.
Before I lend something out to someone, I try to imagine how they will treat the item I am lending. How am I treating the possessions that God has trusted me with?
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Job 11-13; 1 Corinthians 5
3 comments:
Even though I know that Bildad was just trying to figure out what was going on when he offered advice to Job, I do admire Bildad's ability to confront Job. I think sometimes it's too easy to just be idle or just to gossip about what going on instead of asking at the source. Bildad seems to genuinely be concerned for Job and wants to help him and if confessing and repenting will help Job, he wants Job to do it. Are we as willing to confront and ask hard questions of our friends? Do we desire to help them or do we sit idly by?
Loved your point about Jesus being the mediator for us that Job wanted.
Bildad's logic made sense from a human standpoint. God was just and God would not punish a just man, Job was being punished so he must be unjust. Bildad wrongly assumed that all suffering was a result of sin. It is in the larger sense - all suffering is due to the sin of our fallen world.
One thing that is noticeable too, as the friends try to "help" Job....
They were trying to explain Job's suffering, they were trying to fix the problem. That is generally not what people are wanting when they are grieving or even simply upset. They don't need someone to fix things, they need someone to empathize with them, and to help them endure the difficult times. Job didn't want answers to his questions, they were expressions of grief, not challenges his friends had to match. Hard questions should not be handled with easy platitudes, or instant answers.
In 1 Corinthians....
"I urge you, then, be imitators of me."
That's a bold statement. Something that can only be said by someone who has walked close to God, spent time in His Word and in prayer, and living life with a full awareness of God. Of course, Paul was not perfect, and he certainly didn't mean that people should blindly follow him, or follow him when he sinned. As Christians, we should strive to live in such as way that we would want others to imitate us.
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