August 2024

I am amazed by Job’s dedication to God! Besides being repeatedly called “blameless and upright,” having served God, and “shunned evil” (see Job 1:1), he even offered burnt sacrifices on behalf of his children, just in case they had sinned (1:5). The greatest calamities strike Job, and repeatedly we read: “In all this, Job did not sin or blame God” (1:22, also 2:9-10). Sinless Job? No; Job was like you and me: an ordinary person. […]

I conducted an interesting exercise with a few (non-theological) friends and asked: “What do you know about Job?” Almost everyone’s response was that he was the biblical figure tested by Satan. Everyone mentioned that Job was a good man and that he lost everything. Why? Because the tempter wanted to see if Job would remain steadfast. It is noteworthy that Satan’s role ends by the end of Job 2:7, and then he disappears from the

We live in a time where people are fascinated with evil. Despite the saying that we should not “look for a devil behind every bush,” and despite Paul writing, “I would like you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil” (Rom 16:19). Evil is a reality, but it is not to be feared. Paul used the image of a triumphal procession where prisoners of war were paraded through the

Few topics are discussed as persistently as the so-called “theodicy problem.” It might be an unfamiliar word, but you know the question: How can God be called just when so many unjust things happen to innocent people? Daily, so many bad things happen, not only to innocent people but also to those who serve God, that we must ask: Is God who we think God is? Is God the God of love? Is God truly

The quotation with which #Job 2 began was incomplete. This is something we often do with a scripture verse: we quote what suits us without looking at what follows: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:21) Timothy almost repeats this word for word: “But godliness with contentment is great gain, for

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart” (Job 1:21a). The Book of Job is likely the oldest manuscript included in the Old Testament. It is written like a story: “There was a man…” It almost ends like a fairy tale: “And they lived happily ever after…” (See Job 42:12). The book raises many questions for readers – even thousands of years later; but, as a professor at university always said,

Recently, I received an email from someone seeking advice on her artwork, but first, some background: “In 2000, severe depression had me in its grip, and as it goes, everyone says you should ‘pull yourself together’… One Sunday morning after many cries of ‘Lord help’, I stood in my living room, and it felt as if someone was speaking to me: ‘read Job’! I spent a whole year reading the book of Job! I wrestled