Meditations

The Bible is a dangerous book. Or perhaps I should say, the Bible in the wrong hands is a dangerous book. Why would I think of that now? The friends of Job make me think of it. Their wisdom is sometimes so poetically beautiful. If you underline all the “beautiful” verses, you could really find a handful of gems in their conversations with Job. The problem is that one can quote individual verses entirely out

The second friend who tried to “instill insight” into Job’s mind was Bildad. While Eliphaz was still somewhat subtle in implying that Job was at fault, Bildad is not diplomatic at all. The fact that your children are dead, Job, is the result of their own sinful actions (Job 8:4). Wow! But it gets worse: where Job saw himself as innocent, Bildad outrightly declares him guilty. Even though both Job 1 and 2 teach that

“What is man that You exalt him, that You pay attention to him?” (Job 7:17) These words of Job sound so familiar! They remind us of the beautiful Psalm 8, where David (centuries later) begins and ends his song of praise with these words: “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth” (v2, 10). Jubilantly, David looks at the life around him and is joyfully astonished that God is concerned with

Satan has disappeared from the scene. Three new names appear on the stage: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. They come from afar to comfort their friend, but how do you comfort someone when the pain is too heavy? For seven days, they sit with Job, silent (Job 2:11-13). And then Job begins (in Chapter 3): Why? Why? Six times: why? Life has lost all meaning for him! Don’t you also want to cry when you read

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.