Author Archives: Jefferson Vann
above it all
Job 25-26 Job allows Bildad only six verses before he cuts him off. He has had enough. Zophar will not even have another turn. Job’s response is like saying “do you really think God needs you to defend him?” You … Continue reading
the time of judgment
Job 23-24 Job’s therapists insist that he is going through a time of judgment, but Job argues that people usually do not see that kind of judgment. Job wants to have his time before God, and is assured that his … Continue reading
agreeing with God
Job 22 Eliphaz urges Job to “agree with God and be at peace.” Behind the advice is the presumption that Eliphaz is arguing God’s position. He really does no such thing. God is not after repentance from Job. God wants … Continue reading
not fair
Job 21 Job’s therapists had been charging him with sin, and taking the calamity that had fallen upon him as evidence. Job replies – essentially – “what world do you live in?” In the world that Job knows about, justice … Continue reading
reversal of fortune
Job 20 Zophar argues that reversal of fortune is always God’s doing. Those who are exalted (6) he brings down to the depths. Those experiencing sweetness (12) he poisons. The full he devours (22,26). A world in which our condition … Continue reading
Jesus standing on the dust
Job 19 Moses, describing the creation of Adam, says that God formed him or “of dust from the ground.” (Gen. 2:7). The good news of the resurrection is described by Job using the same term that details what we are … Continue reading
losers
Job 18 Bildad is irritated with Job’s insistence that he is suffering innocently. To Bildad, Job is a loser. He has lost both house and household: everything that he could rely on. Bildad’s worldview has only one answer for such … Continue reading
Job’s hope
Job 16-17 Job knew that he was going to die. If he did not die of his present illness, at least in a few years he would succumb to the inevitable (Job 16:22). So, he asks a very important question, … Continue reading
knowing forgiveness
Job 15 What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us?(Job 15:9 ESV) Eliphaz’ question was a good one – if only he had not meant it as a rhetorical … Continue reading
hidden… and remembered
Job 14 Job laments that human beings are not like trees. A tree may be cut down, but given the right conditions, it may sprout back again from the apparently dead stump. But, Job complains, human beings are not like … Continue reading
