he listens

Posted on July 8, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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he listens

Job 30:1-31 (JDV)

Job 30:1 But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have rejected as tenders of my sheep dogs.
Job 30:2 What use to me was the strength of their hands? Their vigor was gone from them.
Job 30:3 Emaciated from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, the desolate wasteland by night.
Job 30:4 They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
Job 30:5 They were banished from human society; people shouted at them as if they were thieves.
Job 30:6 They are living on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
Job 30:7 They bray among the shrubs; they huddle beneath the thistles.
Job 30:8 Stupid men, without even a name. They were forced to leave the land.
Job 30:9 Now I am mocked by their songs; I have become an object of scorn to them.
Job 30:10 They abhor me and keep their distance from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
Job 30:11 Because God has loosened my bowstring and oppressed me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.
Job 30:12 The rabble rise at my right; they trap my feet and construct their siege ramp against me.
Job 30:13 They tear up my path; they contribute to my destruction, without anyone to help them.
Job 30:14 They advance as through a gaping breach; they keep rolling in through the ruins.
Job 30:15 Terrors are turned loose against me; they chase my dignity away like the wind, and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.
Job 30:16 Now my throat is poured out within me, and days of suffering have seized me.
Job 30:17 Night pierces my bones, but my gnawing pains never rest.
Job 30:18 My clothing is distorted with great force; he chokes me by the neck of my garment.
Job 30:19 He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.
Job 30:20 I cry out to you for help, but you do not answer me; when I stand up, you merely look at me.
Job 30:21 You have turned against me with cruelty; you harass me with your strong hand.
Job 30:22 You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it; you scatter me in the storm.
Job 30:23 Yes, I know that you will lead me to death — the place appointed for all who live.
Job 30:24 Yet no one would send out his hand against a ruined person when he cries out to him for help because of his distress.
Job 30:25 Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times? Has my throat not grieved for the needy?
Job 30:26 But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness came.
Job 30:27 I am churning within and cannot rest; days of suffering confront me.
Job 30:28 I walk about darkened, but not by the sun. I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.
Job 30:29 I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.
Job 30:30 My skin darkens and flakes off, and my bones burn with fever.
Job 30:31 My lyre is used for mourning and my flute to make the sound of weeping.

he listens

What we hear in this chapter is the prayer of a man who is used to being honest with his creator. He has been humbled and has suffered unjustly and he is not just sitting around quoting worship songs. He is disappointed, and that is OK. God is a big guy. He can take it. Our Father would rather hear our honest complaints than the highest praise coming from an insincere heart.

LORD, thank you for listening when we vent. Thank you for hearing how we feel, and still caring for us.

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good ole days

Posted on July 7, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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good ole days

Job 29:1-25 (JDV)

Job 29:1 Job added to his discourse, and said:
Job 29:2 If only I could be as in months before, in the days when God watched over me,
Job 29:3 when his lamp shone above my head, and I walked through darkness by his light!
Job 29:4 I would be as I was in the days of my youth when God’s friendship rested on my tent,
Job 29:5 when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
Job 29:6 when my feet were bathed in curds and the rock poured out streams of oil for me!
Job 29:7 When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the town square,
Job 29:8 the young men saw me and withdrew, while older men stood to their feet.
Job 29:9 City officials stopped talking and covered their mouths with their hands.
Job 29:10 The noblemen’s voices were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
Job 29:11 When they heard me, they blessed me, and when they saw me, they spoke well of me.
Job 29:12 Because I rescued the poor who cried out for help, and the fatherless child who had no one to support him.
Job 29:13 The dying blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart rejoice.
Job 29:14 I clothed myself in righteousness, and it enveloped me; my just decisions were like a robe and a turban.
Job 29:15 I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.
Job 29:16 I was a father to the needy, and I examined the case of the stranger.
Job 29:17 I shattered the fangs of the unfair and snatched the prey from his teeth.
Job 29:18 So I thought, “I will die in my own nest and multiply my days as the sand.
Job 29:19 My roots will have access to water, and the dew will rest on my branches all night.
Job 29:20 My whole being will be refreshed within me, and my bow will be renewed in my hand.”
Job 29:21 Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my advice.
Job 29:22 After a word from me they did not speak again; my speech settled on them like dew.
Job 29:23 They waited for me as for the rain and opened their mouths as for spring showers.
Job 29:24 If I smiled at them, they couldn’t believe it; they were thrilled at the light of my countenance.
Job 29:25 I directed their course and presided as chief. I lived as a king among his troops, like one who comforts those who mourn.

good ole days

Listening to Job describe the kind of life he had lived, it is not hard to understand how much of a temptation he had to do as his wife had suggested: curse God and die. But Job remained faithful to the God who allowed him to lose it all. Job understood that even though he had lost all the power, wealth and influence that anyone could want, he had not lost his relationship with God. Yes, he regrets what he lost, but he stays true to himself.

LORD, give us the wisdom to hang on to you, no matter what we might lose.

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wisdom mine

Posted on July 6, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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wisdom mine

Job 28:1-28 (JDV)

Job 28:1 Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.
Job 28:2 Iron is taken from the ground, and copper is smelted from ore.
Job 28:3 He puts an end to the darkness; he probes the deepest recesses for ore in the gloomy darkness.
Job 28:4 Far from where people live, he sinks a shaft, in places travelers have long forgotten, far from other mortals he dangles and sways.
Job 28:5 Food may come from the ground, but below the surface, it is transformed by fire.
Job 28:6 Its rocks are a source of lapis lazuli, containing flecks of gold.
Job 28:7 That path no bird of prey knows; no falcon’s eye has seen it.
Job 28:8 Proud beasts have never walked on it; no lion has ever prowled over it.
Job 28:9 He uses a flint tool and turns up ore from the root of the mountains.
Job 28:10 He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eyes spot every treasure.
Job 28:11 He dams up the streams from flowing so that he may bring to light what is hidden.
Job 28:12 But where can wisdom be found, and where is insight located?
Job 28:13 No mortal can know its value since it cannot be found in the land of the living.
Job 28:14 The ocean depths say, “It’s not in me,” while the sea declares, “I don’t have it.”
Job 28:15 Gold cannot be exchanged for it, and silver cannot be weighed out for its price.
Job 28:16 Wisdom cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or lapis lazuli.
Job 28:17 Gold and glass do not compare with it, and articles of fine gold cannot be exchanged for it.
Job 28:18 Coral and quartz are not worth mentioning. The price of wisdom is beyond pearls.
Job 28:19 Topaz from Cush cannot compare with it, and it cannot be valued in pure gold.
Job 28:20 Where then does wisdom come from, and where is insight located?
Job 28:21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the sky.
Job 28:22 Abaddon and Death say, “We have heard news of it with our ears.”
Job 28:23 But God understands the way to wisdom, and he knows its location.
Job 28:24 For he looks to the ends of the land and sees everything under the sky.
Job 28:25 When God fixed the weight of the wind and distributed the water by measure,
Job 28:26 when he established a limit for the rain and a path for the lightning,
Job 28:27 he considered wisdom and evaluated it; he established it and examined it.
Job 28:28 He said to mankind, “The fear of Yahveh — that is wisdom. And to turn from evil is insight.”

wisdom mine

Job’s therapists had claimed to be sharing great wisdom. They thought they knew his situation and what caused it. They thought they were helping him by their wisdom. But Job speaks of wisdom as illusive. He knows where gold and silver and precious stones come from. But wisdom can only be found with God. The book of Job challenges us to rethink our assumptions about how the world works.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” James 1:5 ESV

LORD, we pray for wisdom. Forgive us for looking for it in the wrong place.

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hand of correction

Posted on July 5, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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hand of correction

Job 27:1-23 (JDV)

Job 27:1 Job added to his discourse, and said:
Job 27:2 As God lives, who has deprived me of justice, and the Almighty who has made my throat bitter,
Job 27:3 as long as my breathing is still in me and the breath from God remains in my nostrils,
Job 27:4 my lips will not speak unjustly, and my tongue will not utter deceit.
Job 27:5 I will never affirm that you are right. I will maintain my integrity until I die.
Job 27:6 I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go. My conscience will not accuse me as long as I live!
Job 27:7 May my enemy be like the wicked and my opponent like the unjust.
Job 27:8 Because what hope does the godless person have when he is cut off, when God silences his throat?
Job 27:9 Will God hear his cry when distress comes on him?
Job 27:10 Will he delight in the Almighty? Will he call on God always?
Job 27:11 I will teach you about God’s power. I will not conceal what the Almighty has planned.
Job 27:12 All of you have seen this for yourselves, why do you keep up this empty talk?
Job 27:13 This is a wicked man’s lot from God, the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty.
Job 27:14 Even if his children increase, they are destined for the sword; his descendants will never have enough food.
Job 27:15 Those who survive him will be buried by the plague, yet their widows will not weep for them.
Job 27:16 Though he piles up silver like dust and heaps up fine clothing like clay —
Job 27:17 he may heap it up, but the righteous will wear it, and the innocent will divide up his silver.
Job 27:18 The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon or a shelter set up by a watchman.
Job 27:19 He lies down wealthy but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, it is gone.
Job 27:20 Terrors overtake him like a flood; a storm wind sweeps him away at night.
Job 27:21 An east wind picks him up, and he is gone; it carries him away from his place.
Job 27:22 It blasts at him without mercy, while he flees desperately from its force.
Job 27:23 It claps its hands at him and scoffs at him from its place.

hand of correction

We have to be careful that we do not read Job as if he is now agreeing with his therapists. He has all along argued that his misfortune was not God’s doing. What he says now sounds a lot like what his therapists have been saying, except Job is arguing that people can live their whole lives in peace and riches before they see judgment. Job offers to teach his therapists about the hand of God. God’s hand corrects the wicked, but it may be a lifetime before that correction comes. That is no problem from God’s perspective, since he is immortal. Job is arguing that we cannot tell if a person is suffering whether it is God’s judgment or some other cause.

LORD, when bad things happen, help us to trust you, but not to blame you.

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we know differently

Posted on July 4, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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we know differently

Job 25:1-26:14 (JDV)

Job 25:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
Job 25:2 Dominion and terror belong to him, the one who establishes harmony in his heights.
Job 25:3 Can his troops be numbered? Does his light not shine on everyone?
Job 25:4 How can a mortal be justified before God? How can one born of woman be pure?
Job 25:5 If even the moon does not shine and the stars are not pure in his sight,
Job 25:6 how much less a mortal, who is a maggot, a son of Adam, who is a worm!
Job 26:1 Then Job answered and said:
Job 26:2 See how you have helped the powerless and delivered the arm that is weak!
Job 26:3 See how you have counseled the unwise and abundantly provided insight!
Job 26:4 With whom did you speak these words? Whose breathing came out of your mouth?
Job 26:5 The departed spirits tremble beneath the waters and all that inhabit them.
Job 26:6 Sheol is naked in God’s presence, and Abaddon has no covering.
Job 26:7 He sends the northern skies over empty space; he hangs the land on nothing.
Job 26:8 He wraps up the water in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst beneath its weight.
Job 26:9 He obscures the view of his throne, spreading his cloud over it.
Job 26:10 He laid out the horizon on the surface of the water at the boundary between light and darkness.
Job 26:11 The pillars that hold up the sky tremble astounded at his rebuke.
Job 26:12 By his power he struck the sea, and by his understanding, he crushed Rahab.
Job 26:13 By his breath the sky gained its beauty; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
Job 26:14 These are but the fringes of his ways; how faint is the word we hear of him! Who can understand his mighty thunder?

we know differently

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 see, Job was not on trial, and neither was God. The three therapists and their presuppositions are what this is all about. Their conventional wisdom was making God the author of all the misfortune that Job suffered. We (the readers) know differently. We know about Satan and his insistence on attacking Job to get him to renounce his faith. There is evil here, but it is not in God or his faithful servant. The evil is brought on by Satan, and helped by the prideful and their condemnation of the innocent. Job argues that God is above it all, and he is.

LORD, forgive us for blaming you for the evil that befalls us.

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a plea for vindication

Posted on July 3, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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a plea for vindication

Job 24:1-25 (JDV)

Job 24:1 Why does the Almighty not keep times for judgment? Why do those who know him never see his days?
Job 24:2 The wicked displace boundary markers. They steal a flock and provide pasture for it.
Job 24:3 They drive away the donkey owned by the fatherless and take the widow’s ox as collateral.
Job 24:4 They push the needy off the road; the poor of the land are forced into hiding.
Job 24:5 Like wild donkeys in the wilderness, the poor go out to their task of foraging for food; the desert provides bread for their children.
Job 24:6 They gather their fodder in the field and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
Job 24:7 Without clothing, they spend the night naked, having no covering against the cold.
Job 24:8 Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks, shelterless.
Job 24:9 The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral.
Job 24:10 Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry sheaves but go hungry.
Job 24:11 They crush olives in their presses; they tread the winepresses but go thirsty.
Job 24:12 From the city, men groan; the pierced throats cry for help, yet God pays no attention to this crime.
Job 24:13 The wicked are those who rebel against the light. They do not recognize its ways or stay on its paths.
Job 24:14 The murderer rises at dawn to kill the poor and needy, and by night he becomes a thief.
Job 24:15 The adulterer’s eye watches for twilight, thinking, “No eye will see me,” and he covers his face.
Job 24:16 In the dark they break into houses; by day they lock themselves in, never experiencing the light.
Job 24:17 For the morning is like darkness to them. Surely, they are familiar with the terrors of darkness!
Job 24:18 They float on the surface of the water. Their section of the ground is cursed, so that they never go to their vineyards.
Job 24:19 As dry ground and heat snatch away the melted snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned.
Job 24:20 The womb forgets them; worms feed on them; they are remembered no more. That is how injustice is broken like a tree.
Job 24:21 They prey on the childless woman who is unable to conceive, and do not deal kindly with the widow.
Job 24:22 Yet God drags away the mighty by his power; when he rises against them, they have no assurance of life.
Job 24:23 He gives them a sense of security, so they can rely on it, but his eyes watch over their ways.
Job 24:24 They are exalted for a moment, then gone; they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else. They wither like heads of grain.
Job 24:25 If this is not true, then who can prove me a liar and show that my speech is worthless?

a plea for vindication

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 righteousness will be vindicated. Instead most of the innocent will have to wait until the resurrection to see vindication. From God’s standpoint, judgment day is not far off. But most of us will have times where we wish it were here already. We see the helpless being exploited, and we cry out for vindication.

“he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31).

LORD, give us patience to wait for the time of judgment.

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I would plead my case

Posted on July 2, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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I would plead my case

Job 23:1-17 (JDV)

Job 23:1 Then Job answered and said:
Job 23:2 My complaint is bitter today as well. His hand is heavy despite my groaning.
Job 23:3 If only I knew how to find him, so that I could go to his throne.
Job 23:4 I would plead my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.
Job 23:5 I would learn how he would answer me; and understand what he would say to me.
Job 23:6 Would he prosecute me forcefully? No, he would certainly pay attention to me.
Job 23:7 There an upright man could reason with him, and I would escape from my endless Judge.
Job 23:8 If I go east, he is not there, and if I go west, I cannot perceive him.
Job 23:9 When he is at work to the north, I cannot see him; when he turns south, I cannot find him.
Job 23:10 Yet he knows the way I have taken; when he has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold.
Job 23:11 My feet have followed in his tracks; I have kept to his way and not turned aside.
Job 23:12 I have not departed from the commands from his lips; I have treasured the words from his mouth more than my daily food.
Job 23:13 But he is unchangeable; who can oppose him? He does what his throat desires.
Job 23:14 He will certainly accomplish what he has decreed for me, and he has many more things like these in mind.
Job 23:15 Therefore I am terrified in his presence; when I consider this, I am afraid of him.
Job 23:16 God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me.
Job 23:17 Yet I am not destroyed by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.

I would plead my case

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 righteousness will be vindicated. Instead most of the innocent will have to wait until the resurrection to see vindication. From God’s standpoint, judgment day is not far off. But most of us will have times where we wish it were here already. We see the helpless being exploited, and we cry out for vindication.

“he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31).

LORD, give us patience to wait for the time of judgment.

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come to terms

Posted on July 1, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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come to terms

Job 22:1-30 (JDV)

Job 22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
Job 22:2 Can a healthy man be of any use to God? Can even a wise man be of use to him?
Job 22:3 Does it delight the Almighty if you are righteous? Does he profit if you perfect your behavior?
Job 22:4 Does he correct you and take you to court because of your piety?
Job 22:5 Isn’t your wickedness abundant and aren’t your iniquities endless?
Job 22:6 For you took collateral from your brothers without cause, stripping off their clothes and leaving them naked.
Job 22:7 You gave no water to the thirsty and withheld food from the famished,
Job 22:8 while the land belonged to a powerful man and an influential man lived on it.
Job 22:9 You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
Job 22:10 Therefore snares surround you, and sudden dread terrifies you,
Job 22:11 or darkness, so you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.
Job 22:12 Isn’t God as high as the sky? And look at the highest stars — how lofty they are!
Job 22:13 Yet you say, “What does God know? Can he judge through total darkness?
Job 22:14 Clouds veil him so that he cannot see, as he walks on the circle of the sky.”
Job 22:15 Will you continue the ancient path that wicked men have walked?
Job 22:16 They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were washed away by a river.
Job 22:17 They were the ones who said to God, “Leave us alone!” and “What can the Almighty do to us?”
Job 22:18 But it was he who filled their houses with good things. The counsel of the wicked is far from me!
Job 22:19 The righteous see this and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying,
Job 22:20 “Surely our opponents are made to disappear, and fire has consumed what they left behind.”
Job 22:21 Come to terms with God and be at peace; in this way good will come to you.
Job 22:22 Receive instruction from his mouth and place his sayings in your heart.
Job 22:23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be renewed. If you banish injustice from your tent
Job 22:24 and consign your gold to the dust, the gold of Ophir to the stones in the wadis,
Job 22:25 the Almighty will be your gold and your finest silver.
Job 22:26 Then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.
Job 22:27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfil your vows.
Job 22:28 When you decide, it will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways.
Job 22:29 When others are humiliated and you say, “Lift them up,” God will save the humble.
Job 22:30 He will even rescue the guilty one, who will be rescued by the purity of your hands.

come to terms

Eliphaz urges Job to “come to terms 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 Job’s therapists to shut up and leave him alone. But the very fact that Job is suffering misfortune speaks so loudly to them makes the therapists incapable of seeing the truth.

What do you know? is it the truth, or is it just what you have been taught. This very ancient book teaches us to rethink our presuppositions – even our religious ones. Before we dare to proclaim that we are defending God’s position, we had better study his word. We do not want to go our whole lives defending a wrong worldview.

LORD, give us the discernment to know your will from your word.

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not a machine

Posted on June 30, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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not a machine

Job 21:1-34 (JDV)

Job 21:1 Then Job answered and said:
Job 21:2 Listen intently to my words; let this be the consolation you offer.
Job 21:3 Bear with me while I speak; then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking.
Job 21:4 As for me, is my complaint against a human being? Then why shouldn’t I be impatient?
Job 21:5 Look at me and shudder; put your hand over your mouth.
Job 21:6 When I think about it, I am terrified and my body trembles in horror.
Job 21:7 Why do the wicked continue to live, growing old and becoming powerful?
Job 21:8 Their children are established while they are still alive, and their descendants, before their eyes.
Job 21:9 Their homes are secure and free of fear; no rod from God strikes them.
Job 21:10 Their bulls breed without fail; their cows calve and do not miscarry.
Job 21:11 They let their little ones run around like lambs; their children skip about,
Job 21:12 singing to the tambourine and lyre and rejoicing at the sound of the flute.
Job 21:13 They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.
Job 21:14 Yet they say to God, “Leave us alone! We don’t want to know your ways.
Job 21:15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him, and what will we gain by pleading with him?”
Job 21:16 But their prosperity is not of their own doing. The counsel of the wicked is far from me!
Job 21:17 How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come on them? Does he apportion destruction in his anger?
Job 21:18 Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff a storm sweeps away?
Job 21:19 God reserves a person’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the person himself, so that he may know it.
Job 21:20 Let his own eyes see his demise; let him drink from the Almighty’s wrath!
Job 21:21 For what does he care about his family once he is dead, when the number of his months has run out?
Job 21:22 Can anyone teach God knowledge, since he judges the exalted ones?
Job 21:23 One person dies in excellent health, completely secure and at ease.
Job 21:24 His body is well fed, and his bones are full of marrow.
Job 21:25 Yet another person dies with a bitter throat, having never tasted prosperity.
Job 21:26 But they both lie in the dust, and worms cover them.
Job 21:27 I know your thoughts very well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
Job 21:28 For you say, “Where now is the nobleman’s house?” and “Where are the tents the wicked lived in?”
Job 21:29 Have you never consulted those who travel the roads? Don’t you accept their reports?
Job 21:30 Indeed, the evil person is spared from the day of disaster, rescued from the day of wrath.
Job 21:31 Who would denounce his behavior to his face? Who would repay him for what he has done?
Job 21:32 He is carried to the grave, and someone keeps watch over his tomb.
Job 21:33 The dirt on his grave is sweet to him. Everyone follows behind him, and those who go before him are without number.
Job 21:34 So how can you offer me such futile comfort? Your answers are deceptive.

not a machine

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 does not happen mechanistically. Good men suffer, while the wicked are often spared any consequences to their depravity. They go to Sheol (where everyone goes at death to await resurrection and judgment) in peace. Justice is delayed until judgment day. This life is not a machine, dispensing out justice to those who need it. If it were, then people in Job’s condition would obviously be guilty of something to deserve their fate.

LORD, this world is not fair, but you are. You promise hope beyond this world. Thank you.

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karma

Posted on June 29, 2024 by Jefferson Vann

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karma

Job 20:1-29 (JDV)

Job 20:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:
Job 20:2 This is why my disquieting thoughts compel me to answer, because I am upset!
Job 20:3 I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my insight makes me reply.
Job 20:4 Don’t you know that ever since antiquity, from the time a human was placed on the land,
Job 20:5 the joy of the wicked has been brief and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?
Job 20:6 Though his arrogance reaches the sky, and his head touches the clouds,
Job 20:7 he will vanish forever like his own dung. Those who know him will ask, “Where is he?”
Job 20:8 He will fly away like a dream and never be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night.
Job 20:9 The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his place will no longer see him.
Job 20:10 His children will beg from the poor, because his own hands must give back his wealth.
Job 20:11 His frame might be full of youthful vigor, but it will lie down with him in dust.
Job 20:12 Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,
Job 20:13 though he cherishes it and will not let it go but keeps it in his mouth,
Job 20:14 yet the food in his stomach turns into cobras’ venom inside him.
Job 20:15 He swallows wealth but must vomit it up; God will force it from his stomach.
Job 20:16 He will suck the poison of cobras; a viper’s fangs will kill him.
Job 20:17 He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and curds.
Job 20:18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he doesn’t enjoy the profits from his trading.
Job 20:19 For he oppressed and abandoned the poor; he seized a house he did not build.
Job 20:20 Because his appetite is never satisfied, he does not let anything he desires escape.
Job 20:21 Nothing is left for him to consume; therefore, his prosperity will not last.
Job 20:22 At the height of his success distress will come to him; the full weight of misery will crush him.
Job 20:23 When he fills his stomach, God will send his burning anger against him, raining it down on him while he is eating.
Job 20:24 If he flees from an iron weapon, an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him.
Job 20:25 He pulls it out of his back, the flashing tip out of his liver. Terrors come over him.
Job 20:26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned by human hands will consume him; it will feed on what is left in his tent.
Job 20:27 The sky will expose his iniquity, and the ground will revolt against him.
Job 20:28 The possessions in his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God’s anger.
Job 20:29 This is the wicked person’s due from God, the inheritance God ordained for him.

karma

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 is always the result of our past actions is comforting to the rich, and sometimes the poor prefer it as well, because it challenges them to take command of their own destiny. No one is comfortable being a pawn in the game of life. But the book of Job reminds us that there are more players than just ourselves. Sometimes our best efforts are trumped by those with better hands. In the end, the purpose of the game is not to win. It is to walk away still being friends with all the players. Job knew that. His therapists did not.

LORD, no matter what happens to us, help us to hold on to our relationship with you.

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