One down, fifty-one to go...

If you are still with me, congratulations!    We are a little more than one week into reading through the Bible in chronological order.  If you have just recently joined us, welcome!  It's ok to jump in with today's reading, although if you want to go back and catch up, that's a good idea when you have time.  The reading schedule we are following can be found here. 

I only finished part of the reading yesterday morning, and just got caught up this morning.  While it is interesting to see the poetic and creative ways in which people can repeat themselves, this section does seem somewhat repetitive. 

So far it boils down to this: 

Job's friends:  You suffer because you have sinned.  Only a wicked person would suffer so much.  The fact that you are suffering means you must have sinned.  Repent and God will restore you.  This is the way things work, according to our observations.

Job:  Your observations are selective.  Haven't you seen that the wicked do indeed prosper?  Therefore, isn't it also logical that good people can suffer?  I am innocent.  Why doesn't God answer me and prove these "friends" of mine wrong? God is silent, yet I will still believe in Him.

Yet we know that none of the words of Scripture are superfluous; God has a purpose in each one (ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable [useful]...  2Tim.3:16) So, why all of this back and forth? 

One reason may be to establish some generalities as to how the world works, while at the same time demolishing these arguments in relation to any individual case.  God does and will reward righteousness, just not according to our standards or our timetable. Hebrews 11:6 says that God rewards those who diligently seek Him.  Yet God told Abram that He Himself was Abram's "very great reward" (Gen.15:1).  We can see around us that, in general, God blesses the righteous, but God doesn't bless only the righteous.  And the blessings are not always things we can see.

On the flip side, God does and will judge sin, but again, not according to our standards or timetable.  It doesn't seem fair to us when wicked people prosper, but we can rest assured that all sin will be judged in a way that satisfies God's requirements.  This is why it was necessary for Jesus to die on the cross, to bear the punishment for our sin.  Otherwise none of us could claim to be righteous. 

It can be said, in general, that sin does cause suffering.  Greg Laurie once pointed out how much suffering exists in the world that can be directly traced to the violation of the commandment "Thou shalt not commit adultery."  Broken homes, fatherless children, poverty, sexually transmitted diseases, and untold emotional suffering.  Most could be avoided simply by honoring the commandment.  Thankfully there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. (Rom.8:1) He took ALL of our punishment.  We may suffer the natural consequences of our past actions, but the suffering we experience is never punishment for our sin. 

It can also be said, in general, that God blesses the righteous.  The Proverbs are full of descriptions of the logical results of wise and righteous behavior.  Yet it has been said that God is not a cosmic vending machine, and obligated to dispense a blessing if we insert "payment".  God doesn't owe anyone anything.  If we are honest we must recognize that we have been blessed far beyond what we deserve. 

So, that being said, which of the poetic and creative (and "windy") arguments have attracted your attention? 

I think that it's interesting that Job is advised to "inquire of the past generations" (Job 8:8).  Job 14:10 states that "both the gray haired and the aged are among us."  This is quite literally true.  According to the generations in Gen.11, Shem, son of Noah, is still living at this time.  In fact, Noah himself is probably still alive.  Job could go back seven generations and seek the wisdom of his great-great-great-great-great grandfather Noah. 

This also caused me to think that the observations of Job's friends are based on a relatively short period of time.  Fewer than 600 years have passed since the flood, when the world as it was then known was utterly destroyed.  The righteous (Noah and his sons) survived and the wicked (everyone else) perished in the flood.  Job's friends seem to make all of their generalizations based on this relatively narrow time frame.  Let us not make the same mistake of judging the trials of others based on our own limited and flawed observations.