The Bible in a Year – 11 August

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

11 August. Job chapters 21-23

In the first of these chapters, Job responds to Zophar’s charge that his suffering must be the result of sin. His argument boils down to the fact that many wicked people live safe and prosperous lives, therefore there is no causal connection between the two.  That was an insight ahead of its time.

 

Eliphaz takes his turn next, arguing that Job has in fact “exacted pledges from [his] family for no reason, stripped the naked of their clothing, given no water to the weary to drink, withheld bread from the hungry, sent widows away empty-handed,  and crushed the arms of orphans” (22:6-9).  These are serious charges, with no evidence provided, and Job refutes them in the next chapter by reaffirming that he has kept all God’s commandments.

 

But we do know from the opening of the book that Job was very rich. Had he in fact become rich at the expense of others?  Was he in reality a hard-headed businessman profiting from impoverishing others? In modern capitalist societies that is often the case – it is difficult for a business to be both ethical and profitable.  So maybe there is some truth to the charges of his accusers, and his protestations of innocence do not hold up. Jesus condemned those who thought they were righteous because they obeyed the letter of the Jewish law yet actually broke it in spirit by exploiting others; maybe Job was like them.  Not the hero he appeared to be at the start of the story.

 

The Bible in a Year – 10 August

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10 August. Job chapters 17-20

We now observe perhaps Job’s lowest point. In chapter 17 he feels not only punished by God but forsaken by other people, and ready for the welcome darkness of death.  Bildad (who in chapter 8 had accused Job of impurity before God) claims in chapter 18 that it is only the wicked who suffer sudden calamity, disease and homelessness, as Job has experienced.  Zophar makes a similar point in chapter 20. Job’s reply to Bildad in chapter 19 is essentially that even if it is true, even if he is being punished for wrongdoing, then it is God’s judgement and not man’s, and so there is no excuse for his friends to criticise him.  That is an important lesson for everyone – being critical of someone’s wrong actions is one thing, but being critical of the suffering that results from it (whether ‘natural law’ such as cancer resulting from smoking tobacco), or the judgement of human courts, or punishment by God as Job’s friends understood his troubles) is another matter, and should be avoided. Job’s rejection by his family, servants and friends is worse for him than the physical torment of his sores.

 

In 19:25-26 we have what seems like a ray of sunshine amid the gloom. “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God”. These words are familiar to anyone who knows Handel’s Messiah, as they start part 3 of the oratorio, following the triumphant Hallelujah chorus at the end of part 2.  They appear to refer to the general resurrection of the dead at the end of time, at least that is the context within Handel’s arrangement of Scripture.   In this original context they probably mean, rather, that unlike the false accusations of men, after death Job himself will at least meet with God and receive a fair judgement of his life.

The Bible in a Year – 9 August

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9 August. Job chapters 14-16

Job continues his rant against God, though now it becomes more of a grumble. Unlike trees that can sprout new growth after being cut down, he says, humans will not live again on this earth after they die. So he asks God not to look on us in our imperfections, but instead allow us to enjoy this life in peace (14:6), and for himself to be sent to Sheol (in other words, to be allowed to die) so that he will not feel God’s gaze on him.  That is the position of the agnostic, who believes in the possibility of God’s existence but prefers to ignore it and get on with life, while recognising death as the finality it is, bodily speaking.

Eliphaz then speaks again, and his charge is one to be taken seriously: “But you are doing away with the fear of God, and hindering meditation before God” (15:4).  For those of us who do believe in an actively loving God, it is sad to see people turning away from him, letting the circumstances of life draw them away from the same God who also wants them to enjoy his love and compassion even in bad times.  But unfairly, Eliphaz then goes on to compare Job with those who do not believe in God at all, who “trust in emptiness, deceiving themselves; for emptiness will be their recompense” (15:31). Emptiness – maybe a similar concept to the “vanity” of Ecclesiastes –  is the faith of the atheist, the very opposite of the idea of a world created by a loving God and filled with meaning.

Eliphaz calls Job’s speeches “windy” and Job returns the jibe.  How can he and his friends understand Job’s position when they are not sharing his experience?  He feels to have been “set up as a target” by God – an accurate assessment of the spiritual battle that was revealed in chapter 1 – yet he still does not lose faith in the God whom he can still describe as his witness in heaven, who will vouch for him (16:14).  That is the difference between the atheist or agnostic and the true believer – one who will never cease to trust in God’s essential goodness, even when it seems one is on the receiving end of God’s anger.

The Bible in a Year – 8 August

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8 August. Job chapters 10-13

Job’s outcry at God continues, not merely wishing he had died in infancy but now that he had ever been born at all. He considers his physical suffering and grief as proof that there must be some sin in his life. God is seen as remote, uncaring, even inhuman – “Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as humans see? Are your days like the days of mortals, or your years like human years?” (10:4-5) – of course, in the light of the revelation of Jesus, we can now answer those questions in the affirmative – in him God did have human eyes, and a human lifespan.  But Job (or whoever wrote this story) did not have the benefit of hindsight.

After a brief speech by the third of his companions, Zophar, which again assumes that Job must have sinned, Job turns on his companions with astonishing courage.  Despite his suffering (or maybe because of it) he throws back at them their accusations of sin, reaffirming his innocence before God and accusing them of sinning by having too limited an understanding of God’s ways.  Then towards the end of chapter 13 he turns from them to God, and with equal boldness charges God with hiding his face, and challenges the Almighty to reveal if he has, in fact, sinned.

This shows what a strong character Job has. Few people, suffering financial loss, bereavement and incurable illness, would be in a position to argue with other people, let alone with God himself. But Job represents those who have built up a good relationship with God over the years, so that in times of trouble they are like the deep-rooted tree of Psalm 1 which can continue to flourish in a drought.  Those who know that they are in a right relationship with God can cope with anything.

The Bible in a Year – 7 August

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7 August. Job chapters 6-9

In chapters 6 and 7, Job replies first to Eliphaz, criticising him for not understanding the depths of Job’s depression. It is not for those whose life is going well to criticize those who are suffering, unless they can truly empathise from their own experience.  But few people have suffered like Job.  Then Job turns his anger to God himself, still stopping short of the sin of “cursing” God, but nevertheless very angry with him. “If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of humanity? Why have you made me your target? Why have I become a burden to you?” (7:20)

In chapter 8 the second friend, Bildad, tries to persuade Job that if things have gone wrong for him then he cannot be a “pure and upright” person. Job’s reply starts with “Indeed I know that this is so; but how can a mortal be just before God?” (9:2). In other words, no-one can be pure and upright, before a God who (as Job goes on to explain) is all-powerful and can therefore not be argued with, even by one who is (as Job is still sure) “blameless and innocent”(9:20).

It is important to note that being angry with God is not counted here as a sin.  It is a natural reaction to suffering.  If Job could have seen the goings-on in heaven he would have known that it was Satan, not God, who was testing him.  Throughout history people of all faiths have asked “where is God in suffering?” and those without faith have taken the existence of suffering to be either proof that there is no God, or that any god that might exist is not worth knowing. But the story of Job shows us that it is possible to live a good life, believe in God, and yet still suffer; and to react to that suffering with anger, yet still not sin.

 

 

 

 

The Bible in a Year – 6 August

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

6 August. Job chapters 1 to 5

Let me say at the outset of this commentary that Job is one of the books of the Bible that I do not consider to be historical.  The form of the telling of it, the exaggerated series of disasters that start it off, and the equally exaggerated ‘happy ending’, do not suggest that this is the story of a real person.  But we can of course learn a lot from it. The opening verse gives us a clue as to what it is really about by describing Job as “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil”.  He also, we are told, prayed every morning for his many children (who by the time of this story were adults themselves).  This is someone for whom people mattered more than possessions (of which he had many).

The rest of chapter 1 looks behind the veil of what we think of as reality to reveal how God and the ‘heavenly beings’ (spirits or angels, including the one called Satan) are at work in ways that we cannot see.  It describes how God agrees to let the great faith and goodness of Job be put to the test by Satan manipulating human and natural forces to destroy or capture all his animals, and finally his sons and daughters.  Job passes the first test, and continues to worship God,

Job’s declaration “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” deserves comment.  No money, no animals, not even our relationships with our closest families, will survive death. Contrary to what many people like to believe about their dead relatives merely “slipping away into another room”, the Bible never suggests that these relationships will continue in the same form in the afterlife.  “Naked we return”, in the sense that the afterlife will primarily be about our relationship with God.  The New Testament does add the idea of the “fellowship of saints”, but pictures them as a crowd worshipping God the father and Jesus his son, rather than catching up what we did in this life.

In chapter two, Satan is allowed to torment Job with itching sores all over his body.  His friends come (who are important to the rest of the book) and sit in silence with him for a week, while he goes through the shock and denial that come with sudden bereavement. In the next chapter Job cannot stand it any longer, he passes into the anger stage of grief, and “curses the day of his birth”. Note that he does not curse God – that is the test that has been set for him (though he does not know it).  But understandably, he wishes he had been stillborn and spared the physical pain and emotional anguish that he is now going through. There is nothing wrong with crying out in emotional or physical pain – God, whose son cried out on the cross “why have you forsaken me?”, can take it.

In chapters 4 and 5 the first of his friends, Eliphaz, dares to suggest that Job is in fact a sinner like anyone else. For no-one can be righteous, and therefore he deserves to suffer like anyone else. “Human beings are born to trouble just as sparks fly upward” (5:7).  In fact, Eliphaz suggests that this suffering is good, for “happy is the one whom God reproves; therefore do not despise the discipline of the Almighty” (5:17).

The Bible in a Year – 5 August

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this, and also my introduction to the Proverbs.

5 August. Proverbs chapters 30-31

These last two chapters of the Proverbs are each said to be an ‘oracle’ (something like a prophecy, rather than mere human wisdom).  The second half of chapter 31 is one of my favourites. It is useful as a riposte to anyone who claims that the Bible as a whole is male-centred and undervaluing of women. Yes, there are many more men mentioned in the bible, especially in the parts that deal with battles and priests, for example. But women are rarely far away, and here they come to the fore.

The ‘ideal wife’ of this chapter is no commoner, of course.  The references to her household being clothed in crimson means that she and her husband are both wealthy and influential.  She has access to enough money to buy property, do business deals and employ servants. Not many people are as fortunate as that.  But the point is, that she uses her wealth and influence wisely. She is no ‘WAG’ spending her husband’s income on frivolities. Rather, she works hard herself, and encourages others. She provides for the needs of her own household, but gives money to the poor as well. She is kind in the way she deals with people, and raises her children well.   The summary in verse 30 is worth remembering: “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”  These are the qualities to look for in a partner.

 

The Bible in a Year – 4 August

Please excuse the delay in posting this and the next few instalments, as I have been without Internet access for a few days.

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this, and also my introduction to the Proverbs.

4 August. Proverbs chapters 27-29

Today I am considering just one verse from these three chapters:

“Do not forsake your friend or the friend of your parent; do not go to the house of your kindred on the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbour who is nearby than kindred who are far away.” (27:10)

Friends and family are both great to have. Even introverts like myself (I use the term in its technical sense, meaning someone who is happy working or relaxing alone) enjoy spending time with friends and relatives.  Like many people in our increasingly mobile society, my family is scattered – my nearest cousin lives twenty miles away, and my mother and sisters much further than that.  So I particularly value friends. Some of those friends live close and I see them every week (or more), others are old friends is different parts of the country whom I meet less often but are still in my thoughts and prayers.

Loneliness on the other hand is a state that many people fear, especially as they get older.  One of the downsides of living a long life is that gradually, and more frequently with the passing years, one’s older relatives and friends, and then those of one’s own generation, die and are taken from us.  It is not always easy to find new friends in later life, and for those of us who do not have children of our own it can be difficult to make friends with younger generations in the family.

The writer of this proverb may be saying something similar.  Kindred (family) may have a moral or even legal obligation – stronger in Biblical times than our own –  to look after their kin.  See the book of Ruth for example, where even a distant relative by marriage from a foreign land was owed a duty to be looked after. But in practice, having a loving sister hundreds of miles away is not of great help if you have some urgent need today.  The woman next door, or the friend a few streets away, is likely to be of more help, so make sure you have such networks in place – and of course, offer your own help to them in return.

The Bible in a Year. 3 August.

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this, and also my introduction to the Proverbs.

3 August. Proverbs chapters 24-26

From today’s reading I will take one saying found in 24:10-12:

“If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength being small; if you hold back from rescuing those taken away to death, those who go staggering to the slaughter; if you say, ‘Look, we did not know this’—does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it? And will he not repay all according to their deeds?”

In this interconnected world of ours, we have no excuse these days of “we did not know this”.  Every day our screens show us some of the worst things that are happening in the world, whether it is a ‘natural’ famine or flood (which is probably exacerbated by human-induced climate change anyway), or wars or terrorism, or political decisions such as oppression of minorities.  For every one brought to us by the BBC or Facebook, there are many more that we can find out about easily, if we want to, through the humanitarian agencies who do their bit to alleviate human suffering.

But in the words of Harari, “there are no longer any natural famines, only political ones”.  In other words, humanity has the power to feed the world, to virtually eradicate most diseases, to put down weapons and invest in peace.  It is only the sin of human pride that spends money instead on armaments and vanity projects.

It is not only at a national level that this applies.  St Paul was quoting Proverbs 25:21-22 when he wrote to the Romans “If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink; for you will heap coals of fire on their heads.”  If it is no excuse to say “we did not know”, it is also no excuse to say of those suffering close to home “they are not ours”.  For we are all God’s children, and whatever we have is given to us to help others.

 

The Bible in a Year – 2 August

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this, and also my introduction to the Proverbs.

2 August. Proverbs chapters 22-23.

The first part of chapter 22 finishes the “one-liner” sayings of Solomon that we have looked at over the last few days.  The remainder of today’s reading is headed “Sayings of the wise” and the main thrust of this section of the book is about living in moderation, and avoiding excess. There are particular warnings for those who move in the circles of the rich and powerful (23:1-5/20-21) and of the dangers of drunkenness (23:29-35). The wise person should live a frugal lifestyle, not seek power and wealth, and avoid addictions.

There are also warnings for those who, by contrast, associate with the poor (22:22-23). Poor people are not to be taken advantage of, as they have God’s favour. But they are not idealised here: among the poor are those who are given to anger and fail to repay loans (22:24-27), and those who offer hospitality only out of convention and not genuine friendship (23:6-7).  The wise person has to distance themselves from such “foolish” behaviour (in the Biblical sense of the word).

What can Christians today learn from this? There has been much talk in the Church in recent decades of God’s bias to the poor”, and much condemnation of corporate greed and personal riches. But if we take these proverbs seriously, we need to be aware of the sins that so often go with poverty as well as those which are fuelled by wealth.

Jesus was known for associating with anyone: rulers and rich people, farmers and fishermen, beggars and prostitutes.  He enjoyed the hospitality he was offered, but as far as we know did not get drunk.  He lived as a single man, probably with single women among his disciples, but as far as we know remained celibate. He had no money to lend, but gave sacrificially of his time and healing powers. He sent his disciples out with the good news of the coming Kingdom, reliant on the hospitality of others, but told them to shake the dust off their feet when it was not forthcoming.

So the lesson seems to be, for your own benefit seek out the company of people who live decently.  They might be rich or poor, that does not matter, as long as they are not seeking to take advantage of you and do not threaten your safety or moral welfare.

But when it comes to the mission of that Church, like that of Jesus, then risks do have to be taken in order to take the Gospel to everyone.  No wonder Jesus told his disciples to be “as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves”, In other words, watch out for the dangers posed by people at all levels of society, but give them the benefit of the doubt in the name of Christ.