Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Eight
It’s time for Job’s second helper Bildad to take a swing and see if he can talk some sense into his despondent friend.
It seems as if Job’s very existence (if one were to believe his testimony of innocence) to be a threat to the honor of God. If God is just, which all attest God to be, then Job’s situation of being unjustly punished seems to call into question the very notion of a just God.
So Bildad would rather silence Job than question his assumptions about God.
And if God is beyond question, then Job must be in the wrong.
But the ground-breaking idea of this book is that we, the readers, know that Job is in the right. And so, it creates a difficultly for the reader in that we are now questioning the justice of God right alongside Job.
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| Bildad is right in that sometimes our foundations are flimsy. |
A simpler world exists for the Bildads. Those in the right are justified. Those in the wrong are punished. Faithfulness will lead to blessing in this lifetime and you can bank on it.
If Job does represent the country of Judah to some extent, then the premise of the book does call into question whether the exile was caused by God because of their sinfulness (which seems to be Bildad’s position), or if the exile just happened to a faithful people (or faithful at least relative to those around them).
The difficulty of randomness as opposed to God being totally in charge of the universe, is that it makes the world a more dangerous place. You might follow all of the right actions and still end up sitting alone in poverty.
So for the faithful during Lent, how do we remain faithful when circumstances move against us? And how does our faith understand that God will “fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy” in spite of the world around you?
Prayer for the day:
Give us, O Lord, steadfast hearts, which no unworthy thought can drag downward, unconquered hearts, which no tribulation can wear out, upright hearts, which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow upon us also, O Lord our God, understanding to know you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer attributed to Saint Thomas of Aquinas, Italy, 13th Century
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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