JOB 22-31
FRIENDS VS JOB (ROUND 3)
But He knows where I am going.
And when He tests me,
I will come out as pure as gold.
—Job 23:10
“Now, I’d like to preface this final round of dialogue by saying the structure and content of the debate seem to be breaking down. Job and company are running out of things to say, while the issue of morality and justice in God’s universe still stands. There are neighboring verses attributed to one participant or another that contradict what has already been said in previous chapters. There is an argument among scholars as to who said what, some even claiming Zophar’s missing speech can be found within Job’s last, but what you can be certain of is that this final round of debate is confusing and solves nothing. Personally, I like to imagine the frustrations boiling over, the scrambled structure representing each man shouting over the next to drive home a useless point as all hell breaks loose among the friends.”
“Alright,” said the boy, “this should be good then.”
“Yes, well, let’s begin with a speech we believe belongs to Eliphaz and go from there.” With that, the old man looked down and read:
Can a man be of any use to God?
Can even a wise man be of use to Him?314
What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would He gain if your ways were blameless?315
Is it because you’re so pious that He accuses you
and brings judgment against you?
No, it’s because of your wickedness!
There is no limit to your sins.316
You have seized pledges from your brothers without cause,
and stripped people naked.317
You have given no water to the weary to drink,
and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
The man with power possessed the land,
and the favored man lived in it.318
You must have sent widows away empty-handed
and crushed the hopes of orphans.319
That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril terrifies you,
why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.
Is not God in the heights of heaven?
And see how lofty are the highest stars!320
Yet you say, “What does God know?
Does He judge through such darkness?
Thick clouds veil Him, so He does not see us
as He goes about in the vaulted heavens.”321
Will you continue on the ancient path
that wicked men have walked?322
They were carried off before their time,
their foundations washed away by a flood.323
They were the ones who said to God,
“Leave us alone!” and “What can the Almighty do to us?”324
Yet He was the one who filled their homes with good things,
so I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.325
The righteous will be happy to see the wicked destroyed,
and the innocent will laugh in contempt.
They will say, “See how our enemies have been destroyed.
The last of them have been consumed in the fire.”326
Submit to God, and you will have peace.
Then things will go well for you.
Listen to His instructions,
and store them in your heart.
If you return to the Almighty,
you will be restored,
so clean up your life.327
If you give up your lust for money
and throw your precious gold into the river,328
then the Almighty will be your gold
and your precious silver.329
Then you will delight in the Almighty
and lift up your face to God.330
You will make your prayer to Him,
and He will hear you,
and you will pay your vows.331
You will succeed in whatever you choose to do,
and light will shine on the road ahead of you.
If people are in trouble and you say,
“Help them,” God will save them.
Even sinners will be rescued.
They will be rescued because your hands are pure.332
The old man looked up again. “You’d think after two rounds Eliphaz would have cut Job some slack, but no, not a chance. We see the depths of his anger and frustration toward Job as he loses his cool trying to peer into Job’s hidden motives. He can no longer answer Job’s arguments, so he twists them into false accusations instead. Habitual critics like Eliphaz fail to get their facts straight and instead lean on colorful imaginations to build a card castle of lies. They compile slanderous claims that can’t be proven and resort to name-calling as a battering ram that pressures others into compromising integrity. There was a show of self-restraint on Job’s behalf as he endured these fantastical surmisings, but he didn’t stay quiet for long,” said the man, looking down to read again:
Even today my complaint is bitter.
His hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.333
If only I knew where to find God, I would go to His court.
I would lay out my case and present my arguments.334
I would learn how He would answer me,
and understand what He would say to me.335
Would He use His great power to argue with me?
No, He would give me a fair hearing.336
There an upright man could argue with Him,
and I would be acquitted forever by my Judge.337
I go east, but He is not there.
I go west, but I cannot find Him.
I do not see Him in the north, for He is hidden.
I look to the south, but He is concealed.338
But He knows where I am going.
And when He tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.
For I have stayed on God’s paths,
I have followed His ways and not turned aside.
I have not departed from His commands,
but have treasured His words more than daily food.339
But He stands alone,
and who can oppose Him?
He does whatever He pleases.
He carries out His decree against me,
and many such plans He still has in store.
That is why I am terrified before Him.
When I think of all this, I fear Him.340
God has made me sick at heart.
The Almighty has terrified me.341
Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,
by the thick darkness that covers my face.342
Why doesn’t the Almighty bring the wicked to judgment?
Why must the godly wait for Him in vain?343
Evil people steal land by moving the boundary markers.
They steal livestock and put them in their own pastures.344
They drive away the donkeys of orphans.
They seize the widow’s ox as a pledge.345
They push the needy off the road.
The poor of the land are forced into hiding.346
Like wild donkeys in the wilderness,
the poor must spend all their time looking for food,
searching even in the desert for food for their children.347
They harvest their feed in the field
and glean the vineyard of the wicked.348
All night they lie naked in the cold,
without clothing or covering.349
They are drenched by mountain rains
and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.350
The wicked snatch a widow’s child from her breast,
taking the baby as security for a loan.
The poor must go about naked, without any clothing.
They harvest food for others while they themselves are starving.
They press out olive oil without being allowed to taste it,
and they tread in the winepress as they suffer from thirst.351
The groans of the dying rise from the city,
and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.
But God charges no one with wrongdoing.352
The wicked are those who rebel against the light.
They do not recognize its ways or stay on its paths.
The murderer rises at dawn to kill the poor and needy,
and by night he becomes a thief.353
The adulterer waits for the twilight,
saying, “No one will see me then.”
He hides his face so no one will know him.354
Thieves break into houses at night and sleep in the daytime.
They are not acquainted with the light.
The black night is their morning.
They ally themselves with the terrors of the darkness.
But they disappear like foam down a river.
Everything they own is cursed,
and they are afraid to enter their own vineyards.355
The grave consumes sinners
just as drought and heat consume snow.
Their own mothers will forget them.
Maggots will find them sweet to eat.
No one will remember them.
Wicked people are broken like a tree in the storm.
They cheat the woman who has no son to help her.
They refuse to help the needy widow.356
Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power.
They rise up when they despair of life.357
They may be allowed to live in security,
but God is always watching them.
And though they are great now,
in a moment they will be gone like all others,
cut off like heads of grain.358
Can anyone claim otherwise?
Who can prove me wrong?359
The old man looked up and said, “Job is either unimpressed by the words of Eliphaz or these friends are beyond the point of addressing whoever spoke before them. Instead, he mixes pessimistic criticism of God with optimistic faith in Him. He questions why the wicked aren’t punished, yet circles back to a belief that God will cut their heads off like grain. Assuming they’re Job’s, these last few lines seem to contradict themselves as well as other things Job has said prior. Perhaps they’re a curse Job lays on the wicked himself, but some will say they belong to Bildad’s next speech, which we’ll get to shortly. Either way, it stirs up confusion in the reader. What delivers clarity from Job’s speech, however, are some of the most powerful verses in the Bible.”
The man looked down and read them aloud again:
I go east, but He is not there.
I go west, but I cannot find Him.
I do not see Him in the north, for He is hidden.
I look to the south, but He is concealed.
But He knows where I am going.
And when He tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.
For I have stayed on God’s path,
I have followed His ways and not turned aside.
I have not departed from His commands,
but have treasured His words more than daily food.
“And what do you like about those?” said the boy.
“Well, because there are days when we search in vain for visible evidence of the living God. Days when we find ourselves, like Job, asking, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ and calling out God to answer while receiving nothing in return. But there’s a Latin phrase I like to keep in mind during these times. Deus absconditus.”
“Dues-a-whatis?” said the boy.
“Deus, as in God, and absconditus, or in English, ‘abscond,’ meaning to depart secretly and hide oneself. This is something God has the tendency to do in times we need Him most.”
“Okay, I see what you’re saying,” said the boy. “Dues abscondus.”
The man smiled. “Close enough. The point is that we’ll get through this silence in due time. But even at the end of this most severe example of Deus absconditus, we might breathe a sigh of relief as we think, ‘God really proved His point there with Job. Surely, He’ll return to communicating with His followers from now on.’ But if you read the rest of the Bible, or if you walk the earth as long as I have, you’ll find that Deus absconditus is a universal test of faith. It is the kind of test where God seems to value those who develop faith in times of silence.
“These verses remind me of an art form my wife used to perform. It’s called ‘reverse painting,’ where you paint an image on a glass frame. As you layer paint strokes over one another, creating globs of blurry confusion, the image looks distorted. But if you have the patience to wait until it dries, when you turn the glass over, there’s a beautiful image on the other side. I feel this analogy fits the way I see God unfolding our path before our very eyes. If we have the patience to trust the process, we’ll eventually see the beautiful image of our lives that God had in store all along.”
“Wow, that actually sounds kinda nice,” said the boy.
“Yes, and as Job reminds us, though we may look and not find Him, He knows where we are. And through our trials, if we stay on God’s path, we’ll come out deeper and richer than gold. In the end, it’s God’s words that must be valued more than daily food.”
The boy gave a nod. “As much as I appreciate what you’re saying, it’d be golden if we could get to God’s words sooner than later so I can get some food. We already missed lunch and my stomach’s growling.”
“Alright, alright. Let’s move along then,” said the man, looking down to read Bildad’s next line:
God is powerful and dreadful.
He enforces peace in the heavens.
Who is able to count His heavenly army?
Doesn’t His light shine on all the earth?360
How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
How can one born of woman be pure?361
God is more glorious than the moon.
He shines brighter than the stars.
In comparison, people are maggots.
We mortals are mere worms.362
“There are two kinds of people in this world,” said the man, looking up again. “Those who have something to say, and those who have to say something. Job’s three friends are the latter, saying the same thing over and over again. Here, Bildad’s speech is unusually short, not that I’m upset about it, probably because even he has nothing left to say. What little he does is merely the same tactic of opening up a can of insults.”
“Or worms, in this case,” said the boy.
“Or worms, yes,” said the man. “God is powerful, which no one ever argued, and no one is pure before Him, which we already know, blah, blah, blah. It’s no surprise this line of philosophical generalities ends with the ultimate kick in Job’s, well…”
“Maggots?” said the boy.
“Sure. Let’s go with that,” said the man. “Let’s just be clear that God’s Word never goes nearly as far as to refer to mankind as maggots outside of these brutish insults. These men left their homes and traveled far to comfort Job, but in the end, all they did was judge, accuse, and bully him. If there is any lesson to take away from Bildad’s final speech, it’s that a putdown is never the way to lift someone up.”
“Agreed,” said the boy with a nod. “So finally, we hear from God now?”
The man bit his lip.
“Oh come on. There’s more?”
“One final speech from Job,” said the man.
The boy let out a heavy sigh. “Fiiine.”
“I won’t mention it’s a long one either,” said the man, jumping into it before the boy could protest:
How you have helped the powerless!
How you have saved the weak!
How you have enlightened my stupidity!
What wise advice you have offered!
Where have you gotten all these wise sayings?
Whose spirit speaks through you?363
The departed spirits tremble beneath the waters
and all that inhabit them.364
The realm of the dead is naked before God.
Destruction lies uncovered.365
He stretches the northern skies over empty space.
He hangs the earth on nothing.
He wraps up the water in His clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst beneath its weight.366
He covers the face of the moon,
shrouding it with His clouds.
He created the horizon when He separated the waters.
He set the boundary between day and night.367
The foundations of heaven tremble.
They shudder at His rebuke.368
By His power He stilled the sea.
By His understanding He shattered Rahab.369
By His breath the heavens gained their beauty.
His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.370
These are but the fringes of His ways.
How faint is the word we hear of Him!
Who can understand His mighty thunder?371
The man paused and looked at the boy. “Job throws tact out the window and resorts to a few sarcastic jabs to open his final speech. From there, an intriguing change in roles develops. Instead of the friends trying to teach Job about the ways of God, Job gets fed up with their lack of answers and becomes the teacher himself. Bildad has just provided a weak attempt at describing the majesty of God’s universe, so Job picks up where he left off and far outdoes him. Here, we see another wave of Job’s confidence in God making a resurgence.
“He describes God’s victory against cosmic chaos, stilling the sea, shattering Rahab, and piercing the fleeing serpent, some of which we’ve touched upon already, and some of which I’ll dive into in the coming chapters. Strangely, though, he opens with the result of God’s triumph, describing the trembling of the underworld first. Perhaps this is to allow us to enjoy the results of this victory before even describing how it came to be, or perhaps to show the permanence of order that was the result of this defeat. Either way, he moves from the departed spirits of the dead to the top of the heavens, as if to say God is in full control of everything in between.
“Job’s dismissal of his friends implies that all religious theology means nothing if it doesn’t help someone who’s in pain and seeking God. He feels that God’s cosmic victory over chaos should have been reflected in their wisdom as a reminder of what brought peace into creation in the first place, but their wisdom has nothing of the sort and is therefore useless. Job claims that God’s victory in this manner was but the fringes of His ways, just the faintest word that we hear of Him. This triumph over chaos is usually hailed as the crucial victory for all creation in the Old Testament, but Job goes a step further and sees God’s actions as only the beginning. The implication being, as I take it, that ‘His mighty thunder’ will continue to defeat evil and suffering in the world.”
“And so now we hear from Go—”
“And so now Job continues,” said the man, plowing through the boy’s impatience:
I vow by the living God,
who has taken away my rights,
by the Almighty who has embittered my soul,
as long as I live,
while I have breath from God,
my lips will speak no evil,
and my tongue will speak no lies.372
I will never concede that you are right.
I will defend my integrity until I die.
I will maintain my innocence without wavering.
My conscience is clear for as long as I live.373
May my enemy be punished like the wicked,
my adversary like those who do evil.
For what hope do the godless have
when God cuts them off
and takes away their life?374
Will God listen to their cry
when trouble comes upon them?
Will they find delight in the Almighty?
Will they call on God at all times?375
I will teach you about God’s power.
I will not conceal what the Almighty has planned.376
You have all seen this yourselves.
Why then this meaningless talk?377
Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,
the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty.378
They may have many children,
but the children will die in war or starve to death.
Those who survive will die of a plague,
and not even their widows will mourn them.379
Evil people may have piles of money
and may store away mounds of clothing.
But the righteous will wear that clothing,
and the innocent will divide that money.
The wicked build houses as fragile as a spider’s web,
as flimsy as a shelter made of branches.
The wicked go to bed rich
but wake to find that all their wealth is gone.380
Terror overwhelms them like a flood,
and they are blown away in the storms of the night.
The east wind carries them away,
and they are gone.
It sweeps them away.
It whirls down on them without mercy.
They struggle to flee from its power.
But everyone jeers at them
and mocks them.381
The man paused. “Given the inexcusable things they’ve said, Job understandably moves toward criticizing his friends. While I suppose we can admire a man determined to defend his truth at all costs, we can’t help but wish he’d turned his focus of God’s almighty reign toward the redemption of himself, rather than the punishment of those he now deems his enemy. Alas, here we are, as Job turns the same arguments his friends made against them, warning about the fate of evil doers and their children who are destined for war or starvation.”
“What are you doing?” said the boy, watching the man turn the page prematurely and using his finger as a place holder.
“I’m going to save this chapter and read it out of order. I’ll expla—”
“Why?”
The main widened his eyes. “I’ll explain why momentarily. But just trust me on this one. I share the belief of others that this chapter was placed out of order and I think it flows better this way.”
The boy squinted his eyes at the old man. “I’m onto you.”
“As you should be,” said the man. “But you’ll see.”
And from there, he continued on with reading Job’s speech:
How I long for the months gone by,
for the days when God watched over me,
when His lamp shone on my head
and by His light I walked through darkness.382
When I was in my prime,
God’s friendship was felt in my home.
The Almighty was still with me,
and my children were around me.
My cows produced milk in abundance,
and my groves poured out streams of olive oil.383
Those were the days when I went to the city gate
and took my place among the honored leaders.384
The young men saw me and stepped aside
and the old men rose to their feet.385
The princes stood in silence
and put their hands over their mouths.
The highest officials of the city stood quietly,
holding their tongues in respect.
All who heard me praised me.
All who saw me spoke well of me.386
I assisted the poor in their need
and the orphans who required help.387
The one who was dying blessed me.
I made the widow’s heart sing.388
Everything I did was honest.
Righteousness covered me like a robe,
and I wore justice like a turban.389
I served as eyes for the blind
and feet for the lame.
I was a father to the poor
and assisted strangers who needed help.390
I broke the jaws of the wicked
and rescued the prey from his teeth.391
I thought,
“Surely I will die surrounded by my family
after a long, good life.
For I am like a tree whose roots reach the water,
whose branches are refreshed with the dew.
New honors are constantly bestowed on me,
and my strength is continually renewed.”392
Everyone listened to my advice.
They were silent as they waited for me to speak.
And after I spoke, they had nothing to add,
for my counsel satisfied them.393
They longed for me to speak as people long for rain.
They drank my words like a refreshing spring rain.394
When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it.
The light of my face was precious to them.395
Like a chief, I told them what to do.
I lived like a king among his troops
and comforted those who mourned.396
But now I am mocked by people younger than I,
by young men whose fathers are not worthy to run with my sheepdogs.397
Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
since their vigor had gone from them?398
They are gaunt with hunger and flee to the deserts,
to desolate and gloomy wastelands.
They pluck wild greens from among the bushes
and eat from the roots of broom trees.
They are driven from human society,
and people shout at them as if they were thieves.399
So now they live in frightening ravines,
in caves and among the rocks.
They sound like animals howling among the bushes,
huddled together beneath the nettles.
They are nameless fools,
outcasts from society.400
And now those young men mock me in song.
I have become a byword among them.401
They despise me and won’t come near me,
except to spit in my face.402
Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me,
they throw off restraint in my presence.403
These outcasts oppose me to my face.
They send me sprawling and lay traps in my path.
They block my road and do everything they can to destroy me.
They know I have no one to help me.
They come at me from all directions.
They jump on me when I am down.404
I live in terror now.
My honor has blown away in the wind,
and my prosperity has vanished like a cloud.
And now my life seeps away.
Depression haunts my days.
At night my bones are filled with pain,
which gnaws at me relentlessly.405
With a strong hand, God grabs my shirt.
He grips me by the collar of my coat.406
He throws me into the mud,
and I am reduced to dust and ashes.407
I cry to you, O God, but You don’t answer.
I stand before You, but You don’t even look.408
You have turned against me with cruelty,
You harass me with your strong hand.409
You throw me into the whirlwind
and destroy me in the storm.
And I know You are sending me to my death,
the destination of all who live.410
Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man
when he cries for help in his distress.
Have I not wept for those in trouble?
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?411
So I looked for good, but evil came instead.
I waited for the light, but darkness fell.
My heart is troubled and restless.
Days of suffering torment me.
I walk in gloom, without sunlight.
I stand in the public square and cry for help.412
Instead, I am considered a brother to jackals
and a companion to owls.413
My skin grows black and peels,
my body burns with fever.414
Therefore my harp is turned to mourning,
and my flute to the sound of those who weep.415
I made a covenant with my eyes
not to look with lust at a young woman.
For what has God above chosen for us?
What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high?
Isn’t it calamity for the wicked
and misfortune for those who do evil?
Doesn’t He see everything I do
and every step I take?
Have I lied to anyone
or deceived anyone?416
Let God weigh me on the scales of justice,
for He knows my integrity.
If I have strayed from His pathway,
or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen,
or if I am guilty of any other sin,417
let someone else eat what I have sown,
and let my crops be uprooted.418
If my heart has been seduced by a woman,
or if I have lusted for my neighbor’s wife,
then let my wife belong to another man,
let other men sleep with her.
For lust is a shameful sin,
a crime that should be punished.419
For it is a fire that consumes down to Abaddon,
it would destroy my entire harvest.420
If I have been unfair to my male or female servants
when they brought their complaints to me,
how could I face God?
What could I say when He questioned me?
For God created both me and my servants.
He created us both in the womb.421
Have I refused to help the poor,
or crushed the hopes of widows?
Have I been stingy with my food
and refused to share it with orphans?
No, from childhood I have cared for orphans like a father,
and all my life I have cared for widows.422
Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes
and the needy with nothing to wear,
did they not praise me
for providing wool clothing to keep them warm?423
If I raised my hand against an orphan,
knowing the judges would take my side,
then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place!
Let my arm be torn from its socket!
That would be better than facing God’s judgment.
For if the majesty of God opposes me, what hope is there?424
Have I put my trust in money
or felt secure because of my gold?
Have I gloated about my wealth
and all that I own?
Have I looked at the sun shining in the skies,
or the moon walking down its silver pathway,
and been secretly enticed in my heart
to throw kisses at them in worship?
Then these also would be sins to be judged,
for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.425
Have I ever rejoiced when disaster struck my enemies,
or become excited when harm came their way?
No, I have never sinned by cursing anyone
or by asking for revenge.426
My servants have never said,
“He let others go hungry.”427
No stranger had to spend the night on the street,
for I opened my door to the traveler.428
Have I tried to hide my sins like other people do,
concealing my guilt in my heart?
Have I feared the crowd or the contempt of the masses,
so that I kept quiet and stayed indoors?429
If only someone would listen to me!
Look, I will sign my name to my defense.
Let the Almighty answer me.
Let my Accuser write out the charges against me.
I would face the accusation proudly.
I would wear it like a crown.
For I would tell Him exactly what I have done.
I would come before Him like a prince.430
If my land cries out against me,
and its furrows weep together,431
or if I have stolen its crops
or murdered its owners,
then let thistles grow on that land instead of wheat,
and weeds instead of barley.432
The old man looked up to find the boy shaking his head. “That was a long one, I know, so I’ll move through it quickly. Job’s speech is divided into three chapters. First, he paints a nostalgic picture of the past. One where he still walked with God, and in his relations with his fellow man, he served them in godly ways. Unsurprisingly, it was a time of blessings, for surely this is what it’s like to be righteous in God’s eyes.
“Then he shares a wistful lament of the fall from grace that robbed him of happiness. Most importantly, it seems, the biggest loss was his friendship with God. And when Job lost the blessings of the Lord, he also lost the ability to serve his community in godly ways.
“The third chapter uses legal language to present a catalog of potential sins but maintains a protest of innocence. Job even points out the graceful attitude he’s held toward his enemies. But in a moment of dramatic tension, Job throws down the gauntlet in the court and challenges God to lay out His charges against him and prove that he deserves such treatment. He puts the reader in an uncomfortable position because he practically says, ‘If I’m guilty, then put me to death. And if I’m not, then the world will know I’ve been falsely accused by God.’ This moment where Job, in effect, says, ‘The defense rests,’ is a turning point in the book that breaks us out of the fruitless cycle of speeches between friends. The stakes of the case have now risen to a larger proportion than the fate of one man because the Almighty has now basically been summoned to an impeachment tribunal, because if Job is found innocent, then God must be guilty.”
The boy began blinking dramatically. “Yeah, I’m not too worried about that.”
“What do you mean?” said the man.
“I get the whole gauntlet thing, but I don’t know where you’re getting some of that earlier stuff you said about Job. It’s like we’re not even reading the same book sometimes.”
“Which stuff?” said the man. “The nostalgia? What’s not to get?”
“Yeah, exactly,” said the boy. “You paint this picture about the biggest loss being his friendship with God, which I’m just not buying into. His opening lines are basically, ‘I long for the days when God watched over me… because my cows produced a lot of milk and my olive groves lots of oil.’ It’s this instant feeling that his relationship with God was based on blessings, just like Satan said it was. And it only goes downhill from there.
“The hypocrisy, for starters, my God. ‘I was like a father to the poor, yet I only just remember my own children are worth a mention.’ ‘God created both me and my servants in the womb like equals, yet I own these people as slaves.’ One minute, he claims he’s never cursed anyone by asking for revenge, the next, he’s saying he broke the jaws of the wicked. He says he’s never been excited by harm coming someone’s way, yet a few minutes ago, he was calling his own friends enemies, saying their heads should be cut off like grain.
“How are you gonna tell me this guy doesn’t belong in a straightjacket on the first train to crazy town? He claims innocence, but isn’t wrath one of the seven deadly sins? And he greedily talks about wealth. He envies dead kings and princes. He pridefully brags about everything he’s done. Man, it’s like boom, boom, boom, checking them all off the list at once. I don’t know how you’re not seeing any of this.”
“Well, I—”
“All I hear is, ‘I was like a chief, I was like a king, I was a prince. Status, status, status. Look how important I am.’ He carries this attitude like, ‘Look how powerful I am, breaking jaws and feeding the poor. This is what God should be doing because that fits my theology. Now that I think about it, I’d probably make a better God than God! So let the Almighty answer me, and I’ll wear His accusations like a crown!’
“His attitude stinks, dude. But the best part was him saying how when he spoke, princes stood quiet and officials held their tongues. ‘Everyone waits in silence for Mr. Awesome to finish speaking.’ And you know what God does? He waits in silence for Job to stop speaking, because that’s exactly what Job desires from others. On and on and on, he keeps defending himself and talking about how great he is. Meanwhile, God sits back and waits for him to shut up.
“I don’t know how we’re supposed to feel bad for the guy when he sounds like a corrupt politician. Everyone showed him respect when he was in a position of power, sure, but as soon as those kinds of people fall, well...”
“I don’t think—”
“Let me ask you something,” said the boy. “When Mother Theresa was sick and dying, were people lining up around the block to spit in her face like they did for Job? No. Of course not. They gave her a Nobel Peace Prize. Don’t you think it’s just a little strange that the only people who show up to ‘comfort’ Job are three guys who want to kick him when he’s down? This sort of thing only happens when some Scrooge McDuck trips off his own pedestal. And then they’re the victim all of a sudden.
“It would be one thing if he was in tears, saying, ‘I fed the poor, I helped the needy, and now that I’m suffering, at least those people are returning the favor. But I still don’t understand why I’m suffering, Lord!’ But no, this guy is like, ‘I was so awesome and showed everyone how awesome I was by flashing money around, but now all those people are spitting in my face. I don’t get it. I demand an answer from God!’ He lists all these things that should’ve put him in God’s good graces, but as soon as he stops receiving rewards, he gives God an ultimatum. Okay, he doesn’t ‘curse’ God, but he sure backs Him into an uncomfortable position.
“And don’t even get me started about him saying he’s never looked at another woman lustfully. If Job’s got the kind of sex drive to put ten buns in the oven, there’s not a chance he didn’t sneak a peek or two while his sons were throwing parties. It’s classic denial, man. ‘I’d better sacrifice in case they sinned.’ Meanwhile, it’s a cover-up for his own secret desires. Probably told his wife, ‘Honey, I’d better go out back and pray in case our sons had any lustful thoughts about those whores last night. Horny little bastards. I don’t know where they get it from!’
“God’s gotta be lookin’ down like, ‘Gimme a break, pal. I’m the one who planted lust in human nature in the first place,’ probably as a test to weed out the self-righteous liars like Job. That’s why I think His original description of Job was sarcastic. It was more like, ‘Check out the most righteous and upright prick in all the land!’ Job lives in a delusion, thinking he’s perfect and doesn’t deserve to suffer, but God sees right through all his surface-level bullshit. I think God saw this power-hungry guy who neglected his own family to pursue fame and fortune and pointed Satan right at him to humble his ass. But no, Job holds onto his stubborn little facade right up until the very end to protect his ego.”
The boy folded his arms in a pout of frustration while the old man looked on in shock and wonder.
After a moment of silence, the old man finally spoke. “Do you honestly believe everything that comes out of your mouth?”
The boy let out a big sigh and said, “I don’t even know anymore, man. Part of me is just tired of hearing Job whining, so I’m entertaining myself to stay engaged. He’s suffering. God’s unfair. We get it. Let’s get to the bottom of it already.”
The old man shook his head at the boy. “For starters, it’s no sin for Job to question God. He understands our pain and never judges our emotions if we cry out in anguish. The most important thing to notice here is that Job never asks for his old life back. He’s merely concerned with obtaining an explanation for what’s happened.
“Secondly, we can’t just skip to the ending. There’s relevant information we’d miss in the middle. The book of Job can’t be boiled down to a paragraph or two. It’s a journey that takes time. Why? Because there is no way to fast-forward through grief, no quick fix to heartache. The story of Job, as with many others, is a long and winding road without a shortcut.”
“I know, I know. It’s not you,” said the boy, letting out a sigh. “It’s Job. We’re almost there though, I’m with you.”
The old man stared at him for a moment longer. “While I hesitate to say you brought up at least one good point, I’m not even sure where to begin with the rest of your concerns. I suppose I’ll let God address those. But before we get there, I’ll agree Job did spend quite a long time justifying himself to others when God is the only true judge of our character. As long as we go on explaining ourselves and proclaiming our own innocence, perhaps it’s fitting that God remains quiet. Maybe it should be said that the silence of God ends when our own silence begins.”
“I think you might be trying to fit God into another theological box there,” said the boy, “but I hear what you’re saying.”
“Fair enough,” said the man. Then, with a wink, he added, “But it sounded good, didn’t it?”