Then Job replied to the LORD: “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’ I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” [Job 42.1-6]
I said it in yesterday's post and I will say it again today: God rebuked Job and Job repented. To overlook this important fact is to misunderstand everything the book of Job is about.
In today's reading, we also find a clear indication of Job's sin in God's own words questioning Job:
“Will you discredit my justice and condemn me just to prove you are right? [Job 40.8]
While we still try to process everything Job said, God clearly understood it all along. Job discredited God's justice (the conviction of pain and suffering and loss) and condemned Him to prove he (Job) was right. And, it all started when Job experienced the pain of sickness in his body (on top of having suffered great loss).
No doubt, Job's story was being considered in the following passage written long after Job's story:
Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil. Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones. [Proverbs 3.7-8]
For every disciple of Jesus who has encountered that "good person" who doesn't see the need for repentance in their lives, Job's story blows their facade out of the water. Job couldn't (wouldn't?) see the sin lying deep in his heart. Satan couldn't see the sin lying deep in Job's heart. Job's friends couldn't see the sin lying deep in Job's heart! Only God knew it was there and loved Job enough to deal with it regardless of Job's outward "blameless" ways seen by everyone else.
So while Job's story can be summed up in these words, God rebuked Job and Job repented, we must not leave the best part out:
When Job prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes. In fact, the LORD gave him twice as much as before! Then all his brothers, sisters, and former friends came and feasted with him in his home. And they consoled him and comforted him because of all the trials the LORD had brought against him. And each of them brought him a gift of money and a gold ring. So the LORD blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning. For now he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 teams of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He also gave Job seven more sons and three more daughters. He named his first daughter Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. In all the land no women were as lovely as the daughters of Job. And their father put them into his will along with their brothers. Job lived 140 years after that, living to see four generations of his children and grandchildren. Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, full life. [Job 42.10-17]
Job's story is incomplete unless we see Job's restoration.
OUR story is incomplete unless we see restoration!
How do WE get there? We repent. And, what (Who) we have that Job didn't have is Jesus. However, having Jesus, let's not overlook His own words at the outset of his ministry:
From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” [Matthew 4.17]
So, whether in Job's time or our time, the message remains the same: repent. The conviction of pain, suffering and loss AND Jesus' own words all tell us the same thing: repent. Sadly however, in our modern and highly advanced society, pain, suffering and loss merely lead us to medicine and money - not repentance. And, having become so adept at discounting pain, suffering and loss as reason to repent, we have likewise become equally exercised and skilled at ignoring Jesus' call to repentance. In a word, we have become "Godless" as a society (the Church sadly included). In our own wisdom as described above in Proverbs 3, we have a scientific explanation for everything and therefore a scientific solution (idol) for everything. To say it isn't so is purely blind pride.
If we narrow Job's story down to one word, it should be REPENTANCE. If we narrow to two words, they should be PRIDE and REPENTANCE. If we narrow it to three words, they should be PRIDE, REPENTANCE and RESTORATION.
To be clear, RESTORATION meant that Job's sickness ended and his fortunes were returned.
RESTORATION is the GOOD NEWS as declared by Jesus Himself:
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.” [Luke 4.18-19]
Job's story indeed points us to Jesus in his restoration but repentance cannot be bypassed.
Father, help us to make repentance our first response in the face of conviction including the conviction of pain, suffering and loss! So be it.
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