Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Job 19

5 comments:

Berry Girl said...

It's amazing to me how after all of this, after all of Job's bitterness, he can still say "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives...Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God" (v25-26)

He still has the hope that God will vindicate him. Amazing faith.

On a side note, I had to laugh as I read "My breath is offensive to my wife..." (v17) in light my own marriage :)

Unknown said...

"If you want to make yourselves look better than I, you cna blame me for my suffering." v5

This is so true! How often have I looked rather condescendingly at someone who is suffering for some reason (never to this degree) and thought that they brought their misery on themselves. This is SO anti-christlike. The Christian response should always be compassion and mercy and sorrow for someone's suffering even when they have made wrong choices, which Job had not.

Even poor Job in most of this chapter has a completely skewed perception of everything. He assumes that God is the cause of all his sorrow, and not that it is the enemy testing and tempting him to fall.

verses 25-27 are some of my favorites in all of scripture. He knew the story of a coming redeemer, a coming redemption, and he believed. That always gives me goosebumps.

Good one, B-Girl.

Lois said...

I puzzled over verse 6 "Then know that God has wronged me and drawn his net around me." It didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book, where he talks about his misery -- this seemed more like an accusation. You all probably understood this, but just in case anyone else had the same question, I found an answer in a note in my "Quest" Bible. It said "To Job's friends, that God blesses the righteous and punished the ungodly was the only good theology they understood. They didn't have another category for what was happening to Job." So then what Job was saying was kind of "Well if that way of thinking is correct, then God has wronged me". He knew he didn't fit into those categories, so he wasn't really accusing God.
I'm so glad we have this book in the Bible, to give us a better understanding of suffering!

Chris said...

As I think about one day being elderly, especially if I live with physical suffering, I hope that I will have this claim all the days of my life... "that I know my Redeemer lives, and after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God, I will see him for myself!! I will see him with my own eyes, I am overwhelmed at the thought!" I have not read this verse in this version before... really clear.

I do like what it says about vs 3-5... Job's friends were judging him of sin not to encourage or correct him, but to make him feel guilty. Where does my heart lie when I confront someone of their sin?

Unknown said...

Lois, that was very helpful! Thanks for sharing it!