The Lord gave. The Lord has taken away.
"Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. (Job 1:20-22 ESV)
I find it interesting that Job is, in essence, saying that God took away his children ... a remarkable statement ... a cloaked accusation of sorts ... and an intersting segway into the whole question of "why?" and "Who?" If Job was not at fault for the death of his children then, as he implies, maybe God is at fault? I think that this is a common misunderstanding of the sovereignty of God and how life works. It points to a stumbling block in the grieving process.
I have never been happy with answers to unanswerable questions. I do not have to look back very far to understand that the answers I once embraced no longer make sense to me. For example, a dark ideology is embraced when I credit God (as I once did) for taking away my wife Ann's ability to walk. This ideology keeps me stuck and keeps me from grieving this loss. On the flip-side, I am able to walk in freedom when I let go of my need to have answers.
You, O Lord, are the Answer to our pain. Forgive us for looking for other answers.
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As I said before I so rudely interrupted myself, I have a whole boatload of pat answers that haven't worked for the last 7 years or so.
ReplyDeleteHey Bob. This thing keeps coming back, because the pain just won't leave us alone. I'm sorry to see it again and resonate deeply with it again.
ReplyDeleteI'll throw a new wrench into the thought-works. I've begun to believe Job was written after Deuteronomy and in argument with it. I think Job's three friends are speaking for those who keep pointing to the scripture to "prove" God answers righteous prayer, when God clearly does not.
I've always tried to let Job and Deuteronomy both be inerrant scripture, but now I think that's the wrong approach. Instead, I now believe Job was written after the captivity, after the nation of Israel had lost all their possessions and all their children in one great storm of trouble. Somewhere up in Babylon, some broken-hearted soul with insight heard one too many Levites blame the captivity on Israel's sin one too many times and got fed up. So, he wrote a book that said God does not listen to holy accusers (accursers?), but allows things to happen without explanation or vindictiveness.
Chapters 1 and 2 of the book are interesting, because Job takes up the position of wonderful saint in them, but starting with 3:1 he unravels everything he says in those first two chapters. I think that's in keeping with reality. That poor, tormented soul with a pen would have said the right things for a while in Babylon, too ... until the accursers got started blaming everyone else for getting them in trouble with God and enslaved. Job is a clapback against self-righteous Levites.
All that to say I agree. Job learned to live with no answers. That's exactly what the book teaches, and it's the hardest lesson of all. Thank you.
Hey Bob. This thing keeps coming back, because the pain just won't leave us alone. I'm sorry to see it again and resonate deeply with it again.
ReplyDeleteI'll throw a new wrench into the thought-works. I've begun to believe Job was written after Deuteronomy and in argument with it. I think Job's three friends are speaking for those who keep pointing to the scripture to "prove" God answers righteous prayer, when God clearly does not.
I've always tried to let Job and Deuteronomy both be inerrant scripture, but now I think that's the wrong approach. Instead, I now believe Job was written after the captivity, after the nation of Israel had lost all their possessions and all their children in one great storm of trouble. Somewhere up in Babylon, some broken-hearted soul with insight heard one too many Levites blame the captivity on Israel's sin one too many times and got fed up. So, he wrote a book that said God does not listen to holy accusers (accursers?), but allows things to happen without explanation or vindictiveness.
Chapters 1 and 2 of the book are interesting, because Job takes up the position of wonderful saint in them, but starting with 3:1 he unravels everything he says in those first two chapters. I think that's in keeping with reality. That poor, tormented soul with a pen would have said the right things for a while in Babylon, too ... until the accursers got started blaming everyone else for getting them in trouble with God and enslaved. Job is a clapback against self-righteous Levites.
All that to say I agree. Job learned to live with no answers. That's exactly what the book teaches, and it's the hardest lesson of all. Thank you.