I Will Call on God

October 19, 2014 Background Scripture: Job 5, 24; Psalm 55:12 – 23 Lesson Passage: Job 24:1, 9 – 12, 19 – 25 While Job searched for answers to the great calamities that suddenly came upon him, his friends questioned Job’s character. Job spoke aloud the probing questions of his heart and his friends answered him with rebuke and false accusations. Job defended his dependence on God even in the face of unexplained calamity. If we required total understanding of God and His ways before we should trust Him, nobody would be saved. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and neither are His ways our ways. This is evident when the least among us suffer at the hands of evil doers while it appears that God is indifferent to it. Widows might have their life support taken from them and orphans removed from the source of their sustenance. In spite of these things, we trust God because He has always been faithful to His word. Sometimes circumstances in life don’t add up. We feel victimized when we thought we would be appreciated or valued. Those are not reasons to give up on God but opportunities for our faith to grow. Somehow and some way we know that God will be justified in both His actions and apparent inactions. God knows all and He sees all. We only know in part and speak out of limited understanding. No one in his right mind would want to endure what Job went through regardless of the outcome. However, Job’s testimony gives us strength in our weakest moments. It’s easy to question God when life seems too cruel and challenging to us. If the loss of material goods doesn’t do it, then the death of a near relative or failing health will certainly challenge us to trust God in the face of a calamity we are totally unprepared for. There have been countless times when what appeared to be bad situations turned out for our best. Somehow that doesn’t prepare us for the next disaster. Instead, we are reminded of all of the reasons we don’t want to face such difficulties. We celebrate the deliverance of others and sometimes forget their unwavering childlike faith. It is enough to suffer through these times while having a private pity party. However, Job’s misery was made worse by having his friends there to constantly condemn his self-defense by thinly veiling their remarks as a defense of God’s character. Job argued with them that his innocence in the face of a tremendous burden of personal suffering was not at odds with God’s holiness. Even today, there are those who believe that personal suffering is evidence of a person receiving what they deserve. Again, Job’s testimony provides encouragement. Sometimes personal hardships are reminders to call upon the Lord more often than has been our practice. Jesus taught that men ought to always pray and not faint. In the midst of struggles, we don’t look for specific times to pray nor do we concern ourselves about whether we are praying too long. Our personal standards concerning prayer are elevated in desperate times. Job’s record was that he prayed on a regular basis for his children and for himself. When troubles came, Job did not have to learn how to pray, instead, he continued to do what he was already doing. Even when he was seeking answers, Job seems to have made up his mind: “I will call on God.” Robert C. Hudson October 9, 2014

I Know That My Redeemer Liveth

October 12, 2014 Background Scripture: Job 19; Psalm 57 Lesson Passage: Job 19:1 – 7, 23 – 29 In the text of today’s lesson, Job is responding to the second round of questions and accusations by his three friends. After Job’s speech broke a one-week silence by the four of them, his friends began to speak in response to Job’s statement. As is customary with the Eastern culture, they kindly allowed each person to take a turn speaking, starting with Job. In today’s text, the temperament of Job’s response appears to be a mix of anger and bewilderment. Job rebukes his friends for hurting him with their words. Job acknowledges that everything that is happening to him is evidence that God’s hand is against him. Furthermore, those who were closest to him had also abandoned him in his time of need. Even the servants of his house no longer respected Job and ignored him when he called for them. Yes, even the people Job loved appeared to have turned their backs on him. His friends had shamed him by their words. In his despair, Job invited his friends to join his pity party rather than continue to tear him down emotionally. Job found inner strength in his faith in the redemptive power of God. He had given up hope that he would be justified in his life on earth because he lacked understanding of how a righteous person could suffer in this world more than the unrighteous. The prevailing theology that Job and his friends spoke from aligned self-righteousness with quality of physical life. God’s personality was not viewed as having flexibility such that there could exist the notion of God’s permissive will. One’s physical life was viewed as a cause-and-effect connection with their spiritual life. With this type thinking, wicked people suffer bad things in life and good people don’t. Because of the multiplicity of calamities that came upon Job in a relatively short time, the prevailing theology could only point to Job’s spiritual or moral lapse. According to his friends’ statements, Job had been sneaky in his immoral acts and he had managed to hide from them what he had done but the divine justice of God had exposed his deeds and they were determined to get their friend, Job, to admit his sins. Surely confession would bring Job forgiveness if only he would do it. Job’s argument was he could not confess what he was not made aware of. And so their debate went back and forth. However, Job’s faith would not allow him to own up to something that was not true or at least revealed to him so that his repentance could be sincere. Job’s faith in life after death gave him strength during the time of his suffering. There is life after death and one day, Job declared, he would be resurrected to see God for himself. Job knew that somehow he would be vindicated at the resurrection of the dead. He wanted his words recorded so that when vindication comes his friends would know that Job had been truthful. Job closed his response by warning his friends that their false accusations against him would be judged by God. Robert C. Hudson October 6, 2014