Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Job The Wisdom of Israel

Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job The Wisdom of Israel

Have you considered my servant Job? Why do bad things happen to good people and other related questions…?

Job 1: 1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

He was blameless and upright Job’s Faithfulnes s He feared God and resisted evil He was successful He was a blessing to his family He was humble

Job 1: 8 -10 And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? ” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face. ”

Job’s Faithfulness is Tested • Satan’s accusations • Job’s integrity in loss of family and property • Satan’s further accusations • Job’s integrity in personal suffering • The coming of the counselors

God vs. Satan Corrado Giaquinto (1703– 1766) Satan before the Lord, Oil on canvas, Vatican Museums, 1750

God vs. Job Gonzalo Carrasco (1859 1936) – painter (Mexican), Job on the Dunghill, Museo Nacional de Arte, oil on canvas, 1881

God blesses the righteous. Principles from a Heavenly Perspective • If God grants prosperity, the righteous will be faithful • If God allows hardship, the righteous will not be faithful • God allows hardship for Job, will he remain faithful? At stake: the integrity of the righteous

God blesses the righteous. Principles from an Earthly Perspectiv e 1. If you are righteous, you will experience prosperity. 2. If you are unrighteous, you will experience hardship 3. Job is righteous; Job is experiencing hardship; is God unjust? At stake: the integrity of God

Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die. ” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? ” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. –Job 2: 9 -10 Job on the Ash Heap: Job Berated by His Wife, Jusepe de Ribera (c. 1632)

Job 2: 11 -13 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

William Blake, Job, his Wife and his Friends: The Complaint of Job. Verso: Job’s Wife and Eight Other Sketches c. 1785

The Curses Job Curses Himself The Laments • Curses Day and Night of Birth • Reason for his Curse: His Misery

Principles of Lament • • • Patience and Faith to Despondency and Depression Irrational: the Uncreation Asks Unanswered Questions Seeks Vindication Seeks an Advocate

Dialogue-Dispute Cycles 1 2 3 Eliphaz lectures Job Bildad lectures Job Zophar lectures Job pleads/argues with counselors & God

Principles of Bad Counsel • • • Lectured rather than listened Failed to empathize Answered the questions Applied theology without understanding Defended God not Job

Job 22: 34 How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.

The Problem of Evil 1 There is but one living and true God… of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness…. Article I. BCP 2 There is suffering and evil in the world. 3 How do you make sense of that?

Why Evil? Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to; or he cannot and does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, and does not want to, he is wicked. But, if God both can and wants to abolish evil, then how comes evil in the world? Epicurus, philosopher

Theodicy-Rational attempts to justify the ways of God to man Free-will defense Best of all possible worlds Soul-building defense

Where is Wisdom to be Found? • • The mystery of human suffering reveals the limits of human wisdom The mystery of human suffering drives us to seek divine wisdom

Job 28: 28 And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding. ’

Reason’s last step is the recognition that there an infinite number of things which are beyond it. Blaise Pascal, Pensees

Recalls Former happiness, wealth, and honor Job’s Laments loss of his dignity and God’s friendship Job’s final protestation of innocence

Making a Case Before God • Pray • Appeal to Nature of God • Goodness and Mercy • Appeal to Your Own Faith • Be Honest about your condition • Be Honest with Your Thoughts & Feelings • Vows and Oaths

God Answers Job • God proclaims his Wisdom and Power • Job responds humbly • God proclaims his Justice • Job repents • Epilogue: The Verdict and Restoration

Job 40: 3 -5 Then Job answered the LORD and said: “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further. ”

Man is most comforted by Paradoxes GK Chesterton