Title: Job's Experience of God
Job's experience of God
Every time I read the book of Job, it's hard to get directions on what to think and how to convey. Not only can I not feel the suffering of a man named Job, but it is also difficult for me to follow the arguments with friends surrounding him. Job was the most righteous man of his day, and he was rich and prosperous. But suddenly his children died, his property was wasted, he had a malignant skin disease and had to scratch himself with a tile floor, and his wife accused him of "cursing God and dying." Job's friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar come to him to comfort and advise him. Such comfort and advice eventually turns into a heated debate. The friends argued that Job's suffering was due to sin, so he should repent quickly. However, Job maintained his innocence to the end. Today's text is Job's response after Eliphaz, one of Job's three friends, gave his advice. Today I'm going to take the place of a sermon by explaining a few important passages.
Verse 2: Today, again, I have to confess this injustice, and I cannot even groan under his heavy hands.
Job 22 is Eliphaz's accusation against Job. His logic seems very religious. According to Eliphaz, God's punishment occurred because Job had sinned. Job was dissatisfied with his continued insistence on his innocence. Eliphaz's final conclusion is: “God oppresses the proud and helps the humble. He is the one who sets free the innocent, so if your hands are clean, will you not be set free?” (22:29,30) If you take this verse apart, it sounds like the words of a prophet from God.
Even so, in the face of a terrible disaster, Job can't stand it in front of his friends who are urging him to repent of the sins he can't even remember. “I can’t help but confide in my sorrow.” Is Job a shameless person who is so injustice? Even if you didn't commit a sin intentionally, wouldn't you have committed a sin without knowing it? There are some church leaders who claim that the tsunami that hit Southwest Asia a few years ago is God's judgment, so I don't know if Job can be criticized for that. If we dare compare the sufferings of Job with the New Testament, we can say that it is the crucifixion of Jesus. It was the cross that was the result of man's utter incompetence and the gathering of all accusations.
According to the logic that there is no effect without a cause in this world, there must be a cause for every catastrophe that has come upon mankind. People say it's a sin. But there is no reason without suffering. Especially from the point of view of a person who has suffered a disaster, there are many sufferings for no reason. I don't need to mention them all. It is impossible to put the fate of children born to single mothers on them. Suffering without cause is one of the darkest aspects of our lives. The book of Job raises the question about it. Why is the God who created this world looking at suffering for no reason?
The book of Job does not only address suffering without cause. Although Job was a righteous man, it may not be so decisive whether or not Job actually was guilty. According to today's text, Job's desire to confess his unfair heart is important. His heart that has been performed, or has been overly criticized.
The book of Job shows the injustice of those who cannot bear it if they do not confess. Today's society is mass-producing unfair people. How many people have suffered injustice because they do not have money and social status? How do the North Korean regime and its people feel now? Is it okay to think that it's cheap even if they starve to death because they did something wrong? Is it natural to fall into an economic crisis due to economic sanctions from the US? Should the wrongdoer be paid that much? Maybe they are feeling resentful because they are being harmed more than they have done? Like Job.
Verses 8, 9: But when you look forward, you are not there, and when you look back, you do not see it. You go to the left and look for it, but you do not see it; you turn your eye to the right and you do not see it.
In verses 3-7, Job expects that this injustice will be resolved if he meets Yahweh God. “Then you will know that I am right, and I will be able to prevail on my own.” (verse 7) But the problem is, as we see in verses 8 and 9, we cannot see Yahweh God in all directions. We can fully understand from this how painful Job's heart must have been. This is similar to a situation in which a kid who is beaten by his neighbors in the neighborhood waits for his father to appear, but finds no trace.
Not only was Job sincere in his daily life, he feared God, and he offered burnt offerings for his children for fear that they might have sinned. It can be said that he was a man who walked with God without any blemishes. Even though Job, such a man, was in such a desperate crisis right now, God did not appear at all. That's weird. No matter where we looked, we could not see God. Why do you think this is happening? And have you ever had this experience?
There are often moments in human life when the hand of salvation seems completely cut off. It can be difficult to survive financially. Being terminally ill is unexpectedly common. About a month ago, one of my tennis club members died of cancer. How did he feel when he was near death and had completely thrown away his hopes of surviving? These things happen all the time, whether you believe in God or not. A state of complete loss of hope in life.
Job is now in a desperate situation. It is a situation in which it is impossible to find the one God who can acknowledge one's own righteousness. The foundation of existence has been lost. In such a situation, it is worth denying God or accusing Him. You may regret or doubt the life you have lived. I said I was in vain. However, Job did not deny God, murmur, or regret his past life. He still trusted in God, and he kept the commandments and the words deep in his heart (11, 12).
What is this? No problem was solved. No help from God. How can you still trust God? Does it make sense to be able to believe in God even in situations you can't understand? It's usually hard to say, but for Job it was possible, and that's what we learn from him today. As Augustine and Anselm said, maybe it's true that you have to believe in order to know. It is the word of true faith to not let go of the bond of trust in God even in situations where there is no contradiction.
Verses 13, 14: But when he decides, no one can turn it, and when he plans, it comes to pass. Just as all his plans were put into effect, so he will execute the punishment that he has given to me.
Job's faith is amazing. He does not doubt God's word at all, even when he is bullied by his friends, in a situation where God cannot be found, and even to the point of dying of unfairness. We confess the word that comes out of the mouth of God as truth. It means that God will protect His people. But now, his situation is contrary to what he said. Even though he cannot confirm in his life that the word of God is correct, he does not give up his trust in God. See how far this belief goes. “Just as all his plans were implemented, he will also execute the punishment he has given me.” (14) It is a confession of faith that the disaster he suffered is also God's plan.
Ladies and gentlemen, how wonderful would it be if no misfortunes came to those who live according to God's will? But the reality is not at all. Businesses fail and families fall apart. Good people aren't always good. According to the words of chapter 24, on the contrary, the wicked often prosper. Job cannot understand common sense, but he thinks that the disaster he has suffered is God's plan.
Is this attitude true faith? Or is it fatalism? There is only one paper difference between the Christian faith and fatalism. Faith is an attitude of life that puts weight on the person in charge of happiness and unhappiness, whereas fatalism is an attitude of life that puts weight on happiness and unhappiness itself. While the former is in the position that happiness and unhappiness are eventually combined to lead to good, the latter ends in happiness and unhappiness itself. On the surface they look similar, but in reality there is a big difference. Separated again: People of faith fear the God of happiness and unhappiness, while fatalists fear happiness and unhappiness itself.
Look at verses 15 and 16. “Then why not be afraid to stand before him? Just thinking about it makes me tremble My heart sinks in the presence of God, and my chatter grows cold in the presence of the Almighty.” Job feared God, not the plague itself.
Today, we Christians often live like fatalists, not faith. This means that we are sensitive to only happiness and unhappiness. The belief that only good things should happen is almost dominant because you believed in Jesus. Some people even link the fact that America has become a prosperous country and a powerful country with the Puritan faith. If you live your life of faith in this way, you will eventually have to succeed in any way possible, and even if you invade Iraq, you will have to seize the hegemony of the world. They eventually cease to fear God for their own benefit.
Just as Job's experience of God was fear, so the Christian faith is rooted in fear of God. Don't get me wrong about being afraid. The fear here is not the fear you feel before a war or an epidemic like SARS. Fear of God is based on a much deeper spirituality. This is what Rudolf Otto calls “numinose,” or holy fear. It is the fear we feel in the presence of beings that transcend our judgments of good and evil, good and unhappiness, rationality and irrationality. In the face of common fear the ego is enlarged, but in the face of this holy fear it is reduced. So this holy fear is not manifested in fear, but in peace. Our hearts are filled with peace and joy because of our experience of being in touch with a deeper, ultimate life that we cannot know. This is Job's experience of God. We can read Job's experience a little more movingly in the last verse 17.
Verse 17: Rather be all covered in darkness, my face, be buried in darkness.
It is very difficult to translate these verses. The original Masoretic text reads, “Because darkness did not separate me.” Some ministries translated this verse like this. “If only I could disappear into the darkness, if only my face could be buried in deep darkness.” The Revised Bible is as follows: “For he has not separated me with darkness, nor has he covered my face with darkness.” It is beyond my ability to judge which translation is correct. However, in connection with the previous verse, verse 17 is also the fact that Job was afraid before Almighty God. It was so serious that it seemed to be buried in darkness.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is always darkness as well as light in this world. There are not only happy events, but also unbearable calamities and sufferings, as in the case of Job. It can come to us, and it often happens to many people around us. What do you do? Will you be swayed by such things to give up your life or blame God? Job did not give up his trust in God even in the face of adverse circumstances. His unhindered plans, His omnipotence are beyond our imagination. Even in the midst of fear of being buried in darkness, Job fully trusted God. That is Job's experience of God, and this is where God's salvation takes place. in a way we didn't expect. Amen!