We may be born, struggle to survive, and die under the thumb of a corrupt government that keeps its people in poverty and oppression. “And now they mock me in song” (Job 30:9). What if God actually has no intention for her to become a missionary? He acknowledges he doesn’t understand God’s ways. Failure to acknowledge God’s role in our career successes reduces our perspective and sets us up for spiritual struggles. Wisdom is necessary for discerning which complaints do in fact merit attention. So Job took his concerns to God, and what happened?
Job responds with one of the classic verses of scripture, “Shall we receive the good from the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” (Job 2:10). We may have to abandon our education when we are young due to financial hardship, and it could prevent us from ever reaching our potential in the workplace. He appreciates more than ever that his former prosperity was not due to his own strength and power. We may be exploited by others or scapegoated to the ruin of our careers. Treating our employees as equals because they too have been created in God’s image necessarily produces respect and dignity in the relationship. Francis I. Andersen — Job (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, 1976). But Satan does not give up. We need God’s guidance far beyond the realm of things we commonly think of as “spiritual.” When a teacher tries to discern how a student learns, when a leader tries to communicate clearly, when a jury tries to determine a defendant’s intent, when an analyst tries to assess a project’s risks, all need God’s wisdom.
4. Integrity is formed over a lifetime. 14:14, 20), it seems best to date his story no later than Ezekiel’s life (6th Century BC). Job touts his impeccable sexual purity (Job 31:1, 9-10). If we second-guess ourselves like this, imagine how we second-guess our friends, though we are seldom aware of it. If so, she would not be the first. It spreads to his family and eventually attacks his health. Job’s unwavering habit of prayer and sacrifice may have seemed quaint or even obsessive when we encountered it in Job 1:5. A story not easily explained; even after watching this video. God honored Job’s struggles, his honesty, and his prayer.
Yet Job goes beyond merely formal equality of demographic categories. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”.
Job repented of accusing God for being unjust; and God restored everything he had lost, plus some. Job’s friends’ devastating error is to apply a generalization to Job’s situation, without knowing what they’re talking about. His friends had one mind set of God “simply” being just and always running the world in justice; that led to accusing Job of sinning. Every resource on our site was made possible through the financial support of people like you. Satan would like nothing more than to prove to God that Job served God only because God blessed him so richly.
Did his suffering open his heart to others’ suffering? Job believes the wicked will ultimately be cut down.
If nothing else in this life, the result of our suffering may be others’ liberation. Or to use a modern image, is Job’s faithfulness nothing more than a coin fed into the vending machine of God’s blessing? Like the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, his wealth was measured by his many thousand head of livestock, numerous servants and large family.
Adversity may threaten whatever prosperity we have found, and faith is difficult to maintain in times of economic adversity. Job realizes the fault is his for expecting to know the answer, not God’s for failing to provide it. However, it does require that the ethos of any workplace relationship be characterized by respect and dignity, especially on the part of the powerful. Job was well-received by the young and old alike (Job 29:8), and treated with unusual respect by the chiefs and nobles (Job 29:10). A very helpful introductory commentary. Job chooses to remain faithful to God.
Once again we find Job ascribing every circumstance of life to God. “I am of small account; what shall I answer you? What hope can we have for the future?
With Satan having done his worst, Job could really use some support.
The third friend, Zophar, repeats the refrain. Is it right?No- but it’s real. Estes’ book is essentially a mini-commentary on all of these books, while Kidner’s work is focused more on the nature of Wisdom literature. For this, we would need wise, sensitive spiritual counselors when we face trials at work. There is much of practical value here. He knows he can never prevail in an argument against God. Job’s lament in chapters 30 and 31 are prolonged versions of his lament in chapter 3 . We don’t even know the reason for our own suffering. And did not one fashion us in the womb? In agricultural societies, children supply the most reliable part of the labor needed in a household. For example, imagine you are treated unfairly by your boss, perhaps blamed for her mistake or humiliated during a legitimate disagreement. “They abhor me, they keep aloof from me,” laments Job (Job 30:10). The meaning of this is much debated among scholars. We too — presumably — know right from wrong, and have some sense of God’s ways.
At once this both affirms our search for understanding and demonstrates its limits.