The stage for today is very similar to yesterday's stage. These chapters are a continuation of the long conversational monologues between Job and his three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. Basically, Job is still pitying himself and wishing for death. He's so confused as to why God would put him through such misery despite Job being a righteous man. And Job's friends are still convinced that Job is lying about his righteousness. They are begging Job to repent for the sins they assume he's committed. They also become more and more bold with their accusatory statements about Job, and it's gotten to the point of just downright meanness. They're definitely "kicking the man when he's down" so to speak.I said yesterday that the Book of Job is very repetitive, and I'm standing behind that. I'm sure that the final chapters in Job are full of insight and "ah-ha" moments, but it's taking a lot to get to that point. I can't help but wonder why there is so much talk before "the meat" of the story. My only guess is that, through repetition, we are supposed to get a better understanding of the severity of Job's frustrations and how detrimental bad counsel from friends can be to a person experiencing struggle. I'm trying to remain focused, but I'm not going to lie, the bulk of the Book of Job is kinda boring. I really liked the beginning, but now I'm just ready to get to the end.
But even though I'm a little annoyed with all the repetition, I have picked up on some important lessons.
Lesson #1: Don't apologize for something you didn't do.
Job knows he is a righteous man, and he knows he hasn't committed sin, so he absolutely refuses to repent despite his friends' demands. I feel like it's kinda obvious that Job is the protagonist of the Book of Job (go figure), so I think it's safe to assume that paying close attention to what Job says/does is beneficial. And all I know right now is that Job is refusing to repent. He's not even asking for God to cure him. All he wants to know is why this is happening to him. I'm curious to see if this lesson I've picked up will follow through in my future readings. I'm somewhat apprehensive at the moment.
Lesson #2: Don't take scripture out of context.
The Book of Job is chock-full of awesome verses. But a ton of these awesome verses are said by Eliphaz, Bildad, or Zophar. And I know that these three are COMPLETELY misguided in their knowledge of God. They have no idea what they're talking about. I cannot, in good faith, quote these three guys as a way to show how good God is. Here's an example:
"Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you." (Job 22:21)
Pretty profound, right? Wrong! Eliphaz said this, and he said it right after calling Job a wicked man. In this verse, Eliphaz is telling Job to repent even though Job has assured him that he has done no wrong. If Eliphaz was a good friend, he'd believe Job when he says he hasn't sinned; and he'd stop giving such crappy advice. In my eyes, these words are said out of selfishness, and they are so mean spirited. There is no way I could post this verse on my Facebook or Twitter knowing how hateful and misguided Eliphaz is. There's just no way.
I wanted to read the Bible so I could know God's Word for myself. I no longer wanted to rely on the interpretations from others about what scripture says. This lesson I've learned from the Book of Job is making me feel that much better about my decision to read the Bible; it's making me realize just how important it is to interpret the Word with God's wisdom. We can't just quote a verse and think we know what it means if we haven't read the context in which that verse is given. And we can only know the context if we read the Bible for ourselves.
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Do you think Job's refusal to repent is a lesson to be followed or to be disregarded? What's your take on apologizing for something you know you haven't done? Should we apologize to keep the peace, or should we stand behind our truth?
And how do you keep yourself from taking a Bible verse out of context? How do you make sure you're quoting scripture in good faith? Tell me a time when you heard someone (or saw someone online) take a verse out of context.
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