Job 29 Commentary
“I thought, ‘I will die in my own house, my days as numerous as the grains of sand.” This is every saint’s thought. Life should flow smoothly because I’m now a born-again believer. And why not? The problem of sin has been solved, albeit by another’s righteousness. Life shouldn’t have bumps anymore.
Who is wrong to think this way?
Wasn’t Job’s life this way before the boasting of the LORD brought trouble? Wasn’t life this way in the holiness and perfection of the Garden of peace and tranquility? Wasn’t sin the real cause of trouble in the very first place? Won’t the removal of sin and the restoration of righteousness bring about a great reversal for humanity?
Indeed, why not? It is the same Bible that has clearly blamed sin for the sad state of humanity. Is it not just logical that righteousness should bring back the good old days? Job appears to reflect this thought as he looks back at the good old times.
Yet Job’s good old days are not exactly Eden days. Job’s good works existed in the midst of a running problem. In fact, without an existing problem, Job’s good works would not even be required. In the Garden of Peace and tranquility, the poor, the fatherless, and the widows didn’t exist. Probably the word generosity didn’t exist either. The LORD would not have needed this quality and attribute. It would have remained on the shelf endlessly!
Without sin, there is no need for forgiveness. We wouldn’t have known a forgiving God! This side of God would have remained on the self endlessly!
Job shouldn’t think too much. The facts on the ground are that Job is a light that is shining in the darkness. Job is able to shine because the LORD is right next to him in an intimate relationship. But there is more at play here.
Adam failed when the tempter showed up with material things, together with a promise for life. This movie is still running. This time, it’s the LORD who has challenged satan. “Go do what you did to Adam, and let’s see if you succeed. Job is a different kind.” So Job wakes up to a total loss of his material world. It is all gone. Next Job faces a real threat to his life. But satan’s plan doesn’t work either way. The Adamic failure doesn’t repeat itself in Job.
This is where we are. Job is, therefore, a celebration of what the man Jesus achieved on behalf of mankind. Job is simply a placeholder.
The many words of Job can be reduced to this cry, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken”. But Psalm 22 doesn’t end with this statement, nor does the owner of this statement remain in the “forsaken” state permanently. Resurrection and glory awaited!
Back to Job’s nostalgia. Won’t the saint look at his own suffering with a lens that captures God’s overall plan? In the meantime, we can survive on such memories with a sense that, after all, the good old days are possible!
The saint can also think of himself as a badly wounded soldier whom the LORD God rescues. How you want to enjoy a break! But forget your wounds. Forget your burns! The LORD recruits you immediately and sends you back to the battlefront to rescue more souls!
Job didn’t have a problem with God in the past; he doesn’t have it now; he won’t have it in the future when the LORD speaks. But his three friends have a problem! It cannot be considered as part of God’s plan from the beginning for Job’s suffering, but who knows the workings of the LORD? Job’s suffering has exposed Job’s friends’ hearts! It’s not a bad guess to think of their salvation as a planned effort from the very beginning of everything!
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