October 18, 2023
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Job? Here’s today’s reading:
Job 30 (NIV)
1“But now they mock me,
men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to put with my sheep dogs.
2 Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
since their vigor had gone from them?…..Continue Reading
Job’s suffering is bringing him to a place where he is becoming convinced that it is God who is doing him harm, and he accuses God of turning on him “ruthlessly”. In the midst of deep suffering, we will certainly be tempted to turn and accuse God, claiming that He cannot love us, and in fact, wishes us harm. Otherwise, why would we be subjected to such pain, loneliness and desperation? I think this is part of why it is so important for us to lean into God in all times…especially the good, because then when the bad come, we will know and remember that God is for us…that He has only our good in mind, even if we cannot see how what we are walking through could have any good. And that is not to say that our suffering always has good in it…but rather, that even in our suffering, God is always good. We live in a broken, sinful, fallen world, and we know that trials and suffering will come. But through it all, we have a God who simply loved us, for nothing we possessed or demonstrated, but simply because He chose to love us…loved us enough to rescue us and redeem us, so that we might spend eternity with our loving Creator. God will be glorified in all things…and even in our suffering, if we can fall upon God and trust Him, even until our last breath…there is much glory in that for our God.
Dennis, I see the same contrast, Chapter 29 to 30, but you said it best. Job shifts to how he perceives he is now treated. If a fragment of what he says is true, there were many judgmental folks in his society, cruel, down right mean. I was taught never to be mean to folks in unfortunate circumstances. Never kick a man when he is down. Never look down on the less fortunate.
Consider Luke 16, rich man and Lazarus. See where the rich man lived sumptuously every day, clothed in finery. Lazarus, hungry, ill, weak, craving fragments of dirty food. No mercy, no compassion for him. That was in life. In death, all was reversed. Lazarus likely felt like Job in chapters 29 & 30. The rich man, I figure, is like the scornful of 30. We can see to what kind of end that attitude leads. Sending my peace, gy
This chapter 30 is a contrast to the last chapter. Now Job feels that God has left him as he states in verses 19-24. He has been cast into the mire and God doesn`t hear him or so he thinks. With all the people that he helped now no one shows him any mercy but on the contrary he is mocked, spit upon, they hinder his walking by tripping him, they come upon him like waters [ constant force]. Now evil comes upon him when he desires good, and darkness instead of light. Doesn`t this reaction by these others show truly what is in the heart of men. That their hearts are wicked and without Christ this is what we are. Maybe we wouldn`t say wicked but we are sinners. And without Christ man will do whatever is right in his own eyes. We see this now in our fallen world. Come quickly Lord Jesus. Judges 21;25 [ In those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.] Proverbs 21;2 [ Every way of a man is right in his own eyes but the Lord pondereth the hearts.] God bless us all as we follow His right way.
Job 25-30
Something I began to notice in the last couple of chapters is that before this great trial, Job had an expectation that his life would always be easy because of his righteousness. As he says in the previous chapter:
18“I thought, ‘I will die in my own house,
my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
19My roots will reach to the water,
and the dew will lie all night on my branches.
20My glory will not fade;
the bow will be ever new in my hand.’
And even in this chapter and many like it he shows how upset he is that things didn’t go the way he expected. Now I don’t think he was only doing what was right so that he would be blessed, but his mistake was just managing his expectations.
In my past I’ve made a similar mistake where I expected things to go well for me because I followed the rules, did what I was told, and avoided sin. And when things took a turn for the worst I turned against God because he wasn’t treating me the way I though he “should”. And like Job I thought God owed me an explanation.
But from those trials I’ve learned that we are not spared from suffering in this life by the good that we do; but we are given an opportunity to grow in our faithfulness in a very unique way by being faithful to God even when facing undeserved suffering. And as long as we keep that faith we can be given a peace that surpasses all understanding that will help us withstand our trials.
God works all things together for the good of those who love him and are called to his purpose (Romans 8:28) And even though our understanding of God’s purposes are limited, we take comfort in that fact that His love is limitless (I got that from a clip I saw of the old X-Men cartoon).
Awesome post, Josiah…thank you for the good word!
Such a contrast between where Job has found himself and where he reflected he had been in chapter 29. Must be so hard for him physically, mentally, and spiritually! He wonders why God is allowing such suffering and I could not agree more with what Sean said that if we aren’t leaning into God in the good times when the difficult times come it is harder to stay confident in the promises and the hope of God. Satan will meet us in those dark times and use them as a way to pull us away from God so being sure to be dependent on God at all times brings us closer to Him and we are able to hold on to the hope we have in Him even when it is harder to see or understand His plan amidst our circumstances.
Job 30 Job is talking about how he’s been treated by others during this time, how he’s been judged by others, spit at, they treated him so badly instead of helping him, comforting him, is this how God would want us to treat a broken brother or sister, certainly not! In verses 20 to 23 he’s expressing his anger at God because he feels like he’s deserted him when he needed him most.
Job 22
Job is feeling utterly forsaken.
I cry out to You, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You regard me.
21 But You have become cruel to me;
With the strength of Your hand You oppose me.
22 You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it;
You spoil my success.
23 For I know that You will bring me to death,
And to the house appointed for all living.
How sad it is to be Job and have gone through what he has. We know the backstory and the final result, but for Job to be in the midst of it must have been beyond difficult. Not only has he faced tragic loss but is also in physical pain as well. And then beyond that to have people come against him, people mistreating him who he formally treated with kindness (or at least their relatives). It seems like they are retaliating because the one who had so much has become down, so let’s push him down more. We would not wish these circumstances on anyone and yet Job becomes the consolation for those going through similar things to recognize God is always behind the scenes. He is always there even if we cannot hear Him or feel Him. He has a plan and purpose for the suffering, which at least makes it redemptive and not wasted. Job also shows, like the Psalms, that God is fine hearing our laments, our pain, our confusion, our anger and dismay. Job is dealing with it all and does not deserve it. And yet God is still the reference point. He is still the One sought. And we know His answer and resolution is coming.
Job 30