Day 13 - Februray 1, 2008 - Job 3-4

go read it

so is job's friend trying to encourage him or discourage him? at first hes like well people really look up to you and you help people a lot. but then whats he saying about God after that?

I read! I am catching up!

good question cecily. i don't know the answer. i think the traditional reading is that they are implying that all this tragedy is some indication of sin in his life. eliphaz says, "Who being innocent has ever perished? . . . As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it." This statement necessarily implies that Job is reaping the consequences of his own choices. In Chapter 5 (not in the reading), Eliphaz tells Job to throw himself at the mercy of God and "blessed is the man whom God corrects."

Of course Eliphaz's perspective, we believe, is what the Book of Job is trying, in part, to reject. Job's trials weren't a consequence of his actions (as the Bible describes it at least). rather God permitted Lucifer to inflict the tragedy really for no other cause than to prove Job's great devotion to God.

my humble opinion, is that they weren't trying to "discourage" him necessarily but they certainly were making assumptions about his life and behavior that they shouldn't have been.

it's a great lesson for all of us. tragedy and hardship does not equal sinfulness. we should remember that the next time we see a homeless person or someone else down on their luck.

sorry, i've been absent. family has been struck with a plague of Biblical proportions. lot of vomiting!!

thanks joe! thats good to think about how God isn't necessarily punishing us when bad things happen in our lives. I've never read through the end of Job, but I hope he stands strong for God.

I thought it was interesting in that, chapter 3 and chapter 4 seemed to be polar opposites!