Chronological Reading Plan for Jan 10

Today's readings are Job are 24-28. Tomorrow's are Job 29-31.

In ch 24, Job laments his lot and the lot of those who are victims of injustice. He clings to the hope for justice for the righteous but wishes it was more apparent and visible. Ironically, Job seems to be speaking to the air while acting as a representative for himself and for other righteous people. Does he see himself as the wished-for arbiter/advocate for the downtrodden? This exposes part of Job's struggle, the idea that justice comes in a manner perceived and approved by him. Job assumes that the lack of visible justice is a shortcoming of God's plan. Even as Job acknowledges God's sovereignty, his self-righteousness is beginning to break the surface. 

We hear the last statement from Job's friends when Bildad speaks in ch 25. Bildad's reasoning is the same as his two friends. They have assumed they were taking a godly perspective on Job's situation. They've seen their duty as having to decide whether Job was wrong about his situation...or God was. They rightly take God's side. But, this is only by right their own perceptions. They think there are only two choices. It never occurs to them that they may be wrong, both in their defense of God (as if He needs defending) and their condemnation of Job. It is now clear that their self-righteousness far surpasses Job's. They are unjustly condemning Job and severely limiting God at the same time!

This is the danger of trying to figure out what God is doing by using our own sense of reason. We're too self-centered to be objective. We have too difficult a time thinking outside of the boxes we create for ourselves in an attempt to make the things of God neat and tidy, easily understandable and explained.

Job literally interrupts Bildad with sarcastic remarks in ch 26. This will be the last time he addresses his friends in this dialogue. He asserts his innocence and claims he deserves nothing of what has happened to him. With this, he turns away from his friends until the end of the book.

Ch 28 is a hymn. Job's life has been shattered. All he had is gone. His faith is being tested and everything he knows about God and himself is being challenged. The hymn rises up out of a broken heart that is looking for answers to questions that Job never pondered prior to his ordeal. Job maintains that man can effectively mine precious metals but is incapable of mining the depths of godly wisdom. Job's conclusion is profound (Job 28:28), "...the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom and to turn away from evil is understanding."

Job is getting just a glimmer of the idea that God is doing something extraordinary in him. Yet, his struggle is monumental and ongoing. 

God doesn't always give us the big picture. He frequently reveals Himself and His plan to us a little at a time, asking us to trust Him, even though we don't know the outcome or reasoning behind His actions. In all of it, God intends to show His glory and put our transformation on display as a witness to His glory. 

The ultimate unreasonable act God performs will be the sacrifice of His Son. Job constantly dances around the edge of that truth in symbols and shadows. Those symbols and shadows are the hard evidence that, even though Job is unaware of events occurring in the heavenlies, God is in control and has a plan. He has been all along. God will use everything in Job's life to perfect His plan for Job.

We have the blessing of a fuller revelation. We don't have to deal with the same symbols and shadows Job does. By His grace, God has clearly revealed to us that He will use everything in creation to effect His plan of redemption for His children.  Like Job's situation, that redemption will be achieved through the suffering of a blameless man. Only this time, that man will be perfectly blameless, perfectly righteous. The world doesn't understand this. Then again, it doesn't have to make sense to the world or to us, for that matter, only to God.