Job 31 | Wayfarer

“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;
let my accuser put his indictment in writing.”
Job 31:35 (NIV)

A year or so ago I was talking with a life-long friend. We were discussing the state of cancel culture that exists today in which a person can lose their job and be effectively pilloried for foolish choices made when he or she was young. My friend expressed that this was an ever-present fear, confessing that if even a fraction of the stupid things done during high school were to come to light, their life would be utterly ruined. My friend was not exaggerating. I know some of the stories. Today’s cancel culture would have a field day.

Today’s chapter is the third and final phase of Job’s closing defense arguments in his mock trial with God. It is actually a poetically beautiful summation in which Job makes seven “if” statements that assert his blamelessness. In Biblical numerology, seven is the number of “completion” and Job’s seven “if” statements echo the Mosaic laws of retaliation in Exodus and Leviticus. In essence, Job is saying “if” I am guilty of breaking any of these laws of morality, community, or justice “then” let me suffer the consequences, either natural or prescribed by law. He asserts, however, that he is blameless (not sinless, but blameless) in each case and calls upon the Almighty to prove His case. Job then verbally puts his John Hancock on his defense and calls on God to make His case.

As I read through Jobs defense in the quiet this morning, three prevailing thoughts crowded my mind. First, like my friend’s very real fear regarding cancel culture, I am definitely not blameless. I can easily be accused and found guilty of a large majority, if not all, of the seven moral assertions Job makes.

Second, I continue to be reminded that God has not accused Job of anything. In fact, the whole of what God has said about Job amounts to praise for Job’s faith, blamelessness, and goodness.

Third, the whole of Job’s argument rests on a world-view in which there is always a cause-and-effect to suffering. In his case, Job’s suffering is happening precisely because his faith, blamelessness, and goodness placed him in the crosshairs of the evil one.

As a disciple of Jesus, I can’t escape the fact that Jesus told His followers to expect unjust suffering just as He would unjustly suffer.

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law… Matt 16:21

Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Matt 17:11-12

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me…” Matt 24:9

To Peter, Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” John 21:18

Along my spiritual journey I have had to embrace the truth that Jesus never promised His followers an earthly life of health, wealth, and earthly prosperity. Quite the opposite, in fact. Jesus told His followers to expect trouble, difficulty, persecution, suffering, injustice, and even a death one doesn’t deserve. This earthly life, Jesus told His followers, was simply a shadow of the Life to come. If my treasure is here on this earth, then I am naturally going to feel trouble, difficulty, persecution, suffering, and injustice more acutely. If my treasure is in heaven, where Jesus tells me to place it, then I am going to consider any trouble, difficulty, persecution, suffering, and injustice completely differently.

It even changes the way I consider Job’s suffering.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

“If I have walked with falsehood
or my foot has hurried after deceit—
let God weigh me in honest scales
and he will know that I am blameless—”
Job 31:5-6 (NIV)

Wendy, Suzanna and I stood in the kitchen this past Sunday night and had one of those really important conversations about life. It wasn’t chit-chat. It wasn’t casual. We wandered into some deep weeds and talked about why it is we all do things we know we shouldn’t, and why it is we choose out of doing things we know we should. We talked about the process each one of us must go through of figuring these things out so that we can successfully move forward in our life journey.

On Tuesday night and Wednesday we were blessed by a visit from Madison, who came home from Colorado to see the family for Christmas (she’ll be on-call at work next week). Sitting around the dining room table late into Tuesday evening and again in the afternoon on Wednesday, Wendy and I waded once more into deep weeds with our daughter. We had honest conversation about old scars, misperceptions, and miscommunication. We acknowledged the ways we have hurt one another over the years, whom we love deeply.

So, here’s the problem I have with Job. I get that he feels his suffering is unjust. I understand feeling that the scales of justice are out of whack when you do your darnedest to be an alright guy and life takes a dump on you. I’m a good, midwestern protestant boy of hardworking Dutch heritage. I’ve tried hard to serve God and walk the straight and narrow since the days of my youth. Reading today’s chapter, however, leaves me scratching my head at Job’s claims of piety:

I haven’t looked lustfully at a woman
I haven’t walked with falsehood
I haven’t been enticed by a woman or committed adultery
I haven’t been unjust to my servants
I haven’t denied the poor or refused to share with the needy
I haven’t been greedy
I haven’t rejoiced at my enemies misfortune
I have no hidden sins

I get that Job is a good guy, but no one is that good. When I go down this list I realize that I (or my wife, daughters, family, friends, neighbors, employees, and etc.) could provide you with specific examples of ways of committed each of these wrongdoings somewhere along my journey. I’m not proud of this fact. Maybe I’m just a rotten person, but that’s the point. No matter how good we try to be, we all have tragic flaws. We all make mistakes. Each one of us repeatedly finds ourselves choosing to do the things we don’t want to do and refusing to do the things we know we should. Each one of us causes hurt to the ones we love the most.

The ultimate theme of the epic poem of Job are the questions which arise when good people who lead good lives experience tragic and inexplicable suffering. I get from a literary perspective that Job’s lofty claims of righteousness serve to heighten his climactic argument in this cosmic debate just before God breaks His silence. Still, I read the claims and think to myself, “I think you left something off the list, Job: Humility.”

And, I think that’s exactly where God will enter the debate.