Reading
SAA Notes
Bildad now has a go. He returns to the theme that if bad has happened, Job must have deserved it. God, says Bildad, does not pervert justice. Isn’t it strange how we can say the right things so wrongly! The friends don’t believe that sin has made paradise hell. The wrong premise is that this world is OK, that it’s not out of kilter, that evil things don’t happen to good people.
SJA Notes
* Loving God, You satisfy those who hunger and thirst for righteousness – May we be those who do.
“Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish.”
Ouch!
This is Bildad’s friendship at work, laying out his point of view to his friend Job.
We know that Job’s misfortune came about because God had permitted Satan to harm and persecute Job (only his life being kept).
Bildad’s faulty theology cannot understand suffering and persecution outside of personal agency for everything that happens.
We may have friends and loved ones who think this way. We might have thought this like this from time to time!
The book of Job teaches us about the reality of God’s sovereignty. Job was not the cause of the bad things that happened to him, but even more – thought his trials Job was kept within the everlasting arms of his God, our God.
Praise the Lord that He has given to us this book, so that we might wrestle with these truths and how they work out in our lives today.
* God Above,
Please help us understand suffering a little better today. How to get better ourselves and processing it and how to better relate with others who are suffering.
Please help us know You better today Lord.
Amen.