JOB 27

TEXT TO REFLECT ON 

And Job again took up his discourse, and said:

2 “As God lives, who has taken away my right,

    and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,

3 as long as my breath is in me,

    and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,

4 my lips will not speak falsehood,

    and my tongue will not utter deceit.

5 Far be it from me to say that you are right;

    till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. 

6 I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;

    my heart does not reproach me for any of my days. JOB 27:1-6

REFLECT

In this passage, Job expresses how God has been unjust to him. This does not mean that God had actually been unjust to him. But from where he was, suffering even though he had not done anything to deserve his suffering, he saw that God was being unjust to him. He says in v 2, "God.... who has taken away my right, and the Almighty who has made my soul bitter." To Job, God was the cause of his bitterness because He had caused Job to suffer even though Job had done nothing wrong.

In the midst of his suffering, Job maintains that "till I die, I will not put away my integrity from me." He was saying that despite all his suffering, he would not be unfaithful or untrue to God. He would not turn against God and sin, even if God was perceived to be unjust to him. To Job, he could lose everything. But he could not lose his integrity. Because that was his core; that was who he was.

Job explained why he would not give up his integrity. First, what hope would he have if he became godless? If God no longer heard his cry of distress? It seems ironic that this man Job who felt God had abandoned him, still clung on to the hope that God would hear his cry of distress. While suffering, Job said of the wicked, "what is the hope of the godless? Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him? Will he take delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times?" v 8-10. Deep inside, Job still believed that despite his suffering, God would hear him, and that he could still find comfort in God. But if he turned against God, he would have nothing and no one to turn to. Interestingly, Job's conviction echos the Psalmist's prayer when he cried out against similar injustices where the wicked prospered and the righteous suffered, "Whom do I have in heaven but you? I desire nothing on this earth. My body and mind may fail, but God is my strength and my portion forever." Psalm 73:25-26. In the midst of their suffering, these men of God believed that God was with them and that God Himself was their desire.

Job also took a long view of life. He realized that the prosperity of the wicked was temporary. From v 13 to 23 he speaks of how the wicked may prosper for a while, but their end is destruction - "he goes to bed rich, but will do so no more". v 19.

RELATE

It is tempting to think that "if God doesn't help me get this or that, I shall get it myself, by whatever means necessary." Sometimes we turn to other gods; at other times we resort to dishonest or violent means. Anything to get what we want. But are the things we want better and more desirable than being able to run to God? If we alienate ourselves from God, and feel that we can no longer call to Him or cry to Him or run to Him, what do we have left? What do we gain after we have gotten what we want, be it riches, or comfort, or fame? And what happens to us when these are eventually lost? 

The story of Job is a lesson on holding on to our integrity out of love for God. It is being steadfast in who we are. The story began with Satan insinuating that Job was a good man only because things were going his way. That's the common lie about humanity, that we are mercenary, and good only when things go our way. God showed through Job that we are more than that. That being created in the image of God, we are capable of holding on to our integrity and our love for God through good times and bad. And that love is steadfast. Job is in that sense a forerunner of Christ, who though reviled and tortured, endured suffering out of love for us. Relationships, especially that between God and us, is more than me scratching God's back and He scratching mine. It is more than me behaving well to God when He does good to me. It is a relationship that endures even in the seeming silence of God.

REST 

Father, whom do I have in heaven and on earth, if I do not have you? You are my source of joy, my comfort when my heart is broken, my strength when I have lost all courage. Help me never to leave you even when I am in the deepest pit. Because if I leave you (and I am very capable of doing that), I have no one else to turn to. 

Chiu Ming Li