I Am Not A Godless Man

Job

All Rights Reserved

Karl Evans

Once upon a time in the Land of Uz there lived a man named Job. You have heard of Uz. The land is not too far from here. It is a comfortable and pleasant place to live.

Job was a good and just man. He did his best to live the kind of life he knew he should. It was a life that reflected his best dreams. He was deeply concerned about his faith with Yahweh, his Lord.

Job was rather a typical man in many ways. He lived with his wife and children and grandchildren. Job's adoring family gathered around him in the evening when the work was done.

With the children close around, Job told them the stories of the past. When he told these stories, he always talked about his Lord. It was Job’s way of making certain his family was easy with the Lord.

Job had friends and neighbors who wanted to trade with Job. They trusted Job. Because of his honesty and his fairness, Job had many friends.

Job always had much to trade. His farm was blessed with an abundance of sheep and goats and cattle. Job’s crops always produced plentifully for harvest. The hay and grain fed many sheep and goats and cattle. Job’s harvests of vegetables and fruit were always prized for their quality.

When Job struck a deal with a neighbor to trade, his word was as good as gold. No one ever suggested he tried to substitute poor products for good.
In most ways, Job was very much like everyone around. However, most believed Job to be a little stronger and a little more honest than others. He might have seemed a little more sensitive than some to the needs of those around him. That is, he was a little different.

Job had only one real worry. He was concerned that he might do something that would be counted as sin. This worried him every day.

This deep concern led to one unusual task each day. Job handled it as regularly as clockwork. He finished his work with joy over the blessings provided by the Lord. Then at the close of the day Job would make a little sacrifice. This was to show repentance for any misdeed he might have committed.

Often the sacrifice was a dove, or a chicken. Sometimes it was a handful of grain thrown into the fire or into the wind. On special occasions it was a spotless lamb that was slaughtered. Job so wanted to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

Each evening, just before sunset, Job's family gathered around the table. They ate their good food. They talked about the events of the day.

One evening a neighbor rode up with word that thieves had raided Job’s property. The oxen and mules had been captured and the servants killed. A bunch of rogues such as occasionally infested the area had done the dirty work.

As Job went from the table to investigate the situation, a servant rode up. This servant told Job that some wild Chaldeans from across the river had raided one of the camps. This was a wild mob of raiders from across the Jordan River. They had killed some more of the servants and stolen Job's camels.

Job was now confused and heartbroken. This servant began to pour out the details. The confused Job hardly knew where to go first. He had been leaving to investigate one tragedy and been called to another.

In a moment, yet another servant came running. This servant cried "Your children have been caught in a tornado and all of them are killed!"
At this news, Job was just beside himself. His family, his crops, his animals, his servants--all were gone. Job wept. Big tears cascaded down his cheeks, staining his robe.

Job raised his voice to the heavens as he wept. He did not lift his voice in anger. Rather, the hills rang with praise as he spoke an ancient poem:

"Naked I came from my mother's womb;
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the Name of the Lord!"

Being faithful was very difficult in such a trying time.

Being faithful was very difficult in such a trying time.

As the days and weeks and months went by, Job tried to keep his face and his faith. He struggled to recover the work of his life.

But one day Job found himself with sores all over his body. The sores were not only ugly, but they smelled and ran with liquid. They made other people afraid to be near him. The neighbors thought maybe he had leprosy.

Job's wife was an understanding and kind woman. She worked hard to make a good life. She tried to help Job get out of his misery. She said, "Job, I love you dearly. But you would be better off if you were dead. Curse God, and God will make the lightning strike you dead."

Job did not hesitate but answered "Hush, honey! We accept good from the hand of the Lord. Should we not also accept the hurt that comes?"

So Job kept the faith, but it was not easy. The day finally came when Job could not take any more of the pain. He could not fight the battle of faith any longer.

Job had some friends, people he trusted. They listened while Job, he who would never curse the Lord, cursed the day he was born. "Damn the day that I was born! Damn that sunrise and that sunset! Damn the clouds that drifted by on that day! Damn the water that flowed in the streams of the earth on that day!"

"May the memory of that day fade in the infamy it so richly deserves! Why couldn't I have died at birth rather than live so long as to see my life destroyed?"

Job’s friends listened. They could scarce believe their own ears! Eliphaz, a scholar who had come from Te'eman, spoke first. "Job, my friend, we know you are a good man. You have helped all of us at one time or another. But we know the Lord, and you know the Lord. It is certainly true that the Lord does not punish anyone for nothing. You must have done something very bad."

"I know you don't know what it was. Think of it this way, my friend. With the punishment comes a release. As you pay the price for what you have done, you will be free of the burden of your sin. You will live a good, long, healthy life. You have paid such a great price for whatever is your burden."

Job angrily listened to the words of Eliphaz. He was bitter both Eliphaz. Job was bitter at the Lord. "Eliphaz, I don't know which is worse. I serve a god who takes away the lives of my family and my servants. This destroys me. I have a friend who accuses me of some guilt without naming the guilt. I do not understand this strange thought. My God chooses to destroy my people. I would rather that God would destroy me than take the lives of my people."

"What gain is there if the Lord claims I am guilty but I have not the knowledge of my own evil? I need to know how long it will be before I am forgiven by the Lord. If the Lord waits too long, I will be lying in the grave. I will not be available for forgiveness. I need to know now!"

Another old friend, Bildad, the wise man from the land of Shuh, said "Job, please remember that I am your friend. Don't talk about God that way. You must really pray. Pray hard. If you will really get down on your knees and just pray, that will do it. The Lord will forgive you and everything will be all right."

By now Job was willing to try anything. "I will try. But I don't really even have self-confidence enough anymore to even pray. How can I be a just man before God? Do you not see all these things have happened to me? They are the proof that I am a worm, and not a good man."

"If I come before God he will truly destroy me. Oh, would that I had never been born! Leave me alone, Lord, just leave me alone!"

These words of anger caused another friend, Zophar, the community leader from the land of Na'aman, to speak. "Job, buddy, let me give you some words of wisdom. You are feeling a great guilt. You say you have failed in some way before the Lord. You try every day to do what is just and right."

"But you get no words from the Lord saying what is wrong and what is right. You cannot know the secrets of the Lord."

"You are feeling guilt. You know no reason for guilt. You just know bad things are happening to you. Therefore you think you must be guilty for some unknown reason. You believe that the Lord would not punish the innocent."

"Surely the Lord does not require so much of you? You surely cannot be guilty of that which you are unaware. So my advice, my friend, is simply to love the Lord with all your heart! Do not be so concerned to understand. Perhaps you simply cannot understand. Perhaps it is not the will of the Lord that you should know!"

At these words Job roared with anger, both at Zophar and at the Lord. "No doubt you are the only wise man. When you die all wisdom will die with you. Is that not true?"

"Come now. I am not so dumb. I have some understanding of the ways of the Lord. Ask the birds and the rabbits and the foxes the ways of the Lord. They will tell you. If you ask the tree and the bush and the worm, they will tell you."

"Am I so dumb?" queried Job. "Am I dumber than these other creatures of the Lord? I know something of the way of the Lord!"

"And you just watch! I am preparing my case to lay before the Lord. I am not a godless man. A godless man will not stand before the Lord. I will. I will lay my case before the Lord, face to face, toe to toe. I will challenge the Lord!"

"I will ask `Why, Lord?'. I will ask the Lord `Under what pretext do you do this to me?’"

Eliphaz by now was ready for the lightning bolt to strike. "Your words! Your words! Your words are doing away with the fear of the Lord! No one will be filled with awe and terror at the name of the Lord if you stand to the Lord face to face and survive. Because of this, the Lord cannot let you win your case."

"You will be finally destroyed! Back off, my friend. Relax, don't be so possessed. Don't worry so much about it. Let it be!"

Zophar said "Be at peace, my friend. You know you don't have long to live. You know people are frail. We are not really of much worth to God. You know God could well do without all of us. God does not need even a great teacher such as me. Take it easy."

Bildad spoke up. "Remember, the peace of the ungodly comes only when they are destroyed. Those who do not dwell in the house of the Lord will be destroyed."

By now Job was in no mood to dink around. His family was gone. His servants and his cattle and his flocks were gone. His body was covered with sores that caused people to back away from him.

His friends, people with whom he sought counsel, did not support him. Some accused him of deserving the pain and punishment. Others just told him to buck up and take it like a man. They said he should suffer without complaint at the injustice.

Finally Elihu, the fourth friend, began to speak with words that brought strength and hope. "Job, listen carefully. I have some things to say on God's behalf. Don't let the evil that has come on you destroy your faith. Do not pay attention to the words of those around you. They must not turn you to scoffing at the Lord. The ways of God are just. There is neither evil nor selfishness in them."

"The Lord does not need to show us the divine ways. But the Lord shows us what the Lord will show us out of choice. Remember what the Lord has shown to you! The Lord has prospered you in the good times as well as the hard times. Do not scoff at the power of the Lord!"

Now Job was silent. He had to listen, for what Elihu said was truth. In many ways, he had been fulfilled by the Lord. Job knew that though he wanted to find fault with the Lord, he could not. For what fault could there be in the Lord?

Then out of the cloud the Lord spoke to Job. The voice of the Lord was deep, like thunder. "Job, prepare to do battle. Gird up yourself like a man, and come before me face to face."

"Let me question you. How strong are you? Your muscles were big, and strong. Could you plant a ring in the nose of the hippopotamus?"
"Your hands have tamed the wild bull. That is really something, I will grant. But can you go fishing for a crocodile? Can you pierce a python with a hook as bait for the croc?"

The Lord did not wait for an answer. He knew there would be none. "No? Then what makes you think you can do battle with me?"

Job did not look down. Instead, he answered the Lord in words so true in all the ages.

"I have met you face to face. For this, I expected to die, but I did not. Now I live and I understand. Before the evil came on me, we were not close. Then the evil came, and the only way I could finally win would be to do battle with you with words and emotions. You might have destroyed me, for you are God. You have all wisdom and heart."

"But you did not take my life. Now we talk together, you and I. Our words and our questions are stronger than battle. Our common victory is in knowing the heart of the other. I ask you questions and you answer me."
"Before, I had only heard of you. Now I know you face to face. I have not been destroyed but redeemed. Before, I knew the joy of things. Now I know the joy of knowing you."

Now Job and the Lord walked arm in arm together. Job no longer needed to do battle with the Lord. Job did not now risk his own destruction. But Job was now not afraid to ask the Lord "Why?"

Job was now not afraid to listen to the words of the Lord. Job was not afraid to love the Lord.

Karl Evans
All Rights Reserved

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