Why the Book of Job is so Dear to Me |
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Skrevet af Jørn Nielsen
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Lørdag, 23. august 2014 07:28 |
Without being a Job yourself, as a believer under the discipline of the Lord and tempted to ”become weary and discouraged in your souls” (Hebr. 12:3) you may still feel spiritually related to Job whom some theologians consider a mere myth, but he is referred to as a suffering prophet whose life afflicted Christians should remember as an example of perseverance and the object of the Lord´s compassion and mercy (Jam. 5:11).
That book which I´m again reading should also teach us true compassion with tried friends and save us from being like those “miserable comforters” of Job (see Job 16:2) . They were the ones who challenged him with questions like, “What do you know?” (11:8) and “What do you know that we do not know?” (15:9). And yet that man in despair could say what he did know, “I know that my Redeemer lives!” (19:25). I knew a dear man of God many years ago. He was a hard tried man in private matters plus physical illness. As a preacher and personal friend he meant much to me as a young Christian. But he went through deep waters and could like Job speak in the bitterness of his soul (10:1).
A young, proud Christian talked to him one day in a rather didactic tone. My friend got agitated about his arrogance, but the stuck-up fellow said, “Are you sure you are speaking in the Holy Spirit now?” and he started quoting the Bible to him. My suffering friend said, “You´re quoting God´s word to me, but I may do the same to you, for doesn´t it say : “The speech of a despairing man belongs to the wind” ( Job 6:26, in Norwegian rendering)
The “super” spiritual young man was not spiritual enough to understand that he was dealing with a man in despair. Instead he behaved like one of the “miserable comforters”. In that light we should study the book of Job and the words of James (5:11). That may make us better qualified to minister true grace to the afflicted with the tenderness of the Lord.
August 23, 2014 - jn
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