Thursday, January 29, 2015

Truth #32 - Only God knows why someone is suffering!!! Job 11

Job 11:5-6
“But would that God might speak,
And open His lips against you,
And show you the secrets of wisdom!
For sound wisdom has two sides.
Know then that God forgets a part of your iniquity.

In this story of Job we have a huge advantage over Job's three friends.  We have read the first few verses of Job.   Before we look deeper into the above passage stating Zophar, Job's third friend, it would be best to remember what God stated about Job BEFORE all this started and Job's three friends began to offer their "opinions" of Job's situation.   Note what God said:

Job 1:1; Job 1:8
​ V. 1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.

V. 8 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”

We know where Job started.  His three friends only see what they see.   In their "counseling" Job they had some different views of what was happening.  Eliphaz, the first to offer his thoughts, believed that this was just a little discipline from God for just a little sin and it would soon pas (Job 4:5-6).   Bildad, the second to speak, thought that since Job wasn't killed, like his children, his sin must be less grievous in God's eyes and therefore God was not that bad (Job 8:4-6).   Zophar, the third friend of Job and the speaker of our above passage, is the cruelest of the three.   He has the typical theology most of mankind has: IF something bad has happened to you, you must be bad (sinful) and you need to repent!   There is no exceptions to this mindset to people like Zophar.   What Zophar states in the above passage is that if God would but speak to Job, He would show Job the secret Job is missing ... that Job's tribulation is result of his sin ... in fact (see the last line of the above passage) God has already forgiven some of Job's sin ... if not, Job would be utterly destroyed.   Zophar's belief is that God, in His mercy, is actually withholding what Job really deserves and if Job's entire life were taken into consideration Job would be destroyed.    Zophar is like a lot of believers today who see someone in suffering and who's life is filled with difficulty.  He assumes the person is in such a state of sin, they deserve the pain and suffering they are under.    Such a thought process never considers what we read in Job 1:1 and 1:8.   They simply believe that if we are in suffering we are in punishment.    In the above passage, the line that states, "for sound wisdom has two sides," is quite mysterious.  There are as many interpretations of the meaning as their are those who consider it.   PERHAPS (if this poor soul and offer his view) Zophar is trying to tell Job that if God would show you HIS view of this mess you are in, Job, you would see the other side.  So, Zophar is telling Job he has his own interpretation of what is happening and then there is God's side.  It should be noted that Zophar believes he is telling Job, God's side of the issue.   Zophar puts himself as the messenger of God.   Like most who make judgments on others, Zophar has simply assumed that difficult is the result of sin in our lives.    Never mind someone like Joseph who did nothing to be sold into slavery and locked up in prison.   Mordecai did nothing and was under attack by Hamman.   Daniel did nothing and suffered under the scrutiny of the other wisemen.   It is so easy for someone to tell people the issue they are dealing with is sin in their lives and God holds the secret to that sin and has revealed it to them!!  Pastors often play Zophar's role, today.   As appointed spokesman for God, they can often make judgments about the person they are counseling.  It is not surprise that the church, learning from the pastor, makes the same false-leap of condemnation.   Zophar may have been right in his theology (that sin brings about discipline) but he was certainly off in the application of that truth.   The truth is that only God knows why we are in suffering.   We can rejoice to know that He knows and is in control of that suffering.   We don't need Zophar's to point it out.  

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