i forgive the bar bet. as job, now that i see and hear hashem, and understand his word, i see his purpose.
lordly ambition: the prince who would be king. whatever it says or suggests about limitations upon a deity’s omnipotence and omnipresence and omni-prescience, satan at the time of his affliction of job is part of g_d’s retinue, and gifted with a fair panoply of powers. and, he is stretching his limbs and his muscles, seemingly not entirely content to play fiddle behind the concert master.
so it happens one day (job 1:6) that the sons of g_d come to him, satan in their entourage, and the lord of gods asks satan where he has been. satan replies to g_d that he has been upon the earth going “… to and fro …” and that he has been “… walking up and down upon it.” (job 1:7). and g_d turns the discussion to job, asking if he has “considered” his servant job, and then asserting “there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears g_d and turns away from evil.” (job 1:8). to which satan says, sure, he is upright because you favor and protect him, but “touch” what he has and “… he will curse you to your face … ,” (job 1:11), and this is offered as a challenge, a jibe, an assertion that job will not assert his faith in g_d if things do not go well for him.
and g_d rises to the jibe, knowing full well that the “touch” of satan upon job will not be pleasant, and knowing this, g_d says to satan, “very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!” (job 1:12).
and satan’s touch is not pleasant, for he destroys job's considerable wealth, possession, position and authority within the community, and he kills job’s 7 sons and 3 daughters as they sup together, as was their wont. even so, job does not sin or charge g_d with wrongdoing, nor does he curse him: rather, he blesses the lord, and his faith is steadfast. (job 1:22).
and so it comes to pass that satan comes before g_d again as part of a celestial retinue, and g_d inquires of satan whether he has “considered” job, a disingenuous inquiry if ever there was one, for of course, g_d is aware of what has befallen job at satan’s hands, and g_d recognizes it is because he has authorized satan to act with evil.
in an extraordinary passage, by any measure of intellect or theology, g_d says to satan of job, “…. . he still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.” (job 2:3) it is again disingenuousness of profound dimension, for surely g_d cannot have forgotten that he had given job over to satan to do all, except to take his life. by any measure g_d accepts the wrong doing, accepts the commission of evil by one of his retinue upon one of his flock, and i will be hung if the admission can be read any other way: i practiced criminal law for 25 years, and i know a confession when i read one.
and, again satan puts the needle to g_d, and incites and japes him again, saying so what, he has not suffered personally or physically, but if you let me touch job’s “… bone and flesh … “ he will curse his g_d to your face. (job 2:5).
and g_d rises to the baiting by satan, and condemns job to further suffering, saying “… very well, he is in your power; only spare his life.” (job 2:6).
so it is that satan departs g_d and wastes no time visiting horror upon job, described in the very next passages as follows:
so satan went out from the presence of the lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes. (job 2:7).
job’s knowledge of who “jobbed” him. what a lovely way to pass the time, sitting naked in ashes scraping your loathsome sores with the sharp edges of broken pottery, this presumably being the least intrusive way open to job to try to deal with his loathsome condition. this is not the only affliction visited upon job, for what satan and g_d cannot inflict by their connivance, then other punishment and shame is visited upon job by his community: family, friends, wife and servant turn against him, leaving him suffering, despondent and alone. it is truly a horrifying picture.
i would suggest you read the entire chapter, the heartfelt case that job builds for his faith in the g_d of his father, and for his righteousness before g_d, and before his fellow man. and, understand the extent of his suffering, for he has been crushed and tormented to a horrible extent.
and, he knows the agency which has caused to torment to visit him. he knows that for some reason he has fallen from g_d’s grace, and that g_d has turned from him, and that he is far from g_d. he knows that he is, for some reason, being tested by g_d, but to his mind and comprehension the reasons are obscure and inexplicable, and wholly not in keeping in his faith to g_d.
truly, truly the plight of job is beyond despair, it is beyond hope.
but, as we shall see, it is not beyond faith.
job’s indictment/accusations toward g_d. nor is it removed from reason, observation and criticism. for job makes a compelling series of statements criticizing the g_d of his father for the injustices that have been visited upon him, and he rebukes the lord for the startling unfairness of that which has been visited upon him and his family. and, as one who practiced law for 25 years, job the human makes out a pretty good bill of particulars, an indictment if you will, of the failings he sees in g_d’s actions.
as job puts it he will not abandon his intellectual and personal integrity in the middle of his afflictions, nor will he soft soap the nature of his accusations against g_d. he will recite them precisely as he sees them and as he experiences them.
let us turn our attention from job for just a moment, to the entity that has visited this evil upon a good and righteous worshipper of the g_d of our fathers, and study for a moment the motive of ba’alzebub, a/k/a satan.
yes, the soon to be prince of darkness has been walking the earth, and he spreads doubt about the virtue of g_d. it is very interesting, in this rendition of the struggle between titans that the allegiance of trivial man in his worship is a subject of contention in this celestial conflict. why is the allegiance of mortals, beings who can be crushed into dusts as easily as moths and whose passing goes unnoted in the night, why do these titans worry over such entities as worshippers? what power can be gained by gods from the allegiances fostered by mortals as puny as man? why is job so important to satan?
it is precisely because job adheres devoutly to hashem.
so, it is not incidental that job’s loyalty to g_d becomes a battle between god and satan, because satan wants what g_d has, no matter how ephemeral, or puny or pitiful the loyalty and love of a mere mortal. for these spiritual titans it is of some moment where the loyalty of man lies, and to whom it will lie, for it is an issue between them: there lies it importance. so satan has gone prospecting about the earth, looking for weakness amongst g_d’s adherents, and for allegiance to his own ambitions.
and, as surely as g_d has chosen job as a spoil of contest, so has satan chosen him. for he knows that if he can either win over, or destroy or defeat job, or hold him in his sway, or enthrall him, he knows as well that he may defeat g_d. and, g_d knows equally well, that if he cannot hold job to his bosom, than he cannot hold many.
it is strength against strength.
and the brunt of the collision of the will of g_d and satan’s will be a man without the slightest inkling of the struggle that will coalesce without, and more importantly, within, him. the mortal job, is to become the battle ground of g_ds. he is not merely a spoil of war, his body and spirit and soul and psyche are the battlegrounds of war.
so, g_d will allow evil to be done to job, he will permit satan to act, because it is necessary to defeat satan’s ambition, and to teach satan that his powers are limited in comparison to his own. and, note, satan does not violate g_d’s prohibition to not kill job, for to do so is to risk retribution, and the contest, before it begins. but, satan lays the ground work, for not only will he visit doubt upon job, he will enlist the aid of job’s friend eliphaz to undermine job’s faith in g_d.
satan visits eliphaz, before this worthy visits job with three other friends to rebuke job for his defiance of g_d, and they work to try and talk job from his rectitude, and piety, and to have job abandon the integrity of his criticisms of g_d.
i am not a biblical scholar, … , far from it, and the notion is ridiculous, but to me this passage can speak of nothing other than satan injecting doubt in job’s friends about g_d’s worthiness, and introducing them to arguments by which to shake job’s faith. consider this passage, in job chapter 4. eliphaz is visited in the night, by a strange visitor who says to him:
“now a word came stealing to me,
my ear received the whisper of it.
amid thoughts from visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls upon mortals,
dread came upon me, and trembling,
which made all my bones shake.
a spirit glided past my face;
the hair of my flesh bristled.
it stood still,
but i could not discern it appearance.
a form was before my eyes;
there was a silence, then i heard a voice:
‘can mortals be righteous before g_d?
can human beings be pure before their maker?
even in his servants he puts no trust,
and his angels he charges with error,
how much more those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth.
between morning and evening they are destroyed;
they perish forever without any regarding it.
their tent-cord is plucked up within them,
and they die devoid of wisdom.’ (job, 4:12-21)
if angels cannot find favor or approval of g_d, if g_d will not trust even his own servants, then what is the point of mortals who are but the vanishing dust of the crushed moth, to give too much hope towards being regarded with favor by their g_d?
what, in other words, is to be gained by the effort of mortals to gain felicity and trust with and from a g_d who is so fickle, and who is so wanton?
these are solipsism’s and sophistry's to be bandied, to be pandered by job’s friends before, and to lead him in error in the formulation of his arguments before g_d, and to induce him to state false premises in his arguments before g_d. in short, these are lies to cause job to lose faith in the justness of g_d’s judgments, and in the justness of his actions, including those punishments inflicted by g_d, (and his agent satan, though with vastly different motivations), upon job.
job’s grievances: the wrongs he has suffered. the “great kingfisher” of louisiana, huey long, prepared for admission to the bar by apprenticing to another lawyer, and reading for the bar: he claimed not to have known very much law, but being very conversant with the bible, no doubt a surprising assertion to some. that being the law of the case, apparently, it would surprise me not in the least were huey long intimately conversant with the book of job, for in job’s lamentations and complaints regarding his treatment by g_d, we see perhaps the finest early example of the lawyer’s brief against his adversary.
job sets out to establish the equities of his position, to formulate the law of the case, (because he knows he goes against the law giver), in terms as favorable to him as he can shape them. and he does an absolutely masterful job, … , it is almost flawless equity pleading.—
--that g_d has turned from him, and inflicts his suffering, through no fault of his own.
“how then can i answer him,
choosing my words with him?
though i am innocent, i cannot answer him;
i must appeal for mercy to my accuser.
if i summoned him and he answered me,
i do not believe that he would listen to my voice.
for he crushes me with a tempest,
and multiplies my wounds without cause;
he will not let me get my breath,
but fills me with bitterness.
if it is a contest of strength, he is the strong one!
if it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?” (job 9: 14-19)
--his righteousness.
“i loathe my life.
i will give free utterance to my complaint;
i will speak the bitterness of my soul.
i will say to g_d, do not condemn me;
let me know why you contend against me.
does it seem good t you to oppress,
to despise the work of your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?
do you have eyes of flesh?
do you see as humans see?
are your days like the days of mortals,
or your years like human years,
that you seek out my iniquity
and search for my sin,
although you know that i am not guilty,
and there is no one to deliver out of your hand?
your hands fashioned and made me;
remember that you fashioned me like clay;
and will you turn me to dust again?” (job 10: 1-9)
--his continued faith.
“o that my words were written down!
o that they were inscribed in a book!
o that with an iron pen and with lead
they were engraved o a rock forever!
for i know that my redeemer lives,
and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;
and after my skin has been thus destroyed,
then without my flesh i shall see g_d,
whom i shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold and not another.
my heart faints within me!
if you say, ‘how we will persecute him!’
and, ‘the root of the matter is found in him’;
be afraid of the sword,
for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
so that you may know there is a judgment.” (job 19: 25-29)
and, in one of the most moving passages of job, he concedes that while his complaint against g_d is bitter, his faith is unshaken. it is truly a moving passage:
then job answered:
“today also my complaint is bitter,
his hand is heavy despite my groaning.
oh, that i knew where i might find him,
that i might come even to his dwelling!
i would lay my case before him,
and fill my mouth with arguments.
i would learn what he would answer me,
and understand what he would say to me.
“would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
no; but he would give heed to me.
there an upright person could reason with him,
and i should be acquitted forever by my judge.
“if i go forward, he is not there;
or backward, i cannot perceive him;
on the left he hides, and i cannot behold him;
i turn to the right, but i cannot see him.
but he knows the way that i take;
when he has tested me, i shall come out like gold.
my foot has held fast to his steps;
i have kept his way and have not turned aside.
…….
but he stands alone and who can dissuade him?
what he desires, that he does.
for he will complete what he appoints for me;
and many such things are in his mind.
therefore i am terrified at his presence;
when i consider, i am in dread of him.
g_d has made my heart faint;
the almighty has terrified me;
if only I could vanish in darkness,
and thick darkness would cover my face!” (job 23: 1-17)
--his integrity.
“but i would speak to the almighty,
and i desire to argue my case with g_d.” (job 13: 3)
“see, he will kill me; though he kill me, yet i will trust in him;
but i will defend my ways to his face.
this will be my salvation,
that the godless shall not come before him.” (job 13: 15-16.)
job again took up his discourse and said:
“as g_d lives, who has taken away my right,
and the almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
as long as my breath is in me
and the spirit of g_d is in my nostrils,
my lips will not speak falsehood,
and my tongue will not utter deceit.
far be it from me to say that you are right’
until i die i will not put away my integrity from me.
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)
job’s sufferings & lamentation. the songs of solomon are magnificent, and truly erotic, but in a styled sort of way. the psalms of david are moving, but, in a way that never gets too far removed from david’s own earthly ambitions: even though majestic, they have about them a bit of a self serving air that cannot quite be transcended.
job’s expression of his suffering, his lamentations, are by contrast soaring evocations of the sufferings and longings of humanity, and they ring, they resound, they thunder with what toss. Eliot would latter call in the best of literature setting forth “the objective correlative” in writing about a created character with the common and universal experience of mankind. this book of job resonates and thunders with the objective correlative, as job setting forth his own trial, tribulations and position and influence lost, taken from him for no apparent and ostensible reason, … , evokes universal human emotion and loss.
it simply is great literature, and wonderful resonant poetry.
in the argot & jargon of our age, … , it is great stuff. it is life, longing, suffering and the fortitude and courage of invictus before invictus was wrought.—
--job curses the day he is born, and wishes for death. (job, chapter 3.)
“why is light given to one in misery,
and life to the bitter in soul,
who long for death, but it does not come,
and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;
who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they find the grave?
why is light given to one who cannot see the way,
whom god has fenced in?” (job 3: 20-23)
--his afflictions.
“like a slave who longs for the shadow,
and like laborers who look for their wages,
so i am allotted months of emptiness,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
“my flesh is clothed with worms and dirt;
my skin hardens, then breaks out again.” (job 7:2-5)
--the loss of esteem in the community.
“he has made me a byword of the peoples,
and i am one before whom people spit.” (job 17-6)
--the loss of association w/ family and friends.
“even when i cry out, ‘violence!’ i am not answered;
i call aloud, but there is no justice.
he has walled my way so that I cannot pass,
and he has set darkness upon my paths.
he has stripped my glory from me,
and taken the crown from my head.
he breaks me down on every side, and i am gone,
he has uprooted my hope like a tree.
he has kindled his wrath against me,
and counts me as his adversary.”
“he has put my family far from me,
and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.
my relatives and my close friends have failed me;
the guests in my house have forgotten me;
my serving girls count me as a stranger;
i have become an alien in their eyes.
i call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;
i must myself plead with him.
my breath is repulsive to my wife;
i am loathsome to my own family
even young children despise me;
when i rise, they talk against me.” (job 19: 7-18)
--his emotional torment.
my friends, please read chapter 29 of job, wherein he recounts the esteem in which he was held in his community, and the good that he did therein, and the aid that he gave to others less fortunate.
and then come back and read the following passages from book 30. consider whether you have ever read a better description of despair.--
“terrors are turned upon me;
my honor is pursued as by the wind,
and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.
“and now my soul is poured out with me;
days of affliction have taken hold of me.
the night racks my bones,
and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.
with violence he seizes my garment;
he grasps me by the collar of m tunic.
he has cast me into the mire,
and i have become like dust and ashes.
i cry to you and you do not answer me;
i stand, and you merely look at me.
you have turned cruel to me;
with the might of your hand you persecute me.
you lift me up on the wind, you make me ride on it,
and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.
i know that you will bring me to death,
and to the house appointed for all living.
“surely one does not turn against the needy,
when in disaster they cry for help.
did i not weep for those whose day was hard?
was not my soul grieved for the poor?
but when i looked for good, evil came;
and when i waited for light, darkness came.
my inward part are in turmoil, and are never still;
days of affliction come to meet me.
i go about in sunless gloom;
i stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
i am a brother of jackals,
and a companion of ostriches.
my skin turns black and falls from me,
and my bones burn with heat.
my lyre is turned to mourning,
and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.” (job 30: 15-31)
my friends, i can do surely worse to you than recommend chapters 29 through 31 of the book of job, for the eloquence and majesty of the voice of job are not come across very often in any work of literature, let alone a book of worship considerably older than 2,500 years. i flaunt my ignorance here, but i truly do not know how far back the book of job from the old testament reaches.
it sounds asinine to say it, but, as i read it, i sit at the feet of a man majestic in suffering and torment, monumental in the strength of his will and his steadfast grip upon his faith in the g_d of his fathers, whom he knows to be his unjust tormentor.
it may help if you go back and read job’s statements in the little sub-paragraph, “his continued faith”, job chapter 23, lines 1-17, for the description that job gives of what he would do if he could but speak to hashem foreshadow the events in the following paragraphs, and set up the center theme to this paper.
if only i could talk to g_d, job muses, this is what i would say and this is how it would contribute to my understanding and acceptance, without bitterness, of what has befallen me, what g_d has set in motion, and that which has transpired.
the lines from job chapter 23 segue to chapters 38 through 42, the conclusion of the book of job.
i have received a good solid education, and any deficiencies i have are through no fault of those who attempted to teach me: they tried their damnedest. nor am i particularly modest, and surely not unto a fault.
all i can say is that i had read this book at a far earlier age, and taken it to heart a bit more.
but, read on, and see how the contest between g_d and job goes, a contest in which g_d admonishes job, “gird your loins, … ,” as if to do battle. and, indeed they do. and, indeed they had, long before g_d responded to the scene of his crimes. or, if you are of a gentler persuasion, to the scene of his errors and omissions.
read on, and see how both disputants emerge from the debate with heightened wisdom, and with grandeur and luster fully intact.
it is surely one of mankind’s greatest moments, this confrontation between hashem and job, and g_d comes out of it smelling like the proverbial rose, as well. it is a magnificent save from a sticky wicket, … , as they say.
in my humble opinion.
read on, see what you think.
the justness of job’s case: acknowledge by hashem, whose name i cannot speak. that satan in his campaign to usurp g_d attempts to instill belief in falsehood in man, to induce sin and error on the part of job, to undermine job's understanding of the foundations of his faith, to destroy his allegiance to g_d via that faith, is borne out by chapter 42 of job.
job and the lord have hashed things out, and job repents his criticisms of the lord. (job 42:6) more on that later, for the colloquy between job and g_d is truly extraordinary, and is the theme of this post. but, for now, the focus is on g_ds rebuke of job’s friends, who have used argument after argument, many of them raised falsely in job's opinion, to get job to abandon the integrity of his attack upon what g_d has done to him, g_d’s faithful servant and obedient disciple.
keep in mind, that as g_d speaks these words, he has just listened to job’s blistering attack upon him, in which job directly lays the blame upon g_d for inflicting his trials, tribulations and heartache and suffering, all for no cause which job can discern or bring into the ambit of his comprehension and reason. after having spoken to job, g_d to man, and man to g_d, for as we shall remark upon, g_d invites job’s response to his own assertions, g_d says to the friends of job:
after the lord had spoken these words to job, the lord said to eliphaz and temanite: “my wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant job has. now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant job shall pray for you, for i will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant job has done.”
so eliphaz the teminite and bildad the shuhite and zophar the naamathite went and did what the lord had told them; and the lord accepted job’s prayer. (job 42:7-9)
in this rather extraordinary passage g_d admits that the accusations and criticisms leveled against him are true, and have not been spoken falsely by job: “… for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant job has.” in short, eliphaz, bildad and zophar have spoken falsely against g_d, as they were induced to do so by the stealth and guile of satan, who has tried to bring job to error, error which job has stubbornly and steadfastly refused even while speaking critically of g_d according to the dictates of his perceptions and his intellectual integrity.
and this brings me to the core of my observations about this extraordinary book of the bible, and why i call it g_d’s apology to job.
for g_d comes before job, to answer job’s attack upon him. g_d’s appearance is not without a fair amount of “shock and awe” value, and it is “staged” to be intimidating.
for this much is certain. g_d is g_d, and in the full flower of his old testament powers. and, g_d secures job’s repentance.
but, and this must be understood, g_d does not demand it, g_d does not dictate it or ordain it or determine it, and g_d does not do so by demonstrating to job that his accusations have been false, for, indeed, as we have seen above, g_d admits the fairness of job’s position in the matter, within the limited context of job’s understanding of what g_d has been about.
g_d’s appearance and initial statement to job is high drama, as well you might imagine when a man’s immortal soul is at stake, and when a g_d feels sufficiently beholden to a man to lead him upon a path in which that soul is to be preserved, for that is g_d’s task which lies before him. he can give job any damn thing job wants or desires (except one thing, or, more precisely, ten things), but before that he wishes to secure job as his obedient servant.
and g_d feels that this is important enough to take some care about.
i think if you learn nothing more from the bible, the bible has served you well. as it has me, these past weeks.
the apology. but, g_d appears thus:
then the lord answered job out of the whirlwind:
“who is this that darkens counsel by
words without knowledge?
gird up your loins like a man,
i will question you, and you shall declare to me. (job 38: 1-3)
and the lord said to job:
“shall a faultfinder contend with the almighty?
anyone who argues with g_d must respond.” (job 40: 1-2)
and, at first job is not humbled by g_d’s recitations of his powers, or of the extent of his knowledge of why he does things, (including the horrors visited upon job), and job responds in essence says, you’ve heard my story, and i am sticking to it:
the job answered the lord:
“see, i am of small account; what shall i answer you?
i lay my hand on my mouth.
i have spoken once, and i will not answer; twice,
but will proceed no further.” (job 40: 3-5)
and, so g_d, who throughout the old testament has shown that he can be rather abrupt in dispensing his lordly justice, takes the time once more to ask job to consider g_d’s arguments that he has not acted cavalierly in his treatment of job, but that greater purposes have been in g_d’s mind the whole time, and he asks job to consider the possibility of this. but, before reciting the further extent of his powers and the wonders of his creation, he again says to job:
then the lord answered job out of the whirlwind:
“gird up your loins like a man;
i will question you, and you declare to me.
will you even put me in the wrong?
will you condemn me that you may be justified?
have you an arm like g_d,
and can you thunder with a voice like this?
deck yourself with majesty and dignity;
clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
pour out the overflowing of your anger,
and look on all who are proud, and abase them.
look on all who are proud, and bring them low;
tread upon the wicked where they stand.
hide them all in the dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.
then i will also acknowledge to you
that your own right hand can give you victory.” (job 40: 6-14)
and, similarly, from a previous page, g_d has argued his case before job, not coming before his servant asking for his worship as a supplicant, like a faded rock star parading before an audience hoping for one more round of applause, but as a g_d who needs his servant to understand that larger reason lie behind why he has acted:
“the ostrich’s wings flap wildly,
though its pinions lack plumage.
for it leaves its eggs to the earth,
and lets them be warmed on the ground,
forgetting that a foot may crush them,
and that a wild animal may trample them.
it deals cruelly with its young, as if they were not its own;
though its labor should be I vain, yet it has no fear;
because g_d has made it forget wisdom,
and given it no share in understanding.
when it spreads its plume aloft,
it laughs at the horse and its rider.” (job 39: 13-18)
“is it by your wisdom that he hawk soars,
and spreads its wings toward the south?
is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
and makes its nest on high? (job 39: 26-27)
in none of this is there any accusation by g_d that job has falsely accused him of causing his suffering, nor is there any recrimination whatsoever for job having voiced his displeasure and disappointment for g_d treating him in this way, seemingly violating the covenant that has existed between g_d who demands worship and the faithful and devout who expects from g_d fair and just treatment given that worship. and, job’s gripe with g_d is not that he expects to be immune from the vicissitudes of life, indeed he acknowledges that the lord both gives and takes away and this is just, but he questions only why g_d has purposefully visited these afflictions against him, as though g_d has cast him from his benevolence even if the face of job’s devotedness.
that is job’s gripe with g_d. and, g_d goes to considerable length to convince job that larger reasons and powers are at issue, and that job must understand this in order to have an inkling of why g_d has not been unfair to his servant, in spite of his servant’s devotion, in the whole travail.
i take this as g_d’s apology to job, and an apology which g_d has gone to some pains to explain upon terms which job can understand, and upon terms that job will accept.
and job does repent his criticism of g_d based upon his lack of comprehension of g_d’s purpose and motive for allowing these things to happen to him, but at no point does job disavow the truth of his accusations, nor does he repent the force and eloquence by which he has brought them.
job accepts g_d’s explanation that larger forces at at issue, and that g_d possesses greater knowledge that excuses his behavior. says job:
then job answered the lord:
“i know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
‘who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
“therefore i have uttered what i did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which i did not know.
‘hear, and i will speak;
i will question you, and you declare to me.’
“i had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
But now my eye sees you;
therefore i despise myself,
and repent in dusty and ashes.” (job 42: 1-6)
having secured job’s repentance, premised upon understanding and acceptance of g_d’s explanation, g_d then restores job to his wealth, and his possessions, and his statute among friends and family, and grants him another 140 years of life, and enjoyment of his progeny for another 4 generations. (job 42: 10-17)
and, in a telling observation about the limitations even the omnipotent face in the very systems of their own creation, death being, and death doing, what it has been made to do, g_d cannot restore job the lives of his children or of his servants, “touched by the hand of satan.” at g_d’s acquiescence, and, indeed, at his command.
job’s accusations are accurate in this regard. g_d never denies them, and does do rebuke job for them. indeed, as g_d has said in the book of job, speaking directly to eliphaz the temanite for repeating the slander of satan towards job, and towards g_d, “ … you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant job has.”
for this, for this wrongdoing towards job, though it serves higher celestial reasons, g_d is at considerable pains to make amends with job. and when job comes before the ultimate court of equity with clean hands, he is restored, as the bible notes, “and the lord restored the fortunes of job when he had prayed for his friends, … “, as any devout man would.
what has just happened here, in this conversation. you will please notice that though g_d mentions his right arm, he does not raise it nor does he stretch out his hand.
g_d has not commanded job’s reaffirmation of faith and forgiveness of g_d’s acts.
he has invited conversation with job, and he has gone to the trouble of persuading job of his righteousness toward job. hashem comes to talk with job, unbidden, though he is no stranger to job’s laments that g_d has turned his back upon him. g_d, who has allowed satan to visit these afflictions and punishments upon job for worshipping hashem, comes to talk with job.
this g_d of our fathers is not aloof or indifferent to job’s suffering. he has given job over to satan, knowing full well that satan will “touch” job with terror and horrible things, in an effort to get job to curse hashem to his face: g_d, being g_d of course, knows afore-hand that job will not abandon him, so it is foretold to him that job’s sufferings will be mighty and prolonged, because he knows job will not bend, will not give in to either satan’s blandishments or sophism's or to his cruelty: g_d knows that job will suffer on the rack, and that his suffering may be eternal.
yet g_d has a purpose. it is to “school” satan, to teach satan that his powers are not sufficient to challenge g_d’s, even though g_d is fully aware of satan’s scheming: g_d know, for instance, that satan has spread falsehood to eliphaz, which is why his wrath is kindled with eliphaz, for eliphaz has used satan’s falsehood in order to persuade job to drop his campaign against god’s injustice. what does it matter, says eliphaz, we are flawed anyway? what can you gain from this pretense?
it is satan’s solipsism to turn from the quest for righteousness which is g_d’s way for man.
when hashem and job talk, it is a conversation, it is a dialogue, and g_d invites the discourse, and invites job that he make rejoinder. job does not refuse this dialogue, and is so bold as to tell hashem that he has said his piece, and that there is no need to repeat it: some might think job cowed a bit here, but he is not, for job does not retract his intellectual posture nor does he redact any of his factual assertions in support of them. he tells hashem, in effect, you have not said anything to change my mind, and i stand by the history i have recited, and i stand by my convictions, my assertions, and my accusations.
does g_d, the g_d who destroyed the man who touches the arc of the covenant with his hand as david brings it to the city of david, the g_d who destroyed the two first born sons of aaron who as priests at the first ceremonies in the tent in jerusalem by incineration, … , does this g_d destroy job for his effrontery?
he does not. he acknowledges the righteousness of job, and of his accusations. for this, … , and this is such an overwhelming irony for hashem, who has just punished job with insufferable torment, … , for this g_d does not punish job. there is, in hashem’s eyes, no effrontery, no blasphemy, no false accusation in the case that job has builty against g_d for unfairly punishing him.
g_d acknowledges the accusations.
g_d rewards job for his integrity, his steadfastness to good, and his devout adherence to faith and to the teachings of g_d, for neither deviating to the right nor the left from his righteous path.
the thing that results from job’s accusations toward g_d is conversation with hashem, so that hashem can explain though job may not see the entire scheme or reason behind why g_d has done as he has permitted satan to do, it has not been without divine reason or divine purpose.
and, job accepts this.
hashem has not raised his strong right arm and reached out the fingers of his right hand to work this result, nor to command it.
he has seen fit to explain to his servant job why he has acted so, and to persuade job that he has not abandoned him. and, being patient, g_d makes sure that job understands and accepts g_d’s position in all of this, and then rewards him.
this is significant.
this is restoration of job’s position after his faith is comprehension in the matter of his faith is restored. in this timing of the events, it is not bribery, nor cajolery.
g_d has seen fit to reaffirm a covenant with an equal. no, not an equal in terms of power or position or divinity. but as an equal in establishing the terms of the covenant between hashem, the g_d of our fathers, and as between the faithful.
this is the g_d of our fathers.
it is not the god of mohammed. allah does not discuss, he commands. there is no covenant of faith between allah and the mohannedan, there is only hierarchy and obedience, and conformity.
allah does not bargain with abraham, jacob and isaac to establish the terms of the covenant. he does not tolerate the intercession of moses who cajoles hashem time and again to go easier on the hebrews, who counsels g_d to let his kindled wrath cool a bit before he touches the people. who backs off from destroying his people and starting all over again to craft a more observant flock, who stops his wrath in mid census.
final observation. this is perhaps tiny stiff necked man’s finest hour.
do not forget for one moment job’s integrity, which his thankfully forgotten wife tells him to abandon, curse g_d, die and be done with it. (job 2: _) job will not abandon his integrity, even in the face of satan’s indignities and afflictions, nor will he compromise it for the easy attainment of g_d’s love.
man’s finest hour. it is a foretelling of man’s endurance and steadfastness in the face of adversity and torment, as found in the best of men: this book is a monument to those who have died stubbornly defiant in the face of saddam’s tyranny, or who died obscurely in pol phot’s camps. it is a foretelling of david’s observations in the psalms, about man being nearly the measure of hashem: we are, after all, made in his image. (the 8th psalm)
and, in job i think that g_d finds the success of his creative efforts, the true dimension of that which he has made exceeding the sum of its parts and exceeding the rightful expectations of its creator, …. , perhaps now man’s mentor, a stern one, still, but now a mentor rather than an absolute dictator.
the book of job is genesis of free will, of the assertion of man’s status as independent entity. it is a great liberation, this talk hashem has with job sitting in the dust from which man has risen, and g_d thundering from the whirlwind swirling about job’s head, awing him, but certainly not distracting him.
i believe this a bit humbling for hashem.
for g_d acknowledges he has done evil to and punished a man who has voluntarily observed the terms of the covenant, and, who does not renounce his faith in g_d nor turn his face from the face of g_d, even though he knows his grievances legitimate, and even though he knows precisely who has brought these afflictions upon him: satan may be a lieutenant of g_d, but he has the apparent and ostensible agency of g_d behind his biddings.
hashem has played fast and loose with job. it is not as cavalier as avery burns yelling “loose the hounds” to smothers, and sacking them on homer Simpson’s fat butt, but it is close.
for the whole thing with satan is a sham struggle. the game is “fixed.”
g_d is omnipotent. he is omnipresent. he is omni-prescient. do you think g_d could allow job to sucker for satan’s blandishments, or to faint before his torture, or to fall for mere humiliation upon humiliation. no, this is g_d’s house, and g_d’s game, and it is g_d’s ace in the hole that he will not permit job to submit: it is predetermined, it is predestined, that job will suffer the insufferable, that he will endure the unendurable, at all levels of the game, all at levels of job’s life, … , until g_d is satisfied that satan has learned his lesson, and that he understands that he does not possess the power to wrest kingship of the celestial realms from hashem.
the dimension of g_d’s wrong to job is simply put.
g_d has not needed to offer up job as satan’s foil, simply to teach satan an object lesson. the wrong that g_d has done, is that even though satan has japed and incited g_d by swearing to make job curse g_d to his face, g_d does not need to offer job up to satan in order to prove his point that job is righteous, or in order to bitch slap satan back into his subordinate place.
g_d has other means at his disposal to accomplish this.
g_d owes job an apology.
and, it is hashem’s recognition of this fact, it is hashem seeking out job to tender that apology, to explain his reasons for inflicting that which he has inflicted, that is g_d’s recognition of the stature and importance of who he has created.
when hashem speaks to job from the whirlwind, when g_d deigns to explain his actions as g_d, man ceases to be a mere sacrificial pawn in a celestial power struggle.
somehow in all of this, somehow transformed by job’s suffering and endurance, man ceases to be trivial or insignificant. man remains mortal, but, as satan finds out, even gods cannot easily grind a man into dust, like the moth.
in an odd little twist, it is the suffering and endurance of a stubborn man, perhaps a man a bit overly prideful in his intellect and in his integrity, and in the power of his observation and reason, who brings man up a couple notches in his stature, and brings him closer to his maker than he has ever been.
i think it man’s brightest hour.
and, though it starts out a pretty grim, dark, foreboding and drizzly day for the g_d of our fathers, it ends being one of g_d’s finest hours as well. for, he has sat and talked with the faithful, and redeemed his children, and redeemed himself, and he has reasserted the covenant of the faith.
all because of one extremely stubborn little man, name of job. who lived in the land of uz, wherever that was, or now is.
john jay @ 03.07.2010
bonus reading:
a psalm of david, psalm 8.
o lord, our sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
you have set your glory above the heavens.
out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.
when i look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
yet you have made them a little lower than g_d,
and crowned them with glory and honor.
you have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
o lord, our sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
~~ written by one of g_d’s most famous conversants, david, founder of the house of david. rulers first of judah and israel, then judah and the house of benjamin, and then of the scattered dry leaves of the exile and the destruction of the first temple, which they caused by their decadence and turning from g_d, and from the understanding of david’s true path. goodness gracious, what a story.
spruce:
"yankee doodle went to town
riding 'pon a pony
stuck a feather in his hat
and called it macarroni."
their song first. [mocking and derisive.]
our song later, and we shoved it right up their arses.
they can call us "tea-baggers" all they want, but we have the last laugh, because the phrase is gonna be, is being, shoved right up their arses.
john jay
milton freewater, oregon usa
p.s. funny post. you are one funny guy.
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http://washingtonrebel.typepad.com/washington_rebel/2010/03/your-racist-sexist-homophobic-update.html