Job continued to assert his innocence in answer to his friends’ charge that he was hiding some great sin. The accepted theology of the day was that God did not allow the innocent to suffer, so if a person was suffering, it was because of their sins. They believed you could tell the guilt or innocence of a person by their circumstances. Job may have even held those same opinions before pain and suffering fell on him. But now he saw that his friends’ mechanistic understanding of God’s ways was wrong and “complete nonsense.”<\/p>\n
Both Job and his friends agreed that the wicked deserved God’s judgment, and Job even described the punishment they deserved. By inference, he was also suggesting that his friends deserved this kind of punishment for their false and arrogant accusations against him. But where they differed was that Job knew suffering didn\u2019t mean you were wicked and that the wicked could even have success in life. However, at some point they would face God\u2019s judgment.<\/p>\n
The fact that good people suffer has always been one of the great challenges to believers. For centuries, even non-believers have asked how one could reconcile pain and suffering with God\u2019s justice and love. The Book of Job is not glib about evil and suffering. In fact, Scripture is brutally honest about them, and the challenges they present to faith. Such darkness can only make sense by looking at the passion of Jesus. We have a Creator, a Savior, who understands suffering. As New Testament believers, we can stand at the foot of the cross in dark times, and that is where we find the true depth of the pain and suffering God endured on our behalf. Scottish pastor Alexander McLaren said it this way: “There are things that God gives us to do without any light or illumination at all, except His own command; but those who know the way to God, can find it in the dark.”<\/p>\n
“LORD, please keep Your hand on our lives this day, in Jesus’ name.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n Job 27 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,\u00a0\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0As\u00a0<\/em>God liveth,\u00a0who\u00a0<\/em>hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty,\u00a0who\u00a0<\/em>hath vexed my soul;\u00a0\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0All the while my breath\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>in me, and the spirit of God\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>in my nostrils;\u00a0\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach\u00a0me\u00a0<\/em>so long as I live.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0For what\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?\u00a010<\/sup>Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God? 11<\/sup>\u00a0I will teach you by the hand of God:\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>with the Almighty will I not conceal.\u00a0\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0Behold, all ye yourselves have seen\u00a0it;\u00a0<\/em>why then are ye thus altogether vain?\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0This\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors,\u00a0which\u00a0<\/em>they shall receive of the Almighty.\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0If his children be multiplied,\u00a0it is\u00a0<\/em>for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0He may prepare\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>, but the just shall put\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>the keeper maketh.\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>not.\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0For\u00a0God\u00a0<\/em>shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.\u00a0\u00a023<\/sup>\u00a0Men\u00a0<\/em>shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Job continued to assert his innocence in answer to his friends’ charge that he was hiding some great sin. The accepted theology of the day was that God did not allow the innocent to suffer, so if a person was suffering, it was because of their sins. They believed you could tell the guilt or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7627"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7627"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16467,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7627\/revisions\/16467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}