Summary #2

Weekly Summary
Job 21-42

This week we finish Job's story. Despite his friends' prodding, Job neither rejects God nor blames himself for the calamity that befalls him. God finally comes to him in a storm, and describes his creation and majesty in amazingly vivid language, causing Job to "repent in dust and ashes" which most likely means "Take comfort in dust and ashes",,, a strange concept to us, but when you think about it, isn't it comforting to know the amazing majesty power of God is beyond our ability, and therefor our responsibility to understand?

God then offers to forgive Job's friends, if he will pray for them. Which, amazingly, he does, without any apparent hesitation. After this, God restores Job to great wealth, doubling his material wealth, and blessing him with seven sons and three daughters. Interestingly, mention is made only of the daughters' names, beauty, and inheritance -- an anomaly in that time when sons were often the only counted offspring.

A few things to think about as we leave Job:

• In book of Job, all kinds of questions and anomalies are presented and they are not resolved. No easy answers or no answers. The entire book of Job is a teaching to us that we can ‘rail’ at God with limits. Part of being righteous and a godly child that you call out to God, complain, and perhaps accuse him.

• The book of Job is set up with apparent contradictions. One reason why the book of Job is such a comfort to people is that they can identify with Job within the context of scripture, and ultimately they can find comfort within the context of a personal relationship with God. The book of Job validates honesty with God.

• The book of Job is a bunch of different puzzles that we can’t solve and we should live with the tension and wrestle with it ourselves rather than try and resolve it.

Job takes an odd place in the story. He does not have a Jewish name and he does not use the traditional Jewish names for God. It seems that he is not a part of the covenant God makes with Abrahma, but he is a righteous man and part of the covenant with Noah as well as a part of the promise God gave to Adam and Eve. Perhaps Job is like a sidebar to the story of God's covenant with his people, foreshadowing the day when Gentiles are welcomed into the covenant as well as teaching us how to deal with misery in ourselves and others.

Be sure to tune in next week as we as we jump back into the heart of the story of the covenant with Abra(ha)m and his descendants. When we left Abram, he was in Haran - not the land of his father, and not the land he was going to. Just sort of waiting...