Day 16: The Suffering of Job

 Today's reading: Genesis 31-32, Job 21-22, and Proverbs 3:9-12.

I. Today's reading in Genesis begins with Jacob fleeing with his wives and all of his stuff, after being told by God to "return to the land of your fathers" (31:1-21). Laban and his kin overtake Jacob, accuse him of fleeing without letting him celebrate his departure by wishing him and his daughters well (31:22-42). This sounds doubtful in my opinion, but more like Laban wanted to take back Jacob's stuff. Nevertheless, Laban and Jacob made a covenant with each other and then parted (31:43-55). Next, Jacob reached out to Esau, his brother, whom he had cheated, desiring peace. His servants returned from seeing his brother and let Jacob know that Esau "is coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him" (32:6). Jacob was understandably afraid, for it does sound like his brother was out to take revenge with that many men at his side, and after begging God to save him sent Esau some gifts to appease him (32:9-21). The reading ends with a curious wrestling match between Jacob and an angelic figure. The Ignatius Bible describes it in this way:

A mysterious contest between Jacob and a nameless angel (Hos 12:4). After a night of outwrestling his opponent, Jacob is renamed "Israel" and limps away from the scene with a blessing and a bad hip. Allegorically, the angel is a type of Christ, and his defeat points to the Passion of Christ, who allowed his own people to prevail over him. And just as the victorious Jacob was blessed and injured at the same time, so with the people of Israel: some are blessed to believe in Christ, while others are crippled in unbelief... Morally, to wrestle with God is to struggle for virtue... (p. 99)

II. Poor Job gives another reply to his "friend" Eliphaz, rebuking his claim that the wicked are always punished by God in this life (21:7-16), dismissing his claims as "falsehood" (21:34). We get the last speech by Eliphaz in response, and it is unchanged in that he believes that Job is suffering due to some offense he did against God. 

The BIY Companion, Vol 1, comments on this:

Sometimes suffering is caused by bad decisions, either our own or those of others. At other times, God permits suffering to get our attention, to help us realize that we need to draw closer to him. God can use suffering to teach us a deeper kind of wisdom. The Bible makes clear that Job was a righteous man. He was not guilty of anything; he did not need to repent. So his suffering was not due to something he had done... [W]e do not know the mind of God or his perfect will. Sometimes there is no human answer; ultimately, the answer can only come from God himself. (p. 38)

III. Finally, we are given yet another tiny morsel from Proverbs. This one actually has some good advice on honoring God and a reminder lest we despair in bad times that God "reproves him whom he loves" (3:12). Given the suffering of poor Job I've reading about, this is a good reminder.

That's it for today.