Day 26: God Responds to Job

 Today's reading: Genesis 49-50, Job 41-42, and Psalm 17.

I. In the penultimate chapter of Genesis, Jacob/Israel lies dying on his bed and calls all his sons to him for a final blessing, which also foretells something of the future of their tribes (49:1-12). Reuben, Simon, and Levi do not fare well in this, while Judah and Joseph do. In fact, Judah gets perhaps the most exalted foretelling, if not blessing, as the Ignatius Bible notes:

The tribe of Judah is destined to be the royal tribe in Israel. He is depicted both as a lion, sated with prey, and as a king, ruling over other nations with scepter in hand. Allusions to this blessing appear elsewhere in the OT in Num 24:9 ("lion"), Num 24:17 ("scepter"), and Ezek 21:27 ("until he comes")... An international ruler is to come from the line of Judah. The oracle is preliminarily filled in David and Solomon, both from the tribe of Judah, when they rule as kings over Israel and neighboring nations (2 Sam 8:1-14; 1 Kings 4:20-21). Its fulfillment comes with the heavenly enthronement of Jesus Christ, who is both the Lord of all nations and the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev 5:5). (p. 118)

Jacob/Israel told them to bury him back in Canaan with his fathers, and then died (49:28-33). Joseph gets leave from Pharaoh to bury his father, which he did (50:1-14). After this, Joseph's brothers feared that he would now avenge what they did to him, but he didn't and forgave them (50:15-21). Joseph then lived out the rest of his life in Egypt, where he died and was buried (50:22-26).

Thus ends the Book of Genesis and the Age of the Patriarchs. Some exciting things in this period, some crucial to understand for biblical prophecy, but still difficult to relate to at times, as the culture is quite alien to us in the modern day.

II. God responds further to Job in chapter 41, challenging him to do impossible tasks for humans. It is what He says in 41:11 that is most relevant here, as the Ignatius Bible notes:

The Lord is under no obligation to pay out rewards to people, even for their righteousness (35:7). Everything they possess they have received from him in the first place (1 Cor 4:7). Paul appears to have this passage in mind when he extols the unfathomable greatness of God in Rom 11:35. (p. 824)

Job is humbled and repents (42:1-6). God then rebukes Job's friends and says they will be forgiven only when Job prays for them, which he does (42:7-9). The story ends with Job being "restored" by God, given "twice as much as he had before," and, after many children and descendants, he later died. (42:10-17).

The Book of Job thus ends, and quite a tale it tells. This is the first time I'm aware of where the age-old question of "why do bad things happen to good people" is asked like this, and even though not fully answered to our satisfaction sometimes, it does give a response of "trust in God, no matter what." I also liked the maturing of theological understanding of God seen in this book, from a more primitive view to something more we can recognize.

The BIY Companion, Vol 1, has some good commentary on this:

The Book of Job addresses the problem of evil, but it doesn't solve it. God never offers a reason why he allows suffering to happen. He responds to Job with questions and ultimately says the solution to suffering and evil is himself - trusting in him. This is the mystery of the Cross: God himself, in the person of Jesus, experienced suffering and pain. He responds to Job by showing him his face, and he responds to us by showing us the face of Jesus. (p. 58)

III. Psalm 17 is a moving lament, a cry out to God for refuge and deliverance from his accusers. 

That's it for today!