Today’s Scripture Reading (May 20,
2015): Job 35
A couple of
weeks ago a Virginia bank robber made the news, not so much for his robbery,
but for his defence. His defence was that his actions of taking money from a
bank wasn’t really a robbery. He told the story of the robbery in these words –
“I came into the bank, she gave me some money, and I left.” Okay, it wasn’t quite
as simple as that. He walked into the bank and handed the teller a note asking,
very politely, for $150,000. The note said please, and had a number of happy
faces drawn on the paper. So it wasn’t really a robbery – he asked and she voluntarily
parted with the money. The robber also videotaped the robbery and posted the
video on his Instagram account. Again, not the action of a bank robber. He was
innocent.
Well,
apparently not. Apparently, whether you walk into a bank with a note demanding
for $150,000, or politely asking for $150,000 – assuming you don’t have
$150,000 on deposit with the bank - the crime for which you will be charged is
still robbery. And posting the robbery you just committed on your Instagram
account doesn’t make you innocent, it makes you … I seriously want to find a
word other than stupid to describe this, but stupid just seems to sum it up so
well.
When we
continue to read the words of young Elihu and the older friends of Job, I
seriously want to find a word other than stupid, but stupid just seems to sum
it up to well. Elihu steps up his attack on Job. He accuses Job of talking, but
his word are empty. God is not the least bit interested in the things that Job
is saying. If God was interested, he would have moved already. God silence is
in indictment on everything that Job is saying. Not only that, God’s silence
proves that the things that Elihu and his friends are saying is true. Job
should rejoice that God is letting him talk. Apparently if Elihu was God, he
would have shut Job up a long time ago.
If only
Elihu could have realized that every word he was speaking was true, but that it
was misapplied. It wasn’t Job that was speaking empty words, it was Elihu and
the elder friends of Job. A little later in the story God is going to remember
these words of Elihu and he will speak to Job as he responds directly to Elihu’s
charge. “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge? Brace yourself
like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me” (Job 38:2-3). But the answer to the question isn’t Job, it is Elihu. But he just
isn’t smart enough to realize that.
If there is a repeated warning in the story of Job, it is a caution to be
careful about the things that we think we know. Elihu is so certain, all of the
circumstantial evidence points to Job’s guilt, not his own. And so he tries to
speak with the voice of God, but he misses the point completely. And because of
that, he will have to answer to God. Our reality is that there is precious
little in this life we can know, and when we begin to think that we know, we
are placing ourselves in a dangerous position and opening ourselves up to the
charge of being, well, stupid.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 36
Personal Note: Happy Birthday to my
daughter-in-law Michelle. I hope you have a great day!
No comments:
Post a Comment