It is a fire that burns to Destruction; it would have uprooted my harvest. – Job 31:12

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 20, 2018): Job 31

Oscar Wilde in “The Picture of Dorian Gray” remarks that “The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.” Wilde was a mistaken. As those of us who have given into temptation know, giving into temptation only increases the hold that temptation has on us. The only way to weaken the hold that temptation has on us is to resist its approach; to not even consider the possibility of giving in to it. And to understand the destruction that comes along with the giving into whatever it is that tempts us.

Job is talking about the temptation of being enticed by a woman who is not his wife. Job does not say that he has never been tempted by another woman. He has been enticed, but he had never given in to the temptation. And part of the reason for his resistance of temptation is that he understood the terrible consequences that would result because of his actions. Giving into that temptation would not just be a mark on Job’s character, it would destroy everything that Job had worked hard to build up, including the family that Job valued so consistently, and now missed. Job calls giving in to this temptation a fire that burns to “Abaddon,” a Hebrew word that is often used to describe the Devil or Hell.

I am currently teaching about Hell, but I hope not in the traditional sense. I am not sure that I believe that God sends us to hell, although I do believe in Hell in a very real sense. The problem is not that a vengeful God sends us to burn forever with this fire of Abaddon. The problem is much more evil than that. The problem with hell is that we choose it, in fact, we would not be happy in heaven

As Job talks about this temptation that can burn his life, destroying everything that he has built up, the reality that he realizes in his mind is all about how easy it would have been to choose that fire, to have followed the words of Oscar Wilde and freely given into the temptation. He could have chosen the fire. As Job looks around him, there are others who have done precisely that; they have chosen the fire. But Job doesn’t understand. He has not given in to the temptation because it is the resulting fire that scares him. But know his life lies in ruins. He has been burned to the core anyway.

One more note about hell. Job’s comment here about the fire of Abaddon or Destruction or Hell is an indication of how long this association between fire and hell has existed. But we need to be careful that we do not think that Hell is literally fire. I do not believe that this true, and Job’s comment here seems to support the idea that hell is made up of a figurative fire and not a literal one. For Job, it is not that giving into the temptation of Hell is literally going to burn his life and uproot his crops. But fire has long been seen as a force of complete destruction. Just like some had chosen to destroy their lives with an affair, so hell is like that, a place where we choose to be, and yet a place where we can only be destroyed.  And the fact that we freely choose destruction only makes hell an even sadder, and scarier place.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 32