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Context Matters: God’s Ways Are Higher Than Our Ways

June 7, 2021 By Ryan Higginbottom

Perhaps you’ve heard that God’s ways are higher than our ways, that his thoughts are above our thoughts. You’ve been told that God is so great, and our minds are so small in comparison, that we cannot grasp his motivations or his logic.

I’ve heard well-meaning Christians tell others that God’s ways are beyond us in an effort to bring comfort and assurance. We cannot figure out what God is doing, our lives feel out of control, but don’t worry—God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts. It’s okay—even predictable—that we wouldn’t track with what God is up to.

But is this what that verse in Isaiah is meant to convey? Are we using this phrase in its proper context? When we learn to read the Bible as a book instead of as an independent collection of sentences and phrases, we’ll find that some of the most familiar passages mean something different than we’ve assumed.

The Context in Isaiah

This passage about God’s ways being higher than ours comes from Isaiah, and it’s worth reproducing a good portion of the passage here.

“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:6–9)

Peter has already written about the big-picture structure of Isaiah. Chapters 40–55 hang together, and this passage falls near the end of that section. This portion of the prophecy describes how God will use a Servant to pardon the iniquity of his people.

Crucially, for our purposes, this part of Isaiah is about forgiveness, reconciliation, and the restoration of God’s people.

The Context in Isaiah 55

This chapter begins with God’s famous invitation: “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Is 55:1). God is calling those who hear to live by means of an everlasting covenant with him (Is 55:3).

Those who listen should “seek the Lord” and “call upon him” (Is 55:6). The call is to the wicked and the unrighteous, to “return to the Lord,” for God will “have compassion” and “abundantly pardon” (Is 55:7).

The often-quoted verses (Is 55:8–9) are connected to verses 6–7 by the word “for.” This is a simple but powerful observation. God’s thoughts are different than our thoughts—this explains his eagerness to welcome and forgive. Our ways are not his ways, because we are neither in a position to pardon the repentant, unrighteous man nor are we inclined to show this compassion.

The chapter ends with an explanation about how God intends to accomplish this plan of forgiving those who forsake their wicked ways. It will happen through his word; it will go forth, accomplish his purposes, and not return to him empty (Is 55:11). As a result, the people rejoice, and nature will “break forth into singing” (Is 55:12).

Our Compassionate God

In terms of kindness, God’s ways are high above ours. Isaiah mentions God’s compassion three times in the previous chapter (Is 54:7, 8, 10), so this is a familiar theme by the time we reach chapter 55.

Let’s return to our earlier question. Yes, God is infinitely wiser and more complex than we are; his plans are beyond our ability to unravel. But when Isaiah writes about God’s thoughts being higher than our thoughts, he’s referring to God’s welcoming love to repentant sinners. We should worship and adore the God whose compassion overflows in this way that ours does not.

Context matters.

For more examples of why context matters, click here.

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Why Elihu is So Mysterious

June 4, 2021 By Peter Krol

At a recent pastor’s conference on the book of Job, a leader asked the attendees whether the speeches of Elihu (Job 32-37) should be trusted, like God’s (Job 38-41), or discarded, like those of Job’s three friends (Job 4-5, 8, 11, 15, 18, 20, 22, 25). The show of hands was evenly divided. I couldn’t believe my eyes; every attendee was fully committed to studying and explaining God’s word carefully, and yet there was a widespread and fundamental disagreement on how to read a significant part of the book of Job.

Have you wondered how to read Elihu? Can we get to the bottom of the mystery?

Let Me Introduce Elihu

Anirban Ray (2013), Creative Commons

He pops on the scene out of nowhere: “Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger” (Job 32:2). He speaks a few times and then vanishes. God clearly vindicates Job and condemns Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar (Job 42:7-8), but he says nothing about Elihu.

Casual readers of Job barely notice Elihu. If they have the guts not to skip from chapter 2 to chapter 38, their eyes glaze over long before they meet Elihu in chapter 32. They sink in a bog of poetry; words swirl together into an indistinguishable mire, and Elihu comes and goes while readers are still gasping for air. Some don’t realize he’s not one of the “three friends.”

In addition, we’re clearly told that Elihu is young (Job 32:4, 6), raving mad (Job 32:2, 3, 5 – four times!), and full of criticism for Job (Job 33:12, 34:7-8, 34:35-37, etc.). Yet God clearly claims that Job has “spoken of me what is right” (Job 42:7-8). What’s all the fuss? This case should be closed.

Why Elihu is Just Like the Other Three

Here is the main challenge: Elihu draws the same conclusion as Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. That’s why many interpreters think Elihu is just like them.

Eliphaz: “Job has sinned” (Job 4:7, 15:4-6, 22:5).

Bildad: “Job has sinned” (Job 8:5-6, 18:4).

Zophar: “Job has sinned” (Job 11:6, 20:29).

Elihu: “Job has sinned” (Job 34:7, 37; 35:16).

Of course, the reader knows Job has not sinned: “There is none like [Job] on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil” (Job 1:8, 2:3). But Elihu charges him with sin, just as the other three do. What’s all the fuss? This case should be closed.

Why Elihu is Just Like God

Though God clears Job of all charges (Job 42:7-8), notice that his declaration comes after Job repents in dust and ashes (Job 42:6). Before this repentance, God calls Job a faultfinder (Job 40:2) who speaks without knowledge (Job 38:2) and puts God in the wrong (Job 40:8).

Elihu also desires to justify Job of all charges (Job 33:32). He accuses Job of finding fault with God (Job 33:9-11), speaking without knowledge (Job 34:35), and putting God in the wrong (Job 34:5-6, 36:23).

Why Elihu is Not Like the Other Three

Though their conclusion is the same, their arguments are completely different. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar perpetually argue: “Before you began suffering, you must have sinned.” Elihu’s case is different: “Since you began suffering, you have sinned.” The three concern themselves with Job’s hidden conduct; Elihu concerns himself with Job’s present speech.

We can see the difference in the evidence they bring. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar have no evidence, only presumption, though Job begs them for the merest shred (Job 6:28-30). Elihu, however, constantly brings specific evidence to support his charges: “You say…You say…You say…You say…” (Job 33:8-11, 33:13, 34:5-6, 35:2-3, 36:23).

The poet signals a difference in the number of speeches and responses he gives to each character. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar get no more than three speeches apiece, with the speeches growing shorter as the book progresses. Elihu gets four speeches. Job refutes every speech of the three with eight speeches of his own; Job never responds to Elihu’s speeches, though Elihu asks for a response (Job 33:32-33).

Elihu himself distances himself from the other three. Furious at the stalemate and their inability to answer Job, Elihu promises he has something new to say: “[Job] has not directed his words against me, and I will not answer him with your speeches” (Job 32:14). The poet likewise distances Elihu from the other three. In one of the few narrative and evaluative statements of the book, he declares that Elihu “burned with anger also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong” (Job 32:3).

Conclusion

Confusion abounds over Elihu because he sounds like Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, drawing the same conclusion: Job has sinned. But as we penetrate the poetry, we see that what Elihu means by his conclusion is not what they mean by it. His four speeches ring with incredible truth desperately needed by any innocent sufferer:

God has not been silent; he speaks through your pain (Job 32-33).
God is not unjust; he will eventually strike the wicked (Job 34).
Righteous living is not pointless, though we are insignificant next to God (Job 35).
You’re in no place to criticize God; remember to fear him (Job 36-37).

And God reinforces Elihu’s fourth point with some of his most aggressive and fear-inducing words in all the Bible (Job 38-41). May we all repent of justifying ourselves and remember to fear him.

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Tips for Interpreting Old Testament Narrative

June 2, 2021 By Peter Krol

Colin Adams offers 10 tips for interpreting Old Testament narratives.

Try and grasp the overall point of the book.
Read in big chunks – narrative often tells you ‘a little, in a lot.’
Narratives tell you what happened, not what SHOULD have happened.
OT narrative is first and foremost about God: his holiness, grace, salvation and justice.
Moralise…but not too much.
Repetition is a clue to what the passage is about.
Don’t get bogged down in what the narrative DOESN’T tell you.
Place names and people names are always important.
When the writer’s “point of view” is revealed, you’ve just found gold.
The New Testament ultimately fulfills whatever narrative you are in and is the supreme ‘commentary’ on your passage.

He illustrates each point briefly from the book of 2 Samuel. Check it out!

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The Complexity of Applying the Speeches of Job’s Friends

May 28, 2021 By Peter Krol

The closing stanza of Eliphaz’s third speech (Job 22:21-30) is one of the loveliest poems in the book. If you didn’t know who said it, or under which circumstances, you might stencil it on your wall or post it on your bathroom mirror. And this raises an important question when studying the book of Job: What are we supposed to do with the speeches of Job’s “miserable comforters” (Job 16:2)?

Job suggests that silence will be their best wisdom (Job 13:5), and he sarcastically proclaims they have a corner on the market of godly wisdom (Job 12:2). Elihu burns with anger at their failure to answer to Job’s defense (Job 32:3). Yahweh declares they have not spoken of him what is right (Job 42:7). Does this mean we ought to simply discard their speeches, or that we ought to treat them as examples of folly or wickedness to be avoided?

Paul Didn’t Get the Memo

Apparently the Apostle Paul didn’t get the memo.

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” So let no one boast in men.” (1 Cor 3:18-21a)

That first citation Paul uses? Right from Eliphaz’s first speech:

As for me, I would seek God,
and to God would I commit my cause,
who does great things and unsearchable,
marvelous things without number:
he gives rain on the earth…
he sets on high those who are lowly…
He catches the wise in their own craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end…
But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth…
So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts her mouth. (Job 5:8-16)

As R.B. Hays asserts, “Paul cites Job 5:13 here [in 1 Cor 3:19] as an authoritative disclosure of the truth about God’s debunking of human wisdom” (quoted by Ciampa & Rosner in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, 704).

So Paul doesn’t ignore or contradict Eliphaz. He doesn’t qualify the citation in any way. He appears to use it straightforwardly in support of his point that God views the world’s wisdom as folly.

More to It

And yet, Paul’s argument in 1 Cor 1-3 is remarkably layered and clever. He keeps equivocating on his terms, defining them in different ways so he can play off the differences for didactic effect. For example, he uses the words “wisdom” and “folly” in at least two ways each: As defined by the world, and as defined by God.

So his point in 1 Cor 3:18 seems to be that if you think you are wise (by the world’s definition), you ought to become a fool (by the world’s definition) in order to become wise (by God’s definition). Paul keeps turning things upside-down and inside-out in order to play the terms “wisdom” and “folly,” or “wise” and “foolish,” off each other.

In light of this equivocation, it is altogether possible that Paul quotes Eliphaz as a matter of irony. In other words, Eliphaz presents himself as “wise,” but he’s really a “fool” (in the context of the book of Job). But God then does a “foolish” thing and takes the fool’s “wisdom” and makes it his own, but with an unexpected twist—in order to catch the wise in his own craftiness. In so doing, Paul declares that Eliphaz spoke even better than he knew, perhaps akin to John’s ironic use of Caiaphas’s prophecy that Jesus must die to rescue the nation and gather together God’s scattered children (John 11:49-53). Like Caiaphas, perhaps Eliphaz spoke that which was true from God’s perspective, but not in the way Eliphaz himself intended it.

Eliphaz thereby plays right into the part of the crafty who would be caught by his own craftiness.

Principles for Applying the Speeches of Job’s Friends

So how does this affect the way we read—and especially seek to apply—the speeches of Job’s three assailants? I propose the following principles:

Because the same Holy Spirit who inspired Job also said somewhere that “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable,” we must read the speeches of Job’s antagonists with the assumption that they are profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and/or training in righteousness.
The point of those speeches must be something more than “suffering is a result of prior sin.” If that were all the Lord wanted us to see in those speeches, he could have done it with one speech instead of eight. We wouldn’t need pages of dialogue that only repeat precisely the same thing over and over again. Therefore, we must read those eight speeches of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar with the assumption that each speech riffs on the theme in a nuanced way. Those three men clearly thought they were advancing the argument each time, so we ought to identify which particular angle each speech takes on the larger topic. Don’t skip over the speeches or lump them all together under the same vague interpretive heading.
Once we do that, we can compare any speech’s particular angle on suffering with the rest of Scripture. Following Paul’s example, we must read the speeches with the assumption that they might simply be speaking truth in the wrong setting. They might be saying something that was false in Job’s circumstance but would be true in a different circumstance. In other words, Eliphaz, Bildad, or Zophar might be saying something better and truer than even he realizes.

Back to Chapter 22

And so, circling back to Eliphaz’s third speech in Job 22, there is nothing wrong with seeing some truth mixed in with the error and the daft inconsiderateness. In many situations, it is true that someone will only find peace if they begin agreeing with God (Job 22:21, Prov 3:2). Many who reconsider their money and possessions in light of eternity will find the Almighty to be far more valuable (Job 22:24-25, 1 Tim 6:17). God does actually hear the prayers of the penitent (Job 22:27, Prov 15:29), and he delights to exalt the humble (Job 22:28-30, 1 Pet 5:6).

Conclusion

So if you’d like to stencil portions of Job 22 on your wall, I say have at it. Just be prepared for the unconsidered criticism of a few curmudgeons to come your way from time to time. But you’ll have your retort loaded for bear: “I offer my humblest apologies on behalf of both myself and the Apostle Paul, neither of whom got your memo.”

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Why Memorize Entire Books of the Bible

May 26, 2021 By Peter Krol

Andrew Davis has a lovely piece about “Why I Memorize Books of the Bible.” I confess that, though I’m a believer in memorizing lengthy portions of text, I have never memorized an entire book. But Davis makes me want to. Why?

The rewards of Bible memory are measureless.
Bible memory gets harder with age.
Bible memory clarifies the beauty of Christ.
Bible memory has built a city of truth within me.

Check it out!

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How to Pray for Your Small Group Bible Study

May 24, 2021 By Ryan Higginbottom

It is no small thing to gather with others and focus on the Bible. God can (and often does) move mightily during such a meeting.

How can Christians pray for this work of God? What would that look like?

Praying for the Leader

A small group Bible study leader has an important calling from God. One of the best things we can do for our Bible studies is to pray for our leaders.

Pray for their Preparation

A lot goes into preparing for a Bible study meeting. Pray that your leader, in all of it, will depend on the Lord.

As they study the Bible in advance, pray that God would protect their time and give them wisdom. Pray that God would give them a faithful, accurate understanding of the passage. Pray also for their spiritual growth, for their fight against sin and their walk in God’s grace.

Pray that their understanding of the Scriptures would lead to genuine change in their lives. The most effective leader is the one who is regularly applying the Bible with the help of the Holy Spirit.

A good Bible study leader will think carefully about the discussion they plan to lead. Pray that they would frame the discussion in a way that is helpful for the group. Pray that God would help them to prepare questions that will encourage fruitful conversation.

Pray for their Leadership

It takes experience, sensitivity, and wisdom to lead well during a Bible study meeting. Pray that God would give your leader what is necessary to manage the meeting well.

Pray that your leader would be able to move the group toward the main point of the passage. And pray that they would encourage heart-oriented application in their group members.

A small group with a compassionate, honest leader is powerful. Pray that your small group leader would love all the members of your group.

Praying for those Who Attend

If we pray only for the leader of a small group, we’ve done just half the job. So much of the group dynamics hinge on the non-leaders in the group. Let’s pray for them too!

Pray that small group members would prepare themselves for the Bible study. This may involve homework, but it surely involves growing in their love for the Lord and for their small group friends.

Pray that those who attend would learn to be vulnerable during the meeting, willing to let others into the difficult parts of their lives.

Pray that attenders would engage in honest, thoughtful discussion. Pray that God would guide each person to speak and listen in love. Pray that God would give wisdom by his Spirit through each Bible-focused conversation.

Some churches and ministries grow in large part due to the expansion of their small groups. If you find yourself in that situation, you should pray for the end of your group.

Ministry Covered in Prayer

Bible studies are not just a social gathering or religious activity. A Bible study can stoke and fuel the fire of spiritual engagement and growth in a church.

With such important work taking place within these groups, we should spend time and energy asking God for his work and blessing through them. Why not use the suggestions above and make a prayer list for your local group?

Note: Aside from those linked above, we have written several other articles about leading and attending small group Bible studies that you may find valuable.

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The Cost of Withholding Kindness

May 21, 2021 By Peter Krol

Most people don’t walk around with nails in their heads, but that doesn’t stop us from having this sort of conflict.

Have you felt this tension between fixing problems and listening with kindness? I have such conversations often, and I’m confident I’m not alone. In fact, Job 6-7 takes up this very matter in great detail.

Context

Job was the greatest of all the people of the east, but he fell prey to a wager between God and Satan. The Accuser is convinced Job doesn’t fear God but merely loves the good things God has given him. The Creator disagrees, and he lets Satan ruin Job’s whole life to prove it. Job, of course, knows none of this. He knows only how much it hurts when he loses possessions, servants, and children all in a day, and then develops a debilitating skin condition to boot.

Job stews for seven days before unleashing a bitter curse against the day of his birth and a series of agonized questions: Why did I not die? Why do I have to endure this? Why is this happening to me? (See Job 3:1-26.)

In chapters 4-37, a few friends try to help by answering Job’s questions. People commonly skip these chapters, boiling them down to a moral or two, and rush to the juicy bits where God speaks in chapters 38-42. But in studying these chapters lately, I’ve discovered how much the Lord has for me to learn about what it looks like to fear God in extreme situations, while processing (or helping others) through extreme emotions.

For example, Job’s response (Job 6-7) to Eliphaz’s first speech (Job 4-5) highlights the weighty costs of withholding kindness out of a wish to fix the person’s problem. The key verse:

He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. (Job 6:14)

What are the costs of withholding such kindness?

1. We inflame volatile emotions

The video above portrays it perfectly with its closing shots of mutual exasperation. After Job 3, I didn’t think Job’s sorrow could get any worse, but apparently I was wrong.

“You think I’m vexed [referring to Eliphaz’s accusation in Job 5:2]? I must not have been clear. My words have been rash. My vexation can’t be weighed!” (Job 6:2-3, my paraphrase)

“God’s hand in my life is like bitter poison and indigestible food” (Job 6:4-7).

“I hope God kills me now before I say anything truly stupid. Better to die without having denied the words of the Holy One, than to go on living in such pain” (Job 6:8-13).

2. We forsake the fear of the Almighty

Job makes this very accusation in Job 6:14. His friends are like a temporary stream bed resulting from the springtime thaw from the mountains. When he’s thirstiest in the heat of summer, it has dried up and offers no refreshment. “For you have now become nothing” (Job 6:21). Job never asked for their help; he doesn’t want them to fix his problems (Job 6:22-23). He just wants some kindness.

Why does withholding kindness cause one to forsake the fear of the Almighty? Because fixing the problem is the work of God. Trying to fix a problem—against a sufferer’s will—means trying to take God’s place. Fearing God means trusting him to work in his timeline. And such fear empowers us to turn aside from fixing (Job 6:29) and focus instead on listening (Job 6:14, 28).

3. We raise defenses

Job has open ears. He’s willing to hear any specific charges of wrongdoing his friends might bring (Job 6:24). But if they do nothing but reprove his words, they are reproving the wind (Job 6:25). Extending kindness means not taking everything said by sufferers at face value. It means giving them the freedom to process extreme emotions without being corrected at every point.

If we don’t listen, they won’t think we’re listening. If they don’t think we’re listening, they won’t think we understand. If they don’t think we understand, they won’t trust our advice anyway. So why do we rush so quickly into offering unsolicited advice, when kindness demands we zip our lips and lend our ears? Withhold this kindness, and the sufferer’s defenses will rise tall and impenetrable.

4. We fuel hopelessness

At this point in the book, Job still trusts his friends. (By chapter 27, he’ll wish God’s eternal judgment on them.) So he lets them in. He’s honest about how he truly feels. And so far, they’ve only made it worse.

He has no hope in life (Job 7:1-6), and he predicts imminent death (Job 7:7-10). By day, he toils without respite, and by night, he tosses endlessly until dawn.

His perspective has gotten worse, not better, since chapter 3. The lack of kindness from his friends has not helped.

5. We miss the real issue

In his pain, Job feels lonely. There is nobody to share the pain, nobody who extends him kindness. And this loneliness leads to the greatest cost of all.

Job removes all restraint and speaks the fullness of his anguish (Job 7:11). He directs his anguish toward the “watcher of mankind” who has made of Job a target (Job 7:20). He speaks to the one who terrifies him with visions (Job 7:14) and who alone has the power to pardon his transgression (Job 7:21). Clearly Job speaks no longer to Eliphaz but to God.

And he has two prayer requests (Job 7:16):

That I would not live forever.
That you would leave me alone!

Job shows us that what matters the most is his relationship with God. The good news is that his suffering, so far, is taking him closer to God and not farther from God. He goes directly to God with his pain, his feelings, and his requests. This is true faith and a true fear of God.

But the 3 friends who focus on fixing Job’s problems have missed the opportunity to help Job draw near to his God. They are just like Jesus’ 3 friends who failed to show him kindness (falling asleep in Gethsemane!) when he most needed it. But Jesus paid the cost of their withheld kindness, and he did it so God could never withhold his kindness from us.

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6 Key Questions about the Book of Job

May 19, 2021 By Peter Krol

Christopher Ash, author of a new book on the Book of Job, answers 6 key questions on the book of Job.

Is the book of Job about suffering?
What are we to make of Job’s comforters?
Did Job deserve his sufferings?
Why is the book of Job so long?
Who or what is Leviathan?
Is there any hope in the book of Job?

I haven’t read Ash’s new book yet, but his commentary on Job is one of the best commentaries I have read on any book of the Bible. My understanding of Job has been shaped profoundly by Ash’s insights. I commend his brief blog article for your consideration to get a quick overview.

Check it out!

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The Difference Between Job and His Three Friends

May 14, 2021 By Peter Krol

The book of Job is about more than suffering; it’s about how to fear God through suffering. Let’s see how this main point plays out in the debates between Job and his three friends.

The Debates

CALI (2011), Creative Commons

At the end of Job 2, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar enter stage left. The play unfolds as each man gives a long speech, and Job responds to each with a speech of his own.

Eliphaz, Job, Bildad, Job, Zophar, Job.
Repeat: Eliphaz, Job, Bildad, Job, Zophar, Job.
Repeat: Eliphaz, Job, Bildad, Job…

The third cycle gets cut short, and Zophar never gets his third moment of fame.

I won’t list the main points speech-by-speech; I encourage you to marinate in the poetry and discover the main ideas for yourself. But I want to highlight the main threads that amaze me.

The Friends

Eliphaz is sensitive, Bildad is logical, and Zophar is hot-headed. Their personalities clearly vary, but they are still cut from the same strip of papyrus. They have one Ace in their collective hole, and they’re not afraid to use it every which way they can.

Good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people. God is holy, righteous, and good, and he will not allow his cosmic order to be upset by some self-righteous upstart like Job. On the last day, our good deeds will be weighed against our bad deeds, and God will treat us as our actions deserve. There is a place for the wicked, one filled with loneliness, despair, and terror. But it is not possible for bad things to happen to good people. And consequently, it will never be possible for God to find a way to justify the wicked.

Job begins with this same worldview, and Eliphaz begins the cycle by gently reminding him of what he already knows (Job 4:2-5). In fact, Eliphaz claims, this system of belief is what it means to fear God. And such fear of God should be Job’s confidence (Job 4:6).

Eliphaz will not be so gentle by the time he’s done with Job. He’ll accuse Job of having no true fear of God (Job 22:4), but of bereaving others, withholding generosity, and crushing the helpless (Job 22:5-11).

These three friends exhaust their arguments and end up in the same place where they began (compare Job 25:4 with Job 4:17). There are different angles on the same principles, but there is no development of their thought. Perhaps that’s why Zophar has nothing to add in the third cycle. Their tone may change as they go, but their belief does not.

Job

Job, however, goes through a radical transformation. He begins in the same place as his friends (Job 4:2-5), but he will not stay there. He knows he is innocent, and yet he’s suffering terribly. This blows up everything he thought he knew about God. Notice how his thought progresses through his eight speeches:

Job 7:8-10: God won’t see me anymore after I’m dead.
Job 9:32-33: I wish I could speak to God in person, but there is no mediator to go between us and make it possible.
Job 14:7-17: My suffering would have a purpose if I could die and have God’s wrath pass me by. Then he could resurrect me and forget all my iniquity. But that will never happen (Job 14:18-22).
Job 16:18-22: Since I am innocent and God is good, there must be a mediator between God and me! My witness is in heaven, he who will argue my case before God as a son of man does with his neighbor!
Job 19:23-27: Since my Redeemer lives, resurrection must also be possible! Like the dual keys required to launch a nuke, these companion truths of a mediator and a resurrection unlock Job’s hope for the first time in the book. “My heart faints within me!” (Job 19:27).
Job 21:7-9, 29-33: God often allows the wicked to prosper. He can do as he pleases.
Job 23:8-17: Though he utterly terrifies me, all I want is to see God.
Job 26:6-7: Even if I die, I will be laid bare and visible before God.

Though the friends end up in the same place they begin, Job does not. He has completely changed his mind.

The Main Difference

The main difference between Job and his friends is not that Job suffers and they do not. Nor is it that Job understands suffering in a way they do not. The main difference is that Job fears God and they do not.

While Job’s suffering provides the raw material for their debate, the heart of their conflict is over what it means to fear God (Job 4:6, 6:14, 13:11-16, 15:4, 22:4, 23:14-17, etc.). The message of this book is not so much about how to deal with suffering as about how to fear God, even through suffering.

Without the fear of God, one must hold to a religious system of cosmic karma, where we’re good with God as long as we try to be good people. But the true fear of God acknowledges the possibility – no, the necessity – of innocent, substitutionary suffering. If a really, really good person can suffer terrible things, then maybe, just maybe, the wicked can somehow be justified and made right with God.

But it all hangs on both a Redeemer who lives and a tenacious hope of resurrection.

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Find Your Way in Isaiah

May 12, 2021 By Peter Krol

Isaiah is one of those books I find especially difficult for modern readers. It is very long, and the neverending poetry can make it feel like sinking into a marsh with nothing to hold on to. Davy Elilson is here to help.

I hate being lost. Few things are more frustrating for me than meandering through an unfamiliar city, or hopelessly searching for an elusive item in the supermarket. I confess I’m not pleasant to be around in such moments.
Yet lost is exactly how I feel every time I come to Isaiah. As I begin reading, the same thoughts seize my attention: I will soon be lost; totally disoriented; Isaiah feels too big; there is no immediately discernible structure. Perhaps you share this experience. Somewhere in the middle of Isaiah 24, you begin to reel at the winding path that has brought you there and the unknown path that awaits you.
Perhaps a map would be useful. Let me offer some help by mapping five movements in Isaiah’s prophecy. These movements can aid us in finding our bearings in this mammoth book. As you’ll see, the movements are centered on one of Isaiah’s favorite descriptions of God: “the Holy One of Israel.”

Ellison’s concise map would be well worth your time and consideration. Along with an overview of the book, perhaps it may improve your chances of finding your way through such a crucial part of God’s Word.

Check it out!

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