Job 6-7, Dedicated to Rainbow Spike, the Fish.

Goodbye Lamont. Goodbye Rainbow Spike.

Today's blog is dedicated to Rainbow Spike, my daughter's pet beta fish. My wife put Rainbow in a cup today while she cleaned his bowl. Rainbow, forgetting he can't breathe outside of water, decided to jump out of the cup. Maybe he was a very depressed fish. Maybe we didn't see the signs. All it took was a cry for help, a note, a phone call. Alas, it was not to be. Rainbow Spike passed away today. My daughter was quite distraught.


All this sadness reminds me of Job. Let's catch up with what's going on with his story in Job 6-7.

So how did we get here? Here's the Heath"Cliff

" notes version: Job was a very wealthy and blessed man who lived about the time of Abraham. He had a large family and a lot of possessions. Not only that, but he was a righteous man. He "feared God and turned away from evil." God boasts to Satan about Job. Satan tells God that Job only fears God because he has blessed him. God allows Satan to torment Job. Job subsequently loses his children, his possessions, and his health. However, in spite of all of his Job "did not curse God or charge him with wrongdoing," even when his harpy wife tells him to curse God and die. Understandably Job cries out about his pain and suffering. Eliphaz, one of Job's friends who has come to "comfort him", (irony abounds), tells him that he's suffering because he's sinned and he just needs to confess his sin before God and all will be well. Now we get to Job's response.

*Remember, it's as if we're watching a movie or a play. There's not going to be a tidy little ending until the end of the story. What we're trying to do right now is watch the story unfold so we understand what's going on.

In Job 6:1-7, Job laments the level of his pain. "Oh that my vexation were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances! For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;" (1-2). He says it is as if God has aimed his arrows at me, (4). He says he has every reason to complain and cry aloud, (5-6).

Next in Job 6:8-13, he wishes God would just take his life. He feels there is no hope for him and he just wishes his life would end. Remember, not long ago, in the span of a few minutes Job lost his children, his wealth, and his servants. Soon after that he lost his health. Some people surely have experienced similar loss and sorrow. It is doubtful, however, that few people have experienced it as quickly as Job.
"Oh, that I might have my request, and that God would fulfill my hope, that it would please God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!" (8-9). Job further says that he has no hope in his strength and no hope that his life will be restored, (11-13). His only comfort is that he knows he has not denied God. He knows he is a man of integrity, (10). "This would be my comfort; I would even exult in pain unsparing, for I have not denied the words of the Holy One." 

Observation:  This story does not hide the fact that life has pain, injustice, despair, and sorrow. The Bible is real. The characters are real. The issues and people we see in the Bible are just as real as the issues we encounter in every day life. I love the Bible because it does not sugarcoat anything. God deals with realities, not fantasies. We have here a person in Job, who is experiencing the same feelings of the most devastated person we could ever encounter. It is so bad that he wishes he would die. He is without hope. He is in pain. The Bible encounters man at his lowest and most despairing moment. Strangely, this is encouraging. God is not a stranger to man's pain, sorrow, and despair. He understands the deepest cries and hurts a person can feel.

Not only is Job suffering, but his friends are about as helpful as lemon juice on an open wound, 6:14-23. He compares them to ice hidden with snow that melts away when the summer comes. They are unreliable and untrustworthy. "My brothers are treacherous as a torrent-bed, as torrential streams that pass away," (15). Job is in pain and sorrow and instead of comfort from his friends he's only received harsh and stupid counsel. He then challenges them to prove how he has sinned against God, 6:24-30. "Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray," (24). "But now, be pleased to look at me, for I will not lie to your face," (28). "Is there any injustice on my tongue?" (30). I don't know about you, but I've had my share of crappy advice and "help" from people when I've been in pain. If you've experienced it yourself then you know how hurtful and maddening it is for someone to say something stupid when you're broken inside. Job knows that better than most.

Having excoriated his "friends" Job returns to the expression of his own anguish, 7:1-6. Just as the slave looks forward to the end of his labor, so Job is looking forward to the end of his life. "Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages, so I am allotted months of emptiness," (2-3). His only expectation is to fade away into nothingness and never be remembered. "The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more; while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone," (8).

Therefore, since he soon will pass away into nothingness, Job turns his attention to God, 7:11-21. In Job's mind he is going to die soon anyway, so he figures he might as well bring his complaint before the Lord. "Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;" (11). To Job it seems as if God has set a watch over him to make sure he suffers, "Am I the sea, or a sea monster, that you set a guard over me?" (12) Even when he sleeps Job can find no comfort. Even when he lies down he is terrified by nightmares, (13-14). Let's look at his final words before he finishes his monologue. You can feel the depth of this poor man's soul, sense his anguish, and hear his heart breaking as he cries out to his maker in sorrow and utter despair.

"How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit? If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your mark? Why have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be."(19-21).

If reading those verses doesn't break your heart, then you probably also liked the ending of Old Yeller. Job feels like he has become a target of God. He feels like God has set his sights on him and will not turn him loose in his anger. Granted, that's not the reality of what's happened, but it's important for us to see the depth of Job's broken spirit.

*Important point here: Job talks about sin a little bit here. I don't think he's making an admission of sin. Rather, I think he's saying, "Look, even if I did do something, wouldn't I have suffered enough here?" Throughout the book Job will hold fast to his integrity and righteousness, so I don't think he's making some admission of guilt.

Observations: Like I said previously, we're in the middle of Job's story here, so there's not going to be a pretty bow to wrap around each chapter or section. The ending comes at the end, (you only get to say brilliant things like that if you were a Journalism major), so we just have to hold on and watch things unfold. On a side note, I think it's important for us to learn to read and observe the Bible, instead of looking for some personal application or meaning in every verse or chapter. Some parts of the Bible are like that. We just have to read and observe the story.
Meanwhile, I do think it's important for us to see and feel Job's excruciating pain and emotions in these chapters. It's also helpful to see how the Bible deals with man's deepest questions about pain, sorrow, unfairness, life with God, and the deep questions we all ask when we are suffering. 

Oh, if only Job were a Saturday morning cartoon where everything was wrapped up in 30 minutes. Unfortunately Job isn't like that. Then again, neither is life. "Life is pain. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something." Name that movie. No cheating/Googling. If you guess right I'll send you a Dorito.

See you next time. God bless.