Tuesday 22 February 2011

job

At present I'm supposed to be writing a 1000 word exegesis on Psalm 84, but have got rather bogged down in it. Having done a diploma in British Sign Language and Interpreting, I tend to get rather involved in the translation theory side of stuff, which I don't think is quite the point of exegesis. So I'm procrastinating by carrying on with the rest of the module on OT wisdom, which means I've got to Job.
I think I'd always assumed the book of Job was about 'why do bad things happen to good people?' or 'where is God when it hurts?' - which it doesn't really answer. But having read it again, it strikes me that Job is actually about the following questions:
Do I only worship God for what I get out of it?
How deep does my faith actually go? Will I still worship God when everything falls apart?

Thinking about what we've been through and my reaction makes me wonder. I'm not sure that worship is necessarily the right word for my response, and I certainly did not accept the situation gladly. However, my conviction that God is God and I'm not persists. And I have discovered an inner core of steel in my determination to do what I believe He wants regardless of the cost to myself. Because if my faith means anything, it has to mean everything.
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3 comments:

  1. Catriona22 February 2011 at 04:58

    I love the book of Job, but the end of the last chapter, where everything has a happy ending is less helpful... by no means everyone is given double blessings after their sufferings.

    I know a lot of Jewish scholars understand Job as fictive rather than literal, so maybe the 'happy ending' is part of the resolution. I guess we need to beware any unhelpful reading across as expectation.

    As you rightly note, faith has to mean everything if it means anything at all... and that includes the absence of the 'happy ending'

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  2. Anonymous28 February 2011 at 17:02

    Hi, I am from Australia.
    Unfortunately there never was a happy ending because every body disintegrates, slowly or quickly, and then dies.

    Which suggests that Real answers about the meaning & significance of death are absolutely essential - otherwise there is always only a hell-deep fear and trembling, until death.

    Please check out these related references.

    http://www.dabase.org/dualsens.htm

    http://www.adidam.org/death_and_dying/index.html

    Plus

    http://www.dabase.org/tfrbklih.htm

    http://www.dabase.org/Divhscrt.htm

    http://www.dabase.org/dht7.htm

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  3. pastasmissus7 March 2011 at 02:13

    Hi John
    I tried reading some of those links, but I'm afraid I got rather lost in them. Would you be able to give me a brief summary of your understanding of the significance of death?

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