Bible Matters: Job: Accusation and Innocence

Adam discusses Job of the Bible. Job challenges much of the wisdom in the Bible that claims good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people. For example, see Deuteronomy 6:18, Psalm 1, and Proverbs 3. For a book similar to Job, see Ecclesiastes. Job claims his innocence, while his friends unite in accusation against him. In the end, God sides with Job, the victim. Here we see the evolution in the human understanding of God. God is not with the crowd that unites in accusation against a common enemy; rather, God is on the side of the victim. This is seen ultimately in life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

For more, see Rene Girard's book, "Job: The Victim of His People."

Category:

Education

Tags:

• adam
• ericksen
• raven
• foundation
• bible
• matters
• job
• accusation
• satan
• god
• friends

[weallgotissues]

The only reason this story exist is for christens to maintain their faith through troubled times. The story itself is ridiculous, God, in this story, is a pretentious asshole who isn't Omnipotent and is the said "Accuser" in this situation. I'm not going to type out all the times that God has not been on the side of the victim. The entirety of the bible is written in contradiction for a reason.

[raventelevision]

@weallgotissues Contradiction or arguments? Are people arguing about who God is? I used to think contradiction, but now I think it's arguments. In the end, God sides with Job - the victim of his people who accuse him. Christians shouldn't look to the Bible for ultimate authority on this issues. We are not biblians. We should look to Jesus, who becomes a victim of humans and offers them God's forgiveness on the cross in return.

[raymondski924]

Hi ^^ I love the story of job and personally i get so marveled and makes me fall on my knees with trembling adoration when a phrase like "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." comes across on my reading of the bible. I don't know about other people, but i believe fearing God.. fearing Jesus.. is such a redeeming thing.. Why? ^^ Have a guess.. or better yet what does fearing God really mean to you? i really like to hear your thoughts about it.. Peace! God Bless.

[raventelevision]

@raymondski924 That's a great question. Many places in the Bible stress fearing God. Yet, there are other places that seem to question that-and suggest that fear might impede our relationship with God. For ex. Jesus calls God "Abba" which is a term of intimate endearment, not fear. In the resurrection, disciples fear Jesus, who responds saying, "Fear not" and "Peace be with you." 1 John claims that "Perfect love casts out fear." God is perfect love. So, could it be that God casts out our fear?

[EickwortK]

There is a fourth minor theme in Job. He is afraid that his children might have sinned, so he makes regular sacrifices on their behalf. God does not consider this a fault but rather seems to commend Job for his fear of God. After the tragedies start, Job cries out that what he had greatly feared has come upon him. In the New Testament, Jesus calms the storm through faith. I wonder what is the outward effect of the unprecedentedly widespread fear-mongering in the media and even by Christians?

[raventelevision]

@EickwortK Such a great comment/question. Fear is indeed a powerful tool used to control. I struggle with phrases like, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." A certain distance from God I think is probably healthy, so we don't think that we possess God, but over and over again in the Bible we get the message, "Do not fear/be afraid" & 1 John states that perfect love drives out fear. Maybe the fear mongering is to unite us against a common enemy - Islam or China? What do you think?

[hopenu4today]

Thank you so much for this video - I think this brings allot to light - some people have prayed over me for healing and none came but it is more than that - I believe we go through troubles so God sees where we stand? what do we do? where does our heart lay? Do we turn away from God?

thank you

[raymondski924]

@raventelevision TY 4 the Reply! ^^ Yes! God & His love in us & when it is being shown to the world by our daily lives, does cast out fear for judgement or guilt of our sins and therefore, confidence in our salvation which is given to us by grace so that all we need is faith. So.. um.. still that leaves us with a question. Since, we consider the words of Paul in Phil 2:12 are true: "..work out your salvation with fear and trembling". There's still one thing that is left to be feared, right? ^^

[EickwortK]

I agree with everything you say in your video commenting on the book of Job. I have been thinking about this recently because of the news coverage of the devastation of Joplin, MO where I lived for three years in late childhood. Certainly, in spite of the insurance companies' characterization of natural disasters as "acts of God," God is not punishing Joplin. We can hope that God's people will respond with acts of compassion and prayer for the victims.