EVERY DAY
October
SEPTEMBER
Sep/Oct 2011
Job
Elaine Storkey
James
Philip Greenslade
PLUS ‌
Weekend reflections on the Psalms, and the Big Picture by Philip Greenslade
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Elaine Storkey Dr Elaine Storkey, President of Tearfund and member of the Church of England’s General Synod, is a well-known Christian academic and broadcaster. A respected theologian and sociologist, she is often to be heard at conferences and on national radio, relating a Christian perspective to twenty-first-century living. She is Director of Education for Church of England Evangelists (Church Army) – Chair of the Church and Media Network, and ambassador for Restored, a global Christian initiative against violence to women. A prolific author, Elaine has written six books and hundreds of articles for newspapers and journals. She lectures to postgraduates on the Christian Mind Course at Oxford University.
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Philip Greenslade Having originally trained for the Baptist ministry, Philip has over 30 years’ experience in Christian ministry. He has worked with CWR since 1991 in the areas of biblical studies, pastoral care and leadership. With his passion for teaching God’s Word, he offers a refreshing and challenging perspective for all those who attend his courses. Close to Philip’s heart is the long-running Bible Discovery Weekends. He is currently Course Director for CWR’s new postgraduate programme in Pastoral Leadership. Philip is the author of several books.
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Copyright © CWR 2006, 2011 First published 2006 by CWR. This edition published 2011 by CWR, Waverley Abbey House, Waverley Lane, Farnham, Surrey GU9 8EP England. CWR is a Registered Charity – Number 294387 and a Limited Company registered in England – Registration Number 1990308. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of CWR. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are from the Holy Bible: New International Version (NIV), copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Concept development, editing, design and production by CWR. Cover image: www.istock/iLexx Printed in England by Linney Print.
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September introduction
Job Elaine Storkey The book of Job is generally acknowledged as one of the oldest biblical texts. It is a book which raises questions about suffering and the justice of God. The whole story hangs on the experiences of one man, Job, who is upright and faithful in his relationship with God but suffers terrible loss. The focus is not on how Job suffers, but why he suffers, with Job asking impenetrable questions and his friends producing orthodox answers which often miss the mark. The pace of the text is very interesting. The beginning and end of the book deal with the narrative, which is handled swiftly. Important events of life and death, often covering many years, are crammed into a few verses, while 40 chapters are given to detailed conversation. It is not so much what happens to us in life, but how we interpret it, that the book is interested in exploring. And so interpretations are given. Job has his own tentative version, which leaves him confused. His three advisers have other versions, of which they are quite confident. A young man comes up with yet another contribution. Finally God Himself speaks and changes the whole nature of the debate. In many ways Job represents any human being who is caught up in suffering, and his ‘comforters’ can be seen as types of believers who want to help. We find in the book of Job the deepest questions of our human existence writ large, but also a sober warning against offering easy answers.
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Thurs 1 Sep Job 1
Job’s afflictions
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or people without God, suffering can seem simply meaningless. A common cry is ‘What have I done to deserve this?’ And if Job had uttered that cry, the answer would have been ‘Nothing.’ He was a godly man, and God delighted in his integrity and his upright life. Yet it does not follow that his suffering was meaningless. Hard as it was, it was not without purpose. In fact it was something God allowed so that the real depths of Job’s faith and integrity could be tested. It was not God who needed to be convinced of Job’s integrity, however, but Satan. Satan is presented to us in a picture of restlessness – ‘roaming through the earth and going to and fro’ (v.7; 2:2). Satan’s hatred of peace and tranquillity finds expression in his challenge of Job’s integrity. He won’t accept God’s version of Job’s character, and jeers at God’s delight in him. Of course the man is upright, he argues. It’s in his own self‑interest to be since God does nothing but bless him. But if the blessings turn to hardship we will see a very different Job. And so God accepts the challenge,
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W f and allows Satan to put His servant to the severest test. A single one of Job’s afflictions would surely be enough to make us crumple under the weight of grief. The combination would be unbearable. Thankfully, few of us have to cope with the totality of murder, financial loss, natural disasters, death of children and debilitating disease. But if we did, would we ever be able to respond like Job, accepting that God both gives and takes away and that His name is to be praised (v.21)? The terrible things which happen to Job do not come from the hand of God. The evil he suffers is not inflicted by his heavenly Father, but by Satan. It is Satan who devises and executes the brutal atrocities which affect our human race. And in giving the devil permission to afflict Job, God also restrains him. Our suffering, too, is only to test and refine, never to crush and destroy. For in the darkest hour, God is still there, watching over the ones He loves.
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Job 2 Fri 2 Sep
When there is no support from those we love
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n this second encounter between God and Satan we are given a brief ‘God’s-eye view’ of the situation which will be important as the story develops. We’re reminded that Job’s ruin is not related to any wrong he has done, and that his integrity stays intact in spite of all that he is going through (vv.1–3). It looks like a straightforward victory for God, but Satan is not convinced. And so another round of afflictions comes upon Job, now affecting his own body. He will have to live with sores from head to foot, causing him pain from which there will be little relief. The passage gives us a mournful picture of him scratching his sores with broken pottery, yet holding on to his faith in God. At times like this we need the support of those we love more than ever before. What makes this chapter so tragic is that Job does not get this. Instead his wife derides him, and mocks his faith in God. Rather than weeping with him and building him up in prayer, she urges him to blaspheme – to curse God. And it
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must have taken a lot of will-power for Job not to give in to her cynicism. It is indeed spiritual strength which enables him to respond with patience, and show her that a faith which is prepared to accept only good from God, and not sorrow, is a faith hardly worth having. There is often spiritual unevenness in marriage relationships, even when both partners are believers. The spiritually stronger partner sometimes has to take a firm lead in faith when the weaker one is questioning or doubting. But this process becomes harder when the one who is stronger is also the one who is suffering deeply. Then, support and upbuilding are needed most of all rather than having one’s faith undermined. I am sure that Job’s struggle was all the greater since he did not have the loving help of his wife. It is a challenge to all of us who are married, or in close relationships, to provide the strength and spiritual encouragement that those near us need in the difficult times of life.
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Weekend Psalm 38:1–22
Representative sufferer This psalm describes a believer in extremis. He feels targeted by God’s anger and displeasure (v.2). What a miserable condition he’s in: bones out of joint, breath and sight failing, wounds festering. He’s sick to death. This describes someone who is gravely ill, in the grip of a deadly disease. Does the individual depicted here really have all these symptoms at once or is the psalmist, as seems more likely, speaking as a representative sufferer? If so, the psalmist is probably offering up his anguished complaint on behalf of all others who, like him, are sick or suffering. The psalmist is wracked with suspicion bordering on paranoia because, as with Job, friends and neighbours have deserted him (v.11). To an extreme degree this reflects how awkward we are in the presence of acute suffering. We instinctively avoid the severely sick, not because we fear contagion, but because we do not know how to approach them. Like Job, he suffers as a social outcast. But, unlike Job, this sufferer confesses his sin and admits his guilt. In fact the psalmist shows us
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that when we refuse to acknowledge our sinfulness, and stubbornly interiorise our guilt, we do ourselves terrible psychological and even physical damage. Unconfessed sin can ravage our mind and body and corrode our faith. It makes us, in more ways than one, sick to death. But his painful exposure to God’s scrutiny (v.9) is the first sign of hope. Illness shuts down all your normal social senses (vv.13–14). Being deaf to other voices, struck dumb of all self‑serving rationalisations, the psalmist has only God to wait for (v.15). Only God will not forsake him in his crisis; only God will dare to come close to him (v.21). In the end, in this case like Job, the psalmist holds out for the salvation that only God can give. In the end, like Job, he discovers that God Himself is our only Saviour.
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5–16 S 8 Sep 12 Sep 16 Sep 20 Se 23 Se 23–25 26 Se 26 Se 27 Se 3 Oct 4 Oct 8 Oct 11 Oct 14–16 18 Oc 21–23 22 Oc 24 Oc 31 Oct
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CWR Ministry Events Please pray for the team
Date
Event
Place
Presenter(s)
5–16 Sep Ministry Trip Singapore CWR team 8 Sep Insight into Dementia Waverley Abbey House Rosemary Hurtley 12 Sep Pastoring People through Life’s Crises WAH Andy Peck, Lynn Penson, Peter Jackson 16 Sep Developing Pastoral Care (course starts) WAH Philip Greenslade, Andy Peck, Lynn Penson and guest speaker 20 Sep The Inner World of the Leader WAH Andy Peck 23 Sep Managing Your Time WAH Andy Peck 23–25 Sep Women’s Weekend – Rhythms of Grace WAH Lynn Penson, Lynette Brooks, Ros Derges 26 Sep Certificate/Diploma of Christian London School of Owen Ashley, Richard Pickles Counselling – courses start Theology Lyn Bertie and team 26 Sep MA in Integrative Psychotherapy LST Janet Penny 27 Sep Church Leaders’ Forum WAH Andy Peck and Philip Greenslade 3 Oct BA Counselling Year 3 starts WAH Irene Davies and team 4 Oct Women’s Autumn Day – WAH Lynn Penson The Father Heart of God 8 Oct Taking a Look at the Old Testament (1) WAH Elizabeth Hodkinson 11 Oct How to Disciple Others WAH Andy Peck 14–16 Oct Marriage on Track WAH Andrew & Lynn Penson 18 Oct Insight into Anger WAH Chris Ledger 21–23 Oct Bible Discovery Weekend – WAH Philip Greenslade (Proverbs/Job) 22 Oct Understanding Yourself, WAH Andrew & Lynn Penson Understanding Others 24 Oct BA Counselling – Year 1 starts WAH Irene Davies and team 31 Oct – 1 Nov Women’s Event – You Prepare a Table WAH Lynn Penson & Jeannette Barwick Before Me For full details phone 01252 784700, international +44 (0)1252 784700 or see the CWR website for further information.
www.cwr.org.uk
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Mon 5 Sep Job 3
Job’s lament
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fter having been silent for seven days, with his friends around him also silent, Job finally speaks. And what comes from his mouth are words as depressed and downcast as any in Scripture. He curses the day he was born, wishing he had never made it into this world (vv.1–11). He envies the dead who are now in peace (vv.11–19), and wonders why suffering people are allowed to linger rather than be taken out of their misery (vv.20–23). He finishes by saying that everything he fears and dreads actually takes place, and he can have no peace or rest. He gives us a picture of himself as a man who feels completely trapped in affliction – someone who wants to die so that his troubles can be finished with. Life has become utterly miserable and no longer holds any hope or promise for him. It is significant that in spite of this he does not think of suicide. He does not have the desire or the authority to take his own life. Job is not the only biblical writer to wish he had never been born. Jeremiah gives a similar cry (Jer. 15:10; 20:14–18).
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J Both of them cry to God because only God can change things. Both of them are distraught because even though they have been committed to God and faithful in their calling, they now suffer abominably. Yet it is surely encouraging to find these feelings expressed so powerfully in the pages of Scripture. They speak to many people who also struggle with heartache or debilitating illness, or the terrible loss of people they love. Job, in fact, puts into words what countless thousands of people through history and across the world have felt in the midst of suffering – abandoned and without hope. And the fact that this is conveyed so openly in God’s Word makes us realise that God does indeed know all about our human condition. So we do not have to hide our pain or torment from God. We do not have to pretend that things are not as they are. Job helps us to find that we can express everything we feel – our hurt, depression and anger – and bring it to God.
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Job 4–5 Tues 6 Sep
Job’s comforters
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he three friends who have come to ‘comfort’ Job now begin their counselling session. They have an identical view of what is wrong, but express it in different ways. Eliphaz is the first to speak. He tells Job to follow the advice he has often given to others: acknowledge sin and repent, then things will change. As far as Eliphaz is concerned, the reason people suffer is because of their sin. ‘When have the innocent ever perished?’ he asks, and then continues, ‘But I have seen the wicked perish by the blast of God’ (4:7,9). He supports this line of thought by describing a terrifying vision he had, which seems to clinch the argument for him. His answer to Job is clear. Seek God’s forgiveness. Of course, what Eliphaz says is right. Sin does have consequences and brings suffering. His mistake is in assuming that all suffering, therefore, is the consequence of sin. And quoting his personal ‘vision’ only serves to elevate his own opinion. There’s a similar problem with his view of God. Eliphaz sees God as a God of justice. And this is true.
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But he doesn’t see the love and fatherly compassion of God; he doesn’t understand that God can also chasten those He loves’ (Rev. 3:19). So even though what he says is true, it becomes false because it is only part of the picture. We are not immune to these problems today. All too often Christians leap to conclusions about why people suffer. Frequently they draw attention to sin in people’s lives, often appealing to the Bible to justify doing so. But today’s passage should alert us to the danger of quoting the Bible out of context to people, especially when we don’t understand their situation. We can end up by not bringing the Word of God to them at all, but just beating them over the head. We do well to remember Charles Spurgeon’s warning about Christians who carry a ‘theological revolver’; rather than bringing healing to people, they blast them! So when we make pronouncements about sin, it should be our own sin that concerns us most – not pointing the finger at others.
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Wed 7 Sep Job 6–7
Job’s defence
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ob has two main things to say to his friends (6:1–30). The first is to reproach them. They have been too ready with their condemnation. He has spoken out only because of the weight of his grief, but in their rebuke there is nothing that helps him. If they really believe all this suffering is because of his sin they must point to that sin, and he will then be able to do something about it. Allegations without any examples are simply useless. The second is to lament their sheer unkindness. The harshness of their judgment is not part of friendship, nor does it come from God. They have poured more suffering on to him because they don’t even begin to understand his situation. With so little comfort from Eliphaz, Job then again turns to God and speaks from the anguish of his soul. Out of what seems like hopeless darkness and meaningless pain he cries to God in despair. It is almost as if he has given up. He cannot go on. His physical condition is one of unbroken pain; mentally he is in turmoil. When his whole
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T s life is so miserable, why doesn’t God just let him die and get it all over? How often is it the case that when other believers let us down it seems even harder to get through to God? There can be that sense of being completely cut off – not just from other people but from God too. For many people this ‘dark night of the soul’ is one of the loneliest experiences in life. It seems that there is nowhere we can go in order to be understood. And no one we can speak to who can give us any answers. If there are people you know who are going through this experience now, they may need you just to listen. But if you are going through suffering yourself, there is one other way this passage can help. We know something that Job doesn’t know. Job sees no meaning in his suffering. But we have a privileged ‘God’s-eye view’ of the situation, and however hard to take, we know it has a point. God asks us, too, just to hold on and trust.
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The need to hear the heart speak
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he next person in the drama is Bildad, a cold intellectual who shows very little emotional awareness of Job at all. Again, we may have had the misfortune of being ‘comforted’ by someone like Bildad. He seems to live on another plane. Rather than engage with the acute pain that Job is going through he plunges into philosophical debate. His style is to ask questions, and he begins by asking, ‘Can God do wrong?’ The answer, logically, is ‘No’ because our ideas of what is ‘right’ come from the very character of God, and God cannot be the opposite of Himself. So Bildad turns this logic to Job’s situation. Since God can’t do wrong, it wasn’t wrong that Job’s children died. It must have been because they had sinned and were being punished. Bildad points out that in nature nothing flourishes without God’s blessing. But God will not bless the godless (8:11–13). Only if there is repentance will God restore them (8:20–22). The link between sin and suffering is now reinforced with brutal argument.
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Bildad is so coldly analytical that his intervention seems quite inappropriate. We could say that he is simply responding to Job’s own words, and reminding him that God blesses those who turn to Him and punishes those who turn away. But there is no attempt to get inside Job’s mind; responding to Job’s words is not addressing his anguish. Nothing could be less empathetic than to tell someone struggling with the hurt of their children’s death that God was punishing their sin. People going through deep, unrelenting pain often make sharp, extreme outbursts. But on these occasions they don’t need to have their words closely analysed and subjected to cold logical reason. They do need sensitivity and gentleness. They need to know that someone understands their pain. This passage challenges us as Christians to exhibit the kindness and patience of the Holy Spirit in our relationships with people. We need to ask God to help us reflect the gentle love of Christ who has ‘borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows’ (Isa. 53:4, AV).
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Fri 9 Sep Job 9–10
What kind of God?
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uch to our surprise, we find Job in agreement with Bildad. He too thinks that no one is just before God. He even accepts the principle that trouble comes only because of sin. Job himself shares the view of God’s punishment held by his companions. The problem is it doesn’t seem to apply in his case. He has searched his heart and can’t find any sin that hasn’t already been confessed and repented of. So where does that leave him? The answer is: in confusion and perplexity. Job cannot fathom God, but in trying to understand Him he touches on key aspects of God’s nature. First is His wisdom, which is far beyond any human wisdom (9:4). Second is the power of God and His authority over creation: ‘He shakes the earth from its place’ (9:5–10). Third is the reality of God’s presence, even though He is not visible to us (9:11–12). Fourth is the righteousness of God, against which we have no plea (9:13–21). Knowing all this about God just plunges Job into more grief and despair. How can he convince anyone, especially God,
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of his innocence? It is because God is God, and not another mortal being, that they cannot go to court together and let the matter be decided, for God is also the Judge (9:32). It is when he arrives at this point that Job suddenly realises what he needs. The story of Job unexpectedly points us to the New Testament, and in a powerful way. For Job needs an arbitrator, a mediator who can come between him and God (9:33–35); someone who understands them both and can bring them together. He begins to feel, deep in his bones, the terrible gulf between humankind and God, and the need for that gulf to be bridged by One who goes between. We who live in the light of the gospel know that he is crying out for such a mediator as Jesus Himself. So the book of Job quietly lays a piece of the foundation for that tremendous New Testament revelation: Christ, who is God made flesh, is the reconciling bridge between God and humanity.
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Psalm 94:1–23 Weekend
Leave vengeance to God It is a vital biblical revelation that God is at war with the evil that spoils His creation. When God ‘shows His colours’ (v.1, The Message), it is not a white flag of surrender but a battle standard. Something of this the psalmist instinctively grasps as he calls on God to avenge him against his enemies. Ignorant and superficial opinion often dismisses prayers like this as heartless and self‑serving. In fact the theology expressed in this psalm spells good news. (1) It promises justice to the oppressed and exploited. God is not neutral; God is entirely on their side (vv.5–6). (2) It offers hope that the vicious cycle of hurt and recrimination can be broken. It is possible to stop retaliating and to leave judgment in the hands of God. (3) God is not squeamish about identifying His enemies and can be trusted to deal with them. Though oppressors flaunt their immunity from God’s prosecution (v.7), the psalmist celebrates the searching scrutiny of God (see v.9).
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Only believe that nothing happens to you that God cannot turn to your good then, like Job, you will find it is possible, even when you are under intense pressure, to consider yourself blessed (v.12). God may not remove us from trouble, but neither will He ever remove Himself from us in our trouble (v.14). God’s presence joyfully displaces our deep‑seated anxiety (vv.16–19). God never negotiates or compromises with evil, and ultimate justice sits on the throne of the universe (v.20). Where the rule of law is flouted even by those expected to uphold it (v.21), tyranny and dictatorship follow. But God’s throne is our incorruptible final court of appeal (verse 20 has already been answered in verse 15!). Thankfully, vengeance is God’s, not ours, and in that we take refuge (v.22; cf. Rom. 12:19–21). From this side of the cross we may rejoice in the price God paid to defeat evil, and in turn gain the courage to overcome evil with good whenever we meet it.
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Mon 12 Sep Job 11–14
Pray first, speak second!
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he third of Job’s comforters is more zealous and passionate than either of the others. We can almost see him thumping the table as he jumps up and down demanding that Job repent. As far as he is concerned, Job has got off lightly! God punished him less than he deserved (11:1–6). It is hard to think of anything worse which could have happened to Job, and one is tempted to ask what Zophar would have thought of such suffering had it happened to him. But, just as the others had done, he simply hits out and shows little compassion. Like his companions, Zophar teaches us a lot about how not to help people. To start with, none of them seems to refer to God in order to understand the problem. They don’t pray for illumination or wisdom. They’re so sure of their own response that they don’t feel the need. And they don’t pray with Job either. They don’t draw him into the presence of God and together seek God in their need. There are prayers throughout the book. But those are from Job, crying out to God in his misery.
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So even though there is nothing terribly wrong with Zophar’s arguments, as with the others, they are not given in love, gentleness or humility, and they leave Job without any help. Job’s final response is to hurl sarcasm at them (12:1–12), and to accuse them of being worthless physicians. He is left with a deep sense of injustice, and is no further forward in understanding why he is going through such hurt. At the same time, Job makes one statement which has offered hope to millions of people through the ages. He declares of God, ‘Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him’ (13:15, AV). His own integrity is not dented by his pain. He knows the God whom he worships. In spite of everything, he will trust. And countless others who have lost children, struggled with illness, known financial ruin, suffered war, and even the murder of someone they love, have been able to make the same incredible statement of faith; they have found that this trust can still sustain them, even in the darkest hour.
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