Job by Daniel J. Estes

Author:Daniel J. Estes [Estes, Daniel J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christian Books & Bibles, Bible Study & Reference, Bible Study, Old Testament, Commentaries, Reference, Religion & Spirituality, Old Testament Study, Job
ISBN: 9781441242778
Amazon: B00B85MPIG
Publisher: Baker Books
Published: 2013-07-14T22:00:00+00:00

21:34 Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood! Job is not comforted or convinced by what the friends have said. In fact, the more he evaluates the issue, the more problems he has with the legitimacy of the retribution formula, because it does not fit his personal situation, and it does not explain many other cases he has observed. Job, therefore, rejects their answers as nonsense (hebel, perhaps better translated “enigmatic,” as its sense often is in Ecclesiastes) and falsehood, a betrayal of true friendship.

Theological Insights

This chapter brings into high relief the contrast between, on the one hand, the retribution principle found frequently in Proverbs and maintained absolutely by the friends and, on the other hand, Job’s position that the retribution principle must be significantly amended. Just as Job has argued that his adversity does not mean that he is wicked, so now he demonstrates from observation that the wicked often enjoy the full range of blessings that retribution would reserve for those who are righteous before God. As Job points to the prosperity of the wicked, he echoes other Old Testament passages, such as Psalms 49 and 73 and Jeremiah 12:1–4. All of these passages complain that the wicked sometimes prosper and the righteous sometimes suffer adversity in God’s world. Even though they raise deep and troubling questions, in their larger contexts they all point in the direction of God’s sovereign, but at times inscrutable, will. The classic example of this disconnect between one’s personal character and how one is treated is the death of Christ, in which the sinless Son of God suffered crucifixion at the hands of evil men, all within the predetermined plan of God (Acts 2:22–24).

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