The Subtlety of Self-Righteousness Pt 3
Notes
Transcript
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Warning Signs:
I. A longing for the good old days
I. A longing for the good old days
II. A loathing of present circumstances
II. A loathing of present circumstances
III. A result of rash actions
III. A result of rash actions
A longing for the past + a loathing of present circumstances = a result of rash actions.
What is Job’s rash action? His sworn oath of innocence.
A. The seriousness of an oath
A. The seriousness of an oath
Making an oath in Job’s culture was serious business. However, because of Job’s retribution theology coupled with a longing for the past and a loathing of the present Job does something extremely rash- He devises an oath that forces God to either respond to prove Job’s guilt, or remain silent which would prove Job’s innocence.
Hartley explains:
“The oath requires God either to activate the curses of the oath or to clear the swearer. Should God remain silent, Job would be declared innocent by not being cursed. ... The swearer usually suppresses the actual curse either with evasive language or abbreviated formulas, no doubt fearful of the very verbalizing of a specific curse. But Job is so bold that four times he specifies the curse that should befall him if he be guilty (vv. 8, 10, 22, 40). His reckless bravery reflects his unwavering confidence in his own innocence.” (Hartley, 407).
“The oath requires God either to activate the curses of the oath or to clear the swearer. Should God remain silent, Job would be declared innocent by not being cursed. ... The swearer usually suppresses the actual curse either with evasive language or abbreviated formulas, no doubt fearful of the very verbalizing of a specific curse. But Job is so bold that four times he specifies the curse that should befall him if he be guilty (vv. 8, 10, 22, 40). His reckless bravery reflects his unwavering confidence in his own innocence.” (Hartley, 407).
The power of an oath in the ancient world was taken extremely seriously in the ancient world. Do we still swear oaths today? In legal contexts, yes we do. “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, so help you God?” Do people in our culture really take that oath seriously? Some do, but some will say anything even under oath to save their skin.
Job’s culture was not this way:
And the men of Israel were distressed that day: for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any food.
36 And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and spoil them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee. Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither unto God. 37 And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day. 38 And Saul said, Draw ye near hither, all the chief of the people: and know and see wherein this sin hath been this day. 39 For, as the Lord liveth, which saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people that answered him. 40 Then said he unto all Israel, Be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said unto Saul, Do what seemeth good unto thee. 41 Therefore Saul said unto the Lord God of Israel, Give a perfect lot. And Saul and Jonathan were taken: but the people escaped. 42 And Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken. 43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in mine hand, and, lo, I must die. 44 And Saul answered, God do so and more also: for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan. 45 And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid: as the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not. 46 Then Saul went up from following the Philistines: and the Philistines went to their own place.
B. The sins Job denies
B. The sins Job denies
All through the argument with Job’s three friends, what did the friends insist that Job must have done? Sinned horribly, otherwise God would not have judged Job in this manner (Retribution theology). Now Job will list many of those sins that his friends claimed that he must have committed and with the full power of an ancient oath swear his innocence.
Job is innocent of:
Lust (1-4)
1 I made a covenant with mine eyes;
Why then should I think upon a maid?
2 For what portion of God is there from above?
And what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3 Is not destruction to the wicked?
And a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
4 Doth not he see my ways,
And count all my steps?
2. Falsehood (5-6)
5 If I have walked with vanity,
Or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
6 Let me be weighed in an even balance,
That God may know mine integrity.
3. Covetousness (7-8)
7 If my step hath turned out of the way,
And mine heart walked after mine eyes,
And if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
8 Then let me sow, and let another eat;
Yea, let my offspring be rooted out.
The Book of Job b. Falsehood and Covetousness (31:5–8)
He has never let his heart follow his eye, i.e., his mind has not been controlled by his lusts. Any wrongful suggestion that has entered through the eye has been squelched in his heart.
“Offspring”- things which spring up and come forth from the earth. It is used metaphorically for offspring, but here it is better to understand it to refer to that which Job grows for produce.
#1 Curse:
He pronounces a curse upon himself if he has coveted.
(a) To lose one’s crops when they are ready to harvest is extremely demoralizing.
(b) It would be an appropriate punishment for one who has coveted (desiring what someone else has).
4. Adultery (9-12)
9 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman,
Or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;
10 Then let my wife grind unto another,
And let others bow down upon her.
11 For this is an heinous crime;
Yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.
12 For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction,
And would root out all mine increase.
#2 Curse (v. 10)
5. Mistreatment of servants (13-15)
13 If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant,
When they contended with me;
14 What then shall I do when God riseth up?
And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him?
And did not one fashion us in the womb?
(v. 15) value of life is given by God and is present in the womb.
6. Ignoring the poor and the weak (16-23)
16 If I have withheld the poor from their desire,
Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
17 Or have eaten my morsel myself alone,
And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;
18 (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father,
And I have guided her from my mother’s womb;)
19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing,
Or any poor without covering;
20 If his loins have not blessed me,
And if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,
When I saw my help in the gate:
22 Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade,
And mine arm be broken from the bone.
23 For destruction from God was a terror to me,
And by reason of his highness I could not endure.
#3 Curse (v. 22)
7. Worship of his wealth or of heavenly bodies (24-28)
24 If I have made gold my hope,
Or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;
25 If I rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And because mine hand had gotten much;
26 If I beheld the sun when it shined,
Or the moon walking in brightness;
27 And my heart hath been secretly enticed,
Or my mouth hath kissed my hand:
28 This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge:
For I should have denied the God that is above.
V. 27- Mouth has kissed my hand-
The Book of Job f. Trust in Wealth and Worship of the Heavenly Bodies (31:24–28)
He never threw a kiss to them as a sign of affection and devotion, a widespread pagan practice. Apparently Job is referring to the gesture in which one kissed his hand and threw the kiss to the heavenly bodies. He has never shown other gods affection even in secret.
8. Desire for vengeance on his enemies (29-30)
29 If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me,
Or lifted up myself when evil found him:
30 Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin
By wishing a curse to his soul.
9. Failing to be hospitable (31-32)
31 If the men of my tabernacle said not,
Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.
32 The stranger did not lodge in the street:
But I opened my doors to the traveller.
10. Covering his sins without confessing them (33-34)
33 If I covered my transgressions as Adam,
By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:
34 Did I fear a great multitude,
Or did the contempt of families terrify me,
That I kept silence, and went not out of the door?
11. Abuse of the Land (38-40)
38 If my land cry against me,
Or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;
39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money,
Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat,
And cockle instead of barley.
The words of Job are ended.
#4 Curse (v. 40)
Problem:
a) Summary: “It appears doubtful that Job would add another specific item after affixing his signature . . ., so most modern interpreters place these verses earlier in the declaration of innocence. Perhaps a scribe discovered that they had been inadvertently omitted from the text and copied them at the end to preserve them.” (Hartley, 422).
b) Andersen appears very close to a workable solution when he states: “The land is personified as the chief witness of the crimes committed on it.” (245).
C. The dangerous conclusion Job reaches
C. The dangerous conclusion Job reaches
Summary:
I am innocent!
I am innocent of lust, falsehood, covetousness, adultery, treating my servants poorly, ignoring the poor and weak, worshiping my wealth or other false gods, vengeance, being inhospitable, covering my sins, and abusing the land.
If anyone, including God Himself, can prove me otherwise then let me be cursed.
Take away my crops and give them to someone else, take away my wife and let her be given to another man, dislocate my arm from its socket and break it at the elbow, and let the land produce weeds instead of wheat.
But this will never happen because I am innocent!
Job 31.35-
35 Oh that one would hear me!
Behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me,
And that mine adversary had written a book.
36 Surely I would take it upon my shoulder,
And bind it as a crown to me.
37 I would declare unto him the number of my steps;
As a prince would I go near unto him.
Job is not using false bravado here:
8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
His testimony is, to say the least, convicting! How many of us could utter the same kind of oath that Job did?
But I see two problems with Job’s oath:
Nowhere does Job credit the grace of God
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
2. Job justifies himself instead of God.
“If it is a question of one of us being righteous,” Job says in essence, “I know I am. And God does, too.” The insinuation is every bit as offensive to God as the friends’ insinuations were to Job.
8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment?
Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
Don’t buy into the lie of retribution theology!
The Christian: You can’t out-give God
The father who lost a child: God, how dare you take my child from me! (shooting in Texas, Horatio Spafford)
The pastor: Why don’t I have a big church?
The single person: Why am I not married?