Greetings Dear Reader,
There used to be a terrible joke that my Grandfather told and
I am guilty of fostering: Who was the shortest man in the Bible? Some say it was Nehemiah
(Knee-high-amiah). Others say it was Bildad
the Shuahite (shoe height). Really it
was Peter; he slept on his watch. I
apologize to those who are allergic to puns.
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| Job and his friends |
Until I really studied Job and his “friends” that was the sum
total of my understanding of Bildad from Shuah.
As one of Job’s friends he speaks to pile on with Eliphaz. He actually implies that Job’s children were
wicked and that is why God had punished Job.
Worse than the insult is the lack of compassion in the delivery. The tone is obviously angry. He is impatient and argumentative. Again he is wrong about the character of God
so he uses hurtful anger to make his point.
I used to so easily thunder against what I thought to be
wrong or unjust. My own lack of
understanding of God and his love for every one of us played a part in
this. The greater part was my own lack
of faith that God was in control and that he knew why he was doing things or
allowing things even though I did not.
There is a place for righteous anger. I see no place in my life to hurt others who
are already suffering. A friend does not
assume the worst of his friends. No
matter how wrong I feel someone is in a situation it is not my anger that
should be turned toward them. I must
feel the anger but not use it to sin against someone else.
Even if Job were guilty he is to be restored to his righteousness
in love. I feel anger over the current
crisis. I hurt. I weep.
In the midst of all of that though, I have a duty. I have a duty to love. I have an obligation to treat those causing
harm with grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
No matter how wrong someone is unleashing my anger at them will not draw
them closer to Christ. It will also
hinder my following him. Then both of us
will be moving in the wrong direction.
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer
who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home
owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure
store."
Job 8:1 – 22
Then Bildad from Shuah replied to Job,
"How long will you say these
things? How long will your words be so windy?
Does God distort justice, or does the Almighty distort righteousness? If
your children sinned against him, he allowed them to suffer the consequences of
their sinfulness. If you search for God
and plead for mercy from the Almighty, if you are moral and ethical, then he
will rise up on your behalf and prove your righteousness by rebuilding your
home. Then what you had in the past will
seem small compared with the great prosperity you'll have in the future.
"Ask the people of past
generations. Find out what their ancestors had learned. We have only been around since yesterday, and
we know nothing. Our days on earth are only a fleeting shadow. Won't their words teach you? Won't they share
their thoughts with you?
"Can papyrus grow up where
there is no swamp? Can rushes grow tall without water? Even if they were fresh and not cut, they would
wither quicker than grass. The same thing happens to all who forget God. The
hope of the godless dies. His confidence is easily shattered. His trust is a
spider's web. If one leans on his house,
it collapses. If one holds on to it, it will not support his weight. He is like a well-watered plant in the
sunshine. The shoots spread over his garden.
Its roots weave through a pile of stones. They cling to a stone house. But when it is uprooted from its place, the
ground denies it and says, 'I never saw you!'
That is its joy in this life, and others sprout from the same ground to
take its place.
"Certainly, God does not
reject a person of integrity or give a helping hand to wicked people. He will fill your mouth with laughter and
your lips with happy shouting.
Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent
of the wicked will cease to exist."
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