Greetings Dear Reader,
I live in a very liberal town. I am very conservative in my theology and
attempt to be very Christ centered in my politics. I do not mean that I agree with everything
that conservative politics teaches us. I
do, however, feel that those who are less conservative promote an assumption
that Eliphaz did to Job.
The simple assumption is that it is wrong to be rich. Remember that at the beginning of Job’s story
he is declared righteous by God and he is very wealthy. Again we visit the polemic. If the presumption that one cannot be both wealthy
and righteous is to be accepted one of the two must not be true of Job. God says both are true, therefore, Eliphaz presumption
is false. Further, it seems that since
Job has just lost everything the “friend” would see him as instantly righteous
would he not?
A second assumption that Eliphaz makes is that Job can
somehow earn favor with God. This is
impossible. Is God pleased when we do well?
Yes! Is that the basis upon which he
hears our prayer of accepts us? No! We cannot earn favor with God. It is the condition of man that he has
eternal positive regard from God (God loves us). We have caused a separation because of our
sin but God does not love us any less.
Eliphaz third supposition is connected back to the
first. He thinks that one must give away
everything to please God. Since Job’s
first response to his loss of possessions is “naked came I out of the womb and
naked shall I return to God,” I am pretty sure he gets that he does not “own”
anything.
Instead of having compassion for a man who is suffering
Eliphaz condemns him again. It is obvious
he has not listened to Job. I was once
told by a friend who was weighing out how they felt about me, “Well on paper
you are a really bad investment.” This
was part of the decision making process being used to determine the nature of
our relationship. I still feel the pain
of those words and the results. So what
do I do to follow Christ more closely in response to Eliphaz? It seems quite simple.
I need to accept that whether I am poor or prosperous God
loves me and my possessions must not define me.
I need to be generous with those in need out of my abundance not to earn
favor with God but to echo his love for everyone. I need embrace humility when I am successful
and promote the success of others. In
short, whether rich or poor my attitude about God should be a constant that
guides my responses.
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 22:1-30
Then Eliphaz from Teman replied to Job,
"Can a human be of any use to
God when even a wise person is only useful to himself? Is the Almighty pleased when you are
righteous? Does he gain anything when you follow the path of integrity? Does God correct you and bring you into a
court of law because you fear him?
"Aren't you really very
wicked? Is there no end to your wrongdoing?
For no reason you take your brothers' goods as security for a loan and
strip them of their clothes. You don't
even give a tired person a drink of water, and you take food away from hungry
people. A strong person owns the land. A
privileged person lives in it. You send
widows away empty-handed, and the arms of orphans are broken. That is why traps are all around you and
great fear suddenly grips you. That is
why darkness surrounds you and you cannot see and a flood of water covers you.
"Isn't God high above in the
heavens? Look how high the highest stars are! You ask, 'What does God know? Can
he judge anything from behind a dark cloud?
Thick clouds surround him so that he cannot see. He walks above the
clouds.'
"Are you following the old
path that wicked people have taken? They
are snatched up before their time. A river washes their foundation away. They told God, 'Leave us alone! What can the
Almighty do for us?' Yet, he filled
their homes with good things. (The plan of the wicked is foreign to my way of
thinking.) The righteous saw it and were
glad, and the innocent made fun of them by saying, Indeed, their wealth has
been wiped out, and a fire has burned up what little they had left.'
"Be in harmony and at peace
with God. In this way you will have prosperity.
Accept instruction from his mouth, and keep his words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will
prosper. If you put wrongdoing out of your tent, and lay your gold down in the
dust, and put your gold from Ophir among the pebbles in the rivers, then the
Almighty will become your gold and your large supply of silver. Then you will be happy with the Almighty and
look up toward God. You will pray to
him, and he will listen to you, and you will keep your vow to him. When you promise to do something, you will
succeed, and light will shine on your path.
When others are discouraged, you will say, 'Cheer up!' Then he will save
the humble person. He will rescue one
who is not innocent. That person will be rescued by your purity."
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