This past week I read the Book of Job. I must say Job has always been one of my favorite books every since my teen years. Not sure what that says about me that I like a book that I always thought was a bit out of place in regards to the rest of the Old Testament. I like that it doesn't have nice answers to question and that questioning is OK.
This week I began reading Psalms. I am struck by how what transpires in Job and in Psalms are almost in conflict with one another or more precisely that Job's friends are basically using the assumption of the Psalmist to describe God. The Psalmist believes that God deals with a people in a very linear fashion, you do good -- good things happen or vis-versa.
I wonder what role the genre of Psalms plays in how we should be reading it and making statements about God taking explicitly from Psalms. This is especially important since clearly Job's friends were in the wrong in their understanding of God. I've heard many people being perturbed that Job's friends advice was seen as being erroneous.
If God deals explicitly in this do good- receive good fashion in the world, I would have to believe that God has no real influence in this world. Too often I've seen the opposite people who do good, often encounter hardship.
I like the God of Job, who allows for mystery, questions, and angry. If God would be understood in the Psalmist manner I'm not sure what I would do to the question of Theodicy. Thankfully Job gives me comfort in my pain and questioning. Maybe it is best to look to Gutierrez for the solace of Job, "The world of Retribution--and not of temporal retribution only--is not where God dwells; at most God visits it. The Lord is not prisoner of the 'Give to me and I will give to you" mentality. Nothing, no human work however valuable , merits grace, for if it did, grace would cease to be grace. This is the heart of the message of the book of Job."(Gutierrez 1987, 88-89)
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3 comments:
You bring up an interesting point. I have no answers, but can add a few more questions to the mix. Recently as I read in Deuteronomy I noticed that God seemed to be promising direct and fairly immediate rewards/blessings on those who were faithful to follow Him. Those promises are there in Scripture.
My questions are "How would this have been understood by an Israelite who had just lost a spouse, or a child? Or by someone who was sick?" God made these promises, but how were they interpreted by people who went through the same kinds of struggles that we do?
Maybe a bigger question is "What does it mean to be 'blessed' by God?"
And this last question just popped into my head right now. I don't think God's main concern is to pour out immediate earthly blessings on us. But why does the story of Job end up with him having even more material blessings than he began with? So does in this some ways back up what the Psalms are saying -- that we will have hard times and valleys but God will reward the faithful?
Interesting thoughts. The contrast is even sharper, I think, between the Proverbs and Job. But, you're right, the wisdom theology of "if you're good, good stuff happens" is present in the psalms as well.
Perhaps we'd disagree in our reaction to the God of Job. I find the closing chapters of Job a little disturbing. Essentially God appears out of a storm to this poor, tormented man and essentially says, "I'm God. You're not. Shut up." Not exactly a picture of a God who welcomes questions and doubts.
Bryan - I hear what your saying about getting a 'blessing'. I've been at too many church services (mostly charismatic) that are all about getting this blessing from God.
Good point blessing or promise is to seen in scripture.
I am not saying to completely write-off the psalms, but that they need to understood differently than I was taught in high school
Joey - I agree with on the Proverbs bit.
We definitely expereince the story of Job differently, I think the story has always shown me that we can question God to no end, while Job doesn't really get an answer, in my experience of pain and loss I am not sure if answers provide any solace.
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