2 October 2024 Job 9:1-12, 14-16

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Please read the passage before reading the commentary

We plow fields, plant seeds and uproot weeds, all in the hope of a bountiful harvest or beautiful flowers.  We do not ask the earth if it hurts to plow it.  We do not care that we kill the weeds to give the plants a better chance to grow.  We do not ask whether it hurts the plant when we harvest the crop.  For us it is all a part of farming, gardening and living.  The seed and its fruit exist for us and not for themselves.

If what we plant exists for us and our use, what does it mean when we come on the scene?  Do we exist for ourselves or do we exist for someone els?  If we tend out gardens with such great care, despite the hurt we cause, how much greater does the one who plants us care about us despite the hurts we seem to have to endure?

Job, the rich and honest person, fell upon hard times.  Our inclination when this happens to us is to complain to God, but not so Job.  In this passage Job takes out a larger view of God’s relations with us.  He sees God as the maker of the universe, the whole of creation, which is larger than the totality of ourselves.  Job’s situation is not resolved, but the insight he has can be a turning point.  He will still maintain his innocence, will still seek redress, will still seek understanding.

We wrestle with the problem of good and evil in the world and in our lives.  We see innocent people suffering and dying.  We hear of innocent people being killed in the shelling of civilians during wartime.  We see and we do not understand.  Perhaps we are too close to see the full picture.  We hope that in the end we shall find God triumphant with us when all sorrow is ended, and all distress removed.