Author: John Tillman

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What Gives?

Links for today’s readings:

Jan 12  Read: Job 12 Listen: (2:21) Read: John 12 Listen: (6:26)

Scripture Focus: Job 12.13-25

13 “To God belong wisdom and power;

    counsel and understanding are his.

14 What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;

    those he imprisons cannot be released.

15 If he holds back the waters, there is drought;

    if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.

16 To him belong strength and insight;

    both deceived and deceiver are his.

17 He leads rulers away stripped

    and makes fools of judges.

18 He takes off the shackles put on by kings

    and ties a loincloth around their waist.

19 He leads priests away stripped

    and overthrows officials long established.

20 He silences the lips of trusted advisers

    and takes away the discernment of elders.

21 He pours contempt on nobles

    and disarms the mighty.

22 He reveals the deep things of darkness

    and brings utter darkness into the light.

23 He makes nations great, and destroys them;

    he enlarges nations, and disperses them.

24 He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;

    he makes them wander in a trackless waste.

25 They grope in darkness with no light;

    he makes them stagger like drunkards.

Reflection: What Gives?

By John Tillman

By this point, Job’s friends have all replied to him and have accused, scolded, and berated him. I imagine Job holding out hope the final friend to speak would see his point of view, but they all piled on. Job said they considered him a laughing stock.

Job responded not just to Zophar, who spoke last, but rebuked the trite theology of all three friends. Job did not hide his bitterness as he mocked them. He sarcastically praised their wisdom, saying their deaths would be a loss for the world and mockingly summarized their simplistic arguments.

Their color-by-number theology portrayed an ordered universe in which the wicked always suffered and the righteous always prospered. Job responded, “Nice universe. Too bad it doesn’t exist.” Then he began teaching them the harder, more difficult truths he had learned. Wisdom is God’s. Power is God’s. Counsel is God’s. Understanding is God’s. Meaning none of them are humanity’s.

Job painted a darker, chaotic reality in which rulers, judges, kings, priests, officials, advisers, elders, nobles, and the mighty were stripped, silenced, defeated, disarmed, and humiliated. Job did not mention crimes they committed or judgment they deserved. Possibly because Job was describing his personal experience.

Job’s age, wealth, and status made him a mighty prince and leader like those he described. Job identified with them. Job felt like he had taken a test, got zero answers marked wrong, but still had an F in red pen at the top of his paper. The heart of Job’s question is “God, why did this happen? Show me my error!” To put Job’s objection in the parlance of my high school days, “What gives, God?”

We don’t live in the simplistic, color-by-number painted world of Job’s friends. We also don’t live in Job’s Jackson Pollack-style painting of a random, meaningless world. Even when the world feels chaotic and the wicked seem constantly celebrated, we trust God’s purposes are at work.

Take comfort that what looks like a failing grade in this world, is not a failure in God’s classroom. And truthfully, none of us expect a paper with no red marks on it.

Thank God that the righteousness we will be rewarded for, in the end, is not our own. It is the righteousness of Jesus. His righteousness is what gives meaning now and a future destiny greater than we can imagine. Fix your eyes on him.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; early in the morning I make my appeal and watch for you. — Psalm 5.3

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Hope’s Messengers and Means

When we are in trouble or suffering, we should appeal to God based on God’s nature. God is a wonder worker, a healer, a provider, and a restorer of lost things.

Hope’s Messengers and Means
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If Not Him, Who?

Links for today’s readings:

Jan 9  Read: Job 9 Listen: (3:22) Read: John 9  Listen: (4:56)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Jan 10  Read: Job 10 Listen: (2:12) Read: John 10 Listen: (4:44)
Jan 11  Read: Job 11 Listen: (2:01) Read: John 11 Listen: (6:37)

Scripture Focus: Job 9.24

​​24 When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,

    he blindfolds its judges.

    If it is not he, then who is it?

Reflection: If Not Him, Who?

By John Tillman

One thorny issue Job and his friends wrestle with is God’s sovereignty.

The friends express a simplistic theology where God says, “You do A, and I’ll do B,” and never breaks this formula. Their version of “sovereignty” makes God transactional and predictable—a machine-god who outputs blessings when you input righteousness.

Job rightly calls the machine-god a lie but struggles to reconcile God’s sovereignty with the reality of evil. God seems to destroy the blameless and the wicked without distinction. Job lays human corruption at God’s feet, saying that God blinds judges, causing nations to fall into wicked hands.

“If it is not he, then who is it?”

Good question. Does God cause evil? If not, who does? If God is sovereign, how can it be anyone else?

The book of Job reveals that God’s sovereignty restrains evil, it doesn’t motivate it. From the beginning, Satan complained that God protected Job from Satan’s evil influence. God allowed Satan greater freedom to harm Job to test Job’s faith, but never completely removed his protection. Evil is limited by God’s sovereignty, not caused by it.

God did not choose or carry out Job’s sufferings. He did not command them nor did they enter his mind. (Jeremiah 19.5) Satan chose Job’s sufferings and carried them out within God’s limits. Satan’s purpose went beyond destroying Job. Satan wanted to prove that God buys faith with blessings and bribes worshipers with wealth. “Does Job fear God for nothing?” (Job 1.9) Satan wanted to prove God to be exactly the transactional, machine-god Job’s friends described.

God’s sovereignty is not a simple topic with easy, comforting answers. When (not if) we suffer illnesses, losses, or living in a corrupt country with wicked leaders and blind judges, our faith will struggle. Like Job, we may never be satisfied with why God prevents some evils and allows others. We may never understand how present evils will be twisted by God to bring about a future good. (Romans 8.18-28)

To begin to understand, look to the mediator Job called for. Jesus is God’s sovereign answer to evil. God steps in for Job, overturning evils with new life, relationships, joys, and growth. Jesus steps in for us, crushing the serpent’s head, defeating death, wiping tears, and bringing eternal and abundant life.

Not only does God’s sovereignty limit evil, it ends evil through Jesus. Come Lord Jesus. All our answers are in him. If not him, who?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

O Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on me.
O Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on me.
O Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world, grant me your peace.

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Christ, Our “If Only…”

Thank God that he is the God who does the unthinkable on behalf of the unworthy.

Christ, Our “If Only…”
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Principles, Promises, and Presence

Links for today’s readings:

Jan 8  Read: Job 8 Listen: (2:09) Read: John 8 Listen: (7:33)

Scripture Focus: Job 8.11-19

11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? 

Can reeds thrive without water? 

12 While still growing and uncut, 

they wither more quickly than grass. 

13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God; 

so perishes the hope of the godless. 

14 What they trust in is fragile; 

what they rely on is a spider’s web. 

15 They lean on the web, but it gives way; 

they cling to it, but it does not hold. 

16 They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, 

spreading its shoots over the garden; 

17 it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks 

and looks for a place among the stones. 

18 But when it is torn from its spot, 

that place disowns it and says, ‘I never saw you.’ 

19 Surely its life withers away, 

and from the soil other plants grow.

Reflection: Principles, Promises, and Presence

By John Tillman

The problem with Job’s friends is not the content but the application. Much of what they say is wise and true.

Bildad’s chapter eight speech is an example. It’s true that plants can’t thrive without water, and we can’t thrive without God. It’s true that trusting in the things our culture prizes is like expecting a spider’s web to save you from a fall. It’s true that plants with shallow roots in rocky ground don’t survive hardship, and when our faith is shallow, it is easily uprooted. We can find similar statements in Proverbs, Psalms, the prophets, and in Jesus’ teachings. The concepts are sound, but the wisdom is misapplied to try to “fix” Job through shame and blame.

Job’s friends interpret words of wisdom as universally true conditional promises. Then, they accuse Job of breaking the conditions. “The reason these aren’t true for you, Job, is you fail to satisfy the conditions of the promise.” They act as if fixing Job’s faith will fix everything.

Words of wisdom are not promises or prophecies. They are principles. When we misinterpret principles as promises, disappointment and disillusionment are inevitable. When we quote principles as promises to those in suffering, intending to cheer them up or “fix” their faith, we damage what we want to strengthen. Fixing their faith, even if we can, rarely fixes everything.

Those harmed in this way can develop an adverse reaction to the Bible itself. We can understand why. They see it as a hurtful bludgeon instead of a healing balm. You may know someone like this or have experienced this yourself. Quoting more verses can’t easily fix this, even if properly applied. It is unhelpful to sing “songs to a heavy heart.” (Proverbs 25.18-20)

Helping friends in suffering like Job’s is harder than quoting the perfect proverbs or Bible verses to teach them a lesson. Before leaning on rhetoric, rest in God’s presence. Awareness of God’s presence with us is more comforting than promises for the future and more corrective than lectures about our past. God’s presence is a power we bring to bear without teaching a lesson or even saying a word.

To the hurting, your presence (and the presence of God you bring) is better than a promise, even if the promise is true. Love must come before lessons and preparing the soil before sowing a seed.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning  Lessons

And they will say, “Surely, there is a reward for the righteous; surely, there is a God who rules in the earth.” — Psalm 58.11

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about Unhurried Wisdom

If we are not presently in Job’s position, we are one of the friends. The world around us is constantly suffering…

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Constant Streams

Links for today’s readings:

Jan 6  Read: Job 6 Listen: (2:56) Read: John 6 Listen: (8:27)

Scripture Focus: Job 6.14-21

14 “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend

    forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

15 But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,

    as the streams that overflow

16 when darkened by thawing ice

    and swollen with melting snow,

17 but that stop flowing in the dry season,

    and in the heat vanish from their channels.

18 Caravans turn aside from their routes;

    they go off into the wasteland and perish.

19 The caravans of Tema look for water,

    the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.

20 They are distressed, because they had been confident;

    they arrive there, only to be disappointed.

21 Now you too have proved to be of no help;

    you see something dreadful and are afraid.

Reflection: Constant Streams

By John Tillman

Job needed comfort. He needed the refreshment of kindness. Instead, Job’s wife told him to “curse God and die.” (Job 2.9) Job’s friends subtly (and not so subtly) blamed him for some secret sin, some fatal flaw bringing God’s judgment. Job compared them to inconstant streams.

In the ancient Near East and the American Southwest, wadis carve their way across the desert. Wadis vary in size. Some are like a ditch. Many are like small canyons. In the rainy season, water and snowmelt rush down from the heights and surrounding mountains, filling the wadis and bringing life to the desert. But in the dry season, when water is most needed, the wadis are dry.

A wadi isn’t a person. And a wadi being dry in the dry season is not a surprise. It’s not a choice. When Job needed it most, in his driest season, all his resources ran out. But they should have been reliable. Can you relate?

You might feel that you are waiting by a dry stream now. But something else is true about wadis. Rain far, far away in the hills can cause them to suddenly fill up with water. We are at the very beginning of Job and there are many long chapters of debate, arguing, and angst ahead of us. But at the end, Job is refreshed by others. Rain is on the way.

God uses Job’s friends to restore him. (Job 42.10-11) Scripture describes a scene not unlike the end of It’s a Wonderful Life. Every relative and person Job knew came to him with a financial gift. Job was “the richest man in town” once again.

There are two lessons for us here. First, like Job, we may need to wait for God’s answer, but we should not doubt that it is coming. However dry our streams are, even when friends dry up, remember that God makes streams in the desert. (Isaiah 43.19-21; 44.3-4; Psalm 65.9; 74.15; 78.16)

Second, as friends, we need to recognize our ability (and responsibility) to channel God’s blessings, refreshment, and encouragement. Eliphaz dreaded Job’s fate. (Job 6.21) His fear dried up his encouragement. He blamed Job to shield himself. When our friends struggle, instead of fearing their fate or protecting ourselves by subtly blaming them, lean into how much God loves them.

Don’t be an inconstant stream. Open up and let God’s love be made tangible in us. Let constant streams of God’s love flow to and through us.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad. — Psalm 14.7

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Manna or the Man?

What are our motives for pursuing Jesus? Do we want the man or just the manna?

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Hope’s Messengers and Means

Links for today’s readings:

Jan 5  Read: Job 5 Listen: (2:29) Read: John 5 Listen: (5:42)

Scripture Focus: Job 5.8-16

8 “But if I were you, I would appeal to God;

    I would lay my cause before him.

9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,

    miracles that cannot be counted.

10 He provides rain for the earth;

    he sends water on the countryside.

11 The lowly he sets on high,

    and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

12 He thwarts the plans of the crafty,

    so that their hands achieve no success.

13 He catches the wise in their craftiness,

    and the schemes of the wily are swept away.

14 Darkness comes upon them in the daytime;

    at noon they grope as in the night.

15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth;

    he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.

16 So the poor have hope,

    and injustice shuts its mouth.

Photo Info: Today’s photo is of Texans on Mission doing disaster relief in Jamaica, following Hurricane Melissa. Donate to disaster relief of your choice, or donate here, to Texans on Mission.

Reflection: Hope’s Messengers and Means

By John Tillman

An important part of interpreting scripture is knowing who is speaking to whom.

A famous internet meme shows an inspirational “verse of the day” calendar with the following text: “If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.” (Luke 4.7) The text is less inspirational when you realize it is Satan speaking. When reading Job, we must be careful. Not all speakers are reliable sources of wisdom.

Job’s friends start well. They are deeply empathetic and caring. They share Job’s grief, sitting silently with him in his suffering. But once the conversation starts, they lose patience, and empathy evaporates. Even so, not everything they say is foolishness.

Shakespeare loved to hide truths in the lines uttered by his clowns, buffoons, and fools. Thus, Polonius gives us, “To thine own self be true.” Similarly, golden proverbs are sometimes found in the mouths of Job’s foolish friends.

After Job, Eliphaz is the first to speak. Of all the friends’ speeches, this first one is the least problematic. However, as we read Job’s friends, we must keep in mind their errors. God condemns them for not having “spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” (Job 42.7) 

In what ways do the friends not tell the truth about God? 1) They assume suffering, including Job’s, is caused by sin. 2) They assume moral superiority over Job. 3) They assume God’s motives regarding Job.

Correcting for these errors, we can find truth and encouragement in what Eliphaz says. So what does Eliphaz get right?

When we are in trouble or suffering, we should appeal to God based on God’s nature. God is a wonder worker, a healer, a provider, and a restorer of lost things. God lifts the lowly, mourning, and needy. Call on him by these qualities.

When we witness those in trouble or suffering, rather than pass judgment as Eliphaz did, we should act based on God’s nature manifested in us. Being God’s image-bearers includes living out his nature as rescuers, healers, and helpers. To God’s self we must be true. Let us bring God’s hope and help by shining light to those in darkness, pulling the weak from the clutches of the powerful, and shutting the mouth of injustice, breaking its teeth.

We are not to be bystanders to suffering. Our calling includes intervention and prevention. We are not only to be hope’s messengers, but hope’s means.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy Name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. — Psalm 103.1-2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

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