September 29, 2015
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

The Power of the Tongue

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Generous God, I do not ask to be dazzled but rather I ask for courage to be faithful to You.

Read Job 19:1-29

For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.

[1] Then Job replied: [2] “How long will you torment me and crush me with words? [3] Ten times now you have reproached me; shamelessly you attack me. [4] If it is true that I have gone astray, my error remains my concern alone. [5] If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me and use my humiliation against me, [6] then know that God has wronged me and drawn his net around me. [7] “Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice. [8] He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he has shrouded my paths in darkness. [9] He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head. [10] He tears me down on every side till I am gone; he uproots my hope like a tree. [11] His anger burns against me; he counts me among his enemies. [12] His troops advance in force; they build a siege ramp against me and encamp around my tent. [13] “He has alienated my family from me; my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. [14] My relatives have gone away; my closest friends have forgotten me. [15] My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner; they look on me as on a stranger. [16] I summon my servant, but he does not answer, though I beg him with my own mouth. [17] My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family. [18] Even the little boys scorn me; when I appear, they ridicule me. [19] All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me. [20] I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth. [21] “Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me. [22] Why do you pursue me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh? [23] “Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll, [24] that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever! [25] I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. [26] And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; [27] I myself will see him with my own eyes-I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! [28] “If you say, ‘How we will hound him, since the root of the trouble lies in him,’ [29] you should fear the sword yourselves; for wrath will bring punishment by the sword, and then you will know that there is judgment.”

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

“Do not pray for an easy life, pray to be a stronger person. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, but for power equal to your tasks” (Bishop Phillips Brooks, 1835-1893).

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” I first picked up that saying at elementary school, but it was not long before my naïve belief was shattered! Words can indeed hurt us; they can wound us beyond telling. As Job responds to yet another of Bildad’s increasingly angry speeches, he claims that his friend’s words are tormenting and crushing him (2-3). He then catalogues what he sees as God’s wrongs to him (7-20), including the relationship breakdowns resulting from Job’s affliction (13-20)–almost certainly more painful than the physical symptoms of his disease. Like a child in need he turns to his friends, begging for their compassion (21-22).

However, despite Job’s agony of spirit, he retains hope: a kinsman-redeemer will come to his defense. This refers to an ancient Israelite custom by which the nearest of kin guaranteed the security rights of a fellow kinsman (Lev. 25:25; Ruth 2:19–3:13). It also reflected God’s redemptive role in Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage (Exod. 15:13). Job is sure that, since his friends have failed him, God himself, as his kinsman-redeemer, “will stand” (25)–a technical term for standing up in court to give decisive testimony. Thus we see the paradox at the core of Job’s struggle: the God in whom he has faith will help him against the God who is punishing him. The text of verse 26 is obscure but, as elsewhere, Job finds no support for future resurrection (Job 14:7-12; 17:15-16). The text probably refers to the destruction of his skin through his illness. “From his weak, emaciated body he will see God’s appearing to vindicate him” before he dies (John E. Hartley).

God himself identified with human suffering on the cross; Jesus is humanity’s kinsman-redeemer. We know what Job did not know: that suffering is not the end of the story. Meanwhile, in this life may our words demonstrate compassion!

Apply

Separation from a loved one brings a sharp pain (13-20). When have you been a parent in pain? A spouse in pain? A child in pain? How have you dealt with these issues?

Closing prayer

Lord, I am surrounded by a cacophony of demanding voices: selling, recruiting, seducing, coercing. In the midst of all this, may my conversation be seasoned by grace and peace.

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