Job 19-22

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

19:15 - Job's servant girls count him as a stranger.
19:17 - Job's breath is repulsive to his wife and he is loathsome to his own family.

Job 20 - No mention of any women.

21:10 - Job bemoans how the wicked often go unpunished, "their bull breeds without fail; their cow calves and never miscarries."

22:9 - Eliphaz tells Job that his wickedness is great, for example Job "sent widows away empty handed."

My Comments

I love how according to Eliphaz,, Job is wicked simply because he didn't help everyone he had ever come across that was in any need of help. Oops, passed that hungry man without giving him a slice of bread. Wicked. Oops, you didn't help that blind man cross the street that one time even though you'd helped about 20 blind men just last week. Wicked. Oops, you sent away that widow when you should have given her land and money even though you'd already given away most of your land to the last 32 widows that asked you for help.

Is this seriously the standard for goodness and wickedness? If I don't sacrifice every single bit of my soul and belongings to other people, even to the detriment of myself and my life, then I'm now wicked? It would seem that I could help people my whole life and still be wicked just because I may have passed one or two people up because I'd already given away my last dollar or I was in a rush to save children from a burning orphanage and I just went right by the lady that needed help taking her groceries to the car. I can understand if Job had never done anything for anyone, but I can't imagine God's greatest fan being a complete jackass to everyone in need. We are given no context for this.

So basically this means I'm apparently wicked because I ran out of change to give the hobo on the side of the freeway because I'd already given change out to the last 6 I'd seen on my way to work. I do good things but I'm not going to go bankrupt saving everyone. I wouldn't be able to survive or live if I did that. As nice as it would be one person alone cannot save the world. Especially not one person at a time.

It's just nuts. Why is Job's friend spending this entire time trying to convince Job that he has in fact done something truly heinous to have God treat him this way? What kind of friend is that? Especially when the only reasons he can come up with are just really dumb. Why is this convincing to Job? If I was Job I'd be like "Holy shit that is the dumbest stuff I have ever heard. Get the hell outta my face I'd prefer to moan and wail alone."

So far the moral of this story is: If you don't feel guilty then you're probably a horrible terrible person who just doesn't bother trying to see the horrible terrible things that you've done because everyone is a horrible terrible person no matter what. There is always something to feel guilty about so dammit figure out what it is you did wrong and make sure you say you're really sorry about it!

Friday: More of Job's whining