It wasn’t that Job was angry with the way God was treating him. No, Job’s bitter lament was because he could not find God, anywhere. God was just nowhere to be found. What do you do when it feels like God is hiding?
Job was a wealthy man. Everyone knew that God had poured on him blessing after blessing. Job was blessed with seven sons and three daughters; this was regarded as the perfect family, a sign of God’s pleasure. And then Job’s nightmare began.
It was my worst day at church . . . ever. As the service started, the pastor shouted–“God is GOOD!” Then he told us to shout it with him. And it kept going, all those people shouting: “God is GOOD!” I stayed as long as I could. Then I left. Fled, really.
Why do bad thing happen to good people? Why do seemingly good or innocent people suffer? Why do children die in natural disasters? Why are infants born with debilitating diseases? Job is the book in the Bible that deals with this issue head on.
The theme of God’s people struggling to survive in a sophisticated, alien culture appears throughout the Bible, especially in the Old Testament. This theme is central to the Book of Esther.
Esther, a Jew, is extremely beautiful, so she enters the contest to become the new queen of Persia. But Mordecai, Esther’s adoptive father, warns Esther to hide the fact that she is a Jew As we’ll soon see, that is red flag # 1.
Soldiers pounded on Elisha’s door. Elisha didn’t come out. He sent a Son of the Prophets to tell Naaman to wash in the Jordan River. Truth is, the Jordan is a small stream the size of Bear Creek, and a good deal muddier.
I have tried this week to stay at least 15 feet away from Pastor Steve and his bad case of the flu. In the office, we made him shout, “Unclean! Influenza!” so we know when he’s coming. Poor guy has probably felt like a leper all week.
Some people are victims of their own success. Their stability becomes too small. Their victories become wearisome. Something about them has to crash if their lives are to move from big and phony to small and real. Consider Naaman. He’s a big shot.
The story of Naaman the leper deals with several issues simultaneously. First, Naaman was a gentile—not a Jew. Naaman was also a leper—so he was a loser on two counts. The Jews of Jesus’ day would have been just as happy if all gentiles were lepers.