Category: Job

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Job

To truly know God

Job

I had heard rumors about You, but now my eyes have seen You. (Job 42:5)

I’ve been thinking about these words of Job recently, as I’ve been reflecting on what it means to truly know God.

Paul prayed in Colossians 1:10 that we would grow in our knowledge of God. But what does that mean?

It’s certainly not just head knowledge, important as that is.

It’s actually seeing his work in our lives. It’s actually hearing his voice as we read his Word, as we pray, and as we live our daily lives.

It’s experiencing his love, grace, and power firsthand in our lives, not just hearing about these things in the lives of other people.

Is that you? Do you truly know God?

May we all be able to say like Job, “I had heard rumors about you, but now my eyes have seen you.”

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Job

Healing

Job

After his encounter with God, it was a time for healing for Job.  But to God, it wasn’t just about the healing of his body, or the healing of all his personal hurts from the tragedies he had suffered.

It was about the healing of relationships.  God told Job’s friends, “You were wrong about Job.  More than that, you were wrong about me and my purposes for Job.”

That must have been sweet music to Job’s ears, to be vindicated like that.  But then God told them,

So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves.

My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly.  (Job 42:8)

One wonders how Job felt when he heard that.  Did he readily pray for his friends?  Or was there still hurt there that made it difficult for him to do so?

I tend to think there was still a lot of hurt there.  They had spent the better part of the day, or possibly weeks (how long did this conversation last, anyway?) ripping on him and his integrity.  And now God was saying to pray for them?

But it was only when he forgave his friends and prayed for them that the healing began, not just in his relationships with his friends, but in every other area of his life.

I think there’s a very important principal to learn from that.  When we’ve been wounded by others, it can be very easy to get bitter and to hold on to that bitterness.

But God calls us to forgive them.  And not only to forgive them, but to pray for God’s forgiveness in their lives for what they did to you.

“But Bruce, you don’t know what they’ve done to me.  You don’t know how much they hurt me.”

No I don’t.  But God does.  And though they were wrong, God calls you to forgive.  Why?

Because you will never know healing in your own life otherwise.

Bitterness not only affects your relationship with the person who hurt you.  It affects every other part of your life.

Bitter, unforgiving people are affected not only emotionally, but often times physically as well.  Unforgiveness has been linked with higher blood pressure, ulcers, and heart disease, among other things.

One of my favorite quotes is this:  “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”

Do you want healing in your life?  Learn to forgive.

Is it easy?  No.

You may need help from your pastor.  Or a counselor.  But most of all, you’ll probably need help from God.

But when you forgive, that’s when the healing in your life begins.

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Job

What really matters

Job

God…enter stage right.

I kind of wonder if the reason that Elihu started talking about storms was that he actually saw a storm approaching, the very storm, in fact, from which God spoke.

Some people may question why I tend to say that Elihu, in the main, was right.  The answer is basically found in chapter 40, where God asks Job,

Would you discredit my justice?  Would you condemn me to justify yourself? (Job 40:8)

Which was the whole reason why Elihu was so upset with Job in the first place (32:2), and the theme of his whole speech.  Also, much of what Elihu said in the latter part of his speech, God repeats here.

Namely, “Who are you to question me?”  God asks Job,

Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?  Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.  (Job 38:2-3)

And again,

Who has put wisdom in the mind? Or who has given understanding to the heart?  (38:36)

And yet again,

Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?  Let him who accuses God answer him!  (40:2)

In other words, “Job, you’re spewing out all these words, but you have no idea what you’re talking about. What’s more, think for a minute Job.  Who gave you the ability to even reason?  I am.  Yet you think you can argue with me?”

And throughout these chapters, God reminds Job just how small and limited he really is.

Job wasn’t there when God created the world.  He had no knowledge concerning how God put things together or of the laws of nature that God set in place (38:4-11).

His experiences were similarly limited.  He had not entered the depths of the sea nor explored the breadth of the earth, nor had he ever visited outer space where the sun resides.  He had never even gone as high as the clouds  (38:16-24).

What’s more, he had no power to control nature, to grow grass, make it thunder or rain, to bring out the stars, or provide food for the animals  (38:25-41).

He never created any of the animals.  He never gave the ostrich its speed, the ox and horse their strength, or the eagle its ability to fly.  He didn’t even have the ability to tame all the animals in the world (chapter 39).

And if he couldn’t even contend with the behemoth (it’s not clear what God is referring to here, perhaps the hippo or the elephant) or the leviathan (perhaps the alligator or an extinct type of sea reptile), how could he hope to contend with their Creator (chapters 40-41)?

Faced with his own limitations and inadequacies, Job humbled himself before God and said,

I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You…

I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.  (42:2-3)

What can we get from all this?

I’ve mentioned this before and it’s worth repeating.  Job never did get the answers to why God had allowed him to suffer.  He was now sure that God wasn’t punishing him for anything.  But other than that, he knew nothing.

God never sat him down and said, “Now what really happened is that I was having a conversation with Satan, and…”

And yet, in the end, the whys didn’t matter to Job anymore.  What did matter to him?

My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.  (42:5)

In other words, “God, the whys are not so important to me anymore.  What’s important is that I now know that you are here, and that you do care.

“You are so much greater than I am.  You know so much more than I ever could.  And you had no obligation to come meet with me.  But you cared enough to do so, anyway.

“And so now, I’ll just humble myself before you, and lay all my questions to rest.”

We may never understand the whys to all our questions.  God may never tell us.  But there are three important things that we should never forget in the midst of our trials and sufferings.

  • God is in control, and he knows what he’s doing, even when we don’t.
  • God is here, even when we can’t sense his presence.
  • God does care.

Let us never doubt these three things.  That’s the message of Job in a nutshell.

May we, like Job, hold on to these truths through the trials and sufferings we face in this life.

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Job

God’s justice, our arrogance

Job

Many people today dispute God’s goodness, if not his existence, by saying, “If God exists, and if God is good, then why is there evil in this world?  Why doesn’t he just wipe out all evil from this world?  Since he doesn’t, either he doesn’t exist, or he isn’t good.”

It was an issue that Job touched on in chapters 20, 21, and 24 where he complained that many evil people do not get what they deserve here on earth.  But Elihu answers here,

It is unthinkable that God would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice.  (Job 34:12)

And he makes a very salient point in verses 14-15 as he notes that if God were to exact perfect justice right now, no one would survive  (34:14-15).

As it is, we do see evidence of him punishing the evil.  And God shows no partiality to anyone.  All who sin will eventually pay for what they’ve done.

But if he does, in his mercy, remain silent for a time, how can we criticize him for that, when we too would have to be destroyed?  (34:18-29)

He then compares the humble man who repents before God for his sin, with Job who instead questions God’s justice.  And he says, “Should God reward you for this attitude?  You’re speaking like the wicked.”

In chapter 35, he then points out the contradiction in Job’s words.

On one hand, he’s claiming God will clear him if he could only face him.  But on the other hand, he questions God’s justice.

Either God is just and will clear Job if he’s innocent.  Or he’s unjust and won’t care if Job is innocent or not.  (35:1-2)

He then addresses the arrogance of those who would say, “If God’s unjust, why do good?”

Job, I must say, never actually said this in so many words, but Elihu points out that if what Job said is true, that the evil are not punished for their sin, that would be the logical conclusion.

But Elihu points out to Job that when God calls us to be righteous and flee wickedness, it’s for our good, not for his.

While he will judge us for our deeds and our sin does affect our relationship with him, our deeds affect us and the people around us much more than they do him.

And so when we choose to disobey his commands, we only end up hurting ourselves.  (Job 35:6-8)

On top of that, Elihu notes that though people often cry out in their suffering, many nevertheless don’t turn their hearts to God.  They remain arrogant in their attitudes in toward God and so God doesn’t respond to their cry.

He then criticizes Job for this very type of attitude, saying, “Should God answer you when you question his justice?”  (35:9-15)

Then in chapter 36, he reaffirms that God will repay the wicked according to their deeds, and that though people may be afflicted and the righteous suffer (something Job’s friends refused to admit), that God would eventually lift them up.  (36:6-7)

He then gives Job warning.  That if God is using this time of suffering to chasten him, God will not be silent as to the reasons.

(I think Elihu does indirectly acknowledge here that God has been silent towards Job as to why he has been suffering).

But he tells Job that if God does tell him that he needs to repent, that he should not be arrogant and harbor resentment for God’s discipline lest he perish for it.  (36:8-13)

He further warns him that his attitude of criticizing God’s justice could lead him into sin.  (36:17-21)

Finally, he closes by telling Job, “You are in no position to judge God and why he’s allowing your suffering.  He says,

God is exalted in his power.  Who is a teacher like him?  Who has prescribed his ways for him, or said to him, ‘You have done wrong’?  (Job 36:22-23)

And again,

How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of his years is past finding out.  (Job 36:26)

He continues,

God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.  (Job 37:5)

He then concludes by saying,

Tell us what we should say to him; we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness.

Should he be told that I want to speak?  Would anyone ask to be swallowed up?

Now no one can look at the sun, bright as it is in the skies after the wind has swept them clean.  (Job 37:19-21)

In other words, “You want to confront God?  Your understanding is so small and darkened, you wouldn’t be able to make a reasonable case.  You’d be swallowed up by a wisdom and understanding that is far beyond yours.  By a holiness that is much greater than yours.”

What do we get from this?  It is sheer arrogance on our part to question God’s justice.  We know too little and are too sinful to question a holy God.  We are simply in no position to demand any answers from God.

So what do we do with our questions?  Hard though it may be, we need to humbly put them aside and put our faith in God.

Believe in his goodness.  Believe in his justice.  Trust in his wisdom.

And know that if we do these things, our faith will ultimately be rewarded.  As Elihu says to close his speech,

The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power; in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.

Therefore, people revere him, for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart?”  (Job 37:23-24)

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Job

Suffering, humility, and grace

Job

There are a lot of problems in trying to interpret Job, and one of the biggest problems is what to do  with Elihu.

I’ve seen commentary that basically call him a big windbag full of hot air, which is why (they say) Job, his friends, and even God essentially ignore him.

And I’ve seen other commentators commending him saying that his speeches were a precursor to God’s own confrontation with Job.

I’m more inclined, after reading everything, to go with the idea that Elihu basically said what was right.

I think the key verse for me is found in chapter 32, where it says of Elihu,

[He] became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God.

He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him.  (Job 32:2-3)

What was he angry about?  Two things.

First, that Job questioned God’s justice.

Second, that Job’s friends never refuted Job’s wrong ideas about God.  All they did was say he was a sinner, and that God was punishing him for it.  This without any shred of proof.

In chapter 33, he addresses Job’s complaints that God had made himself Job’s enemy for no reason, and that God wouldn’t answer Job’s complaints.

Elihu replies by saying God does speak; it’s just that many times, we aren’t listening.

Elihu mentions that God sometimes uses dreams to speak, perhaps referring to the nightmares that Job had been experiencing.  The purpose of these dreams?

To turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride, to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword.  (Job 33:17-18)

In the same way, Elihu says that God also speaks to us through our suffering in order to chasten us.

Some commentators take these words as Elihu’s backhanded way of saying to Job, “You’ve sinned, and that’s why you’re being punished, so repent.”

But perhaps what spared Elihu the fate of Job’s friends was that he wasn’t saying the trials Job was going through was the result of some great sin he was trying to hide, but rather that God was using these trials to purge out the sin and pride latent in all of us.

And Elihu points out to Job that God was not doing this because he is our enemy.  Rather, he loves us and is constantly working to save us.  He tells Job,

God does all these things to a person— twice, even three times—to turn them back from the pit, that the light of life may shine on them.  (33:29-30)

What’s more, there’s an element of grace in all this.

In verses 23-25, we find an interesting passage where Elihu talks of a mediator that not only teaches a man what is right, but intercedes for him saying,

Spare them from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for them  (33:24)

And because of that intercession, that person can find pray and find favor with God.  And when they do, they cry out,

I have sinned, I have perverted what is right, but I did not get what I deserved.

God has delivered me from going down to the pit, and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.  (27-28)

Isn’t this the picture of salvation God gives us in the New Testament?

What I take from this is that God doesn’t allow trials into our lives for no reason.  He allows trials to humble us, and to remind us that we are all sinners in need of grace.

And if we ever doubt his intentions as Job did, let us remember that it was God that found a ransom for us that saved us from death and hell.  A ransom that cost his own Son his life.

So when we face suffering in our lives, remember that God allows it not because he hates us.  Rather in his love, he will use it both to save us and refine us.  And as Job himself said,

When he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.  (Job 23:10)

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Job

A final defense

Job

Job gives his longest speech here, and you could call it his final defense.

In chapter 27, he once again reiterates his contention that he is undeserving of all this suffering.

He then tells his “friends” that he hopes that they will someday suffer as they claimed the wicked do for making these false accusations against him.

And while he says these things in generalities concerning the wicked, by linking his friends as his adversaries, he’s indirectly saying to them, “What hope will you have when you are cut off, and God takes away your life?  Will God listen to your cry?” (Job 27:8-9)

He then basically repeats back to them all the curses they said come upon the wicked.

Having done that, he goes on in the next few chapters to give a further defense of himself.

He talks about wisdom in chapter 28, about how though men can find precious jewels in the depth of the earth, the treasure of wisdom is beyond them without God’s revelation.  They can’t even comprehend its worth without God’s help.

But Job says, “God has revealed wisdom to us. What is it?”

The fear of the Lord — that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.  (28:28)

We see here that though Job has his complaints, he does not deny what true wisdom is.  He still holds fast to his fear of the Lord.

But over the next three chapters, he once again voices his complaint about why he is suffering.

He starts in chapter 29 by talking about how his life was before, how he had been well respected, and how contrary to his friends’ accusations, he had done what was right.

He had shown generosity to the poor, given mercy to the widows and the fatherless, and stood up for the weak and powerless.  He had thought that because of all that, God would continue to bless him.

But in chapter 30, he talks about how God stripped him of everything.  How everyone now mocks him, and how God now refuses to respond to his cries.

He then pleads his case from the latter part of chapter 30 through 31.

“Didn’t I help the poor?  Didn’t I weep for those in trouble?  Haven’t I kept my eyes pure?

“If I have done wrong, if I have been adulterous, or denied people justice, or failed to be generous with the widows and poor, if I made money my god, if I worshiped false gods, if I rejoiced over my enemies’ suffering, if I hid sin in my heart, then fine, punish me.  I would deserve it.

“But I haven’t done anything!  Here’s my defense.  I sign it.  Now if you have anything to accuse me of, just tell me already!”

I think if there’s one thing to get from all this, it’s this:  Job’s friends were wrong in thinking that only the evil suffer.

But Job was wrong in thinking that just because he didn’t deserve to suffer, that he wouldn’t.

We’re living in a broken world filled with earthquakes, tornadoes and natural disasters.  We’re living in a world filled with sickness and death.

We’re living in a world filled with broken and evil people.  And as I’ve said before, what they do affects us.

We also have an enemy in Satan, and he has lots of help from his demons.  They also have an impact in our lives.

And with us living in this kind of world, God never promises that we won’t suffer.  On the contrary, he promises the exact opposite.

Jesus himself said,

In this world you will have trouble.  (John 16:33)

Note he says, “You will have trouble.”

Not, “You might possibly have a problem now and then.”

He says, “You will have trouble.”

And we have trouble for all the reasons I mentioned above.

You may be the wisest, most righteous person on earth.  But it doesn’t preclude you from suffering.

Jesus was wisdom and righteousness incarnate.  Yet he suffered.  Are we above him?

Some people think Jesus suffered so that we don’t have to.  But that’s not true.  Jesus suffered that we might be redeemed.  And Jesus suffered that one day all things might be made new.

But that day is not yet.  And until that day, all we can do is wait in hope.  But know that throughout whatever you may be suffering through now, that day will come.

Paul put it this way,

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved.

But hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.  (Romans 8:18-25)

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Job

Incomplete and distorted

Job

We finally come to the last of the speeches by Job’s friends.

Essentially, Bildad totally ignores all that Job said, and just says, “God’s great.  God’s pure.  But you.  You’re just a dirty worm.  Dirty.  Impure.  A mere maggot in his sight.”

Job retorts, “Wow!  What great wisdom!  I’m just stunned by your insight.  Of course God is great and awesome.  His power is beyond imagining.  I’m nothing compared to him.  But I still don’t deserve all this suffering, and nothing you say can make me say that I do.”

As I look at Bildad, I see two things.

First, his idea of God was incomplete and distorted.  While it is true that God is great and we are nothing compared to him, and while I suppose from our view, we are but maggots and worms compared to him and his holiness, nevertheless, he doesn’t see us that way.

How do I know?  Because when God took on flesh, he spent most of his time ministering to those whom others considered “worms” and “maggots.”

He reached out to the prostitute who was about to be stoned and granted her mercy and a second chance.

He extended the hand of fellowship to the cheating tax collector whom everyone despised.

He ate with and gave his time to the other notorious “sinners” in Israel.  And because of that, their lives were changed.

But even more than that, he went to the cross for us when he didn’t have to.

He was pure.  He was holy.  He didn’t deserve to die.  But he went to the cross anyway.  Why?  Because he saw us as worms?  Because he saw us as maggots?

No.  Because he saw us as pearls of great price, and he was willing to pay any price in order to save us.

I once heard a Christian comedian talk about his favorite song, which to him incapsulated the message of Christianity.

“What song is that?” he asked.  “It must be one of the great songs of the church.  Something like…” (taking a deep breath, and singing in a very solemn tone…)

I come before thy throne of grace…
And throw myself upon my face.

I know that I am but a worm.
So step on me God and watch me squirm.

(With apologies to Martin Luther’s “A mighty fortress is our God.”)

“No,” he said.  “I believe it can be summed up in one phrase.  One song.”

Jesus loves me this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to him belong.
They are weak, but he is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so.

Granted, it is not the whole of the gospel.  But it’s where it starts.  Because if God didn’t love us, there would be no gospel at all.

And it’s this love that we need to take to a world that is hurting.

That is what Bildad failed to do for Job (and this is the second thing I note concerning Bildad).

For while Bildad simply telling Job, “God loves you” would have probably done no good, Bildad showing the love and compassion of God would’ve done Job a world of good, and let him know that yes, God is still here.  And God still cares.

How about you?  Is your view of God incomplete and distorted?  Do you see God’s greatness, and see yourself only as an insignificant worm in his sight? 

God doesn’t see you that way at all.  He loves you.

And he wants you to take that love to the people around you.  Not just through your words.  But through your actions.

Do you know God’s love in your life?  And do people see God’s love through you?

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Job

The frustration of dealing with an invisible God

Job

After being severely blasted by Eliphaz, in which Eliphaz for the first time levels specific (if completely baseless) accusations against Job, Job cries out once again for a hearing before God.  He said,

If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling!  I would state my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.  I would find out what he would answer me, and consider what he would say to me.

Would he vigorously oppose me? No, he would not press charges against me.  There the upright can establish their innocence before him, and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.  (Job 23:3-7)

Here we see Job once again defending his innocence and his strong belief that God was fair.  That if he could only present his case to God, God would affirm his innocence.

But Job goes on to say,

But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him.  When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.  (23:8-9)

In other words, “Where are you God?  In the midst of all my suffering, where are you?  Why do you seem so much against me?”

And that is the frustration of dealing with an invisible God.

There are times in our trials that we nevertheless sense his presence and are comforted.

But there are other times for reasons we can’t understand and that God never explains when he seems distant from us.  We pray, and our prayers bounce off of the ceilings.  We read the Bible and it seems dry.

And we start to wonder like Job, “Why are you so against me?  If I did something wrong, just tell me already!”

How do we deal with that?  There are no easy answers.

The thing that impresses me about Job, however, is that throughout his questioning of God, throughout his feelings of abandonment, throughout his feelings of even being persecuted by God, he never once even contemplated walking away from God.

And in the midst of all his questions, complaints, and even bitterness, he would still come out with statements of faith such as,

But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.  (23:10)

And so despite all that happened, he continued to say things like,

My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.

I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.  (23:11-12)

I think that’s the attitude we need to take as well.  When God seems distant, when God even seems against us, we need to nevertheless cling to him.

We need to keep believing in his ultimate goodness.  To keep believing that he is just.  And to keep believing that though we may be suffering now, in the end, he will bring us forth as gold.

So let us not turn aside from him when trials come.  Let us not walk away when he seems nowhere to be found.  Let us not depart from the words he has spoken.

Rather, let us continue to treasure his words and seek him.  And the day will come, as it did with Job, that we will find Him once again.

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Job

A hard truth

Job

As we continue to go through Job, Job’s friends continue to hammer along the same line, insisting that Job must have done something wrong to deserve all problems he’d been suffering through.

But in the midst of their arguments and Job’s counterarguments, we face a question that is never really answered, and it’s one I’ve noted before.

The question:  Why is it that God doesn’t do more?  Why is it that when people do evil, we don’t always see them suffer for it.

Zophar’s answer is quite simple.  “Sure the wicked may prosper for a while, but eventually they will suffer for it.”

Job comes back by asking, “Really?  Then why do I see so many wicked people living on, growing older, and becoming more powerful?  Why is it that they’re enjoying their lives in safety and prosperity, even though they show disdain for God?

“You say that their children suffer for their evil actions.  But why don’t the evil themselves suffer?  They don’t care what happens after they die.  Why doesn’t God punish the evil themselves?”

Job then closes chapter 21 by saying,

So how can you console me with your nonsense?  Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!  (Job 21:34)

He continues this line in chapter 24 and ends it by sarcastically throwing their arguments in their faces and saying, “Okay, now I’m affirming what you said.  The wicked will get their just deserts.  Fine.  Now how are you going to prove it?”

The hard truth is that there are many wicked people that prosper.  That don’t get their just deserts here on earth.

And while we can console ourselves with the fact that they will indeed face judgment before God some day and receive justice, it’s still hard to understand why God doesn’t punish them now.

The ultimate answer is,  “I don’t know.”

When you look at the parable of the wheat and tares in Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus does seems to imply that it would be impossible to take out the tares (evil people) in this world without causing harm to the wheat (those who belong to God).

Perhaps one way to look at it would be this:  through the evil that people commit and the harm that they cause, some people actually turn to God.

People that would not have otherwise given a second thought to God get their world shaken, and as a result turn their eyes on the One they had long ignored.

I’ve long felt that many Japanese people, in particular, are that way.  The percentage of Christians in Japan is very low (less than one percent), and I’d guess that the majority of those that come to Christ do so as a result of some crisis in their lives.

That said, I’m not completely satisfied with the answer, nor do I feel it’s complete.

What I do think it shows, however, is that God knows more than we do.  He has purposes and reasons that we don’t know or can even understand.

It is, in fact, one of the main points of Job.  That we as his creatures with finite knowledge are in no position to question our creator who has infinite knowledge.

We’ll definitely be tackling this more in later blogs.

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Job

A Redeemer

Job

This is one of the more remarkable passages in Job to me.  Because though Job has no knowledge of Jesus (who of course had yet to be born), yet he cries out his faith in a Redeemer.

First, he once again blasts his friends for failing to support him in his time of trouble, and for being blind to his situation.  But in the midst of all this, he cries out,

Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.
Who else will put up security for me?  (Job 17:3)

It’s a bit unclear exactly what picture Job is giving here.  Generally, the idea of being a pledge and putting up security carries the idea of a guarantee.

We see in Genesis, for example, that Judah made himself surety for his brother Benjamin.  He guaranteed with his life that Benjamin would be returned to Jacob.

And when Joseph threatened to take Benjamin as his slave, Judah pleaded to be taken in Benjamin’s place, because of his promise to Jacob.

In the case of a loan, sometimes a third party would act as a guarantor for the borrower.  If the borrower defaulted, the third party would pay.

It seems here, though, that the picture is of a person that would put in a pledge on the accused’s behalf professing his belief in the accused’s innocence.

What exactly this pledge was for is not clear.  Perhaps it was required by the judge simply for the purpose of saying that a trial was actually necessary and that the person should not be automatically condemned.

Or perhaps it was for the purpose of paying recompense if the accused was found guilty and could not pay for the damages himself.

It is a very unique picture Job presents here, because God is both the judge that demands the pledge from the guarantor, and is the guarantor himself.

But that is exactly what Jesus did for us.  Though he is God, and all judgment has been given to him by the Father (John 5:22), nevertheless, he stands as our guarantor.

And when we proved to be guilty and unable to pay the price, he paid it with his own blood.

Anyway, in the midst of all Job’s complaints at how God had been unjustly punishing him, he amazingly cries out in faith,

I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the  earth.

And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;

I myself will see him
with my own eyes — I, and not another.

How my heart yearns within me!  (Job 19:25-27)

Sometimes in the book of Job, you kind of wonder if he believed in an afterlife.  And it seems his views are a bit confused depending on his mood.

But here, he seems to proclaim loudly that there is something after death.  And that after his life was over, he would be vindicated by his Redeemer.

We too have that same hope.  Though we may go through trials and struggles, in the end, our Redeemer lives and he will stand on the earth.  On that day, he will speak up for us before the Father, saying, “I have paid the price for their sin.”

And because of that, as Paul wrote, there will be no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus.

I love the song by Keith Green that says,

There is a Redeemer,
Jesus, God’s own Son,
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah,
Holy One.

Jesus my Redeemer,
Name above all names,
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah,
Hope for sinners slain.

When I stand in Glory,
I will see His face,
There I’ll serve my King forever,
In that Holy Place.

Thank you oh my Father,
For giving us Your Son,
And leaving Your Spirit,
‘Til the work on Earth is done.

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Job

Miserable comforters, a true Comforter

Job

After hearing Eliphaz’s words, Job once again tears into his tormenters saying,

“I have heard many things like these;
you are miserable comforters, all of you!

Will your long-winded speeches never end?
What ails you that you keep on arguing?

I also could speak like you,
if you were in my place;
I could make fine speeches against you
and shake my head at you.

But my mouth would encourage you;
comfort from my lips would bring you relief. (Job 16:2-5)

In other words, “Stop already.  You keep repeating the same things over and over and it’s not helping.  If you were in my place, I could do the same thing to you and tear you apart with my words.

“But I wouldn’t do that.  I’d have compassion on you.  I’d encourage you.  I’d comfort you.  Why don’t you do that for me?”

He then laments how bad his life is, but at the end of this chapter, he says something interesting.

Even now my witness is in heaven;
my advocate is on high.

My intercessor is my friend
as my eyes pour out tears to God;
on behalf of a man he pleads with God
as one pleads for a friend. (19-21)

As bad as his friends were in comforting him, he believed that there was someone in heaven pleading his case for him.  That there was someone who was faithful who was interceding for him.

And it was true.  The Bible says that we do have someone who intercedes for us.  Paul writes in Romans 8,

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.  (Romans 8:26-27)

When we like Job are suffering, when we don’t know how to pray, and when all our friends let us down, there is one who intercedes for us: the Holy Spirit.  And he intercedes us in accordance with the Father’s will.

What is the result?

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  (Romans 8:28)

So many times we only look at verse 28, but fail to see why it is that God works for our good.  It is because the Holy Spirit himself is interceding on our behalf.

Are you like Job, feeling like God has abandoned you?  Like God is in fact against you?

Know that it is not true.  The Holy Spirit himself is interceding for you.  And because of that, you can know with certainty that God is working for your good, even if you can’t see it right now.

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Job

Pride in what you think you know

Job

After more of Job’s moanings in chapter 14, Eliphaz speaks up again, and once again proclaims that only the wicked suffer.

But what I find even more interesting is how he begins the chapter.  He says,

Would a wise person answer with empty notions or fill their belly with the hot east wind?

Would they argue with useless words,
with speeches that have no value?  (Job 15:2-3)

And again,

Are you the first man ever born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?

Do you listen in on God’s council?
Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?  (7-8)

Eliphaz says this to criticize Job, but everything he said could have been applied to himself.  He was the one acting as if he had been the first one ever born.  He was the one acting as if he had listened in on God’s council, and had a monopoly on God’s wisdom.

And yet, he would find out later that he had been dead wrong about Job.  That it was he himself who had been filled with empty notions and hot air.  That it was he who had spewed out useless words and speeches with no value.

What about us?  Do we walk around thinking we know better than everyone else?  Are we quick to say our platitudes of wisdom, when all the while it is we who are walking around blindly to all that is really going on?

For many of us, like Job told his friends, wisdom would be to keep our mouths shut.

Am I saying that we should never share the wisdom we have with others?  Of course not.  But part of wisdom is knowing when and how to say something.

And wisdom knows much better than to speak when it really doesn’t know what it’s talking about.  Wisdom waits until it has all the relevant information before speaking.

How about you?  Are the words you speak really full of wisdom?  Or are you just full of hot air?

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Job

Judging others

Job

The assault on Job and his character continues.

This time Zophar takes his shots, and he basically continues the line started by his friends.  Namely, that Job must have sinned and that God is punishing for him it.

And after a scathing reply mocking their wisdom and refuting the idea that he himself was ignorant of God’s power and wisdom, Job goes on to say,

But I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God.

You, however, smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians, all of you!  If only you would be altogether silent!  For you, that would be wisdom.

Hear now my argument; listen to the pleas of my lips.  Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf?  Will you speak deceitfully for him?  Will you show him partiality?  Will you argue the case for God?

Would it turn out well if he examined you? Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal?

He would surely call you to account if you secretly showed partiality.  Would not his splendor terrify you?  Would not the dread of him fall on you?  (Job 13:3-11)

In other words, Job was saying, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.  You claim I’ve sinned when I haven’t.  I’d rather speak to God.  At least I know he’s fair.

How would you feel if God were to put you on trial?  How well could you stand up before him?”

And Job was right.  They were making baseless accusations against Job.  And if God had called them to the dock, they would not have stood at all.  We actually see this at the end of the book.

We would do well to remember the dangers of judging others.

Sometimes people do the same thing to others that Job’s friends did to him.  They’ll say things like “The reason you are sick and are not getting healed is because you don’t have enough faith.  If you had enough faith, God would heal you.”

Even worse are those that would say as Job’s friends did, “You must be hiding some secret sin.  That’s why you’re sick.”

But God will call to account all who judge others without basis.

Paul wrote,

You, then, why do you judge your brother?  Or why do you look down on your brother?  For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.

It is written:  “‘As surely as I live, says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’ ”

So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.  Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.

Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.  (Romans 14:10-13)

Paul, of course, is specifically talking about not judging people concerning disputable matters.  Paul does say in other passages, however, that if a person is clearly in sin, we are to confront them (I Corinthians 5).

But we have no business passing judgment on people, making blanket statements about their spiritual lives when we have no evidence of wrongdoing.

Because when we do, instead of helping our brother or sister, we put a stumbling block before them in their walk with God, just as Job’s friends did with him.  And God will call you to account for that.

How about you? Are you passing judgment on others without basis?

Jesus tells us,

Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.  (John 7:24)

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Job

Waiting to punish?

Job

As I look at the complaint of Job here, I see a way of thinking that many people have.  Job said,

You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit.

But this is what you concealed in your heart, and I know that this was in your mind:  If I sinned, you would be watching me and would not let my offense go unpunished.  (Job 10:12-14)

Job also complained,

Are your days like those of a mortal or your years like those of a strong man, that you must search out my faults and probe after my sin (5-6)?

So many people, like Job, think of God as someone who is just waiting for us to mess up so that he can blast us.  Sure he will bless us when we do good, but if we do one bad thing, BAM!

But the interesting thing is that God wasn’t like that toward Job at all.  In chapters 1 and 2, we see it was Satan who was accusing Job.  God was the one who was actually defending him.

Even today, God defends us against those who would accuse us.  We saw this in part yesterday, but it bears repeating.  Paul tells us in Romans,

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.

Who then is the one who condemns?  No one.  Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.  (Romans 8:1, 33-34)

So let us cast aside forever the idea that God is watching over us, just waiting for us to make a mistake so that he can blast us.

He’s the one defending us.  And there is no condemnation at all for those who belong to him.

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Job

The need for a mediator

Job

In this passage, we see more of Job’s frustration bubbling over at God.  On one hand, he recognizes God’s sovereignty in this world.  But on the other hand, God seems so distant.

Job said,

When he passes me, I cannot see him; when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.

If he snatches away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’  (Job 9:11-12)

Not only that, Job felt like God was torturing him for no good reason.  He said,

Even if I summoned him and he responded, I do not believe he would give me a hearing.

He would crush me with a storm and multiply my wounds for no reason.  He would not let me catch my breath but would overwhelm me with misery.

If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!  And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him?  (16-19)

Further, it seemed like God was delighting in his misery.

When a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent.  (23)

Ultimately, it seemed to Job that God was simply being unjust.

It is all the same; that is why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked’…

When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, he blindfolds its judges.  If it is not he, then who is it?  (22-24)

It’s easy to criticize Job, but considering all that he went through, I think most people, even the strongest of Christians would feel that way.

Still, there is some truth in this chapter that would be well to remember.  First, no one can stand before God and claim to be righteous.  Job said,

But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?  Though they wished to dispute with him, they could not answer him one time out of a thousand.

His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.  Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?  (2-4)

Many people think that they’ll be able to stand before God on judgment day and give a reasonable defense for themselves.

But on that day, he will lay out before us every evil thought, every evil deed, and even every incident where we failed to do what we knew was right.

And when he does, and we compare our lives to his holiness, we will know that there is nothing we can say to defend ourselves.  All our excuses, all our logical arguments, and everything we could say will be revealed for the shams that they are.

Many on that day will find themselves saying the words of Job,

How then can I dispute with him?  How can I find words to argue with him?

Though I were innocent (compared to others, that is, for no one is truly innocent), I could not answer him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.  (14-15)

Job knew he could not stand before God and be found innocent, and so he cried out,

If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together, someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more.

Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.  (33-35)

He didn’t have that mediator.  But we do.  Paul wrote,

For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men  (I Timothy 2:5-6).

He also wrote,

Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.  (Romans 8:34)

None of us can stand alone before God and be proclaimed guiltless before him.  All of us deserve to be condemned.

But Jesus is our mediator.  And he tells the Father, “I’ve paid for their sin on the cross.”

Now the Father says to us, “You are no longer condemned.  Your sins are forgiven.”

Not only that, in Jesus, we have someone who suffered like we do.  Unlike us, however, he was completely blameless, and yet suffered anyway.

So in Jesus, we have someone that understands our pain in suffering.  He understands our confusion.  He understands our feelings of abandonment.  And he reminds us that he went through every emotion we’re going through.

As the writer of Hebrews wrote,

Because [Jesus] himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.  (Hebrews 2:18)

And again,

For we do not have a high priest (in Jesus) who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.  (Hebrews 4:15-16)

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Job

Right…and wrong

Job

Eliphaz gives the first speech to Job, and the thing that strikes me is that at times, he says things that are quite right.

In fact, Paul quotes the words of Eliphaz in I Corinthians 3:19 where he says,

He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away.  (Job 5:13)

Eliphaz also spoke truth when he told Job,

Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.  For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.  (5:17-18)

Solomon said much the same when he wrote,

My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.  (Proverbs 3:11-12)

But the problem, as we’ve mentioned before, is that none of this applied to Job.  God was not punishing Job for anything at all.  Job had done nothing wrong.

As a result, instead of these “words of truth” helping Job, they made him feel worse.

First, he felt attacked by the very friends he expected help and comfort from (chapter 6).

But second, their words made him feel like God was being unfair.  That God was picking on him for some sin he wasn’t even aware of (chapter 7).

What am I trying to say?  Be very careful how you wield your words of “truth.”  They may indeed be true.  But are they truly relevant to the situation?

You may have the best of intentions, but if your words of “truth” are not applicable to the situation, they will cause more harm than good, and God will hold you accountable for them.

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Job

Oversimplification and false accusations

Job

I must admit that I somewhat dreaded coming to the book of Job.  Not because of the topic, but because of the layout.

Basically, you have nearly 30 chapters of people arguing with each other in literal circles, saying essentially the same things time and again.

As anyone who has been following this blog knows, this is intended to be more of a devotional commentary than an in-depth one, so I’ve debated long and hard how to handle this.

I’ve decided to do this:  I’m going to first hit chapters 4-31 as a whole, and then over the next few days go over those chapters again, and as things strike me from the individual chapters, I’ll talk about them.

I’m not sure as of yet whether I’ll actually address each chapter in this blog, take them in chunks of 2 or 3, or skip over some chapters entirely. We’ll go as God leads.

Essentially what you see in these chapters, as I’ve said, is an argument between Job and his friends.  When they saw his suffering and heard his complaint, they responded by telling him why they thought he was suffering.

What they said can be wrapped up in these three verses:

When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.

But if you will seek God earnestly and plead with the Almighty, if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your prosperous state.  (Job 8:4-6)

In short, “Your children sinned, and that’s why they were punished.  You must have sinned too, and you’re being punished for it.  But if you’ll just repent, things will be all right.”

And throughout this whole section, Job’s friends talked about how God always punishes the wicked for the evil that they do, and that it is they who suffer on this earth.

But there were two problems with this line of reasoning.

First, it’s gross oversimplification.  For as Job points out, while the evil are indeed eventually punished for their deeds, it doesn’t always happen in this lifetime.

Furthermore, because of the evil that men do, others are affected.  People go naked and hungry; they have their children taken into slavery; innocent people are murdered; and husbands and wives become victims of their partner’s unfaithfulness (chapters 21 and 24).

So to say that only the wicked suffer is simply not true.

The second problem was even more serious.  Job’s friends were not only guilty of oversimplification, they were also guilty of making false accusations.

In chapter 1, God had said concerning Job,

Have you considered my servant Job?  There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil (Job 1:8).

God was not punishing Job for any sins he had committed.  In God’s eyes, he was innocent.  So Job’s friends were dead wrong in accusing Job of evil.

Job called them on it saying,

Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.  (Job 6:24)

And they couldn’t point out a single sin.  Eventually, much later in the argument, in their desperation to prove they were right, they threw out accusations against Job that had absolutely no basis (22:5-9).

They then concluded by saying, “You must have done these kinds of things.  That’s why God is punishing you.”

What do we get from all of this?

The problem of why the righteous suffer is not an easy one.  But it is not going to be solved by simply saying, the evil are punished and the righteous are preserved.  It’s simply not true.

There is something much deeper going on, which we see in chapters 1 and 2.  Namely, that there are spiritual forces that have malevolent intentions against us.

Add to that the fact that we are affected by the evil that the people around us do, and we see two additional reasons for why people suffer here on earth, besides God’s punishment on those who do evil.

Why doesn’t God do more to stop these malevolent spirits and evil people?  God never answers that in this book.  What answers he does give will be seen later in his response to Job in the final chapters.

But the second thing to take from this is to be extremely careful about making accusations against people, especially those who are hurting.

Because not only will it hurt our relationships with them, but God himself takes a dim view of people who falsely accuse others, as we will see at the end of Job.

Dealing with the issue of evil in this world, and why we and people we love suffer is not easy.  But let us be careful not to deal with it as his Job’s friends did, through oversimplification and false accusations.

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Job

What we cannot see

Job

In this chapter, Job is really at a point of despair.  Almost all that was dear to him had been stripped from him.

His children were dead, his wife was of no comfort, he had lost his possessions, and now he was covered with sores from head to foot. I think that would’ve been enough to break any man.

And here, Job pours out his soul.  He curses the day he was born, and wishes that he had been stillborn.

Although he was by no means suicidal, nevertheless, he did wish that when he finally fell asleep at night, that he would never wake again.

But each day, he did awake, and things were no better.  And he wondered why it is that people have to live like that.  Living only to see misery and bitterness in life.

He then asked,

Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?  (Job 3:23)

In other words, “I can’t see the purpose of my own life.  Why has God given me life, when all I have is trouble and there seems to be no way out?”

He concludes by saying,

For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water.  What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.

I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.  (24-26)

That was his view from down on earth.

But what of heaven’s perspective?  This is something, interestingly enough to me, that is never shown to Job.

He never knew that God was actually very proud of him.  That God actually boasted about him among the angels and to Satan himself.

He never knew that God allowed these trials not because God was against him, but because God was so confident that he’d make it through.

And he also never saw the fact that despite all that happened to him, God’s hand was still very much upon him.  That though Satan would have destroyed him, God refused to let him do so.

So often as we face trials in our lives, we can’t understand why things are happening to us.  It seems like God is against us.  That he either no longer loves us, or that he simply no longer cares what happens to us.

But let us never forget that God never stops loving us.  That he instead looks upon us as a proud father and that he believes in us.

More than that, let us never forget that he will never take his hand of protection from us despite all that happens to us, and will never, ever let us go through trials beyond what we can bear.

As Paul wrote,

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.

But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.  (I Corinthians 10:13)

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Job

When friends mourn

Job

In the book of Job, we see three of his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.  When they heard about Job’s troubles, they decided together to go and visit him.  And when they saw the state he was in, it says,

They began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.  Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights.

No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.  (Job 2:12-13)

Although there are a lot of negative things we can say about his friends throughout the book of Job, one thing we can say is that they truly cared about him.

And in the first few days they were with him, they did the best thing they could.  They shut up and just stayed with him.

When they got in trouble was when they started opening their mouths and started spouting off their “wisdom” to him.

I think there’s something to be said about that.  When our friends are mourning because of the troubles they are going through, most times, they don’t need our words of advice.  They don’t need our “wisdom.”  More than anything else, they just need us to be there and to listen.

Sometimes they will say stupid things in their pain and anguish.  Sometimes they may even question God and his wisdom.

But for the most part, they don’t need us to condemn them or criticize them for voicing their pain.  They just need us to be there to understand them and to sympathize with them.

And if we’ll just do that, showing God’s love to them by just being there and understanding them, they’ll usually come around, and recognize God’s presence and love through us.

Paul puts it this way,

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  (Romans 12:15)

So when people around us are struggling through loss and pain, let us use our mouths much less, and use our ears and arms of comfort much more.

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Job

Why we worship

Job

Having completed the history of Israel in the Old Testament, we now go back in time and look at the life of a man named Job.

When he lived is uncertain, but considering how long he lived, (well past 150), he was probably born after the flood, and probably around the time of Abraham.

The Bible says of him,

This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.  (Job 1:1)

He was also very prosperous and blessed by God, and was considered to be the greatest man in the East.  (1:3)

But he was soon about to find his peaceful life completely disrupted.  When God pointed out how righteous he was to Satan, Satan accused Job of only being so righteous because God had blessed him.  He then said,

But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.  (1:11)

God gave Satan permission to do so, and Satan struck both his family and possessions.  What was Job’s response?

He wept.  He mourned.  And then he fell down in worship, saying,

Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.  (1:21)

Having failed to get Job to sin, Satan then said to God,

A man will give all he has for his own life.  But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face. (2:4-5)

Once again, God gave him permission to do so, and Satan struck him with boils.

At this point, his wife reached the end of her patience and said,

Are you still maintaining your integrity?  Curse God and die!  (2:9)

But Job responded,

You are talking like a foolish woman.  Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?  (2:10)

The life of Job brings up a very important question.  Why do we worship God?  Why do we follow after him?  Is it only for the blessings that he gives us?

Job wasn’t like that.  He worshiped God not because of what God had done for him.  Rather, he worshiped God because he was worthy of that worship.

Whether God blessed him or not, God was worthy of Job’s worship and trust, and so Job continued to worship and follow him even in the midst of all his trouble.

How about you? Why do you worship God?  Do you worship God simply because you feel blessed by him?  Do you follow God solely because you think it’s to your profit to do so?

Or do you worship him because of who he is?  Do you follow him because he is worthy of your trust?

A true worshiper worships God not simply because of what he has done for them, but for who he is.  And a true worshiper will continue to believe in his goodness, even when life is falling apart around him.

What kind of worshiper are you?