theStory
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Rss
Read, Reflect, Respond
  • Home
  • Weekly readings
  • Chapter & Verse
  • About
  • Writers
  • Sign Up
Search the site...

Catalogue of Innocence Old Testament Reflection

Read

Job Continues

I Promised Myself

1I promised myself

never to stare with desire

at a young woman.

2God All-Powerful punishes

men who do that.

3In fact, God sends disaster

on all who sin,

4and he keeps a close watch

on everything I do.

5I am not dishonest or deceitful,

6and I beg God to prove

my innocence.

7If I have disobeyed him

or even wanted to,

8then others can eat my harvest

and uproot my crops.

9If I have desired someone's wife

and chased after her,

10then let some stranger

steal my wife from me.

11If I took someone's wife,

it would be a horrible crime,

12sending me to destruction

and my crops to the flames.

13When my servants

complained against me,

I was fair to them.

14Otherwise, what answer

would I give to God

when he judges me?

15After all, God is the one

who gave life to each of us

before we were born.

I Have Never Cheated Anyone

16 I have never cheated widows

or others in need,

17and I have always shared

my food with orphans.

18Since the time I was young,

I have cared for orphans

and helped widows.

19I provided clothes for the poor,

20and I was praised

for supplying woolen garments

to keep them warm.

21If I have ever raised my arm

to threaten an orphan

when the power was mine,

22I hope that arm will fall

from its socket.

23I could not have been abusive;

I was terrified at the thought

that God might punish me.

24 I have never trusted

the power of wealth,

25or taken pride in owning

many possessions.

* 26I have never openly or secretly

27worshiped the sun or moon.

28Such horrible sins

would have deserved

punishment from God.

29I have never laughed

when my enemies

were struck by disaster.

30Neither have I sinned

by asking God

to send down on them

the curse of death.

31No one ever went hungry

at my house,

32and travelers

were always welcome.

33Many have attempted to hide

their sins from others—

but I refused.

34And the fear of public disgrace

never forced me to keep silent

about what I had done.

Why Doesn't God Listen?

35Why doesn't God All-Powerful

listen and answer?

If God has something against me,

let him speak up

or put it in writing!

36Then I would wear his charges

on my clothes and forehead.

37And with my head held high,

I would tell him everything

I have ever done.

38I have never mistreated

the land I farmed

and made it mourn.

39Nor have I cheated

my workers

and caused them pain.

40If I had, I would pray

for weeds instead of wheat

to grow in my fields.

After saying these things,

Job was silent.

Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®) © 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
See this passage in other languages or Bible versions

Reflect

When I was in Scotland, working on this chapter, I saw a BBC program on the tomb of Kha and Meryt in Egypt. In it was found a papyrus which listed 42 sins, which the dead person would swear that he had not committed. There is a picture of his heart being weighed in scales. I was amazed, because the idea of a checklist of sins, which the “accused” either confessed or denied, is so similar to Job’s protestations in this chapter.

There is a similar catalogue in a Hittite prayer in which a person is seeking release from suffering. The defendant declares his innocence of any of the sins on the list.

Parallels like this show how much the book of Job illustrates ways of thinking that were not uniquely Israelite, but common to the Ancient Near East. This in turn brings into sharp focus the ways in which the Old Testament is unique. Job still has to wait for the true God to manifest himself (chs 38-42).

There are some interesting things in Job’s checklist — “if my heart has been led by my eyes” (v 7 NIV), if I have not shared with the poor (v 17), if I have put my trust in money (v 24), if I have gloated over my enemy’s misfortune (v 29) — that speak across the centuries.

It’s a good idea to examine oneself honestly in the presence of God from time to time. This isn’t to be connected with looking for answers to the insistent “why?” in the context of suffering, but rather to check our behaviour/lifestyle in the sight of God. Some Christian traditions encourage their members to do this before receiving communion. It’s all too easy to slip into an easy “God will forgive me — it’s his job” mentality without remembering that our sins sent Jesus to the cross.

Respond

Almighty God, forgive me that I can be careless about my sin. I so easily justify it with the excuse that other people do that too, or, to put it crassly, thinking I’ll be forgiven anyway because I’m justified by faith. Forgive me for pretending that you didn’t notice. Help me to live with integrity in your presence. Amen.

Annabel Robinson

Annabel was born in Kew, near London, England. She committed her life to Jesus Christ at a Scripture Union camp when she was 16, and immediately found joy and peace. At Oxford she was active in the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, where she met her husband, Reid. They emigrated to Canada in 1965, where she taught Classics at the University of Regina until 2007. She has two children, Heather in Oslo and Alasdair in Calgary.

  • More Posts(101)
sin, Ancient Near East, self-examination


Published by:
banner-scriptunion

Sponsored by:

Deeks Spring 2017

Copyright applies to all non-Scripture content - Copyright © 2017 theStory, Bible Reading League of Canada
»
«