Job in Advent
Job, by Léon Bonnat (1833-1922), Musée d'Orsay
MINISTER’S LETTER
Friends in Christ, I've almost completed my 5 day/week Bible in a year program. It's been excellent. (But if daily Bible reading is totally new to you, maybe try the 5x5x5 plan to read just the New Testament in a year.)
The last Old Testament book listed is Job – that most famous exploration of suffering and God's sovereignty. Normally I silently read the set chapters for the day. But in this case I have been listening to David Suchet's (of Poirot fame) superb reading. You can access it online here.
Job has seemed so suitable for Advent, as Job is waiting for God to act in the midst of a fallen world.
Job does not claim to be completely sinless – he offers animal sacrifices just in case his children have sinned (Job 1:5) and admits his own past sins (e.g. Job 7:21). But he is sure he has done nothing to deserve the particularly heavy blows that the opening chapters detail: destruction of his flocks, death of his children, and the damaging disease of his skin.
In fact, God himself presents Job, repeatedly, as "blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil" (Job 1:1). And at the end of the book, God vindicates Job, not the friends who blamed him for his suffering, and Job is restored. (At the same time, Job shuts his mouth, and admits his lack of understanding before the sovereign God, whose wonderful world Job knows he could not run.)
In his innocent suffering, Job is a pattern or blueprint for Christ, who alone was truly sinless, and yet suffered. In Jesus' case, he endured it for others, the righteous for the unrighteous – to bring you to God (1 Peter 3:18).
Likewise, in Job's desperate hope for a mediator and redeemer, he makes us all the more glad about Jesus' first coming to do just those things:
"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" Job 16:19-21
"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." Job 19:25-26
And in Job's final restoration, we see an anticipation of the resurrection of the body, when Christ returns and restores all things.
It is so appropriate, therefore, that the final New Testament Scripture in my reading program is the book of Revelation. It ends with the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven, with Jesus coming for his bride, the church...
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling-place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ Revelation 21:3-4.
My own experience of "frozen shoulder" is not yet going away, despite my own daily prayers and those of others. As a normally energetic activist, I am using my weakness to reflect on my need for God's grace and reliance on his strength.
But listening to Job also reminds you not to be like his friends, "miserable comforters", using pious words to hint a believer who is still suffering may have done something to deserve it. That is ordinarily a conclusion for the sufferer to draw for himself, not something to be dumped on him by others. (Thankfully no one has treated me like Job.)
The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life...
He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:17, 20
In the mean time, I can't wait to sing Christmas carols with you all over the next few days! The details are here, and include links to livestreamed services for those who will be viewing from home or holiday destinations.
Warmly in Christ,
Sandy Grant
Dean of Sydney