Darash Chai - Seek Life!

Job's friends have finished their arguments. Job has finally laid to rest his defense. Out of nowhere comes a zealous young man who feels it is his duty to defend God from Job's assertions. There is a problem. Elihu's certainty of how God is capable of acting blinds him of how God has actually acted. This is a trap that anyone and everyone can and likely has fallen into, and when we do so, we do this to our own detriment.

Last Episode Job's friends rested their case against Job, but how did it come to this? Job suffered a great loss and was a victim, and yet, as his friends tried to comfort him, their comfort turned into an attack against Job's character. In response He was forced to defend himself. This week Job rests his defense with a series of speeches that address this state of affairs. How did this person tragedy of loss turn into a direct indictment of Job, and did he in some way deserve this treatment?

With one last short shot across the bow, Bildad and the rest of Job's friends have had their say. This leaves Job open to finally be able to speak his mind. As Job begins to speak, at first he simply repeats what has already been said, but then, in a surprising move, Job begins to question the source of wisdom. It is at this point that, in this abstract discussion that we find the turning point in the book.

Job has turned a corner and is beginning to gain his footing once again. And it is a good thing that Job is thinking more clearly once again, because the confrontation of Job's friends is about to get real personal. Before, the comments about the evil person have been rather generalized. "They do this," and "he does that." Now Eliphaz changes these statements into a direct attack against Job. "You are doing these things, Job." In response, Job doesn't get angry. Rather he offers a contrast between himself and the wicked.

Job's friends continue to cast accusations at Job by comparing Job's current situation to their own ideas of how God should work in the world. Their only understanding of God as the one who punishes the wicked and rewards the righteous does not allow for a righteous man to experience tragedy. Up until now, Job has been floundering. At first these attacks left him reeling and grasping for a defense, but as the same accusations continue to be thrown at him he is slowly getting his bearing. This week, Job changes tactics. His previous defenses have fallen on deaf ears, but now Job takes a different approach.

Round and round the condemning thoughts go. Accusing and condemning and circling around and around without ceasing. Bildad is back and this time he is pulling no punches. The tactic that Bildad takes in attacking Job is all too common. How can we ensure that we don't fall into the pattern of Bildad when confronted with those who are on the downward spiral?

At this point in the book of Job we begin to encounter a lot of repetition. Everything that is being said seems to have been said already? Why is it that this ancient scroll would spend so much ink rehashing these same arguments over and over? Unless there is something of profound importance that we can learn from the nuances that are found in the midst of this repetition.

The three friends of Job have had their say. Each of them have been less than helpful in their own way. For the next three chapters Job responds to the friends and in doing so we see him turn the page on his grief. Through some subtle clues we find that Job is no longer in the stage of depression. He is moving on as the reality sets in, and as he finds a closer target for his anger than God.

When attempting to help a person who is dealing with grief and depression, it can often feel like the process is taking too long. At some point the temptation arises to take a hard line with the person that is suffering. To lay out the simple facts that you feel you can see clearly. This is is the tactic that Tsophar takes with Job in this chapter and as we will see, the dogmatic solution can cause more harm than good.

As Job continues to be challenged by his friends we see one of the more common issues that people face with depression. The continuous cycle of negative thoughts that seem unescapable. Round and round the mind goes, trodding the same old paths over and over again until the path become nothing more than a rut. Stuck in this cycle, Job repeats so many of the thoughts that have come previously. And yet, in this midst of this, Job takes a slight turn. Only a little one, but when you are in a rut, it only takes one small turn to begin to escape.

As Job's friends continue to counsel him after the great losses that he has suffered, they continue to go back to the tried and true understanding of God that is contrary to Job's lived experience. Bildad, like Eliphaz before, points to the current understanding of God as the only way to interpret Job's circumstances, and in doing so he pushes just a bit further. Now, instead of it being Job's own understanding of God, Bildad points to the tradition of their fathers.

The stages of grief are fairly well documented, and in this chapter we see the initial shift in Job from Depression to Bargaining. In the midst of this change we also catch sight of something significant. Job's own theology prior to the events of this book were in line with what Eliphaz preached to him. A small part of what makes this all so difficult is that Job is being forced, through his circumstances, to reevaluate his own ideas of who God is.

When our friends are suffering we all want to ease their pain in some way. But all too often we don't know what to say, and our words, often, end up not helping. In the book of Job we are presented with several archetypes of unhelpful counsel in the face of tragedy. In these chapters we encounter the first. Eliphaz. Eliphaz offers counsel that so many of us have tried to offer, but in the end, it just falls short.

Grief is a terrible fact of life. Every single person who lives any length of time will have to deal with grief. The Bible recognizes this fact and gives insight into the process of dealing with grief. Job lost everything. And this book is an exploration of how those who believe in God can go about dealing with grief. Job chapter 3 is the initial lament. A moment of utter despair. A world without hope or light.

As the book of Job opens we are introduced to a man who is on top of the world. He has everything that he could possibly desire. And into this blessed life comes a series of great tragedies. Each one on their own would be devastating, but these tragedies compound and compile until all that Job is left with is his life, and his grief. This book presents many challenges to the reader, but none are so applicable as the example of how to handle overwhelming hardship.

The book of Job is shrouded in mystery. No one knows who the author is, the dialog throughout the book is written in beautiful Hebrew poetry, and there are endless debates as to the identity of Job. The beauty of Job is not found in these academic questions, however, and is rather found in the themes that Job addresses. Topics of suffering, faith, wisdom, counsel, tragedy, trauma, and more.

The final chapter of Ecclesiastes features one last poem before coming to the conclusion of the matter. This poem focuses on a topic that has already been covered in the book and it's subject is one of the more common subjects of poetry to this day. The end of life experience. Unlike much modern poetry, however, the point that Qohelet makes is one that points us to God.

Once again, here near the end of Ecclesiastes we run into a chapter that seems to be simply a series of proverbs that, on the surface, are not connected to each other. But when we really dig into these proverbs and the ideas that they represent we find a pattern that coalesces together into a series of coherent and connected thoughts on how to approach life.

When it comes to exploring the philosophy of life, there are a lot of little proverbs that a wise man will latch on to. In this chapter we find this at play. A series of proverb after proverb that seems to meander through several different points, but throughout each two characters seem to continually make an appearance. The king and the fool. Pray that they don't both coincide in your life.

Last chapter the Preacher contemplated the limits of Wisdom. In this chapter, he continues to examine the limits of the human experience. While wisdom is a trait that everyone has to various degrees, the hard limit of death is one