February 21, 2011

Job 21
From 1985-1994 there was a TV series called Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. I really am not familiar with the show. I have no memories of ever having watched an entire episode. I do remember seeing the opening scene of the program and promptly turning off the TV. Had Job been alive during this time and a fan of the TV series, perhaps he might have been talking about this show in this chapter.
Why do the wicked live and become old,
Yes, become mighty in power? . . .
Their bull breeds without failure;
Their cow calves without miscarriage.
They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children dance. They sing to the tambourine and harp,
And rejoice to the sound of the flute.
They spend their days in wealth, . . .
“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
How often does their destruction come upon them,
The sorrows God distributes in His anger?
At times it would appear that God does not uphold justice in this world. It seems that would be Job’s argument in this passage. Job describe the rich and the poor and then summarizes with this, “They lie down alike in the dust, and worms cover them.”
Job has now experienced both the lifestyle of the rich and famous and the poor and infamous. He realizes that they both have the same end. Clearly God’s judgment day is not necessarily rooted in this world. So to evaluate a person’s life by their status in this life is foolish. So how do we evaluate our lives? Surely it must be by God’s standard not our own. “Can anyone teach God knowledge, since He judges those on high?” So what is the standard by which we should judge? Listen to what Paul said, “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.” When Jesus comes, He will reveal the true motivations of our hearts. In the meantime we should be pursuing this: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” How can we walk humbly with our God? I think it requires that we constantly gaze upon His glory lest we gain an inflated version of our own selves. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john