I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 11-15.

    Job’s friends continue to tell him that he must have committed some heinous sin that explains his suffering. If only he would confess his sin and seek God’s forgiveness his suffering would end and his life would be wonderful once more. The ongoing theme of the Book of Job is that it is wrong to use suffering as evidence that someone has sinned. Actually the theme is more than that. Our answer to the suffering of others should not be to tell them that if only they confessed their sins they would stop suffering…even if we know that their suffering results from sin. We should offer comfort to those who suffer, acknowledging that we deserve to suffer just as much as they for our sins. We should do our best to relieve the pain experienced by those suffering, not add to it by accusing them of sin.

    In his response to his friends, says some things which stand out as important. He reminds us of the time tested truth that wisdom and understanding come with age, but he points out that God possesses wisdom and power far beyond that which we acquire with age. If we need counsel and understanding we can obtain it by turning to God. He also warns us against lying to defend God, or to convince others to turn to Him. It will go badly for us if we attempt to use lies and deception to lead others to God. God does not need, nor does He want us to use lies and deception to defend Him against accusations, nor to convince people to trust Him. Lies and deception may work in the short term, but God is only interested in the long term where they are sure to fail. We should fear to make the case for God with things we know to be false and/or misleading.

    Then Job asks the rhetorical question which God answered anyway in Jesus Christ. When Job asked the question, “Can the dead live again?” he thought he knew the answer and that the answer was “No.” From his position of not realizing that God has provided that the dead can live again, Job tells us what it means to believe that. It means that we have hope through all of our years of struggle, whether those years be many or few. If we believe that the dead will rise again, we should view death as a release and eagerly await it. God has indeed sealed our sins in a pouch and watches over our steps. The fact that we will rise from the dead with Christ means that we should seek and strive and struggle to find and do God’s will for all of our lives.