Babble On

Be quiet, and I will speak. Let whatever comes happen to me. Why do I put myself at risk and take my life in my hands? Even if He kills me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways before Him. Yes, this will result in my deliverance, for no godless person can appear before Him. – Job 13:13-16

Every time I get into the Book of Job, I wonder at the sophistication of the God-inspired genius that penned it. The subtleties of the arguments going back and forth are amazing. Depending on the day and the mood I’m in I may find myself agreeing with Job, agreeing with his comforters, or seeing the flaws of both at any given point – sometimes all that simultaneously.

The King James Version of Job 13:15 -- “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” – is often quoted out of context. It seems to imply an absolute trust without regard to understanding. But Job, at this point, still wants justice, and he still believes that God is the just and righteous judge.

We always want to make God comprehensible. We are willing to use figures of speech and paradoxes because we realize that God is not exactly like us, even that He is far beyond us. But we cling to the notion that, though He may be infinite, He will limit Himself in dealing with the weakness of human existence. We think that He did that explicitly in Christ.

I wonder.

We use language like a transformer, and we have a built-in breaker box in case we get a surge off the main line. In the end we know that, when Job gets the pure, raw feed, he shuts up. It’s something to consider.

If you look closely at the passage above, you will see that Job is defiant. If God kills me, I will still have hope in Him. I hope that He will see where He has wronged me. That is the underlying message Job is stating. “I will still defend my ways before Him,” Job says. He expects deliverance if only he can present his case openly and fairly before the Lord.

This resonates with me. God is a just God. I believe He will do right by me if I have done right. And, in thinking that way, I am no more than a pagan. I’m probably not as good as a pagan. The pagans recognized a certain degree of capriciousness in their gods, and, though they incorrectly attributed it to human motivations such as jealously or envy, it allowed them to accommodate some cruelty or unfairness. If I try to make God finite and understandable, as a Christian, I often try to limit His “justice” to those possibilities on this side of my horizons. But the limits of my vision are not the limits of God. Even within the circle of what I can see I know some things are hidden from me. How much more is there out beyond the curve of this material life? If there be dragons, are they to battle or to ride?

Be still, and know I AM.

Suffer in silence? If we press on, we may well reach a point where silence is our only argument. There is a point where words fail and even the poets lay down the pen and cover the mouth. I’m not so sure it does much good to shut up before we get to edge of the language, though words may get to be fewer, change in meaning and import, and grow more profound. The Bible says that where there are a multitude of words there must be sin. Then we are told to lay aside the sin that does so easily beset us that we may run, unhindered.

Lay aside the excess weight of words. Carry only what you need.

I always dreamed of living in a time when there were great blank spaces on the maps. I do live in such a time, but the map is not of this world, and the blanks stretch to infinity. Right now, I am hanging around in this border country where the trails begin to get a little faint. The maps are already questionable and often in conflict.

If it clanks, clangs, or rings, it’s probably best to drop it. Make sure you have plenty of living water, and if you don’t have a sword, sell your coat and buy one.