Job's Funk (Lesson IV)
Bill Long 3/30/06
The fourth lesson focuses on the persistent and numbing distress of Job. If we had multiple lessons to plumb the depths of Job's sense of loss, we would probably focus on Job in each cycle of the book. That is, Job 3-31 consists of three cycles of speeches, where Job speaks first, followed by Eliphaz, Job, Bildad, Job, and Zophar. Then, Job speaks again, beginning another cycle. The first and second cycles are very "clean" (i.e., each speaker seems to have a full speech), but the third cycle is disjointed and seemingly incomplete. Finally, there is the hymn to wisdom (28) and Job's stunning three chapter valedictory, where he reasserts his blamelessness and defiance (29-31). It would be best to study Job "one cycle at a time," though you won't have time to do that in a five-week class. So, here is what I propose. Spend time on the following emotions: (1) Cynicism and Anger; (2) Hopelessness; (3) Inner Oppression; and (4) Numbing Grief. I will list one passage which illustrates each of these, and then you can consult the relevant passages in the Job Study Guide for questions to raise in a discussion.
I. Job's Cynicism and Anger (7:11-21)
I like to begin my consideration of this passage by reading 7:7 along with 7:11. "Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good....Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul." I ask the question of how these two verses are related, even though two verses come between them. How is it that 7:11 perfectly follows from the feelings expressed in 7:7? Then, I like to turn to the first six verses of the passage. What is the tone of Job's lament here? Often the Biblical authors long for the presence of God and fear God's absence. How would you characterize Job's attitude toward God's presence in his life? Verse 12 reflects a deep cynicism toward God. Do you hear it? Job says:
"Am I the Sea, or the Dragon,/ that you set a guard over me?"
The Psalmist celebrates the peace that sleep brings. What is sleep for Job? The words "I loathe my life" (7:16) are particularly powerful. Can you feel for Job?
Then, in the second half of the passage I like to focus on two things: (a) the reversal in 7:17-18 of the good thoughts regarding God in Ps. 8; and (b) the snidely defiant ending of the passage in 7:21 where Job tells God that if he dies, God will be the real loser because he will be deprived of Job's presence. What a guy!?
II. Job's Hopelessness (Job 14)
You won't have time to "cover" this entire poem, so if you had to choose a section to emphasize, I would choose vv. 7-10 and 18-22. The first shows Job's longing, a longing fueled by his observation of nature. Trees and bushes come back to life after they are seemingly long dead. Why, then, can't humans? That is the insistent question of those first verses. Nature teaches us that life renews; shouldn't this also be the case for human life after death?
Then, the second passage closes the door to hope just as quickly as the door was opened. Job uses images from nature to remove hope as well as to create hope. Read these verses aloud, and see how nature teaches also the lesson of hopelessness. Where can Job go after he has finished speaking ch. 14? Is there any reason to continue to speak? If so, what does he still have to say to anyone? As his hope fades, his legal case heats up, and that will be the tone of the his next few speeches. That is, Job deals with his hopelessness by relying on legal process--and he is definitely not the last person to do that.
III. Job's Mental Oppression (16:6-17)
This passage captures Job's sense of desperation as he realizes that, despite his complaints and eloquence, nothing is changing for him. I like to think about the first verse: "If I speak, my pain is not assuaged, and if I forbear, how much of it leaves me?" (16:6). This is a counterpart to Eliphaz's statement in 4:2, a kind of "damned if I do, damned if I don't"-kind of comment. Job is saying that nothing really will help him in his situation. So, he might as well speak. And, he does so for several more verses. What is evident to me from the next 10 verses is the stark brutality of the images, especially beginning in v. 12. I would as the class to detail the images that pile up one upon each other beginning in v. 12. How was Job at ease? What picture comes to mind when he says, "but he broke me in two"? Take time with each of the images, and notice their violence. I will only give one here (vv. 12-13).
"he set me up as his target; his archers surround me."
Job the hunted. What is the mental reality of a person who speaks like this?
IV. Job's Grief (17:1, 11)
As I have argued in my book, A Hard-Fought Hope: Journeying with Job Through Mystery, Job's grief is the mirror-image of his anger. Through his anger he lashes out at the world, God and the friends, while through his grief he retreats from that world into the inner recesses of his personal agony. We have to feel the sense of Job's utter hopelessness in order to understand the extent of the theological and practical problem of the Book of Job. So, you should close with a reading of Job 17:11--
"My days are past, my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart."
Job can only sputter a few partial sentences as the grief fully overwhelms him. His life, in a nutshell, is over. Let that be the note that resounds as you leave the people. I wonder if any will come back for week five.
1782
Copyright © 2004-2007 William R. Long |