Job The Pessimist
- Justin Ray
- Jul 4, 2020
- 5 min read
Job 14
Man that is born of a woman
Is of few days, and full of trouble.
2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down:
He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
3 And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one,
And bringest me into judgment with thee?
Job 14:1-3
I wouldn't judge Job as being a pessimist based solely on this text. However, when you look at the whole chapter, the previous chapters, and also our introduction in chapter 1, I think there is compelling evidence to support this claim. His dialogue has very much been "Woe is me". He believes that God is sovereign over his creation, but his mentality is, "God is this is what you want to do with my life, please just let me die." When we look at chapter 1, the text tells us that Job offered sacrifices for sins his children might have committed. While he did not confront his children about their possible sins, is this not the same thing that his friends were doing to him; looking for sin where there was no evidence of sin?
And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. 5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
Job 1:4-5
That being said, the above statements are true. "Man that is born of woman" that is all of us. The word here for man is "adam" and means man or mankind. Other than Adam, and Eve, every man and woman that has ever existed was born of woman. Think about that, while Jesus could rightly say that he did not have a biological human father, Adam and Eve could say that they did not have a biological father or mother. Because of Adam, all adam's (mankind) existence "Is of few days, and full of trouble." That is the price of sin. Not necessarily a specific sin to a specific person, but in a general sense, sin marred all creation. Thus, Job was not suffering because of his specific sins, but because Satan was allowed to focus the curse of sin on Job. This caused Job tremendous trouble and suffering. Trouble and suffering will be part of our lives as well, because of sin.
He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down:
He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
Job 13:2
Life is short. Job is comparing life to a flower and a shadow. Both have short lives. I can understand what Job is talking about. I will be 37 this year. I know to some that is still young, but I remember being a child like it was yesterday. I often forget that I cannot do some of the things that I used to do without paying for it. 37 years have flown by. The older we get, the faster life seems to pass by.
And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one,
And bringest me into judgment with thee?
Job 14:3
Job is now questioning God's judgment on him. Because our days are short and full of trouble, why do you (God) judge us over every little thing we do? Have you ever wondered that? I have. How is it that God will find fault in every sin we commit? We are born sinners and we didn't really have a choice in it. We were born into a sin nature because of Adam. How is that fair? Have you ever thought any of this?
We are not given an answer in today's text. However, I don't want to leave these questions unaddressed. That would be unfair.
God judges based on what he created. He made men sinless and innocent. He made them based on his standard of holiness and righteousness. Adam made a choice to sin that resulted in all humanity sinning after him. However, we are not accountable for Adam's sins. We answer for our own sins. If there was no cure for the curse of sin, this would be unfair. However there is a cure if we will take it. Think about this for a moment. Imagine you were bitten by a rattlesnake at the hospital. A doctor rushes to your aid and tells you, "I know this hurts but there is hope. All you have to do is let us administer this anti-venom. Don't worry, the hospital will cover the expenses. Do you want the anti-venom?" Now, you could complain about how unfair it is that you were bitten. You could say that it wasn't your fault and therefore you should not have to take the anti-venom. You could say a lot but all the while the poison is coursing through your veins. There will come a point when it will be too late. Also, the earlier you take the anti-venom, the less damage your body will take. There is a sense that this is true in life as well. A life of sin takes a toll on us.
Going back to our analogy, if you refuse the anti-venom, is that the doctor's fault? Is it the hospital's fault? Is it even the rattlesnake's fault? No, the only person that bears blame is you. You refused the cure. No matter how you justified it in your mind, the decision was yours. Everything was in place to save you. All you had to do was receive it.
We can complain about sin but that does not help our situation. When we refuse the cure, the fault lies on us. So, if we die in sin, God is right in judging us because he offered the cure for the sin. Actually, the same one who died on the cross for our sins will be the one who judges us for refusing his payment. Are we really going to look at him and say "its not fair". Was his dying for sins he did not commit "fair"?
You may be thinking, "but I am saved." I have never been bitten by a rattlesnake but I did have a thorn stick in my hand. Not a little thorn, one that was 1-1.5 inches long. The thorn is no longer in my hand. The redness of infection and irritation are long gone, but the scar is still there. Sin leaves scars. We can look at those scars all we want. We may even have some wounds that we are still healing from, but what is dwelling on them going to do. I'm not saying that we should not care for them. We absolutely should. We should let the great physician care for them, but what is our staring at them going to do? If we focus on God, our problems will not seem quite as bad. That is not to say that there will not be pain, that there will not be scars, but when our focus changes we will not be as pessimistic.
Job's focus was on his suffering, not God. Yes, he still spoke of God. He was very religious, but God was the afterthought. Since God was the afterthought, he blamed God for his suffering. God would in time shift his focus and Job would see everything differently. What about you and I? Is God our forethought or our afterthought?
Father, help me to see you first and foremost. While I have hurt and scars from my sins, help me to focus on you and not them. Continue to heal me as you do. Help me to recognize that healing and to be thankful. Thank you for the cure for sin. Help me to live in that cure and not to keep living like it was not there. Also, open doors for me to tell others of that cure, and give me boldness to walk through those doors when they open.
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