Job CCLXII

 Job 25:1-6, “Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: ‘Dominion and fear belong to Him; He makes peace in His high places. Is there any number to His armies? Upon whom does His light not rise? How then can man be righteous before God? Or how can he be pure who is born of a woman? If even the moon does not shine, and the stars are not pure in His sight, how much less man, who is a maggot, and a son of man who is a worm?”’

Not only is this the shortest chapter in the book of Job, but it’s also the most disjointed, where about halfway through, Bildad seems to lose his composure and go off on a rant that would make every proponent of the self-esteem, positive affirmation crowd blush with indignity. Not that I’m a proponent of lying to yourself in the mirror, but there should be a happy medium between calling oneself brave, beautiful, capable, and fit when one knows themselves not to be at least half of those things, and screeching you’re a maggot and a worm at one’s reflection.

Perhaps say nothing at all, and just make sure you don’t have yellow discharge drying at the corners of your eyes and that your shirt is buttoned right before setting forth to brave the day.  

There’s a park in our neck of the woods, at least where we used to live before the girls came along, called Riverside Park. For those in the area, it’s in the city known for opportunity running through it, and never stopping to catch its breath. Whether you call it Watertown or Watertucky, it’s the quintessential middle America town, with this particular park being a major draw, especially during the summer months.

The park is divided by a creek, with a bridge connecting the two sides, and because there is abundant water, there are always ducks. The ducks draw families, families bring bread, and the ducks get so many frequent meals as to think someone was fattening them up with an eye for preparing them for the dinner table.

There are park benches and picnic tables, and it’s nice enough that it was an oft-visited spot in the early years of our marriage. Walks in the park are free. They’re far gentler on the pocketbook than walking through a mall, and the extra vitamin D is an added bonus. One day, we were walking by the creek, hand in hand, and stopped to watch a little girl holding a slice of bread, tearing off small pieces and throwing them near her feet for the ducks to snatch up.

It was idyllic. We stood there smiling, watching the little girl throw small crumbs of bread closer and closer to her feet until one brave duck got too close, and the little girl, quick as lightning, grabbed the duck by the neck and started dragging it away from the creek bank.

In an instant, the picturesque scene turned into something more akin to a horror movie, as the duck started quacking, flapping its wings, trying to pull away in vain, the girl’s mother began yelling for her to let it go, and with a determined look on her face, the little girl just kept pulling.

I get the same whiplash of emotions when I read Bildad’s brief and final answer to Job’s words. He starts out well enough, reiterating that dominion and fear belong to God. He acknowledges that God makes peace in the high places, is in awe of God’s grandeur, wondering if there is any number to His armies, and concludes that He is ever present, everywhere, for upon whom does His light not shine, but then something changes. There is a not-so-subtle narrative shift, and it’s as though two different people are focusing on two opposing sides of the same issue. It usually takes two to tango, and two differing viewpoints to have a heated debate or a disagreement, but not so with Bildad.

The same man who enumerated God’s power, omnipotence, sovereignty, and glory, comes out of left field and asks, how then can man be righteous before God? Well, because God declares him righteous. One would think the answer would be obvious enough, given that the same man who asked the question insisted upon God’s dominion a few seconds prior.

Rather than argue endlessly whether a glass is half empty or half full, perhaps we can come together and agree that there is a glass, and there is liquid in the glass, and whether it’s half full or half empty really doesn’t matter. If the way you interpret how you measure the fullness of the glass matters more to you than the reality that it exists and there is substance in it to the halfway mark, the issue is more about you being right in the way you view the glass than the existence thereof.

We engage in endless quarrels, hurt each other, wound each other, and speak ill of each other, not because we are defending the truth or defending the Gospel, but because we want to be right. We want the prism through which we see something to be the only viable option, and we can’t bring ourselves to admit that the glass is both half full and half empty.

No man is righteous simply because he declares himself to be. However, a man is righteous if God declares him righteous. It’s a simple solution to Bildad’s problem, but one he is unwilling to entertain because that would mean rethinking his entire framework regarding God, man, authority, and sovereignty.

Either you see yourself as a maggot and a worm, or one who has been bought with a price, redeemed, reborn, washed clean, and set upon the path of righteousness. However, what is imperative is that you see yourself as God sees you, and not as others see you.

To his friends, Job was a wicked man deserving of all that had befallen him and worse besides. To God, Job was a blameless and upright man who feared Him and shunned evil. Whose report he would believe was Job’s choice, and knowing himself to desire nothing more than the presence of God, he rejected the condemnation of his friends and their assessment of him.

Yes, only God can judge you, and that is either a reason for great rejoicing or great dread, depending on whether you belong to Him or only claim to. Job had searched his heart repeatedly and found nothing he needed to repent of, not because he ignored the things he knew were wicked in his life, but because there was no wickedness in his life. If you stood before God today, could you say the same?      

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.