More Wisdom

I watched the class on Job over the past two nights. This is a tough book to wrestle with. At a certain level it looks like poor Job had his life wrecked over a bar bet that God made with Satan. However, I don't think that is the sole purpose of the book.

It is interesting to consider that this book has always been considered canonical. Dating it is tough though. It seems to have been written during the time of the Patriarchs. Note too that Job was an Edomite, which would not make his story real popular with most Hebrews. Nevertheless, the story stands as an example of God's faithfulness.

My big takeaway from the lecture was on the purpose of the book. Job 28 goes into the nature of wisdom and has a parallel in Proverbs 1. This book shows us how to live. It tells us that trials can help to focus our faith. It also shows that God's ways are not our ways.

That last line always feels like a cop-out at some level. However, the thing to remember is that God is indeed God and we definitely are not. There are going to be things about Him and His purposes which will remain inscrutable to us. We don't always have to like the way things work out, but we'd better learn to accept them.