I’ve been using YouVersion’s Chronological reading plan this year, which has put me in the book of Job this month. I’ve come across a fair share of verses I never noticed before, including these two of my favorites:

• “My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family” (Job 19:17).
• “It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right” (Job 32:9).

These verses are great! Ladies, you can tape the first memory verse to your Listerine bottle in the medicine cabinet as a convenient reminder for your husband.  And, children who like talking back to their parents… well, the second verse is always good ammo when you want to remind them they don’t have a monopoly on wisdom.

OK, I hope you can the sarcasm behind my words. Obviously, you shouldn’t use these verses that way, just as you shouldn’t quote Job 35:12a (“He does not answer when people cry out”) as proof God is a heartless dictator.  We must consider the context.

How do we consider the context of the book of Job? The majority of the book is a dialogue between Job and his “comforters” concerning why he is suffering so much.  If we read through the entire narrative, it turns out in the end, their views were wrong.  So, how should we interpret chapter after chapter of their advice?  Well, obviously, they shouldn’t become our memory verses.  While the Bible is inerrant, it’s recording the erroneous views of Job’s friends as they posit many reasons why he is suffering.  (The Lord, Himself, is the one who handed down that verdict in Job 42:7b — “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”)

The proper way to understand these verses is that they contain commonly held (but incorrect) views about suffering. And if they’re wrong about Job’s suffering, what else are they wrong about?  Should we be quoting Elihu’s poetic words, “Out of the north he comes in golden splendor; God comes in awesome majesty. The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power” (Job 37:22-23a)?  They’re beautiful words.  But they’re coming from a man who was wrong about other things he spoke.

Sloppy Bible interpretation is dangerous. Unfortunately, it’s also easy:  Do a Bible search online, find a verse that seems to agree with what you want to say, and copy and paste it into your blog.  That’s why the key is context, context, context.  In this case, a good study Bible can shed light on what’s going on.  And reading through the entirity of Scripture is important so we know how each piece fits in the puzzle.  In this case, the puzzle piece is dialogue of mere mortals as they search for the reason behind suffering.

How should these types of passages inform our systematic theology? Should we be similarly careful when we interpret the Psalms, which also records humans searching for answers?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[ht: Olga for the picture!]

Posted in: Cool Stuff, Spirituality