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Tuesday 30 September 2014

Job 7 - I know the plans I have for you

Job continues his response. Life seems one long torment. He seems to have been allotted months of futility and misery. Even night, which should be a time of rest, just drags on in agony. Verse 5 describes the physical pain.
He then calls out directly to God, calling from a place of hopelessness. In verse 7 he says that he will never see happiness again. We can all go through times when we feel like that, but note that Job was mistaken in saying this. As we know from the end of the book, he would see times of blessing again, greater than he had ever imagined. We need to be aware that when in the midst of trouble our vision is distorted.
Job knows that his time is limited. So he decides to complain to God, asking that his life be brought to an end. Job despised his life, but God did not despise his life, for God knew the long term plans He had, the eternal plans. We are very fond of quoting Jer 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you ...", but usually with very little regard for the context. The context was that Judah was enduring great suffering. Here we see true application of this verse. Job was enduring great torment, he could see no end to it and no future. But God has an eternal perspective, and His plans for Job were actually for good.
Job thinks he is being victimised by God. In verse 21 he calls out for God to pardon his sins. Now this could be a glimmer of true insight, or it could just be a cry out of his pain, "why don't you just forgive me God".

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