Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Myth of Religion | The Writings | Job 32-37

Episode Date: June 13, 2024

If God is just, why do bad things happen to good people? Or, to flip it around, why do good things happen to bad people? Do people always receive the correct consequences for their actions? In today's episode, Patrick looks at Elihu's response in Job 32-37, examining the myth of religion that's embedded within it that we often believe. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Job 32-37

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. You can learn a lot from funerals, but that doesn't mean everything you learn from funerals is the right lesson. I think about the funeral of an old man, which hardly anybody attended. If he died 40 years earlier, in his prime, the room would have been full to the brim. Thousands of people would have shown up. He was tremendously wealthy. He was a businessman. He had connections all over the country. But everyone there would have also known the truth. He was a hard man. He was an unkind man. He'd rolled through multiple wives after having multiple affairs. And in the end, he died much older in a mansion,

surrounded by images of his sexual desire and almost nothing else. In his old age, it was mostly his family who arrived, because in his old age, he had nothing to offer materially to the people around him. So his funeral was small. His death wasn't mourned by many. You could hear that story and say that it's the perfect example of the world working correctly. Those who give themselves over to sin and destroy the lives of others, well, they'll be abandoned in death. So let me tell you a different story. This is the story of a woman, and she died much younger than him. And like him, her funeral was small. She spent most of her life as a nurse and as a single mom caring for everybody around her. She was known for being the sort of person who always gave to others.

But she had a degenerative disease and that meant she spent her last few decades largely alone. She had to live inside a care facility because she couldn't take care of herself and that's why her funeral was small because of a disease that stole her mind and her body. And all this despite spending her best years caring for other people with all of the that she had. So what lesson do you draw from that? That the world is unfair, the God is unjust? The book of Job wrestles with these questions, and it does so by colliding head on with a myth that even the best Christians believe. It's the myth of religion. The myth of religion says that if you do good, then God will give you good things and you'll end up in the good place.

but if you do bad, then you'll get bad things and end up in the bad place. If you bind to the myth of religion, you'll feel shorted when you do good, but then bad things happen to you. You'll feel angry when good things happen to good people. But not just that. You'll assume that every event has a meaning and a purpose that you can explain. Maybe bad things happen to chasten good people, to sanctify them. And so we end up saying to the cancer patient, well, maybe God's put it in a person. cancer in your life to make you more like him. He's working it out for your good. The problem isn't that such a statement is untrue. It may be true. It may not be true. The problem is that we are

assuming that we humans can discern the meaning behind every single event, good or ill. And behind that assumption is that whatever meaning is out there, well, it basically goes with the logic of religion. Good for good, bad for bad. And if bad comes to the good, than only because they have some bad things to get rid of. This logic is at the core of Alihu's argument. Alihu is a young friend of Job, and he's the last friend of Job to speak. He's making an argument against Job's claims that he is righteous. And Alihu takes six whole chapters. He talks longer than just about anybody else to make his point. And so I want to look at his most potent bit of logic. This comes from chapter 34, verse 10.

far be it from God to do evil. Remember he's talking to Job. He's saying, you're saying God does evil. He says, no, far be it from God to do evil for the Almighty to do wrong. He repays everyone for what they've done. He brings on them what their conduct deserves. Do you hear the myth of religion in Alihu's logic? It's unthinkable that God would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice. Let's hop over to verse 14. If it were his intention and he withdrew his spirit and breath, humanity would perish together and mankind would return to the dust. If you have understanding, hear this. Listen to what I say. Can someone who hates justice govern? Will you condemn the chust and the mighty one? He's telling this to Job, remember? He's saying, you think that you know better? You

think that you can condemn the just God? Is God not the one who says to kings, you are worthless and to nobles, you are wicked, who shows no partiality to princes. and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they all are the work of his hands. Again, let's pause. What Alihu is saying is partially correct. God does show no partiality, but catch where his logic goes. They die in an instant, in the middle of the night, the people are shaken and they pass away. The mighty are removed without human hand.

His eyes are on the ways of mortals. He sees their every step. There is no deep shadow, no utter darkness where evil doers can hide. And so you catch his logic. He's saying, God has no partiality to princes or to the poor. He gives each one what each deserves because none can hide from his gaze. Verse 23, God has no need to examine people further that they should come before him for judgment. Without inquiry, he shatters the mighty and sets up others in their place because he takes note of their deeds. He overthrows them in the night and they are crushed. Again, he's saying, God knows what you do.

and if you do bad, you'll be crushed. He punishes them for their weakness where everyone can see them because they turned from following him and had no regard of his ways. They caused the cry of the poor to come before God so that he heard the cry of the needy. But if he remained silent, who can condemn him? If he hides his face, who can see him? Yet, he is over individual and nation alike to keep the godless from ruling from laying snares for the people. You hear his point. He's right. God is just, and he's right.

God shows no partiality. The question is whether he's right with the next statement. Because God is just, and because God shows partiality, it means that bad always comes to bad and good always comes to good. The truth is that many of us could hear what Alihu said and kind of agree with him. I mean, on one level, who can disagree with his assessments? But in the next chapter, God shows up, and he calls Alihu a fool. He vindicates Job instead.

You see, the myth of religiosity is precisely that. It's a myth. It's not true. In the final analysis, yes, God is just. But that doesn't mean that a broken world, tormented, corrupted by sin, is always just. Yes, in the final judgment, God will hold all accountable. But until Christ return, the brokenness of this world will often be incomprehensible to us.

The question is if we're okay with our finiteness, with our limited knowledge, with not always knowing why things happen and why things seem so unfair, like Job, are we able to be patient and wait on God to speak? Can we be okay for a time not knowing why unfairness happens? This is the wisdom God wants you to have, and it's a wisdom rooted in a fundamental truth. religion says we get what we deserve but the gospel says that we get what jesus deserved by alihu's logic we all deserve death and destruction if bad comes to bad well it's bad news for everyone but by the death of jesus we receive something else by grace we receive life and freedom the gospel is not religion it doesn't follow religious logic it follows divine logic the divine logic of generosity of generosity of giving eternal gifts to those who deserve eternal torment. This world is unfair, but so is heaven.

Because in heaven, you unfairly receive the joy, life, and goodness that Jesus deserves. So praise God. He is just, but he has justly given you what Christ earned on your behalf. Thank God because Alihu is wrong. This world is not always comprehensible, but God comprehends all, and he will set all to write, and you will enjoy eternity with him, even though you don't deserve it.