The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 16: The Suffering of Job (2023)

Episode Date: January 16, 2023

Fr. Mike highlights the mysterious role suffering in Job's life as we continue journeying through Genesis 31-32, Job 21-22, and Proverbs 3:9-12. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, I'm Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we will read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. This is day 16, and we are continuing with our book of Genesis, our book of Job, book of Proverbs. We're hitting all these massive, massive books. It is day 16, so that means we are reading Genesis chapter 31 and chapter 32, continuing our story with Jacob and Laban and some other people. We're

going to be reintroduced into Esau. We're also reading Job chapter 21 and chapter 22 and Proverbs 3 verses 9 through 12. The Bible translation that I'm reading from is the revised standard version Catholic edition, and I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to be able to follow along, not just kind of listen along, but also see, you can download your Catholic Bible in a Year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. You also can subscribe. Whatever app you're listening to this podcast in, just click subscribe and get those daily updates popped up. Speaking of daily updates, if you want to sign up for our email list, you can text the word Catholic Bible. As you know, that is two words, but we combine them. So it's Catholic Bible, all one word, no spaces, to the number 33777. As I said, we are reading today, day 16, from chapter

31 and 32, Job 21 and 22, and Proverbs 3, 9 through 12. Let's get started. Genesis chapter 31 and 32. Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you. So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was and said to them, I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before, but the God of my father has been with me. You know that I have served your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not permit him to harm me. If he said, The spotted shall be your wages, then all the flocks bore spotted. And if he said,

The striped shall be your wages, then all the flocks bore striped. Thus God has taken away the cattle from your father and given them to me. In the mating season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the he goats which leaped upon the flock were striped, spotted, and modeled. Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, Jacob. And I said, here I am. And he said, lift up your eyes and see all the goats that leap upon the flock are striped, spotted, and modeled. For I've seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go forth from this land and return to the land of your birth. Then Rachel and Leah answered him, Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father's house? Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has been using up the money given for us.

All the property which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do. So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels, and he drove away all his cattle, all his livestock which he had gained, the cattle in his possession, which he had acquired in Paddan Aram, to go to the land of Canaan, to his father Isaac.

Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father's household gods. And Jacob outwitted Laban the Aramean, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. He fled with all that he had, and arose and crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead. When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him,

Take heed that you say not a word to Jacob, either good or bad. And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen encamped in the hill country of Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob, What have you done, that you have cheated me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword? Why did you flee secretly and cheat me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre, and why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly.

It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, Take heed that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad, and now you have gone away because you have longed greatly for your father's house. But why did you steal my gods? Jacob answered Laban, because I was afraid. For I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live in the presence of our kinsmen. Point out what I have that is yours and take it.

Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two maidservants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's. Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel's saddle and sat upon them. Laban felt all about the tent, but he did not find them. And she said to her father, Let not my Lord be angry that I cannot

rise before you for the way of women is upon me. So he searched, but did not find the household gods. Then Jacob became angry and upbraided Laban. Jacob said to Laban, what is my offense? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me? Although you have felt all through my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. These twenty years I have been with you, your ewes and your she-goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. That which was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you, I bore the loss of it myself.

Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. Thus I was. By day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. These twenty years I have been in your house. I have served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night. Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, The daughters are my daughters. The children are my children. The flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters, or to their children whom

they have born? Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me. So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. And Jacob said to his kinsmen, gather stones. And they took stones and made a heap. And they ate there by the heap. Laban called it Jagar-Seduthah. But Jacob called it Galid. Laban said, this heap is a witness between you and me today. Therefore he named it Galid and the pillar Mizpah. For he said, The Lord watch between me and you, when we are absent from one another. If you ill-treat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us, remember, God is witness between you and me. Then Laban said to Jacob, See this heap and the pillar which I have set between you and me.

This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me for harm. The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us. So Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac. And Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and called his kinsmen to eat bread. And they ate bread and tarried all night on the mountain. Early in the morning, Laban arose and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and

blessed them. Then he departed and returned home. Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's army. So he called the name of that place Mahanaim. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau, his brother, in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them. Thus you shall say to my lord Esau, Thus says your servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now, and I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, men servants and maid servants, and I have sent to tell you, my lord, in order that I might find favor in your sight. And the messengers returned to Jacob,

saying, We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed, and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks, and herds, and camels, into two companies, thinking, If Esau comes to the one company and destroys it, then the company which is left will escape. And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, Return to your country and to your kindred, and I will do you good. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercy and all the faithfulness which you have shown to your servant. For with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I beg you, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of

Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and slay us he had with him a present for his brother Esau, 200 she-goats and 20 he-goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams, 30 milk camels and their colts, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 she donkeys and 10 he donkeys. These he delivered into the hand of his servants. Every dove by itself and said to his servants, pass on before me and put a space between drove and drove. He instructed the foremost, when Esau, my brother meets you and asks, to whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these before you? Then you shall say, they belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my Lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us. He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who follow the droves. You shall say the same thing to Esau when you meet him.

And you shall say, moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us. For he thought, I may appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterwards I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me. So the present passed on before him, and he himself lodged that night in the camp. The same night he arose,

and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and Jacob's thigh was pulled out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, Let me go, for the day is breaking. But Jacob said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. And he said to him, What is your name?

And he said, Jacob. Then he said, Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel. For you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked him, Tell me, I pray your name. But he said, why is it that you ask my name? And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of that place, Peniel, saying, for I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved. The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his thigh. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh

on the sinew of the hip. Job chapter 21 and 22. Job replies, complaint against man? Why should I not be impatient? Look at me and be appalled and lay your hand upon your mouth. When I think of it, I am dismayed and shuddering seizes my flesh. Why do the wicked live, reach old age and grow mighty in power? Their children are established in their presence and their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear and no rod of God is upon them. Their bull breeds without fail, their cow calves and does not cast her calf. They send forth their little ones like a flock and their children dance. They sing to tambourines and the lyre and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.

They spend their days in prosperity and in peace they go down to Sheol. They say to God, depart from us. We do not desire the knowledge of your ways. What is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him? Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand? The counsel of the wicked is far from me. How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out, that their calamity comes upon them, that God distributes pains in his anger, that they are like straw before the wind and like chaff that the storm carries away. You say God stores up their iniquity for their sons. Let him recompense it to themselves that they may know it. Let their own eyes see their destruction and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty. For what do they care for their houses after them

when the number of their months is cut off? Will any teach God knowledge, seeing that he judges those that are on high? One dies in full prosperity, being wholly at ease and secure, his body full of fat and the marrow of his bones moist. Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted of good. They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms cover them. Behold, I know your thoughts and your schemes to wrong me. For you say, Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked dwell? Have you not asked those who travel the roads, and do you not accept their testimony, that the wicked man is spared in the day of calamity, that he is rescued in the day of wrath? Who declares his way to his face, and who repays him for what he has done? When he is born to the grave, watch is kept over his tomb. The clods of the valley are sweet to

him. All men follow after him, and those who go before him are innumerable. How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood. Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself. Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous, or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless? Is it for fear of him that he reproves you and enters into judgment with you?

Is not your wickedness great? There is no end to your iniquities. For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing. You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry. The man with power possessed the land, and the favored man dwelt in it. You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed. Therefore snares are round about you, and sudden terror overwhelms you. Your light is darkened so that you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you. Is not God high in the heavens? See the highest stars, how lofty they are. Therefore you say, what does God know? Can he judge through the deep darkness? Thick clouds and wrap him so that he does not see and he walks on

the vault of heaven. Will you keep to the old way which wicked men have tried? They were snatched away before their time. Their foundation was washed away. They say to God, depart from us. And what can the Almighty do to us? Yet he filled their houses with good things, but the counsel of the wicked is far from me. The righteous see it and are glad. The innocent laugh them to scorn, saying, surely our adversaries are cut off, and what they left the fire has consumed. Agree with God and be at peace. Thereby good will come to you.

Receive instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty and humble yourself, if you remove unrighteousness far from your tents, if you lay gold in the dust and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent bed, and if the Almighty is your gold and your precious silver, then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. You will make your prayer to him and he will hear you and you will pay your vows.

You will decide on a matter and it will be established for you and light will shine on your ways. For God abases the proud, but he saves the lowly. He delivers the innocent man. You will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands. Proverbs chapter 3, verses 9 through 12. Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce.

Then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof. For the Lord reproves him whom he loves as a father, the son in whom he delights. God in heaven, we know that you love us. You love us in our brokenness and in our weakness, and we can trust you, even when we do not understand what you are doing. Help us to trust you this day as we journey with you, as we live this day in your presence, as we live this day in your will. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. So Job's pal was speaking to him today. He's our friend Job and Eliphaz is his buddy, his pal. And Eliphaz has a common understanding of the role of suffering, the role of the tragedy that's come upon Job. And one of the reasons for suffering, and it actually is not inaccurate. One of the reasons for suffering is because we are, we are reaping basically what we've sown. Like scripture says, you will reap what you sow. If we, um, so in the vineyard of

affliction, we will reap God's wrath. So there's that sense. If we sow sin, then we reap sin. If we sow sin, we reap, uh. If we sow sin, we reap the consequences of sin. And so Eliphaz is saying that that must be the thing. Job, what you have to do is you have to repent. And once you repent, then God will be with you. Once you repent, then God once again will hear your prayer because he doesn't hear your prayer now because you have done something evil. See, the things we believe almost always have an element of truth to them. That's one of the reasons why they're so convincing. They're not fully true, but they're partially true.

And there is such a thing that there's a role of suffering. Sometimes the role of suffering is that it is the consequence of our own bad decisions or someone else's bad decisions. Sometimes God allows us to enter into suffering in order to wake us up, in order to get us to repent, in order to win. He will not necessarily spare our lives or spare our goals, our dreams, all these hopes, so we can get our soul, so that we can wake up and realize, I'm living far from God. So one of the fruits of suffering can be repentance, or it can be something that God is using to teach us, to teach us deeper wisdom about life that we

could never, ever learn outside of suffering. Those are our things for repentance as a consequence of our sins, or in order to teach us a deeper kind of wisdom that can only be found through suffering. That is true, but it's not the only truth. And we know the story because we've been reading from chapter one in the book of Job, that he was righteous. He was wise. He would sit in the city gates and people would come to him. Now he's saying like, kids won't even listen to me now. Whereas the elders used to listen to me. So he was wise. He was righteous. He didn't have anything to repent of. And he did not experience this suffering because of something that he had done. It's a convincing argument

that his friends are trying to make. But we know the true story is that Job was not guilty. And so something else is at play right now. Something else is at work right now. It's one of the reasons why sometimes offering people platitudes, right? Offering people like,

well, it must be this, or this is God's will. When we don't know if it's God's will, and we don't know if it's his perfect will, it might be his permissive will, but not necessarily his perfect will. Offering people platitudes like that can often be incredibly dangerous. In fact, it's one of the reasons why the best thing that Job's friends did for him was when he was in the depths of his suffering, they just sat with him for seven days and didn't say a word. That was the best thing they could have done for Job in his suffering.

And probably is maybe one of the best things they could do for him at this point in his suffering. But his friends are much like us as friends. Sometimes we get tired and we want to give an answer. Sometimes we get tired of just being with someone in their grief or in their pain, and we just want to talk our way out of it. We want to give them an answer. And sometimes there is no answer. Sometimes the answer is something we cannot offer.

Sometimes the answer is something that can only come from God himself. And we're going to see that that's what happens in this story of the book of Job as we continue our journey, these 365 days, a Catholic Bible in a year. You guys, I'm so grateful for you all. Continue our journey, these 365 days, a Catholic Bible in a year. You guys, I'm so grateful for you all. And please know of my prayers for you every single day. Please be praying for me and pray for each other because this is a community of people. We can do this solo thing where we just kind of like listen on our own, but we also need to be praying for each other, knowing that every one of us is in the fight for our lives, right?

Every one of us is in the fight of our lives, right? Every one of us is in the fight of our lives. So let's hold each other up in prayer. If you are interested in getting email updates and whatnot, you can text the word Catholic Bible. It's all one word, Catholic Bible to 33777. You can go to ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year if you want to get the Bible reading plan. And please subscribe to this podcast.

If this is helping you out, please share it with your friends or with someone you think it could bless them. It has been a blessing to me to be with you. So my name is Father Mike. God bless you, and I'll see you tomorrow.