Finally, Job turned from speaking with his friends to speaking with the Lord. While the text doesn’t come out and say he turned to speak to God, the fact that he did is clearly understood in the question he asks: “What is man, that you should magnify him? and that you should set your heart upon him? And that you should visit him every morning, and try him every moment” (Job 7:17-18)?
David asked God a similar question:
“What is man, that you are mindful of him? and the son of man, that you visit him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and have crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; and you have put all things under his feet” (Psalm 8:4-6)?
At this point I’m reminded of a quote from an American writer and lecturer, Dale Carnegie, who is credited with saying: “Two men looked out through prison bars. One saw mud, the other saw stars!” If we consider our lives to be that prison, we can conclude that David looked upon the positive, while Job expressed life’s events in the negative. Both interpret the truth of life from the perspective of their circumstances: David was king, while Job was in constant pain and misery. Nevertheless, whether king or a man who is destitute and suffering each moment of his life, they express a question that we need to address. Why is God so mindful of man?
While God cares for other creatures, their habits and violent behavior don’t seem to bother him in the least. So, why does God take a special interest in man’s behavior? Moreover, to Job’s point, why would God inflect so much pain on an individual he created, and it doesn’t matter that he may not have done so directly, because God visits him each morning, yet he doesn’t lift a finger to alleviate his pain. He grants no intermission, no moment of comfort, but simply inflects pain (whether directly or indirectly) and isn’t moved to intervene and alleviate that pain, even for a moment (Job 7:18), not even for the time it requires to swallow one’s saliva or to draw a single breath (Job 7:19). Why?
Indeed, Job admits to being a sinner in Job 7:20. However, his admission of being a sinner is offered in the context of his question: “What is man that you should magnify him?” (Job 7:17). In other words, of all your creatures, which you have created, and considering which you bear no special interest in their behavior, why is my behavior of such importance to you? What have I done to **you** that you should magnify my sins and punish me so severely? In other words, Job is asking God why he had set a mark on him and nit-picks his behavior, as though Job was a burden to God, and God expected some restitution. However, what is man able to do to repay God for anything, whether it is a blessing given to man or an offense committed by man (Job 7:20)? What could man possibly offer God in thanksgiving for a blessing or in restitution for an offense?
Finally, Job asks God why he simply won’t pardon his transgression. Paraphrased: “God! Why don’t you just forgive me? What can I possibly do to remedy the situation that has arisen between you and me? What gift could I offer, or what punishment could I endure that would suffice, and cause you to take away your hand that is ever present upon me? I am ready to die, and tomorrow morning you may come to seek me, and I won’t be found. Why don’t you simply forgive me?” (Job 7:21).
Many folks may ask these or similar questions, when their lot is to endure constant pain. They seem to echo in the wind, and go unanswered throughout the victim’s predicament. Nevertheless, God has yet to speak, and he will do so later in this book. While he doesn’t reply directly to any of Job’s questions, the Lord does reply sufficiently enough that Job seems to be satisfied with the answer he received, and, perhaps, this would be good enough for others, as well.
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15 responses to “Why Won’t God Just Forgive Everyone?”
Hey Eddie,
In the last days of October, I was prompted to re-read Job. Early morning Nov 5th here (mid/late afternoon Nov 4th in PA or early Nov 5th there, early Nov 6th here) the first Job entry was posted. I put this sort of thing in the righteous steps being ordered category! There’s been tons of stuff and I am still digesting it and we haven’t gotten to the 42nd chapter, yet.
Two things I do want to share; I see Job as a type of Jesus Christ, a near-perfect righteous man suffering – a perfect man suffering; the glory of God demonstrated and His plan continuing – the glory of God manifested & the defeat of the enemy of God defeated. Second, I have most often thought that in chapter seven Job is thinking out loud, as we say, not necessarily speaking directly to anyone, until he speaks directly to God (but even then I have imagined it being like when I have looked up at the sky and said, “God did You have to let it rain NOW?”). I follow his response to Eliphaz, but I know that I have said things to myself, even when I’ve been engaged in a conversation with someone, for various reason.
I wonder what reactions have been to your supposition the satan was a man, not a fallen angel. Just curious!
Merry Christmas, my friend. I hesitate to ‘speak too plainly’ here but, next Friday our “first-ever above-ground Fellowship” is holding our “first-ever public ev meeting in a public venue, openly advertised and promoted!” It is an exciting time to be celebrating the Birth of the Savior!
Greetings Bill, it is so good to hear from you. I think of you often, especially when I see the Vietnam section of my map light up in red (a tool offered by Word Press). Thank you for reading my studies, and I’m happy to hear your own conclusions about your studies as well. Lord bless you.
I pray that you are safe and that your love for the Lord there prospers in both your heart and the hearts of others. It is such a wonderful work you do. I can’t imagine what it is like to be forbidden to believe or speak of your beliefs to others. I praise God for the grace he has given you.
Concerning the satan that I’ve written about, I don’t know if you realize it or not, but I don’t believe in a spirit being called Satan. I don’t find him in the Bible. All the satans are human, in as much as I can see. I came to this conclusion over the years, but beginning with a study to find out what happened and when (before or after Genesis 1:1), that a rebellion took place in heaven. I found no evidence of such an event. If there was no rebellion, there is no Satan. Anyway, that’s my point of view now, and nothing since that I’ve seen or studied has been able to change my mind.
Concerning reactions to my study saying the satan of Job 1 & 2 is human, one man, a regular reader and commentator on my studies, has mentioned it. He still believes in an evil spirit, Satan, but says he may be changing his understanding to my point of view. I don’t seek to push my understanding on others. In the beginning, when I first began posting to Word Press over a decade ago, I did that, but, slowly, I came to the understanding that I shouldn’t do so with the word of God. Letting God be God is a goal I keep forgetting, less and less I hope, but I believe strongly in what I write, and have tried to convince others that I have the correct point of view and they do not (if they disagree). Pride, a “holier than thou” kind of pride is so difficult to overcome (my experience). Indeed, I have had to remove studies in the past, because I’ve been so wrong in what I wrote, that it simply couldn’t be repaired. The post had to be trashed. It is humbling to know that I’ve been that wrong, and argued that I was correct!
Today, if disagreement is offered in a comment, I try to either let it go or I try a more gentle approach, if I think the different point of view warrants it. By the way, I do see the unjust manner in which Job was treated as a type of Christ. I haven’t mentioned that in my study, though (if memory serves; the study is two years old). It didn’t seem to warrant it at the time.
Lord bless you, my friend, and you are in my prayers. Be safe and rest in the heart of the Almighty. Hope you are able to celebrate the Savior’s birth with your whole heart and soul this season.
My view is that God will save everyone. Much of of what we know of the OT comes from Paul. For example, he takes us all the way back to Adam, not just Abraham. Also we also learn from Paul that when God told Abraham that in your seed all nations of the earth would be saved he didn’t mean through many seeds of Jacob but one seed which was Issac who pointed to Christ. No human was born as Issac was. His birth was miraculous based on the deadness of Sarah’s womb and soley by the power of God. Now Sarah had no children from the time of Issac to the time of Christ and Paul tells the first fruits: “now we brethern are born as Issac was – soley by the choice and power of God. If the first fruits were holy so was the lump. In Adam all die in Christ will all be made alive. God assigned all to disobedience in Adam so he could have mercy on all in Christ. We have nothing to do with our birth or our circumstances. God did it all.
Greetings Donald, and thank you for reading my studies and for your comment. Lord bless you.
The whole matter is understood in one verse in scripture: 1Timothy 4:10 “To this end we are toiling and struggling, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all mankind, especially of believers.”
Thanks for the comment, but I think this verse is taken out of context because I believe it is an error of significant consequence to assume that what Paul wrote to the first century “first fruits” body of Christ applies to us today.
Paul was “elected” to serve God during a unique time in the plan of God. He was called to preach a mystery hidden from before the foundation of the world. He said he was “a pattern” of all those that were called (elected) by God and made a part of the Body of Christ. It was their role, after Israel’s 70 weeks until the first resurrection, to preach the mystery of God and fulfill all things regarding God’s plan for humanity, not the least of which was to bring in the “fulness of the Gentiles” that were grafted into Israel’s olive tree.
Read in this light, the verse you quoted “the first fruits are toiling and struggling” (they were servants) , because we have fixed our hope on the living God (they believed in Christ) , who is the “Savior of all mankind, especially of believers.” The term “especially of believers” is a reference back to the first fruit body” at that time. Although not all were first fruits, all were saved in the end which was God’s promise to Abraham that through Christ “all nations of the earth would be blessed”.