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McGuiggan on Job
McGuiggan on Job
In writing about ‘Why Was the Book Written’; McGuiggan made the following points:
1. The limits of human wisdom –
2. Humans are to embrace the mysteries of life in a spirit of trust.
3. The loving devotion of humans to God has cosmic consequences.
4. The blessings of life are always the gracious provision of God.
5. God is sovereign and will go his own way to accomplish his holy and loving purposes without asking man’s permission.
6. Trust and loyalty exist even in those “trusters” who are far from calm and far from being quietly submissive.
7. We’re to note the ugly picture of self-righteousness in full pursuit of the lame and ragged as they try to shake us off.
He then gives these suggestions for Reading the Book with Profit:
1. The repetition is deliberate.
2. Keep in mind that no one in the book believed in a rigid theory of retribution.
3. Don’t expect calm reasoning in the book.
4. There were always other options the wise men never took.
5. Being an experienced sufferer doesn’t make us infallible.
6. Even truth must be handled truthfully.
7. The God Job was mad at didn’t exist.
8. Remember the framework within which the book works. (i.e., the opening dialogues between Satan and God are real but unknown to Job).
9. It was God and not Satan who took Job’s blessings away.
10. Job’s central problem was not simply that he was hurting – it was what he thought the hurting meant.
11. The Job we hear in the dialogues is fierce and willing to sacrifice God and his friends on the altar of his assurance that he has “kept the faith” (so to speak) but chapters 29-31 give us an in-depth look at the man’s entire life.
Read over these statements, try your hand at flushing them out into complete ideas. Then, get a copy of McGuiggan’s book and see how he enlarged these thoughts. It will be worth your time.
Hugh DeLong
McGuiggan, Jim. Life on the Ash Heap: Reflections on the Book of Job. Weaver Publishing. Kindle Edition.
We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. (James 5:11)
