Tidbits from Job

"The Message" is an interesting version of the Bible. I would not use it as a "study Bible" by any means, as it's way too "loose", but it sure inspires thoughts that normally wouldn't be prompted in my mind by a standard version of Bible.

Here's an interesting passage from chapter nine of Job. In the midst of his suffering, Job says:

God and I are not equals; I can't bring a case against him.
We'll never enter a courtroom as peers.
How I wish we had an arbitrator
to step in and let me get on with life—
To break God's death grip on me,
to free me from this terror so I could breathe again.

This may or not have any messianic relevance, but it struck me as sounding decidedly messianic.

Then, just a few chapters later Job says:

O Earth, don't cover up the wrong done to me!
Don't muffle my cry!
There must be Someone in heaven who knows the truth about me,
in highest heaven, some Attorney who can clear my name—
My Champion, my Friend,
while I'm weeping my eyes out before God.
I appeal to the One who represents mortals before God
as a neighbor stands up for a neighbor.

Definitely sounds messianic to me. But then, what do I know?

Another tidbit I found was in chapter 12:

Strength and success belong to God;
both deceived and deceiver must answer to him.

That second half just resonated with me.

And the final tidbit that has struck me, so far, in this book, is that Job seems to not believe in an afterlife. All his talk of death seems so final, like this passage from chapter 14:

But men and women? They die and stay dead.
They breathe their last, and that's it.
Like lakes and rivers that have dried up,
parched reminders of what once was,
So mortals lie down and never get up,
never wake up again—never.

But then again, he at least seems to hope for a resurrection, for right after that passage he continues:

Why don't you just bury me alive,
get me out of the way until your anger cools?
But don't leave me there!
Set a date when you'll see me again.
If we humans die, will we live again? That's my question.
All through these difficult days I keep hoping,
waiting for the final change—for resurrection!
Homesick with longing for the creature you made,
you'll call—and I'll answer!

So much stuff to glean from the word of God; so little brainpower with which to do it.