Job 13 & 14 - From Hope to Hoplessness

LINK: Job 13 & 14

BACKGROUND 

In his continued response to Zophar, Job tells his friends he is taking his case to God and tries to silence them because they are literally, "falsehood plasterers" (13:4). The key verse in Job 13 is, "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him (13:15). He was sure He would be vindicated. He continued to declare His faith in God but also his need for closure! He wanted to meet God in court and have it out.

Despite Job's declaration of hope in chapter 13, he turned to hopelessness in chapter 14! He laments that man's life is short-lived and full of turmoil like a withering flower or fading shadow (Ecclesiastes 6:12). He speaks of the futility of death and saw the grave as a place to hide from God's anger and to be honorably discharged from life's hard military service, but in his hopelessness, he wonders whether there is life beyond the grave (13:14).

REFLECTION on Hope

I read Frederich Nietzche in my eight-year quest for The Well-Educated Mind and it confirmed for me that many of these "classics" were written by great minds gone awry!  What a brilliant, hopeless individual!  He said:

 "Hope in reality is the worst of all evils 

because it prolongs the torments of man."  

and

"God is dead." 

Wouldn't he have been pleasant company at the Thanksgiving table?

I prefer another man's sentiments:

 "What makes the desert beautiful 

is that somewhere it hides a well."  

(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)  

As believers, we have a "living hope" who is a well in the middle of any dry land we may encounter:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5) 

APPLICATION 



Journal about hope. 

PRAYER

You are our hope. We cling to You. It is all because of Jesus, Amen.