Sermon for March 9th, 2014 - Revision history

Iraneal: /* In other Writings */

2022-03-05T03:57:56Z

‎In other Writings

Iraneal: /* In other Writings */

2022-03-05T03:55:47Z

‎In other Writings

Iraneal: /* In other Writings */

2022-03-05T03:52:44Z

‎In other Writings

Iraneal: /* In Art */

2022-03-05T03:50:49Z

‎In Art

Iraneal: /* In Art */

2022-03-05T03:49:29Z

‎In Art

Iraneal: /* In Art */

2022-03-05T03:48:47Z

‎In Art

Iraneal: /* In other Writings */

2014-03-08T06:58:52Z

‎In other Writings

Iraneal: /* So What? (Practical Application) */

2014-03-08T06:57:41Z

‎So What? (Practical Application)

Iraneal at 06:57, 8 March 2014

2014-03-08T06:57:16Z

Iraneal at 06:53, 8 March 2014

2014-03-08T06:53:49Z

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 *[https://www.mrlocke.net/Job/Job-6.jpg Job's Wife in Islam]. Job is revered as a prophet in Islam, and his story appears in the Qur'an.  It's pretty much the same story, but there are a few variations, particularly where Job's wife is concerned.  For one thing, she has a name: Rahma, which means "grace." She is viewed as Job's helper (rather than Satan's helper), and she cares for him throughout his suffering. She is also honored with him at the end of the story when all of his (and her) fortunes are restored.
 *[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kievskaya_psaltir_iov_01.jpg The Testament of Job] was a version of the Job story that was written in Greek right around the 1st century--the time of Christ.  It is possible (though just speculation) that Jesus himself may have been familiar with this version of the story. It was extremely popular, and influenced many artists and theologians for several centuries.  In this version of the story, Job's wife is named Sitidos, which means "giver of bread," and this is what she does. She holds out bread on a stick to feed Job without getting too close to his diseased body.  She also sells her hair in the marketplace (a disgrace for a woman of high standing) in order to buy bread to feed Job. (Notice Job's wife has short hair in the Junius Bassus Sarcophagus, indicating likely influence of the Testament of Job).
-*[http://mrlocke.net/Job/7.jpg The Septuagint] (or "Old Greek")is a 3rd Century BCE translation of the Old Testament into Greek. It became the primary translation of the scriptures for all of early Christianity.  In fact, the Septuagint is the translation that Paul uses when he quotes the scriptures, as well as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  In other words, the Septuagint was THE bible during the time of Jesus and the New Testament.  In the Septuagint, the Book of Job was actually 20% shorter than our modern version, but there are also a few verses that end up longer.  Remember Job's wife's one little verse?  In the Septuagint...it's about three times as long.  Job's wife has a much better speech here.  She reminds Job that, unlike him, she has had a "double" pain--the pain of childbirth as well as the pain of losing their children.  She also reminds him that while he sits on his dung hill all day and night lost in his grief, someone has to go out and work like a slave to keep them both fed.  But EVEN with all this, notice she STILL does not tell her husband to curse God and die.  In the Septuagint, the Bible of Paul and the Apostles, Job's wife tells him to "say some word to the Lord and die."  Just say something.  Just speak to the Lord.  Get it off your chest. Ultimately, this is exactly what Job does.  He takes her advice...for the next 38 chapters.
+*[https://www.mrlocke.net/Job/Job-8.jpg The Septuagint] (or "Old Greek")is a 3rd Century BCE translation of the Old Testament into Greek. It became the primary translation of the scriptures for all of early Christianity.  In fact, the Septuagint is the translation that Paul uses when he quotes the scriptures, as well as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  In other words, the Septuagint was THE bible during the time of Jesus and the New Testament.  In the Septuagint, the Book of Job was actually 20% shorter than our modern version, but there are also a few verses that end up longer.  Remember Job's wife's one little verse?  In the Septuagint...it's about three times as long.  Job's wife has a much better speech here.  She reminds Job that, unlike him, she has had a "double" pain--the pain of childbirth as well as the pain of losing their children.  She also reminds him that while he sits on his dung hill all day and night lost in his grief, someone has to go out and work like a slave to keep them both fed.  But EVEN with all this, notice she STILL does not tell her husband to curse God and die.  In the Septuagint, the Bible of Paul and the Apostles, Job's wife tells him to "say some word to the Lord and die."  Just say something.  Just speak to the Lord.  Get it off your chest. Ultimately, this is exactly what Job does.  He takes her advice...for the next 38 chapters.
 =====In the Bible=====

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 =====In other Writings=====
 *[https://www.mrlocke.net/Job/Job-6.jpg Job's Wife in Islam]. Job is revered as a prophet in Islam, and his story appears in the Qur'an.  It's pretty much the same story, but there are a few variations, particularly where Job's wife is concerned.  For one thing, she has a name: Rahma, which means "grace." She is viewed as Job's helper (rather than Satan's helper), and she cares for him throughout his suffering. She is also honored with him at the end of the story when all of his (and her) fortunes are restored.
-*[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kievskaya_psaltir_iov_01.jpg The Testament of Job] was a version of the Job story that was written in Greek right around the 1st century--the time of Christ.  It is possible (though just speculation) that Jesus himself may have been familiar with this version of the story. It was extremely popular, and influenced many artists and theologians for several centuries.  In this version of the story, Job's wife is named Sitidos, which means "giver of bread," and this is what she does. She holds out bread on a stick to feed Job without getting to close to his diseased body.  She also sells her hair in the marketplace (a disgrace for a woman of high standing) in order to buy bread to feed Job. (Notice Job's wife has short hair in the Junius Bassus Sarcophagus, indicating likely influence of the Testament of Job).
+*[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kievskaya_psaltir_iov_01.jpg The Testament of Job] was a version of the Job story that was written in Greek right around the 1st century--the time of Christ.  It is possible (though just speculation) that Jesus himself may have been familiar with this version of the story. It was extremely popular, and influenced many artists and theologians for several centuries.  In this version of the story, Job's wife is named Sitidos, which means "giver of bread," and this is what she does. She holds out bread on a stick to feed Job without getting too close to his diseased body.  She also sells her hair in the marketplace (a disgrace for a woman of high standing) in order to buy bread to feed Job. (Notice Job's wife has short hair in the Junius Bassus Sarcophagus, indicating likely influence of the Testament of Job).
 *[http://mrlocke.net/Job/7.jpg The Septuagint] (or "Old Greek")is a 3rd Century BCE translation of the Old Testament into Greek. It became the primary translation of the scriptures for all of early Christianity.  In fact, the Septuagint is the translation that Paul uses when he quotes the scriptures, as well as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  In other words, the Septuagint was THE bible during the time of Jesus and the New Testament.  In the Septuagint, the Book of Job was actually 20% shorter than our modern version, but there are also a few verses that end up longer.  Remember Job's wife's one little verse?  In the Septuagint...it's about three times as long.  Job's wife has a much better speech here.  She reminds Job that, unlike him, she has had a "double" pain--the pain of childbirth as well as the pain of losing their children.  She also reminds him that while he sits on his dung hill all day and night lost in his grief, someone has to go out and work like a slave to keep them both fed.  But EVEN with all this, notice she STILL does not tell her husband to curse God and die.  In the Septuagint, the Bible of Paul and the Apostles, Job's wife tells him to "say some word to the Lord and die."  Just say something.  Just speak to the Lord.  Get it off your chest. Ultimately, this is exactly what Job does.  He takes her advice...for the next 38 chapters.

@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
 =====In other Writings=====
-*[http://mrlocke.net/Job/5.jpg Job's Wife in Islam]. Job is revered as a prophet in Islam, and his story appears in the Qur'an.  It's pretty much the same story, but there are a few variations, particularly where Job's wife is concerned.  For one thing, she has a name: Rahma, which means "grace." She is viewed as Job's helper (rather than Satan's helper), and she cares for him throughout his suffering. She is also honored with him at the end of the story when all of his (and her) fortunes are restored.
+*[https://www.mrlocke.net/Job/Job-6.jpg Job's Wife in Islam]. Job is revered as a prophet in Islam, and his story appears in the Qur'an.  It's pretty much the same story, but there are a few variations, particularly where Job's wife is concerned.  For one thing, she has a name: Rahma, which means "grace." She is viewed as Job's helper (rather than Satan's helper), and she cares for him throughout his suffering. She is also honored with him at the end of the story when all of his (and her) fortunes are restored.
 *[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kievskaya_psaltir_iov_01.jpg The Testament of Job] was a version of the Job story that was written in Greek right around the 1st century--the time of Christ.  It is possible (though just speculation) that Jesus himself may have been familiar with this version of the story. It was extremely popular, and influenced many artists and theologians for several centuries.  In this version of the story, Job's wife is named Sitidos, which means "giver of bread," and this is what she does. She holds out bread on a stick to feed Job without getting to close to his diseased body.  She also sells her hair in the marketplace (a disgrace for a woman of high standing) in order to buy bread to feed Job. (Notice Job's wife has short hair in the Junius Bassus Sarcophagus, indicating likely influence of the Testament of Job).
 *[http://mrlocke.net/Job/7.jpg The Septuagint] (or "Old Greek")is a 3rd Century BCE translation of the Old Testament into Greek. It became the primary translation of the scriptures for all of early Christianity.  In fact, the Septuagint is the translation that Paul uses when he quotes the scriptures, as well as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  In other words, the Septuagint was THE bible during the time of Jesus and the New Testament.  In the Septuagint, the Book of Job was actually 20% shorter than our modern version, but there are also a few verses that end up longer.  Remember Job's wife's one little verse?  In the Septuagint...it's about three times as long.  Job's wife has a much better speech here.  She reminds Job that, unlike him, she has had a "double" pain--the pain of childbirth as well as the pain of losing their children.  She also reminds him that while he sits on his dung hill all day and night lost in his grief, someone has to go out and work like a slave to keep them both fed.  But EVEN with all this, notice she STILL does not tell her husband to curse God and die.  In the Septuagint, the Bible of Paul and the Apostles, Job's wife tells him to "say some word to the Lord and die."  Just say something.  Just speak to the Lord.  Get it off your chest. Ultimately, this is exactly what Job does.  He takes her advice...for the next 38 chapters.

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 **[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jarbach_Altarpiece_01.jpg Jarbach Altarpiece]
 **Dousing with cold water...act of hostility or mercy? (Also note Satan running to fire)
-*[https://www.mrlocke.net/Job/Job-4.jpg 13th Century Picture Bible from Northeastern France]
+*[https://www.mrlocke.net/Job/Job-5.jpg 13th Century Picture Bible from Northeastern France]
 **Is she slapping him upside the head...or holding his head up as together they watch their tragedy?
 **Which raises the point...Job was not the only one who suffered loss.

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 **[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jarbach_Altarpiece_01.jpg Jarbach Altarpiece]
 **Dousing with cold water...act of hostility or mercy? (Also note Satan running to fire)
-*[http://mrlocke.net/Job-4.jpg 13th Century Picture Bible from Northeastern France]
+*[https://www.mrlocke.net/Job/Job-4.jpg 13th Century Picture Bible from Northeastern France]
 **Is she slapping him upside the head...or holding his head up as together they watch their tragedy?
 **Which raises the point...Job was not the only one who suffered loss.

@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
 Sometimes it's hard to see where the love is in the midst of our tragedies.
 Sometimes it's hard to see where the help is in the midst of our troubles.
 Sometimes it's hard to see where God is, when we think we're all alone in the world.
 But God is always there, usually much much closer than we realize, often in those unseen faces, in those unheard voices, in the ones we least expect.

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:57, 8 March 2014
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	Sometimes it's hard to see where God is, when we think we're all alone in the world.		Sometimes it's hard to see where God is, when we think we're all alone in the world.

−	But God is always there, usually much much closer than we realize, often in ~~the face of~~ the ones we least expect.	+	But God is always there, usually much much closer than we realize, often in those unseen faces, in those unheard voices, in the ones we least expect.

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-"The greatest poem of ancient and modern times." --Alfred, Lord Tennyson
+*"The greatest poem of ancient and modern times." --Alfred, Lord Tennyson
-"Tomorrow, if all literature was to be destroyed and it was left to me to retain one work only, I would save Job." --Victor Hugo
+*"Tomorrow, if all literature was to be destroyed and it was left to me to retain one work only, I would save Job." --Victor Hugo
 ==Job 2:7-9 (NRSV)==
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 The harshest thing Job's wife seems to say, the thing she is most remembered for is when she says "Curse God and die."  But let's look at that word, "Curse."  In the original Hebrew, the word is בָּרַךְ (baraq) and it literally means "to bless."  Wait, what?? That's the opposite of curse!  Yes. It is.  Now the truth is, sometimes the word is used euphemistically.  Texans understand this instinctively:  There's Bless your little heart, and then there's "Bless" your little heart.  Nevertheless, whether it means bless or curse, the word is one and the same in wherever it appears in the bible, and when a reader comes across it, he or she has to decide which meaning to apply.  Except when you read it in translation, and the translator (not the author) has already made that decision for you, most likely based on a pre-existing centuries-old negative view of Job's wife.
-*Question or Statement? Echoes the divine
+One last point in the text, and then I'll wrap things up.  Job's wife begins her short speech with a sarcastic question: "Do you still persist in your integrity?"  There's just one problem with assuming this is a sarcastic question.  It may not even be a question at all!  That's because in ancient Hebrew, there is no such thing as a question mark. Like the bless/curse thing, you have to look at the context and decide if something sounds like a question or not. Now, my Hebrew is not too bad, but I recently asked a friend of mine (who happens to be a Jewish Rabbi) to read that passage for me, and he did:  "You still persist in your integrity."  Period.  Uh oh. So what do you do if your theological view of Job's wife cannot allow you to accept that an evil agent of Satan could possibly have anything good to say?  Well, you add a question mark and make her sound sarcastic.
 ====So What? (Practical Application)====
-#don't use the bible to subjugate women
+Alright.  Now to wrap all this up, or at least give us some things we can take home.
-#don't judge too quickly. some suffer loudly and visibly, some suffer in silence, their stories untold without some digging under the surface.
+#First: Even though there is a long history within Christianity of using the Bible to subjugate and demean women...it's probably not a good idea, and it's almost certainly not what God had in mind.  There's an old saying here: God did not create woman from the bone of man's foot to be underneath him, nor from the bone of his head to Lord it over him.  God created woman from the bone of man's side, to be his equal, and his partner in all things.  The story of Job's wife reminds us of this: Equality is not always easy to see or even attain...but it is part of God's plan.
-#When God sends suffering, he also sends grace. When God sends trouble, he also sends help.
+#Second: The story of Job's wife also reminds us, I think, not to judge people too quickly. Some people suffer loudly and visibly, some suffer in silence, their stories untold without some digging under the surface.  Context is everything, and what seems like harsh criticism can sometimes be words spoken in love.  What seems like a curse can sometimes be a blessing.