The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1961-04-21
Empty Nothing
lesson for April %, 1861

IL yOu 1ldtC uCtCl 1CdO IiIC
book Of Job in the Revised Stan
dard version. you have not been
able to appreciate all the truth
and power there is in this ire
mendous book. Much is known
about the Hebrew language to-
day that was not known three
hundred years ago when the
King James translation was
made. For instance, the old
translation of Job 21:A reads:
How then comfort We me in vain.
seeing in your answers there re-
maineth falsehood?" The bet
ter recent translation gives the
meaning more forcfully: How
then will you comfort me with
empty nothings? There is moth
ing left of your answers but
falsehood. It is some of these
empty nothings" that we must
now look into.
You Can Pray
In the story of Job, three of
his friends came to visit him
when he was in pain and desti-
tute, sitting on a pile of ashes.
Why had this good man suffered
so much? What could he do now
to get over his troubles? Bildad
1856 had a suggestion that
was doubtless meant well. You
can pray your way out, that was
Bildad's idea. Seek God, make
supplication to the Almighty, and
if you are pure and upright he
will rouse himself to do some
thing fine for you. Job knew that
was not going to work. He had
prayed, he had been ION God S
own testimony. 1:8 blame
less and upright man. He was
better than anybody; God said
there was not another man like
him in the world. If the praying
of a good man were a sort of
disaSter-insurance, no praying
man would ever be in trouble.
Job knew, better than Bildad
did. the limits of prayer. It is
all too easy, when we visit
friends in trouble. to hint that
maybe they ought to pray more.
Suppose they have been praying
all they can?
You Can Repent
Zophar, anoth of Jobs
friends, has a somewhat differ
ent suggestion. Quit your mean
ness. repent. put away iniquity
and wickedness, set your heart
right, and then you will be Sc
cure. God exacts of you less
than your guilt deserves. THAT
is the general drift of his re-
marks in l1:13-2O and else
where.) Indeed, all three of
those curious friends of Job had
much the same idea. The logic
was good, only the facts did not
fit the logic. Sin produces suf-
fering, they said. The more sin,
the more suffering. Therefore
Job, who suffers so sorely, must
be an outrageous sinner. What
he needs to do is to repent. to
pray, and his troubles will
vanish. This again is an empty
nothing" as Job put it. We all
know good people whose trou-
hles have been more numerous
and crushing than ever came to
some Of their neighborS who
were not nearly so good.
Job got the impression after
another speech by Zophar that
his friends knew that sin and
suffering do not always match;
but they suggested that the sins
and virtues of a father are visi-
ted on the children. The chill
dren of the good man reap the
reward of his goodness: the chill
dren of the scoundrel pay for
their fathers wrong-d ding.
job inquiries. with wry humor.
how often his friends have seen
this happen. Job is not salts
fled with this delayed action
justice. The wicked man is
spared in the day Of calamity"
he says: and he feels in his
bones there is something wrong
here.
Job Says NO
Job says a loud and distressed
NO to his friends suggestions.
They are not real answers. They
are wrong because they don't
fit the facts and they don't ad-
init the real problem. Job is as
sure as they are that God runs
the world. that he could have
made it different. that God is
both powerful and good. So how
can these things be? Why does
God allow man-onc whose
goodness God fully recognizes
to suffer in the many ways job
has endured? What the story
Of Job has 10 say about this.
is the theme Of the Bible study
for next week.
biased on outlines copyrighted
by the Division Of Christian Ed
ucadon, National Council Of the
Churches of Christ in theU .SA..
Released by Community Press