Job 36:23 / 11-05-26

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Who has assigned Him His way, Or who has said, ‘You have done wrong’?

Job 36:23

누가 주를 위하여 주의 길을 정하였으며,

누가 말하기를 주께서 불의를 행하셨다고 말할 수 있는냐?

욥기 36:23

엘리후의 이 말은 욥이 악에 치우쳤기 때문에 환란을 당하는 것이라고 빗대어 말하는 것입니다 (36:21)

그러나 성경은 욥기가 쓰여진 1장 1절에서 '욥은 온전하고 정직하며 하나님을 경외하는 사람이라' 고 결론을 이미 내립니다.

하나님께서 정하신 의는 누구도 변경할 수가 없습니다.

우리나 유대인들도 환란을 당하면 죄로 인한 저주나 징벌로 생각한다는 것이지요.

나 역시 어렸을 때 그렇게 배웠습니다.

그래서 하나님은 무서우신 분!

죄 지으면 바로 벌을 내리시는 분!

지금의 나는 이렇게 생각합니다.

죄에 무감각한 승승장구는 저주요, 환란은 나를 견고케 하는 하나님의 사랑이다!

It is good for me that I was afflicted, so that I might learn God's word.

• 

His garden.

Elihu’s words imply that Job was suffering because he had turned toward evil (Job 36:21).

However, the Bible has already given us its conclusion in Job 1:1, where Job is described as “blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.”

Elihu’s words sound quite convincing at first, but they overlook one important truth: God’s established judgment concerning Job cannot be changed by human reasoning.

This reflects how we, and even the Jewish people, tend to interpret affliction as a curse resulting from sin.

I was taught the same way when I was young.

That is why I used to think of God as a frightening God—

God who immediately punishes us whenever we commit a sin!

But today, my understanding is different:

A life of continuous success without any sensitivity to sin is a curse, but suffering is an expression of God’s love that strengthens and establishes me!

“It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.” (Psalm 119:71)

Amen!