Which Side Are You On? Neither

Which Side Are You On? Neither
JOSHUA 5: 2-15

We were discussing the book of Job in a class this week. I have abandoned giving a set lecture on the book because when students have read it as part of their preparatory homework, they come to class with many questions and issues they want to raise, and I let these form the agenda for the class. One student was concerned about the way Job as an individual seems to be just a pawn in the story and in God’s dealings with the world. In our culture that seems obviously wrong, because it is the individual that counts, and we assume this is the biblical view. Ironically, someone quoted John 3:16 in this connection: “God so loved the world,” as if John were saying, “God loved each individual.” Actually John says God loved the kosmos, the world as a whole, the world as a system. Of course God does love each of us as individuals, but that isn’t God’s only priority. Indeed, this is one point God eventually makes to Job. Job as an individual is not the center of the world. There are other aspects to God’s activity in the world than making sure that Job has a comfortable and intelligible life...