Mourning Has Broken
Genesis, however, may not be the first book of the Bible written even though it is the first book in the canon. That distinction, some scholars believe, belongs to the book of Job. While Genesis provides us with the account of the fall, Job plunges us into the deep end of sin, senselessness, and suffering brought on by the fall.
Job weaves together many themes that give us bearings for life in a fallen world. Foremost, we are shown the vast divide between the Creator and the creature. The book of Job does not primarily present us with a theology of suffering as it does theology proper, a study of God. God’s goodness is seen in His abundance of blessings, His wisdom in the hidden disposition of His providential working, and His sovereign might in the prominent name ascribed Him in the book (Shaddai).
When God eventually speaks to Job, it is not to answer his questions but to display His glory and in so doing to put Job in his place. Job responds by acknowledging and embracing his position in respect to God: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know” (Job 42:2–3).
Against the backdrop of this Creator-creature distinction, suffering and misery take center stage as Job reels under the onslaught of adversity and crippling weight of affliction. Job gives voice to many questions and struggles we have as we encounter trials of various kinds in our own lives.
There’s something else we learn, something endemic to life in a fallen world, and that is the prominence and pain of grief. When we meet loss, we grieve. In case of severe loss, our grief becomes like a black hole swallowing up life and light around us. The book of Job tells us something about grief and how to deal with it in its inevitability and invasiveness.
Acquainted with Grief
Who of us is not acquainted with grief? Our spouse of forty years succumbs to cancer, and we are crushed. Part of us dies with them. We grieve the loss of their presence, their conversation, their touch, their ear, the life forged by loving partnership over the years. Memories both haunt us and heal us, bringing tears to our eyes and a smile to our face. We lift our eyes to ongoing life without them and we wonder how we can press on.
We are introduced early on in the book of Job to his ten children, seven sons and three daughters. They would rotate hosting family gatherings. Job was continually attentive to them and concerned for their spiritual welfare. We also learn of the vast possessions of Job. He was a man of position and prestige. The picture given us is of one enjoying life in relationship with God and man.
Then came the avalanche of adversity.
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In God We Trust?
The word of God, the worth of God, and the wisdom of God find their meeting place in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Nothing marks a Christian more than trust, and nothing proves God to be trustworthy more than His Son. In Him, none are disappointed, and all are satisfied.
There is an old story of a father who took his young son out and stood him on the railing of their back porch. He then went down, stood on the lawn, and encouraged the child to jump into his arms. “I’ll catch you,” the father said confidently. After a lot of coaxing, the little boy finally made the leap. When he did, the father stepped back and let the child fall to the ground. He then picked his son up, dusted him off, and dried his tears.
“Let that be a lesson,” he said sternly. “Don’t ever trust anyone.”
That story isn’t from my childhood, and I don’t think it’s from yours either (if it is, let me know). But it would seem that each of us has been through the unfortunate experience of this fooled son. Trust issues run deep in the hearts of men. Promises are easily broken, character is almost always compromised, and the wisdom of our confidants can often prove folly. It seems that the more we live, the less we can trust. From start to finish, life’s journey is met with disappointments, heartaches, injustices, loss, pain, sorrows, trials, and temptations.
The easy answer to our trust problem is to say that we should trust the Lord, and undoubtedly, we should (Ps. 9:18, 28:7, 37:4-6, 112:7; Prov. 3:5; Isa. 26:3; Jn. 14:1; Rom. 8:28). The reality is that we often don’t. What trust seems unimaginable between an earthly son and his father is exactly how we naturally relate to our Heavenly Father.
Humanity’s trust issues with God dates back to the Garden of Eden. And in view of this perfect setting, we want to see that our issues with dependence and confidence in God have never stood to reason because God has never changed. God’s unwavering trustworthiness and our fickle trust are bound to three key things seen in Genesis 3:
God’s Word
Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Very Good.
That is the Sparknotes recap of each day of creation according to Genesis 1 (1:4, 10, 12. 18, 21, 25, 31). The whole of creation summed up in one word. This is not merely how God felt about the world He made; it’s how He saw it. The world was not good simply because God thought it to be so, though that would be sufficient. The world was good because it was perceivably so. “And behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31).
God’s goodness in creation was to be sustained by His commands to the creatures of the earth. Mankind, most notably, was given dominion over creation and commanded, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17).
Seems like a fair deal. As a matter of fact, it was a good one. But very quickly, in the temptation that ensues in Genesis 3, we find the root cause of all mistrust in God. A crafty, cunning little serpent hisses a small but lethal question: “Did God actually say…” (Gen. 3:1).
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The Heart of Hermeneutics: Part 1
What did the text mean? To look at the text and learn what it means requires that we cross a big gap and go “back then” in our minds. But then we must also cross that divide to “today” and progress to Live! This is the application stage of seeing the life impact of the text. What difference does the text make to my life today?
Something is missing. Too much training in Bible handling is missing something critical. Either we get the technical interpretation elements well: such as recognizing the distance between the world of the text and the world of the contemporary reader, and seeing the gaps that need to be crossed (linguistic, cultural, geographical, religious, etc.). Or, we dump the technical process and lose both textual accuracy and authority as we treat the Bible like an ancient source of contemporary devotional material.
To put that another way, while some are stronger on the “back then” nature of the text, others are too quick to rush to a “for today” impact. Good Bible handling requires both a “back then” and a “for today” mindset.
We Must Cross the Divide
The traditional inductive approach to the biblical text requires that we cross the divide. We begin with Look! This is the observation stage of seeing what is actually in the text.
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“Luxury Beliefs”
Those who adopt “luxury beliefs” often have a parachute of trust funds, good lawyers, and social connections. Even so, as Nicholas Kristoff wrote a few years ago in the New York Times, many upper-class progressives don’t actually preach what they practice, instead choosing to live fairly traditional, monogamous, drug-free, generally moral lifestyles… which makes their “luxury beliefs” even more like fashion accessories.
Certain lifestyle choices strongly correspond to long-term success: staying in school, avoiding pregnancy outside of marriage, regularly attending church, and abstaining from drug abuse, heavy drinking, and risky sex. Decades of research show these choices correlate with physical health, economic prosperity, and personal happiness. They also correlate more with the traditional and religious sides of the values aisle.
Tech billionaires, Hollywood celebrities, and CEOs of megacorporations like Disney and the NFL tend to hold far more progressive views about sex, marriage, drugs, and religion. Along with media elites and progressive politicos, they often loudly reject those values that lead to health, wealth, and happiness. Why then do they not suffer the consequences of their views?
According to one Cambridge academic, permissive attitudes about sex, marriage, drugs, and religion are “luxury beliefs; more status symbols for cultural elites than blueprints for the way they live. Rob Henderson first floated the idea of “luxury beliefs” in an essay in the New York Post, later at Quillette, and most recently in a podcast. He argues that beliefs that tend to be disastrous for poor and middle-class communities have become the modern equivalent of buying expensive clothes or hiring servants. It’s a way of showing off your wealth and signaling your status to fellow members of the upper class.
Having grown up in multiple foster homes before enlisting in the Air Force and later attending Yale, Henderson has experienced much of the socio-economic spectrum. He knows first-hand how destructive the progressive behaviors held in reverence by many elites are to ordinary people.
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