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Break Their Fangs

Links for today’s readings:

Jan 27  Read: Job 29 Listen: (2:26) Read: Psalm 10 Listen: (2:13)

Scripture Focus: Job 29.17

17 I broke the fangs of the wicked

    and snatched the victims from their teeth.

Reflection: Break Their Fangs

By John Tillman

Need to stop a lion, a bear, a wolf, or a viper? Break their fangs.

Broken teeth are bad for any animal but predators are especially reliant on the large teeth that help them capture, hold, and kill prey. No matter how powerful, how large, how fast, or how fierce a predator is, a broken fang means death. Job considered breaking the fangs of the wicked righteousness.

Job often focused on being innocent of wrongdoing. He challenged anyone to point out sin he committed. They couldn’t. He asked God what he had done wrong. God stayed silent. In his final speech, Job focused more on good things he did.

Job’s righteous resume lists actions benefiting the vulnerable. Job was a friend to the poor, the orphan, the widow, and the foreigner. He was eyes for the blind, feet to the lame, a father to those in need, and a legal defender for the immigrant stranger.

As they did then, powerful and wealthy people today take advantage of these and other vulnerable groups. They prey on the weak. Job defined righteousness as not just helping the weak, but incapacitating those preying on them—breaking the predators’ fangs.

Fangs grasp victims, preventing escape, damaging victims, weakening resistance, and sometimes injecting deadly or paralyzing venom. As Christians, breaking the wicked’s fangs does not mean violence but breaking the means used to poison, paralyze, damage, and hold captive the vulnerable.

What might this look like?

Legislation might “break the fangs” of debt, pornography, prejudices, labor abuses, or pollution but political solutions aren’t enough. Churches “break fangs” in their communities in many ways, such as paying off medical debt, supporting pregnant women and mothers, ministering to incarcerated and recently released prisoners, or providing cars, jobs, and safe housing to victims escaping abuse. Individuals “break fangs” by supporting charities that help the fatherless, the immigrant, and other outcasts.

Breaking the fangs of earthly wickedness is about more than saving victims from earthly sufferings. It points to Jesus’ ultimate snake-crushing salvation. John the Baptizer’s doubts about Jesus’ identity were eased by evidence of his earthly actions. Our limited imitations of Christ’s earthly actions ease people’s doubts and reveal Jesus’ true nature as the ultimate savior of all things that will be saved.

Are you on the side of the snake-crusher, the fang-breaker? How are you and your faith community participating in breaking the fangs of the wicked?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Show us the light of your countenance, O God, and come to us. — Psalm 67.1

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Righteousness Sets Things Right

Job defines his righteousness by his use of power, wealth, and influence to benefit the weak, the marginalized, and the victimized.

Righteousness Sets Things Right
Read more: The Righteous Judge — A Guided Prayer

“Break the arm of the wicked man;

   call the evildoer to account for his wickedness

   that would not otherwise be found out.”

The Righteous Judge — A Guided Prayer
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Where is Wisdom — A Guided Prayer

Links for today’s readings:

Jan 26  Read: Job 28 Listen: (2:44)   Read: Psalm 9 Listen: (2:21)

Scripture Focus: Job 28.20-21

Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?
It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds in the sky.

Reflection: Where is Wisdom — A Guided Prayer

By John Tillman

As you enter January’s final week and consider the year to come, pause to seek God’s wisdom in a responsive prayer inspired by Job’s words.

Lord, where can we find wisdom?

“There is a mine for silver
and a place where gold is refined…
But where can wisdom be found?
Where does understanding dwell?”

Reflect briefly on some decisions you have made. Move chronologically backward. Spend no more than sixty seconds weighing each one as wise or unwise.

Reflect on one from yesterday.

Then one from the weekend.

Then one from last week.

Then one from two weeks or more.

Now return to the words of Job on wisdom’s value.

“No mortal comprehends its worth;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.”

Reflect on some places you have looked for wisdom.

Articles? Advisors? Academic research?

Thank God for human wisdom! We must, however, confess to God that human wisdom can only take us as far as human understanding, which even the greatest of scientists would admit continually finds more questions than it answers.

Ask God to open to us the true and timeless wisdom that comes from one unlimited source.

“God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
…he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.
And he said to the human race,
‘The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom.’”

Thank God for his wisdom that is first of all pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere (James 3.17).

Ask God for his continual grace to grant you his wisdom in each moment of the remaining week, the remaining month, and the rest of this year.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

Deliver me, O Lord, by your hand from those whose portion is life in this world. — Psalm 17.14

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Wisdom—A Spouse, A Path, A Healer

Wisdom is like a healer…gives our bodies nourishment for what needs to grow and medicine for what is sick…Forsaking wisdom is slowly poisoning ourselves.

Wisdom—A Spouse, A Path, A Healer
Read more about Wisdom Versus Obedience

Wisdom is mined from a deep relationship with God. It is refined in the crucible of life.

Wisdom Versus Obedience
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Vulnerable Quartet

Links for today’s readings:

Jan 23  Read: Job 24 Listen: (2:56) Read: Psalms 3-4 Listen: (1:57)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Jan 24  Read: Job 25-26 Listen: (1:52) Read: Psalms 5-6 Listen: (2:45)
Jan 25  Read: Job 27 Listen: (2:21) Read: Psalms 7-8 Listen: (2:58)

Scripture Focus: Job 24.1-12

1 Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? 

Why must those who know him look in vain for such days? 

2 There are those who move boundary stones; 

they pasture flocks they have stolen. 

3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey 

and take the widow’s ox in pledge. 

4 They thrust the needy from the path 

and force all the poor of the land into hiding. 

5 Like wild donkeys in the desert, 

the poor go about their labor of foraging food; 

the wasteland provides food for their children. 

6 They gather fodder in the fields 

and glean in the vineyards of the wicked. 

7 Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked; 

they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold. 

8 They are drenched by mountain rains 

and hug the rocks for lack of shelter. 

9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; 

the infant of the poor is seized for a debt. 

10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked; 

they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry. 

11 They crush olives among the terraces; 

they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst. 

12 The groans of the dying rise from the city, 

and the souls of the wounded cry out for help. 

But God charges no one with wrongdoing.

“If you aren’t intensely concerned for the quartet of the vulnerable…it’s a sign your heart is not right with God.” — Tim Keller

Photo Note: Today’s photo is of the Angels Unawares sculpture by Timothy Schmalz. It was installed in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican September 29, 2019 for the 105th World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

Reflection: Vulnerable Quartet

By John Tillman

The “quartet of the vulnerable” is a term for those vulnerable to harm, particularly in the Bible: the widow, the orphan, the immigrant, and the poor.

Job sees wrongs in his community, questioning why God has not acted on behalf of three of these four groups. He shines a light on the sufferers and has compassion for them.

Job starts with the subtle crime of moving boundary stones. Doing this made one’s land more profitable and incrementally stole influence and livelihood from neighbors.

An action in Job’s list that particularly infuriates me is driving away the orphan’s donkey. Driving away the donkey is an act of financial sabotage, equivalent to breaking a farmer’s tractor or burning down their barn. It is intended to cause bankruptcy, loan default, and desperation. It cuts their bootstraps to prevent them from pulling themselves up, ensuring that there is no escape from poverty and enslavement. 

Another wrong Job lists is sending “the poor of the land into hiding”, forcing them into deserts where there is no food for their children. (Job 24.4-5) These wrongs make me think of current issues.

When we look honestly at our society as Job did, can we not see those incrementally “moving boundary stones” stealing wealth and influence from their neighbors? Can we not see those financially and educationally sabotaging people working to escape poverty? Can we not see those sweeping the poor out of sight or allowing them to languish and die?

Laws have been opposed and defeated to help the poor or penalize financial crimes. Programs or money that would feed hungry children have been attacked or eliminated. Churches, programs, or pastors who help the poor or migrants have been criticized, intimidated, fined, and prosecuted for doing so.

What kind of society does these things? Not a great one. Not a righteous one. God judges the righteousness of kings, countries, and cities by the condition of these groups. God is concerned for the welfare of this vulnerable quartet. We should share his concern.

Job began this section with despair that these things were happening. We may identify with that despair. Job ends this section with certainty that God will destroy and punish abusers of the vulnerable.

If Job looked past his pain to shine a light on the sufferers, have compassion for them, cry out to God for them, and take action on their behalf, so can we.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Come now and see the works of God, how wonderful he is in his doing toward all people.

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Taking Advantage of the Desperate

Economically disadvantaged neighborhoods often contain payday lenders and abortion clinics, but few doctor’s offices or grocery stores—monetization of desperation.

Taking Advantage of the Desperate
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The Un-Localized God

Links for today’s readings:

Jan 22  Read: Job 23 Listen: (1:43) Read: Psalms 1-2 Listen: (2:05)

Scripture Focus: Job 23.

3 If only I knew where to find him;

    if only I could go to his dwelling!

4 I would state my case before him

    and fill my mouth with arguments.

5 I would find out what he would answer me,

    and consider what he would say to me.

6 Would he vigorously oppose me?

    No, he would not press charges against me.

7 There the upright can establish their innocence before him,

    and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.

8 “But if I go to the east, he is not there;

    if I go to the west, I do not find him.

9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;

    when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.

10 But he knows the way that I take;

    when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

11 My feet have closely followed his steps;

    I have kept to his way without turning aside.

12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;

    I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

Reflection: The Un-Localized God

By John Tillman

Job couldn’t find God but trusted God would find him.

Most ancient peoples worshiped territorially localized gods. Like kings, gods had borders. Your god might be a god of the plains, your ally’s god a god of the seas or rivers, and your enemy’s god a god of the mountains. Yahweh was remarkably un-localized. He claimed sovereignty over earth, heavens, mountains, plains, and seas.

Followers of Yahweh built altars to the Lord wherever they experienced him. You could never tell where Yahweh would show up. Abraham “called on the name of the Lord” from under “the great tree of Moreh” (Genesis 12.6-7), between Bethel and Ai (Genesis 12.8), under a tamarisk tree he planted in Beersheba (Genesis 21.33), and on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22.1-14). Isaac, Jacob, and others did the same.

Like Abraham, Job had no tabernacle or temple at which to seek God. In one way, Job felt God’s presence, like a hand oppressing him. In another way, he longed to appeal to God but could not reach him.

David would have sympathized. At times he fruitlessly sought God (Psalm 13) and at others claimed he could not escape God’s presence (Psalm 139.7-12).

The exiles sympathized. They felt simultaneously punished and abandoned. Without a temple and in a foreign land, Jeremiah reminded them God was not localized and they would find him when they sought him with all their hearts (Jeremiah 29.13).

Do you sympathize with Job? Do you feel exiled? Does God seem everywhere and nowhere at once?

God revealed himself to Abraham on Moriah and to Moses in the burning bush. Today, God reveals himself primarily in scripture. Learning to find God in scripture and prayer helps us to find him in every situation. Scripture shows us Jesus, the perfect image of the Father. And it shows us the Holy Spirit, poured out on all people everywhere.

Under the shade of scripture’s spreading branches, build an altar with habits of reading, study, and worship. Call upon the name of the Lord. With your ears, listen to God’s voice speaking through the Holy Spirit, scripture’s human authors, and your fellow Christians. With your hands do the works and wonders scripture commands (Luke 9.1-6; 10.8-9; Matthew 10.1-8). With your feet, follow the paths scripture describes and shun the ones it condemns. (Matthew 10.16-31)

Our God is not localized. God is present even when we don’t notice and he is seeking worshipers (John 4.21-24). The un-localized God wants to dwell within us. Seek him in Spirit and truth.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

For God alone my soul in silence waits; truly, my hope is in him. — Psalm 62.6

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Jesus, Our Blessed One — A Guided Prayer

We aspire, Lord,…to delight in your law…to meditate day and night. But we rely, Lord, not on our striving but on Jesus Christ.

Jesus, Our Blessed One — A Guided Prayer
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Assumptions

Links for today’s readings:

Jan 21  Read: Job 22 Listen: (2:54) Read: John 21 Listen: (3:58)

Scripture Focus: Job 22:4–5

4 “Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
    and brings charges against you?
5 Is not your wickedness great?

Reflection: Assumptions

By Erin Newton

When headlines break with news of some new atrocity, the details are often vague and incomplete. With the lack of information, assumptions rush to fill the void. Whatever the incident, whoever the person, assumptions are a common exacerbator of suffering.

When Job’s friends arrive on the scene, they give him a week’s silence. Then the verbal (and emotional) onslaught begins. As Francis Andersen notes in the Tyndale commentary on Job, “The idea of a good man suffering never enters their thoughts. It would demolish their theology, or, as Eliphaz has already said, undermine religion.” Eliphaz, just a few chapters earlier is dismayed by Job’s repeated insistence of innocence. “But you even undermine piety and hinder devotion to God” (15:4). The thinking, at that time, was that bad things happen to bad people. He deserved it. And then they probe to find it.

But we keep returning to the fact that we already know the reason for Job’s suffering; his friends, however, do not. Three rounds of debates between Job and his friends ensue. Eight different conversations grow in their intensity. First, they all generally suggest that suffering is caused by a person’s sin. By Job 22, Eliphaz is not mincing his words anymore: “Are not your sins endless?” (v. 5) and “That is why snares are all around you” (v. 10). Job’s friends cast the cause of his misery onto his own head.

When our first instinct is to heap responsibility back onto the person who suffers, we are often acting like Eliphaz himself. We cannot see a world outside of our own assumptions—even more so, our assumptions rooted in preconceived biases.

Andersen reminds us: “The reader … understands that Job is neither stubborn nor arrogant. He is honest and tenacious. From the depths of a sick body and broken mind, his spirit is still thrusting its faith into God, even though his blind cries sound wild to his friends.”

For those who suffer from chronic or life-threatening illness, are we quick to assume they’ve done something wrong? For those who lose a loved one to violence, are we blaming the victim for “being in the wrong place at the wrong time”? For those who have been abused by someone, are we analyzing their outfits, their demeanor, or their gullibility?

To avoid being like Job’s friends, we must be quick to listen, slow to speak—and I’d like to add—slow to assume.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding, according to your word.

Let my supplication come before you; deliver me, according to your promise. — Psalm 119.169-170

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Return from Financial Sins

One rarely hears sermons on financial sins that approach the passion and zeal of sermons about sex or drugs or pornography…unless one reads the Bible.

Return From Financial Sins
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