Job 13:22

Summon me and I will respond,

   Or I can speak, and you answer.

 

I know this one is out of order, but…

We had dinner with some friends last night and had a wide-ranging conversation that included friends. This morning, I worked on Job 35:4 which also touched on the topic of friends. I gave me an idea and I figured I would tie it in with this piece. Hopefully, it pulls together better than not.

‘Summon’ was also ‘call on’ or ‘call’. I preferred the request that summon carries. ‘Respond’ was also ‘answer’ or ‘reply’. I prefer the respond as it carries a touch of having to address a question as opposed to throwing out a fact.

‘I can speak’ came from my Jewish sources where my Christian sources had ‘Let me speak’. ‘Can’ was really only ‘will’ or ‘shall’, but neither seemed to capture the feel I had. ‘Answer’ was also ‘reply’ or ‘respond’. In my view, the speaker was allowing a humble attitude to seep through that the listener might know more than the speaker (at least in his own mind).

Overall, I felt this was a challenge to a debate with the one being challenged able to pick who went first. The problem here of course is that Job is challenging God to a debate, and that is not how it works. And of course, God does know the answer, and Job is just guessing with his limited perspective. Talk about a way to not treat friends, much less your Father in Heaven.

One of the concepts I keep going back to is that Job’s three friends are not really friends, but rivals who he has gotten the better of. I met a man from Palestine recently, and he claimed that before the land was taken from his people that they were all friends and treated each other well. He wanted me to believe that America was responsible for all the hate that is being waged in that land now. Before he was done ranting, I knew that he hated Jews with a passion and hated the American government that allowed him to live here. My final response was to pray for his soul. It was my only response as I wished that I hadn’t said I had two questions before I asked where he was from as the first one.

For better or worse, this man fit my stereotype of how people from that part of the world acted. He was the epitome of Job’s friends in my mind. People who are so rooted in hand me down beliefs that they do not allow the idea of a personal relationship with Christ to even enter their sphere. Their arguments of what my old man taught me pale in comparison to the personal stories that we can use to support our relationships with friends or companions.

The final bit I wanted to throw in about friends is that I have a friend in Jesus. It’s a phrase from an old song but having Jesus as my friend is sufficient for me. I have friends and as a family unit we have more than just my one or two friends. My goal in life was never really to have more friends, but to be a friend to whoever I could. I realize that I do not get a lot of deep meaningful relationships this way, but if my daily goal is to serve God in the way He calls me that day, then I must derive happiness from that and not get mad chasing happiness and wondering why my friends never invite me to dinner.

Written 7/13/24, Posted 7/13/24, Job 292