The Second Sunday in Lent (OTA)

Job 4:1-21

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

²    “If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?

Yet who can keep from speaking?

³    Behold, you have instructed many,

and you have strengthened the weak hands.

⁴    Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,

and you have made firm the feeble knees.

⁵    But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;

it touches you, and you are dismayed.

⁶    Is not your fear of God your confidence,

and the integrity of your ways your hope?

⁷    “Remember: who that was innocent ever perished?

Or where were the upright cut off?

⁸    As I have seen, those who plow iniquity

and sow trouble reap the same.

⁹    By the breath of God they perish,

and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.

¹⁰    The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,

the teeth of the young lions are broken.

¹¹    The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,

and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹²    “Now a word was brought to me stealthily;

my ear received the whisper of it.

¹³    Amid thoughts from visions of the night,

when deep sleep falls on men,

¹⁴    dread came upon me, and trembling,

which made all my bones shake.

¹⁵    A spirit glided past my face;

the hair of my flesh stood up.

¹⁶    It stood still,

but I could not discern its appearance.

       A form was before my eyes;

there was silence, then I heard a voice:

¹⁷    ‘Can mortal man be in the right before God?

Can a man be pure before his Maker?

¹⁸    Even in his servants he puts no trust,

and his angels he charges with error;

¹⁹    how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,

whose foundation is in the dust,

who are crushed like the moth.

²⁰    Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces;

they perish forever without anyone regarding it.

²¹    Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them,

do they not die, and that without wisdom?’

The fear of God is something very important. The fear of God should be a fear of reverence, it should be important o recognize the power and authority of God. But it is alsop important for the fear of God to be true terror. God's breath is destructive, and has the power to kill.

The fear of God should be our confidence. It should remind us of God's holiness and purity. We should be humbled before Mount Sinai as the people heard the voice of God and trembled. This is the God of Israel powerful and righteous. He brings destruction to the wicked. He repays us for our evil.

Fear The Lord! The fear of The Lord is also used to recall belief and faith. So have confidence in the fear of God. Your fear of God means you recognize true wisdom. The wisdom that comes down from above. The fear of God looks still the cross and has hope. Jesus Christ takes on the wrath of God for our sins. He pays the price we owe. So fear God and know that your suffering is not in vain, but your suffering recalls Christ's suffering for your justification.