Forget the Fig Leaf, Gird Yourself Like a Man

Of all the people in history that might have had a reason to complain, I would have given Job the benefit of the doubt. Adam, not so much:

Lone survivors tell of "fire from heaven,... raiding parties, ... [and] a mighty wind from the desert" that destroy everything dear to him.  Job losses his family and everything he owns. His progeny and their inheritance, his portion of Abraham's covenant with God, gone. His outer safety net of relationships go with it.

At the loss of everything he owns Job "did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing" and, after the loss of his health, Job "did not sin in what he said."

Then, his friends begin to eerily echo the words of the serpent in Genesis:

[Eliphaz speaks-]

A spirit glided past my face,
    and the hair on my body stood on end.

It stopped,
    but I could not tell what it was.
A form stood before my eyes,
    and I heard a hushed voice:[...]

'If God places no trust in his servants,
    if he charges his angels with error[...]

Are not the cords of their tent pulled up,
    so that they die without wisdom?’

At that, a closer ring of relationships are broken. 

Later, after he's afflicted with every milady except death, his own wife encourages him to "curse God and die." Now, all of his most intimate relationships have been severed, and he begins to question God, asks many of the deep questions of life, and even curses the day of his birth: 

“Why is light given to those in misery,
    and life to the bitter of soul,

to those who long for death that does not come,
    who search for it more than for hidden treasure,

who are filled with gladness
    and rejoice when they reach the grave?" 

I imagine that, in his grief and lack of anyone to confide in, he does the only thing he can. He yells at God, the only one left. As the textbook definition of rock bottom, I'm sure the silence and isolation Job feels is deafening. As a nurse, I've seen people who have suffered less and still Job's question has come to my mind on occasion.

Still, unlike when God spoke to Elijah in the gentle whisper, after all that Job has endured, God appears forceful in his answer and, like his questioning of Adam and Eve, gets to the heart of the issue like a knife.

 

Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:

“Brace yourself like a man;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me"

In so doing, God seeks to right the first and most important relationship in anyone's life, that of God and his individual creation. He doesn't mince words, he doesn't dilute or diminish it by asking the hearer (Job) to turn or cover his face. He even warns Job that He's going to tell him how-it-is and then force an accounting, an answer, no choice, no hiding in the garden of Eden.

[Then Adam (guarded by a fig leaf) replied to the Lord:]

“I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid. [...] The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 

In God's mercy, Job refuses to blame his wife and answers God with none of Adam's excuses and denials:

Then Job replied to the Lord:

“I know that you can do all things;
    no purpose of yours can be thwarted.[...]

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me to know.[...]

My ears had heard of you
    but now my eyes have seen you.

Therefore I despise myself
    and repent in dust and ashes.”

With Job's personal relationship with God back in order, God begins to move in the background and right Job's outer relational-rings: 

[God  speaks to Eliphaz]

 “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has... My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly.”

To Eliphaz's credit, he obeys God, rights his relationship with the Almighty, stops conveying the message of the shadowy figure, and then asks for Job's prayer... and Job consents.

"After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before."

In this instance, Job's restoration appears to hinge on Eliphaz's personal obedience and Job's blind acceptance of his friends' public offering of regret. Does the idea that someone else's restoration may be riding on your obedience make you uncomfortable? I think it's meant to.

Next time you sin toward someone (even if well or unintentioned), don't hide behind the fig-leaf and wait for God to come calling for you. Gird yourself like a man. Obey and ask for forgiveness like Eliphaz; don't give excuses like Adam.

If anyone asks you for forgiveness, man up like Job (I doubt you have it worse), and extend obedient forgiveness. Don't point fingers, like Adam, at the very relationships and circumstances that you have been blessed with.

It is also worth noting that Job never gets his first children back; he still has to deal with his grief and real hurt, but he does so with the confidence that his relationships have now been righted and confirmed.

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
    and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
    may the name of the Lord be praised.”

All the rest flows from that.