Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

Today, Job wraps up his response from Elavaz's third speech. In Chapter 24, Job continues to point out that good things happen to the wicked, and also add that bad things happen to the righteous. Surely you've seen this too. When I first read this response from Job, it sounded more like a complaint, like he was kind of whining about it. But the more I look at it, the more it sounds like he is consoling himself with these details,

reminding himself that his trials don't negate his status as a righteous man before God,

while also trying to convince his friends as well.

Joe points out some really important stuff here.

We can kind of see that if you follow his friend's beliefs to their logical conclusion,

you'd be likely to conclude that all those who are healthy and wealthy are living righteous

lives, and that those who are poor, sick, and needy are in that situation because of their

sin. There's no shortage of people who even subscribe to this kind of theology today. One of the

dangers of this is that

any time there's a disaster, a fire or a flood or a terrorist attack, some very public religious

people will say it's God's judgment, as if they know the mind of God. They're guilty of the same

reductionism that Job's friends are. In Job's story, we're even given a glimpse into

God's motives because they're recorded in Scripture. But in everyday 21st century life, we don't

have access to that information. We would be wise not to jump to conclusions about why

hurricanes and mass murders happen when and where they do. After Job's speech, Bildad pushes back,

saying that not only is Job unrighteous, but that it's impossible for a man to be righteous at all.

And while there's some truth to this that we can't be perfect, we can be declared righteous by God,

despite our actions, because of the finished work of Christ.

In scripture, righteousness is often used as a kind of legal term, more of a decision

and a declaration by the judge than some accumulated overview of our actions.

For every one of us who is adopted into God's family, God the judge has declared us righteous,

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