Daily Devotions
10/20/26 Job 6,7,8; Acts 12 Overall orientation Job 6–8 and Acts 12 both confront the problem of innocent or faithful people suffering under God’s providence. Yet they do so in sharply different literary modes. Job 6–8 is an unresolved wisdom dialogue , in which Job laments and Bildad defends a simple doctrine of retribution. Acts 12 is a providential narrative , in which persecution, prayer, deliverance, judgment, and the continuing advance of God’s word are narrated together. Shared themes Both passages present suffering as something that cannot be explained merely by observing outward circumstances. Job insists that his suffering is extraordinarily weighty, describing it as heavier than the sand of the sea. He attributes his agony to the “arrows of the Almighty,” longs for death, and asks why God continually watches and afflicts him. ( Job 6:2–4 ; 7:7–11 ) The commentaries emphasize that Job is not confessing some hidden major sin; he is protesting that his suffering does no...