" ... On Earth As In Heaven"

This is Part 12 of a 12-Part Series on Grief, Trauma, and Mental Health

Disclaimer: I have no training or background in the field of mental health. The thoughts expressed in this series should, in no way, be taken as professional mental health advice or a substitute for it; they are merely observations and insights that I have gleaned from reading, studying, and praying about these passages in scripture.

There is disagreement as to when the Book of Job was written, but many religious scholars would place it at somewhere around 2000 years BC/BCE (roughly 4000 years ago), possibly even before the Book of Genesis. And as I was preparing to write this series, a couple of verses stood out to me which I had never really noticed before.

In Chapter 3, as Job is expressing feelings of hopelessness - that heaven would be so much better than his life on earth - he is describing heaven, and he states, "Rich and poor are both there, and the slave is free from his master." - Job 3:19

Later, in Chapter 31, as he is defending himself against his friend's accusations of sin, he states, "If I have been unfair to my male or female servants when they brought their complaints to me, how could I face God? What could I say when He questioned me? For God created both me and my servants. He created us both in the womb." - Job 31:13-15

One of the earliest known books of scripture - written 2-4000 years ago - affirms the fact that God created everyone equally; that, in His eyes, He does not distinguish between rich and poor, male and female, slave and master, employer and employee.

The apostle Paul affirms this in the New Testament in Galatians 3:28, adding race and religious upbringing into the mix:

"There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

If you are a Christian, one of the basic tenets of the Christian faith is that God created everyone equally; He does not "play favorites"! And neither should we!

According to Dictionary.com, Egalitarian means:

"asserting, resulting from, or characterized by belief in the equality of all people, especially in political, economic, or social life."

Job had lived the first half of his life in somewhat of a "bubble"; God had put a hedge of protection around Job and his family, and, as a result, Job had benefitted from a lot of tangible and supernatural privileges. Job and his friends had clearly lived in a socio-economic bubble, but probably a religious/spiritual bubble, and possibly even a racial or political bubble as well. They had benefitted from economic privilege, racial/social privilege, and gender privilege. But in spite of the bubble, Job acknowledged that God did not see things the way the world did; that, in God's eyes, there was no difference between himself and his male or female servants, and he acknowledged that God would hold him accountable if he did not treat everyone fairly. In fact, even if and when he had the opportunity to take advantage of his privilege or status, he didn't exploit it or abuse it (Job 31:21-22).

But, in the process of refining, when we are being tested in the fire, the impurities can rise to the surface. In a moment of grief, when Job is arguably at one of the lowest and most vulnerable points in his life, during an argument with his wife, he says, "You are talking like a foolish woman, ... " (Job 2:9-10). It is unclear whether or not this was said in a derogatory way, and what his wife was suggesting at that moment was foolish; remember, while Job was staying faithful to God in spite of their circumstances, his wife was suggesting he turn away from God. But Job didn't say, "That's foolishness!" ... He said, "You are talking like a foolish woman".

I could be wrong, but my guess is that, in a moment of weakness, an "impurity" of Job's came to the surface ... and The Great Refiner "skimmed it off".

You see, at the very end of Job, after Job's grief, suffering, loss, encounter with God (which humbled him greatly), and restoration, there is a significant difference between the references to Job's children prior to his losses, and the references to Job's children after his losses.

"He named his first daughter Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. In all the land no women were as lovely as the daughters of Job. And their father put them into his will along with their brothers." - Job 42:14-15

This is very significant for several reasons. The first is that none of Job's sons are ever mentioned by name - either before or after his losses, and the daughters he had prior to his losses were not mentioned by name either. But the daughters he had after his testing and refining were mentioned by name. Many times, in Old Testament scripture, people - but especially women - were not mentioned by name unless they were, in some way, significant to the plot.

But what's really even more significant here is that, after his testing and refining, Job included his daughters in his will; they inherited a portion of his wealth, and were treated equally to his sons! This was certainly not the cultural norm at the time, and the only reason for this verse to be mentioned in scripture - especially in the concluding chapter - is if this were a significant change or if the Author wanted to make a point of it.

One type of privilege people are just beginning to talk about is "pretty privilege". There is a tendency for people to hold implicit bias when it comes to outward appearance, for both men and women. This is acknowledged throughout the Bible in both the Old and New Testament. However, what is also acknowledged throughout both the Old and New Testament is that God doesn't play favorites where that is concerned either. He loves choosing people who "do not look the part"! For example, when choosing a King to succeed King Saul, the prophet Samuel " ... took one look at Eliab and thought, 'Surely this is the Lord's anointed!" (1 Samuel 16:6). "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (I Samuel 16:7)

Traditionally, religious scholars have surmised that Job included his daughters in his will because of their beauty, and that's certainly a possibility. But that would mean that, unlike God, Job was still showing favoritism, and the Author could have just said, "Job's daughters were beautiful, so he put them in his will." But instead, the Author calls them by name, He remarks on their beauty, and He includes them in Job's will. God makes it clear that Job was a righteous man with the highest standards of integrity, so, personally, I believe after being refined by fire and having a personal encounter with God, he saw his daughters in a different light, both in terms of their inner value and worth, as well as their outer "beauty". I think Job saw them through God's eyes. But regardless of Job's heart and motivation, I think God had a point to make.

Job had always treated women well before his losses. But there is a difference between treating women well, or even fairly, and treating them equally. And God had Job put his money where his mouth was!

Shifting the inheritance meant that Job's 7 sons, who were probably expecting 1/7th of Job's money and property, had to share it with their sisters, possibly receiving only 1/10th of Job's estate instead. It meant relinquishing some of the male privilege that they had become accustomed to - which they may have even thought and believed they were entitled to. That may have seemed "unfair" to them; after all, according to the culture at the time, other men didn't have to share their inheritance with their sisters. They may have had a million reasons, rationalizations, and justifications for why the male privilege was "fair" ("Women don't have to support a family", etc.). But the Truth is, the male privilege which they had become accustomed to is what was not fair because it had come at the expense of the women.

According to dictionary.com, Implicit bias is:

"Bias that results from the tendency to process information based on unconscious associations and feelings, even when these are contrary to one's conscious or declared beliefs."

I think it's important to reiterate that Job had not "sinned" in any way; God repeatedly called him "righteous" ("characterized by uprightness or morality; acting in an upright, virtuous, moral way."). But that doesn't mean he was perfect. If my speculation is correct and Job had an implicit bias regarding women that God wanted to remove, it would appear that God did not consider that "sin". I think that's because implicit bias is, by definition, unconscious. It is not something we are consciously aware that we are doing. Everyone has implicit biases! It is just a matter of which ones we have! But while God may not consider them "sin", He will still want to remove them so that we become progressively more and more like Him.

If you can, for a moment, remove any political biases towards these words, I think you would have to agree that, by nature, God is "progressive": "favoring or advocating progress, change, improvement, or reform, as opposed to wishing to maintain things as they are ... ".

God wasn't expecting perfection from Job, but He was expecting progress: "Progress, not perfection"! And that, My Friends, is Good News!

When Jesus instructed us how to pray in the prayer which has come to be known as the "Our Father", He instructed us to pray for God's will to be done "on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:9-13). Scripture is clear - beginning with one of the earliest books to be recorded - that God does not show favoritism and that heaven is marked by equality, so our desire and prayer should be for fairness and equality "on earth as it is in heaven".

© I Lift My Voice, 2023