returning vigor of their youth, responding to prayers, opening ways into His presence, to feast at the fountain overflowing with joy. Pleading for a mediator, does one not recognize the Helper in his visions? Begging for his torments to cease, does he not recognize innate processes for healing installed at his creation? And how do people put their recovery to use? They recount to others their salvation, praising God for restoration, each one proclaiming, I have sinned, perverting what was right and required of me, thanking God for redemption, exalting their soul, keeping them from descending into the pit, assured their redeemer lives, calling them to continue seeing the light of life, the face of God, never to encounter with their own wisdom, but to welcome the joy of being in His grace.
Job: I begin to see where I have failed, being ashamed to confess my sins, never exposing any humiliation to debase my standing.
Dumdum: The bitterness of sorrow need not be final; hope can be waiting to bring consoling joy, to recall souls from corruption, enlightening them with discernment, restoring them to the living, to realize those existing only for this world remain in darkness, while enlightened ones living in the light and shunning the world's darkness return to splendors of inward brightness. Job, if you have anything to say, answer me, speaking your case for truth, voicing desires to justify yourself. If you wish to say nothing further, listen to me, silently, giving me your attention, and I will enlighten you with wisdom, understanding beyond what you seek.
Reckoner: I have reached the limits of your wisdom, never wanting more to tolerate, trusting little more of yours can be useful, my common sense telling me to wait for a day when your wisdom grows to become as mine.
Dumdum: Is all your claiming to be wise? Hear my words, shuttling them within your mind, discerning what is best for Job, you who has sense, knowing God can never be blamed for wickedness, but repays us according to our deeds. We cannot support Job's request for a debate with God, because the rules of debating permit both sides to lie, committing perjury rather than speaking certainties, never trusting truth to win an argument, and believing God cannot lie, Job is left to debate with us, each side voicing arguments claimed to be true. We must consider if God truly repays us for our deeds, and how He determines what any payment should be.
Reckoner: God never condemns without reason, and he can punish as He chooses, afflicting us to suffer, deliberating mysteriously, usually in ways unknown to us, deciding how justice should be measured to satisfy retribution.
Dumdum: If God appears, coming to judge us for our deeds, leaving His comfort, rising from His throne, interrupting His day watching us pass time, disrupting His attention from watching His clock tick, reluctantly wanting to be disturbed, dirtying His righteousness to hand out retribution, it would seem unlikely He would delegate any power to one of His untrustworthy creatures, especially none for exacting justice, where no one can comprehend what's just for a blameless person.
Bystander: You know God's way better than your aged friends, self-sufficient in their wisdom, who think God knows little of Job's doing, requiring Him to recruit a roving reporter to be informed, as you distrust scribes describing God as a wimp, sending out a dubious messenger, empowered to report on lapses in His omniscience, neglecting knowings during His distractions, watching humans in their games, correcting His errors by authorizing a messenger to do His dirty work. I man up as He tells us all, obeying only Him, following all His commands, sending me only to foretell, emphasizing I am no more than His messenger, sent only to convey His commands, never to be empowered for determining punishment, exercising as Yahweh any needed retribution, protecting His prerogative to punish, claiming vengeance is Mine, for I discern all through the spirit He sends me.
Reckoner: Job chose to live by the world's spirit, and so he chooses to die by its spirit, suffering in worldly afflictions if so destined, for how else is one committed to leave? He has demonstrated arrogance in demanding to speak with God face-to-face, pridefully boasting of his convincing eloquence, convicted by someone's pronouncement he is blameless. Let him realize he is only dust and ashes waiting to happen, lingering for God to wield his fiery judgements, exercising the justice obligated to prevail.
Dumdum: Can you know the essence of God's justice? Is it our prevailing fear, proposing His justice must be like ours, dreading consequences for our deeds, assured He sees them all? Should He be one like us, hating judgement, detesting justice, ordained as the One to govern? Would you condemn Him who is righteous and mighty, the only one eternal? Can you judge the actions of One still working out His plans, knowing He has eternity to continue His designs, pausing occasionally to consider the pleas of His creation? Job is indeed in His plans as all His noble creatures professing to be blameless.
Bystander: Can God identify any person of having been better than blameless? Name one. He wants us to be greater, more than being upright, requiring someone's human judgment, asking it to mediate by His laws, to determine if we reach His standard, requirements for us to become righteous. Job's biographer did not tolerate honesty, prevailing for little truth to determine blamelessness, perhaps ignoring or ignorant of mandatory criteria for judging righteousness.
Dumdum: God has the power to govern and needs no assistance of others--who may be tempted by heartlessness to defy His goodness--after creating humans, fashioned in mercy and shepherded with His grace. He cares for Job as any other who may stray and become one of His lost sheep, using His power to give blessings, being greater than ones who are blessed to be blessings but leave them concealed by shame.
Reckoner: Job's vanity overflows, pridefully confident in God's decisions, trusting He will respond, hearing Job's invitation to reconsider his injustice. God must not ignore the poverty of Job's dedication to other people, taking license to ignore their needs, condoning his actions as common for upright humans. Never by righteousness was he authorized to name it and claim it, yet look how the Lord blessed him with wealth coveted by worldly people, blessing the blameless without requiring them to be righteous. God's prerogative is to bless who He wishes; seeing no one worthy He must chose some from them to further His kingdom.
Dumdum: You can name many who admire blameless ones, testifying to their virtues, never embarrassed by their lack of righteousness, chaffing to be by their side, eager
to learn at their feet, but how many are never truly righteous, enough to be ridiculed, eagerly dishonored by other blameless ones, humiliated by token attempts of human wisdom, never with convincing arguments, reasoning feebly to demolish their faith, trying to destroy faithfully correct convictions, binding their belonging to the Lord? Few have trusted messages of God's prophets, killing those He has sent, believing the same fate for all He is planning on sending. Beware all those who never agree to become victims for proclaiming eternal truths, trusting it is safer to be blameless than a righteous one expected to die for virtuous convictions, realizing if Job were chosen to be righteous, he would not be the center of our discussions, having gone long ago, suffering the fate of martyrdom. Could he choose to be worse than he is now, electing at this late date to become righteous.
Reckoner: You ask of him an impossible task, embarrassing him by becoming an imaginary person, for we know that no can claim to be righteous, no not one!
Dumdum: We can patiently wait for Job to confess, telling God, I have borne chastisement; I will never offend any more; teach me what I do not see; if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more; but will Job truly cover himself with humility, speaking words to destroy his pride, expecting his circumstances to change? Or would he speak without conviction, never acknowledging wiser counsel, revealing his ignorance, devoid of insight, trying him to the end, leaving him answering like one wicked, adding rebellion to his sin, multiplying words against God, admonishing anyone calling him less than upright?
Reckoner: Job believes his arguments are appropriate, exercising his right to call on the Lord, asking God to be fair and justify His goodness, thinking he will be victorious, vindicating his b
lamelessness, believing he was afflicted with suffering for some unmerited reason, sent to wash away wrongly calculated sins, concluding he shouldn't be faulted for never being better than blameless, remembering the evil one's words, never admitting blame with words to God, You moved me against him, to afflict him without cause. Could this evil one know of Job's past deeds to judge he was privy to the exactness of truth? Was this wicked one all-knowing as God, having knowledge where a blameless one falls short of being righteous, revealing iniquities deserving judgment?
Dumdum: Can a prophet know more than God, concocting his own messages to judge people of sins, assuming he must take control when God doesn't seem to know what His people are doing? A prophet can rightly tell us no one is righteous, getting this truth only from the Lord, for who else can judge us for our sins.
Reckoner: Job knew he was less than righteous because a righteous one would have no need to call on God, begging to be heard, confident in being right with God's eternal truths, trusting in