Job and suffering
Some of the books in the Bible are designated as “Wisdom literature”. The most obvious book with that designation is the book of Proverbs. Proverbs is a book that gives general guidance about living life. The advice that’s given draws from observation of cause and effect. For example, Proverbs 10:4 says,
“A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.”
Generally, that is true. If you work hard, you are more likely to be financially prosperous.
The prophets will often talk about God’s protection for those who are obedient to the commands of God, and disaster for those who are disobedient to God’s Law. For example, in Deuteronomy 28 we read,
The prophets will often talk about God’s protection for those who are obedient to the commands of God, and disaster for those who are disobedient to God’s Law. For example, in Deuteronomy 28 we read,
“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth” (28:1).
“However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you” (28:15).
Verses like these paint a pretty clear picture. But we all know that this isn’t always how life goes. There are people who are very hard working who don’t end up being wealthy. There are people who are very faithful who endure great tragedy. … And there are parts of the Bible that recognize this reality as well.
So, within the Bible we see a kind of conversation. We hear a voice saying, “Do good and good will happen to you; Do bad and bad will happen to you”. But we also hear a voice that recognizes that sometimes those who do good have bad happen to them, and sometimes those who do bad have good happen to them.
Verses like these paint a pretty clear picture. But we all know that this isn’t always how life goes. There are people who are very hard working who don’t end up being wealthy. There are people who are very faithful who endure great tragedy. … And there are parts of the Bible that recognize this reality as well.
So, within the Bible we see a kind of conversation. We hear a voice saying, “Do good and good will happen to you; Do bad and bad will happen to you”. But we also hear a voice that recognizes that sometimes those who do good have bad happen to them, and sometimes those who do bad have good happen to them.
The book of Job is a part of this conversation. The book is probably something like a parable. It is a story told to help us reflect on this dilemma of being good and having bad happen to us. It complicates the simplistic idea that if you are good, then you will have good happen to you.
Like a parable, to understand it, you have to consider the story as a whole. … The story goes like this. Job is morally good and very prosperous. He’s about as good as a human being can get. He lived in a big house, on lots of land, with a big family, and has many possessions. Job loves God, and turns away from evil.
God has richly blessed Job with family and property. God even brags about Job to the Satan, which means “the accuser” or the “adversary”. He is sort of a court prosecutor that seems to collect evidence against human beings.
Satan looks at Job and tells God, “Yes, he’s good, but what happens if you take away his blessings? He’s only good because you keep rewarding him for it. What happens when you take away these rewards for being good? Do you think he would still be good? I doubt it. In fact, I think he would curse you right to your face.”
This is Satan’s question for God, “How do you know Job really loves You? Maybe he just loves the rewards you give him? Would Job still be good without the rewards?”
Many children are taught to do the right thing through rewards and punishments. But there is a point in their moral maturity when we trust they will choose to do the right thing without the rewards or punishments. … God trusts that Job will still be good without being rewarded for it. … So, in this parable, Job becomes a kind of test case. What will Job do when his rewards for being good are taken away.
God allows Satan to take away Job’s rewards. And there is an awful, horrible catastrophe that not only destroys his possessions, but his children as well. Next, Job is inflicted with painful sores all over his body.
Job has no clue why any of this has happened. It doesn’t make any sense to him. … Suffering that makes sense is easier. Suffering as a consequence of a dumb decision is easier to handle than suffering that doesn’t make any sense. The suffering of labour that delivers a baby is easier than suffering that doesn’t make sense. Job wants his suffering to make sense.
Job stands as a representative of humanity and is tested without knowing it- Can a human being love God without being rewarded? Can a human being do what is right when there is no personal benefit? … The test has begun.
Job’s friends sit with him in mourning for seven days without saying anything, but then they try to help him understand what is happening. … If this doesn’t make sense, then it is troublesome to them too. They want to make sense of this. They cannot believe that God would allow this to happen without a very good reason. So they start doing theology. …
So, one suggestion is that Job has some awful secret sin that he is being punished for. … But, we know that this is not the case with Job. Job knows that he doesn’t have some heinous sin buried in his life that would account for what has happened to him. And the accusation only adds to the weight of his suffering.
Every one of us can relate to Job at some point in our life. We endure some kind of tragedy, or illness, or we lose a loved one, and we ask why? We try to make sense of it.
Maybe we try to find a natural way for it to make sense. Am I sick as a consequence of an incompetent health care practitioner? Should I have been more careful with what I ate? Was there a contaminant in my water, or in the air? Should I have taken better care of my body?
Sometimes we look for a spiritual reason behind our suffering. Did I do something wrong? Is God punishing me for something? Did I not pray enough? Is this suffering the consequence of someone else’s sin? … We try to see the reason for our suffering. We want it to make sense.
The book of Job complicates the simplistic thinking that if I do good, then good will happen to me by holding the tension between two questions.
On the one hand, we have Satan’s question, “Can people love God without being showered with rewards for their good behaviour?” Satan is saying people will only love God and be good if there is a reward. Without rewards of property and family, and good health, people will not love God and do good.
On the other hand, we hear Job’s question- “Is it right for God to let people suffer who love him, and who do good?” How can God, who is good and all-powerful, watch one of his children who loves Him, suffer and not do something about it?
The book of Job rests in this tension. It is never really resolved. It rests in a mystery. But, out of that mystery comes a response. … As we endure through this undeserved suffering, how do we speak about God? How do we speak to God?
Throughout the book, Job expresses his anger to God. He expresses his questions and demands answers, but he never curses God. He never turns his back on God. In fact, he’s the only human in the book who speaks directly to God.
The friends theologize and try to find a way to make Job’s suffering make sense, but Job brings his pain to God. He brings his confusion to God. He maintains his gaze on God in the midst of his suffering.
In response to Job’s demands for an explanation from God, God shows up in a whirlwind. And God questions Job about the mysteries of creation. Job is dumbstruck. Job has a mystical encounter with God. Previously, he had heard of God, but now he sees God. And in seeing God, Job is transformed, but he is also left speechless. His time for crying out in anger at God has ended when he encounters his Creator. He realizes how much he doesn’t understand, and can only respond with silence.
God then speaks to Job’s friends- the friends who were defending God, saying that Job must have done something to deserve this because God wouldn’t do this for no reason,
“My wrath is kindled against you … ; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”
God then tells the friends to ask Job to pray for them. Job prays for his friends, and God blesses Job once again with family and doubles the wealth he had before.
No answer is given to Job. The reason for his suffering is never given. We will find no easy explanations for our sufferings in this book. What we will find is words to speak to God in our suffering. … The friends who attempt to give an explanation for Job’s suffering are in the wrong. Job’s crying out to God in anger and pain is what God accepts.
The ending of Job is not a happily ever after. But, it is an ending. It is not a naïve return to the beginning of the book. It is about going through the suffering and coming out the other side after wrestling with God. In Job’s life suffering did not have the last word.
This story, this parable, is a response to the Proverbs and the prophets that declare that if you do right then good will happen to you. … It is not always the way things go. … And when we find ourselves suffering for no obvious reason, we have Job as our companion.
And in Job, we can see a reflection of Christ. His suffering was not as simple as ‘if you do good, good will happen to you. If you do bad, then bad will happen to you”. In his suffering, there was something happening that no one could comprehend. Christ was building something out of that suffering.
God has not abandoned us in our suffering. In Christ, He has joined us in our suffering. God does not sit off in the distance watching us suffer. He joins us in the dust and ashes. But he will not leave us there. God will not let suffering have the last word in God’s good creation. Jesus will be with us. He will descend into the grave with us, and he will rise with us. Jesus sits with us in our pain and suffering, but he is there to guide us out of our suffering as well. Life does not end with a cross. The cross will lead to resurrection and life that does not end. Jesus says in the Gospel of John, “in this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” AMEN
No answer is given to Job. The reason for his suffering is never given. We will find no easy explanations for our sufferings in this book. What we will find is words to speak to God in our suffering. … The friends who attempt to give an explanation for Job’s suffering are in the wrong. Job’s crying out to God in anger and pain is what God accepts.
The ending of Job is not a happily ever after. But, it is an ending. It is not a naïve return to the beginning of the book. It is about going through the suffering and coming out the other side after wrestling with God. In Job’s life suffering did not have the last word.
This story, this parable, is a response to the Proverbs and the prophets that declare that if you do right then good will happen to you. … It is not always the way things go. … And when we find ourselves suffering for no obvious reason, we have Job as our companion.
And in Job, we can see a reflection of Christ. His suffering was not as simple as ‘if you do good, good will happen to you. If you do bad, then bad will happen to you”. In his suffering, there was something happening that no one could comprehend. Christ was building something out of that suffering.
God has not abandoned us in our suffering. In Christ, He has joined us in our suffering. God does not sit off in the distance watching us suffer. He joins us in the dust and ashes. But he will not leave us there. God will not let suffering have the last word in God’s good creation. Jesus will be with us. He will descend into the grave with us, and he will rise with us. Jesus sits with us in our pain and suffering, but he is there to guide us out of our suffering as well. Life does not end with a cross. The cross will lead to resurrection and life that does not end. Jesus says in the Gospel of John, “in this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” AMEN
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