Job: When Life Doesn't Make Sense--God

As with many books of Scripture, the most fascinating and important character is not the one the book is named after (in this case, Job) but rather the mysterious and hidden God who works through the other characters. As previously mentioned, the driving question of this book is posed by the Satan in 1:9-11. Much of Job’s story is about testing this hypothesis that people will only serve God for selfish reasons. However, there is another test being conducted…Job’s test of God.

Throughout this book, we’re forced to wrestle with theodicy (this is just a word that means, “If God is (1) all powerful; and (2) all loving; then why is there so much unjust suffering in the world?) Job wishes to put God to the test and demands answer for why this has come upon him. The counselors—fearful of having God put to the test—turn the situation back on Job and examine him. They pronounce Job to be responsible for all of his own sufferings and God to be blameless. Often, when people question why God allows terrible things to happen, we fall back into responses like those of the counselors (e.g., God didn’t really do it…He didn’t want it to happen…etc.) While those things may be true, they don’t evade the central problem that if God is, in fact, all powerful (and we believe He is) then He could stop evil. He could at least, stop little children from being molested (for example).

There is no easy way to solve the problem of theodicy. That’s another of the main points of Job. In fact, we cannot solve the problem at all. As Job learns, all we can do is have faith in God that despite the seeming victory of evil, in the end His will is being worked for all Creation…and that it is a gracious will. We can have no guarantee. We can have no binding legal contract with God for, as Job says, “Who can bring the Almighty to court?” In the end, the only assurance we can have that God will be there for us is His own word that He will be so. That’s just going to have to be good enough…because that’s all there is.

You will note, that Job never receives answer to the question, “Why did this happen to me.” What he receives, instead, is a visit and a vindication from God. The thing that Job needed most was not an answer…but his God. At times in life, we come to the place where words and explanations and rationality are useless. They have done all they can. At those times, there is nothing left to lean on except faith and one’s experience of fellowship with God.

The end of the dialogue [in chapter 28] teaches that people cannot find wisdom, whose dwelling place is known only to God, [except] in the fear of God; thus, this hymn judges the counsel of the comforters as lacking in wisdom…In the epilogue God will confirm this…by saying that the three friends have not spoken about Him rightly. (42:7-9)

Job also knows that in court he must have a witness to testify on his behalf, a witness more credible than the condemning testimony of his body. At this point, Job’s faith in God rises above his experience of suffering leading him to declare that God is his Witness (16:19), even his Redeemer (19:25-7), Whose testimony will vindicate him. Still, his pain terrorizes him and his dread is compounded by God’s silence. Finally, his confidence in his own innocence and God’s justice drives him to take a desperate course that will force God to act: He swears an avowal of innocence (chs. 29-31). Now God must answer him; for God to remain silent would be to concede Job’s claim to innocence.

Addressing Job, God affirms that He has structured the world exactly according to His blueprints (38:4-8). With this metaphor He claims that He has built justice into the structure of the universe. Moreover, God asserts that no corner of the world is outside His authority (38:16-24), thereby refuting any theory that injustice and suffering exist because God is in a struggle with a strong foe…God brings Job to realize that no human being has a proper perspective to judge the course of matters in the universe, let alone to accuse God of acting unjustly. The foundation of God’s argument in His speeches is that power and wisdom (justice) are one in the Supreme Ruler of the universe.

Awed by God’s majesty and overwhelmed that God in grace reasons with him, Job surrenders his complaint against God, realizing that a person must surrender even his rights to God because God is Lord. In yielding himself to God Job reveals beyond any doubt that he serves God out of love, not for material gain or prestige…In praise of God Job confesses, “I had heard You with my ears, but now my eyes have seen You.” (42:5). Clearly the author finds the profoundest personal answer to undeserved suffering to reside in the divine-human encounter. That God both appears to Job and speaks with him means that Job’s encounter is more than a mystical experience with a numinous force; it is a meeting with the personal God. God’s presence authenticates Job, drawing him out of his self-love to focus his affection on God. Job gladly abandons the complaints against God, conscious of the fact that he can trust God in His grace to accomplish that which is worthwhile from his undeserved suffering.
--[John E. Hartley, The Book of Job (NICOT series), (Eerdmans, 1998), 44-5, 49-50]

Job: When Life Doesn't Make Sense--the counselors

In our first lesson we looked at the person of Job. The second lesson focused on the role of the satan in this story. Today, we’ll consider the group of characters who are sometimes called Job’s “friends,” “comforters,” or “counselors.”

What kind of guys are they?
How do they try to help/guide Job?

You…have given no help. You have seen my calamity, and you are afraid. – Job 6:21

Why would Job tell his “counselors” that they were afraid? What were they afraid of?

If only you could be silent! That’s the wisest thing you could do. Listen to my charge; pay attention to my arguments. Are you defending God with lies? Do you make your dishonest arguments for His sake? Will you slant your testimony in His favor? Will you argue God’s case for Him? What will happen when He finds out what you are doing? -- Job 13:5-9

Job says that the counselors are defending God “with lies”? What were those lies?

What are some ways that people today try to defend God with lies and dishonest arguments? How do they rationalize their behavior?

Since they place their system of belief above their compassion for their troubled friend, their exhortations to repentance become a temptation by encouraging Job to seek God for reward, not for God Himself.

Because of their rigid understanding of [the doctrine that the righteous are always blessed and the wicked are always punished, the “counselors”] can only explain Job’s suffering as the result of some sin that he has committed. Then the only solution they can offer to him is the way of repentance. Because they encourage Job to repent primarily to escape his suffering and to receive God’s blessing, they unsuspectingly tempt him to use God for personal gain, the essence of sin. Therefore, if Job followed their counsel, he would confirm the Satan’s proposition that human beings are totally self-serving in their worship of God. [John Hartley, The Book of Job, NICOT series, (Eerdmans, 1988), 44, 48-9]

Job: When Life Doesn't Make Sense--the satan

Review
What is the main point of Job?
What did we learn about the man, Job last week?

Where does the Satan first appear in the story of Job?
Does his presence in the heavenly assembly seem odd to you?

Every time Satan is mentioned in the book of Job, he is referred to literally in Hebrew as “the satan.” In other words, the term appears in Job more as a title than a personal name.

What significance (if any) do you think there might be in the author of Job calling this character “the satan.”

The word “satan” is employed in two ways in the OT.
1. On the one hand, it describes the activity of a political foe bent on overthrowing the king (2 Sam. 19:22; 1 Kings 11:14, 23, 25)
2. On the other hand, it refers to one who, like a prosecuting attorney, brings charges against another in court (Ps. 109:6, Zech. 3:1-2). Many scholars have taken this lead and posited that this figure was patterned after the court life of a large empire…[Some see this as imagery drawn from the Persian emperor’s use of] secret servants who toured the realm at random to discern the allegiance and behavior of the people and especially of various officials.

Some scholars conjecture that the Satan may be the prosecuting attorney of the heavenly council. If this view is correct, his task on earth was to discover human sins and failures and to bring his findings before the heavenly assembly.

What do you think? Does “the satan” seem more like (1) a servant performing a job assigned to him, or (2) the enemy of God as portrayed in the New Testament? Is there any way to reconcile these views?

Even if one buys into the notion that “the satan” was performing a role given him by God, his behavior in the text seems already to be exceeding his legitimate authority. Instead of uncovering disruptive plans, he acts as a troublemaker, a disturber of the kingdom. He…doubted what God affirmed [i.e., that Job was a good and honest man who served God with integrity] and sternly resisted persuasion to a different viewpoint. In the second scene before [God] the Satan would not even debate the issue of Job’s integrity, but rather denied it in an impudent style by challenging God with verbs in the imperative.

In 1:11 we find the satan essentially arguing with God about Job’s integrity and his reasons for fearing God. The satan consistently asserts that no one fears God for nothing…that if God were ever to take back all the blessings he had given Job, the self-serving basis of Job’s loyalty would be revealed. Whereas Job continually feared that one of his children might have cursed God in his heart,(1:5) the satan projected that Job would become so angry he would curse God to his face. (1:11; 2:4)

If the satan was a servant of God, he was a rebellious and impudent one.

Conclusion:
The most important thing about the satan in the book of Job is not the character himself, but the question he raises. “Will a person serve God for nothing?” What about you? Are you willing to honor and worship God solely because He is God…to give your life for Him whether you get anything in return or not? While it’s probably true that most of us come to God out of self interest (i.e., we either don’t want to go to Hell, or we really want to go to Heaven) the story of Job reveals a better way…a godlier way…for us to live.

What about you, would you serve God for nothing?

Job: When Life Doesn't Make Sense--Job

I suspect you’ve all heard of Job before. What can you tell me about him?

As near as we can tell, the text of Job is perhaps the oldest book in the Bible. (Some believe it was the first Scripture ever given by God.) It follows the life of a non-Jewish man named Job. The book calls Job a “man from the East.” This has led some people to assume that he was an Edomite, a Persian, or perhaps an Arab. There’s really no way to know for sure. It is important, however, to realize that he wasn’t a Jew.

Why do you think this might be important?

There’s a reason we’re studying Job now. As you recall, we just finished our study of Proverbs. Proverbs formed one of the foundational guides for life that young Israelite men were given. Yet, Proverbs—for all its wisdom—is not the only book of the Bible. There are 65 others meant to complement or, in the case of Job, challenge what we learned from Proverbs. Perhaps the most fundamental challenge to Proverbs in all of Scripture is the book of Job.

Why do you suppose that is? What would be a point of fundamental difference between Job and Proverbs?

I would suggest to you that the key passage for understanding the book of Job is the challenge posed to God in 1:9-11

Job’s story begins with this statement: There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. (Job. 1:1-2) This sentiment is repeated twice more by God Himself (1:8 and 2:3)

Dwell on this comment a moment. Let it sink it. Could anyone say this about you? Could you say this about anyone you know? Have you even heard about someone like this (who isn’t already in the Bible)?

Job was apparently a devoted and caring father. He looked after their spiritual as well as their physical welfare. We’re told in 1:4-5 that: Job’s sons would take turns preparing feasts in their homes, and they would also invite their three sisters to celebrate with them. When these celebrations ended—sometimes after several days—Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, “Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

Integrity is something Job is known for. Twice God spoke of Job’s integrity (1:8 and 2:3). Eliphaz too initially tried to encourage Job to take heart because of his life of integrity (4:6)

What does the word “integrity” mean?
Job’s wife asked him if he really meant to retain his integrity in 2:8. What did she mean by this? What was Job doing (or not doing) that maintained his integrity?

Despite all of this, for much of the story, Job is basically suicidal. Consider the following passages:
· Let the day of my birth be erased, and the night that I was conceived… 3:3-26
· Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant my desire. I wish He would reach out His hand and kill me. 6:8-9
· O God, remember that my life is but a breath, and I will never again feel happiness…I hate my life and don’t want to go on living. Oh, leave me alone for my few remaining days. 7:7,16

In the final analysis, this is the Job we’re confronted with in Scripture:

Job, a man of great faith and flawless character, suffers deeply in every dimension of his existence—physical, social, spiritual, and emotional. These dimensions, to be sure, are intertwined in human experience and can be separated only for purposes of discussion. In the physical realm Job loses his vast wealth and all his children in a single day (1:13-14). In these events Job suffers from both the suddenness and the totality of his losses. A little later he is struck down by a dreaded disease (2:8-10). In the social dimension Job, the noblest elder of his community, is alienated from his family and friends as he sits in shame on an ash heap outside the city’s walls (2:7-8; 19:13-19). There the crowds, even the lowest rabble, scorn him as they make him the subject of their taunt songs (16:10; 30:1-15). Since even those who have come to console him turn against him, he feels the treachery of disloyal friends (6:14-23). Spiritually God’s silence terrifies Job (23:8, 9, 15). God’s apparent hostility leads him to imagine that God is a capricious despot, who delights in afflicting his servant (cf. 6:4; 7:17-19; 19:25). Troubled on all sides, Job feels the range of disturbed emotions: troubled thoughts (7:4, 13-14), uncertainty (9:20), rejection and hostility (10:3; 12:4), fear (9:28), dismay (21:6), loneliness (19:13-19), distaste for life (9:2), i.e., the lack of any sense of inner tranquility (3:26). John Hartley, The Book of Job (NICOT), (Eerdmans, 1988), 47-8.