For the past couple of weeks, we’ve been making our way through Job in our daily Bible reading.
Just reading the first couple of chapters makes one think of people who have suffered or reminds one of his own suffering. I’ve thought of numerous hospital visits and bedside prayers for people dying — children and elderly, friends and family, church members and vague acquaintances — all of them facing the imminence of death. I’ve thought of those who have lost possessions — through the destruction of fire, through accident, theft, and economic upheaval, through careless management, and through change of circumstance. I’ve thought of those who have faced a lifetime of physical impairment — how would they cope? I’ve thought of those who have lost relationships — through death, divorce, relocation, sin, and simply a gradual drifting away through time.
How will you navigate the waters of change that come in life? And how will you survive the trauma of turbulence and tragedy?
As the story of Job is considered and pondered, it is tempting to consider the whole thing as a “God-on-trial” query. One is tempted to think of the book as a discourse on theodicy — how can God be righteous in the face of evil? Yet the manner in which God answers the suppositions of Job, his three foolish friends, and Elihu, it gradually appears that the question isn’t about theodicy at all.
Philip Yancey has well noted that,
Job is not about the problem of pain at all. Details of suffering serve as the ingredients of the story, the stuff of which it is made, not the central theme. A cake is not ‘about’ eggs, flour, milk, and shortening. It merely uses those ingredients in the process of creating a cake. In the same way, Job is not ‘about’ suffering, but merely uses such ingredients in its overall theme. [“When the Facts Don’t Add Up”]
So what is the book of Job about? It is about God, but not about the righteousness of God. It is about the glory of God and the worship of God. The question of the book of Job answers is, “Why does a man worship God?” Does he worship God for convenience, or conscience, or simply as a good luck charm? Or does he worship God because He is God and is alone worthy of worship.
It is well worth noting the progress of the book: Satan asserts that the only reason that Job worshipped God was for all the blessings he received from God; take away the good things, Satan says, and Job will curse God (1:9-11; 2:3-5). All three of Job’s friends questioned him, as did Elihu, and Job responded, defending his righteousness. However, in chapters 38-42 God speaks, clarifying the debates. Author Roy Zuck points out,
Nothing was said about Job’s suffering; no discussion was included about the theology of evil; nor was even any extensive answer given to the brash charges the patriarch had made about the Sovereign’s injustices.…The purpose was clear: Job was put in his place before God; he was shown to be ignorant and impotent in contrast to the Sovereign’s wisdom and power.
In that sense, God answers Job the way Paul answers the similar inquiry about God’s sovereignty and justice over those who are saved — “On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?” (Rom. 9:20-21).
The important teaching in Job is not about the sufferings about the righteous. Rather, the primary focus is on why the righteous worship God: because He is sovereign and wise beyond even the greatest of men and men’s imaginations.
In light of that, what are some lessons we might learn from this book?
- When in a trial, the dominant question is not “why is God allowing this?” but “will I continue to worship Him and delight in Him? Will I continue to find satisfaction in Him above all things?”
- Our adversary is Satan; our defender is God. Don’t allow trials to confuse those truths in your mind (Rom. 8:33-34).
- Satan’s desire is to destroy our joy and faith in God; God’s purpose is to for us to find our joy in Him.
- God is in control. Satan can do to us only what God allows (1 Cor. 10:13).
- God does not change because our circumstances change. In times of our suffering, He is still a good God.
- When faced with a trial, examine your heart (to be sure trial isn’t result of sin).
- When in pain, don’t curse God, He may be permitting Satan access to our lives (Lk. 22:31-32) to demonstrate His sufficiency (2 Cor. 12:9).
- Remember that your trial is be for a supernatural purpose (Eph. 6:10) and for your conformity to Christ (Rom. 8:29).
Words of Grace 