The biblical book of Job was distressing to read. Had it been a movie, I would have skipped it as I do not like sad stories. Life is tough already, so comedy and romance are my preferred cinematic fare.
As told in the Bible, the story of Job is about a man who loses everything in a series of back-to-back misfortunes. His wealth is plundered by thieves within hours, and all his children are killed when the home they are in collapses. Days later, Job is stricken by a chronic and painful ailment.
Job’s misfortunes arise from a series of conversations between God and Satan. God boasts about Job’s faithfulness while Satan insists it is only because God has blessed him. To test that theory, God permits Satan to strip Job of everything that he has, save his life (and wife).
To an onlooker, Job appears cursed by God. His wife tells him to blaspheme the Most High and then die because there’s nothing left to live for. (Probably dealing with her own trauma from losing her children.)
But what fascinates me about the scripture is, it doesn’t paint a simplistic view of good and evil. Rather, it showcases the internal conflict people face when “good” folks suffer and “bad” ones win. It zeroes in on how we can lose faith in God, and struggle to accept he is just in the midst of great pain.
In this article, I will share my learnings from the Book of Job.
Three Friends
Job’s three friends – Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar – mourned with him silently for seven days. Nowadays, we scarcely honor grief with the same type of respect. There is an ache that cannot be met with empty platitudes. It is too heavy and so demands silence.
But, Job’s friends seem to have had a limited worldview. Life was black and white to them, and so, the only logical reason they could adduce for Job’s troubles is that he had sinned. You then see the confusion and accusation that follow from this ideology.
If you’ve ever experienced misfortune, your friends may have mouthed the same things as Job’s friends:
Eliphaz: Disaster does not plague the innocent. So, you must have done something to deserve this. It’s your fault. You are presumptuous in proclaiming your innocence, as no one is blameless before God. For this calamity to have happened, you did something evil and you got your wealth through ill means.
Bildad: If you are a man of integrity, plead your case and God will restore you sooner than you think. This event is just a trial to test your faith.
Zophar: You’re in this mess because God is punishing you.
Green Horn of Envy
In reading Job, I struggled to understand where his friends’ bile was coming from, and eventually settled on envy. For instance, they proposed that he lent money to a friend; demanding unfair collateral. But since they are his closest friends, who among them borrowed from Job, without them being aware of it?
They’ve also known Job for years. Could he have been so spectacularly wicked without them noticing?
While grasping for a “logical” explanation, they became illogical, and their envy shined through. They barely disguised their schadenfreude.
A Younger Voice Speaks
What the elders could not explain, a younger person, Elihu, attempted to interpret.
In Elihu’s opinion, evil visited Job because God was trying to get his attention. He became angry that Job was refusing to admit that he had sinned, or that God was right to punish him. Elihu was also annoyed at Job’s three friends, because they did not properly defend God by countering Job’s arguments.
Thus, Elihu reminds me of the self-righteous who cannot countenance the thought of God doing anything outside of their religious frameworks. They blame people for what they cannot explain. Here are Elihu’s self-assured proclamations:
“Everyone knows that God doesn’t sin!
The Almighty can do no wrong.
He repays people according to their deeds.
He treats people as they deserve.
Truly, God will not do wrong.
The Almighty will not twist justice.”
Job 34:10-12 NLT
In short, as God can never be wrong, Job was to blame for his misfortunes.
Monochromatic Life
Perhaps, the main issue for Job’s friends was they had no existing context for the current state of affairs. There was no framework to understand it with.
The friends had not been present during God’s first conversation with Satan. They were not privy to the full picture or plan and only had the “facts” they could see. Like many people, they judged Job by his outward appearance.
In their estimation, Job was embroiled in sin and so, had been punished. Or maybe he had generational curses in his ancestry. If not, then God was unjust to afflict him, and that was not something they could contemplate.
𝗝𝗼𝗯, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁
Job wallows in self-pity and sorrow throughout the Book of Job. He lets loose a litany of complaints against God:
“Why would God punish the innocent? What have I done to deserve this?”
Job believes he is innocent and that what is happening is unfair. However, since God cannot be questioned by man, he desperately longs for a mediator to approach God on his behalf.
It is interesting that as Christians, we have a mediator – Jesus. We also have an advocate – the Holy Spirit. Aren’t we fortunate?
Finally, Job rebukes his friends and asks that if they have nothing encouraging to say, they should be quiet. He asserts that God alone is responsible for his troubles.
“Everyone knows that God doesn’t sin!
The Almighty can do no wrong.
He repays people according to their deeds.
He treats people as they deserve.
Truly, God will not do wrong.
The Almighty will not twist justice.”
Job 34:10-12 NLT
Problem with Justice
In the narrative, you get a sense that though Job proclaims that God is just, he is conflicted by his unjust circumstances. For how can a righteous God harm an innocent man? Thus, he is drowning in his own moral quandary. Maybe our feelings about God and suffering are influenced by our beliefs about morality, and our thoughts on what we deserve.
Interestingly, Job makes little reference to the after-life or the possibility that whatever is happening now would finally be made right in the world to come. This made me think of Apostle Paul who believed that if this mortal existence were all there was to life, we would be most unfortunate.
“𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 [𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨] 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 [𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴], 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘥.” 1 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 15:19 𝘈𝘔𝘗
Perhaps justice is not something that’s always granted in one’s lifetime.
God Responds Definitively
The response from God is succinct and centers on two things – Sovereignty and Justice.
“𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴?” 𝘑𝘰𝘣 38:2 𝘕𝘓𝘛
“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩? 𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩.” 𝘑𝘰𝘣 38:4 𝘕𝘓𝘛
“𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?” 𝘑𝘰𝘣 40:8 𝘕𝘓𝘛
“𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬? 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘑𝘰𝘣 41:11 𝘕𝘓𝘛
To Job’s credit, when God speaks, he immediately submits to the Lord’s ownership claim and superior wisdom, recognizing that man is a created being.
“𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨,
𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶.
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥, ‘𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦?’
𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘐—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦.
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, ‘𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬!
𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.’
𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴.
𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.”
𝘑𝘰𝘣 42:2-6 𝘕𝘓𝘛
Furthermore, God calls out Job’s friends for misrepresenting him with their limited worldviews. He firmly puts them in their place as Job’s subordinates.
“𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘑𝘰𝘣 𝘩𝘢𝘴. 𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘑𝘰𝘣 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧.” 𝘑𝘰𝘣 42:7 – 8 𝘕𝘓𝘛
What I learnt From the Book of Job
From my reading, the central theses of the Book of Job are as follows:
1. God is Sovereign
Some are offended by the notion of God’s sovereignty, which is surprising, since in our daily work, we accept the subordinate place of the things we create with our hands.
As much as we love our furry pets, and despite how intelligent they are, we do not regard them as equals. But, we balk at having our own place on the creation totem pole. This is prideful.
If you are Christian, then you accept that humans are created beings, with the privilege of befriending God. We must know our place.
2. God is Just
Justice is a cornerstone of God’s nature, and it is difficult to love him if we consider him unjust.
“𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘏𝘪𝘮.” 𝘏𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘴 11:6 𝘕𝘒𝘑𝘝
You can’t serve a God you do not believe to be fair. Things can be taken away suddenly, and statuses can change in an instant, but we must hold on to God’s integrity.
3. Life is Full of Contradictions
Viewing the world as purely black and white or good and evil will create moral contradictions. Because by what measure are those determinations made, and in which cultural context? And, what determines the good you receive or the bad?
One of life’s tests is how you respond to things you cannot comprehend or that defy all explanation. Will you curse God or trust him?
Ultimately, belief in the after life may be mankind’s principal hope. Having the knowledge that eternity is much longer than humanity. And, that whatever is wrong in this lifetime will finally be made right in the next, with much more time to enjoy it.
4. Sometimes, God is Silent
What do you do when God is silent? How do you cope? Job experienced this firsthand, so it can happen to anyone in a season of trial.
“𝘐 𝘨𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘨𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯. 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥.” 𝘑𝘰𝘣 23:8-9
If God is the one testing or chastising you, then what can you do? You can only plead for mercy and leniency while waiting.
5. Happy Endings Exist
The story of Job has a bittersweet ending. His fortunes are exponentially restored by God, and he has more children. His sorrow turns to joy, but I daresay he still had to navigate the memory of what had been lost.
Scripture says, “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘴. 𝘐𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘑𝘰𝘣 42:10 𝘕𝘓𝘛
“𝘑𝘰𝘣 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 140 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.” 𝘑𝘰𝘣 42:16-17 𝘕𝘓𝘛
In the closing verses of Job, we encounter the relativity of time. Testing lasts for a season, and when the tide turns, joy endures for much longer than the initial sorrow.
But, we do not know whether victory will be experienced in this life or the next, hence the need for hope and trust.
Thank you for reading.
