A friend of mine lost two brothers. The first brother was mugged when he was in
Germany. The other brother died a couple
of years later. They were both
twenty-three when they died. My friend
is a Christian, and her parents are salt-of-the earth people. They have strong faith. Why would this happen to them? How do they keep going? These are the sort of questions that we bring
to the book of Job.
The book of Job doesn’t present us with a
series of abstract thoughts on the issue of suffering. It doesn’t offer all the answers to the
questions raised by my friend’s suffering or our own. It’s more of a case study of the suffering of
one man. Yet through it we will learn
about God, and how God’s people should or shouldn’t respond to the hardships
that we face in this life.
In these three chapters we are going to be
introduced to a man who gets what he doesn’t deserve, yet he remains
faithful. In his response to his
suffering we will learn something about the God he worships.
A man who gets what he doesn’t deserve
(1:1-5)
Job lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless
and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He is a believer who takes his faith in God
seriously. He is a family man, with
seven sons and three daughters. He is a
wealthy man—in those days it was not your property portfolio or bank balance
that measured your wealth but the size of your herd. He was
the greatest man among all the people of the east. He is someone who was concerned about the
spiritual well-being of his children.
The writer of this book wants us to be
absolutely clear that this is a good and faithful man. Job is going to suffer, but it is not because
he has done anything to provoke God’s anger.
Right throughout history people have looked at those who have endured
tragedy and said things like ‘they must have done something awful to deserve
that (e.g. Luke 13:1-5 and John 9:1-12)?’ but the book of Job says that such
generalizations can’t be assumed. Job is
about to endure a nightmare that he doesn’t deserve!
God is responsible, but he does no wrong
(1:6-22)
As we move on, we get a look behind the
scenes at a conversation between the God and Satan. God invites Satan to consider Job, ‘There is no one on earth like him; he is
blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” To which Satan replies saying something like,
‘He’s only interested in you because you are good to him. You have blessed him and made his life
easy. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and surely he
will curse you to your face.’
The name ‘satan’ means ‘the accuser’. That is what he is doing here—he is accusing
one of God’s people. What if Satan were
to make a similar accusation about us: ‘their faith is only skin deep, they’re
only in it for how it makes them feel, they’ll turn against you if life gets
tough’? As we embark on these studies in
the book of Job we are going to be remembering that life as a Christian can be
very tough. With this in mind let’s
commit ourselves wholeheartedly to God.
Let’s be people who want to please God whatever we face in life, and ask
God to help us be people who stick by him even when tragedy strikes.
God takes up the challenge concerning Job
and puts everything that Job has into Satan’s hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger. Notice that God remains in control. Yes, Satan will torment Job but only with
God’s permission. Indeed, the parameters
of what Satan can or can’t do to Job are laid down by God.
When it comes to suffering don’t let God
off the hook too easily! It might be
tempting to attribute everything bad in life to satan and everything good to
God. The book of Job won’t let us be so
simplistic. Yes, Job will be the victim
of evil men who attach his family; yes, he is under attack from the Devil, but
God remains in control. Indeed, the devil
can only do what God permits him to do.
Having heard about the loss of his wealth
and the death of his children Job tares his robes and shaves his head. These were signs of intense grief and
mourning. Then Job does something
amazing. He falls to the ground and
worships, saying: Naked I came from my
mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be
praised. He acknowledges the LORD is
in control and the LORD is to be praised.
The word translated LORD, Yahweh, is the covenant name for God, a name
that reminded the people of God’s faithfulness—even in the midst of his
troubles Job recognises the faithfulness of God.
In all this, Job
did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing—even though he knows that God is
ultimately responsible for what has happened he knows that God is perfect in
his actions. Even though God permits
suffering, he is never morally compromised, he does no wrong.
On 8th November 1987 an IRA bomb
exploded at the cenotaph in Enniskillen.
Two of the people who were gathered for the Remembrance service were
Gordon Wilson and his daughter Marie.
Gordon’s wife went to the hospital after hearing that he had been
hurt. After some time, she was to be
informed that Marie was gravely ill. She
prayed out loud, saying “Oh Lord, thy will be done.” When Marie got out of theatre Joan set off to
Intensive Care begging God to give her the strength to cope. She arrived to find her daughter dying. She kissed Marie and saw her eyelids
flicker. Then the nursing sister
whispered very gently, “Mrs. Wilson, Marie’s heart has stopped beating.” Her daughter, Julie Anne, took her hand and
said, “Mum, it is better this way.” Joan
says she could only utter, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
God is responsible, and Job says it how he
feels it (2:1-3:26)
At the beginning of chapter 2 we have
another conversation between God and Satan.
Again, God invites Satan to consider Job: ... he still maintains his integrity, tough you have incited me against
him to ruin him without any reason.”
Satan is sceptical: “Skin for skin! ... A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his
flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” So, God permits Satan to torment Job. Again, God remains in control, even setting
the boundaries of the test— you must
spare his life.
Satan afflicts Job with boils and sores
from head to toe. In his agony his wife
gives him some lousy advice. ‘Stop
holding on to your integrity, curse God and die.’ She doesn’t seem to understand that the most
important thing in life is not being free from pain. The most important thing in life is to honour
God—something Job is doing in the midst of his suffering!
Job says to her, ‘You are talking like a foolish woman.
Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” Although it was Satan who afflicting Job, he
recognises that God is the one who is in control. In all this, Job did not sin in what he
said. Despite his suffering, Job
will not accuse God of wrongdoing.
At the end of chapter 2, we are introduced
to Job’s three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. They have come to sympathise with him. They mourn with him for seven days and nights. No-one
said a word to him because they saw how great his suffering was. Oh, for the wisdom to know when to speak and
when to remain silent! If only Job’s
comforters were always so wise!
Then, in chapter 3, Job opens his
mouth. He won’t curse God, but he does
curse the day he was born. Job is a man
who says it how he feels it. He is
honest with his feelings. When he was
bereaved he tore his clothes and shaved his head. He expressed his sorrow as he sat in the
ashes. Now he cries out in his
pain. Don’t imagine there is any merit
in a stiff upper-lip! These words remind
me of the many psalms where the psalmists cry out to God letting him know
exactly how they feel. Isn’t it
comforting that in his word God has shown examples of people telling it as they
feel it, that God understands and can handle our expressions of grief?
Conclusion:
As we think of a righteous man who suffers,
let’s not forget the only perfectly righteous man who suffered for our sake,
Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only one who
never sinned. It is because he has taken
the punishment of our guilt that Job and you and me can be considered blameless
in the sight of God. We live in a word
where there is pain and suffering, but he will bring his people to a place
where there will be no more crying or pain (Rev. 21:1-4). Jesus is ultimately the answer to suffering. However, we have to wait until our time of
pain is ended.
The challenge of these chapters is ‘how
will we react to the pain that we endure?’
We start by remembering that God is in
control. Job suffered at the hands of
evil men, he suffered in the hands of satan, but he ultimately, he recognised
that God is in control. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised . . . Shall we accept good from God, and
not trouble? This is a hard
truth. It might tempt us to be bitter
with God. However, I would rather know
God is ultimately in control than think we are the subject of chance or chaos,
or that the evil one had ultimate control to cause suffering.
We refrain from charging God with
wrongdoing. Even though Job knows that
God has permitted these things to happen to him he does not sin by charging God
with wrongdoing. He knows that the LORD
is faithful. He is aware that God does
no wrong. God’s ways are perfect!
We need to acknowledge that there is
mystery. Job never gets to see what we
see. He never gets to look behind the
curtains at the conversation between God and Satan. The reason for his suffering remains a mystery
to him. We can’t tell Joan Wilson why
her daughter died.
We are free to be honest about how we
feel. We should be free to be honest with
each other and with God. Job was open
about how he felt. As a church we should
have a caring environment where we can be open and where we can comfort. Remember that God allows us to be open with
him about how we feel.
So, let’s pray that God would give us the
strength to remain faithful to him no matter what the years ahead have in store
for us!
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