Job, faith in suffering

There are questions every human being asks sooner or later: why do good people suffer? Where is God when everything falls apart? Does pain have any meaning? The book of Job faces these questions with astonishing honesty. It is not a simple story with easy answers, but a poetic drama full of laments, arguments and, finally, an encounter with God that transforms a wounded man’s perspective. Many scholars think Job lived in the age of the patriarchs, which is why we include him at this point in the series.

“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.”

Job 1:1

A man of integrity and prosperity

Job lived in the land of Uz. He was perfect and upright, one who feared God and eschewed evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-asses and a very great household. The Bible says he was “the greatest of all the men of the east”. He was also a godly father: whenever his children held feasts, he rose early to offer burnt offerings for them, thinking: “It may be that my sons have sinned.”

The scene in heaven

The book lets us see something Job never knew: a scene in the heavenly court. Satan, whose name means “the adversary” or “the accuser”, came before God. When God pointed to Job’s integrity, Satan replied with an accusation: “Doth Job fear God for nought?” In his view, Job was faithful only because God had blessed him; if he lost everything, he would curse God.

This question lies at the heart of the book: is it possible to love God for who he is, and not only for what he gives? God allowed Job to be tested, but set limits: Satan could not take his life. The book makes clear that evil is not outside God’s sovereign control.

The great loss

In a single day Job received one report after another: the Sabeans stole the oxen and asses, fire from heaven consumed the sheep, the Chaldeans carried off the camels, and a wind brought down the house where his children were gathered, and they all died. Job tore his mantle, shaved his head, fell to the ground and worshipped:

“And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”

Job 1:21-22

Then Satan accused again, and God allowed him to touch Job’s body, but not to take his life. Job was struck with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. He sat among the ashes and scraped himself with a potsherd. His wife, in despair, said: “Curse God, and die.” Job replied: “shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?”

Job’s friends

Three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, came to comfort him. When they saw him, they wept, tore their mantles and sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights without saying a word, for they saw that his grief was very great. That compassionate silence was perhaps the best thing they did.

When Job broke the silence by cursing the day he was born, his friends began to speak. Through many chapters, in beautiful and passionate poetry, they defended one idea: God punishes the wicked and blesses the good; therefore, if Job is suffering so much, he must have sinned. They advised him to confess his guilt. But Job insisted on his innocence and would not accept an explanation that did not fit his experience.

At the end of the book, God tells the friends that they had not spoken of him what was right, as his servant Job had (Job 42:7). Their theology was too simple. Not all suffering is punishment for a specific sin. Jesus would confirm this truth when his disciples asked why a man had been born blind: “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9:3).

Job’s cry

Job’s speeches are among the most intense pages in the Bible. Job complains, questions, protests and asks for a hearing with God. He feels God has treated him as an enemy. Yet he never turns his back on him. In the middle of his pain he makes one of the most impressive declarations of faith in the Old Testament:

“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.”

Job 19:25-26

Job did not understand why he was suffering, but he clung to the hope of a living Redeemer and of seeing God. The Bible does not condemn Job for expressing his pain to God; on the contrary, it shows that honest prayer, even when full of questions, is a form of faith.

Elihu

A young man called Elihu, who had listened in silence, spoke up. He rebuked the friends for condemning Job without answers, and Job for justifying himself rather than God. Elihu suggested that God can use suffering to teach, purify and draw people to himself, and spoke of God’s greatness in nature, preparing the way for what was to come.

God answers out of the whirlwind

At last the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind. But he did not explain the scene in heaven or the reason for his suffering. Instead he asked him a series of astonishing questions: “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” He showed him the stars, the sea, the light, the snow, the rain, the lions, the ravens, the wild goats, the ostrich, the horse, the hawk, and two awe-inspiring creatures, Behemoth and Leviathan.

God did not answer the “why”, but the “who”. He showed Job his wisdom, his power and his care over all creation. Job understood that the world is far bigger than he could grasp, and that he can trust the God who governs it all. His response was humble:

“I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

Job 42:5-6

Job moved from knowing God “by the hearing of the ear” to seeing him with his own eyes. His suffering ended not in an explanation, but in an encounter.

Restoration

God asked Job to pray for his friends, and when he did, God turned his captivity and gave him twice as much as he had before: fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand she-asses. He again had seven sons and three daughters; his daughters, Jemima, Kezia and Keren-happuch, were the fairest in the land, and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers, something uncommon at the time. Job lived another hundred and forty years and saw his descendants to the fourth generation.

Restoration does not erase the pain endured, but it shows that God’s goodness has the last word. James sums it up: “Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy” (James 5:11).

Places in the story

Interesting facts

Lessons for our lives

Not all suffering is punishment: let us not judge those who suffer. Compassionate silence comforts: sometimes being present is better than explaining. God hears our honest complaints. We can trust even when we don’t understand: God is bigger than our questions. Suffering can lead us to know God more deeply. Praying for others is part of healing: Job was restored when he prayed for his friends.

On the road to Jesus

Job longed for a daysman who could lay his hand upon God and upon him (Job 9:33), a living Redeemer who would stand upon the earth. That longing is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the one mediator between God and men, the Righteous One who suffered though innocent. Job suffered without knowing why; Jesus suffered knowing he did it for us. And in the resurrection, the Redeemer Job hoped for stood up over the dust of the grave. That is why, in Christ, no suffering is the last word.

In the next episode we will meet Moses, the deliverer of Israel.

Prayer

Lord, there are things in my life I don’t understand. Like Job, I sometimes have questions and complaints. Thank you that I can bring them to you honestly. Help me trust you even when I can’t see the reason for my pain. I know that my Redeemer lives. Comfort those who suffer and make me a compassionate friend to them. Amen.