Read Scripture: Job

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Job is one of the most fascinating and misunderstood books of the Bible. Job is not the story of someone patiently and silently suffering. It is a story about making sense of the evil we experience. Remember, as you read Job, that Job does not have all of the information that you, as the reader, have.

The book revolves around two sets of issues and two separate storylines.  The first explores why people serve God, and the second why people suffer.  These themes are explored based on the experiences of Job – a righteous servant of God.

Why Are People Faithful to God?

To open the book, Satan challenges God twice. First, he argues that Job faithfully serves God only because Job has something to gain. In response, God allows Satan to destroy Job’s family and wealth. Job proves Satan wrong and is faithful to God even when he has nothing. Second, Satan challenges God that Job will turn from God if physically struck. God allows Job to be covered with a painful skin infection. Despite his pain, Job remains faithful to God – but he does blame God for his suffering

Job is fulfilling a test on behalf of all people. Satan argues that people serve God for selfish reasons. But in Job we learn that this isn’t true, and that we should serve God simply because he is God and is worthy to be served – no matter what.

Why Do God’s People Suffer?

The second part of the book shifts gears to the question of suffering. After hearing about Job’s troubles, three of his friends visit him. As they try to comfort him, they give him simple explanations of why Job is suffering. The reason for all Job’s losses, they say, is that Job has sinned. Many people believe that you can tell a person’s moral or spiritual state by their life experiences. The book of Job very strongly rejects this concept. It presents Job as righteous and without blame. We know from chapters 1 and 2 that Job suffered because God allowed it, not because Job was sinful.

Gaining Perspective at the End

Job loudly and defiantly blames God and demands that God answer his questions. This is a very bold action, but eventually Job got his wish. God spoke to Job, raising questions that Job did not ask. God’s questions amount to this: who are you to question the Creator of the world? Job eventually relents.

Job 42:1-6 Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

Job wants his questions to be answered, but instead says, “You are God, and I am not.”

At the end of the book, God makes it clear that Job’s friends spoke incorrectly about God. Their view of the world and why suffering happens is rejected. At the same time, God affirms Job. In the end, God gives Job twice as many possessions as he lost, along with a new family. Yet this is not a book with a happy ending, nor is it meant to be.

Taking Job to Heart

We are supposed to be uncomfortable so that we can ask ourselves, “Am I willing to yield to God even when I don’t want to?” That’s why the book’s second question – why do people suffer? – is not answered. The problem of unwarranted suffering is perhaps the most significant problem of faith. We want to know why we experience horrific evil. This book tells us what is NOT the reason. The idea that bad things happen as a result of sin is rejected. Yet neither this book nor the rest of the Old Testament tells us why. Instead, it asks us to reflect on whether we will yield to God even when we do not get the answers we want.