Let’s talk about Job, God made him suffer.
Job 28:9–13
Miners dig the hardest rocks. They dig away at the mountains and make them bare. They cut tunnels through the rocks and see all the treasures they hold. They even find places where rivers begin. They bring to light what once was hidden.
‘But where can anyone find wisdom? Where can we get understanding? People don’t know where wisdom is. It cannot be found by anyone on earth. ‘
Most discussions about Job have to do with the question of suffering. Does God make people suffer? If He does, does that make Him unjust? Why do people suffer? Why do good people suffer?
The story of Job begins with a prologue;
Job 1:1
‘There was a man named Job who lived in the country of Uz. He was a good, honest man. He respected God and refused to do evil. ‘
We know that the book of Job is about a man who was righteous by every standard of his day. This is an important fixture that must be turned over and over through the entire course of the book.
Essentially, it would be Job saying
“See how righteous I am, Lord. How dare you make me suffer this way?”
His friends disputed his righteousness and they accused him of secret sins, but Job remained steadfast in his creed.
“I am a righteous man and I do not deserve any of this.”
If Job was righteous and God allowed Him to suffer in this manner, it must mean that God was unjust, or Job was not righteous.
But another question arises. Did God allow Job to suffer? I believe the answer lies in the beginning parts of the book.
Job 1:8–12
‘Then the Lord said to Satan,
“Have you noticed my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him. He is a good, faithful man. He respects God and refuses to do evil.”
Satan answered the Lord,
“But Job has a good reason to respect you. You always protect him, his family, and everything he has. You have blessed him and made him successful in everything he does. He is so wealthy that his herds and flocks are all over the country. But if you were to destroy everything he has, I promise you that he would curse you to your face.”
The Lord said to Satan,
“All right, do whatever you want with anything that he has, but don’t hurt Job himself.”
Then Satan left the meeting. ‘
It seems like a simple answer. Satan suggested that Job was only righteous to the extent that he was prosperous and God did not mind that this theory be tested. When we read further down though, we see that this answer suffices only to an extent.
God runs an infinitely complex universe, He being an infinitely complex as well. We are only allowed to view the world from our perspective, which is really limited. There are aspects of the universe that are beautiful, yet dangerous for us. In interacting with them, there will always be the possibility of danger. But this danger is only evil because it relates to our discomfort, which is one of the shapers of our perspective.
The most potent purpose of suffering, from our perspective and observation of the universe is that it can serve as punishment for the wicked. God does not dispute this. God judges evil empires by causing them to suffer under stronger empires.
This leads us to conclusively regard suffering as the lot of the wicked alone. But this perspective, as we would see from the book of Job is limited.
The answer to the question of why the good suffer, why God allows it and if that makes God unjust is that mankind lives alongside other elements more powerful than he is in God’s good universe and so, suffering is inevitable. God can prevent suffering as He promised several times in scriptures and He does. But sometimes, God can allow or even send it suffering for a purpose.
God can intervene and rebuke the accuser, causing the suffering to cease. He has also given believers in Jesus Christ the power to do the same.
Mark 16:17–18
‘And the people who believe will be able to do these things as proof: They will use my name to force demons out of people. They will speak in languages they never learned. If they pick up snakes or drink any poison, they will not be hurt. They will lay their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” ‘
Luke 10:18–20
‘Jesus said to them, “I saw Satan falling like lightning from the sky. He is the enemy, but know that I have given you more power than he has. I have given you power to crush his snakes and scorpions under your feet. Nothing will hurt you. Yes, even the spirits obey you. And you can be happy, not because you have this power, but because your names are written in heaven.” ‘
James 5:13–16
‘Are you having troubles? You should pray. Are you happy? You should sing. Are you sick? Ask the elders of the church to come and rub oil on you in the name of the Lord and pray for you. If such a prayer is offered in faith, it will heal anyone who is sick. The Lord will heal them. And if they have sinned, he will forgive them. So always tell each other the wrong things you have done. Then pray for each other. Do this so that God can heal you. Anyone who lives the way God wants can pray, and great things will happen. ‘
All of these answers however, come with a caveat. We are not always able to decipher which suffering God has prevented or allowed. And sometimes, we pray to God to end suffering, or rebuke the accuser, yet, suffering persists.
In moments like this, what do we do?
Job’s cries were full of demands for an audience with God and accusations of silence from God until Elihu, his youngest friend cut him short in his speech saying the following:
Job 33:14–18
‘But maybe God does explain what he does but speaks in ways that people don’t understand.
He may speak in a dream, or in a vision at night, when people are in a deep sleep lying in their beds.
He may whisper something in their ear, and they are frightened when they hear his warnings. God warns people to stop them from doing wrong and to keep them from becoming proud.
He does this to save them from death. He wants to keep them from being destroyed. ‘
When suffering persists, it is usually an avenue for us to widen our perspective. This widening will come from the submission of our understanding to God’s supreme wisdom. It is a time to be humble and honest before God. It must end however, with a reaffirmation of all we know to be true about God and His promises to us. That He is good and just and faithful to His promises.
This is an exercise in reverence and fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom.
Job 28:23–28
‘“Only God knows the way to wisdom. Only he knows where wisdom is. He can see to the very ends of the earth. He sees everything under the sky.
God gave the wind its power. He decided how big to make the oceans. He decided where to send the rain and where the thunderstorms should go.
He looked at wisdom and discussed it. He examined it and saw how much it is worth. Then he said to humans, ‘To fear and respect the Lord is wisdom. To turn away from evil is understanding.’”
After Elihu gave his speech, God responded to Job, showing him how limited His perspective was. Job repented of his error and submitted himself to God.
It is interesting to note that God did not dispute what Job said about the source of His suffering. Job thought God caused his suffering and God did not correct that. Instead, God said the following words to Job’s friends:
Job 42:7
‘After the Lord finished talking to Job, he spoke to Eliphaz from Teman. He said, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not tell the truth about me, as my servant Job did. ‘
We are allowed to keep entreating and praying to God and rebuking the accuser in the course of our suffering, encouraged even, but we must not embrace evil because of affliction. We must trust that God is powerful enough to furnish us with wisdom in the wake of suffering.
This is the conclusion; God made Job suffer and as a result, Job became wiser.
The book of Job then, is the story of a foolish but righteous man that God caused to suffer so that he could learn wisdom. I hope this article demystifies the book of Job and makes it easier to understand.
