More on Job

I've liked the book of Job for a long time now. It is one of the few books in the Bible that fits together as a tight narrative with a clear beginning, middle and end, complete with epilogue. We even studied Job in my freshman year of college - this is a secular liberal arts college, not seminary.

The book is particularly captivating to an audience beyond those people of faith not only because of its style, but also because the themes of suffering, justice, redemption and meaning are all embedded in it. There is relational tension, interesting characters an overall conflict of good and evil all found in a very short story. I've always thought it could make a good short film and would love to see it performed as a play. Scholars have debated the meaning of the book, if it sheds any light on suffering and death and how it plays into the overall narrative of the scriptures.

Here is my take on, at least now. In that freshman class I don't think I had much of a clue, but it's been a good 15 years since then so hopefully my meditations have yielded some clarity. At first glance, God seems to display a callous disregard for Job and his family. It seems as if God doesn't really care about Job's suffering. The deaths of his children and his sickness appear as the object for a wager between God and Satan. This view not only runs counter to what we know about the nature of God, but betrays an arrogance that we understand God's purposes and motives ("Gird your loins!")

It is my view that God very much cared about Job - so much that he was willing to put him through pain and loss to take their relationship to a higher level. At this point, we should also be thankful for Job's sacrifices - we are able to read the story and learn the lesson without necessarily having to go through it ourselves. What do I mean by this? Job was considered the most righteous person around. He clearly followed the scriptural law diligently and desired to know God as well as possible.

Unfortunately, Job and the three friends that come to council him have a skewed perspective on who God is and how He works. Once calamity strikes, his three friends (and even his wife!) attempt to convince Job that he is being punished for something he's done. Bad things happen to bad people, good things to good people. Such disasters as Job suffered only happen as God's punishment.

Job, on the other hand, believes a possibly worse thing: God has unjustly stricken him. He wants to plead his case before God in order to defend himself. Job's logical conclusions are either 1) God is unjust or 2) God made a mistake. Both conclusions defy the very definition of God as we know it - all justice comes from God (and he is zealous for it) and God doesn't make mistakes.

Job realizes his mistakes when God shows up to correct him. We not only see the glory and power of God in these final chapters, we get a major correction of how God works. God is far less simplistic than the main actors in this story think. "His ways are greater than my ways and His thoughts are greater than my thoughts (Isaiah)" Suffering cannot be tied directly to God punishing us, nor can success be tied to His favor. In fact, suffering in Job's case can be tied directly back to the favor of God. The same could be said of David, Christ, Paul, Peter and a whole host of other righteous men.

Now, just because God wasn't punishing these men, doesn't mean he wasn't judging them. Punishment and judgment have been used as synonyms in Christian circles for some time, but I would venture to say that they are very different things. Punishment is tied directly to disobedience and justice - i.e. break a law, go to jail. Judgment is a much more subjective thing - that is, something is "judged" to be good or bad. God could judge something in your life to be bad, even if it is a "good" (or neutral) thing. (See also Psalm 1- it is the righteous who will stand in judgment, not the wicked)

I like to think of judgment in terms of a sculptor removing a piece of marble - not because it did anything wrong, but because the final sculpture can only be perfected by its removal. Further, I think of Christ, who was judged, not because he was guilty - indeed he was innocent - but because it was the only way that we could be perfected by God.

Job was not being punished, but he was being judged. In particular, his misunderstanding of his relationship with God. Job stood in judgment and not only learned more about the God whom he loved, but ultimately drew closer to him. Let me also say that Job did sin after his affliction - his claim against God could easily be deemed rebellion which is why he repents in the end. Father and child reconcile and Job's final words to God bear quoting:
(Job 42)
1 Then Job replied to the LORD :

² "I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.

³ You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?'
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.

⁴ "You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.'

⁵ My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.

⁶ Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes."

Job's repentant heart and encounter with God bring them into right relationship. His suffering was neither meaningless, nor unjust, but precipitated a revelation God, clarifying who he was and, I would claim, deepening his love for God.

The book of Job will remain a classic of ancient literature. I recommend reading it for yourself and seeing if you agree with these thoughts or if I, myself, am in need of correction.