About 500 years before Christ (or so it is thought) a man was wrestling with the problem of good people suffering while evil people prospered. Out of his questions he wrote what we know today as the Book of Job. It stands at the heart of the Old Testament, as one of the profoundest attempts to confront the issue of why God allows good people to suffer: it is one response to the mystery of suffering.
The book tells the story of 'a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil' (1:1 ). Right from the beginning we are given the impression that this is the story of an exemplary figure who stands for all that is good and righteous. In this 'once upon-a-time story about a good man who suffered', there are two main scenes: the council of heaven; Job's farm on earth.
One day, the story begins, God and Satan hold council in heaven. Satan recounts how sinful humanity is. In reply, God counsels Satan to look at Job who has done no wrong and is faithful to God. Satan holds that the only reason Job is so good and holy is because everything is going well for him - he has nothing to curse God for: he is both healthy and wealthy. However, 'Suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!' ( 1:11). So the Lord said to Satan, 'All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him' (2:6).
So Satan leaves the heavenly council to create havoc on earth. Job's servants are killed by raiders, his children by a hurricane wind. His camels are stolen and he is cursed with sores and boils which cover his whole body. However, 'In spite of everything he suffered, Job said nothing against God' (2:10).
In the three series of poetic dialogues, which follow, the author shows how Job's friends and Job himself react to these disasters.
JOB'S FRIENDS...
State and restate with increasing anger a traditional defense of God's goodness and power. Basically their message is: 'Don't lose faith...God is just...he punishes the wicked and rewards the righteous. God is always just and powerful.' Their arguments are in 4:7-ll; 8:1-7; 11:13-20; 22:1-14, 21-30.
JOB HIMSELF...
Is offended by the implications of what his friends say. He knows that neither he nor his children were so evil as to deserve this fate. God cannot be both all-powerful and good if he lets this happen. For his line of argument look at 6:14-15; 9:1-4, 10, 15; 10:l-2, 7; 16:1-8.
After three rounds of a dialogue in which Job voices his complaint while his friends defend God's might and goodness, the book comes to a climax in which Job pronounces his innocence (chapters 29-30) and challenges God, his accuser, either to appear with evidence against him or else to admit that he has suffered wrongly. God appears in a terrible storm and answers Job out of a whirlwind (chapters 38-39). But, instead of directly answering Job's accusations, God challenges Job:
“Who are you to question my wisdom?’’’
Were you there when I made the world?...
Do you know all the answers?”
Yet this is not a reprimand. God is pleased with 'his servant Job', who, though he may have railed against God, has remained faithful. But for Job's so-called 'comforters' God has sharp words: 'I am angry with you.., because you did not speak the truth about me, as my servant Job did.' Despite any apparent evidence to the contrary God is present with, and on the side of, those who suffer.
Thus the book of Job appears to be saying that, from a human perspective, some things must remain a mystery: we do not possess the wisdom of God. There is a purpose behind the suffering but it is not for us to know. The book ends with Job convinced afresh of God's power and his goodness, accepting God's response. He is rewarded with a return to good health and wealth.
As an explanation, many have found the Book of Job to be a frustrating response to the problem it sets out to answer. However, many in the midst of suffering have discerned in Job wisdom not found in theoretical responses.
Frances Young is the mother of a severely handicapped son. Arthur was born brain-damaged, microcephalic (that is with an abnormally small head). In her book Face to Face she tells the story of how she has lived with constant reminders of suffering and yet retained faith in God. It is her testimony to twenty-three years of pain, struggle and love. In it she writes:
“I had always found the Book of Job baffling when it comes to providing any kind of answer to the problem it raises. When God appears at the end, he does not give any satisfactory explanation. He simply tells Job to contemplate how clever He the Creator is, and suggests that Job should pay his respects - exactly what the comforters had suggested long ago... What satisfies and at the same time humbles Job is simply the reality and presence of God. What God says is irrelevant. In God's presence the demand for explanation ceases. God is sufficient in Himself to bring a perspective that transcends and transforms. That is more or less my experience. Face to face with God, the problems do not disappear but they do appear different.”
Some people have attempted to explain suffering by comparing the mystery of it to a tapestry. Look at a tapestry from the wrong side and it seems to be an absolute mess, as though it is completely chaotic. This is how the world often looks, punctured by thousands of examples of suffering. However, when you look at the tapestry from the other side you see order and purpose. So, some people argue that life is like this. The chaos of suffering does have a purpose and meaning.
THINKING IT THROUGH
- Job does not give up belief in God but maintains that suffering is beyond his comprehension. Why do you think that some people have found the Book of Job a frustrating and unsatisfactory response to the problem of why good people suffer?
- Again, this chapter has raised the whole question of 'innocent suffering'. Does the situation of Job give us any new perspectives?
- 'Those who feel God's presence with them in their suffering need no further explanation’. What do you think?