One of the more baffling books in the Bible is the story of Job. Just about everyone knows the story; but that doesn’t mean we understand it. The idea that God would allow Job to suffer as He did, seems to go against the idea of a loving God who looks after us. Worse than that, God not only didn’t stop Satan, He gave Satan permission to attack him. One could even say that God set Job up to be attacked by the devil.
Many have preached about the book of Job, saying that Satan went to God, asking God to lift His protection off of Job, allowing the devil to attack him. But if we read the actual verse, we get a much different picture. It wasn’t Satan that first started talking about Job, but God.
Then the Lord said unto Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” 9 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Dos Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. – Job 1:8-10
It is clear here that God was the one who first talked about Job, focusing Satan’s attention on him. Of course, Satan, being Satan, immediately sought to convince God to do harm to his beloved servant. Rather than asking permission to attack Job himself, Satan tried to convince God to do it. But God didn’t attack Job in any way. Rather, He gave permission to Satan to do so, placing some limits on what Satan could do to him (Job 1:11-12).
Satan left God’s presence and seemingly set out to attack Job immediately. The very next thing we see is a series of attacks on Job’s possessions and his children, killing all children while they feasted and either killing or stealing all his livestock (Job 1:13-19). But while Job was deeply distressed by all this, to the point of tearing his robe and shaving his head, his response was to worship God (Job 1:20).
Satan wasn’t satisfied and so he went back to God. God once again focused Satan’s attention on Job and Job used this opportunity to try and talk God into attacking Job personally, taking away his health (Job 2:1-4). Once again, God turned it back to Satan, giving him permission to attack Job’s health, but not to take his life. Satan took that permission and stole Job’s health, leaving him sitting in pain from the boils that covered his body (Job 2:7-8).
These events naturally raise questions in our minds about what God was doing, first in focusing Satan’s attention on Job and then allowing him to attack someone who the Bible declares was a servant of God. We tend to think that God protects us from Satan, not works with him to pick out targets. Yet it seems to almost be as if that’s what is happening.
If we stop at this point, we’ll never understand the purpose of this mysterious book; yet many readers stop right here and don’t bother going on. They have no interest in reading Job’s conversation with his friends, which is filled with a lot of theological theory, including some statements by Job’s friends which are out and out wrong. But by skipping the bulk of the book, we miss the important things that it can show us.
Job’s Character
First of all, while the opening verse paints Job to be a perfect believer, he actually isn’t. The characteristics that it uses to describe Job aren’t all quite what they seem. Reading that opening verse, we find Job described as one who was “blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1). That sounds pretty good, until we look into those words in the original language, to see what they really mean.
To start with, fearing God and avoiding evil aren’t signs of salvation, in and of themselves. Demons fear God and they certainly aren’t saved. But there’s fear and then there’s fear. The fear we are told is good in Proverbs (Proverbs 1:7 & others), is the Hebrew word “yir’ah,” which is a reverential fear of the Lord. That’s not the fear we have here. What’s here is the Hebrew word “yare” which is more of a shaking in the boots kind of fear. We aren’t supposed to be afraid of God, just to reverence Him. That alone isn’t much to be concerned about. But we Job’s fear in operation in how he dealt with his sons’ feasting.
And his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly. – Job 1-:4-5
While this might sound like someone honoring God, the motivation isn’t really one of honor; it’s one of fear. This is much more like the people of ancient religions, who served their gods, so that those gods would not bring harm to them. What we see is a religious man here, not one who truly knows God as a God of love. Apparently, Job knew about God, but didn’t truly know God; there’s a difference and its an important one. Had Job truly known God, he would have taught his children to follow after Him and obey Him, rather than giving offerings to appease God, just in case they had done wrong.
But the real problem with this description of Job is found in the word that is translated as “perfect” in verse 1. This word is the Hebrew word “tam,” which carries the meaning of being “complete, perfect, without lack; having integrity, being morally and ethically pure.” That sounds great on the surface, except that it leaves Jesus out of the picture. The Bible tells us that we all need Jesus as our Savior; but if we see Job as being perfect, as described above, he didn’t need anyone to save him.
As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one.” – Romans 3:10
This discrepancy is a bit harder to clarify, until we look at the various places where God commands His people to “be perfect” (Genesis 17:1; Deuteronomy 18:13 & others). The word used for “perfect” in those places isn’t ”tam,” but rather “tamiym.” This word is best translated as “without blemish,” such as the lamb offered to God, who is without spot or blemish.
When we put the meanings of these words together, along with the others used to describe him, we see a picture of a good man, who was afraid of God and avoided anything he considered to be evil. But he is a self-righteous man, not one who has been made righteous by being washed in the blood of the Lamb. No matter how good he was, in and of himself, he really wasn’t good enough and didn’t measure up to God’s standard.
Job’s Self-Righteousness
Job’s friends repeatedly said that Job clearly had some area of hidden sin in his life and that was why he had fallen into so much calamity. They were expressing their own theology, which we have no idea about, other than what they say. Nevertheless, this idea that bad things only happen to us when we do bad has been a constant theme throughout history and can even be found in the church today.
Job’s response to this was to say that he wanted his “day in the celestial court” so that he could present his case before God, declaring that he was being treated unjustly. He made this declaration several times, in different ways, but with the same heart behind them: I am a just man and injustice is being done unto me.
But as for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause – Job 5:8
God will not withdraw His anger, the allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him. 14 How then can I answer Him, and choose my words to reason with Him? 15 For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him; I would beg mercy of my Judge. – Job 9:13-15
Maybe those verses don’t sound as self-righteous to you as they do to me; so, allow me to add one more verse:
So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. – Job 31:1
The majority of this book, from chapter 4 through chapter 30 records the debate between Job and three of his friends, where they try to convince Job that he had obviously sinned in some way. But they didn’t get anywhere. That debate ends at this point, where the friends give up, because Job was righteous in his own eyes.
Things Take a Turn
Everyone talks about Job’s three friends, referring to the three who took part in the debate. But there was a fourth friend there, who most ignored. This friend was younger than the others and had held his silence to this point. But once they gave up, he began to speak.
This younger man, Elihu, gave a much godlier answer than the other three had done, focusing on how great God is, rather than trying to expose Job’s sin. It didn’t change Job’s mind either; but it did lead up to God responding and challenging Job. Job never responded to Elihu, but once he stopped; God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind (Job 38:1).
Chapters 37 through 40 are perhaps some of the most amazing chapters in the Bible, but they are often overlooked, simply because nobody bothers to study them. They get lost in the earlier part of Job and never make it to this point. But in these four chapters, God speaks about Himself more than in any other part of the Bible, revealing who He is. The entire four chapters are God speaking, revealing Himself through questioning Job, with the exception of three short verses, where Job responds to God, repenting of his earlier assertions about himself:
Then Job answered the Lord and said: 4 “Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth. 5 Ince I have spoken, but I will not answer; yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.” – Job 40:3-5
Job’s attitude clearly has changed by this point. He has realized the error of his earlier statements; but God is not done with him yet. God continues questioning him, again showing His Own greatness. All this culminates in Job finally answering God, showing the change that God’s words had wrought in him. First, he repents of his speaking, admitting how little he had understood.
I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. 3 You asked, “Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?” Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. – Job 42:2-3
For some, that would be enough, admitting their error. But that’s not what God wanted of Job. He hadn’t allowed Job to go through everything that he had, just so that Job would realize that his understanding of God and of his own life was wrong. God wanted to bring about a positive change in Job’s life. That comes next, when Job says:
I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. 6 Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” – Job 42:5-6
This is, I believe, what God was seeking all along. Just as with us, God was seeking repentance on Job’s part. I call this, Job’s salvation moment. Even though he didn’t admit Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior by name, he recognized his need for that Savior. Earlier he had said:
For I know that my Redeemer lives. And He shall stand at last on the earth. – Job 19:25
Maybe Job didn’t know the name of Jesus; but he knew that Jesus lived and that He would come to earth and bring salvation to mankind. By reaching his point of repentance, he placed himself amongst the rest of us, who have learned that we needed that Savior too. Job’s life was turned around.
Suffering Has Purpose
Many believers today have the attitude that God would never allow them to suffer, let alone arrange for that suffering. Yet, as we see in this book, God not only allowed Job to suffer, but arranged for it. He didn’t do this out of any sense of cruelty, but rather to teach Job something and turn a godly man into a true man of God. God will allow suffering, when it serves such a purpose.
If we look at growth in nature, we can quickly see that suffering is a part of the growth process. An athlete who wants to become strong, must push his body to the extreme, suffering pain so that his muscles will grow. The saying, “no pain, no gain” has some very real application to those athletes. But pain is not just associated with growth of muscles. Any sort of growth, whether it be of discipline, knowledge, character or anything else, will have its element of pain and suffering. It might not be physical pain; but it will involve some sort of suffering. We choose to go through that suffering, so that we might grow.
God allows us to go through suffering as well, when it is to our benefit. He takes no joy in our suffering and would rather that we not have to suffer. But He also knows just how hard our hearts can be and recognizes that there are many lessons we will only learn the hard way. It is not His best for us, but it can bring about His best in our lives.
Job ultimately ended up much better than before. First, he went from knowing about God to knowing God, a clear improvement. But God didn’t leave it there. He restored to Job what Satan had taken from him; not only that, but he restored twice the wealth that Job had been blessed with before.
That’s not to say that God will always do the same with us. We often get too focused on receiving material blessings from God. Those material blessings were the icing on the cake, not the cake itself. God gave them to Job out of Job’s focus on his newfound relationship with God, rather than because Job was bemoaning his loss and begging God to replace what the enemy had stolen. I am quite sure that Job would have been perfectly happy with God, had God not bothered to replace double what the enemy had stolen.