(There’s More to the Book of Job Than Meets the Eye)
Note: If this is your first time with us, please see the previous post(s).
In today’s discussion we continue to set the table for understanding the book of Job. In so doing, we hope you’ll begin to see why Job is among the “handiest books in the Bible.” There is so much there. It’s easy to miss the forest for the trees (more about this later).
We have all heard of “the patience of Job.” The saying is almost cliché. It’s become a truism. So much so that we think of Job as a superman. A fictional character. He is almost surreal to us. An abstraction of some kind. The fact is that Job was a real person with real feelings who seemed to have almost everything and everyone he held dear or loved stripped away. There’s an old saying, “If you haven’t got your health, you’ve got nothing.” Job eventually lost his health, too. And yet we talk about the patience of Job (almost without knowing what that means). The word patience is better rendered “steadfastness” or “endurance” (or “longsuffering”). Let’s look at James 5:11 (below):
James 5:11 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
Actually, if you are familiar with Job, this verse sums up what the entire book is about. Namely, the purposes of God, the compassion and mercy of God—as well as the endurance of Job. Job is the human through which God reveals Himself in a way that is unlike any other in the Bible. But Job is what Bruce Lee once described as a finger pointing to the moon. Lee cautioned that we must be careful not to stare at the finger and miss the moon. God is the “moon” in this illustration and Job is the “finger.” We must not miss the heavenly glory.
Sometimes we hold fast to God and His goodness and purposes. Sometimes we lose sight of them. Particularly when life is hard. We are, after all, human beings. Fallen human beings. God knows this. He knows our frames are but dust—fragile (Psalm 103:14). And yet God uses us to display His glory. And He never ever lets go of us (John 10:28-29; Romans 8:35-39).
We can be or become instruments in our Redeemer’s hands—imperfections and all. That’s where Job and 1 Corinthians 10:13 intersect. That’s also why God uses the weak things of this world to display His glory and give us hope! That’s why we began our study of Job saying something to the effect that Job happens to someone somewhere in this world every day. Maybe not to the extent Job experienced hardship… but maybe even more!
Right thinking leads to the right attitudes and actions (words and deeds). Job is a picture of a righteous man suffering what seems to be unspeakable hardship and grief as he seeks to hang on to his faith, his love for God, his confidence in God, and his mind although at some level Job eventually fails (because we all fail at times). All fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). “All” means ‘all.’ That said, let’s understand that the book of Job is a high definition of James 5:11 and 1 Corinthians 10:13 as well as James 1:2-8 (take a moment and review these verses now).
I’m sure Job does better than I would do under his circumstances. I believe Job is more steadfast than I… than most of us. Truth be told, Job does more with less. What do I mean? Consider Job’s faithfulness (even when he succumbs to grief, pain, and sin) understanding that Job didn’t have a Bible. He had neither Old Testament nor New Testament. We have so much more and we, as contemporary humans do less. Scholars believe Job is among the oldest books of the Bible. And with less revelation available to him, Job endures. Job hangs on and hangs in as Job clings to what Job knows to be true. As you read Job dwell on that. He does more with less and we 21st century Christians tend to do less with more.
Some may suggest that I am harsh in saying Job fell short in some way. Let me offer evidence to that effect. I do so not passing judgment but marveling at how well Job did! That said, let me walk you through Job’s “short-fall”
What we see is a wearing down of Job’s endurance over time. The writer of Job documents it. At the beginning of Job’s considerable trial Job is unshakeable. His understanding enables Him to cling to what is true. We see Job’s understanding of God override Job’s emotional reactions. He both grieves and worships. His right-thinking governs his attitude enabling Job to see things from an eternal perspective. And in verse 22 we see that Job did not sin or get mad at God.
Job 1:20-22 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” 22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
Satan attacks Job’s health. Job suffers now the agonies of two great losses. He suffers both emotional agony and physical agony, Outwardly, he is steadfast. Look closely at verse 21 (above). Look at his rhetorical question about remaining faithful under trial. Notice also a subtle, ever so subtle, comment at the end of verse 10.
Job 2:7-10 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. 9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Indications are that Job’s faithful countenance was beginning to be racked by doubt and maybe something more. “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” Implicit in this statement is a qualification. Contrast it with the earlier statement, “In all this Job did not sin (in any way) or charge God with wrong.” As we read and work through the book of Job we see Job begin to question how Job, a good man, could be so set upon by hardship. And while his “friends” unjustly accuse him of some terrible hidden sin, Job begins to suggest that all of this isn’t fair. God isn’t being fair with Job. Job is innocent in his own sight and indeed he eventually silences his accusers but notice the comment in Job 32:1:
Job 32:1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
The Holy Spirit through the author’s pen reveals something about Job. Job saw himself as righteous in his own sight. Jesus tells us apart from Jesus we can do nothing (John 15:5). It almost appears that under the most difficult of circumstances that Job loses sight of God’s holiness and his own sinfulness. And God, while fulfilling long term redemptive objectives through Job’s trial (more about this later) is also using the trial to prove, test, and mature Job’s faith (James 1:2-8).
Make no mistake: Job eventually crosses into sin (we would likely do no better). There is a sin of presumption that humans can be righteous before God “in their own sight.” There is the sin of implicitly calling God’s goodness and character and decision making into question. Why do I say this? How can we be sure? We can be certain because eventually God causes Job to discern his sin and Job “repents in dust and ashes.” You see this in Job 42:5-6:
Job 42: 5-6 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; 6 therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
That’s one reason why we say that the book of Job is about God more so than Job. But make no mistake. There are tons of lessons about God, man, faith, God’s world in which we live, and God’s ways. We will be exploring these as well as we learn about God through Job. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, maybe reread Job with what we’ve discussed above in the forefront of your mind. Consider prayerfully recalibrating your own thinking. And as you read, prayerfully entreat the Lord to “show me wonderful things in Your law (Psalm 119:18).” It worked for David. It will work for us! God has much to teach us through the witness of Job (and his ‘friends’).