Nestled in the pages of scripture we find the story of a man who lived an exemplary life. So unique was his life that an entire book of the Bible is devoted to telling his story. His story is filled with surprising twists and unexpected turns and unresolved mysteries. It is the kind of story that promises to keep us up nights as we try to fathom the intricacies and wonders of God. This is our God who persistently transcends our finite comprehensions and understandings in order to accomplish his eternal purposes.
It is also the kind of story that gives us permission to encounter our holy God in all his greatness and goodness. We can feel free to more fully express our sorrows and frustrations, to ask our questions, to seek understanding, and to ultimately find peace.
Blameless and upright.
The backdrop of the story of Job evolves around Job's righteousness. Job 1:1 (NIV) tells us that Job was blameless and upright and that, "he feared God and shunned evil." Twice in the opening two chapters of Job, once in Job 1:8 (NIV) and once in Job 2:3 (NIV) the Lord uses the exact same terms to describe Job but he adds his commendation of Job saying, "There is no one on earth like him."
Job lived each day of his life without regret. He was a confident man with a clear conscience. He was a man of impeccable character and unwavering conviction. He did not hesitate to do what was right. He did not hesitate to stand for truth. Nothing swayed him from his undying loyalty to God; not the seductive lure of sin, not the compromised values of his culture, not the flimsy faith of his friends, not the empty promises of materialism, and not even the intensity of his suffering.
Blessed by God.
Another feature of Job's life is that he had all the trimmings of God's blessing. He had a growing family, a thriving homestead, and an impeccable reputation. Job 1:2-3 (NIV)tells us, "He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East."
By every measure imaginable Job had been richly blessed by God. He had a picture-perfect life. He had a righteous life. He had a blessed life. And Job went to great lengths to insure that the same would be true for his children. The one thing that kept him up nights was the fear that his children might grow up not knowing God. His greatest fear was that they might sin against God and one day curse his name. He made it his custom to offer sacrifices on their behalf, to intercede for them in prayer and worship, and to steer them away from sin.
It is against this backdrop of righteousness and blessing that the story of Job unfolds, and that one of the greatest paradoxes and one of the seemingly greatest contradictions found in all of scripture begins to develop.
Fair-weather believer?
After some introductory statements about Job we are ushered into a heavenly scene where we are allowed to overhear a conversation between God and Satan. It all begins in Job 1when the Lord questions Satan about his activities. God asks Satan in Job 1:7-8 (NIV), " 'Where have you come from?' Satan answered the LORD, 'From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it. 'Then the LORD said to Satan, without explanation,' Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.' "
At once Satan accuses Job of being a fair-weather believer. In Job 1:9-12 (NIV)Satan says, " 'Does Job fear God for nothing?' Satan replied. 'Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face. 'The LORD said to Satan, 'Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger. 'Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD."
No sooner does their conversation end, than we find a messenger knocking on Job's door. A messenger arrives and tells Job that the Sabeans had attacked and carried off all of his oxen and donkeys and that they had put his servants to the sword. And then a second messenger came and reported that the fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants. And then a third messenger appeared and reported that the Chaldeans had formed three raiding parties and had swept down to steal all their camels and that they put all his servants to the sword. And then a fourth messenger came and reported the worst news of all in Job 1:18-19 (NIV). "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
Talk about having a rotten day! Job's was the worst! This past week Lara and I decided to take Wednesday off to go to a race in St. Louis. Wednesday morning I woke up at 5:45 A.M. and noticed that the power was out. As I walked downstairs to take a shower, water was shooting up out of our shower drain and water was coming out around the base of the toilet. Within moments, water was flowing out of our shower unto our floor and I noticed water spots forming along the walls on our lower level. By 6:00A.M. I picked up everything of value off our lower floor and had fired up our wet-vacuum. Luckily the power came back on!
But then later that morning I noticed that Reilly had snuck into our crawl space through a small access door on our lower level. After yelling at him to get out of there I saw that he had been standing over an opened packet of rat poison that the previous owners had left. We immediately called the vet and induced vomiting. While I continued to clean, Lara sped Reilly off to the vet to get medicine to neutralize the poison.
So after spending the morning vacuuming, airing out the house, and making Reilly throw up, we finally set off for St. Louis. We weren't on the road ten minutes when a rock flew up from a car in front of us and chipped our windshield! On Thursday we were back downstairs. Lara was cleaning when she noticed a bunch of mud sitting on an oak shelf downstairs. Upon closer inspection we discovered that termites had infiltrated our house and that we will now need to spend a grand getting our house treated!
And then it was Friday, and Lara left for the day to go and see her Grandma. While she was gone I severed my finger while working in the yard and had to get five stitches in my ravaged finger. On Saturday I locked myself in my bedroom, put a pillow over my head, and prayed to God that I could finish the week without anything else happening!
Imagine what Job went through. Just imagine in one day losing everything to vandals. Imagine losing your seven sons and three daughters in a tornado. Satan's accusation was that Job was merely a fair-weather Christian. Satan levied the charge that the only reason Job worshiped God was because Job had a nice family, a prosperous homestead, and had amassed great wealth. Satan charged that Job selfishly worshiped God because of what he got from God! What would Job do now that he had literally lost everything? Would he curse God?
In reference to Job, the Life Application Bible makes this observation. "For any building, the foundation is critical. It must be deep enough and solid enough to withstand the weight of the building and other stresses. Our lives are like buildings, and the quality of their foundations will determine the quality of the whole. Too often, inferior materials are used, and when tests come, lives crumble. Job was tested. With a life filled with prestige, possessions, and people, he was suddenly assaulted on every side, devastated, and stripped down to his foundation. But his life was built on God, and he endured."
Job's life was stripped to the foundation.
Few of us have ever had our lives stripped down to the foundation. What would happen if suddenly we were stripped of everything precious to us? Have you ever lost a valued possession like a wedding ring? Have you ever lost your job? Have you ever lost a large amount of money? Have you ever been robbed? Have you ever lost your home in a fire or tornado? Have you ever lost a child? Have you ever lost a loved one?
Has your life ever been stripped to the foundation? If so, what did you find? Was there faith? Was there trust? Was there hope? Was there a love for God? Was there a peace that transcends understanding? Or was it pretty ugly?
What if the worst case scenario would have taken place in my life this last week? What if everything on our lower level perished? What if our dog would have choked on that poison? What if my windshield would have burst and we'd run off the road? What if our house would have collapsed under the damage of the termites? What if I had completely severed my finger?
Despite all that had happened to him, Job was far from being a fair-weather worshiper of God. His trust in God penetrated deep beneath the surface of his life and formed a firm foundation. Job's foundation stood strong in times of testing.
Job 1:20-21 (NIV) tells us that after all the bad news, Job acted. "At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."
That is the kind of faith that brings honor to God. That's the kind of foundation we should try to lay for our lives!
Faithful in bad times?
But Satan wasn't satisfied and he returned to the Lord to again accuse Job. In Job 2:4-8(NIV) Satan says to the Lord, "Skin for skin!" Satan replied. 'A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face. 'The LORD said to Satan, 'Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life. 'So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes."
One of the foundations we build our lives on is our health. The accusation that Satan makes is that Job's faith would crumble once his health crumbled. There is nothing more precious to us than our health.
As much as we hate to think about such things, sometimes we have to stop and ask yourself hard questions. If you were stripped of your health, what kind of foundation would you find? What if you found a lump? If your heart failed? If your back went out? If they found a tumor? If you became paralyzed? If you had a terminal illness? If you contracted a nagging, torturous illness? If they had to amputate? If the test result was positive? If you didn't get that miracle? Would you curse God? Would you question his goodness? Would you accuse him? Would you become bitter? Cynical? Depressed? Angry? Suicidal? For some of us it has never rained in our world. We have never had to endure such storms. But that won't always be the case. When it rains, what kind of foundation will be revealed?
When Job lost his health it drove him into deep confusion and despair. The loss of his health, the daily agony and pain of the boils that covered his body from head to toe, the inability to lay down or even sit in comfort, the bleeding, the oozing sores, the disfigurement of his body, the swelling, all of this felt like judgment to Job.
Though he didn't curse God he did curse the day of his birth. He constantly came before God in prayer. And in his misery he interrogated God. In Job 3:20-22 (NIV) he asks, "Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave?"
In Job 6:2-3 (NIV) he says, "If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas..." In Job 7:5 (NIV) he says, "My body is clothed with worms and scabs, my skin is broken and festering." In Job 7:7 (NIV) he says, "...my eyes will never see happiness again." In Job 7:16 (NIV) he says, "I despise my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning." In Job 7:20-21 (NIV) he says, "Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins?" In Job 10:1 (NIV)he says, "I loathe my very life..." and in Job 10:8 (NIV)he says, "Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me? "
In Job 23:3-5 (NIV) Job takes things further and he says, "If only I knew where to find him (God);if only I could go to his dwelling! I would state my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would find out what he would answer me, and consider what he would say."
Throughout his suffering Job pleaded and he begged for understanding. "Why God, why?" The paradox that emerges in the story of Job is why a good God would allow a righteous man like Job to suffer. And this was precisely Job's dilemma.
Our human logic and sense of fairness cries foul at the whole notion of a good God allowing such extreme suffering in the life of his righteous people. Our desire is to offer one qualification after another. Our desire is to lessen the blunt force of such an assertion. Our desire is to leave this subject buried in the pages of scripture and to not let Job's question become our question. Job's friends accused Job of sinning. They concluded that God's discipline was upon him and that God was chastening Job. They thought that God was expressing his judgment and wrath on Job's family and that God was sending a crystal clear message. Job's wife said in Job 2:9 (NIV), "Job, are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die."
Interrogate God?
At the end of the book of Job, after all he had been through and after he had had cursed the day of his birth and had questioned God's fairness, the Lord appeared to Job in a storm. And for four chapters the Lord interrogates Job.
"Job, brace yourself like a man; I will question you and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know? Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's dominion over the earth? Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Do you send lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, here we are? Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Would you discredit my justice? Do you have an arm like God's, and can your voice thunder like his? "
In the end, the Lord challenges Job to rethink his steps before an almighty God. The Lord challenged Job to rethink his steps before a God who transcends the universe, whose ways are beyond our ways, and whose infinite eternal ways cannot always be sized up by finite minds. In the end, paradox is only in the eye of the beholder. A good God in his greatness can accomplish his good purpose even through suffering.
Peace and faith in suffering.
And so Job makes peace with God and concludes in Job 42:3 (NIV), "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know."
Lara's dad has often shared a quote with me that is a fitting end to the book of Job. I don't know where he got the quote but it reads like this. "He who knows the WHO can cope with any WHAT even though he doesn't understand the WHY."
Our tendency in times of suffering is to focus on what we do not know. The challenge for us this morning is to, like Job, focus on WHO we know. In Romans 8:28 (NIV) Paul says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." In Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV) Paul says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
When your life has been stripped away to its foundation know that God is accomplishing his good purpose. Know that he is working for the good of those who love him. Accept the peace of God which transcends all understanding and human logic. Find contentment in knowing God even when you don't understand all his ways.
The righteous one suffered.
Why does God allow the righteous to suffer? Can any good come of such suffering? This morning we gathered around the communion table to reflect on Christ's sacrifice. Christ's death on a cross is a prime example of a time when God not only allowed his righteous one to suffer, but was able to accomplish an enormous good through that suffering. That enormous good is our salvation!
1 Peter 2:21-24 (NIV) reads, "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 'He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.' When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."