Family Bible Series for Nov. 6: Is suffering really necessary?
Posted: 10/25/05
Family Bible Series for Nov. 6
Is suffering really necessary?
• Job 1:1-3, 8-12, 20-22; 2:7-10
By Donald Raney
Westlake Chapel, Graham
Why is there so much suffering in the world? Where is God when bad things happen to good people?
These and similar questions have been asked throughout history by people across all cultural and social backgrounds. Suffering of all types is a universal part of the human condition. Over the centuries, people have devised a multitude of answers to these questions and ways to cope with the reality of suffering.
In the Bible, perhaps no other book tackles this issue more thoroughly than Job. In the pages of this book, the writer not only presents a story of one man’s quest for answers, but also a critique of many of the answers commonly given in ancient Israel and often heard even today.
The primary inadequate response is that misfortune is due to God’s punishment of some sin in the person’s life. As we shall see in the coming weeks, the book of Job denies such explanations.
People respond to adversity in many different ways, whether they are Christians or non-Christians. Many see adversity as evidence that God’s love and power are inadequate to prevent pain and suffering, and they refuse to believe in such a God out of anger or bitterness. Others simply accept the simplistic and inadequate explanations for suffering offered by various philosophical systems of the day. Still others cry out to God for answers in the midst of their suffering.
Whether they are experiencing comfort or facing great challenges, God wants his people to maintain faith and trust in him. The life of Job provides us with a number of ways in which we can respond in faith when life caves in on us.
Job 1:1-3
By any measure, Job was a good man who lived a comfortable life. He clearly was wealthy and had been blessed with a large family. In ancient Israel, this was a certain sign of divine favor. According to the official theology, if a person obeyed God, God would bless them. If he or she disobeyed, God would punish them.
While this is a clear teaching of books like Deuteronomy, the assumption had arisen among the religious leaders that this equation meant that if someone clearly was blessed, God must be pleased with his or her obedience. If a person was suffering in this life, God must be judging their disobedience.
In addition to his earthly wealth, the first verse of the book of Job states that Job was a man of high moral standards who feared God and shunned evil. Thus in the eyes of both his fellow humans and God, Job was a righteous man richly blessed by God.
Job 1:8-12
Beginning in verse 6, the author takes the reader into the heavenly court where a conversation is recorded between God and Satan. The modern reader needs to exercise a little caution at this point. The original writer of this text did not necessarily understand “Satan” to be equivalent to the devil as we do today.
Some scholars intrepret “Satan” to be an angelic being or, literally, the “adversary,” who serves as an accuser of Job, with no specific indication of evil intent. This character raises the question concerning the relationship between a person’s righteousness and God’s blessing on that person.
Satan here clearly holds a somewhat cynical view of human character. He tells God it is only reasonable Job would be faithful to God since God already had so richly blessed him. If God removed these blessings, Job would react true to his human nature and curse God. God, apparently confident of Job’s true character, agrees to allow Satan to take away all of Job’s possessions, but he is not to harm Job.
Job 1:20-22
In verses 13-19, a series of four messengers bring Job news that various disasters have taken place. As a result of these, all of his children and servants are dead and all of his animals have been taken by raiders. According to the story, these messengers came quickly, one after the other. The news they brought would certainly have devastated nearly anyone who heard it.
Over the past few months, we have experienced similar feelings as we have watched news of those who have lost literally everything apart from their lives. Even those of us who have not been directly affected cannot help but ask, “why” or “how could God allow this to happen”?
Verse 20 tells us Job indeed was deeply affected. He immediately “tore his robes and shaved his head.” In the ancient Near East, these were outward signs a person was in mourning. Job then falls to the ground and utters a cry of praise to God. Job clearly states here his understanding that everything is God’s and God has the power and right to do whatever he wills. Job refuses to blame God but reaffirms that God still deserves praise.
Job 2:7-10
A second test then follows in which Satan is given permission to physically afflict Job’s body. Satan is certain Job’s self-centered desire for physical comfort will cause him to curse God should that comfort be taken away. Satan then afflicts Job with unspecified sores over his entire body. The pain apparently is severe, as Job is pictured as scraping himself with broken pottery to try and relieve the pain.
Now his wife can no longer bear to see the suffering. She tells Job it would be better to curse God and die than to maintain his integrity and continue to live in such agony.
Yet through all of this, Job refuses to sin by turning from God. He steadfastly maintains that one should not readily accept God’s blessings without being able to stay with God through trouble.
While many may see Job as an exceptional case of faithfulness, the clear message of the book is that God calls for all believers to maintain a constant level of faithfulness, regardless of one’s circumstances.
Discussion questions
• How do you initially respond to suffering, either your own or that of someone else?
• What standards are used today to determine if someone is being blessed by God?
• What is your response to this wager between God and Satan regarding Job?