Lesson 45 Job: Why do People Suffer
·
What issue forms the theme for the book of Job (paragraph 1)?
·
What explanation does the introductory narrative (Job 1:1—2:11) give
for Job's suffering (paragraph 2)?
·
What is your reaction to the notion that undeserved suffering results
from a contest between divine beings.
·
How important are human beings in this narrative?
·
Job's friends provide a different explanation for suffering (paragraph
3). Discuss your reaction to their theory.
Compare the two theories of suffering—"divine contest" (paragraph 2)
and "suffering results from sin" (paragraph 3).
What are their popularity today?
·
Elihu and God give similar reactions to Job's demand for
an explanation (paragraphs 4 and 5).
How does God respond to Job?
Summarize the reasoning behind God's response.
Hearing
Job
Read Job 29.
What kinds of blessings did God give
Job (1-6)?
How did Job's neighbors honor him (7-11)?
What activities explain Job's honor among humans (12-17)?
What principle unites these acts?
What features characterize the future life that Job had envisioned 18-20)?
There are at least two ways to react to
Job's conclusion (21-25). On the one hand, we might accept Job's claim to be
the one who gives the final word, who inspires confidence, who plans, leads,
and comforts.
In this reading, Job is indeed a righteous individual. (Compare God's
evaluation in Job 1:8.) On the other hand, we might question Job's claim. Read
Job 29:21-25 again.
Whom else might this description fit?
Does Job make an unwarranted boast?
Hearing
God
Chapter 38 begins the climax to the
long debate. Job now receives a direct reply from God (38:1). God's opening words
(38:2-3) state the thesis: (a) God is the one who questions, and (b) Job is an
uninformed human who has no right to demand an answer.
Read Job 38:1-38.
What are the areas in which God challenges Job's control of earth and seas
(in 38:3-21)?
What features of heaven does God control (38:22-38)?
This speech depicts God as creator of
the entire world: 1) the earth and its foundations, 2) the sea and the deep, 3)
the heavens. Each region has secret, hidden areas that cannot be reached by
humans. From these unreachable areas arise the most powerful natural phenomena:
the sun, the drying east wind, and storms that bring life-giving rain and
dangerous hail. God's speech continues by challenging Job's ability to control
wild and powerful animals (38:39—39:30).
Read Job's response to God in Job
40:1-5. Now read Job's earlier demand that God listen to him (Job 31:35-37).
What is Job's current response to God.
How has Job's attitude changed in comparison with his earlier demand?
What is the reason for Job's changed attitude?
Next God claims power over the Behemoth
and Leviathan (Job 40:6—41:34), legendary beasts against which humans have no
power. Finally, Job responds to God.
Read Job 42:1-6.
Why do you think Job finally repents?
What is your reaction to the book's claim that God has power over
the universe (creation) and its inhabitants (creatures).
How does this claim of divine power explain the problem of Job's
suffering—or does it?
Exploring
the Existence of Evil
In
his book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Rabbi Harold Kushner
deals with the following problem: If God is all-powerful and all-loving, why
does evil exist? Rabbi Kushner examines each part of the question to suggest
three possible answers:
1) perhaps evil is not a reality;
2) perhaps God is not all-powerful; or
3) perhaps God is not all-loving.
Rabbi Kushner opts for the second choice.
What
is your reaction to these three choices?
How much power exists in the world apart from God?
Does God control everything or are there events that God does not control?
If God does not control everything, what is God's role?
Does the statement "God is all-loving" overstates the case.
If God punishes evil, does such a reaction negate God's love—or would the
failure to punish evil demonstrate an imperfect love?
“I know that you can
do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”
Bible
Background (taken from Journey
through the Bible, Christian Board of Publications, 1995, p. 144)
11n beautiful poetry, the book of Job struggles with one of
the most profound questions of human existence—the problem of evil. The writer of
Job appears to believe God controls the universe. The book addresses the
question that results from such a belief: "If God is in control, why do
innocent people suffer horrible tragedy?" The complex problem and the
highly refined language combine to make Job a very difficult book.
2A summary of the book as a whole will
aid in understanding today's text. The book opens with a narrative (1:1—2:10)
in which Job, an extremely virtuous man, loses everything, including his considerable
possessions and all his children. In addition, Job's skin breaks out with
nasty sores from head to toe. The narrative's actions take place in two basic
settings: with Job on the earth and God in heaven. Job knows nothing of what is
going on in heaven. However, the narrator lets the reader in on a secret. Job's
affliction results from a kind of "contest" between Israel's God
Yahweh and one of the other divine beings known as "the Accuser."
(See the NRSV footnote for 1:6: ha-satan in
Hebrew, from which we get the name Satan.) God and "the Accuser"
arrange the contest to determine whether Job's virtuous actions are the result
of the prosperity he has enjoyed (Satan's position), or whether Job would be
righteous even without prosperity (God's position). In spite of all his
suffering, Job initially refuses to complain.
3The main body of the book (2:11—42:9)
opens with the arrival of Job's three friends who try to console him. These
friends want to "help" Job by seeking an explanation for his
suffering. After seven days without speaking, Job finally breaks the silence
with a bitter complaint concerning his situation. He argues it would have been
better if he had never been conceived (3:1-26). Job's complaint introduces a
long series of poetic speeches. In these speeches, Job and his friends disagree
about the reason for his suffering (chapters 3—31). The friends take the
position that human misfortune results from sin, and human prosperity results
from virtue. Hence, Job's former prosperity was due to his righteous behavior
and his present misfortune must have resulted from some hidden sin. Job,
however, maintains his innocence. He declares he has been exemplary in all his
behavior. Consequently his suffering is undeserved. Job calls on God to answer
for this perceived unfairness. The dispute between Job and his friends ends
with Job's long speech declaring his innocence (Job 29—31).
4At this point another character enters
the story. Elihu (Job 32—37) claims he has remained
silent out of respect for his elders. However, their failure now forces him to
speak. Elihu chastises Job for claiming to be more
righteous than God. Elihu argues that Job has no
right to accuse God and demand an answer. The reason is simple: Job is human
and God is divine. The two categories are not comparable. God understands and
controls things Job has no access to. Simply put, Job should be silent and
listen, both to God and to Elihu. In his speeches, Elihu implies that he is God's spokesperson.
5Finally, God speaks directly to Job,
demanding that Job respond (38:1—42:6). This exchange takes place in two
parts. To God's first address, Job responds that he has no answer (40:2-5). In
reply to God's second address, Job admits that he was wrong and God was right
(42:1-6). God declares that God alone is Creator and Sustainer of the universe.
God's power extends over all regions (earth, sea, heavens) and all creatures.
Indeed even the mighty Behemoth and Leviathan are controlled by God. Finally
Job repents. God's appearance has convinced him of what words alone could not
(42:5-6).
6The narrator concludes by reporting
the fate of the disputing parties. God announces the friends were wrong and Job
was right. God orders the friends to present a sacrifice on their behalf while
Job offers a prayer for them (42:7-9). The story then comes full circle, as the
narrator relates that Job's prosperity was restored to twice what he had before
(42:10-17).
7In the end, we receive no simple
answer for the problem of suffering. The book declares only that whatever the
catastrophe, God still controls the universe.
Job 29:1-31:37 &
38:1-42:6, 10
(Job 29:1-25)
Job again took up his discourse and said:
"Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over
me; when his lamp shone over my head, and by his light I walked through darkness;
when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent; when the Almighty was still with me, when my children were around me; when my steps were washed with milk, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
When I went out to the gate of the city, when I took my seat in the square, the young men saw me and withdrew, and the aged rose up and stood; the nobles refrained from talking, and laid their hands on their mouths; the voices of princes were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
When the ear heard, it commended me, and when the eye saw, it approved; because I delivered the poor who cried, and the orphan who had no helper.
The blessing of the wretched came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to
sing for joy.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a
turban.
I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame.
I was a father to the needy, and I championed the cause of the stranger.
I broke the fangs of the unrighteous, and made them drop their prey from
their teeth.
Then I thought, 'I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days like
the phoenix; my roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches; my glory was fresh with me, and my bow ever new in my hand.'
"They listened to me, and waited, and kept silence for my counsel.
After I spoke they did not speak again, and my word dropped upon them like
dew.
They waited for me as for the rain; they opened their mouths as for the
spring rain.
I smiled on them when they had no confidence; and the light of my countenance
they did not extinguish.
I chose their way, and sat as chief, and I lived like a king among his
troops, like one who comforts mourners.
(Job 30:1-31)
"But now they make sport of me, those who are younger than I, whose fathers I
would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
What could I gain from the strength of their hands? All their vigor is gone.
Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry and desolate ground, they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes, and to warm themselves the roots of broom.
They are driven out from society; people shout after them as after a thief.
In the gullies of wadis they must live, in holes in the ground, and in the
rocks.
Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they huddle together.
A senseless, disreputable brood, they have been whipped out of the land.
"And now they mock me in song; I am a byword to them.
They abhor me, they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to spit at the
sight of me.
Because God has loosed my bowstring and humbled me, they have cast off
restraint in my presence.
On my right hand the rabble rise up; they send me sprawling, and build roads
for my ruin.
They break up my path, they promote my calamity; no one restrains them.
As through a wide breach they come; amid the crash they roll on.
Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my
prosperity has passed away like a cloud.
"And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold
of me.
The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.
With violence he seizes my garment; he grasps me by the collar of my tunic.
He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.
I cry to you and you do not answer me; I stand, and you merely look at me.
You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me.
You lift me up on the wind, you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in
the roar of the storm.
I know that you will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all
living.
"Surely one does not turn against the needy, when in disaster they cry for
help.
Did I not weep for those whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the
poor?
But when I looked for good, evil came; and when I waited for light, darkness
came.
My inward parts are in turmoil, and are never still; days of affliction come
to meet me.
I go about in sunless gloom; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
I am a brother of jackals, and a companion of ostriches.
My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat.
My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.
(Job 31:1-40)
"I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a virgin?
What would be my portion from God above, and my heritage from the Almighty on
high?
Does not calamity befall the unrighteous, and disaster the workers of iniquity?
Does he not see my ways, and number all my steps?
"If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit-- let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!-- if my step has turned aside from the way, and my heart has followed my eyes, and if any spot has clung to my hands; then let me sow, and another eat; and let what grows for me be rooted out.
"If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and I have lain in wait at my
neighbor's door; then let my wife grind for another, and let other men kneel over her.
For that would be a heinous crime; that would be a criminal offense; for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my harvest.
"If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves, when they brought
a complaint against me; what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
Did not he who made me in the womb make them? And did not one fashion us in
the womb?
"If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes
of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel alone, and the orphan has not eaten from it-- for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow-- if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or a poor person without covering, whose loins have not blessed me, and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; if I have raised my hand against the orphan, because I saw I had supporters at the gate; then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.
For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his
majesty.
"If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence; if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, or because my hand had gotten much; if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand; this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above.
"If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me, or exulted when evil
overtook them-- I have not let my mouth sin by asking for their lives with a curse-- if those of my tent ever said, 'O that we might be sated with his flesh!' -- the stranger has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the
traveler-- if I have concealed my transgressions as others do, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors-- Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me like a crown;
I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach
him.
(Job 38:1-41)
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to
me.
"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have
understanding.
Who determined its measurements--surely you know! Or who stretched the line
upon it?
On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone
when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for
joy?
"Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?-- when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped'?
"Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to
know its place, so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?
It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment.
Light is withheld from the wicked, and their uplifted arm is broken.
"Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of
the deep?
Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of
deep darkness?
Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all
this.
"Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of
darkness, that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?
Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is
great!
"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the
storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?
What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the
east wind is scattered upon the earth?
"Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the
thunderbolt, to bring rain on a land where no one lives, on the desert, which is empty of human life, to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass?
"Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?
From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the
hoarfrost of heaven?
The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
"Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of Orion?
Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear
with its children?
Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on
the earth?
"Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may
cover you?
Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go and say to you, 'Here we
are'?
Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind?
Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the waterskins of
the heavens, when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cling together?
"Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young
lions, when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their covert?
Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and
wander about for lack of food?
(Job 39:1-30)
"Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of
the deer?
Can you number the months that they fulfill, and do you know the time when
they give birth, when they crouch to give birth to their offspring, and are delivered of their young?
Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open; they go forth, and
do not return to them.
"Who has let the wild ass go free? Who has loosed the bonds of the swift ass, to which I have given the steppe for its home, the salt land for its dwelling place?
It scorns the tumult of the city; it does not hear the shouts of the driver.
It ranges the mountains as its pasture, and it searches after every green
thing.
"Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will it spend the night at your crib?
Can you tie it in the furrow with ropes, or will it harrow the valleys after
you?
Will you depend on it because its strength is great, and will you hand over
your labor to it?
Do you have faith in it that it will return, and bring your grain to your
threshing floor?
"The ostrich's wings flap wildly, though its pinions lack plumage.
For it leaves its eggs to the earth, and lets them be warmed on the ground, forgetting that a foot may crush them, and that a wild animal may trample them.
It deals cruelly with its young, as if they were not its own; though its labor should be in vain, yet it has no fear; because God has made it forget wisdom, and given it no share in understanding.
When it spreads its plumes aloft, it laughs at the horse and its rider.
"Do you give the horse its might? Do you clothe its neck with mane?
Do you make it leap like the locust? Its majestic snorting is terrible.
It paws violently, exults mightily; it goes out to meet the weapons.
It laughs at fear, and is not dismayed; it does not turn back from the sword.
Upon it rattle the quiver, the flashing spear, and the javelin.
With fierceness and rage it swallows the ground; it cannot stand still at the
sound of the trumpet.
When the trumpet sounds, it says 'Aha!' From a distance it smells the battle,
the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
"Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and spreads its wings toward the
south?
Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes its nest on high?
It lives on the rock and makes its home in the fastness of the rocky crag.
From there it spies the prey; its eyes see it from far away.
Its young ones suck up blood; and where the slain are, there it is."
(Job 40:1-24)
And the LORD said to Job:
"Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Anyone who argues with God must respond."
Then Job answered the LORD:
"See, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.
I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but will proceed no further."
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:
"Gird up your loins like a man; I will question you, and you declare to me.
Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be justified?
Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?
"Deck yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on all who are proud, and
abase them.
Look on all who are proud, and bring them low; tread down the wicked where they stand.
Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below.
Then I will also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can give you victory.
"Look at Behemoth, which I made just as I made you; it eats grass like an ox.
Its strength is in its loins, and its power in the muscles of its belly.
It makes its tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are knit
together.
Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like bars of iron.
"It is the first of the great acts of God-- only its Maker can approach it
with the sword.
For the mountains yield food for it where all the wild animals play.
Under the lotus plants it lies, in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.
The lotus trees cover it for shade; the willows of the wadi surround it.
Even if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened; it is confident though
Can one take it with hooks or pierce its nose with a snare?
(Job 41:1-34)
"Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook, or press down its tongue with a
cord?
Can you put a rope in its nose, or pierce its jaw with a hook?
Will it make many supplications to you? Will it speak soft words to you?
Will it make a covenant with you to be taken as your servant forever?
Will you play with it as with a bird, or will you put it on leash for your
girls?
Will traders bargain over it? Will they divide it up among the merchants?
Can you fill its skin with harpoons, or its head with fishing spears?
Lay hands on it; think of the battle; you will not do it again!
Any hope of capturing it will be disappointed; were not even the gods
overwhelmed at the sight of it?
No one is so fierce as to dare to stir it up. Who can stand before it?
Who can confront it and be safe? --under the whole heaven, who?
"I will not keep silence concerning its limbs, or its mighty strength, or its
splendid frame.
Who can strip off its outer garment? Who can penetrate its double coat of
mail?
Who can open the doors of its face? There is terror all around its teeth.
Its back is made of shields in rows, shut up closely as with a seal.
One is so near to another that no air can come between them.
They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be
separated.
Its sneezes flash forth light, and its eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
From its mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap out.
Out of its nostrils comes smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
Its breath kindles coals, and a flame comes out of its mouth.
In its neck abides strength, and terror dances before it.
The folds of its flesh cling together; it is firmly cast and immovable.
Its heart is as hard as stone, as hard as the lower millstone.
When it raises itself up the gods are afraid; at the crashing they are beside
themselves.
Though the sword reaches it, it does not avail, nor does the spear, the dart,
or the javelin.
It counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood.
The arrow cannot make it flee; slingstones, for it, are turned to chaff.
Clubs are counted as chaff; it laughs at the rattle of javelins.
Its underparts are like sharp potsherds; it spreads itself like a threshing
sledge on the mire.
It makes the deep boil like a pot; it makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
It leaves a shining wake behind it; one would think the deep to be
white-haired.
On earth it has no equal, a creature without fear.
It surveys everything that is lofty; it is king over all that are proud."
(Job 42:1-17)
Then Job answered the LORD:
"I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be
thwarted.
'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered
what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.'
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the
Temanite: "My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you
have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.
Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and
offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you,
for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly; for
you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has done."
So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went
and did what the LORD had told them; and the LORD accepted Job's prayer.
And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends;
and the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him
before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and
comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him; and each of
them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring.
The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had
fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a
thousand donkeys.
He also had seven sons and three daughters.
He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.
In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters; and
their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.
After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and
his children's children, four generations.
And Job died, old and full of days.