Misunderstanding of God in Book of Job

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

As I continue to read through the book of Job in my daily Bible reading and study, I find it amazing that Job’s three friends all essentially came to the same wrong conclusion: that Job was suffering because of some unmentioned sin in his life. We know that this is simply not true based on the first chapter of Job. This man was considered righteous by God and of course, he was counted righteous the exact same way authentic Christians today are considered righteous – through faith. There is no other way to God. There is no other way that God will gift or impute to a person’s account, His righteousness. It’s all grace through faith, not of works, that we are able to approach God at all.

Of course, it also needs to be clearly stated that even though our works do not save us, there clearly needs to be a change in the person’s life after they come to God in Christ. It is clear that because of Job’s belief system and his faith in God, he lived in a way that brought glory to God. His life was the natural outcome of coming to God in faith.

His heart went out to the widow and those less fortunate than himself. He did not steal from them. He did not endeavor to make their lives harder. He was not unfair to them at all. In every way, Job endeavored to live a life that promoted his faith in God and he was successful.

There came a day when Satan was given permission to test Job (cf Job 1). He was allowed to do this by first doing everything he could to make his faith fail, yet without touching him directly. So, as we know, Satan destroyed his crops, his herds and his children. That type of devastation is hard for anyone to remain upright under, but Job managed it because his faith in God was so strong.

With that failure on his shoulders, Satan went back and claimed that if he were able to attack Job directly, on his person, Job would crumble, complain, and essentially curse God. God gave him permission but limited Satan by stating that he was not allowed to take Job’s life. This limit helps us understand Satan’s innate power. He clearly has the ability to harm and to kill, but only as God allows.

So Job is hit and hit hard by Satan. Job is given so many problems that it is difficult to believe them all, but certainly the Scripture is true. How could anyone stand up under that type of pressure and assault? I seriously doubt that I would be able to do it. Job did…barely, but it was only because of God’s grace throughout the situation. We know for a fact that Job’s troubles did not occur because he had personally sinned. It all took place because of a bit of a wager where Satan was concerned.

It is interesting to note that Satan has never succeeded. Not once, though at times, it appears as though he has done so. He likely chafes under the power and limits placed on him by God. Even when it appears that he has succeeded, he ultimately fails. There are countless examples in Scripture where we have the proof we need to understand that Satan has continually failed. It must be difficult to live with, yet he musters on because he has no other choice.

But if we consider Job’s friends, we can see how they were used by Satan as well. Remember, Satan’s goal was to make Job sin by cursing God. Satan tried everything including destroying Job’s physical and mental health as much as he was allowed to do. Satan then brought Job’s friends into the picture to use them to push Job away from God. As stated, they all essentially had the same message, with a slight variation here or there.

The last speaker, who happened to be the youngest, Elihu, also ultimately wound up blaming Job for his problems and trials. He was also angry at the other two older, “wiser” men who really had no great advice to offer at all. Several times, Scripture tells us Elihu burned with anger toward these men and Job. While Elihu moved a bit closer to the truth of the situation, it was still marked by serious error.

In those days, people believed much like the caste system of India, that if you are wealthy, you are blessed by God. If you are not wealthy and live your life struggling with many problems, you are clearly not blessed by God. We know that even the disciples of Jesus thought this when they asked him who “sinned,” the man (who was born blind) or his parents? (John 9). The response from Jesus was that no one’s sin had brought the blindness on, but it was there for a specific moment in time when God would be glorified because Jesus would heal the man.

When Jesus said no one “sinned,” He obviously did not mean that neither the blind man or his parents had ever sinned. Jesus was simply saying that none of the three had specifically sinned in a way that would have caused the man to be born blind. Obviously, all three – the man and his parents – were sinners in need of salvation and one might even argue that humanity corporately had fallen in Adam, which brought sin into the world, so in a direct sense, it was that general or corporate sin which caused death and decay, but not a specific sin that could be pointed to that caused the man to be born blind.

Every once in a while I see a deer on our property in the country that has only three legs – one front and two back legs. It seems clear that the deer was born with only three legs, not four. Yet, the deer has no problem getting around and jumping over things. We can call that a fluke of nature if we like. We can also rightly say that when sin entered this world, it brought with it death and decay. This is why everything eventually dies and why some are born with issues.

Jesus straightened out the disciples’ errant belief that people who had issues in their lives; deformities, blindness, poor health, or even not being wealthy, were so not because of specific sins necessarily but because of sin that rules the world.

Job’s friends truly believed that God deliberately blessed those who were affluent in their day. Those who were crippled, blind, or just dirt poor were not blessed by God and their lives reflected their guilt due to some sin. This was the belief and it is obvious in the words of Job’s three friends.

Reading through their speeches is both enlightening and tedious, knowing what we know today based on the entirety of Scripture. The saddest part is that through it all, Job never became aware (as far as we know) that what happened to him was because of Satan’s desire to sift him, causing him to curse God.

We cannot go through life believing that we are somehow better than those who are less fortunate than we are in life. As difficult as it may be, we must develop a heart for others who have experienced less fortune. I cannot imagine having gone through what Job went through and when things in my life get a bit tough where I’m tempted to feel sorry for myself, I need only recall what Job went through. When I compare my situation to his, there really is no comparison.

If you are a Christian, thank God for that! But don’t allow it to create within you this false sense of hierarchy, where you are tempted to think of yourself as better than you are in reality. We are warned repeatedly to not think more highly of ourselves than we ought.

Job trusted God in the beginning. He continued to trust God through the misery that visited him, yet it was a bit touch and go because while Job seemed to have legitimate complaints, in reality, he learned a great deal from what he experienced. God brought him through it and in the process, more of Job’s pride was erased as he learned to accept the fact that God is God alone and His reasons for doing anything are His, whether He chooses to reveal His attentions to us or not.

In reality, God has no obligation to reveal anything to us. The fact that He has revealed what He has revealed in His written Word is testimony to His great love for us.

The Psalms are filled with praise to and of God for no other reason than He is God; above all things and over all things. He is sovereign. We are finite at best and often our own hearts condemn us because of our sin. There are times though when God allows things into our lives not because we have sinned and “deserve” them but simply because God has chosen to take a specific course of action in order for our own benefit and growth.

It is a very hard lesson to learn, isn’t it? The sooner we humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand, the sooner we will begin to see things from His perspective. May it be so for all of us.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective