DAY 175

BOOK OF JOB

Job 1 & 2

The Book of Job: Considered both a theological and literary masterpiece, Job is an honest portrayal of God allowing a good man to suffer. You will read of a good man’s faith being tested. The test is in fact allowed by God in a response to a challenge from Satan. The drama that ensues reveals God’s loving sovereignty and the supremacy of divine wisdom over human wisdom. The human wisdom enters the book through a variety of dialogs between Job and his so-called friends. The work reveals a path by one man to believe that God is good despite the apparent evidence to the contrary. Job rested in faith alone. The author is unknown and it is thought to be circa 1500 – 500 BC.

We begin with a description of Job: blameless. His family: seemingly idyllic. We then come to an interaction between God and Satan. Satan is brazen, openly challenging. God points out how righteous Job is, and Satan essentially challenges God’s assessment. So God, in a way to prove a point that his, God’s, discernment about Job is not in error, allows Satan to test Job.

Some people struggle with this idea of God allowing Satan to test Job; are we humans mere puppets for those in the heavens to play with? I think not. This story has many layers to it. I have already pointed out one, the arrogance of Satan. In many ways God is showing tremendous confidence in Job and Job’s faithfulness – “Go ahead,” says God, “Test him, I am confident in my servant Job.”

Satan is quick to destroy, by the end of chapter one, all is taken away. Job’s reaction: “the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” In chapter two Job himself is attacked with vicious disease. Job’s wife has reached the breaking point, but not Job.

Sometime when people suffer they ask me if I think God is testing them. That question comes from this story. I do not believe that is generally the case. Might God be testing them? Possibly, but I more think it dangerous to view us as pawns in some game God is playing with Satan. Clearly we need to face our challenges with God. Clearly we need to lean into and onto God amid our struggles. I think that we need to be careful to not blame God, or worse. As the chapters unfold in the Book of Job you will see how one man dealt with difficult, personally difficult situations.