The book of Job tells us the story of a God-fearing man whose life is systematically destroyed; his livelihood, his family, and his health. To him, without explanation. For us, it seems to be a heavenly wager. God versus Satan, Satan seeking to destroy Job because Satan is convinced Job will then curse God and die. God believes he will be faithful.
In the story,
three friends come to comfort Job. But they come with a human presupposition about God.
God sends bad things as punishment, therefore Job is being punished. Therefore,
all he has to do is repent. But Job knows and we know that he has not sinned,
that he is not being punished.
So instead of
comfort there is conflict. His friends are frustrated at his stubbornness. Job,
on top of everything else, is burdened with their truculence. No comfort is to
be had. Instead, Job is backed into a corner and finally openly challenges God
as to “Why?”
In the end,
God does reply. But it is not to explain, not to throw Satan under the bus.
Rather, it might be seen as ultimately unsatisfying to we who want to
understand. Essentially, is Job big enough to see the full scope, magnitude,
and power of God? If not, then he needs to take a step back out of God's face.
And he does.
Job was a man
beloved by God. He remained faithful even through his darkest trials and
deepest doubts, even in his ignorance of why things were happening to him. But
there is another beloved by God who was also ruined and destroyed by God. And
unlike Job, God does not spare his life. And unlike Job, he knew this was punishment.
And unlike Job, he knew for what. But like Job, it was for nothing he did, because it was for
what we did.
What can we
learn about our Lord Jesus in the light of Job? As another innocent man who
seems to have suffered at the hands of God? What then can we learn about our
faith in the light of the stories of these two men beloved by God? This is what we are going to explore this month in worship at First Presbyterian Church of Perth Amboy.
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