Understanding the Book of Job -- Finally

Each time I have studied Job in the past, I have come away with more questions than answers. Thanks to the men in my Bible study, one of whom curiously suggested we study Job, I think I finally have some answers. There are still plenty of mysteries in Job, but I can say with some confidence that there is a valuable lesson in the story of Job for believers today.

Before I get to the lesson, take a look at some of the remaining mysteries. The book opens with an unexplained gathering in some heavenly dimension. Verse six says, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord.” Everybody pretty much agrees that “sons of God” are angels. The interesting thing to me is that on a specific day they, “came to present themselves.” Was this a head count to see if more had joined the enemy? Was it some sort of performance review? This concept has long fascinated me, to the point that I have written a novel imagining what angels actually do with their time and how they interact with humans. (Shameless Promotion.)

The second half of verse six is equally curious: “and Satan also came among them.” We know from what follows that Satan had already broken faith with the rest of the heavenly host and had been banished to earth. What amazes me is that he still had access to the throne. God seems to casually ask him what he’s been up to, and Satan answers that he has been roaming around earth (seeking whom he may devour?).

What God does next is the real mind boggler: “Have you considered my servant Job?” God seems to be setting Job up like a golf ball on a tee… like a clay pigeon in the sling. I imagine a little bit of sour grapes whine in Satan’s voice when he protests that God has, “put a hedge around him and his house and… blessed the work of his hands?” Then God paves the way for the rest of the story by offering to drop the hedge, at least partially. It is comforting to think that God hedges his children against the enemy, but not so much that he voluntarily removes the hedge. This is where the weeds get thick and deep.

As almost everyone knows, the story goes that Job is subjected to terrible loss, financial and emotional, and after a second audience with God, Satan is released to pester Job physically. In the midst of his misery, Job’s friends give him their counsel; it sounds very much like what people might say today: Job has obviously offended God in some major way to deserve such harsh punishment. This thinking was still prevalent in Jesus’ day, evidenced by his disciples asking what sin was responsible for the man being born blind. We still wonder. Were the 92,000 people killed by the volcano in Indonesia in 1815 especially wicked? Did the thousands killed in Japan in the 2011 tsunami offend God particularly? Or the earthquake victims in Mexico… or the famine in Africa… and so on?

Job does what humans always seem to do: he protests his innocence, or more accurately, he proclaims his righteousness. When God finally speaks in the end, His response is quite shocking. He tells Job that even if he were perfectly righteous, he ain’t all that. To paraphrase, God said, “No matter how wonderful you think you are, this is not about you. As the one-and-only Majestic Creator, Sovereign of the Universe, I can do as I please without reference to you or your friends.” Job’s attempt to put himself on an argumentative plane with God was utterly demolished. “Does the clay say to the Potter, ‘What are you making?’”

Humans seem to be hard-wired to desire “fair” treatment. It’s not fair that babies die; it’s not fair that nice people get cancer; it’s not fair that some are rich while others are poor. It’s not fair that Job was made to suffer so terribly. Of course, we like that fact that Job was twice blessed after he walked through his trial, but if we think the lesson is there, we are right back with Job’s friends.

It’s not about Job getting his just reward; it’s about God getting his point across… to the angels (one of whom is called Satan.) Paul told the Ephesians that the mystery of the ages was being revealed through the church, “to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” My take-away from Job, nay, the entire Biblical sweep is that God is doing something with this time-space continuum we call human history that is larger than the universe itself. Regarding “uneducated and unstable” false teachers, Peter says that they boldly and willfully blaspheme angels. Jude echoes this enigmatic idea hinting at the involvement of celestial beings who occasionally appear in Scripture, but are seldom explained.

Apart from the mystery of angelic correlations, one thing is clear to me (with thanks due to my Bible study partners). Not Job, nor Joseph, nor the man born blind can sue for fair treatment. Of the man born blind Jesus said, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” The Master’s next sentence is the real kicker: “We must work the works of him who sent me.” Note my italics; Paul picks this up when he tells the Ephesians, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

God has a work for each of us. It may be in the dust with Job, in the pit with Joseph or on a throne with Solomon. We don’t get to choose. To borrow from Tennyson, “[Ours] not to reason why / [ours] but to do and die.” That is the correct wording: “do and die.” Taking up our cross to follow Jesus (as he commanded) presumes a pending death; that’s what crosses are for.

Paradoxical though it may be, this is the way to life: death. Death to self, death to the old man, and yes, death itself may be required. We, like Job, have no grounds on which to ask why. We must ask what, where and when. The “where and when” is here and now. The “what” will be revealed when we open the door before us with our spiritual eyes and ears open. May we be found humble and ready as God’s servant Isaiah saying, “Here I am; [use] me.”

A Timely New Book Worth Reading

I have been anxiously awaiting the publication of a new book, Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society by R. R. Reno. It became available this week, and I was so struck by Reno’s introduction to the book, that I am excerpting it here. I quite literally could not say it better myself.

“Today’s progressivism is waging a war on the weak. Putting an end to that war is the most important social justice issue of our time….

“We also need to recover solidarity, limited government, and a sense of the transcendent. These are natural goods that one finds in many cultures. Christian societies do not have a monopoly on them. But ours has been a Christian history, and it is by a renewal of Christian influence that we are most likely to restore theses humanizing qualities to our society.

“Serving those most in need and contributing to that restoration of American society requires us to speak clearly, honestly, and forcefully. Being a serious Christian does not automatically make one a social or religious “conservative,” but the logic of faith runs counter to the cult of freedom. The freedom for which Christ makes us free is quite different from the freedom championed by modern liberal culture….

“This does not mean “establishing” Christianity but speaking up in the public square as Christians. We need to say, out loud and with confidence, that we’re best off when we live under the authority of the permanence of marriage, accept the duties of patriotism, and affirm the supernatural claims the church makes on our souls. We’re “judgmental” not to sustain the preeminence of Christianity in American society… but because we seek to promote the wellbeing of our neighbors, especially the weakest and most vulnerable….

“Today’s poverty is spiritual and moral. What’s needed is the stability and permanence of moral truth, as well as a renewed sense of the possibility of a faith that brings us into the everlasting household of God….

“There is much talk among Christians these days about a pessimistic withdrawal from public life. The current of culture seems to be running against us. We need to be realistic about the challenges posed by the present age, and we certainly need to repair our communities of faith. There can be no Christian society without vital churches. But let’s not sell the public potency of Christianity short. The renewal of our society as a whole is possible, even today, even in a hyper-individualistic society like America.

“America is full of people who sense the poverty of our postmodern paganism. Our nation is still capable of caring for the weak and vulnerable. Most Americans want everyone to flourish – together. And they don’t want to be swallowed by the administrative-therapeutic state, ruled by a remote meritocratic elite. They want their children to seek higher things, the surest way to escape the cult of freedom that makes them servants of today’s materialist hearth gods.

“Our fellow citizens recognize the seriousness of our faith – loyalty to God, no less! They intuit that we can contribute something solid, enduring, and reliable to public life. It’s not going to be easy. But America is demoralized right now. Anti-establishment politicians win widespread support. A wave of populism is demolishing longstanding political coalitions. Polls reveal a dwindling of trust in mainstream institutions. Universities are terrorized by political correctness. Secular progressivism rules our culture more by default than because of widespread conviction. What seems like an all-powerful secular consensus actually churns with dissatisfaction.

“Which is why, in this time and in this place, a relatively small number of Christians can inspire and reinvigorate the public imaginations of the disoriented majority. We can renew our society by restoring our voices as Christian citizens.

“Resurrecting the idea of a Christian society is possible, but by no means inevitable. The United States is a great nation. I’m a proud patriot. But America is a nation of men, not the city of God. Yes, we may fail to restore the Christian leaven in American public life. It is also true that there will be a time when America is no more. Yet the Gospel endures. Let us therefore take up our political tasks with cheerfulness, even if the odds are against us. We are called to do what we are able, not to succeed. Let’s do our best, trusting in God’s providence and confident in his final victory.”

Amen and thank you, Professor Reno.