SUNDAY: Bible Study - 9:00 AM | Worship - 10:00 AM | PM Worship - 6:00 PM WEDNESDAY: Bible Class - 7:00 PM ~ 8110 Signal Hill Road Manassas, Virginia | Office Phone: 703.368.2622

 

Temptation            There were several years when I thought I had it.  Job – that altogether unique book in human history – the one that is supposed to answer the question: “Why do the righteous suffer?” – was not about that at all. Why hadn’t anyone seen it before? Anyone who reads the first chapter of Job knows why Job suffers – he suffers because of a question that stands between God and Satan: Does Job serve God because he’s paid to; or because He really revere’s God as God? Of course Job is never told this is why he suffers – he can’t be, or the answer to the question will never be ascertained. But we, the readers, are in on the contest. We know what Job does not, what Job never will know.

            And so the question of Job is not “why do the righteous suffer?” The question of Job is “will anyone serve God without being paid to?” This adds a great amount of tension to the book for the reader, because we know that Job’s conversation with his friends misses the mark entirely. As we read along we hear Job getting awfully close to rejecting God – that tension is even more acute because if Job rejects God, then Satan is right and God is wrong and what are the implications of that?

            Job does not reject God. God appears to Job and gives him an answer, but no explanation. “I am God and you are not!” is all the answer God gives. It is all the answer Job needs. Job repents, and affirms his faith in God. God responds by giving Job more than he ever had before, even twice as many children than the ones killed  – and they all lived happily ever after, the end. God is right, Satan is wrong. All is as it should be. Of course new children never replace lost ones – there is a flaw in the mathematics of this happy ending – but I tried not to think about that too much.

            Yes, there were several years when I thought I had it – had comprehended, had domesticated this perplexing, frustrating book. But then this this one line jumped out and grabbed me by the throat, and it is a line God Himself speaks.

And God said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And still he holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to ruin him without cause.”  Job 2.3

            “You incited Me against him”??!! How can God say that? God is the one who brings Job to Satan’s attention (Job 1.8). Job is a topic of discussion because God intends him to be.  It is Satan’s idea to test Job with hardship, but God agrees. And isn’t it God’s intention all along that Job should be thus tested? God is God, no one manipulates Him.

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.  James 1.13

            God cannot be tempted. How then can God blame Satan for inciting Him to do anything? How can God place the blame for Job’s suffering on anyone but Himself?

            I don’t know. I doubt I will ever know.  I have no answer, no defense to make on God’s behalf. I am no nearer understanding God’s treatment of Job than Job is.  The only answer I have is the answer Job is given. Yahweh is God. That is all. I either accept or reject that.

            And I do accept it - humbly, reverently, and without pat answers.

NewManassas Side

8110 Signal Hill Road | Manassas, Virginia

Let us know about your interest in Studying the Bible

Members Login

Bible Study

biblestudysd

Top
                                                                       © 2013 Manassas Church of Christ