Jo
b
God
and Suffering
I.
The Bible and Suffering
A.
The Reality of Suffering:
Because of the fall, we are all broken
people , with broken lives ,
and we are living in a broken world .
B.
Reasons for suffering:
We are all sufferers under sin because of
•
the fallen world
•
the sinful actions of others
•
our own sinful actions
II.
Job’s Suffering: The Situation (Job 1-2)
“
H
a
ve
yo
u
co
ns
i
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my
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e
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va
nt
J
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?
T
he
r
e
i
s
no
o
ne
o
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e
a
r
th
l
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ke
him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears
God and shuns evil.”
Job 1:1-8
Job is a singled out by God himself as blameless
and
upright .
Satan argues that this is only because God has
blessed Job
and protected him from harm.
God permits Satan to attack Job .
In a single day sudden tragedies strip Job of his wealth
and
family . Satan afflicts Job with agonizing
open sores. Through
all of this Job remains faithful.
III.
Job’s Friends: Why Suffering (Job 3-31)
A.
Explaining Suffering: Moralize suffering
Good people get good stuff and
bad people
get bad stuff. Therefore, if you are suffering you must have done
something to
merit it.
This is actually “ karma ” which stand against grace.
Grace says the
worst get the best and the worst inherit the
wealth
of heaven.
Eliphaz (Job 4:1-8)
Isn’t your piety your confidence and the integrity of your life
your hope?
Consider: who has perished when he was innocent? Where
have the honest been destroyed?
In my experience, those who plow injustice and those who sow
trouble reap the same.
Bildad (Job 8:1-7)
Since your children sinned against him, He gave them over to
their rebellion.
If you are pure and upright, then He will move even now on
your behalf and restore the home where your righteousness
dwells.
Then, even if your beginnings were modest, your final days will
be full of prosperity.
Zophar (Job 11:11-15)
As for you, if you redirect your heart and lift up your hands to
him in prayer —
if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it, and don’t allow injustice
to dwell in your tents —
then you will hold your head high, free from fault. You will be firmly
established and unafraid.
Job’s friends are wrong . Why is Job suffering?
Job is suffering not because he has done something
bad but
because he is good .
B.
Explaining Suffering: Minimize Suffering
Minimizing suffering involves the
attempt to
downplay or reduce
the extent or nature of pain.
Job’s Friends (Job 5:17 & 22)
“See how happy the man is God corrects; You will laugh at
destruction and hunger and not fear the animals of the earth.”
Job’s Friends (Job 8:21)
“He will fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with a shout of joy.”
Job’s Friends (Job 11:16-17)
“For you will forget your suffering, recalling it only as waters that
have flowed by. Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness
will be like the morning.”
Explaining Suffering - Minimizing Suffering:
When we minimize suffering we have denied its
existence, we have reduced people’s pain to
something smaller than it actually is, and we fail to
engage the brokenness for what it really is.
Explaining Suffering - Educational Suffering: (Elihu)
Suffering isn’t always punishment. God may use suffering to
teach
and to get a person’s attention .
IV.
Conclusion
Job (Job 38-41)
Job has heard enough from his friends. He does not respond to
Elihu and instead asks for an audience with God. Job wants
God to provide an answer for his
suffering .
God (Job 38-41)
God himself speaks to Job. God does not tell Job why he
permitted the suffering. He simply reminds Job of two basic
truths:
•
God is great beyond human
comprehension
•
Human beings are weak and
limited
The answer God provides is not to a question of “why,”
“what,” or “how.” Instead, His answer is “ who .” The
“ who ” always beats the “why,” “how,”
and “what.”
We don’t need
answers as much as we
need God’s presence in and through our
suffering.
“The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of men.”
G.K. Chesterton
V.
Resolution
T
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e
a
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J
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's
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(
J
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42
)
:
The three are are admonished by
the Lord for their council of Job.
Job is given twice as much as he possessed
before. His relatives come to him and re-establish their
relationships with him. Ten chi
l
d
r
e
n
we
r
e
b
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a
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J
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's
p
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f
a
ffl
i
cti
o
n
e
nd
e
d
.
VI.
Implications
A.
Suffering shows us that explanations are a substitute for trust.
We assume that an explanation can heal our hurt, that
information can heal our broken heart. We don’t need answers
as much as we need God’s presence in and through suffering.
B.
Suffering shows us that brokenness precedes usefulness.
2 Cor. 4:7-10
We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves
are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This
makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from
ourselves.
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not
crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.
We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get
knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering,
our bodies
co
nt
i
nue
to
s
h
a
r
e
i
n
the
d
e
a
th
o
f
J
e
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s
s
o
tha
t
the
l
i
f
e
o
f
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e
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us
m
a
y
also be seen in our bodies.
C.
Suffering points us to Christ who is familiar with our suffering.
In Job, a very decent man suffers some really bad things. This
ought to cause us to consider Christ where the best of all
mankind suffered from the worst of all mankind.
