BIBLIOTHECA SACRA 154
(October-December 1997): 436-51
Copyright ©
1997 by
REFLECTIONS ON SUFFERING
FROM THE BOOK OF JOB
Larry
J. Waters
Written
by an unknown author, possibly the most an-
cient literary account in the
Bible,l the Book of Job is a mixture of
divine and human wisdom that addresses a major life
issue:
Why
do righteous people suffer undeservedly?2
The Book of Job is
also a prime example of Hebrew wisdom literature3
that labors
with the concept of theodicy,4 which is a
defense of the integrity of
the justice and righteousness of God in light of
the evil, injustice,
and undeserved suffering in the world. Some writers
have sug-
Larry
J. Waters is Professor of Bible, International School
of Theology-Asia,
1 Ample evidence supports the claim that
the setting of Job is patriarchal. See
Roy
B. Zuck, "Job," in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old
Testament, ed. John
F.
Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck
(Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1985),717, for nine reasons the
Book of Job points to a patriarchal period. Archer and others see
the Book of Job as
the oldest book in the Bible (Gleason L. Archer, The Book of Job: God's Answer to
the Problem of Undeserved Suffering [
views are given in Edouard Dhorme, A Commentary
on the Book of Job (
Nelson,
1984); F. Delitzsch, The Book of Job, trans. F. Bolton, 2 vols. (
Eerdmans, 1949); M. Jastrow,
The Book of Job (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1920); and
Robert
Gordis, The Book of God and
Man (
1965).
2 "Undeserved suffering"
does not imply that God unjustly placed mankind un-
der the curse as a result
of the Fall. Rather it refers to suffering that is not directly
traceable to an act of personal sin or
disobedience. This phrase does not imply that
Job
was sinless, nor that he was without sin during the
cycles of debate. Suffering
is undeserved in the sense of being or appearing
to be unfair or unjust.
3 David J. A. Clines, Job
1-20, Word Biblical Commentary (
1989), xxxviii. He points to three
major issues in sutTering: (1) How
do we answer
the why's, how's, and what's of suffering? (2) Is
there really such a thing as inno-
cent suffering? (3) What kind of answers can be
given when suffering?
4 This is not to imply
that "theodicy" is the one main theme of the book, nor that
one main theme can be agreed on. While one may see
one primary emphasis in the J
Book
of Job, it encompasses several related themes. See the review on theodicy in
Konrad Muller, "Die Auslegung
des Theodizeeproblems im Buche Hiob," Theolo-
gische Blatter 32 (1992): 73-79.
Reflections on Suffering
from the Book of Job 437
gested that theodicy is the
theme of the Book of Job.5 If this is so,
then the emphasis of the book is not totally on the
man Job and his
suffering, though he and his suffering are
certainly central, but
also on God Himself and His relationship to His
supreme cre-
ation.
Job therefore is a book dealing with human
suffering,6 even
though the suffering of the innocent7 does
not encompass the au-
thor's entire purpose. It is
also more than an ancient play written
to portray the absurdities of life, the weaknesses
of man, and the
prominence of the sovereignty of God.8
The Book of Job shows that
the sufferer can question and doubt,9
face the hard questions of
life with faith, maintain an unbroken relationship
with a loving
God,
and still come to a satisfactory resolution for personal and
collective injustice and undeserved suffering. These observa-
tions need to be addressed
not only within the context of the suffer-
ing by the righteous man
Job, but also because many believers to-
day suffer and can identify with Job.10
As Andersen points out,
"the problem of suffering, human misery, or the larger sum of
evil in all its forms is a problem only for the
person who believes
in one God who is all-powerful and
all-loving."11 Suffering,
5 For example Clines, Job
1-20, xxxiii.
6
"What
one learns from suffering is the central theme" (Bruce Wilkinson and
Kenneth
Boa, Talk Thru the Old Testament [
7 Matitiahu
Tsevat, "The Meaning of the Book of Job,"
nual 37 (1966): 195. Though
the word "innocent" disturbs some, it is used here in
the sense of innocence of any wrongdoing as the
base for the suffering Job endured,
not innocence in the sense of having no sin or
culpability as a fallen creation. See
Clines, Job 1-20, xxxviii, for a more detailed
discussion.
8
tation?" Evangelical Quarterly 63 (1991): 151. It
would seem that the author of Job
had several purposes under the general theme of
wisdom's teaching about God and
human suffering. While God and His freedom are the
major focus of the book, the
problem of suffering is the medium through which
the book's purpose is pre-
sented. Stressing one subject
over the other would be unproductive.
9 Zuck,
"Job," 715. "The Book of Job also teaches that to ask why, as
Job did (
12,
16,20), is not wrong. But to demand that God answer
why, as Job also did (
19:7;
31:15) is wrong" (ibid.).
10 Wesley C. Baker, More Than a Man Can Take: A Study of Job
(
11 Francis
tament Commentaries (Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1976),64-65. This is not to
say that a nonbeliever does not struggle with the
same questions. But if an unbe-
liever's questions do not lead
to a relationship with God, then they are normally
used as excuses for not believing in God and as
reasons to dismiss divine claims
without struggling with the biblical issues. The
believer, however, struggles with
the seeming inconsistencies and incongruities,
attempting to harmonize these dif-
ficulties with faith in what is
known of God in His Word.
438
BIBLIOTHECA SACRA / October-December
1997
then, is the prominent issue that forces a
consideration of the
deeper questions posed by this concept, especially as
it affects the
lives of those who have a loving, intimate
relationship with the
true and living God. All the questions that relate
to God, man,
and Satan-justice and injustice, sovereignty and
freedom, in-
nocence and guilt, good and
evil, blessing and cursing-are in-
terwoven within the context of
undeserved suffering. The Book of
Job
and its presentation of undeserved suffering, therefore,
serves as a dependable, useful model12 for
the believer of any
generation in dealing with the problem of theodicy.
Is
God to be held to a strict set of regulations based on human
interpretations of His relationship
with mankind? How does the
Book
of Job handle this question and its connection with unde-
served suffering, while still demanding faith in an
omnipotent,
sovereign, and loving God? This study suggests
several answers
from the Book of Job in an attempt to (a) reveal the
false theologi-
cal method of Satan in regard to human suffering,
and his role as
the cause or "prime mover" of suffering,
(b) show how the three
counselors, while presenting some truth, follow a
retribution13 or
recompense14 theology as a method of
explaining suffering that is
related to Satan's original attack on Job, (c)
briefly present
Elihu's answer to Job's suffering, (d) suggest
God's estimation of
Job's
complaint and suffering, that is, a correction of the three
counselors and Job himself, and (e) summarize the
various
lessons Job learned from his suffering.
12 "By all means let
Job the patient be your model so long as that is possible for
you; but when equanimity fails, let the grief and
anger of Job the impatient direct
itself and yourself toward God, for only in encounter
with him will the tension of :
suffering be resolved" (Clines, Job 1-20, xxxix).
13
"Retribution
theology" is a term often used to explain the "cursing and
blessing"
clauses of the Mosaic Covenant. Here it is used
mainly to describe a misuse of that
theology that attempts to set boundaries on God's
sovereign will and obligate Him
to man's actions and assumptions concerning blessing
and cursing. The term is
also used to represent a theology that assumes God's
blessing is based on how good
a person is or acts and that His cursing is based
on how bad a person is or acts.
While
extended in grace. Conversely the righteous often
suffered along with the unrigh-
teous under the discipline
due them, the nation, and its leaders. In Job, Satan and
the three counselors tried to limit God and His
freedom to act according to their
own standards. They saw this concept as a fixed
formula for judging the life of an
individual and therefore for limiting God to
predetermined actions in dealings
with people. The biblical idea of blessing and
cursing is based on a relationship
with God and is primarily internal in nature. The
satanic counterfeit of blessing
and cursing is based on a relationship with health,
other people, and material
goods, and is primarily external in nature.
14 The term
"recompense theology" suggests the concept of "payment."
Job's ac-
cusers said God is somehow
under obligation to mankind and is confirmed to giving
exact payment to individuals.
Reflections on Suffering from the Book of Job 439
Job
is truly a wisdom book. The basic concept of wisdom has
always been connected with skill and
"know-how,"15 for
"wisdom was the art of achieving," and the
"emphasis was on
competence."16 Wisdom (hmAk;HA/MkaHA) challenges readers to dis-
cover the "know-how" presented in the book
so that they might
achieve competence in dealing with the questions
of suffering.
From
the Book of Job readers can learn how to challenge the false
concepts related to suffering and how to maintain
a loving and
meaningful relationship, in the midst of suffering,
with the
sovereign God. Only God "understands the way
to [wisdom] and
he alone knows where it dwells" (Job 28:23,
NIV).
SATANIC MOTIVATION AND
METHOD
AS A CAUSE OF SUFFERING
As
Alden points out, blaming the devil for suffering is an all-too-
common activity of many Christians.17 The message of Job
deals
not with "cause and effect"18
but with coming to the realization
that "nothing happens to us that is not
ultimately controlled by the
knowledge, love, wisdom, and power of our God of
all comfort"19
(2
Cor. 1:3). Certainly he is correct; however, this
principle also
often leads to blaming God for suffering. While Satan
is the
prime mover behind sin, evil, and suffering, it is
also correct to
point out that one cannot ignore the connection
between Satan's
desires and God's permitting him to carry out
those desires. This
friction is clearly demonstrated in the terrible
troubles inflicted
on Job. Satan was the cause, and Job felt the
effect. God, however,
was also at work in Job's suffering. But this does
not mean God is
unconcerned about what happens to His people.
"We must admit
that God plays in a higher league than we do. His
ways are far
above our ways. God is greater in intellect, power,
and knowledge
than we are. So, His ways are usually past our
finding out"20 (Job
28:23;
Isa. 55:9). God does inflict suffering directly and indi-
rectly for many different
reasons: judgment, discipline, refin-
ing, and more, but Satan is
behind much of human misery.
15 L. D. Johnson, Out of
the Whirlwind: The Major Message of the Book of Job
(Nashville:
Broadman, 1971),8.
16 Ibid.
17
Robert
L. Alden, Job, New American Commentary (
Holman, 1993), 41.
18 Andersen, Job: An
Introduction and Commentary, 68.
19 Alden, Job, 41.
20 Steven J. Lawson, When
All Hell Breaks Loose (
1994), 14.
440
BIBLIOTHECA SACRA /
October-December 1997
The
book opens when the Accuser ,21 after
traveling through-
out the earth, went before the throne of God. Satan
challenged Job
in three areas: Job's righteousness, Job's fear of
God, and Job's
separation from sin (Job 1:8-11). Why does Job live
righteously,
fear God, and separate himself from sin? Satan
alleged that Job
fears God only because God protects and prospers him.22
The
prosperity issue and its resultant
retribution/recompense theol-
ogy become a major focus in
understanding suffering throughout
the
book (1:9-10; 2:4; 5:19-26; 8:6-7; 11:17-19; 13:15-16; 17:5;
20:21-22;
of this false theology is therefore found in
Satan's statements be-
fore the throne of God (chaps. 1-2), Job's lament
(chap. 3), and the
three dialogue cycles involving Eliphaz
and Job, Bildad and Job,
and Zophar and Job
(chaps. 4-31). The monologues of Elihu
(chaps. 32-37)23 and the speeches of God (chaps. 38-42)
present a
correction to this theology."
Ancient Israelites24 and others of
the ancient Near East25
21 "The Accuser"
(NFAW.Aha) occurs fourteen times
in eleven verses (Job 1:6-9, 12; 2:1-4,
6-7), always with the definite article.
22 Johnson, Out
of the Whirlwind, 25.
23 A presentation of the
differing views on the authenticity, placement, structure,
and purpose of the Elihu
speeches can be found in David Allen Diewert,
"The
Composition of the Elihu
Speeches: A Poetic and Structural Analysis" (Ph.D. diss.,
the Elihu Speeches (Job,
Chaps. 32-37)," American Journal of
Semitic Languages
and Literature 27 (1910-1911): 97-186; Matthias H. Stuhlmann, Hiob. Ein religioses
Gedicht aus dem
Hebraischen neu ubersetzt, gepruft und erlautert (
Friedrich
Perthes, 1804), 14-24,40-44;
and Gary W. Martin, "Elihu and the Third
Cycle
in the Book of Job" (Ph.D. diss., Princeton
University, 1972),51.
24 "The classical
Judaic tradition toward suffering is expressed in the Talmudic-
Midrashic
writings.
God is seen as the One who punishes the wicked, as well as
the One who brings good and rewards the righteous.
Job is considered by some ex-
egetes to be a Jew while
others believe that he never existed as a person but was
merely an example. Other talmudic writers thought God rebuked Job for his lack
of
patience when suffering was inflicted on Job;
still others excused his outbursts because
they were uttered under duress" (Buddy R.
Pipes, "Christian Response to Human Suffering:
A Lay Theological Response to the Book of
Job" [D.Min. project,
25 There is evidence of this concept in
ancient Near Eastern literature and in the
Old
Testament (see Bildad's appeal to
"tradition" in Job
allels in the Book of Proverbs
and the Psalms). That this was a general viewpoint of
ancient peoples can been seen in the parallels
between ancient wisdom texts and
the Book of Job (Gregory W. Parsons, "A
Biblical Theology of Job 38:1-42:6" [Ph.D.
diss.,
Near
Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (
versity Press,
1950),418-19,589-91,597; and W. G. Lambert, "The Babylonian Theod-
)icy," in The Babylonian Wisdom Literature
(Oxford: Clarendon, 1967),71-89, espe-
cially page 75, lines 70-71.
"The Mesopotamian texts dealing with the problem of the
righteous sufferer give one a glimpse of the
intellectual tradition within which the
book of Job fits. It is a long tradition that
includes an early Sumerian composition
and an Old Babylonian Akkadian text. Its most elaborate literary expressions, how-
Reflections
on Suffering from the Book of Job 441
viewed suffering under the rubric of
retribution/recompense the-
ology .26 This
theology is challenged by Job's own personal strug-
gle with this faulty
theology.
If Job accepted Satan's false theology, as
presented in the dia-
logues, and
"repented" under false pretenses, then Satan would
have proved his case in the court of heaven. When Satan
asked,
"Does
Job fear God for nothing?" he implied Job served God for
"something," that is, some reward. If Job confessed some
nonex-
,
istent sin so he could return to his former
prosperous and healthy
lstatus, then Satan's premise
in 1:9-10 and 2:4 would be substan-
tiated. Also God Himself would
be deemed guilty of blessing Job's
deception and falsehood and therefore would be at
fault.
Satan's accusation was directed toward both
God's justice and
Job's righteousness. Satan basically asked
the question, Is it love
or is it self-serving greed that motivates a
person to be righteous,
to fear God, and to be separate from sin? Satan
wrongly assumed
that since God protected and blessed Job, greed was
the foundation
of his righteousness rather than Job's personal
intimate relation-
ship based on love, trust, and fear of God (1:8-10;
2:3). Tradi-
tional wisdom27 reasoned that since God
is in control of the world
and because He is just, the only way wise people
can maintain
faith in Him is to see all blessing as evidence of
goodness and
righteousness and all suffering as
evidence of unrighteousness
and sin.28 Johnson correctly calls this
viewpoint "pragmatic re-
ligion" and an
"insidious heresy."29 Belief in God and subse-
quent service to Him would
then be reduced to a prosper-
ity/pragmatic religious formula or
system of works.
After the first two chapters, Satan is
noticeably absent from
the story. His presence was no longer a factor, but
his assump-
tions, accusations, and
theology are still evident throughout the
dialogue. In the fabric of retribution/recompense
theology, ex-
pressed by the three friends who interacted with
Job, Satan's pur-
pose was to see God's highest creation curse Him.
Satan's objec-
tive was to turn a righteous
man against the just God (
ever, are found in the long poem 'I Will Praise the
Lord of Wisdom' (Ludlul bel
ne-
meqi) and 'The Babylonian
Theodicy,' a text constructed in the form of a cycle of di-
alogues between the righteous
sufferer and a friend" (James Luther Mays, ed.,
Harper's
Bible Commentary [
26 Clines, Job 1-20, xxxix-xxxx.
Also see Nahum Glatzer, The Dimensions of Job
(
dlc-Midrashic tradition in relation
to Job.
27 "Traditional
wisdom" refers here to what is contrary to God's wisdom (Matt.
15:3,
6; Mark 7:3, 5, 13;
28 Johnson, Out of the Whirlwind, 17-18.
29 Ibid.,
18.
442
BIBLIOTHECA SACRA /
October-December 1997
It
is interesting that God's charge against Satan, "You incited
me against him to ruin him without any
reason" (2:3b, NIV), is a
horrifying, yet enlightening look into the
character of Satan.
Humanity
means no more to the Accuser than a vehicle for curs-
ing God.
THE THREE FRIENDS' FALSE
THEOLOGY
OF RETRIBUTION/RECOMPENSE
Job's
three counselors perpetuated the same satanic false doctrine
of retribution/recompense. They held that the
righteous never suf-
fer and the unrighteous
always do. Each friend had his own ap-
proach to Job's problem, yet
they shared this theology of retribu-
tion/recompense. Therefore their proposed solution was the
same:
Repent
of your sins so God can restore your prosperity." Or, more
directly, "If you want your health, family,
and prosperity back,
accept our evaluation, admit to sin and
wrongdoing."
The avowed objective of the three friends was
"to sympathize
with him and comfort him" (
achieved (except for the first seven days when
their silent pres-
ence may have been of some
comfort to Job). A short summary of
the speeches of these men reveals this fact.
After Job lamented his birth (chap. 3), Eliphaz began the three
cycles of debate (chaps. 4-31). His speeches are
recorded in chap-
ters 4-5, 15, and 22. Eliphaz's questions immediately revealed
his theology, "Who ever perished being
innocent? Or where were
the upright destroyed?" (4:7). However,
experience and history,
Job
said, show that many innocent persons have suffered
(24:1-
12).
Job himself, he said, is an example. Yet based on a wrong
premise Eliphaz sought
to convict Job of his "foolish" response to
misfortune and to urge him to lay his sin before
God (5:8;
35;
22:5-12). His basic message was that Job must be sinning be-
cause he was suffering (
out the benefit of knowing the unseen events of
chapter 1, Eliphaz
saw God as both the initiator and reliever of
suffering (Job
Therefore
Eliphaz wanted Job to see that God's oppression
resulted
from the patriarch's many presumed sins (
Once
Job admitted his sin, God would heal Job and his prosperity
would return (
When Job said to his friends, "If I have
sinned, show me"
(
and in his first speech he appealed to traditional
wisdom ("in-
Iquire of past generations, and consider the things
searched out by
their fathers," 8:8). Bildad
correctly asserted that God is not un-
just or unfair (8:2-3). But Bildad
was wrong in saying that Job.
Reflections on Suffering from the Book of Job 443
was totally at fault and needed to repent before he
could be restored
(8:4- 7). God would be unfair to allow undeserved
suffering to
come to a righteous man. Job's insistence on
innocence was an
affront to the justice and rightness of God
(8:3, 20). Bildad
frankly told Job he was evil and that he must
repent so that God
could bring back his laughter, joy, and peace (
reminder of Job's losses). According to Bildad, Job was suffering
because of sin; and according to the principle
of retribu-
tion/recompense, Job deserved to be
punished. Because Job re-
fused to accept this principle, Bildad
said the patriarch did not
know God and had been rejected by Him (8:4; 18:5-21).
Therefore
how could Job claim to be righteous when the
evidence against
him was so strong (25:4-6)?
Zophar continued the attack on
Job's righteousness and in-
tegrity (11:2-4), fear of God
(vv. 5-6), and morality (vv. 6, 14).
Claiming
to have a superior understanding of God and His
dom, Zophar
said Job was too superficial to understand the deeper
things of God (vv. 7-12). This third agitator stated
that God had
even overlooked some of Job's sins (v. 6). While Job
admitted that
God
was the source of his suffering (
had committed no sin commensurate with his
suffering (chap.
31).30
While it is true that God's wisdom, as Zophar said, is unfath-
omable (11:7-9), this was not
the issue in Job's situation. Satan's
original faulty premise was repeated by Zophar: If Job were good,
he would prosper; but since he suffers, he must be
evil and will die
(vv. 13-20). Zophar accused Job of
wickedness (20:6), pride (v. 6),
perishing like dung (v. 7), and oppressing the
poor (v. 19). Like
the other two antagonists, Zophar
spoke of the wicked person's loss
of prosperity (vv. 15, 18, 20-22). He hoped this
would establish the
premise of traditional wisdom and eventually
lead Job to repent.
Job's
irritation at the arguments of these three advisers (and
at God) can be seen in these paraphrased
responses: "When will
your arguments end?" (
this?" (
"No matter what I do, nothing changes"
(chap. 9).
"Why won't
You
answer me, God?" (10:1-7). "I can't take any more of this!"
(
get some answers?" (28:12). "Everything
used to be so perfect"
(chap. 29). "What good is it to serve
God?" (chap. 30).31
30 For an excellent
discussion of Job 31, see Pipes, "Christian Response to Human
Suffering,"
1-18.
31
Mark
R.
Depression (Wheaton, IL: Shaw,
1987), 53-61.
444
BIBLIOTHECA SACRA / October-December
1997
Soon after his first calamities, Job worshiped
God, saying
"The
Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the
name of the Lord (
(v. 22). But later, under the pressure of his
opponents' accusations
and under the weight of his seemingly endless
physical and
emotional plight, Job said, "For He bruises
me with a tempest, and
multiplies my wounds without cause" (
accused God of being unfair and unjust (vv. 17-20),
since he ob-
served that God punishes good people and rewards bad
people (vv.
21-24).
God does not fit the preconceived claims of traditional
wisdom, so as Job became despondent over the brevity
of life (vv.
25-26),
he sensed that Go~ would never forgive .h~m (vv.
27-31),
and he pleaded for a medlator33 (vv. 32-33). GIvmg up on that
possibility, Job asked God to diminish his suffering
so that he
could meet God in court and plead his own case (vv.
34-35). Even
though Job saw great inconsistencies in the
application of the re-
tribution/recompense doctrine by the three
antagonists (24:1-
12),34 he concluded that God did not really care for
him and that he
was caught in some sort of divine entrapment in
which God's lov-
ingkindness was absent (10:1-13, 16-17).
He lamented his birth
(vv. 18-19) and his coming death (vv. 20-22). Captured by
false
counsel and confused by God's ways, Job was now
ready for a true
counselor.
THE INTERVENTION OF
ELIHU
Elihu began his discourses with a lengthy
introduction and ex-
pression of anger toward both
Job and the three older companions
(32:1-10).35
He felt that both parties had been guilty of perverting
32 Also see
27:2;
30:20; and 31:35.
33 Could this be the role
of Elihu in either acting as a mediator or suggesting
one?
See
H. D. Beeby, "Elihu-Job's
Mediator?" Southeast Asian Journal
of Theology 7
(October
1969): 33-54. Other suggestions include Elihu as a
"forerunner" to God in
chapters 38-42 (Robert Gordis,
"Elihu the Intruder," in Biblical and Other
Stud-
res, ed. Alexander Altmann [
78,
and Elihu as arbiter (Norman C. Habel,
"The Role of Elihu in the Design of the ;
Book
of Job," in In the Shelter of Elyon, ed. W. Boyd Barrick and
John R. Spencer !
[
34
The
fact that God postpones judgment disproves the theory of the three friends
concerning immediate retribution for wrongdoing.
"Job is no more out of God's fa-
Ivor as one of the victims than the criminal in vv.
13-17 is in God's favor because of
God's
inaction" (The NIV Study Bible, ed. Kenneth Barker [
van, 1985], 759).
35 Like the reader, Elihu was dismayed, worn down, and tired of the dialogues
which had solved nothing. Many have criticized Elihu's lengthy introduction, but
both protocol (his youth against the age of the
others), local custom, and his exas-
peration were justly expressed.
Reflections
on Suffering from the Book of Job 445
divine justice and of misrepresenting God (32:2-3,
11-22). Elihu
attempted to correct the friends' and Job's faulty
image of God.
Elihu affirmed that God was not silent during Job's
suffering
(33:14-30).
He argued that God is not unjust (34:10-12, 21-28).
Furthermore
God is neither uncaring (35:15), nor is He powerless
to act on behalf of His people (chaps. 36-37). Elihu presented a to-
tally different perspective on suffering from that of
the three. He
said Job's suffering was not because of past sin,
but was designed
to keep him from continuing to accept a sinf