In my lenten chronological reading I read the entire book of Job. Through the many days that this book spanned for me I went through quite a process in thinking about Job and his struggles and journey. I will do my best to recount that journey here.
The book starts out with the discussion with the Devil and God. The Devil wants to use Job to prove a point to God. Satan then attacks everything God has given Job. At first Job seems ok. Then Satan takes so much that Job enters what seems to be a deep struggle. Job's own wife even asks him to curse God so that he can die. Then three of his "friends" come to comfort and sympathize with him. This conversation is the bulk of the book.
I was shocked at some of the things Job says to these friends. Preceeding the conversation the Bible states that Job does not sin in what he says. Then a few lines later Job is cursing the day of his birth. This to me seems like he is rejecting God and the gift of life. These two statements did not seem to go together.
It is clear from Job's language that he is depressed. He is suffering and questioning. I could not help but think of him as the Israelites walking in the desert, or a modern day teen. On a side note, one line that reminded me of much of the dark poetry that we fear from teens read as follows: "I will complain in the bitterness of my soul." Well, at least no one can fault Job for being forthright.
As the conversation goes on Job's language stays the same and begs for God to come and confront him. The friends ask questions and probe at what it is God is saying. They threw out some questions that got my mind racing to try and answer. "Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you Probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens-what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave- what can you know?" This last one really struck me. God's mysteries are definitely deeper than the depths of the grave. I loved how this seemed to almost hint at how it is only God in Jesus that can conquer the grave. This is a mystery to us that we are still trying to explain and realistically never will with any certainty. It is a humbling thought that was around thousands of years ago. These questions won me over to the friends side. I wanted Job to respond and think about the enlightening ideas and questions that they offered. Instead he continued.
Each response left me sorting through Job's poetic depression to try and figure out what he was saying. Day after day I listened to him. I saw the old image of God as a kid on an ant hill with a magnify glass. He complains about how the wicked have all these great things and God does not punish them. These common current day complaints and questions Job has thousands of years ago. What I could not shake though was the question of why is Job the good guy and the friends bad?
The final response it clicked in to me. I finally realized that because of Job's culture when things go wrong people believed that God was punishing the person for their sins. Misfortune meant misdeeds. So what the two groups were really arguing was that Job knew he had done know wrong and wanted to face his "judge". The friends wanted Job to admit the wrong in his life and come clean. By Job not coming clean they felt he was going against God and speaking blasphemy. Job knew this was not the case and tried to explain it several times, but the friends could not see it.
In the end God comes into the story again and chastises Job for many of the things he was saying. To me God's responses seemed similar to the friends, but God can make those statements clearly and without question. The friends get the largest punishment, but are able to receive forgiveness if Job prays for them after they give him gifts.
Intriguing story. Very confusing with their poetry. A great reminder that we should not judge others because of what we assume the circumstances in their life might mean. God is the only judge who can know for sure. And what do we know of the mysteries of God?
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