Questions in Job

We've spent a couple of weeks at the 10.30am service looking at the book of Job. The book is all about the man Job and the terrible suffering he experiences.

The way book of Job ends the book raises a lot of questions. Why does God never tell Job why he was made to suffer? What's the significance of Job getting back twice as much wealth? It's like the author is more interested in raising the questions and getting us to think about it than giving us a clear message.

There are a few things, however, we can take away. First, nowhere in the Bible does God explain why sometimes good people experience bad times. The presence of evil in our world is just in that category of things God has chosen not to reveal to us.

Second, although there is evil present, God is in complete control. God talks at Job for four chapters explaining how God created the world, how God organises the stars and the sun, how God animates the tiny details of the natural world... God is there when the mountain goat gives birth! We know for sure that evil sits firmly under the power and authority of God.

Third, Job doesn't suffer silently. He argues with God and complains. He even talks about taking a legal case against God! Yet, at the end of the book, God commends Job and says Job has spoken truth. I think that's a sign that arguing with God during tough times is an acceptable, even a faithful, thing to do. It recognises God is in control and shows faith that, once God hears our complaints, God will do something about it.

Fourth, the way Job gets all his stuff back at the end of the book might seem like a "happily ever after" end to a fairytale. But it's more than that. Unending suffering is not part of God's long term plan. Rather, the restoration of all things is what's at God's heart. Jesus came to us to suffer as one of us and usher a new creation in which, ultimately, there will be no death, mourning, crying and pain. So the way the book of Job ends is entirely consistent with God's character. It's the way the world ought to be.