Have you ever read the book of Job and wondered what was the point? For me it’s every single time.
But recently I listened to the whole book while I was driving, and as always happens, I noticed something new (to me).
Job’s friends assumed he was guilty of sin and that’s why he’d been judged. They assumed all that happened was judgment or punishment and that Job earned what he got with his bad behavior, and they spent many chapters trying to convince him of how right they were and how wrong he was.
Job insisted on his righteousness and went to great pains to give examples of it. He agreed that if he’d done something wrong he would deserve God’s punishment. But he also made the case that his righteousness should earn him blessing.
It seems even God would have agreed since, in the very first verse of the book, God wrote:
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
Then just seven verses later,
And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
God was the one who brought it up. He was the one who described Job this way, so one would think that was his (God’s) assessment of the man Job. But he gave Satan permission to destroy everything Job had: all of his children, all of his animals (i.e., his wealth), all of his servants. All he had left was his wife.
Next time Satan came to visit (Job 2:3), God said the same as before, but with a little more information:
Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
God said, “without cause.” All this calamity was not happening because Job deserved it.
The trials continued with Job being covered in boils and his lovely wife telling him to “curse God and die” (2:9). What a blessing she was.
Then Job’s friends showed up, and while we are really hard on them and the stupid things they said for the next 30 chapters, the first thing they did was perfect. Verse 13 says,
So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.
When we see that someone’s grief is very great, the best thing we can do is just be there. No words, no looking for the bright side, no rebuke, no reminding them that their loved one is in a better place. Just be so the grieving person knows they are not alone.
But eventually the friends had to open their mouths and we spend the next 30 chapters rolling our eyes—not just at the three of them, but at Job’s answers too. The friends insisted Job deserved what he got because of sin. Job insisted he earned God’s favor by being righteous. So much deserving and earning going on in their minds.
You know what this is? It is ego-centric. Me-centered. They are the center of their own stories, whether good or bad. They were the ones in control of all the cosmic happenings. Did you get that? They were the ones in control. Have you ever felt that way? I sure have—not that I’m a control freak or anything, but I do like me some control. Don’t you? Don’t we all? Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to predict the outcomes in our life based on whether or not we were good enough?
Job and his friends believed that our behavior results in God’s response of either giving or taking away tangible blessing. That God is a responsive God. That he only does things in response to our actions. But doesn’t that make us the center of everything? Well . . . but . . .
What if everyone involved was looking at it all wrong? If you’ve read the whole book of Job, you know they were.
Finally, God jumps in and sets them all straight.
“Who are you?” he asks. “Were you there when I created everything? Do you know how I make the ocean stop at the sand? Why one deer finds another and procreates? Do you know how I made darkness and light?” (And so many more questions—80 verses worth.)
Finally, God says to Job,
Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
You think you know more than I do? Give me an answer.
And suddenly, Job’s goodness looks pretty small and insignificant, and God reminds him that his (Job’s) righteousness equals condemnation toward God (40:8).
Because all along this story is not about God reacting to our good or bad behavior. We are not the center of our stories; God is. This is about him being God, the one whose knowledge and understand are so far beyond ours it is incomprehensible.
So go ahead and be righteous. In fact, God commands it and expects us to be so. Disobedience may result in chastisement, the natural consequence of our actions. But understand that being good does not earn you blessings.
Blessings are the result of God’s immeasurable compassion. They are not payment for a job well done. They are (maybe) given to us in God’s perfect timing and with his perfect understanding of what is good for us. And if they’re not? Or if they’re taken away?
He is still God and he never changes.