The People vs. Job

In a courtroom of heaven a prosecutor from hell stands to his feet. His opening comments are brief. He alleges that one who has not joined the resistance is on the take. If his claim can be established, the verdict will raise questions about persons in high places. With the Court’s permission, the indictment is allowed. The accusation falls to earth like a demon on the loose.

Summary of the case: A rebel leader visits a great King to boast about his success. When the King calls attention to a citizen who has not yet turned against the Kingdom, the rebel accuses the King of insincerity. According to the Rebel, the King’s “model citizen” is on the take and remains faithful only because the King is bribing him.

In response to the indictment, the King allows the citizen, whose name is Job, to be tested by a series of losses. While each of the losses is painful, Job finds most troublesome the accusation of his friends that he is hiding a crime that would explain his suffering. In a loud argument that escalates in eloquence and anger, Job and his friends insult and alienate one another. Finally the King breaks His silence and with a surprise move brings The Great Debate to a sudden end.

Who was Job? Job was probably a contemporary of Abraham and according to the biblical record was the richest man in the East (Job 1:3). From Job’s own defense we learn that he didn’t waste his wealth on himself. He was an advocate for poor and oppressed people until the day he lost his family, his health, his wealth, and his reputation (chs. 29–31).

Why did God let him suffer? Three of Job’s friends thought they knew why Job was suffering. They believed there had to be a direct correlation between Job’s losses and a sin he must have been hiding.

Over and over the friends used the same argument. God doesn’t make mistakes. He rewards good behavior. He punishes evil. When we suffer we are getting a return on our own bad investments.

The friends were theologically correct in most of what they said. They were, however, wrong about Job. They didn’t understand that the law of planting and harvest requires the perspective of eternity to understand (Ps. 73; Gal. 6:7-9).

Had God forgotten him? That’s one question Job answered surprisingly well. Instead of saying, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” he said, in effect, “My God, my God, why won’t You stop looking at me?” He realized that the Lord of heaven had him under the magnifying glass. Rather than feeling that God was oblivious to his agony, Job blamed God for knowingly withholding fair treatment. He blamed heaven for letting him be wrongly accused by his friends.

Although frustrated by heaven’s unwillingness to give him direct answers, Job sighed and gasped, “What is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much attention, that you examine him every morning and test him every moment? Will You never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant? If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of men? Why have You made me Your target? Have I become a burden to You?” (Job 7:17-20 NIV).

What Job did not understand is how the presence of both God and Satan were intermingled in his suffering. He confused the bruises of an enemy with the purposes of a Friend.

Then a surprise ending. In the last chapter of his story, Job doesn’t get the kind of answer from God we might expect. God didn’t apologize. He didn’t blame Satan. He didn’t explain or make an excuse. He didn’t even thank Job’s three friends for trying to defend the honor of heaven.

Instead God replayed the word pictures of “The Genesis Event” in Job’s mind. The visual effects were powerful. The logic was compelling. By displaying the works of His own hand, the Creator opened Job’s mind to the wonder of the stars, the oceans, the winds, and the clouds. Then the Lord of Creation called attention to the lesser creatures of his making, great and small. Exhibit A, the lion. Exhibit B, the mountain goat. Exhibit C, the wild donkey, the ox, the ostrich.

And finally the Creator answered with questions of His own. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! . . . Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that an abundance of water may cover you? Can you send out lightnings, that they may go, and say to you, ‘Here we are!’? Who has put wisdom in the mind? Or who has given understanding to the heart? . . . Does the eagle mount up at your command, and make its nest on high?” (38:4-5, 34-37; 39:27 NKJV).

God didn’t tell Job why He let him suffer. What He seemed to say was, “Look at what I’ve done. Decide for yourself. Am I the kind of God who lacks power or wisdom or goodness? If I’ve done all that you see by the power and wisdom of My own Spirit, can you trust Me in the middle of the trouble I have allowed into your life?”

Under the weight of his Creator’s argument, Job’s questions were silenced. The debate was over. The voice of God’s wisdom and goodness in creation are more significant than the confusion and chaos of human and satanic rebellion.

And the Genesis event goes on. As we and our loved ones struggle, and cry, and complain, the rosebud forms, the bass finds shade under a lily pad, a hummingbird hovers, and a great bald eagle soars overhead.

“O Lord, I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You [in what You have made]. Therefore, I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes” (42:5-6 NKJV).

The People vs. Job & God . . . case dismissed. —Mart De Haan