| The book of Job is a story of
misconceptions. Religious tradition can obfuscate the truth and
leave us grasping at air for answers and remedies when sound
theological principles will clear the air. Job finds himself in a
predicament for which he is left confused and ill-equipped to meet the
challenge. He sees himself as a victim, unjustly afflicted,
unjustly persecuted and seeks vindication at the hands of God.
The question to be raised in this discussion focuses on whether the
assumptions that Job and his friends make are accurate and predicative
of God and the human condition. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above And cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom Is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17 The first misconception and maybe the most significant is to think that God is the cause of evil. Job questions God in his plight and blames him for his present woes. That Job thinks God would inflict evil is a very important misconception. Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked Shall I return thither: The Lord gave and the Lord has Taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Job1:21 Most of us are familiar with this passage and consider Job almost heroic and noble for accepting his situation, yet Job is assuming that it is God who has taken away his prosperity. We learn from reading the beginning of this book that Satan (The Adversary) has entered into dialogue with God and it is Satan, not God, doing the evil. We can go all the way back to the book of Genesis to discover where a false assumption leads to erroneous conclusions with respect to God and the human condition. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow Every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for Food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and The tree of knowledge of good and evil. Gen.2:9 If God made every tree pleasant to the sight and good for food, then the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not made by God because it is not good for food. It will make you die. To assume that God planted the tree of the knowledge of good and evil contradicts what God has just said, namely, that all his trees are good to eat. We know from Mathew 13:24-30 that God is not the only one planting seeds. The devil too plants seeds producing tares not wheat. To believe that God is the source of evil goes against the very nature of God which is to love and the source of all goodness, truth, and beauty. Once we recognize the source of evil, we can redirect our response to Satan and not God, and use the word, our faith, the anointing to stand against the wiles of the devil and resist him. "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty to the pulling down of strongholds." 2Cor.10:4 It is this posture that we must exhibit to resist the devil and have him flee. The second misconception in the book of Job emphasizes the idea that if we do well, God will bless us; if we do evil, God will punish us. Job, on the one hand, can not understand why bad things are happening to him even though he had done many good things. Job:29 Job's friends, conversely, feel Job must be a sinner because God is causing so much evil to befall him. Neither assumption is correct. God loves us unconditionally and it is the devil that will inflict evil on us regardless of whether we are righteous or unrighteous. God is never the source of evil. Jesus said, "In the world there will be tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." John16:33 The devil seeks only to kill and steal and to destroy; not God. John 10:10 God wishes for us to have life and have it to the full. Finally, the last misconception with respect to suffering deals with lumping all suffering together under the same umbrella. Who now rejoice in my suffering for you, and fill Up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ In my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church. Col.1:24 Traditional belief would have us believe that if we suffer with Christ, any kind of suffering is redemptive. Jesus suffered temptation, persecution, and self denial, but he did not suffer sickness, lack, spiritual death, fear, or fear of death in his life. There is a suffering that is in fellowship with Christ and a suffering to be resisted. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation Not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world Worketh death. 2Cor.7:10 KJV Yours has been a kind of suffering that God approves, And so you have come to no kind of harm from us. To Suffer in God's way means changing for the better and Leaves no regrets, But to suffer as the world knows suffering Brings death. 2 Cor.7:9b-10 JB To suffer sickness as Job suffered is not to be accepted as redemptive but to be challenged as contrary to the will of God. To suffer persecution, temptation, or self-denial can and is redemptive. Job's physical malady can not be thought of as suffering with Christ because Christ did not suffer in that way. Job's persecution by his friends is another thing. When we recognize the suffering that is part of being a Christian and the suffering that is a consequence of the devil, we can begin to know when to fight and resist and when 'to take up that which is behind". It is not clear whether Job was under any covenant with God. We, however, are under a blood covenant ratified by Christ who redeems us from the curse of the Law and the consequences of sin. It is the trial of our faith which is more precious than gold which strengthens our resolve to meet the challenges of life by being more than conquerors through Him that loves us. Job didn't know better. We should. Amen |