- #WHO MADE THE ART FOR THE SUFFERER AND THE WITNESS FULL#
- #WHO MADE THE ART FOR THE SUFFERER AND THE WITNESS TRIAL#
That must be very encouraging to a person experiencing terrible pain.
And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. At the end of the book we are told:Īnd the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. God very graciously dealt with what the substance of what Job said while ignoring the worst of Job’s histrionics. (Job 42:7–8 ESV)Īpparently a great deal of what Job said in his suffering was dismissed as merely the incoherent, though understandable ravings of a terribly wounded person. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. When God shows up at the end of the dialogue he says to the eldest of Job’s friends: One of the most amazing things about the Book of Job is how gracious the Lord is to Job despite all of the emotional and immoderate things he said to his friends and about God over the course of the narrative. What questions are we permitted to ask and which ones will get us into trouble? What are we allowed to say when we are suffering?
#WHO MADE THE ART FOR THE SUFFERER AND THE WITNESS TRIAL#
It provides an example of endurance under trial It will make us better sufferers and it will make us better counsellors to friends and loved ones experiencing terrible pain. Listening to those speeches – and empathizing with brother Job broadens out our understanding of this massively complicated and emotionally freighted issue.
But we also hear the ring of falsehood – the reader knows what is actually going on and the reader knows that what the friends are saying doesn’t actually apply in the case of Job and that reminds us that there is a hidden world of divine purpose behind every experience of human pain. We hear the whispers of our enemy – often, as in Job’s case – coming through the mouth of our friends. As we listen to Job’s friends we hear a lot of what we tend to say to ourselves when we’re hurting. The Book of Job helps us think about one of the most confusing things we are ever likely to experience. It serves as guide in our consideration of human suffering It reminds us that many good principles are presently opposed and many promises presently deferred in this broken and fallen world. Said another way, the Book of Job is the antidote to our natural inclination towards varieties of the Prosperity Gospel. Both Job and Ecclesiastes struggle with the apparent disconnect between God’s justice and our actual life experience… Indeed, the message of both the book of Job and Ecclesiastes should keep people from reading the rewards of Proverbs with undue optimism. That raises the question of the justice of God. Proverbs … raises a disturbing issue: the sages often motivate wise behaviour by linking it to reward, but in reality, bad things happen to good people, the wise are not always rewarded as they expect. That does seem to suggest a connection between wickedness and calamity on the one hand and righteousness and prosperity on the other, but that’s why God included other books in the Bible. Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed. Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity (Proverbs 22:8 ESV) After all, the Book of Proverbs does say:
If you only had the Book of Proverbs to go by you might think that good things always happen to good people and bad things always happen to good people. If you were to ask me to summarize the benefits of reading and studying The Book of Job I would want to mention at least the following 5 things: It provides a necessary counterbalance to the Book of Proverbs The Book of Job forces you to think and to read with discernment, but for those willing to put in the effort there is a lifetime of wisdom and blessing to be discovered.
#WHO MADE THE ART FOR THE SUFFERER AND THE WITNESS FULL#
It is demanding because Job’s friends make a poor case well while Job makes a good case poorly meaning that no one has the full picture and no one is telling the whole truth until God shows up at the end. The Book of Job is arguably the most demanding and rewarding book in the Old Testament.
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