45...WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO PEOPLE
Based on the book of Job (Jb)...Read more there
Based on the book of Job (Jb)...Read more there
Job may be the 'jewel in the crown' of the
Hebrew Bible. Certainly one of the greatest pieces of literature
ever produced. Yet we don't know who told it into being; or
when, though it's post-exilic; or where. Differing from most of
the books we've looked at so far, in Jb the emphasis
moves on from national affairs to personal ones. The book is
part of what we know as 'wisdom literature'. It is a complex
exploration of the whole business of human suffering, divine
justice, & why bad things happen to anyone, let alone good
people. It is also a tentative exploration of 'Is there
life after death'? Jb is impossible to introduce in a
brief overview like this, & there's simply no substitute for
reading the whole work. Read the poetry out loud, preferably. Do
our best to appreciate what's going on. Hopefully discover
ourselves & our questionings somewhere in the issues raised.
Apart from two introductory chapters that set the scene, the
introduction to Ch.32 & a handful of final verses,
Jb is totally poetry. An imaginative dramatic dialogue
between Job, three of his friends, later, an unknown new-comer,
then last but not least, YHWH God. For some it may bring to mind
other visionary imaginings like those of English mystic &
poet William Blake (d.1827) or others.
Let's approach Jb as a theatre-goer, watching, hearing, & participating as a great drama unfolds. The first scenes are set in heaven, followed by several on earth. YHWH's intervention (Chs. 38-41) bridges heaven & earth, before the book ends back on terra-firma. Job is introduced to us as a good & prosperous chap blessed with a large family. Until one day Satan (N1) comes to God & more or less tells Him Job's got things too easy & needs to be tested to see how deep his loyalty & faithfulness to God really lie (N2). YHWH is so confident of Job He agrees to Satan putting Job to the test. Of course this makes YHWH complicit in what happens to Job! It also raises, or should, all sorts of theological questions in keeping with the purpose of the author, a deeply spiritual thinker. As a result of Satan's meddling, disaster after disaster strike Job's flocks (i.e. his wealth) & then his family. While he laments this, in 1:21 Job responds with what becomes pretty standard church doctrine: 'God has given, God has taken away....!' (N3). Satan's frustrated by this, & now persuades God to let him afflict Job's person with dreadful sores all over his body (Ch.2). Despite being reproached by his wife for his continuing steadfastness in the face of all this, Job replies with " If we receive good things from God, shouldn't we expect bad too!" In Ch.3 Job lets off steam, cursing 'the day he was born'.
At this point (Ch.4) three of his 'friends', Eliphaz, Bildad, & Zophar arrive & take turns 'debating' Job. Are they really 'preaching' to him - in the bad sense? None of them seems much help. If they come to console us in trouble we may well seek compassion elsewhere! On & on they go, with Job making his own contributions too. A great confession of faith by him (19:25-6) is specially noteworthy. In Chs. 29-31 Job sums up his case in the language of a court-room. Will God find him innocent or guilty? We have to wait to find the answer to that. What about our verdict? As a jury have we reached one yet? Next, Elihu, an unknown to us (N4) enters stage right unannounced in Ch.32, & holds the floor till Ch. 38. He is no more help to Job than those before him. By now though, YHWH God has had enough & can remain in the wings no longer! He comes on stage forcefully in a passage of sheer brilliance, worthy of the Divine! If we can't bring ourselves to 'hear, read, mark, & inwardly digest' the whole of Job, then YHWH's starring role (Chs 38-41) in which He puts them all, including Job, to rights is a must! Try reading it aloud. Hear it! Hear God!
Job then makes a final statement marking a movement from theorising about God to personal belief & trust in Him. The book ends on a happier note with Job being vindicated by God, his fortunes restored, & with a new family on the scene, rather like a fairy tale. But Jb is no fairy tale! Somewhere in there we need to find ourselves & our questionings & move on from debating God to believing & trusting Him, come what may. Jb is serious God- &-us stuff. Whoever tells it into being, it certainly isn't Hans Christian Andersen! Allowing that today Christians would not / should not understand God as causing evil for any purpose, might an tatempt to sum up Jb today go something like: God is not in what happens to us but in our response to what happens? Or perhaps: Stick with God as God, by grace, sticks with us'? Or: ..........? Then, as always there's another story...46: Singers & their Songs.
(N1) There is an excellent footnote on 'Satan' in the NJB at Job:1(f). Here Satan is on God's side! (N2) In Jesus' testings in the Gospels Satan is portrayed playing the same role. (N3) Reflected in older funeral services. (N4) The Elihu passages seem 'different' & may stem from another writer. Q. Can we find ourselves on stage anywhere in Jb?
Let's approach Jb as a theatre-goer, watching, hearing, & participating as a great drama unfolds. The first scenes are set in heaven, followed by several on earth. YHWH's intervention (Chs. 38-41) bridges heaven & earth, before the book ends back on terra-firma. Job is introduced to us as a good & prosperous chap blessed with a large family. Until one day Satan (N1) comes to God & more or less tells Him Job's got things too easy & needs to be tested to see how deep his loyalty & faithfulness to God really lie (N2). YHWH is so confident of Job He agrees to Satan putting Job to the test. Of course this makes YHWH complicit in what happens to Job! It also raises, or should, all sorts of theological questions in keeping with the purpose of the author, a deeply spiritual thinker. As a result of Satan's meddling, disaster after disaster strike Job's flocks (i.e. his wealth) & then his family. While he laments this, in 1:21 Job responds with what becomes pretty standard church doctrine: 'God has given, God has taken away....!' (N3). Satan's frustrated by this, & now persuades God to let him afflict Job's person with dreadful sores all over his body (Ch.2). Despite being reproached by his wife for his continuing steadfastness in the face of all this, Job replies with " If we receive good things from God, shouldn't we expect bad too!" In Ch.3 Job lets off steam, cursing 'the day he was born'.
At this point (Ch.4) three of his 'friends', Eliphaz, Bildad, & Zophar arrive & take turns 'debating' Job. Are they really 'preaching' to him - in the bad sense? None of them seems much help. If they come to console us in trouble we may well seek compassion elsewhere! On & on they go, with Job making his own contributions too. A great confession of faith by him (19:25-6) is specially noteworthy. In Chs. 29-31 Job sums up his case in the language of a court-room. Will God find him innocent or guilty? We have to wait to find the answer to that. What about our verdict? As a jury have we reached one yet? Next, Elihu, an unknown to us (N4) enters stage right unannounced in Ch.32, & holds the floor till Ch. 38. He is no more help to Job than those before him. By now though, YHWH God has had enough & can remain in the wings no longer! He comes on stage forcefully in a passage of sheer brilliance, worthy of the Divine! If we can't bring ourselves to 'hear, read, mark, & inwardly digest' the whole of Job, then YHWH's starring role (Chs 38-41) in which He puts them all, including Job, to rights is a must! Try reading it aloud. Hear it! Hear God!
Job then makes a final statement marking a movement from theorising about God to personal belief & trust in Him. The book ends on a happier note with Job being vindicated by God, his fortunes restored, & with a new family on the scene, rather like a fairy tale. But Jb is no fairy tale! Somewhere in there we need to find ourselves & our questionings & move on from debating God to believing & trusting Him, come what may. Jb is serious God- &-us stuff. Whoever tells it into being, it certainly isn't Hans Christian Andersen! Allowing that today Christians would not / should not understand God as causing evil for any purpose, might an tatempt to sum up Jb today go something like: God is not in what happens to us but in our response to what happens? Or perhaps: Stick with God as God, by grace, sticks with us'? Or: ..........? Then, as always there's another story...46: Singers & their Songs.
(N1) There is an excellent footnote on 'Satan' in the NJB at Job:1(f). Here Satan is on God's side! (N2) In Jesus' testings in the Gospels Satan is portrayed playing the same role. (N3) Reflected in older funeral services. (N4) The Elihu passages seem 'different' & may stem from another writer. Q. Can we find ourselves on stage anywhere in Jb?
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