Job 1-2
Satan challenges Job’s faith in God. The pivotal question arises: Will Job sustain his faith through suffering life’s hardships? Reading Job 1-2 alongside Genesis 11-12 offers a comprehensive understanding, encouraging readers to consider Abram and Job’s faith journeys together.
Summary
Job is the greatest man in all the East. He has a wonderful life. He has a lot of cattle and regularly gets together with his seven sons and three daughters for dinners. Job honors God, does no wrong, and offers burnt offerings to God for each of his children to erase their sins.
God meets with the angels, and Satan arrives at the meeting. Satan tells God he’s been wandering around the Earth. God asks if Satan noticed his servant Job, that there is no one like him. Job is honorable and innocent. Satan essentially baits God and responds that Job only honors God because he has a wonderful life. So, God tell Satan that everything Job has is in Satan’s power. Satan strips Job of all the things valuable in his life. All of Job’s servants and cattle were either killed or stolen. Job’s children were all killed by a tornado. Job still did not blame God, and he did not sin.
At another meeting with the angels, Satan arrives again. God informs Satan that Job is still an honorable man, and he still doesn’t blame God for his unnecessary misfortunes. Satan challenges God again and states that if Job were in poor health, he would no longer have faith in God. God allows Satan to have power over Job’s health, but he is instructed to still let Job live. Job gets painful sores all over his body. His wife asks Job how he can still have faith, even after all the terrible things that have happened to him. Job responds to his wife, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Should we not take only good things from God and not trouble?”
Job’s three friends come to visit him – Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. They all feel terrible when they see him and begin to cry. They sit with Job for seven days and seven nights to support Job through his suffering.
Sidebar
Is anyone imagining Tom Ellis from the show Lucifer walking into an angel’s meeting when reading this verse? He snarkily challenges God that Job cannot maintain his faith through suffering. The scene is almost unbelievable. Seemingly, God is testing Job’s faith all to prove a point to Satan. Is this what happens to us today? Is Satan given liberties to provide us with obstacles so that we can prove our loyalty to the Lord?
I’ve witnessed individuals of immense goodness endure great suffering. You often hear the phrase, “God only gives you what you can handle.” Does this mean those who suffer are the ones truly being tested? It might suggest that God recognizes those whose faith might falter cannot be burdened with such hardships.
How do we reconcile with this notion of the Lord, who is seemingly placing bets on Job’s ability to keep faith through suffering, with the God that we know is always by our side? Why must we suffer at all to prove our loyalty? Isn’t being a good person and treating the people around us with love and respect enough to show our faith in the Lord?
Echart Tolle, German author of The Power of Now, states that the purpose of suffering is to destroy the ego and allow awakening. According to many philosophical and religious perspectives, suffering is a part of life because it can lead to personal growth, deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world, provide opportunities for compassion and resilience, and can even be a catalyst for positive change. Essentially, suffering can contribute to a meaningful life by forcing us to confront our limitations and vulnerabilities, prompting us to seek deeper meaning and connection with others.
So, God is not playing with our lives. He is providing us the tools to become more enlightened, more ready to enter Heaven the best possible versions of ourselves. This idea sheds some light on the concept of suffering.
“I suggest to you that it is because God loves us that he gives us the gift of suffering. Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world. You see, we are like blocks of stone out of which the Sculptor carves the forms of men. The blows of his chisel, which hurt us so much are what make us perfect.” -C.S. Lewis, British author of The Problem with Pain
Intention
Believe that God is still by your side when you are going through tough times. If you are suffering, accept your feelings, but also count your blessings. Pray to God. Talk to a loved one or a therapist. Be kind to yourself.
