Job's Hell

 

Suffering 8 

Job and His Friends
by Ilya Repin, c 1869

          In the last few weeks we have examined the meaning of the word “suffering” in the Scriptures, and looked at how God goes before us in His own suffering. Today and next week, I want to turn my attention to the greatest non-divine object of suffering in the Bible, namely, Job.

          As a regular reader of the Bible for decades, I have read through Job numerous times. However, as I got older, I became increasingly frustrated with the fact I did not understand it very well. Thus it was that several years ago when I began preparing this series I set out to study the book of Job. When I do long-term preparation it generally involves three things. First, I read the book repeatedly, out loud, preferably all in one setting. Second, I read commentaries about the book. Third, I read books on the major themes touched on in the scriptural book I am studying.

          With Job, I did all three of these. Because Job is a fairly complex book, it helped me to print the entire thing out, and to color code it based on who is speaking. Job was one color, God another, Satan another, Bildad another, etc. That helped me very much as I sought to understand the flow of thought in the text. I also gathered several commentaries on Job, and several books on the theme of suffering. Slowly, it began to come together. In these two posts, I am not going to tell you everything I learned about the book of Job, but I do want to give you several key observations I have made along the way.

          We see that Job did indeed suffer, and suffer deeply. It is my opinion that Job’s children were living contrary to the Lord. (Job 1.5) That brought suffering. He lost his oxen, asses, sheep, and camels. (Job 1.14-17) That brought suffering. He lost his children. (Job 1.18-19) That brought suffering. He lost his health. (Job 2.7) That brought suffering. His marriage was deeply damaged. (Job 2.9-10) That brought suffering. His friend’s sincerely yet errantly attacked his integrity. That brought suffering. He lost his reputation. That brought suffering. And in his pain God was silent. That brought suffering.  

          If suffering is rooted in loss, then Job suffered more than anyone else I have ever heard of. From what I can gather, of all he had acquired – spiritually, emotionally, physically - there were only three things he did not lose. He did not lose his integrity. Of course, I would argue integrity is not something you can lose; you can only give it away. He also did not lose his faith. Likewise, that is not lost so much as given away. Nor did he lose his life.

          Everything else he had, everything, he lost. He lost most of it suddenly. He lost most of it without any rational reason he could point to or understand, nor could anyone give him an adequate explanation for why it had happened. Furthermore, his support system – his wife/friends/God – only caused him additional pain in the midst of his deep suffering. Is it any wonder he responded badly?

          Job’s response, which I have just described with the adverb “badly”, is worth noting. In order to do that, I am going to include more Scripture than I normally would with a blog post; I appreciate your patience with me here.

          At first, Job remained firm in His trust in Jehovah.

Job 1:20–22

20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,

21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return thither: The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.

22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

          He also rebuked his wife when she verbally expressed her frustration with God.

Job 2:10

10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

          By implication here, Job realizes it is neither fair to Him nor right to always expect God to pour out unending blessing in this life.

          Over time, however, Job’s attitude toward his suffering begins to deteriorate. I noticed something similar in myself when dealing with covid. At first, I expressed faith, sought to follow my conscience in obeying both God and the government, and took things in stride. But as the weeks became months my attitude went downhill. Job and I are not unique in this. For the most part, it is sadly normal for spiritual people to respond well at the first sudden onset of suffering in their life only to slide into anger, questioning, and accusation toward/with God later.

          Thus it was with Job. Soon enough, he is expressing his own frustration with God. Why will God not answer him? Why will God not explain Himself? What is the point of life if it is only to live in the never-ending misery it had become?

Job 3:20–23

20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, And life unto the bitter in soul;

21 Which long for death, but it cometh not; And dig for it more than for hid treasures;

22 Which rejoice exceedingly, And are glad, when they can find the grave?

23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, And whom God hath hedged in?

          This frustration with a silent God, a God who was mysteriously afflicting great pain on him, leads to his lament. He still trusted God, but that God was silent, and refused to either explain or eliminate his suffering, nor would God grant him the meagerest crumb of comfort. Then what is the point? There is no hope, no strength to endure, no help – life is sheer misery.

Job by Leon Bonnet
c 1880

Job 6:8–13

8 Oh that I might have my request; And that God would grant me the thing that I long for!

9 Even that it would please God to destroy me; That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!

10 Then should I yet have comfort; Yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; For I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.

11 What is my strength, that I should hope? And what is mine end, that I should prolong my life?

12 Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass?

13 Is not my help in me? And is wisdom driven quite from me?

          Eventually, in an inevitable development, Job arrives at the place where he thinks it would have been better for him to have never lived in the first place.

Job 3:11

11 Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

          What is key to understand here is that this not merely suicidal ideation. This is an indictment against the God who created Him, protected Him, provided for Him, blessed Him, and now apparently tortures Him. This is his great sin. In Job 1 he is without fault but by the end God is reproving him harshly. Why? In asserting that God was being unfair to Him, either in allowing His suffering or not explaining His suffering, Job is saying that God was wrong. Job's position is that God is actually unrighteous, which is an awful indictment of God. Yet in all of this, Job still believes in God, even argues for the theological point that God is aware of what is happening to him. Indeed, God is omniscient; He does not ignore us. Believing this, however, only makes it worse for Job. God knows of his misery – and is doing nothing.

Job 7:19–21 

19 How long wilt thou not depart from me, Nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?

20 I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? Why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, So that I am a burden to myself?

21 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, And take away mine iniquity? For now shall I sleep in the dust; And thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

          The result of this landslide of suffering in Job’s life was complete isolation, a result that is all too common in our more modern day experience. Suffering involves loss, and that loss metastasizes. It does not remain contained within the strict confines of the area in which the loss was actually experienced. Like a contagion, our losses begin to mount, and as they mount we become increasingly isolated.

          Think with me, for a moment, of what happens in the life of a pastor who commits adultery or embezzles from church accounts. He loses his integrity. He loses his job. He loses his meaning for life, his purpose for existing. Most of the time, he loses his friends. He loses his church. He often loses his family. And he suffers much damage in his relationship with the Lord. What a landslide of isolation!

          While you can and perhaps should argue that pastor’s suffering is self-inflicted, you cannot argue that Job’s suffering was self-inflicted. It was God permitted and satanically inflicted. Though that was true, Job ends up isolated anyway.

          Due to their theological ineptitude and their attacks on his integrity, he ends up isolated from his friends.

Job 6:14

14 To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; But he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.

…

Job 16:2 

2 I have heard many such things: Miserable comforters are ye all.

          Even if our friends do not condemn us in our loss as his unjustifiably did, they often disassociate themselves from us. Even when they do not disassociate themselves from us, they do not in any way understand what we are enduring. They cannot, for the simple reason they have not endured what we are enduring.

          Some years ago, I stood waiting in my church foyer for the last person to leave so I could lock up. I had already turned the rest of the lights in the building off, and we stood pleasantly conversing in the foyer. As the last person turned to go, they casually threw out a remark that devastated me. I mumbled goodbye, stumbled up the stairs to my darkened auditorium, and wept all alone on the back row of that vast, quiet, dark room. No one knew I was there weeping. If they had, they would not have understood why, nor could I possibly have explained it. That individual’s remark had unintentionally pierced a protective barrier I had erected around some painful facts in my heart. I sat on the back row, emotionally bleeding out, with no one the wiser. I was all alone. Except Him.

          In addition to becoming isolated from his friends, Job also felt cut off from God. When a lost man experiences pain, he seeks solace in whatever he can find, his bottle, his pills, his therapist, etc. The carnal man is largely similar. The spiritual man, however, turns to the Lord. Which only makes the silence of God, the lack of response or explanation or comfort from God all the worse.

Job 9:13–18

13 If God will not withdraw his anger, The proud helpers do stoop under him.

14 How much less shall I answer him, And choose out my words to reason with him?

15 Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, But I would make supplication to my judge.

16 If I had called, and he had answered me; Yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.

17 For he breaketh me with a tempest, And multiplieth my wounds without cause.

18 He will not suffer me to take my breath, But filleth me with bitterness.

…

Job 23:3–9

3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat!

4 I would order my cause before him, And fill my mouth with arguments.

5 I would know the words which he would answer me, And understand what he would say unto me.

6 Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.

7 There the righteous might dispute with him; So should I be delivered for ever from my judge.

8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; And backward, but I cannot perceive him:

9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: He hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

          Often, the Lord graciously comforts us in our suffering. We are reminded of previous experiences of loss, and how God blessed us through them as we trusted Him. Friends gather to offer genuine solace. Music moves us, reminding us of God’s greatness and goodness. The peace of His creation soothes us. We read the Word, and the Spirit ministers a balm to our heart. We hear the Word preached, and the Comforter again does His best work in us.

          …but sometimes, there is no balm. Sometimes there is only silence. All the things that have previously ministered comfort to our aching heart are entirely out of reach. We are tantalized by the comfort others flaunt for their inferior grief, but nothing touches our heart. We sit on the back row, emotionally bleeding out, invisibly so to those around us, apparently. The darkness is so thick it can be felt. And even God is silent.

          When God is silent we are in hell.