Interpreting Job, Pt. 6: the Testimony of God
Job Rebuked by His Friends, by William Blake (1757–1827). from the Butts set. Public Domain.
Now at part six of this introductory series on interpreting the biblical book of Job, only two testimonies remain. The final one will be the testimony of the Church. For the one at-hand, we begin with a reminder that it is the only remaining testimony among those who were with Job in the midst of all of his ruin. And this testimony is that of the Lord God, Himself. To the best of our ability and recollection, we aim to highlight what God has said about Job, both inside and outside of the book that bears his name.
(A brief aside: some readers may consider God’s rebuke of Job as part of his “testimony” of Job. We respectfully disagree and, as such, let readers note that this post will only briefly touch on that rebuke. We will engage in extensive reflection with the rebuke, but in another post and with different treatment—coming soon.)
This post is reserved for more immediate questions, such as: “What does God have to say about Job? About his character? About how he handled himself in the midst of his great sufferings?” And in examining such questions, we are seeking helpful conclusions about how to read and to interpret the book. This matters because our interpretations will affect our interactions with suffering and with sufferers.
6. REMEMBER THE TESTIMONY OF GOD.
As part of our reflection in this post, we purposely make a separation between what is the direct speech of God and what is the testimony of the narrator. With true respect and acknowledgement of the truth that God’s Word, both in part and as a whole, is the actual words of God to the world—for our purposes, it is the explicit, quoted speech of God that will represent what we call “the testimony of God” concerning Job.
Having established that, what is that testimony of God about Job?
God said [6x] that Job was “My servant” (1:8; 2:3; 42:7-8)
God said [2x] that there was “no one like him [Job] on the earth” (1:8; 2:3)
God said [2x] that Job was “a blameless and upright man” (1:8; 2:3)
God said [2x] that Job “fear[s] God and turn[s] away from evil” (1:8; 2:3)
God said [1x] that Job “still holds fast his integrity,” despite his ruin (2:3)
God said [1x] that Job was ruined “without cause” [ie. innocent] (2:3)
God said [2x] that Job “spoke of Me what is right,” despite his ruin (42:7, 8)
God said [2x] that Job was “accepted” by Him (42:8, 9)
These are the words of God about Job found inside the Book of Job. We will see shortly that there are other words, recorded in another book, too. But before we touch on that, let the reader consider: Do you see a theme in God’s testimony?
Job, a Man of God. Through and through, Job was blameless. He righteous in word and in deed. Job was a legitimate God-fearer. He had true integrity, and his character was of the type that did not change in the midst of his suffering. God considered Job a servant of His and, in the end, accepted him. These two ideas are highlighted especially by Job’s call to mediate for the sake of his friends.
There can be no doubt whatsoever about these conclusions.
And just in case there was any doubt, we have one more consideration.
Outside of the Book of Job, the man is mentioned only twice in the rest of the Bible, once in Ezekiel 14 and once in James 5—where Job is presented as a model of endurance and of how the Lord is compassionate, merciful, and blesses those who endure. The latter, New Testament reference is the basis for part seven of this series. The former, from Ezekiel 14, is our next point of exploration.
Job, One of Three. The prophecy of Ezekiel 14 is a response to some of the elders of Israel coming to and sitting before the prophet (14:1), presumably to ask him for a word from the Lord. It was days of national exile from the promised land, and he had the burden of telling the exiles the truth about their situation—past, present, and future. It was no doubt an unpleasant job, but such was/is the role of the prophet. The answer from God: Israel’s idol worship had to be dealt with. . . severely (14:1-11).
Starting in verse 12, the Lord declared certain inevitabilities about what readers would come to understand as both the great ruin of Jerusalem (14:21), as well as the great mercy of God to leave a remnant of survivors (14:22-23). The inevitability of such a terrible fate was emphasized by way of the following statement:
“[E]ven though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves. . .” (14:14, cf. 14: 16, 18, 20)
If a nation such as Israel were to be faithless and unfaithful, such that the Lord decided to send his judgment (14:13, 15, 17, 19, 21), that land would not be spared, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job happened to live there. Such men would only be able to save themselves by their own righteousness—no one else would be spared.
Job, Highly Esteemed. Hearing this, we draw at least two conclusions. One is, again, that God considered Job a righteous man. His integrity before God and men was on the level of the famous Noah, whose family was the only one spared from the global flood of judgment against sin (cf. Genesis 6-9). Job’s quality of character was on par with Daniel, who courageously stood against kings and was, eventually, raised up before those same kings in the midst of the Israelite exile (cf. Daniel 2:46-29; 5:11-14, 29; 6:25-28). It was and is an immense honor to be mentioned with those two, Noah and Daniel.
A second conclusion is that God’s people historically understood this to be true of Job. Over two millennia ago, the Israelite exiles knew the story of Job and had come to the same conclusion: he was a man of integrity and good character. Job was innocent. They believed it so much that the Lord was able to use him (and Noah and Daniel) as a highly- effective example. These three are men of God who, though they could not hold back a coming wrath upon the nation, would still be able to save themselves.
It is worth noting that God’s people came to this conclusion with only the witness of the Old Testament. Further, since they were only just then hearing that prophecy of Ezekiel, then it appears they had come to this conclusion based solely on the Old Testament record of Job’s life. In other words, the only thing they needed in order to conclude that Job was innocent, that he was a righteous man, was the book that bore his name.
Suffering Without Cause. It is worth noting that the three men are all famous for their experiences of suffering. Many non-Christians are aware of a story about Noah and the flood. Many are aware of the proverbial “lion’s den” that found its origins from a story of Daniel and King Darius of the Medo-Persian empire.
What’s also worth noting is that the stories of Noah and Daniel draw a clear and direct line between their suffering and the cause of that suffering. That is, readers don’t have to guess at the cause since it’s clearly stated: they suffered for the sake of righteousness in the face of evil. But Job? He suffered “without cause” (2:3). That is, that direct line that helps readers understand the stories of Noah and Daniel, does not exist in the story of Job. It leaves readers without a reason to fall back on to make sense of the story.
And so we ask: What do we do without that help of a clearly-stated cause of suffering?
We would argue that we (tend to) do what Job’s friends did. We are prone to forcibly draw that (missing) line in a way that makes sense to us. For them, what made sense was that Job must have done some great evil to deserve his suffering—he was the cause.
But we now know this was not true, that this was not God’s testimony of Job.
Why it Matters, Pt. 1. The comment about Job in James 5:11 is the only remaining mention of him in all the Bible. What this means is that the lessons we are to learn from Job and his story, the wisdom that we are to gain, is based on the “limited” information of three places: the Book of Job, part of a chapter from Ezekiel’s prophecy, and one verse from a New Testament apostle. That’s it. For believers, those are the most reliable reports.
And these will affect how we interpret his life, his actions, his words, his responses, his questions, his grief, and so everything else. And among them all, each and every one of them, the underlying assumption that Job is innocent. He was, by every reliable account, a man of exceptional character and integrity.
And that same man of incredible character—the one who was later defended by God—did profound things in amidst his grief: he made puzzling comments; he asked haunting questions; he expressed numerous emotions towards his three friends and towards his Creator God; and more. And do you know what else he did? He endured in the things that he believed to be true, even though the circumstances and the people around him fought him every step of the way. Job wrestled with the darkness, and he overcame.
“But what about the great rebuke of Job, in chapters 38–41?” one may ask. It’s a great question that we will address in a later post. For now, we ask a question in return:
Is it possible for all three of the following statement to be true at the exact same time? That is, that a man be: (1) full of integrity, (2) innocent of any wrongdoing with regards to a specific matter, but (3) still have need to repent at any point in time?
We believe the answer to be an emphatic and unapologetic “yes!”
And yet, we want to ask another and (in our opinion) an even better question:
What would you think if you came across someone who fit this description? Like Job, he proved to be full of integrity. And yet, unlike Job, this one was innocent in every matter and, as such, needed no repentance whatsoever. And yet, according to the will of God, this one suffered far, far worse than Job. What would you think of such a person?
Does that sound familiar?
Our willingness to wrestle with the story of Job is, at its heart, a gospel issue. For in this way, Job is regarded by many to be a “type” of Christ, who is the fulfillment. (Note: as an additional reference, this is also said of Joseph, who suffered unjustly at the hands of his brothers, with the end result of salvation for his entire family.) Our ability to wrestle with the darkness, like Job, will only aid our ability to wrestle with the depths of what the gospel of the kingdom means and what discipleship will require of us.
Why it Matters, Pt. 2. If we are to become a friend of Job, we need an example; and we believe that to be God. And one of the first things this Friend did was to believe the word and the testimony of the sufferer. This does not mean the friend is naive or gullible. No, instead, to receive the testimony of the sufferer is to give him or her a precious gift. And that gift is one we give at a time when it perhaps feels to the sufferer as though life has torn from them every good thing and gift they once possessed.
We have a saying in our family and in our work: true advocacy will always come at a cost to the advocate. When we stand with someone, we choose to carry a burden with them, to “pay” some of the cost. When we don’t stand with someone, we put it all on them and then some—even heavier burdens.
We lately have been considering another idea: I’d rather stand with a friend and be wrong about it, than not stand with a friend and be wrong about it. This does not mean we (foolishly) stand with anyone and everyone, in all things. No. What it does mean is that we acknowledge an important truth about advocacy: to stand with a friend and then be wrong about it means I bear some of the cost; but to not stand with a friend and be wrong about it means that the suffering friend pays double.
And this is precisely what happened to Job.
So it is critical that students of Job interpret the book by giving him the gift of receiving his testimony. That is, we read his story and words, and we believe that he truly was the man of innocence and integrity he emphatically claimed to be. We interpret his words, his actions, his reactions, his questions, and yes, even his eventual repentance, with that in mind. If we don’t do this, we believe we cannot interpret the book rightly. And if we can’t do that rightly, then we will not interpret rightly the suffering of others.
And such errors can have devastating consequences.
Don’t Be an Eliphaz. Was Job perfect? No, he wasn’t. (1) And yet, how often does that become our standard for sufferers, even if it is unintentional? How often do we place an unfair or unjust burden upon sufferers in their distress? How often do we strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel? How often do we shift onto them the fruits of our own doubts, impatience, discomfort, lack of understanding, and so on? Or perhaps to the offense of some (or many), how often has the Church unjustly blamed the victim?
God help us.
How often have we replied as Eliphaz, the Temanite, once did:
“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
But who can keep from speaking?
Think how you have instructed many,
how you have strengthened feeble hands.
Your words have supported those who stumbled;
you have strengthened faltering knees.
But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;
it strikes you, and you are dismayed.
Should not your piety be your confidence
and your blameless ways your hope?” (Job 4:1-6, NIV)
In these words alone are layer-upon-layer of failure in friendship. Job cried out one time—only one time!—in the midst of utter ruin, and he was met with accusations. Eliphaz accused Job of being impatient (4:2); implicated him of hypocrisy (4:2-5); questioned his discouragement and dismay (4:5); and passive-aggressively mocked his integrity (4:6).
It will be difficult for readers to notice such things unless we believe Job’s testimony. When we do this, everyone’s words take on a new light.
The things we believed and assumed when first reading the Book of Job, we likely reproduced in our interactions with sufferers. And I, for one, shudder at the thought.
And yet, let’s end on a hopeful note. Instead of imagining the incredible damage we are capable of when we respond poorly to others’ suffering, imagine the incredible good we might be able to participate in when we respond well. Imagine the life-changing comfort and healing; the reassurance; the relational safety; the hope. Imagine that we might be able to respond in a way that the sufferer can say afterwards:
Maybe God hasn’t forgotten me. Maybe He does see. Maybe He really is my friend.
Imagine that God has a better way for us, the way of the (true) Friend of Job.
Notes:
(1) And thus, in light of God’s endless greatness, we discover at least a part of the need for Job’s eventual repentance. All will inevitably have need to repent. That is, except for One alone.