Interpreting Job, Pt. 7: the Testimony of the Church
Job Rebuked by His Friends, by William Blake (1757–1827). from the Butts set. Public Domain.
In part six of this introductory series, we invited readers to consider the testimony of God as an additional voice who regarded as innocent that great sufferer, Job. We have urged readers to consider that, despite the opposition of his circumstances, his friends, and of a young and enthusiastic Elihu, Job held fast to his integrity (2:9) and to the truth, which includes that he didn’t do anything wrong to deserve his suffering.
We have also sought to explain that our conclusions about Job’s innocence (or otherwise) will inevitably affect how we interpret the Book of Job as a whole. And this will in turn affect how we perceive the many and varied sufferings in this life, which will inevitably affect how we interact with the sufferers themselves.
In this final post of our introductory series, we will reflect on a final testimony about Job, taken from the text of James 5:10-11. This we will call “the testimony of the Church”—
“As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.” (5:10-11)
7. REMEMBER THE TESTIMONY OF THE CHURCH.
We believe ancient readers were expected to come to the conclusion of Job’s innocence simply by encountering the book that bears his name. This was later reinforced by God’s word through Ezekiel’s prophecies. These testimonies from the Old Testament are what the first-century Church had available to them, to reach the same conclusion.
The Apostle James, the brother of the Lord, highlighted in his letter such conclusions by honoring and using Job as an exemplar of endurance in suffering. He did so through a hearkening back to “the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord” (5:10), those whom he called “blessed” because they endured many sufferings.
Job, the Prophet. We regard Job’s inclusion as a purposeful designation of him as among the prophets of old. And while there were many prophets “who spoke in the name of the Lord,” those who also suffered and endured, James chose to highlight Job in his letter. It was the endurance of Job that made him a good example and worthy exemplar.
But how exactly was Job a prophet? What qualities did he share with the prophets with whom we are so familiar? And how did Job demonstrate endurance? In what way(s) are we to understand that the words and actions of Job are to be labeled as “endurance”?
And considering this endurance, didn’t Job say some pretty offensive things? Didn’t he ask hard, uncomfortable questions? Vehemently defend himself? And at the end of it all, didn’t he have to repentantly bear up under a direct confrontation from God? While these aren’t the only things he did, they were part of Job’s experience of endurance. But how can such things be part of his patience and exemplary endurance?
Job Told the Truth. Notice that James linked the suffering of the prophets to their role of speaking in the name of the Lord. That is, part of why they had such a hard time was because their job was to tell the truth, to shine light into the dark. And such things have historically come with a price. No doubt the first century church bore that same burden of suffering for the sake of declaring the Gospel (cf. Acts 8:1; 11:19).
Perhaps it is unsurprising, then, that the reason for which Job was immediately attacked was that he spoke up. After his first lament was attacked, he spoke up with another message: “I didn’t do anything wrong!” No matter how much it cost him, no matter how painful, he kept to this message. And why? Because it was the truth.
The Lord’s latter words confirmed it: “you [Job’s three friends] have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has” (42:7, 8). Job told the truth, and it proved too much for his friends to take. It appeared too uncomfortable and offensive to their own worldview, understanding, and beliefs. So they attacked. And in this way, Job took on the role of an enduring prophet, who told the truth no matter what it cost him.
Job Paid a Price. Recall these words from the Apostle Peter’s first letter to a suffering first-century church, to those dear forerunners of the faith who paid a heavy price for the truth of the Gospel—
“Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.” (1 Pet 4:15-16)
In a sense, it was as though Job insisted he was the latter, for he believed he was suffering despite being innocent of evil. But his friends insisted that his suffering must have been justice for some kind of evil. Job believed he had no reason to be ashamed, though his life was marked by it (e.g. ruin, grief, sickness, despair, etc.). But his friends? They believed his shame was a fitting outcome of some sin in his life.
Have you ever been in a position where telling the truth came with a severe cost? Where it was so hard to tell the truth, that you felt (or were) isolated by it? Where you could see the costs of the truth coming, as if going to your own execution. Those who have been there can testify that it’s excruciating, and Job knew this pain intimately. The more he bore witness to the truth, the more it hurt him. But in time, God defended him.
Job Kept the Faith. Can you recall a time where painful honesty even extended to God? For some, such honesty with the Almighty may be a non-starter in relating to Him. We believe honesty with the Lord is essential to a healthy relationship. Is there nuance to it? Sure, there always is. And yet, we still believe it to be true.
In this way, we consider Job exemplary in another sense. We view his willingness to be honest with God as a mark of genuine relational faith. Take, for example—
“For the arrows of the Almighty are within me,
Their poison my spirit drinks;
The terrors of God are arrayed against me.” (Job 6:4)“Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.
Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.
This also will be my salvation,
For a godless man may not come before His presence.” (13:15-16)
Have you ever been willing to assign your own personal ruin to the providence of God? Have you had the audacity to label God’s actions in your life as poison-tipped arrows, as a slaughter (ie. “slay”), as His terrors? Even if some were to call it folly, have you ever been desperate enough to defend yourself before God, the Judge of all the earth?
Is it possible that Job’s words are among the most honest, visceral, and faith-filled in the Bible? To be sure, nothing rivals the anguished statements of the crucified the Son of God, such as the famous cry of dereliction: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mat 27:46; cf. Psalm 22:1). Yet among men, perhaps few words compare to Job’s.
There were other prophets who expressed honest and even angry cries to God. Jeremiah (cf. Jer 15:15-21), David (cf. 2 Sam 6:1-11), and others (Psalm 88) come to mind. Is it possible that anguished honesty can be an expression of genuine and relational faith? Why would we consider such a possibility? Well, in Job’s case, it is because such words weren’t his only words. Mixed with his anguished cries, he also expressed hope in God (13:15).
Revelation: Man’s Cruelty. How can we really know about a person? How can we be sure of what’s deep inside someone’s heart? How can we quantify something intangible, like faith? It would be nice and helpful (and likely colorful) if we had a kind of digital bar floating above our heads that, like a video game health meter, showed to us and others what was hidden. But we all know that this isn’t the way life works.
We are bound to a harder path, dependent upon a different kind of revelation, the kind that must force outward what is typically hidden. There is a kind of outward pressure in life that has a way of forcing-out what lay beneath the surface. With this in mind, what do we discover about Job? About his friends? About God?
In the case of Job’s friends, perhaps thinking their correction would help Job along in a better way, they only made his life worse—much worse:
“For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend;
So that he does not forsake the fear of the Almighty.” (Job 6:14)“Pity me, pity me, O you my friends,
For the hand of God has struck me.
Why do you persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?” (19:21-22)
When the pressure was applied, their cruelty was exposed. Job’s honest expressions of grief, anger, innocence, disappointment, et al were attacked. Meanwhile, they were also slow to perceive their friend’s expressions of hopeful faith, and they completely missed out on the opportunity to gently fan the flames of a dimly-burning wick.
Job’s faith proved real throughout the story. What he needed was the compassion of his friends, not their judgment. Maybe they intended to “bring him back” to God. But Job’s testimony was that their harshness only amplified his feelings of forsakenness from God. And this only makes it harder to fight any temptation to sin in that relationship.
Revelation: God’s Compassion. I was struck by 5:11 when preparing this post. There is a phrase that grabbed me, that is, “the outcome of the Lord’s dealings”—
“You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.” (5:11)
The first-century, Spirit-filled Church was able to shine a unique light onto the story of Job and, in doing so, understand even more about human suffering and about God. The Church came to the conclusion that the Lord is truly full of compassion and mercy.
What if one of the great outcomes of the suffering of Job and of God’s people is that we are refreshed again in the immense compassion and mercy of God? What if the great discomfort and wrestling and anguish were part of a process of mining for the deep treasures of the heart of God? What if we were to unearth and understand that the very compassion and mercy for which sufferers are desperate, has its fullness with God?
What would it look like if we read the story of Job with this as another assumption? We have advocated that we ought to read, understand, and interpret the Book of Job assuming that Job’s testimony of innocence is reliable. What if we did the same with a similar assumption about God’s compassion and mercy? For now, however, perhaps a more burning question is this:
How does the endurance of Job reveal not only his blessedness in God’s sight, but also the great compassion and mercy of God?
God Kept Job. The Bible presents the kingdom of God as having a peculiar and upside-down understanding of what it means to be called “blessed”. An oft-used example is the “Beatitudes” of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:1-12). Few then (and now) would call you blessed by God if you were: poor in spirit, mourning, gentle, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemaking, insulted and persecuted. And yet, this is exactly what the Lord Jesus said would be part of God’s blessing.
James also stated clearly: “We count those blessed who endured” (5:11). So in the context of Job’s life, one of the clearest evidences of God’s blessing was one’s endurance. And part of endurance is understood through the pairing of suffering and patience (5:10). This word for patience [G3115, makrothymia] is the same used for one of the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. . . (Gal 5:22-23).
The point of this is to say that God clearly has a different perspective on our suffering. Bringing all of these ideas together, we see that the hardship itself isn’t the blessing; rather, it’s the outcome of the hardship. It’s what the hardship reveals about the one who is suffering it. And that revelation is that the sufferer is being kept by God.
Faith is Precious. Any time I come across the parables of the “mustard seed” of faith (Matt 17:20; Luke 17:6), a single phrase comes to mind: “faith is precious.” Recently, I found myself frustrated with God at what I considered His giving me a mountain of hardship to carry with only a minuscule granule of faith. And I believe the Lord used Luke 17:6 to gently reminded me of a more complete perspective:
“Don’t despise a small faith. Faith is a miracle, and the smallest faith can save.”
I was reminded that God has given to each a measure of faith (cf. Rom 12:3), according to His good purposes, as well as various gifts of grace according to that faith (12:6). Further, Rom 14:1–15:7 is a reminder that those who are weak of faith and those who are strong will experience a tension. The strong are to bear patiently with the weak, for both are a gift from God. Weak faith is still faith, which is still a gift.
When viewed from this lens, it is less of a bewildering idea that suffering and patience—which together help us understand endurance—can reveal that the Lord is indeed full of compassion and mercy. It is because God, with eternal patience, is preserving something precious and of indescribable worth: the faith and salvation of His people.
The (Suffering) Friend of Job. We consider it proven in the story of Job and throughout the Bible that God is eternally the true Friend (of Job). For if what is hidden must be drawn out, then suffering must be a wonderful revelator of the heart. And if suffering is a great revelator, then the story of Job and the Bible as a whole reveals the heart of God:
God did not despise Job, his weakness or his great vulnerability. Rather, he loved Job, and had compassion and mercy on him. God held onto His friend.
Any doubt of such an idea is ultimately dealt with in the Son of God, who is the fullest revelation of the Father’s heart for all who hope in Him.
Though truly and eternally innocent and sinless, Jesus Christ suffered greatest of all. The fires of His suffering and anguish revealed what was deepest inside His heart: compassion and mercy. Though He had a heavenly host at His disposal, to defend and fight for Him, He instead chose what was vital for our salvation (Matt 26:52-54): compassion and mercy. The Son’s cry of dereliction revealed the Father’s heart to place the burden of forsakenness onto the innocent, so that the guilty could receive compassion and mercy.
Am I a Friend of Job? God is the Friend of the sinner, the servant, and the sufferer. The chief revelation will always be the Son of God, who was derogatorily labeled the “Friend of sinners” (Matt 11:19; Luke 7:34). Job’s story is also a beautiful picture of this profound friendship. By the Spirit of God, we believe it is also shown by God’s people, like how 2 Corinthians 3:1-5ff. says we are much like letters to the world.
There are more things to explore and unearth as we read and interpret the Book of Job. And as we continue on with this site, we hold fast to the same testimony of the first-century Church about the Lord: “[He] is full of compassion and is merciful” (James 5:11). For even in the midst of their own suffering, they remembered the story of Job—that ancient sinner, servant, and sufferer—and were able to remember this about their saving God.
And so, I cannot help but now soberly reflect: What kind of conclusions will be evident about God when sinners, servants, and sufferers interact with me? What revelations will be clear by my sufferings and by my endurance (by God’s grace alone)? Will they see the compassion and mercy of God? Or will they see something else?
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