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Focal passage: Job 19
Background passage: Job 2:11-3:1
In the book of Job, two chapters of great faith are followed immediately by 35 chapters of great questions. At the end of the book, God will once again bless Job. His fortunes will be restored. His health will be restored. He and his wife have more children. But we cannot rush too quickly through the pain to get to the blessing. For if we skip over this difficult part we miss the real story – the story of what it means to trust in the middle of the tragedies of life.
Job 2:11-13 Three friends arrive and initially sit with Job in his suffering. Initially, their presence brings sympathy and comfort. They identify with Job, even to the point of tearing their own robes and covering themselves in the ashes, but they do not speak.
Why did the friends tear their robes and cover themselves with dust? Why did they remain silent? What can you learn from Job’s friends? How can you best offer comfort to someone who is dealing with tragedy or loss?
In chapter 3 and continuing through chapter 37, we move from the narrative account into poetry that expresses the depth of Job’s pain and questioning. Job has grown weary and for the first time, he begins to question God. By the time we arrive at chapter 19, Job expresses his belief that he has been unjustly accused.
The friends have grown uncomfortable with Job’s despair and attempt to offer counsel. The responses of these friends represent the best of ancient thinking about God and suffering. Justice was a foundational value in the Hebrew culture and so Job’s situation challenges the world view of his friends. In particular, they express the belief that since God is just, Job must have committed a terrible sin to deserve the suffering he is experiencing. Perhaps in condemning Job they feel better about themselves and their own lives. If they were to accept Job’s statement of innocence they would be forced to consider that God’s blessings do not necessarily correlate with a person’s behavior. To accept that Job is suffering without cause means that it would be possible for them to have a similar undeserved experience. Logically, the converse would also be true. If great sin brought great punishment, great righteousness would bring great blessing.
In our current cultural context, do we associate ethical behavior with financial security? When are we likely to dismiss the suffering of a person or a group of people? What assumptions lie beneath this feeling?
Job protests the observations of his friends and eventually grows tired of defending himself to them. Job is on an emotional roller coaster, and takes up his case with God. He declares that God is unjust but he wants to hope and believe that God is just. Job is struggling to make sense of his personal experience of suffering in light of what he believes about God.
Focal passage: Job 19
(Verses 1-2) According to Job, his friends speak truth without compassion. They pound him with accusations.
(Verses 3-4) As they attempt to reconcile Job’s suffering with their own views of God, Job’s friends humiliate him. Job says the public shaming just intensifies the suffering he is already experiencing. Job says that he is open to their criticism but to this point they have not spoken with any insight or wisdom.
(Verses 5-6) Job accuses his friends of using his situation to elevate their own standing by comparison. Then Job says something startling. He says that if suffering is a true reflection of one’s character, then it is God who has wronged him.
Does Job’s statement about God trouble you? Why or why not?
(Verses 7-12) In these verses, Job gives a list of the ways God has wronged Job.
- Job has called to God and he has not responded. (Crying “violence” is like screaming “fire” in order to get attention.)
- God has cut off his exits and kept him in the dark. This means he feels as though he has no options.
- God has psychologically shamed Job.
- God has continued to inflict pain on Job. Job feels as though he is under “siege” and surrounded by the enemy.
(Verse 13 -18) For Job, the loss of relationships intensifies his original suffering. His extended family quit dropping by for lunch. Casual acquaintances and friends avoid him. Business associates aren’t interested in working with him. Even his personal servants (trusted employees) don’t respond to his requests. His wife wants nothing to do with him. The children in town have lost all respect for him, perhaps ridiculing his physical limitations (18).
Why do you think Job’s relationships crumbled in the midst of his suffering? What causes individuals to want to avoid people who are dealing with difficult situations and on-going painful loss? What can we learn from Job’s assessment of his current situation?
(Verse 19-22) Job summarizes his situation by saying that all who were close to him have turned away from him. Job believes he is alone in his suffering.
(Verses 23-29) From the depths of his isolation, Job turns his attention to God. Job wanted his words to be published and he wanted his words to live on as a witness to his innocence. He fully expected to die and he wanted the generations to come to know his experience. In this moment, when all humans have failed him, Job believes that God is his only hope.
“I know that my Redeemer lives” (25). Even in the midst of despair and grief, Job clings to God. Although most scholars do not believe that Job has an understanding of a future Messiah, Job believes that a redeemer or defender would vindicate him after his death. Job longs to see justice now.
Job wants to take his case into God’s presence and plead for God’s vindication. He believes God will eventually uphold his integrity (28-29).
As we explore the experience of Job we realize that choosing faith in the midst of suffering does not mean that we stop asking questions. Like Job, we live in tension, caught between our trust in God and our experience of pain; yet, we have the confidence that comes from knowing the truth revealed in the Gospel. We join with the Church who has proclaimed the truth throughout the centuries, “I know that my Redeemer lives.” Our Redeemer is Jesus Christ. Christ died for us and that reveals God’s love for us. God welcomes our questions. He meets us in our doubt and confusion. God is for us, and nothing shall separate us from his love (Romans 8:31-39).
When have you suffered injustice? Do the obvious injustices of the world make their way into your prayers? How would prayers of lament influence the way you face challenges of your personal life? How would prayers of lament change the way you engage in the problems of the world?
