| GOD SPEAKS TO JOB |
| page 2 |
 |
| Astonishingly, the question of suffering itself did not even come up. Yet somehow Job seemed satisfied - humiliated, actually. "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand," he confessed, "things too wonderful for me to know" (42:3). Job Passes the Test Job had endured his terrible sufferings in the dark. When he needed God most, God had stayed silent. And that was exactly the point of the the contest begun at the beginning of the book, back in chapter 1. Satan had promised God that Job would "surely curse you to your face." He lost the challenge. Despite everything that happened, Job did not curse God. He clung to his belief in a just God, even when everything in his experience seemed to contradict it. God had some words of correction for Job. No one, not Job and especially not his friends, had the evidence needed to make judgments about how he runs the world. But mainly, God had praise for Job. He called him "my servant," and, in an ironic twist, told the three friends to go to Job and ask for his mercy (42:7-8). Much later, in the book of Ezekiel (14:14), God included Job in a list of the finest human examples of righteousness. The book of Job ends on a note of surprise. Job's friends, who had spouted all the right pieties and cliches, ask for forgiveness. Job, who had raged and cried out, is given twice as much as he ever had before. "And so he died, old and full of years" (42:17). Life Questions: In Job's place, what kind of answer would you have wanted from God? Does God's reply to Job surprise you? |