| JOB |
| When Bad Things Happen to a Good Person |
| Nobody suffered more; nobody deserved it less. |
| "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." 1:8 |
| How could it happen? All at once the world came crashing down on a single innocent man, a man named Job. It was the ultimate in unfairness. First, raiders stole his belongings and slaughtered his servants. Then fire from the sky burned up his sheep, and a mighty wind destroyed his house and killed his sons and daughters. Finally, Job came down with a horrible, painful disease. What did I do to deserve such suffering?, he wailed. A Cosmic Contest The book of Job reads like a detective story in which the readers know far more than the central characters. The very first chapter answers Job's main question: he had done nothing to deserve such suffering. We, the readers, know that, but nobody tells Job and his friends. Unknown to him, Job was involved in a cosmic test, a contest proposed in heaven but staged on earth. In this extreme test of faith, the best man on earth suffered the worst calamaties. Satan had claimed that people like Job love God only because of the good things he provides. Remove those good things, Satan challenged, and Job's faith would melt away along with his riches and health. God's reputation was on the line. Would Job continue to trust him, even while his life was falling apart? This is the crucial question of the book: Would Job turn against God? Job's wife mocked him, "Are you still holding onto your |
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