The Book of Job: Suffering and the Mystery of the Universe

Jane Orton
3 days ago
5 min read

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In this post, discover the Book of Job and how theologians try to justify God!

*William Blake's The Lord Answering Job*

A mixture of prose and poetry, the Book of Job is meant to transcend national boundaries. Job is not an Israelite, but comes from the land of Uz. And the story is set in an unclear period of history, although scholars think that this could be the sixth century B.C.E.

Job is introduced as a good man, ‘tām’, (“innocent”) and yāshār (“honest and upright”). Meanwhile, at the court of God, the Satan challenges God’s policy of rewarding good men. This is not Satan as in our modern-day idea of a horned devil, but rather an accuser, a prosecutor, he who argues the opposite. God agrees to allow Job to suffer, believing that, no matter what happens to Him, Job will remain loyal to God.

In what follows, Job loses his property and his children, yet blesses God in spite of his misfortune. Next, Job falls ill with a horrible disease. When Job’s wife questions why he still blesses God, he calls her nābal (“foolish”), the same term that is used in Psalm 14 to refer to those who deny God.

Nonetheless, Job feels like God is absent in a chaotic universe and deplores his birth. Similar sentiments are expressed in Jeremiah 20:14-18.

To make matters worse, three of Job’s friends appear and imply that Job is responsible for his own suffering. Eliphaz the Terranite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Narrathite appeal to the doctrine of temporal retribution (the idea that our situation in this life is the result of our good or bad deeds): “Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?”

Job points out that justice is not mathematical, but states his innocence and demands that God would answer him. Elihu the Buzite arrives and tells everybody off! He says that Job is wrong to accuse God and that Job’s friends are wrong to condemn him without properly refuting him.

God appears out of the whirlwind and gives a speech about the complexity of the universe. God makes the point that Job and his friends know nothing about the way the universe works or its creation: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?...To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone/When the morning stars sang together/And all the sons of God shouted for joy?”

*William Blake's When the Morning Stars Sang Together*

God’s speech contains some of the most beautiful poetry in the Bible, asking who “commanded the morning…And caused the dawn to know its place”? God hints at the great mystery of the universe, asking, “Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths?”

God stresses that the universe is not meant to be a safe place for humans, devoid of suffering, describing the deadly monsters behemoth and leviathan.

Job responds with humility and God approves of Job’s wrestling with these questions. God says that only Job has spoken correctly and restores Job’s wealth and family. In fact, Job’s friends have shown folly (nēbālah, as above) and not spoken truthfully.

Suffering, Struggle and Epistemic Distance

As theologian Dan Mathewson points out, God’s speech does not clarify the issues raised by Job, nor address the issue of suffering in general. This lack of answers has led holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel to conclude, “I prefer to think that the Book’s true ending was lost.”

For Liberation theologians, true Christianity is about making common cause with the poor. Gustavo Gutiérrez, in his On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent, an important point is that the doctrine of temporal retribution is refuted. For Gutiérrez this is “a convenient and soothing doctrine for those who have great worldly possessions, and it prompts resignation and a sense of guilt in those who lack such possessions.”

In fact, Gutiérrez sees the Book of Job as containing a theory of rights for the poor. Eliphaz mistakenly rebukes Job for neglecting his duties to the poor; Zophar calls the mistreatment of the poor an offence against God and Elihu points out that God does not regard the rich as higher than the poor. This sentiment is echoed elsewhere in the Bible in Proverbs 19:17, 14:21 and 17:5.

Some scholars see Job’s feelings of abandonment as similar to Jesus’ cry of dereliction in the Gospel of Mark, or that of the psalmist in Psalm 22.

Others see Job’s story as an acknowledgement that we sometimes struggle with God, although this is a hard thing to do: “God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?” Some people also see the idea of struggling with God in the story of Jacob and the Angel in Genesis.

God’s description to the mysteries of the universe suggests epistemic distance (a distance in understanding) between humans and God. Zophar speculates on this himself, saying ““Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?” This appeal to the mystery of God is also seen in Isaiah 55:8 and 1 Corinthians 13:12.

Environmental Theology

One aspect of the Book of Job that is often overlooked is its portrayal of the natural world as inherently valuable. (Click the link to read about animals and the environment in Christianity and other religions!) God speaks almost tenderly of the birthing of deer and wild mountain goats, lions and their prey and ravens and their young.

*William Blake's Behemoth and Leviathan*

As Job 28 points out, humans can mine the earth, but this is not wisdom. In fact, Job acknowledges that if he abuses the land, he should expect weeds instead of crops.

Above all, humans are not the centre of God’s universe. He tells Job of bringing rain to the wilderness in which there is no man. Rather than answering our questions about suffering, Job’s story highlights the mystery of creation.

Click the links to read the five minute summaries of the arguments for God’s existence and the other posts our Good and Evil series.

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