A Few Lessons From Job

The Book of Job is far too complex for a "once over lightly" treatment. To probe some of its deeper lessons, we must review the entire account (we recommend our new verse-by-verse study). As the oldest book of the Bible, Job was probably a contemporary of Abraham, although he did not live in the Promised Land; he lived in a land called Uz, of which we know relatively little. Yet his faith and insights reflect a heritage that had been handed down from Adam and Eve, through Noah and his sons. And it is surprisingly consistent with the greater revelation of Scripture as we find it in the Old and New Testaments.

One of the many lessons of this book is what we find in every book of the Bible: it strips away our illusions and presents life as it really is. [Nothing is more valuable than a valid perspective. One of the most painful - but essential - blessings is the stripping away of our delusions and erroneous presuppositions! That is why it is so important to let the Spirit of God set us straight by the Word of God, correcting our thinking and "renewing our minds" (Romans 12:2).]

The first surprise to confront us in the Book of Job is the behind-the-scenes peek at what prompted the entire drama. We discover that a larger cosmic drama is being played out behind our own frustrations, suddenly adverse circumstances, perverse people, and other troubles.

Life Is Not a Spectator Sport!

We begin to get a glimpse of the powerful team of evil that is directed at us and we discover that we, too, are the focus of his attack. We are no longer sitting in the bleachers: we, too, are in the middle of the game. And we make a tragic mistake to see the situation only in terms of what is visible to us. We must never forget what we were shown in the first chapter of Job as we face the problems in our own lives.

We tend to presume that we deserve to have a good time and enjoy ourselves; that life yields to us what we have earned. But nothing could be further from the Christian position. We are not here to have a good time. God gives us some good times, but every one of them comes as a gift of His love and grace!

The good times are never something we really deserve. We are here to fight against the powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:10-12). We are here to be engaged in continual combat with powerful forces seeking to control human history. That continually frustrates our attempts to plan our careers, our lives, our retirement… That is why God has taught us what is really going on behind the scenes right at the very beginning of this book.

Something Deeper

The primary lesson of Job is what the book reveals about the nature of human evil. As we go through the many discourses of Job's "friends" we see them view wicked people in terms of murderers, thieves, rapists, fornicators, cruel tyrants, etc. - unjust, wretched people. "These" are the wicked, as Job's counselors see them. But as we begin to understand more clearly, the things they point out as wicked are really only the fruit of something deeper in human nature: they emerge from a deep-seated root of pride that expresses itself as independence and self-sufficiency: "I can run my own life; I've got what it takes; I don't need help from anybody." Jesus summarized it this way:

For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies … -Matthew 15:19

All evil comes from the root of pride (Isaiah 14:12-16), which is evil in its purest form. What we also learn from this book is that pride is expressed not only in terms of murder, thievery, and robbery, but also - as we see in Job's three friends - as bigotry, pompousness, self-righteous legalism, critical judgmental attitudes, condemnation of others, harsh, sarcastic words and vengeful, vindictive actions against someone else.

Human evil is not confined to the criminals of the land; it is present in every heart, without exception (Jeremiah 17:9). Pride is the root of all sin and it can express itself in many different ways.

The Nature of Faith

Job thought he was exercising faith when he obeyed God and did what was right when it was clearly in his best interests to do so. Many people today think they are exercising great faith when they simply believe God is there; when they live their lives day by day with the recognition that God is watching and is present in their affairs. They do right because they know that if they do not they will get into trouble. This is, of course, a form of faith, but it is a weak faith. They live at a level of serving God only when it is in their best interests to do so.

This is the very accusation that Satan hurled at God when Job was discussed. "Job only serves you because you take care of him. Remove your hand of blessing and he'll curse you to your face." Cf. Job 1:9-11.

Many are like that: the moment blessing ceases, or difficulty or trial comes along, they want to quit. (The lack of a persistent, enduring witness by visible leaders is among the greatest discouragements among the Body.)

The kind of faith that makes the world sit up and take notice is revealed as we serve God when it is difficult to do so - when serving Him is the hardest thing we can do. This is what the Book of Job is all about. Remember Gethsemane. "Not my will, but thine be done."

This is what we see in Job. Though he trembles, though he falters, though he fails, the final thing he does is cling in helplessness to God. Job ultimately becomes an example of faith. Great faith is exercised when we feel we are being the least faithful! When we are so weak that we cannot do anything but cling. In that moment all heaven is looking and rejoicing at the greatness of our faith.