Study Focus:Gen. 50:20, Rom. 8:28, Job 10:9, Job 13:15, Job 19:23–27, Luke 24:13–35.
As faithful Christians, we may confidently expect God to protect us from evil and harm, and we certainly have good reason to think He will. After all, God has promised to keep us and bless us (Num. 6:24). And we strive to honor Him in all that we do, so that we do not forfeit this blessing or lay claim to it presumptuously. Yet, we may still get sick and suffer injustice and oppression in this life. At such times, we cry out to God for help.
We are not unique in our supplications to God during the dark times of life. The Bible is full of men and women of God who suffered and cried out for help. The book of Psalms is suffused with the entreaties of pious people who call on God to deliver them from evil (Ps. 71:4, Ps. 97:10). The book of Job, in particular, illustrates this phenomenon. Job is a pious man; and yet, in spite of all his faithfulness, he suffers much tribulation and sorrow. Job does not understand the reason for his suffering. In anguish, he cries out to God in the face of what appears to be great injustice. The case of Job merits our attention for this very reason. Job experiences God’s grace through opposite extremes of happiness and pain. Within the bounds of these two extremes that delineate his challenging conflict, Job learns to hope.
Part II: Commentary
The Experience of Grace. The book of Job begins with an emphatic note about Job’s great virtues. According to the biblical author, Job is “blameless and upright” (Job 1:1, NKJV). Job also was considered “the greatest of all the people of the East” (Job 1:3, NKJV). Even God testifies to Job’s singularity and uniqueness, saying, “ ‘There is none like him on the earth’ ” (Job 1:8, NKJV). According to all the assessments of Job, he is a perfect man. And yet, at the end of the book, Job, responding to God, confesses that at the time when he was judged as “perfect,” his relationship with God was only at a primitive stage: “ ‘I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear’ ” (Job 42:5, NKJV). Job then adds that “now,” after his experience of suffering, “my eye sees You” (Job 42:5, NKJV). Thus, Job recognizes that there was something important that kept him from seeing God initially.
What was it?
An attentive reading of the biblical text, and particularly the use of the repeated kḥinam, meaning “for nothing” or “for free,” will help us resolve this question. The word khinam appears for the first time in the book of Job in the form of a question when Satan responds to God, who has just praised Job for his piety: Does Job serve God “for nothing [_kḥinam_]?” (Job 1:9, NKJV). Satan’s argument is that God is overly protective of Job. To prove his point, Satan then proposes a challenge to God: let me touch Job’s belongings; that is, strike “all that he has” (Job 1:11, NKJV). Satan bets that Job will then sin. God permits all of Job’s substance to be within the devastating reach of Satan’s power. A raid by the Sabeans, a fire from heaven, and a great wind ravage his properties (Job 1:13 19). In the aftermath of the destruction, Job loses all that he has. Although Job mourns, he does not sin (Job 1:22).
In response to Satan’s accusation, God uses the same word, kḥinam, that Satan used when he charged Him with putting a protective hedge around Job. The Lord says, “ ‘You incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause [kḥinam_]’ ” (Job 2:3, NKJV). Job confirms this notion when he uses the same word later in his outcry to God about his wounds, which are multiplied _kḥinam, “without cause” (Job 9:17).
The word kḥinam, which derives from the word kḥen, “grace,” is, therefore, a significant keyword that marks Job’s destiny. On one hand, Job suffers “without cause” (kḥinam). On the other hand, Job is accused of serving God from self-serving motives and out of a desire for prosperity. This accusation from Satan is also echoed in the suspicions of Job’s friends (Job 34:9, Job 35:3). In fact, Job himself seemingly espouses this idea when he enumerates his good deeds (Job 29:12–17, Job 31:1) and announces his expectation to be rewarded for them (Job 29:18). What was missing in Job’s relationship with God, however, was the experience of grace. Job had to pass through the experience of suffering “without cause,” “for free”; that is, without hope of any benefit, in order to understand God’s unmerited gift of grace.
The Problem of Suffering. The book of Job emphasizes that it is Satan who initiates suffering in the human race (Job 1:12). God Himself affirms Satan’s responsibility for Job’s suffering (Job 2:6). Ellen G. White is very clear about whom to blame for Job’s suffering: “The history of Job had shown that suffering is inflicted by Satan.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 471. Jesus also attributes suffering to the enemy (Matt. 13:28). Is Job, then, wrong when he suggests that God is responsible for his pain?
Throughout the book, Job attributes agency to God as the One who is responsible for his oppression (Job 10:3) and who shakes him to pieces (Job 16:12). Job even argues, “If it is not He, who else could it be?” (Job 9:24, NKJV). However, at the end of the book, God responds to Job’s assertions by enumerating His works of Creation (Job 38, 39). God’s defense against Job’s assertion that He is the destroyer is that He is the Creator. So, when Job places God at the origin of suffering, he really is voicing the monotheistic affirmation that there is only one God, one power, who is ultimately responsible for what happens to humanity. The Lord, through Moses, expresses this idea in the following words: “ ‘I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal’ ” (Deut. 32:39, NKJV). This paradox informs the very substance and quality of Job’s faith.
As Job famously says of the Lord, “ ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him’ ” (Job 13:15, NKJV). The Hebrew person of faith has the conviction that the good, as well as the bad, comes from God’s hand (Prov. 16:4) because the person knows the reality of God’s goodness and grace, and trusts, regardless of life’s evil circumstances and situations (Gen. 50:20, Rom. 8:28).
The Vision of Resurrection. To Job’s friend Bildad, who all but accuses him of being a wicked man (Job 18) who does not know God, and, as such, deserves to go down into the grave (Job 18:21), Job responds: “I know that my Redeemer is alive” (Job 19:25, CEB). “This I know, that in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:26, NKJV). In these two verses, Job affirms his faith in his resurrection, which will take place at the end of time, when “my Redeemer” [who presently lives] “will stand at last on the earth” (Job 19:25, MEV). Thus, from within his tormented flesh, Job draws the following paradox of hope: “After my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:26, NKJV).
In this verse, Job does not refer to an existential experience happening in his present life. Nor does he refer to his personal immortality after death. The event he speaks about belongs to a cosmic event that concerns “the earth,” an eschatological event that is situated in the far future—’akḥaron, “last,” or the last day. This event is none other than the resurrection of the dead, at which time he, in his “flesh” (Job 19:26), will see God (his Redeemer) with his own eyes (Job 19:27).
Echoing again Bildad’s last words (Job 18:21), Job ironically concludes his speech with this warning: “That you may know there is a judgment” (Job 19:29, NKJV). Job’s hope in his resurrection is thus connected with the day of judgment, just as in the book of Daniel (Dan. 12:1–3). Jesus brings this hope to Martha’s mind on the day of Lazarus’s resurrection (John 11:23). And Paul preaches about the blessed hope to those who denied it (1 Cor. 15:12–19). This hope is the last message of the Bible: the only solution to the problem of the world is God’s creation of “a new heaven and a new earth,” wherein “there shall be no more death, nor sorrow” (Rev. 21:1, 4, NKJV).
Part III: Life Application
Teacher’s Tip: The following questions may be discussed by the class as a whole or in small groups. If you choose to divide the class into small groups, allow enough time to discuss the question, reserving enough time for a presentation of their ideas at the end of class.
Also, encourage class members in the coming week to engage in one or more of the exercises listed in the activities section that follows. Then invite class members to share their experience with the class the following Sabbath. How did the activity strengthen their faith? How did it draw them closer to Jesus?
Questions for Discussion:
How would you comfort people who suffer for no apparent reason, as did Job?
How would you respond to those who would question the piety and religious devotion of people who are sick or ill?
Ask class members to answer the following questions: Would your faith remain unshakable if God did not grant healing in answer to your prayer on behalf of your beloved?
Are you ready to thank God for your misery (illness, failure of an exam, etc.), although you did your best? Discuss.
Do you blame poor individuals for their condition? Explain.
What are your arguments against those who claim that you deserve your failures? What do you think of the idea that God will answer all your prayers according to your expectations and that success will always crown the lives of God’s people?
Why is God’s cosmic response of a new creation the only solution to our personal problems and to the problems of a hurting world?
Activities:
Write a sermon or eulogy to be delivered at the graveside of a departed loved one or friend. Send it to the family of the bereaved to comfort them.
Share stories from your own life in which you experienced God’s grace during a painful time. Learn to thank God for the bad and the good things in life.
Visit a sick friend in the hospital or a person who is terminally ill. What words of comfort will you share with him or her?
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Key Text: Job 42:5, 6
Study Focus: Gen. 50:20, Rom. 8:28, Job 10:9, Job 13:15, Job 19:23–27, Luke 24:13–35.
As faithful Christians, we may confidently expect God to protect us from evil and harm, and we certainly have good reason to think He will. After all, God has promised to keep us and bless us (Num. 6:24). And we strive to honor Him in all that we do, so that we do not forfeit this blessing or lay claim to it presumptuously. Yet, we may still get sick and suffer injustice and oppression in this life. At such times, we cry out to God for help.
We are not unique in our supplications to God during the dark times of life. The Bible is full of men and women of God who suffered and cried out for help. The book of Psalms is suffused with the entreaties of pious people who call on God to deliver them from evil (Ps. 71:4, Ps. 97:10). The book of Job, in particular, illustrates this phenomenon. Job is a pious man; and yet, in spite of all his faithfulness, he suffers much tribulation and sorrow. Job does not understand the reason for his suffering. In anguish, he cries out to God in the face of what appears to be great injustice. The case of Job merits our attention for this very reason. Job experiences God’s grace through opposite extremes of happiness and pain. Within the bounds of these two extremes that delineate his challenging conflict, Job learns to hope.
Part II: Commentary
The Experience of Grace. The book of Job begins with an emphatic note about Job’s great virtues. According to the biblical author, Job is “blameless and upright” (Job 1:1, NKJV). Job also was considered “the greatest of all the people of the East” (Job 1:3, NKJV). Even God testifies to Job’s singularity and uniqueness, saying, “ ‘There is none like him on the earth’ ” (Job 1:8, NKJV). According to all the assessments of Job, he is a perfect man. And yet, at the end of the book, Job, responding to God, confesses that at the time when he was judged as “perfect,” his relationship with God was only at a primitive stage: “ ‘I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear’ ” (Job 42:5, NKJV). Job then adds that “now,” after his experience of suffering, “my eye sees You” (Job 42:5, NKJV). Thus, Job recognizes that there was something important that kept him from seeing God initially.
What was it?
An attentive reading of the biblical text, and particularly the use of the repeated kḥinam, meaning “for nothing” or “for free,” will help us resolve this question. The word khinam appears for the first time in the book of Job in the form of a question when Satan responds to God, who has just praised Job for his piety: Does Job serve God “for nothing [_kḥinam_]?” (Job 1:9, NKJV). Satan’s argument is that God is overly protective of Job. To prove his point, Satan then proposes a challenge to God: let me touch Job’s belongings; that is, strike “all that he has” (Job 1:11, NKJV). Satan bets that Job will then sin. God permits all of Job’s substance to be within the devastating reach of Satan’s power. A raid by the Sabeans, a fire from heaven, and a great wind ravage his properties (Job 1:13 19). In the aftermath of the destruction, Job loses all that he has. Although Job mourns, he does not sin (Job 1:22).
In response to Satan’s accusation, God uses the same word, kḥinam, that Satan used when he charged Him with putting a protective hedge around Job. The Lord says, “ ‘You incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause [kḥinam_]’ ” (Job 2:3, NKJV). Job confirms this notion when he uses the same word later in his outcry to God about his wounds, which are multiplied _kḥinam, “without cause” (Job 9:17).
The word kḥinam, which derives from the word kḥen, “grace,” is, therefore, a significant keyword that marks Job’s destiny. On one hand, Job suffers “without cause” (kḥinam). On the other hand, Job is accused of serving God from self-serving motives and out of a desire for prosperity. This accusation from Satan is also echoed in the suspicions of Job’s friends (Job 34:9, Job 35:3). In fact, Job himself seemingly espouses this idea when he enumerates his good deeds (Job 29:12–17, Job 31:1) and announces his expectation to be rewarded for them (Job 29:18). What was missing in Job’s relationship with God, however, was the experience of grace. Job had to pass through the experience of suffering “without cause,” “for free”; that is, without hope of any benefit, in order to understand God’s unmerited gift of grace.
The Problem of Suffering. The book of Job emphasizes that it is Satan who initiates suffering in the human race (Job 1:12). God Himself affirms Satan’s responsibility for Job’s suffering (Job 2:6). Ellen G. White is very clear about whom to blame for Job’s suffering: “The history of Job had shown that suffering is inflicted by Satan.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 471. Jesus also attributes suffering to the enemy (Matt. 13:28). Is Job, then, wrong when he suggests that God is responsible for his pain?
Throughout the book, Job attributes agency to God as the One who is responsible for his oppression (Job 10:3) and who shakes him to pieces (Job 16:12). Job even argues, “If it is not He, who else could it be?” (Job 9:24, NKJV). However, at the end of the book, God responds to Job’s assertions by enumerating His works of Creation (Job 38, 39). God’s defense against Job’s assertion that He is the destroyer is that He is the Creator. So, when Job places God at the origin of suffering, he really is voicing the monotheistic affirmation that there is only one God, one power, who is ultimately responsible for what happens to humanity. The Lord, through Moses, expresses this idea in the following words: “ ‘I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal’ ” (Deut. 32:39, NKJV). This paradox informs the very substance and quality of Job’s faith.
As Job famously says of the Lord, “ ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him’ ” (Job 13:15, NKJV). The Hebrew person of faith has the conviction that the good, as well as the bad, comes from God’s hand (Prov. 16:4) because the person knows the reality of God’s goodness and grace, and trusts, regardless of life’s evil circumstances and situations (Gen. 50:20, Rom. 8:28).
The Vision of Resurrection. To Job’s friend Bildad, who all but accuses him of being a wicked man (Job 18) who does not know God, and, as such, deserves to go down into the grave (Job 18:21), Job responds: “I know that my Redeemer is alive” (Job 19:25, CEB). “This I know, that in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:26, NKJV). In these two verses, Job affirms his faith in his resurrection, which will take place at the end of time, when “my Redeemer” [who presently lives] “will stand at last on the earth” (Job 19:25, MEV). Thus, from within his tormented flesh, Job draws the following paradox of hope: “After my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:26, NKJV).
In this verse, Job does not refer to an existential experience happening in his present life. Nor does he refer to his personal immortality after death. The event he speaks about belongs to a cosmic event that concerns “the earth,” an eschatological event that is situated in the far future—’akḥaron, “last,” or the last day. This event is none other than the resurrection of the dead, at which time he, in his “flesh” (Job 19:26), will see God (his Redeemer) with his own eyes (Job 19:27).
Echoing again Bildad’s last words (Job 18:21), Job ironically concludes his speech with this warning: “That you may know there is a judgment” (Job 19:29, NKJV). Job’s hope in his resurrection is thus connected with the day of judgment, just as in the book of Daniel (Dan. 12:1–3). Jesus brings this hope to Martha’s mind on the day of Lazarus’s resurrection (John 11:23). And Paul preaches about the blessed hope to those who denied it (1 Cor. 15:12–19). This hope is the last message of the Bible: the only solution to the problem of the world is God’s creation of “a new heaven and a new earth,” wherein “there shall be no more death, nor sorrow” (Rev. 21:1, 4, NKJV).
Part III: Life Application
Teacher’s Tip: The following questions may be discussed by the class as a whole or in small groups. If you choose to divide the class into small groups, allow enough time to discuss the question, reserving enough time for a presentation of their ideas at the end of class.
Also, encourage class members in the coming week to engage in one or more of the exercises listed in the activities section that follows. Then invite class members to share their experience with the class the following Sabbath. How did the activity strengthen their faith? How did it draw them closer to Jesus?
Questions for Discussion:
Activities: