Job's Suffering

In the land of Uz there lived a man named Job who was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. Job's righteousness wasn't passive—he regularly offered sacrifices on behalf of his children, thinking perhaps they had sinned and cursed God in their hearts. He was both prosperous and deeply devoted to God.

One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord asked Satan where he had come from, and Satan answered that he had been roaming throughout the earth. Then the Lord said, '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.' Satan replied cynically, 'Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.'

The Lord said to Satan, 'Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.' Satan went out from the presence of the Lord with permission to test Job's faith. In a single day, catastrophe struck repeatedly. A messenger came: the oxen and donkeys were taken by Sabeans who killed the servants. While he was still speaking, another came: fire from the sky burned up the sheep and servants. While he was still speaking, another came: Chaldeans raided the camels and killed the servants. While he was still speaking, another: a mighty wind struck the house where Job's children were feasting, and it collapsed on them, killing all ten.

Job's response to this devastating loss became one of Scripture's most memorable declarations of faith. He stood up, tore his robe, shaved his head in mourning, then fell to the ground in worship. He said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.' In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. His faith held despite losing his children and his wealth in one horrific day.

But Satan wasn't satisfied. On another day when the angels presented themselves before the Lord, Satan challenged again: 'Skin for skin! A man will give all he has for his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.' The Lord said, 'Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.' So Satan afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

His wife said to him, 'Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!' But Job replied, 'You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?' In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. His faith remained firm even when his own wife urged him to renounce God. However, what followed—captured in 35 chapters—was Job's anguished wrestling with his suffering. Three friends came to comfort him but instead accused him of secret sin, insisting his suffering proved guilt. Job defended his innocence while questioning why God was treating him this way.

Job poured out his complaint to God, asking why the righteous suffer, why God seemed to have become his enemy, why his friends' simple formulas (sin brings suffering, righteousness brings blessing) didn't match reality. His questions weren't rebellion but honest wrestling with God. His friends' theology was neat and tidy but couldn't explain innocent suffering. A younger man, Elihu, spoke about God's sovereignty and the mystery of His ways, preparing Job for God's response.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. God didn't answer Job's questions about why he suffered. Instead, He revealed His own majesty through a series of questions: 'Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Do you give the horse its strength? Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom?' For four chapters, God displayed His creative power, wisdom, and sovereignty over all creation. The questions weren't meant to humiliate Job but to expand his perspective—if God manages all creation with such wisdom, can't He be trusted with the mysteries of human suffering?

Job's response showed transformation: 'I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, "Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?" Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.' Job received not answers but revelation of God Himself, and that was enough. Seeing God's majesty replaced his questions with worship.

God rebuked Job's three friends for not speaking correctly about Him as Job had. After Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. He blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former, giving him 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, 1,000 donkeys, seven sons and three daughters—the most beautiful women in all the land. Job lived 140 years more, seeing four generations of descendants. His story doesn't fully answer why the righteous suffer, but it reveals that God is trustworthy even in unexplained trials, that integrity maintained through suffering honors God, and that seeing God Himself is more valuable than understanding His ways.