Why do the righteous suffer so? Why do the evil prosper like they do? Why is their uncontrollable calamity in the world? How do you make sense of it? Where is God in it? What do we do with it? And God?
It's these kind of ancient and modern issues that the book of Job wrestles with. But it is important to note that what we're reading is how the ancient Israelites wrestled with God and evil and suffering and righteousness. It's not very helpful to discuss whether Job was a real person or a fictional character. The point of the story and the poems is the wrestling with the ideas, the realities we as humans deal with. Ultimately, the book of Job is a carefully crafted wisdom book - authentic instructions and honest ideas on how to deal righteously with suffering.
The story possibly dates before Moses, but after Abraham. There is no mention of Torah, but there is acknowledgment of God. There is no mention of Abraham, but Job kind of sounds like Abraham (eventually he had lots of kids!). Some of the Hebrew is so old that scholars aren't sure how to translate confusing passages.
The book begins and ends with a narrative piece - it sets up the story and wraps it up. But the real meat of the book is in the poetry, the artful and passionate dialogue between Job and his friends. It's important to note that as you track through all that Job has to say, he gets it right most of the time. His friends, as you follow their logic and reactions to Job - well they don't always get it right. This is one of those books where you have to be careful to discern who you are reading - they may be saying something that isn't true of God or humanity!
Again, the classic questions are relevant here: what does this story and poem teach me about God? About humanity? About suffering? About injustice? About evil? About righteousness? About wisdom? About life? About me? Ask lots of questions as you read. Ask what you would do if you were Job? Consider what you would do if you had friends like Job? What would be your attitude towards God if he seemed to be unjust?
No comments:
Post a Comment