the patience of Job
You may associate this quote with this book. It actually comes from the New Testament book of James, where the apostle lauds Job for his patient suffering (James 5:11). If you think patience in suffering equates to quietly bearing your load without complaint, you’ll quickly see that Job was most definitely not a model of that type of patience. I’ve always liked the book of Job because he is unhappy with his lot in life, and he complains directly to God, loud and long. And God never berates Job for those complaints. I think this book has a lot to teach us about how to deal with suffering, and uncomplaining acceptance is probably low on the list.
Date
This book is most likely based on an ancient folktale or epic poem. We don’t really know when it was written down, but there’s evidence of the hand of multiple authors. It was probably written and revised over a span of centuries. The final form we have today probably took shape in the post-exile era.
One reason it’s hard to date is that it contains absolutely no references to anything historical. Not even a hint. Whoever wrote this intended for it to be a timeless tale. In the internet age, we call this “evergreen content” – it stays relevant for a long time. That’s because it deals with a timeless problem: why does God allow suffering? Why do the innocent suffer? These questions are as old as humanity.
Genre
This book is grouped in the wisdom literature. Wisdom literature attempts to show the way things are and the way things should be. The goal of wisdom in this context is to live the good life here and now, marked by length of days, prestige, and prosperity. Wisdom literature highlights patterns of living that brought happiness in the past, and exhorts readers to live those patterns in the hope of finding the same happiness in the future.
Overview
The first few chapters of the book tell how Satan comes before God and accuses Job of serving God only for the benefits, for what Job gets out of it. God disagrees and God allows Satan to do anything he wants to Job, short of killing him, and God is convinced that Job will never blaspheme God. Job loses his children, his family, and all his possessions. The bulk of the book is Job’s “friends” coming to “comfort” him. Intermingled with the “comfort” are Job’s complaints. The end of the book is God responding to Job’s complaints in chapters 38-41.
Theology of the Book
There are two main types of theology in the Old Testament. The first can be found in the Torah and the historical books. This theology says you get what you deserve. If you do wrong, God is just waiting to zap you. Divine retribution rules the day. There’s a story in John 9 where the disciples encounter a blind man and they asked – who sinned? The man or his parents? That’s the theology of divine retribution. Something bad has happened; it must be the direct result of something bad that someone did.
The theology of divine retribution breaks down when you apply it to basically good people. No doubt you can think of someone who leads a seemingly good life, but suffers from something. Where was the sin, some ask, assuming some sort of justice is being served. That doesn’t really seem like the right question to ask though. Wisdom literature presents a different view, a different theology. Wisdom literature says that sometimes bad things happen to good people. We don’t know why. We can’t explain. It just happens. The best approach you can take is to live the best you can and hope for the best.
The character of Job throws divine retribution theology out the window. Job consistently maintains he is a righteous man who has done nothing to deserve his lot in life. Even Wisdom theology is not really serving him very well. Job wants answers, and he’s not afraid to demand them.
In the end, I think God affirms Wisdom theology in saying that sometimes you just can’t understand why things are happening, any more than you can understand or explain God. Things sometimes just are. But I think it’s significant that Job is not censored by God for complaining about it.
One thing we could take away from this is that it’s okay to question God, even doubt God. If your God is not solid enough to handle your doubt, you might want to examine your notion of who God is. It’s not a sin to ask questions or doubt. In fact, both may be necessary for a mature faith and understanding of God.