Chris Sheeter and I were students at BJU and friends in 1981. Chris was tall, handsome, musical, with a great personality. He also was a good preacher. Chris was studying to pastor. We attended the same church, Southside Baptist Church and worked as waiters at the same Seafood restaurant, Old Mill Stream Inn. I graduated one semester before he did and started pastoring in N.C.. I drove back to Greenville, S.C. just to fellowship with Chris. During his last semester, he was a lifeguard at a local hotel. At the end of a shift, he dove into the pool just to swim across and go home. As he was swimming across the bottom, his friends noticed he stopped about halfway. Chris drowned.
Chris studied for seven years, spent nearly $100,000 to prepare to pastor, and never got to pastor one day. I remember asking myself why did God lead him to go through the rigors of four years of undergraduate work and the even tougher studies of three years of seminary and then allow this tragedy to happen.
William Safire, in a New York Times editorial, wrote after the 2004 India tsunami in which over 200,000 people were killed from 14 countries, “Where was God? Why does a good and all-powerful deity permit such evil and grief to fall on innocent people? What did these people do to deserve such suffering?”
David Hume, the eighteenth-century philosopher, connected the problem of evil and the existence of God: “Is He willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then He is impotent. Is He able but not willing? Then He is malevolent. Is He both able and willing? Whence then is evil?”
Jewish rabbi, Harold Kushner in his book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, answered, at least to his satisfaction, Hume’s dilemma. The death of his son drove Kushner “to question his traditional Jewish faith. Though a rabbi, Kushner came to believe that God could not have prevented his son’s death. He is frank: ‘I can worship a God who hates suffering but cannot eliminate it, more easily than I can worship a God who chooses to make children suffer and die’” (D. A. Carson. Reflections on Suffering & Evil: How Long O Lord? Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1990, 29). Kushner’s solution to the problem of evil is not to reject the existence of God but to deny God’s omnipotence.
Though the innocent Job suffers in the book that bears his name, the question this book asks and answers is not, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” But “Why do suffering believers continue to serve the Lord?”
That is the question Satan posed to God in reference to godly Job in 1:9. "Does Job serve God for nothing?" was really an attack against God's worth to be served. Satan was saying that God had to bribe Job to serve Him with his wealth. Satan was attacking the motives of Job in serving God and the worth of God to be served.
It is true Biblically that there are no innocent people. All suffering is the result of the Fall of Adam. Each of us is born a sinner and in time willfully sins against God which is made clear in the New Testament in Romans 3:23 and the observation of any individual.
D. A. Carson is right when he observes that “on the whole, the biblical writers are surprised, not by punishment, but by the Lord’s patience and forbearance. God does not punish the Amorites until their sin has reached full measure (Gen. 15:16). Again and again we are told that the Lord is longsuffering, slow to anger, and very merciful …. From this perspective, it would have made more sense to write a book full of wonder under the title When Good Things Happen to Bad People (Carson, 48-49).
Yet, Job 1:1 makes it very clear that Job was not suffering retribution for some lifestyle of sin. The godliness of Job is repeated by God in 1:8 and 2:3.
Job forces us to examine our motives, “Do we serve God for nothing?” The book of Job answers Satan’s question in 1:9.
The author of Job answers Satan's question in the three major sections of Job.
1. God’s Suffering Believer in the Hands of Satan (Chapters 1 and 2).
A. Job was godly.
The word “perfect” was used to describe an animal sacrifice that was blemishless and ready for sacrifice (Lev 22:21). The blamelessness of Job is well established in the narrative section of Job. This point will be very important when Job's friends begin to accuse Job of suffering because of sin in the second section.
B. Job was blessed by God. Job’s wealth is inventoried in 1:2-3.
J. Vernon McGee said donkeys were OT pickup trucks, oxen were OT tractors, and camels were OT delivery trucks. Job was in the trucking business.
C. Job was attacked by Satan in 1:6-19.
1. Job lost his wealth when Satan was permitted by God to attach Job on all fronts.
a. From the South by the Sabeans
b. From the west by a thunderstorm
c. From the north by Chaldeans
d. From the east by a storm
Job’s business going belly up proves the motive for Job’s service to the Lord was not material possession.
2. Job lost his children. Job attended a funeral with ten coffins. Job, also, lost the support of his wife (2:9-10). J. Vernon McGee said the reason Satan did not take her when he took the ten children was that she was more useful to Satan alive. The motive for Job’s service to the Lord was not family.
3. Job lost his health (2:1-8). There are 16 medical updates throughout the book. Job suffered from
a. Painful boils (2:7)
b. Severe itching (2:7-8). Job is on the ash heap.
c. Great grief (2:13)
d. Loss of appetite (3:24)
e. Insomnia (7:4)
f. Worm and dust-infested flesh (7:5)
g. Continual oozing of boils (7:5)
h. Hallucinations (7:14)
i. Decaying skin (13:28)
j. Shriveled up (16:8)
k. Severe halitosis (19:17)
l. Teeth fell out (19:20)
m. relentless pain (30:17)
n. Skin turned black (30:30)
o. Raging fever (30:30)
p. Dramatic weight loss (33:21)
Job still served the Lord when his health was gone. So far Job is proving Satan wrong.
2. God’s Suffering Believer in the Hands of Christian Critics (Chapters 3-37).
Next, we will see Job in the hands of Christian critics and finally in the hands of God. The second section of Job (Job 3-42:6) is no longer a Hebrew narrative where God expresses his view of Job's innocence. The next section of Job is Hebrew Poetry, which is the language of the soul. Hebrew poetry is the genre that expresses people's emotions. Sometimes the positive emotions of praise are expressed in Hebrew poetry as in the Psalms (for example Psalm 103) and other times as in the second section of Job the negative emotions of Job's "miserable comforter" and Job are vented in the three cycles of debate.
What is interesting about the second section of Job is the fact that Satan is no longer mentioned. In chapters 1 and 2, Satan is persistent in attacking Job's faith. But when Job's Christian critics take over in the next section, they do such a good job of verbally pounding on Job, perhaps Satan felt he could leave Job in the hands of his ash heap critics and go destroy some other believer's faith.
When discussing the problem of evil the topic usually makes a beeline to natural disasters. In Job 1, a natural disaster took Job's ten innocent children. Is there ever a pure natural disaster that wreaks havoc apart from God's control? Charles Spurgeon did not think so. From his sickbed, Spurgeon wrote his congregation: "We are in the hands of Jehovah, not Nebuchadnezzar. Noah's flood rose not an inch higher than God's decree allowed. Nothing great or small escapes the hand of Him who numbers the hairs of our head, and keeps the paths of our feet .... The wind is tempered to the shorn lamb .... the load is fitted to the weak shoulder ... the knife of the heavenly Surgeon never cuts deeper than is absolutely necessary" (World Magazine Online. Cataclysm by Mindy Belz).
One reason for personal tragedies and natural disasters is Adam's Fall. When Adam rebelled against God, according to Genesis 3:17-18, God judged and cursed the earth which later produced natural disasters such as floods (Genesis 5-7), earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, mudslides, and tsunamis.
A secondary reason for personal suffering and natural disasters is Satan. In Job 1 and 2, Satan caused the lightning and windstorm that killed Job's ten children. In 2 Corinthians 12:7, Paul's physical and painful thorn in the flesh was a messenger of Satan.
But the ultimate cause is God. God gave Satan permission to afflict Job. Martin Luther said, "Even the devil is God's devil." God has higher purposes in personal suffering that we may never understand (Isaiah 55:8, 9).
A. Job’s Friends accused him of suffering because of sin (4:7).
1. Job's friends encouraged Job to repent so God would give him back his wealth, health, and happiness. Of course, this would have proved Satan right that Job served solely for God's blessings (Job 1:9).
2. This is the OT prosperity gospel.
Jim Bakker, the fallen and disgraced prosperity preacher wrote a book entitled “I Was Wrong.” In it, he wrote, “My previous philosophy of life was fundamentally flawed. God does not promise that we will all be rich and prosperous as I once preached.”
Walter C. Kaiser gives many reasons for suffering in his commentary on the national suffering of Israel as recorded in Lamentations:
a. There is suffering because of sin. In Job 4:7, this is the only view of suffering Job's friends held. Paul informed the Corinthians that some of them were sick and some were dead because of sin (1 Corinthians 11:30). But this is not the only reason believers suffer.
b. There is suffering in order to learn (Job 33:16; Heb 12:11). Elihu was right when in told Job that God teaches through suffering as the writer of Hebrews would agree.
c. There is suffering for others (Isa 53:5). This is the prophecy of the only truly innocent willingly suffering for the guilty. The just for the unjust.
d. There is suffering with others (Rom 12:15). We suffer with our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ (Romans 12:15) and because Christ suffered for us in His incarnation, He "is touched with the feelings of our infirmities" (Hebrews 4:14-16).
e. There is suffering for God’s glory (Walter C. Kaiser. A Biblical Approach to Personal Suffering. Chicago: Moody, 1982, 121-130). This was the reason for Joseph's (Gen 50:20) and Job's suffering. Sometimes there is suffering in the life of the innocent caused by the evil of others which God uses for his glory. Erwin Lutzer describes this perspective on suffering: "Evil shall be seen to have been the slave of providence to introduce a higher and greater good than ever could have been, had there no evil at all" (Ten Lies About God, page 152).
Knowing these different reasons for suffering will help us not to falsely criticize God’s suffering people like Eliphaz. Walter Kaiser has an insightful article in Christianity Today: Reductionist Justice, Where Job's Friends Went Wrong about suffering. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. |posted 8/22/2007 08:31 AM: "Their reasoning is that Job must have sinned and thus deserved all the suffering and discomfort because God is a fair judge and rewarder of all that is right. Their case is a reductionistic one: Doing what is right brings prosperity, while sin and wickedness routinely bring suffering and misfortune."
B. Job sinfully responded to his suffering. While Job was not suffering because of some unconfessed sin in his life, Job did sinfully respond to his suffering.
1. Job accused God of not caring for His creation (Job 10:8).
2. Job accused God of injustice (19:7).
3. Job demanded answers from God (13:22; 31:35). God was more patient with Job than most of us would have been had we heard these accusations against God. Here is an important lesson for leaders and followers of leaders: Leadership fails. Leadership is not perfect.
To the leader who becomes bitter like Job and fails, John Maxwell exhorts, "Get Up, Get Over it, and Get On." Sure you failed. But learn from it and be a better leader.
To the followers, don't jump on your leader with both feet like Job's miserable comforters. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort, if necessary, but also like God with Job, be patient and help them through their personal suffering.
In Part 3, we see the believer in the hands of God during his/her suffering.
When my Mom's alcoholic brother died, Mom looked in the casket as he lay in state, and wondered, "Where is Paul? Is he in Heaven or Hell?" But then she pondered, "If I died, where would I go? Heaven or Hell?" God used the death of her brother to bring her to Christ.
"Every deadly calamity is a merciful call from God for the living to repent" (John Piper in World Magazine. "Mercy for the Living").
Job continues to grapple with the Problem of Evil.
1. God’s Suffering Believer in the Hands of Satan (Chapters 1 and 2). See Part One
2. God’s Suffering Believer in the Hands of Christian Critics (Chapters 3-37). See Part Two
3. God’s Suffering Believer in the Hands of God (38-42).
A. God questions Job about the physical earth that He created (38:1-21).
Finally, God speaks out of a whirlwind. You recall it was a whirlwind that killed Job's ten children. Thankfully, everyone ends his arguments and counterarguments after three long cycles of debates. From God's speech, we learn that God does not have a "Hands Off" policy with nature. Nature is not a loose canon out of God's control. God sends the rain on the just and the unjust. Paul in Colossians 1:18 assures us that by Jesus Christ "all things consist" or hold together including our universe and our personal lives.
1. God shows Job that He created the earth in 38:4-7.
2. God shows Job that He created the oceans in 38:8-11.
3. God shows Job that He created the sun in 38:12-15. Job had accused God of unjustly taking his wealth, family, and health in 19:7. God says, "They were never yours in the first place."
One of the purposes of personal suffering and natural disasters is to produce repentance. Jesus held this view of suffering. In Luke 13:4-5, Jesus interpreted this current event: "Those eighteen, upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, and slew them, do you think that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No: but, except you repent, you shall likewise perish." Albert Mohler has a helpful article describing the difference and even overlap of natural and moral evil: The Reality of Natural Evil and Moral Evil: Devastating Earthquake in Afghanistan, Genocidal Attack in Israel (click to open).
The unsaved should repent and trust Christ as Savior because they are going to die. C. S. Lewis made it clear that "natural disasters do not increase death, all of us will die."
"Recall that when the Titanic sank, it went under with 1522 people knowingly going to a watery grave. Even if we attribute the sinking to a series of human errors, God most assuredly was able to keep it from sinking without any violation of the human will. This is another reminder that the God who permits such unthinkable tragedies is one to fear. After the news of the Titanic tragedy reached the world, the challenge was how to inform the relatives whether their loved ones were among the dead or the living. At the White Star office in Liverpool, England, a huge sign was set up; one side read, "Known to Be Saved," and the other, "Known to Be Lost." Hundreds of people gathered to watch the signs. When a messenger brought new information, the question was: To which side would he go? And whose name would he write on the cardboard? Although the travelers on the Titanic were designated either first, second, or third class, after the ship went down there were only two categories: the saved and the lost" (Erwin Lutzer, Ten Lies About God, page 115).
B. God questions Job about the heavens that He controls (38:22-38).
1. God controls the snow in 38:22-24. Job could not.
2. God controls the rain in 38:25-30. Job could not.
3. God controls the constellations in 38:31-33. Job could not.
4. God controls the weather in 38:34-38. Job could not. To embittered Job, God was saying, "If I can control the machinery of the universe who are you to question my wisdom in controlling your life?"
C. God questions Job about His animal kingdom for which He Cares (38: 39-39:30). God chooses a wide variety of animals that He cares for. God does not destroy His creation as Job had accused, but rather He cares for His for it.
D. Job repented not of a sin that brought on his suffering.
But Job repented of wrongfully responding to his suffering. Job used the exact words God used in 38: 2 to confess his sin. Job repented when he had no possessions, children, health, nor friends (42:1-6). Job proved Satan wrong. Job served God for “nought” (1:9).
When I was a freshman at Piedmont Bible College Dr. Harold Sightler preached in chapel and related how he was preaching in NC. His wife in Greenville SC drove to the store with their daughter in the back seat. She pulled into the middle lane to make a left turn when a speeding drunk driver crashed into the rear of her car and killed the daughter and almost killed Mrs. Sightler. Dr. Sightler was called to return home immediately that there had been a terrible accident. That night Dr. Sightler drove home from the hospital exhausted not knowing if his wife would live or not. He tossed his Bible onto the dresser and said to God, “If this is the way you take care of your servant’s family while he is preaching all over the country for You, then I am going to stay home and take care of my own family if You are not.” Dr. Sightler fell off to sleep. The next morning his doorbell rang and a well-dressed man was at the door. “Are you Dr. Sightler?” the man asked. “I am.” “I drove all night in order to see a man the Lord could turn the Devil loose on.” Dr. Sightler went back to his bedroom, got on his knees and repented.
Conclusion:
Let’s go from the ash heap to the cross and think about the problem of evil and personal suffering. Like Job, Christ willingly physically. Like Job, Christ suffered socially. Unlike Job, Christ willingly suffered spiritually and eternally for our sins and my sins, not His.