Job

These expanded and updated studies on the book of Job replace the studies on Job that were previously part of the studies on Suffering.

The man Job is an amazing example of true faith. The persistence of his faith, the tenacity of his confidence in God in the context of his suffering and confusion, and in the face of the accusations of his friends is a challenge, even a rebuke, to all of us who claim to be people of faith.

He has no idea what God is doing, but he is very sure, and rightly so, that God is not doing what the three friends say he is doing.

We, the readers, are given inside information. We, the readers, know that Job is a man of true faith, affirmed and acquitted by God at both the beginning and end of the book. So we know that what Satan says is not true. We know that what the three friends and Elihu say is not true. We know that Job is right in refusing to kowtow to the traditional theology of suffering. Job himself wasn't given this information that we are given.

But, and this is amazing, there is something that Job did know: he knew that there is a Mediator, one to stand between him and God, and lay his hand upon both. He knew that there is a Redeemer. He knew, because he knew God, that God himself provides the payment that his justice demands. He knew, because of all of this, that he himself would see God.

And we, who live on the other side of the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we who think we know about the cross and its saving impacts, do we have this same confidence in God that we refuse to give in to the legalistic perceptions of those around us? Do we have such confidence in his grace and his love?

True faith endures because God makes sure that it does. Despite the suffering. Indeed, suffering is the context in which true faith is demonstrated.

As you read through these studies, may God impact you with the wonder of his grace and the power of the salvation he has given to you in Christ Jesus. And may your faith, like Job's, be enriched and expanded.