Latest / Reformed Thinking / Trusting God When Suffering Defies Explanation (Job) | Thomas R. Schreiner

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Trusting God When Suffering Defies Explanation (Job) | Thomas R. Schreiner · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome back to Reformed Thinking.
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Today we're getting into some really, really powerful
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material. We're going to be tracing the
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main storyline of the Old Testament.
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We're starting with Israel possessing the land, and we'll
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follow that all the way through the return from exile.
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But the real focus, the main event for this deep dive, is the
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wisdom you find in one of the most difficult books in the
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Bible, the book of Job. That's the mission, absolutely,
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and we're working from some great biblical theology sources
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here. One analysis in particular
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really helps us see how Israel's constant failure really to keep
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the covenant sets the stage for everything that follows.
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It creates this huge theological question, a question that Job
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just screams out loud. How does a sovereign, a just
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God, rule a world that looks like this?
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A world so full of sin and suffering and what just seems
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like total chaos. Right.
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So for you listening, what we're trying to do here is pull out
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these key ideas about God's absolute Lordship.
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We want to get a real handle on the Davidic covenant and also
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see how suffering just forces you to have much more nuanced
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theology. It just throws out all the
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simple, easy answers. We're going to see how the
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history itself prepares you for the wisdom literature.
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OK, so let's start with the history books.
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Kick off right after the Pentateuch.
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By the time we get to Joshua, Israel is a big nation.
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They're ready to see two of the three Abrahamic promises
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fulfilled the promise of offspring.
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And of course. The land and that conquest under
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Joshua is so critical. It's the fulfillment of that
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land promise. This is the moment you know that
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the people of God, the seed that was promised way back in
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Genesis, they finally have their inheritance.
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Everything looks like it's lined up.
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You'd think that this promised worldwide blessing is about to
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flow out from this place, through these people to
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everyone. But the sources we're looking at
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point out an immediate problem. A worm in the apple, so to
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speak. The forward momentum just seems
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to grind to a halt almost as soon as the conquest is over.
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So what does the Book of Judges show us about this immediate
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failure? Judges is It's a tragic story.
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It's this repeating cycle of failure to live by the covenant
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that God laid out. The real sickness at the heart
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of it is that they just refuse to submit to Yahweh's lordship.
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They don't want Him as their true King.
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They can't live under his rule. They can't, so they fall into
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idolatry, disobedience. Then some external enemy comes
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and oppresses them. They cry out for help and God,
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in his incredible mercy, sends a judge, a deliverer, to rescue
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them. But then the cycle just starts
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all over again. It's like a.
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National spiritual amnesia. They get rescued, they have
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peace for a while, they forget who rescued them, and then
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they're right back in rebellion. That's a perfect way to put it.
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And the book itself tells you what the problem is.
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It's a line that's repeated and it's it's pretty chilling.
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It says everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
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That one statement really defines the entire era.
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It just shows that the human heart, when it's left to its own
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devices, it will always pick self rule over God's authority.
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It's the same failure as Adam, the same failure as Sinai, and
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now it's defining this whole period of the judges.
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OK, so if self rule is the problem, then the only solution
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has to be a true or righteous king.
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And even in all that darkness, the narrative gives us these
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little hints of hope that point toward that king.
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And This is why the sources really highlight the Book of
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Ruth. Yeah, Ruth is like the small
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candle burning in the darkest part of the Judges period.
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It focuses on these individuals, you know, Ruth, Naomi Boaz, who
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are still living godly lives even when the rest of the nation
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is an apostasy. But what's so amazing about it
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is the genealogy at the end. Ruth, who is a Moabite woman, is
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in the direct family line that leads to King David.
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And that detail her being a Moabite, that's a big deal,
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isn't it? Why is her being a foreigner
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such a theological bombshell? It is because it connects back
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to those really early hints that the king who would finally crush
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the serpent's head, the one from the line of Judah, well, the
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plan was never for him to be some kind of insular, ethnically
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pure Savior. Including Ruth shows that God's
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big plan, that worldwide blessing he promised to Abraham,
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is moving forward no matter what.
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It's not limited by our human expectations.
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God's grace is already reaching outside the immediate covenant
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people to bring about the line of the true King.
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And this all sets the stage for the monarchy.
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Saul is the People's Choice, their first shot at a human
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king, and our sources show his story just becomes a replay of
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the failures of Adam and Israel. Saul is a complete tragedy.
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He starts out humble, you know, He looks promising.
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But as soon as he gets power, his lack of faith is exposed.
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Instead of just trusting and obeying God's commands, he's
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constantly trying to rationalize his disobedience.
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He takes things into his own hands.
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He does things only the priests were allowed to do, trying to,
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you know, guarantee victory with a ritual instead of just simple
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obedience. He's rejected as king because he
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wouldn't submit to Yahweh's kingship.
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He put his own judgment above God's clear word.
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And then David shows up as this stark contrast, at least
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initially. He models that total trust that
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Saul just didn't have. The sources really present
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Davidde life, especially when he's suffering, as a kind of
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preview of the Messiah, this idea that suffering comes before
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glory. That's a huge theme in his early
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years when Saul was hunting him. David literally puts his entire
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life and his future in God's hands.
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He refuses to kill Saul. He refuses to seize the throne
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by force. It's the living reality of what
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Hannah prayed about. God brings down the proud and he
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lifts up the humble. David's early life is the
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template for true, dependent kingship.
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He's a standard for the future king who would perfectly live
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out that trust. And yet, even after God
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establishes the Davidic covenant with him, which is the greatest
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possible affirmation of his kingship, David fails
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spectacularly. And the covenant itself, you
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find it in Second Samuel 7. It's an unconditional promise
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about the dynasty. David's house will reign
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forever. The king from his line is the
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one who will finally bring that worldwide blessing.
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But then David, right at the peak of his power, commits
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adultery and then murder to cover it up.
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So while the promise of the dynasty isn't taken aback, it
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becomes crystal clear that the blessing and the perfect
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righteousness, it's not going to come through David himself or
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through his flawed sons. Then you get Solomon, the man of
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peace. He seems like the next great
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hope. He builds the temple.
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God's presence comes to dwell with the people.
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It looks like the goal of God's Kingdom is being met.
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But just like his father, Solomon falls hard.
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Solomon's reign starts with incredible wisdom, incredible
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splendor, but his political alliances with foreign nations
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lead him straight into idolatry. As he gets older, he compromises
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the very holiness the Temple was supposed to represent, and that
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catastrophic failure leads directly to the Kingdom
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splitting in two Israel in the north, Judah in the South.
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After that, the books of 1 and 2 Kings just show this relentless
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downward spiral into ruin. Even the few good kings in Judah
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can't stop the nation's slide. So the whole story is just
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heading towards judgment. Assyria conquers the northern
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Kingdom in 722 BC and then Babylon destroys Jerusalem takes
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the southern Kingdom into exile in 586 BC.
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The promise of a Kingdom seems totally dead.
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The history really shows you the Titanic strength of sin.
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It makes it obvious that the final victory over the serpent,
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the creation of a perfect Kingdom on earth, it's not going
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to happen through human strength or human piety.
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The people are gone from the land, the king is gone.
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The promises seem so far away. But the story doesn't quite end
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there. Right at the very end of 2
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Kings, there's this brief mention of Jehoiachin, the Last
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King of Judah, being released from prison.
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It's this little literary clue, a hint that God hasn't
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completely given up on the Davidic line.
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Something supernatural has to happen next.
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And that sets us up for the return from exile.
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The sources show God's sovereignty even over these huge
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global empires to make the return happen.
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We see this in Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther.
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Yeah, Ezra and Nehemiah are all about the opposition they face
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trying to rebuild the temple and the walls of Jerusalem.
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The enemies are seen, as you know, the continuing offspring
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of the serpent trying to stop God's plan.
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But the big theological point here is that Yahweh is king over
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the whole earth. He moves the hearts of Pagan
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rulers, guys like Cyrus and Artaxerxes, to let the
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rebuilding happen. The lesson for the people coming
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back is clear. They have to purify themselves,
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follow the law, and understand their survival depends on
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obedience to God, not on their own political cleverness.
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And then you have the book of Esther, which is so fascinating
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because the name of God isn't mentioned even once, not a
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single time, yet it's this perfect showcase of God's
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sovereignty working behind the scenes.
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It's a rescue story, and it's written to deliberately echo the
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deliverance from Pharaoh back in Egypt.
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Israel is at another low point, facing genocide from Haman and
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Persia. The book is teaching them a
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crucial lesson. God's deliverance of his people
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is never in doubt, even when he seems silent or completely
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absent. They have to wait for God to act
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while they stay faithful and obedient, like Western Mordecai
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did. The Davidic King is still
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coming, and God is sovereignly protecting that line until he
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arrives. So the big message from all
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these historical books is just this constant, loud failure of
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human beings to build God's Kingdom.
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And that becomes the perfect context for the challenge that
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Job presents. Exactly.
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If the human kings fail, if even the righteous nation ends up in
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exile, then what guarantee is there for God's justice in this
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life? That is the perfect setup for
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Job's crisis. OK, so if the historical books
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are all about the failure of the people and the need for a
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perfect king, then the wisdom literature, especially Job,
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asked the deepest question you can ask.
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What does life look like under God's rule when the whole reward
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system, which seems so basic to the covenant, just suddenly
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falls apart? Job acts as this massive
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qualification, a huge caveat to the general rules you find in
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the book of Proverbs. Proverbs often says, you know
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righteousness generally leads to a good life, and wickedness
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generally leads to ruin. It's the retribution principle
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in its most basic form. You reap what you sow.
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It's a general truth, a wise observation about how God
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usually orders things. But Joe just blows that
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comfortable ID to pieces. It does.
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Job is living proof that the righteous are not exempt from
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suffering. In fact, sometimes they suffer
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in these agonizing, totally inexplicable ways that defy any
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easy answers. So true wisdom has to accept the
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radical complexity of living in a fallen world under a just God.
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It has to throw out the simple one-size-fits-all answers about
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pain. And the narrator sets Joba
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perfectly for this. He's introduced as blameless and
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upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.
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And he was incredibly rich, which made him the poster child
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for that proverbial idea, righteousness equals prosperity.
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And that detail is so important, it raises the stakes right away.
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To really get the theological weight of what happens next, you
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have to look beyond what's happening on earth.
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The prologue pulls back the curtain on this hidden reality,
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the heavenly Council. This conversation between Yahweh
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and Satan, who is clearly the adversary, the serpent from
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Genesis 3, is essential. We, the readers, get information
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that Job never gets. So you always basically boasting
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about Jobs faithfulness and Satan the accuser immediately
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tries to attack God's honor. That's it exactly.
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Satan claims Job's fear of God is just a business transaction.
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He says Job only serves God because God has protected him
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and made him rich. The argument is simple.
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Take away the gifts and Job will curse God to his face.
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So God's own honor is on the line, and God gives Satan
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permission to test Job, first by taking his possessions and then
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by attacking his own body. And when Job loses everything,
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his wealth, his servants, and worst of all, all ten of his
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children, his initial response, it's just incredible.
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It's the moment that proves God right.
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Job tears his robe, shaves his head, he falls down and he
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worships. He says the Lord gave and the
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Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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He acknowledges God's total sovereignty over everything,
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good and bad. And the narrator confirms Job
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did not sin or charge God with doing anything wrong.
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So this moment, which for Job is just pure anguish, actually
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brings glory to God because it proves the reality of his faith
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in front of this heavenly audience.
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Why is vindicating God's honor more central than Job's
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immediate comfort? What does that tell us about
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what's really at stake here? It tells us the fight in Job
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isn't just some local argument about a prosperity gospel, it's
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a cosmic legal battle. If Satan could prove that all
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obedience is just self-interest, then God's entire reign would be
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called into question. The source material shows that
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sometimes God allows suffering in a righteous person's life
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specifically to show the beauty and the genuineness of true
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faith, even when that faith has nothing left to gain on earth.
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Job's faith isn't about his circumstances, it's about God
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himself. This is where the theology gets
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really tricky though, this mystery of agency.
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You see Satan directly causing the evil, but the Lord is the
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one who gave permission. How do we talk about holding
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those two things together? It's a point that needs careful
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handling, and we have to acknowledge that the tension is
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there on purpose in the text. On one hand, the evil, the
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desire to murder, to destroy, that comes from Satan, the
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malevolent one. But on the other hand, Yahweh is
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in complete sovereign control. He's the one who sets the
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limits. You can't take his life, and
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he's the one who gives the permission.
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The suffering happens because God willed it to happen for his
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own wise purposes. And the narrator confirms this
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complicated relationship. It says Job was not wrong to
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attribute the suffering to God. Exactly.
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The text says Job didn't sin and what he said about the Lord and
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the epilogue later on talks about all the evil that the Lord
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had brought upon him. The key difference is in the
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purpose and the motive. Satan's motive was destruction
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and blasphemy. God's purpose was for Job's good
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and for his own glory. This paradox, that God
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sovereignly allows an evil act without being morally guilty of
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the evil intent behind it is a deliberate mystery.
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It forces us to accept God's absolute rule over everything,
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even the chaos. So the prologue establishes
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right away that the suffering isn't the punishment, it's for a
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redemptive and demonstrative purpose, even if Job has no clue
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why it's happening to him. It establishes that God is just,
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that suffering can happen to righteous people, and that God
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has reasons that, while we can't understand them, clear him of
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any evil. And that sets the stage for the
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disastrous arguments of his friends.
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So most of the book is this long conversation that happens after
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Job's initial quiet submission just breaks under the sheer
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weight of his physical pain. His three friends Eliphaz,
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Bildad and Zofar show up with their simple ready made answers.
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And Job kicks off the conversation with this cry of
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pure agony. In chapter 3, he curses the day
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he was born. He just wants to not exist.
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And he insists over and over that his suffering isn't because
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of some terrible secret sin. He says I have not denied the
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words of the Holy One. And he sees his pain as arrows
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of the Almighty. Job's lament is a theological
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crisis. It's not just complaining.
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He's working with the assumption.
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He was taught that the just God of the covenant rewards the
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righteous in this life, and when that system fails so completely,
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he feels like God himself has abandoned him and is now
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attacking him. And his friends arrived with
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only one tool in their toolbox, the retribution principle.
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Let's just define that clearly, because it's the engine driving
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all of their bad advice. The retribution principle as
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they understand it is this idea that God works on an immediate 1
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to 1 balancing act on earth. Good deeds always lead to good
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results. Bad deeds always lead to bad
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results, quickly and predictably.
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So in their system, if Job is suffering this much, he must
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have committed some terrible sin.
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There is no other possible conclusion for them.
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Eliphaz speaks 1st and he seems to be relying on some kind of
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mystical experience, right? Yeah, he starts his argument
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based on his personal observations and this terrifying
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vision he says he had. He states it like it's a fact of
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the universe, Those who so evil will read evil.
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He tries to be gentle at first, suggesting that God must be
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disciplining Job, not destroying him, and if he just repents,
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everything will be restored. He's basically implying Job is
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too proud to confess. And Job just counters that
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Elefaz has no idea what he's going through.
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He says their words are useless, like a dry riverbed to a thirsty
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trap. Then Bildad comes in and he
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appeals to tradition and this very cold, unforgiving logic.
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He uses incredibly harsh language.
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He says God would never pervert justice, and his conclusion is
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just chilling. Job's children must have died
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because they sin. Bildad's faith is so rigid, so
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formulaic, he can't even imagine the possibility of innocent
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suffering. If Job repents, he says, God
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will make him prosperous again. And so far, the third friend,
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he's the most aggressive of all of them.
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So far is just outraged that Job keeps insisting he's innocent.
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He calls Job a liar, says he's arrogant.
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Zofar actually argues that Job must be getting less punishment
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than he really deserves. He insists Job can't possibly
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understand God's wisdom and demands that he confess right
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now. Job, meanwhile, sort of gives up
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on his friends and starts directing his case straight to
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God. He argues that God is this
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incomprehensible, powerful creator who does great things
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beyond searching out. Right.
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Job knows God is powerful, but he's using that power to
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critique what God is doing. He's arguing that God is so
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powerful he could make an innocent man look guilty just by
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showing up. He's struggling not just with
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pain, but with this feeling that God is being arbitrary.
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He desperately wishes he had a mediator, someone to stand
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between him and God to argue his case.
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Job starts to get more aggressive about his innocence,
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claiming there's no justice on earth because God destroys both
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the blameless and the wicked, and he lets wicked people rule
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the world. And then he turns his anger back
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on his friends. He accuses them of defending God
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with lies. He calls them worthless
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physicians who whitewash with lies.
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Job would rather argue directly with the God who was hurting him
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then listen to the empty cool formulas his friends are.
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Offering and his most direct takedown of their whole theology
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is when he forces them to just look at the world around them in
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chapter 21. This is a huge moment, Job asked
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them. Why do the wicked live, reach
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old age and grow mighty in power?
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He's saying your formula is obviously false.
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Just open your eyes. He points out that wicked people
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often get rich, they have safe homes, their families grow and
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they die peacefully, all while they're openly shaking their
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fist at God. He uses real world evidence to
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dismantle their tidy little theological box.
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But then, just when it seems like he's about to fall into
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total despair, Job says one of the most famous lines of hope in
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the Old Testament. He suggests his vindication has
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to be in the future. And this is the theological
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turning point in the dialogues. He says, I know that my Redeemer
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lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
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And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I
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shall see God. Job is realizing that if he
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can't get justice in this life, and it must come after death,
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he's holding on to this hope of a living Redeemer, A vindicator
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who will make things right even if Job himself dies first.
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This connects directly to what the epilogue hints at, that
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suffering isn't the end of the story for the righteous.
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His friends can't answer him, so they just start repeating
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themselves. Elif, as in his last speech,
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just starts making up specific sins to accuse Job of, which
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shows they've totally run out of arguments.
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Their failure to answer Job's point that the wicked prosper
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proves their whole system is bankrupt and their silence is
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what allows this new character Eli who to speak up.
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His role is interesting. He's positioned between the
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failed wisdom of the friends and the the rival of God.
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Our sources say he's part right and part wrong.
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So where does Eli Who get it right?
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He's right that Job made a mistake by trying to justify
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himself instead of justifying God.
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Job had become so focused on proving his own innocence that
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he started accusing God of being an enemy, a capricious tyrant.
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Eli, who correctly points out that Job's focus on his own
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innocence led him to question God's justice, and Eli, who also
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correctly sees the immense majesty and mystery of God's
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creation, which is a preview of God's own speech.
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But he still falls into the same basic trap as the other friends,
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doesn't he? He does Eli, who goes right back
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to the simple idea that Job suffering must be a punishment
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for sin. He calls Job a scoffer and lumps
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him in with the wicked. So while Eli, who gets a glimpse
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of God's greatness, he still tries to apply that same narrow
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formula of retribution to Job's life.
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He's a transitional figure, but still a flawed 1.
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So all of this, the history of failure, the breakdown of simple
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answers, the agony of the pain, it all builds to this final
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dramatic moment and we finally get to the moment of divine
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intervention. God shows up out of a whirlwind
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and immediately rebukes Job. He says, who is this that
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darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
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That rebuke needs to be read carefully.
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Job was right about the main thing.
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He wasn't suffering because of some horrible secrets in, but he
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was deeply wrong to think he had the insight or the right to
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judge God's actions and declare them unjust.
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God's first words are meant to humble Job's audacity.
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And God doesn't give an explanation, does he?
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He gives a demonstration. His speech is just this long,
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relentless series of questions designed to show Job how small
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he is and how mysterious creation is.
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God is basically saying you want to understand how I rule the
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universe. Let's start with the world you
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can actually see. He asks Joe if he was there at
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creation, if he helped lay the foundations of the earth, if
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he's the one who tells the sun to rise, or he knows the depths
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of the sea. God is showing Job that he
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barely understands the basic mechanics of the natural world,
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the weather, the stars, let alone the complexities of divine
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Providence. And the questions keep coming,
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focusing on wild nature, the mountain goats, the wild donkey,
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the War Horse. Why does God focus so much on
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the wildness of creation, on things humans can't control?
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The examples are meant to be humbling, almost sarcastic.
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Job, as a creature didn't create the world, and he doesn't manage
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it. The untamed parts of nature,
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it's unpredictability, it's violence, reflect the chaos
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that's loose in the world. God is showing that the world
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has these elements of absurdity that mirror cosmic evil.
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And Job can't even control a wild donkey, much less the
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forces that govern the universe. Then the Lord gets right to the
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heart of it. In chapter 40, he asks, Will you
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even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may
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be in the right? That's the pivot point of the
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whole book. By demanding an answer and
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insisting on his own righteousness over God's
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justice, Job has, without realizing it, put himself in the
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judge's seat above God. So God challenges him.
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If you think you should be in charge, then do it.
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Go bring down the proud. Go get rid of evil.
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Of course Job can't do that. Only God can.
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And Job immediately caves. He says, Behold, I am a small
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account. What shall I answer you?
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I lay my hand on my mouth, He admits he was talking about
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things he didn't understand, but God's not done yet.
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He escalates things by introducing these ultimate
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forces of Chaos, Behemoth and Leviathan.
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Behemoth comes first. People debate if it's a real
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animal, like a hippo, but the sources suggest it's more of a
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symbolic creature, this massive composite animal that represents
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the raw, untamed power of the animal world.
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It's too strong for Job to control.
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The point is that Job can't even tame the wildness that's
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inherent in creation. And then?
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Leviathan takes the whole conversation beyond the natural
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world entirely. Leviathan is described in these
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supernatural mythological terms. It breeds fire and smoke, no
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human can even get near it, let alone defeat it, and it's
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explicitly called the King over all the Sons of Pride.
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This creature is the embodiment of cosmic evil, of demonic
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forces, of the primal chaos Job has been suffering under.
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God is showing Job his true enemy, the spiritual foe that
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goes all the way back to the struggle that started in Genesis
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3. And the sovereign answer becomes
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obvious. Job can't handle Leviathan, but
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God can. That is the ultimate theological
23:38
lesson. If Job can't even tame this
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creature, the symbol of primal evil, then he certainly can't
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tame God or force him to fit into human expectations of
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justice. God confirms that even the
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demonic, chaotic forces in the world are ultimately under His
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sovereign control and permission.
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Job may not understand how God uses evil for His purposes, but
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he has to acknowledge that God rules over it all.
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So God's message isn't an explanation for Job's suffering,
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it's a declaration of his own capacity.
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He's the only one who can manage all the chaos and bring about
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righteousness in the end. Yes, Job is being called to
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trust in God's infinite wisdom and goodness, and his true
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repentance follows right after he confesses that he spoke of
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things he couldn't possibly comprehend.
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His repentance isn't for some sin that caused the suffering,
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it's for his intellectual arrogance and questioning God's
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Providence. Job realizes that seeing God
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enjoying his presence, that's what makes life worth living,
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not the absence of suffering. And the epilogue ties it all
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together by formally rejecting the Friends theology one last
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time. Yahweh says that Job's words
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were right and that his friends have not spoken rightly about
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me. Which just reinforces the main
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point from the prologue. Job's suffering wasn't a
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punishment. It was part of God's wise but
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hidden purposes, which included refining and displaying Job's
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faith. The friend's mistake was trying
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to lock God's justice into their own little mechanical box.
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And this brings us back to the definition of wisdom itself,
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which Job actually figured out long before God even shut up.
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Back in chapter 28. Trump says there that real
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wisdom isn't something humans can dig up through intelligence
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or observation, like a minor finding gold.
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It has to be revealed by God. The conclusion of that whole
25:18
section sums up the entire book's message.
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Behold, the fear of the Lord. That is wisdom, and to turn away
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from evil is understanding. The truly wise person is the one
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who submits totally to God's lordship, who stands in awe of
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him no matter what's happening. They keep obeying God even when
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they're in intense pain. And the reasons are complete
25:38
mystery. Wisdom isn't comprehension, it's
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submission. Finally, let's look at the
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future oriented view the narrator gives us.
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Job gets everything back. Doubled wealth, a new family.
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It's his earthly vindication. It's important not to
25:51
misunderstand that restoration, though.
25:53
It's not a promise that every righteous person who suffers
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will get it all back on earth. If we say that we're right back
25:59
to the Friends. Bad theology instead with the
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narrator's teaching, is that it will be well with the righteous
26:04
in the end. Suffering is never the last
26:06
word. And that perspective takes us
26:08
all the way back to the cosmic storyline.
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We started with that struggle from Genesis 3.15, the final
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victory over the evil that Will Niathan represents.
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That requires A conquering king. And that king wins in a very
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surprising way, not through raw power, but through suffering.
26:25
The perfect king defeats evil, death, and demons by willingly
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letting evil do its worst to him and then conquering it through
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his resurrection. What sustains the righteous when
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they suffer, as Job finally learned, is resting in the
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relationship with a sovereign, just and good God who has
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already defeated the very chaos he rules over.
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Hashtag tag Tag outro. It was a huge look at the
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historical failures of Israel and the intense wisdom challenge
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in the book of Job. I think the key take away for
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you listening is this. The book of Job just rejects any
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attempt to fit God's Providence into our neat little formulas of
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reward and punishment in this life.
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He is sovereign and He is just, even when the reasons for our
27:03
own personal suffering remain hidden from us.
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Yeah, the sources really confirm the lesson from the whirlwind.
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God knows what he is doing. He rules over chaos, he rules
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over evil, and even Satan can't act without his permission.
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We're called to rest in the truth that God will make
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everything right in the end by fearing the Lord and obeying
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Him, even when what we're going through makes no sense at all.
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We wait for the King, who reigns over all.
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We look forward to our next deep dive.
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Until then, keep digging into the truth.