BibleProject | One Story That Leads to Jesusਨਮੂਨਾ

Many of the proverbs support the idea that diligence pays off. Life goes well for the responsible and hard-working and poorly for the foolish and lazy. That makes sense in general, but only if circumstances are favorable. What happens when corruption strikes? You can work, save, and spend wisely but still end up broke and hurting while the unjust and wicked hoard wealth. What then?

Enter the book of Job. Job did everything right, according to the wisdom described in Proverbs. His life exemplified diligence, virtue, and the fear of Yahweh. His family experienced abundance, safety, and blessing. The wisdom of Proverbs worked quite well for Job—until it didn’t.

In the blink of an eye, injustice and violence reduce Job’s prosperous family and home to a pile of ash. Bereavement reduces him to a broken man who scrapes his open sores with broken pottery. How could such a thing happen in a world created by a good God? Job and his friends spend most of the book wrestling with this question in a fierce poetic debate. Job never gets an answer, and neither do we. The complexity lingers today.

Watch the video to learn about God’s unexpected response to the problem of suffering in the book of Job.

Reflection Questions

• As you read the prologue of Job, meditate on the core melody of the Hebrew Bible introduced in Genesis 1-3. Where do Job and Adam face a test of their faithfulness to God? How does an adversary try to compromise their loyalty? What role does each man’s wife play? How do Job and Adam respond to the test, and what happens as a result?
• Compare Job 2:7 to Deuteronomy 28:35. What do you notice? What do you think is the significance of Job, an innocent non-Israelite, being struck by a covenant curse from the Torah?