“But I know that my redeemer lives, and at the end he will stand on the dust.”
job 19:25
As part of my Read the Bible in One Year plan, I just finished the Book of Job.
Did you know that Job is considered the first book of poetry in the Bible? Followed by Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. And it totally reads like a poem, with it’s often heartbreaking prose and beautiful underlying theme of restoration.
The story of Job is one of suffering but undying faith, and the beauty that our Savior promises if we can hold strong to our relationship with Him through all things, even the bad.
Interpreting The Book of Job
The story of Job depicts that of a wealthy man who has a large family and multiple flocks. Job is an upstanding citizen who always strives to do the right thing and separates himself from evil.
Being up to no good, as always, Satan appears before God. Satan argues with God that the only reason Job remains so faithful to God is because Job has received so many blessings. Satan challenges that if Job were to undergo punishment, he would turn around and curse God.
God allows Satan to then torment Job as a way to test this claim, but he forbids Satan to take Job’s life.
Over the course of the next day, Job received four messages bearing bad news. News that his livestock, servants, and all of his ten children have died. Job is devastated, but he still praises God in his prayers.
“The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
job 1:21 csb
Unsatisfied, Satan returns to God to push the issue. God grants him another opportunity to test Job, but this time, it comes with a more personal touch. Job suffers through horrible skin sores and illness. Job’s wife encourages Job at this point to give up. But Job refuses. Although he struggles to accept his circumstances, he remains faithful.
4 Lessons We Can Learn From the Story of Job
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Innocent Suffering Does Exist
It’s the age old question: why do bad things happen to good people? Why we may not always understand the reason why, we can understand that sometimes innocent suffering does exist in this world. It doesn’t take away the fact that God is good, or the fact that He loves us. But sometimes those moments of pain can serve as the ultimate test of our faith, and blessings will await those who do remain faithful.
In All Things Give Thanks
It’s a big test of faith to be able to give praise through suffering, but Job teaches us to perfectly do just that. “Even if he kills me, I will hope in him. I will still defend my ways before him. Yes, this will result in my deliverance, for no godless person can appear before him.” (Job 13:15-16).
It’s easy to offer up a prayer of thanks when things are working in our favor. But it becomes less easy to offer up that prayer of thanks when everything feels like it’s falling apart. Job is a great lesson in being able to pray and give thanks even through the darkest of times. His unwavering faith is awe-inspiring.
God is Always With Us
It may have felt, at times for Job, or for those who were at his bedside to lay witness on his suffering, that Job had been abandoned. But the truth was that God remained with Job through it all. Even through His silence. Even in allowing Satan to bring suffering to Job, God remained in control.
The Gift of Restoration
An important lesson this story teaches us is that God is at work, even in our time of pain. The final chapter in the book of Job is the ending we all had been waiting for: restoration. Joy. Beauty through the ashes. We receive proof that God can and will bring us out of our pain and redeem us.
God rewarded Job for his faith, and blessed him beyond measure. Job was able to go on and live a full life of happiness, and health, with more than he ever dreamed imaginable.
While God doesn’t promise us a life of riches on earth, He certainly promises those who believe and remain faithful an eternal life of riches beyond our wildest dreams.
