Welcome to our first book exposé!
I have to admit, I was too excited to start the Bible in a year plan and didn’t wait until January 1st, so I finished Job at the end of last year. I love everything about it – the honesty and rawness of Job’s emotions, the majesty of God’s response (I felt incredibly humbled), and of course the striking similarities between Job and Jesus.
So, let’s get right into it:
The book of Job records how the eponymous man suffers grief, financial loss, physical pain, social alienation and the condemnation of his friends as a result of… his blamelessness and right-standing before God. Huh?
Yupp. A lot of us, even if we know the Bible says otherwise, generally accept this as a law of life: good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people – or at least, they should. But the inverse happens in this book. Instead of a righteous man being rewarded, he is tormented by Satan. And with God’s permission at that. This is all very scandalous. Why would God allow this? How can God love Job and make him go through that? Some of us might have even wondered what sort of sick, twisted game God was playing at.
One of the reasons why I believe Job’s story is essential to mankind is because it makes him a ‘type’ of Christ.
Typology is, to quote my pastor, ‘when people, institutions or events are used in a pattern that grows to point towards something greater than themselves.’ That’s what this whole blog series is about: how people, institutions and events in the Bible point to Jesus, who is greater than all.
You see, Job was not suffering as punishment for his sin; the Bible says he was blameless. In fact, he brings to mind the innocent suffering servant in Isaiah 53, who was ‘despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.’ It was God’s will to ‘crush him and cause him to suffer.’ This servant was ‘pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.’ This servant was Jesus.
So, one fundamental importance of Job’s story is that it paves the way for a man who was more blameless than Job was – who was perfect – to be punished, by changing our perspective on God. God is not black and white. He’s certainly unchanging but still unpredictable to minuscule human minds. His ways are not our ways. He often has a greater plan at work than we can see. And He doesn’t owe us an explanation.
Tarari, how do those last points relate to Jesus?
Well, Jesus did not exactly meet the criteria the Jews had (and still have) for their Messiah. They insisted it was impossible for God to have a Son or to come live on earth in human form. The Law says that anyone who hangs on a tree like Jesus did is cursed, and God’s Anointed One cannot also be cursed by Him. I could go on and on, but the summary is that they put God in a box and thought they had Him all figured out, just like Job’s friends Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar did.
In reality, we can never figure God out. Like Job, we may not understand why we go through some things. God may seem wicked or distant. I for one felt that way as 2020 ended. Reading Job reminded me of the sovereignty of God and of my myopic understanding as a human. I’m convinced Jesus also found comfort in the memory of Job while He suffered on the cross. That innocent, blameless man who didn’t deserve to die did it anyway, for you and I. God, in His immeasurable love, allowed one man suffer so that we all may be saved. Thankfully, we share with Jesus something which Job never had: certainty about God’s endgame. God hasn’t given those He loves all the details, but He has promised to work all things out for their good. Ultimately, He has also assured us that after overcoming the trials of this earth, a heavenly home and eternal crown await us.
“We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne.”
(I believe God has a lot more to teach us from Job, but I’ve also given myself a word limit for each post, so watch out for a part 2!)