“Problem: Why Do the Good Have to Suffer?”

Scripture: Job 1:13-22

Recently, I’ve had several questions regarding the meaning of scripture, primarily in passages that can be troubling in some way or other. Some of the issues of concern are the seemingly oppressive attitudes that is advanced toward women; why a loving God would order the killing of entire communities and nations; why the Lord would use plagues to convince the Egyptian Pharaoh to let God’s people leave; why God would let bad things happen to those who are faithful to him and his ways; why does he make forgiveness so easy and available to those who don’t deserve it; and many others.

Today, we begin a new series to consider some of these and other issues that have bothered folks over the years. So if you have a personal problem with a passage from scripture, please let me know, and I’ll try to address them in a future message.

But for today, we begin with “Why do good people have to suffer?” Our passage is from the book of Job, in which Jehovah God not only allows Satan to mess with Job, but he actually encourages it. Satan claims that the only reason that Job has been living righteously is that God has been protecting and blessing him with tremendous success in life. The Lord knows different, but still opens the way for the destruction of everything that identifies the man as wealthy. (Job 1:1-12) But the story that this book brings is actually far more than just the issue of suffering – it also addresses concepts like: what is God all about; what is Satan’s goal in this life; what do we gain by living a life in piety; what is the difference between God’s created order, and Satan’s chaotic perversion?

I doubt that we’ll be able to address all of these issues, but we’ll consider some of them.

Read Job 1:13-16

In the verse immediately preceding this beginning of loss, we read “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.’”. As we read of the four calamities that initially befall Job, each is attributed to someone or something other than the devil himself. The satan normally has the power to bring confusion, to cast aspersions, to bring about doubts and fears in our lives, but I’m not so sure that he could actually destroy our God-given possessions or life all by himself.

So he uses enemies and natural phenomenon to accomplish his purposes. The oxen and donkeys were stolen by the Sabeans, who also killed all but one of the servants who were tending the herds. In the second attack, we read that it was by the “fire of God”, which is more likely lightening, which completely incinerates the flocks of sheep, as well as all the servant shepherds, except for one.

Satan has begun his effort to strip Job of everything that, presumably, identifies him as a man of God. Ever since the Lord forced him out of heaven for striving to become like God, he had been scheming to get even by destroying the faith of the Lord’s people. But the great Jehovah knows that faith can be more powerful than Satan’s desires and devious ways. He knows the faith of Job, and trusts that this will bring him through the Satan’s trials.

But why would the Lord put his servant Job through these trials just to prove something to his nemesis? How far would he let the evil plan go?

Read Job 1:17-19

Did you notice that the news of each disaster came right on top of the others? The man never has a chance to grieve each loss before the next one is upon him. It appears that the trials of Job are meant to be a singular attack, and not multiple and individual events. And the last attack, the death of all of his children, should have been the proverbial “nail in the coffin” for Job. A man’s sons were important for his legacy, and his daughters, when united in marriage to other families, established alliances that could benefit both. The destruction of Job’s “wealth” is complete.

Have any of us ever lost all of our finances and possessions? Some have through disastrous fires and theft. Others have lost their financial security through scams, or have had their identity stolen by other criminals. This is where Job was. He had lost everything.

But before we think that God and Satan are engaged in some kind of wicked competition with Job as the game piece, we have to remember that the satan’s only purpose is to prove that he is just as powerful, and just as wise as God, who had once been his Lord and Master, and that he can control the righteous people of creation by destroying the relationship that exists between them and their Lord.

It began in the Garden, when Adam and Eve broke from the true way of God, and ate from the Tree of Knowledge. (Genesis 2:16-18)
It continued in Israel, when they began worshipping the false gods of other nations. (Jeremiah 13:24-25)
It existed in Jesus’ time, when the leaders of Israel spread lies about the Savior, and kept the people from finding the truth of God in Jesus Messiah. (Matthew 12:33-35)
And it floods the world today through the hatred and violence that is being forced on those who are striving to be faithful to God’s word. (John 15:17-19; Matthew 10:22; Matthew 24:9-11)

And how is Job making out?

Read Job 1:20-22

Job’s first acts were to tear his robe and shave his head. This is symbolic of grief and mourning for the overwhelming tragedies that are pounding his soul. But these are committed in silence – after all, what could any amount of words add in expression of his incredible loss. When his words finally come, though, they are not expressed in grief, but in worship.

Even with all that has been taken from him, the faith and trust that he had in his precious God allowed him to sing praises for all that the Lord had done, and continued to do for him. And he does exactly the opposite of what Satan wanted him to do.

Jumping ahead to chapter 2, Satan returns to visit with the Lord one more time. And God chastises him with the following: “ 3 …. “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

Satan had lost the gamble, but as we all know, he never gives up. God’s resistance to evil’s desire to destroy his prestige in this world is through the faith and persistence of his people. There will be a day when Satan’s time will run out, but for now, it isn’t our good works that will resist Evil’s lies, it isn’t God’s intervention that will limit Satan’s ways, it isn’t our willingness to spread the good news of Jesus Christ that will end the persecution and opposition to the Church’s existence. It is the strength and authenticity of our faith, in the face of satanic attacks, that will keep the Church strong until the day that all have heard the Lord’s promise of eternal life, and it is faith that resides in the hearts and souls of God’s servants that will be the Devil’s disappointment. (Romans 11:25-27)

And on the day of Christ’s return, Satan will know for certain what he has denied since he lost his place in heaven – that no one is as good, or wise, or powerful, or truthful, or loving as our Almighty God. But until then, the righteous of God will continue to know the hatred of Satan’s world – not because the Lord desires our pain, not because he wants to constantly test our faith, but because it will continue to be the only evidence of the Devil’s coming demise. Faith, in spite of loss, is our greatest gift to the Lord God Almighty, our only Redeemer and Savior and Truth in this life and beyond.