Diego Vazquez Gomez Bertelli

Dr. Anson Koch-Rein

HUM 2101-07

Reading Response 3

September 29th, 2019

Purposeful Suffering in The Book of Job

With life comes suffering. It’s an inextricable part of the human condition and it has

therefore been addressed by countless cultures to help humanity cope and accept it without futile

resistance. One of the more notable pieces of literature on the subject is The Book of Job; the

story of a man so favored by God that his faith was put in question and accordingly tested by

Satan. The impact of Job’s story lies in the juxtaposition of divine and human reasoning, as Job

struggles to find meaning in his suffering, working to understand the ways of God through “eyes

of flesh.” (10.4) As Job undergoes God’s trial of faith, he grapples with his humanity and

ultimately proves the strength of this faith by offering his suffering up to God and revering God’s

greatness and capacity.

Even though Job had the spiritual maturity to recognize that the causes of his suffering

were tests, the severity of his situation illustrates how far God will go to prove a point. When

Satan confronts God in the beginning of the book, he mentions that Job has always been a holy

and righteous man who revels in both spiritual and material prosperity, but that if God were to

“touch all that he hath,” (1.11) then Job would unmask the shallow depths of his faith and curse

God to His face. God, confident in Job’s resilience, allows Satan to destroy Job’s property; kill

his children, servants, and livestock; and cover him with painful boils “from the sole of his foot

unto his crown.” (2.7) God even recognizes the cruel impact of His actions and tells Satan that
“thou movedst me… to destroy him without cause.” When Job’s friends come to visit him and

give him advice, they theorize why God might be punishing him and even advise him to “put far

away [any] iniquity… in thine hand,” (11.14) basically suggesting that he just get rid of his doubt

and bitterness toward God. Job counters asking them “what? We shall receive good at the hand

of God but we shall not receive evil?” (2.10) Job argues that denying what God has done and

how he feels about it would destroy his communication with the Lord, and instead he insists on

showing God his intimate agony and prayerfully displays his anger and pain and confusion for

God to understand and have mercy. He acknowledges God’s wisdom and magnificence and does

not question it directly, but instead offers up his doubts and fears knowing that his circumstances

may be clouding his judgement. Even in his misery, Job has hope and knows that the God who

granted him this suffering is the same God who has given him life and given him well-being

before, God has just hidden the good “in [His] heart.” (10.13)

Job’s faith is most genuinely displayed in his communication and trust in God’s plan

throughout the course of his agony. Despite what God has allowed to happen to Job, Job

maintains the same faith he had in the beginning of the story, but he attains wisdom through his

suffering and gets to know his faith better when all of God’s consolations are wretched away. It

is interesting to find that God’s wrath was out of love, and after Job passes his test and denies the

achingly tempting refusal of God, God rewards him and restores his happiness. The Book of Job

serves as a resource to suffering and Job finds that having the faith in God is what saved him,

and while humanity might never understand the ways of the divine, trusting that something is out

there gives reason to one’s suffering and a consequent purpose for getting through it.