by Simon Davies

Created on: March 14, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

Job Why do bad things happen to good people?

A Biblical world view begins with the understanding that without God everything is ultimately meaningless (Ecclesiastes). Then comes knowledge of God and hard work to become wise through listening to him (Proverbs). Finally we need to think about the problem of suffering.

What have I done to deserve this? We have all asked this question when we experience unexplained suffering. She is a good person, why is she suffering like that? The problem of pain and suffering is used by many people to explain why they don't believe in God. How can a God of love allow good people to suffer? The Biblical book of Job sets out to answer these questions.

Extra Knowledge
One thing to remember as you read the book of Job is that what the reader knows, Job and his friends never get to know. We know what happened in heaven when Satan spoke to God and challenged God to test Job (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6), but Job does not know this and nor do Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar or Elihu. We know that ultimately these difficulties came to Job because God wanted to show Satan that a true man of God remains true to him whatever the circumstances.

Job and his friends had very little knowledge of God. It is likely that Job lived before Abraham. This means that Job knew nothing of any promises God had made to set apart a nation as his own and through that nation bring salvation to the whole world (Gen. 12:1-3). He would have known about the creation and the fall. He would have known about the flood and the Tower of Babel, but that is all.

A Righteous Man
Job was a righteous and devout man. He worshipped God. He knew that life is meaningless without God and he knew that to gain wisdom one should fear God and make an effort to know him. So he did. Job 1:1-5 is a wonderful picture of a prosperous man serving his God. And we can understand Satan's question. We may say: "I would be righteous if I was as rich and successful as Job." God recognises that this might be the case so he allows Satan to test Job to prove that true faith in God is deeper than material comfort.

Mistaken Viewpoint
Job loses everything, but he refuses to curse God, even though his wife urges him to do so (Job 2:9-10). Then come his friends to "comfort" him. The speeches of Job and his friends take up much of the book and are typical of the repetitive and image-laden Hebrew poetry. We can summarise the arguments of the three friends of Job in this way: "Job, God is just, he would not allow righteous people

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