The Concept Of Suffering In Biblical Wisdom Literature
Human suffering is discussed in all of the Bible's books of wisdom literature (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes). All four of the wisdom books admit that suffering is experienced universally and represents an unavoidable fact of life. The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote: "For what hath man of all his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath labored under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity." [1] Job said that "man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward." [2] Suffering is common to all, and the Bible provides information to encourage and enlighten us about it rather than choosing to ignore it.
To modern Christians, the suffering and trials of life are often perceived as originating from Satan and meant to separate us from God and happiness. This is not the interpretation presented in the book of Job, however. Job placed the blame for life's miseries squarely on God, but even this book has been contorted by "pop-Christianity" into supporting an incorrect and harmful interpretation of the cause and meaning of our life's afflictions. Among the most important lessons from the book of Job is that God is in control even during life's worst catastrophes.
The book of Job opens with a description of the man Job as being a "perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil." [3] The book describes how wonderful his life and conditions were. This description is followed by a heavenly throne room scene in which the sons of God were presenting themselves before him. One of these sons, "the Satan," presented himself before God and expressed a desire to test Job. God agreed to this test in order to demonstrate Job's faith. This opening sequence is often used by pop-Christians to pin blame on Satan for the calamities that befell Job. However, the word translated "Satan" only means "adversary," and it is accepted by scholars that this being was not the Satan of the later Bible but rather one of the celestial beings who stood with God in his court. [4] By allowing this adversary to tempt Job, God essentially caused the torture of Job for his own purposes. In the following exchange, God's responsibility for Job's suffering becomes clear:
"Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD." [5]
God gave Satan the power to "touch" Job's possessions and destroy his prosperity. The power was God's to give, and he gave it to a being whose express desire was to cause Job suffering. Given the recorded narrative, it seems impossible to remove blame from God for destroying Job's early life.
It is difficult to shift blame for Job's suffering away from God when God himself claimed responsibility for what occurred. In the last chapter of the book, it is recorded that Job's family and acquaintances brought gifts and "comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him." [6] This summery verse is among the book's last, and readers are left with the impression that God caused Job's suffering.
Job blamed God for his suffering in various places throughout the book. One example is chapter 6 verse 4: "For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit." [7] Job claimed God was responsible for the spiritual desolation he felt. Chapter 12 verse 9 reads: "Who knoweth not that in all these that the hand of the Lord has wrought this?" [8] In chapter 12, Job judged God responsible before describing what God was capable of:
"Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening. Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth. With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his. He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools. He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle. He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty. He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged. He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty. He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death. He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again. He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man."
Job claimed God was behind droughts, tsunamis, the foolishness of judges, the deception of men, the destruction of nations, and the displacement of entire people groups. Job's assertions about God sharply contrasted with the image of God presented by Job's friend Bildad. Bildad said that God was always just and therefore Job's suffering must be the result of unrevealed sin. For Bildad, men's suffering was always the result of their sin against a perfect God. [9] Job's friends, led by Elihu, defended God from what they perceived as Job's insults against him. [10] However, in the final chapter of the book, God sided with Job's interpretation of him and condemned the friends. God ordered them to have Job offer atonement sacrifices on their behalf. The need for these sacrifices arose because the friends had "not spoken of me [God] the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath." [11] God approved Job's claim that God caused him suffering, and in so doing he appears to have admitted himself to be the power behind much of mankind's misery.
The book of Job, however, is not the only Bible book to address the subject of suffering. The book of Proverbs has many sayings on the topic. Some parts of Proverbs seem to contradict the conclusions that Job arrived at. Job presents the causes of suffering as being too secret for a person to understand and representative of an aspect of God's divine design that we cannot hope to completely comprehend. Proverbs, however, seems to support Job's friend's interpretation that those who suffer are wicked, and that if mankind turns to God then safety and peace will dominate. There are many passages in Proverbs that seem to support Job's friend's argument. In Proverbs 1, the spiritual and intellectual narrator advised his pupil(s) to avoid sinners: "My Son, if sinners entice you, consent thou not." Later in the chapter, Wisdom spoke to those sinners:
"Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil." [12]
The Proverbs writer suggested that if we follow Wisdom and serve God, rather than embracing foolishness and sin, then we will be protected from life's dangers. Man was thought to have some measure of control over the afflictions he suffers and, unlike in the book of Job, there seems to be a law and reason for life's woes which can be summarized by claiming man's sin is responsible for his negative conditions.
Proverbs 12:13 claims that "the wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble." [13] This passage parallels the words of Job's friend Bildad: "Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers: till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing. They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to naught." [14] Both these passages carry the idea that God will not let the righteous suffer while the evil escape without harm.
The idea that only the wicked suffer seems to derive support from people's actions. Proverbs 12 reads:
"The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour: but the way of the wicked seduceth them. The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious. In the way of righteousness is life: and in the pathway thereof there is no death." [15]
The passage suggests that God fearing people succeed because they do not suffer the negative consequences of a negative attitude. If this is true, then it is possible that the conclusions of both Job and Proverbs are different because they are talking about two different subjects. The message of Job is that unwarranted suffering is often God's will, and that this must be accepted as unexplainable to our finite minds. The message of Proverbs, however, is that a great deal of suffering can be avoided by doing the right thing. Proverbs communicates secular wisdom by suggesting there is a material benefit for following God's commands. Proverbs seeks to communicate that "one reaps what one sows."
The Bible's wisdom literature often connects affliction with God's chastisement and punishment. The wisdom writers advised readers to acknowledge the Lord's chastisement and to adjust in accordance to it: "My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth." [16] Psalm 119 thanks the Lord for chastisement: "I know, O Lord, that they judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me." [17] The Psalmist wrote in another section: "Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now I have kept they word." [18] The Bible makes it clear that God uses afflictions and suffering to teach people, lead them, and convince them of their wrong doing. This truth was communicated geopolitically with the destruction of the northern Kingdom of Israel and the Babylonian captivity of Judah.
The book of Job also provides another interpretation of suffering's purpose that many readers miss because it is not explicitly stated. Job implies that suffering is meant to inspire wisdom. Brock K Waltke suggested this in 'An Old Testament Theology: an exegetical, canonical, and thematic approach.' Job is a good man at the beginning of his book's narrative, but he has an immature understanding of God's purposes and designs. Only through suffering was he capable of moving beyond goodness into wisdom. The book of Job explores the question "Why be righteous?" When the question was resolved, God called Job a wise man. Waltke:
"the author [of Job] traces the trajectory of Job's development from a good man to a wise man. In the prologue we observe Job as an idealist in elementary school (Ch 1-2); in the dialogue, Job is a sophomore in college on the way to becoming wise, (Ch 3-31); finally, the I AM speeches address him as a student in graduate school, where he is humbled and accepts that there are sufficient reasons to trust I AM without demanding of him rational explanations (37:1-42:6)." [19]The question of Job, and part of the meaning of human suffering, is whether humanity will serve God out of love or profit. Waltke:
"Do the pious love, trust, serve, and fear God for his intrinsic worthiness or for what they can acquire out of that relationship? Do they serve God to be blessed or because they have sufficient grounds to trust, worship, and serve God, earthly possessions and creature comforts denied? … the issue is whether there are grounds for committing oneself to a covenant relationship with God even when the reason for suffering, which tests that relationship, may be forever hidden from mortals - Job never knew the reason for his suffering." [20]
Waltke continues into a discussion about the relationship between God and man, and how God uses man to validate truths about God's nature: "History is the crucible of truth, conferring awful dignity upon mortals." [21] The act of suffering and becoming wiser while still maintaining a relationship with God marks man as a creature worthy of love and a certain kind of glory. The ability to suffer is not purely distasteful and should be seen as dignified and regal. Human beings will probably never understand why we suffer, and why some suffer more than others, but the ability to suffer without forfeiting hope is what gives humanity its unique beauty and ability to love unconditionally.
The book of Job presents a way to endure suffering. Rather than accepting his friend's interpretation, which placed Job at the center of his own suffering, Job claimed he would eventually be vindicated. Job argued that one day he would be cleared of accusations and sin and triumph over the suffering and affliction he was then suffering. His assertion culminated in something very similar to the Christian hope that God will eventually bring about total justice.
"For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me." [22]
By accepting the "absurdity" of life, and the presence of unknowable secrets, we rise above the world and put our faith in what cannot be seen nor assumed. Only an all-powerful sovereign God can deliver victory when everything seems to suggest defeat. God eventually returned to Job more than what he had lost. This final unforeseen victory was God's promise to those who love and live for him that even when the path of righteousness seems absurd, unrealistic, and damaging he still has the ability to deliver victory. Hope is the triumph over earthly afflictions, and the final answer to the question of suffering.
Biblical wisdom literature does not ignore the subject of human suffering. Some of the most damaging atheistic attacks against Christianity concern the subject of why a loving God would allow his creation to suffer. The Bible does, however, give voice to this accusation while offering assistance in dealing with it. Humans may not understand why bad things happen, but we have a God who sees our struggles and doubts while giving them a voice in his inspired scriptures. God may seem absent from our suffering, but his absence is often the method through which he inspires new wisdom within us. Our assurance during suffering is that God is still sovereign and able to grant us final victory.
NOTES
[1] Ecclesiastes 2:22-23. Holy Bible, King James Version. Thomas Nelson Publishers. Nashville. 1989.
[2] Ibid, Job 5:7
[3] Ibid, Job 1:8
[4] M Coogan. 'The New Oxford Annotated Bible' (Oxford University Press: Oxford) 2001), page 728
[5] Job 1:9-12. Holy Bible, King James Version. Thomas Nelson Publishers. Nashville. 1989.
[6] Ibid, Job 42:11
[7] Ibid, Job 6:4
[8] Ibid, Job 12:9
[9] Ibid, Job 8:3-8
[10] Ibid, Job 32:1-5
[11] Ibid, Job 42:7
[12] Ibid, Proverbs 1:20-33
[13] Ibid, Proverbs 12:13
[14] Ibid, Job 8:20-22
[15] Ibid, Proverbs 12:26-28
[16] Ibid, Proverbs 3:11-12
[17] Ibid, Psalm 119:75
[18] Ibid, Psalm 119:67
[19] Brock K Waltke. 'An Old Testament Theology: an exegetical, canonical, and thematic approach.' Zondervan Publishers. 2007. Grand Rapids, Michigan.
[20] Ibid, page 931
[21] Ibid, page 932
[22] Job 19:25-27. Holy Bible, King James Version. Thomas Nelson Publishers. Nashville. 1989.