Weekly Bible Study - Job 7:1-7

8 February 2015

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time  

Misery loves company!  In so many ways Job’s story is our own. Here is a man grateful for his many blessings, righteous in his ways and faithful to the Lord. His good fortune changes abruptly as he is heaped with one hardship after another.  Frustration overwhelms him, and hope is far from sight. The nights drag on with pain and restlessness, and the days pass in the company of judgmental “friends.”  The utter misery in today’s first reading is palpable. “Where did I go wrong?” “Why is the Lord punishing me?” echo from Job’s broken heart.  A familiar scenario?

Much of this lengthy book (a worthwhile Lenten read*) will find Job engaged in conversation, even argument, with God as he grapples with the question of the suffering of a good man. His suffering is made worse, it seems, because he fears that he has been cast out by God, whom he loves. Ironically, his misery may be confounded by his faith in God and in his own desire to be a good man! You see, the theology of Job’s time insists just people suffer because of their sins. Job struggles to understand how his actions could possibly have led him to lose God’s love, as he sees the situation.

Although we have only caught a glimpse of Job’s misery, we learn much from this masterpiece of Wisdom literature. As God goes on to show his servant Job the vast mysteries of creation and the human place within the divine order, Job realizes that evil, too, is a great mystery. Human reason is insufficient to provide answers. What becomes clear to Job is that God has all of creation faithfully in hand. Job further realizes that faith and trust in God offer the comfort he needs in his time of trial. In the end God comforts Job lavishly.

This book ultimately raises significant questions about the idea that human suffering comes from personal sin. Sure, evil is often a source of suffering, but is it always? Are there other factors that lead to suffering, well apart from the effects of personal or communal sin? And is it possible that our best reward is our relationship with the loving God who gives himself and his life to us through Christ Jesus? The mystery and misery of suffering may be part of the human condition, but faithful servants rest assured of eternal union with God in the communion of saints.

*One chapter a day almost gets you through it. Just double-up twice, and you’re all set.