- Jacob Chanikuzhy
Grappling with the problem of evil, St. Augustine concluded, “God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil to exist.” The problem of evil has baffled the human race across the ages. Saints and sacred texts, poets, philosophers, and professionals across the different branches of knowledge have offered various answers and suggested helpful attitudes for reckoning with the suffering of the innocent. Yet, as has been said, no explanation ever fills the silence that grief leaves behind. The Book of Job ventures to shed some light on the mystery of evil and offers helpful perspectives on the perennial issue of suffering.
In the story, God Himself declares Job to be “faultless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil” (Job 1,8). Jewish literature exuberantly extolls the piety and charity of Job. One text even states that the name of Job that is written on one of the seven branches of the golden lampstand. Some rabbis viewed the praise of Job as so profuse that they feared his piety might even eclipsed that of Abraham.
Job was not only wealthy enough to become a prominent and powerful personality in his land but also wise enough to avoid doing evil. Job was God’s pride and Satan’s target. It is interesting that in the Book of Job, Satan appears in the heavenly assembly. Naturally, we are prone to ask whether the devil truly has access before the heavenly throne of God. Through this illustration, perhaps the author wants to remind us that even the prince of darkness is not beyond the gaze of God. There is no place where Satan can escape the presence of God.
When God commended Job for his righteousness, Satan had not a word to prove him otherwise. In all his prosperity, Job remained loyal and obedient to God and his decrees. Since Job’s actions were righteous and impeccable, Satan found nothing in Job’s behaviour to blame. Hence, Satan accuses Job of bad intentions. He complained to God that Job was righteous only because God blessed and rewarded him for his righteousness with material prosperity and protection. Satan’s logic was that the righteousness of Job was not the result of pure devotion to God but merely bait to secure divine blessings. In short, it was Job’s attachment to wealth and power that motivated his piety. In other words, Satan accused Job of committing blasphemy in his heart by loving his wealth more than God.
Satan suggested that if Job’s material possessions were taken away, he would no longer remain the pious man God knew; rather, he would openly curse God. God allowed Satan to do anything with Job’s possessions but forbade him to touch Job’s life. Having received permission from God, Satan wreaked havoc on the properties of Job in a way that caused utmost anguish and provocation. On a solemn day of joyous celebration at the house of his eldest son, Job received the tragic news that Sabeans had taken his oxen and donkeys and killed the servants who were ploughing; that fire, apparently from God, had consumed his sheep and the shepherds; and that Chaldeans had raided his camels and slaughtered all his workforce. All these calamities occurred in rapid succession so that Job had no moment to regain his composure. Satan orchestrated everything to catch Job off guard. Job had no clue what was about to happen or how to prepare. To deal the final blow, Job also lost all his sons and daughters when the house they were gathered in collapsed upon them due to an unusual wind—again, seemingly from God. Ironically, it may have been when Job prayed for his sons that they were killed by what appeared to be a wind from God!
When the sacred writer of the Book of Job tells us that God permitted Satan to have control over the possessions of Job, he does not mean that God fell into the trap of Satan to maltreat his loyal friend, but rather that whatever happens to God’s own people never occurs without God’s notice and God’s permission. As the story unfolds, Job endures the trial without fully understanding God’s plan behind it. The lessons of life teach us that not everything is meant to be understood – some things are simply meant to be endured. As Khalil Gibran, the Lebanese-American poet, observes, “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”
