AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF JOB Part III

Theological Bites

In the previous presentation, it was emphasized that the book of Job is both a philosophical and a theological book.

We looked at how philosophical the book is, given its major theme. We now turn to another angle of the book which is its Theology. Those who have been reading from Pastor White do understand that Theology is a science that believes there is a God and embarks on the task of studying that God.

So when we say that we are going to look at the theology of the book of Job, we are simply saying we are about to discover who God is in relation to what is happening in the book. It was pointed out earlier that there are four characters (Job, His 4 Friends, God and Satan) in the book of Job. All the four characters are focused on nothing but the suffering and pain of the man Job.

There are three major theological problems in the book of Job.

1. The first is the question of the source of Suffering and Pain.
2. The second is how a righteous man like Job can suffer all that he suffered.
3. The third is how suffering and pain can coexist with the Sovereignty of God.

As you may or may not know, the book of Job is compiled in the final years of the exile and to the Jews, it is time to reflect on the past, present and future of their relations with this God known as Yahweh.

The big unresolved questions in the hearts of many for the last 70 years of captivity are:

What could be the source of all the pain and suffering they have gone through all these years? What if Yahweh is behind this entire predicament? Can Israel trust him with their future?

These are the questions and the mood that influence the scribes (Masoretic), to review the experience of the man Job in the context of the nation of Yahweh that has suffered all these years.

A casual reader of the book of Job will quickly conclude that Satan is the source of suffering and the pain of the man Job. It matters, however, that we investigate this conclusion and the best place, to begin with, is by looking at what we call the Satan Passages.

How did the religion of Israel know about Satan? Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had no idea about Satan. When did the Israelites learn about Satan? In the primitive stages (pre-exile) of the Theology of Judaism, God is everything good and evil. In Judaism, Yahweh is the light and the darkness as well (Isaiah 45:7, Amos 3:6). Evil and good come from the same God (Lamentations 3:38).

Yahweh was naturally good and naturally evil. It all depended on the worshipper to decide what to get from this God.

The theology (who they knew God to be) of Judaism was without a Theodicy (defence of the goodness and justice of God in the existence of evil) until they were deported to the exile.

The ideology of Satan in the Jewish thought was influenced by the Ancient religion of Persia known as Zoroastrianism.

The lead philosopher of this religion known as Zoroaster taught Dualism and in this, he argued that Evil and Good couldn’t have the same source. For evil and good to have the same source contradicted the laws of logic and design.

According to Sweeney;

“In Zoroastrianism, evil does not stem from the good God or spirit known as Ahura Mazda, “wise lord,” within the faith. Instead, there existed a separate evil being known as Ahriman, “fiendish spirit” also known as Angra Mainya, “evil spirit,” that created death, disease, and lies.”

It was in the exile that Israel first learnt of the truth that Yahweh represents GOOD and another personality represents EVIL. The representative of Evil the Jews named Hassatan (the Satan).

The theology that Yahweh himself was separate from evil and restricted to the good, resolved too much religious stress and frustration on the side of Israel. Israel now knew God was not the source of evil but there was another natural source of that and the worst that could come from Yahweh was punishment but Yahweh was not two in one naturally.

In the Old Testament Hebrew, Satan is mentioned in fourteen texts. These 14 texts can be divided into two;

First, he is presented in a metaphorical sense and exhibited in the ways of particular creatures and human behaviour. Genesis 3:1-5 and Revelation 12:7-10 he is the serpent and dragon. In 1Samuel 29:4, 2Samuel 19:21-23, 1Kings 5:4, 1Kings 11:14, 1Kings 11:23, Psalm 109:1-6 Satan is exhibited in the acts of individual human beings.

Secondly, he is presented as a celestial being. In Numbers 22:22, Job 1:6, Zechariah 3:1-2, 1Chronicles 21:1, Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28:16-17, Satan is presented as a celestial (Angelic) being.

What we have here is a development in the theology of Judaism. We now have two sides ably represented in the personification of the GOOD to be God and the personification of EVIL to be Satan.

While the new theology has ably defended God and distanced him from evil, as a matter of theodicy, there is still another issue to deal with.

If Satan was created by an omniscient God and he turned out evil, then his creator is responsible for all the evil he (Satan) does. In other words, while Satan is responsible for the suffering and pain in the world, an omniscient God is responsible for having created this being. The book of Job deals with these difficulties.

God, in the book of Job, is presented as sovereign and we see Satan seeking God’s approval to exercise his (Satan) will on the life of Job (Job 1:9-12). Right here, we can conclude that the source of pain and suffering is both God and Satan. This still leaves a thousand questions but as we continue, the Lord will help us understand a few things.

Next, I will say more about the first of the three major theological problems in the book of Job and if space allows the second major issue too will be addressed.

God bless you I invoke TRUTH, REASON and FAITH (2Tim 2:7)
Pr. T.I.M WHITE
The Gospel Hawker
@iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24)