THE CONCEPT OF SUFFERING ACCORDING TO THE BOOK OF JOB AND ITS RELEVANCE FOR BELIEVERS

THE CONCEPT OF SUFFERING ACCORDING TO THE BOOK OF JOB AND ITS RELEVANCE FOR BELIEVERS

 

I. WHAT IS SUFFERING ACCORDING TO THE BOOK OF JOB

A. INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF JOB

The book of Job is one of the tanakh books which is part of the Old Testament, this book is the first book in the book of poetry. The name Job or also called Yob (Yobe) which means enmity in Hebrew. The Book of Job is one of the most difficult books to understand, many exegesis have been carried out on the Book of Job so that it can be seen that the Book of Job explains the presence of evil powers while there is also a good God. Job describes the effort to teach the righteous to live righteously, but at the same time cynically describes what right living is. The book of Job in the Old Testament is part of the wisdom books, the author of this book is not known by anyone or when it was written with certainty, it can be said that this book is unique. This book is set in the time of the ancestors, namely the Hebrews, Job was a rich man and had many livestock.[1] Many interpretations say that the author of the Book of Job was a devoted Jew.[2]

The most obvious problem in the book of Job is the suffering of the righteous.[3] The book of Job tells the story of a man who was prosperous and well-behaved where he was a righteous and honest man; he feared God and shunned evil (1:1) but with such a lifestyle he experienced great suffering, such as: his son died, his position and all his property was exhausted. Job's circumstances did not make him blame God, but he understood that God was sovereign in his life. [4]

 

B. STRUCTURE OF THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOK OF JOB[5]

1. Chapters 1-2: Divine Assemblies

Satan tempted Job, even though he suffered, Job remained faithful to God.

2. Chapter 3-27: The debate between Job and his friends, namely Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad. His friends said that Job suffered because of his sins.

3. Chapters 28-31: Job defends himself that he is innocent

4. Chapters 32-37: Elihu, the fourth friend, appears by saying God gives suffering so that the person repents.

5. Chapters 38-42: God answered and restored Job's condition.

 

 

 

 

C. THE CONCEPT OF SUFFERING

1. Understanding Suffering in General

Suffering comes from the word suffering, where the word suffering comes from the Sanskrit word dhra which means to endure or endure. So it can be concluded that suffering is to endure or undergo something very unpleasant that can be felt by humans, every human being must have experienced physical and mental suffering. Suffering is a natural part of human life.

2. The Definition of Suffering in the Book of Job

a. According to the Devil

The devil thinks that suffering is his tool to keep or separate believers from God (Job 1:9-11), where the devil thinks that Job can live a godly life because God has blessed him with lots of happiness and wealth. When God stops blessing Job, he will stop worshiping. God. In Job 2:4-7 when the devil saw that Job's suffering did not succeed in making Job curse God, then inlis added to Job's suffering, where the devil used Job's wife to order him to curse God. But even so, Job still worshiped God

b. Suffering according to Job's friends

Job's friends argued in accordance with the concepts of suffering that developed at that time where suffering was a punishment for sin / people who suffered were because of the mistakes they had made.

Their concept of Job's suffering is:

· Disaster or suffering does not come by itself (5:5-7). But if people experience trouble it is caused by their own sins (10:14-15).

· Suffering as God's rebuke is a joy (5:17-23), because God provides help.

· Wickedness as a source of suffering (15:20-28).

· Sin brings suffering and punishment from God (22:1-5, 23-28), the way out is to repent.

· Suffering comes as a book of forgetting God (8:1-5, 13), in addition to the first three friends Elihu also gave a statement about suffering, although the concept is almost the same as the other three friends.

· That in all that is experienced by humans, God does not cheat. What God does to a person is equal to what that person does (34:10-12). God never looks at the way he imposes judgment.

The goal of suffering a person experiences is the path to repentance. Verily, Allah is glorious (36:220 and the path that God chooses for a person is truly perfect. A person sometimes must experience tribulation in order for him to realize his guilt, Elihu argues that suffering is often the path to repentance (36:11-16).

 

c. Suffering according to Job himself

Job's opinion about his suffering is:

Suffering comes with the permission of Allah. He believed that everything good and suffering came with the permission of Allah. (Job 1:21).

Human life is a struggle. In 6-10 Job expresses his opinion about the nature of human life. Humans live in various struggles, their lives are full of difficulties, humans need shelter. In this case Job also expresses his decision to face his struggle, so he says that he can die as soon as possible (7:15).

There is God's purpose in the suffering he experienced, where Job gives his statement in chapters 9-10, 11-17 he expresses his opinion about the meaning of suffering as well as expresses his justification. Job realized that God's wisdom was limitless, and that his suffering was in the design of God's wisdom.

God will help and free man from his suffering (Job 19:25-27), God will rise to help from his misery.

d. Suffering and God

The following are some points that can be concluded about God's relationship with God's relationship with the suffering of the righteous (especially Job).

God is not the cause of human suffering (Job). Suffering occurs by God's permission, in the beginning of this book, in the dialogue between God and the devil, God allows humans to experience suffering to a certain extent. Suffering experienced by humans can occur because God allows it to happen.

· There is a purpose of God in human suffering. in chapters 38-39 God asks Job what he is thinking. Humans often rely on their feelings when experiencing difficulties, so they are unable to understand God's plan in their lives. God designed much good in human suffering. from God's point of view suffering is one way for man to realize his position before God. Just as Job went through the sufferings he experienced in the end, he had a personal encounter with God (Job 42:1-6) Job realized his position before God and humbled himself to God.

In this case it can be concluded that God is sovereign over all things and no events occur by chance, but there is God's plan in it. Therefore, believers can learn from Job's experience, it is important to do self-reflection and surrender completely to God and be able to understand the suffering he experienced. [6]

 

 

 

 

 

II. WHAT IS THE BENEFITS OF SUFFERING FOR NOW

 

1. Cause of Suffering

a. Humans can suffer because the world is filled with sin so that it rules the human heart.

b. Man suffers because of his own foolishness, and so reaps what he sows (Galatians 6:7-9).

c. Humans suffer because God wants to discipline life, because God chastises those He loves (Hebrews 12:6).

d. Humans suffer because of the faith they have (suffer because of the truth) 2 Timothy 3:12.

 

2. Benefits of Suffering

For now, suffering must be understood according to God's perspective, so as not to always blame God for everything that happens, especially about suffering. At this time it must be understood the purpose and purpose of suffering to occur, namely:

a. suffer as a witness (2 Timothy 2:8-10, 2 Corinthians 4:12-13, 1 Peter 3:13-17), through which the name of God is glorified (Job 1-2, 1 Peter 4:16).

b. Suffering as a means of developing the ability and sympathy in comforting others (2 Corinthians 1:3-5).

c. Suffering is a means of avoiding pride (2 Corinthians 12:7).

d. Suffering is a means of training, namely to learn obedience (Hebrews 5:8).

e. Suffering as a means of producing a relationship with God, where suffering is designed so that everyone can walk in God's strength (2 Corinthians 11:24-32, Ephesians 6:10).

f. Suffering to reveal the life and nature of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:8-11).

 

III. THE RELEVANCE OF SUFFERING FOR BELIEVERS

At this time, suffering must be part of God's gift to human life, even though knowing the answer to why there is suffering is important, but the most essential thing is to meet God in that suffering (as was the case with Job). Therefore, every believer must contemplate and understand that the suffering that occurs can be faced with faith in God who is full of grace, even when humans have no logical or rational reason to believe. The suffering of the righteous is sometimes very difficult to find the cause, but The most important thing is that the suffering that is being experienced by someone will deepen the relationship between the person who is experiencing suffering and God. Because often the presence of suffering makes a person realize that the most important thing in life is the presence of God.

The situation faced by humans which is considered as hopelessness and suffering is not to be avoided and lamented, but to be faced. Even something that is generally seen as suffering can be a hidden gift of God, which is very difficult for human logic to understand. "Divine attitudes towards humans actually exceed human thoughts which are always claimed for certainty: God must be like this, definitely (not) like that. God's actions on human life are unpredictable, unpredictable, cannot be regulated according to the will and desires of the human heart.[7] Humans/believers may not find the reason for their suffering, but we must have the thought that behind the suffering that occurs there is God's purpose and all that is to bring good to life even though it is very difficult to understand.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

Basically, suffering is anything that hurts and annoys you, but what needs to be understood in God's design is that suffering is something that requires everyone to think. Where suffering is a tool used by God to achieve His purpose in every human life. In every suffering that occurs God wants to show His sovereignty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Handbook to the Bilbe, 358

 

[2] Communication Foundation for Contemporary Bible Interpretation 2 Job-Malachi, (1985) p. 67

 

[3] Bullock C. Hassel, Books of poetry in the Old Testament, (Malang: Gandum Mas, 2014) p. 92

[5] Dr. J. Blommendaal, Introduction to the Lam Agreement, (Jakarta: BPK Gunung Mulia, 2001) 152

[6] Stevanus, Kalis, Awareness of God through Suffering based on Job 1-2, Dunamis:Journal of Theology and Christian Education 3.2 (2019) 111-134 

[7] Joas Adiprasetya, The Suffering King, (Jakarta: BPK Gunung Mulia, 2012) 78

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