Explore the Bible: Faith Tested

• The Explore the Bible lesson for June 6 focuses on Job 1:8-22.

Over the course of the past year, I imagine we all felt like Job at one time or another. Consider what has occurred: a global pandemic, the closing of church buildings, not being able to live life as we are would have hoped and expected, and the general fear and unrest that seems to plague our world. What has been your response in the midst of trial and tribulation? I pray we all glean insight and understanding from Job and his plight during our study.

What we say about God matters: this might be one of the biggest lessons from Job. Job took everything very seriously. He had experienced great success. Job was the Bill Gates, Elon Musk or John D. Rockefeller of the land of Uz. He took his business seriously, amassing more than anyone in Uz. He took his parenting seriously. Even with grown children who had their own houses and families, Job continued to care for his children and their spiritual well-being, taking on the role of priest and making sacrifices on their behalf.

As Old Testament scholar John Goldingay notes in his commentary, Job’s piety and the fullness of his cup in life ran over. Then one day, it all changed. In the heavenly realms, the adversary, Satan, just like a prosecuting attorney might bring a charge before a judge, accuses Job of only worshipping the Lord for the benefits.

Covenant or contract?

Goldingay poses a question, “Is our relationship with the Lord a covenant or a contract?”  We all know about contracts. I recently was at the end of my contract with our electricity provider. After the recent winter weather we experienced in Texas, we all learned the importance of a good contract with our utility providers, as we try to keep our costs down while continuing with consistent service. One party pays, the other provides the service—we all understand how a contract works. Contracts come with conditions, too. If I choose another provider while still under contract with the first company, there will be penalties.

In the lessons of Job, we are reminded that our relationship with God is not based on our ability to write checks, nor should our worship of him be based on what we feel he will do for us in return. The life of Job offers us a concrete example of this. God desires a covenant relationship with his creation.

In Scripture, this is seen in the story of Abraham, as God calls Abram in Genesis 12 and binds Himself to Abram; “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you….”  The Hebrew word for covenant is berit. The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Revised and Expanded notes that this word derives from the verb bara meaning “to bind.” The authors continue that covenant promises often are unilateral and unconditional. “The covenant concept is a central, unifying theme of Scripture, establishing and defining God’s relationship to man in all ages.”

We see this best in our world today in Christian family. In marriage, we see two parties of their own free will who commit themselves to one another in a binding pledge. As Goldingay writes in Job for Everyone, “the adversary’s [Satan] suggestion is that the relationship between God and Job may be more like a contract than a covenant.”

Committed to God or to blessings?

At stake is the question of whether or not Job’s relationship with God is linked in an unhealthy way to the blessings and favor Job has received from God. Is Job committed to God, or is Job committed to his safe and blessed condition in life?

The Lord releases Satan, and we see evil descend upon Job. It is in adversity we really learn what we are made of—some may have felt this pain first hand as loss after loss crashes over us. In The Gravity of Joy, Truett Theological Seminary professor Angela Gorrell writes after a particularly difficult time in life, she felt she could relate to Job and his story. She also notes the story of Job “demonstrates how quickly bad theology emerges when people are hurting.”

Too often, I have heard well-meaning Christian friends and ministers give a glib or flippant response in the midst of great tragedy, often not allowing the truth about a God who suffers with his people to be told. We want to dismiss the pain, mask over it, or ignore it all together. Yet, Job gives us a perfect picture of a godly response to unimaginable circumstances.

First, he grieves. He does not just pretend nothing happened. Second, he assumed a posture of submission in worship—recognizing that God was God, and he was not. Third, he gave a correct account in what he said. What we say about God matters—all the time. A modern chorus Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman summarizes the words of Job: “You give and take away, you give and take away; My heart will choose to say, blessed be your name.”

Just like Job, we have a choice to whom we will give our worship and praise to each day. Would you describe your relationship with God like a contract or covenant? May God find us faithful to remain true to the covenant he made with all of world through his Son Jesus, and may we be faithful in all times, just as we see from God’s servant Job.

Davey Gibson is associate pastor of education and discipleship at Sugar Land Baptist Church in Sugar Land, Texas.