One take on the book of
Job that intrigues me is that it is not, as is commonly assumed, an attempt to grapple with the issue of human
suffering at all. Rather, the
author's intent is to convey to
Israel and its
Gentile captors that their
God is not merely another local
deity who can be coaxed into doing what we want, but the
almighty and
transcendent Lord and
Creator of the
universe. God's
essence, he says, is something that is separate and distinct from our human conceptions and needs. God is who he is, not who we think he should be.
The greater part of the piece consists of the passages in which Job and his friends try to rationalize God's behavior. So outrageous is Job's misfortune that they engage in all sorts of theological gymnastics; ultimately Job is reduced to calling God out and demanding an explanation.
What he gets, though, is the furthest thing from an explanation. God doesn't give Job answers; he gives Job Himself. He reveals himself in all His glory and Job, humbled, repents of his words. Job realizes that till then he has been viewng God exclusively through the lens of his own suffering, and thinking of Him only as He relates to Job's own needs.
A lot of atheists and agnostics sneer at God's non-answer, but even when I was a skeptic His response to Job brought me up short whenever I read it. I always thought that if I were in a similar situation and had that kind of transcendent experience, I would say Everything I've lost is as nothing compared to this; this is what is really important.