Dr. Piper On Job

I found the following posting by Dr. John Piper disheartening, especially in view of the fact that I find Dr. Piper "spot on" on most of his bible interpretations. His posting is a transcript of a sermon titled "How Should I Read the Book of Job?" (here) Some may know that years ago I wrote a series of chapters on the Theology of Job, primarily for the purpose of defending this righteous prophet from the character assassination that he has received from many biblical commentators. Piper clearly does not see Job as innocent and righteous as does the Lord. 

Let me cite the portions of Piper's remarks that I intend to dispute, giving enough context to prevent misinterpretation. (highlighting mine)

"Job has about 29 chapters of misapplied theology in the middle. It's very hard to navigate your way through those chapters and determine what is true and what is not, because these guys are mixing up truth and falsehood all over the place. (True! - SG) I think you're supposed to get the big picture that God was not happy with these three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. (Yes, but was he happy with Job and Elihu? - SG)

And when Elihu shows up, he, I believe, begins to set it right. (But, was not Job already setting things right? - SG) Finally God speaks and he sets it completely right.

Then there is the last chapter that puts the closure on the whole thing. There it says that God brought all of this upon Job; and Job proves in the end to be a better man than these other men, even though Job himself sinned and had to repent in dust and ashes.

How important is it for us to note that Job's calamities had absolutely no connection with his character?

I don't think that's exactly right to say. I think "absolutely" is an overstatement, because when you get to the end, it says,

Then Job answered the LORD and said:

“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.'

‘Hear, and I will speak... (Job 42:1-4)

And then Job repents in dust and ashes, verse 6:

"Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

In other words, here's the way I would say it: He was called an upright and blameless man, and yet that doesn't mean that he was a sinlessly perfect man.

I picture Job as a beaker of water. Job had been so worked upon by the grace of God that his life was pure. You could see right through the water. People looked at him and they saw a pure man. (Did not God see him as a pure man?! - SG) But there was a sediment of self-reliance and pride at the bottom. (Really? Where is the proof of that? - SG) It wasn't huge and it wasn't damning, but it was there.

When God shook Job, the sediment colored the water, and you find Job saying some terrible things about God in this book. (This is an incredible statement to say of one whom God said was righteous and spoke of him correctly! - SG) God knew that it was there, and he knew that in shaking this godly, blameless man there would arise some imperfection into his life, and that it would need to be purged. So the last thing is, therefore, "I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

God is so pleased with Job (I thought he wasn't? - SG) that he makes the three friends go and ask Job to pray for them instead of them praying for themselves. God loves this man Job.

So, we may rephrase the question, "How important is it that we see that Job's suffering was not directly connected to any evil deed?" That is true.

We should be able to say to people, "I'm not looking for a specific sin in your life that God is punishing you for or chastising you for. God may be permitting this calamity to come into your life just to refine very beautiful faith. Your faith is like gold, but it does have straw in it, and God loves you so much that he is now going to burn out a little more straw."

All I can do at this time in response is to refer the reader to my writings titled "Theology of Job" (here).

Here are the chapters written thus far (I may add to it in the future):

Job's Righteous Character - Chapter One
Job The Prophet - Chapter Two
Job The Accused - Chapter Three
Job's Apology - Chapter Four
Job's Character Assassination - Chapter Five
Job's Repentance - Chapter Six

Here are some excerpts from those chapters:

Chapter One

"Our view of him ought to be the same as that of God."

Chapter Two

"... these words of James prove that Job was a prophet of God, one who spoke in the name of the Lord."

"These words should settle all debate about the correctness of Job's theology, about the truthfulness of what he said about the nature and workings of God in his dialogues with his "friends."" 

Chapter Three

"Strikingly, however, Job is never accused of any evil by God. He only blesses and approves of Job's character and teachings."

"In fact, many commentators on the Book of Job invariably end up being just as accusatory and critical against Job's character and theology as were Job's "friends," the very ones God condemned in the Epilogue for sin and heresy!" 

 Chapter Four

"Job Maintains his Righteousness and Integrity." "Here Job again maintains his righteousness and innocence. Job does not believe he has erred theologically or morally. He also claims that his friends have failed to demonstrate his error." 

Chapter Five

"Job being "righteous" did not beget pride, presumption, or arrogance in him. Though righteous, he was nevertheless humble, dependent, and unworthy."

"Job confesses that he does not "have all the answers." He confesses his "confusion" regarding the "why" of his circumstances." "Is it not a great sin to speak evil of the prophet Job? As much so as to speak evil of Moses, David, Isaiah, or one of the apostles?"

"It thus appears that the early Christians did not share the same view of Job as later commentators and interpreters."

"Elihu is not immune, as some have wrongly imagined, to errors concerning the character and theology of Job. He too thinks Job is self-righteous and given to self-justification. But, Elihu is wrong. Job did not trust in his own righteousness for salvation, but in his "Redeemer" and in his God. He did believe that he was innocent of the sins charged against him." 

Chapter Six

"Therefore, the passage can be as legitimately translated “I reject and regret dust and ashes” as it can be translated “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes”."

""Naham" can be translated "repent" but only in the loosest possible sense and a potentially misleading sense in this context."

""Repent, a verb that is often used to indicate a change of mind on the Lord's part (Exodus 32: 14; Jeremiah 18: 8, 10). Here it does not mean repentance for sin (see vv. 7-8, where Job is said to have spoken what is right)."

Sins of Job (supposed)

1. Pride and arrogance (presumption)
2. Self righteousness (self justification)
3. Hypocrisy and idolatry
4. Cowardness (too much complaining)
5. Selfishness and greed
6. Impenitence (refusal to confess sin)
7. Impatience (complains too much)
8. Unbelief (refusal to trust God)
9. Unfaithfulness and disloyalty
10. False Teacher (bad theology)
11. Respecter of persons (envious)
12. Murderer (for being suicidal)

I experience "righteous indignation" when I hear Job's character maligned. If you are interested in the Book of Job (the oldest in the bible), then I recommend you take some time and read the chapters I have written on this important subject.