The Sermon Never Preached

This is Part 1 of a 12-Part Series on Grief, Trauma, and Mental Health

Disclaimer: I have no training or background in the field of mental health. The thoughts expressed in this series should, in no way, be taken as professional mental health advice or a substitute for it; they are merely observations and insights that I have gleaned from reading, studying, and praying about these passages in scripture.

According to Biblegateway.com, Job is frequently thought to be the very first book in the Bible to be written, and yet I would imagine that if you asked Christians when was the last sermon they had heard preached about Job, most would struggle to remember one, and many would even have to answer "never". Why?

Because no one likes to talk about Job!

Job does not leave you with the warm fuzzies. In fact, although the book of Job consists of 42 chapters, when Christians do talk about Job, they usually talk about the first two chapters, and then skip all the way to the ending in Chapter 42 ... because that's what people want to hear; the "happy ending". No one wants to talk about the 39 chapters in between, and yet, they are the most important part of the story; the entire reason it was written! And if you focus on only 1, 2, and 42, you will arrive at the very conclusions that the 39 chapters in between were intended to refute.

But before I give you a brief summary of Job, it's helpful to understand a few things about the Bible in general. The Bible consists of 66 different books, written by roughly 40 different authors. It contains many different forms of writing (poetry, prose, historical account, song lyrics, etc.), and many different creative styles of writing (similes, metaphors, personification, allegory, etc.). If you are a Christian, you most likely believe (as I do) that the Bible is the divinely inspired and inerrant Word of God. Does that mean that every word in it should be taken literally? No, definitely not. For example, God did not literally pull out knitting needles and knit you together in your mother's womb; Psalm 139:13 (as well as Job 10:11) is a metaphor intended to express the spiritual concept that God created us, even before physical birth. So does God frequently speak figuratively through song lyrics, metaphors, and allegory? Absolutely!

Like most books of the Bible, the story of Job was passed down orally from generation to generation until, years, decades, or even centuries later, someone was able to write it down. Most stories, when communicated orally over time, become simplified and/or embellished. It is believed that Job was passed down orally for many, many years before being committed to writing, and there are elements of it that could make a strong case for it being an historical account, as well as elements of it that could make a strong case for it being allegory.

By definition, "allegory" is:

"a (symbolic) story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one." (similar to a parable)

The fact that Job is located in the Bible after 17 books of history, and is placed alongside books of poetry (Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes), suggests to me that even 2-4000 years ago, it was considered somewhat, if not more so, poetry and/or allegory than history.

Personally, I believe Job started as oral history and, over time, some allegory was added to it, so by the time it was committed to writing, it was probably a combination of both, but I will leave those arguments and that debate to the religious scholars. The important point here is that just because it may be partially, or even entirely, allegory and/or poetry doesn't mean it is not divinely inspired; Jesus used parables to teach complex spiritual concepts on a regular basis.

So now that we've established that, allow me to give you a brief synopsis, not unlike what you may have heard about Job in the past.

Job was a righteous man; a man of immense character and integrity. A man who acknowledged and sought the Lord. He was the wealthiest man in the region, and as such, carried a lot of power and influence.

Satan had been "patrolling the earth" (Job 1:7), and God draws Satan's attention to Job; "Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless - a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil." (Job 1:8)

Satan responds that the only reason Job is so faithful to God is because God has always protected him and blessed him so abundantly, and he surmises that if God were to take all of Job's protection and blessings away, Job would surely curse Him.

But God has faith in Job, and allows Satan to have temporary access to Job on the condition that Satan cannot physically harm Job himself.

In just one day, 4 calamities befall Job and his family: 2 different enemy raiders attack Job's properties and possessions, killing all of his employees, and, simultaneously, everything else he owns is destroyed by 2 different natural disasters involving wind and fire, killing all 10 of Job's adult children. All that remains is Job's house, his wife, and a few of his house servants.

Job is overcome with grief, but, nevertheless, he falls to the ground in worship, " ... The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!" (Job 1:21 NLT) (or, ”I came naked from my mother's womb, and I will leave naked. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.")

Some time later, Satan is again "patrolling the earth", and God, again, draws his attention to Job, "... he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged Me to harm him without cause." (Job 2:3)

Satan responds that God did not allow him to take away Job's health; " ... reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse You to Your face!" (Job 2:5)

So, again, God allows Satan to have temporary access to Job on the condition that he must spare Job's life. So Satan strikes Job with terrible boils all over his body. But even amidst his pain and suffering, Job refuses to curse God, " ... Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" (Job 2:10)

There you have the first 2 chapters. And if you skip all the way to the last chapter, you will read about God restoring everything to Job - his health and his wealth - even doubling all of his possessions (thus the popular phrase among prosperity theologists, "double for your trouble!"). And Job and his wife have 10 more children; 7 sons and 3 daughters, just like before.

But the 39 chapters in between are the chapters no one likes to talk about. The chapters where Job wonders what he had done to deserve such loss. Where he grapples with his faith and has a crisis of belief. Where he wrestles with hopelessness and despair. Where he doubts his value and his worth, and ponders whether or not the world would be better off without him in it. There is a lot we can learn from those 39 chapters in between - especially about mental health - if we are willing to dig deeply enough to delve into the chapters that most Christians, churches, and pastors try to avoid. If you're feeling brave, I invite you to join me for the rest of the series.

© I Lift My Voice, 2023

Click Here to Read Part 2 in This 12-Part Series on Grief, Trauma, and Mental Health