Why did I write a book about Job? The primary reason is because I saw a need in the Church that wasn’t being addressed: theology that blames victims. It comes in many forms. “You didn’t have enough faith.” “You should have known better.” How about, “You should pray and see why God did this to you.” Or, my favorite, “God always has a reason. You should examine your life to see what God is trying to teach you.”
All of those statements and more, have a tinge of truth in them. Yes, I should always be open to being taught things, and that includes through hardships. But, it is wrong for me to think whatever happened had to be punishment. If God speaks, I should listen. But, if God DOESN”T speak, what then?
We should not assume that a hardship or calamity was punishment. God will say so if it was.
There are four types of people I am targeting as readers for my book. I’ll list them in outline form here, and then expand on them in future posts.
- People who want a better understanding of the sovereignty of God.
- People who believe that calamities are judgements from God on the individuals upon whom the calamity fell.
- Victims of calamity, who have been told or hinted to that “you must have done something wrong to deserve this”.
- Victims who blame themselves for calamity, thinking, without reason, that they caused the calamity.
All people can always learn things from any book of the Bible. But, these four groups in particular can gain particularly good insights if they read and apply the lessons in the Bible’s book of Job.