Job 12: The Definition Of God

Just what is it that makes God God?  Is there one defining characteristic?  The Bible is full of attributes that we ascribe to God.  For instance, we know that He is love, that He is holy, that He is good, and that He is merciful.  But for many of us, and certainly for Job and his friends, the overriding characteristic associated with God is Power.  God is known to be all-powerful.

That is why, in chapter 12, Job recites a litany of things that God does.  He says that this is common sense shared by everyone, even all creatures.  "Everyone knows" that God is in control and that no one is mightier than Him.  He holds every life in His hand (vs. 10).  He tears down - no one can rebuild (vs. 14).  He brings down the powerful (vs. 17-21).  He can search out the deepest things (vs. 22).

But is there a leap between saying that God is all-powerful (a sentiment that I would certainly share) to the conclusion that God always gets what God wants?  If there isn't, then it would make sense to believe that everything that happens is God's will.

Who is responsible for what has happened to Job, his incredible sufferings and losses?  Did it come about from the hand of God because it was God's desire to crush Job?  If it's happening, it must be God's will.  That is what is in the mind of Job and his friends, and why it is so distressing to Job to feel that has been unfairly, unjustly targeted for suffering.  He has done nothing to deserve this punishment, yet God has dealt it out to him.

But we know that there is more to the story.  What is happening to Job is not what God desired -but what God permitted.  It is Satan's will (not God's) to afflict him so terribly; up until Job 1 God's will had been to pour out blessings upon His faithful servant Job.

Because of their limited understanding, Job and his friends believe that what is happening must be the will of God, since God is all-powerful.  But the picture we get is one of God allowing this testing of Job by Satan because something bigger is going on, something unseen and unknown on earth.

It requires faith that God knows what He is doing, even when we don't understand.