When life brings questions without answers.

When life brings questions without answers
Job 15-17
“Where now is my hope? And who regards my Hope?” (17:15).

When we are going through times of intense trials and difficulties, the questions run rampant in our minds. When life is going well, we easily have answers for all the challenges we face. But when we are going through the throes of adversity, when our minds are running wild at night so we cannot sleep, then the question arises, and answers are fleeting.

In the second dialogue between Job and Eliphaz, several questions arise. They are more than questions about suffering; they are questions about humanity’s relationship with God. In Eliphaz's response (ch. 15), we see the first question: Can a man be innocent before God (vs. 14)? For Eliphaz, the answer to this question is an emphatic no. He continues to challenge Job’s claim of innocence by arguing that we can never proclaim innocence because we are always guilty before God. Eliphaz rightly argues that sin has permeated our lives. If Eliphaz possessed a copy of the New Testament, he would turn to Romans 3:23 as proof: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  For Eliphaz, suffering is always a result of sin, for no one is righteous. While Eliphaz was correct in his understanding of humanity's sinfulness, his knowledge was incomplete.   He failed to recognize 1 John 3:16-22. Sinful man can stand before God free from sin, for Christ has paid the penalty of sin; therefore, we can come before God without fear of condemnation.

Job responds by raising the question of God’s mercy. If God is merciful, then how can he allow His people to suffer (16:1-17)? When we are facing adversity and sorrow in life, this becomes the question that haunts us at night. How can a merciful God seemingly turn His back upon us in our time of trial? We ask the same question the songwriter asked in the ballad, The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald: “Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the minutes turn into hours?”  Remarkably, even though it seems that God has turned against Job, he affirms that he has an advocate in heaven who pleads his case and proclaims his innocence (16:19). He cries for an advocate, someone who would stand up for him to claim his innocence (16:19). Job’s longing for an advocate to proclaim his innocence is a foreshadow, a road sign with an arrow, that is pointing us forward to the one who would be his (and ours) advocate in heaven. This advocate would be no other than God himself. Christ becomes our advocate, declaring our innocence. This is fully expressed in 1 John 2:1-2, “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He himself is the propitiation for our sins.”  Christ becomes our advocate by declaring our purity before the Father, not because we are without sin or fault, but because Christ has already paid the penalty for our sin.

In chapter 17, Job again asks the question, “Where now is my hope?”  When we face suffering, we are confronted with the fact that we do not have the answers to life’s problems. Suffering strips away our confidence and self-assurance. This brings us to the final question raised in this section, “Where do we turn for answers? Where do we find hope?”  Job asks the question that Paul answers in Ephesians 2:12-13, that apart from salvation, we are indeed without hope, but Christ came to bring us hope and salvation.

The questions raised by Job’s suffering go beyond the nature of suffering and go to the heart of a fallen world dominated by sin. Where is our hope when sin permeates everything and brings destruction into our lives? Job does more than raise the question of suffering; it serves as a messianic primer, pointing us to our need for a savior. The answers to Job’s questions will be revealed in the coming of Christ. We do have an advocate who will stand up on our behalf, the advocate is Christ. Through his actions, we can stand innocent before God, and we can have hope because Christ removed the cause of suffering.