The Book of Job opens with his horror show and him losing everything. Then it says this:
“Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything” (Job 1:22).
But is that really the case?
Elihu summed up Job’s argument:
Job:
“I am pure, without transgression; I am clean have no guilt. But He finds reason to oppose me; He regards me as His enemy. He puts my feet in the stocks; He stands watch over all my paths.” (Job 333:9-11)
“For Job has declared, “I am righteous, yet God has deprived me of justice. Would I lie about my case? My wound is incurable though I am without transgression,” (Job 34:5).
It sounds like Job is indeed blaming God of injustice. Job believes he is righteous, and yet God is depriving him of justice. Even God himself seems to echo this thought:
God:
“Would you really challenge My justice? Would You declare Me guilty to justify yourself?” (Job 40:8)
So is this blaming God or isn’t it? We could look at this several ways:
1) What was said of Job in 1:22 that he did not make accusation against God was said at the beginning of his journey, when everything first happened. That he didn’t blame God initially.
2) Job did blame God but not in a sinful way. He didn’t reject God or hate him, but was speaking out of the anguish of his soul.
3) Job did eventually blame God but was humbled before Him in a big way.
Clearly Job was feeling like what he was enduring was unjust. He had done everything in his power to live a righteous life (Job 27:5-6; 29:12-17). And it is true that he was expressing his frustration and grief before God. Why was he enduring such suffering if he had lived such a good life?
While Job is angry at this friends who have accused him of sin and that’s why he was suffering, he, at the root had the same question. Why was he suffering even though he knew he had no sin?
But God’s response was this: You are not God and you do not understand my purposes and ways.
So was Job blaming God? Yes in a sense. He was saying to God that his actions were unjust. Was he blaming God in a sinful way? I don’t think so, but not in a healthy way either. He had become so focused on his problem that he had forgotten to see the majesty of God. And in the end, God didn’t ask Job to burn sacrifices in repentance, he asked that of Job’s friends. So I think in a sense Job brought his anguish and questions before God, but not in a sinful way.
So is it wrong to blame God? The truth is we all do it. When we get angry with him or distance ourselves from him, it’s often that we are blaming God. Many an atheist if one looks at the core finds that there is anger towards God about something.
It’s Ok to be raw before God. We saw that all over the Psalms. David did not hold back. But it’s where that rawness and pain leads that tells us what is in our hearts. Does it lead to a cooling towards God and towards others? Or does it lead us to dig deeper into wrestling with the things of God without abandoning him.
For me I always know when I’m sinning or angry with God. I look at my actions. I tend to distance myself from church and from Christian fellowship, and a coolness sets in. Prayer is less and commitment is half-hearted. Those are my indicators that I’m angry with God in an unholy way.
But Job showed that we can still pour out our questions and frustrations and anguish with God, but it doesn’t have to lead us to hardening our hearts to Him or distancing ourselves from him. Job was real but he pressed into God. And God did finally answer but not in a way that Job expected. God is often like that.
