While God doesn’t answer specifically WHY a certain trial is to be endured by one of His children, He does seem to reveal a pattern for us that can bring us comfort and relief m knowing its order By knowing there is a pattern, we can be helped to accept our trials and perhaps even see their purpose.
The following table is found m Appendix 4 of the book, Hezekiah the Great, Song of Degrees by Bre H Whittaker and G Booker In Appendix 4, a suggested order of resemblances between the trials of Job and Hezekiah is given as follows.
Hezekiah and Job
- Sore boils (In Hebrew, the same word)
- Disloyal friends
- Bereft of children
- Perfect before God
- Life restored
- Friends forgiven for his sake
- The great problem Why do the righteous suffer?
- Reassurance through a vision of the glory of the Lord
- The untameable leviathan is God’s creature to control (Isa 27 1,10 6,7)
- Double blessing at the end
The suggested order above can also fit the life of Christ, and that of many of the patriarchs, including Paul the apostle It appears to be a pattern of trial and suffering!
- Trial. Both Job and Hezekiah had the same sickness (it appears) of sore boils which nearly took their lives The trial of sickness, or an affliction of some sort, occurs in everyone’s life Job spent much time searching for the answer to his suffering, and his “miserable comforters” likewise exhausted their wisdom to discover the reason — arriving at a disturbing conclusion which was incorrect Sickness and suffering is not necessarily an indication of sin.
- Friends Job’s sickness and despair were followed by a withdrawal of friends and family Generally when we are seriously ill, friends and family gather and surround us But sometimes after a long time of sickness, our friends may tire of comforting us Our family may even become impatient with us, withdrawing because of the stress of the protracted affliction, leaving us feeling rejected and alone We have been told that some marriages dissolve with long and severe illnesses.
- Loss. In Job’s case, he lost his children, health and wealth, in Hezekiah’s, he lost his health, some wealth and it appears he had no seed to carry on his lineage (perhaps he was not even married as yet) In Christ’s experience, the redeemed who would result from his suffering would be counted as his children.
- Justified Both Job and Hezekiah were declared righteous by God This did not mean they were sinless, but that they were living under God’s precepts and were forgiven of sins They were spiritually mature (the Bible expresses it as “perfect”) individuals knowing good from evil and acting upon that knowledge When we are baptized into Christ’s death we are declared righteous and forgiven our sins.
- Restored. Job’s health and blessings were restored and he lived to see his children’s children Hezekiah’s life was extended 15 years so that he bore seed for the line of Christ, (Matt 110) Sometimes our lives meet with adversity, either temporarily or permanently, so that someone close to us learns the gospel and is converted Often we never fully know the reason for our trial and suffering, but we can trust God has a purpose for whatever happens to His children We may be quite unaware of the effect our suffering and the attitude in which we bear it influences another person As difficult as it is to accept, our agonizing trial may affect the salvation of another The full story will not be made manifest until the Lord, the suffering servant, appears.
- Forgiveness. Job prayed his three friends might be forgiven Whether they remained faithful can only be conjectured It is usually true that after great affliction and trial, especially restoration of health, we become more compassionate and forgiving of others We also learn to appreciate life more.
- Why? Why do the righteous suffer? Most feel Job’s suffering was to develop his character and to convert his friends It was certainly to call attention to the activity and importance of God m his life and ultimately to bring glory to His name Perhaps, as mentioned before, some (ourselves?) would witness Job’s patience and also learn to worship the Lord Hezekiah reformed the people and his suffering strengthened his faith and brought about unity with some in the northern kingdom We know why Christ suffered It was to redeem and save us from our sins His life brought glory to God, and by his submission to suffering he brought the hope of the gospel to the world’s attention Joseph, the most righteous son of Jacob, suffered affliction m Egypt in order to save his nation In terms of divine time, our light affliction is but for a moment It has its purpose and meaning even if we do not know “why” for the moment.
- Reassurance That God is with us m our trials is gamed by turning to the examples of faithful believers, reading of biblical characters and studying the pattern of trial and suffering God recorded the incidents and lives of faithful men and women so that we would have understanding of His pattern The Lord has also revealed visions and prophecies so that we might have hope and inspiration to continue in the way and endure to the end.
- Leviathan It is a symbol of sin that will continue until destroyed by God through Christ Certainly, sin and transgression dwelt in Job’s and Hezekiah’s lives since they were mortal men Job did not deny it, m fact his trials were vital in exposing his self-confidence and in making possible his appreciation of God’s grace During the 15-year extension of his Hezekiah sinned by revealing his great wealth to the ambassadors of Babylon He acknowledged his sin, no doubt far more readily because of his trials which humbled him and made him receptive to divine rebuke.
- Double blessing God replaced Job’s children and gave him a long life, restoring his material wealth and great prestige Hezekiah was given a seed to continue the line of Christ and his life was extended 15 additional years In addition to his great power in Egypt, Joseph became the acknowledged leader of his reunited family living m Goshen and he received a double portion when his descendants conquered the land Christ returned and met with his disciples before ascending to heaven from whence he is administering events to form his multitudinous family with whom he will dwell m great glory.
How does knowing the divine pattern help us? The pattern of trial and suffering can be useful if we will look past the pain and agony to the wonders of the future age, which is exactly what our Lord did (Heb 12 2) As we assay the lives of the men and women of faith in scripture, how many escaped the pain and sorrow of severe trials? Adam and Eve had to endure the murder of a beloved and virtuous son at the hand of his hateful brother Abraham was called upon to offer his cherished son, for whom he waited 25 years, and although unrecorded, we can picture the torment Sarah endured when she would learn of the impending sacrifice.
Isaac and Rebekah were deprived of Jacob’s company for years and Jacob catalogs in seven heart-wrenching verses his substantial suffering at the hands of Laban for what some expositors reckon was a period of 40 years (Gen 31 36-42) What parent cannot relate to the suffering of Aaron, whose sons Nadab and Abihu were incinerated from within because of an indiscretion while they worshipped, and Aaron was not even permitted to mourn the death of his sons As we do our readings, countless examples will come to notice.
We can benefit from studying the pattern of trial and suffering in the lives of God’s faithful servants Often scripture reveals the reason for a trial, but where no apparent reason is manifest, we must rely on the infinite mercy of God and await an answer knowing that the Lord is working for our salvation As Abraham said so long ago when agonizing over the fate of Sodom, “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One