Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

charging God or by bitterly complaining against him. This is stated twice (Job
1:22; 2:10). His “greatness lies in the fact that in spite of everything which
tore at his heart, he never lost his grip on faith and his grip on God” (Barclay,
147).
His dialogues with his four friends constituted a totally different test.
Accused by his so-called friends of gross and apparently hidden sins, he “passionately
questions their conventional arguments,” condemns their conclusions,
and maintains his integrity. Just as “passionately he agonizes about the
terrible thought that God might have forsaken him,” (Barclay, 147), and of
sorts puts God in the dock as well, of the opinion that God owes the world,
including himself, an (immediate) explanation. In fact, he presses him for
such explanation. This, however, does not take anything away from his fundamental
perseverance. After all, he continues to profess his trust in God.
Even if God were to eliminate him (Job 13:15), he was fully convinced that
he had a witness/redeemer in heaven (Job 16:19; 19:25).
All this precipitated the following, excellent, conclusion on the part of
one commentator. “There will be moments in life when we think that God has
forgotten, but if we cling to the remnants of faith, at the end of life we too
shall see that God is very kind and very merciful.” What an encouragement
for those who are under the gun. Choosing the way of endurance, fed by the
“flame of faith in (their) heart,” they may be assured that it takes only “remnants”
to arrive “at the end of the Lord” (Jam. 5:11) (Barclay, 148).
Eventually, of course, Job acknowledges that his challenge of God is
(deeply) flawed and could not have been more repentant on that account (Job
42:5-6). So, while “remnants of faith” are sufficient to sustain God’s children,
this does not negate the complementary breaking of the heart where and when
necessary. In sum, while the first test evidences his unflinching endurance,
the second test complements this via a more circuitous route by giving him a
breathtaking vision of his God (Job 42:5). This precipitated a total surrender,
evidenced by his prayer for his “friends.” In short, while he passed the first
and fundamental test summa cum laude, with flying colors, in the “primary”
school of the fear of God, he remained a little longer in the “secondary”
school of progressive sanctification. But eventually he passed the final examination
there with the highest of marks as well.
It is noteworthy that God never questioned Job’s integrity. This would
have been passing strange. After all, it was God’s “boast” about his integrity
that precipitated the “plot” that was to follow. Neither did God find any fault
with Job’s perseverance. That would have been equally strange. After all, it
was God’s second boast that he would never waver, regardless how the “plot”
would play out. That is why it is offensive to suggest that James’ choice of
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