“My anger burns against you and your two friends because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has… You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has” (Job 42:7, 8).

Reading: Job 42:1-17

God’s anger burned against Job’s friends because they did not speak of Him according to His true nature. How did Job’s friends portray God? They presented Him as harsh, austere, demanding, and vengeful. While they said many correct things about Him, they ultimately misrepresented Him by attributing to Him a nature inferior to His true character. They told Job: “Is not your hope the integrity of your ways? Consider now: who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where have the upright ever been destroyed? Those who sow trouble reap it” (Job 4:6-8). They lectured him: “He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away” (Job 5:13).

Their theology—their understanding of God—was flawed. They believed that Job was suffering because, although he appeared righteous, he was actually a liar, a fraud, and a hypocrite. According to their logic, the innocent do not suffer; therefore, Job could not be innocent. They had to either believe that Job was a hypocrite or accept that what had happened did not fit into their theological framework. Because their concept of God was incorrect, their judgment of Job was also wrong. They thought Job was suffering the deserved punishment of God.

Today, those who judge with this same reasoning accuse God of injustice when the innocent suffer. This issue troubled the writer of Psalm 73: why do the righteous suffer? The truth is that suffering can arise from causes beyond a person’s control and not necessarily as a result of their own wrongdoing. When a tower collapsed, killing some men, Jesus said that it was not because of their sin that they suffered this tragedy; they were no more sinful than others (Luke 13:4). The same applies to the man born blind (John 9:2-3). The righteous do suffer. All the martyrs bear witness to this. And what about the Lord Jesus Himself? How would Job’s friends have judged Him?

If our concept of God is wrong, it is because there is something distorted within us—we think God is like us. We project our own character onto Him. Those who are too lenient see God as a softhearted Santa Claus, while the strict see Him as a harsh tyrant. Legalists perceive God as relentless, while liberals see Him as permissive, unconcerned with sin, and willing to forgive everything without consequence. In the end, they create a God in their own image!

The real question is: What is the God that Jesus revealed like? Jesus revealed a God who expects more from Nicodemus (John 3:10) than from the Samaritan woman (John 4:22). He does not condemn her for her theological ignorance or even for her immorality; instead, He invites her to change (John 4:16) and provides the means for her to do so (John 4:10). The God of the Pharisees condemned tax collectors (Matthew 9:11), but Jesus’ God sought them out to save them (Matthew 9:10). The God of legalists excommunicates those who fall into sin; the God of liberals overlooks sin—or even approves of it! But the God of Jesus restores sinners.

What impression do I give of God through my life? How do I represent Him by the way others perceive me? What do people think of God when they see me as a reference point? What kind of God do I present? Do I speak the truth about Him?