Wounded by God

Check out this amazing verse from the Book of Job: 
For he wounds, but he binds up;he strikes, but his hands give healing.  

Job 5:18 (NABRE).

Why does he wound us?    One response is that this is a mystery.  Don't try to figure it out.  Just accept it.  Until a believer gets to heaven that person will not see clearly  how and why this wounding took place over the course of life.   That was true in the case of Job.   If you read Job you will see that Job did not get any good answers or explanations for his wounds.  

And yes, I realize that the words of Job 5:18 came from Eliphaz who wrongly thought that God was dealing with Job's errors.   That was not the case.   Job had troubles because he was under attack by Satan, an attack which God allowed.   Eliphaz is stating truth in Job 5:18 having no understanding as to what God  was doing in the life of Job.   But it is truth nonetheless.   As with Job, if we are having trouble it might  not be  the case that this trouble is "chastening"  from God.  We should not try too hard to figure out what God is doing with us.  With these caveats, what can be said about why God wounds his children?  

The Bible describes at least three beautiful reasons why God inflicts pain.  This from Hebrews gives some guidance on the subject: 

[5] And have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons? -- "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor lose courage when you are punished by him.
[6] For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives."


Heb. 12:5-6 (RSV) (quoting Prov. 3:11-12).  

Believers experience  this Hebrews 12 discipline  when they feel  anxious and  miserable after sinning. That pain from God comes in the form of guilt,  which becomes a blessing.   Guilt may lead to repentance, forgiveness and a changed life.  Based on Hebrews 12, then, we learn of the wound that leads to repentance.  

Second, God may wound his children, even when they are innocent of sin.  He inflicts suffering to teach his children, to cause growth in love, patience and perseverance,   and I have blogged about that.
St. Paul talks about this suffering that leads to endurance, character and hope, all made possible by the Holy Spirit who has been given to the believer.  Rom. 5:3-4.

Third, the Bible describes  the suffering of the king.  God's only Son comes in the line of King David to bring in the kingdom of God.  He died with the inscription on the cross, "King of Jews."  Jesus who never sinned  "learned obedience through what he suffered." Heb. 5:8 (RSV).  The meaning of the suffering of Jesus does have a connection with the Book of Job.  Job and Jesus had something in common.  They were both kings.   One of the mysterious themes of the Bible that I have learned from James B. Jordan is that the king must suffer for his people.   That's what kings do.  The Book of Job does not state that theme of the suffering king directly, as the Gospel of Mark does, but it is enough to observe that the suffering of Job is the suffering of a king.  And a broad theme of the Bible is that the king suffers for his people, as a warrior going into battle.  

The king is precious to God, and God does bind up the wounds with his healing hand.  Job 5:18.   He healed the wounds of Job.   He raised Jesus from the dead and healed Jesus' by giving him his  glorified body.

The work of the king continues in our day.   When a believer continues the work of Jesus, suffering for God's people, as St. Paul did, he is "always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our bodies."  I Cor. 4:11 (RSV).    Paul says this about his work for the people he serves:  "So we do not lose heart.  Though our outer man is wasting away, our inner man is renewed every day."  I Cor. 4:16   (RSV).    Through the Holy Spirit,  Jesus'  kingly suffering and healing continues in the life of believers.