Job 1:1-5
In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." This was Job’s regular custom.
The book of Job. It's the one book of the bible that makes people groan. Or cringe. Or shake with fear. At first glance, Job appears to be about how God can turn on us - no matter how good we are, how much we honor Him, how faithful we are - God, on a whim (or a bet with the Devil) can turn on us, destroying our lives in an instant.
Job 1:6-12
One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going to and fro in it." Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no-one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
When my ex husband talks about why he left God, he often cites the book of Job. He reasons that a God that would turn on his faithful servant, especially for a wager, is not a God he would want to serve. And if that were really what the book of Job was about that would be an understandable rationale. But Job actually has very little to do with God, and everything to do with Job.
The night I put Ishmael to the desert, the Lord roused me from my sleep. I got out of bed and walked over to my desk, flipped on the light and opened my bible. Right to....the book of Job. Oh, God. Job. Anything but Job. And right then I fell on my face before God and said, "All that I have is yours. If you take it all away, everything I have - Jake, the horses, the dwelling, all of it - I will still serve You and praise You. Everything I have is yours."
Job1:13-22
One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were ploughing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!" While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you! "While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!" While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
The next day my horses were gone, stolen by folks who claim to be followers of Jesus. A day later Jake was gone, on a plane to Oregon with his dad. Two days later everything I owned was in the back of a Uhaul, and I was once again homeless. It happened that fast, and still I praise the Lord! Because "Job" is not about God, it's not about loss, it's not about Satan, it's not about possessions - it's about Job, and who Job was in his relationship with God.
Job2:1-10
On another day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going to and fro in it." Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no-one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason." "Skin for skin!" Satan replied. "A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face." The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!" He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
God clearly tells us at that Job was blameless. He did not "do anything" to "deserve punishment. All that happened to him was not in relation to anything he did or didn't do - God considered him just, faithful, and blameless before Him. God loved Job, just as he loves each one of us. But sometimes bad things happen to good people. They just do. The key is in how we will handle those things when they come our way, and how they will affect - or not - our relationship with God.
Despite his intense loss and suffering, Job did not speak out against God. In fact, for along time he didn't speak at all. I think we can all learn a lesson from this; when we're in a full blown crisis, it's easy to let the tongue fly and "vent" our frustrations and often that means saying things we might later regret. Managing to stay still in a crisis is not something that has ever come easily or naturally for me, but I have learned that with God in control, it is not only possibly, but remaining still and letting God be in charge brings a quiet comfort that would be otherwise unobtainable in the midst of chaos.
Job 3:1-26
After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. He said: "May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is born!’ That day—may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine upon it. May darkness and deep shadow claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm its light. That night—may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months. May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it. May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan. May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes.
"Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest with kings and counsellors of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins, with rulers who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day? There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout. The small and the great are there, and the slave is freed from his master.
"Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? For sighing comes to me instead of food; my groans pour out like water. What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil."
Eventually Job does speak, and his first words are to curse the day he was ever born. He sounds down right depressed - and who wouldn't be! - but despite his pain and anguish, he remains true and faithful to God. He may feel like it would have been better if he'd never been born, and he may even curse his own birth, but he never, ever casts blame on God.
Job 2:11-13
When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathise with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognise him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No-one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.
Understand this clearly - Job was once the most blessed man in the entire world, and over the course of a few short days he lost everything he owned, all of his children, and he became so sick that his friends could barely recognize him, and still he did not speak badly of God or put the blame on Him because Job knew what we all must understand - God is not just the God of the good times, of the plenty, of the harvest, of good health, but He is the God of all times. Do we only worship Him when things are going our way, or do we praise and worship Him always, through all things, through all times, because we know that He is God and we have faith that through it all He will be there?
Job 42: 7-9
After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.
The book of Job consists of 42 long chapters. Through the majority of it, Job's "friends" try and get him to admit that he has sinned against God and therefore deserves all that has happened to him. Job remains true to himself and to the Lord - he tells his friends that they are wrong and he is blameless - and at the same time he never condemns or criticizes God. Imagine that you are in Jobs place - you have lost everything that has meaning to you in the natural world, you have not only lost your health but are covered with open sores and boils that are so painful you can barely breath, and your best friends show up not to comfort you, but to argue with you about whose fault it is that you are in the sorry state you are in! For days his friends torment him with their false assumption that Job is to blame for all that he's been through and he, in his pain, sorrow and desperation can do nothing but tell them they are wrong. In the end, the Lord hears what Job's friends have been saying and He becomes angry - the Lord knew that Job was blameless and that the afflictions were not due to any sin on his part - yet when He lets Job's friends know how wrong they have been and that the deserve His wrath He still gives them an out - if Job prays for them He will accept his prayer and spare them the justice they deserve.
And perhaps this is what makes Job such a special man in the eyes of God; despite everything he does pray for his friends. He prays for them not knowing how his own life will turn out. Not knowing how much longer he will suffer. Not knowing if there is any end to his pain in sight. He prays for them because he is a good man, a man that is fair and just, a man that truly loves God and wants to do what is right; so despite the pain his friends have subjected him to, he prays that the Lord will forgive them and that they will be spared.
Job 42: 10-17
After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters.The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch.Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so he died, old and full of years.
You see, the point of the book of Job is not God's faithfulness to us - we cannot begin to fathom or understand the mind of God, and therefore have no right to judge Him under any circumstances. The book of Job is about Job, and therefore also about us, and how faithful we are to God, all of the time, every day, under every single circumstance, regardless of how wonderful or how devastating. It is easy to praise the Lord when the times are good and all is fine. The question is, will we praise Him when times are hard and everything goes wrong? Will we be faithful to God, no matter what?
In the end, Job was rewarded for his faithfulness to God. All that he had was restored and then some, and the Lord blessed him with living to a ripe old age to enjoy it. Our faithfulness will always be rewarded. Even if we are living a Job experience and never recover, never receive another earthly blessing, by remaining faithful to God we will have the pleasure of standing before Him in heaven and hearing "Well done, my good and faithful servant," and that is the ultimate reward.
If you are suffering right now, if you are going through your own Job experience like I am, hang tough! The Lord does hear you, He does understand what you're going through, and He does care! Just because He allows us to endure suffering doesn't mean He doesn't love us or isn't there; just look at the suffering His own Son endured for us! God does love you. God does care about your pain, and He will see you through it. Be strong, faithful warrior, and know that no matter what happens during this life, your true and ultimate reward will come soon enough, and you will spend all of eternity marveling in the joy and splendor of God.
