Job: Tragedy, Repentance & Restoration – Part II
Posted By Joe on August 19, 2009
- Job: Tragedy, Repentance & Restoration – Part I
- Job: Tragedy, Repentance & Restoration – Part II
- Job: Tragedy, Repentance & Restoration – Part III
- Job: Tragedy, Repentance & Restoration – Part IV
- Job: Tragedy, Repentance & Restoration – Part V
- Job: Tragedy, Repentance & Restoration – Part VI
- Job: Tragedy, Repentance & Restoration – Part VII
- Job: Tragedy, Repentance & Restoration – Part VIII
- Job: Tragedy, Repentance & Restoration – Part IX
- Job: Tragedy, Repentance & Restoration – Part X
- Job: Tragedy, Repentance & Restoration – Part XI
Last time, we were introduced to the man called Job.
We learned that God had high praise for Job's righteousness, but Satan countered with questioning Job's motives. With God's permission, Satan then sent calamity upon Job's possessions and even killed all of his children. In spite of the horror of all that was happening around him, "Job did not sin nor did he blame God."
The Book of Job - Part II: Satan Isn't Finished With Job
After Satan sends the first salvo of suffering Job's way, you get the feeling that Satan was sure it would be enough for Job to "curse [God] to [His] face." But that's not what Job did.
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. --Job 2:1.
Here, as in Job 1:6, the angels are meeting with God to give an account of their activities. Satan is a created, angelic being. That doesn't make him "good." In fact, the Word says that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). It's really one of the reasons so many follow him, falsely believing his lies and deceptions.
The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Then Satan answered the Lord and said, "From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it." --Job 2:2.
God's question to Satan was more rhetorical than inquisitive. God certainly knows where Satan has been. Just as in Job 1:7, there is the familiar response "roaming about on the earth and walking around on it." The earth is Satan's domain. You might be surprised to learn that Satan isn't in hell ... yet. In fact, no one is in hell at this time. Satan and the dead whose names are not written in the Book of Life will be cast into hell at the White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:13-14).
Everything in this world is Satan's to give. We see this confirmed in Matthew when Satan offers all the worldly wealth to Jesus.
Again the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord Your God, and serve Him only.'" --Matthew 4:8-10.
Look at Jesus' response to Satan's offer. Jesus did not reply that Satan had no authority to make such an offer. His response confirms that all the worldly wealth is Satan's to give.
Getting back to the dialog between God and Satan:
The Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause." --Job 2:3.
This is an amazing verse. First, I can't help but get this image in my head of God as a proud Father. He simply grins at Satan and says: "See! I told you so!"
More importantly, this verse explains why sometimes the righteous suffer. God is explaining to all that He is not always in heaven looking down and trying to figure out how to destroy our lives and make us suffer! So often, God wants to draw us closer to Him and sometimes it takes pain and suffering to do so.
C.S. Lewis wrote:
God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
As believers, we must always remember that our pain, suffering, and trials are all "Father-filtered." We need to be asking: "What can I learn from this, Lord?"
Satan answered the Lord and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face." So the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life." --Job 2:4-6.
So Satan hasn't given up in trying to destroy Job. But in spite of this, Satan is still under God's control. Even though God puts Job in Satan's power, God still commands Satan to spare Job's life. It's subtle, but powerful. No matter how much Satan may buffet you, remember that God always in control and Satan cannot act outside of God's will.
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes. --Job 2:7-8.
There are many speculations as to Job's medical condition. Some say he had cancer. Some say it was some type of dermatological disease or elephantiasis or leukemia of the skin. Whatever it was, it was painful, itching, and later oozed serum and attracted worms. Pretty nasty stuff. The "potsherd" mentioned was simply a piece of broken pottery.
Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!" --Job 2:9.
Here is the only mention of Job's wife, and it's none too flattering. Satan destroyed all of Job's wealthy and livelihood and killed all of his children. In my opinion, it's sort of a sick joke on Satan's part to leave Job's wife alive to now mock him in his time of crisis.
Yet, in spite of this physical torment and the additional humiliation brought about by his wife, Job says:
"You speak as one of the foolish woman speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. --Job 2:10.
We have to remember something at this point, as readers, we are privy to the conversations between God and Satan. We know why all this was happening to Job but he--at this point--has no clue why this is happening to him.
Not only does Job not know why this is happening, but he has a few friends come by who also don't really know but they'll have plenty of opinions why.
Now when Job's three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him. --Job 2:11.
J. Vernon McGee says this of this verse:
Now we are introduced to the three friends, and we need to get to know them. Eliphaz was a Temanite. Teman was a grandson of Esau according to Genesis 36:10-11. Bildad was a Shuhite. Shuah was a son of Abraham according to Genesis 25:2. Zophar was a Naamathite. Naamah was in northern Arabia. These facts lead us to place the time of Job at the time of the patriarchs and it also gives to us the general location where Job lived, although we do not know the specific spot. --J. Vernon McGee, "Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee."
Back to Job:
When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky. Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great. --Job 2:12-13.
So far, so good. What I mean is, at this point, Job's friends are doing what is right and proper: they are grieving with Job and empathizing with him. A key phrase: "with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great." That is exactly what they should have remained doing.
We all need to walk softly around a broken heart. We need to be listening and not speaking. Unfortunately, they can't seem to keep their mouths shut so we'll soon see them beginning to analyze why Job has experienced all the awful things that have happened to him.
But first, we'll hear from Job, crying out in his pain and agony.
May He Increase!
About the author
The book of Job is not answering a theoretical question about why good people suffer. It is answering a practical question: When good people suffer, what does God want from them? The answer is, he wants our trust.
The book is driven by tensions. One, Job really was a good man (1:1, 8). He didn't deserve what he got. Two, neither Job nor his friends ever saw the conflict going on between God and Satan, but his friends made the mistake of thinking they were competent to judge. Three, his friends interpreted his sufferings in moralistic, accusing terms (4:7-8). Thus they intensified his sufferings. Four, Job refused to give in either to his own despair or to their insinuations. He looked to God, and God showed up (38:1-42:17).
Two observations. One, even personal suffering has a social dimension, as others look on. Suffering brings temptation both to the sufferer and to the observer. The sufferer is tempted to give up on God. The observer is tempted to point his finger at the sufferer with smug, self-serving explanations: "This is all your own fault, of course. If you'll own up, everything will start getting better." The fallacy here is to assume that we live in a universe ruled by the simple laws of crime and punishment. Our minds dredge up these thoughts because we are so uneasy about ourselves and therefore threatened by the suffering of another: "If it's happening to Job, it might catch up to me too." So we cling to the illusory feeling of control by reinforcing our own self-image of moral superiority. The book of Job teaches a better, humbler way. When we observe someone else suffering, we too should trust God and sympathize with the sufferer rather than off-load our own guilty fears by dumping on the sufferer.
Two, when we ourselves suffer in ways we cannot explain, God wants us to trust him more than we ever have before. Job eventually settles into a deeper place where, without answers to his questions, he trusts in the omni-competence of God: "I know that you can do all things" (42:2). What God can do is more important than how God explains himself. What if he did tell us every mystery right now? Would we be satisfied? I doubt it. It would only pander to our pride. Far better to leave it all with God, as our faith deepens from questioning to admiring. We don't live by explanations; we live by faith.
"I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able." 2 Timothy 1:12
Brother Ike, thanks so much for the comments. Very powerful and adds much to the discussion here.
[...] the last post, we looked at Satan's second round of calamity against Job. We saw how Satan even used Job's wife to come against him and yet, Job held fast and "did not sin [...]