Lessons from Job – a faithful servant of God
This morning, I found myself drawn to read from the book of Job. When confronted by Satan, God said of Job, “There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” (Job 1:8). Job’s righteousness is praised in the book’s prologue and his wealth and blessings are highlighted. His faith was so resolute that when challenged, God put all that Job had into Satan’s hands, commanding only that he not touch the man himself.
Almost immediately, all of his oxen were stolen and the servants guarding them were killed. Fire came from the sky and consumed all of his sheep and the servants tending them. All of his camels were stolen and the servants with them killed. And if all of that weren’t enough to test any man’s faith, his own sons and daughters were killed when Satan caused the house that they were in to collapse.
When Job heard of all of these calamaties his response was remarkable. Imagine Job, his world crashing in around him. All of his sons and daughters killed and his earthly possessions taken from him in a single day. What might I do, I wonder, if similar disasters befell me? Our selfish, Godless world curses whomever they feel is responsible in such situations, many times even railing against God and crying out, “how could you have allowed this to happen to me?” Job’s reaction however was quite the opposite:
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart. [c]
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised.”
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. (Job1:20-22)
Job obviously did grieve these losses. He “tore his robe and shaved his head.” Then he did something amazing. “He fell to the ground in worship.” (Job 1:20) Worship! Here is a man who has been devastated and his first act in response is to worship. He resigned that all that he had was given by God and taken away by God and even went so far as to praise the very name of God. After all that had happened to him and his family in one single day, he remained faithful to God.
Defeated by Job’s integrity, Satan asks God to test him further, by taking away his health. Confident in his faithful servant, God allows it. In chapter 2, sitting among shards of pottery that he is using to scrape painful boils from his body, his very own wife says to him, “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9)
10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish [b] woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. (Job 2:10)
Job remains in agony as his friends come to sit with him. After seven days of silence, Job speaks out against God. In the chapters that follow, several of his friends echo the words of his wife. Some of his other friends entreat him to repent against the vile words that he is speaking, each failing to persuade Job. Finally in chapter 38, God speaks, giving Job a verbal ‘thrashing.’
After hearing all that God has to say, Job repents in chapter 42
1 Then Job replied to the LORD:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:1-6)
So, back to the question that I asked at the outset. What might I do, I wonder, if similar disasters befell me? It is even more difficult today, in this world of materialistic and faithless people. Job’s reaction in the latter test is precisely what such worldly people [and most people of faith] would do. I would hope, that if faced with such situations, I could not only be like the Job of chapter 1, but also learn from God’s words in chapters 38-41 and consider Job’s repentance in chapter 42
In the book’s epilogue, Job is restored. He is given back twice what he had before. He lived a long and prosperous life, having many children and grandchildren. He saw four generations of his family in the one hundred forty years that he lived.
As for me I will run to God. I will seek always to keep the lessons of Job before me and glorify God’s name ALWAYS.
Finally, I am reminded of Ecclesiastes 6:12:
12 For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? Who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone? (Ecclesiastes 6:12)
Clearly the answer, as in all things, is God.
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