You can spot a novice believer quickly by the way they pronounce Job. (Smiling, because I made the same mistake as a child, we all did!)  The book of Job is not an easy read. It is probably because we see ourselves a little too much in Job’s reactions; especially when we walk through life’s troubling circumstances.  We are irritated quickly when Job’s family and friends come along and sit beside him to offer “help” but only in the form of judgement with the platitudes of the day meant to condemn and correct him  quickly, without really knowing Job or God. 

Yes, we prefer to avoid this reading because of all Job’s miseries and suffering.  It’s hard but we must trek through it all to see how God intervenes on Job’s behalf.  This test of faith is tremendous in the life of Job!  But remember, God never stopped loving Job who feared Him; but is using the test to deepen Job’s faith and resolve to love God back with a deeper understanding of who God is in relationship with Job—not merely for what God can do to favor him.  There are mini-lessons to be learned in this story; but we must dive deeper than we have ever gone before to understand what God is saying to us today.  I will say this; it is worth the diving to the depths to see and learn how God’s character will evolve in us!

Job 1

Prologue

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. ² He had seven sons and three daughters, ³ 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.

⁴ His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵ When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be 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.

⁶ One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. ⁷ The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

⁸ 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.”

⁹ “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. ¹⁰ “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. ¹¹ But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

¹² The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”

Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

¹³ One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴ a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, ¹⁵ and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁶ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁷ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁸ 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, ¹⁹ 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!”

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.
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.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Job knew what had happened, but he did not know why it had happened; and that is the meat of the matter. Because the writer of Job allows us to visit the throne room of heaven and hear God and Satan speak; we know who caused the destruction and why he was allowed to cause it. But if we did not have this insight, we would probably take the same approach as Job’s friends and blame Job for the tragedy.  We tend to blame who and what we see most often.

It’s easy to thank God when he does what we want. But God doesn’t always do what we want. Ask Job.  What then? How do we feel? What is our first response to troubles that come in like a flood to overwhelm us? Most of us want a reason for it, right?!  We want to explain it and overcome it as quickly as possible.

God’s Word describes Job: “This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” Job was known as “the greatest man among all the people of the East.” Job was comfortable in his “rightness;” but then Job suffered.

• Satan accused Job of having faith only because his life was easy, so God let Satan attack Job.
• Job lost everything yet did not curse God.

Eugene Peterson writes;

“Job suffered. His name is synonymous with suffering. He asked, “Why?”  He asked, “Why me?” And he put his questions to God.  He asked his question persistaently, passionately, and eloquently.  He refused to take silence for an answer. He refused to take cliches for an answer. He refused to let God off hook.

Job did not take his sufferings quietly or piously.  He disdained going for a second opinion to outside physicians or philosophers. Job took his stance before GOD, and there he protested his suffering, protested mightily.

It is not only because Job suffered that he is important to us. It is because he suffered in the same ways that WE suffer—in the vital areas of family, personal health, and material things.  Job is also important to us because he searchingly questioned and boldly protested his suffering.  Indeed, he went “to the top” with his questions.” –Peterson, The Message, Introduction to Job

Seemingly undeserved suffering bewilders us and then outrages us.  It is this kind of suffering that will raise Job’s voice in protest to God for this is only the beginning…stay tuned…there is much more to come and a great amount to learn as we ponder the sufferings and trials we face today! 

Job will question God and God answers—with questions for Job! (Yes, you read that right.)  Suffering, of course, is one of the great themes of Job. However, it also shows how a righteous man needed to repent.  Of what, you are asking?  Stay with us, it’s going to be a bumping ride with a glorious work of God.

We think of Jesus when we think of suffering such as Job. Undeserved suffering is synonymous with the Name of Jesus!  Jesus, Son of God, did not deserve the suffering applied because He was truly without sin. Jesus, Son of Man felt every strike of the whip that tore his flesh. He felt the nails driven into his hands and feet to hold him on a cross in excruciating pain—all so we could be redeemed—we who do not deserve what God did through His Son to set us free from the punishment we do deserve.

“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:31-33

Jesus, said this to his disciples before willingly laying down His life for the punishment for our sins along with a promise!  God/Jesus/Holy Spirit never fails to show us Truth and He always keeps His promises.  Remember that as we read the story of Job.

Lord,

When trials with suffering come, may our first response be to look to you and ask, “what do you want me to learn” instead of “why me.”  What we truly believe we know will be displayed by our reactions and responses to life—both good and bad.  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh and feed our souls, as you continually restore the joy of your salvation at work within us.  I’m yours. And I’m listening. Blessed be Your Name!

In Jesus Name, Amen