Imagine that you are Job. You are ‘blameless and upright.’ You ‘fear’ God, and ‘shun evil.’ Yet, God allowed Satan to destroy your family, your fortune, and your health. Your wife is so upset that she tells you to ‘curse God and die.’ Do you think your response to your wife would be the same as Job?
“But he said to her, ‘You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” Job 2:10
God and Job
Job had the right spiritual response, but that didn’t mean life wasn’t hard for him. Job 2:13 reads – ‘his grief was very great.’ Job’s suffering and grief became so bad that he began to despair of the day he had been born –
“Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?” Job 3:11
I think anyone of us who have truly suffered greatly in this life can understand Job’s response. If you’ve never read Job 3, I recommend you do so to get an idea of how Job saw his life at that moment.
As we read through the Book of Job we see how some of Job’s friends responded incorrectly to Job’s situation. They made wrong assumptions about why Job was suffering so much. They thought Job had brought God’s judgment on himself through some sin he or his family had committed. They thought Job should repent. Job’s response to their assumptions is quite interesting given what we know about some of the ‘deep things’ of God and Satan. Remember that Job did not know what had happened in Heaven between God and the devil. He was responding with the knowledge that he had at the time –
“Hold your peace with me, and let me speak, Then let come on me what may! Why do I take my flesh in my teeth, And put my life in my hands? Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him. He also shall be my salvation, For a hypocrite could not come before Him. Listen carefully to my speech, And to my declaration with your ears. See now, I have prepared my case, I know that I shall be vindicated. Who is he who will contend with me? If now I hold my tongue, I perish.” Job 13:13-19
One of Job’s friends was a young man named Elihu. He respected his elders and kept quiet as long as he could, but finally he had to speak up –
“So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God. Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. Now because they were years older than he, Elihu had waited to speak to Job. When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was aroused.” Job 32:1-5
Elihu was a ‘Buzite’ of the family of ‘Ram.’ Ram is believed to be from the lineage of Shem, as was Job (most likely). Elihu’s name means ‘He is (my) God’ ( אֱלִיהוּ). Elihu had an understanding of God that is quite extraordinary given what Job’s other friends had said. Elihu rebuked Job and his friends. Here’s some of what Elihu said to Job –
“Look, in this you are not righteous. I will answer you, For God is greater than man. Why do you contend with Him? For He does not give an accounting of any of His words. For God may speak in one way, or in another, Yet man does not perceive it.” Job 33:12-14
Elihu went so far as to tell Job – “Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom” (Job 33:33). What ‘wisdom’ did Elihu have to share? He told Job and his other friends that God would ‘never do wickedly,’ nor ‘pervert justice’ (Job 34:12). Being ‘just’ is one of the ‘deep things’ of God and Elihu knew that –
“Surely God will not listen to empty talk, Nor will the Almighty regard it. Although you say you do not see Him, Yet justice is before Him, and you must wait for Him. And now, because He has not punished in His anger, Nor taken much notice of folly, Therefore Job opens his mouth in vain; He multiplies words without knowledge.” Job 35:13-16
“Behold, God is mighty, but despises no one; He is mighty in strength of understanding. He does not preserve the life of the wicked, But gives justice to the oppressed.” Job 36:5-6
Elihu also declared God’s greatness –
“Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; Nor can the number of His years be discovered.’ Job 36:26
When Elihu was finished speaking, God spoke to Job ‘out of the whirlwind’ –
“Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.” Job 38:2-3
The questions God asked Job demonstrated much about the ‘deep things’ of God. I highly recommend you read Job chapters 38 – 41. The knowledge about God – who He is and what He’s done – is remarkable.
Job did eventually repent – but for something different than what his friends had recommended.
“Then Job answered the Lord and said: ‘I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’ ‘I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:1-3
God then told Job’s friends – Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite – to take seven bulls and seven rams and “offer for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has” (Job 42:68). The men ‘did as the Lord commanded them; for the Lord had accepted Job.’
Job prayed for his friends and God restored Job’s losses. God ‘gave Job twice as much as he had before’ (Job 42:10). Job had seven sons and three daughters, as he had before. Job lived 140 years, ‘and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So Job died, old and full of days.’ (Job 42:16-17)
What We Learn From Job
Here’s what James, the half-brother of Jesus, said about Job –
“My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” James 5:10-11
Notice that James, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote about the ‘perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord.’ God’s ‘intention’ with Job was part of His ‘deep-laid plan’ from Eternity. Remember, God knows the end from the beginning. God’s ‘deep-laid plan’ for Job’s life was something known and intended.
What did we learn about God? According to James – ‘that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.’ ‘Compassion’ and ‘mercy’ are attributes of God that flow from His ‘goodness.’ We will learn more about that as our study continues.
Next Time
How can we recognize the ‘works of the devil’ that God sent His Son to destroy (1 John 3:8)? We’ll see in the next part of our special series, ‘Understanding the ‘Deep Things’ of God and Satan.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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