Job's story is probably one of the better known stories told in the Bible. You are likely familiar with Job and his tale of hardship. Job is a longer book in the Bible with 42 chapters so it is easy to miss some of the message while reading it. Today I am diving into Job, to understand the lesson in his hardship. I am starting from the beginning so if you are not familiar with Job you can meet him now.
Job was a righteous man. Job 1:1 states, "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," (New Living Translation (NIV)). Now at this point in Biblical history there were not many people considered blameless. Even the people who were recorded prior to Job had sinned. That is not to say Job wasn't a sinner. We are al born into this world as sinners. However, as much as Job was responsible he did not sin and he took to it to ensure his children and household did not sin as well, "His sons used to hold feasts in their home on their birthdays and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 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," (Job 1: 4-5, NIV).
The Bible said Job was blameless. Blameless is an important word choice. Up until this point if you sinned you were responsible for your hardship. Hardship was a sign God's blessing had turned from you. You were not blameless. So it is important the Bible says Job was blameless. The resulting hardship is therefore not a result of Job or a sin he may have committed.
If Job is blameless then where does his hardship come from? In Job, chapter one, a conversation between God and Satan is revealed, "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 throughout the earth, going back and forth on it," (Job 1: 6-7). Satan is roaming the earth. I say is instead of was because he is engaged in this same activity now. He is roaming the earth looking for souls to take. His purpose is to alienate earth's inhabitants and encourage them to remain in sin.
God is aware of Satan's actions and his purpose. He doesn't actually need to ask Satan what he is doing. It is at this point that God presents Satan with Job, "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," (Job 1:8). I'll admit this exchange is strange. It sounds like God is offering up Job to Satan. Job: His servant! We take for granted God already knew the outcome of the conversation, the hardship Job would endure, and the ultimate story of Job's life. For us, we ask "Why God?" From a human perspective, Job was doing everything he was supposed to do as a servant of God and God was supposed to show him blessing for being blameless.
That is not what happened. Satan replies, "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 now stretch out your hand an strike everything he has, and he will surely cure you to your face," (Job 1:9-11). Satan has a point. If you make someone's life easier and never cause them hardship, how do you know they love you? Not that you should purposefully cause hardship to find out if someone loves you, but endurance is a part of a love.
God did not need to cause Job hardship to know his heart. God is able to know our hearts, better than we know ourselves, and how each event in our lives will affect our heart. Satan can't do that. So when he is suggesting hardship for Job he doesn't know this hardship won't change Job's heart towards God. His decision for hardship is based on what he knows of human hearts, which is when humans face suffering we don't usually do it quietly and we are more than happy to find someone to blame. Satan believes that if he convinces God to create hardship for Job that he will gain another soul. He doesn't care about God or Job otherwise. Then, "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," (Job 1:12). Satan wanted God to create hardship for Job, but instead God allows Satan to create the hardship. God's blessing is the reason Job did not endure any hardship prior to this moment. So in essence, God is removing His hand from Job so Satan's activity can have an affect on Job's life.
Satan did not need to be told twice. He left God and sought to destroy Job. So what did Satan do to Job? We find that out in Job 1:13-19. Here is the short version:
1) Sabeans attacked, took Job's oxen and donkeys, and killed all except for one servant.
2) Fire came down from heaven and burned up the sheep, along with all the servants minus one.
3) The Chaldeans took the camels and killed all the servants except one.
4) A mighty wind came from the desert and knocked down the house with all of his sons and daughters feasting inside.
Satan took away Job's livestock, most of his servants, and killed Job's offspring. Satan wanted to make sure that Job felt his presence. Job's world came crashing down around him in a matter of minutes. Each tragedy mentioned above is announced within minutes of the previous tragedy.
If even one of these events happened to use we would be devastated, but to have all four? Surely, this would be enough for Job to get upset and question God. Yet, Job 1:20-22 says, "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 will 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 wrong doing."
Satan sought to destroy Job and he didn't take any chances. He annihilated Job's world in a matter of minutes. Yet Job does not crumble. I imagine his response wasn't as quick as it was written, but nevertheless, he recognized God can do as He pleases and should still be praised in hardship. I admire Job. This week my world felt like it was falling down around me and I didn't have a single one of Job's hardship. I didn't stop and praise God. In fact, I was angry because God could have stopped it and didn't. We see first hand in Job that God does allow hardship to come upon us even when we are blameless.
Now I am not saying I am blameless. I have sinned and fallen short. I do not know that any of my past sins did not cause the current hardship I face and I equally do not know this hardship is the result of sin. Short of a direct correlation, I have no way of knowing the cause of my hardship. The point of Job is that you can be blameless and still face hardship. Hardship is not necessary the result of your own actions (i.e. sin).
Regardless, I was angry and accused God of not protecting me. After all, it was in His power to protect me at any point and in a number of ways over the years. I would love to have Job's confidence and assurance in God that even when his world is crumbling he is praising God. Some of you might be thinking that Job just lost his possessions, if you take out the loss of his children, and could therefore accept the loss in stride. Historians could even argue the loss of children was not the same then as it is now. Men had many children and most of the children didn't make it into adulthood. There is also the historical significance of having male heirs to continue an estate and female heirs as methods of prospering that estate. In other words, historically children are ranked about the same as livestock. I don't think this how Job felt about his children, but I mention it because his children are looped in with his livestock lost.
Satan cursed Job, but Job did not curse God and so we journey into chapter two. Again Satan and God are talking. Again God points out Job, "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," (Job 2: 3). God has reason to brag. Job upheld God even in hardship. But you may say the attack wasn't personal and Job can replace the loss.
Satan agreed, "Skin for skin!' Satan replied, "A man will give all he has for his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face," (Job 2:4-5). So again God allows Satan to attack Job, but Satan is not allowed to kill Job. Again Satan sets out to destroy Job, this time attacking his flesh. Job is struck with painful boils and blisters on his entire body. He is so ill his wife tells him to just go on and die already.
Satan had a point: striking Job's flesh had a different response in Job. Job is miserable. His wife and his friends are unsympathetic. His wife knows Job is blameless so she tells Job to curse God, after all He must be the source of the illness. Job's friends know that hardship is the consequences of sin and they plead with Job to repent. But remember, Job is blameless so he doesn't have anything to repent. Obviously, his friends don't believe him because God doesn't punish righteous people.
Job is miserable and fed up arguing with his friends, but he doesn't curse God. He doesn't understand why this is happening so he begins to think it would have been better if he was never born. The day of his birth should be blotted out because it is curses. In short, Job is throwing a pity party. Not that I blame him. His life is falling apart and he is too close to see why. He is unable to understand and he doesn't have a whole of options.
At this point Job could continue to go on in his current state or he could end his life. Suicide would be an affront to God and if Job isn't going to curse God then he isn't going to end his life either. So Job just sits there and laments his birth. If he was never born then he would never experience hardship. Job's lament and conversation with his friends is most of the book of Job. Then in chapter 38, we hear from God, "Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm." God had enough of Job's whining and seeks to correct him while also justifying Job in front of his friends because Job was blameless.
God questions Job, "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations?" (Job 38: 4) He goes on to ask, "Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds is garments and wrapped it in thick darkness, " (Job 38:8-9). God is asking Job who are you and where were you when I created the earth, along with everything in it. God's questions demonstrates God's power and control over everything. Even the smallest thing God can do Job cannot. Job gets it, "Then Job answered the Lord, "I am unworthy - how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer - twice, but I will say no more, " (Job 40: 3-5).
In chapter 42, Job replies again to the Lord,
"I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 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. You said, "Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me." My ears have heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes," (Job 42: 2-6).
After this the Lord blessed Job and replaced his loss twice fold.
Job was a righteous man, from human standards he was not a man who deserved hardship, and yet, God allowed Satan to test him. From Job's hardship, we can learn three lessons.
Lesson #1: Live a Blameless Life
The Bible says Job was blameless. How can Job be blameless when we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)? Job is not different than any other person on earth, he sinned, and he most definitely fell short of the glory of God. Yet, he was blameless. Job lived each day trying to honor God. This means that he was responsible for himself and did his part to not sin each day. Sin is going to happen and Job knew it would happen in the lives of his children, which is why Job 1:4-5 says Job purified his children and offered burnt sacrifices in case they had sinned. I believe he did this same process for himself. Each day he evaluated his actions and repented if he sinned. He also made conscious choices to live righteously, in a way that honored and praised God. Job was not perfect. He knew he wasn't perfect and he continually sought to bring himself closer to God. The lesson: we are going to sin, but how we respond to sin is going to determine if we are blameless or not.
Lesson #2: Blameless Does Not Make You Exempt From Hardship
Job was blameless and because we know he is blameless we get to understand hardship is not always the result of our sin. The sin of other people can and will cause hardship that can affect our lives. If a spouse is unfaithful then their sin can break the heart of their wife or husband. A child born from infidelity can be hurt as well. Both parties are blameless, but still face hardship because someone else sinned. Hardship not caused by someone else's sin does not mean you are to blame. Job was blameless and he was struck with a serious illness. This hardship was not the result of sin. The lesson: being blameless does not mean you won't face hardship.
Lesson #3: Our Response to Hardship Matters
When we undergo hardship we do not have the right to blame God. As Job found out, God made the earth and everything in it. No one, Satan included, can thwart His plans. God has allowed hardship, He may even have offered you up to Satan to be tested, but through it all, His plan will not be thwarted. At the end of Job, Job is restored. We too will be restored and God's blessing will return. Everything we are facing God has foreseen and planned for. The lesson: we need to wait, trust, and praise God in the midst of the storm.
The Bible tells the stories of many characters and each character teaches a new method. I am in a place of hardship and I plan on studying the characters who faced hardship. Today I started with Job. Who should I look at next?
*All Bible verses were taken from Bible Gateway and are New Living Translation (NIV).
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