READ: Job 2:1
Vv1-3 – On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And 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.” 3 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.”
CHALLENGE: Keep looking to God through all things
The devil was a regular and his first appearance in heaven was not a fluke. The way the world worked, he had regular visits.
- MAINTAIN YOUR INTEGRITY
Perhaps a question we could muse upon is, “What is Satan doing today?” You’d have to assume that he is still roaming around. There is no particular national boundary line for him – it’s the earth in general and he’s prowling.
2 Corinthians 4:4 – The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Ephesians 2:2 – in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
He’s at work in those who are disobedient as opposed to the obedient. Job was a righteous man and typically not a target of the devil per se. Being a person of integrity will go a long way in keeping you out of harm’s way. Satan currently works in unbelief and disobedience. Thus, faith and obedience is the way out of the painful situations we face.
What is Job’s spiritual condition after he has lost nearly everything of importance in this world? God says that there is no one like him. Still! Wow!! Blameless, upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. You mean that he suffered all of that loss and he is still doing the right thing? Yep!
(trans) How should we respond to calamity?
- Maintain Your Integrity
What does that mean? It means to “hold fast”. The word means to be strong, take hold, to grasp or seize. He’s holding on tightly to his integrity. What do we have an ironclad grip on? Money? Power? Position? Applause? What are we clinging to?
One thing I hold onto tightly is my camera. When I have it out on a kayak with me, I make sure that I have a firm grip on it. I truly pay attention. If I’m responsible for my grandson, I watch him carefully. He moves quickly so I like to make sure I have him in my line of sight. This was a man who clung to uprightness! He was not forsaking it or walking away from that way of life. It was not getting out of his sight. He was not going to open the door to evil.
Let’s say that you’re in the heat of competition, do you hold onto your integrity? Do you behave? Do you keep your temper in check? That’s a tough one, right? One might say, “I hold onto my integrity until I’m playing a board game with the kids”! Until I need to make a sale. Until I get mad. Until I’m in traffic. Until a cute girl pays attention to me. Holding on means that you don’t let go.
Here’s a man who clung to being upright even in pain. He didn’t lose sight of the right path.
- Even When You Suffer Without a Reason
“The word ‘incite’ means to allure or stir someone to a course of action that he would not normally take. In this case Yahweh conceded that the Satan has persuaded him to act toward Job contrary to Job’s just desert” (NICOT). Satan encouraged God to act against Job. He incited him to “ruin” him. “Ruin” means to swallow up and was often used for destruction. Have you ever really “ruined” something? I’ve ruined shoes doing projects. I put holes in the bottoms of my boots so that the soles cracked and took on water. They were not any good to me after that. Job’s life is in shambles – a disarray of broken pieces.
I was reading in Exodus about how certain crimes meant that the perpetrator was wrecked for the wrongs that they had done. Thus, Job was treated as if Job had committed some crime against humanity or against God. Even though he obviously did not. That’s a tough pill to swallow.
Perhaps it’s good to remember how swiftly your life can be upended. And catch this, it was “without reason”. He did nothing to deserve the level of pain inflicted upon him. There was no just cause for what he suffered. Thus, the saying is true, bad things happen to good people.
There are many reasons for suffering but not every reason is because of some hidden guilt. Remember what the disciples asked regarding the man born blind? Who sinned, him or his parents? They thought, obviously someone did something naughty! What’s the assumption? He deserved it. Jesus told his disciples that no one sinned. Rather, the man was born blind so that God would be glorified. And that was worth all that he had gone through.
Let me ask you this. Did Jesus deserve the cross? Even the criminal said that he did nothing to deserve the cross. Pontius Pilate did not believe that Jesus deserved to die on a cross. He did not deserve it so if you suffer without cause, you’re in good company.
We’ve heard for years that life is not fair. Can’t disagree with that statement. It’s not ALWAYS unfair but sometimes it can be. The younger ones will cry foul – “That’s not fair”. What is our reply? Life isn’t fair – expect it – embrace it. The person with far less skills or knowledge may get promoted above you. You may see the lazy getting richer. You may see the godless blessed while you suffer. Job was there. Others in the Bible have experienced it as well.
When you comprehend that life is “unfair” you’re just beginning to comprehend how truly uneven it can be. I’ve not experienced complete upheaval, but I know some who have. I believe there is value in living right regardless. However, living right, as with Job, did not guarantee a pain free existence. Life isn’t 100% logical which is a bit annoying.
God was incited against Job without a reason. I’ve spoken to people who try to figure out why a bad thing happened to them. However, you can’t always find a satisfactory or logical answer because it was stupid or unreasonable or unjustified. But we try to turn the world into some equation where both sides equal out and perhaps that’s the issue that we face. We cannot make it “fair”. This is an age old issue!
If I treated someone well, they should treat me well. If I’m a good wife and mother, my husband should be faithful. Yes, you would think that one thing would lead to the other. I would imagine that it often does, but not always. I worked hard but have fallen farther behind. I dieted but gained weight. Surely, it should pan out but it doesn’t always pan out the way you would hope it would.
Continue doing the right thing no matter what. This is one of the keys in looking at Job. He was still doing the right thing.
- ENDURE (vv4-8)
Vv4-8 – “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”6 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.” 7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
If I strike his flesh, he will fold! A man will give all he has for his own life. What does that mean? Would he sell his soul to the proverbial devil to save his life? I don’t see how cursing God could be a win, if you’re on a sinking ship. Perhaps it simply means that all bets are off once someone is failing physically. Satan predicts that he will curse God. He’s going to cave!
Perhaps knowing that evil wants us to cave will inspire us not to give in! It clearly says that Satan afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. This would have never happened to Job outside the cruelty of Satan. One lesson is that a physical ailment can have a spiritual root to it. Another lesson is that evil is not your friend. It wants to “ruin” you.
In the Garden of Eden, the serpent had one mission. Destroy Adam and Eve and their relationship with God, with each other, and with the world. Everything got harder and that’s what evil can do. I would not deliberately play with the fire of wickedness because it will take far more from you than it will ever give.
Evil is never a friend even if every poorly behaving person is friendly. Talking you into doing something wrong never helps you. Please don’t cave into evil. If you do encounter a trial, hang tough and don’t give up on God.
James 1:12 – Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
The human spirit can endure unimaginable pain and you will make it. The misery and pain of Job is beyond calculation. He’s not doing anything he used to do. He’s not hearing about his herds. He’s not a dad anymore. I imagine the changing of identities would be especially painful. Some of you have lost that special identity as a spouse or at a certain job. It’s an incredible adjustment.
He’s so sick and in so much pain that he can only scrape at the sores and sit. You can’t move out of the situation. You can only move through it. You will get through and Job will get through it but the only way through it was by facing it and enduring.
Jesus had to endure the cross and that’s such an important concept. We endure it.
Hebrews 12:2 – fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
He knew it wasn’t forever and it won’t be forever for Job either. It’s got to be so tempting to quit. Don’t do it. It’s probably tempting to blame God, don’t.
- ACCEPT THE GOOD AND THE BAD
Vv9-10 – His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
- Curse God and Die
Are you maintaining your integrity? What kind of question is this? Is it rhetorical? Did she not already know the answer? It could almost be a WHY question. Seriously Job? After all you’ve been through, why are you still sticking with God? You’d believe when you’ve just been handed every reason not to?
But here’s something. If he cursed God, he’d still be expressing faith because he would still believe God is there. But it’s the wrong side of faith to express. If you believe in God, then you might as well handle it like Job. There’s no good that’s going to come apart from a true belief in God.
Job’s wife might be wondering, why not just live like the rest of the world. If you live right and this is the outcome, what is the point of living right? Just die! What’s the point in being faithful if your fate is as bad as the worse person you know? Now this is some real feeling of meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless! This is what Solomon wrestled too. What’s the point? Why still trust in God when trust has gotten you nowhere?
Whose team is she playing on? That she would actually encourage him to give up! Curse God and die. It’s over. His wife saw their situation as hopeless. She thought the only way out of the mess would be for Job to die. Is this true? It’s untrue! But I’m sure that she was in a great deal of pain as well. Perhaps she did not want to live any longer herself and thought it was the only way out as death would be more kind than life.
Let’s keep hope alive. When you lose hope, you believe there is nothing that can change your situation. You might want to throw in the towel. Is that really what God wants you to do? You never walk away from God and as long as you have Him, you have hope.
This is a moment that will not last forever and your behavior through the valley is important. You do not want to come unglued. Keep it together. I try to remember this from time to time, hard does not mean impossible. It just means hard. It could be worse and that’s a perspective too.
- Accept All Things from the Hand of the Lord
He’s taken a noble position. Shall we accept good and not bad? He said she was talking foolishly and he did not heed what she said. When Eve told Adam to eat the apple, he did it. That brought death too. When Job’s wife tries to talk him into doing a similar thing the answer was no. He didn’t want to be disconnected from God.
What does it mean to “accept”. There’s much in the Bible about contentment and accepting our lot. When he’s talking about receiving, he realizes that all the good that he had experienced was from the Lord. And he praised God for that. I have received it. I accepted it as from his hand. Now he received bad, and he accepted that as well. He didn’t understand the reasons for why he was suffering and he wanted to talk to God about it, clearly. But he was willing to accept his lot in life.
Acceptance brings peace. It’s also about the only option there is. It’s your reality, like it or not. I’ll always try to better my situation if I can. If my roof is leaking, I’ll fix it. But some things cannot be undone or fixed. There is good and there is bad. Some of my stocks are up and others are down. Some people love you but some hate you and that’s life!
At the end of the day there is only one way to find out what we’re made of. Hard days test our metal and we are who we are in the hard times. Job’s character is true, through and through. There’s nothing fake about him.
Think about the Garden of Gethsemane and that classic prayer of Jesus Christ. I pray this cup passes from me but not my will but thine be done. It’s not about my will, it’s your will. He accepted it.
We don’t control all things but we can trust God through all things and that’s what I need to be doing. Trust God through it all! My grandmother taught me when playing cards that you have to play the hand that you’re dealt. Sometimes you get a great hand and sometimes you get a crummy hand. But regardless of the hand that you’re holding you have to play it to the best of your ability.
Isn’t this life? Play the hand your dealt. Hopefully down the road you’ll get some better cards but for now, this is your hand. I will receive good from God. I will receive bad from God. I’m willing to accept whatever God puts my way. This is beautiful.
Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 – A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?