The Drama Begins: Job 1 & 14
First Thoughts
The book of Job has helped countless people. People have gone to Job for help with dealing with trials in their lives. Job teaches about patience and perseverance. This was the entire point of the book of Job. However, we often miss the point that Job himself never really got the answers to why he suffered. Sure, in the end, Job is blessed even more than he was before his trials, but Job never really got the why.
I want us to keep that in mind as we go through this book. Sometimes God allows us to go through difficult times, and we don’t always understand why. In Job’s case, he went through trials for our sake. Sometimes we have to go through things so we can use our experience to help others.
We should take the attitude Job himself took in Job 23:10
10Yet he knows the way I have taken; when he has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold.
We should also remember the words in Jeremiah 29:11
11For I know the plans I have for you”Ps 33:10; Jr 26:3; 36:3 — this is the Lord’s declaration — “plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Chapter 1
Permission Granted
Job 1:8-11
8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.” 9 Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Haven’t you placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
We are starting just after our introduction to Job. He was a prosperous man living in Uz, just outside of Israel. Here our scene shifts to the throne of God. God asks Satan what he thinks about Job. God found Job blameless, but Satan didn’t. He felt that the prosperity God had given Job, was the only reason he worshipped Him. Now, it should be noted that being found blameless, doesn’t mean he was sinless. Job will outline his shortcomings later in the book. This is all related to his fear of God.
Job 1:12
12 “Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, do not lay a hand on Job himself.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.
There is a comforting aspect of Satan’s interaction with God here. It shows God’s sovereignty. Satan has to ask God’s permission to test Job. But it should also put us on guard. Satan is very cunning in his temptation. He knows the things that are most likely to lead us away from God. Taking away our blessings, like we see here, or offering us worldly “blessings” to reduce our reliance on God.
How do these verses affect your view of the prosperity gospel? Claims that our blessings are a result of God’s favor.
Attack Executed
Job 1:13-19
13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and reported, “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing nearby, 15 the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” 16 He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported, “God’s fire fell from heaven. It burned the sheep and the servants and devoured them, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” 17 That messenger was still speaking when yet another came and reported, “The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” 18 He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house. 19 Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people so that they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Can you imagine how overwhelming this all must have been? All of this terrible news came in on the same day. At the same time even, as each servant came in while the last was still speaking. Any one of these tragedies would have been terrible news, but combined it was pretty devastating.
Job wasn’t aware of the exchange between God and Satan, so he didn’t have an explanation for why these things happened. In Job’s time, calamity was typically atributed to sin in that person’s life. We will see that Job’s “friends” will accuse him of being responsible.
What are some of the ways people respond when something bad happens?
Trust Maintained
Job 1:20-22
20 Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, 21 saying: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. 22 Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.
As wealthy and powerful as Job was, it’s hard to imagine him reacting this way. Job understood that the things of this world were temporary, and that greater treasures awaited him.
He recognized God’s sovereignty. He gives and takes according to His will. That’s not a posture that most Christians take today. A lot of people believe that God’s blessings come based on our own good works.
If we love God only for what He gives us and not for Himself, then we are serving ourselves, not Him. Regardless of what we as believers might suffer, we are always in the hands of a loving God.
Chapter 14
Chapter 1 painted a very tragic picture, but chapter 14 gives us hope.
1 John 2:28
The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in heaven with the Lord
What does this tell us of how we should view our suffering on this earth?
Job 14:1-6
1 Anyone born of woman is short of days and full of trouble. 2 He blossoms like a flower, then withers; he flees like a shadow and does not last. 3 Do you really take notice of one like this? Will you bring me into judgment against you? 4 Who can produce something pure from what is impure? No one! 5 Since a person’s days are determined and the number of his months depends on you, and since you have set limits he cannot pass, 6 look away from him and let him rest so that he can enjoy his day like a hired worker.
Sometimes God doesn’t deliver us out of suffering, but rather delivers us through suffering. Job knew that the payday for his toil was coming. His outlook on life, while going through struggles is something to be admired.
His outlook reminds me of the song “This World is Not My Home.”
Job 14:7-12
7 There is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its shoots will not die. 8 If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump starts to die in the soil, 9 the scent of water makes it thrive and produce twigs like a sapling. 10 But a person dies and fades away; he breathes his last — where is he? 11 As water disappears from a lake and a river becomes parched and dry, 12 so people lie down never to rise again. They will not wake up until the heavens are no more; they will not stir from their sleep.
Here we see a reaction we can probably all more readily relate to. Job is in despair. He is using metaphor to describe the finality of death. Job didn’t have the New Testament hope that we have. Thanks to the gospel, we know that death has been overcome.
How does the gospel of Christ drive out despair and comfort us in our grief?
Job 14:13-14
13 If only you would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until your anger passes. If only you would appoint a time for me and then remember me. 14 When a person dies, will he come back to life? If so, I would wait all the days of my struggle until my relief comes.
Now that the Bible is complete, we as believers have the advantage of seeing the whole picture. The Bible teaches us that Jesus actually died but rose again and therefore achieved victory over death (2 Tim. 1:10). The Bible also teaches us that Jesus defeated death. If we are in Him, we have nothing to fear or no reason to despair (Heb. 2:14). Finally, we know that Jesus is the firstfruits, the hope of what’s to come after death (1 Cor. 15:20-23). Christ leads us through no darker rooms than He went through before. Having tasted death Himself, He can support us while we taste it and take our hands, reminding us: “I’ve been there before.” In Christ, death does not have the last word. Jesus holds the keys of death (Rev. 1:17-19).
How have you responded to God when you have felt despair over your circumstances? How have your responses to difficult situations impacted others?
When Christians respond with hope even in the midst of overwhelming circumstances the light of Christ shines through.
