Job 2

 Job 2

The mystery of chapter 1 deepens in chapter 2. The “why” of the conversation here is beyond our comprehension. Satan, for his part of the story, is done; he is less significant than we often think. But there is a character we need to pay attention to because we find ourselves in her. Job’s wife only has two verses (9-10), but she reflects many people. While she has not been physically afflicted, she has suffered much; she has lost all her possessions, plus she is a mother who has lost 10 children. Her world and the foundations on which that world was built have been torn to shreds. Her comment may have been more of a confession than reasoning. It cannot be justified, but it might be understandable. The expectation of “Do good and good things happen to you; do evil and evil things happen to you” was the view of the three friends. Perhaps it was her opinion as well. In that worldview Job must have been a bad man. Perhaps she is telling Job, “The evidence is clear you are a bad man. Speak the true condition of your heart, i.e., curse God, before you die. Why go to your grave with your false piety?” In the discourse with the friends, Job does come close to cursing God. He never crosses that line, but in a deeply honest moment he reveals a heart that accuses God of evil.

We would do well to keep in mind the emotional state of Job’s wife. She is not blaming God; she is blaming Job for all her misery. Her worldview was confused, and therefore she could not correctly interpret events. Perhaps rather than being a bad woman, as Job accused, she was operating from a commonly shared false paradigm, one she shared with and perhaps learned from Job himself.

One final thought. She had been spared the physical suffering, and that might need to be examined. The absence of hardship is not necessarily evidence of God’s blessing. It may indicate favor by the enemy or even that we are not important enough to harass. We cannot endorse Job’s wife, but we might see ourselves in her.

“Lord, give me the capacity to see things from the perspective You want me to have, and not an invalid worldview. AMEN."

Job 1

 Job 1

There is no doubt that Job is the most enigmatic book of the Bible. In almost every way, it seems to beg more questions than it specifically answers. It is a lot like life in that way. And like life, it is beautiful, distressing, challenging, and ultimately pointing toward God. We cannot answer all the questions this book raises, but we can learn from it certain principles.

From the first chapter, there are two principles that will work well in our lives. First, piety and wealth are not certain protections from natural calamity. Job was a man of remarkably sincere character. The description is not of sinlessness but of unadulterated morals; he was not “faking it." He was a good man through and through. His wealth was remarkable. The description of his livestock tells us he was a sort of multinational corporation of his day. The sheep and oxen speak of agribusiness; the donkey and camels tell us of both short- and long-haul carriers along the trade routes. To say he had many employees, or slaves, might be an understatement. How many people did it require to handle, manage, and care for 11,000 head of stock? But all that piety and wealth did not provide protection for the loss of everything he had except a cranky wife and ‘know it all’ friends.

There is another lesson for us, and it comes from the presence of Satan and his dialogue with God. The existence of this conversation brings to mind many unanswerable questions, but it points to a key principle behind it all. Perhaps this analogy will help. Satan is stacking blocks like a toddler on a nursery floor. God is building a mansion. The complex schemes of the enemy of humanity may at time seem powerful, complex, and overwhelming, but they are inconsequential compared to what God is doing in the same moment and indeed by the same events. Satan knows his cause is lost, but in hate he acts against us. Those very acts God will use for our ultimate benefit.

“God, in the midst of the enemies' schemes, accomplish Your purposes in me. AMEN."