Job

Job was a man who was:

Blameless
Upright
God fearing
Turned away from evil

This is not only scriptures’ estimation of the man but also Gods. The qualities listed

in 1:1 are repeated in 1:8.

There was no better man on earth and probably no one wealthier either. Just the sort of person to attract the attentions of Satan! If we are no threat to Satans kingdom he won’t bother us.

It is worth noting that those who are upright will be blameless and those who fear God must have turned away from evil!

Also, he truly cared about his children. Although he couldn’t be with them to keep an eye on them he made sure he offered sacrifices on their behalf, just to be sure! We need to pray for our children, 1:5. He wasn’t in a position to talk to them about God so he talked to God about them.

So whatever was the cause of Jobs suffering, it wasn’t his own sin. Certainly we will suffer the consequences of our sin if we disobey God [remember Jonah] but we need to be very careful before we pronounce that someone is suffering as a result of their sin, 1Pet. 3:17. We are not given the full reason why Job suffered as he did. In many ways we don’t need to know. We do need to know how he dealt with it and how the situation was resolved.

I’m sure Satan had many things to discuss with God when they met, 1:6,7. He would have questioned the suffering, inequity, evil, hypocrisy, laziness, apathy, etc, etc.in the world But God doesn’t want to talk about these things; they result from mans sinfulness. Instead God wants to focus attention on the good, Phil. 4:8. So He turns to Job. If we are to be described as Job was, then we need to discipline our minds to focus on the good.

Satan assumes that the reason why Job loves God is that God has given him so much, ‘Does Job fear God for nought?’, Vs.9. ‘No’ says God [not literally but by implication] ‘Take it all away and you will see that Job just loves me’.

Why do we ‘love’ God? Do we love him?

1Jn. 4:19, Can we love God without first experiencing his love for us? If we lost everything would we still hold onto our faith and still love [such as it is] Him?

The remainder of the book of Job is an account of how Job holds on to his faith and love despite all. Perhaps the biggest problem for job was how to deal with his three ‘friends’ who came to ‘comfort’ him.

In the middle of it all Job could proclaim ‘I know that my redeemer lives’, 19:25.

And yet he never asked ‘why’. He actively [as opposed to passively moaning and complaining that there is nothing he can do] accepted the situation he found himself in, acknowledged that God was in control and blessed [celebrated with praise!] Him, 1:21. We are not called upon to thank God for the circumstances in which we find ourselves. We are called on, in the circumstances, simply to give thanks to God, 1Thess.5: 16-18. If, at the time, we can think of nothing else then just thank Him that he is there! What a black hole we must stare in to if we do not have God to turn to these circumstances.

The three friends were no addition. They were convinced that it all was as a result of Jobs sin and they were not prepared to consider anything else. They persisted to the extent that God got angry with them, 42:7. God said that he would only forgive them if Job prayed for them. Now the ball is back in Jobs court. Will he pray for those who are ‘persecuting’ him? No, they have not caused the original problem but they are now adding to and extending it. God accepts Jobs prayer, 42:9, and restoration begins.

Very often there is nothing and no one to blame for our suffering. It results from living in a world that is blighted by original sin. Unfortunately we have to live here and we get caught up in all that is going on. Don’t lets become part of the blame culture. Instead obey God, ‘bless those who persecute you’, Rom. 12:14, and see restoration begin.