| Job
thought that God was deliberately targeting him in
his misfortunes. He had been ‘at ease’, and
enjoying his prosperity and the respect of his
contemporaries, ‘But now’, he says, things are
so different. Now he is in great distress and says of
God, ‘He hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me
to pieces, and set me as his mark. His archers compass
me round about’, Job 16. 12, 13; 29. 1-30.
Now his life
had changed to one of bitterness, grief, affliction,
tears, pain and sorrow (these are the words he uses
to describe his situation), and he wished he had never
been born, 3. 11. His friends, well-intentioned but
thoughtless and clumsy, did not understand the reason for
his vexation, and why he felt as he did.
Eliphaz,
relying on earthly wisdom, urged him to accept his lot
and hope for the best. Bildad, appealing to the
lessons of history and experience, rebuked him
for speaking ‘out of turn’ and even accusing God
of injustice. Zophar, with his strong ideas about
religion reproached him for his vanity, and counselled
him to repent of his wickedness.
Yet, Job
persisted in his complaint and continually made his
appeal to God. He acknowledged there was some truth in
what his friends said, but their human reasonings were
false. They were all ‘miserable comforters’, ‘physicians
of no value’, and they were wicked and deceitful,
13. 4, 7; 16. 2. The Lord Himself rebuked Job’s three
friends for not having spoken rightly concerning him, 42.
7.
There was
never any question about Job’s integrity. It is
written plainly, ‘he was perfect and upright; one
that feared God, and eschewed evil’, 1. 1, 8; 2. 3. He
was a pious and moral man of unblemished character; a
man of principle, generous and charitable, who did not
‘shut up his bowels of compassion’ when he saw
others in need. He was accustomed ‘to do good,
was rich in good works, always ready to distribute,
and willing to communicate’. He supported the poor
and helpless; was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame
and they sang his praises, 29. 12-17; 1 Tim. 6. 18; 1
John 3. 17.
Job was a
faithful and loving husband who ‘drank waters out
of his own cistern’ and always walked circumspectly
and in the fear of God. ‘Doth he not see my
ways, and count all my steps?’ was his guiding
principle, 31. 1-10; Prov. 5. 15-20. He was an
exemplary parent, who understood that young people
were prone to carelessness, indiscretion
and thoughtlessness, and took good care of their
spiritual needs, 1. 4, 5. Even when he lost everything,
he still ‘worshipped God and sinned not’, 1.
20-22; 2. 9, 10. Job is recorded in Scripture as one
of three special men marked out for their
righteousness and godly intercession. Notwithstanding
what his friends might have thought, Job really was a
man who scorned any hidden, unworthy,
hypocritical motives, and resolutely claimed
the living Redeemer as his Judge, 19. 21-27; Ezek. 14.
14, 20.
SEARCHING
FOR ANSWERS
Job wanted to know why God was dealing with him so
severely. Unaware of the events recorded in chapters 1
and 2, he was struggling to make sense of his
situation. ‘Why me?’, he asked. He did not receive
an answer, for God is omnipotent and sovereign,
and cannot be called to account by men. ‘He doeth
according to his will in the army of heaven, and among
the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand,
or say unto him, What doest thou?’, Dan. 4. 35. We
cannot explain why the righteous suffer and the
wicked prosper. This was the dilemma faced by the
psalmist as well as Job, Ps. 73. However, God
does sometimes try our personal motives, our sincerity
and our strengths, and there are things we can only
begin to understand in the light of sanctuary
experience.
God uses
trials and misfortunes, and other strange and
unwelcome disciplines for the good of His children.
The Psalmist acknowledged it was good for him to have
been afflicted, Ps. 119. 67, 71. The wise Preacher
tells us that sometimes mourning and sorrow teach
us lessons that bring us benefit, Eccl. 7. 2, 3. The
Lord Jesus spoke of the blessedness of those who
are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, Matt. 5. 10.
Temptations and trials and chastenings bring blessings
to those who are exercised thereby, Heb. 12. 11; Jas.
1. 12; 1 Pet. 1. 7. Even our Lord Himself ‘learned obedience
by the things which he suffered’, Heb. 5. 8, and
is prophesied as ‘a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief’, Isa. 53. 3. It was because of, (or
perhaps, despite) Paul’s infirmity that he first
preached the gospel of Christ to the Galatians; and
those things that happened unto him in Rome
fell out to the furtherance of the gospel,
and reached even unto Caesar’s household, Gal.
4. 13, 14; Phil 1. 12-14; 4. 22. Job himself says, ‘He knoweth
the way that I take’, 29. 10, and that is all we
really need to know. Remember always, ‘He careth for
you’, 1 Pet. 5. 7.
‘As
He looks from heaven down on you and me Know ye not He
chooseth what each day shall be.? Trust His loving
wisdom, though the hot tears start, Give to Him the
incense of a grateful heart’. (Flora
Kirkland)
THE MAKING OF A
MAN
Job is an example of patient endurance, that we might see
‘the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful,
and of tender mercy’, Jas. 5. 11. David is another
such example, for he too learned valuable lessons from
his persecution by Saul, and his other bitter experiences.
His psalms bear witness to the reality of his trust in
the Lord, through all the different circumstances of
life through which he passed. Afterwards, God blessed
Job and made him an even richer man than he had been
before. For God took a careful inventory of his
original substance, and restored him ‘twice as much’
as he had lost. Also, he was given seven more sons and
three beautiful daughters, and ‘in all the land were
no women found so fair as the daughters of Job’, 1. 2,
42. 15. We are never the poorer, but always the
richer, for trusting in the Lord. When we are tempted to
feel that what is happening to us is more than we can
bear, then let us take heart, for with His tender care He
‘will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are
able’, 1 Cor. 10. 13. Even though our friends may not
always understand, nor help us as we would hope, God
will always be faithful. Nor will He ever be unrighteous
to forget whatever we have borne or done in His name,
Heb. 6. 10. A crown awaits those who have fought a
good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith, and
‘we know that all things work together for good to
them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose’, Rom. 8. 28; cf. 2 Tim. 4.
6-8. Job found it very hard, and so will we, but He
remains true:– ‘Not a burden we bear, Not a sorrow
we share, But our toil He doth richly repay; Not a
grief nor a loss. Not a frown nor a cross, But is
blest if we trust and obey’. (J. H. Sammis)
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