The Job of Job

By Jerry D. Ousley

            Sunbeams danced in the sparse clouds in the blue sky above.  The song of the Chiffchaff could be heard in the scrub bushes nearby.  Under a palm tree sat a figure, thin and somewhat pale for the common bronze bodies of those spending much time in the sun. Coming closer to the man, he sat in ashes, covered only in a long loin cloth, bare from his waist up.  His exposed body revealed multitudinous sores, boils that seemed to cover his entire physic.  With a piece of broken pottery, he scraped and scratched those that itched.

            He had been a wealthy man, as his home revealed.  At one time he boasted of seven sons and three daughters.  He had owned several herds, seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a large household of servants taking care of the needs him and his family.  He was actually called “the greatest of all the people of the East.” (Job 1:3). 

            Worried about his children, how in their youth they might speak something sinful or do a sinful act, he prayed for them daily.  They would often go to each other’s individual homes and party throughout the night.

            Life was good.  But a day came; a day he would never forget.  In the time of a single day, he got news – bad news, one wave after another.  A messenger arrived telling him that while the oxen were plowing and the donkeys fed beside them that a raiding ban of Sabeans suddenly swept over them, killing all the servants and stealing the oxen and donkeys.  Only he had escaped to bring the bad news.  Before he could finish his last sentence, another servant arrived stating that fire had fallen from the sky killing all his sheep and the servants who watched them.  Only he had been spared to bring the evil tidings.  Yet again, as this servant concluded his report, another arrived telling him that the Chaldeans had formed three groups, raided the camels and took them away, killing all the servants with them.  Only he had been left to bring the evil words to Job’s ears.

            But the most tragic and heartbreaking message of all came next. As the last messenger was finishing his tale, yet another servant arrived.  He told Job the painful news that his sons and daughters had been partying in the oldest brother’s home when out of nowhere a great wind blew up, flattening the house and killing them all. 

            In a single day his wealth and family had been wiped out.  He was devastated and stood up, tearing his robe as was the ancient tradition as an outward sign showing his brokenness inside.  But then he did an amazing thing.  Instead of accusing God of letting him down he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there.  The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed by the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21). 

            If the loss of all his wealth and his offspring had not been enough, sometime after this he awoke one morning to boils all over his body.  It hurt.  It itched. It was the most terrible pain he had ever experienced.  After such loss, his wife, feeling sorry for him said, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity?  Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9).  Job must have thought, “What have I done to God to deserve all of this evil?”  But instead, he answered his wife, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks.  Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10).  Though I’m sure he wondered, yet the Bible says that he did not sin with his lips.

            Finally, to put the icing on the proverbial cake, his friends showed up.  They had heard the bad news about their buddy.  So, they came to “comfort” him.  But they were shocked at the sight of him, so much that the Bible tells us they sat with him for seven days and seven nights before saying a single word.  But when they broke their silence all they could do was accuse Job of some secret sin that he must have committed against God to deserve such punishment.  I believe Job had already gone through all the scenarios.  It was the common belief of their day that if you were blessed then you were in favor with God, but if you were, well, in the position Job was currently in, then you had to be committing sin.  But he had searched his heart and couldn’t think of a single thing he had done wrong.  For the next thirty-five chapters of the Book of Job we read the battering back and forth of accusations from his “friends” and his answers in return. 

In the end, after He had revealed Himself to Job in the whirlwind, Job fell to his face and worshipped God. He didn’t realize that all his calamity stemmed from accusations of the devil.  That God had allowed him to be tested, and even though he had discovered some problems in himself (for he had too believed the ancient teaching of prosperity), he came through it still praising and worshipping God.  In the end God gave Job twice as much as he had before.  He had seven more sons and three more daughters and lived an addition one hundred and forty years seeing his children and grandchildren to the fourth generation.

The job of Job’s story is to let us know that, despite our wrong beliefs and teachings, in the face of our failing opinions, and even in our own pain, difficulties and sins, God wants us to come through it too.  How often have we experienced trauma and blamed ourselves?  We have asked, “What did I do wrong?”  Perhaps we did do something wrong.  Or, maybe we just got caught in the battle of the spirits – good and evil – (it happens every day you know).  Despite the reason, whether it is our fault or not, God is still there, waiting for us to acknowledge Him in our situations.

You’ve heard the cliché that says, “When life gives you lemons, squeeze them int lemonade.”  But let me tell you, no one can do that better than God can.  It may take you sitting in ashes under a palm tree (by the way, the tree was from my imagination), or maybe just looking to the sky and saying, “God, whether I’m right or wrong, I give this situation to you.  I acknowledge you in all things.”  God will come through.  Job did his job well.  So, what have you learned from it in your own job?

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.?  Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.