Job 1 and 2

One of my favorite books! Let's begin, shall we? I've always called this "Job's Ultimate Bad Day" as kind of a lighthearted way to look at things, but I can't really imagine the grief he must have experienced. I think we get a hint of it in Job's wife's reaction to him, but that's only a small indication of the rage inside her.

In the first five verses, we get a picture of an incredibly righteous person -- some surely thought he had gone off the deep end. Imagine making "just in case" sacrifices daily for all ten kids. Still we saw a deep concern for his children and the position of God in Job's life.

Then we get one of the passages of Satan showing up at an angel briefing. How are we to take this part of the story? It seems so odd that the Deceiver would be allowed into God's presence or even close enough for a conversation with Him. Sure, there's Jesus' temptation in the desert, but that's different somehow. Anyway it reads more like God is teaching Satan a lesson while Satan is trying to show up the Almighty. Eventually God gives Satan permission to do as he wishes with Job's belongings, but not to Job himself. Satan delivers with raiding parties from the Sabeans and Chaldeans, then we read that "the fire of God" destroyed the sheep and servants and a mighty wind knocked over the oldest son's home, killing the kids. It's not surprising that Satan could use other people, but it is interesting that Satan was able to use what appear to be natural disasters.

Back to Job, who gets the bad news then did the traditional acts of mourning -- ripping the robe and shaving his beard -- then falling down to the ground IN WORSHIP! What a testimony!

"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."

Wow.

The last verse of Job 1 tells us that charging God with wrongdoing would be sin, but Job didn't go that far. Even the anger of grief wouldn't go that far in most cases that I've experienced.

Job 2 starts another throneroom scene with Satan. Interesting wording (NIV) where God mentions that Job has kept his integrity, but Satan claims that personal affliction will cause Job to curse God. Later, Job's wife asks him,

"Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die."

God tells Satan that he had incited Him against Job without reason. So did God allow Satan to use the forces of nature against Job? Did God inflict Job's sufferings or merely allow Satan to do so? Can Satan still inflict our sufferings today or was this a special case?

Now the grieving Job has lost everything but his wife, and she's not exactly being a big help here. Enter the three friends who are shocked to see Job in such a horrible state. So great was Job's suffering that the three only sat with him for seven days and nights without so much as saying a word. Sometimes compassion requires nothing to be said. When the three started talking, THAT'S when the problems start!