Not Again?
Job 2:1-13
August 30, 2015
Well, last time we met we looked at the worst day ever in Job’s life.
• He lost his farming crews
• He lost his flocks
• He lost his caravans
• He lost his children
It all hit him in a matter of seconds
And it came upon him from the hand of God.
It was the worst imaginable scenario that a person could face.
God literally crushed Job.
The question was how Job would respond.
Satan said Job would curse God, God said Job would remain.
And obviously God was right.
Job 1:20-22 “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.”
Job’s response was not cursing.
Job’s response was worship.
“Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.”
Literally Job “did not ascribe unseemliness to God”
Job maintained that God was well within His prerogative to do this
And because He was God He still deserved worship.
It was truly an amazing response and one which
Illustrated the bond that exists between God and His children.
Well, at this point in the story we would love to think it was over.
We’d love to think, “Well, I endured my suffering…smooth sailing from here.”
Most of the time even when we come to grips with the fact
That suffering must happen,
We still sort of like to believe that
Once we’ve had our fair share that we should be through with it.
We sort of like to say, “I’ve paid my dues, enough is enough.”
And certainly that would have been our desire concerning Job.
But that desire is absolutely crushed with the first word of the chapter:
“Again”
It is a painful word.
“Not Again?”
And yet we find that not only was Job crushed on one day,
But that God is about to allow it again.
This is obviously hard to swallow.
But, let’s work our way through this 2nd chapter, again making sure that
We lay a solid foundation regarding the remainder of this book.
There are 5 points to be seen here, just to help us understand the story.
#1 THE CHARACTER OF JOB
Job 2:1-3
We analyzed this already in chapter 1.
There we learned that Job was “blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.”
But we did learn that all of those attributes
Describe Job BEFORE suffering.
Our curiosity is Job AFTER suffering.
We know his initial response was awesome, but how about after the pain gets to fester for a little while?
Well, here we learn that nothing has changed.
Job is still righteous.
(1-2) “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”
You read that and you already start to cringe don’t you?
We all sort of shrink back in our pew with the thought,
“I hope God doesn’t mention me.”
And then God does the unthinkable.
(3) “The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.”
Really?
“Have you considered My servant Job?”
“considered” there is actually three Hebrew words.
Taken together it carries the idea of
“placing someone above everyone else to examine their heart.”
God is asking Satan if he has singled Job out
And really examined him thoroughly.
And incidentally I can’t help but wonder
If God had a bit of a SMIRK when He said this.
We know Satan had “considered” Job
And we know that he had been totally unsuccessful
Even when Satan was given free reign against him.
And God is seemingly rubbing Satan’s nose in his defeat.
And God again recounts Job’s character.
“For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil.”
God Himself just said that Job was the best on earth.
Furthermore:
“And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.”
Can we make sure the point is clear again?
What was the cause did God have to afflict Job?
None
Job was righteous
He did not deserve suffering
And even after being afflicted, Job still remained loyal
He is the best of the best.
He still “holds fast”
Remember our study of Hebrews?
Hebrews 3:6 “but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house — whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.”
Hebrews 3:12-14 “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,”
Hebrews 4:14 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.”
Well that was certainly Job.
So, if you’re keeping score
We now have two undeniable proofs that Job is righteous.
• One is the testimony of God.
• The other is Job’s endurance
Both of these prove to us that Job was righteous and that Job was real.
He did not deserve the suffering he experienced.
He was blameless.
#2 THE CONSPIRACY OF SATAN
Job 2:4-6
Well it’s obvious Satan didn’t much care for
God’s insinuation that he couldn’t get to Job.
This time Satan blames his previous failure on God.
Remember God had said that he could touch all that Job had,
But he could not touch Job.
Satan here says that’s the only reason he wasn’t able to draw Job away.
“Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.”
As if Job hadn’t already endured enough,
Satan now asks for the right to put Job in pain.
Anyone can handle the loss of his possessions and his children,
But if you wrack his body with pain, he’ll turn on you in an instant.
So the accusation is still the same.
Satan still believes that he can sever the relationship between God and His children, and he believes pain will do the trick.
And again, God granted the trial.
(6) “So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”
God just handed Job over to be afflicted by the devil.
He, in effect, kicked Job out into the lion’s den.
And I must tell you, that Job isn’t alone in this.
Luke 22:31-32 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
2 Corinthians 12:7 “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me — to keep me from exalting myself!”
In fact Jesus said:
Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”
This is not that uncommon.
Only here we get to see the conversation where God allowed it.
So Job is about to get hit…AGAIN
The Character of Job, The Conspiracy of Satan
#3 THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF LIFE
Job 2:7-8
Satan afflicted Job with some sort of disease
That covered Job’s entire body with sores.
This would be two things working against Job.
• One would be the pain of the illness.
• The second would be the fear of death.
(I know God had decreed that Satan couldn’t kill him, but Job didn’t know that)
Job is facing a painful and deadly disease.
And that is why in verse 8 we find Job at an all-time low.
(8) “And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.”
That is what you call rock bottom.
Job is sitting in the ashes scraping the puss out of his sores
With a broken piece of an old clay pot.
We don’t find him weeping or sobbing,
Mostly he just appears to be in a daze.
Job is totally crushed.
• He’s lost his fortune
• He’s lost his possessions
• He’s lost his children (future)
• He’s lost his health
• We’ll soon learn that he’s lost his respect and good reputation
My sister used to have a sign outside of her house that said,
“Trespassers will be shot, survivors will be shot again.”
That has to be what Job feels like.
He’s been pounded and pounced on.
The Character of Job, The Conspiracy of Satan, The Circumstances of Life
#4 THE COUNSEL OF HIS WIFE
Job 2:9-10
Now, I broke this off as its own point,
But it really is still part of life’s circumstances.
Job isn’t just being afflicted, he’s being harassed.
Satan is no doubt using Job’s wife to encourage him to fall away.
I mean, listen to her advice.
“Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!”
What was it Satan told God Job would do?
“curse You to Your face”
Apparently he’s using Job’s wife to push Job over the edge.
So now, not only has Job been stripped of all he has and afflicted with great sickness, he is now getting Satanic advice from the person he should be able to trust the most.
She wants to know: “Why do you still hold fast your integrity?”
That is to say,
“Why do you still think integrity is important?”
“Why would you possibly think being righteous matters?”
She sounds similar to where Asaph went last week:
Psalms 73:13-14 “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure And washed my hands in innocence; For I have been stricken all day long And chastened every morning.”
Or like the discouraged writer of Ecclesiastes:
Ecclesiastes 8:14 “There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility.”
Ecclesiastes 9:2-3 “It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.”
He even went so far as to say:
Ecclesiastes 7:15-16 “I have seen everything during my lifetime of futility; there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness. Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?”
That is where Job’s wife is.
She has bought the prosperity gospel thus far,
And now having lost her fortune and her children too,
She’s ready to curse God.
There was no reason for this in her mind
And she thinks it time to hold God accountable.
In her estimation, since God didn’t protect them,
He no longer deserves their allegiance.
She thinks it’s time to tell God what you think and die.
But again, notice Job’s unbelievable response:
“You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?”
Wow! What a perspective.
Job recognizes that his wife is just spouting off her Oprah theology.
The response she had is the
Same response you can see plastered all over Facebook.
It’s the response of the flesh and Job won’t hear it.
“Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?”
There’s a good question for you to answer.
Christians are notorious for spouting off that
They desire God’s will to be done.
The semi-religious all over the world know the words to the model prayer:
“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Here’s the question.
Do we desire God’s will all the time, or only when it is agreeable?
• Do we believe God’s will is always right?
• Do we believe God always knows what He is doing?
• Do we believe God is always in control?
• Do we believe God genuinely loves and cares for us?
• Do we believe His plan is best?
If we do, then our circumstances should never cause disobedience.
Job truly believed a hymn that we sing all the time.
“Have Thine own way Lord, have Thine own way. Thou are the Potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me, after Thy will. While I am waiting yielded and still.”
Jeremiah said:
Jeremiah 18:1-6 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying, “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.”
Paul said:
Romans 9:21 “Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?”
This reality is not hard to understand, it’s just hard to swallow.
It is the very essence of trust and submission.
It is a spiritual reality that occurs in the life of anyone
Who has come to believe that God is God and I am not.
Job believed it.
God could do whatever He desired…because He is God.
Now, I’m not saying I’ve always had that perspective in my life,
I’m just saying it is the perspective of one of the most blameless and upright men who ever lived.
“In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”
And if he didn’t sin with his lips then he didn’t sin with his heart, because out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.
Job overcame.
• Satan said Job would curse God and once again Job worshiped.
• Satan said Job would fall away and once again Job held fast.
And once again the reality Paul revealed is solidified in our minds.
Romans 8:35-39 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The relationship that Job had with God was a genuine one,
And nothing could sever it.
Not loss of possessions
Not loss of children
Not sickness or pain
Not worldly influence
God’s children are secure.
Job’s soul was anchored.
Job held fast.
Can I encourage you during your suffering?
Hebrews 10:32-39 “But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY. BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”
Don’t you love that phrase: “we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”
That was Job, and I hope that is you.
• Job suffered immensely
• Job did not deserve it
• Job didn’t know why he was suffering
• But Job didn’t turn on God
One more point
#5 THE CONTEMPLATION OF HIS PAIN
Job 2:11-13
These final 3 verses simply serve as an indicator
To let you know the degree to which Job is suffering.
And let me just go ahead and show that to you.
The very last phrase says, “for they saw that his pain was very great.”
Job was suffering excessively
This was no easy path he was walking.
This righteous man, who had done nothing wrong
Was suffering immensely without a single explanation
Now none of us in here
Would claim to be blameless or righteous by our own moral abilities,
But if you are in Christ then rest assured that’s how God sees you.
When Satan asks God about you, God says the same about you because you are covered in the blood of Jesus.
What am I driving at?
When you suffer, you are also suffering “without cause” as Job was.
That doesn’t mean that God isn’t using it
Or that God doesn’t have a plan, for He does.
But rest assured, if you are in Christ, it is not some form of retribution for things you’ve done wrong.
All of that retribution
All of that scorn
All of that wrath
WAS FULLY POURED ON JESUS
And that is another problem of the prosperity gospel.
It clearly underestimates the sacrifice of Jesus,
Because it holds that believers can still pay a divine penalty for their sin
Instead of believing that Christ already did.
So, when you suffer excessively,
Don’t fall into the “what did I do wrong?” trap.
Christ already paid for what you did wrong.
Your suffering is for a different reason and one that we may not know.
We just know God’s promises in the midst of it.
So Job’s suffering was excessive, but it wasn’t because he sinned.
That’s the point.
Now, here we are also introduced to Job’s three friends
(you’ll grow to love them)
And before we move on to chapter 3,
You also need to understand them.
They all got together and decided to come and visit Job.
And notice their intent:
“they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him.”
This is another very important point you have to grasp
So you can understand the rest of the book.
• As we read you’re going to hear Job square off with these three men.
• Eventually you’re going to hear God rebuke these men for their pitiful attempt at comforting Job.
In short, when you read this book
It’s easy to assume that these men were Job’s enemies
And that they cared nothing for Job.
But that isn’t the case at all.
These men were Job’s friends and all they wanted to do was “sympathize with him and comfort him.”
Now, I’ll spoil the story for you a little
To let you know that they will effectively do neither.
In fact, by Job 16 Job will say:
Job 16:1-2“Then Job answered, “I have heard many such things; Sorry comforters are you all.”
So clearly these men set out to comfort Job, but do a lousy job of it.
The question I want you to consider right now is: WHY?
Where did they go wrong?
It wasn’t due to their lack of compassion.
In fact, notice verses 12 & 13
(12-13) “When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky. Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.”
Does that sound like they had no compassion for Job?
No, they loved him
They came to him
They wept for him
They sat silently with him for a week
These men cared about Job.
So why, if these men cared so much, did they do such a lousy job?
Good intentions cannot overcome bad theology.
Sincere compassion cannot overcome wrong doctrine.
There is only one thing that truly comforts the bereaved
And that is God’s truth.
God is the God of all comfort.
His truth is what brings comfort to the soul.
If you go with sincere compassion but distort the truth,
You will not be a comfort to the people you seek to minister to.
• You either won’t comfort them initially (like Job’s friends)
• Or you won’t comfort them eventually (like so many ear ticklers today)
That is to say you may sugar coat the situation
To make them feel good and love you at the moment,
But sooner or later false doctrine always falls apart and your comfort will be short-lived.
Job’s friends love Job, but they have a problem.
They believe the prosperity gospel.
And that is another reason why we need to study this book.
• We need to see our suffering rightly so we will have faith.
• We need to see others suffering rightly so we render comfort.
Well, there you have it.
The foundation has been laid.
• Job was righteous
• His suffering wasn’t a result of his sin
• Job’s friends genuinely loved him
Keep those three things tucked away
And next Sunday night we’ll dive into the dialogue
And learn quite a bit about suffering.
