THE MIGHTY JOB 1

 

Imagine God called you ‘perfect and upright’. What kind of a life would you have led to earn such accolades?  This is what the Lord called Job and what he did to deserve it (Job 1:1):

-          As supreme magistrate he ‘chose out people’s way’, adjusted their differences, and ‘sat chief’, presiding in all their civil assemblies.

-          As captain general he dwelt ‘as a king in the midst of his troops’, preserving order and discipline, and seeing that his fellow soldiers were provided with requisites for their warfare, and the necessaries of life.

-          As a man he did not think himself superior to the meanest offices in domestic life, to relieve or support his fellow creatures, he went about ‘comforting the mourners’ visiting the sick and afflicted and ministering to their wants and seeing that the ‘wounded’ were properly attended.

-          Old Testament Student Manual Book 2, p 30

In a more detailed scriptural account, this was the life of Job:

He was upright (1:1)

He feared God (1:1)

He avoided evil (1:1)

He instructed many (4:3)

He strengthened weak hands (4:3)

He supported those who were falling (4:4)

He strengthened the feeble knees (4:4)

He walked in the Lord's ways (23:10)

He did not turn away from the commandments (23:11)

He loved the Lord's words more than food (23:12)

He delivered the poor (29:12)

He cared for the orphans (29:12)

He helped those whom no one else would help (29:12)

He gave the widow cause to sing with joy (29:13)

He was eyes to the blind (29:15)

He was feet to the lame (29:15)

He was father to the poor (29:16)

He searched for people in need of his assistance (29:16)

He never found joy in the suffering of his enemies (31:29)

He never wished evil on his enemies (31:30)

He opened his home to strangers (31:32)

He did not try to hide his sins (31:33)

He would not follow a multitude to do evil (31:34)

He refused to be silent because of the disapproval of others (31:34)

So Job was righteous, did good continually, was incredibly respected in the community and he was fabulously wealthy. You could say, his life was perfect. Hence the whole argument that Satan presented. When the Lord held Job up as an example of perfection, Satan challenged with something to this effect: "Of course he is good when you are blessing him left, right and center. It's easy to be good when you have a perfect life, but take all that away and see how much he is going to love you and believe in you."

So Job went from the pinnacle of society to living in rags on the outskirts of the city, in constant pain, not understanding what has happened to him. Basically he went from the picture of perfection to this:

 

"From the symptoms, some have said that it appears that he had elephantiasis. Sore boils, one of the symptoms of this disease, had attacked Job's body, forming large pustules which itched so greatly that a piece of pottery was used to scrape them. Job's face was so disfigured that his friends could not recognise him. Worms or maggots were bred in the sores (7:5). His breath became so foul and his body emitted such an odor, that even his friends abhorred him (19:17ff), and he sought refuge outside the city on the refuse heap where outcasts and lepers lived.

 

“Pain was his constant companion (30:17,30) as were also terrifying nightmares (7:14). Whereas, formerly old, young, princes and nobles alike honored Job, he now felt abused by those whom society itself rejects; who live on the outskirts of town, among the bushes, along the ditchbanks or in caves" (Keith H. Meservy, "Job: 'Yet Will I Trust In Him'", Sixth Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium, BYU, January 1978)

 

The lessons we can learn from this man’s experience are extensive. Over the years I have written 9 blogs about his life. This year I am looking at him from the vantage of wisdom that often comes with experience and age…..not that I am anywhere near the calibre of Job but now I understand something about suffering....

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Job - Archimedes by Italian Baroque Artist Luca Giordano)