“After the LORD Jesus Christ, who in all the pages of Scripture are you most eager to meet?” Many responded with, “I can only choose three??”
I understand that perfectly! Of the dozens upon dozens of saints found in the pages of Scripture, from the celebrated to the obscure, it’s difficult to pick out just three. As you can see, my three includes Job, David and apostle Paul.
This will be a three part series where I will expound on one of these per article and explain why these three in particular. Of course I’m eager to meet all of these precious saints including Abraham, Methuselah, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Elijah, Isaiah, Daniel… well, the list is virtually unending isn’t it?
But to start, let’s have a look at this man Job, shall we?
Who do we see in all of Scripture (besides the LORD Jesus of course) where GOD brags about them? There are a few – but none so blatantly as Job! He even brags in front of Satan on how blameless and upright he is (JOB 1:8)! Scripture states that he was “blameless and upright, and one who feared GOD and shunned evil”. (JOB 1:1).
He was a wealthy man, but he didn’t let that wealth possess and corrupt him. Rather he was a faithful steward of all that GOD had given to him, and most especially where his ten children were concerned. He made regular sacrifices to the LORD in seeking intercessory propitiation on their behalf:
JOB 1:5
So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.
The anguish of heart Job must have experienced at the loss of all his worldly goods, I’m convinced didn’t match the kind of torment he suffered when he learned of the tragic death of ALL TEN of his children!!
This leads to one of the most impactful, profound and astonishing verses in the Bible:
JOB 1:20-22
20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 And 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 be the name of the LORD." 22 In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.
Satan believed that if GOD removed the multitude of blessings He lavished on Job that the man would “curse [GOD] to [His] face”! But what Satan didn’t understand was that Job counted GOD as the greatest of blessings rather than the blessings He gives.
On the next meeting between GOD and Satan, GOD brings up Job once again:
JOB 2:3
Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause."
Satan responds by saying that mankind holds their temporal life above everything else, even material and familial blessings. “Touch [his body] and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
Both times when Satan makes these proposals, GOD permits certain things but also draws the line. The first time, Satan was permitted to take Job’s blessings but not touch him. The second time, Satan was allowed to touch his body and afflict him with a loathsome disease but not take his life.
So, Satan can at times afflict GOD’s people, but only by GOD’s permission, and with conditions and forbidden actions that would cross the line drawn by the LORD. Bear that in mind when next you find yourself afflicted and have reason to believe it’s an attack by the enemy!
Job’s three friends heard of his dire need and visited him. To their credit, they saw him from afar (he must have been a ghastly sight with his unsightly physical affliction! JOB 2:7-8) and wept intensely, then just sat silently with him for seven days.
Things go south from there, and we see a sort of “round table” discussion between these three (Eliphas, Bildad and Zophar) and Job’s responses to each of them. They go at it in three rounds, each taking a shot at Job and his replies to them all:
Round 1: Ch’s. 4-14; Round 2: Ch’s. 15-21 and Round 3: Ch’s. 22-31.
What I admire about Job is his incontestable, implicit trust he has in the LORD!
JOB 13:15
Though He slay me yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.
Remarkable! Job states that GOD could do anything to him, even take his life. He had already taken the lives of all of his children and taken all his prosperity – yet Job still maintains his trust in the LORD! That’s unshakable, resolute faith!
And the wisdom of Job is evident in Ch. 19:
JOB 19:25-27
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; 26 and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
Job was likely a contemporary with Abraham (this book is the oldest of manuscripts in the Old Testament writings) and yet what insights he had! He knew about the resurrection of the just. He knew GOD as his Redeemer and that He will stand – physically – on the Earth (the incarnation of Christ) and that he (Job) will inherit a new body after his old one is destroyed!
The entire book of Job is a testimony of endurance in trials, afflictions, sufferings. His faith, while unassailable in an intrinsic sense, had room to grow, and by the end of these fierce trials, he recognized how he did indeed grow in his faith:
JOB 42:5-6
5 "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. 6 Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.
Throughout the book of Job, the man is perplexed, frustrated, discouraged, depressed and at one point makes demands of GOD to explain Himself, insisting on his innocence. But with greater revelation, came a greater realization of his own inherent sinfulness.
From Chapter 38 to 41 GOD launches salvos of questions at Job, which the man has no answers for. Job comes to realize that there is a lot more going on in the counsels of GOD Who does things according to His wisdom that is far and above the understanding and comprehension of flesh and blood.
May we learn the lesson ourselves! When trials and afflictions visit us, rather than asking, “Why me, GOD??” – let us ask “What can I learn through this trial, LORD?”
Thinking about all that GOD allowed Job to go through, consider the end of his life: GOD blessed him double for all that he lost – except for children. He lost ten, he fathered ten more. Why didn’t he have twenty more? Because he didn’t really lose the first ten: they just moved on to heaven, awaiting the family reunion! And besides all the increase in material wealth, he had a deeper, richer understanding and relationship with the LORD!
The word I think that defines Job overall is endurance.
For more about this crucially important quality of endurance in the life of a Christian, check out this TTUF article WE COUNT THEM HAPPY THAT ENDURE.
For Part Two we will examine the life of David!
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