Day 181: OT Job C1-7; Disturbing Conversation with God Allows Satan to All But Kill Job?

Day 181: Job C17; Disturbing Conversation with God Allows Satan to All But Kill Job?

This Book of Job takes its name from its chief character, Job. After he had lost his riches, his children, and his health, three of his friends carried on a debate with him, trying to show him that his afflictions were punishment for his sins. But Job rightly proclaimed his innocence, though he seeks vainly for an explanation of his sufferings. Finally God intervened, showing Job the folly of questioning divine providence, but at the same time praising Job for not accepting the false solution offered by his friends.

Personally, this is quite disturbing to me that God would allow Satan to bring Evil upon any one, especially a good guy like Job! But here is the dialogue:

Now on a certain day when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, Satan also was present among them…

Lord to Satan: Whence comest thou?

Satan to the Lord: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it.

Lord to Satan: Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a simple and upright man, and fearing God, and avoiding evil?

Satan to the Lord: Doth Job fear God in vain? Hast not thou made a fence for him, and his house, and all his substance round about, blessed the works of his hands, and his possession hath increased on earth? But stretch forth thy hand a little, and touch all that he hath, and see if he blesseth thee not to thy face.

Lord to Satan: Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand; only put not forth thy hand upon his person.

And Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.”

And Satan ruined Job: his oxen and asses stolen by the Sabeans; his sheep consumed by the Fire of God; his camels stolen by the Chaldeans and worse of all all of his sons and daughters killed by a collapsing house in a violent wind storm.

Plus all his associated servants were killed too, except the four that escaped to tell Job—and I alone have escaped to tell thee…

Why would God have a hand in bad things happening to good people? Very disturbing but as if not enough, more dialogue whereas God gives Satan permission to afflict Job himself:

Lord to Satan: Whence comest thou?

Satan to the Lord: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it.

Lord to Satan: Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a man simple, and upright, and fearing God, and avoiding evil, and still keeping his innocence? But thou hast moved me against him, that should afflict him without cause.

Satan to the Lord: Skin for skin, and all that a man hath he will give for his life; but put forth thy hand, and touch his bone and his flesh, and then thou shalt see that he will bless thee to thy face.

Lord to Satan: Behold he is in thy hand but yet save his life.”

Satan struck Job with a very grievous ulcer, from the sole of the foot even to the top of his head…

Job continues his saintly ways…

Naked come I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord so is it done: blessed be the name of the Lord. In all things Job sinned not by his lips, nor spoke he any foolish thing against God.”

Then Job’s wife gives her advice:

Dost thou still continue in thy simplicity? Bless God and die.

Job to his wife: Thou hast spoken like one of the foolish women: if we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil?

In all these things Job did not sin with his lips.

Then Job’s three friends—Eliphaz, Baldad, and Sophar—came to visit to comfort him. Stayed a week and never uttered a word:

For they had made an appointment to come together and visit him, and comfort him… they knew him not…

And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no man spoke to him a word: for they saw that his grief was very great.”

Job is indignant now and curses the day of his birth and hopes to die which would be a blessing… but God has other plans and maybe this is why he did not allow Satan to kill Job.

His first friend to visit—Eliphaz—has a vision; perhaps it was Job’s ego and apparently perfect righteousness that got him into trouble with God:

And when a spirit passed before me… I have heard the voice as it were a gentle wind: Shall man be justified in comparison to God, or shall a man be more pure than his maker? Behold they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he found wickedness.”

Eliphaz has not come to comfort and console his friend Job. Rather he judges him as being deserving in some way of God’s Wrath:

Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? Or when were the just destroyed?”

Job is suffering for his sins and must turn to God in a humble manner according to Eliphaz.

But Job says that his suffering outweighs his sins including the loss of his family and prosperity:

O that my sins, whereby I have deserved wrath, and the calamity that I suffer, were weighed in a balance… For the arrows of the Lord are in me, the rage whereof drinketh up my spirit, and the terrors of the Lord war against me… The things which before my soul would not touch, now through anguish are my meats.”

Job is depressed and wished that he would die and be put out of his misery; for after all he is just a human being:

Who will grant that my request may come: and that God may give me what I look for? And that he that hath begun may destroy me… And that this may be my comfort, that afflicting me with sorrow, he spare not, not I contradict the words of the Holy One… My strength is not the strength of stones, nor is my flesh of brass. Behold there is no help from me in myself, and my familiar friends also are departed from me.”

Job feels his friends did not understand his predicament, lacked mercy, and gave him no consolation.

Job is hopeless, depressed, and ultimately questions God who has kept him alive:

The life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are like the days of a hireling… looketh for the end of his work… My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the weaver, and are consumed without any hope… As a cloud is consumed, and passeth away: so he that shall go down in hell shall not come up.”

Wherefore I will not spare my mouth, I will speak in the affliction of my spirit: I will not talk with the bitterness of my soul… So that my soul rather chooseth hanging, and my bones death. I have done with hope, I shall live no longer: spare me, for my days are nothing.”

How long wilt thou not spare me, nor suffer me to swallow down my spittle?

I have sinned: what shall I do to thee, O keeper of men?

Why hast thou set me opposite to thee, and I am become burdensome to myself?

Why dost thou not remove my sin, and why dost thou not take away my iniquity?

Behold now I shall sleep in the dust: and if thou seek me in the morning, I shall not be.

Surely we have all felt like this at one point or another in our lives for less than the experiences of Job…

What is God’s message in this Book of Job?

Day 181: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective;

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Job, Chapters 1-7: Disturbing Conversation with God Allows Satan to All But Kill Job?

Bible Notes:

This book takes its name from its chief character, Job. After he had lost his riches, his children, and his health, three of his friends carried on a debate with him, trying to show him that his afflictions were punishment for his sins. But Job rightly proclaimed his innocence, though he seeks vainly for an explanation of his sufferings. Finally God intervened, showing Job the folly of questioning divine providence, but at the same time praising Job for not accepting the false solution offered by his friends.

Job Chapter 1: Prosperity of Job; God Gives Satan Power Over Job; Job’s Possessions and Children Destroyed; The Patience of Job in Adversity.

Prosperity of Job:

There was a man in the land of Hus, whose name was Job, and that man was simple and upright, and fearing God, and avoiding evil… and a family exceedingly great: and this man was great among all the people of the east.

God Gives Satan Power Over Job:

Now on a certain day when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, Satan also was present among them…

Lord to Satan: Whence comest thou?

Satan to the Lord: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it.

Lord to Satan: Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a simple and upright man, and fearing God, and avoiding evil?

Satan to the Lord: Doth Job fear God in vain? Hast not thou made a fence for him, and his house, and all his substance round about, blessed the works of his hands, and his possession hath increased on earth? But stretch forth thy hand a little, and touch all that he hath, and see if he blesseth thee not to thy face.

Lord to Satan: Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand; only put not forth thy hand upon his person.

And Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

Job’s Possessions and Children Destroyed:

Oxen… and asses… Sabeans took all away, and slew the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell thee…

Fire of God fell from heaven, and striking the sheep and the servants, hath consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell thee…

Chaldeans… have fallen upon the camels, and taken them, moreover they have slain the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell thee…

Sons and daughters… a violent wind came… and shook the four corners of the house, and it fell upon thy children and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell thee…

The Patience of Job in Adversity:

Then Job rose up, and rent his garments, and having shaven his head fell down upon the ground and worshiped, and said: Naked come I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord so is it done: blessed be the name of the Lord. In all things Job sinned not by his lips, nor spoke he any foolish thing against God.

Job Chapter 2: Satan Allowed to Afflict Job Himself; Job Afflicted with Ulcers; Job Reproves His Wife; Eliphaz, Baldad, and Sophar Visit Job.

Satan Allowed to Afflict Job Himself:

And it came to pass, when on a certain day the sons of God Came, and stood before the Lord, and Satan came among them, and stood in his sight…

Lord to Satan: Whence comest thou?

Satan to the Lord: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it.

Lord to Satan: Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a man simple, and upright, and fearing God, and avoiding evil, and still keeping his innocence? But thou hast moved me against him, that should afflict him without cause.

Satan to the Lord: Skin for skin, and all that a man hath he will give for his life; but put forth thy hand, and touch his bone and his flesh, and then thou shalt see that he will bless thee to thy face.

Lord to Satan: Behold he is in thy hand but yet save his life.

Job Afflicted with Ulcers:

Satan… struck Job with a very grievous ulcer, from the sole of the foot even to the top of his head…

Job Reproves His Wife:

And his wife said to him: Dost thou still continue in thy simplicity? Bless God and die.

Job to his wife: Thou hast spoken like one of the foolish women: if we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil?

In all these things Job did not sin with his lips.

Eliphaz, Baldad, and Sophar Visit Job:

Job’s three friends: Eliphaz, Baldad, and Sophar…

For they had made an appointment to come together and visit him, and comfort him… they knew him not…

And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no man spoke to him a word: for they saw that his grief was very great.

Job Chapter 3: Job Curses the Day of His Birth; Job Wishes He had Dies; Death Would be a Blessed Release.

Job Curses the Day of His Birth:

After this (visit by 3 friends) Job opened his mouth and cursed his day… wherein I was born… let that day be turned into darkness… and let not the light shine upon it…

Let darkness, and the shadow of death cover it, let a mist overspread it, and let it be wrapped up in bitterness… let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months…

Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to raise up a leviathan…

Leviathan—a sea monster defeated by Yahweh in various scriptural accounts.

Isaiah 27:1: “On that day, the Lord will punish with his sword that is cruel, great, and strong,

Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the coiled serpent; he will slay the dragon in the sea.”

Let it expect light and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning of the day, because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, nor took away evils from my eyes.

Job Wishes He had Dies:

Why did I not die in the womb, why did I not perish when I came out of the belly?

There the wicked cease from the tumult, and there the wearied in strength are at rest.

The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master.

Death Would be a Blessed Release:

Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to them that are in bitterness of soul?

To a man whose way is hidden, and God Hath surrounded him with darkness?

…for the fear which I feared, hath come upon me: and that which I was afraid of, hath befallen me… and indignation is come upon me.

Indignationstrong displeasure at something considered unjust, offensive, insulting, or base; righteous anger.

Job Chapter 4: The First Speech of Eliphaz; The Wicked are Afflicted; The Vision of Eliphaz.

The First Speech of Eliphaz:

If we begin to speak for thee, perhaps thou wilt take it ill, but who can wthhold the words he hath conceived?

…but now the scourge has come upon thee… thou are troubled.

Where is thy fear, thy fortitude, thy patience, and the perfection of thy ways?

The Wicked are Afflicted:

Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? Or when were the just destroyed?

…perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit of his wrath.

The Vision of Eliphaz:

And when a spirit passed before me… I have heard the voice as it were a gentle wind: Shall man be justified in comparison to God, or shall a man be more pure than his maker? Behold they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he found wickedness.

Job Chapter 5: Job is Suffering for His Sins; Humble Turning to God; The Blessedness of God’s Correction.

Job is Suffering for His Sins:

Anger indeed killeth the foolish, and envy slayeth the little one.

Nothing upon earth is done without a cause, and sorrow doth not spring out of the ground. Man is born to labor and the bird to fly.

Humble Turning to God:

…who setteth up the humble on high, and comforteth with health those that mourn, who bringeth to nought the designs of the malignant, so that their hands cannot accomplish what they had begun…

But he shall save the needy from the sword of their mouth, and the poor from the hand of the violent. And to the needy there shall be hope, but iniquity shall draw in her mouth.

The Blessedness of God’s Correction:

Blessed is the man whom God correcteth: refuse not therefore the chastising of the Lord, for he woundeth, and cureth, he striketh, and his hands shall heal.

And Thou shalt know thy tabernacle is in peace…

Thou shall enter into the grave in abundance, as a heap of wheat is brought in its season.

Behold, this is even so, as we have searched out: which thou having heard, consider it thoroughly in thy mind,

Job Chapter 6: Job’s Reply to Eliphaz; Job’s Suffering Outweighs His Sins; Job Longs for Death; Job’s Friends Lack Mercy; No Consolation From His Friends.

Job’s Reply to Eliphaz:

But Job answered, and said:

Job’s Suffering Outweighs His Sins:

O that my sins, whereby I have deserved wrath, and the calamity that I suffer, were weighed in a balance.

For the arrows of the Lord are in me, the rage whereof drinketh up my spirit, and the terrors of the Lord war against me.

The things which before my soul would not touch, now through anguish are my meats.

Job Longs for Death:

Who will grant that my request may come: and that God may give me what I look for? And that he that hath begun may destroy me…

And that this may be my comfort, that afflicting me with sorrow, he spare not, not I contradict the words of the Holy One.

My strength is not the strength of stones, nor is my flesh of brass. Behold there is no help from me in myself, and my familiar friends also are departed from me.

Job’s Friends Lack Mercy:

He that taketh away mercy from his friend, forsaketh the fear of the Lord.

The paths of their steps are entangled: they shall walk in vain, and shall perish.

They are confounded, because I have hoped: they are come even unto me, and are covered with shame.

No Consolation From His Friends:

Now you are come: and now seeing my affliction you are afraid.

Why have you detracted the words of truth, whereas there is none of you that can reprove me?

You dress up speeches only to rebuke, and you utter words to the wind.

However finish what you have begun: give ear, and see whether I lie.

Answer, I beseech you, without contention: and speaking that which is just, judge ye.

And you shall not find iniquity in my tongue, neither shall folly sound in my mouth.

Job Chapter 7: Job Declares His Miseries; Job’s Hopelessness; Job Questions God.

Job Declares His Miseries:

The life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are like the days of a hireling… looketh for the end of his work.

My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the weaver, and are consumed without any hope.

As a cloud is consumed, and passeth away: so he that shall go down in hell shall not come up.

Job’s Hopelessness:

Wherefore I will not spare my mouth, I will speak in the affliction of my spirit: I will not talk with the bitterness of my soul.’

So that my soul rather chooseth hanging, and my bones death. I have done with hope, I shall live no longer: spare me, for my days are nothing.

Job Questions God:

How long wilt thou not spare me, nor suffer me to swallow down my spittle?

I have sinned: what shall I do to thee, O keeper of men?

Why hast thou set me opposite to thee, and I am become burdensome to myself?

Why dost thou not remove my sin, and why dost thou not take away my iniquity?

Behold now I shall sleep in the dust: and if thou seek me in the morning, I shall not be.

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