I just read something I have never seen before, and it makes me wonder if there’s part of this account that I didn’t understand.
If you look at verse 25 in chapter 3 you find the words “what I feared has come upon me” (NLT). It appears that Job was afraid of losing his health, family and property. Job was a godly man, but perhaps he was too worried about worldly things. There is another explanation that would fit verse 25 as well. Job was afraid that if he lost “everything” he would also lose his faith. I have known very godly people who shared that same concern. They were afraid that if they had to endure physical pain or social rejection that it would convince them to deny Christ, and they didn’t want that to happen.
Have you ever worried that if your circumstance became radically different you might lose your faith? It’s possible that you and Job have that in common. Actually, I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be concerned about how we might act if our fortunes turned, it helps us prepare for the eventuality.
Every time I have approached this passage it has been with the understanding that Job’s friends were poor comfort, heaping up condemnation on him atop his mountain of problems. Today as I read what Eliphaz says in his first conversation I can’t find anything wrong with it. Eliphaz is right (calm down…I’m not finished) God doesn’t punish the innocent. Eliphaz is assuming that because Job is afflicted he must have done something wrong, and is being punished for it. His implication is that Job should look upon his life humbly and confess his sins so that God will once again restore his fortune. Knowing the end of the story we already know that Job later confesses that he was arrogant. Perhaps he was also afraid, which would imply that he didn’t love perfectly enough. By the time this trial is over, Job will be a purer and more clear representation of what God wants His relationship with man to look like. Trust me, I am casting no stones here. What Job went through was terrible, and I don’t want to stand apart and say “Job should do this or that…because his friends are later rebuked for that very thing”.
Stray thoughts:
1. This account would be the same lesson if a poor man lost what he had. The fact that Job had great wealth must be important to the story line.
2. Why is Job’s wife never touched? Clearly she is not one of Job’s “possessions”. When God allows satan to take everything from Job the wife remains. That’s interesting.
3. If God doesn’t harm the innocent, then what about Job’s children? Were they innocent? I think the greater lesson here is that we aren’t guaranteed health, wealth or long life. Calamities are going to come upon all people good and bad alike, and our relationship with Jesus cannot be contingent upon worldly things. Some godly people are going to die young, and others will not. Be ready at all times, none of us are guaranteed long life and second chances. Job’s children should have been attentive to their father’s beliefs and went to heaven ahead of him.
There’s probably more, maybe next time.
faithfully,
PR