Last Sunday, we talked about how Job lost everything he had, including all physical property along with all his children. And how, even though he suffered, he did not blame God, but chose to worship God instead.
Today, Satan gives him another test designed to test his loyalty to God, and we will see the results that had on Job, too. Many times, in our troubles, we tend to say things we don’t mean, and some of those things don’t do anything to honor God. Even when we go thru these times, we must be very careful to always say the things God wants us to say.
The key verse today points out that Job kept that in mind even though his losses were much greater than most of ours.
JOB 2:10
“Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”
Let’s begin reading about Satan’s 2nd plan to get Job to curse God.
JOB 2:1-3
“1 On another day, the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” 3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
This is the same wording as found in chapter 1:6-8, but the reference to ‘on another day’ points to some period of time elapsing between the two incidents. In this passage, God describes job’s qualities just as he did in chapter 1, but in chapter 2, he adds another quality. In verse 3, God says that Job kept his integrity.
In verse 3, there are 2 things we should pay attention to: The 1st thing is when God told Satan, “You incited me against him to ruin him.” Now, that does not mean Satan made God do things against His will. It does show, however, that God will allow tests to come upon us that will reflect our Godly character to others around us, even to Satan.
The 2nd thing is when god told Satan how he wanted to ruin Job “without any reason.” Satan’s agenda was to destroy one of God’s followers, just to prove he wasn’t what God said he was. But in the end, the truth showed that Job was exactly what God said he was.
Why do you think God allows us to be tested with very bad things? Satan failed to have Job blame God, so Satan figures he should turn up the heat.
JOB 2:4 shows us how that happened.
‘4 ‘Skin for skin!’ Satan replied. ‘A man will give all he has for his own life.’”
Notice how in verse 4, Satan’s tone rises in arrogance towards God when he demands “skin for skin!” His first plan was to destroy Job and make him hate God, but that didn’t work, so now, he is eager to step it up a notch! And that is what Satan does to us, too. He keeps attacking us until we give in or die and go home. And that shows his true desire - to kill our faith, to steal our focus from God and to destroy our souls.
“Skin for skin” is an expression that means a person will do anything necessary to save their own life. And while this might be true in the worldly realm, it is not necessarily true in the spiritual realm. True lovers of God remain - true lovers of God.
The bottom line is that Satan thought Job was just like himself; totally selfish and only valued what he wanted for himself. Satan was wrong. Job was not anything at all like Satan. But he was much like God.
In JOB 2:5, Satan told God …
“Now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
So God allowed Satan to test Job by attacking his body. But we see God is the one in control,
because he set the limits to Satan’s challenges and Satan had to abide by those limits. Job’s body could be stricken, but his life could not be taken. Even in that, we see that Satan must bow down and obey God.
In JOB 2:6, we see who is really in total control – even over Satan.
“The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.’”
Even though God allowed Satan to ruin Job’s worldly life, He protected Job just like He did in Chapter 1. And the main point to me is that God may allow things to come into our lives, but He also protects us while they are in our lives.
Two things we must remember - God is God and we are not, and the second thing is that God is God and Satan is not God, either. Even though he desperately wants to be.
JOB 2:7-8
“7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job?with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.”
We are not sure exactly what kind of sores he had, but we know they covered his entire body and they were very painful. Since they covered his whole body, everyone could see them, and in those days, he could be forced away from the main population and live outside the city as an outcast so that others did not catch what he had. This may be the case with Job, because we read that is where he lived! The city had a garbage dump located outside the city walls, where they put their garbage, ashes, and other waste. This is where Job was; alone, heartbroken, and in great physical pain.
In those days, people thought suffering was related to the sin one committed. So, some surely wondered how Job had sinned. But we can read that there is no mention of his questioning God, or wondering why God caused this, or in any other way turning away from God.
JAMES 5:10-11 tells us,
“Satan had afflicted Job in unimaginable ways, yet he stayed true to the Lord.”
And here is something to think about; the people thought suffering was due to sin, but we can see now that God’s decisions have nothing to do with sin in Job’s life. Job’s condition was not related to his sin at all. In fact, God allowed it because He knew Job stood righteous in His eyes.
The people assumed because they did not know. How many times do we assume something about God, when we don’t really know, either? And when we do that, do we ever tend to point blame, or do anything else instead of just trusting in God to fix it?
ISAIAH 40:31 says this about those who are willing to trust in God enough to wait in faith while He works in our lives. He could have been talking about Job ….
They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength; (they will recover)
They will soar on wings like eagles; (they will enjoy full life once again)
They will run and not grow weary, (they will have renewed energy and health)
They will walk and not faint. (they will go forward, and be productive once again)
JOB 2:9-10
“9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
This is the first mention of Job’s wife. We can correctly assume that she also suffered greatly, but we also see here a big difference, in the way she and her husband handled the situations. While Job was faithful & diligent to have faith and trust in God, his wife was quick to condemn and question why her husband kept believing in God.
She told her own husband to curse God and die! To which, Job responded by telling her she was talking like a foolish woman, which meant a morally deficient person, or someone who did not know God.
Her remarks show that she could not see any reason for him to continue to suffer so much. She was saying that Job would be better off to just curse God, walk away from Him, and die.
Satan thought Job would react this way, but Job’s faith only got stronger. His wife is the one who faltered when she suffered such great hurt and pain. And then Job asks his wife if they should only expect to always have good things in life and never have any problems.
Many people reject God, not wanting anything to do with Him, and refuse to even think about Him – until that day when something very bad happens, and then they blame God for letting it happen. They ask how a good God could let something like that happen.
It’s simple! God is so good, He will not force himself on anyone. And if you refuse God, you refuse everything he wants to give you – including His protection!
JOB 2:11 –
“When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.”
We can assume that these friends arrived sometime later, after Job’s problems occurred, because they lived in different areas far from each other. And for them to have heard the news, then corresponded with each other and make plans to meet to go see Job, it would have taken at least months, or even longer.
But this also shows us how much influence Job had in the area. He was known far and wide – and he was well known for his Godly integrity.
Did you know that you cannot hate someone who has Godly integrity? You may not feel comfortable around them, but you will always admire them, see something different and good in them, but you will never hate them – even if you feel so uncomfortable with them that you avoid them.
We do not know what his friends may have said to Job, but in verse 11, it says they came to sympathize with him. They traveled a long way and put their own interests on hold just to offer comfort. This also shows Job to be a man of great integrity.
In later chapters, we might not see them as such good men, but here they are now, offering sympathy to help a friend.
Think back into your past for a moment. Can you remember when you offered help to a friend in trouble, or when a friend offered you that help when you were in trouble? Genuine sympathy and warmth from a friend in time of great need is more valuable than nearly anything else.
JOB 2:12-13
“12 When they saw him from a distance, they hardly recognized him; they wept aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.”
Let’s concentrate on this verse. It says when they saw him, they began to openly weep aloud.
Can you imagine how tired & awful he looked? For months, he probably had very little sleep, and had lost much weight due to grief. Not to mention all the open sores on him.
To see him now, probably caused his friends grief beyond their ability to maintain it. To hear what had happened to their friend was bad enough, but then to see the effects it had on him was too much to express with words. So, being heartbroken for Job, they sat with him in the ash dump for 7 days without even talking - just to support him in his grief.
At that point in time, I think they were a Godly blessing to the man who was so afflicted. When total grief hits someone, a silent friend nearby can do more than any words. The take-away from this is to realize Satan will not give up trying to destroy you. Be ready. And remember to stand with God thru it all.
Let friends share in your grief. And you share in theirs if they are the ones being attacked.
Closing Prayer
