Ten Lessons from Job

Who are the greatest men to live in the Old Testament era? If you had to name the three most righteous men to have lived from Creation to the Babylonian captivity, who would you name? We might think of Enoch, Abraham, Moses, King David, or Elijah. But God said the three most righteous men ever to live until that time where Noah, Daniel, and Job. Ezekiel 14:14, 20.

All three of these men were amazing. Noah stood for God in the midst of an overwhelmingly heathen, evil culture. It was not easy to be righteous when everyone else was so wicked that God had to destroy them. Daniel may still have been alive when the 14th chapter of Ezekiel was written. If so, he was a “living legend.” He was righteous even though he was surrounded by the opulence and decadence of a heathen court and culture.

Job was one of the greatest men ever to live, and yet you do not hear a lot of preaching about him. If the truth be told, most Christians don’t know a lot about the story of Job. We have all heard of the patience of Job. James 5:11. But what does that mean? Do we realize that Job’s patience meant trusting God despite every outward appearance? Job believed God in spite of the fact that God was not blessing him. See Job 2:10; 13:15. Too many children of the Lord say, “I just don’t understand why God isn’t blessing me.” Job didn’t understand either but he was patient.

The story of Job is fascinating. It provides lessons that are useful to every child of God. It answers the age-old question: “Why do bad things happen to good people?” It refutes the short-sighted theology that all rewards come in this lifetime.

There are many lessons we can receive from this book. First, let’s outline the story.

Prologue

In chapters 1-2, there is a confrontation between God and Satan. Job was pointed out as a perfect man who loved God and eschewed evil. The lie of the devil was that if God’s blessings were taken away Job would curse God. When the Lord permitted the temptation, everything Job had was taken away. He lost the lives of all of his children; he lost all of his wealth; he lost his prestige; and he eventually lost even his good health. Yet Job did not curse God.

Job’s three friends came to be with him in his suffering. They sat silent for seven days before they spoke. They were good friends. But they did not understand why Job was suffering. They repeatedly accused Job, and Job maintained his defense of his righteousness.

Some of the things the comforters said are confusing. It seems that they were more interested in flowery rhetoric than making sound points. But their basic concept was that suffering is God’s punishment for sin. If there is great suffering, the victim must be a great sinner. Elihu, who spoke only once near the end of the trial, had a different concept. He felt that not all suffering was punishing judgment; sometimes it is corrective judgment or preventative judgment – designed to deter the temptation to sin.

Finally, God spoke the truth of the matter.

The Debate – Round One

Chapter 3 opens with Job’s first speech. Job wished he was dead, and cursed the day he was born. Eliphaz responds in chapters 4-5. He said, “God destroys the guilty, not the innocent. Therefore Job, you cannot be innocent because God is judging you.” In chapter 6-7 Job replied that his friends weren’t showing sympathy; and anyway, he didn’t deserve the suffering he was going through.

Job’s second friend, Bildad, spoke in chapter 8. He said that God always rewards the good and punishes the wicked. Because Job was being punished, he must be wicked. Job disagreed in chapters 9-10. He said that he was not wicked. Job asserted that God had condemned an innocent man.

In chapter 11 the third friend, Zophar, piped in. Job isn’t innocent; he deserves even worse than he got, according to Zophar. This stung Job to sarcasm; he decided that he will turn to God directly to plead his case.

The Debate – Round Two

The second round of the debate opens with Eliphaz’ second speech. Chapter 15 has him saying that Job is a self-opinionated old windbag. His denials prove his guilt. (I am just paraphrasing the arguments put forth by Job and his three comforters. To really understand, you should read the book. A modern, paraphrased translation might be helpful if you just want to get the sense of what each speaker is saying.)

Chapters 16-17 of the book has Job saying to these three debaters: You are lousy friends. “Surely God is just,” Job says, “but I cannot understand my suffering.” Job thought that doing good would always result in blessings, or at least an absence of curses. He expected a quid pro quo in this life from God as payment for being good.

Bildad in chapter 18 launches into a tirade about the fate of the wicked. Truly, the wicked will be judged; but Bildad could not conceive of the possibility that Job wasn’t secretly wicked. Job’s answer in chapter 19 basically said, “Nobody loves me; but one day God will clear me.”

Zophar’s last speech in chapter 20 claimed that Bildad was right; the wicked are punished. Again, this general principle is sometimes true; but it misses the point that Job wasn’t wicked. And Job knew that the wicked are not always punished in this life. In chapter 21, Job replied: “No, sometimes the wicked are happy and die peacefully.”

The Debate – Round Three

(Zophar drops out)

In chapter 22 Eliphaz claimed that Job has a list of sins that cannot be hidden from God. These comforters could not conceive of the fact that Job was not being punished for some great sin that he was hiding. Job replied in chapters 23-24. In summary he said, “If only I could put my case before God. Life is not always fair. God sometimes delays judgment.”

Bildad responded in chapter 25. He said that Job was claiming to be perfect, and nobody is perfect. No man is clean in God’s sight.

Job’s final reply is in chapters 26-31. Mournfully he said, “I cannot understand God. Life used to be so good; now it is so awful. I have no open sins and harbored no secret sins.”

The Debate – Elihu’s Turn

(Job does not reply.)

The three comforters quit speaking. Their arguments did not convince Job of his terrible wickedness, nor the justice of the punishment he was receiving.

Elihu, a fourth speaker, finally begins to speak in chapters 32-37. Most of Elihu’s speech consisted of telling Job what wonderful things he was going to say. Let all the earth keep silent, Elihu is about to speak! For six chapters, this young man says that God is trying to save, not destroy Job. He also asserted that God will not answer Job’s petitions for an explanation. While much of Elihu’s statements are correct, he was surely wrong about God answering!

God Intervenes

Suddenly, a great pageant unfolds. God Himself begins to speak to Job out of a whirlwind. He does not speak to the comforters, to correct their erroneous theology; He speaks to Job, to point out what Job has failed to see.

This man needed to understand that God is so great, and yet He is so near! Job thought he would put his case to God; instead, God put His case to Job. God asked a series of questions; Job could not answer a single one. He realized that he was not on a level with God.

His inability to answer God showed Job that he is too limited, too ignorant, and too human to comprehend God’s plan and purpose. Job 42:1-6 is the climax of the book. Job realized that he was out of his depth. The great God will do right. It is unthinkable that such a great God could act unjustly.

When Job saw himself, he realized how self-righteous he had been; and how right God had been in it all. Job said, “Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Verse 6. The closing portion of the book, verses 7-17, are sort of an epilogue. God speaks; Job is vindicated and blessed.

Job was right. He was not being punished for his sins. And yet he had been relying on his own ability, rather than depending on God. He did not need to understand everything that was happening to him. God is so much greater than man. When Job realized this, he was awed into silence.

Even though Job was righteous, in that he was honest, moral, and good; when he was brought face to face with the greatness of God, he repented and abhorred himself.

Ten Lessons from the Book of Job

1. The book tells us that sometimes obedience does not bring blessings in this life. The early church martyrs were blessed, and obedient, yet still died. For the saints, rewards are often deferred until the everlasting kingdom.
2. There is a hedge that Satan cannot penetrate, unless God allows. Job 1:10.
3. The proper response to calamities. Job 1:20-22; 2:10. Do not curse God; do not give up in despair; worship God despite the circumstances.
4. Satan’s misconceptions. Job 1:11; 2:4-5. He thought Job served God because he was blessed; Job served God because it was right. The devil thought Job would curse God in enough trouble; Job served according to a principle. Satan was wrong about Job; he can be wrong about you.
5. God’s limits on Satan. Job 1:10, 12; 2:6. The devil can do no more to you than a loving God allows.
6. Great calamities do not always mean great sin. Job’s friends were wrong. Not every reversal is punishing judgment. Do not smugly look down on someone who is having problems; they may be more righteous than you.
7. Job was wrong to justify himself. Job 32:1-2. A basic, carnal instinct is to justify ourselves. Instead, ascribe justification to God.
8. God would not bless Job until he prayed for those whom he had argued with. Job 42:8, 10. The right spirit is prayer, not argument. (Husbands and wives need to learn this.)
9. Bad things happen to good people.
10. Why bad things happen:
    • So we can see God
    • So we can see ourselves
    • So we can grow in God
    • So we can see that bad circumstances can lead to a good result
    • So we can learn to pray, instead of lashing out