Job 1:13-2:10 - Goodbye to Wealth, Family, & Health

Introduction

[READING - Job 1:13-2:10]

Job 1:13–2:10 NASB95

Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God. Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.” Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. “However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.” So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

[PRAYER]

Yesterday a church buried its pastor after his unexpected passing.

Yesterday a family said goodbye to its wife, mother, and grandmother after her tragic death.

Those were but two accounts among innumerable sufferings that took place yesterday.

There will be innumerable others today and more tomorrow too.

Why do we suffer?

Who’s in charge of our suffering?

Do we have any hope when we suffer?

Suffering exists because of our sin against God, but it isn’t true that we always suffer because of some sin we’ve committed God.

God is careful to point out to us in Job 1:1, 1:8, and even Job 2:3 that Job is a man on the right track with God.

He suffered but not because of sins he committed.

Job suffered so that the glory of God might be displayed in his life and so that the character of God might be formed in his heart.

Sometimes we are allowed to suffer so that God is glorified.

Sometimes we are allowed to suffer so that we are made more like Jesus.

Who’s in charge of suffering? There’s good news on that front: Satan is not in charge of our suffering, God is.

If Satan had full authority in our suffering, then we would be destroyed.

But what the enemy means for evil, God works it together for our God.

God sovereignly ensures that our suffering doesn’t end in tragedy.

This is our hope in suffering: God is good, and even when He allows suffering to come our way, He will not let our souls be lost.

[TS] This morning we look at all that Job did lose: his wealth, his family, and his health.

We will also see how Job responded to these loses.

And in his responses, we will see God there holding onto Job’s soul.

Major Ideas

Part #1: Goodbye to Wealth and Family (Job 1:13-19)

Job 1:13–19 NASB95

13 Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

[EXP] This was the worst day of Job’s life.

God said to Satan in v. 12, “Behold, all that he has is in your power...”

It’s ominous then that v. 13 begins with, “Now on the day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking...”

His children were precious to him, but the first messenger arrives to tell him about the oxen, donkeys, and servants slain by the Sabeans, who were nomadic bandits.

Before the first messenger can finish speaking, another arrives with more bad news.

The sheep and even more servants were burned up by the fire of God, which probably refers to severe lightning or lightning that caused a great fire.

Interrupting that second bearer of bad news was a third who said the camels had been taken by the Chaldeans, who were semi-nomadic desert bandits.

They also struck down more servants. (It was a bad day to be servant in the house of Job.)

And while that third messenger was still speaking, the worst news of all came from a fourth messenger: all of Job’s children were dead.

A great wind struck the four corners of the house and brought it down on their heads.

Job’s wealth was in sheep and camels and donkeys and oxen.

All his wealth was gone.

But as a father, Job’s heart was with his children.

Job’s family was gone.

Job’s heart was broken.

[ILLUS] I’ve had some bad days.

When I was around 12 or 13 years old, I got the news that my Grandfather, my best friend in the world, had died.

When I was in 11th grade, I got word that my Mom had died.

A few years ago now, Cheryl and I experienced a miscarriage, and it was tough having to tell our other three that there wouldn’t be a little brother or sister like we expected.

I’ve had some bad days, but I’ve never had a day like Job had in this passage.

[APP] How would I have responded if I had been in Job’s shoes?

How would you respond if in the course of one day you lost essentially everything?

Notice how Job responded.

Job’s Response (Job 1:20-22)

Job 1:20–22 NASB95

20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” 22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

[EXP] First, notice that Job grieved.

Tearing his robe and shaving his head were the signs of mourning in Job’s part of the world.

Job’s loss was catastrophically heartbreaking, so it was appropriate for him to grieve.

[APP] When we experience loss, it is appropriate for us to grieve because loss is something we were never meant to experience.

We suffer loss because of the curse of sin and death.

Why do thieves break in and steal?

The curse of sin and death.

Why do people we love die?

The curse of sin and death.

When God created the world everything was good, good, good, and then very good.

But when we rebelled against God, we introduced pain and suffering and loss that is bad, bad, bad, and very bad.

We weren’t made to lose, so when we do, it’s appropriate that we grieve.

We grieve what we lost.

We grieve the curse that brought about the loss.

But we do no grieve as others do who have no hope.

Job grieved, but he also worshipped.

Though tears and anguish, he worshipped. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away, blessed be the name of the LORD,” (v. 21).

When Job was born, he came into the world with nothing.

Having lost all that he has lost, Job feels that he will depart this world with nothing.

In between coming into the world and departing the world with nothing, there was God who gave Job a lot…

...but now God has taken it away.

Job doesn’t understand, but what does he say?

“Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

[APP] Let us learn this lesson from Job: We may not always understand our losses, but we should worship God through the confusion.

We have a lot revealed to us in the Bible, but we don’t have everything revealed to us.

Sometime we experience loss that we do understand, but many times we experience loss that we don’t understand.

It’s especially in those moments that we have to trust God as God.

We have to trust that He is good.

We have to trust that His plan is best even when that plan includes our pain.

We have to trust that what confuses us is clear to Him.

In the losses, we have to trust Him and grieve.

In the losses, we have to trust Him and worship.

In the losses—especially in the losses!—we have to say from the heart, “Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

[ILLUS] The wife of one of my best friends lost her mother this past week. She was trying to put out a fire and was burned with 2nd and 3rd degree burns over a large portion of her body. She battled in the hospital in critical condition for a few days before her body gave out.

My friend’s wife lost her mother.

Their three children lost their grandmother.

After she passed, her husband woke in the middle of the night confused, calling out his wife’s name only to remember that she’s gone.

If you ask me why things like that happen, I don’t have any answers for you beyond the fact that we live in a fallen world.

But I trust in God, and I don’t have to understand so long as He does.

Through tears then we say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

And we look forward to the day when Jesus comes again to wipe every tear away.

[TS] But Job’s suffering didn’t stop with his goodbyes to wealth and children…

Part #2: Goodbye to Health (Job 2:1-8)

Job 2:1–8 NASB95

1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” 3 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.” 4 Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. 5 “However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.” 6 So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.” 7 Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.

[EXP] Job 2:1-3 is almost an identical replay of Job 1:6-8 except now Job has suffered but in that suffering Job has maintained his integrity—i.e., he is still a man of God who is loyal to God.

This has been stressed throughout these first two chapters Job.

Job 1:1 declares Job to be a man of total integrity, a man of complete faithfulness to God.

In Job 1:8, the Lord once again declares Job to be a man of complete faithfulness.

In Job 1:22, we read that after Job experienced the worst day of his life, he “did not sin nor did he blame God.”

And then in Job 2:3, God still describes Job as a man of stunning integrity despite the fact that Satan had incited God to ruin Job without cause.

God did not directly cause Job’s suffering, and He was not manipulated by Satan in the least.

But Satan was still guilty of trying to manipulate God into ruining Job.

Satan said in Job 1:9-11…

Job 1:9–11 NASB95

9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 “Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 “But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.”

For His own holy purposes, God allowed Satan to touch all that Job had—his wealth, his children—, but Satan could go no further.

Satan incited, but God would not be manipulated.

Satan incited, but God would not allow Job to be ultimately ruined.

Satan tries to incite God again in Job 2:4-5 when he says that Job will curse God to His face if he is allowed to touch--not just the things aground Job--but Job personally.

“However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face,” (v. 5).

But again, God is not being manipulated.

He is in charge.

Job will not be ruined.

Satan went out from God’s presence and struck Job with boils from head to toe.

His only relief was a potsherd, a broken piece of pottery that he used to scrape himself.

Job had lost almost everything.

Against his will, he had to say goodbye to his wealth, his children, and his health.

Job was once the greatest man that anyone knew of, but now he was sitting in the ashes of his former greatness.

[APP] Do you think Job wished he was dead?

Do you think you would be hoping for death?

As Job scrapped his boils in the ashes, his wife was thinking about death.

Look at Job 2:9-10.

Job’s Response (Job 2:9-10)

Job 2:9–10 NASB95

9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

[EXP] We are tempted to be hard on Job’s wife, but we must remember that she has lost everything too.

Job’s wealth was her wealth, and it is gone.

Job’s children were here children, and they are gone.

And even Job’s health was her security, but that too is gone…

…so when she says, “Give up your integrity! Curse God and die!” that is what she wants to do herself.

After all the suffering, her logic works like this, “If God isn’t going to be faithful to me, then I’m not going to be faithful to Him.”

But God’s faithfulness is a higher faithfulness, a faithfulness that is at work for our good even in our pain.

Job didn’t know how God’s faithfulness was at work in his pain, but he did know that God was faithful despite the pain.

That’s why he was able to answer his wife in v. 10 with, “Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?”

And then another testimony of Job’s innocence at the end of v. 10, “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

No sin in Job brought about his suffering.

No suffering he experienced caused him to sin.

After losing almost everything, Job was still a man loyal to God.

[ILLUS] During a question and answer session, an atheist asked a Christian evangelist, “If God is good, then why did my sister suffer and die from cancer?”

The Christian evangelist tried to be compassionate and clear in his response, but the woman angry about her sister’s death wouldn’t listen to anything he had to say.

She couldn’t understand what Job understood, that God has a faithfulness that is able to work for our good even in our pain.

[APP] Do you understand that ?

You may not understand how God is working for your good in your suffering and pain, but you need to trust that He is.

In this world, we will have trouble.

This world hates us because it hated Jesus.

It’s only through many trials and tribulations that one enters the Kingdom of Heaven.

All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

Brothers and sisters, we are bound to hurt, but God is faithful, and He is faithful even when we can’t see His faithfulness through our tears.

[TS]…

Conclusion

As Job sat destitute in the ash heap covered in boils heartbroken over his children while his wife encouraged him to take his own life, he probably couldn’t trace the outworking of God faithfulness in the present moment…

…but he knew his God, and He knew that He was faithful.

How did Job come to have that knowledge?

Only by grace.

Recall that when Satan asked to afflict Job directly, God said to Satan in v. 6, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”

That word ‘life’ could also be translated ‘soul.’

Satan was allowed to touch all that Job had and even Job’s physical health, but Satan could never touch Job’s soul.

Job’s soul was held secure by God, and it would never be lost.

Because Job’s soul was held by God, Job knew that God was faithful even when he was hurting.

Is your soul held by God?

Job’s soul was held by God as he was looking forward in faith to the promised Redeemer, but our soul’s are held by God as we look on the Redeemer revealed in Jesus Christ.

In Jesus, God the Son stepped into our suffering and suffered the loss of everything—even His life.

Jesus went to the cross to redeem us from the curse of sin and death, but in His resurrection we see that His soul was not lost, and all who trust in Him will never be lost either.

Like Job, because of Jesus…

2 Corinthians 4:8–9 NASB95

8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

[PRAYER]

Open My Eyes, That I May See, Hymn 443