Steadfastness in Times of Adversity

Transcript

GRM 702
9/24/2000
Steadfastness in Times of Adversity
Job 1-2
Gil Rugh

Last Sunday night I talked with you about an influence of some false teaching making its way into the evangelical church called "the openness of God." That has caused me to reflect on some various passages of Scripture and I have a desire to get back into the Old Testament with you and I thought we'd look into the opening chapters of the book of Job this evening. In these opening chapters of Job we see the sovereign hand of God at work even ruling and overruling in the activity and work of Satan in the world and using the work of Satan and the tragedies that come into the life of a child of God for the accomplishing of God's eternal purposes.

Most everyone is familiar with Job. Even those who are not very religious can make reference to the trials of Job. They may not have very much acquaintance with the book itself or the details of his trials but Job has become almost preverbal for difficulties and hardships and pressures that are almost overwhelming. And indeed it is a book that brings comfort. Although many times we get lost in the maze of the arguments as they go back and forth between Job and his friends that occupy the main part of the book.

The name Job is given to the book because the main character in the book is called Job. It is about his life and his trials and the response of Job to those trials and his response to God and closing confrontation to the book. Many writers believe that Job is the oldest book in the Bible. He would have probably lived in the time of the patriarchs, around the time of Abraham, 2000 BC, in that era. Several reasons for saying that. He lived in well excess of 140 years of age which was more in the lifespan of the patriarchs. Remember Abraham lived to be 175. Men before him even lived longer than that. Chapter 42 verse 16 of Job tells us that Job lived 140 years after his health was restored to him by God. So we know from the first part of the book he was already a grown man, children and so on. So he goes through his trails, the loss of his health and wealth and family. Then when God restores him he lives an additional 140 years. So that extended lifespan would seem to put him back in the early part of our Bibles and the early part of Genesis and what we know as the patriarchal period. He was also a priest for his family and offered sacrifice for them which would seem to indicate that the official priesthood of Israel had not yet been established where then the priest would have offered the sacrifices. Here Job functions as a family priest as the head of his family and representing them in the sacrifices. There's no reference to the Mosaic Law in the book and related matters like that. There are various references that would seem to relate it to the time period that I mentioned, perhaps Abraham's time.

Whatever the particular circumstances in which he lived, Job is identified as one of the greatest men in the Old Testament. Take a moment and turn over to the prophet Ezekiel 14. If Job lived in the time of the patriarchs like Abraham, roughly around 2000 BC, Ezekiel carries on his ministry around 500 BC, rounding off things. We'd be talking about 2500 years in time between the lives of these two men. But in Ezekiel 14 and verse 14 the word of the Lord comes to Ezekiel and addresses him as Son of man in verse 13. God reveals what he is going to do in judgment. Then in verse 14, "'Even though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst [in the midst of the city about to be destroyed] "by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves,' declares the Lord God." What I want you to note is what a high honor is bestowed upon Job here. God selects three men, matchless in their righteousness, if you will. Even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in the city, the city wouldn't be spared. I would spare those three men but they couldn't spare the city. So you see the honor bestowed upon Job. He is a man of stature before God, a man of godly and righteous character.

Down in verse 20 it's repeated. Verse 19, "If I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it, to cut off man and beast from it, even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live,' declares the Lord, 'they could deliver neither their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.'" Again I want you to note what God declares about Job. He selects him among the most righteous men in the Old Testament.

He's used in the New Testament as an example of endurance. And that's what we think of with Job. Back in the book of James 5:10, "As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we count those blessed who endured." And that's true. When we are going through times of trial and suffering and pressure, there's a danger of complaining, grumbling, but when we look at the suffering of the prophets, we hold them up in high honor. We proclaim their blessings for their faithfulness. "You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful." You must keep that in mind as you go through the book of Job. We are dealing with a God who is full of compassion and mercy and yet He is the same God who gives permission to Satan to bring the most misery possible into this man's life. And yet when it's all said and done, we see the gracious hand of God in Job's life.

Back in Job again. What Job does is testify to the importance of steadfastness even in the greatest trials. No matter what we are going through, we must maintain our integrity. We must maintain our faithfulness to God. Job's going through this. He has no understanding of why it is happening. He does not know the major spiritual conflict that is taking place. All he does know is that he is all but destroyed and life is all but unbearable and yet he maintains his godly character through it all.

We take comfort as we study the book of Job particularly the opening chapters and the closing chapters because we are reminded God is sovereign. He is in control of it all. His purposes are being worked. When all is said and done, it will have been for my good and His glory.

Let's look into the book itself and really the first two chapters set the stage. And Satan will be a prominent figure in these first two chapters then he disappears from the book of Job. From the first two chapters, we know he is at work in the misery and suffering that Job continues to experience and endure, but he's not mentioned again. Then when you get to the climax of the book and those closing chapters when God Himself enters into conversation with Job, it's not on the level of trying to help Job understand what Satan was doing, causing Job to appreciate even more fully the greatness of His God and the wonder of His power and to realize that what God does is good.

The chapters opens up in verse 1 of chapter 1, "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil." To appreciate the situation that is going to unfold in the book, we have to understand the character of Job. I think even some fail to grasp this today. These trials do not come in to Job's life because there is a deficiency in his character. True he will learn and grow because he has not reached final perfection. But it is not as though God had to bring this into Job's life because Job needed to be humble. There was an area of Job's life that was not what God said it had to be because you could have dealt with anyone else on the earth even any other believer and they would have needed it more than Job. That's the testimony that is given. In verse 1 we are told that he was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. Now again, we are not saying that he was a man who never sinned, who led a perfect life, but humanly speaking as God looked at him, he is a holy and righteous man through the grace of God obviously. Down in chapter 1 verse 8 you have the testimony of God, "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.'" Now that is an awesome testimony that God gives on behalf of Job to Satan. There's not a man like him on the face of the earth when it comes to righteousness and godliness. A man who shuns evil and avoids it at all costs.

Down in chapter 2 verse 3, "The LORD said to Satan [again on a later occasion], 'Have you considered My servant Job? 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.'" Now I want you to have that fixed in your mind as you would read and study Job. Don't be looking for what was wrong in Job's life that necessitated such tragedy. The answer is absolutely nothing. That's a good reminder. At times, there is sin in our lives that necessitates the chastening of the Lord. But you understand there may be great suffering and overwhelming tragedy come into your life and you are living a very holy and godly and righteous life, honoring the Lord with your life. And the natural question that comes to our mind, why would this happen, Lord?

That was Job's situation. His friends that will enter the picture at the of chapter 2 and then become dominant figures beginning in chapter 3 in the discussions that will unfold are controlled by the thinking there must be something Job has done. This kind of suffering would not come into the life of someone who was leading a righteous and holy life. But the testimony of God is Job is righteous and holy and there is not cause for what has come in. The end of verse 3 of chapter 2, "You incited Me against him, to ruin him without cause." You see the sovereignty of God. He is free to bring into our lives whatever He sees fit. Now He's not a capricious God. We saw James' testimony in James 5. He is a God of mercy and compassion. But He does what is right and best and we may not understand it.

In chapter 1 verse 2 Job had seven sons and three daughters were born to him. Seven sons represent the pinnacle of blessing. In the book of Ruth chapter 4 verse 15 blessing would be to have seven sons so becomes almost proverbial. This would become a high honor or role the sons played. Job had seven sons and three daughters and he is not only a godly man, not only a man blessed with a wonderful family, but he is overwhelming rich. His possessions 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, very many servants. That man was the greatest of all the men of the east. The east referring to the land east of Palestine. He's the richest man in the whole area. What a man? Outstanding in godly righteous character, overwhelmingly rich and blessed, if you will, with the perfect family. What a balance. Job hasn't lost his way with the blessings that he has. Remember when Israel went into the land, preparing to go into the land of Palestine, God warned them when you prosper, when you grow rich and wealthy, don't forget the Lord. Job hadn't. God testifies to his blamelessness.

You see something of his godly character. His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day. Probably something like a celebration of each one's birthday. So, you can pretty well have a birthday a month with a family like this. And they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them so they come and celebrate. But verse 5 says, "It came about when the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all. Job said, 'perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.' Thus, Job did continually." There's no self-righteousness on Job's part. There's no thought that his children were perfect. You note here's not dealing with overt sin. He thinks it could have been possible in the celebrating and so on for something to have occurred in their hearts that would have offended God. Job that is such a serious matter. That he went before the Lord on sacrifices on behalf of his children.

So, you see something of Job's concern for the righteousness of God and the honoring of God not only in specific acts but even in the heart, not only on his part but on his children's part. Here is a man who is concerned totally with holiness and righteousness of life.

Verses 6 to 12 bring us into one of the most fascinating portions of Scripture because here we get an insight into events taking place in heaven in the presence of God. "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, Satan came among them." The sons of God are a reference to the angels. On an appointed time, the angels came to present themselves in the presence of God and Satan comes among them. And evidently this is a regular practice because we'll see it happen again at a later time in chapter 2. There are other indications of such events. Turn to one in 1 Kings 22. Here's a situation where Micaiah the prophet of God is speaking about the death of Ahab that will take place in battle. And we'll just pick it up in verse 19. So 1 Kings 22. "And Micaiah said, 'Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left." So evidently a scene similar to what has just been described in Job chapter 1 verse 6. The angels of heaven have assembled in the presence of God. "And the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' One said this while another said that. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.' The LORD said to him, 'How?" And he said, 'I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Then He said, 'You are to entice him and prevail. God and do so.'" Micaiah's conclusion, "Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the LORD has proclaimed disaster against you." And one of the false prophets comes and strikes him. But you see the heavenly scene. Angelic beings gathered. Evidently, fallen and unfallen angels. And I would take that it is a fallen angel who comes to be a lying spirit. That would not be a task that a holy, sinless angel could perform. This raises many questions but it does gives us a glimpse into the heavenly realm. And fallen angels, which we would refer to as demons, under the authority of Satan, still have their access to heaven, still present themselves in the presence of God. They don't serve God with the positions they had before they fell like Lucifer, the anointed cherub that covered the throne of God. But they still have access to the presence of God. And in those times of appointed meetings, God gives them permission to carry out certain activities.

So, he uses the sinfulness of men for the accomplishing of His purposes. God has decreed the death of Ahab. And God has appointed that a demonic spirit will go and place the lie in the mouth of lying prophets that will result in Ahab listening to their lies and going and dying the death that God proclaimed. What you see is a God who is sovereign over all. Even the demonic world functions within the confines of His purposes and His plans. That does not make God responsible for the action. He does not turn this spirit into a lying spirit. He simply gives permission for this spirit to carry out his activity. So, a glimpse into what is going on in the spirit world.

While we are on this, you might jump back to Revelation 12. We may refer to this later. I understand what is described in Revelation 12 are events that will take place in the middle of the coming seven-year Tribulation after the Rapture of the Church. That's marked for us by timelines like the end of verse 6 of Revelation 12, 1260 days, which is marking out half of the seven-year Tribulation. It will be a time, times and a half time, down at the end of verse 14 and so on. What we want to note in verse 7 of Revelation 12, "There was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon, the dragon and his angels wage war," is taking place now in the middle of the seven-year Tribulation which is yet future. There is war in heaven between the Devil and his fallen angels and Michael and his angels. And the result is, "There was no longer a place found for them," the Devil and his angels in heaven. "The great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth," and there is celebration in heaven. The end of verse 10, 'For the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down." And this is what we are going to see happening in Job chapter 1 and 2. Satan hurling his accusations against Job before the thrown of God. Now I want you to note is that is a work that Satan continues to this very day. Because he will not lose his access to heaven, he will not cease this kind of activity, until we get to the middle of the Tribulation, which will be after the Rapture of the Church. So, we see taking place in this Old Testament passage a reminder what goes on. Satan is the accuser of the brethren and here we see the kind of accusations brought in the presence of God.

Back to Job chapter 1. Satan came among these fallen angels. "The LORD said to Satan, 'From where do you come?' Then Satan answered the LORD and said, 'From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.'" Obviously, God doesn't need information. He's engaged Satan in a conversation here to lead it to a certain point. The response of Satan reminds me of 1 Peter 5:8 where we are warned to be on guard because our Adversary, the Devil, goes about as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. "Where have you been?" On the earth. "Doing what?" Seeking someone to devour.

"The LORD said to Satan, [Oh, you've been walking around the earth] '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." You note it’s God who raises the issue of Job. He addresses Satan and says, have you considered my servant Job, the spotless character of that man. And you know what? Satan knows all about Job.

Verse 9, "Then Stan answered the LORD, 'Does Job fear God for nothing?' Have you not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on ever side? You bless the work of his hands; his possessions have increased in the land.'" Of course, I know Job. You won't let me touch him. You put a hedge about him and his family. He's off bounds. You've prospered him. Of course, I know Job. I just think it's interesting. Here we are in the courts of heaven, Job the servant of the Lord is well known by the Lord; he's well known by Satan.

But the conversation is not over. And here you seek Satan carrying on his work of accusing the brethren. You've done all this for him. Of course, he's a faithful servant. Who wouldn't serve you. You see something of the wretched character of Satan. He really maligns God. Job wouldn't want to serve You if You didn't do so much for him. If you didn't make him rich, if you didn't protect him from any disaster and trouble, you'd find out Job doesn't serve You. The audacity of Satan to speak in such a way to God. But you see it's not yet God's time to do away with Satan. But you see the accusation, the horrible thing. The only reason Job serves you is you've been so good to Job. Well, that's a reminder to us. Because you know when the times are good, yeah we want to be faithful to the Lord, but you know, when the bad times . . . , that's when we are on the line so to speak. And here's Satan saying, "Of course Gil serves You. You bless him. Of course, Gil serves You, You've done so many wonderful things for him. He wouldn't want to serve You if life wasn't going so well." And you put your name in that, your situation, and you find out that's the time of our greatest opportunity to stand for the Lord. I think, oh, Lord, it's so prosperous for being blessed so much. I appreciate the raise, the new house, the new car. Then it's gone. My health, gone. Disaster in the family. Do I say O Lord, it's such a joy of my heart to belong to you? I count it the greatest joy to know You're sovereign, You're in control. This has all happened in Your wonderful plan. That's when the pressure's on. My testimony is being manifest, not only before men but before angels. So, that's the situation now Job is in.

What's Satan say? Verse 11, "But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face." You know what Satan is saying to God? You really don't know Job. Let's put him in the furnace. You'll find out he doesn't want anything to do with you. "Then the LORD said to Satan, 'Behold all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.'" Awesome permission given to Satan here. The hedge is removed or may I say it shrunk. Instead of it being around Job and his family and his possessions, now I'll just keep the hedge around Job. He can do a lot of damage because now his family is vulnerable. All his possessions are vulnerable. And Satan is a fearful and frightening enemy. And so, the battle is engaged.

Ephesians 6:12 says of us as believers, "We do battle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies." I say this because we ought not to read this and say well, Job was a unique case. The situation of Job is something that would not be repeated. We saw in James 5 that believers and to learn from Job's situation and take heart and endure their trials like Job did. And Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:12 that we are in a spiritual warfare against the forces of darkness, and this is a battle that takes place in the heavenlies. I say this because Job did not know what we know when he was going through this. All he has to experience is the overwhelming tragedies that are about to descend upon him. He didn't have the curtain pulled back so he could say, Well, I'm strengthened to know this is a spiritual war going on between the Devil and me for the honor of my God and the testimony of my life. No. He's just overwhelmed by tragedies that come one upon another.

You see the power of Satan to be able to use the forces of nature. We talk about mother nature. Maybe we ought to talk about Father nature. The power of the Devil on God is sovereign. And He controls all. You see when Satan is given freedom, he can unleash storms and natural catastrophes. He is a being of overwhelming power. Not infinite power but overwhelming power.

"Now it happened on the day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house that a messenger came to Job and said 'The oxen were plowing, the donkeys feeding beside them, the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone escaped.'" Well, here these animals have all been killed and your servants. Well, that messenger is still standing there talking to Job verse 16, "Another came and said, 'The fire of God fell from heaven [lightening] and burned up the sheep.'" Perhaps started one of those prairie fires. We've seen the disaster of fires as they've broken out in parts of our country. Well, evidently fire fell from heaven. I assume he's talking about lightning here. Satan uses what we call the forces of nature, starts a huge fire which consumes more the herds and the servants and one left to come and bring the news. See what Satan does? He doesn't want Job to might out about this peacefully. He wants to overwhelm him. So, you let one escape from these herds and servants, one escape from these herds and servants. Why? I want Job to get this one on top of another.

"While he was still speaking, another came and said, 'The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword and I alone escape to tell you.'" Another disaster. Another army.

"While he was still speaking, another came and said." Now here is the crushing blow. Ten children wiped out in one blow. Verse 18, '"Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in your oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind.'" So Satan moves upon the marauding armies. He moves upon the lightning. He moves on the wind. He is an awesome being, a created being, but an awesome being with great power.

"'A great wind came across the wilderness, struck the four corners of the house, it fell on the young people and they died; and I alone have escaped to tell you.'" Oh, how the Devil does his work. One survivor at each tragedy and one after another they come. And one hasn't finally finished talking and here's the next one and the next one and the next one. All your wealth is gone. Not only that but all your children. Wiped out at one time. Boy, the hedge? Removed from around the family, from around the possessions and Satan releases a fury, storms and tragedies to overwhelm Job.

What a crushing blow to happen? Job's heard it all and what? It seems like a few minutes of time your whole life, your whole world has collapsed. What a tragedy if one or two of the children had been killed. I mean take the loss of the wealth, a little bit of the wealth, but all the wealth. But then all your children, not one or two or half but all of them at one time. No survivors.

What does Job do? Well, he takes upon himself the mourning. He arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, fell to the ground and complained. Well, if that's what he did he wouldn't be Job, the man who stands out with Noah and Daniel as the most righteous of men. He doesn't complain. He worships. What has changed? He just all of his wealth. He just lost all of his children but God is still God. God is still God. He still rules over all. In that sense, nothing has changed. So, Job puts on the signs of mourning and worships the God who he serves.

"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.'" One person commented, "Job, had not allowed himself to become more enamored of God's gifts than of the God who had given them." Where did he get his animals, his servants, his land, his children? They were gifts from God. He didn't see Himself as one deserving this. He didn't see himself as one of such great righteousness and holiness in his commitment to God that he deserved to be spared the tragedy and loss. Keep in mind Job is human and we have recorded here, but these losses and particularly the loss of all his children that had to be a tremendous blow. But his attention is focused where? God gave them to them. God took it away from me. I thought Satan did. But we have already seen Satan couldn't have done it without the permission of God. Wouldn't you think Job would be angry with God? Why? I mean, we know from God's own testimony Job was the most righteous of men, the most faithful of men. You know the question, why me God? The Lord gave. The Lord took it away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

In all of this Job did not sin nor did he blame God. The margin in my Bible says ascribe unseemliness to God. Job gives not even the thought that God has acted improperly, unwisely, unfairly. There's no cloud cast upon the character of God in all of this. He simply bows to worship Him. He's the God who gave. He's the God who took away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

In the statement, there we are reminded of that in Ecclesiastics 5:15 says we didn't bring anything into the world. We're not taking anything out either. In the New Testament Paul reminds Timothy to remind those who have wealth not to trust in their possessions. First Timothy 6:7, "Because we didn't bring anything into the world, we are not taking anything back out." And Job acknowledges that here. "Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I shall return." I had nothing when I came; I'll have nothing to take with me when I go. So all that matters is my God.

Chapter 2. You think wow that puts Satan in his place. "Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD." We don't know how much time has transpired between these events. We are just told there was a day, another day when the angels present themselves in the presence of God. And the Lord initiates the conversation again. And you see it's the purpose and plan of God that's being worked here. Satan is not begging, bringing up Job, asking. God is raising the issue of Job again. And the LORD said to Satan, 'Where have you come from?' Satan answered the LORD and said, 'From roaming about on the earth, walking around on it.' And 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.'" That doesn't mean that Satan moved God to do something that He did not purpose and plan to do. What took place was at the instigation of Satan but it was part of the plan of God for Job.

This ought to be an encouragement to us. I say well boy, life all of a sudden becomes meaningless. You have nothing. Your kids are wiped out. You don't want to go on. What does God say? He holds fast his integrity. You see there's something more important than possessions, something more important than family. The ultimate thing of importance is Job's relationship to God. Here he testifies before heaven to his integrity in that commitment to the Lord.

Do you think Satan was impressed? No. "And Satan answered the LORD and said, 'Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.'" Of course, he gave up everything but he still has himself - his health. And people are willing to give up a lot for that. Take the hedge down around him and you'll see Job won't like you anymore. Job won't serve you anymore. Well, God said all right, the hedge is down with one exception. You can't kill him. Now Satan is free to fullness of his power and fury against Job to do all he can with all of his power to make Job suffer as intensely as he can, to cause him as much pain as he can. The only thing he can't do is kill him. Now you have some sense of what Job will experience over the coming chapters which evidently cover a period of months.

You ought to note some of the symptoms mentioned that come in to Job's life. Chapter 2 verse 7, "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." He's covered with painful boils. And there's no place he doesn't have them. Point being what does he do for relief? They are on the bottom of his feet he can't stand up. They are all over his body, he can't lay down. He can't even stand on his head because they go to the top of his head. He's covered with these painful boils. Look at verse 8, "He took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes." You not only have this; you have the intolerable itching. That's what the potsherd is for, a broken piece of pottery, that he scrapes himself with, the pain and the itching. It is almost like a science fiction movie here of a person that's going to be driven crazy by the afflictions.

Chapter 2 verse 12 his appearance is totally disfigured. When his three friends come to visit him, "They lifted up their eyes at a distance, and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept." They come up. Who are you? They find out. They go into wailing. What a mess. You get an idea of how disfigured he is with these boils and scraping himself and everything. His closest friends don't know who he is when they see him.

Chapter 3 verse 24, "My groaning comes at the sight of my food." Loss of appetite. I can't stand the sight of food. Now it is when you're sick and what happens? You see . . . even the sight of food makes you want to . . . Yes. That's what he says. "My groaning comes at the sight . . ." Oh, get it out of here. I don't even want to see it.

Depression. "My cries pour out like water. What I fear comes upon me. What I dread befalls me." The depression. You are overwhelmed with fear, dread.

What next? Well, this gets ugly. Chapter 7 verse 5, "My flesh is clothed with worms and a crust of dirt; my skin hardens and runs." He's got these oozing sores. These boils are oozing. Evidently they are filled with puss and oozing and running and there's worms or maggots in them. He's got this potsherd. He's trying to clean them and this is the picture. You've got these running oozing sores and you've maggots infesting the sores.

Verse 14, "Then you frighten me with dreams and terrify me by visions." Terrifying dreams and visions. He closes his eyes and what? He's overwhelmed with terror. Again, the worst nightmares. You see the power of Satan to work in the mind and here he can't go to sleep, the fright of it is overwhelming, the terror that it causes.

Chapter 9 verse 18, "He will not allow me to get my breath." Difficulty in breathing. The kind of not ability to breath. The difficulty in breathing. Chapter 16 verse 16, "My face is flushed from weeping, deep darkness is on my eyelids." The tears, you know, his eyes won't stop running. The tears and the water, the oozing from the eyes continually, blinding his eyes so he can't even see. Sometimes you perhaps had a touch of this when you've had a flu or something and your eyes are watering so much you can't even see.

Chapter 19 and this is one I can't imagine his wife wanted to kiss him. "My breath is offensive to my wife. I am loathsome to my own brother." His fowl breath. I mean, here is a guy who is decaying on the outside and on the inside as well. He breathes, he smells like death. What wretched condition this man's in.

In chapter 19 verse 20 his body is emaciated, "My bone clings to my skin and my flesh. I escaped only by the skin of my teeth." You know, like we say to somebody nothing but skin and bodies. Well, he can't eat. I have no appetite. Get the food away from me. He's losing weight. What do you do? His skin is just hanging on his bones.

In chapter 30 verse 17, "At night it pierces my bones within me." "Days of affliction have seized me." "My gnawing pains take no rest." There is no break in the pain. Day and night incessant pain. Remember Satan has given permission to afflict Job in any way he chooses short of actually taking his life. We've seen and heard of accounts of people of doing awful things to each other people, but here you have the most powerful of created beings. Not limited just to physical but the whole thing of the terrifying him with dreams and that. Now creating incessant pain day and night. "At night it pierces my bones. My gnawing pains take no rest." Chapter 30 verse 30, "My skin turns black on me, my bones burn with fever." So, his skin is, as we saw in other passages, hardening, turning black. It's peeling. He has an unending fever. And you know when you have a high fever and burning up with fever what that does to you and your mind and everything.

How long did this go on? Well, in chapter 7 verse 3 Job refers to months of vanity. In chapter 29 verse 2 he refers to the months gone by. The idea this just wasn't a few days or a week or two. Satan was given the opportunity to afflict Job here with the summary of the things I've just listed. Now this is on top of having lost all he had and all his children, having that agony press in upon him. You can be sure that Satan brought that to mind in the dreams and visions, the terrors that pressed in upon him. This goes on for weeks, months. You say how can he endure it? How can it continue?

Come back to Job 2 and we'll wrap this up. We went through that because you know we suffer and some people suffer greatly. But you know there was a uniqueness about Job's suffering and the degree it went. That doesn't minimize the suffering that we go through. We have to endure the suffering we have, not Job's. But I need to be careful in thinking my suffering is so much greater than anyone's. That's why Job is given as an example for us and an encouragement. We learn of the mercy and compassion of God and He is in control. Satan is working but God is in control. He's put the limits. You say well this is more than a person can bear. No, the Lord doesn't bring things that are more than a person can bear into a life. In fact, when you get to the close of the book, God says to Job you have no right even to question what was done. When God gets done confronting Job, Job says I've learned a listen. I put my hand on my mouth. Because Job had said I wish I could talk to God face to face as though he had something to say. But when God talked him face to face, he says I put my hand on my mouth. I'm nothing and He is everything. And that's a lesson to be learned.

So, chapter 2 verse 8, "Job took a potsherd, scraped himself while he was sitting in the ashes." There is one person in his life and she's a great comfort. "Then his wife said to him, 'Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!'" Honey, you'd be better dead. Give up this integrity thing. Curse God and let Him kill you. 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 of this Job did not sin with his lips." This is remarkable because you know Job acknowledges that his adversity has come from the hand of God. He has not been brought in to the details of what took place in heaven between Satan and God but Job is confident that his God is in control. And He brings good into my life and He brings adversity into my life. Why would I not think that He would not bring adversity? Why should I think I should only get good and blessings from God? It's foolish to talk like that. This is a man gone through experiencing of some of what we've talked about.

He's three friends come and they play a key role beginning in chapter 3. And they sit down with him for seven days. They have heard of his calamity. Probably weeks or months have gone by so as they've journeyed to see him. They sit him for seven days without saying anything. Seven days is mourning for the dead. That tells you something of Job's condition and they follow the practice of allowing the grieving person to speak first. So, when we get to chapter 3 it will be Job who opens his mouth. Everybody else sits silent and they are just there for a whole week. Nobody says anything. They are just there to be there and there is a comfort in that. He appreciates friends that are there and then Job will speak.

What we see in this is evil and tragedy are brought into our lives by Satan but only within the permissive will of God. We can be sure that whatever the trial, whatever the tragedy, God has a purpose. I may not understand it. When you get to the end of the book of Job God does not give a clear explanation of Job why this had to be. Just a reminder to Job that his concern is to be with the greatness of God and to trust in Him. I don't have to know all the answers. Why Lord, why? That's not the question. The question is God, You are God. You are sovereign. My confidence is in You. Job will later say, "Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him." There's nothing God could bring into my life - then again, he sees the hand of God in it - that would cause me to turn from Him.

You and I can learn our sufferings, our trials, our most unpleasant circumstances of our lives can be the opportunity for our greatest testimony, not only among men but in the very courts of heaven. Look at so and so what they have gone through and in it all they've maintained their integrity. They have continued to unshakably and unfailingly trust God, to worship and honor Him and give Him the glory due Him. We see then our trials, our tribulations and the greatest pains as opportunity for what? Bringing glory to the God that we serve and who works all things for our good and His glory. Let's pray together.

Thank you, Lord, for Your servant Job. Thank you for the testimony of his life. Thank you, Lord, that You are a God who is sovereign. And Lord as we read the account we wonder if such tragedy, such suffering, such pain is really necessary. And yet Lord You are God and we are not. May we even from Job's life and experience in Your through it all be encouraged and strengthened to trust You in every circumstance and every situation. May our first response be my God is at work. May we worship You as the God who is sovereign over all. May we take great comfort in knowing You are a God of mercy and compassion and the ultimate end in it all is not to make us suffer more, but to prepare us for a glory far beyond all comparison. For we know that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to revealed to us who have come to believe in Christ. We pray in His name, amen.