Daily Devotional For Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Well, it’s terrific Tuesday and as we look at questions that have been asked in Scripture. The next question we are going to look at today is a question we can understand why it was asked based on the circumstances. This question is found in Job 2:9 and it is asked by Job’s wife in Job 2:9, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die” (NLT). When you consider why Job’s wife would say this, it comes from bitterness. In a matter of a couple of days, Job lost all of his finances, his family (children) and his friends. 

Job was wealthy and Job has no explanation as to why God allowed him to go into bankruptcy. Job and his wife had 10 children initially — 7 sons and 3 daughters. Jews believed that children were a gift from God and you were blessed for having them. Losing all 10 children instantly had to send Job’s wife into such shock, surprise and sourness against God. I understand her anger. Losing one children, let alone all 10, instantly, would be a grief most could not understand. 

Look at Psalm 127:3-5 below:

“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him. (4) Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands. (5) How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them! He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates” (NLT).

In asking her question of her husband, Job’s wife asked Job to give up his greatest asset — his integrity. We are not told what physical affliction the devil caused Job to have. Some have felt it was leprosy, one of the most dreaded diseases of the day. Some feel it was a common skin disease that hit young, viral Jewish men back then called "pemphigus folioceus,” for it comes on suddenly and becomes acute at once. This disease inflames the skin, which becomes intolerably itchy. But the multiple symptoms could fit different maladies. Whatever it was is not the point. What is — is this. In Job’s day they attributed such illnesses to God as punishment for some sin committed. 

Job’s wife told him to curse God and die. Having lost all his finances, his friends and his family in a few hours, most back then would think Job was cursed by God. So, in some way, Job’s wife tells him to affirm what she believes is the truth — her husband is under a curse by God. This belief would also damage their marital relationship. If children are a gift from God as Psalm 127:3 says, experiencing the death of all 10 children instantly would have also been attributed to God. God did not personally kill Job’s 10 children, but God did give the devil permission to do anything to Job he wanted except take his life. 

I understand Job’s wife’s response. It is horrible to lose one child, but to lose all your children in one moment, is something no parent should have to experience. Parents are not suppose to bury their children, children are suppose to bury their parents. I understand Job’s wife’s anger against Job and against God. They are righteous Jews who obey the Old Testament Law consistently and in her mind she asks, "Is this how God rewards us?" 

They are not the first godly couple to feel this way and they will not be the last one. And in the last chapter of Job, God replaces the 7 sons and 3 daughters killed with the birth of 7 more sons and 3 more daughters. These 10 children would be different from the first 10 children killed. Was this enough consolation for Job and her? I don’t know.

When parents lose a child through an illness or an accident, to say to those parents, “Well, look at the bright side of this. You still have 2 children left!” I do not believe that consoles those parents at all. I understand why some people may say that because they really do not know what to say. We all need to take a lesson from God in this. God did not try to give a trite or pat response to Job and his wife either. 

As Job’s “friends” attempt to console him, they end up actually attacking God and presuming on God’s sovereign will, something God rebukes Job’s friends for doing. So, Job gets attacked and blamed by his wife for doing some sin that has caused God to curse him and his friends do the same thing. Job’s initial response to all of this is found in Job 2:10, “Job said, `Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?’ So in all this, Job said nothing wrong” (NLT).

And for 37 chapters God is silent to Job’s prayers and appeals. When we come to Job 38, God rebukes Job for questioning God’s wisdom. Look at Job 38:1-3, “Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind: (2)“Who is this that questions My wisdom with such ignorant words? (3)  Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them” (NLT). And the rest of Job 38-39 is God asking Job some questions about Job’s own knowledge and wisdom of God. This humbles Job from his self-righteousness.

When we get to Job 40:1-2, we read this, “Then the Lord said to Job, (2) `Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?’” (NLT). Job concedes he is no match for God and then for the rest of Job 40-41, God asks Job questions which Job has no answers. After losing his finances, his friends and his family, he has now lost his face before God. The Bible describes Job as righteous. He used his wealth to help the less fortunate — —the poor, the fatherless and the widows. He even used his great influence to destroy pagan forms of worship. Job 1:1 says, “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil” (ESV). 

The problem was, Job knew he was righteous—and this made him horribly self-righteous. This sin is the most difficult sin there is to see. Though Job was “perfect and upright” in how he observed the strict letter of God’s law, he was neglecting the spirit of the law. He was full of vanity and pride. Self-righteousness is almost impossible for us to see in ourselves and yet, it is probably the #1 sin of God’s people. We pride ourselves on that we “don’t drink, smoke or chew or go with girls who do” as the saying goes. By the time we get to Job 42:1-6, Job is broken of his self-righteousness. Read below:

“Then Job answered the Lord and said: (2) “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. (3) ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did. (5) I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You; (6) therefore I despise myself,  and repent in dust and ashes” (ESV).

Job is one of the toughest books in the Bible to read because we all struggle with what God allowed the devil to do to Job due to his self-righteousness. Thank God for the grace of Jesus Christ for us today. Though Job’s wife was not a foolish woman, she spoke as if she were. As we saw in Job 2:10 above, Job’s initial response was to say we must trust God when life does not make sense. That God in His sovereign providence knows what He is doing especially when it comes to us.

 In Job 7:16, “I hate my life and don’t want to go on living” (NLT). Look at Job 9:21-22,  “I am innocent, but it makes no difference to me— I despise my life. (22) Innocent or wicked, it is all the same to God. That’s why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked’” (NLT). Job is struggling with God’s providence/sovereignty and his own self-righteousness. 

Questions To Consider

1. When bad things happen to God’s people, we have a natural disposition to ask, “Why?” Or “Why me, Lord?” Even though the Bible says God does not always protect us from illnesses, personal attacks, criticism or harm we are still prone to wonder. According to a Gallup Poll, 7 of 10 Americans say that suffering is mostly the consequence of one’s own actions and the way our society is structured. Do you agree or disagree with this and why?
2. It took 40 chapters for Job to realize he had a self-righteous or prideful attitude. Yet, many ask, “How can an all-powerful, all-loving God justify the death of Job’s innocent children?" Yes, God blessed Job and his wife with more children (7 sons and 3 daughters — the exact same they had before and lost), but did that remove Job and his wife’s grief over the 10 children they lost or improve their relationship with God?
3. Research shows that couples that lose a child through tragedy, have a much more difficult time in their view and relationship with God. If God is in control and even in control of what the devil is allowed do to us, does God care? How would you answer this to a parent whose child has died by an illness or in an accident or by murder?

Scripture To Meditate On: Psalm 73:26, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (ESV).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, it is so easy for us to lose faith in You when life turns on us.  Thank You that no matter what happens to me, You have me covered. Whether I live or die, I still gain as the Apostle Paul says. Help me to keep my faith in You as You lead me through the tumultuous waters of life. I love You, Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!—Pastor Kelly