Jobs Wife

 

 

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03_25_2018_WhatAboutJobsWife_DonRuhl

 

 

What About Job’s Wife?

(Based on a Wayne Jackson article, “Mrs. Job—A Portrait of Defection,” Christian Courier, March 1999)

Job 2.9

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • March 25, In the year of our Lord, 2018

Prelude:

  1. Job stands as a bright light in the history of man.
    1. He was the kind of man we would love to have as a neighbor and a friend.
    2. The opening sentence shows His spiritual might,

      1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil (Job 1.1).
  2. He was also mighty in this world,

    2 And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. 3 Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East (Job 1.2–3).

Persuasion:

  1. Why Was Job Serving God?
    1. In Job 1.8, the Lord presented an interesting question to Satan,

      8 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” (Job 1.8).

      1. God knew that Satan was looking for a way to destroy Job.
      2. Actually, Satan used this to attack God as the next sentences show.
    2. Listen to how Satan falsely accuses God,

      9 So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around 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 now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” (Job 1.9–11).

      1. Some Christians have said to me
        1. that the real reason we serve God and love others
        2. is because we are seeking something for ourselves.
          1. That since there is a greater blessing in giving than in receiving,
          2. then the real reason we keep the commandments of God
            1. is for purely selfish reasons.
            2. Is that true?
              1. Do we only obey God
              2. out of selfish reasons?
                1. Some may, but
                2. most do not.
                  1. We love Him.
                  2. We want to do what He wants us to do.
      2. Is it possible to keep the commandments of God with no selfish motives?
        1. Paul desired to be anathema from Christ, if it would save his brethren.
        2. Judah would give up everything that Benjamin might return to Jacob.
      3. Satan argued that the only reason Job feared God
        1. was self-interest,
        2. that God fulfilled the selfish-interests of Job.
          1. Do you see what Satan was charging against God?
          2. Satan argued that God bribed Job into loyalty.
      4. Satan maintained
        1. that God cannot expect humans to honor Him simply for His nature,
        2. God has to pay people to do it.
    3. The rest of the Book shows Job and his friends wrestling with this issue.
      1. The Book of Job records the spiritual battle
      2. between Job and his friends that we might be benefited,
        1. gaining insight into the nature of God and man.
        2. It also shows
          1. that we can serve God
          2. even if there is nothing in it for us.
  2. Selfless Devotion Is Then Demonstrated
    1. God wanted to show Satan, and
      1. any skeptics among humans,
      2. that it is possible to render selfless devotion.
    2. God allowed Satan to afflict Job in two vulnerable ways:
      1. The loss of economic security and
      2. the loss of family.
        1. Although suffering deeply,
        2. listen to what he did and said.
          1. See his heart here and
          2. see where he put God in his life,

            20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said:

            “Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
            And naked shall I return there.
            The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away;
            Blessed be the name of the LORD.”
            (Job 1.20–21)

    3. However, Satan wanted to attack Job again.
      1. Satan next said to God
        1. that he still believed Job was only serving God selfishly,

          3 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.” 4 So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” 6 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.” 7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes (Job 2.3–8)
      2. Satan misunderstood both Job and the Lord.
    4. This was not enough for Satan.
      1. Next, he used the delight of Job’s eyes, his wife, to attack Job.
      2. Do you recall what Satan sought to get Job to do?
        1. Job 1.11 will remind you,

          11 “But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” (Job 1.11).
        2. Yet, Job “blessed” God as 1.21 says.
      3. Satan wanted to get Job to curse God.
        1. Watch what Satan did next,

          5 “But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” (Job 2.5).
        2. Then listen to Job’s joint heir of the grace of life,

          9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2.9).
  3. Now Ponder What Job’s Wife Said
    1. She believed that in some circumstances
      1. it was better to be dead than alive.
      2. If you cannot have a certain quality of life,
        1. she demanded that he end his life.
        2. She did not see loyalty to God as something for which to suffer.
    2. She may have been serving God for selfish and materialistic reasons.
      1. She did not understand the nature of God.
      2. She thought that God did not care.
  4. The Difference Between Job and His Wife
    1. Here is the thing, Mrs. Job also experienced loss.
      1. It was also her wealth.
      2. They were her children as well.
      3. She cared for all those workers and the families they left behind.
        1. She also lost her faith,
        2. although she had not lost her health,
          1. nor had she experienced the loss of community respect and
          2. the other things that Job suffered.
    2. Job 2 pictures Job’s faith intact, and
      1. it reveals that he understood the operations of God,

        10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips (Job 2.10).
      2. Job understood that his wife only thought life was worth living,
        1. if we are receiving good from God.
        2. Yet, surely she would have been willing to suffer for her children.
  5. The Downfall of Job’s Wife’s Faith
    1. We cannot excuse her suggestion that Job blaspheme God.
      1. We sympathize with the pain she experienced, but
      2. there is no excuse for cursing God.
    2. From the way Job responded to her,
      1. it is obvious that she had not anticipated adversity coming into her life
      2. in spite of living by faith in God.
        1. Faith during times of adversity does not come by accident.
        2. Job had faith because he was walking with God everyday,

          5 So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly (Job 1.5).
      3. Psalm 1 shows the only way for successful living during the rough times.
        1. Have daily communion with God,

          2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
          And in His law he meditates day and night.
          3 He shall be like a tree
          Planted by the rivers of water,
          That brings forth its fruit in its season,
          Whose leaf also shall not wither;
          And whatever he does shall prosper.
          (Psalm 1.2–3)
        2. Such a person does not wither when others do wither.
    3. Mrs. Job did not see God as relevant, or
      1. as being able to carry her husband
      2. through these difficulties.
  6. The Shinning Faith of Job
    1. Job 13 shows just how strong he was,

      15a “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”
      (Job 13.15a)
    2. Job maintained his faith,
      1. although he thought God was persecuting him.
      2. He did err on some matters about the justice of God, because
      3. he was convinced that there was no cause for his suffering.
    3. We do not know enough to criticize God.
      1. We do not always, or
        1. even most of the time,
        2. understand our suffering.
          1. It might be self-caused (1Pe 4.14).
          2. It might be something of nature (Luke 13.4).
          3. It might be something to strengthen us (Jam 1.2–4).
      2. Mrs. Job was materialistic.
        1. Did she not understand
          1. that cursing God and dying
          2. would not end all suffering for her husband?
        2. Even Job, in 14.14, wondered if there is life after death:

          14 “If a man dies, shall he live again?
          All the days of my hard service I will wait,
          Till my change comes.”
          (Job 14.14)

Exhortation:

  1. Renouncing God does not end suffering.
    1. Renouncing God leads to eternal problems.
    2. I have known bitter Christians because of suffering.
  2. Let us do as Job did and
    1. see life from God’s vantage and
    2. not be like Job’s wife and see life from our vantage.