The Patience of Job – 28 June 2023, Anno Domini

 

O

 H that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! 24 That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! 25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me. (Job 19:23-27)

 

            Job was a man of the ancient days who had everything a man could desire; a wife, and seven sons, and three daughters; 7,000 sheep; 3,000 camels; 500 oxen; 500 she asses; and a great household that numbered him as the greatest man of the east. He loved God and hatred evil. Job had no great need for much patience for he had all the world had to offer. While it is true that Job hated the devil, it was also true the devil despised Job and his Communion with the Lord.

 

            One day, God gave Satan the power to take away from Job all his wealth and all his family. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.  And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? (Job 1:6-8) Satan was incensed that Job loved the Lord fully. Just as the Serpent had beguiled Eve, Satan wanted to destroy Job and make an example of him of hypocrisy. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD. (Job 1:12)

 

            So, Satan took the beloved sons and daughters of Job in death, and the many head of livestock was taken, and Job was left with nothing. How did Job respond to this hurtful experience? hen Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. 22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. (Job 1:20-22)

 

            Job had never needed the gift of patience in the past, but now he was forced to draw upon the well-springs of faith for the patience needed to endure such pain and sorrow. Patience is a product of faith.

 

            Having failed in this first attempt to destroy Job and to cause him to curse his Lord God, Satan made subsequent appeal to the Lord to allow him to hurt Job’s body. This request the Lord granted. But Job’s wife, like Eve, tempted Job to doubt the divine purposes of God. So, Satan afflicted Job with boils of sores from head to foot so that Job went out and sat on an ash-pile and scrubbed himself with a potsherd. 

 

            In spite of the counsel of his three friends, as well as their condemnation, Job’s faith held steady, and he exercised the well-known example of patience that his faith engendered. In hardship, as well, as in plenty, our patience is a measure of our faith – not the other way around. It takes a tremendous faith to endure financial ruin and loss of loved ones, but our faith instills an unworldly ability to sustain our patience to continue in our walk with the Lord. In his misery, and, yes, saints are afflicted just as was Job with misery, Job made his enduring profession of faith in Christ (his Redeemer): For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me. Though Job may have questioned why this great sorrow befell him, he never denied God. He knew that whatever misery this life may offer, there is a greater joy and bliss to be had in the coming of his Redeemer some 1,500 years hence. It was this profound faith that bore Job up and produced the patience for which he is known.

 

            In the end, Job was victorious over the devil and prospered under the blessings of God. In the end, Job received exactly twice the losses he had suffered with the first assaults of Satan – except sons and daughters. Why was this? I believe it was because Job still had the first sons and daughters in waiting beyond the Gates of Splendor which would give him twice the number of sons and daughters as well as livestock. So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters.

 

            One lesson we gleaned from Job’s faith and patience is to remember to account, not only our treasures on earth, but those that are on deposit in Heaven awaiting our coming.