Job 1:6-22. Job's First Troubles and his Response

Job now lives in a van down by the river.

Author's note: The first two blogs on Job can be found here and here. Not so much here, or here, but right here. If you haven't seen Tommy Boy I don't know what to say to you right now. If you have no idea who Chris Farley is then you're missing out on a comic genius. But back to Job...

We're looking at the life of a man named Job who lived about the time of Abraham, (segue: if you haven't been reading my fascinating blog on Genesis and Abraham, now's the time to check it out! For only $9.99...), but I digress. What we see in the life of Job are the questions all of us will face in our life at one time or another. "Where is God in the presence of suffering and evil?" "Is God in control?" "Does God care?" "Why does God allow evil to occur?" What is wonderful about the Bible is it doesn't shy away from the deep and painful questions of life. We may not like the answers, but God is no coward. He gives his answer to these deep and hurtful issues in his Word. That's what we'll be looking at in this Job series.

Recap: Job was a very righteous and God fearing person who had a lot of possessions, wealth, and family. Satan came to God. God bragged on Job, that he was a righteous and God fearing man. Satan basically told the Lord that Job would curse God if God took away Job's stuff. God told Satan "everything he has in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger," (Job 1:12).

So what happens? (Read Job 1:13-19). Some people say bad things happen in threes. Well in Job's case it
happens in fours. The first guy runs up and says, "the oxen have been killed along with the servants with them. I was the only one who escaped." As soon as he finishes a second servant runs up and says, "the fire of God fell on the sheep and servants and I was the only one to escape." As soon as he finishes a third servant runs up and says, "Raiders attacked and killed the camels and servants and I was the only one to escape." Finally, and worst of all, the fourth servant runs up and says, "Your sons and daughters were all together in a house and a wind came through and knocked the house down on top of them. I am the only one who survived."

Basically in the span of less than 10 minutes Job's entire wallet of physical blessings is wiped out. His camels: gone. His oxen: gone. His sheep: dead. His sons and daughters: dead. How do we put this in context for ourselves? Suppose you were at work one day and you got a call from your bank. The representative says, "I'm sorry Mr. Hendley, but your identity information was compromised. The thieves took all of your life savings, your retirement, and your kids college funds. In short you are now totally broke." You hang up the call and immediately you get a call from the fire department. The sergeant tells you, "Mr. Hendley, there's been a gas explosion at your house. Your house has totally burned to the ground along with everything you had in it." You put down the phone in tears and you get another call. It's your neighbor who says, "Travis I was backing out of my house and I saw the fire. I didn't see your dog in the driveway and I ran him over. I'm so sorry, but he's dead." At this point you just want to crawl under your cubicle, throw up, and die. Now you get another call. You immediately think about your wife and kids. They were going to the museum today and thankfully were out of the house. You pick up the phone and say, "Honey, you're not going to believe what's happened." Instead of your hearing your wife's voice in response you hear, "Mr. Hendley, this is Trooper Jenkins of the South Carolina Highway Patrol. I'm sorry sir but there's been an accident. A drunk driver crossed the double yellow line on the road and hit your wife's vehicle head on. I'm so sorry, but your wife and children died at the scene."

Good Lord in heaven, that hurt to even imagine and write out. Can you even imagine what Job was feeling in
this moment? If you had stuck your hand into his body and physically ripped his heart out of his chest it would not hurt as bad as what Job was feeling right then. His possessions he had accumulated were gone. His children whom he'd loved were dead. His servants who he had taken care of were annihilated. In an instant he had lost everything. How do you process that as an individual? How do you respond in that moment?

I'll be honest with you. I don't know what to tell you. I think if this happened to me I don't know what I would do. Listen I joke around a lot on the blog but I'm serious in telling you that I would probably be tempted to throw myself off a building if something like this happened to me. I mean, what would you do?

One of the perks of believing in the inerrancy and authority of the Bible is that instead of trying to figure life and issues out yourself, you can submit yourself to the Bible and learn what God has to say. Again, I don't understand all of this, nor do I have the capacity to on my own. I am a fellow traveler trying to understand the tough issues raised in this book, not a master who knows it all. Therefore, let's look at Job and try to learn together.

"Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.' 
In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong." (20-22).

Job, in the face of incredible tragedy and pain, tears his robe and shaves his head on a sign of grief and mourning. He then acknowledges that he was born within nothing and when he dies he will take nothing with him. He acknowledges that God has given him much and now God has taken it away. And he praises the Lord.

Observations:
- Job is not one of those guys who puts a false face or over-spiritualizes everything. He is a man in intense pain and doesn't hide it. He is honest with himself and about what he is going through. He grieves tremendously over what has happened, ripping his garment to show the ripping apart of his heart. At this moment Job does not understand what is going on. He just knows he has lost everything.
- Job worships the Lord. He acknowledges that God is the sovereign ruler of all creation and that God is somehow in control of what has happened. He doesn't understand but he still honors God. Job's actions and statements are true and right, according to verse 22. This is a troubling thing for us to think about and ponder. It leads us to a lot of uncomfortable questions:

Questions:
- Is God responsible for evil? Can God be charged with wrong?
- Where is God in this?
- Why did God allow this to happen?
- Why did God and Satan have this discussion about messing with Job's life?
- Does God care about Job?

Notes:
- This is just my opinion, so take it for what it's worth, but I think we have to view this book like any other book. It's not like you read 10 verses our so out of the book of James, get some life applications, apply it to your life, and move on. Job is a story and like any other story it takes a while to develop. We can pick up things along the way, but we shouldn't look for a quick resolution. This book doesn't end each chapter cleanly with a nice little bow on top. Like any other novel the story develops and progresses throughout the book and comes together at the end. If you're looking for a happy ending here in the first chapter you won't find it. I'm not sure if we'll find one even at the end of the book. But at least for now we just have to hang on for the ride and pay attention.
- The questions posed here will continue to persist throughout the book. It's kind of like a storm that builds and builds until the floodgates break open at the very end.
- The drama and pain dealt with in this book are real. The Bible deals with real life issues. It is a comfort to me to know God honestly deals with death, pain, doubt, fear, insecurity, and loss in his Word. Nothing is sugar coated in the Bible. Life is difficult and the Bible does not ignore that fact.

So I'm afraid I cannot end this blog with a happy thought or funny picture. This is a dark and painful book and it would be inappropriate for me to ignore its content with an irrelevant or silly picture, (as much as I may like to in order to lighten the mood). Let's hang on to poor Job and see what happens. See you next time, (I hope).

This is probably how poor Job feels right now. Alone in a storm.