The Bible book of Job, positioned right before the well-known book of Psalms, is the story of a righteous man who lost everything, and yet came out of his extensive trials stronger and better than when they began. Many people who have read this incredible book of the Bible probably figure it is some sort of allegory, but they would be wrong. It is instead, an extensive testimony given by a man “set up” by Almighty God, just so his testimony might be a glowing example for us in the 21st century.
Job was a very wealthy man for his time and place, having 7,000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, many servants (of course), as well as 7 sons and 3 daughters. Each of his sons had their own houses and presumably Job’s daughters still lived with him. The Bible states that Job was ‘blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.’ It also states he was the greatest of all men of the east. It should be noted that a careful reading of the whole book would indicate Job was probably also a judge of his people and had knowledge of legal proceedings. (Bible commentator David Guzik [https://enduringword.com/about/david-guzik] says that Genesis 10:29 may be a reference to Job when it refers to a man named Jobab, a son of Joktan). Guzik may well be correct, for the name is similar and the historic time frame would probably be about right as well.
The book of Job begins as the man is introduced to the reader, and a few verses later moves into the throne room of God, where God Himself highlights Job to Satan as a worthy and righteous man; in essence, God sets up Job for Satan’s attention. Of course, the first question that begs our consideration is “Why?”, and it is my opinion that God wanted Satan to test Job’s loyalty and faith, and in the process supply Job with a testimony worthy of our Scriptures, and God knew that only Job would pass the tests. Job bought his testimony by his faith, and God knew in advance that only Job was qualified for the task.
In one day, Job lost everything he owned and everyone he held dear, except perhaps his wife, who’s only word of advice was, “Curse God and die!” What a sweetheart she must have been! Then, as if these incredible events were not bad enough, God allowed Satan to take away Job’s health, only limiting Satan to not kill him in the process. In just a few days, Job was scraping pus off his body with a potsherd as he sat on a heap of ashes. Quite a fall for the greatest and richest man of his day! And yet, the narrative notes that ‘in all this, Job did not sin with his lips.’, and I wonder if any of us in similar circumstances, would react as well as Job?! I sincerely doubt I would pass trials this severe with as much faith as Job had. Would you?
For several decades at least, many of our American churches have not addressed the topic of suffering as an integral part of the Christian journey, and that’s sad because it surely is. Consequently, we Christians are not well prepared for it.
It is now 2024, and we are beginning to see a vast culling of our population as sickness, disease, weird blood clots, strange and quickly moving cancers are exploding in our midst, and many of our youth are mysteriously dropping dead. It is my belief that this awful visitation of death has been greatly exacerbated by the entire Covid Plandemic, and in particular with regard to the “vaccinations” and their multiple boosters, as well as the germs probably transmitted on the tests commonly used by many.
In addition, I am also sure that the elitists of the world, who by their own admission, want to trim down the world population not only through the endless proliferation of “vaccines”, but also through polluting our air, water and food supplies. They are much to blame for the great die-off that has obviously begun. Yet in the midst of all these events, which would have seemed outrageous just a few years ago, we Christians remain ignorant of what the Bible says about suffering, and what our logical Christian response to it should be.
As the ‘body of Christ’, we Christians will suffer, as all true believers have done since the beginning of our faith. One covert reason for our suffering is the same as it was for the Hebrews during the first half of God’s judgements on Egypt. They had been slaves to the Egyptians for many generations, and while it may have been an odious life, as long as they could work, they were kept alive, and by suffering the first half of the judgments God was weaning them away from Egypt, as well as (re) introducing Himself to them as their God. By the time of the last judgment, they were more than ready to leave!
I submit that our sufferings as Christians are of a similar nature. We are being weaned away from our natural dependence and allegiance to this world while being re-focused on totally trusting our God. Who can we now trust? I think more than ever the answer to that question has to be only God Himself, and that brings me back to Job…
I thank God that my tests and trials have not (yet?!) been as awful as Job’s, but I’ve found over the years of my Christian journey that the book of Job is my first go-to book in the Bible when I’ve faced my dark valleys. While I sincerely hope I never have to be tested as Job was tested, I pray that I too will have the steel in my soul to successfully pass the trials I will have to pass. All of our trials and testings are to point us, and others, to God. They are not given to highlight us, rather they are given to highlight God and display His magnificence, His love and His supernatural power.
At the end of Job’s trials and sufferings God blessed him by multiplying his wealth two-fold, with the exception of his children. Why not the children too? Obviously because Job never really “lost” them; they were waiting for him in heaven.
We should pray for the God-given strength to overcome our inevitable trials and testings in this world, as we are being fully prepared for the next, but I do wish our churches would get on board.
John Miltenberger
Photo: indiatimes.com
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