Gleanings from Job

In the New Testament there is but one solitary reference concerning this man. In James chapter five verses ten and eleven we are told: “Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold we count them happy whichendure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.”

From this we see that he who, through patience, endured the suffering of affliction, was made happy at the conclusion; that happiness was centered in, embracing and being embraced by knowing Him and of His tender mercies.

Though Job certainly possessed the virtue of patience, yet is it found to be an aid, a means, a vehicle, a sustainer, to maintain and accomplish an end.

“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job.” Uz, we are told was adjacent to Chaldea and Ur, the place from which Abraham received his call from God.

“and that man (Job) was perfect and upright” Such might rightly be said of our original ancestry Adam and Eve. Unlike the animals, God created man with two legs; that he might walk erect or vertically;upright before the Lord, the physical portraying the spiritual walk before Him. But man fell from hisupright position. Well might God have caused us to walk on all fours, but Grace had a plan that man might be restored to a true uprightness unto his Creator!

“and one that feared (reverenced) God, and eschewed [abstained from, avoided, shuned) evil.” Along with uprightness, these things clearly define a term not found until we see it in chapter two and verse three. It is the word INTEGRITY.

First, the Scriptures attest his Integrity. “Job. . .that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.”

Second, the Lord Himself testifies of his Integrity. “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 1:8.

Third, Satan concedes as to Job’s Integrity. “Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But - put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face” Job 1:9-11.

Fourth, Job’s response to sudden calamities proves his Integrity. “Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell upon the ground, and worshipped” Job 1:20.

Fifth, Job’s testimony is a witness of his Integrity. “And he 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!” Job 1:21.

Sixth, the scripture substantiates the Integrity of his testimony. “In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly” Job 1:22.

Seventh, the Lord again validates his Integrity. “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? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movest me against him to destroy him without cause.” Job 2:3.

Eighth, Job’s wife verifies his Integrity. “Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God and die” Job 2:9.

Ninth, Job justifies his continued Integrity. “But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” Job 2:10.

Tenth, the scriptures again attest to his Integrity. “In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

The Tempter and His Purpose

“And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Fromgoing to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it” Job 1:7.

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world” I Peter 5:8,9.

By the comparison of these two verses it should be apparent to all that what is seen in Job 1:7 reaches back to the Garden of Eden, reaches forward to the Garden of Gethsemane and is exceedingly active today. Satan’s plan and purpose - to destroy the uprightness and the reverential fear toward God: in one word: Integrity.

“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. . . And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, whichaccused them before our God day and night” Rev. 12:9,10.

In the book of Job we are given a first-hand view of this, the accuser. At least in this instance he is not attempting to draw our Lord’s attention to any particular wrong-doing of our brother Job. He offers little resistance as God proclaims Job as being upright and one who feared God. What he does do is to question Job’s motives; to contend that Job’s loyalty to his Sovereign was only because of the substance, the benefits. His accusation is nothing less than an attempt to undermine his integrity, to debate that Job is not real, that he is a phony; that given the right circumstances, he will fall, even as did man in the Garden.

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:” I Peter 4:12. What then is to be our response to such a trial? It is found in verse 19: “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” This is exactly what Job is being asked to do. Satan says it won’t happen; that Job will denounce God, that he will resist and attempt to distance himself away from Him; that he will ultimately curse God to His face because of his afflictions.

“And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life” Job 2:6. Is the New Testament consistent with the Old? “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not” I John 5:18.

“So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes” Job 2:7,8.

“My Grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;” “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” II Cor. 4:8,9,16.

Job, you have been utterly stripped of your strength. Your flesh is totally consumed with boils. How shall you contend with that “roaring lion” who is come to devour you? “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Are your feet covered with boils? Then let them be “shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” Is the crown of your head overlaid with boils? Then “take the helmet of salvation.” Though the boils brought upon you by “the wicked” are unto you as “fiery darts,” take “the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench” them. (Eph. 6.)

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” “The thief cometh not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:” John 10:1,10.

Job’s children are dead, his servants are dead, his possession are stolen. His poverty now extends itself to his physical well-being. Satan has robbed him of everything - almost. The one thing that the Devil most desired to destroy did Job still retain - his integrity, his uprightness before the Lord. No Satan, Jobwill not curse God to his face; rather will he bless the name of the Lord!

“Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” Psalm 73:25,26.

Job: his priestly work - a figure of Christ.

“And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered 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 did Job continually”Job 1:5,6.

Job is priest over his own household. He is advocate and intercessor. He calls them into his presence. They are to know that he is sanctifying them before the Lord; that he is offering a separate sacrifice for each of them, and this he does continually.

“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” Heb. 9:11a,12.

“And the Lord spake onto Moses, saying, Command Aaron and his sons, saying, this is the law of the burnt offering: it is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place. And the fire shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it;” Lev. 6:8 -12.

From the preceding scripture we perceive that Job followed a divine order that predated its being incorporated into the law: he rose early in the morning, put more wood on the fire, then laid the prepared sacrifice upon it as a burnt offering. There is no reason to think that he did not follow through afterward: that the remaining ashes were taken without the camp to a clean place.

Pictured: the end of the rituals of the Old Testament priesthood.

“And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. . .” I Sam. 3:2,3. Herein is a prophetic picture, fulfilled in the verses to follow: the dying priesthood of the Jews: for there is come a Great High Priest; the waxing old, the vanishing away of the Mosaic covenant in lieu of a New and Living Covenant; the lamp of God going out in the temple, for I Am, the Light of the world is come!

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee. ..Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord” Matt.23:37a,38. Notice, in I Samuel three it is “the temple of the Lord”, while the judgment pronounced by the Lord renders it “your house,” for surely “I-cha-bod” is over the door, “The glory is departed from Israel.”

Job and Christ.

“and he sat down among the ashes” First notice, he is not said to have sat down upon the ashes. The word “among” is literally said to be in the center. It speaks of identification with, yet of bisection: to cut or divide into: to intersect or cross. Of exactly what ashes did he sit down “among?” The only ones of which we are told are those ashes of the continual burnt offerings of the lambs that he offered unto the Lord as a priest and mediator between God and his sons. Among? center? cross? divide? the place of sacrifice of lambs unto God in behalf of others? Should not this strongly remind us of our Savior, our Mediator, our High Priest, the Lamb on the center cross, between two thieves: a place of division, where one denied, the other received?

There were only ashes. There remained no more animals to be offered. The day of the “continual burnt offering” was ended. Job sits among the ashes, identifying with them. He is a horrible sight to behold, his body being afflicted with sores from head to foot. “As many were astonied at thee, his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.” “He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and aquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

“and he sat down among the ashes” For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me.” “Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all” Heb. 10:4,5,9,10. In verse five of Job chapter one he is seen “continually” offering “burnt offerings unto God” and he is said to have “sanctified” his sons and daughters; this showing forth the “first”, that is, the “law”. The “first” being “taken away” that he might “establish the second.”

“and he sat down among the ashes” Job had built an altar, where he willingly offered burnt offerings unto the Lord, where he met with God! Job, you’ve no animals left to sacrifice. You’ve lost your wealth, you’ve lost your health: you are a pitiful specimen to behold. What is there left that you can possibly do? The fires that once burned continually upon the altar within the camp are gone out. There remains no more sacrifice. There are no animals left to offer. Job leaves that altar and goes forth without the camp, in great poverty, bearing his reproach. “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices thou hast no pleasure.

Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” Heb.10:5,6,9. What do you propose to offer Him now? Well, I will “by the mercies of God . . .present my body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.” for it is my “reasonable service.” May we not soon lose the picture we now are beholding. May the Spirit of God enlighten us about the Truth of Romans twelve one. Dear friend, this is one of those places where we need to stop and meditate. Job sits in the ashes outside the camp; he is poverty-stricken, a man broken before the Lord. His “visage is marred”: he is a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; he is “stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.” How can God possibly find such as this “holy and acceptable!” Doesn’t the Lord want me to approach Him and present my “good works” and “Christian service?”

Seeing the Lord - the fruit of repentance.

“In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. . .then said I, woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts” Isa. 6:1,5.

A similar testimony is declared by Job: “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye [singular] seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” Job 42:5,6. And what is the immediate effect when one truly sees the Lord? “I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips.” “Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light” Matt. 6:22.

An interesting conversation between Joshua and the children of Israel: “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” “Therefore will we also serve the Lord; for He is our God.” “Ye cannot serve the Lord: for He is an Holy God;” it would appear that the “Christian Service” of our day is far removed from that of which Joshua spoke. How indeed can sinful man truly be said to “serve the Thrice-Holy God?” None were more thorough at the practice of religious service than the Pharisees, but we know full well that they in no wise knew anything of serving a Holy God. The cry goes forth in our day: “We’re going to serve the Lord; we’re going to be witnesses for Him!” Really? Again, how can a sinful man serve a Holy God? “And Joshua said unto the people, ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord, to serve Him” If they would own Him as Lord, they must first confess their sinfulness; that they have beenunfaithful, unprofitable servants. To now choose to serve the Lord must needs indicate that they have previously chosen otherwise. Will you truly serve the Lord and Him only? “Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you.” What sort of repentance is it that continues to hold on to the object of the sin? Once sin is confessed and its object “put away,” then, continues Joshua, “incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.” If you would “serve God”, first put away “mammon.” Notice carefully the response of the people: “The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice we will obey.” A wise “pastor” is Joshua to his people. He has put before them the urgency of the matter: “choose ye this day.” He has made known unto them the seriousness of it; that God is Holy, that man is sinful and is in no position to rightly serve Him. That the first step in becoming a “witness” for the Lord is to be a witness against self - that they put away the strange gods from themselves - that they incline their hearts unto God. Now, they should be in the condition and position to hear the voice of God, to discern His will: to be submissive to that will in obedience! How futile to charge the people to obey God! Obedience will come, but only as the heart is rightly prepared - even as these scriptures have shown us.

Do the New Testament scriptures bear out that which is taught in the Old? “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” I John 1:9.

“if we confess our sins.” How can a sinful man serve a Holy God? First, be a witness against ourselves: Lord, I am an unfaithful servant; I have harbored unrighteousness in my heart. Because I am unfaithful, I am also become an unprofitable servant. I realize in confessing my sin, that I must choose: will I serve You? Then I must put away the “strange gods” of self will. I must “incline” my heart unto the Lord God of Israel.” “He is faithful”; He has judicially “put away” my unrighteousness. I am cleansed from sin. But how shall my daily walk be made clean if I do not acknowledge, if I do not witness against my unfaithfulness to the Faithful One? How shall He cleanse that which will not be made clean? How shall I “witness for the Lord” if I will not witness against myself?

May we end with these thoughts. Self-examination will not yield true repentance. It is looking unto Jesus - seeking His face - allowing the Light of Righteousness to shine into our hearts. Not only can He reveal the truth, but He is the only remedy for our sinfulness.

What about that scripture: “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged?” I Cor. 11:30. This is true. But it must not be done according to our standards, our evidence. Self evaluation will not suffice. Right judgment may only be rendered as the Holy Spirit rightly discerns our hearts.     “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the Way Everlasting.” Psalms 139:23.