Naked I Come, Naked I Go

Dear class,

Today's readings are taken from Job 1,2 and 1Corinthians 1.

The book of Job is almost like an epic, with Job and his friends as central characters and lengthy discourses. Perhaps that's why it is most often classified as the poetry books alongside, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. Critics dismiss it as Jewish mythology yet we note just in the readings yesterday (Jam 5:11) that even James quoted of Job. Part of the challenge lies in the description of the "heavenly court" in these first 2 chapters with even Satan in the midst, as well as an extensive description of the Leviathan (Job 41), which some suppose is the dragon or some sort of dinosaur.

For sure, this "heavenly court" scene is not as what the Greek or Chinese mythologies make out to be. There is never a "plea bargain" between God and Satan! There are no "gods" of good and evil trying to outwit one another! The bible tells us clearly there is only ONE God (Deut 6:4; Mal 2:10; Eph 4:6, etc). Even the devils believe so! (Jam 2:19) There is NO NEGOTIATION between God and Satan. Satan and his minions are doomed to ultimate failure and condemned to everlasting chains (2Pe 2:4; Jud 1:6). What the account means for us, as with the grand theme of the book itself is the simple, powerful message, as Job finally came to realise - God is in control.

The time frame of Job, judging by the description of worship is likely to be in the era of Abraham. We note how physically successful Job was. If there were ever a Forbes list of the most successful people in the ancient world, Job would come up in the tops! Not only was he materially rich, he also possessed great wisdom and commanded respect (Job 29). Yet in spite of all his worldly success, his most valuable trait was his great faith in God. As God Himself gave praise (twice over!), as one who was "perfect and upright", "one that feareth God, and escheweth evil" (Job 1:8; 2:3)

Even as what we read of the particular challenges faced by the rich yesterday, Job exemplified his perfect heart in God with his profound statement in Job 1:20,21 - "Then 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." Even when he lost his health, when he was taunted by his own wife, the "help meet",  one who is supposed to be "one flesh" with him (Gen 2:24) (no doubt also the ploy of Satan to spare the one closest!), to "curse God, and die", he would only declare "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)
Such faith, such noble heart! Truly, we would all be much more joyful people if we had the heart of Job!

Far too often, when the going gets tough, we find ourselves frustrated and angry, full of indignation, filled with a vehement desire to curse and swear and yes, even be angry with God Himself. Why did this happen? Why am I so "unlucky"? How could God allow this? Why me?

But think of it, as Job mentioned "shall we receive good at the HAND OF GOD". Every moment of our lives is a blessing from God! How often do we give thanks for that? If we were to make a list of our blessings verses our sufferings, I believe even someone like the apostle Paul would have an overwhelming "blessings" list. Again back to Job, in v.1:21 - "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." All we have are from God. We are but stewards of God's blessings. When we realise that we own none of these anyway, yea, even our lives, somehow the pressure and burden becomes lighter. Notice that Job, in spite of his "rambling" further into the book, he was not charged with sin. (c.f. Job 1:22; 2:10; 42:7) He did not accuse God of all his ill fortune but just wondered if God had forsaken him. He needed a boost in trust and faith in God. As usual, this was not God being in cahoots with the devil, wanting to "tempt" Job (God does not tempt! Jam 1:13), but rather His way of reinforcing Job's faith and a lesson to all that God is in control and we too should trust in God, come what may.

And at the end of the day, we know for a fact that there is that eternal glory waiting for the faithful in Christ. (2Ti 2:10; 1Pe 5:10) Now THAT in itself should be reason for us all to rejoice in whatever estate we are in. Job perhaps couldn't have seen that, but today, we have the hindsight of the people before us and the glorious promises of Christ from the Word of God. Truly as Paul wrote, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2Co 4:17). Truly, "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." (2Co 1:3,4)

What more could we want?

The Lord bless our day.

in Him
Paul

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But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. ~ Hebrews 3:13
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? ~ 2 Corinthians 13:5