In Job 2.1-10 we learn about a second trial. Again, it happened on “a day” when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before Yehovah, and Satan came again to present himself to the Lord. This is a Yom Ha Din (Day of Judgment) and not long after the first Yom Ha Din of Rosh Ha Shanah because his friends haven’t even visited him yet. So, this is possibly a Yom Ha Din Yom Kippur, ten days after the Yom Ha Din of Rosh Ha Shanah in v 6.
Dan 7.9-10 tells us that God keeps “books” recording what is taking place on earth, as well as the “Sefer Ha Chaim” or the “Book of Life.” The context for these verses is a Yom Ha Din of Rosh Ha Shanah.
Satan again comes before Yehovah and the same question is asked of him as in Job 1.7. He again intended Satan to express what the Lord wanted expressed by him because the Lord knew where he had come from. Satan boasts that he was “roaming about on the earth and walking around on it” seeking who he can devour (Matt 12.43; 1 Pet 5.8).
Yehovah said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil. And he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause.” Job did not sin against the Lord in the first trial. He succeeded because it was God’s will for him to do so (Jude 24; Col 1.17). Yehovah kept him from sinning (and us), and when that stops there is evil (Ezek 28.15). That is an important concept to remember. Job didn’t fail because God kept him from failing, and this is something that Satan does not understand here.
In this scene, Satan goes further and says, “Skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.” He thinks Job will not only part with all the “skins” he had (family, animals, wealth) but he would part with Yehovah, his religion and his faith to save his life. Satan says touch his body, and he will curse you. He will call your wisdom, justice and truth into question (like in Rev 16.11). So the Lord said, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life” (v 1-6).
So Satan goes out and smote Job with boils all over his body (v 7). He would cleanse his wounds with a potsherd to relieve himself from itching, dead skin and infection because nobody wanted to get close to him, and there was no remedy to help. His wife says, “Bless God and die!” Now, the word “barak” (bless) is used in v 9. She is saying to bless the Lord and then die because there was no hope in this life for what he had. She did not like seeing him suffer. She is saying “Bless God for all the blessings you had and look for the hope of the resurrection.”
But Job tells her she is speaking as a “foolish woman” which she wasn’t (v 10). Could he accept the good things from the Lord and not the bad? In this Job did not sin (Lam 3.37-39; Deut 32.39). Remember, Job and his wife have no idea (and never will as far as we know from the book) about the heavenly scene between Yehovah and Satan. Of course this was revealed to the author of the book but during the story they have no idea.
There is no God besides Yehovah; and he is the one who puts to death and gives life. He wounds and he heals, and there is none who can deliver from his hand. Here are some other Scriptures that should drive this concept home (Ezek 24.16-18; Gen 38.7-10; 1 Chr 10.14; 2 Chr 18.18-22, 21.18; Ezek 3.20; Isa 53.10; Ecc 7.14; Isa 45.7; Job 5.18; 2 Kings 13.14; Amos 4.6-13; Psa 139.16; Jer 43.11, 44.27; Exo 4.23, 21.24; Ezek 9.6; Deut 7.15; 2 Chr 22.7). Job’s wife is a good woman but she is speaking in a carnal way here.
In Job 2.11-13 Job has three friends who come to visit him and they are Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite. They heard about Job’s losses and health and wanted to show him kindness. Eliphaz is a descendant of Esau and his grandson (Gen 36.11) and Bildad the Shuhite was a descendant of Shuah, a son of Abraham by Keturah (Gen 25.2) and Zophar’s origins are unknown, but he probably lived in the area also.
When they got there they did not even recognize him (v 12) and their heart broke for him. Each of them tore his robe and threw dust over their heads in mourning. They sat with him for seven days and did not know what to say to him. Was this because Job did some evil? What could they even say to him, seeing he was in such a condition. They couldn’t even bring themselves to ask what happened. But Job will also have to endure their false accusations as we shall see. In this he is like Yeshua (Matt 27.36-44). Everyone was verbally abusing him, even the robber who will eventually believe in him.
Job 3.1-26 tells us that finally Job speaks. Perhaps his affliction subsided long enough for him to want to engage in a conversation and to communicate. He cursed the day of his birth, but he did not curse Yehovah like Satan said he would. He said his birth was nothing to celebrate and that there should be no rejoicing during the year and his birthday should not be numbered in the days of the months (v 2-7).
Then in Job 3.8 he says something very interesting. He says, “Let those curse it who curse “the day” (the day of the Lord and its evil), who are prepared to rouse Leviathan.” The climate for the False Messiah will be ready in the people to accept him, like it was among the German people to accept Adolf Hitler.
Now, Leviathan is a picture of the False Messiah in Jewish eschatology and the Scriptures (Isa 27.1; Psa 104.26; Psa 74.13-14; Job 26.12-13; Job 41.1, 34; Isa 51.9; Rev 12.1-3, 13.1, 17.1-3).
He then says the stars should be darkened because they did not hinder his conception, and then he wonders why he did not die in the womb. This shows that Job was alive at his conception and in the womb, contrary to what those who support abortion and infanticide believe He also wonders why he didn’t die at birth (v 9-11).
He then asks why his knees kept him from falling or why there was milk in the breasts that fed him. If he had died, he would have been at rest, in the grave, equal to the great kings, princes and counselors who have died. Or better yet, like a miscarriage which never saw the light of day. There the wicked cease from raging (doing evil), and there the weary are at rest (from such acts). Prisoners don’t hear the voices of their guards, and the small and great are there (v 12-19).
Then he wonders why life is given to those who suffer (v 20-22). They are happy to die, and why is life given to a man who is hidden, who the Lord has neglected and not cared for. God has hedged him in with thorns and afflictions (v 23). He groans at the sight of food because he has no appetite even for a simple meal (v 24). He even fears what could happen next, and thinks that if he thinks it, it will happen because there has been no intermission between afflictions, they are coming in waves and he can’t rest (v 25).
In Job 4.1-21 we learn that Job’s afflictions and his behavior has laid the foundation for the coming dispute between him and his three friends. Eliphaz the Temanite, Esau’s grandson (Gen 36.11, 40-42) now begins to speak and he says that if they speak with him be would be impatient with them. He taught many in the knowledge of God but he is acting contrary to his own advice. Maybe he isn’t so virtuous in his heart after all (Job 29.1-25). Where is his confidence now, or did he even have it (v 1-6).
Then he insinuates that Job isn’t so innocent (v7) and those who sow trouble will harvest it (v 8). By the breath of God the lawless perish and are broken. The lion (Job) perishes for lack of prey (nobody to oppress), and his whelps (his children) of the lioness (his wife) are scattered. Eliphaz is saying that God is taking what Job has gotten by oppression (v 9-11). Then in v 12 he says that he has heard from God by a quiet word, or a whisper, even dreams (Dan 2.29; Job 33.14, 29). Eliphaz says he saw a “spirit” (angel) and he heard a voice saying, “can mankind be just before God?” If the angels are not pure compared to God, how can man who is created from the dust. They are exposed to death and their “tent cords” holding the tents to the earth are plucked up (v 12-21). Eliphaz is saying God is pure and holy, and man is weak and sinful. Man cannot be just in the sight of God, so Job is wrong to say that he is innocent in all this and had integrity.
Job 5.1-27 tells us that Eliphaz goes on to say only the wicked are afflicted by God, and all the “holy ones” (tzadikim) will say the same thing. He insinuates in v 2 that Job is foolish and angry, and that’s why it kills the simple. In his experience, Eliphaz then says that the foolish are blessed for awhile and then he saw the curse of God in their house (v 1-3). He says he has seen the sons of the foolish oppressed in the courts with nobody to help them (v 4).
Eliphaz says that trouble does not come from the “dust” (nowhere) or just “springs up from the ground” (v 6). He is telling Job that judgment comes from God because he sows trouble. When trouble happens, he (Eliphaz) goes to God (v 8) because God is great, and Job should too. He believes that Job’s problems are because God is dealing with Job’s sins, and he is correcting him. He believes that the humble will patiently bear it and causes grief in many ways, but he will repair it. Evil will come six ways (it comes in many ways), and even in seven (all possible troubles) it will not touch him (v 17-19). God will protect him from evil tongues and violence, and Job will have nothing to fear.
Job 5.20-26 tells us that such things as famine he will redeem Job from, and in war the sword will not touch him. He will laugh at violence and will not be afraid of wild beasts. His house will be secure and he will manage his home without fear of loss. His descendants will be many and he will come to the grave with full vigor (ready). Eliphaz is sure of his observations and he uses “we” in v 27 to show he was not alone in understanding this. However, his words cannot explain what he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know the hidden purposes of God that we have seen in Job 1 and 2. What Eliphaz is saying to Job is useless because it doesn’t apply, and Job knew it.
It will be interesting to see that in Job 42.7-9 Yehovah will single out Eliphaz for a special rebuke. He says he is angry with Eliphaz because he did not speak about the Lord correctly “as my servant Job has.” Eliphaz meant well but he missed the boat here. Eliphaz says Job’s reaction to what God was obviously doing with Job proves that Job was in sin.
It’s not that Eliphaz was wrong about what he knew about God (he is just, reproves sin, delivers, etc), but he was ignorant of God’s hidden purposes. Nobody knows that Satan appeared in heaven in Job 1.6-12 and Job 2.1-6, and that Job was the subject of a dispute with Satan over whether Job would be faithful or not. Everything Eliphaz says is correct but it is useless in the case of Job because it doesn’t apply. The Book of Job teaches us that we must respect what we don’t understand and we will not always have an answer for everything that happens. There are things that words cannot explain, and we must wait for God to do what he wills to do.
We will pick up in Job 6.1-30 in Part 3.
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