JOB IS AFFLICTED IN HIS BODY

Job 2:1-13 / Keywords 2:13

Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

 

2:1 On another day the angels[a] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

4 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

6 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish[b] woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

11 When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

Footnotes

a. Job 2:1 Hebrew the sons of God

b. Job 2:10 The Hebrew word rendered foolish denotes moral deficiency.

1. Satan does not give up easily. He returned to accuse Job before God again, saying that though Job didn’t curse God after losing all his wealth and family, he still had his own health. So, God allowed Satan to strike Job’s body as well, afflicting him with painful sores (6-7).

2. When Job’s wife saw him in this pitiful condition, her faith reached its limit, and she urged him to curse God and die (9). But Job remained steadfast. He refused to accuse God of injustice, though he had now suffered unspeakably without learning any reason for it. He said, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (10) Job’s faith was simply that God was God and he was not. 3. Then, three of Job’s friends came to comfort him in his suffering (11-13). At first, they only stayed together with him in silence, a beautiful display of empathy that was more powerful than any words they could say.

Prayer Father, help me trust you as God even when I can’t understand. Thank you for friends who have helped me through times of suffering. Help me to comfort my suffering friends with compassion that goes beyond mere words.

One Word Let God be God; be a true friend