Job 1:13-22 FOUR DISASTERS We may not realize how much is at stake in the battle for souls. At first reading we might think this whole contest is unfair and unequal. The god of this world against one righteous man seems like there would be no hope for the man at all. But when we stop to realize who we are as believers and the fact that God is in us, with us and for us, then we can look at terrible disasters through different eyes. "If God be for us, who can be against us?"
A young lad called David defeated the giant Goliath by the power of God working with him. His occupation as a shepherd helped him see beyond the power of Satan, to victory when even a stone is guided by God in whom we place our trust. Elijah triumphed over 450 idolatrous false prophets by the power of God working through him. After waiting the whole day for the futility of false religion to play itself out, he prayed simply and fervently to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel that he would, "Let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me that this people may know that Thou art the Lord God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back again." Now it was Job's turn and he was able to defeat Satan's purpose by the power of God working in him.
The people of God are not helpless in the battle for the minds and souls of men and women. But we need to remember that we "wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." It is not a losing battle in which we are found, even though we may at times seem overwhelmed by the pressures of events, losses or suffering. "Greater is He that is you, that he that is in the world."
In one day, Job offered burnt offerings on behalf of his family lest they sin in some way. Nomadic Arab Bedouins took Job's basic means of producing food from the ground. When the Sabeans took that which made his business prosper, his cattle and his donkeys used for plowing the ground and moving produce, he would have felt a great loss. Then when a terrible lightning storm killed 7000 sheep and the shepherd who tended them, a fundamental supply of food and a source of clothing would have been lost in an instant. Likely the marauding Chaldeans who were hoping for success in war, took his camels and killed his camel drivers. The means of distributing his wealth and making money in trade was gone. No longer could he transport what he produced and his business was lost. To top off that terrible day of disaster, an unusually strong wind demolished the house of his oldest son where his family of children had met for a party. The house collapsed and those inside died.
The number four often symbolizes totality. These four disasters took away all that by natural would have given his life a purpose. A successful business can be lost quickly. Enemies and opposition can overcome us when we least expect it. But to lose one's whole family at one time is almost more than one can conceive. A lifetime of work gone in one day; and then the whole family gone the same day - how hard that would be to understand such unexpected losses in such unexpected ways.
Faith and spiritual wisdom at such times is an amazing testimony to God's work in a person's life. To be able to worship God in view of such losses is evidence of a work of grace in a man's soul that gave him the wisdom to see things through God's eyes. Faith gives access to grace. Tribulation with all its loss produces patience, which in turn adds to our experiences in life that gives us hope in hopeless situations. Our hope is in God, and that does not make us ashamed of our love for our Lord. It is a wonderful testimony to the people around us when a believer retains his or her composure during great adversity and loss - especially of our spouse or children.
Job acknowledged God's right of control over everything he had. His possessions, even his children came from the gracious hand of God. So, his only consolation could come from the Lord who gives and takes away. It was God's in the first place because God gave it all to him as a stewardship. God gave it once, and He could do it again if it was His sovereign will. Job in no way accused God of doing anything wrong. He recognized that basically all he had left was God, but that was enough. He "blessed the name of the Lord."
If God allows us to prosper, that is no excuse for pride or self-satisfaction on our part. When everything we have been entrusted with as a stewardship is taken away, that is when our moment of truth is come. That is when the reality of our faith is demonstrated. "Blessed be the name of the Lord" is not just a religious phrase to be used at church gatherings, but when we gain or lose that with which we have been given.
Grief in times of loss is not necessarily sinful. Job did not hide his grief, but even after losing everything, his response was to fall down in humility and worship the Lord. In true worship we acknowledge God in His sovereign grace to us, and like Job, give honor and praise to God for what we once had, and for the fact that in spite of our loss, we know our God is unchangeable.
The actions of Job were the exact opposite of that which Satan had accused Job. He had said to God, "He will curse Thee to Thy face." Instead Job said, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." One of the things we learn in this first chapter of the book, is that we need to pronounce death to self-life, and that blessing can come by way of suffering.