CHAPTER 2

(1520 B.C.)

SATAN GRANTED PERMISSION TO TEST JOB FURTHER

¹Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD (regrettably, Satan always comes again).

²And the LORD said unto Satan, From where do you come? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the Earth, and from walking up and down in it (1:7).

³And the LORD said unto Satan, Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the Earth, a perfect and an upright man, one who fears God, and hates evil? and still he holds fast his integrity, although you moved Me against him, to destroy him without cause (the Lord reminds Satan that Job did not do what Satan said he would do, which was to curse God [1:11]).

⁴And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has will he give for his life (while that is true for most, it definitely isnt true for all, even as it wasnt true for Job).

⁵But put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse You to Your face (the trial deepens!).

⁶And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in your hand; but save his life (once again, the Lord sets the limits; Jobs health can be affected, and severely so, but Satan cannot take his life; again we state: all of this shows that Satan can only do what the Lord allows him to do).

⁷So went Satan forth from the Presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown (it is believed that this disease was elephantiasis, which is a strongly developed form of leprosy; while it is a non-contagious disease, it is extremely painful, coming from a burning and ulcerous swelling; generally, it attacks only a certain part of the body; however, Job was afflicted over the entirety of his body, which was not only notoriously painful, but, as well, terribly humiliating, as would be obvious).

⁸And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes (the sores, it is said, emit a fluid with an offensive odor; Job used the potsherd to scrape it away).

JOB AND HIS WIFE

⁹Then said his wife unto him, Do you still retain your integrity? curse God, and die (in essence, Jobs wife said, Why do you hold on to your religious profession? Throw your idol god aside; there is no eternity; you need not be afraid to die; there is nothing behind death. This religion of Abel, Noah, and Abraham is a fairy tale!).

¹⁰But he said unto her, You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips (this man, who had been the richest man in the east, which means he had been the most powerful, now is reduced to total poverty, his body full of sores, with even his wife condemning him; but yet he did not blame God; what an example!).

JOB AND HIS THREE FRIENDS

¹¹Now when Jobs three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him (these three men represent the world of religion that attempts to serve God by means other than Christ and the Cross; the truth is, they were very religious, but very lost, because their faith, even as we shall see, was in the wrong things).

¹²And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven (Job was so disfigured by the disease that they failed to recognize him; when he was recognized, they instantly realized that the situation was far worse than they could even begin to contemplate).

¹³So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great (we must remember that Job, at least at this time, had absolutely no knowledge as to what was going on; so the questions must have loomed large and furious in his mind; in fact, this was one of the greatest tests of Faith that one has ever engaged).