ヨブ記2:1-13 Job 2:1-13

This February I would like to preach you about a man called Job in the Old Testament book of Job. Job was a very fine and serious man who believed in God and helped people in need. He had seven sons and three daughters and had a great many livestock as his property. However, Satan said to God, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? … But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” Then, to our surprise, God says to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand.”

So Satan sent down various disasters on Job, taking away his children and property one after another. What did Job do when his children died and he lost his property? Did he say, “God has abandoned me!” “There is no God!” and stop believing in God? No. Job said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” In other words, he said: “I was born into this world naked as a baby, so I don’t care if I lose my possessions and become naked. God can give many things, or he can take them away. I praise God.” Job is a man of great faith in God!

Today’s story is a continuation of that. Satan tried to put Job, who had such great faith, through a more severe test, i.e., to make him suffer from a terrible disease. And to our surprise, God again allowed Satan to put Job to the test. So Job got an itchy, painful disease that affected his skin from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. Job was so itchy and sore that he scratched himself all over with a piece of broken pottery. His body must have bled and swelled. When his wife saw him, she said to him, “Curse God and die.” But Job replied, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” and he never cursed God. What a patient man!

However, even such a patient Job could no longer remain silent because of the pain of his disease. In chapter 3, after the passage we read today, we find Job’s laments. For example, In 3:11 he says: “Why did I not die at birth,          come out from the womb and expire?” This means that it would have been better if he had died in his mother’s womb before he was born, or else he would have died as soon as he was born. What do you all think when you hear this? You may think it is a terrible thing to say such things. However, Job was in so much pain that he couldn’t help but say so. That is why he did not hide his suffering, but confessed it honestly before God.

Three friends came to him. At first, they came to visit and comfort Job. However, as they listened to Job’s words of laments, they began to think that Job was wrong. They then said, “You have sinned in some way, which is why you are suffering like this. So repent and become a man to obey to God’s will.” Is that really true? And is it right to say to someone who is suffering, “You are suffering because you have sinned”? The three friends thought they were right. But how did God see them?