Page 16 - The Poetic Books - Student Text

only unfair but come perilously close to calling into question God’s goodness or his power – even,
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perhaps, his very existence.”

Job demonstrates a remarkable faith. He admits that life itself is a gift of God, something God can
remove at any time. “The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD
(1:21).” Most people would be more likely to curse God as Satan suggested, giving up their faith in agony.
Job does not. His faith is firm through this first series of tests.

Satan is allowed another round with him. “’Skin for skin!’ Satan
replied. ‘But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh’ (2:5).”
The accusation is crude. Job only cares for himself. His servants and Figure 6: boils
his children were of little interest to him “Skin for skin! A man will
give a ll he has for his own life (2:4).” Now Satan is given permission
to remove Job’s health giving him sores from head to foot. Job’s wife
adds to his misery by encouraging Job to do exactly as Satan wants.
“Curse God and die (2:9).” Once again Job’s faith holds. “Shall we
receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil (2:10)?”

Job is expressing faith similar to that of early Israel. God is sovereign over good and evil. “See now that I
myself am he! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will
heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand (Deut. 32:39).” This truth is an essential first step in a
person’s spiritual growth. We get nowhere believing in competing Gods the way all the pagan nations
did. Creation itself shouts to us of a sovereign God who has brought about all that is and sustains all that
is (Rom. 1: 18-20). We cannot divide his purposes and plans, parceling them out to other gods, and not
become completely lost spiritually. We must consider the events of life in light of one sovereign God.

There is a heart that watches and cares, and everything must pass in review before
that heart before it comes to me. There is a secret censor, and no stroke of fortune
which would strike us can get past without being examined to see whether it will be for
our good. Therefore what we meet with in our life is not so terribly important; the only
important thing is whether we accept it as coming from God’s hand and whether we
dare to trust that it was made to measure – your measure and mine – and therefore is
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exactly right.

18 D. A. Carson, How Long, O Lord (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1990), 67.
19 Helmut Thielicke, article title lost, Christianity Today (Feb. 15, 1985), ?.
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