Page 18 - Reading Job to Know God

there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man,
fearing God and turning away from evil.” Now that is not human
opinion. That is what God says about Job.

And then again chapter 2, verse 3: The LORD said to Satan, “Have you
considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth,
a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil.
And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against
him to ruin him without cause.”

Here was a man that was God-fearing. He loved the Lord. He hated sin,
and his earthly cup of bliss was full. It almost sounds like a fairy tale. It
starts off so good, but there was a fly in the ointment; more like a snake in
the garden. There was something wrong. A hidden parasite. One
commentator calls it the “worm of his nature”.
Even though his heart is open before God, and he is walking in the ways
of God. Even though God calls him a God-fearing man, and there is not
an equal on the earth like him. Yet there is something in his heart like a
cancer, something that is constantly eating away. Something so deep and
so embedded in his nature, so hidden in his life, that God has chosen Job
as the example for all mankind in every age to illustrate this one thing.
The problem Job had is hinted at in the first five verses. It is so subtle, that
if it were not for what was stated later in black and white, I would never
suggest it was so. In verse five he says: “Perhaps my sons have sinned
and cursed God in their hearts.” You say, well, that is an example of a
godly father concerned about his children. It is an example of a family
priest who is burdened about his own family. Perhaps, but perhaps more
than that. Perhaps when he said, “Maybe my sons have sinned,” it never
entered his mind that maybe Job had sinned. Was he trying to say that it’s
not a possibe that I could have sinned, it must have been my kids.
I know for sure, later on, that this root of self-righteousness comes to the
surface. There is no question when you read the book of Job that way
down in the depths of this man’s heart was self-righteousness. God loved
Job very much, and He loves us the same way. He does not have any pets,
so He will not allow that root to stay in our hearts either. It seemed that
Job never really got that message until the end in utter ruin and total
depravity.
So when you read the book it looks, at least on the surface, like God
begins the work of breaking, stripping, and plowing this man under. It
looks like Job is being mercilessly wrung out in the hands of Almighty
God.
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