Page 27 - Reading Job to Know God

Look at chapter 2, verse 7 and 8,
“Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and smote Job
with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And
he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the
ashes.”
Men are generally sissies when it comes to pain. It seems like women can
take a lot more of it than men can. If I have one boil on my body, that is
enough to supply me with a topic of conversation for about a week, and it
can supply my family with a full time job for about two weeks. I do not
know what kind of boils these were, but verse eight implies that it was an
intolerable itching. Now, itching can drive you crazy. I do not know if you
have ever had poison ivy or some kind or a rash. I have itched before, but
I have never scrapped myself with a broken piece of pottery. What a
restless irritation it must have been to seek relief in that kind of a way.

Now chapter 7, verse 5, tells that the boils were oozing. All these graphic
details. I assume it was a repulsive sight. Chapter 2:12. Evidently, these
were three of his closest friends, and the Bible says when his three friends
came to see him they did not even recognize him. And when they saw him
they just wept, because he was so sick. Now, adding to this fact, the fact
that he had boils from head to foot,
chapter 7, verses 4 and 5,
“When I lie down I say, when shall I arise? But the night continues,
and I am continually tossing until dawn. My flesh is clothed with
worms and a crust of dirt, my skin hardens and runs”
There is a real suffering that comes with restlessness – tossing and turning
all night long, not being able to sleep. Verse 4 and 5 show that he suffered
all night. I do not know why it is, but it seems like suffering at night is
unusually keen, and it seems to hurt a lot more. Maybe it is because you
are not thinking about other things or there is nothing to interfere with
your thoughts. Expositors are not dead sure what this disease was that Job
had. There is all kind of conjecture. But so many graphic details are
given in the book, like verse 20 of chapter 19. It says that he was escaping
death by the skin of his teeth. He was constantly at death’s door all the
time. In chapter 30:17, it says that he never had a moment’s intermission
from pain. You know, sometime you say, the pain is gone now for ten
minutes, and I have a break. Job did not have a ten minute break; it was
relentless. It buffeted him all the time.
Chapter 30:30, said that on top of everything he also had a high fever
which, of course, weakens you. Then the Bible says that the effect of it
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