Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.” Job 2:9
I wonder what Job thought when he heard his wife say this to him. One would have thought that she saw in her husband what God saw; that is, Job was a righteous man. He loved his sons and daughters; provided for them. It was apparent that God blessed him with considerable wealth. Nonetheless, when things turned bad, she seemed ready to play the blame game. There’s something too… about the way this verse reads… ‘Dost thou still retain thine integrity?’ It sounds as if she secretly awaited the day of his fall from grace… ‘curse God, and die.’ Wow. Harsh. It would have been one thing to suggest he die, but to curse God? Was Job expected to blame God or did she intend, by Job cursing God, that God would rain down fire from heaven to consume him? Any way you look at it, this lady had her issues.
There were times that I joked about how God allowed Satan to leave Job’s wife where she was: alive and fulfilling Satan’s role as accuser. Of all that Job lost, I couldn’t imagine that he would have suffered greater loss if she had been taken with everything else. It seemed that she remained alive only to increase his sorrow… My goodness, ‘curse God, and die?’ Really? That’s what she said, but who said it really? I think about Peter going from revealing Jesus as the Messiah one moment, and Jesus turning on him the next to revile Satan. That’s exactly how Satan works and what Job’s wife said was what Satan wanted Job to say in front of a heavenly host! However, sometimes, I realize that I have said worse: When I was young, what I said to my mother was vicious and cruel; later, my wife, and later still, my children. Indeed, apart from Christ’s righteousness, I am not Job. Job was a righteous man (as shown through his faith and trust in God; not his works), and although he couldn’t understand why what happened to him occurred, he looked only to himself. He took responsibility (as any responsible and professed Christian man should within the home).
With respect to his wife and family, he observed, “My breath is repulsive to my wife. I am rejected by my own family.” (Job 19:7) I believe he said that out of his self-loathing… He certainly wasn’t the same man to his family outwardly… His breathe had changed… Perhaps the very scent of God had departed… but inwardly? He had to be so confused; all the while saying to himself, ‘I am the same man! I am! I haven’t changed; only my conditions have, and blessed be the name of the Lord. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away!’ Nonetheless, in a culture then where prosperity was God’s reward of a man’s righteousness (sorry folks, it’s not the same today), and then it was taken away, what was Job, his family and friends to think? Up until then, they didn’t know that God allowed such afflictions to prove the righteousness of the man on earth as it is in heaven! What was everyone to think?
In fact, Job’s sense of responsibility took him scouring. In Chapter 31, he goes down a laundry list of possible offensives. With regard to his wife, Job declared, ““If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door, then may my wife grind another man’s grain, and may other men sleep with her.” (Job 31:9,10) Job examined everything and anything to find where he sinned against God; thus, resulting in his mournful condition. To be an innocent man; so afflicted and downtrodden, would you not scour yourself to find every potential sin or offense? No matter how small the sliver or thorn; no matter how minor the agitation, would you not get out a magnifying glass to locate it and pull it out for relief?
As Christians, do we approach what is going on in our lives as Job did? Do we acknowledge that all that we have is from God and it is for Him to give or take? When bad things happen, do we look to ourselves first and our relationship with God? Or do we look to find fault in another, and as Job’s wife, and used of Satan, to accuse another? Enough with the victimization. Take responsibility… scour your hearts to identify and to confess any secret or presumptuous sin. Sit for a day in sackcloth and ashes… sit longer if necessary. Of course, there’s a lot more I can say about Job’s wife. While what she said to her husband was exceedingly sinful and hurtful, she was not wrong to turn to him for an answer in that time. Yes, ladies; even Today, God views the man the accountable head of the household. I can’t imagine someone sincerely saying that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, but then turn around and insist that His Word changed with our culture. Still, we each have our respective roles and a call to obey. If within our role we are afflicted, then let us assume God placed the thorn where He did in us; for us… and for His glory… Not to any other. Yes, as Job’s wife, she was affected; she lost her family too, but Job knew it was his affliction and his area of responsibility. That is the righteous and obedient thing to do. Maybe we need to follow it during our own times of trial.
Oh well…. enough said. I’ll leave it at that. I hear my wife calling.
