To Ruin Without Any Reason

H/T for graphic:  consecratedtohim.com

Hello dear readers! I apologize for my long absence from blogging. After a week of camping, then a week visiting family, then a weekend attending a wedding, I ended up with a nasty cold. I always seem to get colds after plane travel. Took vitamin C and Echinacea before and after the four plane rides in order to boost my immune system. Unfortunately, I still ended up sick.

The title of this post is taken from Job 2:3 NIV:

Job 2:3

Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

That is what evil  (and the father of it – satan) does – to ruin without any reason.  The Word Origin meaning of “reason” applies well, here:

Word Origin & History

reason

early 13c., “statement in an argument,” also “intellectual faculty that adopts actions to ends,” from Anglo-Fr. resoun, O.Fr. raison, from L. rationem (nom. ratio) “reckoning, understanding, motive, cause,” from ratus, pp. of reri “to reckon, think,” from PIE base *rei- “to reason, count” (cf. O.E.

Jesus called satan the “father of lies” :

Jhn 8:44

“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

 

In the comment section of a previous post, commenter GMPilot challenged the account concerning Job in the Bible. His final sentence there sums up the reason for his disdain against God:

I never said I didn’t like it, but the whole Job affair does show the Master of the Universe as a player of pawns. Better no god at all than a god like that.

 

Before I finished this post, I needed to let the dogs out in the yard. I’m “dog-sitting” my daughter and her husband’s dog, so I have 3 dogs to care for.   In an attempt to keep the one-year old in the house so that he wouldn’t run out the door a second time while I let the two older dogs in  I didn’t give myself enough room to come back in through the door. Therefore, I banged my knee (hard!) against the closed double door side. It was very painful! My husband got a gel icepack for me to sooth the pain. Next, my puggle ran in front of me as I was sitting on the couch holding the gel pack and she stepped right on my ingrown toenail!

Now, the question is…who or what can be held responsible for these types of incidences?  Satan, chance or my clumsiness? I’ll let you decide.

Back to this post.

The following is the comment that I wrote in response to GMPilot:

GM –

You miss the point regarding both the book of Job, as well as the person Job.

When God said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?” He was challenging Satan to take away one of His most loyal servants; with the instructions that Satan could not kill him.

Despite all that Job endured, he remained faithful to God the end.

Job was certainly tested. His life had been filled with prestige, possessions, and people. Then, he was suddenly assaulted in many ways, devastated, and caused to suffer. Even his own wife told him to “curse God and die.”

No matter what Satan did to Job, this loyal servant continued to trust in God.

This account in Scripture is extremely important. Satan, the accuser, came to God claiming that Job was trusting God only because he was wealthy, healthy, and all was going well for him. And so, the testing of Job began.

Look at the end of the verse (Job 2:3):

There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

 
Read the chapters HERE, Chapter 3 HERE, Chapter 4 HERE, Chapter 5 HERE, Chapter 6 HERE, Chapter 7 HERE, Chapter 8 HERE, Chapter 9 HERE, Chapter 10 HERE, Chapter 11 HERE, Chapter 12 HERE, Chapter 13 HERE, Chapter 14 HERE, Chapter 15 HERE, Chapter 16 HERE [Note that Job calls his “friends” – “miserable comforters”.] Chapter 17 HERE, Chapter 18 HERE, Chapter 19 HERE, Chapter 20 HERE, Chapter 21 HERE, Chapter 22 HERE, Chapter 23 HERE, Chapter 24 HERE, Chapter 25 HERE.

 

Granted, there are weeks, if not months worth of study that could be done on the book of Job! However, note that God’s servant Job was a sinner just like all of us! Chapter 25 reveals our need for the Savior, Jesus Christ!

Job 25:1

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

Job 25:2

“Dominion and fear belong to Him;
He makes peace in His high places.

Job 25:3

Is there any number to His armies?
Upon whom does His light not rise?

Job 25:4

How then can man be righteous before God?
Or how can he be pure who is born of a woman?

Job 25:5

If even the moon does not shine,
And the stars are not pure in His sight,

Job 25:6

How much less man, who is a maggot,
And a son of man, who is a worm?”

 

When we look at the book of Job in the light of the New Testament and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we see the ultimate goal and purpose of God’s redemption of sinful man through the shed blood (without the shedding of blood – there is no remission of sins) of the God-man, Jesus Christ!

God is ultimately in control and only He understands why the good are allowed to suffer. This only becomes clear when we see God for who He is. We must courageously accept what God allows to happen in our lives and remain firmly committed to him.

Job learned that when all else in his life is gone – God is enough. God is enough for all of us in our lives and in our future. We must love God although _______ (fill in the blank). I look at my life and see the pain and suffering that I and others have endured. In the end, I must admit that it made my faith stronger. In some cases, strengthened faith did not occur to me at the time the pain and suffering was happening!  In some cases, despite my cries and mourning, I had seen much worse happening to other people.  In fact, many instances of suffering ended up making my faith stronger…even more so than the times of blessing.

Jesus himself was tempted by satan after 40 days of fasting. Jesus used Scripture against the accuser:

Mat 4:10

Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, [fn] Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” [fn]

 

Luk 4:8

And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! [fn] For [fn] it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” [fn]

 

There is a Bible verse that tells us, “all of creation groans for redemption.”

 

Rom 8:22

For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.

 

Redemption is the purpose of God’s Word – and Jesus Christ is the living Word who achieved it for us.

 

Psa 130:7

Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.

 

This verse links the purposes of the  Old and New Testament:

Heb 9:12

He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining [fn] eternal redemption.

 

Jesus is the wisdom from God!

1Co 1:30

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

 

Those who suffer should look at the story of Job and understand that those who endure the testing of their faith will experience God’s great rewards in the end.

 

 

 Hat tip:  Blue Letter Bible

 

Tags: apologetics, Bible, Jesus Christ, Old Testament, repentance, salvation