The problem is that we have a whole book before us—the Book of Job—and only four sessions for it.
I can only rely upon the Spirit of God to open that book to us, and I must also depend upon you to read it. Otherwise, I am afraid it will be most difficult.
We are not going to read the entire book during these four sessions. We expect you to finish reading the whole book yourself.
This will not be an exhaustive study of the Book of Job; that is impossible. We are not going into too much detail, but we intend to point out the main lesson that the Spirit of God may desire to teach us through this book.
Of course, this is a very, very rich book. If you have read it, you will notice that you can approach it from many directions and gain many lessons from it.
But probably this time, we will concentrate on one approach. We do not mean to say that this is the only approach, nor do we intend to say that this is the best approach. But this is one of the many ways in which we may study the Book of Job and, by the grace of God, gain some spiritual profit for the glory of God.
Before we enter into this book, may I suggest that we divide our study into four sessions. Tonight will be the first one.
The first session will cover Job 1 and 2. We may give it the title “The Crisis.”
God willing, in the second session we will enter into Job 3 through 31. We will call that “The Searching of the Soul.”
In the third session, we will enter into Job 32 through 37. We may call it “The Spirit’s Interpretation.”
Lastly, we will consider Job 38 through 42. We can call this final section “God Appears.”
So roughly, that is what we will follow: the crisis, the searching of the soul, the Spirit’s interpretation, and God’s appearing. The crisis begins the whole story, and God’s appearing ends the crisis.
In your private study, I hope somehow that you will remember this outline.
The Book of Job is considered the oldest book in the whole Bible. It may very well be the first written sacred record. Chronologically, it may be dated before the five books of Moses.
Job himself probably lived in the time of the patriarchs—that is, before the time of Moses. He may have lived about the same time as Abraham, Isaac, or even Jacob.
Now, this man Job was a real person. He is not a fictitious name. The reason is that we have not only this Book of Job, but we find the name Job mentioned in other places in the Bible.
I wonder whether anybody can tell me where, in other places in the Old Testament, the name Job is mentioned. May I have some volunteers? Anybody?
Right—Ezekiel 14. Probably, let us read it.
Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.
This is repeated in Ezekiel 14:20:
Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they should deliver neither son nor daughter; they should but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
So we find in the Book of Ezekiel that Job is listed together with Noah and Daniel. Since Noah and Daniel are both real people, we can conclude that Job also was a real person. His righteousness is noted. He is a righteous man, classed with Noah and Daniel.
Now, where in the New Testament is the name Job mentioned? That is easy: James 5:11. Let us read it.
Behold, we call them blessed who endured: ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful.
Here the Apostle James mentions the name of Job. These two places, at least, show us that Job was a real person. He is not a fictitious name.
In the New Testament, there are also two places where passages from the Book of Job are quoted. That is probably a little more difficult. Can any one of you tell me where Job is quoted in the New Testament?
Anyway, I will leave that with you as a lesson. You try to find out. The name Job is mentioned in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, and the Book of Job is quoted in the New Testament. That itself proves that the Book of Job belongs to the sacred record.
Job lived during the time of the patriarchs, and he lived in the land of Uz. We know that the land of Uz was in the land of Edom.
We do not know whether he was a son of Edom, or whether he was a son of Jacob who had moved to that place. But, in any case, we find here a man who lived in the land of Uz. It bordered the desert and adjoined the land of the Chaldeans.
This man may be considered a chief, a prince, or perhaps a king among his own people.
Is it not strange that the first recorded history in the sacred book refers to a man outside the people of Israel? We might think that the first recorded history of the Bible would surely refer to Israel, or to a son of Israel.
But it is very surprising to find that the first sacred record refers to a man outside Israel, before the nation of Israel was formed. Here we find that man, Job.
Is there a reason for this? Can you find a reason for it?
Probably God is trying to tell us that, so far as His original purpose is concerned, He has the whole of mankind in view. It is true that He chose the nation of Israel, but this was a measure of His plan, His economy, and His administration. It is not a matter of His purpose.
When you come to the matter of God’s purpose, you find that God has the whole of mankind before Him. He is not as exclusive as some people would like to make Him.
That is probably the reason why, instead of a son of Israel being the first record of the sacred book, we find Job, who did not belong to Israel, becoming the first one whose history is written down in the sacred book.
There is another thing we may notice. According to some tradition, it is said that Moses introduced the Book of Job into the sacred record. It was Moses who translated it and put it into the sacred book.
If this is the case, then it is even more amazing. Why? Because the lawgiver was not as exclusive as some later on have been. Moses was willing to introduce Job into the sacred literature.
So, brothers and sisters, as we approach this Book of Job, we must remember that this first written book in the Bible refers to a man who lived before the foundation of the nation of Israel.
Certainly, God has the whole of mankind in view. Certainly, this book does not deal primarily with God’s plans, but basically with God’s purpose.
First of all, remember that here we have the first written book in the Bible. Being the first written book, it deals with the purpose of God rather than the plan of God.
Now, who is this man Job? What kind of man is Job?
In Job 1:1, we read:
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and turned away from evil.
What kind of man is this man Job? He was perfect and upright, one who feared God and abstained from evil.
This description of Job is recognized even by God Himself. When God challenged Satan, He mentioned the same thing: “Hast thou considered My servant Job?” He was perfect and upright, feared God, and abstained from evil.
This was not merely a description given by men. This condition was recognized even by God. Job was perfect and upright; he feared God and abstained from evil.
Here we begin with a man who was not a beginner, who was not a novice. We begin with the history of a man who had already attained to a certain degree before God.
We are not dealing with a beginner. We are dealing with one who had arrived at a certain level already, and the story begins at that level.
So, dear brothers and sisters, remember this when you study the Book of Job: you do not begin with the story of a beginner in the Lord. Rather, you are dealing with the history of a man who had already attained to a certain degree of spiritual life.
Job was considered perfect. Of course, this word perfect does not mean sinless perfection. It does not mean that Job had attained a state where he could not sin, did nothing wrong, and would do nothing wrong.
The word perfect here refers to his heart. So far as his heart condition before God was concerned, he was perfect.
He had a perfect heart toward God. As much as he knew, he tried to be obedient to God. He may be considered blameless before God. Why blameless? Because his heart was perfect toward the Lord.
In the Old Testament, this is a very precious thing. It is said that David served God with a perfect heart. It does not mean that David never failed or never sinned, and yet David pleased God. Why? Because he had a perfect heart toward God.
Some other Jewish kings did what was right in the sight of God, and yet they did not serve God with a perfect heart. You may do everything right, but your heart may not be perfect toward God.
A perfect heart is more precious than doing everything right in the sight of God. Some people may do things right, but their heart is not perfect toward God. God is One who looks into our hearts.
You remember 2 Chronicles 16:9. It is said:
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.
The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, looking for something. He is looking for a perfect heart. Whenever He finds a perfect heart, He will show Himself strong on that person’s behalf. He will stand by him.
This is what God wants: a perfect heart.
Dear brothers and sisters, do we serve God with a perfect heart, or do we have a double heart? Literally, a heart and a heart. Yes, we have a heart for God, but we have another heart for the world. That is a double heart.
Job was one whose heart was perfect toward God. In other words, in his heart he desired nothing but God Himself. In spite of all his weaknesses—and he might have had weaknesses—his heart was centered upon God. He desired God above all things.
He wanted God, and God was enough.
That was the condition of this man. He was perfect toward his God, and upright. His heart was perfect toward his God; therefore, his actions were upright. He did everything right in the sight of God and before men.
This perfection and uprightness are further described by the fear of the Lord and abstaining from evil.
In Old Testament times, the heart that is perfect toward the Lord is one that fears the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This is the teaching of the whole Old Testament.
You read Proverbs, and you find that Solomon comes to this conclusion: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. You come to the Book of Job, and you find that the fear of the Lord and abstaining from evil—that is wisdom.
The whole Old Testament teaching is summed up in the fear of the Lord. Whoever fears the Lord has a heart perfect toward Him.
Of course, when we come to New Testament times, we find that we need something more than the fear of the Lord.
If you come to 2 Corinthians 5 and read verses 11 and 14, you find these two things together: knowing the terror of the Lord and being constrained by the love of Christ.
In New Testament times, the fear of the Lord is not considered enough. Yes, we must fear Him, but there must be more. We must be constrained by the love of Christ.
But in Old Testament times, the fear of the Lord was considered the highest attainment, the best that a person could attain.
Abstaining from evil seems very negative, does it not? Righteousness in the Old Testament sense is abstaining from evil.
Righteousness in the Old Testament sense is more negative than positive. Why? Because when you read the Ten Commandments, what do you find there? Strictly speaking, only one commandment is positive. All the rest are negative.
“Thou shalt have no other gods”—negative. “Thou shalt not make any image”—negative. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain”—negative. “Thou shalt not do any work on the Sabbath day”—negative.
“Thou shalt not” and “thou shalt not” are negative. Only the commandment, “Honor thy father and thy mother,” is positive.
In Old Testament times, redemption had not yet been fully revealed. The work of redemption was not yet revealed. Therefore, the very meaning of righteousness was more negative: abstaining from evil. That was righteousness.
But when you come to the New Testament, you find that this is not enough.
The Lord Jesus, in the Gospel of John, tells us, “I go, and the Holy Spirit will come and convict this world of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye see Me no more.”
That is the full meaning of righteousness. What is righteousness? Righteousness is not only abstaining from evil. Righteousness is entering into the very presence of God. That is righteousness.
Who can enter into the very presence of God and live there? Only those who are righteous. That is where our Lord is.
But, dear brothers and sisters, in Old Testament times, the righteousness to which one could attain was abstaining from evil.
Here, then, we find this man Job: perfect, upright, one who feared God, and abstained from evil.
You find here a specimen—the best specimen you can find in Old Testament times. There was no one on earth more perfect than Job, no one more righteous, no one who feared the Lord more than he did, and no one who abstained from evil as Job did.
You find a specimen, an example, of Old Testament perfection.
Job lived peacefully and prosperously. He had seven sons and three daughters.
He had a large family, and yet you find all his children were good. Job and his wife brought up their children in the fear of the Lord and in abstaining from evil.
You find a happy family. All the children were grown up. All the sons had their own families and their own houses. They all enjoyed life, and yet they did not sin against God.
There was not only harmony between the parents and the children; the children were obedient to their parents. After the days of feasting, Job would say, “Now that the days of feasting are over, we must offer sacrifice, lest in a time of feasting my children curse God.”
These children were very willing to have the sacrifice. They were obedient children—not like many children of the age.
Not only were they obedient children, but the sons and daughters, even though they were grown up, maintained such love and harmony among themselves.
When children grow up, they tend to go each his own way. But here you find a family that was really united.
There were feastings one after another. When all the sons were having their feasts, they invited all the other brothers and sisters. There was harmony among these brothers and sisters.
Seeing such a thing, you know that there must be a background to it. It did not just happen. It must have come through all the admonition and discipline of the Lord given to these children by their parents.
So you find Job not only attaining to a very high degree himself, but bringing his whole family with him toward God. God blessed him. He had many possessions and many servants. He was a prince, a king among his own people—a king of the desert.
If you really want to know what kind of life Job lived, these few verses in the first chapter show only a little. He was described as perfect, upright, fearing God, and abstaining from evil. His family was described as being in harmony, unity, and love. His possessions were described as being in great abundance.
But if you really want to know how he lived before God, you have to turn to Job 29. Have you come to Job 29 yet? Let us read it.
Here Job tries to recall his former days:
Oh that I were as in the months of old,
As in the days when God watched over me;
When His lamp shined upon my head,
And by His light I walked through darkness.
Job had been walking in this crucible of trial for several months already. Some people say it might have been a year. Here he says, “Oh that I were as in the months of old.” Many months had passed, and he was in the crucible of trial. He tried to recall the days when God preserved him.
He knew that before this trial came to him, it was God who preserved him.
Notice how he described those days: “When His lamp shined upon my head, and by His light I walked through darkness.” The light of God shone around him. The light of God led his way.
In other words, he was not only protected by God, but guided by God. There was no lack of light. God illuminated him. Even when everything was darkness, he walked in light. He was not groping in darkness. He knew God, and God gave him light so that he could walk through darkness.
As I was in the days of my youth,
When the secret counsel of God was over my tent.
The word youth here literally means autumn—in the days of my autumn. In other words, Job considered himself, before the testing came, as having already arrived at maturity.
He thought he had already arrived at spiritual maturity. “In the days of my autumn,” in the days of my maturity, when the secret counsel of God was over my tent.
God communicated with him, and he communed with God. God told him His secret. You find that he was a man full of spiritual illumination. He was a man who understood the mysteries of God—the secret counsel of God.
When the Almighty was yet with me,
And my children were about me;
When my steps were washed with butter,
And the rock poured me out rivers of oil!
You find all his ways, all his steps, covered with the abundance of God—with oil.
Brothers and sisters, what kind of a man was this man Job? If you read all of Job 29, you find that he had arrived at such a degree of spirituality, if we may call it, that when he came out among his people, the young men withdrew and the old men stood up.
When he spoke, everybody listened.
Read that whole chapter. We do not have time to read it all now, but you read it and you find what a life he lived. He was eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, and a father to the needy.
Brothers and sisters, here you find a man who was not a beginner, but one who knew God; one who had arrived somewhere; one who had the illumination of the Spirit of God; one whose ways were full of oil and abundance.
He was a man who had the presence of God with him, a man under the guidance and illumination of God, a man preserved by God.
He thought he had arrived at the very end. He had climbed the summit, the peak. But that is where the story in the Book of Job begins.
Brothers and sisters, that is the reason why the Book of Job is a little difficult. Unless you can see where it begins, you will not be able to appreciate all that is recorded in the Book of Job.
May I say that the story of Job is not the story of a beginning. Yet neither is it the story of maturity. It is exactly in between.
On the one hand, you find a man who feared God, abstained from evil, knew God to a certain degree, and was under the protection, guidance, and blessing of the Lord. He had the presence of the Lord with him.
Yet, on the other hand, you find that there was still much that God had to do in his life in order to bring him to the end.
The whole story of the Book of Job refers to that period. Do you follow me?
It does not begin with the beginning of spiritual life. It begins with a life that has gone on with the Lord for some time and attained somewhere—to the point that he even thinks he has arrived.
But here is the crisis. There you find God beginning to work in that life in order to bring him to real maturity.
Job had attained somewhere, but you find that there was a secret fear within him.
When he began to complain, when he began to curse the day of his birth, it came out. In Job 3:25–26, he says:
For the thing which I fear cometh upon me,
And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me.
I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest;
But trouble cometh.
Yes, he feared God. He was protected by God. He was blessed by God. He had the presence, guidance, and illumination that came from God. Yet all the time there was a fear within him.
What did he fear? He was afraid of how long this blessed state could continue.
“I have tried my best to serve God. I have exerted my utmost effort to abstain from evil. Because of that, God has blessed me, prospered me, and given me peace. But suppose I slip—what would happen to me?”
Even though he had attained somewhere, he was never safe as he was. There was always a hidden fear within him. “Yes, I am blessed by God now, but what about tomorrow?”
He lived in fear and trembling. He did not have that utter abandonment to God. He did not have that rest in God. He was not ready.
So, though he was quite obviously perfect in heart, there was still much to be done to make that heart pure.
Brothers and sisters, before we go on, let us apply this to ourselves.
Suppose we are not beginners. Suppose we have believed in the Lord for some time. Suppose we have a perfect heart toward God. Suppose we know what righteousness is—Christ is our righteousness.
Suppose we not only fear God, but even love Him. Suppose we abstain from evil, and more than that, do the things that are righteous in the sight of God.
Suppose we live under the protection of God, know the guidance of the Lord, are being illuminated, and have been initiated into the mysteries of God.
Suppose we have grown out of childhood, but not exactly into manhood. Can we say that we are in our spiritual autumn?
When we are in that kind of spiritual condition, we usually think that we have arrived. We think, “These are the days of my autumn. These are the days of my spiritual maturity.”
Perhaps you have had that kind of feeling in you. You are respected. You are admired. You seem to have much. You seem to be able to give much.
But, brothers and sisters, do you have a secret fear within? Is it this: “Am I really safe? As long as I please God, yes, He gives me peace and prosperity. But what if I slip? What about tomorrow?”
Is there unrest still in your heart? Is there utter abandonment to God and to His will? Do you know that rest where you rest from all your labors and God has rested from all His labors?
Or is all your spiritual attainment more a matter of your effort than real abandonment to God?
Now, brothers and sisters, what is your spiritual state? If you are in the same state as Job, then you find that God has something to do in order to bring you into real maturity. This is the history of Job.
I have only just begun, and the time is almost over. All right, then we find that suddenly the scene shifts. Instead of the earth, the scene shifts to heaven.
Remember, this is not the third heaven. This is not where God has set His throne eternally. Why? Because we know that Satan was cast out from there, never to return.
But here you find a scene not on earth, but somewhere in heaven. Sometimes the Scriptures, when they try to describe things, must describe them in a way that we understand.
You find here that God was holding a court. It was not in the third heaven where God permanently dwells, but somewhere in the heavens where God was holding His circuit court.
From time to time, His angelic messengers, His angelic emissaries, would report to Him what they had noticed and observed on this earth concerning mankind.
Do you know that you are being reported? Not by the FBI, but by angels—by angels.
God sends angels to minister, especially to those who know the redemption of the Lord. From time to time, God allows His angelic messengers to return and report to Him.
It was on one of those days, when all His angelic messengers came back to report to God about this one, that one, this thing, and that thing, that Satan was among them.
Satan was allowed to come to this court as an accuser. We know that Satan has another name: the accuser. He always finds accusations against us before God.
Brothers and sisters, in this history, man does not live alone. We do not live on earth all by ourselves.
Man is at the center of a conflict within God’s universe. God wants man. God wants a perfect man, conformed into the image of His Son.
Satan wants to destroy man, that man may share Satan’s eternal doom with him.
God wants to fulfill His purpose through man, that He may receive praise, glory, and honor from man. But Satan is trying to frustrate and resist God by enticing man into an unholy alliance with himself.
So you find that man is caught at the center of an eternal spiritual conflict.
Without this knowledge, we will be thrown into confusion. But if we know that such is the case, then many unexplainable things can be explained.
Brothers and sisters, remember one thing: it is not that we live on earth all by ourselves. We are caught in a conflict that is bigger than any problem we may have.
Therefore, you find the scene shifted suddenly to heaven. God was holding His circuit court, and Satan appeared.
Before Satan could accuse, God first challenged him. Do you see the point?
God did not wait until Satan started to accuse, which would have put God on the defensive. Here you find that God took the initiative. God challenged Satan with Job.
It was not through Satan’s accusation that Job entered into severe trials. It was by the challenge of God that Job was plunged into the waters. God initiated the whole thing.
God challenged Satan with Job. Job was the pride of God and the envy of Satan.
God had such confidence in Job that He could challenge Satan. God knew Job more than Job knew himself, and God knew Job more than Satan knew Job.
Oh, brothers and sisters, do you think God dares to challenge Satan with you?
Probably God would try His best to cover us, lest we be accused. But if there is any person on this earth whom God can take up and use to challenge Satan, what a blessed position he occupies!
All the problems, all the things that followed—remember—started with God. It was all started by God.
Why? Is it that God just wanted to show off?
If He merely wanted to show Job to Satan, why make the life of Job so miserable? No.
Because God knew Job. God knew what He was doing. God was using Satan to complete His work.
You know, dear brothers and sisters, for many years I had trouble with Job. I studied this book, and I simply could not understand.
I did not understand why all these things happened. Was this a book that would teach us the mystery of suffering? What is it that this book is teaching us?
For many years, I tried to find out before God what He was trying to tell us. Until one day, that little verse in James 5:11 helped me.
Let us return to James 5.
Behold, we call them blessed who endured: ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful.
“You have heard of the endurance of Job.” Some versions say “the patience of Job,” but actually there is a difference between patience and endurance. Patience is toward men; endurance is toward things.
So it is actually the endurance of Job. Job endured all these calamities, sufferings, sicknesses, and accusations.
We are easily caught by that. As we read the Book of Job, we are caught by the endurance of Job. “Ah, how Job endured all these things. Lord, enable me to endure also. Oh, that I too may endure.”
But is that the lesson in the Book of Job? The endurance of Job tells us what is going on, but it does not tell us for what purpose.
Endurance is the process. Why the process? Because there is the end of the Lord. The Lord has an end in this.
The word end means the very last. It means the purpose—the purpose fulfilled, realized at last. Through all these trials and sufferings, through all these misunderstandings and persecutions, through all these enemies, finally the end of the Lord is reached.
What is that end? You read the last chapter of Job and find that the ending of the Lord is that Job receives a double portion. God doubles his possessions. God took away that He might double it.
Job’s loss was Job’s gain. We may say Job’s loss was God’s gain.
So the end of the Lord is a double portion. What do we mean by a double portion? It is the birthright and the blessing of the firstborn son.
In other words, it is sonship.
Brothers and sisters, the lesson we find in the Book of Job is a lesson of sonship. Here is a child of God, but God is not satisfied with him just as a child. God has to mature him into a son.
Maturing is a painful process. It is the pain of growth. If you want to avoid the pain, then you avoid growth. If you want to grow, you have to go through it.
It is the maturing of the sons of God that is the end of the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, the first book in the Bible, so far as recorded history is concerned, illustrates this principle of sonship.
What is the purpose of God with man? The purpose of God with man is not merely to save us so that we may be children, little beings of God.
The purpose of God with man is that we may be conformed to the image of God’s Son. He is the Firstborn. He shall bring many sons into glory, and He will bring many sons after His own order.
That is why, in Hebrews, you find the church of the firstborn. Not only is our Lord Jesus the Firstborn, but we who are conformed to His image constitute the church of the firstborn. And to the firstborn, you have a double portion.
This, to me, is the main lesson of the Book of Job. This explains all the things that happened.
Finally, you find that the Lord is full of tender compassion and mercy, is He not?
When you read the Book of Job, you almost come to the same conclusion as Job: that God is harsh, cruel, and simply wants to destroy you. He does not care.
But when you see the end of the Lord, you know that you have misunderstood Him. God is full of tender compassion and mercy.
Your whole understanding of God will be changed. Even His dealings, when they are severe, are full of tender compassion.
Brothers and sisters, I do not know how you feel, but to me this is the central point in the Book of Job: Job was immature.
Because of that, God was not satisfied. God could take pride in Job, and yet His hand was upon him. God had something more to do with this man. Out of that, God challenged Satan.
I must go on a little further, just to make a concluding remark tonight. Please bear with me for a little while.
Now, when God challenged Satan with Job, He said, “Hast thou considered My servant Job? There is no one on earth so perfect and upright, one who fears God and abstains from evil, as My servant Job.” Have you noticed him?
God was asking Satan, “What are you doing? What have you been doing?” Satan said that he was going up and down, to and fro. He was going everywhere, rushing here and rushing there, trying to find something with which he could frustrate God and destroy man.
He is a roaring lion, trying to devour whomever he can.
Of course, he had noticed Job. He must have tried many times to attack Job, but he could not, because God had hedged him in. God had put a hedge around him and around his possessions. Satan could do nothing without God’s permission.
Thank God for that. The Bible says that we will not be tempted above that which we are able to bear, because everything is in God’s hands. Do not be afraid. Satan cannot do anything. We are hedged in by God.
But Satan said, “Yes, I know Job. It is true. He is perfect. He is upright. He fears God. He abstains from evil. I acknowledge that. But there is a reason for it.”
“It is because You have hedged him in. You have protected him, and You have blessed him. Now suppose You take away the hedge. Suppose he loses everything. He will curse You to Your very face.”
In other words, Satan does not, cannot, and will not believe that there is such a thing as unselfish love, disinterested love, or pure love for God.
He tries to put a base motive behind everything. Why? Because he measures everything by himself.
That is how that angel of light, Lucifer, became Satan: because he is out for gain. He never does anything unselfishly.
To him, there is nothing unselfish. There is no such thing as disinterested love. Why should people love God except for their own gain? If one does not gain anything, then he will not love God.
Satan cannot believe that there is such a thing as unselfish love, disinterested love, or pure love. To him, everyone is out for gain, for selfish purpose. Satan explains everything by himself.
That is what he is. He cannot believe that a man, made a little lower than the angels, can love God with disinterested love. He is completely wrong.
What an accusation!
God took up that accusation and said, “All right. I will take away the hedge. You can do everything you like, but not touch his life.”
You know what happened. In one day, all his possessions were gone. All his children were gone.
Job rent his robe, put ashes upon his head, bowed before God, and said:
Naked came I out of my mother’s womb,
And naked shall I return thither:
The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
He did not say anything sinful against God.
Here was a man who loved God with unselfish, disinterested, and pure love. God knew it was there; it only needed to be brought out.
God knew that in the heart of Job there was such love toward God. But, of course, there were impurities. Those impurities needed to be purified so that the pure love toward God might be manifested.
Another day came, and again God challenged Satan with Job. Satan said, “Skin for skin; yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. You have not touched his life yet. If You touch his life, he will rebel against You.”
God said, “All right. You can touch his life, but you may not take away his life.”
The result was that Job was filled with sores. It was a kind of disease called elephantiasis, because the feet would swell like elephant feet. His whole body was full of sores.
He became a castaway. He could not stay at home. He went outside the city to the ash heap where they burned their refuse. There he sat among the ashes with the outcasts and beggars, scraping himself with a potsherd.
He said:
Shall we receive good at the hand of God,
And shall we not receive evil?
And he did not rebel against God.
Brothers and sisters, here you find a man who, when he was tested, was able to stand before God through everything and love God with unselfishness, with a pure love.
That was the crisis. That was the crisis brought out in Job’s history.
All who follow the Lord will someday come into such a spiritual crisis.
In the Book of Job, you have the principle. How that principle is applied—whether it comes once or whether it comes many times—does not matter. The principle is there.
All who love God will one day be tested in this matter of love. Do we love God with unselfish, disinterested, pure love? Or do we love God because He has blessed us?
Do we love Him because He has given us good and not evil? Suppose God strips you of everything. Do you still love Him?
Suppose all this comes to you. Do you still maintain your integrity before God?
Sooner or later in our spiritual life, such a testing will come. Of course, God knows the time. He will not allow you to enter into this before you are ready. He knows you more than you know yourself.
At the right time, God will challenge Satan. When that time comes, it is a crisis in our spiritual life.
Remember, God’s purpose is to bring out that which His grace has already put within you.
God had already done something for Job. He knew it, but it was covered and mixed with impurities.
Out of such a crisis, that which is impure will be revealed. But thank God, that which is pure will also be brought out in greater glory.
That is what you find in the beginning of the Book of Job.