Job pt. 2

(On a total side note, when you start a multi-part blog, finish them all at once so you don't feel like you can't blog until you finish the thing you don't want to get around to....)

Part 1

So, we get to chapter 2.

For starters, Satan is up to his old tricks again, asking God to remove the blessing of good health from Job. I do want to point out that Satan needs God's permission before he can harm Job. Many people seem to think that there is this crazy battle and that on a bad day, Satan gets the upper hand. That just isn't true. God is in total control of everything, even Job's adversary.

So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. Job 2:7-8 NIV

Umm, oww! I don't think I can actually imagine the pain involved in that statement. But what does our boy Job do?

His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!" He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. Job 2:9-10

That's our boy! Even in the face of terrible pain and his wife telling him to give up and die, he stuck to the promise of his Lord. Notice the last sentence. This is the second and last time this phrase appears in Job.

Chapter 2 wraps up with a final story of Job's friends coming to encourage him. What they find is so horrible they can do nothing but show their distress for their friend and sit with him for 7 days and nights in silence. Here's a good lesson about keeping our mouths shut some times. Unfortunately, like myself, they don't....