Job 2

The Explanation

There was a day when the angels came to stand before God. And someone else slipped in with them. His name was Satan, God's enemy.

"Where have you come from?" God asked.

"From going back and forth in the earth," Satan said, "and from walking up and down in it."

Then God said something surprising. He talked about a man named Job. "There is no one like him in the earth," God said. Job was honest. Job loved God. And Job had already lost almost everything, but he still held on to God.

Satan did not like that. "Skin for skin," he said. "Give a man pain in his own body, and then you will see. He will say goodbye to you, right to your face."

God said, "Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life."

So Satan went out. And Job got sores. Not one or two. From the bottom of his feet all the way to the top of his head. Everywhere it burned and itched and hurt. Job could not lie down comfortably. He could not sit comfortably. He picked up a broken piece of pottery, a sharp bit of a smashed jar, and scraped his own skin with it, because nothing else helped. And he sat down in the ashes, in the grey dust where the fire had been.

His wife looked at him. She had lost everything too. Her voice was sharp and sad. "Do you still hold on to God? Say goodbye to God, and die."

Job shook his head. "Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" That means: God gave us so many good years. Are we only allowed to want the nice things? Job did not say one wrong word about God.

Then three friends heard the news. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. They came from three different places and met up so they could go together. But when they saw him from far away, they stopped. They stared. They did not recognise him. Was that lumpy, scraped, grey man really Job?

They cried out loud. They tore their coats and threw dust in the air over their heads, because that is how people showed terrible sadness back then. Then they walked over and sat down next to him on the ground. Seven days. Seven nights. And nobody said anything at all. Not one word. They saw that his pain was too big for words.

What Does This Mean?

Sometimes really bad things happen to good people. This story does not hide that. Job did nothing wrong, and still he sat in the ashes with a broken piece of pot in his hand.

But look carefully. Satan could not do whatever he wanted. He had to ask. God said, "Only spare his life," and Satan could not go one step further. Even in the worst moment, God is stronger than God's enemy.

And look at those friends. Their best moment is when they say nothing. They just sit down in the dust beside their friend. Sitting close by is sometimes the kindest thing there is.

The Common Thread

Long after Job, another Man sat in terrible pain. Jesus. He also did nothing wrong. He was hurt in his body, and people did not recognise him either. But Jesus did not have his life spared. He gave it away, for us.

Job held on to God in the ashes. Jesus held on to his Father on the cross. And because of Jesus, one day all the sores and all the ashes will be gone forever.

For You

Do you know someone who is sad? Someone who is sick, or missing a person, or crying at school? You do not have to fix it. You do not have to know clever words. Go and sit next to them. Say, "I'm here." That is what Job's friends did right.

And tonight, name that person out loud to God.

Talk About It

Job's friends sat still for seven days. Why do you think that helped more than talking?

Job said we get good things from God and hard things too. What good thing has God given you this week?

Praying Together

Father, thank you that you are stronger than everything that hurts. Help me when I am sad. And help me to sit beside someone else who is sad. Thank you for Jesus, who knows what pain feels like. Amen.