Job 1:20 Commentary and Bible Study

The response of Job is tremendous. He had lost his substance and his family, and yet he still worships. We have never had such sudden and severe trials. He was a man of great strength. He believed in the sovereignty of God: only what God permits can happen, and all that he allows works for our good. He is always and in all circumstances to be praised. Satan does not succeed. Job says, ‘Blessed is God’, not cursed. It is a perfect summary of sanctification. Whatever I am tempted to do, I will always bless my God. He is altogether kind and never changes.  Job’s reaction is without blame. Grief is not sin, it is a natural response, as long as it does not go to excess. What was so devastating to him was the loss of his children; until that point he did not react noticeably. His first thought was that he was a creature made by God and that his place was to submit to the seemingly inscrutable will of God. He did not know that this attack had been provoked by Satan, and yet he was not mistaken in turning to God in response to his calamity, nor in saying, ‘The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away’, and so attributing these things to the will of God. Because God is over all things, even over the bad things that happen to us, there is no situation in which we cannot go to him for help. Although Satan had provoked these trials, high above the malice of Satan was the overruling wisdom of God. Because the Lord had a good purpose which prevailed over Satan’s hatred, these things were allowed to happen to a child of God. God’s people take comfort that the Lord who loves them is at all times sovereign in his providential dealings with us, whether we are blessed, or chastened, or tested and tried. Job’s conscience did not prick him nor tell him of any particular sin for which this disaster came (Job 10:7). But even so, part of the benefit of these trials for Job was going to be a further advance in sanctification. Job had further lessons to learn in God’s school in spite of God’s initial verdict: that he ‘was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.’‘Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither,’ or as the apostle Paul says, ‘we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. ⁸ And having food and raiment let us be therewith content’ (1 Timothy 6:7-8). Job delighted in deep thoughts of God, even in the middle of a disaster. We brought nothing with us into the world; all we had was our bodies provided by God, and we played no part in their design. What we will take with us when we leave the world is no more than we came into it with. All that we have gained through life has been given to us by Lord who gives and takes away as he sees fit. To want to hold on to what we cannot take with us, or to worry about losing it ahead of time, is foolishness. Since we are only passing through the world, then we should not expect to be here forever, and we should content ourselves with the essentials of life. Even these are in the Lord’s hands, and he may or may not see fit to give them. Job expressed only gratitude for what he had been blessed with, and did not complain about what he had lost. He does not say this out of any expectation that he would die immediately, but because his final end helps him to have perspective on life. God’s summary of Job’s behaviour is that ‘in all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.’ That was the key thing. He continued to bless the Lord and to believe that God was acting rightly. Whatever form trials come to us in, we can safely resolve them to the will of God for us, for he uses all things, both good and evil, and turns them all into good for his people.