Job 5

Accepting correction and discipline from the Lord.

Job 1: (11) "But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."

Job was a man rich with blessings from God. He had 7 sons and 3 daughters, he owned several thousand sheep, many camels and donkeys, oxen and servants. He was almost sinless. He lived in fear of the Lord and he detested evil. He had a morning ritual that consisted of a burned sacrifice just in case on of his had sinned. Satan came before the Lord and wanted him to test Job. He said that Job would surely curse his name if things were not going so well. During the first test a messenger came 4 times; once to tell Job that Sabeans had taken his oxen and donkey, the next messenger told him that fire came from the sky and  burned all of his sheep and servants, the next messenger told him the Chaldeans came and swept down to carry away all his camels. Yet another messenger came to tell Job that a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the house all of his children were in and they were all dead.

Job 1: (20) At this, Job got up and tore off his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship (21) and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave me and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." (22) In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. 

Again Satan came to the Lord;
Job 2: (4) "Skin for skin!" Satan replied. "A man will give all he has for his own life. (5) But reach out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face."

The Lord let Satan take Job into his hands, with the exception he must spare Job's life.  Satan went and afflicted Job with painful sores that covered his body. Job scratched them with a piece of broken pottery.

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

Job had three friends that came to visit him, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. When ever they saw him from a distance they cried, for they could see his suffering. They sat with him for a week and all said nothing. When Job finally spoke he cursed every day of life from birth.
Job 3: (26) "I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil."

Then his friend Eliphaz spoke:

Job 4: (3) Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands. (4) Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees. But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed. (7) Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
Job 5: (1) Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? (2) Resentment kills a foll, and envy enslaves the simple. (6) For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. (7) Yet a man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upwards. (9) He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. (17) Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. (27) We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself.


Job again speaks and Bildad answer. Job speaks again:

Job 9: (2) Indeed, I know that this is true. But how can a mortal be righteous before God? (4) His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. (6) He shakes the earth from it's place and makes its pillars tremble. (7) He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars. (8) He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. (10) He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. (14) How can I dispute with him? How can I find words to argue with him?

The book of Job is a very long discussion that continues between Job and his three friends, then God enters the conversation. At the end of Job God makes it known he is angry with Job's three friends because they do not speak of him like Job does. He makes Job pray for them and the three friends have to make a very large sacrifice.

Job Epilogue: (10) After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.(12) The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. 


I'm not saying we should purposely not curse God for the hardships in our life expecting to get more in return. But we should know that he knows all and he knows what is best. If we trust in him and do as he says we will be blessed in his name. Maybe not on earth like Job was, but in heaven. We have so much more to receive in heaven than we could ever fathom here on earth. We need to take everything that happens in our life as a correction, or as discipline. None of us are blameless or without sin. We deserve every hardship we get plus some. Luckily for us, Jesus died on the cross so that we would not have to pay for our sins. He already has.