 "JOB'S
POVERTY"
Rev. Brian Vos
Job 1:13-22
The stage has been set.
We have seen the righteousness of Job: he was blameless and
upright, one who feared God and shunned evil. We have seen the
riches of Job: seven sons, three daughters, seven thousand
sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five
hundred female donkeys, and a very large household—Job was truly
the greatest of all the people of the East. We have heard God’s estimation of Job in His question posed to
Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none
like him on the earth?” We have heard Satan’s challenge: “Does
Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him,
around his household, and around all that he has on every side?
You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have
increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch
all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” We
have heard the Lord’s response: “Behold, all that he has is in
your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” After this,
Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. The stage has been set.
Now, with Job at center stage, the storm clouds gather as they
are about to break upon God’s servant Job.
“Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and
drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house…” (v. 13). So the
scene begins. Don’t miss the setting, it is of utmost
importance. Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking;
they were just beginning another course in their days of
feasting. How do we know that? We know it because they were in
the oldest brother’s house. Job had seven sons, and in 1:4 we
learned that “his sons would go and feast in their houses, each
on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three
sisters to eat and drink with them.” There were seven sons; no
doubt there were seven days of feasting, beginning in the oldest
brother’s house. The course of their feasting would begin in the
oldest brother’s house on the first day, move to the second son
on the second day, the third son on the third day, and so on and
so forth, all the way through to the seventh son. Thus the days
of feasting would run their course. And then they would begin
all over again.
Now, if a new course of feasting had just begun, what does that
mean? It means that the previous course of feasting had just run
its course. And what would Job do when the days of feasting had
run their course? “So it was, when the days of feasting had run
their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he
would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings
according to the number of them all. For Job said, ‘It may be
that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’ Thus
Job did regularly” (1:5).
Where does that put Job in 1:13? It puts him at the altar, where
he is sacrificing for his children! It puts him at the altar,
where he is interceding for his children! It puts him at the
altar, where he is worshiping God! The scene begins with Job at
the altar in worship!
It is to the altar that the messengers of grief come. We read of
the first messenger in verses 14-15, “…and a messenger came to
Job and said, ‘The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding
beside them…” Don’t miss the idyllic setting here. The oxen were
plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them. Here is a picture
of divine blessing; indeed, it is reminiscent of Eden: the oxen
are plowing and the donkeys are feeding right beside them. The
oxen and the donkeys are dwelling together. One can almost
imagine the oxen and the donkeys lying down together. They do
not hurt nor destroy each other. There is no conflict between
the animals. Here is a picture of divine blessing.
But then the storm clouds break, and the idyllic scene is
shattered: “‘The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding
beside them, when the Sabeans raided them and took them
away—indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the
sword…” (v. 15). The first messenger comes to Job at the altar
(he knows he will find Job there), and he comes with a message
of loss: his oxen—all five hundred yoke of them—are gone; his
donkeys—all five hundred of them—are gone; his servants have
been killed with the edge of the sword. “And I alone have
escaped to tell you!” says the messenger of grief. Job has lost
all his oxen, all his donkeys, all his servants except for one,
and that one was spared simply to bring him this grievous
message of loss! O how dark the storm on the stage of Job’s
life!
But the storm is only beginning; it will grow darker still.
Verse 16, “While he was still speaking, another also came and
said, ‘The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep
and the servants, and consumed them…’” The second messenger
comes to Job at the altar (he knows he will find Job there); he
comes while the first is still speaking; he too comes with a
message of loss: his sheep—all seven thousand of them—are gone;
his servants too have been consumed. “And I alone have escaped
to tell you!” says the messenger of grief. Job has lost all his
sheep and all his servants except for one, and that one was
spared simply to bring him this grievous message of loss! O how
dark the storm on the stage of Job’s life! And still the storm rages on. Verse 17, “While he was still
speaking, another also came and said, ‘The Chaldeans formed
three bands, raided the camels and took them away, yes, and
killed the servants with the edge of the sword…” The third
messenger comes to Job at the altar (he knows he will find Job
there); he comes while the second is still speaking; he too
comes with a message of loss: his camels—all three thousand of
them—are gone; his servants too have been killed with the sword.
“And I alone have escaped to tell you!” says the messenger of
grief. Job has lost all his camels and all his servants except
for one, and that one was spared simply to bring him this
grievous message of loss! O how dark the storm on the stage of
Job’s life! And now the storm breaks in all its fury upon him. Verses 18-19,
“While he was still speaking, another also came and said, ‘Your
sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest
brother’s house…’” Don’t miss the idyllic setting here. The sons
and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the oldest
brother’s house. Here is a picture of divine blessing; indeed,
it is reminiscent of Eden, Job has been fruitful and multiplied
and replenished the earth. Here is a picture of divine blessing.
But then comes the darkest storm of all, shattering the idyllic
scene: “…and suddenly a great wind came from across the
wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell
on the young people, and they are dead…” (v. 19). The fourth
messenger comes to Job at the altar (he knows he will find Job
there); he comes while the third is still speaking; he too comes
with a message of loss: his sons—all seven of them—are dead; his
daughters—all three of them—are dead. “And I alone have escaped
to tell you!” says the messenger of grief. Job has lost all his
sons and all his daughters, and only one servant has escaped,
and he was spared only to bring Job this grievous message of
loss! O how dark the storm on the stage of Job’s life!
Can there be a storm darker than this?! The text suggests that
indeed, there cannot be. There are four messengers—the number
four corresponds to the four corners of the earth—in other
words, Job’s entire world has been destroyed. His whole world
has collapsed. All has been taken from him. Here is a picture of
complete and utter loss, climaxing in the death of his
children—those children whom he loved so dearly! Those children
for whom he had prayed so often! Those children for whom he was
even now sacrificing at the altar! They’ve all been taken from
him! They are all dead! In this Job surpasses Adam in feeling
the effects of the fall. To be sure, Cain killed Abel, but at
least Adam still had Cain. Job has lost them all. He has no
children left. They are all dead.
O what complete devastation! O what utter loss! It might have
been bearable if it had come over time—if it had come
gradually—if there had been time to heal from one loss before
suffering another! But with Job it all comes in a matter of
moments! Notice that: while the first messenger is still
speaking, the second comes; while the second is still speaking
the third comes; while the third is still speaking the fourth
comes! In the time it takes to read these verses, Job learns
that he has lost everything! All of his riches are gone! All of
his children are dead! All of this Job learns while he is at the
altar, while he is worshiping!
What does Job do? He responds first with his actions, verse 20,
“Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head…” When Adam
fell in the garden, he sought to cover his nakedness with fig
leaves, and God Himself finally clothed him with the skins of an
animal. But here Job, in his poverty, tears his clothes from
himself—he’s lost everything! When Adam fell in the garden, God
pronounced the judgment that the earth would bring forth thorns
for him and that by the sweat of his brow he would work the
ground. But here Job, in his poverty, shaves his head—he’ll have
no hair to stop the sweat, he’ll have no hair to shield him from
the thorns—he’s lost everything! What is Job doing here in his
poverty, but identifying with the dead! Though living, he
identifies with the dead, and looks to his own death!
That Job is looking to his own death is evident from verse 22,
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return
there…” In nakedness I came from my mother’s womb—I had no
clothes, I had no hair—and in such nakedness I will return
there. It is as though Job, in his poverty, were preparing
himself for his own burial. So great is his grief, so great is
his sorrow, so complete his loss, so devastating his poverty, it
is as though he were taking the death of his children to
himself! It is as though he were dying!
He continues on with his words, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has
taken away…” Job recognizes immediately that what he has lost
are the Lord’s gifts. The Lord gave him his possessions, and now
the Lord has taken them away. The Lord gave him his children,
and now the Lord has taken them away. Notice, Job looks past the
Sabeans, he looks past the fire, he looks past the Chaldeans, he
looks past the wind, he looks past Satan, and he sees the hand
of the Lord in it all! And seeing the hand of the Lord, he
worships the Lord! It would have been sufficient had Job merely
recognized in the depths of his poverty the sovereignty of God
and stopped at that—who would have found fault with him in
that?—what demonstrates his true piety is the fact that in the
depths of his poverty he worships God!
Job does not blame the Sabeans, the fire, the Chaldeans, the
wind, nor even Satan. For Job there is no comfort there. Job
finds his comfort in the sovereignty of his God. “My God is
kind! My God is merciful! My God is sovereign! My God has a
purpose in it all!” To be sure, Job does not know what that
purpose is—how could he?—but still he clings to his God, and
worships.
And the narrator is quick to add: “In all this Job did not sin
nor charge God with wrong.” Job passed the test. Satan said that
Job would curse God if the hedge was removed. God allowed Satan
to remove the hedge, and Job blessed God. Even with the removal
of all God’s gifts, Job still saw his Lord as worthy of all
worship!
There is a lesson for us in all of this: it is not wrong for us
to see God in our sorrow! It is not wrong for us to see God in
our suffering! It is not wrong for us to see God in our loss! It
is not sinful to see all of it as coming from His hand! In fact,
this is how we should view it! God upholds, as with His hand,
heaven and earth and all creatures, “and so rules them that leaf
and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and
drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty—all things,
in fact, come to us not by chance, but from His Fatherly hand”
(Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 10, Question and Answer 27).
But where is the comfort in that? How can God be present in our
suffering? Where is God in our grief? Where is God in our loss?
Where is God in our poverty? Where is God in these things?!
Where was God when the Tsunami came and wiped out the lives of
over 200,000 people? Where was God on 9/11? Where was God when
Katrina hit and thousands lost their lives and many more all
their possessions? Where was God when those Amish girls were
mercilessly gunned down in cold blood? Where was God when your
loved one died? Where was God when your spouse was taken from
you? Where was God when you lost your child? Where was God when
your baby died in your womb? Where was God when you suffered
through all that abuse? Where was God when you lost everything?
Where was God in your suffering?! Where is God now, as you walk
this deep and dark valley?! My friend, He is right there with you! He is with you in all of
your suffering! He always has been; He always will be. But that
raises another question doesn’t it? If God is there in all of
our suffering, then why doesn’t He stop it?! He is sovereign,
isn’t He?! He could have prevented the Tsunami—He could have
changed its direction! He could have prevented 9/11! He could
have stopped Katrina in its tracks! He could have spared the
lives of those Amish girls! He could have snapped His fingers
and made your loved one well! He could have spared your spouse!
He could have saved your child! He could have brought that baby
in your womb to see the light of day! He could have stopped the
abuse! He could have kept you from losing everything! He could
have prevented all of your suffering! But He didn’t!
Why didn’t He?! I can’t answer that question. But I can tell you
this: there is a Savior who has borne your griefs and carried
your sorrows: His name is Jesus Christ. He came to this sad
world, and He came to identify with sinners dead in trespasses
and sins. He came to take the death of His children upon
Himself. Do you think Job’s poverty was great? Then look beyond
Job to Job’s Savior! Look beyond Job’s poverty to Jesus’
poverty! There is a sorrow greater than Job’s sorrow! There is a
poverty greater than Job’s poverty! It is the sorrow and the
poverty of your Savior, Jesus Christ!
All the wealth and the riches of heaven were His. All the hosts
of heaven bowed down and worshiped Him. Always it was His
delight to look upon the face of His Father. Always it was the
Father’s delight to look upon the face of His Son. Jesus speaks
of eternity in His Father’s presence as “glory.” Indeed, He was
rich! But He became poor. Consider His poverty—think upon that
poverty this Christmas season—the Creator took on the flesh of
the creature. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the
virgin’s womb; He was born of the virgin Mary; His whole life
was a life of suffering—suffering that culminated in His
suffering under Pontius Pilate; He was crucified, dead, and
buried; and in His suffering He descended into hell,
experiencing the agonies and the torments of hell upon the
cross. Jesus Christ was rich, but He became poor. He became poor
that by His suffering He might bring many sons to glory. Look
beyond the poverty of Job to the poverty of your Savior, for the
drama of Job’s life directs you to the drama of your redemption!
The stage has been set, and now the first scene is over—how dark
the storm on the stage of Job’s life. How do you respond to what you see here? Perhaps you look at the
stage of Job’s life and say, “I have been there—maybe not to the
extent that Job was—but I know what it is to suffer.” Perhaps
you look at the stage of Job’s life and say, “I am there right
now—maybe not to the extent that Job was—but I am suffering
right now.” All of us have been upon that stage of suffering; we
have all experienced to some extent the drama of Job’s life—some
more deeply than others, some more often than others—but we all
know something of grief, sorrow, suffering, and loss. The
question is, however, how do we respond? Job worshiped. The scene from Job’s life that we have considered
begins in worship and ends in worship. How about you? Do you
worship? Do you worship in the midst of your grief? In sorrow?
In suffering? In loss? “But pastor, how can I worship?” I’ll
tell you how: you can worship by keeping your eyes on Jesus, the
Man of Sorrows, who suffered for you. You can worship because
“you know the grace of Christ, that though He was rich, yet for
your sake He became poor, that you, through His poverty, might
become rich!”
Keep your eyes fixed on Christ through all your suffering, for
He will see you through, accomplishing His purposes in you until
the day of Christ Jesus. For you see, the drama of His life is
being played out in your life: through your suffering, He is
conforming you to Himself, thereby making you rich indeed!
Rev. Brian Vos
Pastor
Trinity
United Reformed Church
Caledonia, MI
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