Opening illustration: It seems that young people in China are beginning to forget how to write the characters that comprise the beautiful calligraphy of their traditional language. Some are calling the phenomenon “character amnesia.” Heavy usage of computers and smart phones often means that writing is neglected and some can no longer remember the characters they learned in childhood. One young man said, “People don’t write anything by hand anymore except for [their] name and address.”
Some people appear to have “character amnesia” of a different sort. When faced with a dilemma, they seem to “forget” the right thing to do and instead choose the easy way out.
Let us turn to Job 1 to catch up with this Biblical illustration of a man of profound Godly Character …
Introduction: The name Job comes from an Arabic word meaning “to return,” namely, to God, “to repent,” referring to his end [Eichorn]; or rather from a Hebrew word signifying one to whom enmity was shown, “greatly tried” [Gesenius]. Job is a contemporary of Abraham. Job humbled himself under the hand of God. He reasons from the common state of human life, which he describes. We brought nothing of this world’s goods into the world, but have them from others; and it is certain we can carry nothing out, but must leave them to others. Job, under all his losses, is but reduced to his first state. If in all our troubles we look to the Lord, he will support us. The Lord is righteous. All we have is from his gift; we have forfeited it by sin, and ought not to complain if he takes any part from us. Discontent and impatience charge God with folly. Against these Job carefully watched; and so must we, acknowledging that as God has done right, but we have done wickedly, so God has done wisely, but we have done very foolishly. And may the malice and power of Satan render that Savior more precious to our souls, who came to destroy the works of the devil; who, for our salvation, suffered from that enemy far more than Job suffered, or we can think.
God called Job “a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1: 8). God allowed Satan to take everything Job had - his children, his wealth, and his health. Despite his heart-wrenching circumstances, Job refused to curse God. “In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong” (v. 22). Satan had challenged God’s assertion of Job’s blameless character, but he was proven wrong.
Character amnesia? No. Character is who we are; it’s not something we “forget.” Those who have a loss of character make a choice.
What kind of character we should have (Job’s character)?
1. Blameless & Upright (v. 1a)
Job was not a sinless man, but he was blameless, "tawm," meaning "complete, sound, wholesome, morally innocent, having integrity," and upright, "yaw-SHAWR," which means, "to be straight, level, upright, proper." This fact will be repeated by God Himself two more times (1: 8; 2: 3). Once we read of the terrible things that happen to Job, it will be important not to forget this fact.
In the same sense as Noah, Abraham, and Jacob were; not with respect to sanctification, unless as considered in Christ, who is made sanctification to his people; or with regard to the truth, sincerity, and genuineness of it; or in a comparative sense, in comparison of what he once was, and others are; but not so as to be free from sin, neither from the being of it, which no man is clear of in this life, nor from the actings of it in thought, word, and deed (Job 9: 20) or so as to be perfect in grace; for though all grace is seminally implanted at once in regeneration, it opens and increases gradually; there is a perfection of parts, but not of degrees; there is the whole new man, but that is not arrived to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; there are all and every grace, but not one perfect, not knowledge, nor faith, nor hope, nor love, nor patience, nor any other: but then, as to justification, every good man is perfect; Christ has completely redeemed his people from all their sins; he has perfectly fulfilled the law in their room and stead; he has fully expiated all their transgressions, he has procured the full remission of them, and brought in a righteousness which justifies them from them all; so that they are free from the guilt of sin, and condemnation by it, and are in the sight of God unblamable, unreproveable, without fault, all fair and perfectly comely.
To whom was shown the uprightness of Christ, or to whom the righteousness of Christ was revealed from faith to faith, and which was put upon him, and he walked in by faith, see Job 33: 23, moreover, Job was upright in heart, a right spirit was renewed in him; and though he was not of the nation of Israel, yet he was, in a spiritual sense, an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile, the truth of grace and the root of the matter being in him, Job19: 28, and he was upright in his walk and conversation before God, and also before men; upright in all his dealings and concerns with them, in every relation he stood, in every office and character he bore.
Job was blameless and upright because he feared God. When we pursue a lifestyle of sin, where Satan can convict us before God, it just goes to show that we lack the fear of God in our lives.
2. God Fearing (v. 1b)
The first mention of the fear of God in the Hebrew Bible is in Genesis 22: 12, where Abraham is commended for putting his trust in God. The fear of God is to be devotion itself, rather than a sense of being frightened of God. It can also mean fear of God’s judgment. The fear of God is described in Proverbs 8: 13 as "the hatred of evil." Not as the devils, who believe and tremble; nor as carnal men, when the judgments of God are in the earth, hide themselves in fear of him; nor as hypocrites, whose fear or devotion is only outward, and is taught by the precept of men; but as children affectionately reverence their parents: Job feared God with a filial and godly fear, which sprung from the grace of God, and was encouraged and increased by his goodness to him, and through a sense of it; it was attended with faith and confidence of interest in him, with an holy boldness and spiritual joy, and true humility; and comprehended the whole of religious worship, both public and private, internal and external.
The fear of God is not used in the negative form but positively as we see throughout the Bible it is said to bring many rewards. We should not fear that God will let us down, or that He is not faithful, or just, or forgiving. In fact, His intense determination to make us holy (so that we can be with Him forever) is cause for the right kind of godly fear: that He will NOT quit sanctifying us when, in our opinion, we are good enough. God is the ultimate perfectionist, and He will get what He wants. And if that is us, it is fearful to realize just how far He will go. He is the potter, and He intends vessels of holiness. No, we need not fear that God will fail us or give up on us, but rather that He is indeed faithful to finish what He has started. Apparently in Hebrews 10: 31 it says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Conversely, not fearing God is said to result in Divine retribution.
Proverbs 1: 7 declares, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Until we understand who God is and develop a reverential fear of Him, we cannot have true wisdom. True wisdom comes only from understanding who God is and that He is holy, just, and righteous. As the Psalmist says, ‘Only a fool has said that there is no God …’ Believers are not to be scared of God. We have no reason to be scared of Him. We have His promise that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8: 38-39). Fearing God means having such a reverence for Him that it has a great impact on the way we live our lives. The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to His discipline, and worshipping Him in awe.
3. Shun Evil (v. 1b, 22a)
The Greek word for "shun" (periistemi) is to "step out of the way of", or "stand away from." In Hebrew it means "Departed from it" and that with hatred and loathing of it, and indignation at it, which the fear of God engages unto, Proverbs 8: 13, he hated it as every good man does, as being contrary to the nature and will of God, abominable in itself, and bad in its effects and consequences; and he departed from it, not only from the grosser acts of it, but abstained from all appearance of it, and studiously shunned and avoided everything that led unto it; so far was he from indulging to a sinful course of life and conversation, which is inconsistent with the grace and fear of God.
Illustration: It’s alarming to find that, according to research, adultery and fornication are practiced within the church almost as much as outside. To accept homosexuality and pornography in the church is just as much blight on Christian men as it is on those who profess no allegiance to Christ.
It is evident that Job’s shunning evil caused him to be proactive in practice. How many of us speak negatively toward the evils of this world yet are never moved to action? How many of us condemn and gossip of evils that occur but make no real commitment to be an instrument of change. Job hated evil so much that he did something about it.
4. Worship & Bless God in Adversity (vs. 13-21)
In veneration of God, of his holiness and justice, and as sensible of his awful hand upon him, and as being humbled under it, and patiently submitting to it; he did not stand up, and curse God to his face, as Satan said he would, but fell upon his face to the ground; he did not curse his King and his God, and look upwards (Isaiah 8: 21) but prostrated himself to the earth in great humility before him; besides, this may be considered as a prayer gesture and who else should he worship? He worshipped God internally in the exercise of faith, hope, love, humility, patience and he worshipped him externally by praising him, and praying to him, expressing himself as in the next verse: afflictions, when sanctified, humble good men, cause them to lie low in the dust, and bring them near to God, to the throne of his grace, and instead of arraigning his providence, and finding fault with his dealings, they adore his majesty, and celebrate his perfections. This is our response to God’s saving grace, love, compassion, long-suffering and passion.
That is, blessed be Yahweh - the “name” of anyone in Hebrew being often used to denote the person himself. “Here,” says Schmid, “the contrast is observable between the object of Satan, which was to induce Job to renounce God, and the result of the temptation which was to lead Job to bless God.” Thus, far Satan had been foiled, and Job had sustained the shock of the calamity, and showed that he did not serve God on account of the benefits which he had received from him.
5. Refuse to Curse or Blame God [prove Satan wrong] (v. 22)
He did not give way to any action, passion, or expression, offensive to his Maker. He did not charge God with acting unkindly towards him, but felt as perfectly satisfied with the privation which the hand of God had occasioned, as he was with the affluence and health which that hand had bestowed. He did not entertain any dishonorable thought of God, as if he had done anything unworthy of his infinite wisdom, or justice, or goodness, but heartily acquiesced in his good pleasure, and in his righteous though sharp proceedings against him. Discontent and impatience do in effect impute folly to God. Against the workings of these we should carefully watch, acknowledging that God has done well, but we have done foolishly. This is the transaction that gave the strong and vivid coloring to the character of Job; in this, and in this alone; he was a pattern of patience and resignation. In this Satan was utterly disappointed; he found a man who loved his God more than his earthly portion. This was a rare case, even in the experience of the devil. He had seen multitudes who bartered their God for money, and their hopes of blessedness in the world to come for secular possessions in the present. He had been so often successful in this kind of temptation, that he made no doubt he should succeed again. He saw many who, when riches increased, set their hearts on them, and forgot God. He saw many also who, when deprived of earthly comforts, blasphemed their Maker. He therefore inferred that Job, in similar circumstances, would act like the others; he was disappointed. Church! Has he, by riches or poverty, succeeded with you? Are you pious when prosperous and patient, and contented when even in poverty?
From this instructive narrative of the manner in which Job received afflictions, we may learn ~
(a) That true piety will bear the removal of property and friends without murmuring. Our faith is not based on such things, and their removal cannot shake it. It is founded deeper in the soul, and mere external changes or circumstances cannot destroy it.
(b) When we are afflicted, we should not vent our wrath on winds and waves; on the fraud and perfidy of our fellow-men; on embarrassments and changes in the commercial world; on the storm …
(c) God has a right to remove our comforts. He gave them - not to be our permanent inheritance, but to be withdrawn when he pleases.
(d) We see the nature of true resignation. It is not because we can always see the “reason” why we are afflicted; it consists in bowing to the will of a holy and intelligent God, and in the feeling that he has a “right” to remove what he has given us. It is his; and may be taken away when he pleases.
(e) We see the true source of “comfort” in trials. It is not in the belief that things are regulated by chance and hap-hazard; or even that they are controlled by physical laws.
(f) We see the “power” of faith in God in sustaining him during the time of trial. How calm and submissive was this holy man! How peaceful and resigned! Nothing else but piety could have done this.
Application: Saints, I don’t want to scare you, but today, the devil is demanding permission to put all of us into temptation. And, in God’s timing, He is going to allow us to be tested by the devil’s schemes. Every one of us will suffer loss of some kind. The question is, when that day arrives, will we be like Simon Peter, or will we be like Job? Simon learned the lesson the hard way, by utter failure. He says in 1 Peter 4: 12-13 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”
When wealth is gone, little is lost; when health is gone, something is lost; but when character is gone, all is lost!
