Job 1:20 - Meaning and Application

The devil had done all he was allowed to do against Job, trying to make him curse God. He had touched everything Job owned, and touched it hard. The man whom the morning sun had seen as the richest in the east was, before nightfall, poor beyond belief. If riches had been the only reason for Job’s religion, as Satan suggested, then Job would have given up his faith when he lost his wealth. But what we read here about his humble response to suffering proves the devil a liar and Job an honest man.

Job acted like a man under great pain, not like a block of wood or stone. He was not cold or unmoved at the death of his children and servants. Instead, when he heard the news, he arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head, which were the usual signs of deep sorrow. This showed that he felt the Lord’s heavy hand against him, yet he did not behave wildly or in shameful ways. He did not faint and collapse. He rose like a champion ready for battle. He did not tear off his clothes in a rage, but calmly tore his outer garment, as the custom of the land called for. He did not pull out his hair in fury, but deliberately shaved his head. All of this showed that he kept his temper and held onto his peace, even under strong pressure.

The time when he showed his grief is worth noticing. He did not do so until he heard that his children were dead, and only then did he rise and tear his robe. A worldly, unbelieving heart might have said, “Now that the food is gone, it is good that the mouths are gone too.” But Job thought better than that. He would have been thankful if God had spared his children, even if he had little left to give them, for he trusted that the Lord would provide.

Some interpreters think Job tore his clothes partly because the Jews often did so when they heard blasphemy. On that view, he was reacting with holy anger against the blasphemous thoughts Satan was putting into his mind, tempting him to curse God. Whether or not that is the main reason, Job was not numb to sorrow. He was deeply hurt, but he was not carried away by sin.

Job also acted like a wise and good man under his suffering, like one who truly feared God more than outward trouble. He humbled himself under God’s hand and adapted himself to the providence he was under, as one who knew how to lack as well as how to have plenty. When God called him to weeping and mourning, he wept and mourned, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell to the ground. In that posture, he showed a repentant sense of sin and a patient submission to God’s will, accepting the punishment that came from his own wrongdoing. This also proved his sincerity, because hypocrites do not cry when God holds them down (Job 36:13). It also prepared him to gain spiritual good from the affliction, because we cannot profit from grief if we refuse to feel it.

Job then quieted his own heart with thoughtful reminders, so that these events would not drive him from peace. He reasoned from the common condition of human life and applied it to himself: “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there.” He means that he will return to the earth, our common mother, as a child returns to its mother’s breast when it is tired or sick. We began as dust, and to dust we return (Genesis 3:19), to the earth as we were (Ecclesiastes 12:7), back to the clay from which we were taken (Job 33:6). Paul refers to this truth from Job in 1 Timothy 6:7.

We brought nothing of this world’s goods into the world, and we receive them from others. It is certain we can carry nothing out, and must leave them behind for others. We enter the world naked, not only unclothed, but helpless and unable to protect ourselves. The sin we are born in leaves us naked and ashamed before the holy God. We leave the world naked too, at least in body, though the holy soul goes clothed (2 Corinthians 5:3). Death strips away all our comforts, because clothing can neither warm nor honor a dead body. This thought silenced Job under all his losses.

First, he was only back where he began. He saw himself as naked, not maimed or wounded. He was still himself, even when nothing else belonged to him, so he had only been brought back to his first condition. No one can be as poor as he was when born. If we are made poor, we are not being wronged, or at least not greatly harmed, because we are only where we started.

Second, he was only where he had to end up anyway, and he was simply stripped a little sooner than he expected. Taking off your clothes before bed is inconvenient, but it is easier to bear when bedtime is near. In the same way, losing worldly goods is easier to bear when we remember that we must soon leave them all.

Job also gave glory to God, and spoke of God’s providence with deep respect and gentle submission. We are glad to find him in this frame of mind, because this was the very matter being tested, even though Job did not know it. The devil said Job would curse God under pressure, but Job blessed God instead, proving himself an honest man.

He recognized God’s hand both in the blessings he had once enjoyed and in the afflictions he now faced: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.” We must acknowledge God’s providence in all our comforts. He gave us our life, made us, and not we ourselves. He gave us our wealth too. It was not our own skill or effort that made us rich, but God’s blessing on our work and efforts. He gave us power to gain wealth, not only by making the world, but by giving us our share in it.

We must also own God’s hand in all our losses. The same One who gave has taken away, and may he not do what he wills with what is his own? Job looks beyond human agents and keeps his eye on the first Cause. He does not say, “The Lord gave, and the Sabeans and Chaldeans took away,” or, “God made me rich, and the devil made me poor.” He says instead, “He who gave has taken away,” and for that reason he is silent, because God has done it. He who gives all may take what he pleases, when he pleases, and in whatever measure he pleases.

Job also honored God in both prosperity and loss. When everything was gone, he fell down and worshiped. Trials should not pull us away from religion, but should stir us up to it.

Tears must not stop us from sowing, and they must not stop us from worshiping. Job looked not only at God’s hand in his suffering, but also at God’s name, and he gave God glory: “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” He still held the same great and good thoughts about God that he had always held, and he was just as ready as ever to speak them in God’s praise. He could bless God even when God took away, just as when God gave.

We should sing about both mercy and judgment, as Psalm 101:1 says. Job blessed God for what had been given, even though it had now been taken away. When our comforts are removed, we should thank God that we ever had them, and that we had them longer than we deserved.

Job also honored God in the act of taking away. He showed willing submission, and even gave thanks for the good God meant to work through his suffering. He thanked God for the help God gave him in the middle of his trouble, and for the hope he had of a happy end at last.

Here is the honorable witness the Holy Spirit gives to Job’s steadfastness and good conduct in affliction. He came through his trials with approval, as Job 1:22 says. In all this, Job did not sin, because he did not accuse God of foolishness or question God’s wisdom in what he had done. Dissatisfaction and impatience are, in effect, charges that God has acted foolishly.

So Job carefully guarded against those feelings, and we must do the same. We should admit that God has done right, while we have done wrong. God has acted wisely, while we have acted foolishly, very foolishly. Those who keep their temper under loss and pressure, and also keep good thoughts about God and close fellowship with him, may not be praised by people, but they will be approved by God, just as Job was here.