Job 2:7 - Meaning and Application

The devil, once he had permission to torment poor Job, went straight to work. He first acted as a tormentor, then as a tempter. He first tempts his own children, leading them into sin, and afterward torments them after he has ruined them. But with this child of God, he first brought on suffering, then tried to make him misuse that suffering.

His aim was to make Job curse God. Here we are told what steps he took, both to stir up that sin and to press Job toward it. He worked with the same skill and deceit as the old serpent, the devil, who used the same kind of attack against our first parents (Gen. 3). He wanted to pull Job away from faithfulness to God and strip him of his integrity.

First, Satan tried to provoke Job to curse God by striking him with painful boils, making him a burden to himself, Job 2:7, Job 2:8. The earlier attack had been very severe, but Job had stood firm and won that battle. Still, he is only now putting on the armor, and worse is coming. The clouds return after the rain. By God’s permission, Satan follows up his blow, and now deep calls to deep.

The disease Job suffered was very harsh. Satan struck him with sore boils all over his body, from head to foot, with a burning inflammation, perhaps something like a very bad skin disease. One boil, when it begins to gather, is painful enough and brings plenty of discomfort. What a condition Job was in, with boils all over him and no part spared, and those sores raging with a heat the devil could stir up, as if they were set on fire from hell. Even the smallpox is a painful disease, though it is less frightening because it usually lasts only a few days. How much worse, then, was Job’s suffering, with grievous ulcers covering him, making him sick at heart, bringing him sharp pain, and spreading so widely that he could not lie down anywhere in comfort.

If we are ever burdened with painful illnesses, we should not think we are being treated differently from some of God’s best servants. We do not know how much Satan may have a hand, by God’s permission, in the diseases that afflict people, especially God’s children. We do not know what infections that prince of the air may spread, or what fires may come from that fiery serpent. Scripture speaks of one who had been bound by Satan for many years (Luke 13:16). If God allowed that roaring lion to have his way with any of us, he would quickly make us miserable.

Job’s response to this sickness was very strange, Job 2:8. Instead of healing salves, he took a potsherd, a broken piece of pottery, to scrape himself. This was a sad condition. When someone is sick and sore, it helps if others care for him kindly. Many rich people have shown mercy to the poor in such trouble. Even Lazarus found some relief from the dogs that came and licked his sores. But poor Job had no help. No one else did anything for his sores, so he had to manage them with his own hands. His children and servants were dead, and his wife was not supportive, Job 19:17.

He had no money to hire a doctor or surgeon. Worse still, none of those he had once helped had enough gratitude or honor to care for him in his distress. They would not help dress or wipe his running sores, perhaps because the disease was ugly and foul, or because they feared it might spread. It was like the later days described in Scripture, when people are lovers of themselves, unthankful, and without natural affection. All Job did was scrape the sores. They were not wrapped with cloth, softened with ointment, washed clean, or covered with healing bandages. No medicine was given to ease the pain or help him rest. No comforting drink was offered to strengthen him. The only treatment was scraping the ulcers, which, as they dried and began to die, left his body covered with scabs, as often happens at the end of the smallpox.

It would have taken endless work to treat his boils one by one, so he chose a rough sort of wholesale remedy, though it seems almost as bad as the disease itself. He had nothing to scrape with except a potsherd, not a proper tool, but something that could more likely scratch his wounds and add to his pain than ease it. Sick and hurting people often need others to guide them, because they are not always wise managers of their own condition.

Instead of resting in a soft, warm bed, Job sat among the ashes. He may have had a bed left, since his house does not seem to have been burned or plundered, though his fields were stripped. Still, he chose the ashes, either because he was weary of his bed or because he wanted to take the place of a penitent, one who sits in dust and ashes to show self-hate and sorrow for sin, Job 42:6; Isa 58:5; Jon 3:6. In this way he humbled himself under God’s mighty hand and brought his mind down to the lowliness and poverty of his condition.

He says in Job 7:5 that his flesh was clothed with worms and clods of dust. So dust to dust, ashes to ashes. If God placed him among the ashes, he was content to sit there. A humble spirit fits humble circumstances, and it helps us accept them. The Septuagint says he sat on a dung heap outside the city, which is often said in telling this story. But the original text says only that he sat in the middle of the ashes, which he may have done in his own house.

Second, Satan pushed him through the persuasion of his own wife, Job 2:9. The Jews, who often want to know more than Scripture tells us, say Job’s wife was Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, as the Chaldee paraphrase also suggests. That is not likely, but whoever she was, she became to Job what Michal was to David, a person who mocked his devotion to God. She was spared when the rest of his comforts were taken away, and it seems it was for this purpose, to trouble and tempt him. If Satan leaves anything behind after he has permission to take away other things, he means it for harm.

It is his policy to send temptations through those who are dear to us, just as he tempted Adam through Eve and Christ through Peter. So we must be careful not to be led into saying or doing something wrong by the influence, pressure, or pleading of anyone, even those whose approval matters most to us. Notice how strong this temptation was.

She mocked Job for staying faithful to his religion. In effect, she was saying, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Are you so stubborn that nothing can change your mind? Are you so foolishly devoted to a God who does not reward you, but seems to enjoy making you miserable, stripping you bare, and punishing you without cause? Is that a God worth loving, blessing, and serving?” She was trying to make Job think his devotion was useless and that his prayers had only brought him pain.

This is one of Satan’s common tricks. He tries to turn people away from God by planting hard thoughts about Him, as if God envies human happiness and takes pleasure in human suffering. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Satan also tries to drive people from their faith by filling them with mockery and shame for holding to it. We should expect such treatment, but we would be foolish to let it move us. Our Master, Jesus, endured the same kind of scorn, and we will be richly rewarded for it.

She also urged Job to give up his religion, blaspheme God, and challenge Him to do His worst. “Curse God and die,” she said in effect. “Stop depending on God for help. End your suffering by ending your life.” These are two of Satan’s darkest temptations, and even good people have sometimes been strongly attacked by them. Nothing goes more against a clear conscience than cursing God, and nothing goes more against common sense than suicide. So if either thought comes to us, we should suspect that it comes straight from Satan. Lord, do not lead us into temptation, especially not into such evil temptation. Deliver us from the evil one.

Job answered her quickly, because Satan had spared his tongue, hoping he would use it to curse God. Job’s reply showed that he was still firmly committed to God, still keeping good thoughts about Him, and still holding fast to his integrity. He was deeply offended that such a thought had been spoken at all. In effect he said, “What? Curse God? I hate even the thought of it.” In other matters Job had spoken gently to his wife, even when she treated him badly. But when she tried to persuade him to curse God, he was sharply displeased. He told her she was speaking like one of the foolish women.

He did not call her a fool or an unbeliever, and he did not lash out with harsh words, as sick and hurting people often do and try to excuse. Instead, he showed her the evil of what she had said. Her words sounded like the speech of unbelievers and idolaters, who, when crushed by hardship, curse their king and their God (Isaiah 8:21). Job’s wife may once have been a woman who valued religion, but now she could not bear their losses with the same steady spirit Job showed. Still, it was a serious offense that she tried to infect his mind with her broken way of thinking.

There are some important lessons here. We are right to be angry when we are angry only at sin, and to treat temptation as a serious offense. We should not tolerate evil in those around us (Revelation 2:2). When Peter became a tempter to Christ, Jesus said plainly, “You are an offense to me.” If people we think are wise or good say something foolish or sinful, we should correct them honestly and show them the wrong in what they said, so we do not share in their sin. And temptations to curse God should be rejected with the strongest disgust. We should not even discuss them. Anyone who urges us toward that is our enemy, and yielding to him would be dangerous.

Job did not curse God and then try to excuse himself the way Adam did, saying, “The woman you gave me persuaded me” (Genesis 3:12). That kind of excuse also casts blame back on God’s gift and providence. No, Job would not take that path. If a person chooses to sin, he alone must bear the blame.

Job also reasoned against the temptation: “Should we receive good from God, and should we not also receive evil?” Those who reprove others should also try to persuade their hearts. It is not hard to explain why we should keep our integrity, even when everything else is taken away. Job understood that good and evil are opposites, but they do not come from opposite sources. Both come from the hand of God (Isaiah 45:7; Lamentations 3:38). So in both kinds of providence we must look up to Him, thanking Him for the good and not growing bitter under the evil.

His argument has real force. First, we should not only bear trouble, but receive it rightly. Should we not expect suffering? If God gives us many good things, should we be shocked if He sometimes sends affliction, especially since He has told us that prosperity and adversity come one after another? (1 Peter 4:12). Should we not also take trouble as something to be received from His hand? The word carries the sense of receiving a gift, which means a humble and godly spirit under affliction. We should not despise it or collapse under it. Instead, we should accept it as a correction for our sin, submit to God’s will in it, and adjust ourselves to it. When God’s providence humbles us and teaches us contentment, then we truly receive correction and take up our cross (Zephaniah 3:2).

Second, Job points to all the good they had already received. If they had enjoyed so much blessing from God during all the years of peace and prosperity, should they now refuse to accept trouble when God sees fit to lay it on them? The memory of past and present mercies should shape the way we bear affliction. If we received our share of common good during years of plenty, should we not also receive our share of common hardship in years of famine? He who enjoys the privilege should also be prepared for the loss.

If we have so much that gives us pleasure, why should we not be content with what pleases God? If we receive so many comforts, should we not also receive some afflictions? These trials serve as a contrast to our comforts and make them more valuable. We learn the worth of blessings by being made to go without them at times. They also keep our comforts from becoming dangerous, keep us balanced, and stop us from being lifted up too much (2 Corinthians 12:7).

If we receive so much good for the body, should we not also receive some good for the soul? Affliction is part of that good, because it helps us share in God's holiness, that is, in his pure and faithful character (Hebrews 12:10). It is something that, by sadening the face, can make the heart better. So let complaining, as well as boasting, be shut out forever.

In this way, Job kept hold of his integrity in a good measure, and Satan's plan against him failed. “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” He not only spoke rightly here, but everything he said in this moment stayed under the rule of true religion and good sense. In the middle of all these pains, he did not say anything wrong. We have no reason to think that he lost his inward calm either, so that while there may have been some rising of sin in his heart, grace had the upper hand.

He made sure that no root of bitterness sprang up to trouble him (Hebrews 12:15). What filled his heart came out for God, and it produced good words while holding back the evil that was within him. If an evil thought did rise, he laid his hand over his mouth (Proverbs 30:32), stopped it there, and let it go no farther. This showed not only that he had true grace, but that it was strong and victorious. In short, he had not lost the mark of a perfect and upright man, for such a person is one who, even under great temptation, does not sin with the tongue (James 3:2; Psalm 17:3).