For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Job 2:1-6

1 On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’

Satan answered the Lord, ‘From roaming throughout the earth, going to and fro on it.’

3 Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.’

4 ‘Skin for skin!’ Satan replied. ‘A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.’

6 The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.’

A. Find Out:

1. How did the conversation start again? v.1,2
2. How did the Lord again describe Job? v.3a
3. What did He add in His description of him? v.3b
4. What did Satan say a man would do? v.4
5. When did he say a man would curse God? v.5
6. So how far did the Lord allow him to go? v.6

B. Think:

1. How was this time in heaven similar to the previous time?
2. How did it differ?

C. Comment:

The practice of the angels coming before the Lord to account for their activity seems a regular thing for they come in the same way as had previously been recounted (v.1) and again the Lord enquires of Satan what he has been doing (v.2), and again points out Job to him (v.3a), again commenting how blameless and upright he is but is able to add, despite all that has happened to him (v.3b).

Yes, that’s all very well, replies Satan, but you haven’t attacked his very life yet (implied v.4), but if you attack him physically you may find a very different response – he’ll curse you! (v.5). Very well, says the Lord, do what you will but spare his life.

Now this raises an interesting question because the Bible indicates that God knows everything – including the future – and so He surely knows the outcome, so why go through all this? The answer surely has to be for our benefit and for Satan’s. The Lord knows that Job may say some silly things but essentially will remain righteous and will not curse God. But he has to go through it to prove the point.

There is no good God just saying that Job would stand up to it; we have to see that in the very experience of it, he overcame. Moreover, along the way, we are going to be able to examine some key issues in respect of life, sin, humanity, the Lord, righteousness, and forgiveness. There are going to be lots of valuable lessons to be learnt in this book.

D. Application:

1. When the Lord tests us it is for our benefit, not his.
2. Satan can only go as far as the Lord permits for His perfect will.

Passage: Job 2:7-13

7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

9 His wife said to him, ‘Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!’

10 He replied, ‘You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?’

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

11 When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathise with him and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognise him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

A. Find Out:

1. What affliction did Satan bring to Job? v.7
2. What did Job’s wife counsel? v.9
3. What was Job’s response? v.10a
4. How are Job’s responses summarised? v.10b
5. What was the intention of the three friends? v.11
6. What was their response when they saw him? v.12
7. What did they do for the next week? v.13

B. Think:

1. How would you summarise the response of Job’s wife?
2. How would you summarise Job’s response?
3. What do you feel about the intentions and response of the friends?

C. Comment:

Satan proceeds with the next attack and Job is afflicted with sores from head to toe and is in great physical anguish (v.7). He tries to alleviate his plight by scraping the sores (v.8). His wife (v.9) unwittingly we hope, sides with Satan and provokes Job to give up and just curse God. She seems to have no ‘fear of the Lord’. But Job, even in his anguish, rebukes her for silly talk. We’re quite happy to take all good things from God. Why shouldn’t we take the bad as well? The Biblical testimony is clear: he did not sin in his responses.

Then come the three ‘friends’ (v.11) who have heard of what has happened and who had agreed to come and sympathize and comfort him. Now if that was all they had done that would have been good but, as we shall see, they went far beyond that. When they come to his home and see his plight they weep and anguish with him (v.12) and then sit with him in silence for the next week (v.13).

In this they show their empathy and the start of their activity is really good. When we are in similar circumstances, more than anything else, we want understanding. How often do we plough in with good advice when all that is wanted is empathy and understanding?

D. Application:

1. The mouth of a wife can lift up or pull down. Think about it!
2. When friends are in anguish they first of all want to know that we are simply there for them. Think how you can do that.