Curse God and Die
(The untold story of Job and his wife)
I expect virtually everyone with any familiarity with the Bible at all knows the ancient story of Job and his dilemma of being personally targeted for attacks by Satan.
But perhaps the most startling statement about Jobs personal experience is the following statement made by his wife, whilst Job was being physically and mentally tormented.
I think this comment by Jobs wife is one of the most cruel and hateful things a person ever states to another person in all of the Bible.
This remark rates right up there with the often angrily used retaliatory response of telling someone to go straight to Hell. I can’t think of anything worse to say to another human being!
In Job chapter one, verses one and eight, God describes Job as a perfect and upright man, a man that despised evil and feared God. I would certainly think that such a man was also a good husband and Father.
Indeed in verse five, we see Job routinely sought after his families sanctification and offered burnt offerings to the Lord on their behalf.
Job was also a very successful and wealthy man. He doubtlessly provided well for his wife and family; for the Lord had blessed all his labors.
So then, why, when Job was down and out and at his lowest point in life, why would his own wife say to him: “Curse God and Die?”
But before we resolutely condemn Job's wife for her cruel remarks, we must analyze the conditions that brought her to so forcefully say those hateful things to her husband.
In retrospect, we are all quite familiar with Job's plight, but we tend not to focus on the fact that Mrs. Job also lost her seven sons and three daughters in this Satanic onslaught against Job.
Furthermore, Mrs. Job, who was totally dependent on her husband's estate, had seen him lose his cattle, his sheep, his oxen, his mules, his servants and his entire financial and economic stature.
Undoubtedly, Mrs. Job had seen enough. She had grown weary of Job’s bad luck and especially his financial demise, causing her to blame Job for all the family calamities.
It should be noted that Satan’s first wave of tactics to destroy the faith and integrity of Job concentrated on only “the things” that Job possessed. Satan’s second strategy was to cajole the Lord into permitting the physical attack on Job’s body and health!
While the loss of children and possessions did not result in Job failing to honor God, the lingering effects of the bodily agony and the mental anguish did bring Job to rue the day he was even born.
Not surprisingly, Mrs. Job had come to question Job’s innocence and to blame God for the troubles that she was forced to endure.
In Job 2:9; Mrs. Job after observing her husband groveling in the ashes and scraping his skin with a blade for relief, lost all sense of compassion and understanding when she shouted to her husband: “Job, dost thou still claim to retain thy integrity?”
The word “integrity” utilized in this narrative actually infers that Mrs. Job was accusing Job of not being “innocent” before God and therefore had brought all this calamity upon himself and her because of his personal sin!
Little did Mrs. Job realize that her verbal chastisement of Job was exactly what Satan was seeking to accomplish in his strategic assaults on Job and his household.
In fact, Mrs. Jobs very words echoed the exact charge that Satan had enunciated to the Lord at the outset of Job’s whole debacle.
In chapter 1:11 and again in chapter 2:5 Satan challenged God to “remove Jobs hedge of protection” and permit Satan to expose Job to his wiles, then Job would “Curse God to his Face!”
While it may seem that God allowed Satan to make a farce of Jobs life, it factually stands obviously apparent that God had foreknowledge of Satan’s immense hatred of Job’s fantastic faith and its public testimonial being displayed before all the world.
Now, back to those cruel and hateful words: “Curse God and Die.”
Satan obviously manipulated Job’s wife and even all his friends to incite “seeds of doubt” into Jobs mind about his faith in God. Those cruel words had to have cut through Job’s heart like a blade through butter!
In these four words are incorporated all the elements of Satan’s despotic desire!
1-Satan would like nothing better than for the Servants of God to lose their faith!
2-Satan would love nothing more than for a servant to destroy his own personal testimony of Gods goodness!
3-Satan would love nothing better than for his servants to Curse God!
4-Satan would jump for joy at the sight of the Death of one of Gods greatest servants that are filled with Integrity.
5-Satan really delights at fomenting chaos among the servants of God and watching them make accusations against one another.
Yes, we have all heard of the patience and faith of Job, and we have all seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
Therefore, We as servants, possessing the integrity of God’s Word; should always “Bless the Lord” and the Life that is in it!
Psalms 96:2 Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.
by: Darrell G. Young
Focus on the Bible
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