What does it say?
Job was a wealthy man who feared God. Satan accused that Job honored God only because God made him wealthy. The Lord God gave Satan the power to strike all that Job had, so he took away all that Job owned, as well as his sons and daughters. Job did not curse God but worshiped the Lord. Satan accused that if Job’s life is touched he will curse the Lord. The Lord allowed Satan to give Job boils, yet when his wife told him to curse God he blessed the Lord. Job’s three friends Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar came to Job to sympathize and comfort him. These friends sat with him for a week. Job laments his life, stating that it would have been better if he had never been born. Eliphaz believes that the innocent do not suffer as Job has; therefore, implying that Job must have sinned against the Lord.
What does it mean?
Having wealth and fearing God seem to go hand in hand. Are not the wealthy and healthy the blessed ones? Satan’s accusation is that Job fears God and turns away from evil only because God prospers him. However, Job’s love for God proved to not be based in health, wealth and prosperity but in righteousness. We should not love the Lord for the things that he gives us. We should love the Lord because he is holy. The three friends Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar did what friends should do, they supported their friend in his time of grief. However, Eliphaz reveals that they believed that health, wealth and prosperity are based in personal righteousness. If a man lives uprightly, fearing God and turning away from evil, God well bless him with health, wealth and make his going prosperous. However, if he sins, God will curse him with poverty and sickness. Are the wealthy and healthy blessed of the Lord? Are the poor and sick cursed of the Lord?
What shall I do?
This really causes me to think deeply about how and why I should praise God. Do I praise him because of the things that he has given me or because he is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet, will by no means leave the guilty unpunished? In other words, do I love God for who he is or for what he gives me? The COVID-19 crisis is proving that health and wealth can disappear in an instant. I know that the Lord is sovereign; therefore, this crisis is happening because God is allowing it to happen. Should I curse the Lord if I or my love ones become sick? Should I look on those who have lost wealth or jobs as being greater sinners than those who have not? Should I look on those who are sick as being greater sinners than those who are not? If so, I would have to think that the healthy and wealthy are righteous; yet, the scriptures declare that none are righteous. (Rom 3:10) The answer to all of these questions is no, I should not. I shall worship the Lord because he is God and I shall not have an attitude of personal favoritism. (Jam 2:1) I shall love the Lord my God with all of my heart, soul and mind; and I shall love my neighbor as myself. (Mt 22:37-39)
