Job is struck with boils

The Book of Job Chapter 2

One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came with them. The Lord asked Satan where he came from and Satan replied that he had been going back and forth across the earth watching everything that goes on. The Lord asked if he had noticed his servant Job, a fine man who fears God and has nothing to do with evil. And God said that Job had maintained his integrity in spite of Satan having God harmed him without cause.


Satan replied that Job blessed the Lord only because the Lord blessed him. A man will give up everything he has to save his life. But take his health, said Satan, and he will curse the Lord to his face.

The Lord gave Satan permission to do with Job as he wished, but to spare his life. So Satan left the Lord and struck Job with a terrible case of boils from head to foot. Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. His wife asked him if he was still maintaining his integrity. She told him to curse God and die.


Job responded that she talked like a godless woman and told her that they could accept good things from the hand of God, as well as bad things. So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.

Three of Jobs friends were Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar and when they heard of Job's tragedy, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort him. When they saw Job from a distance, they barely recognized him. Wailing, they tore their robes and threw dust in the air to demonstrate their grief. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. And no one said a word, for they saw his suffering was too great for words.

BIBLE NOTES SHOW: At first God did not allow Satan to harm Job physically, but then he decided to allow it. Satan is unable to persuade God to go against his character. God is completely and eternally good. But God went along with Satan's plan because he knew the outcome of Job's story. We wonder why Job's wife was spared when the rest of his family was killed. Do you think it may have been because her presence may have cause Job even more suffering?


HOW DOES THIS CHAPTER RELATE TO US TODAY? I'd like to point out that Job's friends came from a long way off. They may have done a poor job of comforting him, but they made the effort. Was it wrong that they just sat quietly? Sometimes there are just no words to reflect loss. I know a woman who lost her husband. Her neighbor came over and mopped her kitchen floor. Why? Because she knew the woman's house would soon be filled with mourners and it was her way of showing that she cared. Caring comes in all forms, friends come in all shapes, God comes to us forever!


Yours in Christ,
Mary


Prayer Requests are needed for:
HEALTH:
Update on my niece Suzanne, she is healing but her leg was crushed and will take many months of doctoring. She is in a nursing home for rehab care. Pray for her healing. Also Gabe, Wanda, Pray for Janice Long’s parents, especially her mother whose cancer has returned and her father with Alzheimer’s and now her mother in law also with Alzheimer’s. Their family is feeling the strain both emotionally and financially. Pray for them. Update on this family: Her mother-in-law is being taken to Oklahoma to live with an aunt who will care for her.
Pray for Arlene’s nephew David and for my neighbor Al who is nearing the end of his life.
Pray for Carolyn’s brother Ronald who has cancer.
Pray for our friend Michelle who was diagnosed with MS.
Pray for Cyndi Sullivan who made it six years with cancer but may now go home with hospice in her final days.
Pray for my cousin Diane who had total mastectomy surgery for breast cancer.
UPDATE on Barb who went in for back surgery and had a heart attack and stroke, she has her speech back and is home , but continues to have a problem with one arm and hand. Thanks to your prayers, she is able to hobble without a cane and has been granted disability. She still has surgery scheduled on her hand, but I saw her recently and her attitude is fantastic.
Pray for Robert Sargent who is quite ill with lung cancer.
Pray for Judy’s husband who was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. Pray for her too, that she can deal with the side effects of his illness.
Pray too for Charly’s husband Robert who is undergoing chemo for his prostate cancer.
Pray for John’s recovery from a heart attack and for the doctors who have difficulty diagnosing his other symptoms.
Pray for James’s sister Cynthia whose chemo has lost its effect as the cancer grows powerful.
SPIRITUAL UPLIFTING: Gail, Mary
RESTORATION OF FAITH: Al, John
LOVE AND SUPPORT: Claire, Hunter, Brian
SUPPORT: Haiti, Chile, survivors of Japan’s earthquake, survivors of the devastating tornadoes in our southernmost states and Joplin, Missouri. Pray too, for our country’s leaders and our military people who die each day for our freedom.