While God might use sufferings as punishment for sins, (See 1 Corinthians 11:30) sufferings can also be used as correction when a believer errs or for chastisement to draw the godly person closer to God. This last one is what God does in the life of his servant Job.

1 – The raw material – Job (1:1)

Job was mature and grown up in his knowledge and love of God. He was “upright”, resisting evil. It can be supposed that he was one of the godliest men of his age. It is possible to live a holy, mature life in the Lord. In the last chapter Job “abhors” himself. See Job 42:6. The more you grow in grace the more you realise that you are only a “sinner saved by grace”. The apostle Paul did not boast but considered him to be the “chief of sinners” and the “least of the apostles”. See 1 Timothy 1:15 & 1 Corinthians 15:9. God wants to use this raw material to bring glory to His name.

2 – Job’s enemy – Satan (1:6)

• Satan the deceiver – Satan was “among the sons of God” (angels) when they presented themselves before the Lord. He was there as an intruder or gate-crasher. Satan is well able to masquerade – he blends in with everyone else. The horns, pitchfork and red tights appearance is a myth. Satan is seen as wicked and the arch-enemy of God and man. He is wise, cunning and powerful, but his power is limited by God. Yet still he will stop at nothing to destroy man – if possible. Satan is exposed at the start of the book but then we see him reverting into the shadows. This is the way he prefers to operate.
• Satan the rebel – Notice the bold arrogance of Satan to the face of God. (vs. 10). God did have a “hedge” around Job – he was “God’s property”. Satan was given Job’s family and possessions in his hand. What would he do? God had blessed Job. Satan took it ALL away. He took Job from valley top to valley bottom to try and ruin him. God only allows what He can use to good. Many faith, health and prosperity teachers would say that Job was a loser. Job was a righteous man who suffered.

3 – Job’s friendly enemies (1:11-13)

One of the hardest blows in life is to have a good friend turn against you. How hard it must have been to take when three turned against him. Job had a miserable band of counsellors. They reckoned that Job’s sufferings were because of sin in his life. The best thing they did was to keep quiet for seven days and nights and keep him company!

4 – Job’s dependable friend – God (23:10-14)

• Job is pure gold in the making – Praise God for the hammer, the file and the fire. The hammer is controlled by the workman. The gold nail must realise this and submit. It is the master not the file who decides how much is to be removed. He is the goldsmith. With the fire all that refuses to burn will be melted. Only when all is burnt or melted down will the fire start to die down. A yellow, dense metal, gold has several exceptional qualities.

1. It has a brilliant surface that does not tarnish.
2. It is highly resistant to corrosion.
3. In its pure form, gold is so malleable that a single ounce could be beaten into a thin translucent sheet of about 10 square metres (108 square feet) in area and only some 120 millionths of a millimetre in thickness.
4. It is so ductile or elastic that one ounce can be drawn into 80 kilometres (50 miles) of thin gold wire. It is an extremely good conductor of electricity. Although widely distributed it is extremely rare.
5. It also requires a great deal of effort to extract. When extracted gold has many uses today: – Electrical (contacts and printed circuits), Chemical engineering (it is used when other materials would corrode), Space exploration (lubricant for vehicle bearings, protecting astronauts from solar radiation), Commercial (to coat windows in office blocks to reduce heat – thus slashing air-conditioning bills).
6. However 60% of all the gold ever mined is held in government banks, to serve as backing for the world’s currencies. It is accepted by all nations as a medium for settling debt. This is a measure of how precious is this metal. When God wants gold then the Christian will suffer. The gold cannot be produced any other way.

• God is the answer but we don’t understand all things.

1. Job lost everything he counted dear. He lost his home, lost his livestock, lost his land, lost his 7 sons and 3 daughters (10 fresh graves), lost his ability to earn a living (Having lost his health) and lost his self-esteem with this disease.
2. He didn’t understand two things – why and how long? One thing characterised his life. He maintained his integrity between man and God. Yet he cannot see the end of the tunnel. God appears to be coming at him from all sides (Job 23:8-9).

• Job realises 3 things:-

1. “He knows the way that I take” (vs. 10a). God knows his bent (characteristics). Like the bend of a bow. (Psalm 139:1-3).
2. “He refines me” (vs. 10b). Knowing me, he puts me to the test. (Jeremiah 17:9, 10). God understands the deceptive heart. (Isaiah 43:1-2, 4). The fire does not burn you. He would not refine you if there were no gold to refine.
3. “Come forth as gold” (vs. 10c). He guarantees greater value as a result. The impurities of the metal (slag) are pushed aside. What remains is pure gold.

• Gold and fire. Gold is tried by fire to purify it. Alloyed or impure gold loses its true lustre and is unyielding and unusable. But the refining fire purifies gold. It restores its true golden beauty and renders it manageable and usable for every precious work. God only uses pure gold and subjects it to further testing. He requires “beaten” gold. This can be very thin. When this beaten gold has been heated it becomes permanently transparent.
• What do you do when the trials come and the furnace beckons? (vs. 11, 12).

1. Walk closer to God (vs. 11, 12a).
2. Keep quiet and listen (vs. 12b).

• Gold and fire. Gold is tried by fire to purify it. Alloyed or impure gold loses its true lustre and is unyielding and unusable. But the refining fire purifies gold. It restores its true golden beauty and renders it manageable and usable for every precious work. God only uses pure gold and subjects it to further testing. He requires “beaten” gold. This can be very thin. When this beaten gold has been heated it becomes permanently transparent.
• What happens when that test has ended? There will be more. He has a whole bag full of them. When He has finished on one he starts on another. You are a constant project with God the Father. He sees gold there that not only needs to be refined, but MUST be refined. It can be so humiliating, but yet so necessary. The end product is fine beaten gold.

5 – Further study – other related scriptures

• Proverbs 17:3 “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tries hearts”.
• Proverbs 25:12 “Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprove to a listening ear.”
• Proverbs 27:21 “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is judged by his praise.”
• Zechariah 13:9 “And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, `The Lord is my God.'”
• Malachi 3:3 “he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, till they present right offerings to the Lord.”
• Matthew 2:11 “and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”
• 1 Corinthians 3:12 “Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw”.
• 1 Peter 1:7 so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
• James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
• James 1:12. Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him.
• Revelation 3:18 Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich, and white garments to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.
• Revelation 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.

Categories: Job