God Gives Blessings and Brings Trouble (Job 2:1–13)

 

God Gives Blessings and Brings Trouble (Job 2:1–13)

No one likes suffering. Yet no one is completely free from it. Job lost all his possessions and children, and now his entire body was covered with painful sores. In Job 2, although he suffered the merciless attacks of Satan, Job confessed that God gives blessings, and He also brings trouble. Satan’s claim—that if visible blessings are removed, a believer will inevitably curse God—was a lie. God has already given every believer the hope of the heavenly kingdom, whose glory and honor cannot be compared with anything in this world.

Satan Again Tests Job

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 back and forth 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.” (Job 2:1–3)

This scene is very similar to chapter 1. It is, of course, an event taking place in heaven. Why does God continue to allow Satan to stand before Him? Even after Satan struck Job so mercilessly, why does God not remove him? It is because God’s appointed time has not yet come, and because evil has already entered the human heart. Yet in every situation, God’s justice, truth, and love remain completely perfect and holy.

It is true that we are limited in our ability to explain all of this. But at minimum, we know this: Satan can never cross the boundary God has set. And God, who is all-knowing and all-powerful, knows all things—including the limits of what Job can endure.

There is also one more truth: before God, there is no such thing as a death that is unfair or a situation that is truly unjust. This world is filled with corruption, injustice, and systems tilted away from transparency and fairness. But God cannot be deceived. He will judge everyone according to what they have done, good or evil (Romans 2:6). His judgment is just, righteous, and holy.

36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36–37)

Jesus also taught His disciples not to fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but to fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Matthew 10:28). After Job’s time of testing was complete, God blessed him and restored everything twofold (Job 42:10).

Satan stood before God as if nothing had happened. His response was the same as before—“roaming throughout the earth.” Even though Satan had incited God to strike Job without reason, Job still held firmly to his integrity and did not blame God.

Satan’s lie was exposed, and he was defeated. Yet he did not repent. This is the nature of sin. Though God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all sin, and though sinners receive the due penalty for their wrongdoing, the world does not repent but continues to sin (Romans 1:32). Therefore, trouble and distress continue (Romans 2:9). But those who repent and turn back through discipline will bear the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:11).

Satan Lies Again

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.” (Job 2:4–5)

Although his previous lie had already been exposed, Satan refused to submit to God and again raised objections with another lie. “Skin for skin” means that a person may give up possessions, but not his own life. So Satan confidently claimed that if God struck Job’s flesh and bones, he would surely curse God.

Satan, though a spiritual being who has seen the glory of God, did not believe and would not trust Him. Not only did he refuse to believe, he rebelled and sought to exalt himself above God’s authority (Isaiah 14:13). Jesus said that Satan was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, teachers of the law, and Jewish leaders, saying that they belonged to their father, the devil (John 8:44). They acted just as the devil desired—rejecting Jesus, the Messiah sent by God, arresting Him, condemning Him to death, and handing Him over to Pilate to be crucified.

Therefore, those who do not stand on God’s truth but act according to their own desires are following the devil. This is what it means to live according to the flesh. Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on what the flesh desires, and the mind governed by the flesh is death (Romans 8:5–6).

“The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:7–8)

Haman in the book of Esther is a clear example of someone who belonged to the flesh. He had been elevated by the king to the highest position under him, yet he was furious because Mordecai refused to bow down to him. Eventually, he plotted to kill all the Jews in the Persian Empire, including Mordecai.

One day, the king asked Haman, “What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?” Haman assumed the king meant him, so he suggested dressing that man in a royal robe, placing a crown on his head, and having him ride on the horse the king himself rode as someone led him through the city streets proclaiming his honor (Esther 6:8–9). Then the king commanded Haman to do exactly what he had said—for Mordecai. Haman hid his anger and carried out the king’s order, parading Mordecai through the city. This is what a person of the flesh looks like.

God allows Satan to strike Job

“The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.’” (Job 2:6)

God placed Job in Satan’s hands. Satan could strike his bones and flesh but could not touch his life. God allowed this because He knew Satan’s lies would be exposed and because He knew what Job could endure (1 Corinthians 10:13). Through this, God wanted to reveal the secrets of heaven to him.

Why must human beings go through suffering and pain? It is because of God’s love and grace. After Adam fell into sin through Satan’s deception, God told him he would have to toil for food by the sweat of his brow and eventually return to the dust (Genesis 3:19). To the woman, He increased the pains of childbearing and said her desire would be for her husband and he would rule over her (Genesis 3:16).

This is not a curse but a merciful prescription for restoring humanity from its fall. Humans forget most things, but painful experiences are remembered for a long time—especially failures and wounds.

Sin says that a person can live without God. Through suffering and hardship, God leads us into the truth that we can do nothing by ourselves. This is the truth of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we can do nothing, it is as if we die. But when we die by faith—self-denial—God raises us again by His resurrection power. Therefore, while we cannot do anything on our own, we can do all things through the strength and authority of Christ (Philippians 4:13).

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Satan strikes Job’s bones and flesh, but Job does not sin

“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. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, ‘Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!’ 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.” (Job 2:7–10)

Satan struck Job until painful sores covered his entire body. The pain was unbearable. Job sat among the ashes scraping himself with broken pottery. Satan’s cruelty was once again exposed before the whole world. Job’s suffering reached rock bottom. His wife, unable to watch any longer, lashed out at him and told him to curse God and die.

But even in that misery, Job rebuked her as a foolish woman. He said that since they had received good from God, they should also accept trouble. In all of this, Job did not sin against God. Once again, Satan’s lies were exposed. Satan always ends up defeated.

Job confessed that God gives both blessing and trouble. God’s blessing is pure grace, for we do not deserve anything from Him (Ephesians 2:8–9). God gives endless blessings to those who believe and obey, including the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven.

At the same time, God also gives trouble. If blessing is grace, trouble is also grace. In truth, people deserve trouble more than blessing, for all have sinned. Yet here, trouble refers to God’s holy discipline—His refining work. Through this painful process, He shapes us into people who are fit to stand before Him.

“These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:7)

Job’s friends come to comfort him

“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 sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 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.” (Job 2:11–13)

Job’s three friends were overwhelmed when they saw him—he was almost unrecognizable. They cried out, tore their robes, and threw dust on their heads. For seven days and nights, they sat on the ground with him without speaking, because his suffering was so severe. They were stunned into silence.

People lose words in the face of sorrow and tragedy. But this kind of misery is happening all around the world even today.

Therefore, our hope is not in this world. Not in wealth, health, or success. Our only hope is the eternal kingdom of God. Amen! Holding on to that hope, we endure present suffering and pain with patience.

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)

November 16, 2025

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Scripture quotes are from the NIV.