THE GREATEST OF ALL ATTACKS

Job 2:10-13

As the next scene prepares, what do we see when the dust settles? A man who is broken and alone, sitting on a trash heap, his own personal Gehenna, a hell on earth type experience. His wife, his one flesh, has abandoned him in all his afflictions. The book of Job brings home to us the loneliness of suffering. His only companion is what? Broken pieces of pottery to sooth his broken and aching body as he sits in ash. Have you ever wondered what Job was thinking about in that trash heap? Did he think back to the day when he started his business?

Did he think back to when it was a joy to get out of bed? Did he think about how amazing God is despite the present outcome? Did he think about his children and watching them growing up? 

Christopher Ash said in his commentary “In central London there used to be a bronze statue of a local man sitting on a bench overlooking the River Thames. A few meters in the front of him is a bronze figure of a little girl, his daughter who had died of “scarlet Fever” at the age of eight. As he sits in his old age, his imagination plays tricks with him, and it is as if he sees his little daughter alive and playing with him. That pair of statues always moves me to tears. Did Job’s imagination play those kinds of tricks with him?

  

Well the answer to that is! We will never know The amazing thing though! God does know, and that’s why we need to understand that God does not waste our hurt or our suffering. What Job is experiencing in this moment and the days to come is for his good and ultimately for God’s glory. As we approach chapter three we need to understand something before we begin.

The greatest attack is still yet to come!

You might be thinking! How much worse can this get for Job? See! The greatest assault on Job wasn’t……

The loss of livestock and business.

The loss of good farm help.

The loss of his precious sons and daughters.

The loss of being abandoned by his wife.

The loss or failing health that he now is enduring.

Now quick disclaimer! I’m not saying these things are not terrible and that we don’t show Job sympathy for what he is going through. All these things are beyond words and are appalling to see anyone go through. What has happened so far is a terrible assault that would crush anyone of us sitting here today. But if the letter ended in these two chapters, we could come to that conclusion; the worst has happened and now he can begin the grieving process. But it doesn’t……the worst is yet to come to Job, and we will see this throughout the remainder of this book.

  

Let’s set the stage for the next scene! There is something different about this attack. What do I mean? There is no “next day! “…where the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD.” (1:v6; 2:v1). The reason! This assault isn’t over yet from the previous agreement that God had with the Accuser. This is a continuation of the previous rules that God gave to Satan found in (2:6) “only spare his life.” You think to yourself! You’re telling me that Satan isn’t done, yet he has lost for a second time. What else can he try and do to accomplish his task to turn Job from God and to curse Him? Satan has attacked his livelihood, possessions, his children, his marriage, and now his physical health. Yes! But, the greatest assault is about to begin with three friends who come with great intentions but fail at their delivery. They are going to try to convince Job that he must have sinned in order for all this to happen to him.

This is going to be the greatest of all attacks on his what? 

Answer:  The very core of his faith. 

Satan is not finished by clamping his jaws around Job’s already: broken and hurting body. At this point Job is: Mentally, physically, emotionally drained and has nothing left in the tank. So Satan wants to continue to tear him down, until there is nothing left in him, but to curse God and die. The greatest attack anyone of us can face is of the spiritual kind, because this is the core of our very existence and being. The Apostle Paul wrote “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” Eph 6:12-13 We also read “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Prov 4:23. Jer 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” This is why we guard our hearts, because the attack in the spiritual has eternal consequences and implications. Our center or soul is more precious than possessions, family, and our outward physical well-being. Our spiritual life is vital to our eternal state.

Let me ask you as we continue setting the scene for this next attack!

When are we the most vulnerable spiritually? Is it when things are going according to plan or when our world is turned upside down?

When is our spiritual life most tested? When we are at our strongest or at our weakest?

When do our spiritual lives fall into failure or doubt? Is it the times of rest or unrest?

See Jesus said to the disciples “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Mark 14:38. He said these words to remind the disciples those spiritual attacks are of the most dangerous kind. Satan is about to assault Job’s innermost stronghold…… his spirit! The very core of worship and spiritual life. (v11) sets the stage for the rest of this book until God comes on the scene and has a few things to say to Job.

Job’s “friends” came for one reason “to show sympathy and to comfort him.” At least that was the intent, these friends are sincere, and they want to help. But in reality over the course of this visit they were actually be Satan’s instruments to assault the heart of Job’s spiritual core. These men were not a group of guys who knew him in business or on the roads. No! They knew Job personally, closely.

  

“Friend” here is more than a companion or acquaintance, or, a so-called follower on Facebook or Twitter. These would be men who would be pallbearers at his funeral, because they were personally invested, they were spiritual mentors/friends. What kind of friends were these guys? Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. These three men were bound to him; loyal friends who made an appointment together to visit their brother who is hurting. (v11) So we see this as a good thing for Job, nothing better than to have someone to mourn with and find encouragement from, as you grieve and suffer. They came from a great distance distances to speak a word of comfort to him. And no doubt they came with a real and sincere intent to do this, though they proved to be the opposite. Why? We read further into this letter “Then Job answered and said: "I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all.” Job 16:1-2

The greatest attack happens over the remainder of this letter. And when a person is down, weak and not thinking clearly is a great time to breach the walls of his heart. We know Job has nothing left in the tank by what we read as the men come on the scene. (v12)

“They did not recognize him.” (v12)

Where else do we read about someone being unrecognizable? Isaiah 52:13-14 says “Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished… his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.” What a depiction of Christ, marred beyond human resemblance. These friends were astonished to find that their old friend had become a thing of horror, a repulsive and sickening sight to look at. This is a man they would have… laughed with, singed with and prayed with. And now he looks nothing like the Job they knew of before. This was a terrible scene something you would see in a horror movie. These men were so taken back by their friends physical appearance they did something that would seem shocking to anyone alive.

(v12b) “And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven.” When they wept, and tore their robes, covered their heads in dust they were in effect, holding a funeral service for Job. This expression identifies with him in his deep hurt. You might be thinking when this attack is going to begin…..after seven days and seven nights. This is similar to other passages that convey a period of deep sorrow. We see this with Joseph when his father died “When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days.” Gen 50:10

  

Ezekiel feels the pain of the people due to their rebellion “And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.” Eze 3:15. The suffering of Job was so great no one said a word. For them to speak at this time would be insensitive, unkind and useless. And because of his deep suffering, their silence was the wisest thing to do in this moment. So they sat there with their friend, unfortunately this gave them a lot of time to think about…… which will be revealed shortly in this letter.  Revealing what? That Job had to have done something wrong to make God so angry with him, the beginning of the spiritual attack on his soul. But it’s in this moment… where we see his friends show genuine friendship. Here we see deep ministry as they sit with their friend who is in pain. As a pastor we would call this “the compassion of a silent presence.”

What do we learn from this passage? Loneliness of suffering is something that none of us should go through alone. It’s coming together to support the brokenhearted and it’s grieving with those who grieve and mourning with those who mourn. It’s simply touch of the hand or arm, holding and hugging one another, as you go through the grieving process.

  

As the Apostle Paul said “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” 2 Cor 1:2-5 

Jesus said "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matt 5:4

What does that look like at times? 

“A little girl came home from a neighbor's house where her little friend had died.

"Why did you go?" asked her father.

"To comfort her mother," said his daughter.

"What could you do to comfort her?" asked the father

To which see responded "I climbed into her lap and cried with her."

The bible says God does not hurry us along or play down our grief. In Ecclesiastes 3:4 tells us there’s “a time to weep and a time to mourn.” In Psalm 56:8 says that God puts our tears “in a bottle”. It’s in this time of mourning we draw near and to rest in His sovereign arms of grace. Why do we do this? This is where our greatest comfort comes from, His endless supply of mercy and grace. These men showed that, as their friend was going through “A Gehenna Valley experience.” Job’s loneliness is “a foreshadow” of someone else, who endured an even greater suffering than Job. This person was also with his closest friends, as he went to pray in a garden outside of Jerusalem. This person even asked His friends to set with Him awhile as He went off to pray by himself. These are the words He said to his friends “…My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch." Mark 14:34. So He goes to pray and falls to the ground “And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." Mark 14:35-36. And then he comes back to find his closest friends doing what? "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Mark 14:37-38

What can we learn from this portion of scripture? 

Jesus prayed and wept alone

The coming days He would suffer alone

Be stripped of his cloths, robbed of His friends

His mother having to keep her distance from the cross.

  

Throughout all this He would remind His friends, though you will leave Him alone to suffer, He wasn’t truly alone. John’s gospel we read “Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.” John 16:32. But in the deepest intensity of Jesus’ suffering was when He cried out “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me.” Mark 15:34. Christ Jesus suffered and died alone, so that we don’t have to, when we go through suffering. Job’s situation foreshadows our great God and King who went before us. What his friends tried to do was noble…. But as we will see ends in bankruptcy as they console a lonely friend, who is hurting beyond description.

The hope for us is though…. What Christ did for us as we go through times of loneliness, in the midst of suffering, was far greater! What He did in the gospel was that He made it possible so that we will never have to say “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me.” What He did alone, made it so that we are never are alone in our pain.  As the Hymn Song “How Marvelous, How Wonderful” says “He bore the burden to Calvary, and suffered and died alone.”

  

Christopher Ash said “There is a deep sense in which the lonely sufferings of Jesus Christ mean that no believer today is called to enter Job’s loneliness in its full depth.”

How did He do this for us? The gospel made that possible for you and me.