I just finished reading the book of Job in the Old Testament. I read it every year and every year God reveals things to me about him, about me, about me and him and about relationships. I am always amazed at Gods living Word. This year as I began, I asked him to reveal things out of every chapter and to help me to grasp it, apply it and appreciate it. I was stunned by God's view of his son Job. I wondered at the proximity of Satan and the meeting with the “sons of God”. I was amazed by Jobs' vulnerability and I was annoyed by Job's friends, which I had a different view on in previous readings, but the thing that I’m going to focus on in this post is Jobs' wife and Jobs resolve as a husband and priest of his home.
I started to research Jobs' wife, she is another nameless wife in the bible. Then I chose not to since I’m simply giving you a glimpse of what God revealed to me as a fellow wife and mother. this was my take-away in this season.
When I read my bible, especially the Old Testament, I always picture all the unseen details in each story. In Jobs story, my heart went out to Jobs wife also. I imagined their life together. A fruitful couple indeed, and it seems as if those around them were also blessed by their fruitfulness, in business and wealth and with a large family.
Ten kids! Wow! We raised 4 kids and I found myself weary at times. My parents had 9 kids, and raised 8, I know my mother was loaded down with work and exhausted. Job and his wife had raised their 10 kids to be independent with wealth of their own. The bible doesn’t mention grandchildren, but as fruitful as Job and his Mrs. were, I wonder about grandchildren for them. What a beautiful family they must have been and comfy in their wealth. Jobs' wife must have been very happy with her grand family enjoying the benefits that God had bestowed on them. Job was careful to bring his children to God, offering prayers and sacrifices. Being the righteous man that God said he was, it goes without saying that Job as the priest of his home also prayed for his wife and marriage.
As it happens sometimes, a whirlwind of crisis hits a family and they are left with a gaping hole in their lives. Job and his wife, in one moment ALL their kids died. Just like that, this mother had her children ripped out of her life, not to mention the loss of their property. Oh my goodness what pain! In all my years I’ve had pain and loss, but not to this degree. I clearly remember my extreme losses. I can remember what some of my thoughts were like, some of them very dark. The numbness from sudden loss and the inability to keep on living suffocated me at times. Jobs wife had probably not even grasp the graveness of her losses when suddenly her husband is hit with some sort of skin disorder. His strength taken from her, the boils on his body made him completely unaccessible, it must have seemed to her that she had nothing left in her world. Job was in so much pain, mental, emotional and now physical that it took everything he had to keep his thoughts right. Peace and security were ripped right from under them, not just him. How did they survive? Perhaps Jobs wife was thrust into a deep pit of vile bile. She was submerged into bitterness, anger, unbelief, maybe even hatred. I think that most people read the book of Job and consider what terrible pain and suffering he endured, never considering Jobs wife, the wife of his youth, his life partner. She too felt deep pain and wondered at his patience in the midst of their pain.
Is it a wonder that Jobs wife said in Job 2:9 “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” She too knew who the author of life was. She knew that God was all powerful and could do anything. Why wasn't he doing anything to help them? She understood that God was aware of all that they had lost and her all her emotions were summed up in this one comment to Job. I wonder, did she have anyone to talk to? It seemed that Job was in too much pain, but again, being the righteous conscientious man of God that he was, he must have seen her pain, but it was a time to wait on God, his recorded words demonstrate his own shock and utter confusion as to "why" things happened as they did. Maybe she thought Job didn’t care about her?
At this point Jobs' integrity meant her own recovery, peace and eternal destiny. Maybe she just needed her husband's faithfulness to reach out to her. As a wife of almost 36 years, married to the same man, both of us believing in Christ for our lives and our children's lives, there are times that my husband's stubborn fidelity to Jesus the Saviour of the world, keeps me grounded, even when I go off the deep end because of continuous painful situations. I heard one pastor say it like this in a marriage seminar. “It’s as if your wife is attached to you with a bungee cord and every once in a while she will jump off the cliff and all you can do for your wife is hang on to God's truth.” Stand strong man of God, that is the help she needs from you. Job said to his wife, “You speak as one of the foolish women speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil (disaster)” So much said in these few words. Be still my wife, wait on God, trust him. Let's face the pain.
It’s interesting that we don't hear her voice again. However, From reading the rest of the story of Job, they waited, and it wasn’t waiting without visible agony, but it was with a transparent faith in the God of all creation and God visited Job, I do wonder if his wife was there for that terrible and glorious visitation.
When God healed and restored to Job all his losses back to him, it was to his wife also. My biological clock regarding pregnancy and babies is having a hard time processing this, but regardless, Job and his wife were restored. In his later years he was healthy and strong and it’s very likely that she was too. Their wealth was doubled and they had 7 more sons and 3 beautiful daughters. Through it all, Job worshiped the Blesser rather than the blessings, including his wife and she was blessed.
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