Read verses 7-10
Q: What appears to be different this time when it comes to the timing of Satan’s actions?
A: Whereas the first time he took the time to synchronize the things which would take place with a meeting of Job’s children and the actions of earthly forces against him, the text in this case seems to indicate that Satan wasted no time going directly from the presence of the Lord into the presence of Job to inflict this physical hardship.
Q: Is there any significance to singling this out as “boils” as opposed to any other disease?
A: Although the actual Hebrew word could be translated for a variety of skin-related diseases, the greater context is meant to convey a situation where there is great, recurring physical pain.
Q: What is the greater meaning of “sitting among the ashes”?
A: It represents Job’s continued condition of mourning.
Q: But what will ashes ultimately come to represent where Job is personally concerned?
A: It is featured in his last recorded statement in the book of Job as also referring to personal repentance.
Therefore I retract,
And I repent in dust and ashes.”
— Job 42:6
Point: Although Job will be repeatedly maligned by his so-called “friends” for stubbornly refusing to repent of sin, the fact that Job has taken up this position may indicate that he is willing to repent just as soon as he is made aware of the nature of his transgression.
Q: What mitigating factors should we take into account where Job’s wife is concerned?
A: Although she may not be experiencing the physical pain inflicted on Job, like him she has not only lost all material possessions, but all her children as well. And now she might be dealing with what appears to be the inevitable loss of her husband.
Q: But what is present in her statement to suggest that she is at the least being influenced by Satan?
A: She characterizes the situation in the same manner God expressed it to Satan in their meeting. God says that Job “holds fast his integrity” (v.3) and she turns it around to question him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity?” (v.9)
Point: Job will maintain his position of not having compromised his integrity even very late into the debate cycle to come.
“Far be it from me that I should declare you right;
Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go.
My heart does not reproach any of my days.
— Job 27:5-6
Q: How serious is the wife’s imperative, “Curse God and die” in the greater scheme of things?
A: In the future when the written Law is given through Moses, the penalty for cursing God is the death penalty. The earthly sentence reflects the eternal sentence for this sin.
“You shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If anyone curses his God, then he will bear his sin. Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
— Leviticus 24:15-16
Q: How should we characterize Job’s response to his wife?
A: It is provided in the form a rhetorical question, something which is supposed to be obvious to everyone.
Q: What is the greatest feature of Job’s faith to date?
A: “In all this Job did not sin with his lips”. (v.10)
For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,
— 2 Corinthians 4:17
Q: How is v.10 actually addressing what took place between God and Satan at the opening of this chapter?
A: Job has proven God right and Satan wrong. Job has not cursed God as Satan predicted.
Application: Satan employs earthly agents to attack spiritually as well, often individuals who are normally considered our closest ally. They will be aligned with the principle spiritual issue Satan is bringing to bear through earthly circumstances.
