Ever since I became a Christian, for over 20 years I thought that Job’s wife had died. I can’t remember where I got that idea as an account of her death is certainly not in the Bible. The scary part of this is that I have reread the Book of Job many times and every time I have read it, I have killed Job’s wife in my own plot of the story. Somehow, I felt it was poetic justice to have this antagonist in the narrative die after she said “Do you still hold firm your integrity? Curse God and die!” to Job in verse nine of chapter two of the book. I could not understand how God could let her live after saying that, forgetting that God is not like me.
The LORD is gracious and compassionate; Slow to anger and great in mercy. Psalm 145:8
Unfortunately, I could not show Job’s wife the grace and compassion that God has showed me. I have in essence cursed God in many ways during my life by questioning His character and not obeying His Word. I have been angry with God for not having things go the way I want while ignoring His sovereignty. Yet I am still here, alive. Thank God! He showed me His tender mercies which never fail. He has answered my questions with love, my disobedience with kindness which brought me to repentance, and He replaced my anger with joy and peace as He taught me more about His faithfulness and the other amazing attributes of His character.
Then Job answered the Lord and said, “I know that You can do all things, and that no plan is impossible for You. ‘Who is this who conceals advice without knowledge?’ Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I do not know. ‘Please listen, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’ I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, and I repent, sitting on dust and ashes.” Job 42:1-6
Not only did Job gain a greater understanding of God through his suffering, but he also learned that he did not know as much as he thought he knew about God. How often do we do the same as Job? We assume things about God which are not true, but because of our emotions or experiences we have implied a meaning to God and His ways which is not the truth. We may also do the same to the Bible too, just as I killed off Job’s wife as a character without it being stated. We must be careful not to read things into the Bible that are not there, but still take a deeper look at the characters and their motivations. A friend pointed out to me that Job’s wife would have suffered the same afflictions as he did, and she would have also watched him suffering. I never thought of that before.
So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with severe boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. And Job took a piece of pottery to scrape himself while he was sitting in the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold firm your integrity? Curse God and die!” Job 2:6-9
The motive of Job’s wife now makes more sense when we understand that she too grieved the death of her children and the loss of property, while helplessly watching her ailing husband. All of this must have been devastating for her. She must have been frustrated, angry and depressed. Who could blame her? Well, I did without examining deeper all that she had experienced. Thankfully, despite Job’s suffering and his wife’s prodding to curse God, He never did. Job did not sin against God despite His circumstances. He also didn’t try to fix the situation in his own strength, instead he waited on God.
So not only did Job teach me about having patience and waiting on God despite my sufferings, but his wife has now taught me that I have not been gracious our compassionate enough. I lack mercy and I am not slow to anger. She has made me understand that I can’t look at a person’s reaction and judge him or her by it. But I must be more discerning about a person’s circumstances to understand why his or her heart is hurting so much to have elicited such a negative response. Things aren’t always as black and white as they appear. There are many complexities of life. I now see that in Job’s wife’s life and she is no longer dead to me. But instead, I see her story as one full of conflict and understand why she could not believe there would be a good resolution because of all her loss. She was unable to see a happy ending because she was blinded by her hurt and wasn’t able to see God for who He is. If we look at our lives, we may see that we are not much different from Job’s wife, yet God continues to show us His mercy, grace and loving kindness while giving us life more abundantly.
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