Nuggets of Gold from the Ash Pit
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Job next poses a rhetorical question that again explores the same question of good and evil. “Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” If we consider the good things in our lives as gifts from God, then what do we make of the evil that comes to us? Is it also from God? Can the good and perfect God send us something that is evil? Job seems to assert this. If God can prosper us, He can also destroy us at His will. He destroyed the evildoers in Noah’s day. He destroyed the Egyptians (although Job probably lived before that time, and so he makes no reference to this).
The grammar of Job’s sentence indicates that the source of the good is definitely God. It leaves in question somewhat the source of the evil. Some of the translations render the last word here as evil but I really like the NASB rendering of adversity. My own paraphrase of this verse would read, “Shall we expect to receive good things from the hand of God and then not expect that the enemy would oppose us by sending adversity and undesirable circumstances?” I know that I am taking a little liberty with the text here, but in the context of what is happening to Job, I think my assessment is accurate. There is a contest going on here between God and Satan, and Job seems somehow aware of it. Job didn’t say that God sent the adversity. He simply admitted that adversity and opposition are inevitable.
How we deal with this inevitable adversity when it comes is the core of the Christian life. It is easy to serve God when things are going right. This was Satan’s premise for his argument with God. He felt Job’s prosperity was covering up a soul of impiety. He told God point-blank, “Take away Job’s stuff and his health, and you’ll see. He’ll reject you outright if you cut him off. Make it more difficult to serve you, and he’ll stop serving you.” God knew his servant better than Satan did. He knew that when things got tough, Job would still hold on to the truth of God. That was why God bragged about Job. He knew the true character that lay under the surface of Job’s piety and prosperity.
Adversity is as sure in this life as the devil from which it comes. The question is, how will we deal with adversity when it comes? Will we curse God and reject Him, or will we bless Him and press through, looking for the good that will ultimately come from the adversity?
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About the Book
We all experience adversity in our lives, but how we deal with the trouble that inevitably shows up is a part of the Christian experience. The book of Job is generally not a popular book due to the subject matter, but if we want to be prepared for the complete Christian journey, we must nevertheless commit ourselves to understanding its value.
In Nuggets of Gold from the Ash Pit, author Michael Howard explains how the book of Job, known for its harrowing and difficult story of Job’s fall at the hands of the devil, is in fact filled with golden nuggets of encouragement right from the throne of God—if only we are willing to dig for them. In the face of the death, destruction, lamentation, and accusation in the book of Job, we can also find hopeful, loving lessons from God that speak to his compassion for all of his children, regardless of the circumstances. And it is also a lesson for us, one meant to lift us up into God’s presence and bring us into communion with him.
Job was a man who had it all, and then he had it all taken away. But from him we can learn how to deal with adversity when it comes, choosing to bless God and persevere. When it comes to the book of Job, we have to dig a little deeper in the ash pit to find encouragement. It is there, though, and we can find it.
About the Author
Michael Howard is a retired Ironworker and lifelong student of the Bible who has spent nearly twenty years as a lay Bible study leader and teacher. His unique insights into the Bible are inspiring and encouraging to believers and non-believers alike. He has a ‘blue collar’ approach to the bible and uses this to draw non-scholars into deeper study of God’s word.