James 5:7-8 commands Christians to be patient, having a faith that endures through suffering. Verse 10 exhorts us to look to examples of others who have persevered. A specific example is given in verse 11, which says, “Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”
The account of Job begins by noting that he was “blameless and upright, and one who feared God, and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1). He had great earthly blessings (Job 1:2-3), leading Satan to claim that Job’s faith was due to God making things easy for him (Job 1:9-11).
Satan desired to tempt Job by taking away some of his blessings (Job 1:11). God had to permit Satan the power to tempt Job. Satan could not force Job to sin or tempt Job in a way that God did not allow (Job 1:12).
This is a key lesson for us. With every temptation we face, we will always have the choice to avoid sin and do what is right. God is faithful to provide a means by which we can endure (1 Cor. 10:13).
After God permitted Satan to tempt Job, Satan first took away Job’s children, servants, and animals (Job 1:13-19). Job responded with faith (Job 1:20-21). Job 1:22 says, “In all this, Job didn’t sin, nor charge God with wrongdoing.”
Satan next tempted Job by harming him physically. Satan “struck Job with painful sores from the sole of his foot to his head” (Job 2:7).
This led Job’s wife to assume that the sensible response was to “renounce God, and die” (Job 2:9). She asked her husband, “Do you still maintain your integrity?” She viewed integrity as something to have as long as God gives us what we want. Job recognized the folly of this (Job 2:10), as we must.
At the end of the book, God restored Job’s fortunes. Job 42:12-13 says that God “blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys. He had also seven sons and three daughters.”
This occurred after much deliberation between Job and his friends about why his sufferings came upon him (Job 3-37). The book makes it clear that they did not know the reason, but were merely speculating (Job 38-41).
Like Job, we often fail to know exactly why things happen as they do. Yet, biblical examples such as Job’s help us build faith through trials by showing us that God will reward us if we endure and serve Him faithfully. He may not give us the temporal blessings Job had, but He will grant us eternal comfort in heaven if our faith is steadfast (cf. Rom. 8:18).
– Michael Hickox