God said this about Job. Job 1:8 “There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” We also know that because He feared God, He persevered, even though everything but his life was taken from him. Even so, he never cursed God which is what satan was trying to get him to do. Job 1:9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” satan also said Job 2:4 “Skin for skin! A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” Even with all this happening, Job did not curse God but remained faithful to his God and persevered until God blessed him, even though he did not know when that would be. James 5:11 “As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”
Even though everyone around Job tried to convince him he had sinned, and even when he felt God was nowhere to be found, Job never gave up. Job 23:8 “But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. 9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him. 10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. 11 My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. 12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.” In God’s perfect timing, Job was restored because Job had remained faithful. Job 42:7 “After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” Job 42:10 “After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. 16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years.”
Job is an amazing example of perseverance and in the end, he was blessed because he remained faithful to his God and did not turn away. At the beginning we see God confirm that Job was on the right track, so his perseverance was not in vain. Paul said 1 Corinthians 15:2 “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.” Today there are many believing in vain because they are running with all they have in the wrong direction. Paul also said Galatians 5:7 “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty.” We know this is satan trying to do what he was trying to do with Job but unlike Job, many have been deceived into believing their perseverance will be blessed by God. The reality is they are so deceived they do not know that they have been cut off, yet they still are running with everything they have. Jeremiah 8:6 “I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. None of them repent of their wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” Each pursues their own course like a horse charging into battle.” This is not perseverance, but stubbornness.
Many believe with everything they have that the race they are running will lead them to eternal life, but have ended up in the wrong line. Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Unlike Job they will not be blessed. Luke 13:22 “Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’”
Paul made it clear that many will worship in vain because they followed a different jesus and other gospels. 2 Corinthians 11:3 “I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!”
Job remained faithful because he did not listen to satan who was using his wife and friends and everyone around him to try to convince him that he was wrong, but in the end God blessed him and everyone around him knew that he was a faithful man of God. 1 John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Today the church is filled with false teachers who are leading the church astray. Yes, there are people today like Job who are persevering and following the right path and there will be those like Job had around him who will try to convince you that you are on the wrong path. But for the most part the church is on the wrong path and the voices are trying to convince you that you are on the right path, when in fact you are not. This takes discernment but the church is like Israel and are senseless. Deuteronomy 32:28 “They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them. 29 If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be!”
So pray for discernment. Even Solomon asked for discernment. 1 Kings 3:9 “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.” Because the church has rebelled against God’s word, the abomination that causes desolation has decimated the church and truth is nowhere to be found. Daniel 8:12 “Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.” This is why we must once again seek the truth of God’s word. John 8:31 “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
If you are persevering, make sure that you are running in the right race, standing in the right line and following the right Jesus and the right gospel. Repentance is about changing directions. In Job’s case he did not have to change directions but in the end, after God spoke to him, Job said Job 42:5 “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” Jesus said Mark 1:5 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” If you are still breathing it is not too late to repent and change directions. Once you repent, then persevere until God fulfills His promise and restores the church. At this point, don’t be surprised when those around you tell you that you are going in the wrong direction when in fact you are now on the right path.
Hosea 14:9 “Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.”
