Many speak of the hardships Job endured, but did anyone notice Job had also become self-righteous?

Question

Job endured one of the greatest demonic attacks in the Bible, and his ability to remain faithful was a true sign of his love for God.

However, when we "practice" sin, we give Satan a foothold in our lives, and the Lord will use those opportunities to humble and teach his children.

Despite all the blessings and protection the Lord provided Job, he had become self-righteous. In Job 33:1-9 we are reminded that BEFORE Job's problems began he boasted "I am pure without sin, clean and free of guilt". Wow! That's a huge statement for an imperfect human.

Jesus was the only person who walked the earth in the flesh who could proclaim such a thing. Self-righteousness is a PRACTICING sin...which means Job may have been this way for quite some time. This sin also eventually leads to greater sins...namely pride, greed, etc. So it's possible the Lord wanted to prevent Job from something only he could forsee.

Did anyone else pick up on this, as I rarely here Christians discuss it??

p.s. I just wanted to mention this, as many believe the Lord was cruel because they see Job as completely innocent...almost perfect...and among humans that may have been the opinion. However, the Lord does everything for our good, and only he knows what the future held for Job. It's always best to trust God, because his wisdom is supernatural, and he uses the good and bad for our benefit.

Darth, that's very true, and perhaps the Lord gave Satan permission because of this practicing sin. Job would even offer burnt sacrifices for his children each morning "assuming" they had secretly sinned and cursed God in their hearts.

On the surface, this would appear to be a "holy act" to humans. But if one looks deeper on a spiritual level, that act was also a form of self-righteousness in many ways. The Bible says train a child in the way he should go, and when he is older he will not turn from it." (Proverbs 22:6)

Not assume our children are unable to ALSO worship the Lord in obedience, or receive guidance from the Lord to stay on the right path. The thing about scripture, is that a few lines, say much if you read them with discernment. :)

Hi Imnotatroll, that's not completely accurate. Satan and his demons had been watching Job, and tried to attack him BEFORE approaching the Lord. That is how they knew, Job was protected by God. They were unable to touch him. Satan is known as the "accuser". He looks for loop holes and reasons to blame the Children of God, and Mock the Lord. :)

Hi Jan, that's not completely accurate. The person who quoted Job as making this statement, was NOT one of Job's friends.

It was Elihu, a young man who was sitting near by listening to Job talking with his friends while they were accusing and discouraging Job.

This young man reminded Job of his quote, to help he remember that he was NOT blameless and without sin. :)

Hi Biblehelp, yes your understanding is is often taught by Jehovah Witnesses, and also believed by many other Christians.

Again, the person who quoted Job as making the self-righteous quote, was NOT one of Job's friends, nor was Job attempting to SOLELY contradict his accusers as you've stated.

Elihu reminded Job of his self-righteous statement because there was a greater lesson to be learned.

Many read the book of Job from a purely EMOTIONAL standpoint...they are either enraged at God, angry at Satan, or overwhelmed with compassion for Job, so they miss many of the other teachings.

However, there are several lessons presented in the story of job, along with those of faith and trust. And yes, Job was richly blessed after his attack had ended, which a sign of God's grace, love, and more.

Hi Kickinupfunf, I agree Job was not "gloating" when he stated "I am pure without sin, clean and free of guilt".

I honestly believe he sincerely was overwhelmed and in shock as to why so much had began to happen to him, and was speaking out of frustration.

However, gloating and self-righteousness are defined differently. :)

Gloating is when someone observes or thinks about something with triumphant and often malicious satisfaction.

Self-righteous is when someone is convinced of their own righteousness especially in contrast with the actions and beliefs of others : narrow-mindedly moralistic.

Someone can be self-righteous and prone to gloating, but the latter is not always involved. A person can be silent, quiet, and rarely speak of themselves, and still be self-righteous. Hope that helps. :)

Kickinupfunf, I forgot to mention, the comment Job made was spoken "after" Satan had began to torment him. So the self-righteous statement could not have been what prompted Satan to ask God's permission to harass Job.

We eventually read in Job 32:1-2:

So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him.

Elihu was the only one who truly understood the entire lesson that was being taught. Many christians miss this.

Job listed tons of "acts" and "works" to justify why he shouldn't be attacked(self-righteousness), and Job's friends did not keep God as the focus, by lovingly showing Job he would understand why God was justified. Instead, they only spoke to discourage and condemn Job.

Hi Hope! You've made very good points. We must trust God completely because he always has our best interests in mind. Also, we can not depend on "works" and "acts" which may cause us to appear "upright" and "blameless" before humans(which was the point God made with his rhetorical questions to Satan), we must depnd on GOD 100% because only he can see our hearts.

Job loved God very much, and had a level of faith, many christians have never obtained. However, Job also lived in FEAR due to his lack of complete trust in God. Fear always stems from sin, and in Job's case that SIN was self-righteousness.

In Job 4:25, Job states the thing "i greatly feared has come upon me".

We all have fear at times within reason, but when Believers walk in the FULL authority and power of God, there is no IRRATIONAL fear, there is love.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made PERFECT in love.

I believe the Lord also chose to speak through a child(Elihu) to reveal the sin of Job and his friends to make the point, that no matter how religious, upright, or holy we appear to ourselves or others, without dependence on the lord and a childlike humility, we can not fully be used by God, will lack DISCERNMENT, and open ourselves to sin and harm by the spirit realm. Elihu was only a boy, and was the ONLY one who expressed spiritual WISDOM during the tragedies, yet few Christians ever mention Elihu, a sign that many of the lessons contained in Job have been missed.

Hi Scott, yes the Book of Job is worth reading more than once. Self-Righteousness and Fear could have led to greater sins by a man who was wealthy, admired, revered by an entire country, and targeted by Satan such as Job.

The Lord has insight beyond human understanding. Sadly, many Believers have possibly lost the opportunity of leading others to Christ, by their lack of discernment and inaccurate interpretation of the Book of Job, and many are led to believe God would play a game of pain and tragedy with his children, to satisfy the whims of Satan, which is FALSE.

The Lord will use all bad to save our lives, or helps us mature spiritually. Despite the deaths of Job's children, loss of property, and more, he still could not see his own sins, which is a sign they were deeply rooted, and eventually Satan would have used that for evil.

The Lord actually showed great mercy and grace by his choices. Who knows what plans Satan had in mind for a man in Job's position.

Marianne you must have me confused with someone else, as I have not responded to any of your messages, and I'm not sure what you mean by "won't get in".

Hello discipleabct! If you read all of my above thoughts, you will see that none of my responses stated that the Lord brought hardship upon Job. Our Heavenly Father does not torment or torture His children to prove a point, even when they are rebellious. He is just, holy, and love.

However, I did state, that the Lord "allowed" Satan to attack Job, by temporarily removing his protection which is "fact" as stated in scripture.

In response to your last two points: at your convenience, please take the time to read "all" previous replies, and you will see that I agree with both. It appears you may have misunderstood some of the important points which were shared, or perhaps you did not read all of the replies which were posted.

Answer 1

I agree, Job was self-righteous, and yet I still see complaints about the hardships of the "innocent" that somehow don't deserve anything but life handed to them on a silver platter, with a halo and a reserved spot in heaven. It's a great plug for Calvinism that sees man as totally depraved, who can never merit heaven on his own. He cannot make a decision for Christ, and God would be fully justified in leaving man in his sins and allowing him to head to hell with whatever free will he wants.

In the trials of my own life, I really had to ask myself whether God should have done something to prevent those hardships. And I had to only look at Job's condition and what God's response was to received my own answer about what I deserved, and what the Lord had done for me in spite of my sinful nature.

Answer 2

Yes, but didn't God even remark on what a devoted man Job was? Or something to that effect. That was why He was so sure that Job's faith could withstand the test. Was Job boasting or just stating the fact? I mean, if doing all the proper rituals and burning the right sacrifices, along with having a good and loving heart wasn't enough to make him "clean and without sin" then what would have done it?

I think that you may be making this one statement more important than it really is. Perhaps this is an underlying motive, but it's not the main story. Interesting though, that's for sure!

Answer 3

Job knew that he was a sinner as everyone else, his statement is to contradict what his false comforters were saying, that he did something wrongful and God was punishing him for it, God himself called Job a man upright and blameless. You need a better understanding of the Scriptures you are reading. Going a little further on this subject, did not God himself count Abraham's faith in God as righteousness, then the same could be said of Job. Job in the end did think a little too much of himself and God corrected Job and Job humbly accepted the correction and then God had Job make sacrifices for his false comforters as they actually said wrong about God. God then blessed Job more in the end then in the beginning of what he lost materially and Job had seven more sons and three more daughters and Job continued living another 140 years and saw 4 generations of his children before dying old and satisfied with days. Satan made the challenge against Job's integrity to God, God allowed it knowing Job was righteous, we are facing the same challenge today only we know that Satan is trying to brake us, Job didn't, this is how we can keep our integrity to God so that God can make a reply to Satan who is taunting God.

Answer 4

You rarely hear Christian discuss Job because they most likely are not the in tune with the old testament. However I would say that Jobs, boast of being a righteous man was not in the manner of gloating, it was a statement he made and that Satan used to get God to allow him to test Jobs, righteousness. Remember that God allowed Satan then to throw everything he could and would at this noble and righteous man call Job. And Job, with all his humanity did slide and fall a few times, but never did he desert his love and devotion to God, never did Satan bend the will of this righteous human to that of his evil web.

Job is one of the most wonderful enlightening stories that each one of us, because we are human, can learn a lesson or two from. It is an illustration of love, devotion, courage, going back within and coming back out with the love of God intact and for that we all are rewarded dearly and blessed eternity. I love the story of Job and should I be half.......no a tenth that of righteous I only pray so.

thank you for this question, it awakes once again all that MAN can be and will be, if only...........he has love and belief in God Almighty the size of a mustard seed!!

Answer 5

I'll have to reread that. I never picked up on that or heard it before. Lots of good points here. Like you said, I rarely hear christains talk about this (how this sort of self righteousness leads to other sins).

I have this kid in my youth group who claims that he has no sin in his life. Each time I teach, I utilize the Law every chance I get. It always has a way to work into any lesson. The high standards of God when He tells us that looking at a woman with lust is considered adultery and that being mad at someone is murder in His eyes. I show them how people make a god in their own image. Etc. I have also showed them that the bible says that there is not one who is good (Isaiah 59, i think, and somewhere in romans, sorry I don't have the exact verses). So, either the bible is right, which is God's word, or we're right.

Answer 6

Now would you like to know where your error is?????????? I study in the manuscripts, and what you are missing is that it wasn't Job talking during 33:1-9; it was the three friends that came from Rosh (modern day Russia), and who were holier-than-thou hippocrites;
The Book of Job, from when these so-called "friends" came to advise Job, and all the way til you get to Chapter 38, it is nothing but these three guys telling Job how he sinned against God, or else these things wouldn't have happened, blah blah blah - 38 chapter of total bull from them. And, just like you, I've heard preachers teach that this stuff is the Word of God - it is not; Do you know what God says about it? Go to the 38th Chapter, and God says it something like this;(my words, but this is what is comes down to, basically:

WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO THOSE IDIOTS FOR WHO ARE WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE - LISTEN TO ME.

When you choose to pull something out of Scripture, always back up to where you know what the subject and object is of what is being discussed; this might help you be a bit more accurate in the future.
The Book of Job is a great teaching book, and one of its greatest lessons is that you should not listen to man; he'll foul you up every time.
Listen to God.

Answer 7

Job 1:1
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job;
and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.

Job was not perfect or without sin; however it appears from the language that he had put his trust in God for redemption and faithfully lived a God-honoring, sincere life of integrity.
Just like Abraham, Job believed God, and it was accredited to him as righteousness.
The book of Job is about trusting God's purposes in the midst of suffering because suffering is directed by perfect divine wisdom. In the end, the lesson learned was that one may never know the specific reason for suffering; but one must trust in Sovereign God.

Answer 8

I can understand why you might think that, but remember Satan wanted to attack someone & God asked him if he ever considered Job.
Satan said that Job was only faithful to God because God blessed Job greatly.
Job certainly went through the ringer with all that Satan brought against him, but he sinned not against God in the process.
When God told Satan 'Enough", then God started to reassemble Job's life.
BUT I really don't think that Job was getting self-righteous.

Answer 9

hey you,listen.I found ur comment ' chances are you won't get in' very insulting, because you don't even know who i am , so i suggest you need to keep your mouth shut.I don't need people like you ,WHO I DON'T EVEN KNOW putting me down like that.i wanted it more then anything, and you may well be right but how dare you say such a b****y thing like that cause you don't even know if i'm good or not. You could've said you may well get in but don't get ur hopes up.all im saying is from now on say something that would boost thier confidence ,okay? and you don't even know s**t about me, so i suggest you STFU.
and by the way, i wasnt looking for you're answer, i needed a percentage to make sure i was right,genius.

kthanksbye/

Answer 10

Something even spoken less of about Job is the reward he received from God at the end of the book for remaining faithful to God. When I was a pastor, people would tell me, "oh, I'm just another Job." They looked at me weird when I told them about the end of the story.