Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025
I have started a challenging walk through the book of Job. We all know the incredible life Job had, the fact that God let Satan test him, and the friends that were of little help to him. Lately though, I have enjoyed asking God questions about the less mentioned people in the Bible. Job’s wife is one of them. There are really only two scriptures that mention her influence in this story. Let’s look at them in Job 2:9 and 19:17:
9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
17 My breath is offensive to my wife, and I am repulsive to the children of my own body.
My first question was why didn’t Satan take out Job’s wife when he killed all the rest of his family and possessions? Perhaps a part of it has to do with the “two shall become one” principle. But more of me is feeling that it was God’s intention to give us a glimpse of how two different people can respond to the same situation. While Job’s wife did not incur the painful boils to her body, she did experience the same loss of wealth and family. It’s no secret that losing all of our possessions and family in one day would be a deeply trying experience. Some may respond the way Job did in the end of chapter 1 (v. 21-22). My guess is that a larger percentage of the population would respond the way Job’s wife did.
Instead of encouraging him to stand strong and stay righteous she told him to curse God and find relief in his death. In chapter 19 it says Job’s wife was offended by his breath. If she was offended by his breath she was surely offended by his boils and everything else this brought with it. I imagine someone in his state of pain would have a hard time cleansing themselves and would have lost much weight because of a loss of appetite.
What if Job’s wife had been the helpmate God intended? What if she had prayed with him, assisted him with his painful wounds, tried to feed him, defended him against his friends and encouraged him to be strong? I know this isn’t how the story went, but sometimes we learn just as much from what people did wrong as we do from what they did right.
Final Thoughts…
Job’s response to the pain and suffering that God brought on him is incredible. It’s even more incredible knowing that he did this in solitude with a wife that not only didn’t support him, but was repulsed by him. How committed are we to the life of holiness that God has called us to? Are we being swayed or influenced by those who have compromised their callings? Are we doing all we can to encourage our brothers and sisters to live the life that God has called them to? Are we being puppeted by someone else’s emotions or manipulative behavior? Can we truly bless God in any and every situation?