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JOB'S WIFE - AN UNPOPULAR OPINION

Job is a Bible character used to teach faithfulness and absolute reliance on Yahweh among Christians. His story is a rather disturbing one, perhaps the most disturbing story in the Bible. What happened to Job?

          According to the Bible, Job was the wealthiest man of the East, at the time. His affluence was incomparable, and he had the most beautiful children too. He was also a righteous man, serving his God faithfully and offering sacrifices as needed. Job’s children were also well-to-do; they organized parties regularly on the day of their birth. After each of the parties, righteous Job would offer sacrifices to God on their behalf in case they had sinned against God during their celebrations. Job had many friends, the closest being four men. He was blessed with a wife too.

          All was well with Job until Satan insisted to God that Job was faithful to Him because He was protecting him. On two occasions, God permitted Satan to test Job’s integrity and faithfulness. First, Satan struck Job’s businesses; foreigners raided his caretakers and his livestock and he lost everything. Immediately he received the news, he worshiped God. Then, Job lost all his children at once in a disaster. He fell down and worshiped when he heard that, despite the heartrending news.

          The second strike was to his person. Satan struck Job such that boils broke out on his skin. According to scripture, it was so bad that he took off his clothes, sat in the rubble, and scraped himself with potsherds. Then Job’s wife, after seeing her husband’s plight, and believing it was from God, asked her husband why he maintained his integrity, and if it wouldn’t be better for him to curse God and die. At least that would save Job from the misery he was in. Job rebuked his wife, and we never hear of her again until the end of the entire story.

          Now, here’s what I find curious: in Satan’s attempt to disprove Job’s integrity to God, he struck everything, including Job’s ten children, but he left Job’s wife. Job’s wife was neither killed nor struck with any disease. Why?

          Many theologians and lay Christians believe Job’s wife was instrumental to Satan hence she was spared to make Job’s life more miserable. Satan left her to complete his work of destruction on Job: to make him curse God and finish him completely. But that begs the question: how much more miserable could one get after all that had happened to him? What more could his wife have done to Job to topple him over, after all that he was already going through? He was already down; how much farther down could his wife have pushed him?

          Let’s go to the beginning of everything: Genesis. After Yahweh fashioned Eve out of Adam’s rib and brought her to him, Adam declared that Eve was the bone of his bone and the flesh of his flesh. At last, he had a companion among all the creations of Yahweh. And Yahweh approved. Christians believe this was the institution of marriage.

“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” – Genesis 2:24.

In that case, Adam and Eve were no longer two individuals, but one in the sight of God. That means that when God sees Adam, He sees Adam and Eve; when God sees Eve, He sees Adam and Eve. That is not to say that they didn’t have unique personalities and qualities. In fact, their uniqueness solidified their union – the weakness of one was the strength of the other. Each of them covered the other up where they fell short. In their differences lay their strength.

          Based on the above, I daresay that Job and his wife had become “one flesh”. So, in dealing with Job, Yahweh saw his life as joined to that of his wife. Therefore, in instructing Satan to not touch the life of Job, Yahweh was telling Satan to stay away from Job’s wife as well because Job was joined to his wife to be one. And if Satan touched Job’s wife, Satan touched Job too. If Satan had killed Job’s wife in his destruction spree, he might as well finish Job off there and then. What would he be living for without his wife to whom he is joined?

          Before you argue about whether Job’s wife was deserving of such favour or not, remember that it is not by your standards that Yahweh exists. Our society has redefined men and women and their relationships so much so that it no longer resembles what our loving Yahweh created in the beginning. In the beginning, marriage between a man and woman was supposed to be a strengthening bond, even a covering for the woman.

          Remember in Genesis 3 when Yahweh got disappointed and cursed everyone? Did you know that Adam was not cursed? If God had cursed Adam, He would have cursed Himself because Adam came from Him. Rather, God cursed the ground that Adam worked on and put his wife under his authority. This should be beautiful. To that effect, whoever submits to the authority of her husband enjoys certain immunities and blessings. You’ll agree with me that aside from the societal snide remarks that marriage does not benefit a man, men have attested to open doors after marriage to their Eve. Women have also attested to open doors after connecting with their Adam. (That does not mean unmarried people are not blessed; they are also blessed in their own right.)

          Here is my unpopular opinion: Satan did not touch Job’s wife because spiritually, she was one with her husband, Job. What lessons can we learn from Job’s wife?

1.   A wife’s submission to her own husband can save her from many things.

2.   In times of crisis, be a voice of comfort, not of scorn.

3.   Keep your vow of sticking with each other ‘for better or worse’.

4.   When all is said and done, the wife is blessed just as much as her husband.

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