Noah Was Perfect and Protected; Job Was Perfect, Yet Persecuted -- Why?

"These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." (Genesis 6:9)

"1There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil." (Job 1:1)

I have placed these two verses next to each other for a reason.

We have two clear figures, men of God, who are revered in the Old Testament and even mentioned in the New.

Noah was spared the great suffering of the world, and God used him to build an ark, save mankind and the animal kingdom.

Job, on the other hand, suffered greatly. God allowed Satan to trouble Job. He lost everything, everyone, until the very end.

What's going on? Why was Noah protected and Job persecuted?

They were both "perfect", or "tamim" in God's eyes, were they not?

"Noah was perfect ..." This does not speak to moral perfection, but physical perfection, in that he was fully human, not adulterated with the genetics of the "sons of God" aka "Bene Elohim" (Genesis 6:1-4)

That same word "perfect" describes Job. He was fully human, too. God could interact with them as His creation.

But then differences clearly emerge.

Noah was "just", righteous.

He had found grace in God's eyes:

"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." (Genesis 6:8)

In contrast, what do we read about Job?

"He was upright."

In the original Hebrew, "upright" translates the word "yashar", which speaks of good conduct on the outside. In fact, Job even feared God and avoided evil.

And yet ...

Job did not find favor in God's eyes. He was not righteous.

Job had not found grace. Noah did. Noah depended on God, believed in Him, i.e. "walked with God."

Noah was righteous. He believed in God.

Job was merely upright. He trusted in his own efforts, and spent much of his efforts covering for his children:

"5And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually." (Job 1:5)

Good works do not save us. Good behavior does not protect us.

Only God's grace protects us, His goodness secures us.

God does not want us depending on our efforts, but resting in His word.

That was God's plan from the beginning:

"And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."(Genesis 2:15)

God provided everything. He wanted to bless man, and allow man to just receive His goodness:

"The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD'S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men." (Psalm 115:16)

God wants us to believe on Him and receive from Him, not achieve on our own, grieving His heart. In fact, we cannot live apart from Him, for God Himself brought us to life with His own breath!

Noah walked with God, believed on Him, depended on Him.

Because Noah believed, He was righteous!

And because Noah believed, God formed a covenant with him, a covenant of peace and protection.

"But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee." (Genesis 6:18)

and also

"And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;" (Genesis 9:9)

God did not establish a covenant with Job,, and He could not because Job did not believe in Him. He was afraid of God, sure, but Job did not trust in Him, did not see Him as a good God from whom he could draw all things. 

In fact, Job did not start walking by faith until the very end, after he had suffered greatly, reduced to the end of himself, where he could do nothing more but ... believe and receive:

"1Then Job answered the LORD, and said,

2I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.

3Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.

4Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

5I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

6Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (John 42:1-6)

And let's not forget that when Job "repented", or rather rested, felt sorry for his wrong beliefs, but more importantly he "rested", he stopped striving, and started believing in Him!

And with that, God turned Job's captivity!

"10And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before." (Job 42:10)

So, what does it all come down to? Why was Noah perfect and spared, while Job was perfect yet persecuted?

Noah believed in the LORD, that He is good, and he received God's grace (cf. Genesis 15:6)

And with that, Noah was righteous!

And righteousness opens up manifold blessings to us!

"Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked." (Proverbs 10:6)

and

"In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee." (Isaiah 54:14)

Note that in Isaiah 54:10, God speaks of "my covenant of peace", which will not be removed from us--a covenant just like the one which God made with Noah, with Abraham (Genesis 15, 17). This covenant is enacted because of righteousness!

And this righteousness is not our righteousness, but His!

"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD." (Isaiah 54:17)

No tyranny, no terror can afflict us because we are established in His righteousness

In fact, today, we can rest in God's favor, in God's grace, because we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus! (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Beloved, you do not have to fear or wonder why Noah was protected and Job was persecuted. Today, when you believe in Christ Jesus, you receive His righteousness--and keep receiving it! (Romans 5:17), which in turn causes you to reign in Life and be freed from sin, destruction, and death!

You need not fear enduring the troubles of Job, but can rest in the gracious protection and favor of Noah--because of His righteousness!

God Defends Us, Even When It's Our Fault

"The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;" (Psalm 20:1)

God is not just interested in defending us.

He wants to promote us!

The word "defend" is "sagav" in the original Hebrew, and it means "to lift up, to defend, to exalt."

He places us high above the troubles and promotes us, grants us His glory at the same time.

In fact, today, because of all that Jesus has done, we are seated in heavenly places in Christ, at the right hand of the Father:

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" (Ephesians 2:4-6)

Now, notice how David refers to God as "The God of Jacob."

Let's recall that the name Jacob means "Supplanter", or "cheater."

He gained the First-Born blessing by deceiving his father. When Esau was approaching him and his family, Jacob put the least favored wife and the maids ahead of his favored wife Rachel. He also wrestled with God, trying to force outcomes to work his way through his efforts, rather than trusting in God's grace. When the prince of Shechem and his man capture his daughter and raped her, Jacob was willing to give away his daughter in marriage rather than defend her honor and wage justice against the prince of Shechem. His two sons Simeon and Levi would wipe out the entire city. Instead of remaining content that his sons had done something to restore the honor of their sister and his daughter, Jacob selfishly mourned:

"Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house." (Genesis 34:40)

Yet for all his failings, for all his falling and his folly, God continued to bless, favor, and promote Jacob and his family and his descendants.

God does not bless us for anything that we have done. God does not look out for us because we deserve it. God looks out for us because He is good, and because He is gracious.

Consider Jacob's prayer before Esau's arrival:

"9And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: 10I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands." (Genesis 32: 9-10)

Jacob threw himself on God's grace. He didn't deserve anything. He just said "God, Help me!"

Then notice what Jacob credited for all the good that had come to him:

"10And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. 11Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it." (Genesis 33:10-11)

Because the LORD is "The God of Jacob", He blesses and cares for us even when our own wrongdoing has hurt us. He will lift us up, promote us and protect us because of His grace, not our goodness, not our efforts, and even our predicament is our fault.