Why didn’t Job’s wife die when God removed the hedge?
The account of Job, his sufferings, and his patience is very well known among most people. We read in Job 1:1-3, “There 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. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.” Job’s wife is not mentioned here, but we know she existed for she bore Job ten children. Although Job’s wife is referred to three times (Job 2:9, 19:17, and 31:10) the Word of God does not give us her name.
Job was a very wealthy man, and he was a very godly man whose family was very close to each other (verse 4). Job continually sought the Lord for their safety and well-being (verse 5). The Lord said of Job in verse 8, “there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil.” In response to Satan’s challenge, the Lord responded to him, “Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.” Very soon after that, Job’s oxen and asses were stolen, and his servants were killed. In that same day he also lost all his camels and the servants that attended them were killed. Also on that same day, a mighty wind (tornado) caused the house of his oldest son to be destroyed, killing all of Job’s children. IN ONE DAY, Job’s life was changed drastically. What loss! What sorrow! Let’s read of Job’s response in verses 20-22, “Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”
To tear one’s clothes and shave one’s head were both signs of deep grief. (Read Genesis 37:34 and Micah 1:16). No doubt, Job was deeply saddened by his sudden and severe losses, yet he “fell down upon the ground, and worshipped.” I think most of us are familiar with Job’s words here, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” What confidence in the perfect and sovereign will of God! God gave Job all he had, and He was certainly justified in taking it all away. In all this, Job worshipped and praised the name of the Lord. We then read that in spite of all he had just endured, Job did not resort to sinning against God, nor did he rail against God and blame Him for his loss.
There are so many lessons for us to learn in this valuable book of Job, but I want to focus now on the question before us, “Why didn’t Job’s wife die when God removed the hedge?” Since the Bible doesn’t tell us directly why Job’s wife life was spared, we can only speculate to some degree. It is important to notice that Job’s loss of cattle, servants and children were also his wife’s loss. How it must have crushed her heart to lose her ten children at one time! Perhaps she was left to mourn together with her husband.
We later learned of Job’s continued sufferings when Satan “smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.” (Job 2:7). How this must have been very painful, on top of losing his children, his servants, and his cattle. Job’s wife’s advice to him (although terrible) revealed how hurt she was to see her husband suffer so much. She said to him, “Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.” What appalling counsel, yet her desire was to see Job’s suffering cease. No doubt Job’s wife regarded a quick death as better than long-drawn-out suffering. We read his response in Job 2:10, “But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.”
So why did the Lord spare her life, even with her bad advice to her husband? Let’s go to the last chapter in the book of Job where we read in verses 10-13, “And 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. Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold. So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters.” After the great trial of Job, “The LORD GAVE JOB TWICE as much as he had before.”
It seems certain that the Lord used Job’s wife to give him his children. Notice that it says that “He had also seven sons and three daughters.” This is the same number of children that he had before…not twice as much! We are not told for certain why there are only ten children restored to Job, it could be an illustration that Job’s former children were not lost, but lived with God, and would live for eternity. With that in mind, the number might now be said to be doubled. We might consider this as a proof of the immortality of the soul, and of the resurrection of the body of the Lord’s people. (471.2)