Job 1-2 part 2
Tonight we will take a close look at chapters 1 and 2.
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. 2 And seven sons and three
daughters were born to him. 3
Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five
hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household,
so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.
Job lived in a place
called Uz. While this place is mentioned in Lam. 4:21 and Jer. 25:20, we do not
know its exact location. However, we do know that it was on the east side of
the Jordan River possibly in the
We learn a lot about
Job’s character in these first 3 verses. He was blameless, which is the same
word used to describe Noah (Gen. 6:9). This does not mean that he was not
sinless, but he was spiritually mature and faithful to God.
He is also called
upright, which describes a person who is honest in their business and dealing
with others. He was not a liar and he could be trusted.
He feared God, which
means he had a deep reverence for God.
He shunned evil, which
means he stayed away from it and avoided it.
Since Job had this deep
reverence for God, it caused him to be a great man of the east. He was blessed
with 7 boys and 3 girls and he was rich physical and spiritually. He had a wealth
of animals and as we find out later, he also had servants that worked for him.
Many times the Bible talks about how money can change a person for the worse,
but not with Job. Men like Job and Abraham did not allow their wealth to keep
them from serving God, which proves that a person can be rich and serve God if
they have their priorities straight.
Job 1:4 And his
sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day,
and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 So it was, when the days of
feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he
would rise early in the morning and offer 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 Job did regularly.
We are not told how long
these feasts lasted, but the typical feast lasted 7 days. We also don’t know
the significance of these various appointed days for each son. Some think it
might be referring to their birthday or it could just be a certain day set
aside for that individual son to host the feast.
When the feast over, Job
took on the role of the family priest, which is strong evidence that Job lived
during the Patriarchal period. He would send for his children and sanctify them
and early that morning he would make a burnt offering on their behalf because
he loved his children and wanted to make sure their sins were covered in case
they had cursed God in their hearts. This was not a one time event, because Job
did it often.
Job 1:6 Now
there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the
LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7
And the LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered
the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking
back and forth on it."
This is one of those
sections of Scriptures that I wish we had more information on because there are
a couple of things that are difficult to determine. The first difficulty is
this phrase “sons of God”, which basically means follower of God. So, it could
mean angles or it could refer to group of men that follow God. Most believe it
refers to angels in this Scripture. Whichever it is, we do know that Satan was
there with them.
This next difficulty is
where did this meeting take place? Was it on the earth or in heaven itself?
Some have a problem with the Satan being able to have access to heaven, so they
believe this was a meeting on the earth with men that were followers of God,
but those that say these are angels simply say that God allowed Satan to come
to the meeting in heaven because we can see that God is control in that Satan
had to ask permission for what he can do to Job.
Despite these two difficulties
we know that this meeting took place and Satan was there. He said that he had
been walking back and forth on the earth, which reminds me of Peter statement:
1 Peter 5:8 Be
sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Job 1:8 Then
the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there
is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears
God and shuns evil?"
God wants to know if
Satan has taken a in-depth look at Job. If there is any doubt of Job’s faithfulness,
God puts it to rest by saying the he was His servant and that there was no one
like him on the earth. Once again, we wee the character of Job mentioned. What
an honor it would be to know that you outshined the rest in your faithfulness
to God.
Job 1:9 So
Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 "Have You not made a hedge
around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You
have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the
land. 11 "But now,
stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You
to Your face!" 12 And
the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power;
only do not lay a hand on his person." So Satan went out from the
presence of the LORD.
Satan is accusing God of
buying Job’s loyalty. He seems to think that if the blessing are gone, then Job
will curse God to His face. Basically, Satan believes that everyone has their
price and all can be bought, and in some cases this is true. Many have left the
everlasting arms of God to live in sin. As Jesus said,
Matthew 16:26 "For
what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Based on Satan’s response,
it tells me that he knew Job and had already tried to find a way to tempt him
when he was walking to and fro, but he could not find away in around that hedge
of protection. We need to realize that while the devil is a dangerous
adversary, he is not all powerful. He cannot violate our freewill, but he is an
expert at knowing our weaknesses and exploiting them. As Christians we have a
hedge of protection as well because James says,
James
4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Also God will not allow us to be tempted beyond
what we are capable of handling.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as
is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be
tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the
way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Even though God is going
to allow Satan to test Job, he still has a restriction of not touching Job.
Just as God knows what we can handle, he also knows what Job can handle, which is
far more than most of us could bear.
Job 1:13 Now
there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking
wine in their oldest brother's house; 14
and a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the
donkeys feeding beside them, 15
"when the Sabeans raided them and took them away -- indeed they
have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped
to tell you!" 16 While
he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The fire of God
fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them;
and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
17 While he was still speaking, another also came and
said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them
away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have
escaped to tell you!" 18
While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "Your sons
and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's
house, 19 "and suddenly
a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the
house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have
escaped to tell you!"
Satan didn’t waste
anytime with the power that was granted him by God. That day in Job’s life
started our normal, but it would turn out to be a day that he would never
forget. Job’s children were having another feast in the oldest brothers house
when all of this went down.
It all starts with the Sabeans
who came and stole Job’s oxen and donkeys and killed all the servants except
one. That one servant runs and tells Job. While he is telling him the bad news,
another servant comes and tells him how fire, which may have been lightening,
came down from the sky and burned up his sheep and his servants except for him.
This servant assumed that this fire came from God because it came down from the
sky, but we know that came from Satan.
Before this servant
finished his news, a third servant tells Job how Chaldeans came and took his
3000 camels and killed all his servants except for him. Satan is doing his best
to beat Job down hard and fast. He saves the hardest blow for last. Again,
before this servant was finished talking, another came told him how a strong
wind came and caused the house his 10 children were in to collapse and they
were all dead. Two of these attacks were natural and two of them were forces of
nature.
I want you to try and
imagine how traumatic this would be. Some of us may be able to handle the first
3 rounds Satan dealt out, but how many of us could handle all 10 of our children
being killed? I have known people that have cursed God and blamed Him for the
death of one child, but we are talking about 10 and the death of his servants
and the loss of all of his possession. Well let’s see what Job response is.
Job 1:20 Then
Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and
worshiped. 21 And he said:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The
LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the
LORD." 22 In all this
Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.
Job shows us the response
of a righteous man. Tearing his robe and shaving his head were all responses to
great distress, but was amazing is that Job fell to the ground and worshipped
God instead of cursing Him. The devil had failed. Job believes that God made
this all this happen or at least allowed it to happen, but he did not blame or
accuse God of doing something wrong. Instead, he accepted the fact that that
God can give and take away. He knew that we came into this world naked without
anything and he would leave this world the same way. This similar to what Paul
said,
1 Timothy 6:7 For we
brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry
nothing out.
Someone once said: “When you have nothing left except God then for the first time you become aware that God is enough.” This is the conclusion that Job had come to, and he did not sin during this horrible event.
Job 2:1 Again
there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the
LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 And the LORD said to Satan,
"From where do you come?" So Satan answered the LORD and said,
"From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on
it." 3 Then the LORD
said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none
like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns
evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against
him, to destroy him without cause."
Once again, we have the same dilemma, are the sons of God angels or a group of men following God and where is this meeting taking place? We have no way of knowing how much time has passed, but another meeting happens and it almost identical to the first. God is still pointing out that Job has the same faithful characteristics even though the devil did his best to break him. Job is certainly a great example for us to follow today. We should never blame God for the bad things that happen in our life, but we should rejoice and be thankful for the good in our life and give God the glory.
Job 2:4 So
Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has
he will give for his life. 5
"But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he
will surely curse You to Your face!"
6 And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in
your hand, but spare his life."
Satan knows that he was wrong, and he failed to get Job to sin, but Satan does not give up easily. He is convinced that if Job suffers physically that he will curse God. If anything, we learn that Satan does not care about us and he could care less about how much we suffer. Well, God has enough faith in Job that he could handle another round from Satan, so God allows Satan to cause Job to suffer physically, but He restricts him in that he cannot take Job’s life.
Job 2:7 So
Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils
from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And he took for himself a
potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.
Satan did not waste any
time. He immediately struck Job with painful boils all over his body. Most
scholars believe that Job was suffering from leprosy or elephantiasis. There
were several symptoms associated with this disease:
This horrible disease
appears to have continued for several months (7:3; 29:2). (The Book of Job,
Wayne Jackson, p 22)
Could you imagine having all
these symptoms and having these boils from the top of your head to the soles of
your feet? It would cause you great pain just to walk. When this happened to
Job, he found a place that had ash and broken pottery and he sat in this dirty
place that added to his misery and he scrapped his ravaged body seeking some
relief from this endless itching.
Job 2:9 Then
his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God
and die!" 10 But he said
to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed
accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job
did not sin with his lips.
Now we are introduced to
Job’s wife. Unlike Job, she did not have his faith and all these events broke
her faith, and now the Satan was using her on Job. She wants Job to curse God
and die. Satan has no problem using every angle he can to get to you including
the weakness of others.
I am sure it disappointed
Job that his wife had lost her faith, but he wasn’t going to let her comments
make him lose his faith. He rebukes her and calls her foolish woman and he
tries to get her to understand his point of view. Just as we accept good from
God, we should also accept adversity. We cannot turn our back on God just
because things are going bad at the moment. Again, Job did not sin with his
lips because he did not curse God.
Job 2:11 Now
when Job's three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him,
each one came from his own place -- Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite,
and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come
and mourn with him, and to comfort him. 12
And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they
lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on
his head toward heaven. 13 So
they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one
spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.
Job was well connected
throughout the land because these three friends of his came from the 3
different areas. These 3 men knew each other because they had decided to meet
up and go to mourn with Job and comfort him. These three had good intentions,
but as we will learn later that their good intensions of comforting Job turn
into accusations and they frustrate him instead.
When they saw Job from
afar, the disease had changed his looks to the point that they could not
recognize him. They could not believe their eyes. We can see how much Job meant
to them because of how they grieved. They raised their voices and wept. They
tore their robes and threw dirt on their head. For 7 long days they sat with
their friend without saying a word. Sometimes the best thing you can do for
person is just be there for them.
For instance, when you
visit a sick in the hospital, they may not remember a word that you said unless
said something rude, but they will remember that you were there and that tells
them that you cared even if you didn’t speak a word.
While Job was comforted
by the presence of his three friends, after 7 days of silence Job was ready to
speak out and we will look at what he said next week. We have learned some
great lessons from these two chapters.
1. We have learned that
God is in control and Satan has no power over Him.
2. We have learned that God is worthy to be worshipped in good times and in bad times.
3. We have learned that we should never stop trusting in God because He is always there for us.
4. We have learned Satan doesn’t care about our well being and he will do what he can to make us lose our faith, but he cannot violate our free will.