Job 1:1-22
All Job's Children Are Killed
1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
4 His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.
6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Job 2:1-13
Job's Loses His Health
On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
4 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
6 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”
10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
11 When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite,heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.
How can we explain things when personal tragedies are upon us?...We cannot explain the tragedies of life as we read the headlines of death, hurricanes, tsunamis, and other things that bring us grief, and troubles and despair...Why does God let these things to happen to us?...
As we read Job's first two chapters, we see that his personal tragedies are caused by the evil one...And God has allowed many tragedies to happen to a blameless and upright man...Job loses his family, his servants, and his wealth in the matter of a short and quick time...And then in the next chapter the evil one is allowed to take away the good health of Job, and so he goes into pain and suffering...
As we read the book of Job and we can relate to his suffering, but let us remember the Bible and the Book of Job are lessons and the Word of God...The first two chapters tell us that satan has entered Job's life, and God has allowed it...There is this Supernatural Element there, and it is God...The characters in the Book of Job have no idea of what just really happened to Job, but the reader knows...God exists and we see that He is involved...We know as reading the book, that God is in control and has allowed the evil one to make havoc of Job's life...What we don't know is how Job and the other characters will react to all the grief and suffering that has happened to Job...
If we can read the book from God's perspective, a Supernatural One, and from One who knows all things then the Book of Job is a little different...God controls all things even suffering and evil and then Job's grief and tragedies and sufferings are a little bit different...They are different, because God is in control, even though we do not like pain and suffering and tragedies...But neither did Job...God has allowed these things to happen...And although He could have stopped them, He does not...But a lesson we learn from Job is that God has proven to satan that faith is more than having a good life and maintaining that good life...God can allow us to have trials in life and we can be persistent and endure and still maintain faith in the One Above...As we read Job, he acts like this is on trial and he is trying to prove his innocence with all his dialogue, and yet he cannot prove it because God is in control and has allowed these things to happen to him...
God has allowed these things to happen to Job, and has not intervened to stop the evil one from them happening...And He could as believers know, but God will stay on the sidelines of Job's tragedies until He thinks the time is right...
The Book of Job ends and we see that Job and his friends are not given any idea of what just happened to Job...Uncertainty surrounds them, yet there is the Supernatural Being with them and they even talk to Him...Through his trials, Job clung, as best he could, to his faith...Job believed in this Supernatural Being...And in the end his clinging to his faith in God has his health restored and a new chapter and family in his life begins...He has kept the faith in the toughest of times...