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.
Job 42:1-17
The Epilogue of Job
1 Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
7 After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.
12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years.
Suffering is a part of the human condition...It is an inherent part of being human...Suffering happens...And suffering will happen in everyone's life at some point in our lives either early in one's life or later, or at different times or many times...Some people will suffer more than others...And it is not realistic that we can get rid of much or any of our sufferings, like Job had...But we try, maybe talking to a friend or friends, going to the doctor, or by avoiding things that cause us grief, or by praying...
From what we read about Job, it seems that he did not suffer much until God allowed the evil one to enter his life...Then much suffering happened to him...Job then is bombarded with suffering...He first loses family, friends, servants, and his wealth...Then next comes the evil one taking away Job's good health...And when this happens Job's focus is more on his suffering and he turns to God and looking for answers through Him...Job has his friends, and they came to console him...Job's friends reasoned that sin causes suffering...And they thought that Job had sinned...Yet, they were wrong in their thinking, and wrong in the way they looked at and viewed people who suffer...
At first Job accepts his early tragedies and tells his wife that we must accept God's good with the bad in life that we are given...But after all of the tragedies have hit Job, his focus because more internal...And he looks to God for answers...So he questioned God...And he questions Him quite a bit...His life had become one of continuous suffering and so he wanted answers and thought that God was the One to provide them in his misery...So we see that as his suffering continues, he turns more and more to God and wonders why his suffering has happened...
And this question to God comes up in all his suffering, can we defend God in the face of evil and our sufferings?...God remained silent through much of the Book of Job, but God never left Job's side, during his sufferings...
Job questions God and he tells God and his friends that he has done nothing to deserve this suffering in his life...But his friends linked sin and suffering together, while Job did not...
God does not come immediately to Job's aid...But we know that God is with us in the midst of our storms, and out of a storm He comes...And He confronts Job...God does not answer Job's many questions...And Job had much dialogue as did his friends...Much was said on the issue of suffering and why we suffer...In the end we learn that Job was right and his friends were wrong...God had been listening to all the things that were being said...So as we read the Book of Job, and study the dialogue, what Job says and does is right, while what his friends have said and done is wrong (in the total of all things said), in the Eyes of God...So we learn that God was listening to that was being said...And God acknowledges this righteousness of Job on suffering, without answering any of Job's questions that he had for Him...The elusive why's of suffering are not told by God to Job or to us...
Job had endured his trials of sufferings and had kept the faith in the midst of all the tragedies that had happened in his life...
God said Job's friend had not spoken the truth about Him...But Job had...So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer...And God restored Job's losses and his suffering was over after Job prayed for his friends...After Job's hardships and trials -Job had persisted and endured and he kept his faith...And after his prayer for his friends, then Job is blessed...