The Book of Job

The book of Job is likely the oldest book in the Bible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Job. It is the one place in Scripture where we get a window into the sovereign workings in heaven that allows tragedy into the life a man. The entire book is a struggle with trying to find the answer to Job’s suffering, but in the end there are no easy answers and Job demonstrates for us how we are to respond. It is not the easy response, but it is the right response. Let’s set the stage for the week with Chapter 1 of Job.

In the first 5 verses of Job, we discover that Job had a great life. He was devoted to God, a family man having 7 sons and 3 daughters, extremely prosperous owning 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and numerous servants. Life really couldn’t get any better for Job, but unbeknownst to him there was a conversation taking place in the heavenly realms that would dramatically alter his life situation in the matter of a day. Let’s pick up the narrative in verse 6…

⁶Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. ⁷ The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” ⁸ And 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, who fears God and turns away from evil?” ⁹ Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? ¹⁰ Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and 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 stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” ¹² And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

Stop right there for a moment. I want you to notice that the Lord is in complete control of this entire conversation and it was the Lord who brought up the name of Job and it was the Lord who actually put the limits on what Satan was allowed to do in testing Job. I also want you to observe that the trials that Job experienced were a result of His faithful devotion to the Lord and not in spite of it. Because he was so faithful to God it brought on the trial. Lastly, I want you to realize Satan wants to attack Job’s faith. Satan also wants to attack your faith in the Lord and the Lord is willing to let him.

Like Abraham and Isaac, God didn’t need to know how much faith Job had, but it was important for Job to know and with that knowledge to serve as an object lesson to his friends and, by extension, to us today. Here, God lifts His hand away from Job’s health and life.

¹³ Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴ and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, ¹⁵ and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁶ While he was yet speaking, there came another 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 yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁸ While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, ¹⁹ and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

written by one of our partners in ministry Dr. Dick Ivey