JOB 1:
Vs 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.
* Land of Uz - not Oz…Uz
Quick History lesson- this is why those geneaoogies are actually important.
After the flood only Noah and his sons existed. His three sons were Japheth, Ham and Shem. Japheth and Shem honored their father, whereas Ham was cursed for dishonoring his fathers drunkness.
Shem’s descendants became known as the Semites(Shem/Sem). Today they comprise the Arabs, Hebrews/Jews, Assyrians etc… Uz was a grandson of Shem (Gen 10:23), and the grand-father of Abraham.
I personally lean more towards the Fertile Crescent theory because of his lineage to Abraham who was called out of Ur, which was in the Fertile Crescent near where the Tigris and Euphrates meet. Additoanly the Fertile Cresecnet, known for its rich soil and water could support all the livestock of Job.
* Job - Here’s a name you will neversee at the top of the Baby Name of the Year list. His name literally means “hated”. Maybe because he was so righteous and rich? Regardless, he wasn’t hated by God. Whatever your name, whatever someone calls you, your character prevails and you can be prized by God even if hated by the world.
* Blameless: this word doesn’t mean sinless. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Even Job. Sinless is how we vertically relate to God. Blameless is how we horizontally relate to mankind. Job had integrity with how he treated his fellow man.
I find it noteworthy that this word conveys the idea of “an ordinary, quiet sort of person, plain.” The type who stays home (like Jacob) versus goes out to conquer the world (his hunter brother Esau). Like a stay at home mom, versus a traveling CEO woman bent on conquering her own empite, always on her phone, always posting selfies, always there but never present. He is plain. Not flossy, glamorous, self -seeking. He is too busy seeking God. When a person is buy seeking God intead of self, he does so in the quiet corners of his heart. As Mothers, we have a unique opportunity to be blameless like Job. To observe the state of our children, pray for them, sacrifice for them, help them grow and live rightly before God and do so ourselves.
Job feared God, and as a result shunned evil. We all have one of two choices. We will either live so that we fear God and shun evil, or we will shun God and fear evil.
Vs. 2 -3 He had seven sons and three daughters, 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.
* Children - a gift from the LORD, especially in agricultural societies! No doubt the children helped run his expanise estate which included…
- Seven thousand sheep - used for wool;
- camels - used for long distance travel;
- oxen- used fro plowing and farming;
- donkeys- used for short distance travel
* East: East of wehre? Have you ever wondered the measuring point of North East South and West? Its Jerusalem. The entire world measures its direction off the capital city of a small, controversial nation whose people the world has tried to destroy for centuries. Isn’t it ironic? How convenient though, because when th enew heavenly city of Jerusalem is established we won’t be geographically confused.
Vs. 4-5 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. 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.
* Birthday: The original text doesn’t actually say “birthday” but on his day, which we render is each one’s birthday. With ten children in the family these festivities happened almost monthly!
* Drink: The word “drink” doesn’t necessarily mean drunkeness, this Job didn’t take any chances. After the feast, Job set aside the time and resources for all ten to be purified by sacrificing an animal for each one. This sacrifice wasn’t a sin offering, as it was voluntary and would thus be categorized as a Burnt Offering as described in Leviticus. THe Burnt offering is a bull, spotless male lamb, or for the poor turtle doves and pigeons. With Job’s wealth and piety, he certainly sacrificed 10 bulls or sheep, 10 teimes per year. Thats 100 animals per year just to make sure that his children were righteous, pure and that there was no chance that anythng could come between God and his family.
Moms, what distance are you voluntarily willing to go to make sure that your children stay pure? That nothing comes between your family and God. The sacrifices God requires today aren’t bulls and lambs. They are living sacrifices that long to do God’s will, bot confrorming to the world, transformin gour minds. Mama’s, Job teaches us that our children’s purity starts with You. Are there things your family needs to stop watching, listening to, going to? Below are some verses on sacrifices that are pleasing to God. Read over the, pray through them, obey the Spirits instrictuon. What he says may be shocking or bold - like sacrificing 10 bulls JUST IN CASE. But do it. We should never be asking, Can I still do x and be OK with God? But rather how close can I get to God?
Psalm 50; Isaiah1; Micah 6:8; Mark 12:33; Romans 12 Heb 13
Make it your regular custom to do these things.
Vs. 6 -7 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.
Here we have a glimpse into the heavenlies workings. The angels are lining up to present themselves before a holy God. They are likely the good angels, because Satan stands out among them. Were they waiting for an assignment? To worship God? We aren’t told. And then enters Satan. The misfit. This seems unfitting for sin, of whom Satan is the Father of, can not be tolerated in the presence of God, yet God addresses him. Asking Him a question he already knows the answer to. But Satan needs to hear it. The one who was kicked out of heaven needs to acknowledge that heaven is no longer his home and he is now confined to roaming about, like a nomad, on the Earth (which was fromless, dark and empty. I don’t know, because I wasn’t there, but I theorize that this is the abode to which Satan fell, then God, to show. His greatness and power to Satan once more, created life inside the Earth)
Notice that Satan answers God. He is subject to God. Satan is not the opposite of God, he is less than as He is created. He is an angel. He is limited. Even Satan answers to God. He is not omnipresent, he is not omniscient, he is not omnipotent.
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.”
God knows Satan and his schemes well. He knows Satan roams the Earth, like a lion hunting his prey, looking for someone to devour. The Lord puts Job I the spotlight. Satan puts him in the eye of his target.
Vs 10-11 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “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. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
Satan accuses Job of only being God’s servant because of what he can get from God. Ezekiel 28: 4-5 discuss Satan as ammassing gold and silver for hiself, being skillful in trade and thus becoming prideful in his heart to the point he thought he was a god. This led to his eventual expulsion from heaven. Satan is projecting here. HE rejected God because of his extreme gain. He expects Job to reject God because of extremem loss. Either response would be idolotrous, loving the gifts, more than the Giver. of some sort of economic trade system in heaven and now he expects Job to do the same. Do you reject God because he has taken away your wealth? Satan did. Job didnt. Who do you want to mimic?
Vs 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.
God is up for the challenge. He places his bet on Job. This inside peak into heaven helps us answer the age old question of why bad things happen to good people. First of all, there are no good people. SO we should rephrase the questions: Why do bad things happen to bad people? Sometimes it is our own sin that gets us into trouble. But other times it is a spiritual attack so that God can get glory. These next verses give us insight into the attack plan and schemes of our age ole’ enemy.
Vs 13-15 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 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!”
* The Sabeans were descendants of Ham’s son, Cush, who lived in Africa. They stole the equivalent of millions of dollars in livestock from Job, plus murdered his servants.
Vs 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!”
* Fire of God: Perhpas a lightning bolt that sparked a fire and burned up the sheep, servants and land.
Vs 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!”
* Chaldeans: The Chaldeans were also descendents of Ham, Noah’s wicked son, whose descendents were cursed for Ham’s wickedness.
Vs 18 -19 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, 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!”
* Oldest brother’s house, : That the brothers and sisters were feasting at the oldest brothers house shows that this was perhaps the oldest brothers birthday. Satan accessed every resource he could to devastate Job. He used attacking armies, meanin ghe can influence people, even nations; he used fire and wind, meaning he has access to weather. He wasn’t very sly however. The extreme calamaties positione so closely together hints that these events were connected and a formulated attack. What we have to decide is who the attacker is.
Vs 20: At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head.
* Tore his robe: Tearing his robe was a customary sign of mourning.
* Shaved his head: Shaving one’s head was done when taking a vow to the LORD, implying that Job’s immediate response was to worship…
Vs 21 - 22 Then he fell to the ground in worship 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.”
In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Job acknowledged his loss. He acknowledged his grief. He acknowledged that God owes him nothing and regardless of what he has, Job knows whose he is.