Friday - Job 1 - Job's Job

T

he ancient man Job had it all together (Job 1:3). He feared God and hated evil. He had a wife, children, wealth and God's favor. Life was good.  Yet, he was on the brink of disaster.

There was NO WAY he could have known what was coming. If only he had been able to hear the conversation that God and Lucifer had about him… he would have died of sheer fear and trepidation before the Devil ever even got to him.  God literally said to Satan, "All that Job has is in your power..." (Job 1:12).  Whoa! 

Now, here is a poignant lesson as we get started into this great old poem.  Job was a much greater man of faith and character than you and I will ever be... and yet, it could be argued that he suffered like no one else had ever suffered. If men like Job, John the Baptist and Jesus went through such anguish and peril, who am I and who are you to expect that God would shield us from any measure of that suffering. Our very fellowship is qualified by whether we are (or aren’t) persecuted for standing for righteousness (Philippians 3:10 & Matthew 5:10).

There are many amazing Bible verses that project exalted perspectives concerning suffering (Roman 8:18, II Corinthians 4:17, II Corinthians 1:5-7, Hebrews 2:10, I Peter 4:13, etc.) But, Job had none of these. Supposedly the book of Job was written prior to the writing of all the other 65 books in the biblical canon.

God allowed Satan to kill Job's children, all his servants (except for 4 of them), all 7000 of his sheep... and to take his oxen (500 yoke), his donkeys (500) and his camels (3000). Not only this, but Satan was allowed to orchestrate all of these losses in such a way that Job was informed about all of it in just a matter of a very few minutes. The shock had to have been surreal.

Yet, Job's response is so unexpected. Although he was unspeakably sad, he worshipped God and praised Him (Job 1:20-21.