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. 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.
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.
One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”
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.”
“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.”
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.
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!”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
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!”
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!”
At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. 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.
My thoughts -
Job was a good man. He was also a man who was blessed. He was wealthy, healthy, and had a large family. In a culture that believed that the faithful would be blessed Job had all of the trappings of a particularly faithful and blessed life. Job's life makes sense based on his culture's theology. He will well off, well respected, and in a very close relationship with God. Then everything is taken away.
I love how Job initially responds to this. He has many other responses later, but initially after finding out that essentially all of his wealth and his children are gone he does something I don't think I could imagine doing. He worships:
At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:It is easy to praise God when things are as they should be. When the good are blessed and the wicked are punished and all seems right in the world we can see the hand of God working and give praise. But Job's world was flipped upside down. Things were not ad they should be. Job, a righteous man, one who was so faithful that he even gave offerings to cover his children's sins on the chance that they had committed any. Job was as good as people get, and yet he had to endure this tragedy. And in that tragedy he still saw fit to worship God.
“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.”
Later Job's health is taken from him. His wife, probably well-intentioned and in love, asks him why he doesn't just curse God and die. That seems like an appropriate response, doesn't it. If God has caused this horrible suffering then God should be cursed. If life is nothing but misery then death is preferable, right? I love what Job says in response to her:
Job 2:10 TNIVJob did not cause his own suffering. There was no reason for it. It was needless, senseless, horrible and tragic. His culture's and his friends' theology couldn't explain it or make sense of it. Comfort was not found in the "right" beliefs. Job didn't need to repent and return to a right relationship with God. Job never left. Job didn't sin. Job was not the source of his own suffering. And initially, in the face of unthinkable, incomprehensible tragedy, Job worshipped.
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.
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