The book of Job - updated

 My original plan was to go through the books of the bible in order, but after thinking about it and weighing all of my options, I decided that I would follow the reading plan that so many of us are going through this year. I will put a picture at the bottom of the post showing the reading plan we are following. I also want to encourage everyone that if the reading plan is something you are interested in following, please send an email to motivatedbyjonah@gmail.com and we will find a way to get you a book. The goal is to get as many people reading the bible as possible in 2023. I also feel like I need to apologize for how long that last post was. The book of Genesis had so much content and I really struggled with figuring out what to keep and what had to go. So, for those of you that stuck with it and read, I am sorry and Thank you! 

That long post had an impact on how I handled the book of Job. Genesis was 50 chapters long, and Job is 42 chapters long. That means that I run into the same issues of what to keep and what has to go. Let's just start out by looking at chapter one of Job.

Prologue

There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. ² He had seven sons and three daughters. ³ He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area.

⁴ Job’s sons would take turns preparing feasts in their homes, and they would also invite their three sisters to celebrate with them. ⁵ When these celebrations ended—sometimes after several days—Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, “Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice. 

So, Job was kind of a big deal! He had so many qualities that people now adays would love. He had an amazing family, he had money and he had enough livestock that he should be set for life. If you are a Godly person, who has great wealth in any way, you can be sure that Satan will notice. Let's see what happens:

Job’s First Test

⁶ One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. ⁷ “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”

⁸ Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”

⁹ Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. ¹⁰ You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! ¹¹ But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!”

¹² “All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.

¹³ One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting at the oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴ a messenger arrived at Job’s home with this news: “Your oxen were plowing, with the donkeys feeding beside them, ¹⁵ when the Sabeans raided us. They stole all the animals and killed all the farmhands. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

¹⁶ While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “The fire of God has fallen from heaven and burned up your sheep and all the shepherds. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

¹⁷ While he was still speaking, a third messenger arrived with this news: “Three bands of Chaldean raiders have stolen your camels and killed your servants. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

¹⁸ While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother’s home. ¹⁹ Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the wilderness and hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all your children are dead. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

²⁰ Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. ²¹ He said,

“I came naked from my mother’s womb,

and I will be naked when I leave.

The Lord gave me what I had,

and the Lord has taken it away.

Praise the name of the Lord!”

²² In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.

 My first question when I read this was, what does heavenly court mean? When I looked it up in a commentary it said that the phrase is used in the Old Testament to describe angelic beings. It also mentions how, that means that satan is an angelic being. On the surface that sounds like a negative, that is why the commentary mentions that if satan is indeed an angelic being, he is nowhere close to as powerful as God. Sometimes we are guilty of treating God and satan as equal, that is not a true statement at all.

So, Job loses everything, he mourned but did not blame God. When satan realizes that Job isn't going to sin, he tries something more in chapter 2:

Chapter 2

Job’s Second Test

One day the members of the heavenly court came again to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. ² “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan.

Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”

³ Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.”

⁴ Satan replied to the Lord, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life. ⁵ But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!”

⁶ “All right, do with him as you please,” the Lord said to Satan. “But spare his life.” ⁷ So Satan left the Lord’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot.

⁸ Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. ⁹ His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.”

¹⁰ But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong. 

 Once again, Job did not blame God. This is where I want to pause for a moment. If this happened to you, how would you react?  Before we move on, before we look at anything else, take a moment and think about if you lost not only all of your wealth, but all of your children. What would you say to God? What questions would you have for him? Would you make any demands to him? Now, take a minute and go back and read in chapter one the description of Job's life, is that an accurate description of your life? He was blameless, a person of COMPLETE integrity and he stayed away from evil. None of those words describes me. I feel like I struggle with those things on a regular basis. So again, how would I react if that was me? Everything is gone, I've lost everything. How do I not blame God? How do I not question him? I want to stop there for a few days, I want everyone to focus on reading the next 38 chapters or so. Read about how Job reacted to God and see how Job's friends reacted to all of it. Then, when we come back on Thursday, we will look at how God reacts!