An Introduction to Job

“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.”  Job 1:1

While some folks believe that the book of Job is nothing more than an allegory, I believe that he was a real man who lived in the land of Uz, believed to have been located somewhere in the Arabian desert, west of Babylon, and near Mt. Seir which was occupied by the Edomites, descendants of Esau.  The reason that I believe that Job was a real person is because Ezekiel mentions him along with Noah and Daniel (14:14), and James mentions him in 5:11 as a reference to the patience of Job.  The book of Job is dated as one of the oldest books of scripture.  Many scholars believe that the events written about in the book of Job occurred between 2000-1800 B.C., the same time frame as the patriarchs Isaac and Jacob but before the beginning of the nation of Israel.  Job is believed to have been a descendant of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, thus Job was a Gentile who worshiped the LORD God.

We do not know who wrote the book of Job, but some scholars believe it was Moses who lived several hundred years later making Moses as the author seem implausible but not impossible since God can certainly tell His servants what to write.  Others believe that it was written by Elihu, the fourth visitor who came to see Job, and others believe that Job wrote it himself.

Job was described by God as a man who was perfect and upright, one who had a reverential fear of God, and tried to avoid evil.  What did God mean by “perfect”?  He did not mean that Job was sinless.  Only Christ can claim sinless perfection.  However, Job strived for perfection or excellence in his daily walk with God.  We might assume that Job came to be a worshiper of the LORD God through his ancestors, if indeed he was related to Abraham.  He lived among idolaters who worshiped the sun and the moon.  When Terah, Abraham’s father, moved Abraham, his family and Abraham’s nephew Lot to Haran, apparently Nahor, Abraham’s brother remained along with his family in Ur.  Thus, Job never ventured to the promised land as his uncle journeyed.  (Ur, Abraham’s original home, and Uz are not the same location but are in the same general area of the Arabian desert.)

Job became a very wealthy landowner, with ten children who were grown at the time of this account, a wife, and many sheep, camels, oxen, donkeys, and servants to care for them all.  When his children gathered for their parties, Job would later call them to come and sacrifice just in case they might have committed sin in perhaps getting drunk and maybe doing some things of which they would have been ashamed.  Job was not only zealous for his own righteousness but that also of his offspring.

One day the sons of God came, I suppose, for an evaluation by God, and Satan also came.  Who are these “sons of God”?  Three ideas have been suggested by scholars.  1.)  They were saints or religious leaders on earth; 2.) angels in heaven; or 3.) fallen angels who had been cast out of heaven along with Satan.  We also know from Genesis 6:1-4 the “sons of God” married “daughters of men” and produced mighty giants, half-human and half-demons which, by their evil doings, brought on the reason for the flood of Noah’s day.  God asked Satan what he had been up to, and he replied that he had been going to and fro in the earth and walking up and down in it.  God knew that Satan was always on the lookout for someone that he could devour, thus God issued a challenge to him.  “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in all the earth”, perfect, upright, God-fearing, and keeping himself from evil?  Satan replied that Job was a good man because God had protected and blessed him.  He continued by challenging God to touch him negatively and watch him curse God to His face.

God accepted Satan’s challenge, with one caveat: Satan was not allowed to touch Job physically.  Thus, Satan was given permission to destroy everything that Job possessed, and the devil wasted no time.  Job lost all of his wealth, his livestock, his servants, and the worse part, his children were all killed while they feasted at the oldest brother’s house which fell upon them.  Job faced a trauma like no one has ever faced.  Satan must have been gleeful thinking that Job would immediately curse God, but that was the furthest thing from Job’s mind.  He arose, tore his clothes, shaved his head, all forms of expressing grief, and then fell on the ground, worshiping God.  He said, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away: blessed be the name of the LORD.”  He did not sin nor make any foolish charges against God.

Even as Job’s sorrow and shock were nearly greater than any person could bear, he kept his dignity in his expressions of grief.  He was extremely mature in his faith.  He, of course, didn’t know everything about God or His purposes for doing what He did, but he did know the one thing about God that the majority of the world, including many believers, do not yet understand, and that is that God is sovereign over all creation.  He can do whatever He desires, whenever He desires, to whomever He desires, and be perfectly justified in all of His ways.  Satan lost this round, but he was not about to give up.