Job 1-2
Scripture Thought (What I Learned):
The book of Job is one of the
oldest books in the Bible, although we don’t know exactly how old the book is,
there is no doubt that it is ancient. Some scholars believe that Job, is
mentioned early on in the Bible in the book of Genesis as “Jobab” (Genesis
10:29), one of the sons of Joktan, which would put Job in the ear between Noah
and Abraham. In the opening chapter of the Book of Job, we learn that he is
from the land of Uz, well there was a man named Huz (Uz?), who was Abraham’s
nephew (see Genesis 22:21), perhaps the land of Uz was named after him?
Eliphaz
(Job 2:11) was the son of Esau (Genesis 34:10-11); this son of Esau had another
son named Teman (Genesis 36:10-11), and the descendants of Teman were known for
their wisdom (Jeremiah 49:7). Bildad is called a Shuhite (Job 2:11), and Shuah
was a son of Abraham through Keturah (Genesis 35:2).
Chapter 1: Job, a Just and Perfect Man
There was a man in the land of Uz,
whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who
feared God and shunned evil. Job had
seven sons and three daughters.
He also had and abundance of possessions (earthly and material):
·
Seven thousand sheep.
·
Three thousand camels
·
Five hundred yoke (yoke=pair) of oxen. (so in
reality 1,000 oxen)
·
Five hundred female donkeys.
Job aslo had a very large household;
he was the greatest man in the entire East. Although his sons would invite
their sisters over for parties and this did not please the Lord and in His eyes
they had sinned. The chapter does not say exactly what they did to sin, but it
was bad enough that Job had to offer sacrifices to make up for the sin.
There was a day when the sons of
God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among
them. And the Lord said to Satan, “…Whence comest thou?” (Job 1:7) So
Satan answered the Lord and said, “…From going to and fro in the earth and
from walking up and down it.” (Job 1:7). Then the Lord said
to Satan, “…Hast thou considered my servant Job, that hence there is none like
him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and
escheweth (to keep from or forgo) evil” (Job 1:8) So Satan answered
the Lord and said, “…Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast thou
made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on
ever side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased
in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he
will curse thee to thy face.” (Job 1:9-11). The Lord then said to
Satan, “Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not
forth thie hand…” (Job 1:12). So
Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
Job’s
Catasrophic Loss:
Now there was a day when his sons
and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s
house; and a messenger came to Job and said, “…The oxen were plowing, and the
asses feeding beside them: And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took
them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I
only am escaped alone to tell thee.” (Job 1:14-15)
While he was still
speaking, another also came and said, “…The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and
hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am
escaped alone to tell thee.” (Job 1:16)
While he was still
speaking, another also came and said, “…The Chaldeans made out three
bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the
servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.”
(Job 1:17)
While he was still
speaking, another also came and said, “…Thy sons and thy daughters were eating
and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house: And, behold, there came a
great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it
fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell
thee.” (Job 1:18-19)
In the span, of what was probably
only a few hours God allowed Satan to cause great destruction. I don’t know if
Satan was the one controlling the weather or not, but if he was we can see that
God can remove his hand or any restrictions he puts over Satan. God at any time
can let Satan do his work, but God always has a purpose for it.
After hearing this, Job arose, tore
his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he
said:
“…Naked came I out of my
mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and
the Lord hath takenaway; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
(Job 1:21)
Even after all that had happened to
Job, he did not sin nor charge God with wrong.
We
must all look at life the way Job was able to immediately analyze and understand
his situation. God gave us our lives; we came into this world with nothing, so
everything he have is a blessing from the bounty of God. If God takes away something
from us, and because of it we have less, it is still more than we came into
this world with.
Joseph
Smith went through something very similar…
While
Joseph was held prisoner (with no charge or conviction) in Liberty, Misouri on
March 20, 1839 he asked God;
“…where art thou? And where is
the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place? How Long shall thy hand be stayed,
and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of
thy people and of they servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries? Yea,
O Lord, how long shall they suffer the wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before
thin heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels be moved with
compassion toward them?” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:1-3)
Joseph
Smith and the entire Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints were be
persecuted mainly because of an order signed by Governor Lilburn Boggs of
Missouri who issued “Executive Order 44”, also known as the “Extermination
Order” which on October 27, 1838 read;
“…The Mormons must be treated as
enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if necessary
for the public peace…”
Joseph Smith received these words
from God while being unlawfully detained for months and while the members of
the LDS church were suffering;
“My son,
peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a
small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high;
thou shalt triumph over all thy foes… Thou are not yet as Job; thy friends do
not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did
Job.” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-10)
Although we go through challenges
in life, God always has a purpose for those challenges. We can learn from them
and know that God is only doing it for our own good.
Chapter 2: Job is Smitten with Boils
Again
there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before
the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before
the Lord, and the Lord said to Satan, “…From whence comest thou?” (Job
2:2) So Satan answered the Lord and said, “…From
going to and fro in the earth and walking up and down it.” (Job 2:2)
Then the Lord said to
Satan, “…Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like
him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God,
and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity,
although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.” (Job 2:3)
Satan answered the Lord and
said, “…Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee
to thy face.” (Job 2:4-5) And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold,
he is in thine hand; but save his life.” (Job 2:6)
At this
point, Satan is essentially challenging God and telling him that Job still
praised him because nothing was directly effecting him, just his family and his
possesions. Here Satan suggests that if God were to curse him with an infirmity
that he would not praise him. This was a new test Satan wanted to trouble God
with, a physical one to prove to God that Job would no longer praise his name.
So Satan went out from the presence
of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot
to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a potsherd with which to
scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.
Job’s
Great Physical Suffering:
Later
we can read other passages in the Book of Job that describe more of what he went
through;
·
Intense pain; “My bones are pierced in me in
the night season: and my sinews (A piece of tough fibrous tissue
uniting muscle to bone or bone to bone; a tendon or ligament.) take
no rest” (Job 30:17)
·
Peeling and darkened skin; “My skin is black upon me, and
my bones are burned with heat” (Job 30:30)
·
Pus-filled,
erupting sores; “My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken,
and become loathsome.” (Job 7:5)
·
Anorexia, emaciation; “My bone cleaveth to my skin and
to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth” (Job 19:20)
·
Depression; “I loathe it (talking about his
life); I would not live always: let me alone…” (Job 7:16) “My bowels boiled,
and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me. I went mourning without th
sun: I stood up and cried in the congregation” (Job 30:27-28)
·
Weeping; “My face is foul with weeping, and eyelids
is the shadow of death” (Job 16:16)
·
Sleeplessness and Nightmares; “The
thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifies me through visions” (Job 7:14)
·
Putrid breath; “My breath is strange to my wife…”
(Job 19:17)
The chapter continues… his wife said to him, “…Dost
thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die.” (Job 2:9) But
he said to her, “…Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive
good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10)
In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Job’s
wife, after losing her children and her wealth and most likely out of love tells
Job to curse God! If Job were to curse God, then maybe God would strike him
down and kill him. Because after all that Job had been going through and is
going through at this moment, death would be a sweet release from the pain and
suffering that God was putting him through.
When
Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each
one came from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and
Zophar the Naamathite. They had all come together to mourn with him, and
to comfort him. However, when they raised their eyes from afar, they did
not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his
robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. So they sat down with him on
the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for
they saw that his grief was very great.
