The book of Job is chronologically written very early in Biblical history therefore it shows up early in annual readings...its definitely not the easiest book of the Bible to read, but here are a few thoughts I gleaned throughout the 42 chapters....
Job 1:1 “6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.” Whoa!! Reticular activator kicked in…”sons of God” – rewind to a blog post about Genesis 6:4 a little while back about the Nephilim…same verbage used here. Definitely supernatural!! It seems that the “sons of God” were demonic, not angelic as they were appearing with Satan (and due to other researched information)…so not sure why they were still called sons of God except that demons did indeed used to be angels and of course God’s blameless creation at one point in time.
Job 1:7 The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” Whew! If that ain’t real, I don’t know what is. Obviously Satan has access to the earth and is a very real presence…not something to take lightly. The Lord has given us his power if we choose to be His, but we must use His power proactively.
In Job 1, God gave Satan the power to mess with Job’s stuff and strip him of his possessions as long as Job himself wasn’t touched. Soon after, his camels and donkeys and oxen and servants (all of his wealth & personal belongings) were stolen or killed and ALL of his children were killed in the same day! What did Job do? “20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked I shall return there.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the LORD.” 22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.”
Holy Schmoly! Sit on that one for a second…let that soak in. You’re EXTREMELY wealthy. You’re the richest in the land. You have 9 beautiful children. God’s blessings reign in your life. And all in one day, you lose it ALL…and you fall down on your knees to WORSHIP??! Ouch…major challenging reality check there.
Then, Job was struck with a horrible disease – painful, debilitating, and downright embarrassing as he wasn’t even recognizable because of the terrible sores that covered him. His wife told him to curse God and he said: v 9b: “‘Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”
Score again!
After that, Job gets complicated and really is confusing. Its not the easiest book of the Bible to kick off a year’s worth of reading. Basically, it is Job and his friends arguing back and forth about God’s goodness and sovereignty and then at the end, God rebukes Job for his reaction to his adversity and rebukes his friends for the way they viewed God and then God overwhelmingly blessed Job again even more so than he was before. I know the book is profoundly deep…has a lot of lessons to be learned, but I’m not going to say I have them all figured out. I think the overall lesson to be learned is to give thanks in ALL situations. To recognize the holiness and sovereignty of God. To avoid cursing God no matter the circumstances and to recognize His power and might as the Creator of the world and sustainer of life. AND, to remember that Satan does have power on this earth and to keep your family covered in prayer at all times so he can’t get an unwarranted foothold in your life.
Have a great day/night…depending on when you’re reading this!
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