Chapter 1
And 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.
Job 1:21
A good man called Job
v1 A man called Job lived in a country called Uz. This man was good and honest. Job respected God. And Job refused to do evil deeds.
v2 Job had:
· 7 sons and 3 daughters;
· v3 7000 sheep;
· 3000 camels;
· 500 pairs of oxen; (Oxen look like cows. But oxen pull the plough.)
· 500 donkeys (small horses);
· and many servants.
Job was the greatest man in the east.
v4 Job’s sons used to hold birthday parties in their houses. They would eat and drink together, with their three sisters. v5 Afterwards, Job prayed for them. At dawn, he took one animal for each child. He killed the animals. Then, he burned the animals as a gift to God. Job did this because he was worried about his children. He said, ‘Perhaps my children did something evil. Perhaps they insulted God.’ So, Job did these things often.
Job did not pretend that he was perfect (Job 31:33).
Everybody does some evil deeds (Romans 3:23).
This is why Jesus died for us (Romans 3:24-25).
Verse 4
Job was unhappy about the behavior of his children. Job wanted his children to respect God. Job wanted them to help poor people. But Job’s children preferred to hold parties. They were greedy. They drank plenty of wine. They did not think that Job’s religion was important.
Later, in Job 8:4, Bildad said that Job’s children were evil. Job agreed with Bildad – see Job 9:2.
Verse 5
Job prayed for his children.
The accuser called Satan
v6 On one particular day, the angels (servants of God) gathered in heaven to see God. And the accuser called Satan was also there.
v7 God said to Satan, ‘Where did you come from?’
Satan replied to God, ‘I have travelled across the world. I have been to many places.’
v8 God said to Satan, ‘I have a servant called Job. Nobody else in the world is like Job! Job is good and honest. He respects God. And Job refuses to do evil deeds.’
v9 Satan replied to God, ‘Job respects you because you help him. v10 You are his guard. You protect him, as if a hedge surrounds him. You protect his family. You protect all his possessions. You have helped that man to succeed. Now, he is very wealthy. v11 But if you destroy Job’s property, then Job will really insult you.’
v12 God said to Satan, ‘I permit you to attack everything that belongs to Job. But you may not hurt Job himself.’
So, Satan left God.
Verses 6-7
The book of Job teaches us many things about the devil. The devil’s name is Satan. ‘Satan’ means ‘the accuser’.
Job’s friends did not blame Satan for Job’s troubles. Even Job did not blame the devil. Job and his
friends thought that God made Job suffer. But they were wrong.
Satan causes the troubles in the world. God created a beautiful world (Genesis 2:8). But Satan used a snake to test the first people (Genesis 3). The snake told the first people that they should not obey God. Then they would become like God (Genesis 3:3-5). The people obeyed this terrible advice.
Verse 8
Job was special to God.
Every Christian is special to God. God knows his people (2 Timothy 2:19). God knows everything about us (Matthew 10:30). He sees our secret actions (Matthew 6:3-4). He hears our quiet prayers (Matthew 5:6).
Verses 9–10
Satan is the accuser.
Firstly, he accused God.
Satan said that God was not fair.
But Satan was right that God protects his people. God rescues us when we have troubles (Psalm 40:1–3). God helps us when we pray (Psalm 61). God is like a castle where we are safe (Psalm 61:1–2).
Verse 11
Then Satan accused Job. Satan thought that Job was not really loyal to God. Job served God because Job respected God. Satan thought that Job preferred wealth instead of God. Satan was wrong.
Verse 12
In verse 11, Satan wanted God to destroy Job’s property. But God did not agree to this request. God is not evil. God does not do terrible things to his people. God is never cruel. God refused to destroy Job’s property.
However, sometimes God allows the devil to test us. God allows such troubles so that we learn to trust God more (1 Peter 1:7).
Job’s troubles begin
v13 On the birthday of Job’s oldest son, that son invited his brothers and sisters for a party. They were eating together in his house. And they were drinking wine.
v14 On that day, a servant came to Job. The servant said, ‘Your oxen (farm animals) were ploughing. And the donkeys (small horses) were eating together. v15 But then, people from the nation called Sabea attacked. They took the animals. And they killed all your servants. I alone escaped to tell you.’
v16 While that servant was still speaking, another servant arrived. This other servant said, ‘Fire came down from God in heaven! The fire burned your sheep. And the fire burned your servants. I alone escaped to tell you.’
v17 While this servant was still speaking, another servant arrived. This next servant said, ‘People came from the nation called Chaldea. There were three groups. They stole your camels. They killed your servants. I alone escaped to tell you.’
v18 While he was still speaking, one more servant arrived. This last servant said, ‘Your sons and daughters were in your oldest son’s house. They were eating together. And they were drinking wine. v19 But then, a great wind blew from the desert. It was so strong that the house fell down. Everybody died. I alone escaped to tell you.’
Verse 13
A birthday should be a happy day. But this birthday was a terrible day. On this day, Satan attacked Job. Job’s troubles came suddenly.
Job’s children were not ready for that day. They were behaving quite as they always behaved. They were not trusting God. They were not ready to meet God. Instead, they were ‘eating and drinking’.
Before Noah’s flood, people were ‘eating and drinking’. These people were not ready for the flood. The flood drowned them. And they were not ready to meet God (Matthew 24:37-39).
Verses 14-17
The servants in verses 14-17 announced that Job had lost all his possessions.
Job’s sheep died in a terrible fire.
Enemies stole Job’s camels.
Other enemies took Job’s oxen (farm animals)
and his donkeys (small horses).
In the morning, Job was the wealthiest man in the east.
But in the evening, Job was a very poor man.
Sometimes troubles happen suddenly. Each new trouble makes us weaker. We think that we have no strength.
Satan was very cruel to Job.
Job’s reaction to the terrible news
v20 Then Job stood up. He tore his clothes to show that he was very sad. He shaved his hair to show that he had lost everything. Then, he knelt to praise God. (That is, Job bent his body to the ground.)
v21 Job said, ‘I had nothing when I was born. And I will have nothing when I die. God gave many things to me. Now, God has taken these things from me. But I will still praise God.’
v22 Although Job’s troubles were great, Job’s words were not evil. And Job did not accuse God.
Verse 20
Satan did these terrible things to Job because Satan wanted Job to insult God (verse 11). Satan thought that Job would hate God because of these troubles.
So Job’s reaction was important to Satan.
Job’s reaction was also important to God.
In one day, Job lost everything that he owned.
But Job still praised God.
On that day, Job’s sons and daughters died.
But Job still praised God.
Job had been rich. Now he was poor.
But Job still praised God.
Verses 21-22
Job knew that his possessions really belonged to God (Psalm 24:1).
Job thought that God had taken Job’s possessions. And Job thought that this was fair. God gave him those things. And Job supposed that God had taken those things away. Job did not know that really Satan had done these terrible things. But Job did not accuse God.
We can learn many important lessons from Chapter 1:
· God is good. He protects us. He provides for us.
· The devil is cruel. The devil causes our troubles.
· Sometimes God allows the devil to test us. At these times, God is still protecting us. God will help us.
When we have troubles, we should still trust God. We should continue to respect God.
Keith Simons