Reflections on Job 1

 Job 01 (Contemporary English Version)

1. Many years ago, a man named Job lived in the land of Uz. He was a truly good person, who respected God and refused to do evil.
2. Job had seven sons and three daughters.
3. He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pair of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and a large number of servants. He was the richest person in the East.
4. Job's sons took turns having feasts in their homes, and they always invited their three sisters to join in the eating and drinking.
5. After each feast, Job would send for his children and perform a ceremony, as a way of asking God to forgive them of any wrongs they may have done. He would get up early the next morning and offer a sacrifice for each of them, just in case they had sinned or silently cursed God.
6. One day, when the angels had gathered around the LORD, and Satan was there with them,
7. the LORD asked, "Satan, where have you been?" Satan replied, "I have been going all over the earth."
8. Then the LORD asked, "What do you think of my servant Job? No one on earth is like him--he is a truly good person, who respects me and refuses to do evil."
9. "Why shouldn't he respect you?" Satan remarked.
10. "You are like a wall protecting not only him, but his entire family and all his property. You make him successful in whatever he does, and his flocks and herds are everywhere.
11. Try taking away everything he owns, and he will curse you to your face."
12. The LORD replied, "All right, Satan, do what you want with anything that belongs to him, but don't harm Job." Then Satan left.
13. Job's sons and daughters were having a feast in the home of his oldest son,
14. when someone rushed up to Job and said, "While your servants were plowing with your oxen, and your donkeys were nearby eating grass,
15. a gang of Sabeans attacked and stole the oxen and donkeys! Your other servants were killed, and I was the only one who escaped to tell you."
16. That servant was still speaking, when a second one came running up and saying, "God sent down a fire that killed your sheep and your servants. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."
17. Before that servant finished speaking, a third one raced up and said, "Three gangs of Chaldeans attacked and stole your camels! All of your other servants were killed, and I am the only one who escaped to tell you."
18. That servant was still speaking, when a fourth one dashed up and said, "Your children were having a feast and drinking wine at the home of your oldest son,
19. when suddenly a windstorm from the desert blew the house down, crushing all of your children. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."
20. When Job heard this, he tore his clothes and shaved his head because of his great sorrow. He knelt on the ground, then worshiped God
21. and said: "We bring nothing at birth; we take nothing with us at death. The LORD alone gives and takes. Praise the name of the LORD!"
22. In spite of everything, Job did not sin or accuse God of doing wrong.

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The book of Job speaks to our understanding of the spiritual realm in a way we find nowhere else in Scripture. In this first chapter we see Satan living up to his name which means "accuser." He accused Job of trading worship of God for profit and implied that God bribed Job to worship Him. Satan said to God, "Haven't You placed a hedge around him . . . stretch out Your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse You to Your face." (1:10, 11) At that God gave Satan power over everything Job owned, but He withheld the power to harm Job physically.

So we learn that the only thing God hasn't given Satan is his attitude. Even his power to do harm comes from God, though his desire to do so is not from God. We also see that Satan's arguments against what is good are based on suggestion of truth, not truth itself. For instance, regarding Job, Satan suggested that no one would worship God unless God blessed them (bribed them) with wealth and if the wealth is removed people will curse God. Reality, however, tends to be the opposite. Typically the greater wealth one has the further from God they become thinking they don't need God. And, typically, when a person loses everything is when they seriously consider their need for God. Obviously these do not hold true in every situation but are only generally true making Satan's accusation generally false.

We also learn in this first chapter that God places a hedge of protection around His people to keep Satan from working his evil on them. In the case of Job, God removed that hedge for the purpose of testing and only with certain limits. Generally the hedge is there and while Satan may metaphorically stand outside the hedge and taunt us, he cannot touch us unless we respond to his taunts and temptations and step outside the hedge. Not all calamities and losses are direct assualts by Satan. Many are the result of our own or other's bad choices, but indirectly Satan is usually behind these bad choices through his tempting and taunting. Regardless of the source, though, all difficulties serve as a testing for the believer, and while the outcome might be bad, this need not be the case as James points out in the first chapter of his letter to the Jews in dispersion. He says, "knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing." (James 1:3-4)

Once Satan received God's permission to strike at Job he wasted no time making his attack. In quick succession Job lost everything, his livestock, his servants, and his children. All these losses were reported to him by messenger after messenger without time to comprehend one loss before another was reported to him. In round one between Satan and God over Job's soul, Satan suffered a quick defeat. After Satan threw most of his arsenal at Job, Job responded by saying, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will leave this life. The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away. Praise the name of the LORD. " (1:21) We are told in verse 22 that in all this, Job did not sin.