1. The holiness, riches, and religious care of Job for his children. 6 Satan, appearing before God, by calumniation obtained leave to tempt Job. 13 Understanding of the loss of his goods and children, in his mourning he blessed God.
Job 1:1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.
Job 1:2 He had seven sons and three daughters,
Job 1:3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
Job 1:2 He had seven sons and three daughters,
Job 1:3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
Job 1:4 His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
4. Feasted. Literally, “made a banquet.” The Hebrew word for “banquet” comes from a root meaning “to drink,” thus indicating an occasion for drinking.
Job 1:5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.
Satan Allowed to Test Job
Job 1:6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
The place is not specified and hence cannot be known. It does not appear reasonable that the scene took place in heaven itself, for Satan was excluded from its precincts (Rev. 12:7–9). He did have a degree of access to other worlds.
Satan. Heb. haśśatan, literally, “the adversary.” From this comes the verb ́satan, “to be an adversary” or “to act as an adversary.” Verb and noun occur together in Zech. 3:1, which reads literally, “the adversary standing at his right hand to oppose him.” The English word “Satan” comes directly from the Hebrew. Satan is not one of the “sons of God.”
He came among them, but he was not one of them.
1:8 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
Job 1:9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied.
Satan insinuated that Job served God from selfish motives—for the material gain that God permitted to accrue as an inducement and a reward for his service. He attempted to deny that true religion springs from love and an intelligent appreciation of God’s character, that true worshipers love religion for its own sake—not for reward; that they serve God because such service is right in itself, and not merely because heaven is full of glory; and that they love God because He is worthy of their affections and confidence, and not merely because He blesses them.
Job 1:10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.
Satan mentions three items that are protectively hedged in: Job himself, his house, and his possessions.
Misfortune struck, first his possessions (vs. 15 17), then his house (vs. 18, 19), and finally Job himself (ch. 2:7, 8).
Job’s prosperity was phenomenal.
Job 1:11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” . But. Heb. ’ulam. A strong adversative to emphasize the contrast between Job’s present felicity and his predicted attitude under adversity. The Hebrew may be translated emphatically, “surely he will curse thee.” See on v. 5 regarding “curse” as a translation of barak
Job 1:12 The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
God accepted the challenge. He lifted His protection from Job’s possessions, permitting Job to demonstrate that he was equal to the test. The Lord desired to show that men will serve Him from pure love. It was necessary to prove Satan’s sneer unjust. Yet through it all God would overrule for purposes of mercy.
Satan Takes Job’s Property and Children
Job 1:13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house,
These three passages, introduced by the same time clause, present the setting for three successive scenes. The first and third of these scenes took place at an unknown site, perhaps in the celestial realm (see on v. 6), the one now under consideration, on earth. The scene opens with one of the customary feasts of Job’s children, this time at the home of the oldest brother. The lives of the children are carefree and happy, the life of Job, tranquil.
Job 1:14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby,
This indicates that the day was not a general holiday.
Job 1:15 and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
Sabeans. Perhaps descendants of Cush (Gen. 10:7), or of Abraham by Keturah (Gen. 25:3). The Sabeans have been identified as living in various sections of Arabia. Hence the location of the land of Uz (see on v. 1) cannot be determined by locating the Sabeans.
Job 1:16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
The fire of God. The LXX omits “of God.” This fire is considered by many commentators to be lightning, but such an assumption is not necessary. Whatever the destructive agent was, the ancients would regard it as coming from God.
The facts of the great controversy, so strikingly demonstrated in the present experience, were not understood, and men attributed to God that which was often the work of the adversary. Even with the mischievous devices of Satan revealed, acts that God permits are often attributed to God.
Job 1:17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
The Chaldeans. Heb. Kaśdim. The LXX reads “the horsemen,” but this is probably interpretative to indicate that the translators thought the roving bands of Kaśdim used cavalry.
Raiding parties. Such raids have always been common in Arabia and other parts of the Near East.
Job 1:18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house,
Job 1:19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
From the wilderness. Literally, “from beyond the wilderness.” The expression seems to describe a wind sweeping across the desert and coming with full force upon the inhabited area.
The first and third tragedies were perpetrated by rapacious men—the Sabeans and the Chaldeans. The second and fourth tragedies resulted from fire and wind—agencies beyond human control.
In v. 19 it includes the sons and daughters (v. 18) and the servants who attended them. Job was given no opportunity to recover his equilibrium between blows. The poignancy of the tragedies was accentuated by the ruthless timing of the events. In a few short minutes his world collapsed.
Job 1:18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house,
Job 1:19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
Job 1:18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house,
Job 1:19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
Job 1:20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship
Tore his robe. The customary gestures of grief (see Gen. 37:29, 34; 44:13; 1 Kings 21:27; Isa. 15:2; Jer. 47:5).
Worshipped. Heb. shachah, “to bow down,” “to prostrate oneself.” Job might have cursed the Sabeans and the Chaldeans. He might have cursed the fire and the wind. He might have cursed the God who allowed such catastrophes.
Instead, he “worshipped.” Compare the experience of David, who, after the death of his child, “came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped” (2 Sam. 12:20).
Job 1:21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”
The language here must not be forced. It is poetry, not prose. It is simply a poetic way of saying that man leaves this world as naked and helpless as he entered it. Job was not here speaking in the technical language of theology or metaphysics or physiology.
The Lord gave. This statement has become the classic expression of Christian resignation. Ever since the Fall, Satan has maligned God’s character. Worse still, he has sought to make it appear that the evil deeds he has done should be charged against God.
May the name of the Lord be praised.
Job’s conduct was a dramatic denial of Satan’s insinuation (v. 11). To the question, “Does Job fear God without regard for selfish gain?” Job gave the answer “Yes.” Satan was perplexed.
He had seen many who would have cursed God under similar circumstances—but Job’s attitude was inexplicable. Fire raged over the parish of a German pastor, laying in ruins his home and the homes of his people. Then death claimed his wife and children. Disease laid him prostrate; then blindness overtook him. Under this avalanche of trouble, he dictated these words: “My Jesus, as Thou wilt; O may Thy will be mine! Into Thy hand of love, I would my all resign.”
Job 1:21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”
Job 1:21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”
Job 1:22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
The expression in Hebrew is idiomatic. Literally, “did not ascribe to God tiphlah.”
Tiphlah seems to refer to that which is out of harmony with the character of God. In his reaction to the initial tragedy, Job said nothing he need later regret; he did not stoop to self-pity or melodramatic mourning; he kept his head when lesser men would have disintegrated under the staggering blows.