Chapter 1

2025 - The list of possession in vs 3 is quite interesting.  We know exactly how many sheep, camels, oxen, and female donkeys he had.  But no one bothered to count the people he owned.  His servants are just "very many".  An insignificant part of Job's wealth.

Job is a God-fearing man, avoiding evil, and offering sacrifices to God for sin.  This must have followed the example of Noah, who offered sacrifices after the flood.  He was "the greatest of all the people of the east".  His sons and daughters all spend time with each other, and Job sends messages to them, and offers sacrifices for them.  Note Job's role as "priest of his family".  This pushes the dating of the story of Job well back.  Abraham also acted as priest for his family.  This changed later.  But it wouldn't say it this way if the story took place, say, in Solomon's time.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord , and Satan also came among them.

Job 1:6 ESV

"...sons of God..." clearly means angels here.  Also, we know that this is after Satan's fall.  We know that Satan spends a lot of time on/in the earth, walking about, looking for what harm he can do to prevent the advance of the kingdom.  To wipe it out in fact.  We must also wonder how often these days occur "when the sons of god came to present themselves before the Lord"?  Is this an accounting to God of their activities?  MSB says it was an accounting, and Satan, like Judas, shows up also.

Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

Job 1:10 ESV

We should all want that hedge.  Job was enjoying a life without the need of correction, without persecution.  Satan says anyone could be a fine man under such favorable conditions.  A "charmed" life doesn't always mean God no longer chastens because He has given up on us.  Satan has to have permission to attack Job.  Even in the case of one of the most faithful three men who ever lived, God grants this permission.  We should never be surprised when we, much less deserving of God's protection, are attacked.  This should motivate us to be ever more thankful for the good things He allows us.

2025 - We saw that Satan had been walking on the earth, and there is an implication that he had a free hand while there.  God asks him what he's been doing as if God was not exactly monitoring all Satan's actions.

2025 - We see that the way God works is to put a hedge around those He wants left alone.  I think we can rightly conclude that these hedges are rare.  To those who don't have this hedge, Satan does whatever he wants, according to his strategies for keeping men from God.  And because Satan is consummately evil, his strategy is not to make things great for everyone, but to make things awful.  He knows that God will be credited for blessings, so he does not want anyone to be blessed.  He knows also that God will be BLAMED for troubles, and so he seeks to maximize the trouble in the world.

2021- This verse:

10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. [Job 1:10 ESV]  The comment above, I had forgotten.  Job was living a charmed life.  He was a good and righteous man but we can be very sure that he was not sinless.  His protection extended to his family, their families, to his livestock, lands, and slaves.  All who were associated with Job benefited from that relationship.  Job was not being chastened, punished, or reaping the consequences of the sins that he did have.  He was living a very fine life.  And in this case, that did NOT mean that God had given up on him and walked away and left him to the devices that would eventually bring his downfall...and even if they didn't, hell would await one abandoned by God.  When things are going well with us, which they occasionally do - and how many of us would be wrong to say we are doing better than we deserve - we should be happy about that, and praise God all the more.  And if good times prompt you to thank God, instead of to pat yourself on the back, then it is very unlikely that you are abandoned.

Possible FB post.

2021 - These verses:

11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." 12 And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. [Job 1:11-12 ESV]  Here is a lesson for those who ask how a good God can bring about horrible events.  Look at what this says.  Satan asked and received permission to do these things.  The calamity that is about to overtake Job from every side is conceived of and orchestrated by Satan - by the Adversary - and not by God.  We should also note that though Job had no idea why these things were happening, God very much did know, and in his sovereignty, judged that the heavenly purpose outweighed the suffering on earth that would be caused.  It is always this way with God. 

Possible FB post.

2021 - Later, I found this verse in Psalms:

5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. [Psa 8:5 ESV].  Another corroboration that angels are more nearly perfect than men.  I note also that I made two FB posts from these first few verses of Job.  What ended up posted is quite a bit different than what I marked here.  So I am pasting back in the two posts that were made, for future reference:

11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." 12 And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand..." [Job 1:11-12a ESV] Here is a lesson about how it can sometimes happen that horrible things happen to very good people. Look closely at what this says. Satan asked and received permission to torment Job. The calamities that are about to overtake Job are all conceived of and orchestrated by Satan - by the Adversary. God did not do any of this. Satan did it all. So there you have it, God is not to blame in any of this. Does that explanation work for you? Because it doesn't work for me at all. I mean, sure, it was Satan that did the dirty work, but he had God's permission. Just like when a general gives the orders, and the battle is lost. We don't blame the soldiers we blame the general. Argumentative atheists are quick to trot Job out and accuse God of being unfair. Frankly, you can't argue with them. The whole point was to have unfair things happen to Job. How are we to answer them? Where is the "Ohhhh! Now I see!" that explains why Job is even in the Bible? Well maybe placing blame is not really the issue. After all, there's never any dispute about who's in charge. Even Satan is not arguing that point. So what is Job about? Last Monday, we noted that God told Satan Job would remain faithful even if he was treated unfairly. So let's look at Job's reaction in these two verses: "And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord ." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong, Job 1:21‭-‬22 ESV. Job didn't jump up and call God a liar for not blessing a righteous man. Job didn't revolt - like Satan - and scream that if God treats His best people like this he'd rather worship a pile of rocks. Nope. Those are the things Satan did. Job knew who the general was, and win or lose, the general was and still is the general. As we go through the next 30 or so chapters of Job, we'll see him say again and again that God is behind all that's happening to him. He will blame God for it - so can we. Job will ask for an audience with God, for an explanation from God, for justification from God. So can we. What we cannot do is believe that God is doing the wrong thing. To say that God can be wrong means He is not God anymore. To say He is wrong is sin. In "judging God" we make ourselves God. And that is what Satan did, and it hasn't worked out well for him. There is no "Now I see" kind of epiphany in Job. Job isn't in the Bible to make us feel better when things go wrong. Job is in the Bible so we learn never to fault God even when we are angry with Him about what He does or what He allows. God is never wrong. His reasons are sometimes incomprehensible to us, but He is never wrong. This is a hard thing to deal with when tragedy comes. This is a grown-up concept. Job is in the Bible to show us how grown-ups should behave.

FB 9/6/21

8 And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" [Job 1:8 ESV].  Note first that Job is unique on the planet.  It is only Job who is so nearly righteous that God blesses him, and does not need to correct him.  So I think God is pointing out to Satan that even this lowly human, created a little less than the angels, remains faithful to Him while Satan, one of the most nearly perfect creatures God ever created, was unfaithful and rebelled.  Satan counters that Job is only faithful because there is no injustice in his life.  Satan is saying that he only rebelled because he was being treated unjustly.  He believed - and still believes - himself equal with God.  He thought he should be worshiped as God, and that God's refusal to allow these things was an injustice.  Therefore he rebelled.  Satan predicts that Job will also rebel in such circumstances and challenges God to send some injustice Job's way.  Here is how that went:  11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." 12 And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. [Job 1:11-12 ESV]  This sets up the dispute in heaven that unravels every aspect of Job's blessed life, and explains why Job could not know the reason behind what was happening.  God made angels a little more like Him and humans a little less, but the ability to make moral choices is equal in both.  God's point is that you don't have to be perfect to choose the right way, and you don't have to be living in luxury, either.  You just have to have faith.  Faith is what Job had more of than any man on the planet, and he would have been crushed by events without it.  So would we!

FB 8/30/21 Monday

2023 - Vs 12...Note that God does not kill Job's children nor bring about any of the terrible things that happen.  God only removes  his own protection, so that Satan may go about his business of hurt and deception and killing.  Perhaps it is always this way.  The verse that says all good things come from God might ought to say ONLY good things come from God.

2025- So I have seen this before...that it is Satan, and NEVER GOD that does evil in the world, I just never really clicked to all the implications.

The first report to reach Job is that Sabeans have taken the oxen and killed those servants attending them.  Sabeans were terrorizing robbers descended from Ham.  These would be intractable, almost impossible to recover goods from after they had been stolen.

The second report says "the fire of God" fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants with them.  Satan here tries to lead Job into believing that all this evil is from God, rather than allowed by God.  This is the closest Satan EVER gets to a sign from heaven.

2025 - Gemini gave me this summary of when the Sabeans were around:

The Sabean kingdom, also known as Sheba, flourished in ancient Yemen from approximately the 10th century BCE to the 1st century CE. They were a wealthy and powerful civilization known for their trade in spices, gold, and other goods. Their capital was Marib, and they also had a strong presence in the Horn of Africa. 

Here's a more detailed timeline: 

• 10th-12th centuries BCE: Archaeological evidence suggests the beginning of the Sabaean civilization around this time. 

8th-7th centuries BCE: The earliest mentions of the Sabeans appear in Assyrian annals. 

1st millennium BCE: The Sabean kingdom reached its peak, becoming a major power in Arabia. 

1st century BCE - 1st century CE: The Sabean kingdom began to decline, possibly due to internal conflicts and external pressures. 

1st-3rd centuries CE: A second Sabaean kingdom is believed to have existed during this period. 

6th century CE: The failure of the Marib dam,  a crucial part of their irrigation system, is cited as a major factor in the kingdom's final collapse, according to some historians. 

2021 - This verse:

16 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you." [Job 1:16 ESV]

This is one to remember, where, given full leave by God except to the taking of Job's own life, Satan was quite capable of raining down fire from heaven, a sign almost exclusively reserved for God to show his own power. (references - Elisha's altar, the two witnesses, and others that can be found.)  The first thing Satan does is use this exclusive "sign" in an effort to convince Job that it is God who has spurned him and turned against him, and divert Job's attention from the real provocateur.  This is the kind of liar Satan is.  He's often much better at lying than we are at believing!  It is the same with us!  These awful things that can and do occur in the lives of Christians are not coming FROM God though they may be ABOUT God. 

Possible FB post.

Third, the camels are taken by the Chaldeans - nomads, before they came to power later in the Bible.  Again, this makes the story of Job very old.

Fourth, Jobs children, gathered together as family, killed by a wind that takes the house down.  Satan can control wind.

And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord ." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Job 1:21‭-‬22 ESV

Job did not blame God for this.  How could he not, when he had lost everything in an afternoon.  Implies that blaming God , even under these very trying circumstances, would have been sin, even though God allowed it all.  Also, the deaths of Job's children was not for anything they had done wrong.  They died because of Satan's dispute with God about their father.  Never think that your actions only affect you.  We all jump to the conclusion sometimes that when bad things happen to those we love, it must be about something we have done, or that they have done.  That is sometimes the case, but that is sometimes NOT the case at all.  Those who hate will gladly use your mistakes, or your goodness, as an excuse to harm those you love.

Never think that good or evil must be caused by something prior.  Sometimes there is a bigger picture that we cannot comprehend.

Possible FB post, with a little more work I think...

2025 - Actually, Job DOES put the responsibility for all that has happened squarely on God's shoulders: 21 And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." [Job 1:21 ESV].  In Job's eyes, as in ours today, The Lord gave, and the Lord took away.  God credited with blessings, blamed for evil.  The key here is that Job embraces God's RIGHT to give and his RIGHT to take.  God is eternally in charge of all things, He is ultimately the source of all things.  But he did NOT cause the wind that blew that house down.  Satan did that. 

We see that same principle stated another way here, in the parable of the laborers:

15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' [Mat 20:15 ESV]

2022 - This verse:

2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. [Job 1:2-3 ESV].  Here is the inventory of Job's possessions - the most valuable things in his life.  Children, sheep, camels, oxen, and donkeys.  Sabeans took the donkeys and the oxen.  Fire took the sheep.  Chaldeans took the camels.  Wind took the children.

These verses:

10 He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away." 11 And he said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. [1Ki 19:10-12 ESV].  Here is Elijah, feeling very put out because he is working hard to turn the people back to God, and for his trouble he is all alone, hiding in a cave, and people are trying to kill him.  So God sends him a message in the wind, the fire, and the earthquake.  Then that last, intriguing phrase.  What message was delivered to Elijah in that whisper?  Perhaps the message was "Here you are, safe in this cave I have provided.  Safe from marauding bands of thieves and murderers like the ones who stole Job's donkeys, oxen and cattle.  And here is wind, like the wind that took all Job's children, and here is fire, like the fire that took Job's sheep.  Job endured tremendous loss from all these things that have passed harmlessly by you, Elijah.  So tell me again why you are so put out?"  Maybe, when we get to feeling sorry for ourselves, we too ought to read that first chapter of Job, and then walk out the door of our safe and comfortable homes, and feel the wind blowing harmlessly by, and count our blessings instead of our problems.  Bet we'd all feel a lot better about things if we did that.

Possible FB post for 8/22/22 Monday