Book of Job

The handouts. The first two items are just a couple of samples of some little bit of material we have on the church website. That's just for your information. There is the subsection, the portion within Bible Study Course No. 4, Why Does God Allow Suffering? So you've got some material there that may give you some food for thought.

A book of Job is a challenging book because it asks that unanswerable question. In part, it's unanswerable. Why does God allow the righteous to suffer? The second article, there is a section on the church website. Bible and FAQ is Frequently Asked Questions. There is one posted there, What Was Job's Sin?

Then at the end, the third page is a photocopy from the front of, I didn't write on the top, but this comes from this Scofield Study Bible 3. That's the opening page to the book of Job where they have a little background information. The main thing I wanted you to have is their six-point outline at the bottom of that page. We'll look at that a little bit later. The New King James Bible that I have has three brief paragraphs that introduce this book.

I'll just read what it says. It says, Job is perhaps the earliest book in the Bible. Now, earliest in the sense of chronologically the writing of the books. The first five books, of course, that go all the way back to creation, weren't written until Moses, or in the 1400s BC. This one, as we'll get to later, probably the best guesstimate we can come to is in the area of 1800s, 1700s. So, chronologically, two, maybe three hundred years earlier than the books written by Moses. Then, continuing, it says, set in the period of the patriarchs. So, the patriarchs are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, through that era. It tells the story of a man who loses everything.

His wealth, his family, his health. And then, wrestles with the question, why? If you want a one-word theme for the Bible, it's just that question, why? Continuing, it says, the book begins with a heavenly debate between God and Satan, moves through three cycles of earthly debates between Job and his three friends, and concludes with a dramatic divine diagnosis of Job's problem.

In the end, Job acknowledges the sovereignty of God over his life and receives back more than he had before the trials. Now, that's in the sense of his wealth as far as the livestock that he owned. He got double back. He got the same amount of children back, but that being said, he lost ten children.

He lost a lot of servants that would have probably been near and dear to his heart, but God doubly restored his wealth later on. A little bit more from the New King James Study Bible. In the Hebrew, yob, and they spell that I-Y-Y-O-B, yob. Yob is the Hebrew title for the book. The name has two possible meanings. If it is derived from the Hebrew word for persecution, it means the persecuted one. Job certainly was persecuted. However, it then says it is more likely that this name comes from the Arabic word that means to come back or to repent.

If that is the case, then the name would be defined as the repentant one. Really, in a sense, both meanings apply to this book. The author. The page you have there from Scofield at the top, author, it says unknown. Did you get this hand out? Okay. It says unknown. However, many agree or conclude that Job has to be the author. I looked at some of the introductory material in the MacArthur Study Bible.

There actually are a lot of possibilities that have been suggested. Here are some of the names, possible candidates. It could have been Moses. I suppose a possibility if the stories were preserved and passed down two or three hundred years. Another possibility is Solomon because you've got some books in the Old Testament that are called the Wisdom Literature.

Job is one, Proverbs is another, Ecclesiastes is a third. In the order, this is the first of the Wisdom Literature. Solomon wrote the other two. Again, some then suggest that maybe Solomon was the author, but that would have meant another 400 and some years. Material would have been preserved and passed down so Solomon could write it. Seems a little far-fetched. Some have suggested Eli-Hugh. Eli-Hugh is the younger man who enters the picture in the book of Job. I think it's chapter 32. He's the first one who begins speaking and begins to make sense. You notice at the end, with the first three friends, God strongly corrected them and said, you know, had Job pray for them for forgiveness.

But Eli-Hugh is not included in that. God did not say that if Job prays for you, I will forgive your sins. Others say Isaiah, Hezekiah, Jeremiah, Ezra. So, as you see, we've got the bulk of the Old Testament authors covered. He was interpreted like Joseph, right? Well, we don't fully know that. There were some things Dr. Hay wrote that later on he wanted to get back. Material, there was an old article, I forget the name of it, something about who built the Great Pyramids.

Wasn't that Kiapp's? Well, yes, but whether Kiapp's was Job is pretty...too many pieces of the puzzle missing. Pretty far-fetched, frankly. But there was a time when it was dogmatically preached and the Church, Dr. Hay, had it in his compendium of world history.

And he wanted to get that back later on. Because as we see, chapter 1, verse 1 says, The greatest of all the men of the east... Excuse me, that's verse 3, The greatest of all the men of the east. Well, Egypt, and for that matter the area of Edom, is straight south from Palestine. And you can't, by any stretch, call that the east. More likely, he was across the northern part of what today we know of Saudi Arabia and into the area of Iran over toward Mesopotamia.

So, again, we'll come back to some of these. Yes, sir? That particular time, were there any written Word of God? I'm drawing a blank on answering that. The question is, were there any written records that Job could have read and referred to? There is a statement in there where he refers, obviously, back to the creation, and he refers to the flood in another place. But whether there were written records or, you know, the Jews are the kings of oral tradition and passing things on. So it may have been more an oral history that was then, in the days of Moses, put down in writing, going all the way back to Genesis 1.

So I don't know that we fully have an answer to that question. Now, we're going to look at it, and for my purpose I'm going to make the assumption that the most probable author is Job. I'll present it that way, but, you know, one day we may find out, well, no, it wasn't him. It was somebody else. But as the book ends, about the second verse from the end of chapter 42, it mentions that after all these things, he lived 140 years. That is a long time. Again, with translation, we lose a lot of the poetic beauty, but 140 years is a long time to arrange it in the way that it was.

Yes, Alice? I read on this, I mean, Job. We're talking Bible. Yes. Was what? His age? His age. How long he lived after the trials or before the trials? After. Chapter 42 verse 16 says, after this, Job lived 140 years and saw his children and grandchildren. So, based on that, 140. But if he had 10 children by the time the story begins, he had to have a number of decades under his belt.

The Septuagint translation, when they took the Hebrew and translated it into Greek in the 300s BC, somehow they added in there, they came up with the conclusion that he was 70 when all of this book took place. So that would make him 210 at the time of his death.

So, that's, well, like, Abraham lived 175. So, to live that long is more the patriarchal age. Earlier than, you know, Moses lived 120, but it seems like he lived longer. Joseph lived 110. So, the average age expectancy was shortening as time went on.

Now, Job, the question is asked, was he a real person or, in other words, is this a true narrative, a story written of somebody's life, or is it just an allegory? Is it a story somebody composed?

Alright, well, we're probably in agreement there. We understand it as Job truly lived. It is a true narrative of events that happen to a man. Now, if Job were just a part of a story somebody written, a fabricated name, why would Ezekiel, in Ezekiel 14, let me see here, 14 and 20, Ezekiel, in referring to the fact that Judah is going to go down, Jerusalem is going to go down, he said that if Noah and Job and who else? Daniel. Even if Noah and Job and Daniel were there, they would save their own life and the nation was still going to go down. So, hundreds of years later, Ezekiel writing in the five hundreds, why? I mean, the earlier five hundreds, why would he refer back to Noah and Job? Unless they really were true people. They were real. Okay, then in James, in James 5 verse 11, and I'll just refer to that, because we went through James as we started the general epistles, and he referred back to the patience of Job. So, here you have someone writing over a thousand years later, and then somebody else writing more than two thousand years down the line, and they are referring back to Job as though it is a given that he was a true, genuine character from the Bible. Some question the book because of this dialogue between God and Satan in chapters 1 and 2.

But again, that's something that God could have revealed through whatever means he chose later on. Job lived 140 years. It's a long time to receive information and to piece this book together in the manner in which it was.

Okay, now, do we have scriptural support for the book's inspiration? In other words, do we have proof it really is in the Bible? To that, the short answer is yes. There are a couple of places where in the New Testament, they either quote directly from or paraphrase back to the book of Job.

So let's notice some of those examples. If you look at Job 5 verse 13, and let's just focus on the first half. He catches the wise in their own craftiness. Now, these are the words of Eliphaz, the first one to speak. He catches the wise in their own craftiness. Now, Paul quoted that in 1 Corinthians 3 verse 19. And it is largely word for word. 1 Corinthians 3 verse 19. Midway through the verse, he doesn't say, as Job wrote, or as Eliphaz said to Job, he just says, for it is written, he catches the wise in their own craftiness. And there's no other place back in the Old Testament where you have that phrase except the book of Job. Now, you also have notice in Job 22 verse 29. We have an example where both Peter and James basically paraphrase what is stated here. Job 22 verse 29. And here it says, when they cast you down and you say, exaltation will come, then he will save the humble person. Want to read that? Let me find that in the King James. The wording is slightly different. King James, when men are cast down, then though they say, there is lifting up, and he shall save the humble person. Now, both James and Peter, in Peter's first epistle, refer to humble yourselves before God, and he will lift you up. So, it is largely paraphrasing. There is not another place in the Old Testament where you find that basic thought. Then finally, Job 15 verse 8. These are scriptures that tie together the book of Job with paraphrases or quotations of it in the New Testament. Job 15 verse 8. Have you heard the secret of God? Do you restrain wisdom to yourself? Now, largely, the same wording, the same thoughts come through in Romans 11. Let me find that for you quickly here, I hope. Romans 11 verses 34 and 35. It says, for who has known the mind of God, or who has been his counselor, or who has first given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him again. Yes, verse 34 at the beginning, there is a marginal note, for who has known the mind of the Lord. There is a marginal note that is tied back to Job 15 verse 8. So, you have those three places as examples where we have the New Testament quoting from or paraphrasing from the book of Job, giving a stamp that it was a part of the Old Testament scriptures, and we should view it as being such.

Let's deal a little bit with the when, the date, the dating of the book. I kind of alluded to that earlier, but let's, you know, we do have a few clues that pretty much point us to the patriarchal age. We do not have enough to nail down a really close date.

Let's look back at Genesis 46. Genesis 46, for the most part, is a listing of all of those Israelites, all of those of the seed of Abraham, or Jacob, who went from the Holy Land down to Egypt.

You know, the story we're right after the story of Joseph, breaking into the story of Joseph. And notice, as we have a listing of names, he's going from one son to the next, Levi and Judah, etc.

And verse 13, And the sons of Issachar, Tolah, and Fuvah, and Job, he mentions a Job, but again, the book of Job opens and says he was the greatest of all the men of the east. Egypt was due south.

And again, if it truly was a son of Issachar, who was there as part of that 75 people of Israel, who went down to Egypt, it seems that in the writing of the story, some connection would have been made. Somehow, some way, it just seems to me that we would know that, or we would see that from the writing.

But the wording of it, and some of their activities, dates it to a bit earlier time. So I think it was a stretch to tie it in with a son of Issachar. Now, back to Dr. Hay, and I think I largely commented on this. There was the time when the Compendium of World History came out, and that was the very earliest part of the 60s, when he was fulfilling his doctoral degree. And there were things written in, there's Volumes 1 and 2, and I forget which one has the material. And he tied in, there was that article who built the Great Pyramids, and the article tied together Job as being this Pharaoh Kiappes, or Khufu.

Again, sorry, he wanted that material back later, but once it's out there, you can't unring that bell. But too many pieces of the puzzle missing, so I think we have to just table that as an idea. Just not enough information there. I mentioned a while ago the length of his life was more of the patriarchal age. We notice in Job 1, verse 5, that the children were feasting, and Job went and sanctified them, and then he offered burnt offerings. That too speaks back to the patriarchal age, and actually earlier than that.

When the story, you get to the end of Genesis 8, with the completion of the story of Noah's flood, as they are on dry land once again, one of the first order of the day is go construct an altar, and Noah, as the family patriarch, Noah sacrificed one of all the clean animals to God. So back then, before we have a law written in stone, before we have a sanctuary, a tabernacle, before we have a sacrificial law that dictated that the Levites, and specifically the priestly line within Levi, are to make the offerings, before that time it was the family patriarch, the family head, the head of home, was largely kind of the family priest, for lack of a better term, and when there were offerings, he did it.

Abraham was sent to the land of Moriah, and he was to sacrifice his son, and then as events came through, he sacrificed the ram. So that speaks to the patriarchal age. Job's wealth, verse 7, the sheep, the camels, the oxen, the female donkeys, wealth was counted in terms of livestock, not gold and silver. You get to the days of Solomon. Solomon's Israel. Silver was counted as nothing. Okay, so, gold everywhere, but at this time, livestock was a symbol of one's wealth. Now, the Book of Silence regarding the law on Tablets of Stone. A covenant with Abraham, even, is not mentioned, and a covenant with Israel.

The nation of Israel is not mentioned. There's no mention of the Exodus, no mention of a tabernacle, no mention of journeying around following a pillar of cloud, a pillar of fire. All this would indicate earlier, Eusebius in the church history and from the early Christian era, there's one quote where he said that Job was dated as two ages before Moses. Well, if we only knew what an age represented. Two hundred years? I don't know. No, two ages earlier. I think that's enough on that. But either way, if it's written in that patriarchal age, to the best of our knowledge, this is chronologically the first book written down. And then Moses wrote five later, and then you have other authors coming on.

Now, what are some of the themes and lessons of Job? I want to list seven for you here. Themes and lessons of Job. First of all, why are righteous men and women tried and tested? Why are righteous men tried and tested? We have such a limited perspective. All we see is a here and now. Sometimes we look across the room or our family or our congregation or our place of work, and we think, well, he or she is doing it to me. And no, there's spiritual warfare in high places, and we see that in this book. We may never know the answer to that question, why?

But we have to learn to trust in God's sovereignty, that He doesn't make mistakes, and He's always right. He has a plan. Number two, why does humanity in general suffer? We're going to see themes of that. Number three, we're going to see the role of Satan the devil in human suffering. Job suffered, in other words, because of the accusations of Satan before God. Job and his friends were completely blinded to that. And sometimes we might be in the midst of a great trial because God allowed Satan, Romans 12, verse 10 says he is the accuser of the brethren. And when you read that, you have to wonder how many times has the devil taken my name before the throne of God in an accusatory way.

We don't know. Number four, events on earth have already been decided in heaven many times. So many times the events on earth have already been decided in heaven. Number five, you're given insight into self-righteousness. You're given insight into self-righteousness. Job maintained his own righteousness. He cried out as though he could have his own day in court. If he could just make his own case to God.

And when God came on the scene, it didn't take long, and he put his hand over his mouth and he hushed up. So we're given insight into self-righteousness and the dangers of maintaining our own rightness. Number six, we see the folly of judging God. We see the folly of judging God. We have friends of Job and we have Job, and they are critiquing the Creator until he comes on the scene. And I'll add number seven here. We're given guidance on how to truly be a friend. We're given guidance on how to truly be a friend because it was commendable and admirable that when Job had everything blown away when he was smitten with the sores, Johnny on the spot, here came the three friends, and the first thing they did was they just sat down and they didn't say a word for seven days.

They're there for him. Commendable, honorable. But then one after another speaks, and then Job answers each one, and then they have round two, and Job answers each one, and then they have round three. And the further it goes, it just builds and builds and builds, and Job was getting beat up by his friends. A lot of times we have someone in the midst of a terrible trial, and they just need to know you're there, you care, you love them, you do whatever you can. They don't need our judgment. They certainly don't need our criticism.

If they ask what we think, then we carefully. I can tell them what we think. In the book opening says, there was a man in the land of Uz, Uz, U-Z. So let's spend a little time, where and what was Uz? Someone at Madison last week brought up something that I had even heard, where there were those drawing some connection between Job in the land of Uz and the Wizard of Uz. Well, that one sounds pretty far-fetched. Over that direction, yes. Well, he was Ur of the counties, but as I think we go through this, the evidence points east. And in some references they say it's all the way over to the area of the Tiger Shefrates.

Now, there is a work, man last name, Jacinius. Jacinius has a Hebrew county lexicon. Jacinius says that the word Uz means light sandy soil. He identified it as being the northern part of the Arabian Desert.

The northern part of the Arabian Desert between Palestine and the Euphrates River.

Now, in that direction, I said Iran a while ago. I meant to say Iraq, thank you. Yeah, Tigris-Euphrates Valley, somewhere in between. The whole world has changed so much. Some of those areas used to be fantastic pastures, and now they're desert, as man has improved the earth. Some of those comin' here say it's such a big. Right. Well, and that's true, say, with something of the size and magnitude of ancient Nineveh. It was buried in sand, and archaeologists were trying to figure out where it was, and finally realized these mounds were standing on, and dig down, and well, they were there all along.

Yes, the Saharan, some of the ancient writers, talk about the vast forests, and back in some of the sand dunes, I have read that they sometimes find these ancient buried tree trunks back in there. Alright, we do have a few places in the Bible a reference to a man by the name of Uz. More than one. We have in Genesis 10, verse 23, and I'm not going to turn there and read this, but just the reference is to a man whose name was Uz, and he was a grandson of Shem.

So, Shem, a son of Noah, Shem Ham, Japheth. A grandson of Shem named Uz. Now, Genesis 10 is kind of a table of nations as far as after the flood, and the peoples are multiplying and spreading out for different inheritances.

And it is likely that one of these men named Uz when in a certain area their people prospered and the land began to be named after them. We have in Genesis 22, verse 21, it refers to one named Uz, who is a son of Nahor, who was a brother of Abraham.

Uz, the son of Nahor, brother of Abraham. So, a nephew of Abraham, kind of a lot appears to have been. I say appears, the word, it says nephew, but the word is a little vague, a close relative at least.

Now, we have scriptures that refer to Uz as being a country or a land. Kind of like right here, man from the land of Uz. You have in Jeremiah 25, verse 20.

Again, I'm not going to turn back there, but it just refers to this land of Uz. Another one is Lamentations 4, verse 21. Lamentations 4, verse 21. And there, too, it is a reference to Uz as a land, a region, a country.

And Job says it was, at least Job was the greatest of the men of the east.

And if he was from the land of Uz, Uz had to be to the east.

Jameson Fawcett Brown Commentary, here on the beginning of Job, the one volume is what I have, page 361. It says the probability is that the country took its name from the latter of the two, and it's referring to either Uz, grandson of Shem, or Uz, the son of Nahor, Abraham's brother.

But their feeling is it was a land where this son of Nahor went, and the land was named after him.

For this one was a son of Aram, A-R-A-M, from whom the Aramaeans take their name.

These dwelt in Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

The introduction there in the JFB Commentary also mentions that archeologists and historians, George Rawlinson, in deciphering Assyrian inscriptions in what we know today as Iraq, found one that says, Uz is the prevailing name of the country at the mouth of the Euphrates. So, the mouth of is where it goes into the Persian Gulf.

All these areas are due east from Palestine.

Matthew Henry's commentary on this beginning information about Job, he too says, Uz was in the eastern part of Arabia.

Now, only Adam Clark. Adam Clark says it's down in Edom, which is due south and on the other side of the, well, down the Negev, down below the Dead Sea.

But south? No.

Okay, let's look at this page from Scofield.

And I'm sorry again, I didn't write it at the top.

And I'm just going to focus on the Roman numerals 1 through 6 for kind of a brief outline on the book.

First of all, we have the prologue.

The MacArthur Study Bible calls it the dilemma.

I kind of like that, the dilemma.

Here is Job. Satan's going to God. God relaxes certain restraints. And the next thing you know, by the time we get through two chapters, the poor man has lost everything, and he's in the most horrible physical.

situation. So, the prologue, or the dilemma.

Okay, then Roman numeral 2, we have Job's dialogues.

So, the dialogues, the debates, back and forth, and that really is what they are. And you see here, you have Job beginning, and he's lamenting his situation.

Then Eliphaz speaks. Job replies.

Bildad speaks. Job replies. Zophar speaks. Job rebuttal.

And then Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar again.

Then Eliphaz, Bildad, there's a place laid in there where there was just kind of a break, and it's thought that, well, Zophar just decided everything's been said that needs to be said, and he didn't take his third.

The others had three. Job replied after each one.

Okay, then you have Eli-Hugh's monologue.

Monologue is just one man standing there speaking.

So, Eli-Hugh appears on the scene. He's obviously a younger man. He just sits and listens.

But in chapter 32, when he begins to speak, we actually begin to have some things said that are beginning to make a little sense.

So we have Eli-Hugh's monologue or speech.

Okay, then we have the Lord speaks.

MacArthur calls this the deliverance.

Because as Eli-Hugh is finishing up his address, there's this storm, this whirlwind coming in the background.

And then, chapter 38, from that storm, God begins speaking.

And they hush up and listen. Good move. We should remember that.

God speaks. Roman numer 5, Job's confession, because he admits he was ignorant. He didn't understand.

And he says, I repent and dust the nashes.

And then we have the epilogue, or actually what MacArthur calls the restoration.

I like that, the restoration.

Because the rest of chapter 42, verse 7, all the way to the end, you have, of course, Job praying for his friends, but you have the chapter ending with he had double the numbers of camels and all the livestock, and he had the seven sons and three daughters once again.

Okay. Well, we've got a little late start here.

Let me, the other night in Madison, I got through chapter 1, and after this, we're going to move faster as we get into some of these dialogues.

I think we can make a lot of ground and maybe cover, oh, 5, 6, 7, I don't know.

We'll see how far we go. May not get that far.

So, let's just look here at chapter 1. We commented on the land of Uz.

Let me get my Bible that is written in the large print version, because this old Cambridge, Cambridge-wide margin, I don't know how I read, and I don't know how I wrote that small, once upon a time.

But let me get the one where I can actually read it.

Name was Job. Again, that might mean the repentant one or the persecuted one.

Blameless. Now, notice here, how would we like to have this written by God on our tombstone?

Number 1, blameless. Number 2, upright. Number 3, one who feared God. Number 4, shunned evil.

I'd take that. I'm not in a hurry to have it on my tombstone, but that's pretty good to have.

As we go through it, notice in verse 2, seven sons, three daughters born to Him.

We are going to see patterns of sevens and especially patterns of threes, like in the dialogues.

Three friends each speak, well, not the last one, but for the most part, speak three times.

We're going to see that.

Verse 3, again, His wealth is in possessions.

Seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, a very large household.

So that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.

I can't imagine this being a son of Issachar down in Egypt at a later time.

It just doesn't seem to fit, but there was a man-jobe down there.

All right. His sons would go and feast in their houses.

I wish I knew more about those feasts and whether they were at certain appointed times.

Each on his appointed day, so apparently at least a rotation of who hosted, and would send and invite their three sisters to come and eat and drink with them.

Now, so it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them.

He would rise early in the morning, offer burnt offerings, according to the number of them all, for Job said, it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.

Thus, Job did regularly. So, pray for your children, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren. Don't ever give up on them.

And he thought, maybe they've done something, and he wanted to be an intercessor for them.

But here again, we see kind of the patriarchal age position of the head of the home being the family priest as well, the one who went to God.

Now we go and we shift to a scene in heaven, and we see God relaxing a little bit of the restraints upon Satan.

There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. That's the Yahweh.

And Satan also came among them.

So, we know from this that, and by saying here the sons of God, we'll talk about that in just a moment, but we have the angelic, created spiritual sons of God appearing before God, and God allowed Satan to come on certain occasions as well.

But it said, sons of God. Now we have that phrase used a variety of ways in the Bible.

Back in Genesis 6, verse 2, the sons of men saw the daughters of men.

Or that's not the exact wording, but that's close. They were fair. They took wives of them.

There are those, in fact, the old book of Enoch from which is part of the Studio Grafah, didn't make the Bible.

In fact, it didn't show up until not that long before Christ.

That book claims that these were angels who copulated with women, and these giants, these mutants.

No. In the New Testament, one place, Matthew 22, I want to say, Jesus said, they are as the angels of heaven, who neither marry or are given in marriage.

We're talking two different kinds, a spirit being and a flesh and blood human being.

They're not going to be siring and bearing children together.

So, sons of God had to refer to men.

In fact, you have one of the genealogies of Christ, the one in Luke 3, the last verse, verse 38.

It works its way backward, and it comes to Adam, who was the son of God.

Adam was the first of the human line of the sons of God, created flesh and blood.

Here we have spirit sons of God, because the angels were created spirit beings.

And, of course, we have Jesus Christ as the son of God.

So, the phrase is used differently at different times.

But in verse 7, God asked Satan, where have you come from?

Satan, I don't know, kind of evades the issue.

I've been walking to and fro on the earth.

And, verse 8, God is sovereign, and we have an insight into God's providence.

And I think from the outset, God wanted to teach Job something that he didn't see.

And God uses Satan to do that.

Knowing Satan's very nature, he's going to go and charge in and assault the servant of God, as God will allow him to do that.

And so God says, have you considered my servant Job that there's none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man?

Same for, fears God, hates evil. God himself said that about Job. Wow!

So Satan answered the Lord and said, does Job fear God for nothing?

In other words, you're making it easy for him.

You're giving him too much. You're protecting him too closely.

From Satan's point of view, that's a problem. From our point of view, think of it.

If we ask God for his protective hedge, that's a good thing. It's a comforting thing.

If we go to the feast and ask God to set a protective hedge around our feast site, or our Sabbath hall, our meetings, our brethren's homes, it's a good thing.

But it shows you again, Satan can only do what God allows, and nothing more.

He continued to the complaint. The heads about him and his household. He blessed the work of his hands.

Possessions increased. Stretch your hand and touch all that he has. He'll curse you to your face. Well, boy, was Satan wrong. Job had his problems, but he never spoke. He never turned and cursed God for taking away everything that he had.

The Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has, all that he has, all his possessions and his family, is in your power, but do not lay a hand on his person. So Satan went out.

Okay, so here we have then rapid fire, four events. Everything the man has is swept aside.

And it happened on one of the days when the children were together and they were feasting.

Verse 14, a messenger came. He explained the oxen were plowing, the donkeys feeding beside them the Sabaeans.

All right, the Sabaeans. Looking that up, the Sabaeans are the descendants of Sheba, a grandson of Abraham through Keturah.

And the Sabaeans came, raided them and took them all away. This is the oxen and the donkeys.

Killed the servants. I alone escaped. While he was still speaking. So it's just one after another without break.

And another came. The fire of the God that fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them and I alone escaped.

17. While he was speaking, another came. The Chaldeans formed three bands. Now this would be the old Chaldean Empire.

And they stole the camels and they killed some more servants.

And this may hearken back to, you remember, back to the days of Abraham and Lot. Lot was in Sodom.

Genesis 14, the Battle of the Kings. The title King of Nations. Well, there was the Cattelaiomer of the Chaldeans.

They involved in that. They took those of Sodom and Lot and possessions. So that could help to date the time.

But the Chaldeans came formed in three bands. So it speaks more of experience, maybe military arrangement, experience in attacking.

18. Rated the camels, took them away, killed the servants, and I alone. Well, while he was speaking. Here comes the final one. The heavy bootfalls.

Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking.

19. Suddenly, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house that it fell on the young people, and they are dead.

And I alone escaped to tell you Job arose, tore his robe. Mordecai tore his robe. More than one example where that was a sign of grief.

20. Tore his robe, shaved his head, fell to the ground, and worshipped. Interesting. The first thing he did was worship God.

21. And he said, Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I returned there. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

22. In all this Job did not sin, nor charged God with wrong.

Well, he's going to repent of his sins at the end of the chapter. We're going to see that there are some things that he needed to see.

But at least in the response of having his whole life destroyed, he did not sin.

And that's about where we're going to have to stop Chapter 1.

We've got Round 2 with Satan.

And we have the events in Chapter 3. You might read ahead like Chapter 2 for about 6 chapters.

And that way we can try to shoot for 6... I can't imagine getting more than that.

And we can move through this in a number of months of the Bible.

Okay, thank you much!