Job was a man indeed; a true man, a man of the highest type, for he was a man of God.
Job 1:1. Whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright,--
Job was thoroughly true and sincere, and in this sense he “was perfect and upright,”-
Job 1:1. And one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
He had both sides of a godly character, a love of God and a hatred of sin.
Job 1:2. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
Job was highly favoured in having such a family of sons and daughters.
Job 1:3. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
Job was not a poor man, yet he was a man of God;-one of those “camels” that manage to go through “the eye of a needle.”
Job 1:4. And his sons went and feasted in their houses every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters-
Who were very modest and retiring, and would not have gone to the feast if they had not been sent for, but their brothers were kind and thoughtful, as all good brothers will be.
Job 1:4-5. To eat and to drink with them. And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them,
Job did not go to the feast, perhaps he felt too old, his character was too staid for such a gathering, and he had higher joys, that were nearer his heart than any earthly feast could be.
Job 1:5. And rose up early in the morning, and offered 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 heart. Thus did Job continually.
He thought, “Perhaps, in their rejoicing, unholy thoughts may have intruded; they may have been unguarded and lax in their conduct. They may not have fallen into my cross sin; but, in their feasting, they may have sinned against God, therefore I will offer sacrifices for them.” “Thus did Job continually.” Not only occasionally, but every day, he sacrificed upon his altar unto God, and so sought to keep his household right before Jehovah.
Job 1:6. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
Into heaven? Oh, no! The presence of God is very widespread, and there was no need to admit the evil spirit again into heaven in order that he might be present before God.
Job 1:7. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou?
God is Satan’s Master, so he asks him where he has been. I wonder whether, if the Lord were to put that question to everybody here, “Whence comest thou?” each of us could give a satisfactory answer to it.
Job 1:7. Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
Uneasy, restless, ever active, like a roaring lion “seeking whom he may devour.” Ah! we little know how near Satan is to us now; and even in our hours of prayer, when we are nearest to God, he may come and assail us.
Job 1:8. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job,-
“He is an example to you, he may well chide you, he is so obedient, and you are so rebellious: ‘Hast thou considered my servant Job,’”-
Job 1:8-9. That there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said,-
We may be certain that, if there had been anything bad in Job, Satan would have found it out, and brought it against him. However excellent a man is, though there are none like him on earth, you can find fault with him if you want to do so. Satan found fault with Job because he had prospered, and his friends afterwards found fault with him because he did not prosper; so you can make anything into a blot on the character of men if you have a mind to do so. “Satan answered the Lord, and said,”-
Job 1:9-10. Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?
The black dog of hell had been prowling around to see where he could get in, so he knew that there was a hedge right round Job, and round his house and all that he had. Notice how the devil insinuates that Job feared God for what he could get out of him. “His love is cupboard love,” says Satan; “he is well paid by providence for his reverence to God.”
Job 1:10. Thou hast blessed the work of his hands,-
Even the devil dared not deny that Job was a working man, or say that he had come by his estate by oppression or plunder. No; he said to God, “Thou hast blessed the work of his hands,”-
Job 1:10-11. And his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Oh, what mischief Satan can imagine against the righteous! The mercy is that, although he is mighty, he is not almighty; he is very malicious, but there is One who is far wiser and stronger than he is, who can always circumvent and overpower him.
Job 1:12-15. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD. And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house: and there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Job had not wronged these Sabeans, they were plunderers on the lookout for spoil; and when Satan moved them, they came and stole the patriarch’s oxen and asses, and slew his servants.
Job 1:16. While he was yet speaking,-
As if to give Job no time to rally his faith and encourage his heart,-
Job 1:16. There came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
This calamity must have distressed Job all the more because “the fire of God” had burnt up the sheep that he was accustomed to offer in sacrifice to Jehovah, and the blow had seemed to come directly from God himself, as it was lightning that had destroyed both sheep and shepherds too. Poor Job had not time to recover from that shock ere the next blow fell upon him;-
Job 1:17. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
He had not time to think before the heaviest stroke of all came:-
Job 1:18-19. While he was yet speaking there came also another, and said, Thy Sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house: and, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and, they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Satan had arranged to bring on the patriarch’s troubles so quickly one after another as to utterly overwhelm the good man; at least, so the devil hoped it would prove; yet it did not.
Job 1:20. Then Job arose,-
With all his burden on him, he arose,-
Job 1:20. And rent his mantle, and shaved his head,-
He did not pull his hair out as a Pagan, or a maniac, or a person delirious through trouble might have done; but he deliberately “rent his mantle, and shaved his head,”-
Job 1:20. And fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,-
Grand old man, how bravely does he play the man here! He “fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,”-
Job 1:21. And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither:
That is, to the womb of Mother Earth.
Job 1:21. The LORD gave and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
I think these are the grandest words in the whole record of human speech. Considering the circumstances of the man at the time, that he should thus speak was, I think, a miracle of grace.
Job 1:22. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.