God tells us in Ecclesiastes 3:1 - “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven!” and last week, our benediction was from Romans 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Many of you are familiar with Job; a man who suffered in life for a reason. The book of Job is God’s Word to us and much is to be learned.
We many times wonder why things happen, especially troubles in our lives when it seems undeserved for us. In God’s Plan and Schedule, there is a reason for everything. As we will note from the Book of Job, no matter what happens here on earth, we must always have faith in God; and let us note, Jesus Christ had not yet died for Job, yet he remained faithful. This will be our theme as we study Job; no matter what happens to us on earth, we are to remain faithful to Jesus Christ, for He is always faithful to us!
Please open your Bibles to the Book of Job and read along with me Job 1:1-5……
We note in v1 that Job lived in the land of Oz and he was the wizard!
Hahahahaha… how one letter can change God’s Word! Job lived in the land of Uz! If Uz rings a bell, you know it is mentioned in the Bible somewhere; and so, if we do a word study of Uz, we will find it in the Book of Genesis… turn briefly and read Genesis 10:1,21-23…
Uz was a descendant of Shem.
We also read that Uz was a son of Dishan who was a descendant of Esau, also a descendant of Shem. And so, the land of Uz was named after a descendant of Shem… Job likely came from the clan of Shem, one of Noah’s son who was saved by God from the world destructive flood.
And no, Job was not a wizard but better; Job was blameless, upright, feared God and shunned evil. Job was a godly man!
V2: Job had a big family!
V3: Job was wealthy and he was well known in the community and the region!
Now what does v4-5 indicate?
- Job’s children were already all adults who loved to party (to have a good time)!
- Job knew that his children needed prayer and offerings to God for their wrongdoings!
- Job was consistent with his worship of God and love for his family!
What can we learn from this beginning passage of the Book of Job? We can of course just learn directly what God tells us in the passage regarding Job and his children. But based on these truths, we can learn from what is in the background.
Let’s first of all talk about his children.
1. Job’s children:
How do you think Job raised those children? We know that Job was a godly man.
a. likely raised in a godly home!
We note that those children became well to do adults.
b. likely inherited much of Job’s riches!
We note that Job’s sons and daughters loved to party on a regular basis. What is interesting is that God never noted a hint of religiosity in what they did; it was just feasting by eating and drinking; as a matter of fact Job sensed their activities were not godly; what does this tell us?
c. likely became worldly adults and used resources they had for self-indulgences!
I think we can say today that kids who are fed with a “silver spoon” will be adults who will crave not only for real silver but for gold and anything else which they think can “sparkle” their lives!
What can we learn from Job?
2. Job was a godly man who had everything in life and knew what to do for his family.
Wouldn’t you like to have a life like that?
And so, we should ask: How did Job end up that way? How was Job described?
We note that Job was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. What do each of these characterestic mean?
a. Blameless – a man of integrity; he treated others well! He was honest! His yes was yes and no was no!
b. Upright – he focused on the right things! Based on what we know about Job and his ancestry, Job likely knew that what was right is what God stated was right. Godly principles (right things) were likely passed on to Job and Job likely prayed to God for decision making!
c. Feared God and shunned evil – not only did Job prayed, he worshiped God and said no to evil things! How did he know what was evil? Again, Job was taught well, listened well, knew God, and disciplined himself to follow God!
We noted that Job was blameless, in other words, he cared for people. We also noted that he cared much for his family! Job provided for his family but also was greatly concerned about their spirituality. And so,
d. Job loved God AND he loved his neighbors (starting with his own family)! Job did whatever he could to bring his family close to God!
Look ahead briefly to Job 1:8-10……
God knew how godly Job was and God blessed his life!
What should we think about for our lives today?
We know from God that all people sin including Job, in spite of his godliness. And again, Jesus Christ had not yet died for Job’s sins but yet he tried his best to be godly!
We today have Jesus Christ who died for our sins, freed us from the enslavement of sin, given us the Holy Spirit to live in us! No matter how rough life might be for us, through Christ, we Christians are blessed with every blessings from heaven; Christians are “rich”!
We have no excuse not to follow the godly example of Job and not be worldly!
Take a moment to quietly pray right where you are…. Confess Jesus Christ as your Only God and Savior, claim all the blessings from heaven above through Christ, commit to a godly life of loving God first always, then love others as yourself (starting with your immediate family) especially bringing them closer to God!
