I absolutely love the book of Job. Not because of his pain, or the conversations, or even the story of redemption! I love this book because I always come away with something profound and personally life-changing. It always happens. Does that bear to bring the question as to why I do not continually study this book? That I do not think I could answer! It has been a few years since I have opened this book up. I have not done it since I have moved to the Midwest to serve the people of Washington Indiana.
Those few that read this and want to walk this walk with me, let us study the book together. I will look to share what I have learned and welcome your insights as well. We have a saying in the church I serve: We are better together. Regardless of where you are from, where you come from, or who you are, I believe God speaks to all of us, and sometimes He may tell us different things, convict us of different areas. I want to learn from your teachings and what He has to say to you. I will look to study this book in smaller pieces. As a foodie, I love to enjoy good-tasting food. I want to savor it. Let it linger. Every single piece. I believe we should approach scripture in the same fashion. If we slowly take it in, we can taste every little nugget of wisdom God wants us to have.
This entry may be a tad longer than the following. I wanted to at least setup expectations. I will be posting the ESV translation of scripture and I use a variety of commentary as resources.
Let’s get into it! Here is Job 1: 1-5:
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. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 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.
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. 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.
There are a few ways we can go in the first five verses. There is symbolism in the numbers 3, 7, and 10 (number of kids). We can talk of his social status being equal to princes or a sheik’s life. We can talk about all the property and how well blessed his life was. Or we can look to what stood out in such an impactful way to me this week.
Simply put, Job was a dad. Dads were considered priests of their respective families. This was before the temple was set up and the tribe of Levi was called into service of the tabernacle. He was a man. Flesh and blood like you and I who cares about his children. He did not partake of the parties his children were a part of. He did not approve of their behavior but instead offered sacrifices afterward, knowing it was needed as their behavior was not approved of by God. Most who are parents can empathize with Job. We have all (or you will find yourself in the future if you believe you alone have the world’s first perfect human being!) found ourselves praying for our kids. There will be times, if not already, that we pray for our kids’ poor life decisions and the consequences they may face.
I think of how passionate I pray for my children. How I desire that they can make the decisions in life that would be approved of by our heavenly Father. My children are still in the home at ages 9 and 15. I pray they do not make the ignorant and foolish decisions I made when I left the home. I wonder if they will cause pain in my mind like Job’s kids did. I wonder if they and their decisions will cause pain like mine did to Jesus. We feel the same things (on a very smaller scale I would resume) that God the Father does when we sin against Him. The pain He felt as I wandered away from His call for almost 30 years!
Job was also the priest of his family as mentioned before. Did he have restless nights like I have found in personal experience over those in his “flock?” Did I cause pastors in my past to lose sleep? I do not look to complain over lost rest as I believe it is what I asked for when I prayed that God would break my heart for what breaks His. We need to be careful what we ask for! If lost sleep is the cost of someone’s salvation, sign me up every single time.
What can we take from this passage? That’s up to you and your study. What did I take away? Pray without an explanation. Intercede regardless of the sin committed. Do so in love. A pure and holy love that originates from God Himself. A sanctified love. A perfect love. Pray for those in sin like I will for my own children. As Jesus says in Matt 12: 49 as He motioned to His disciples “Here are my mother and y brothers.” We are united in the family of God, so let us pray for one another like we are!
Ephesians 2:19 – “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”
Biblical Bacon 