What Job was Like

Job 1:1-5

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

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.

And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters 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, 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 hearts. Thus did Job continually.

When reading the book of Job we start out with a description of what Job was like. And it is tempting to circle that and put a period at an end of it.

And then, when we read the next bits, we see this description basically repeated:

Job 1:8

And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

Job 2:3

And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

There it is: God describes Job in the same way. A nice, brief, summary into which we can pour our own thoughts.

However

But not only doesn’t the story of Job end there, the description of Job doesn’t end there. Toward the end of the book Job (see description above) has some things to day about his life pre-Satan’s attacks, which give us a much fuller fleshed out idea of who Job was:

Job 29

Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,

Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;

When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;

As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;

When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;

When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;

When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!

The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up.

The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.

The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.

When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:

Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.

The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.

I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.

I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.

And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.

Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.

My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.

My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.

Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel.

After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them.

And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.

If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down.

I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.

Now, if this was anyone else we might be tempted to say… “Well, of course you would say that, but…”

But the man who is saying this is the man of whom God said he was, “a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?” So we are forced, at least I am forced, to look at this text and say, “This is an honest assessment of what Job’s life was like before Satan’s attack.”

So let’s look back at that text. I am going to organise it into categories from least popular to most popular:

Job was a Friend to the Friendless, a Prop to the Weak

Let’s start out with the ways in which Job was a modern do-good type of guy. A help the fatherless and widow type person:

Job 29:12-13

Because I delivered the poor that cried,

and the fatherless,

and him that had none to help him.

The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me:

and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

Job 29:15-16

I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.

I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.

Job 29:25b

…as one that comforteth the mourners

Job was Led by God

Job 29:2-5

Oh that I were as in months past,

as in the days when God preserved me;

When his candle shined upon my head,

and when by his light I walked through darkness;

As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;

When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;

Job was Wealthy and Blessed with Children

Job 29:5-6

When the Almighty was yet with me,

when my children were about me;

When I washed my steps with butter,

and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;

Job 29:18-20

Then I said, I shall die in my nest,

and I shall multiply my days as the sand.

My root was spread out by the waters,

and the dew lay all night upon my branch.

My glory was fresh in me,

and my bow was renewed in my hand.

Job Destroyed Evil People

Job 29:17

And I brake the jaws of the wicked,

and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.

Job was Feared as a Leader

Job 29:7-11

When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!

The young men saw me, and hid themselves:

and the aged arose, and stood up.

The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.

The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.

When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:

Job 29:21-25

Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them. And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.

If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down.

I chose out their way,

and sat chief,

and dwelt as a king in the army,

as one that comforteth the mourners.

Conclusion

Mat 22:2-7

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding:

and they would not come.

Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.

But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.

But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth:

and he sent forth his armies,

and destroyed those murderers,

and burned up their city.

There is no question that Job was a righteous man. We have it on very good authority. And some of the things that Job says about himself would lead modern Christians to put him in that category: he helped the widow and orphan, he defended the poor and fatherless.

But Job goes beyond that, and risks leaving the modern Christian, with his ‘servant leadership’ ideas in a bit of a quandary. There is no question that Job was a leader… and there is no question he was a servant... but what’s all this bit about people rising up when he entered? About their being silent when he spoke? Of having nothing further to say after he had said his piece?

How incredibly un-Christlike. You might as well go ahead and imagine that Christ told a parable about God His Father wiping out whole people groups just because they didn’t come to His wedding.

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Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,

Von

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