"These Three Men...Job"

"Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would only deliver themselves by their righteousness" (Ezek. 14:14). These three men are given as examples of righteousness. In this article, let's consider the righteousness of Job.

It is generally assumed that Job lived during the times of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We know very little about him apart from the fact that he was a very wealthy man who lived in a place called "Uz." But these physical details of Job's life are not important; what is important is the kind of man he was spiritually. According to Job 1:1, he was "blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil." So Job was not only physically rich, he was spiritually rich.

But that's not a major accomplishment, is it? I mean, it's great that Job was righteous, but God had blessed Job all around, and so it was easy for him to be righteous. He had a personal relationship with a God who gave him everything he could ever need or want. That was Satan's point: "Does Job fear God for nothing?" (Job 1:9)

We all know the story. Job lost everything. His livestock were stolen by the Sabeans and Chaldeans (Job 1:13-15, 17), his sheep burned by fire from heaven (1:16), his servants slain (1:13-17), and his children killed in a freak accident (1:18-19). Can you imagine the sorrow that must have filled Job's heart?"

And yet the scriptures tell us that "Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped" (1:20). After being stricken with painful boils, his wife told him to curse God and die, but Job replied, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" (2:9-10)

It's true that Job's attitude wasn't always perfect. Like many of the psalmists, he came to question God's judgment. God did rebuke Job, asking him, "Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" (38:1-2) And yet we must conclude that Job passed the test; otherwise he would not be cited as one of the three examples of righteousness! Perhaps as humans it is natural to doubt and to question, so long as we maintain our faith in God and trust that He will ultimately see us through.

If Job could patiently endure (James 5:11), certainly we can endure the day-to-day trials that come our way.