“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…He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.” (Job 1: 1; 2b)
Whenever Christians hear the name “Job” most of us think of one thing – trials. We wonder, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” A dear friend, Dr. Ron Herrod, founder of RHEMA Ministries, goes even further. He says, “Some of the worst things happen to the best people.” It’s the truth. But I would like to focus your attention to a different aspect of Job’s life, one that is often forgotten in the midst of our thinking and wondering about his trials. I want to look at who Job was before his trials began. Many Bible scholars believe Job to be one of the oldest books in the Bible. To understand who Job was and learn from his life we must understand a little of the culture he lived in.
Job most likely lived during the time of the patriarchs – after the flood and before the Lord established judges over the his chosen people, beginning with Moses. Most people groups outside of cities and kingdoms were ruled by a patriarchs. Patriarchs were men, often shepherds and nomadic, who were the physical and spiritual leaders of their families. Abraham was a patriarch, and God allows us some insight into Job through looking at Abraham. You can get more these details in Genesis, chapters 12-25, but here’s a brief overview. These men of God were responsible for providing for their families a place to live and food to eat, but acknowledged that God was their ultimate provider. (See Gen 12 as an example of Abraham’s trust in God)
Because the system of priests had not yet been established, they were the “priests” of their families. In verse 5 of Job 1 it shows Job fulfilling this role for his children. “When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them (his children) 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.” Abraham also built altars and called on the name of the Lord everywhere he went (see Gen 12). They were warriors, and protected their families and livestock from bands of thieves and many of the small, barbaric kingdoms in the cities of the area that would raid their land. (see Gen. 14) Their families were extended, and were watched over by the loving heart and hand of the patriarch.
Verse two of Job 1 says Job “was the greatest man among all the people of the East” – the greatest patriarch. Why? Verse 1 explains it very well. Job “feared God and shunned evil”. This is what made him “blameless and upright”. So often we get things turned around in our Christian walk. We think that what we do – our physical actions – is what makes us “blameless and upright”! But God makes it clear here that it was Job’s relationship – his fear, respect and reverence of God, that allowed him to shun evil, and this caused him to be blameless and upright. It was because of His relationship with Job that God chose to bless him. Job’s concern and care for the spiritual and physical welfare of his family was also an extension of his relationship with God. Job understood long before the trials came what he said at the end of chapter 1. Even in those terrible circumstances, verses 20-22 say he fell to the ground in worship, saying, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” And remember what God had to say about Job; “There is no one on earth like him…”
So why bring it up? Two reasons:
1) Because men of this age need to be reminded to be the leaders of their families in every aspect. Many Christian men in America do very well at providing for the physical needs of their families, but have left the role of spiritual leadership to their wives and the church. May it never be! The patriarchs were men of faith, looking forward, not seeing the promised Savior but believing in His coming. In the same way today’s man of faith looks back, believing that same Savior came (see Heb 11). God has give us the lives of Job and Abraham as an example of how men of faith should live. God never intended us to give up the role of spiritual leadership. It was Job’s regular custom to be concerned with the spiritual welfare of his family, and to take care of it. As men of God we must pray to be like Job and make it our regular custom to lead our family in Spirit and truth, feeding them the “bread of life”, and not just put bread on the table.
2) Because our society is so “do” oriented. Most of us, men and women alike, are so busy we don’t make the time to hear from God. Oh, our intentions are good. We have a true desire to be like Job, but are going about it the wrong way, allowing ourselves to be influenced by the world and traditions in the church instead of seeking the Lord and what He has to say. We all need to be reminded at times that it is our relationship with God that brings His blessing, not what we might try to do for Him. The cultivation of that relationship will make us people who are “blameless and upright”, who “fear God and shun evil”. It is that relationship, and its richness and love, that will filter through to our spouse and family so that we may love them as God intended.
Are you striving hard to do the things that you think God requires of you to be blameless and upright? Stop striving and put more time in your life for your relationship with God. Spend time every day, not just Sunday and Wednesday, with the One who made us to fellowship with Him for eternity. I know it’s easy to say and harder to do, but unless all of us, me included, make time with God a priority we will continue to be “ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ” (see 2Pet 1:3-9). It is your relationship with Him, through worship and prayer, that will be the fuel that ignites the rest of your life and make it pleasing to our Lord and what he wants it to be: light and life in a dark, dying world! And my prayer is that God will be able to say of me and you what He did of Job, “Have you seen my servant ________? There is no one on earth like ________; blameless and upright, one who fears God and shuns evil.”
Singing for the Audience of One…….
Tom Hacker
Friend of Answers2Prayer, p.weeministries@juno.com