Job lived after the flood, perhaps in the time of Abraham. He was a perfect and upright man who feared God and hated evil.
He had seven sons, three daughters and a great many servants. He had thousands of sheep, oxen, camels and asses, and was the greatest man in all the east.
Satan told God that Job feared Him only because He had blessed him with so many good things. God allowed Satan to destroy all Job’s flocks and cattle; even his sons and daughters were killed. Still Job remained true to God.
But God would test Job still further. He allowed Satan to smite Job with sore boils from his head to his foot, so that he suffered terribly.
Job’s three friends, instead of comforting him, only condemned him.
They said that there must be some great secret sin in his life that caused God to send this trial. But they were wrong, and Job knew it. He felt that God loved him, but then, why should He allow him to suffer so when he was such an upright man? As days went by in his trial, Job was righteous in his own eyes, and he justified himself rather than God.
Elihu told Job he was wrong and that God was right. At last when God Himself spoke to Job, Job humbled himself and said, “Behold I am vile.”
After that God blessed Job. He took away his sickness. He gave him seven more sons and three beautiful daughters, and more flocks and cattle than he had lost. So Job had more at the end than at the beginning. He was a happier man too.
ML-01/23/1977