Job is my favorite book in the Bible. Like Revelation,
there is an encouragement to remain faithful regardless of the difficulty,
persecution and disappointment we experience. And, like Revelation, there is
the promise and evidence of great restoration.
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.
Job was the greatest in all the land. Yet this did not cause him
to be uppity or self-serving. He was blameless and upright. One thing we can
acknowledge is that while we tend to think of humans as morally bankrupt, we
should temper that assessment with the fact that Job and others in the Bible
have been described as being blameless and upright.
Another point…Job is an excellent example of intercessory prayer.
Job did not abdicate his moral obligation to his children saying, “their state
of righteousness is up to them”. No, he made arrangements to purify them. He
made sacrifice on their behalf. And there is every indication that God accepted
his intercessory prayer.
Be like Job! Pray for all those stinkers out there that party all
the time and even curse God. You will win God’s heart!
Peace, Mike
