Topic: Spiritual War
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. (Job 1:1-5 KJV)
Beside Enoch (Genesis 3:21-24) and Noah (Genesis 6-10), we also need to look at the life of Job, who was also a righteous man of God. Throughout his book, Job suffered from so many tragedies in his life; yet, he didn't let his wife and friends pull him down that could separate his relationship with God. Even though he did not have a clue what caused all the bad things happened to him, he did not give up to put his faith in God. We must follow what Job did to solve the problem.
Before we'd dig into more of Job's life, we must understand his background. There is not much detail of his early life, but Job was the third son of Issachar (Genesis 46:13). He was recognized as Jeshub (Num 26:24; 1 Chr 7:1). Apart from his book he can be found in Ezekiel 14:14 and James 5:11.
As the verse 1 stated, Job was a perfect and upright man, who feared God. This doesn't mean he didn't have any sin against God. Paul said in Roman 3:23 that we "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God…" Again in Roman 3:10-11, "There is none righteous… there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." Have you ever lied? Have you ever hurt someone’s feelings by your words or tone of voice? Are you bitter toward anyone? Do you become angry with those who strongly disagree with you? In thought, word, and deed, you, like everyone else in the world, stand guilty before God. Again in verse 1, Job tried to stay away from evil.
Beginning verse 2 to 3, Job lived in a wealthy family and had lots of possessions. But that doesn't mean his children were well behaved. Even though his children did not show any respect for God, Job prayed and fasted for them. He hoped that his children would come to gain their relationship with God.
Are you worrying about your children? Parents can show their concern for them. We need to keep lead them as God led us. We need to "bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4)."
