Job 1:1-12 · Read 10 min · think and write 15 min
The passage does not tell us when Job lived. The timeline places him in the age of the patriarchs, following the traditional view.
From chapter 3 on, most of the book of Job is poetry: Job and his friends argue again and again about why he is suffering. The argument is long, but the opening is short — only two chapters. This lesson reads the first half of that opening, before the suffering begins.
The book of Job opens by raising a question. In this lesson we only try to see that question clearly.
1There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God, and turned away from evil.
2There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.
3His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east.
4His sons went and held a feast in the house of each one on his birthday; and they sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
5It was so, when the days of their feasting had run their course, 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 renounced God in their hearts.” Job did so continually.
6Now on the day when God’s sons came to present themselves before the LORD, Satan also came among them.
7The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, “From going back and forth on the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”
8The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant, Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil.”
9Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing?
10Haven’t you made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
11But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will renounce you to your face.”
12The LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don’t stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
What kind of man. The passage opens with a verdict on Job: “That man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God, and turned away from evil” (v. 1). Then it describes his household: seven sons, three daughters, and wealth such that “this man was the greatest of all the children of the east” (v. 3). The passage tells us who he is before it tells us what he has.
Offerings for his children. After his children took turns feasting, Job rose early to offer burnt offerings for them, because he said, “It may be that my sons have sinned, and renounced God in their hearts” (v. 5). The passage adds, “Job did so continually” (v. 5). His fear of God was not only for himself, but also for his household.
Blameless, not faultless. ‘Blameless and upright’ is the passage’s verdict, and the passage shows what it means through Job’s life: he feared God, turned away from evil, and offered sacrifices for his children. That he made offerings for them shows he knew people sin. This lesson does not make Job a man who could do no wrong; it simply follows how the passage describes him.
God brings him up first. In the scene in heaven, Satan does not mention Job. The LORD asks first: “Have you considered my servant, Job?” (v. 8). God calls him ‘my servant,’ and repeats the verdict from the opening: “a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil” (v. 8).
For nothing? Satan answers with a question: “Does Job fear God for nothing?” (v. 9). He says it is because God has “made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has, on every side” (v. 10); take all that away, and “he will renounce you to your face” (v. 11). Satan’s point is that Job’s devotion is a deal. The whole book of Job answers this question.
Permission with limits. The LORD says, “Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don’t stretch out your hand” (v. 12). What Satan can do is limited by the LORD. The passage does not say why God allowed it, nor does it say Job knew what happened in heaven. We readers know; Job does not. Keep this in mind through the lessons that follow.
No answer yet. This lesson ends here. Satan’s question has been asked; the answer will come from Job’s own days. In the next lesson, the hedge is really taken away.
Job was not in Israel: “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job” (v. 1). The whole book of Job never mentions Israel, Egypt, or Moses, yet the same God knew him and called him “my servant, Job” (v. 8).
The people God knows are not only in Israel.
Most of us have our own ‘hedges’ too: family, work, health, a life that is fairly steady. Satan’s question is also a question for us: do we fear God because life is going well?
This lesson is not meant to make you afraid of losing your hedges. It invites you to look honestly at what your faith rests on.
This week: Write down three ‘hedges’ in your life. Next to each, write a sentence of thanks. Then ask yourself once: without this, how would I still speak to God?
Scripture: World English Bible.