The Deceitfulness of Wealth And The Book of Job

Today we begin our journey into the book about Job and his suffering.

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, "It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did continually. - Job 1:1-5 ESV

What a man! 10 children, riches and a deep commitment to his Creator and God! Job was "the greatest of all the people of the east (Job 1:3).

Bible Reading Archeology

Where was the land of Uz? The name of the land means "wooded" in Hebrew. Commentators tell us that it was located in a region in the northern part of the Arabian desert, between Palestine, Idumea and the Euphrates river. The first clues as to where it was come in Job 1:15 where we hear that raiders came from Saba (Yemen today). The second raiding party came from Chaldea in southern Mesopotamia. Lamentations 4:21 places Edom in the land of Uz. One of Job's "comforters", Eliphaz was from Tema, in northern Arabia. Another (Zophar) is designated a "Naamathite", suggesting a mountain in NW Arabia. So we have a general idea of where Job came from. Check further with Dr. John Mackay for more details. ś

And when did Job live? Was he before or after Abraham? Or did he live before Noah? Where does Job fit on the Biblical timeline? Best guess is that he lived after Jacob's 12 sons had died (1700 BC) and before Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, about 1446 BC.  That puts him somewhere in that 200 year period. We probably cannot get more detailed than that.

But Job lost it all, as we shall see. This remains a reminder for us all not to put our trust in riches. And he lost his health as well. The Bible makes this point again and again.

Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit. For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others. - Psa 49:7-10 ESV

We all do well to heed this wisdom. . . More about this as we walk further into the teaching of Job the next time.

Yes, We Have A Destiny

In my previous post I raised the question of destiny, both my own and the destiny of my nation. Is there indeed a plan for each one of us, as well as a plan for our nations or groups of people? Is the hand of God at work in all of this?

To answer these questions we are asking the Holy Spirit to guide us through the following passage from Moses' farewell speech, given on the day of his death after guiding the Children of Israel in the wilderness for 40 years. Read the entire context in Deut. 32:1-43.

Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. - Deu 32:7-9 ESV

The chosen people of God are called the sons of God or the children of God. They all traced their lineage back to Jacob or Israel, the grandson of Abraham. Step by step over hundreds of years God made them into a people and prepared for them this land they were about to enter. The promises given to Abraham were about to be fulfilled.

On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites." - Gen 15:18-21 ESV. See also Gen 17:1-5. 

 This covenant is celebrated in the Psalms.

O offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones! He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance." - Psa 105:6-11 ESV

 We can trace God's guiding hand back to the days of Noah and the flood. So we read, 

And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth." The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed. - Gen 9:12-19 ESV

Moses invites the people to review their history. Check with your fathers, he urges. They'll teach you about how the Most High God guided these events, including your bondage in Egypt and your wandering in the wilderness these past 40 years. Now you are about to enter a land designed for you, with room for all of you, a land that does not belong to the Canaanites.

The lesson for God's people in these days? God does indeed have plans for His people and each one of us as members of His people. We are called to follow Him and to serve in the place and at the time that He has designed for us. The plans of God reach back to the days of Adam and Eve. They stretch forward across the centuries to the birth, life, death and resurrection of God's Son, Jesus, the Messiah. We who have been called to faith in Christ Jesus are His chosen people, the new Israel. Paul points to this in his letters.

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. - Gal 6:14-16 ESV

 And earlier in the same letter,

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 

... For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. - Gal 3:7-9, 27-29 ESV

Destiny? Promises? Guidance? Blessings? Indeed. The hand of God has been guiding all things up to this present day. And know with certainty that if you are in Christ Jesus you are an heir of all God's promises, promises that reach forward to the resurrection from the dead endless ages yet to come.

I'll have more to say about this in my next post.