The Book Of Job - Chapters 1 & 2

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It was over a year ago that I first started to dig into bible study. The first book I took on was the book of Job and I have to admit, I struggled with it! I'm on my second round of the bible and having a full circle moment!

I find it challenging on so many levels. It really holds a mirror up to my own faith and causes me to ask many questions about how I would respond in the face of such adversity. I appreciate that part of this book so much! I pray for stronger faith every time I am reading it.

Who is Job?

Job is man of wisdom (he seeks and believes in God and quotes Proverbs a lot) and he has what seems to be some wealth because the book talks about his many possessions. He's a man of strong faith and is "blameless and upright and one who feared God" Job 1:1

It only stands to reason that a person of this stature would be a huge threat to Satan and one that he would love to try to break!

Satan is sure that by urging God to allow him to test Job, that Job will lose his faith and turn away and curse God.

However, even when tested, Job still holds onto the integrity of his faith in God. He seems to have a pure understanding that regardless of the circumstance, God is infinitely greater and always good.

This is how the book starts and even after reading only chapter 1 & 2, you already get a real idea of the character of Job and how steadfast he is in his belief in God.

We quickly get a glimpse of Job's wife and her response after the second test of Job's faith. After being riddled with sores all over his body, to the point that even his closest friends couldn't recognize him, his wife was challenged and seemed to do what many of us often do and that is turn from God.

Job 2:9 "Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!"

Oh, how easy it is to turn and do just that, isn't it? How often we forget that the God of the mountain is still God of the valley. And I don't think there is anything that get's Satan more excited or pleases him more then when we opt to turn from God in our pain, grief and sadness. Her response is exactly what Satan was looking for!

Yet even through ALL of this....Job did not turn and he did not sin. He rebukes his wife's comments and reminds her not to talk like a foolish woman.

Job 2:10 "But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive only good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips."

I hold a special place in my heart for this book. Like I mentioned earlier, it's where I started my journey. But I also look at Job and relate. We haven't been through the same circumstances, that's for sure, but I can relate to his humility and his humanity. Actually, I aspire to have faith as strong as his.

Even when it seems like he's in the depths of hell...he may throw his hands up and ask questions, he even gets tempted by his friends and Satan to turn from God or blame God....Job never loses his faith in God's reverence and justice. He has a true understanding that even through all the mess that we call life, God is ALWAYS in control.

That's a the type of faith we should all be searching for!

The video below is from one of my favorite YouTube channels called "Bible Project" and gives a great overview of the book of Job. Feel free to check it out! :)