31 Men of the Bible: Who They Were and What We Can Learn from Them Today by Holman Bible Staff

Author:Holman Bible Staff
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Religion/Biblical Reference/Handbooks
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Published: 2016-10-01T04:00:00+00:00

Food for Thought

If you were to dream big, as Ezra and Nehemiah did, what do you think God might accomplish in and through you?

What obstacles are standing in the way of those dreams?

What specific steps can you take to overcome those obstacles or lessen their influence in your life?

If everything good in your life were suddenly taken away, what would you do? That question lies at the heart of Job’s story in the Old Testament book bearing his name.

Job was a righteous man—someone so above reproach that God held him up to Satan as a model servant. Satan was unimpressed. “Of course Job is faithful to you,” he countered. “He has wealth, family, and excellent health. Take away those things and let’s see how faithful he is.”

God agreed to Satan’s challenge. He allowed the Devil to carry tragedy and suffering into Job’s life. First came messengers with news that all of Job’s flocks—the primary source of his wealth—had been stolen or killed. Suddenly Job was faced with the prospect of poverty.

Before he could gather his thoughts, though, he was dealt a more devastating blow. Another messenger arrived with news that a desert windstorm had collapsed the house of Job’s oldest son, where all of Job’s children had been celebrating. None of them made it out alive. Suddenly Job, who had been deeply involved in the lives of his sons and daughters, found himself childless.

Next came the theft of his camels and then boils. Job 2:7 says God allowed Satan to afflict Job with painful boils from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. Job was in agony, emotionally and physically. Yet he maintained a faithful, humble, and obedient attitude toward God.

The general consensus, even among those closest to him, was that Job had done something to incur God’s wrath. Job’s protests of innocence fell on skeptical ears.

His wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!”

“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said. (Job 2:9–10)

Three friends—Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar—arrived to comfort Job and were stunned by what they saw. Job’s suffering had made him almost unrecognizable. For seven days the trio sat in a respectful silence with Job.

Job broke the vigil by suggesting that it would be preferable never to have been born than to experience the kind of pain and grief he was enduring. Eliphaz responded by reminding Job of the people he (Job) had comforted in the past. But then Eliphaz quickly pointed out: “But now that this has happened to you, you have become exhausted. It strikes you, and you are dismayed. Isn’t your piety your confidence, and the integrity of your life your hope? Consider: who has perished when he was innocent? Where have the honest been destroyed?” (Job 4:5–7).

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