Accused Falsely

 

    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.

      And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand.

     So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

    And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:

     And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:

    And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

    While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

    While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

    While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:

   And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

    Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,

   And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

   In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

 

                 

 

   And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

    And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

    And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

    But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

    And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

   So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

    And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.  Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.

   But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

   Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.

    So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.

    And Job spake, and said,

    Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

    Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

   Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.

   Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.

   But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.

    Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

    By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.

    Then Job answered the LORD, and said,

    I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.

    Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.

 42:4  Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

 42:5  I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

 42:6  Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

 42:7  And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.

 42:8  Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.

 42:9  So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.

 42:10  And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

 42:11  Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.

 42:12  So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.

 42:13  He had also seven sons and three daughters.

 42:14  And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch.

 42:15  And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.

 42:16  After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations.

 42:17  So Job died, being old and full of days.  

Job

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     Some shortsighted, short-experienced friends cannot, with their narrow vision, appreciate the feelings of one who has been in close harmony with the soul of Christ in connection with the salvation of others. His motives are misunderstood and his actions misconstrued by those who would be his friends, until, like Job, he sends forth the earnest prayer: Save me from my friends God takes the case of Job in hand Himself. His patience has been severely taxed; but when God speaks, all his pettish feelings are changed. The self-justification which he felt was necessary to withstand the condemnation of his friends is not necessary toward God. He never misjudges; He never errs. Says the Lord to Job, "Gird up now thy loins like a man;" and Job no sooner hears the divine voice than his soul is bowed down with a sense of his sinfulness, and he says before God, "I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

 T3 p 509

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     According to his faith, so was it unto Job. "When He hath tried me," he said, "I shall come forth as gold." Job 23:10. So it came to pass. By his patient endurance he vindicated his own character, and thus the character of Him whose representative he was. And "the Lord turned the captivity of Job: . . . also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. . . . So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning."

Job 42:10-12.

 Education 156

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     The patriarch Job in the night of his affliction exclaimed with unshaken trust: "I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: . . . in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another."

Job 19:25-27   

 The Faith I Live By  p  348