The life of the Patriarch Job is one of fear of God. Described by God Himself as His servant, a man with no equal on earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and abstains from and shuns evil (Job 1:8). Often, we mention Job as an example of patience, as in “The patience of Job.” There is much to consider in what God described Job. His life brings to mind Paul’s spiritual guidelines in his letters. In the letter to the Romans. He said, “I appeal to you therefore, brethren and beg of you in view of the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and well pleasing to God which is your reasonable service and spiritual worship; love one another with brotherly affection, giving precedence and showing honor to one another, never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord” (12:1,10,11). Job walked with God, shinning the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). One very important fact in Job’s life was that God, the all- knowing God, knew that Job would be faithful to Him, when challenged with temptation to forsake Him. Job, in his unweaving integrity, was a man God trusted with a tremendous trial. One that we surely would fail, for where there is no understanding, ignorance dominates the feeling of man with doubt and fear and despair. When Job had lost most of his precious belongings, including his children, in perseverance of faith, he arose and rent his robe and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshiped and said, “Naked came I from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord! In all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly” (Job 1:20-22). That was a true faith in God.
Job’s faith shone in the midst of his trials. His words of hope kept him secured in his faith when he uttered, “For I know that my Redeemer and Vindicator lives, and at last He will stand upon the earth and after my skin, even this body, has been destroyed, then from my flesh or without it I shall see God, Whom I, even I shall see for myself and on my side! And my eyes shall behold Him and not as a stranger!” (Job 19:25-27a). Job, in His utterance, spoke of the present and of the future concerning the resurrection of the saints. “One way or another, I will be healed here on earth and if I die now, I will be rewarded with life eternal when in heaven, I shall behold my Redeemer. For He knows the way that I take. When He has tried me, I shall come forth as refined gold.” (Job 23:10). “I have not gone back from the commandment of His lips; I have esteemed and treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. But He is unchangeable, and who can turn Him? And what He wants to do, that He does” (vs.10,14). In short, Job confessed his enduring faith in God even amidst circumstances he himself did not understand. For while he was walking with God in communion with Him, this trial fell on him, for reason unknown. His wife told him to “Do you still hold fast your blameless, uprightness? Renounce God and die! But he said to her, You speak as one of the impious and foolish women would speak What? Shall we accept only good at the hand of God and shall we not accept misfortune and what is of a bad nature? In all this, Job did not sin with his lips” (Job2:9-10). His unwavering love for God even in the midst of his trial, showed him to be genuine and steadfast in his faith. To him, God was God, unchangeable in ways Job could not comprehend. The wall of anguish and despair did not separate him from His Redeemer, Who was going to reward him in His time.
Job walked with God and He trusted him to walk through the fire, so to prove his faithfulness to Him. Satan, who so much wanted to destroy Job and disprove God’s All-knowing attribute, suffered major defeat. Job was in the battlefield without knowing it. Living as a Christian should live, under God’s grace, Job excelled. For he did not have a Bible in those days to guide him. But Job had the fear of God guided by his faith in Him. Strong in his beliefs, he stood the test of time. Wrestling against the despotisms, against the powers, against rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly sphere, he was properly dressed with God’s armor. He resisted and stood his ground on those evil days; he had the belt of truth around his waist, the breastplate on his chest, his feet shod to stand firmly and ready against the enemy; he quenched the flaming missiles from the enemy through the shield of faith; and wore the helmet of salvation, which protected his mind; and he fought with the sword of the Spirit which was his knowledge of God. Job’s prayers came up to God as part of the battle in his battlefield, for the battle was not his, but God’s (personalized from the book of Ephesians 6).
Light from the Word 