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Quest for Truth 14 Job 1:1-5 A Righteous Man
by
keith
What is righteousness all about? How can you tell whether you're
righteous or not? If anybody in the bible got the attention of god for
his righteousness,
it was Job, so let's take a look at his life.
1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz,
Note: That is, of the country of Idumea, or as found in Lamentations
4:21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land
of Uz; but
to you also the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip
yourself bare.
or bordering on it: for the land was called by the name of Uz, the son
of Dishan, the son of Seir
Note: Genesis 36:28 These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
whose name [was] Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and
Note: Since he was a Gentile and not a Jew and yet is pronounced upright
and without hypocrisy, it declares that among the heathen God revealed
himself.
one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
Note: By this it is declared what is meant by an upright and just man.
The Geneva Study Bible notes say:
block quote
The Argument - In this history the example of patience is set before our
eyes. This holy man Job was not only extremely afflicted in outward
things and
in his body, but also in his mind and conscience, by the sharp
temptation of his wife and friends: who by their vehement words and
subtle disputations
brought him almost to despair. They set forth God as a sincere judge,
and mortal enemy to him who had cast him off, therefore in vain he
should seek him
for help. These friends came to him under pretence of consolation, and
yet they tormented him more than all his afflictions did. Even so, he
constantly
resisted them, and eventually succeeded. In this story we must note that
Job maintains a good cause, but handles it badly. His adversaries have
an evil
matter, but they defend it craftily. Job held that God did not always
punish men according to their sins, but that he had secret judgments, of
which man
knew not the cause, and therefore man could not reason against God in
it, but he should be convicted. Moreover,
he was assured that God had not rejected him, yet through his great
torments and afflictions he speaks many inconveniences and shows himself
as a desperate
man in many things, and as one that would resist God, and this is his
good cause which he handles well. Again the adversaries maintain with
many good arguments
that God punishes continually according to the trespass, grounding on
God's providence, his justice and man's sins, yet their intention is
evil; for they
labour to bring Job into despair, and so they maintain an evil cause.
Ezekiel commends Job as a just man,
Ezekiel 14:14 even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in
it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness,
declares the Lord
GOD.
and James sets out his patience for an example,
James 5:11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You
have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of
the Lord,
how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
More from the Geneva Study Bible:
block quote
1:3 His substance
Note: and his virtue in his prosperity and his patience and constancy
when God took them from him.
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.
Note: Meaning, the Arabians, Chaldeans, Idumeans etc.
block quote end
What does all that confusion mean? Job had a lot of children, a lot of
animals, and a lot of property. Those are a list of his blessings, but
anybody can
have stuff. He also turned from evil, he prayed and sacrificed in a
religious way for the eternal safety of his family. He seemed to be a
man who had it
all.
Still... that turns out to be no garantee that hard times won't come.
All we can know for sure is that Job was righteous because he lived a
life of repentance.
Coming up next:
The Challenge. Righteousness by itself is boring. It's unremarkable. How
do we know how good it works, until it's put to use? Stay tuned to find
out where
real authority lies, protedtion, limits, and a snapshot behind the
scenes of spiritual warfare.
block quote end
keith
| April 2, 2015 at 5:59 am | Categories:
Quest for Truth
| URL:
http://wp.me/p5uvFj-2n
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