Job
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Possible outline of Job.

Where Job lived.

It is thought that the land of Uz was in or near a place called Edom,
Lamentations 4:21.
Eliphaz, who was one of the friends of Job came from Teman, which is associated with the people of Edom.
Job 2:11;
Genesis 36:11

The character of Job.

This verse tells us that Job was "perfect and upright," he was not sinless, only Jesus can claim that, but he lived a life which aimed to worship and please God. The word translated as "perfect" is referring to him being without hypocrisy, that means he does not pretend anything about himself or gives himself a better position than he has. He feared God and turned away from evil. The life that he lived explains why when his friends said that he must have sinned, his immediate response is that he had not done anything wrong or sinful.

Job 1:2.

The Family:

The events take place during the time when large families were a sign that God was blessing the person,
Genesis 12:2;
Genesis 13:16;
Genesis 30:1.

The family of Job must have been living close to each other for them to be celebrating a birthday together.

Job 1:3
Job appears to have been very rich, in those days it was measured in ownership of land, animals and servants. Again this was a sign of blessing from God and Job was very happy to give God the glory for all of Job’s possessions,
Job 1:21.
In addition we are told that he was prepared to use this wealth to help others,
Job 4:1-4;
Job 29:12-17;
Job 31:16-32.

Job 2:11.
The friends: These friends seemed to have traveled quite a distance to be with Job during his situation, they were prepared to sit with him in silence in sympathy, but sadly made the mistake in trying to explain the reason to Job for his situation and how to restore things back to the original state.

The situation of Job.

In a single day Job loses all his wealth, one after another, four messengers appear with terrible news.
Messenger 1: 500 oxen and 500 donkeys stolen and servants killed by Sabeans raiders.
Messenger 2: 7,000 sheep and servants looking after them have been killed by a lightning storm sent by God.
Messenger 3: Chaldeans had stolen the camels and killed the servants.
Messenger 4: Your children have all been killed by a storm destroying the house that they were in for the birthday party.

"Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked shall I return there.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the Lord."
verses 29,21

The reason for the situation of Job.

Job knows what has happened in and to his life, but he does not know why it has happened. The author of the record permits us in the beginning of the book to visit heaven and hear God and Satan speaking. How the writer knew this information is not revealed.

What truths do we learn in this exchange?

God has complete control of all events, He is sovereign in all things.

Satan can do nothing to God’s people without the permission of God

What ever happens in the world and to His people is totally under the control of God.

You may find it a surprise that Satan has access to God, Satan does not reign and live in hell, that is still to come at the final judgement.
Revelation 20:10ff.
Today he is free to travel through the earth as he wishes,
Job 1:7;
1 Peter 5:8.

God found no fault in the life of Job, but Satan declared him "guilty" and was out to find a fault, "Does Job fear God for nothing? You have guarded him and given many blessings" This is saying "Job obeys, worships and fears you because you are paying him to do it. You, God, are paying people to worship you!!"

Satan has no power over the people of God, he needs the permission of God to harm them in any way, it is possible that God may use the attacks of Satan to make us more Christ like.
Romans 8:28-39.

The reason for the suffering by Job was to silence the evil blasphemous accusations of Satan, "that a man can worship and love God from their heart, even if they have great suffering." The events and suffering of Job are a spiritual struggle between God and Satan to prove that a man’s love for God are there to prove that God is worthy of this worship.

Job’s friends try to make Job repent of his sins to make God restore the relationship and blessings, but this was wrong, he did not need blessings to honour God, instead Job blesses God for all the events,
Job 1:21.

Consider the thoughts of Paul in,
1 Corinthians 4:8-13;
Ephesians 3:8-13.

The friends of Job.

As the story develops we find that these friends hurt and accuse Job of the wrong acts, but they are still friends, they had travelled a long way to be with him and were prepared to sit with him in silence, then listen to him as he spoke. Where they were wrong was they tried to explain the reason and tell him how to get back to the normal.

The second accusation by Satan.

Job 2:1-8.

The record now returns to the events in heaven. The angels and Satan are present before God. Instead of admitting that Job had passed the test and that Satan was wrong, we find Satan is making a second accusation, he said that Job will still "have a price" when he will turn against God, because he could still replace his family and rebuild his wealth, however, "touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!", self-love and self-preservation are very powerful desires in the heart’s of men. Satan wants God to physically attack Job, but that is against the attributes of God who will not willingly, nor take any pleasure in hurting the children of men, and definitely not His own children. The proof of the accusation is left to Satan, with the permission of God, Satan is allowed to attack Job. Consider 1 Corinthians 10:13.

"13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

Satan causes Job to be covered in very painful boils. A single boil is very painful, to be covered in boils is difficult to imagine, in addition Job suffered bad breath,
Job 19:17;
weight loss, Job 19:20;
severe temperature changes, Job 21:6;
Blackened skin, Job 30:30.
When his friends first arrived they did not recognize him,
Job 2:12.
So bad was his appearance that it appears that he left the city and went outside to the rubbish tip, a place of shame and poverty,
Job 19:13-20.

Only some physical problems come directly as a result of Satan’s action,
See for example, Matthew 8:28-34;
Matthew 8::32,33;
Matthew 12:22;
Luke 13:11-17;
2 Cor 12:7.
We must remember that some may be self inflicted, our physical or spiritual life may cause sickness or the need for some correction by God to make us more Christ like.

"Curse God and die"

Job 2:9-10.

Job has lost all of his family except his wife and there was still his three friends with him. The suggestion and the words of his wife were the words that Satan wanted Job to say, was the thought put into the mind of his wife by Satan?
Think about the action of Peter, Matthew 16:22-23
Or when Adam listened to Eve, Genesis 3:6-12
Or Abraham took Sarah’s suggestion, Genesis 16:1-4.

We should consider why his wife had this attitude, she had lost her ten children in one day, the family had now no wealth, she must have been "a woman of stature" before, now her husband was on the rubbish tip suffering from a terrible disease. To stop the suffering for Job she felt that the answer was to let God strike him dead. "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!". She thought she had solved the problem, but she was wrong, because she cannot understand why it was happening, she does not have the trust and faith in God that Job has, "‘Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips." Job was prepared to take whatever was sent by God.