In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
4 His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.
6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”
8 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
12 The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”
Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Wow! Was there any believer who endured greater trials than Job? I can well imagine that many a believer’s response to the story of Job is the prayer: Lord, please don’t treat me like you did Job. —Fellow Disciples of our Lord, Christ Jesus, the Lord may not give us Job’s trials, but he does give each of us trials as we journey through this world to our heavenly home. If he did not, we would never make it safely to heaven. But, just as Job did, so we can praise the name of the Lord both in prosperity and in adversity.

The story of Job was not made up to teach moral truths. Job really existed as we hear about him. He lived in the ancient Near East, possibly somewhere just east of where the nation of Israel eventually existed. His time in history is unknown. But, certain things mentioned in the book suggest a time well before Abraham. We know nothing of his parents, ancestors or his descendants. We do know about his character.
God summed up Job’s character when he said to Satan, “He is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” These words tell us that Job was a true believer. He trusted God’s promise to send a Savior. This was not just head knowledge. Job understood his sinfulness. He did not try to pass off his imperfections and failures as inconsequential characteristics of humankind. He did not think that he had God’s good will just because he tried to be a good person and keep God’s commandments. God’s demand for holiness was clear to him. So also was it clear to him that God’s perfect justice demands complete compensation and full punishment for every sin committed. He readily admitted that he deserved to be cast from God’s presence into hell because he had inherited Adam’s guilt, because he was sinful by nature and because he sinned much every day, despite his sincere efforts to keep from doing so. He was sincerely sorry for his sins. Daily he turned to God with a repentant heart and asked for God’s mercy and forgiveness —for the sake of the promised Savior. At the same time, he trusted that he had God’s forgiveness through the redeeming work the promised Savior would one day accomplish for him and all mankind. Therefore, in the strength of the good news about the Savior, he asked for God’s help to keep from sinning. Job shunned evil and struggled every day to conduct himself in thought, word and action as God wanted. He set his mind to love righteousness and hate wickedness. He was careful to let God guide him and not go his own way according to the desires of his heart and the logic of his own mind. God saw the faith in Job’s heart. Therefore, he considered him blameless —because he was dressed by faith in the holiness of the promised Savior.
Job considered himself rich with the mercy and love of God. He measured his prosperity in terms of God’s forgiveness. It was beyond measure. He valued his worth in terms of the gems of truth God gave him together with the faith he had created in his heart through the Gospel. These were invaluable. His joy and comfort in life were not in the treasures and pleasures of this world. His joy and comfort came from the treasures that make for the pleasures of eternal life in God’s heavenly kingdom.
In his deep respect and admiration for God his Savior and with a grateful heart, Job praised the LORD every day for his spiritual prosperity. He praised the name of the LORD before his children. This is evident from what we are told about his children. It was their custom to “regularly take turns holding feasts in their homes.” These were not wild parties. Think of them as family reunions. Job’s children and their families enjoyed each other’s company. They genuinely loved one another. This was because Job had brought up his children in the training and instruction of the Lord. They were a harmonious congregation of believers.
Job also praised the name of the LORD when the period of his children’s feasting had run its course. As head of the house, he was also its priest, its leader in praising the name of the LORD through worship. So, after the feasting was over, he called his children together to purify them. He would make sacrifice for each of them and ask God’s forgiveness for any sins they might have committed during the course of their celebration. This wasn’t because the children thought we can go ahead and sin today and tomorrow dad will make sacrifices for our sins. Job’s children made merry in fear of the LORD. But, Job did not ignore the fact that each member of his family was born with a sinful nature. He knew how easily it could happen that someone might feast too much, drink too much, speak impatiently or even speak badly about God. In fatherly concern for their spiritual welfare, he led them in confession and sacrifice and announced to them God’s forgiveness for the sake of the promised Savior.
Job also praised the name of the LORD outside of his family. We are told that he was “the greatest man among all the people of the East.” This description marks Job not only as a man of wealth and power but of influence —influence because of his character as a child of God. Job’s faith in God and his promise of a Savior was known to all who knew him. He was honest and forthright in all his dealings. He was not ashamed to show that he loved God above all things.
God was not ashamed to show his love for Job either. He blessed him with seven sons and three daughters. But, children just head the list of his earthly blessings. If we measured his wealth in today’s dollars, Job was a multimillionaire. The wealth of earthly goods brings its own temptations to the sinner. It can lead a man to trust in his riches instead of God for help and protection. It can lead a man to be lifted up in pride to think that he has no need for God. It can lead a man to think that his wealth is a result of his own hard work, skills and wise dealings rather than God’s undeserved gifts. But, Job, with God’s help, overcame the temptations that come with wealth. He gave God the credit for all of them. He praised the name of the LORD for every one of them.
We marvel at the wealth God bestowed on Job. Yet, the Lord gives great blessing to everyone one who loves him in Jesus. In the eyes of the world we may be considered poor or, at least, far from wealthy. But, with the spiritual eyes of faith we believers see ourselves as wealthy beyond measure. What greater gift could we receive from God than forgiveness for all our sins? Just as Job did so we have it beyond measure. What treasures of this world could compare to the gems of truth God delivers to us through his Holy Word? We cherish Jesus because he gave his holy life into the death of the cross as our substitute under God’s justice against our sin and guilt. We treasure God’s promises that comfort our hearts and encourage us on our journey through this world. We rejoice to own those treasures that make for eternal pleasures in God’s heavenly kingdom. For all of this spiritual prosperity, let us praise the name of the LORD!
To spiritual wealth you and I can add all the earthly possessions God grants to us purely out of his goodness. We can start with our family. After spouse and children we can proceed to the other things. Our earthly goods may not compare to Job’s, but their number is still far above what we need to sustain our lives from one day to the next. We have a wealth of earthly goods. In our thoughts, with our words and with our actions, let us praise the name of the Lord in our prosperity.

It’s easy to praise the Lord when things are going well. Satan made a point of this to God. Satan is our adversary. That’s what his name means. He is the enemy of God and, therefore, the enemy of every believer. He dared to step before God and suggest that Job was faithful to God only because God had blessed him with unusual wealth and kept adversity from him. He told God, “Stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
So, the Lord permitted Satan to do his dirty work against Job. As a result, in one day Job lost his wealth. His servants were killed. Worst of all, he lost all his children. He became a man who was rich only in adversity. A wealth of sorrow filled his heart. In a display of grief he tore his robe and shaved his head.
But, did he curse God as Satan said he would? Did he doubt God’s love and forgiveness through the promised Christ? Did he even cry out, “Why, Lord, why?” as if he had been treated unjustly. No, “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” Even though his heart was filled with sorrow, he praised the name of the LORD. He worshiped the LORD and said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”
How could it happen that Satan was able to have such a conversation with God? All we can say is that God permitted it. Why did God accept Satan’s challenge? It was not because he felt intimidated. It was not because he was tricked by Satan. It was not because he felt a need to prove his superiority over Satan. He permitted Satan to converse with him and he permitted Satan to afflict Job to bring glory to his great and saving name by strengthening and purifying Job’s faith.
When God brings a sinner to faith and his salvation, his fear, love and trust in God are not perfect. His life in faith is also not one of continual growth and strengthening so that it is possible for him to have a perfect faith. The sinful nature remains active in the believer until the moment the LORD takes him from this life to himself in heaven. Only then, will he have perfect fear, love and trust for God. The Apostle Paul spoke about this condition in himself when to his fellow believers in Rome he decried his wretched state as a sinner and said, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”
Through the Holy Scriptures you and I have come to understand our sinful nature. We are moved by God’s love for us in Christ our Savior to love him and praise his name. As we are reminded of our spiritual and physical prosperity that comes undeserved from the LORD, we praise his name. But, our praise is not perfect. Our respect for God and his commandments is not always what it should be. We aren’t always willing, let alone eager, to mine gems of truth from his holy Word. We are not always willing, let alone eager, to conform our thinking and our ways to his holy commandments. Our love for God is often placed behind our love for others or for the treasures and pleasures of this world. Our trust in God is often polluted with doubt and complaint. This is because the sinful nature continually works against the Holy Spirit who lives in us by the Gospel.
God understands our sinful nature better than we do. He understands us totally. He knows our strengths and weaknesses. We may think that we are standing strong in the faith today and will continue to do so tomorrow. Especially can we have this feeling while we feed our souls on God’s Word or partake of the Lord’s Supper or right after we have done so. But, the LORD is able to look down the road in our lives. He sees dangers to our faith that we do not see. He sees how Satan will work to get us to curse God and lose our salvation. This is why he teaches us to pray in the manner of the man who asked Jesus to heal his son, saying, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” So, to strengthen and purify our faith, the Lord lets adversity come into our lives. It may be a momentary loss of good health. It could be a permanent loss of good health. It could be loss of valued possessions. It could even be tragic loss of loved ones.
We don’t see the need for the adversity that comes into our lives. The faithful Christian whose aged body is waiting for the Lord to call him home doesn’t see the need for the Lord to let him suffer additional hours and days on a sick bed or without his hearing or his sight. The Christian who feels his unworthiness every day doesn’t see the need for the Lord to send him adversity to remind him of it. The faithful pastor who preaches to himself each week before he mounts the pulpit doesn’t see the need for the Lord to take his faithful spouse before they can enjoy a few years of retirement together. Faithful parents who work diligently to bring up their children in the training and instruction of the Lord don’t see the need for the Lord to take their child from them. We don’t see the need for the adversity that comes into our lives. We may never understand it. We walk by faith and not by sight. But, the LORD sees. The LORD knows. The LORD is not about to let Satan reclaim us. So, he sends adversity to purify and strengthen our faith. He moves us by adversity to emphasis our unworthiness that caused him to send his Son to die for us. This, in turn, works to move us to turn again and again to God for help and to cling to his words of promise for comfort. In this way the LORD purifies and strengthens our faith by his Gospel. The Lord sends us adversity because, as the Scripture says, “the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”