Lesson 78: JOB

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INTRODUCTION. Job was a patriarch (father and ruler of a family or tribe) who may have lived during the same period of time as Abraham. His home was in the land of Uz. The exact location of Uz is unknown, but it was in the "east" (Job 1:3) near the desert or "wilderness" (Job 1:19). Uz was probably a region east of the Jordan River, bordering the Arabian desert from Edom north to the Euphrates River.

Job was a righteous and wealthy man with seven sons and three daughters, 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a great household. One day Satan appeared before the Lord making an accusation against Job. He complained that

Job was righteous because God had blessed him richly, building a hedge about him to protect him. He then challenged the Lord to "put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face" (Job 1:11). The Lord then permitted Satan to afflict Job, but He did not allow Satan to harm Job himself. Thus the Lord limited Satan's power (Job 1:1-12).

The book of Job is a type of writing called wisdom literature, and it deals with the question, Why do the righteous suffer? The introduction to the book (Job 1 and 2) and the conclusion (Job 42:7-17) are written in prose. The remainder of the book is written in the form of an epic (long story) poem.