Job (Ayub / Cheops / Kufu) has a remarkable place in His-story.

The time of Job is disputed but there are strong pointers to Job belonging to the time of Joseph (Abraham’s great-grandson) – after the flood and long before Moses (after 2350 BC and before 1750 BC). Here are the pointers:

• Eliphaz, his friend, refers to the flood as being in the past in Job 22:16
• Job sacrifices to God as head of his family (a practice of patriarchal times that stopped with Moses) Job 1:5
• Job's daughters received an inheritance along with his sons, Job 42:15 – a patriarchal practice that also stopped with Moses
• Job's wealth is determined by flocks rather than money which is also consistent with patriarchal times Job 1:3, 42:12
• The Kesitah or piece of money mentioned belongs to patriarchal times Job 42:11; Gen 33:19
• The musical instruments (organ, harp & timbrel) are the instruments of early Genesis - Job 21:12
• Job lived long enough to birth two families of ten children and raise them to adulthood then lived another 140 years. He lived at least 200 years and possibly longer. This is consistent with the ages of patriarchs before Abraham. (Read more on this at apologetics press: http://apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=11&article=2516 )

Job lived in Uz (Ur), the same place from which Abram departed after the calling and promise of God in his life. Ur should have been a hub of activity during the Sumerian times. Recent excavations in the region point to a thriving civilization around this place. Ur is a small town with a railway station in Syria today. Job had plenty of possessions – cattle, and men – that he seemed to be a king during his days. There are a couple of hints to this in the Scriptures. For now, should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest with kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves; - Job 3:14. In another place Job says, “Unto me, men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. After my words they spoke not again; and my speech dropped upon them. - Job 29:22.

Job had one wife and ten children. God has a lot to tell about this man Job and his character. Thrice does God say Job was blameless and upright and one who feared God and shunned evil. – Job 1:1, 8; 2:3. The Lord also mentions twice, “There is none like him on the earth”. – Job 1:8; 2:3.

Job was also a priest unto his family. (Melchizedek was a King and Priest!). It was a custom for his sons to make a feast each one according to his turn and would invite their sisters to the feast. They would eat, drink and be merry. After the end of every feast, Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. – Job 1:5. He was concerned that his children be in the right relationship with God, their Creator. He believed in the need for innocent blood being shed for the remission of man’s sins – a clear indicator that Job believed in the promise of God of a Saviour and Redeemer who would come in His-story as the Lamb of God, to offer Himself a sacrifice for the sin of the whole world. The ransom for his sins was to be paid by the Redeemer through His death.

But the Redeemer would not be dead and gone once-for-all. He would rise again from the dead. He would live again and live forever as Conqueror over death. Though He would depart to Heaven for a while, Job had a far-sighted vision of his Lord coming back for His people the second time. Those who are already dead (that included Job) would rise again with a transformed body but with all the senses (and improved manifold, of course). Those who are alive would be caught up in a transformed body – again with all the senses (read more about this elsewhere in ABHOT). It is then that every person born in this world would rise from their grave and stand bodily before their Creator to give an account of oneself. I know that my redeemer lives, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me. Job 19:25-27. And Job wanted this engraved – so much sure was he.

Responsible parents would not just provide for their children materially - good clothes, great food, grand dwellings, and fantastic education – that would give them a respectable standing in society. A father’s utmost concern must be to bring his children up in the fear of the Lord so that they would not leave them behind in their later days. Like Abraham, communicating the faith in the Promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus and helping them experience it in their days so that their hope in Him brightens every day, is the sole responsibility of the Father (and the Mother, too, as they are one in the sight of God). Disaster might strike any time and carry away all the wealth and earnings of a lifetime but the fear of the Lord and the faith they have in Him will see them through any calamity they will face in life. Children would also find the real purpose in life – where they come from, why they are here, how to live a moral life, where they are going, and what is in store for them.

Job faced great catastrophe – disaster struck him. He lost all his possessions and his children in one day. But Job said, “Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD”. – Job 1:21. God testifies about him again – In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Job 1:22. Again, Job was smitten by a severe disease – painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes. – Job 2:8. This was the last straw. His wife lost her temper and said, “Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God and die”. But Job gave her and stunning reply: “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?”. Now notice what God says about him: “In all this did not Job sin with his lips”. – Job 2:10. This patience also earns Job a mention in the new testament Scripture. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. – James 5:11.

God allows difficult times – even calamities – in our lives in varied durations and severities. God even allows Satan to continuously pound a believer, like how He did in St. Paul’s life - there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me. – 2 Cor 12:7. The Lord did not remove this thorn in the flesh; Paul gives a reason for it – lest I should be exalted above measure – 1 Cor 12:7. Pain and sickness need not always be because of sin; it could also be because God wants to keep a believer from sin, though for a season. A believer can rest assured that nothing happens in life that is beyond the purview of the Lord.

The Lord allowed Satan to lay his hand on Job’s possessions, children, and later his body too. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. – Heb 4:15. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted. – Heb 2:18. But we also need to note that even Satan cannot snatch away the life of a believer from the safe hands of the Lord. We are under his protecting and caring wings in Whom we have our refuge. He sends trials and tests so that our faith in Him would increase over the course of our lifetime, as in the case of Abraham. While everything might seem to go out of one’s control, God assures that He has everything in His control. Praise the Lord. Glory awaits a believer who endures sufferings and tribulations. If so be that we suffer with him (Christ), that we may be also glorified together. – Rom 8:17.

Men bow to their deities in the hope of amassing more and more wealth and long life to enjoy it. Some also bow to their gods in exchange for name, fame, position, and social one-upmanship. They give them first – money, gold, hair, coconuts, and whatnot! – so that they can get a manifold in return. A god who can give one all things (almost always material and earthly) that one desires in life (investment-based returns?) can’t be God. The devotee is a sinner and all his thoughts are continuously evil. He keeps doing evil even though the desire to do good is in him. He always wishes more than what his neighbor possesses. And, if the neighbor bows to the same god for his self-centered desires, the god that these worship would satisfy neither.

God is more concerned about the person as a whole, not his body (and sometimes the mind) only. “Holistic” does not mean just the body and mind, it includes the entire man – his spirit, soul, and body.

Sadly, the gospel of Jesus Christ of today is unscriptural and against the realities of life. The Lord is presented to the gullible ears as One who wants to give believers all they desire – prosperity, health, fame, and power. The preachers don’t give them the full gospel. And a partial gospel is not gospel. Any Bible-based message that is presented with dressed-up material is not the gospel as it is not the real good news we find in the Scriptures. All who hold a Bible in their hands are not evangelists or good news preachers. While the Lord will certainly fulfill the desires of a believer’s heart, the believer desires only the will of God in his life – even if this includes, trials, tests, poverty, illness, hunger, thirst, and nakedness. Indeed, God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. - Eph 1:1. We are joint-heirs with Christ to every blessing of God and Christ has shared with us unreservedly all that are His. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; - Rom 8:17. He promises to fulfill all our needs on earth – not all our greeds. Therefore, take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? or, what shall we drink? or, wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles (unbelievers) seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. – Matt 6:31-33. And, he has promised to give us a lot more (really a LOT MORE!) beyond this temporal life. Believers are given abundant life while here on earth – a life of perfect meaning, complete satisfaction, and hearty fulfillment – and we look forward to eternal life with Him – a life beyond description. His-story will continue without end.

Satan is called the thief who comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. – John 10:10. He might steal your health, peace, and joy from your spirit; he would kill your sin-prone body; he can destroy your soul by leading you to hell, his destination determined by God. In contrast, Jesus is the Good Shepherd who has come that His sheep might have abundant life.