Its Friday, But Sunday's Coming!

(Just a note: This one is a little longer...I try to keep these shorter and not get "stuck in the weeds." But in order to gain a feel for what happens to the Job family and provide a framework for the other chapters its necessary to take time to set the scene.)

Job had just come home from an early morning prayer meeting at church. After remarking to his wife about the wonderful sense of the presence of God that he had experienced, he was eager to start the work week. As he entered his office on that beautiful summer morning he was filled with joy. His businesses were growing rapidly and he was able to provide for over 500 employees and their families. And he also thought about the birthday party that was taking place a few miles south at the home of their eldest son. Both Job and Mrs. Job were particularly grateful the way that all ten of their children were getting along so well together. He couldn’t wait to see them (and laugh with them) at the end of the day.

But then it began. As he and his wife sat down together for lunch the phone rang. In a loud and agitated and jumbled message from one of his employees, he learned that the Sabeans had stolen all of the donkeys and the oxen and killed all of the employees! And he had just barely escaped with his life. Job couldn’t believe it – the Sabeans had never attacked him before.

With that conversation just barely ending the fax machine began to whir. Job grabbed the fax and read it in disbelief. He handed it to his wife. As she read it she was horrified. Something about 7,000 sheep being horribly consumed by “the fire of God.” And all of the shepherds were dead!

They hadn’t more than finished reading that when Job’s cell phone rang. Another employee screamed something to him about the Chaldeans sending in three squads of Special Forces and capturing all of the camels and killing all of the employees of his desert shipping company. But he had somehow escaped detection and made it out alive.

But the worst news was yet to come. While Job and his wife were reeling from these three messages, they didn’t notice the car that had pulled up out front. When the doorbell rang they were astonished to see the sheriff and their pastor. With a very somber tone they informed them that a killer tornado had come out of nowhere. But before the kids could do anything the home literally exploded. The collapsing roof immediately killed all ten of their children.

Both of them collapsed to their knees,

By 1:00 Job had lost EVERYTHING except for his wife and four of his servants.

Nothing was left.

In Job chapter one the scenes shift from earth (vss. 1-5), to heaven (vss. 6-12), and then back to earth (vss. 13-19). We as the audience get to see scene two – the dialogue between Satan and Jehovah. But Job doesn’t. In fact, that scene is not even in his script. What happens comes without warning and hits him like a kick to the stomach. As Alexander Whyte said, “Sorrows came to Job by the battalion.” Swindoll says, “One day it was delightful, the next day it was dreadful.”

It seemed to be a “usual day.” He had just made intercession for his family and had made peace with his Lord. The unfolding of the events stand in stark contrast to the serenity of the pastoral scene of the sheep grazing, the oxen plowing and the children celebrating.

Four Messengers come with news of four tragedies. It was diabolical. On 9/11, whether it was done by design or done simply to make a course correction, when the terrorists flew the airliners into the twin towers the wings were tilted to have the most horrific impact. That is what Diabolos did here. The Satan had planned for the events to unfold so rapidly and so horrifically so as to not to give Job time to recover. The worst news was saved for last.

There is a sinister symmetry to what takes place. Tragedies caused by man (vss. 14/15 and 17) alternate with those caused by nature (vss. 16 and 18/19). There is no reason to what has happened, there is only ruin.

1:13-15…Now it happened on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, that a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
Trafficking in precious stones, gold and incense, the Sabeans apparently roamed far north (1,000 miles!) from their base in the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula (the area of present day Yemen…a base of terrorism then and a base of terrorism now). They were made famous by the Queen of Sheba that visited Solomon in I Kings 10. Adam Clarke says, “(The Sabeans were) predatory banditti who made sudden incursions and carried off men, women and children.”

The second, third and fourth tragedies begin with “While he was yet speaking…” and all four end with the same poignant words, “I alone have escaped to tell you.” (Implying ‘just barely and with great difficulty’).” K&D calls these escapees the “four messengers of misfortune.”

Barnes says, “The words ‘while he was yet speaking’ indicate the rapidity of the movement of Satan, and his desire to overwhelm Job with no time to recover.”

1:16…While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
In a bit of irony the Satan uses the fire of God to destroy the servants of the man of God. “The fire of God” could perhaps indicate lightning (FIA says that something unusual would be needed to consume 7000 sheep). They weren’t electrocuted as would happen in a normal lightning strike, they were consumed in fire! Adam Clarke says, “The prince of the power of the air was permitted now to arm himself with this dreadful artillery of heaven that he might easily direct the zigzag lightning…” A “Tom-Cruise-War-of-the-Worlds” type of fire?

1:17…While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you."
Hartley says the attacks of the Chaldeans were so swift that nothing could be rescued. Widely known for their horsemanship, they were a fierce, predatory and warlike people from northern Mesopotamia and the area of Armenia. Gesenius believes the people group known as the Kurds (present day northern Iraq) are descendants of the Chaldeans. They were the forerunners of the great Babylonian Empire. Experts at war, they quickly divided into three companies – the three pronged attack was brutally successful in capturing all of the camels and butchering the employees.

1:18-19…While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died; and I alone have escaped to tell you."
The most tragic news came last. Chuck Swindoll relates that perhaps Job thought at this point, “Well, at least I’ve got my kids.”

But the final messenger rushed in. A great wind (probably some sort of tornado) swept in suddenly, engulfed the home and killed all ten children. Perhaps the home next door was barely touched – but the house of Job Jr. was just splinters! The NLT puts it this way, “The wind swept in from the wilderness and hit the house on all sides.” The “wilderness” indicated here would have a geographical look like our Great Plains. The word “struck” in verse 19 is the same as “touch” in verse 11. God gave the Satan permission to “touch” all that Job had. Satan did – with hatred and venom he gleefully “struck” what was dearest to the man of God.

The number “four” in Scripture symbolizes totality or full measure. Job was devastated in totality: four messengers, four tragedies, the satanic tornado hit the “four” corners of the house.

There isn’t much that we can glean from these seven verses as far as “that-will-get-your-spiritual-motor-going!!!” is concerned. But it’s necessary to take time setting the scene so that we can really sense Job’s heart and get a feel for the tragedies that have overwhelmed Mr. and Mrs. Job.

Mr. and Mrs. Job are now penniless and childless. EVERYTHING IS GONE! But the blackness of this passage only serves to underscore the remarkable reaction that Job had to these four tragedies.

Evangelist Tony Campolo once preached a message titled, “It’s Friday, But Sunday’s Coming!” As bad as things were for the disciples on Good Friday, Easter was coming!

And as dark as it is right now for Job, we need to remember that chapter 38 is coming!


Just another note: Chuck Swindoll preached a series of messages on Job that lasted almost an entire year. When he announced that “this would be the last message on Job”, the congregation stood and cheered! I think that’s funny. Just so you know, once we get past chapter two things will move a lot quicker and we won’t be going “verse by verse.” In some instances we will comment on just a portion of an entire chapter. That’s the plan anyway, but who knows. :>)

NLT = New Living Translation
OT = Old Testament
K&D = Commentary by Keil and Delitzsch
FIA = Commentary by FI Anderson
JFB = Commentary by Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown