Job Loses Everything

A man named Job lived in the land of Uz, where he was blameless, upright, and feared God (Job 1:1). He possessed seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred female donkeys. During a day when his children were eating and drinking in their oldest brother’s house, a messenger arrived to inform Job that the Sabeans had attacked and taken the oxen and donkeys. The text does not say why the Sabeans chose that moment. Subsequent messengers reported that fire from heaven burned the sheep and that the Chaldeans carried off the camels. Finally, a messenger stated that a great wind struck the house where his children were, causing it to collapse and kill all ten of them (Job 1:13-19).

Job responded by tearing his robe, shaving his head, and falling on the ground to worship. He stated that he came naked from his mother’s womb and would return naked, saying the Lord gives and the Lord takes away (Job 1:20-21). Following these events, Job was struck with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. He sat among the ashes and used a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself (Job 2:7-8). His wife asked if he still held fast to his integrity and suggested he curse God and die, but Job called her words those of a foolish woman, asking if they should receive good from God and not trouble (Job 2:9-10).

When three of Job’s friends heard of the evil that had come upon him, they traveled from their respective homes to sympathize with him. These men were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite (Job 2:11). Upon arriving, they did not recognize him from a distance and began to weep aloud. They tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. The three friends sat on the ground with Job for seven days and seven nights without speaking a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great (Job 2:12-13).