And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
The verse pictures ordinary farm work going on when the first messenger arrived to tell Job that his oxen and donkeys were taken, opening a rapid succession of blows that in a moment swept away flocks and herds, servants, houses and children before his own body was smitten. God permitted Satan to afflict His faithful servant and show his indignation through the elements and through human means, so such violence and calamity should not be treated as strange. It is God who normally shields His creatures and hedges them from the destroyer, but when His law is despised He withdraws His protecting care, and Satan who has studied the secrets of nature then controls as far as allowed all whom God does not especially guard, even leading men to believe God is afflicting them. The same destroying power is at work in accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in tempest, flood, earthquake, ruined harvest, famine and disease, and these visitations are to become more frequent and disastrous upon man and beast. Job's closeness to God did not bring prosperity but sore trial, showing that sudden loss is not always the result of sin, yet he preserved integrity through loss and reproach, and though stripped and bereaved he remained loyal until God lifted him up with greater favor than before.
Setting and Report
The scene opens on an ordinary working day, with oxen engaged in plowing and donkeys feeding close beside them when the messenger arrives. The grazing or feeding of the donkeys nearby places the livestock at routine labor just before disaster unfolds.
This report is the beginning of the calamities and of the loss of possessions, one blow in a rapid series in which flocks and herds, servants, houses and children were swept away. One trouble succeeded another as in a moment, stripping him of possessions and bereaving him of children. That sweeping away of all that was possessed took menservants and maidens and sons and daughters before his own body was smitten with disease. The losses show how quickly a person can be stripped of everything, warning that material security can be taken away.
The deprivation of worldly possessions begun here was joined with further loss and with bodily affliction so severe that he was abhorred by relatives and friends.
Satan's Work and God's Protection
This messenger's report belongs to the account in which Satan was permitted to vent his indignation upon God's servant by afflicting Job. What fell here was one stroke in that permitted affliction, showing that Satan may bring violence and calamity through the elements and through human means. When such attacks come they are not to be treated as strange.
He is able to do this because he has studied the secrets of nature and of the laboratories of nature, and he uses all his power and knowledge to control the elements as far as God allows. His aim in working through the elements is to garner his harvest of unprepared souls.
It is God who normally shields His creatures and hedges them in from the power of the destroyer. But when men despise and show contempt for the law of Jehovah and rebel against it, He withdraws His blessings from the earth and removes His protecting care from them.
Where that guard is not especially maintained, Satan then has control. He favors and prospers some in order to further his own designs, and he brings trouble upon others, while leading men to believe that it is God who is afflicting them.
The same destroying power seen in Job is at work in accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in conflagrations, tornadoes, hailstorms, tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves and earthquakes, in ruined harvests, famine, pestilence, tainted air and disease, even appearing as a great physician to bring disease and disaster until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous upon the inhabitants of the world and upon man and beast.
Faithful Endurance and Reward
Job was a faithful man closely connected with God whom God allowed to be proved and tried and afflicted, stripping him of possessions and children under Satan's permitted attack. Closeness to God does not bring prosperity in this life, and may bring sore trial and affliction. Suffering and sudden loss are not always the result of sinful conduct, nor proof that the sufferer has lived sinfully or deserved punishment.
The opening report, in which a messenger tells that the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding nearby, begins the loss of possessions and warns how quickly a person can be stripped of everything and how material security can be taken away. Yet a person may endure severe loss, deprivation of worldly possessions, and hostility while remaining loyal and maintaining integrity and faithfulness to God. Though the loss begun here was joined with further loss and bodily affliction so severe that he was abhorred by relatives and friends, loyalty was not broken.
As one of God's appointed witnesses exposed to reproach and persecution for truth's sake, his steadfastness in the might of divine power bears witness to the faithfulness of God's promises and to God's abiding presence and sustaining grace. It shows the power of faith to withstand the powers of the world, to calmly rest in God in the darkest hour, to look beyond time and sense to eternal riches, and to feel that the Father is at the helm. Such steadfastness has moral value with God that the world cannot discern. God does not prevent the plottings of wicked men but causes their devices to work for good to those who in trial and conflict maintain faith and loyalty, bringing His children near to show them their weakness and His strength, teaching them to lean on Him, and preparing them in the furnace of trial and affliction to meet emergencies, fill positions of trust, and accomplish the purpose for which their powers were given, a gain worth more than all the pain it costs.
Being stripped and bereaved of earthly possessions and children did not mean God had forsaken him. Though so stripped and bereaved he remained loyal and was rewarded, for in time God lifted him up and showed him greater favor than before. This points to the promise of an inheritance of greater value than earthly riches that will satisfy the soul.
The verse pictures ordinary farm work going on when the first messenger arrived to tell Job that his oxen and donkeys were taken, opening a rapid succession of blows that in a moment swept away flocks and herds, servants, houses and children before his own body was smitten. God permitted Satan to afflict His faithful servant and show his indignation through the elements and through human means, so such violence and calamity should not be treated as strange. It is God who normally shields His creatures and hedges them from the destroyer, but when His law is despised He withdraws His protecting care, and Satan who has studied the secrets of nature then controls as far as allowed all whom God does not especially guard, even leading men to believe God is afflicting them. The same destroying power is at work in accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in tempest, flood, earthquake, ruined harvest, famine and disease, and these visitations are to become more frequent and disastrous upon man and beast. Job's closeness to God did not bring prosperity but sore trial, showing that sudden loss is not always the result of sin, yet he preserved integrity through loss and reproach, and though stripped and bereaved he remained loyal until God lifted him up with greater favor than before.
Setting and Report
The scene opens on an ordinary working day, with oxen engaged in plowing and donkeys feeding close beside them when the messenger arrives. The grazing or feeding of the donkeys nearby places the livestock at routine labor just before disaster unfolds.
This report is the beginning of the calamities and of the loss of possessions, one blow in a rapid series in which flocks and herds, servants, houses and children were swept away. One trouble succeeded another as in a moment, stripping him of possessions and bereaving him of children. That sweeping away of all that was possessed took menservants and maidens and sons and daughters before his own body was smitten with disease. The losses show how quickly a person can be stripped of everything, warning that material security can be taken away.
The deprivation of worldly possessions begun here was joined with further loss and with bodily affliction so severe that he was abhorred by relatives and friends.
Satan's Work and God's Protection
This messenger's report belongs to the account in which Satan was permitted to vent his indignation upon God's servant by afflicting Job. What fell here was one stroke in that permitted affliction, showing that Satan may bring violence and calamity through the elements and through human means. When such attacks come they are not to be treated as strange.
He is able to do this because he has studied the secrets of nature and of the laboratories of nature, and he uses all his power and knowledge to control the elements as far as God allows. His aim in working through the elements is to garner his harvest of unprepared souls.
It is God who normally shields His creatures and hedges them in from the power of the destroyer. But when men despise and show contempt for the law of Jehovah and rebel against it, He withdraws His blessings from the earth and removes His protecting care from them.
Where that guard is not especially maintained, Satan then has control. He favors and prospers some in order to further his own designs, and he brings trouble upon others, while leading men to believe that it is God who is afflicting them.
The same destroying power seen in Job is at work in accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in conflagrations, tornadoes, hailstorms, tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves and earthquakes, in ruined harvests, famine, pestilence, tainted air and disease, even appearing as a great physician to bring disease and disaster until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous upon the inhabitants of the world and upon man and beast.
Faithful Endurance and Reward
Job was a faithful man closely connected with God whom God allowed to be proved and tried and afflicted, stripping him of possessions and children under Satan's permitted attack. Closeness to God does not bring prosperity in this life, and may bring sore trial and affliction. Suffering and sudden loss are not always the result of sinful conduct, nor proof that the sufferer has lived sinfully or deserved punishment.
The opening report, in which a messenger tells that the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding nearby, begins the loss of possessions and warns how quickly a person can be stripped of everything and how material security can be taken away. Yet a person may endure severe loss, deprivation of worldly possessions, and hostility while remaining loyal and maintaining integrity and faithfulness to God. Though the loss begun here was joined with further loss and bodily affliction so severe that he was abhorred by relatives and friends, loyalty was not broken.
As one of God's appointed witnesses exposed to reproach and persecution for truth's sake, his steadfastness in the might of divine power bears witness to the faithfulness of God's promises and to God's abiding presence and sustaining grace. It shows the power of faith to withstand the powers of the world, to calmly rest in God in the darkest hour, to look beyond time and sense to eternal riches, and to feel that the Father is at the helm. Such steadfastness has moral value with God that the world cannot discern. God does not prevent the plottings of wicked men but causes their devices to work for good to those who in trial and conflict maintain faith and loyalty, bringing His children near to show them their weakness and His strength, teaching them to lean on Him, and preparing them in the furnace of trial and affliction to meet emergencies, fill positions of trust, and accomplish the purpose for which their powers were given, a gain worth more than all the pain it costs.
Being stripped and bereaved of earthly possessions and children did not mean God had forsaken him. Though so stripped and bereaved he remained loyal and was rewarded, for in time God lifted him up and showed him greater favor than before. This points to the promise of an inheritance of greater value than earthly riches that will satisfy the soul.