Job 1:3
His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
The inventory of seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-asses, and a very great household records the extent of Job's great worldly possessions. He was stripped of those possessions for the truth's sake, as one of God's appointed witnesses exposed to reproach and persecution. He was also afflicted in body until he was abhorred by his relatives and friends, yet he maintained his integrity.
His steadfastness bears witness to the faithfulness of God's promises, His abiding presence and sustaining grace, and the power of faith to withstand the powers of the world, to rest in God in the darkest hour and know that the Father is in control. His trial shows that God does not prevent the plottings of wicked men but causes their devices to work for good for those who in trial and conflict maintain faith and loyalty. Through such trial God brings His children near to Him to show them their weakness and His strength and to teach them to lean on Him. He prepares them in the furnace of trial and affliction for emergencies, positions of trust, and the great purpose for which their powers were given, an experience worth more than all the pain it costs.