Walking With Christ

Job 1:5
And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.(ESV)

This verse has always caught my attention, but I could never quite figure out why. Recently, I watched a video by Pastor Kelly K, and it clicked. Then the Lord showed me something else that I had never seen before.

Job said, “It may be”. He didn’t say that his children certainly had sinned—he was worried that they might have sinned. He was scared. As Pastor Kelly points out, the spirit of fear is one possible doorway through which Satan, our enemy, can enter our lives. As we learn in 2 Timothy 1:7, God has given us a spirit not of fear but of power, love, self-control. This implies that a spirit of fear does actually exist, and that spirit of fear is the very essence of our enemy. I believe that one of Satan’s biggest tricks is to make us feel the way he does. The only power the enemy has is to tell us that we are also fallen beings. That truth resonates with many and makes them forget that we still have a choice. He already made his choice and wants to feel his fear because he knows what that decision truly means.

What struck me, even though I’ve read Job several times over the years, is that we don’t know whether or not Job’s children actually sinned. We can’t know. We can assume that they did, but it’s possible they didn’t. The text doesn’t mention Job’s children offering their own burnt offerings, which seems like a fairly important detail if Job felt he had to make offerings for them.

What does Jesus say about branches that do not produce fruit?

John 15:1-2
(1)“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. (2)Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”(ESV)

It’s possible that God knew that Job’s children were not going to produce good fruit, which would mean they needed to be pruned. While this is conjecture since the bible doesn’t specifically say this, the trials of Job did ultimately produce more fruit. We can’t know exactly how fruitful the rest of Job’s line was, as his family line is only mentioned in the book of Job, but we do know that he became even richer and more blessed for his trials.

Job 42:10
And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.(ESV)

Food for thought. Bon appetit.