The Day the Sky Fell on Job

Job lived in the land of Uz, and he was the richest man in the East. He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, a thousand oxen, and five hundred donkeys. (Three thousand camels is a lot of camels to feed, and a lot of camels to smell.)

He also had seven sons and three daughters, who loved a good party. After every feast, Job got up early and offered a sacrifice for each child. "Maybe one of them sinned," he said, "and cursed God in their heart."

One day the angels came to stand before the LORD, and the accuser came with them. (That is what his name, Satan, means: the one who points the finger.)

"Have you noticed my servant Job?" said the LORD. "There is no one on earth like him. He honors me and turns away from evil."

"Does Job honor you for nothing?" said the accuser. "You have built a fence around everything he owns! Take it away, and he will curse you to your face."

"Everything he has is in your hands," said the LORD. "But do not lay a hand on Job himself."

Job knew nothing about it.

Then came the worst day of his life. A servant ran up, gasping. "Raiders took the oxen and the donkeys and killed the servants! I am the only one who escaped!"

While he was still talking, another came. "Fire fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the shepherds!"

Then a third. "Raiders took the camels and killed the servants!"

Then one more. "Your sons and daughters were eating at your oldest son's house. A great wind from the desert struck the house, and it fell on them. They are dead."

All ten of Job's children died that day.

Job stood up and tore his robe. He shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshiped.

"I came into the world with nothing," he said, "and with nothing I will leave it. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."

The accuser came back, and the LORD said, "Job is still holding on."

"Skin for skin!" said the accuser. "People will give up anything to save their own skin. Touch his body, and he will curse you."

"He is in your hands," said the LORD. "But you must spare his life."

So the accuser covered Job with painful sores, from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Job sat down in the ashes and scraped his skin with a piece of broken pot.

His wife cried, "Are you still holding on? Curse God and die!"

"You are talking foolishly," said Job. "Shall we take good things from God, and not trouble?"

Even then, Job did not sin with his lips.

The accuser was proved wrong: Job worshiped God with empty hands. Still, Job's trust could not silence the accuser for good, or bring his ten children home.

So the accuser kept pointing his finger, and God's people waited for someone who could answer him.

At last a man walked out into the desert, hungry, and the same enemy tested him there. Later he lost more than Job did. His friends ran away, soldiers took his clothes, and he was nailed to a cross and killed. With nothing left in his hands, he prayed, "Father, into your hands I give my spirit."

Job sat in the ashes. Jesus was laid in a grave, and on the third day he walked out of it, and the accuser was thrown down.