Charles Spurgeon Commentary Job 1

There was a man in the land of Uz,

Job was a man indeed; a true man, a man of the highest type, for he was a man of God.

Whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright...

Job was thoroughly true and sincere, and in this sense he was perfect and upright.

And one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

He had both sides of a godly character, a love of God and a hatred of sin.

And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

Job was highly favoured in having such a family of sons and daughters.

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and shunned evil (Job 1:1).

That was Job's character before the trial that made him famous; perhaps, if it had not been for that trial, we would never have heard of him. Now, as the apostle James wrote, You have heard of the patience of Job (James 5:11). God, by great afflictions, gave to his servant that usefulness for which he had possibly prayed, without knowing how it would come to him.

A long-continued life of prosperity may not so truly glorify God as a life that is chequered by adversity. God, who intended to put honour upon his servant, did as kings do when they confer the honour of knighthood: they strike with the back or flat of the sword. So God smote the patriarch Job that he might raise him above his fellow men. The Lord intended to make him Job the patient, but to that end He must make him Job the sufferer.

From this Book I learn what gospel perfection is. We are told that Job was perfect and upright, yet I am sure that he was not free from tendencies to evil; he was not absolutely perfect.

As old Master Trapp says, "God's people may be perfect, but they are not perfectly perfect;" and so it certainly was with Job. There were imperfections deep down in his character that his trials developed, and which the grace of God no doubt afterwards removed; but after the manner of speech that is used in Holy Scripture, Job was a perfect man; he was sincere, wholehearted, consecrated; and he was also upright. He leaned neither this way nor that way; he had no twist in him, he had no selfish ends to serve. He was one that feared God. Everybody could see that, and consequently, he hated evil with all his heart.

And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

It was a great privilege to have such a family as this, but it brought to Job great responsibilities and many anxieties.

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.

A man may be a good man and a rich man, but it is not usually the case. I am afraid that what Mr. Bunyan says is all too true: "Gold and the gospel seldom do agree; Religion always sides with poverty."

Yet it should not be so, for God can give a man grace enough to use all his substance to his Lord's glory. I wish that it were more often the case that we could see a holy Job as well as a godly Lazarus—a company of men who would prove their consecration to God by never allowing their wealth to become their master, but by being master of all their substance and constantly realizing that it is all the Lord's.

This, after all, is the noblest heritage a man has, with the exception of his God. Job, in adversity, could possess his soul in patience because, in his prosperity, he had not let his riches possess him, but he had possessed them.