Charles Spurgeon Commentary Job 1:14-15

"that there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them; and the Sabeans fell [upon them], and took them away: yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee." — Job 1:14-15 (ASV)

And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

The bad news comes to him all of a sudden, just when he is thinking of something very different. There is only one servant left to tell the tale; he was spared so that Job might know that the news was true. If that one servant had also been killed, the news could only have reached Job as a rumor that might or might not be true. But now, one of his own servants tells him the sad story, so there is no mistake about it. Ah! The devil knows how and where to strike when he does strike; yet this was only the first blow for poor Job, and there were heavier ones to follow.