Great Fathers of the Bible: Job

Job 1:1-22 42:12, 13

1 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 eschewed evil.
2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
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.
4 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
13 And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:
14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
15 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.
16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
18 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:
19 And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

12 So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.
13 He had also seven sons and three daughters.

If you have ever read Job I think it gives a clear answer to why bad things happen to good people. Job not only lost everything that he had but also lost all of his children too. You can see what type of father Job was, 5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. Job was so concerned about his children's spiritual well being that he continually sanctified them and offered burnt offerings for them. I can only imagine the pain and anguish he must have felt when they were taken away from him but even though they were taken away he did the correct thing and didn't accuse or blame the Lord.
Atheists and agnostics love to use this book in defense of their non belief. "How could your God do this? He must be a heartless monster to allow Satan to kill his kids. How could you believe in a God who would allow this"? I could go on and on but I won't.
I have to admit that this is a hard book to understand. Why would God allow Satan to afflict a blameless man? I saw a pretty good explanation written by a fellow apologist named Matt Slick:

When the Bible says that Job was blameless, it does not mean that he was absolutely sinless. It means that he was a God-fearing man who sought to do what was right before the Lord. Job's awareness of his own sins is acknowledged by the fact that he sacrificed animals to the Lord as atonement for his sins in chapter 1. As the story goes, the "sons of God", angels, presented themselves before God. Satan was there and a conversation ensued about Job's goodness. Satan challenges God by stating that Job will denounce God if afflicted. God gives permission to Satan to afflict Job. Of course, Job doesn't denounce God. So, the question is why would God allow Satan to do this? The reason is so that God may be vindicated at His word and so that we might understand that trials and tribulations will come to those who are godly. In the former, we see the righteousness of God After all, none are righteous before God (Rom. 3:10-12). In the latter we see the perfection of Job's faith (James 1:2-4).

I really like this explanation and it gets to the heart of the issue. We as humans have a hard time understanding why trials and tribulations come to the Godly. I think that sometimes we get so caught up in our own godliness that we forget who that godliness is supposed to be exalting. It becomes more about us than giving glory to God. Not to say that is why Job was tested, but I can see how it would apply.
I recently watched a movie called "Perfect Stranger". The female main character asked Jesus if it was God's will that her parents got divorced. Jesus said that sometimes the Lord has to use hard situations to get peoples attention. The divorce so hurt her father that it led him to Christ. And the divorce hurt her so much that she was now having a conversation with Jesus. I'm not sure how Biblical this is but it makes sense to me.
Job was a great father and even though he lost everything; even his children, he did not sin by cursing God.
I wonder if we would have the same faith.

Been away for a while

I apologize to all my readers (all two of you) but I have been quite distracted for a while. To give you an update I have been working on a study of non-christian cults and it has been exhausting.
I won't get into a lengthy description yet because I want to finish my series on fathers in the Bible.