Job: Sacrificing For His Children

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/2uyewr

Most parents would do anything for their children. If we could, we would take every pain away and make sure that all of their needs are met. But we realize that eventually our children will have to make their own decisions and live their own lives.

As parents we are to be the religious leaders of our children. Many parents of the past few decades thought it best to wait and let the children grow up and explore religion on their own. But this was a huge mistake. As a result of such negligence, many millions of adults today have never been given a proper education on God, religion and what it means to live a righteous life.

Of course, not every child will grow up to be faithful to God, regardless of how much the parents do to instruct the child. Many will remain true to God while at home, but when they leave for college or to start a family of their own, well, that is when the real test of faith comes.

As a patriarch in the Old Testament, the male head of the house was the spiritual leader of his family. In addition to religious instruction, he would also be responsible for sacrifices to God.

Job was one such family leader. He instructed his children on how they should act and also offered sacrifices on their behalf in the event that they had sinned against God.

Most would agree that Job was a good man. But more than that, Job was the most righteous man on earth. Here is how Job is introduced to us in Job 1:1-5.

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.

And his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify 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 sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly.

Not only had Job instructed his children, but he still held a responsibility for them even after they had moved to their own homes. Notice that he regularly offered sacrifices on their behalf.

No doubt Job loved these children. All ten of them! But then tragedy struck Job’s life.

In the course of just one day four messengers came to see Job. The first reported that his oxen and donkeys had been stolen and all of those servants were killed. Then another messenger arrived and informed Job that his sheep had all been killed along with the servants who tended them.

Then a third messenger came and told Job that the camels were all stolen and those servants who tended to them were killed. But the worst was yet to come.

A fourth messenger arrived with the terrible news that all ten of Job’s children were killed in a windstorm while at the home of their brother.

The news of a sudden and tragic death is never welcomed. The loss of one child is a heavy burden for any parent. Can you imagine the weight of losing all ten of your children at once?

But Job was righteous, remember? Job’s response to all of this was natural given his commitment to God. We find this in Job 1:20-22.

Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said:

“Naked I came from my mother's womb,

And naked shall I return there.

The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away;

Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.

Friends, when we trust in God and teach our children to be righteous, even calamity can be endured.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we as parents always seek to teach our children about what God wants. May we continue to pray on their behalf and show them the love that God shows to us.

Our thought for the day: “No man really finds out what he believes until he begins to instruct his children.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.