Priest Daniel Sysoev - Job 1

 Where does evil come from? Why is there injustice in this world? Where do unrighteous things come from? Why don't people on earth receive justly? These questions are of concern to almost everyone, and this issue is especially discussed in the book of Job.

It is one of the oldest books in the Bible. Job himself is a descendant of Abraham, but not along the line of Isaac, he is not a Jew. He lived at a time when the Jews were in Egyptian slavery. This was before Moses, before the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, before the law. This was the time when such an organized society did not exist. And one of these people, pagans, who honored God, was Job - the righteous one about whom we will talk.

He was a prince, the territory of what is now Jordan and Syria, was one of those people who worshiped God among the pagan people.

Here it is worth saying important words first. Very often people think that before the coming of Christ, only the Jewish people preserved the Revelation of God. But this is not the case. The fact is that God revealed Himself to people outside the Jewish people. An example is Job, which we will speak with you. It is known that God also acted among the pagan peoples, revealing Himself to them. Actually grief, any person who would like to find the truth, he has this truth to find. Because God reveals Himself to the one who seeks Him and brings people into communion with Himself.

An example is this: a person lived in the truth, lived by the Revelation of God, and Job, the righteous, is outside the Jewish people, outside the people of God.

The book of Job begins with a description of his life.

1There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil. 2He had seven sons and three daughters, 3and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.

The description of the book of Job begins with a description of the righteous man himself. He lived in the land of Uz - this is the present territory of Syria, not far from Damascus. Until now, near Damascus, the place where the righteous Job lived is shown, where the heap was, where he sat later, and it is shown where his grave is. It is said that he was human. Why does it start with these words? The fact is that not every belonging "spiritual sapiens" is a real person. From the point of view of Holy Scripture, a person is, a person only to the extent that he had time from God. Even the Russian word "man" has, according to popular terminology, the origin of "man of eternity." Similarly, in Greek, the word “man” means “one who is directed upward,” as opposed to animals, which are face down. Man aspires to Heaven. A person can be different by a different origin, but not by nature. He was a man, one who lived in God and such a man only truly became a man. Moreover, if we look at the book of Genesis, we will see that "man" in Hebrew sounds "Adam". The word "Adam" has two meanings: two roots that are joined together. Can be produced from the root "adamа" - bloody earth. That is, a person is like a piece of bloody clay, he comes like this when he departs from God, it is not yet known, people live without God, it seems to them that the main goal, like the Russians, is a wonderful toast: "The main thing is health, everything else is to follow." ... This slogan is like a piece of bloody clay. When a person thinks that the main thing is the earth. And there is a second root, which is connected, this is “at home” - to be like. That is, a person who has become like God. There is such a fork in front of a person: bloody clay or he is a God-like creature. Two options for a person's journey.

Here we see that he was a man - the likeness of God. The name Job is meaningful. Job - means “persecuted,” his name was symbolic. Initially, he was Job, that is, the one who persecutes God, and then he became Job.

And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.

And how does the Bible define this person? The first is that he is blameless on the inside, his deeds, his inner state were alien. He tried in thoughts, heart, feelings to be faithful to God and always act right and beautifully. Sin is a wrinkle in the soul. A person who commits a sin becomes an old man. Job was blameless, he did not have these sinful wrinkles on his soul. He kept himself clean. At the same time, he was not only internally blameless, but was also just. Integrity manifested itself outwardly in just actions. He was always just with people, treated them according to the truth of God. But, he was not limited to justice to a person. Maybe a person is truly good if he only does good to people? For this, one more condition is necessary, one must be God-fearing. Must serve the Creator. A person who does not serve the Creator is not righteous. Because the first Commandment requires reverence for the Creator. Requires service to the Creator. The Lord reduced all the Commandments of the Old Testament to two: "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength!" (Mark 12:30).

If a person does not honor God, then he is not righteous. Job was already God-fearing. He feared Him, feared to offend Him, trembled before Him and loved Him. And it is said that he retired from evil. What does it mean? This expression is interesting. The fact is that a person can externally move away from evil, that is, he can simply not do it, but condescend evil from others. On the other hand, a person can move away from evil, try not to contact evil, not obey the evil that is and not communicate with villains. Job was the second person. He tried to move away from evil, tried to be faithful to the creator and not communicate with sinners. Job was rewarded by God on this earth. He gave birth to 7 sons and three daughters, he had an estate: seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and a lot of servants; and this man was more famous than all the sons of the East. By earthly standards. He was safe. But at the same time, as it turned out later, the greatest wealth was hidden in the depths of the heart.

4Job’s sons would take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

5And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

Job took care not only of himself, but also of his children, so that the children were faithful to the Creator, so that no stain of sin would fall on them. This is another stroke of his righteousness. He did not limit himself to his own righteousness; he made sure that the children were also righteous. He prayed for them, made a sacrifice for them, so that even in a "drunken state" they would not say anything against God.

6One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satana also came with them.

7“Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan.

“From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.”

8Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.”

9Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11But stretch out Your hand and strike all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

12“Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “Everything he has is in your hands, but you must not lay a hand on the man himself.”

Now our gaze moves into the depths of Heaven. We see that there are days when angels, before the face of God, are accountable for how they are ruling the world. We know that angels have different ministries throughout our universe. There is a guardian angel of the stars, sun, winds…. And all these angels, who are here called the sons of God, appear before God to report on their activities. Their activity is not independent. God's Word emphasizes that angels are not independent rulers who rule as they please. They are the servants of God, sent to the ministry all over the world. A very important thought. Because many people think that angels are not independent, they themselves need to be served. They need to bow down. But the Word of God directly says - angels are servants. They are not sovereign rulers of the world, they are subordinate to the Creator, act according to His will. The Word of God forbids contact with angels other than God. It is very important! An angel, if he does not lead to God, is an angel of lies. I say this to the fact that now you and I see on the trays multivolume guardian angels who say that we can correct the Gospels. We know that the angels of God do not correct the Gospel! If an angel comes from Heaven, who will speak and bring another message about the Creator…. It is very important. Because, how do people say: the spirit has revealed to me, how can you not believe it…. I often meet people who say, “Well, the spirit found me, a spiritual phenomenon came, and I immediately began to trust. Well this is the spirit! How can a spirit lie? " And when people say “All means are good for the salvation of the soul” or “Since the spirit speaks, it cannot lie,” then one must remember that such a person is lying. Not every spirit is from God! Not every angel is from God! Angels cannot be trusted when they teach contrary to God.

Very interesting, the Revelation of God that we contain is given to us directly by the Creator. We do not have, in the Holy Scriptures, books that would have been written under angelic dictation. This is no coincidence! There is not a single book in the Bible! And there are very few angelic words. Angels do not give Revelation on their own. This is no coincidence! We may notice that false revelations can be from angels. For example, who wrote the Koran? The Qur'an was written by a certain spirit who set himself up like the archangel Gabriel, moreover, he did not imagine himself to him.

Indeed, the spirits open up - this is pure truth. We have seen many examples of people communicating with spirits. And the fact that they communicated is very noticeable: through paranoia, pursuit, etc. Obviously the person was in contact with the spirit. As a result, he received physical and spiritual trauma due to the fact that a person trusted someone who was not allowed! We know that we do not bow down to either people, or angels, or anyone but God. Angels appear before God to show that they are obedient to God, that they obey His commands. How do they appear? We know that God is omnipresent, and you can't hide from His face. The fact is that there are places where God specifically reveals Himself, there are such places outside the world where angels appear before God in order to give Him an answer. 

and Satana also came with them.

Here, for the first time in Scripture, Satan is called by this name. What does Satan mean? Satan is a Hebrew word meaning - enemy, enemy. But whose adversary is Satan? Human? God? Is he fighting with God? Not! Satan trembles before God. Satan is incapable of fighting God. Because he is a creation, and God is the Creator. Satan cannot get out of the will of God. Satan only opposes God, but is not able to destroy God. The forces of God and any creation are absolutely incommensurable. Why does Satan come then? The fact is that Satan had access to Heaven up to that historical moment. Until what historical moment? Until the death of the Resurrection, the Lord had access. The fact is that the world before the coming of the Lord to earth existed as well, but this law could not operate as it does now. Satan, by his evil will, was engaged in trying to force God, wanted to discredit every Creation of God and say that every Creation of God is bad. We see that Job, he is selfish to God, and serves.

7“Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan.

Why does God ask Satan? One says that God knows no evil. What does it mean? Not in the sense that there is no information about evil, but in the sense that "to know" means to connect with what you know. God does not unite with evil. In this sense. God does not know the ways of sinners. No one says that he does not know sinful deeds, but the case that He does not approve of them and does not support them. Therefore, God asks Satan "where did you come from?"

“From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.”

That is, the devil walks on the earth. Here we see the words that someone is right who says, “That our enemy is the devil, like a lion in a swamp looking for someone to devour”.

8Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.”

Why is the Lord paying attention to Job here? God wants people to come to Him as overcomers. He wants people to fight the devil and defeat him. This is the will of God. God wants, will reward people not just because it is a pure gift, but wants to reward as Winners. Our task is to fight and conquer the tastes. God wants to show Satan to break his teeth.

9Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 

A very subtle and well-known Satanic lie! How often do people say, "You are serving God there, you need to claim something." All these words, they go back to the words of Satan. It was Satan who suggested that the righteous serve God because he will bestow Him. Real righteousness is incompatible in a selfish relationship. As King David says, “What do I need in heaven if I do not need anything on earth. You are God's part of my heart. "

Without God, man is nothing! If a person serves God not for God's sake, then he is not righteous! He is either a slave or a mercenary. The highest service of God is service for His sake.

10Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

What do we see? The devil is unable to harm the one whom God protects. He cannot attack Job himself, he saw him perfectly. It is very important! Because many people attribute supernatural power to the devil, saying that the devil is almighty, equal to God, God and the devil are one and the same, etc. We see that this is not at all the case. The exclusive sovereign ruler of the world is God. For example, who is currently running the United States? Lord Almighty rules! God rules the world! Have you forgotten, looking at the Creed, which we repeat every morning. It should be noted that Satan speaks out. There is a purely satanic little book "The Master and Margarita", where Satan poses nothing of himself, remember the plot. "Oh, I reward good there, punish, restore justice ...". But the maximum that can be done is to arrange a ball, a masquerade of antics. The world is ruled by the Creator, not the devil. He rules over those who subjugate His authority to that extent. Even a sinner is subject to the devil only to the extent that he is a sinner. This is also important to remember! Our people say "Man is a drunkard, that means everything!" Not. Man is not confined to his drinking. There is a rule: if your relatives have a drunkard, then you cannot say that you are a drunkard, you cannot tell him. It is impossible from the side of psychology and it is impossible from the point of view of dogmatics. From the point of view of psychology - this is what drives a person into a dead end, and dogmatists - a sin. Only the Creator knows the measure of a person's heart.

11But stretch out Your hand and strike all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

Check it out. Selfish or unselfish. Will he want to glorify God, despite the fact that God acted contrary to His will?

12“Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “Everything he has is in your hands, but you must not lay a hand on the man himself.”

Thus, God allows Satan to deprive Job of everything he has.

13One day, while Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14a messenger came and reported to Job: “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

16While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The fire of God fell from heaven. It burned and consumed the sheep and the servants, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

It is known that fallen spirits cause phenomena - lightning, clouds can chase. This is where the devil does this.

17While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels, and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

18While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

You see, how the devil did, did not give Job a break, he immediately goes. Notice why the devil would do this? For Job to think about God. The devil uses the tactic of disguise "It's not me - it's God made!" And the continuous action is shown that this is not a human origin, the catastrophe is not rooted in the human world. Although, the latter, it betrays the devil, because the whirlwind came from the desert, and the desert is a representation for all peoples - this is the dwelling place of fallen spirits.

20Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, 21saying:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

and naked I will return.

The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

22In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.

Why does he tear his clothes apart? It's like a sign of a great battle that attacked him, but at the same time he falls and worships God and says that the Lord gave, the Lord took; [as the Lord pleased, so it was done;] blessed be the name of the Lord! Thus, Job, no matter what Glorifies God, he praised Him before, not because of his property, but because he served and loved Him.