The book gives no direct indication of the date, there is also no reference to the nation of Israel or Judah. Perhaps the most likely view is that he lived around the time of the patriarchs (ie Abraham etc). The reasons for believing this are that his wealth is measured in terms of livestock, and he lived 140 years after disaster struck (42:14). There is no reference to the Law, his daughters inherited his estate. There other reasons as well, so this would place the time of Job about 2000 BC. Job was a God-fearing man and was very wealthy. If you have read other parts of my blog you will know that I am often critical of the so-called prosperity gospel. However, the opposite notion that wealth is somehow wrong is equally unbiblical. It is perfectly possible to be wealthy and godly, and there are several examples of this in the Bible. He was the "greatest man among all the people of the East".
His sons and daughters held feasts or parties. Job was worried that they might do something silly at these times, so offered sacrifices to atone for their possible sins. Now we might consider this a bit "iffy", but note that there is no criticism of this practice here. This does not mean it was good, but that it is not central to God's dealings with Job.
So Job was godly, wealthy, and well-respected. We then get a glimpse of what is going on in heaven. This reveals a crucial point. The modern view is entirely man-centred, this is even the effective view of many Christians and one we can all fall into. The truth, however, is that what happens on earth is often determined by what happens in the heavenly realms. Life is an interaction between what happens in heaven and what happens on earth. Remember that Jesus taught us to pray, "your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven". Anyway, we will look at what was happening in heaven tomorrow.
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