Job 1:5 | KingComments | STEP | Except that Job is blessed with many children, he is also blessed with a good bond among them. Children are a blessing. It is an extra blessing if the children also get along well with each other. When the children are out of the house, it is customary for some families to have a family day every year, for example. It is a great privilege when all the children come and like to see each other again. The sons of Job organize a feast regularly and in turns, to which the sisters are also invited ( ). There is no evidence to suggest that such feasts are revels and drinking bouts. It is not likely that unlawful things are happening. Job has raised his children to independence and taught them to make good choices. It also seems that Job is not present. It doesn’t make him jealous or bitter. It is good that parents allow their children to meet without them being present. Although Job was not invited to the feasts, he did not forbid them, but allowed them. That does not mean that he considers them too good for doing wrong things or making wrong choices. This becomes apparent “when the days of feasting had completed their cycle” ( ). Then he calls them to himself and consecrates them. For this purpose he gets up early in the morning and brings each of them under the power of the burnt offering he brings for each of them. He does this because he believes there is a chance that his children have “cursed God in their hearts”. This is not a one-off action of his, but he does so “continually”. We see in Job the involved father. He recognizes that blessing and satiety are the danger of his children ‘cursing’ God in their hearts (cf. ). Cursing God means that they disengage themselves from Him and withdraw from Him and His authority. Prosperity and feasting can easily cause us to forget that we are dependent on God. There are also circumstances in which one sometimes comes to statements or actions that one does not come to in normal circumstances. Although Job is not present at the feasts organized by his children, he is closely involved in them. He is with them in spirit and sympathizes with them. He does not do this as a proud father, but as a father who knows the spiritual dangers to which his children are exposed, especially during family gatherings. It is there that one loses self-control easily. The fact that he knows his children and recognizes the spiritual dangers, shows that he also knows himself. He is a father who realizes that his children have the same sinful nature that he himself has. Father Job, like the patriarchs, acts like a priest in his family. He rises “early in the morning”, which means that he hurries with the sacrifice. He makes sure that the children are there. Everything indicates that his children do not make any objections. They come and Job consecrates them. This means that he dedicates his children to the LORD again. It also means that he asks about their behavior during feasts. If they have done or said something that is not right, they can confess it. In this way they are consecrated again, i.e. in agreement with God. He then offers a burnt offering for each of them, which in a New Testament perspective means that he places them on the foundation of Christ’s sacrifice. Job knows his children and does not consider them too good to sin. But he does not only look at outward behavior. He looks deeper. Perhaps they have always behaved well, but in their hearts there has come a deviation from God. That is why he wants to consecrate them and to show them the offering. Job is the committed father who is actively committed to the spiritual welfare of his children. He is conscious of what Solomon later wrote down as a proverb, that from the “heart … [flow] the springs of life” ( ). Is this the way we look at our children (if we have them), and do we take to heart the mind of their hearts? Is that more important to us than their school results or other achievements? Does that also determine our dealings with God and with them? Job realizes that his children are only pleasing to God if he places them before Him in the pleasantness of the sacrifice. We know that God looks forward in this sacrifice to the work of His Son on the cross of Calvary. Job appeals, as it were, to that sacrifice for his children. That they are his children, the children of the God-fearing and exceptionally blessed Job, has no meaning for him. On the contrary, because they are his children, they are sinners and God’s judgment rests on them ( ). We must also be well aware of this in relation to our children.

‏ Job 1:5

Job and His Children

Except that Job is blessed with many children, he is also blessed with a good bond among them. Children are a blessing. It is an extra blessing if the children also get along well with each other. When the children are out of the house, it is customary for some families to have a family day every year, for example. It is a great privilege when all the children come and like to see each other again.

The sons of Job organize a feast regularly and in turns, to which the sisters are also invited (Job 1:4). There is no evidence to suggest that such feasts are revels and drinking bouts. It is not likely that unlawful things are happening. Job has raised his children to independence and taught them to make good choices. It also seems that Job is not present. It doesn’t make him jealous or bitter. It is good that parents allow their children to meet without them being present.

Although Job was not invited to the feasts, he did not forbid them, but allowed them. That does not mean that he considers them too good for doing wrong things or making wrong choices. This becomes apparent “when the days of feasting had completed their cycle” (Job 1:5). Then he calls them to himself and consecrates them. For this purpose he gets up early in the morning and brings each of them under the power of the burnt offering he brings for each of them. He does this because he believes there is a chance that his children have “cursed God in their hearts”. This is not a one-off action of his, but he does so “continually”.

We see in Job the involved father. He recognizes that blessing and satiety are the danger of his children ‘cursing’ God in their hearts (cf. Pro 30:9a). Cursing God means that they disengage themselves from Him and withdraw from Him and His authority. Prosperity and feasting can easily cause us to forget that we are dependent on God. There are also circumstances in which one sometimes comes to statements or actions that one does not come to in normal circumstances.

Although Job is not present at the feasts organized by his children, he is closely involved in them. He is with them in spirit and sympathizes with them. He does not do this as a proud father, but as a father who knows the spiritual dangers to which his children are exposed, especially during family gatherings. It is there that one loses self-control easily. The fact that he knows his children and recognizes the spiritual dangers, shows that he also knows himself. He is a father who realizes that his children have the same sinful nature that he himself has.

Father Job, like the patriarchs, acts like a priest in his family. He rises “early in the morning”, which means that he hurries with the sacrifice. He makes sure that the children are there. Everything indicates that his children do not make any objections. They come and Job consecrates them. This means that he dedicates his children to the LORD again. It also means that he asks about their behavior during feasts. If they have done or said something that is not right, they can confess it. In this way they are consecrated again, i.e. in agreement with God. He then offers a burnt offering for each of them, which in a New Testament perspective means that he places them on the foundation of Christ’s sacrifice.

Job knows his children and does not consider them too good to sin. But he does not only look at outward behavior. He looks deeper. Perhaps they have always behaved well, but in their hearts there has come a deviation from God. That is why he wants to consecrate them and to show them the offering. Job is the committed father who is actively committed to the spiritual welfare of his children. He is conscious of what Solomon later wrote down as a proverb, that from the “heart … [flow] the springs of life” (Pro 4:23).

Is this the way we look at our children (if we have them), and do we take to heart the mind of their hearts? Is that more important to us than their school results or other achievements? Does that also determine our dealings with God and with them?

Job realizes that his children are only pleasing to God if he places them before Him in the pleasantness of the sacrifice. We know that God looks forward in this sacrifice to the work of His Son on the cross of Calvary. Job appeals, as it were, to that sacrifice for his children. That they are his children, the children of the God-fearing and exceptionally blessed Job, has no meaning for him. On the contrary, because they are his children, they are sinners and God’s judgment rests on them (Job 14:4). We must also be well aware of this in relation to our children.