Let’s meet Job, shall we…
“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate 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 children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.” (Job 1:1-5).

This is a very significant introduction for what it tells us:

Job’s place: First, he lived “in the land of Uz”. We do not know exactly where Uz was. Probably it was in the land of Edom, just to the east of the promised land. Lamentations 4:21 says, “Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz.” But the importance of the name Uz lies not in where such a place is, but in where it is not; namely, it is not in Israel.

Job’s Name: Although various theories have been suggested about the possible meaning of Job’s name, there is no convincing evidence that the name had any particular significance. Most likely he is called Job because Job was his name!

Job’s Godliness: After the more or less incidental historical facts of his place and his name, the first really significant thing the writer tells us is about Job’s character. This is of particular importance, and we need to burn this into our consciousness as we read the book. We are told four things about Job: his integrity, his treatment of others, his religion, and his morality. These four things tell us, not what Job was from time to time or occasionally, but his “constant nature.”

First, he was “blameless.” This does not mean "perfect" or “sinless”. Fundamentally the word “blameless” speaks of genuineness and authenticity. In Joshua 24:14 Joshua exhorts the people of Israel to serve God “in sincerity” (the same Hebrew word)—that is to say, genuinely, not just pretending to serve him while their hearts were somewhere else. It is the opposite of hypocrisy, pretending to be one thing on the outside but being something else on the inside.

Second, he was "upright”. This shifts the focus slightly from Job’s own integrity to the way he treats other people. In his human relationships Job is “upright,” straightforward, a man you can do business with because he will not double-cross you.

Third, he was "one who feared God”. Job had a reverence, a piety, a bowing down before the God who made the world.

Finally, Job was one who "turned away from evil”. As he walked life’s path, he resolutely turned away from the crooked byways of sin. To turn away from sin is to repent. Job’s character was marked by daily repentance, a habitual turning away from evil in his thoughts, words, and deeds.

Job is thus presented to us, not as a perfect man (only one perfect man has ever walked this earth!), but as a genuine believer. His life was marked by what we would call repentance and faith, which are still the marks of the believer today, as they have always been.

So the next question is, what will happen to a man like this? The answer appears to be simple and wonderful: he will be a very, very great man.

Job’s Greatness: We begin with his family. What more could a man want than seven sons! Well, I guess some daughters as well. And three is a good number. And seven plus three equals ten, which is also a good number. They are all good numbers and speak of an ideal family.Consider also his possessions. Job had 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels for desert transport, 500 yoke (i.e., pairs) of oxen for ploughing the land, and 500 female donkeys, used to carry the produce of the fields and also for milk production and breeding. In addition, he had a large staff, huge numbers on his payroll. It is a picture of great wealth and power. He is described as “the greatest of all the people of the east” (v. 3). So Job’s greatness seems to be the natural and right consequence of his godliness. It is what we ought to expect. Or is it? There is just one more thing to note in Job’s introduction.

Job’s Anxiety: Here we have a picture of family harmony and innocent festivity. And yet, for all the harmony and happiness on the surface, there is a deep anxiety and care in Job’s heart. When each birthday party comes to an end, Job summons all his children and offers a burnt offering for each of them. Later in the history of Israel a burnt offering would be the most expensive form of sacrifice, in which the whole sacrificial animal is consumed. It pictures the hot anger of God burning up the animal in the place of the worshipper, whose sins would have made them liable to be burned up in the presence of God. We can imagine Job doing this for them one at a time: “This one is for you,” and he lights the fire, and the animal is consumed. And the son or daughter watches on and thinks, “That is what would have happened to me if there had not been a sacrifice.”

Although the children presumably showed outward piety (they did not curse God with their mouths; their parties were not wild drunken orgies or anything like that), Job is anxious lest in their hearts they did not honour God, lest deep inside lurked the godless wish that there were no God. Job has integrity (or blamelessness); he is not so sure about his children. Job knows that what matters is not the appearance of godliness but a godly heart.

Thus, the opening verses sets before us a happy scene with one shadow. The happiness consists in a good man being a great man, a pious man being a prosperous man. It is a picture of the world being as the world ought to be. The shadow is the sad possibility that people might say that they are pious while in their hearts they are being impious. At this stage we cannot imagine why recipients of such favour from God would ever want to curse God. Why would men and women blessed with such harmony and abundant prosperity do anything other than praise and love God from the bottom of their hearts? And yet the possibility is there. There is something dark in human hearts, and Job knows it. Job knows that by nature we do not honour God as God or give thanks to him (cf. Romans 1:21). Only sacrifice can cover such sin in the heart.

(Selections from Christopher Ash's excellent commentary on Job)