Week 34 | Day 2 - Old Testament Reading
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Week 34 | Day 2 - Old Testament Reading
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Today's Reading
Job 1–5
Psalm 105:1–15
Wherever Uz Was
The name of the land where Job lived sounds as strange to us as the “Land of Oz.” But his life was no work of fiction.
“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.” (Job 1:1)
As we read this verse, we leap upon the good character of Job and ignore the land where he lived. Our unfamiliarity with Uz makes it easy to dismiss—as do many other geographical references in Scripture.
After all, determining the location of the land of Uz seems no easy task. Jeremiah connects Uz to Edom, the land of Esau, but also seems to maintain a distinction between these lands (Lam. 4:21; Jer. 25:20–21). Various people named “Uz” in Scripture could suggest an Aramean location for the land of Uz (Gen. 10:22–23; 22:21; 1 Chron. 1:17).
The geographical and etymological references seem to place the land of Uz somewhere in northern Arabia, in close proximity to the wilderness as well as to land that could sustain livestock and agriculture (Job 1:3, 14, 19; 42:12).
These placenames in Scripture offer us more than throwaway words. References to “land of Uz,” as well as to other sites in Scripture, do more than establish, affirm, and identify the locations of events—as valuable as that can be. Geographical mentions uphold the truth that biblical accounts are not mere fables or myths—but history. The placename of the land of Uz gives credence to the life of Job—and even the blameless character of Job. Other references to the man Job in Scripture offer the same affirmation (Ezek. 14:14, 20; Jas. 5:11).
Unchanging biblical geography affirms unchanging biblical truth. The reality of Job’s land—wherever Uz was—suggests that the application of Job’s lessons can also work in the reality of our land—wherever we are.
Biblical truths remain as fixed as the places where biblical events occurred.
Question: Name one benefit you have discovered from biblical geography.
(Photo Above: Hills of Edom. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
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