IN THE LAND OF UZ

         There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job (Job 1:1).  Not Oz, but Uz.  Whereas Oz was a figment of a young lady’s imagination, Uz was a very real place.  The cinematic story of Dorothy & Toto and the Tin Man, The Lion and The Scarecrow is make-believe, but the story of Job is fact, not fiction.  In a message given to the prophet Ezekiel, Jehovah God refers to the righteousness of Noah, Daniel and Job (Ezk.14:14 & 20).  In his epistle written to first-century saints who were suffering, James speaks of the stead-fastness of Job (Js.5:11).  The book of Job may have the appearance of a parable, but it’s a genuine account of a historical character.

         Job was “the greatest of all people of the East” (Job 1:3).  Uz was apparently an informal place name applied to a region rather than being the formal name of a country or city.  Jeremiah places Edom in the land of Uz (Lam.4:21).  He also refers to “all the kings of the land of Uz” (Jer.25:20), connecting Uz with Philistia, Ammon, Moab and Edom.  These references allow us to safely locate Uz somewhere south and east of Palestine - - well within the reach of raiding parties from the Sabeans and Chaldeans.  Dwelling in a partriarchal-like setting, it seems likely that Job lived around 2,000 BC, perhaps contemporaneous with Abraham of Ur (Gen.11:31).