Like other callings upon a person’s life, God prepares men and women for marriage. Obviously, God prepares the heart, but He also prepares other areas in order to provide for a strong home. When God created Adam, He could have immediately created Eve, but He chose to allow Adam to experience the sense of being alone. Perhaps there are other reasons, but God may have thought it wise to prepare Adam for marriage. He needed to experience life without Eve. Adam needed to come to the place where he desired companionship. He needed to be alone before he could truly appreciate a wife. In addition to the preparation of Adam’s heart, the Lord gave him a job, a means by which he could provide for Eve (Genesis 2:8-9, 15). All of these preparations were necessary for a strong marriage relationship.
Much of a young person’s character or lack thereof is demonstrated in his behaviour toward adults and especially the elderly. In Isaiah chapter 3, the Bible speaks of a time when the judgment of God will be upon His people, and one of the characteristics of the day will be that “the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient.” The prophet Elisha dealt with such children when they came out of the city mocking him saying, “Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head” (2 Kings 2:23). Apparently, Job endured a similar problem as he said, “young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me” (Job 19:18). Children can be cruel, and in doing so they reveal an evil heart displeasing to the Lord. It is never a good idea to encourage children to be insolent and impolite toward adults.
Job’s home was certainly not a perfect home, but God testified to this man’s faithfulness. The Bible points to prayer as one of Job’s most faithful qualities. Job continually sought the Lord on his children’s behalf with offerings and prayer. One might consider this a simple task if the family loves and serves God together. Yet, Job’s wife is the only indicator we have of Job’s family and she mocked Job’s faithfulness (Job 2:9). Some husbands and fathers are quick to point out the errors of those within their home, but could only be moved to prayerful intercession before the Lord by a tragic event. A man who fails to pray for his God-given family is really no man at all.
