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Four disasters in rapid succession strip Job of his family and possessions. Disasters one and three are caused by marauding humans, while two and four are due to natural phenomena. The death of his children is the climax of this sequence. Children were viewed as a part of a person’s wealth (Pss 127:3-5; 128:3-4). Job responds to these calamities by performing the mourning ritual and by worshiping. He is oblivious to the contest between the Lord and Satan (as he must be) and ignores the secondary causes of the disasters. It is the Lord who initially gave and has now taken away.