5 So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify 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 sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly. (Job 1:5)
As far as biblical history is concerned this is the second reference to sanctification, inasmuch as Job is no doubt the oldest book of the Bible and it’s records took place before the law of Moses was given.
The first reference to sanctification concerns setting apart a day for God to rest (Gen. 2:1-4). Here in Job it means that a father simply went through religious ceremonies before God in the hope that He would have mercy on his children. He set them apart in his own mind and religious acts; but this did not save them or protect them even from physical death. There is no hint of their being cleansed from sin; the idea is that of dedicating them to God, which is all any parent can do. The actual salvation of children happens when they meet God's requirements for salvation.
We have a completely insufficient amount of information to conclude what the requirement for salvation was – other than that God is merciful and gracious and that He desires men to be saved and none to be lost. We must be sure NOT to cast NT ideas back toward Job, and even not to cast Mosaic ideas back. What we CAN do is to trust to those truths that we KNOW are universal because the Bible says they are universal.
Note the mention of burnt offerings That mention here shows that sacrifices had continued from Abel's time (Gen. 4) until now. It seems that they were practiced through all the ages up to the time of Christ.
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