Outline
Introduction — The greatest single literary production of all time
Discussion:
I. Prologue
__A. The first court scene
__B. The second court scene
__C. The testing was without cause
II. The three friends
__A. Job is impatient
__B. The friends’ accusations hurt Job
__C. Job supplicates and remembers God
__D. Job won the debate with his friends
III. His loss of confidence made his suffering worse
IV. Elihu – a young man with “all the answers”
V. Jehovah’s speeches
__A. Purpose – To restore implicit faith
__B. Gave Job an examination
__C. Job’s faith buried in his own self-concern
VI. Job’s confession
VII. To believe and to know God – nothing else matters!
VIII. Why must people suffer? Job is why.
Conclusion — How this book fits in the Bible
Introduction
This lectureship assumes that the purpose of the Bible is the glory of God and the salvation of man through Jesus Christ. It is our task to present the message of the book of Job and to explain how it relates to this purpose of the Bible. The message in the Book of Job expresses the glory of God, not only in an unusual way but also in a way that is more vivid and dramatic, and we might say stronger, than perhaps any other Bible passage. Its specific relation to the theme of salvation through Christ is more remote; but the book does indicate in no uncertain way that God does have a plan, which is being worked out in history and in time, and which is bigger in significance than the problems of any one individual. The book of Job has been described by experts as the greatest single literary production of all time. Certainly, the recognition that it has received as a work of literature is phenomenal when we realize that the Jews, separate and apart from inspiration, were not known as a literary people.
Discussion
The prologue to the book of Job presents him as a successful man with materials and goods in abundance, a wonderful family, and everything that we today would consider requisite to a man’s having “a good life”. Next we have the entrance of Satan into the picture, and a fair description of what is Satan’s primary business – that of trying or testing people. At the first “court” described, when God commended Job’s action, Satan accused Job of serving God for pay. “Does Job fear God for nothing?” (1:9). The implication is that anyone would serve God if he could have such a life as Job was enjoying. To refute this accusation, God permitted the test which was to take away Job’s children and all of his earthly possessions. It is very dramatic when each of the servants comes back to report to Job that destruction came to a portion of that which he had, “. . . and I alone have escaped to tell you!” (1:19, etc.). Probably not many of us today could stand such a shock as losing all that we have in this world; especially, if we have reached the maturity of our years and have accumulated many goods. Our faith might not be strong enough to withstand the test, but for Job it was different. He recognized that God is a sovereign God and has a complete right over His whole creation; and that as a mere creature, he has no right to criticize God, regardless of what happens. “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (1:21).
In the second court scene, Satan asks God to touch Job’s bones and flesh, and then “he shall renounce You to Your face”; and Jehovah gave permission, requiring only that Job’s life be spared. The disease with which Job was afflicted has been said to be elephantiasis, where the swelling of one’s limbs up to the size of the legs of an elephant occurs and where the flesh is so tender and painful that it hurts, even to exist. The very zenith of this trial came when Job’s wife suggested that he renounce God and die; but even with this most intense trial, Job still acknowledged God’s sovereignty and refused to be critical. He said, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (2:10). And with all of this, Job did not sin with his lips.
We note now that nothing has been said about any wickedness on Job’s part, and the testing of his faith seems to be completely without cause, except that it may be a part of God’s plan for man that our faith be proved through trials. Certainly, we all have such trials to greater or lesser degrees. We now have the prologue finished and find Job in the situation of being under great trial and stress without any apparent reason and with no relief in sight.
The next several chapters of the book present Job’s debate with his three friends of long standing, who came, as close friends, to be of help, but who are so shocked by his physical condition that “they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great” (2:12-13).
Although Job’s friends were sympathetic, they had a poor philosophy about his situation, and it caused them to really lose confidence in him. Throughout the ages, men have pondered the problem of why men must suffer; and it is a problem for whom Christians as well as others need to have explanations. There are many who suffer grievously in this life, such as those who are blind or crippled or have many types of painful afflictions over long periods of time. Human philosophy has not been able to give a satisfactory explanation to this question of “Why must men suffer?”, and our total view of the world and of life seems to lack a satisfactory answer. Probably the best explanation that man has ever learned is that which is given here in the book of Job, and we shall watch its development. But the bad philosophy of Job’s three friends is that “piety pays, but perversity punishes”. In some ways weakness does bring suffering to the wicked persons in this life, and those who are good are rewarded with pleasure and happiness; but it is not always true, and experience teaches us that there is no consistent cause-effect relationship between goodness and happiness on the one hand and wickedness and suffering on the other. Oftentimes, it is the gangster who has the most money and drives the biggest cars and has the biggest funeral; whereas, the poor Christian widow who has been faithful all her life may be the one who becomes cancerous and has to suffer extreme pains for a long period before she dies, on top of an entire lifetime of privation.
The third chapter opens with Job expressing impatience. He curses the day of his birth:
“May the day perish on which I was born,
And the night in which it was said,‘A male child is conceived.’
May that day be darkness;
May God above not seek it,
Nor the light shine upon it” (3:3-4).
He wanted to die:
“Why did I not die at birth?
Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?” (3:11)
He didn’t understand this trial at all because he hadn’t sinned:
“Why is light given to him who is in misery,
And life to the bitter of soul,
Who long for death, but it does not come,
And search for it more than hidden treasures;
Who rejoice exceedingly,
And are glad when they can find the grave?
Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
And whom God has hedged in?” (3:20-23)
Job’s friends really appreciated him and wanted to be helpful but, their only thought was, that even though he wouldn’t admit it, he had been wicked; and this was the cause of his suffering. Their accusations hurt him deeply, because they indicated that they did not believe his claims of righteousness. Note their definite challenges:
“Is not your reverence your confidence?
And the integrity of your ways your hope?
Remember now, who ever perished being innocent?
Or where were the upright ever cut off?
Even as I have seen, Those who plow iniquity
And sow trouble reap the same.
By the blast of God they perish,
And by the breath of His anger they are consumed” (4:6-9).
Again:
“Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects;
Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty” (5:17).
Yet another:
“If you would earnestly seek God
And make your supplication to the Almighty,
If you were pure and upright,
Surely now He would awake for you,
And prosper your rightful dwelling place” (8:5-6).
And more:
“For you have said, ‘My doctrine is pure,
And I am clean in your eyes.’
But oh, that God would speak,
And open His lips against you,
That He would show you the secrets of wisdom!
For they would double your prudence.
Know therefore that God exacts from you
Less than your iniquity deserves” (11:4-6).
In Job’s reply to his friends, though he insisted on his own righteousness, he finally decided that God was unfair and unjust:
“What strength do I have, that I should hope?
And what is my end, that I should prolong my life?
Is my strength the strength of stones?
Or is my flesh bronze?
Is my help not within me?
And is success driven from me?” (6:11-13)
Furthermore:
“Have I sinned?
What have I done to You, O watcher of men?
Why have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden to myself?
Why then do You not pardon my transgression,
And take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust,
And You will seek me diligently,
But I will no longer be” (7:20-21).
Moreover:
“For He is not a man, as I am, That I may answer Him,
And that we should go to court together.
Nor is there any mediator between us,
Who may lay his hand on us both.
Let Him take His rod away from me,
And do not let dread of Him terrify me.
Then I would speak and not fear Him,
But it is not so with me” (9:32-35).
He seemed to grow in his attitude as time went on from the unquestioning recognition of God’s full sovereignty to that of a feeling that God was arbitrary and unfair. He first supplicated for mercy:
“But I would speak to the Almighty,
And I desire to reason with God. . . .
Listen carefully to my speech,
And to my declaration with your ears.
See now, I have prepared my case,
I know that I shall be vindicated” (13:3, 17-18).
Then he was mystified:
“My friends scorn me;
My eyes pour out tears to God.
Oh, that one might plead for a man with God,
As a man pleads for his neighbor!” (16:20-21)
Then he was overwhelmed:
“He has removed my brothers far from me,
And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
My relatives have failed,
And my close friends have forgotten me.
Those who dwell in my house, and my maidservants, count me as a stranger;
I am an alien in their sight” (19:13-15).
Then he decided God was arbitrary:
“All my close friends abhor me,
And those whom I love have turned against me.
My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh,
And I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends,
For the hand of God has struck me!
Why do you persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?” (19:19-22)
He wouldn’t even allow a conference:
“By great force my garment is disfigured;
It binds me about as the collar of my coat.
He has cast me into the mire,
And I have become like dust and ashes.
I cry out to You, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You regard me.
But You have become cruel to me;
With the strength of Your hand You oppose me” (30:18-21).
“Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my mark.
Oh, that the Almighty would answer me,
That my Prosecutor had written a book!” (31: 35)
But in spite of this change of attitude, Job still remembered the God of his former faith:
“As God lives, who has taken away my justice,
And the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
As long as my breath is in me,
And the breath of God in my nostrils,
My lips will not speak wickedness,
Nor my tongue utter deceit.
Far be it from me that I should say you are right;
Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go;
My heart shall not reproach me as long as I live” (27:1-6).
Job further continued his discourse, and said:
“Oh, that I were as in months past,
As in the days when God watched over me;
When His lamp shone upon my head,
And when by His light I walked through darkness;
Just as I was in the days of my prime,
When the friendly counsel of God was over my tent;
When the Almighty was yet with me” (29:1-5).
And he looked for final vindication:
“For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
And after my skin is destroyed,
This I know, that in my flesh I shall see God,
Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me! (19:25-27)
Job won the debate with his friends, in that he insisted throughout that he was innocent and had done no wrong to deserve this suffering; and in his case for some unknown reason, the innocent suffered, but he still did not know the why of his suffering. Neither do we fully know the why of human suffering today in similar cases.
Job’s loss of confidence in God, of course, made his suffering worse. Somehow we can make the best of something that is difficult if we can see that it has meaning, but it would be very difficult for us to endure a hardship if we can see no meaning in it or if it remains unexplained.
Elihu appears next in the story as a young man “with all the answers”. Oftentimes, some of our young men seem to feel they do know the answers, where men of more mature years remain baffled. To say the least in Job’s case, it would seem that this was adding insult to injury when this young “whippersnapper” presumes to come to God’s defense:
“For Job has said, ‘I am righteous, but God has taken away my justice; Should I lie concerning my right?
My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’ What man is like Job, who drinks scorn like water,
Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity, and walks with wicked men?” (34:5-7)
He continues:
“Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding:
Far be it from God to do wickedness,
And from the Almighty to commit iniquity.
For He repays man according to his work,
And makes man to find a reward according to his way.
Surely God will never do wickedly,
Nor will the Almighty pervert justice” (34:10-12).
Elihu’s philosophy, therefore, was the same as that of the three friends:
“Job speaks without knowledge,
His words are without wisdom.
Oh, that Job were tried to the utmost,
Because his answers are like those of wicked men!
For he adds rebellion to his sin;
He claps his hands among us,
And multiplies his words against God” (34:35-37).
Elihu’s speeches point to the forthcoming speeches of Jehovah and, therefore, serve as a transition.
The speeches of Jehovah begin with chapter 38, and they serve the purpose of restoring an implicit faith. How they do it is rather remarkable when we realize the intensity of Job’s problem and the height to which his dilemma has been raised in the presentation thus far. Jehovah began by giving Job and examination:
“Now prepare yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer Me” (38:3).
First, the examination is in cosmology and geology:
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements? Surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
To what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Or who shut in the sea with doors,
When it burst forth and issued from the womb;
When I made the clouds its garment,
And thick darkness its swaddling band;
When I fixed My limit for it,
And set bars and doors;
When I said, “This far you may come, but no farther,
And here your proud waves must stop!” (38:4-11)
And then come some questions on biology:
“Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
When they crouch in their dens,
Or lurk in their lairs to lie in wait?
Who provides food for the raven,
When its young ones cry to God,
And wander about for lack of food?
And God’s continues with more biology:
Do you know the time when the wild mountain goats bear young?
Or can you mark when the deer gives birth?
Can you number the months that they fulfill?
Or do you know the time when they bear young?
They bow down; they bring forth their young,
They deliver their offspring” (39:1-3).
The examination, of course, made Job realize how little he really knew about God’s plans and purposes and God’s ways, and that he really had no right to criticize. Needless to say, he woefully failed the examination:
Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said:
“Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?
He who rebukes God, let him answer it” (40:1-2).
The examinations made Job see that his faith had really been buried in his own self-concern, and he needed some way to rise up and get some glimpse outside of himself:
“Then Job answered the LORD and said:
‘Behold, I am vile;
What shall I answer You?
I lay my hand over my mouth.
Once I have spoken, but I will not answer;
Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further’” (40:3-5).
After a further examination concerning the hippopotamus and the crocodile, Job was completely humbled before God; and when he again realized that there is a basis for faith after all, he made the marvelous confession found in chapter 42:
“Then Job answered the LORD and said:
‘I know that You can do everything,
And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
You asked, “Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?”
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
Listen, please, and let me speak;
You said, “I will question you, and you shall answer Me.”
I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,
But now my eye sees You.
Therefore I abhor myself,
And repent in dust and ashes’” (42:1-6).
Job’s vision, which came through his examination by God, released him from his problem and enabled him to forget it because he now came to realize that God is, after all, and had been there all of the time; and was working out marvelous plans and marvelous purposes not only for individuals but also for all humanity; and that in the final analysis, Job was only a small part of the total program. God had not forgotten Job, and He had a place for Job in his final plans; and even Job’s suffering had meaning in the total picture; and in this realization, Job’s spirit was able to soar, above his pains.
When we can confidently believe in and can come to know God and be conscious of His nearness to us in our everyday lives – when we can come to realize that God has a plan and a purpose that is being worked out in the world and that He is conscious of us in our program and that what He is doing has definite meaning for us – then nothing else matters. Human suffering does not contradict God’s love! The buck-private who is doing sentry duty, away out near the front lines, could not be very happy about the dangers to which he is exposed when the shells and bombs are bursting all around him if he felt that the general of his particular army unit was off on a drunken party, and that after all there was no real purpose being served by his being on this particular sentry duty. But he can endure the task with much greater grace if he really believes that the general is at his post and is working out an important phase of military strategy, and the private’s doing of sentry duty has an important place in this total program.
So the whole problem of suffering dissolves, in a faith that God is and that He cares, and that He has a plan which includes me. The final gain for Job after his trial was a spiritual enrichment; and this can be true for us today. For any man to have an inner certainty of God and of a proper relationship with Jehovah is the finest asset that we can have in all of life; and true religion is to trust God implicitly in the face of every trial and every pain and even in the face of despair.
Why must people suffer? Job is why. The answer that Job received is the answer that we need today. There is meaning in suffering; and we ought to be like Job and give it a glad acceptance, if it is necessary that we suffer.
Conclusion
How does the story of Job fit the purpose of the Bible? It glorifies God and His place and His plan, which is being worked out. It gives us reason for faith in God and in His scheme of redemption when it is later presented in the passages of the New Testament. Our study of the rest of the Old Testament presents to us the unfolding of the plan and its culmination which comes in the revelation of Jesus Christ and the gospel message which has been preached since Pentecost, where people are urged not only to believe in God but also to believe in the Christ as His Son and our Savior and to find redemption and complete union with God through the full working out of His marvelous plan.
Questions for Class Discussion
- How does the Book of Job express the glory of God?
- What kind of man was Job as pictured in the prologue?
- Give briefly what was contained in the first “court”.
- What further thing did Satan request in the second “court”?
- Name Job’s three friends.
- Comment on the philosophy of these friends concerning Job’s condition.
- Did Job curse the day of his birth?
- Did Job think God was unfair?
- Who won the debate?
- What purpose did God’s speeches serve?
- Why must people suffer?
- How does the book fit into the purpose of the Bible?