Introduction to Job

Job is one of the most difficult books in the Bible for us to read and understand correctly.  One reason for this is that it is simply agonizing for us to read of Job’s plight knowing the background of the situation when Job never seems to find out what was really behind the scenes.  Just the facts of the devastation of Job’s entire family and fortune are difficult for us to comprehend.  Another reason this book is so difficult is that the majority of the book is a dialogue between Job and his friends.  All of them wax eloquent about God and man and the way that they deal with one another.  Their theology and anthropology sound very good at times but in the end they are all criticized by God.  So as we read their speeches it is hard to recognize the difference between truth and error.  Our understanding of the book is also complicated by its placement in our Bibles.  It is important for us to remember that the Bible is not organized in a chronological manner.   These events did not occur right after the events recorded in Esther.  In fact it is very hard to determine exactly who wrote the book and when it was written.  Jewish tradition holds to the belief that Job was written by Moses about event that occurred prior to the Exodus.  This seems to make sense as the event occur close to Midian where Moses worked as a Shepherd for forty years.  So the purpose of the book would have been to demonstrate why the righteous suffer as the wicked seem to prosper.  This seems like a very important message for the Jews who were enslaved in Egypt.  One of the most important lessons from the book for us to remember is that things are not always as they seem to be to us.  God is Spirit and there is a spiritual realm about which we know very little and understand even less.  This means that we need to be very careful and very humble as we pass judgment on the circumstances that surround our lives.

JOB’S DEDICATION TO GOD AND THE DESTRUCTION OF HIS FAMILY: As we are introduced to Job we find a very admirable and God fearing man.  His dedication to God and his family are seen in his prayer life as well as the seriousness with which he treats sin.  He is a godly man who has been richly blessed by God.  This opening scene is comfortable to us because from our perspective things are as they should be.  Then we are transported to heaven and things about which we understand very little.  Satan come before God, this in and of itself is not something we comprehend.  Satan is making accusations to God which reveals something of his character and activity.  God points to Job as a means of answering Satan’s accusations.  I wonder if my life could ever be used in such a way.  Satan then accuses Job and God and is granted permission to bring destruction down of Job and his family but is he is not authorized to touch Job’s body.  Of course Job is completely unaware of this dialogue.  Satan proceeds to strip Job of all of his possessions and kill all of his children.  Job’s response is to worship God and bless His name.  We are left standing in awe of Job’s character and would be a lot more comfortable with this book if we could skip from here to the final chapter.  However, that is not what happens.  Satan comes back to God for round two and receives permission to inflict his body with painful boils but is not permitted to kill him.  All that is left to Job is his wife who tells him to curse God and die (not very helpful).  This scene closes with Job sitting in the dirt scraping his flesh with a piece of pottery in hopes of finding relief from the torment he is feeling.  The Bible declares that in all of this Job did not sin.  I don’t think any of us are confident that the same could be said of us if we were to face similar circumstances.  We may face things in our lives that we do not understand.  We must strive to be faithful in these circumstances and humbly remember that we do not know everything about what is going on behind the scenes of our lives.  God is in full control of all that happens but He may permit for Satan to crush the most faithful of men in order to advance His own purposes.  We may not understand this, we may not like this and we will most likely not even recognize it to be true when it happens but God is still firmly in control. 

JOB’S DISAPPOINTMENT WITH GOD AND DISCUSSION WITH HIS FRIENDS: It is easy for us to be critical of Job’s friends and the way that they treated Job in this situation.  However, if we are honest with ourselves, it is very likely that we would have the same thing they did or worse.  It is important for us to remember that they didn’t just show up one day and start tearing into Job.  The text tells us that upon their arrival they simply sat there with him for three days without saying a word.  When people are facing a crisis, it is important for us to remember that there are times when we just need to “be there” and not talk as if we can solve the problem with words.  Unfortunately, Job’s friends were unable to contain themselves and felt that they simply had to do something especially in light of Job’s opening declaration where he curses the day that he was born and wished that he were dead.  Before we become too critical of Job’s friends we need to remember that they sat with him for three days and that they were not the ones to break the silence.  Job’s greatest fault is revealed in his disappointment with God and his self-righteous attitude.  As righteous as Job appears to have been, he underestimates the holiness of God and overestimates his own holiness.  There is not one person on the face of this planet that deserves one ounce of grace from God.  The just retribution for the most upright person apart of Christ is an eternity in hell.  Job’s circumstances were worse than those of any person I have ever encountered but the fact that he was not in hell should have caused him to continue in his original attitude of blessing the name of the Lord.  He was able to keep from sin in the face of all of his financial ruin and the loss of his children but when he was inflicted with illness and pain he fell into sin.  This should alert us to be very careful about the things we say and the decisions we make when we are ill.  The fault of Job’s friends was to presume to have a greater understanding of God and His ways than Job and each other.  Much of their theology is solid but it was also over simplified.  We all have the tendency to think that our ideas about God and our evaluations of the circumstances we face are correct.  We must be very careful to not try to make God fit into our theological boxes.  When we speak of God and His way on the earth humility is essential.  We must admit to our own limitations and ignorance when it comes to grasping theology.  This does not mean we should not strive to know God more completely and it does not meant that we should not talk about Him to others.  It simply means that when we think and talk about God, we must do so with reverence and humility.  

JOB’S DISCIPLINE FROM GOD AND THE DELIVERANCE OF GOD’S FAVOR: God’s patience is always astounding and often very frustrating to us.  As we read through the endless speeches and rebuttals of Job and his friends we wish that God would speak up sooner.  However, when He does speak; He does so with authority.  Instead of coming right out and telling Job about all that is going on in this situation He confronts Job with a long series of rhetorical questions that demonstrate His sovereignty and Job’s simplicity.  Job’s response is of repentance and silence is absolutely correct.  It is important for all of us to realize that when we stand before God there is no way that any of us will be able to justify ourselves based on our own self-righteousness.  We all have the tendency to make excuses and empty rationalizations about our sinfulness.  This is folly.  When we are confronted with our sin the only proper response is to repent and keep our mouths shut.  Our only hope of justification before the Lord comes from the sacrifice of Christ on the cross on our behalf.  We are not told of Job’s friends responses, but it seems obvious that they too repented and sought forgiveness from both God and Job.  Job confessed His own sin before the Lord, repented and then interceded to the Lord on behalf of his friends.  Job’s humility about his own sins would not allow him to become bitter about the sins of his friends against him.  Part of being humble before God is being forgiving towards one another.  It is easy for us to think that we somehow deserve to be treated by others in a better way than they might treat us.  We must protect our hearts from this kind of pride.  We do not know how much information God eventually gave to Job about his circumstances, but we do know that God did provide deliverance to Job and restored his fortunes.  Job is greatly blessed by God at the end of his life with more riches and children than he had before.  God is always faithful!  We do not have any guarantees that our faithfulness will always result in prosperity on this earth the way that Job’s was.  However, we do have every assurance that our eternal hope of living in sinlessness and the joy of God’s presence is secure because of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf and His gift of salvation for all who believe.  We must learn to face the difficult circumstances of life with faith in God and eternal hope.