|
Introduction: In moving back to the Old Testament, we resume our journey through the scriptures written before Jesus came as the promised Messiah. In fact, they were the scriptures Jesus was taught as a boy. Esther, the last of the history books, precedes Job which leads the books labeled "Wisdom" and which include the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. The remaining 17 books which follow are prophetic. All reveal the future of God's people - both an immediate future (remember we encountered prophets in I and II Kings telling of events we then saw happen) as well as a distant future. Many of the prophetic books speak of the Messiah's coming, of his sacrifice and of all that means for Israel. And some passages in Daniel and Ezekiel, for example, foretell events still to come at the end of time. Job, coming as it does midway through the Old Testament, is an anomaly in style and antiquity: It doesn't fit in the histories, in the books of the law, or prophetic works. It is placed within the wisdom literature because of its poetry, and because it teaches us in a profound way who God is and who we are as human beings. It is a fascinating book, its events thought to be ancient, predating Moses and the Torah, but probably written at a much later time. One theory places its composition during the Babylonian captivity, its purpose to inspire and encourage the Jews who were suffering in exile.
Author: Even with many theories and much speculation, no one knows who wrote Job - or when. Several clues within the book tell us of its people and events predating Israel. Job, for example, is his family's priest, offering sacrifices on behalf of his children. There are no references to a house of worship, either tabernacle or Temple, and no mention of the law, and no hint of Israel as either tribes or nation. Some scholars think Job was probably a contemporary of Abraham. Job lived a long time (200+ years) and that lifespan puts him in company with the patriarchs.
Style: The book is a series of speeches framed by a prologue and epilogue. It is almost a drama. It opens with a most unusual conversation in heaven, one between God and Satan. In addition, the prologue gives us a look at Job and his family. An epilogue does the same. In between, there is a series of speeches by Job and his friends, and finally, God's statements (ch. 38-42:6). The book contains extensive poetry, and as such, calls into play many figures of speech, such as metaphors, personification, repetition, parallelism and other poetic devices.
Theological significance: This book is about suffering - specifically, about the suffering of good people. Several years ago a book came out whose title puts Job's content into a contemporary form: "Why Bad Things Happen to Good People."
But as the New Living Translation introduction makes clear, the focus is not on suffering itself, but what we can learn from suffering. In other words, what kind of test of faith is it? What is God teaching us through it? Peter makes clear in his first epistle that suffering is the Christian's "calling": "If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps." (I Peter 2:20b-21). And James tells us to "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." (James 1:2). In the Old Testament, there are many examples of suffering as a test or trial. God's command that Abraham offer Isaac as a sacrifice comes to mind (Gen. 22), as does Joseph's time in an Egyptian prison, incarcerated as an innocent man set up by a woman angry at him for not giving in to her wiles. At the time Joseph is reunited with his brothers (the ones who'd sold him as a slave), he could say to them "you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good." Moses certainly suffered with the children of Israel in the wilderness, David was pursued by Saul for 10 years. . . all these examples point to God's using adversity to test the faith of righteous people. The strength of our faith is unknown until it is exercised - and a "trial" or a bout of suffering is an occasion for exercising faith and trust in God alone.
Because the book is about the suffering of a good man, a righteous man, a man whom God called his servant, it's sometimes hard to read. We keep asking with Job "why?" God has a reason he never fully reveals. But perhaps we can infer that one of God's goals is to expand Job's vision and concept of God. God is not just the rewarder of those who honor him; he is the creator of the universe, the sovereign God of history and the future; it is He who controls everything. We also do well to remember that.
Job fits the image of a godly and prayerful believer. He honors God; he is revered by his community as a just and generous man. He is good to his children and his wife. He worships God and acknowledges that all he has comes from God - life, wealth, status. In short, he's the kind of man God wanted all of Israel to be, and the reason he gave the law and the tabernacle. These were the means by which they could live in a right relationship with God and their fellow human beings. And we recall long passages in Exodus and Deuteronomy where God promised abundance and blessing to those who obeyed his law and confessed their sins, offering blood sacrifices to atone for sin; God promised curses on those who did not. In fact, individually and collectively, Israel felt God's blessing and punishment, depending on their faithfulness or faithlessness. We saw cycles of belief and obedience followed by disbelief and disobedience all through the era of the judges, and during the monarchies. So we have to ask ourselves why is Job suffering? Why does this righteous man appear to be cursed? One day he's going along just fine and the next, wham, his life is turned upside down. The question is a fair one. If God's law is "obey and be blessed; disobey and be punished," why is Job a target of pain? That's what the book examines.
Survey of Job from the NLT: "The book of Job concerns the transforming crisis in the life of a great man who lived perhaps four thousand years ago. Job's trust in God (ch. 1 and 2) changes to complaining and growing self-righteousness (ch. 3-31), but his repentance (42:1-6) leads to his restoration (42:7-17). The trials bring about an important transformation: the man after the process is different from the man before the process. The book of Job divides into three parts: the dilemma of Job (ch. 1 and 2); the debates of Job (ch. 3-37); and the deliverance of Job (ch. 38-42)."
Outline of Job (from NIV Study Bible)
Prologue (Ch. 1 & 2)
Dialogue (Ch. 3-27)
- Ch. 3: Job's opening lament
- Ch. 4-14: First cycle of speeches
Eliphaz (4-5)
Job (6-7)
Bildad (8)
Job (9-10)
Zophar (11)
Job (12-14)
- Ch. 15-21: Second cycle of speeches
Eliphaz (15)
Job (16-17)
Bildad (18)
Job (19)
Zophar (20)
Job (21)
- Ch. 22-26: Third cycle of speeches
Eliphaz (22)
Job (23-24)
Bildad (25)
Job (26)
- Job's closing discourse
Interlude on Wisdom (Ch. 28)
Monologues (Ch. 29:1-42:6)
- Ch. 29-31: Job's call for vindication
- Ch. 32-37: Elihu's speeches
- Ch. 38-42:6: God's discourses with Job
Epilogue (Ch. 42:7-17)
|
