In today’s video we’re going to, survey and briefly summarize the Book of Job.
Then afterwards, as always, I’ll share some helpful resources, so stick around until the
end.
As for the Author: The Book of Job does not specifically name its author.
The most likely candidates are Job, Elihu, Moses, and Solomon.
As for the Date of Writing: The date of the authorship of the Book of Job would be determined
by the author of the Book of Job.
If Moses was the author, the date would be around 1440 B.C.
If Solomon was the author, the date would be around 950 B.C.
Because we don’t know the author, we can’t know the date of writing.
As for the Purpose of Writing: The Book of Job helps us to understand the following:
Satan cannot bring financial and physical destruction upon us unless it is by God’s
permission.
God has power over what Satan can and cannot do.
It is beyond our human ability to understand the "why’s" behind all the suffering in
the world.
The wicked will receive their just dues.
We cannot always blame suffering and sin on our lifestyles.
Suffering may sometimes be allowed in our lives to purify, test, teach, or strengthen
the soul.
God remains enough, and He deserves and requests our love and praise in all circumstances of
life.
Here are some Key Verses
Job 1:1, "In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job.
This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil."
Job 1:21, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."
Job 38:1-2, "Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm.
He said, 'Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?'"
Job 42:5-6, "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
Now for a Brief Summary: The book of Job opens with a scene in heaven where Satan comes to
accuse Job before God.
He insists Job only serves God because God protects him and seeks God’s permission
to test Job’s faith and loyalty.
God grants His permission, only within certain boundaries.
Why do the righteous suffer?
This is the question raised after Job loses his family, his wealth, and his health.
Job’s three friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, come to “comfort” him and to discuss
his crushing series of tragedies.
They insist his suffering is punishment for sin in his life.
Job, though, remains devoted to God through all of this and contends that his life has
not been one of sin.
A fourth man, Elihu, tells Job he needs to humble himself and submit to God’s use of
trials to purify his life.
Finally, Job questions God Himself and learns valuable lessons about the sovereignty of
God and his need to totally trust in the Lord.
Job is then restored to health, happiness, and prosperity beyond his earlier state.
As for Foreshadowings: As Job was pondering the cause of his misery, three questions came
to his mind, all of which are answered only in our Lord Jesus Christ.
These questions occur in chapter 14.
First, in verse 4, Job asks, "Who can bring what is pure from the impure?
No one!?"
Job’s question comes from a heart that recognizes it cannot possibly please God or become justified
in His sight.
God is holy; we are not.
Therefore, a great gulf exists between man and God, caused by sin.
But the answer to Job’s anguished question is found in Jesus Christ.
He has paid the penalty for our sin and has exchanged it for His righteousness, thereby
making us acceptable in God’s sight (Hebrews 10:14).
Job’s second question, "But man dies and lies prostrate; Man expires, and where is
he?" (vs. 10), is another question about eternity and life and death that is answered only in
Christ.
With Christ, the answer to ‘where is he?’ is eternal life in heaven.
Without Christ, the answer is an eternity in “outer darkness” where there is “weeping
and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30).
Job’s third question, found in verse 14, is “If a man dies, will he live again?”
Once again, the answer is found in Christ.
We do indeed live again if we are in Him.
“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality,
then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’
‘Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?’”
(1 Corinthians 15:54-55).
Here's some Practical Application: The Book of Job reminds us that there is a "cosmic
conflict" going on behind the scenes that we usually know nothing about.
Often we wonder why God allows something, and we question or doubt God’s goodness,
without seeing the full picture.
The Book of Job teaches us to trust God under all circumstances.
We must trust God, not only WHEN we do not understand, but BECAUSE we do not understand.
The psalmist tells us, “As for God, His way is perfect” (Psalm 18:30).
If God’s ways are “perfect,” then we can trust that whatever He does—and whatever
He allows—is also perfect.
This may not seem possible to us, but our minds are not God’s mind.
It is true that we can’t expect to understand His mind perfectly, as He reminds us, “For
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Nevertheless, our responsibility to God is to obey Him, to trust Him, and to submit to
His will, whether we understand it or not.
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