Agere Sequitur Esse

Job

Book of Job

Notes.. .

. ..Introduction. Authorship is uncertain. Written to demonstrate God’s sovereignty and the meaning of true faith and addresses why the righteous suffer. People include Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu.
. ..Themes. Suffering, Satan’s Attacks, God’s Goodness, Pride, and Trusting.
. ..Outline. “There is an age-old question that has plagued mankind from man’s earliest dealings with God and God’s dealings with man concerning why bad things happen to good people. It can be a very difficult concept to understand. This was indeed Job’s concern” (William Seay 2019, L8 04:55–05:23).
. ..Application. “Suffering may come suddenly to anyone. Suffering does not necessarily mean that God is angry with us or separated us from Himself” (Seay 2019, L8 15:51–16:04).
. ..Timeline. The timeline is unknown.

Introduction. 1:15 – The purpose of Job was to demonstrate God’s sovereignty and the meaning of true faith. It addresses the question of why the righteous suffer. The author was possibly Job. Some have suggested Moses, Solomon, or Elihu. They key people are Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu.

Themes. 2:10 – There are five major theological themes. (i) Suffering. Through no fault of his own, Job lost his wealth, children, and health. Even his friends were convinced that Job brought his suffering upon himself. For Job, the greatest trial was not the pain of the loss, it was not being able to understand why God allowed him to suffer. (ii) Satan’s Attacks. Satan attempted to drive a wedge between Job and God by getting Job to believe that God’s governing of the world was not just and good. Satan had to ask God for permission to take Job’s wealth, health, and children. Satan was limited as to what God allowed him to do. (iii) God’s Goodness. God is all wise and all powerful. His will is perfect. Yet, He does not always act in ways we understand. Suffering did not make sense because everyone believed good people were supposed to prosper. When Job was at the point of despair, God spoke to him and showing him His great power and wisdom. (iv). Pride. Job’s friends were certain that they were correct in their judgements of him, but God rebuked them for their pride and arrogance. Man’s wisdom is always partial and temporary. Undue pride and our own conclusions are sin. (v) Trusting. God alone knew the purpose behind Job’s suffering and yet He never explained it to Job, but Job never gave up on God even in the midst of suffering. He never placed his hope in his experience, friends, wisdom, or wealth. Job focused on God.

Outline. 4:50 – There is an age-old question that has plagued mankind from man’s earliest dealings with God and God’s dealings with man concerning why bad things happen to good people. It can be a very difficult concept to understand. This was indeed Job’s concern. Job was actually a good person. God said he was good. Job claimed he was innocent and righteous. At first, his friends did not accuse him of evil. Only Satan doubted Job’s sincerity. Satan’s question was: Does Job fear God for nothing? Job’s external circumstances indicated to some that he was righteous. Traditional teachings showed from experience that God blesses the righteous and cursed the wicked. Job had been blessed with an ideal family. He had seven sons and three daughters. He was rich with houses, land, servants, possessions, social standing and he did observe all of the religious practices. Outwardly, Job appeared to be righteous, but Satan claimed otherwise.

In a meeting of the heavenly council Satan accused Job of being good only because goodness paid dividends. Indirectly, Satan accused God. Satan said that God gave Job reason to practice religion simply to get material rewards. Satan claimed that God placed a hedge around Job and had blessed him abundantly. Why should Job not be religious? So, Satan proposed a test to see if Job would continue to serve God even if he lost everything and suffered personal anguish and pain. Satan was so sure of the shallowness of Job’s faith he claimed that Job would curse God. On the other hand, God had such confidence in Job He accepted Satan’s challenge and agreed to the test. However, God retained ultimate control over everything Satan could do to Job. Job’s problem really began in heaven, but it was carried out in the world. Job lost his property, family, health, and standing in the community. He was not consulted. He had not control over the test. Yet he experienced all this trauma and fury.

What responses or options do righteous people have when bad things happen to them? Sever such options may be considered. One response remained closed for Job. He could not unlock the secrets of heaven and obtain perfect divine wisdom. God gives wisdom but only in limited amounts. Job had to deal with his problem with the limited wisdom God gave him. He did acknowledge God’s gifts and recognize that the God that gives good gifts has a right to take the gifts away. Still, Job lamented his faith bitterly. Job defended his innocence. He evaded his accusers and questioned God’s justice. Jobs three friends reacted differently. They considered Job’s suffering evidence for his sinfulness. Elihu argued that Job’s suffering was primarily for discipline and lesson. All of these options may be legitimate in varying circumstances but no one of these options can be made into a general rule that covers every problem for every person. Job finally humbled himself before God. He confessed that God can do all things and none of His purposes will fail.

Though the book does not deal abstractly with the problem of evil in the world, it deals instead with a very practical problem concerning the question of suffering. The book is about the suffering of one righteous man in the OT. Most of us have an occasion to raise Job’s question. The book of Job primarily deals with the matter of undeserved suffering which is an issue that is raised in several other areas in the OT and at least five theological conclusions can be drawn from the book of Job about God and undeserved suffering.

First, suffering can come suddenly and inexplicably to anyone, even a righteous person. On one day, Job lost his animals and all his children. Later, he lost his health. Job knew the immediate causes of his suffering and loss, thieves, storms, and disease; but he believed that behind these immediate causes God was in control of all things. God’s apparent failure to control these disasters as Job had expected Him to disturbed Job.

Second, undeserved suffering raises the question of justice in the world and ultimately the justice of God. The book of Job is not a justification for the ways of God to man, solutions to the problems of suffering, which are not outside of biblical revelation, are not considered. Job pressed God for an explanation with his faith in a one all-powerful God. He questioned the ways of God and God agreed Job was justified in doing so. God encourages people to exercise their moral judgement even to the point of questioning His conduct over history or nature. God does not want us to have to justify ourselves by condemning Him. Human wisdom is not adequate to solve the problem of undeserved suffering.

We learn that Job was suffering because his faith was being tested. As readers, we can never be sure of our suffering as God way of testing us. Like Job, we must suffer in the dark. Job and his friends used human wisdom to speculate, argue, and debate possible reasons for Job’s suffering. In the process they said things that had no basis in fact. The friends were silenced, and Job confessed he spake without knowledge about things he did not understand. Human wisdom is severely limited. Only God has perfect wisdom.

The book of Job provides us with hints for possible explanations for human suffering. Suffering may be a test. In our struggles with suffering, we can, without knowing it, suffer and struggle for God’s honor. Suffering may be to discipline or to teach even though this is not a very comforting explanation. Suffering may be due to known of unknown sin. The three friends thought that all suffering was due to the sin of the sufferer, but this is not always the case. Jesus said that a man is blind from birth, no one sin. Hints of possible explanations may or may not help the sufferer. Only God can meet our needs in a time of suffering.

Humans are unitary beings. When our bodies suffer, our minds, emotions, and spiritual life are affected. Job aims to deliver a spiritual message to tortured people. Job’s problem was not primarily physical. The account of his healing and restoration shows only to inform the reader that the test is over. Job’s problem was not primarily mental because he was never given an explanation as to why he was suffering. Job’s problem was mainly spiritual. Although he held onto his righteousness and faith he felt his sufferings separated him from God. When God spoke to him while he was suffering Job found relief but not from his suffering. God assured him that innocent suffering is no proof of isolation from God. Job and the apostle Paul were sufferers in common.

Application. 15:45 – Suffering may come suddenly to anyone. Suffering does not necessarily mean that God is angry with us or separated us from Himself. A mystery surrounds such suffering. Human wisdom is severely limited in its ability to explain the ultimate causes of suffering. God can relieve the distress and calm the fears of the sufferer. In turn, the sufferer must have faith in God’s goodness and sovereignty. God can transform evil into good as He did at the cross. This theological statement will not meet our needs when we must suffer. Rather the theological statement speaks to point us to God’s wisdom and knowledge, to a point of faith and trust.

Suffering causes us renew dialogue with God. In conversation with God, we, just like Job, can discover God’s personal presence with us. The joy and comfort of the presence might still our pain. It will however provide our greatest need of assurance that God still cares and accepts us even as we suffer. His presence reminds us that our Redeemer lives today even after suffering and dying for us. He understands what we have been doing and gives the ultimate answer, resurrection to life beyond pain.

Timeline. 17:50 – The time of Job is unknown. When we consider what is being taught to us in Job, the timeline is not really important anyway.

Ref.

Seay, William. 2019. Old Testament Theology [MP3]. Andersonville Theological Seminary (ATS). Camilla, GA: ATS