Through the Bible - Job

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil... So that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east. (Job 1:1, 3)

When everything is stripped away, where is God—and what hope can a believer hold onto in the storm?

Entering the Poetry of the Bible

The book of Job is a powerful book, and with it we move into a new division of Scripture. We've gone through the Pentateuch, the first five books, and then through the historical section with all its kings, genealogies, and chronicles. Now we come to the poetry of the Bible—Hebrew poetry.

If you read through Job, you saw something called synonymous parallelism. It's a repetition: Job says something, then says the same thing again in a few different words in the very next phrase, over and over. It's an art form of Hebrew writing that gives emphasis to what is being said. English poetry rhymes words; Hebrew poetry rhymes ideas, comparing and contrasting them. Interestingly, rhyming words doesn't translate well into other languages, but the rhyming of ideas does. You'll see this same feature in Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon over the coming weeks.

Even secular literary authors have looked at Job as a powerful poetic story. It has three divisions we'll consider tonight: the dilemma of Job (chapters 1–2), the debates of Job (chapters 3–37), and the deliverance of Job (chapters 38–42).

The Dilemma of Job

Job lived somewhere around the time of Abraham, perhaps even before. Chronologically, the book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible. The riches described aren't only physical wealth of camels and donkeys; he had a great family, many servants, and people looked up to him. He sat at the city gates as an elder, and people came to him for counsel.

We're told he was perfect and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil—and that is God's own estimation of him. His worship is striking: when his children feasted, Job would sanctify them and rise early to offer burnt offerings, saying, "It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." This man was devoted, a man of worship, and truly blessed.

Then, in verse 6, we are given a rare glimpse behind the scenes into the heavenly realm.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. (Job 1:6)

"The sons of God" refers to angels. Satan came also, which gives us insight we see elsewhere in Scripture: our adversary still has some access before God and accuses us day and night before Him. When the Lord asked where he came from, Satan answered, "From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it"—much like Peter's warning that our enemy goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

The Challenge of Satan

Notice who instigated Job's trial. God asked the question: "Hast thou considered my servant Job?" That word, in the original, speaks of observing someone the way a military observes its enemy. God boasts about Job—"there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil."

Satan answers, "Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him?" Then comes the challenge: "But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face."

This book reveals a sinful, wrong idea held by both Satan and man—that man only serves God because of the blessings he receives. Philosophers across the centuries have said the same: the only reason people go to church or give devotion to God is for what He gives in return. So Job's life becomes the venue for the duel of the ages. God says, "Look at my servant Job." Satan says, "If you put forth your hand, he will curse you." And God says, in effect, "Let's test it and see." "Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand."

A Bad Day, and a Worshiping Response

What follows, if ever there was a bad day in the Bible, is it. While one messenger speaks, another arrives: the Sabeans take the oxen and donkeys and slay the servants; fire falls from heaven and burns up the sheep; the Chaldeans carry away the camels; and a great wind collapses the house on his sons and daughters, killing them. Each ends, "and I only am escaped alone to tell thee." All of it came from the hand of Satan by the permission of God—everything Job had, but not Job himself.

Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. (Job 1:21)

In all this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. He tore his clothes, shaved his head, fell to the ground, and worshiped. No doubt there was a cheer in heaven. One for God, zero for Satan.

The scene repeats in chapter 2. Again the sons of God present themselves, and again God says, "Hast thou considered my servant Job?... and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause." Note that phrase: without cause. There was nothing Job had done to deserve this.

Now Job is not perfect in the sense of being morally sinless. He's perfect in comparison to the other men of his time, and morally he gets things wrong—he even accuses God of some things that aren't right, which God corrects at the end. But God still calls him perfect, because his faith was in the right place. That's what makes a man perfect: where his faith is put. We see the same with Noah, called perfect, yet whose sin is openly recorded.

Skin for Skin

Satan brings a second accusation, exposing another way man trips up—that a man will give everything he has to save his own life.

Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. (Job 2:4–5)

God answers, "Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life." Satan smites Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to his crown, and Job takes a potsherd to scrape himself, sitting among the ashes. His wife comes and says, "Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die." You wonder why Satan didn't take Job's wife away too—because he intended to use her to his advantage. But Job replies, "Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" And in all this, Job sinned not with his lips.

The Friends Arrive—and Job Curses His Day

When Job's three friends heard of his suffering, they came: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They had made an appointment together to mourn with him and comfort him. When they saw him from afar, they didn't recognize him. This man who was once the wealthiest in the region now sat in the street, covered with boils, scraping himself. They lifted up their voices, wept, tore their clothes, sprinkled dust on their heads, and sat down with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, saying nothing, because they saw his grief was very great. Talk about great friends.

Then Job opened his mouth—and he didn't curse God, but he cursed his day.

Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. (Job 3:3)

Notice the repetition building upon itself—synonymous parallelism in motion. After a week of silence, the first thing out of his mouth is essentially a plea for God to take his life. So many who go through deep difficulty fall into depression and come to this same place: life isn't worth living anymore. Why did I ever come about if this is the end?

It's wonderful to have a comforter who comes alongside you in such a time. But these friends turn out to be miserable counselors, and there's much to learn here about how not to minister to someone in trial.

Where Is God in All of This?

We've already seen Satan's two estimations of man: that man serves God only for blessings, and that man will give anything to save his life. On Job's side, several wrong ideas surface as well. He thinks his suffering comes because God is distant—too far away to help. Sometimes when we suffer we slip into that deist view, as if God merely wound up the clock and walked away, not caring what we go through. Job cries out, in effect, "Where is God in all of this?"

He also voices another common thought: that the wicked prosper and have no troubles. The psalmist says the same in Psalm 73. Job was a perfect, upright man, but he was still a man with flesh, and when his flesh was stricken he asked whether God was doing this on purpose, to put him on show.

This echoes Elijah. After the great victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, where God answered by fire and consumed the sacrifice, the altar, the dust, and the water, Elijah fled from Jezebel within forty-eight hours, hid in a cave, and cried out, "Lord, just take my life. I'm the only one left." And just as God showed up and spoke to Elijah, God would later show up and speak to Job.

The Friends' False Counsel

Eliphaz speaks first. "Who can withhold himself from speaking?" he asks—I can't sit silent any longer. His point, drawn out across chapters 4 and 5, is essentially: You have counseled so many in trouble; how can your own counsel not help you now? People came to Job because he was an elder, and Eliphaz had likely heard him counsel others. Now he turns it on him.

Two conclusions drive the friends' counsel. First, that Job is suffering because of his wickedness and sin—if he were truly upright, he wouldn't be going through this. That is not good counsel to give a sufferer: this is your own fault; you wouldn't be going through this if you'd been a better person. Second, that he will be blessed with health, wealth, and happiness if he follows the Lord and repents. People still teach this doctrine of Job's friends today—that coming to Christ means experiencing all the blessings the world can give. But Scripture speaks far more of spiritual blessings in heavenly places than physical blessings in earthly places. And notice: this is the very thing Satan said—that Job only serves God because God blesses him.

Eliphaz, then Bildad, then Zophar go back and forth with Job: just repent, show us your hidden sin, we know it's there. I think of Chuck Wooley, the Calvary Chapel pastor in Indio. Before a heart bypass surgery, some men came to pray with him, and the first thing out of their mouths was, "Lord, reveal whatever sin in Chuck's life is bringing him to this." He wanted to throw them out the window. He told them, "Tomorrow they're going to cut my chest open and a doctor is going to play with my heart. Don't you think I've already confessed every possible sin? I've confessed to the sinking of the Titanic." So many Christians fall into that thinking—that if you could just get rid of some internal wickedness, you wouldn't face trouble—not realizing God may have an entirely different view.

We should also note: because of its poetry and because these discourses are largely man's wisdom, you can't use the book of Job to establish doctrine. It's filled with various people's ideas about how the world and God work. Yet we know our God is not distant. We celebrate, especially in this season, that He is Emmanuel—God with us, intimately involved in what we go through. The opening and closing chapters show God deeply interested in Job's life, allowing these things precisely because His character, goodness, and love were challenged by Satan.

Job's Cry for a Mediator and a Redeemer

In the midst of the debates, Job longs for someone to stand between him and God.

For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both. (Job 9:32–33)

If only there were a mediator, Job says, then his friends would see he is not suffering for his own sin. He asks another vital question in chapter 14:

If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. (Job 14:14)

Is there a resurrection? This is the man calling for death to come, asking whether there is life beyond it. In chapter 16 he declares, "Behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high." His friends scorned him, but his eye poured out tears unto God. Throughout these discourses, Job is the only one truly crying out to God; his friends speak only to him.

Then comes one of the great statements of the book:

Oh that my words were now written!... For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. (Job 19:23, 25–26)

Even as he asks whether a dead man lives again, even as he longs for a mediator, Job confesses that his Redeemer lives and that he will stand with Him in that day. The New Testament answers his cry: we do have one who goes before God on our behalf—Jesus Christ the righteous.

Elihu Speaks—and the Storm Approaches

The debate continues to chapter 31, where Job gives his final words. His friends fall silent, concluding they can't prove his sin. Then a younger man, Elihu, speaks up in chapter 32. For a chapter and a half he boasts about all the great wisdom and truth he has to offer—truth isn't only for the old men, he insists. Yet when he finally speaks, he says nothing of importance, restating what others had said.

As Elihu winds down in chapter 37, he begins describing a storm on the horizon and the power and greatness of God. And then the storm itself comes upon them.

The Deliverance of Job

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind. (Job 38:1)

Out of the storm—very likely the same storm Elihu was describing—God speaks, granting the very thing Job had requested throughout his defenses: an opportunity to take up his case. Haven't you heard it before? "When I get to heaven, I've got a few things to talk to God about." That was something of Job's attitude. But he didn't understand the rest of the story, the duel taking place behind the scenes. Neither do we. We don't know the heart of a man or what someone is going through; in the midst of such a trial, the best thing we can do is come alongside and pray.

God's first words—"Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?"—are likely directed at Elihu, cut off mid-sentence. Then God turns to Job: "Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me." Job wanted answers; instead God gives him roughly forty questions.

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding... When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:4, 7)

Question after question, God asks of the earth hanging in nothing, of where light comes from, of the sea shut up with doors. Even modern science still wrestles with much of this and cannot fully say what light is composed of. The cumulative force is this: Could it be, Job, that there are some things you don't know?

Job's Silence and Repentance

Perhaps the greatest revelation of Job 38 onward is that there are questions you may never have answered. There are things we will never fully grasp—no matter how we debate them with friends or try to figure them out scientifically.

I know that thou canst do every thing... I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. (Job 42:2, 5–6)

Job, who had so many questions, now has nothing to say. Earlier he said he would lay his hand upon his mouth. This is like Isaiah in chapter 6, brought into the heavenly realm where the angels cry "Holy, holy, holy" and the temple shakes. Having just pronounced woe eight times on Judah and Jerusalem, Isaiah now cries, "Woe is me! for I am undone." When he saw God lifted up, there was nothing he could do. So with Job.

Vindication and Restoration

Then comes a verse I love.

My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. (Job 42:7)

The three friends who for days accused Job of sin are now told that they spoke wrongly—they said the very thing Satan said. To be made right with God, they must take seven bullocks and seven rams to Job, and Job will pray for them. Imagine being Job: after days of accusation, they now come asking you to pray for them. I might want to think about that for a few days. But they obeyed, and the Lord accepted Job.

And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10)

This isn't a prescription for getting more in life—repent and pray for your friends and double your assets. But God had told Job to pray for his friends, and as he did, his captivity was turned. His brothers and sisters and acquaintances came and ate bread with him and comforted him. Underline that verse: "So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning."

The Latter End Better Than the Beginning

God will bless your latter end far more than your beginning. We are nearer now to our redemption than when we first believed. Our latter end, as those who follow the Lord, is to be eternally with Him. Job asked whether there is a mediator between God and man—and yes, there is. The New Testament answers: we have one who goes before God on our behalf, Jesus Christ the righteous. Because of His finished work, we know our Redeemer lives, and we will stand with Him in that day.

The book of Job poses the question philosophers have pressed on Christians for thousands of years: if your God is all-loving and all-powerful, why is there suffering in the world? No other religion truly wrestles with it. Islam believes in an all-powerful God who is not all-loving. Christianity alone says our God is both all-powerful and all-loving. The folly in the objection is failing to recognize that this is not the world God intends us to live in eternally. God has a better world where He will wipe away every tear, and the latter end will be far better than the beginning. The person who accuses God on the basis of present suffering misses the truth of the resurrection—the very foundation of our faith—and that is what keeps them from the joy God longs to give.

Job received 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 she-asses, along with seven sons and three daughters again, whose names were Jemima, Kezia, and Keren-happuch—and in all the land there were no women so fair. After this Job lived 140 years and saw four generations of his descendants. Then Job died, old and full of days—and entered a better life still, the world where we too will one day stand with the Lord.

Every one of us goes through dilemmas, and we debate, internally or with friends, why we go through them. But the Lord will show up. There is coming a day when He puts us to silence, revealing once more that there are questions we will not have answered—but can we stand in the truth with the hope that our Redeemer lives and we'll stand with Him? For the deliverance of Job speaks to us of the deliverance you and I will see as well. We know that we shall see God.

Closing Prayer

God, I do thank you for the testimony of this book. I pray that you would help us glean from the truth of it, Lord, and apply these things to our lives—that when we come to a brother or a sister in the midst of a trial like Job, we would sit with them and pray with them and encourage them in the fact that we shall see you once again one day. And Lord, if we go through difficulties like Job did, if the things of our life are stripped from us, even our own health, help us to see that you are alive and you do have a plan. And although we may not find the answer to the question of why, there is the fact that we will stand with you on that day. We thank you that you are our mediator and have made the way straight. You told your disciples that in this world they would have much trouble, but you overcame this world and encouraged them to let not their hearts be troubled—for in your Father's house are many mansions, and you go to prepare a place for us, and you will return and bring us to yourself, that where you are, there we may be also forever. Help us to remember that this is not our eternal home and that we will stand and see you on that day, when you shall wipe away all tears. We praise you, we thank you, in Jesus' name. Amen.