Job Images and
NotesThe Book of Job
Job 1:9-11
- Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for
nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his
house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast
blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in
the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he
hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:9-10
- Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine
integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, 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?
In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Job
19:25-27 - 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: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall
behold, and not another; [though] my reins be consumed within
me.
Job
38:31-33 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades,
or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in
his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest
thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion
thereof in the earth?
The Old Testament - A Brief Overview
Bible Survey - Job
Hebrew Name - Iyov "object of enmity" (meaning uncertain)
Greek Name - Iob (Greek form of the Hebrew)
Author - Job (According to Tradition)
Date - 2180 BC Approximately
Theme - Trusting the Lord in the midst of evil and suffering
Types and Shadows - In Job Jesus is the ever-living redeemer
Shepherd with his Flock
Summary of The Book of Job
The Book of Job is the first of the five books of Hebrew poetry, and is also
been classified with the wisdom literature of the Bible. Regardless of its
classification the book of Job has been known to be one of the greatest literary
writings in all of history. Except for a few chapters it has a very formal style
of Hebrew poetry, and the beauty of the book is not in meter or rhyme, but in
the use of parallelisms, repetition, and contrast.
The book of Job takes place in an area called in the Bible "the land of Uz"
(Job 1:1), which is believed to have been the area southeast of Israel on the
Arabian border. There is no way to identify this area precisely, and for that
reason people from all the world wonder at the book of Job. Ancient tradition
identifies Moses as the author of the book of Job, having traveled through the
wilderness of Midian (Exodus 2:15) near the area that was believed to be Uz.
The man Job is a biblical patriarch who is well-known for his integrity and
his devotion to God, he had great wealth and much happiness in life. The time
came to prove Job's loyalty to God and he was deprived of all of his blessings.
The book of Job was written like a historical poem, but was treated as an actual
event in the Bible. The difficulty in the book of Job is over the nature and the
cause of his afflictions, it touches on the philosophical discussion about the
problem of evil, and human suffering which is a classic problem that has yet to
be given a classic answer. The book of Job teaches that God's people should not
envy the prosperity of the wicked, nor try to answer the question God as to why
this happens and why the righteous are afflicted at times. There is no perfect
solution to the problem of evil in the book of Job, and the obvious conclusion
is that it is impossible for finite man to fathom the secrets of an infinite
God. Job's miserable comforters (friends) were limited in their understanding of
the suffering of man and how affliction enters into it. Job does not give a
reason for his misery but he remained faithful to God and clearly denied that it
was because of his sins against the Lord. The book of Job gives a good prologue
that informs the reader of Job's faithfulness to God in the midst of affliction,
and God's pleasure in Job for his faith and trust.
The big lesson to be learned from the Book of Job is that man
does not know the reason for the things going on in his life,
but he should trust the Lord at all times. Man can never plumbed
the depths of God, and how God deals with each man and all men,
therefore man is encourage to look steadfastly at the Lord,
trust him and be devoted to him because God is loving and
merciful and all of his purposes are part of his ultimate plan
which no one can understand.
The events in the Book of Job may be summarized as follows :
Outline of the Book of Job
Job 1-2 forms a prologue in prose to the debates, giving a
picture of Job's prosperity, the "wager" between God and Satan, and the
resultant affliction which was Job's. Job 3-31 contain three series of
speeches between Job and his companions, in which he defends himself against
their assertion that he is being punished for some secret sin which is known
only to God. Elihu's speech, recorded in Job 32-37, points out that there
is a hidden purpose in God's discipline of Job. Job 38-41 contain the
statements of God to the participants in the discussion; these witness to the
futility of man's trying to comprehend the actions of God. Job 42 records
the restoration of Job's lost blessings.
Quick Reference Map
Map of the Land of Israel in the Time of
Job (Click to
Enlarge)
The book of Job. Job is
the name of the principal character in this book and the title
is the same in Hebrew as it is in English. It is uncertain
exactly when the book was written and who wrote it. It is
interesting that the name of Yahweh appears over and over in the
book of Job, and his name was unknown prior to the time of Moses
(Exodus 6:2-3). The name of the Egypt is used in poetic form a
couple times (Job 9:12-13, Job 26:12-13) and when it is used
this way there is implications that the author of the book new
about the exodus from Egypt. The big question in the book of Job
is why do the righteous suffer? But this is not actually the
main question in the book, the big question is seen in Job
1:9-11..."Why does Job remain faithful to God?"
The book goes on with the story about God and Satan arguing over
Jobs reasons for obeying God and Job has various catastrophes
which causes him to lose everything in order to test him of his
faithfulness as to whether or not Job is serving God because of
His wealth and God"s blessings of prosperity. There are also
jobs friends who make a case against Job siding with what Satan
was accusing Job of, their point of view was the Job was only
serving God because of his wealth and prosperity. Job
continually refutes them.
Joe desired to know the reason for his suffering and God remains
silent concerning this. Instead the Lord asks Job questions that
are too difficult for Job to answer, and God's point is that
there are many things that Job will experience and mankind
experiences in life that do not have a clear explanation, and it
is more wise to not question God's wisdom. Gervis situation was
no different than what is common to man.
Outline of the book of
Job.
The beginning prologue Job 1:1-2:13.
Dialogs and debates 3:1-27:23.
Job's complaint 3:1-26
The first debate: 1-14:22
The second debate 15:1-21:34
The third debate 22:1-27:23
What is wisdom 28:1-28
The speeches 29:1-42:6
Job's speech 29:1-31:40
Elihu's speech 32:1-37:24
Yahweh's speech 38:1-42:6
Quick Reference Maps -
Job
The Land of Israel and the Book of Genesis
The Ancient World and the Book of Genesis
Canaan Before Joshua
Job Resources
More About the Book of
Job
Job in the Picture
Study Bible
Timeline of the Ancient
World
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