Overview and Summary. The book of Job is considered by many scholars to be one of, or perhaps, even the oldest book of the Hebrew Bible. The writer of the book is not named. Speculation attributes it to Moses, Solomon or even Job himself. The date of the writing would be determined by the author. If the author was Moses, the date would be about 1440 BC. If Solomon, it would be about 950 BC. The date that Job lived is not known. The story of Job is set in a land called “Uz” which also is not known, but may be located in what is now modern-day Syria, Jordan or Arabia. The book shows us that Satan can only do that which God allows him to do. It also reveals that we cannot know the answer to why there is suffering. But in God’s answer to Job, it assures us of God’s sovereignty, and we can rest in the assurance that His plans for His people are good and not for evil and to give us a future and hope (Jeremiah 29:11).
A. Chapter One.
- We are introduced to Job, who is not an Israelite, but is described as one who is blameless and upright, and who feared God and turned away from evil (Vs. 1:1). He is a very wealthy man with thousands of sheep and camels, and seven sons and daughters. The narrative then moves to the heavenly realm, where the “sons of God”, who are angelic beings, present themselves to God. Among them is Satan, in Hebrew called the “accuser” or “adversary”. God tells Satan of Job, who He describes as a blameless and upright man. Satan reasons that God’s protection and blessing of Job is why Job is a righteous man. He proposes a test for Job, “But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face” (Vs. 1:11).
- God agrees to the test and says all that Job has is in Satan’s hand except against his person. Within one day, Satan takes all of Job’s possessions and his children die when a wind destroys the house in which they were feasting. Job shaves his head, tears his robes and declares: “’The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD’”. “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong” (Vs. 1:21b-22).
B. Chapter Two.
- Satan again appears before God. God once again who says to him: “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason” (Vs. 2:3b). Satan asks God to allow him to touch his bone and flesh, and says that Job will curse God. God allows this but does not allow him to take his life. Satan inflicts Job with sores over his entire body. Job’s wife tells him: “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But Job said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips” (Vs. 2:9-10).
- Job’s three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar hear of Job’s distress and come to comfort him. They do not even recognize him due to his distressed condition. For seven days, they sit on the ground with him without saying a word.
C. Chapters Three through Thirty-Seven.
- Job speaks first, then each of his three friends respond, with Job answering each of them in turn. This section of the book focuses on three questions: 1: Is God truly just in character? 2: Does God run the universe on the strict principal of justice? And 3: If the answer to the first two questions is yes, then how is Job’s suffering explained? Job and his three friends are operating out of a concept that everything in the universe should operate out of a strict principle of justice. That good and right actions result in good things and reward from God. But if you are an evil person, then bad things will happen to you.
- Job maintains that he is innocent, that this is not punishment, which is true. He concludes that God is unjust. His friends argue that God is just and that He runs the world according to justice. Therefore, Job must have sinned. Job at this point is all over the place emotionally. He asserts his innocence and demands that God show up (Vs. 31:35).
- A fourth friend, Elihu, begins to speak. He had withheld his opinion until now as he was younger. But now, he burns with anger at Job because of his self-justification and the other friends because they had no answer for Job. He also comes from an assumption that God is just and that He operates the world according to justice. However, he adds a slightly different approach, in that God uses suffering as a warning to avoid future sin or to build character and to teach valuable lessons. Elihu does not know why Job is suffering, but, asserts that Job is wrong to accuse God of being unjust. Job does not respond to him and the dialogue closes.
D. Chapters Thirty-Eight through Forty-One.
- At this point, God shows up in a whirlwind. He responds to Job’s accusation that He is incompetent to run the universe. He takes Him through a series of questions, asking him where was he when God created the universe and laid its foundations, or were present in various natural environments of the earth. God then presents questions as to Job’s knowledge of the habits of various animals.
- God talks about the Behemoth and the power of his legs, his tail stiff like a cedar. Bible scholars once thought this was a description of the hippopotamus, but now many believe that this description of “the first of the works of God” (Vs. 40:19) is a description of an extinct dinosaur, which would give credence to the theory that man and dinosaurs once coexisted on the earth. God then talks about a creature called the Leviathan, which may have been an extinct giant sea creature. But it also seems to be a description of a dragon-like creature that breathes fire (Vs. 41:21). It is an unusual fact that many cultures have legends of fire breathing dragons giving some evidence to their former existence.
E. Chapter Forty-Two.
- Job confesses and repents: “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know” (Vs. 42:3b). He also says: “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore, I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Vs. 42:5).
- God then rebukes Job’s three friends, and instructs them to sacrifice seven bulls and seven rams and have Job pray for them. It is interesting that God does not include Elihu in his rebuke.
- The book concludes with God restoring to Job double of what had been lost. He also gives Job seven sons and three daughters. Since God restored the same number of sons and daughters as before rather than double, it shows that man’s soul is eternal as the total of sons and daughters are double counting those who had died. Job lives another 140 years, seeing his sons to the fourth generation. He dies an old man full of days (Vs. 42:17).
F. Discussion Questions, Application and Passing it on.
- God is sovereign and is all-knowing; He knew what the outcome would be of Satan’s bringing all the suffering upon Job. What application might you have in Job’s story regarding suffering?
- Psalm 18:30 tells us that God’s way is perfect. But when we look at the world, that is not what we see. For example, the 2004 tsunami caused by a 9.5 earthquake near an Indonesian island group was estimated to be the equivalent to the release of 23,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs. It caused over 230,000 deaths in multiple countries. From God’s response to Job, how would you explain this event and the suffering it caused to someone?
- That evil exists in the world is a strong argument that atheists use to try and disprove the existence of God. Evil can be caused by bad choices made by men using their free will. But other so-called “acts of God” are more difficult to explain such as the example in question number two. How can what Job learned be applied to your own questions about evil in the world or why bad things sometimes happen to good people?
- What might be the reason that God does not include Elihu in His rebuke or require him to offer sacrifices and have Job pray for him?