The book of Job is one of those books from God’s Word that I just stay away from. It is intimidating, confusing and depressing. To be honest, I just don’t like its message. However, with God’s Word, it is all or nothing. It is His word from beginning to end. Because of my lack of familiarity with this book, I’ve spent this week studying and researching. I dare not begin to post anything regarding Job without much time in prayer and gaining accurate insight, especially since we will be camping out here for a few weeks. As we learned during our 9 week study on Reading the Bible for Life, I have been gathering contextual information regarding this book. My post today, and perhaps this week, is simply going to consist of how you can more accurately study Job. This is one of those books that is often out of context. Through my study, God is changing my heart towards this book as He is revealing to me such wisdom to be found through the life of this man named Job. Prayerfully, these will be helpful, practical insights that will deepen your understanding of this difficult book. I am learning as I go, so please bear with me through the next several days of reading. First, let’s establish background information. This book has been placed here in our chronological reading because Job most likely lived during the time of Abraham. There is still debate among theologians as to the exact time of his life, however it is agreed that he lived before the time of Exodus. Remember, that the book of Exodus does not take place until 400 years after Genesis ends. At the very least, Job lived before Exodus. Therefore, this is where his life would chronologically fall. So as not to break the story of the patriarchs, his record is simply put at the end of Genesis. Further, please keep in mind that Job is not an Israelite. It is stated at the beginning of his book that he is from the East. He is not a part of the promised line. He is simply a wealthy man that lives somewhere in the East that is described as having “perfect integrity.” It is a difficult task knowing how to approach this book. What I have learned this week is that this is not a book of theology, but a recording of raw human emotion. Therefore, we must keep a few things in mind as we read through this book. First, until the end when God Himself speaks, the words spoken are the thoughts, feelings and limited wisdom of man. These are the words of man, not God. While some truth may be contained, many false assumptions also exist. Secondly, keep in mind that it is simply a discussion between Job and his friends. We cannot read the words of these men and assume that these are truths from God. This brings us to the purpose of this book. This book was given to us for two reasons: to answer the question of human suffering and to answer where wisdom is found. One of the greatest mistakes we make as Christians is that we take this book to mean that all of our suffering is because God struck us just like He did Job. That is not what this book is trying to teach. This is Job’s story, not ours. What we see is that the players in this story are trying to answer the suffering question in their meager human wisdom. They approach their answers from a cause-and effect stance. There must clearly be some kind of hidden sin in Job’s life that is causing this calamity. Job knows that’s not the case. We as the reader know that’s not the case. Yet, they believe they had it all figured out. The first truth I want to point out is that we are often times just like these so called friends. We believe that we are wiser than we actually are. It’s actually pitiful how often we are just like these men. Just because we know a little bit about God, we think we have it all figured out. One of the greatest points of this book is to show us that we have nothing figured out. As stated in one of the commentaries I read, this book shows us that we must realize that we are the created being. We do not have the wisdom of the Creator, nor is He obligated to explain Himself to His creation. Reading this book should make us realize how much of a pedestal we have put ourselves on. Yes, we are God’s most beloved creation, but we are just that; a created being. Our pride, the same pride that caused Satan to fall, has caused us to elevate ourselves to Creator status. He alone is God. I am not. We must live within the bounds of the limited wisdom as created beings. Speaking of Satan, let me say that this whole scenario is just strange to me. After some study, I’m slightly more comfortable with this exchange. At the very least, I have a bit more understanding. What Satan is trying to prove is that human beings, God’s beloved, only love Him for what they get from Him, not for God Himself. As Fee and Stuart state, Satan’s argument is that “people are righteous only if they get paid for it.” This actually clears up a lot of questions for me that I’ve had about this book. It has always scared me to think that Satan can just walk up to God and ask to strike me and God will allow him. That is absolutely not what this book is trying to teach. God allowed Satan to curse Job to prove Satan wrong. God, and only God, knew the heart of Job. God uses this opportunity to use the pride and arrogance of Satan against himself. At the end, we see that Satan is put in his place. I can’t help but ask myself, however, if God would have proven Satan right had that been me? What this book is trying to teach us is that we cannot seek to explain our circumstances or the circumstances of those around us, from our own limited wisdom. We dare not think that we have such wisdom that we know the reason for anything. Perhaps the circumstance is because we are being put to the test. Perhaps the circumstance is because of some sin in our life and we are living with a natural consequence. Perhaps the circumstance is simply because we live in a fallen world. I think we try to make the point of trials and tragedies “Why?” Why did God make this happen? What I have learned from this book is that the “why” question only reveals my limited wisdom. The point of this book, is the “how” question. How will I respond? Will I display an unwavering faith? And the “what” question. What kind of friend will I be? The know it all, I have it all figured out friend or the faithful friend? We are created beings and we will never understand all of the ways of God. If we could, He wouldn’t be much of a God. As His beloved child, will I trust Him even when I cannot understand? Over the next few days I will discuss the players in this story: Satan, Job, the friends and God. I hope that this meager attempt of mine will help you as you read through Job.
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