Job: Part 1
Wisdom Literature
As we enter this new month of October, we are going to continue our way through the major themes of the Bible and now look past the Chronicles. 1 & 2 Chronicles took us through the history of the people of Israel from once they arrived in the Promise Land to where they eventually are ruled by multiple kings who do what is right in their own eyes and lead Israel away from God. It is right after this line of evil kings that the major and minor prophets are introduced to us. But that’s not the section we will be diving into just yet, that’s for next month. For now, we are going to take a break and study a section of God’s Word known as wisdom literature. This section is called by this title for two reasons. First, much of this literature is written in the same fashion and provides knowledge for day-to-day life. And second, Solomon himself is involved mightily in at least 3 of these 5 books that are in this section. This is also why a study of wisdom literature comes after studying the history of Israel and their kinship because Solomon himself gave us multiple of these books to digest. So which books of the Bible are considered wisdom literature and how will we be going about studying them this month? The books included in this wisdom section are the Book of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. Each of these books we will take a week to study and simply mark each post as part 1 and part 2. This way we can study through each book in a systematic order and see what each one has to reveal. On the topic of wisdom literature, The Bible Project mentions, “Each book has unique ideas and ancient wisdom about the world, but all of the books are trying to teach the audience what it means to live a good life.” With this in mind, let’s dive into our first book.
Job
If there is anything you know about the Book of Job, it’s probably that this guy suffered. A lot. When looking at his life, before the suffering took place, it is easy to see that this man lived a very blessed life because of God. All of this changes, however, when a discussion happens between Satan and God Himself. It is this discussion that ultimately starts the hardship that takes place in Job’s life and we can’t overlook it. This happens right at the beginning of Job 1:8-12 “The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? “Have You not made a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. “But reach out with Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will certainly curse You to Your face.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not reach out and put your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.” When looking at this book and seeing how the vast majority of this writing is the back and forth between Job and his friends as to why he is suffering, it is vitally important to understand that the reason Job is suffering at all is because God allowed it. That’s the key. Satan had to approach God and get His permission before anything could happen to Job.
The 3 Friends
Now during this suffering state, Job lost his livestock, his children, and even his own health in a later conversation that God allowed Satan to take as well. How does Job initially respond to all this? Job 1:20-22 says, “Then Job got up, tore his robe, and shaved his head; then he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” Despite all this, Job did not sin, nor did he blame God.” What an amazing response. To lose all these blessings that God has given you, including your own children, and not curse God requires such a holy view of the Lord. It is after all of this takes place that Job’s friends come to comfort him and their discussion lasts from chapter 2-37. We will only be looking up until chapter 21 though since this is just a study of the first half of this book. The friends that come and comfort Job are Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. Each of these friends takes turns responding to Job once he curses the day of his birth in chapter 3 where Job regrets even being born.
The unfortunate part here is that each friend claims that what happened to Job must be deserved because, in their eyes, every evil act must be justified by reason. In other words, if bad things happen to someone, it’s because they deserve it. Look at the strong language Bildad uses in Job 8:1-4 “Then Bildad the Shuhite responded, “How long will you say these things, And the words of your mouth be a mighty wind? “Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert what is right? “If your sons sinned against Him, Then He turned them over to the power of their wrongdoing.” This is a very harsh response indeed, but this is the theology of many people these days. If God did something, there had to be a reason, and if there was a reason, surely mankind could figure it out. As you can imagine, Job does not take this criticism lightly. He confronts his friends and doubles down on the fact that he has not committed such an evil act that they are accusing him of. In fact, this response is exactly how Job 21 ends. Job 21:34 states, “So how dare you give me empty comfort? For your answers remain nothing but falsehood!” Job makes it very clear where he stands amid this scrutiny. Yes, this may just be a story of suffering so far, but the ending of this book is why Job is included in the wisdom literature section of scripture. Join us later this week as we break down how Job’s suffering is justified and as we see how God Himself responds to Job and his friends.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] Intro to the wisdom Literature. (n.d.). BibleProject. https://bibleproject.com/podcast/intro-wisdom-literature/
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