Explanation of the book of job

The video gives a succinct explanation of the plot of the book, which is helpful considering the poetic language with which the book was written. I have been attempting to give you some new perspectives on the meanings behind the book of job by showing you how it fits into other verses found in the bible. Job went through one of the most difficult seasons i think recorded in the bible. Key personalities of this book include job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, zophar the naamathite, and elihu the buzite.

I believe that when we suffer we are just partaking in the suffering of jesus which was very, very severe that as human beings we. Whole chapters of the book are devoted to speeches by jobs counselors. Job pronounced jobe, was a rich farmer living in the land of uz, somewhere northeast of palestine. In fact, some scholars believe that job requires and understanding of the book as a whole more than any other book of the old testament. The books theme is the eternal problem of unmerited suffering, and it is named after its central. Jun 09, 2014 the book of job is one of the most misunderstood books in the bible. The book of job is an obvious place to turn when a christian suffers, but it is not easy to discern what god means to teach his people through this difficult book. Lo and behold, satan comes out and challenges god on job s goodness. But satan the accuser comes before the lord, and god allows him to test job. Human beings are unable to understand why the righteous suffer job 28. Or from an arabic word meaning repent, thus bearing the name repentant one. Most books of the bible take place on larger stages, but the book of job goes down at a very specific and narrow point in the human life cycle. Job with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. Just in the nick of time, elihu pops in to tell job that he may not have sinned, but he still has no right to question his fate.

This summary of the book of job will help with many different forms of bible study. However, the initiator of the problems in job s life and the cause of the problems are widely misinterpreted. A quite different interpretation has been proposed by matitiahu tsevat in his essay, the meaning of the book of job. The book of job has long been praised as a masterpiece of literature. Sep 27, 2018 this is where the book of job enters the scene. The book of job teaches us to trust god under all circumstances. The book of job, named after its protagonist apparently not an israelite. The loss of job s property, and the death of his children. Understanding the book of job student discount version. The book of job does not present concrete solutions about why innocent people suffer. Five truths for sufferers from the book of job the gospel. Well be studying the 8 th chapter of the old testament book of job. The book of job, one of the wisdom books of the bible, deals with two issues crucial to every person. It broke down the book of job and explained things so well.

Job wants to confront god and complain, but he cannot physically find god to do it. Alfred smith has contributed prac tical insights for lessons and sermons on the book of job. The old testament quizzes about important details and events in every section of the book. Then, through a series of dialogues and monologues arranged in a pattern of threes, human wisdom attempts to explain the. Literary structure chiasm, chiasmus of book of job. The story of job opens with a scene in heaven where the devil comes to accuse job before god. Book of job is first of the poetic books of the old testament. Sep 07, 2010 the book of job is a highly controversial book of mostly confusing information.

Job begins another section the poetical books of the bible which also includes psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, song of solomon, and the little book of lamentations, tucked in behind jeremiah. The book of job is often referred to as one of the great classics of world literature. The point of the book of job is to teach us that the mystery of evil is a. The story of job is a story of gods blessings and satans curses. It should be kept in mind that job is not the author.

Some bible scholars debate whether he was an actual person or legend, but job is mentioned as a historical figure by the prophet ezekial ezekial 14. It is common to view the narrative frame as the original core of the book, enlarged later by the poetic dialogues and discourses, and sections of the book such as the elihu speeches and the wisdom poem of chapter 28 as late insertions, but recent trends have tended to concentrate on the. Literary structure chiasmus, chiasm of book of job chiasmus and concentric structure of whole text. The book of job is one of the wisdom books of the bible. Summary of the books of job the story of the bible. In his study on the book the book of job, quality pub. God boasts to satan about jobs goodness, but satan argues that job is only good because god has. The bible story of job, from the book of job, is a powerful tale of testing the devotion and fortitude of the human will. The book of job is often quoted at funerals and this is another misapplication of the. Book of job overview insight for living ministries. The book of job discusses why god allows pain and suffering.

The book of job is considered being part of the poetic books job, psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, and song of songs in todays bible editions. The book of job is one of the most problematic portions of the bible and has called forth a variety of interpretations. Victor hugo the greatest poem, whether of ancient or modern literature. A major difficulty in understanding the meaning of the book is, what insight leads job to submit so humbly to god at the end. For the mystical explanation of the book, especially of job as a type of christ, cf. I attempt to clear that up by offering a different perspective than most people know today.

This summary of the book of job provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of job. The book of job consists of a prose prologue and epilogue narrative framing poetic dialogues and monologues. Job answers each of their speeches directly before the next friend starts. What the book of job teaches us about unexplainable suffering. His buddies eliphaz, bildad, and zophar have an answer. The book delves into issues near to the heart of every human who experiences suffering. The books from genesis to esther are all narrative books, and are vitally meaningful to us as living parables, as types worked out in actual history by which we can see what is going on in our own. Five truths for sufferers from the book of job the. Hes blameless and upright, and he has kids, a wife, land, and a bunch of sheep. Nov 17, 2015 i believe it was job who actually wrote it and if you were to place the book of job in chronological order, youd have to place it in the first 5th of the book of genesis because the book of job. Divisions of the book description of jobs trials ch. An explanation of the biblical book of job the book job is composed of three parts. In job, this prologue serves as a literary device to give the reader a perspective that the characters in the story lack. This article interprets job s teaching on suffering from five broad perspectives.

Its author is unknown yet it is possible that job himself wrote it. In the first two rounds, eliphaz, bildad and zophar speak in turn. Also, three false friends came and told him he had lived a bad life. The book of job is one of the most misunderstood books in the bible.

This article interprets jobs teaching on suffering from five broad perspectives. And even though that was more than 52 weeks ago, this is only the 47 th lesson in this series and so, weve studied through the entire book of job. He is blameless and upright, always careful to avoid doing evil 1. This made jehovah very happy, and afterward he blessed job, as you can see in the picture. If you confuse the two roles you are just going to be deceived. He feels that wisdom is hidden from human minds, but he resolves to persist in pursuing wisdom by fearing god and avoiding evil. Well be studying the last chapter of the book of job today. Satan cannot bring financial and physical destruction upon us unless it is by gods permission. Look at the specific lessons we can learn about responding to trials as revealed in the book of job. Gods answer to the problem of undeserved suffering. This reference in james is the only time job is mentioned by name in the n. The name job is mentioned only 54 times and mostly just in the. The book of job is included among the wisdom writings precisely because it teaches man that pain and suffering are a mystery of divine wisdom. Next, satan struck job with this terrible sickness.

Misfortune befalls job, and, in three cycles of speeches, his three friends give the explanation that this must be. There are no references to the law of moses, the tabernacle, the priesthood, the judges or kings, etc. Lets open our bibles to job chapter 15 for this job 15 commentary. The book of job is one of the most misunderstood books in. Teaching as to the future life in his sufferings job abandoned all hope for the restoration of health and good fortune in this world xvii, 1116. In addition to them, the patriarch job is pointed out in verse 11 as an outstanding example of steadfast faith in the way he handled severe trials. If we were to film this book, the whole movie would take place on a single set, probably in a single day.

This is important, for the point of the whole narrative, we shall see, is to expose the. Addressing the problem of theodicy the vindication of the justice of god in the light of humanitys suffering it is a rich theological work setting out a variety of perspectives. Job spends his entire book in a position of sadness and loss. John piper talks about how to discern between good and bad theology in the book of job. In this series of blogs i shall revisit the book of job, the personality and some of its meaning for contemporary society. Tomorrow, if all literature was to be destroyed and it was left to me to retain one work only, i should save job. Several suggestions have been put forth as plausible authors. Satan can touch flesh and bone but your spirit belongs to god and only you can defile it and cause god to reject it. Job is a wealthy man living in a land called uz with his large family. The name job is the english translation of the hebrew name iyov which means persecuted, hated on the surface job is a long, boring, somewhat confusing book and one might question how it ever came to be grouped with the wisdom books as it is hard to ascertain any wisdom in this tale of woe. From internal evidence, such as the similarity of sentiment and language to those in the psalms and proverbs see psalm 88 and 89, the prevalence of the idea of wisdom, and the. Whole chapters of the book are devoted to speeches by job s counselors. Job is a wealthy man living in a land called uz with his large family and extensive flocks.

The prologue provides a fascinating peek into the back storywhy god allowed satan to afflict job with such pain and turmoil. Job is a pious believer who is struck by misfortune so great that it cannot be explained in the usual way as a prompting to repentance, a warning, let alone a punishment the arguments later. The book of job, book of hebrew scripture that is often counted among the masterpieces of world literature. The lesson from the big book of job is 1 that god is sovereign over all our suffering. The book begins with the description of job as a just and upright man. Every book on your english syllabus summed up in a quote from the office. Set in uz, an obscure land far from israel, during an unknown time period, the book of job focuses on questions about gods justice and why good people suffer. The summary is easy to understand and this book is very relevant to our lives as christians. Up in the heavens, god brags to the divine assembly about job. The book defends the absolute glory and perfection of god it sets.

The psalmist tells us, as for god, his way is perfect psalm 18. The book of job is primarily about the afflictions of job. As far as the symposium is concerned, the authors purpose seems to be none other than to challenge the view presented by both prophets and historians to the effect that suffering is in itself evidence of wrongdoing. In this epic wager between god and the devil, discover how job reacts to the shocking curses inflicted upon him and what we can learn from his incredible example of remaining faithful through suffering. Another great doctrine of the faith, particularly set forth in the book of job, is that of providence. There is no way to identify this area precisely, and for that reason people from all the world wonder at the book of job. The contents of the book, together with its artistic structure and elegant style, place it among the literary masterpieces of all time. On the contrary, god speaks directly to job, just as he does in the patriarchal age with noah, abraham, isaac, jacob, and other heads of. I believe it was job who actually wrote it and if you were to place the book of job in chronological order, youd have to place it in the first 5th of the book of genesis because the book of job.

After all, gods universe is still endowed with immortal power. The book of job is a book in the ketuvim section of the hebrew bible, and the first poetic book in the old testament of the christian bible. A great diversity of opinion exists as to the authorship of the book of job book. It is beyond our human ability to understand the whys behind all the suffering in the world. And there is a reality called satan who challenges god that his man is not as good as he thinks he is. Zuck, a biblical theology of the old testament, pp. The books theme is the eternal problem of unmerited suffering, and it is named after its central character, job, who attempts to understand the sufferings that engulf him. To understand the full impact of the book of job the book must be read and understood as a whole. Satan targets job because of his righteousness and favour with god and wishes to turn job against god. As is customary with epic poems, it begins with a prologue that sets up the story line chs 12.

Jobs story invites us to consider what it means that god runs. Job was said to be an upright righteous man blessed of god with tremendous wealth. As humans we tend to think we know a little bit of everything. The book of job has been widely given the theme of patience and we see this mentioned in the new testament book of james. Its subject matter is the allimportant question, why, in a world over which yahweh has jurisdiction, should innocent persons have to suffer when at the same time the wicked escape suffering and are permitted to have comfort and security. Right as the reader is questioning gods wisdom and justice.

You can read our explanation of job 8 meaning of verses 11 through 22 of chapter 8 as well. God alone knows the meaning of the world, and he grants it only to. The book of job helps us to understand the following. One day, satan the adversary appears before god in heaven. At its beginning, job seems to be a book about human suffering. We must trust god, not only when we do not understand, but because we do not understand. Thus the book shows us how the righteous should bear up under suffering you have heard of the perseverance of job jm 5. Although most of the book consists of the words of job and his friends, job himself was not the author. Friends join job, and join him in silent mourning for seven days. It is plain, from this history, that the lord watched over his servant job with the affection of a wise and loving father.

The big picture of job is that there was a man who was, in one sense, blameless in gods sight. The book of job is the story of a normal human being who is beset by misfortune and suffering. God returns jobs health, providing him with twice as much property as before, new children, and an extremely long life. According to the sacred writer, the truly wise man should realize that the fear of the lord, that is wisdom.

How do you trust god even when life isnt fair and you suffer for no good reason. This to me is the overriding teaching of the book of job. Many scholars are convinced that the prologue and epilogue are later additions to the original, the body of the tale. The book of job 3 the book of job introduction to the book the book of job has long been praised as a masterpiece of literature. It is found in the third section of the biblical canon known as the ketuvim writings.

It goes like a play and deals with an old question puzzling everyone, the problem of human suffering. Habel has contributed a small but helpful study for preaching the whole book of job. The book of job tells how one man suddenly awakened to the anarchy rampant in the world, yet his attachment to god outlived the ruin of his tidy system. Lo and behold, satan comes out and challenges god on jobs. Oct 14, 2010 this particular take, on the book of job however, is written to help us understand the lessons than can be learned from job s life, as well as a better understanding of the character and nature of god himself, by taking a look at the oldest book in the bible, from a different angle. The book of job takes place in an area called in the bible the land of uz job 1. The gripping and challenging book of job is perhaps one of the most fascinating books of the old testament, and it begins a new division in the scriptures. Job explores the difficult question of gods relationship to human suffering, and invites us to trust gods wisdom and character. Guidelines for understanding and proclaiming the book of job. It is possible that job is the oldest of any book of the bible written approximately 21001800 b.