Primary Bible Passages: Job 1-37

Key Verse: Job 1:8

Memory Verse: Job 2:3

Lesson Aim: To generate a better understanding of Job and the divine drama in which he was involved.

Preparatory Daily Bible Readings:

• Monday: Job 1-2; Genesis 10:22-23; Genesis 36:15; Genesis 36:28; Lamentations 4:21; Genesis 13:10; Genesis 26:5
• Tuesday: Job 3-14
• Wednesday: Job 15-21
• Thursday: Job 22-31
• Friday: Job 32-37
• Saturday: Genesis 2:16-17; Ephesians 1:4-6; John 3:36; Revelation 12:10; I Peter 5:8; Colossians 2:8; II Corinthians 11:14-15
• Sunday: Psalm 34:7; II Corinthians 3:5; James 1:17

I. THE PATTERN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE BOOK OF JOB.

A. Job is a book of divinely inspired Hebrew poetry.

1. Verbal rhyme, the correspondence of words and meter of accents may appear, but Hebrew poetry is primarily achieved by the repeating of an idea. This repetition is called parallelism and is also seen in other Old Testament books such as Psalms and Proverbs.

2. Except for its short prose beginning and ending, Job is poetry. Though written in poetic form, Job is a literal story involving real, not imaginary characters. Job abounds with imagery, which is language of comparisons or pictures in words to convey broader and more graphic concepts than words normally communicate. It should be ever remembered that the allusions and images of Job are always to literal animals or other beings and to real aspects of the natural world. Imaginary, mythical, and fictitious beings or concepts do not exist in Job.

3. Poetry communicates not only factual information; it also conveys emotions and feelings. The physical and mental conditions addressed in the book of Job are profound. The language of the book is designed of God to express more than the facts.

4. The prologue and epilogue of Job are prose. The rest of the book, except for a few brief parts, is Hebrew poetry.

B. Much of the book of Job is a debate.

1. Job 1-2 are a prose prologue which introduce Job and explain the dramatic setting of the book.

2. Job 3 is a deep lament by Job over his miserable condition.

3. Job 4-31 records three rounds of a great debate between Job and three friends who came to comfort him.

a. In each of the three rounds of the debate, the oldest friend (Eliphaz) spoke first and was answered by Job. This was followed by the next oldest friend (Bildad) who spoke and was answered by Job. Finally, in each round except the last, the third and youngest friend (Zophar) spoke and was answered by Job.

b. Job 4-14 registers the first round of exchanges.

c. Job 15-21 records round two of the big debate.

d. Job 22-31 is the account of the final round of the debate.

4. Job 32-37 is the record of a tirade against Job by a younger friend (Elihu) who was present and listening to the exchanges between Job and the other three.

5. Job 38-41 records an awesome personal appearance of God to Job.

6. Job 42 is the prose epilogue or ending which tells what happened to Job after his divine test.

II. BACKGROUND INFORMATION RELATED TO JOB.

A. Job was the wealthiest man of his era in his part of the world. (Job 1:3)

1. His material wealth was enormous. In view of God’s plans to use Job as a test case in the contest with Satan, it was necessary to bless him super-abundantly in order that his loss might be very real and massive.

2. He also had ten adult children. (Job 1:2)

B. Job lived in the land of Uz. (Job 1:1)

1. Genesis 10:22-23 lists Uz as a son of Aram the son of Shem the son of Noah. Genesis 36:28 also lists a man named Uz in connection with the children of Esau. Lamentations 4:21 speaks of Edom as being in the land of Uz.

2. It appears likely that the land of Uz was a large area of the Arabian desert extending northeast from Idumaea toward Syria. Though largely a desert now, during the time of Abraham, and even Esau, this region was well-watered and fertile. Consider Genesis 13:10.

C. Job was one of the patriarchs, apparently living as a contemporary of Jacob. He could have lived as early as Abraham or a little later than Joseph.

1. The Chronological Bible dates Job at 1967 B.C.

2. No mention of the nation of Israel or the events surrounding the Exodus is made in Job, indicating that the events recorded in the book took place prior to the development of that nation.

3. There is also no mention of the Mosaic Law in Job. Like Abraham, (Genesis 26:5), Job had received certain divine laws, (Job 23:12) although, they are never placed in the context of God’s revelation on Mt. Sinai. This indicates that Job predated Moses.

4. The age of the patriarchs was noted by the offering of sacrifices by the head of the family, a regular practice of Job. (Job 1:5) This practice ceased with the giving of the Mosaic law.

5. In the book of Job, many of the early events of Genesis are mentioned including the Creation, the Fall, the Flood, and the Dispersion. It seems certain that Job lived after the Flood and prior to Moses, which is the age of the patriarchs.

6. Esau had a son named Eliphaz who had a son named Teman. (Genesis 36:15) That Eliphaz the Temanite, who came to Job, was related is likely. Some people during this era were still living to be almost 200 years old. Job, who already had ten grown children before the calamities which befell him, lived 140 more years afterwards. That he was a contemporary of Jacob and Esau seems likely.

D. In his day, Job was the most Godly man on the earth.

1. Three times the scriptures declare that he was "one that feared God, and eschewed evil." (Job 1:1; 8; 2:3) In the Hebrew, eschewed is suwr (soor) and connotes the concept of turning away from or rebelling against. Job adamantly hated evil and actively turned away from it.

2. Job never claimed to be sinless, although he did resolutely and consistently deny, even in the deepest agony of his trial, that he was innocent of any deep, dark sin in his life. "I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me." (Job 33:9) God’s affirmations concerning Job’s Godliness are irrefutable proof that Job was right in his claims.

III. JOB IN GOD’S COSMIC SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENT.

A. Job was God’s best example, His "showcase exhibit," of the effectiveness of His plan of choice with its voluntary, freewill Godliness.

1. By God’s own affirmation, Job was a God-fearing, separated man, a fact which even Satan could not successfully deny. (Job 1:8)

2. God’s eternal plan of redemption has always involved the free choice of the individual. Adam and Eve were given options; they could eat or not eat of the forbidden fruit, obey or disobey. (Genesis 2:16-17) Before the foundation of the world, when God devised His plan, He determined to eternally save every person "in Christ," (Ephesians 1:4-6) a choice which was solely His. The second choice, the choice of receiving Christ by faith or rejecting Him, God left to each individual to make as opportunity in time presented itself. (John 3:36) God has predestinated to save all "in Christ;" it is up to each individual to either enter "in Christ" by faith or stay outside Him in disbelief. The choices are up to the individual, but the consequences of either choice are already fixed by God.

3. Job freely, of his own will, chose God. He not only chose Him as his eternal Redeemer, (Job 19:25) he also willfully and voluntarily chose to serve God with his daily life.

B. Satan hates the plan of God and especially those obedient to it. He therefore determined to prove Job to be a fraud.

1. Satan came before God and verbally attacked Job. (Job 1:6) Though Satan has great authority in the earth, which is his domain, he is still accountable to God, and is, on occasion, required and allowed by God to approach Him in heaven. As he came before God in Job 1:7, he was required to give account of his activities. It is sobering to realize that he can communicate with God about men.

2. He attacked Job’s motives and integrity. Revelation 12:10 calls him "the accuser of our brethren." Before God, he accused Job of being faithful to God only because of the blessings and material benefits Job was receiving in return for his devotion. (Job 1:9-11) He said that Job did not love God for who God was, but rather that Job pretended to love God while really being a selfish individual whose true interest in God was not in His person, but only what he could get from Him. He accused Job of being a pious, but corrupt, hypocrite, who would abandon his commitment to God if the material benefits were removed. What a vicious slander and a cruel questioning of his motives!

It is probable that Satan thinks that to be true of every believer and suggests it to God. It behooves every one who names the name of Christ to search his own soul as to why he really serves God. What about those who become angry at God, and even quit serving Him, when they lose their material wealth or health?

C. In anticipation of Satan’s sinister notions about Job (and by implication, all believers and the plan of God in general), God set forth His own "scientific hypothesis."

1. God maintained that Job was not corrupt, but rather a true servant with pure and wholesome motives. (Job 1:8)

2. Job said, and proved with his life, that God was right. (Job 13:15) Job was not serving God because of what he was getting in return.

D. To God’s divine hypothesis, Satan immediately proposed two "falsification tests."

1. He first proposed that Job’s material possessions be taken away. That, he affirmed, would cause Job to renounce God. (Job 1:11)

a. God granted Satan’s request to test Job’s faith. (Job 1:12)

It should be noted that Satan could do nothing to Job apart from God’s permission. God had a hedge of protection around Job (Job 1:10) as he has around all who know Him. (Psalm 34:7) Every man owes his prosperity to the protection of God. (II Corinthians 3:5)

b. Once he received permission, within a few minutes, Satan mercilessly took away all that Job had. (Job 1:13-21) His material losses included not only his livestock and other tangible possessions, but also his ten grown children. Doubtless the emotional trauma from such a sudden and complete financial and family collapse was devastating beyond adequate description.

c. In spite of such a cold, cruel, and shocking experience, Job remained true to God. (Job 1:22; 2:3) Satan’s first falsification test failed.

2. As a second falsification test, Satan proposed that Job’s health be completely destroyed and that he be brought to the brink of death in physical suffering. (Job 2:4-5)

a. God granted Satan permission to attack Job’s health with anything short of death. (Job 2:6)

b. Satan attacked immediately. Job came down with an agonizing and extremely painful illness. He broke out with boils from his head to his toes. (Job 2:7) High fever caused his skin to turn black, (Job 30:30) his skin broke open and oozed corruption, (Job 16:13-15) his intestines boiled, (Job 30:27) and his breath became so malodorous (Job 17:1) that even his wife couldn’t bear him. (Job 19:17) His appearance was so hideous that even his friends didn’t recognize him. (Job 2:12) Breathing became very difficult, (Job 9:18) he could barely eat, (Job 3:24) and he was infested with worms. (Job 7:5) He was barely alive. (Job 19:20)

Though realistically incomparable to any disease known to man, Job’s ailment has been likened to elephantiasis, a leprous disease in which the limbs become jointless lumps like elephant legs. It begins with the rising of tubular boils, and at length resembles a cancer spreading itself over the whole body. In time, the body becomes so infected that whole limbs fall away. With it, itching and dead tissue with its putrefying odor, becomes almost unbearable.

Modern medicine recognizes a disease called Job's Syndrome. This condition is associated with the elevation of a certain agent in the body called IgE. which also occurs in various allergic diseases. Dramatic skin changes including boils, recurrent soft tissue infections, and life-threatening lung infections can occur in patients.

c. The power of Satan to assault humans is awesome, and except for the protection of God, he would cruelly attack and destroy every one of us. (I Peter 5:8) Job is a reminder that no person should take health for granted, nor should he forget its source. (James 1:17)

3. In addition to Satan’s pressure upon Job to renounce God and turn from Him by taking his wealth and his health, he also used Job’s wife and his friends against him.

a. Job’s wife asked him to "curse God, and die." (Job 2:9) That is precisely what Satan wanted and had predicted to God that Job would do. For Job to have done so would have proven Job a fraud and Satan correct in his wicked accusation.

Even in view of all his calamities and at the insistence of his wife, "In all this did not Job sin with his lips." (Job 2:10)

b. Satan launched yet another assault, this one in the form of friends who came to comfort Job. (Job 2:11-13)

Through preconceived ideas, false assumptions, and improper applications of truth these "friends" of Job sought to supplant Job’s faith and cause him to confess that which was not true. Since they believed that all suffering was a direct result of sin in the sufferer’s life (Job 4:7-9), they were sure that Job’s calamities were a judgment from God. They repeatedly counselled him to get right with God. (Job 5:17, 8:5-6, etc.) With sincerity and passion, they tried diligently to impose a solution which did not fit Job’s case. They proved indeed to be "miserable comforters" (Job 16:2) which "dig a pit for your friend." (Job 6:27)

This was a spiritual attack. It came in the form of friendship, from those who also professed to know God and be expert in knowledge of Him. As these men illustrate, Satan’s most persuasive efforts to destroy one’s faith can come in the form of "half truths" and mis-applied scriptures from those most trusted and respected. (Colossians 2:8; II Corinthians 11:14-15)

E. There is no record of any test of mortal man in all of time to compare with the testing of Job.

1. Jesus in His work of redemption was God in flesh, not just a mortal. His was the supreme test of eternity.

2. Job was wholly man. God was using him as a test case in a mighty contest with Satan, a test of which Job was unaware. He did not know that God had a magnificent purpose in a divine scientific experiment in which he was the central figure. What a tremendous and faithful example he proved to be! Though the pressure caused him to waver and complain, he never turned from God. God was right in His hypothesis about Job, and Satan was wrong.

2. McGee, J. Vernon, Job, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, Introduction, page vii.

3. Webster’s New World Dictionary, Nashville: The Southwestern Company, 1973, page 350.

4. Morris, Henry, The Remarkable Record of Job, Santee, California: Master Books, 1988, page 35.

5. Hesser, Dale, Ph.D., Job, Austin, Texas: R.B. Sweet Co., Inc., 1965, page 5.

6. Delitzsch, F., Job, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1973, Vol.I, pages 46-47.

7. Morris, page 14.

8. Reese, Edward, The Chronological Bible, Nashville: E.E. Gaddy & Associates, 1977, page 19.

9. Morris, pages 12-13.

10. Strong, James, Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, New York: Abingdon Press, 1958, reference 5493.

11. Morris, pages 58-59

12. Delitzsch, pages 69-70

13. Donabeddian, H., Gallin JV. Medicine, 1993: 62:195-208.

His story is told in Hebrew poetry, the language of deepest emotions. When ordinary language fails, poetry expresses the innermost feelings of the soul. Even then, one leaves a reading of this epic account with a sense of awe, aware that he really cannot conceive what Job endured.

The story of Job is especially about Satan's effort to break Job and prove him a fraud. Satan argued to God that Job didn't really care for him or for who He was. He said Job was only in it for what he was getting out of it. Satan's contention was that men and women who serve God do so only for self-serving purposes, a sort of God, you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours basis. He doesn't think anyone really loves God for who He is; he thinks they are only doing what they are doing because of the returns they receive.

When Satan slandered Job, God declared the divine scientific hypothesis that Job was not a fraud and hypocrite. He declared Job to be a true believer whose motives were pure. Satan immediately proposed a falsification test. He vowed that if God would allow him to take away Job's material goods, Job would show his true colors by turning away from God.

God agreed to let Satan do it. Previously he had been unable to touch Job because of a hedge of divine protection which God had around Job. Every man should be aware of the goodness and protection of God. Satan struck swiftly, and within a few brief minutes, he had taken away all that Job had, including his flocks and herds, his other material property, and the lives of his ten children. Devastating! Everything gone! His heart is broken! In spite of such cruel blows, Job remained firm in his faith and true to God.

Satan then proposed a second falsification test to God. He proposed that Job's health be taken. He was sure that such a loss would reveal Job's true colors and prove him false. God agreed to the test, and Satan immediately struck Job with high fever, consuming infections, a critical stomach disorder, andpain. He broke out with great boils, his skin turned an awful color, and his breath became unbearable. His malady seemed similar to small pox and elephantiasis. He was barely alive, but God would not allow Satan to kill him. Again, Job stood firm and true.

To make this test wholly legitimate, God had previously blessed Job far above ordinary measure. His loss must be very real and extensive; thus God had made him the richest man in that part of the world, and he had the highest respect of his peers. He apparently lived in a land east of the Dead Sea, a region which was rich and lush in his day.

Word spread of his calamities and four of his friends came to comfort him. It is clear that they thought to diagnose his problem and set him on the road to full recovery. His condition was so wretched that when they arrived, they sat in astonishment for seven days before uttering a word.

The silence was broken by a lengthy and complex debate. Each of the three older men spoke three times. The oldest spoke first and was answered by Job. The second followed and was answered by Job, then the third. This cycle was repeated three times. After they were finished, the fourth and younger man spoke, offering essentially the same arguments of the three older men.

Each man was sure that Job was guilty of some deep, dark sin which he was refusing to admit and confess to God. To them, health and material prosperity were tied directly to righteous living while trouble, adversity, and calamity were the direct result of sin. To them, the solution to Job’s awful condition was simple. If he’d confess and remove the deep sin from his life, he’d get well and get his money back. It did not seem to occur to them that one might suffer great adversity for any other reason.

Job said he was not guilty, a claim which readers of the book know to be true. God affirmed that Job was a righteous man who hated evil. Job admitted that he was not sinless, but he firmly denied that he was where he was because of any hidden wickedness in his life. He didn’t understand why it was happening and he thought it was highly unfair, but he didn’t turn against God, nor lie about his condition, even under intense pressure to do so. In view of the sudden and dramatic losses of both his material goods and his health, the loss of his children, the negative response of his wife, and the pressure from his friends who pressed him to confess deep sins, capitulation by Job would have been easily understandable. His friends claimed to be true messengers from God.

These men did speak many truths. Their error was in application of the truths they knew. In some cases, all they said was true, but there were other pertinent considerations which they didn’t know. The absence of the truths they didn’t know distorted what they did know making many of their applications very false. Let those who would handle truth take notice! Let us beware of going beyond what we know and of making premature applications. Honesty is always the best policy, even honesty like Job’s about our own ignorance.

2. Reconcile the imagery and poetry of the book of Job with its literal story of actual people and other characters.

3. Outline the big debate which occurs in the book of Job.

4. Give the background of the story of Job.

5. Why is Job considered one of the patriarchs?

6. In light of the overall story, assess Job’s spiritual condition.

7. What was God’s hypothesis regarding Job?

8. Explain Satan’s argument to God against Job.

9. Explain how the story of Job is the story of a supreme cosmic experiment.

10. Explain the scope of Satan’s first test designed to prove Job to be a religious fraud.

11. Discuss Satan’s second effort to prove Job to be a religious fraud.

12. Describe Job’s general physical health condition following Satan’s attack.

13. Discuss Job’s specific disease.

14. Discuss the emotional impact of Satan’s first two attacks on Job.

15. How was Job’s wife used of Satan against Job?

16. How did Job’s friends constitute a further attack by Satan against Job?

17. How did Job’s friends account for his calamities?

18. What solution did Job’s friends offer for his recovery?

19. Discuss how well Job dealt with his testing.