Tag Archives: Book of Job

Commentary on Job 38-42 (Job Meets God)

Through Job 37, Job has listened to three “friends” and Elihu speak to him about why he is suffering so badly. Job, in turn, has responded to each of them, declaring his innocence and demanding that God give him answers. Finally, in Job 38, Job gets his wish.

Out of a violent storm God speaks to Job, but his message will not at all be what Job was hoping for. Instead of answering Job’s questions about whether God is just in his treatment of Job, God challenges Job. Eugene Peterson’s translation of verses 1-3, in The Message, captures the force of God’s challenge:

Why do you confuse the issue? Why do you talk without knowing what you’re talking about? Pull yourself together, Job! Up on your feet! Stand tall! I have some questions for you, and I want some straight answers.

Over the next few chapters, God asks Job more than 70 questions having to do with the creation and control of the natural world, none of which Job can possibly answer. In verses 4-7, God asks Job, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?” In verses 8-11, God asks Job who it was that placed boundaries around the seas and controls where they are allowed to go.

If Job wants to question God’s dealings with human beings, then Job needs to prove that he has the knowledge and wisdom that God has. If he can’t even understand how the inanimate objects of the natural world were made or how they are controlled by God, then what chance does Job have of understanding God’s treatment of mankind?

Roy Zuck, in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, explains:

What was the purpose of God’s rebuking response? By displaying His power and wisdom, God showed Job his ignorance and impatience. How could Job comprehend or control God’s ways with man, when he could not comprehend or control God’s government in nature? Since Job could not answer God on these matters how could he hope to debate with God? Since God has His own ways and designs in the sky and with animals, does He not also have His own purposes in His dealings with people? Though people cannot understand God’s doings, they can trust Him. Worship should stem from an appreciation of God Himself, not a comprehension of all God’s ways. Though puzzled, people should still praise.

In chapter 42, Job, after having been questioned by God, responds. Instead of demanding more answers from God, instead of questioning God further, Job answers the only way a man can who has seen the living God face to face, with awe and repentance.

Again, Eugene Peterson captures Job’s thoughts well in Job 42:1-6:

I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans. You asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water, ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’ I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head.  You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking. Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’ I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears! I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise! I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.

So how did God answer Job’s questions about the justice of his suffering? God showed Job Himself. There is no greater answer to any question a man could have than coming face to face with God. Once we understand who God is, our questions vanish into thin air because we realize that our doubts about God’s justice, knowledge, wisdom, and goodness are preposterous. As the Creator of everything, the sovereign ruler of the universe, can we really stand in judgment over God? No, and that is what Job finally realized.

Commentary on Job 21

In the previous 20 chapters of the book of Job, Job’s three friends have argued that Job is being punished for sins he has committed. Their theology is simple: God always and immediately punishes the wicked and always and immediately blesses the righteous.

In chapter 20, Zophar summarizes this theology: “Surely you know how it has been from of old, ever since mankind was placed on the earth, that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.”

In chapter 21, Job answers Zophar. He starts in verses 1-3 by begging his “friends” to listen to him. Job requests that they stop mocking him for a moment and pay attention to what he has to say.

In verses 4-16, Job reminds his friends, first, of the horrible condition he is in. Then he begins to dismantle their faulty theology.  Job points out several facts about the wicked.  The wicked live to a ripe old age with their children. Their houses are secure, seemingly with no judgment from God.  The livestock of the wicked prosper, the wicked enjoy music, and the wicked even die in comfort. To top it off, they tell God to leave them alone! Contrary to Zophar’s theology, justice is not always and immediately meted out. Often the godless prosper and the godly perish.

On to verses 17-21. To Bildad’s claim that “the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out” (18:5) in death and that calamity and disaster are ready to overtake him (18:12), Job asks how often (three times in 21:17–18) do these things really happen? Theologian Roy Zuck, in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, notes, “This so-called fate allotted by God’s anger to the wicked hardly fits the facts. Sinners are seldom blown away suddenly and easily like straw or chaff.”

In verses 22-26, Job reminds us that one man dies having lived a full and vigorous life, while another man dies having lived a life of bitterness and deprivation. Yet both men end up in the same place after they die. Zuck reminds us,

Wealth or health are not ways by which to judge a person’s character. One may be wicked, and die either young or old; or he may be godly, and die either young or old. These facts obviously conform more to reality than did the rigid view of Job’s three prattling prosecutors.

In verses 27-34, Job wonders how it is that his friends are unaware of these facts. Do they not speak to travelers who can tell them numerous stories about how the wicked never face justice for their crimes? No, the wicked are often carried to their grave by a massive funeral procession, and given great honor, because no one dare challenge them while they are alive. Job’s friends are fools and their theology is bogus.

Can There Be Good Without Evil?

Many people seem to think that good and evil are equal and opposite, and that good cannot exist without evil. In the Bible, God is the Good and Satan always represents evil. Are God and Satan equals?

The book of Job answers this question once and for all. God is clearly in command and Satan cannot do anything without God’s permission. God is the Creator and Satan is the creature, so they are not in any sense equal to each other.

God has always existed and Satan has not. Therefore, good existed before evil. Today evil exists along with good, but that is only for a limited time. The Bible promises that at the second coming of Jesus, evil will be quarantined so that all those who love God (the Good) will no longer have to live with those who reject God (and do evil). So, yes, there can be good without evil because evil is the result of finite creatures rejecting God (the Good).

Commentary on Job 1

Having finished the book of Deuteronomy, we now move to the book of Job. Although the events of Job cannot be easily dated, there is some consensus that they occurred during the period of the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). Or, to put a wide range of dates on the events of Job, we can say that they probably occurred between 2000 – 1000 BC. Because we are unsure of the dating, we choose to place Job in between Deuteronomy and Joshua chronologically.

The author of Job is unknown. Christian tradition holds that Job himself was the author, but some scholars believe that Moses or Solomon were the original authors. In any case, there has never been any dispute among Jews or Christians that the book of Job is inspired by God and belongs in the canon of Scripture.

In chapter 1, verses 1-5, we are introduced to Job. We learn several important things about him: 1) he was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil, 2) he had a large family consisting of 7 sons and 3 daughters, 3) he was incredibly wealthy, 4) he was known as the greatest man in his area of the world, and 5) he frequently offered sacrifices for his children for he feared they may have sinned.

The purpose of this first section is to communicate clearly to the reader that Job is a God-fearing man who has been richly blessed by God. It is critical to keep these facts in mind before proceeding to read the rest of the book of Job.

In verses 6-8, we are suddenly taken to God’s throne room in heaven where angels present themselves to God. One angel, Satan, draws the attention of God. God asks Satan what he thinks of Job, a man who fears God and shuns evil.

In verses 9-11, Satan accuses Job of only worshiping God because of all the material blessings he has received from God. Take away his blessings, Satan argues, and Job will curse God. God agrees to allow Satan to test Job, but restricts him from physically harming Job. Notice that Satan is clearly under God’s command, and there is nothing that Satan can do without God allowing it.

The central theme of the book of Job is the question of why we should fear God. John Sailhamer explains it this way:

What motivates the kind of godly living exemplified in the righteous man Job? Is it the possessions and security that God has given him? Or would a truly wise man continue to live a godly life, even in the face of material loss and suffering? Satan’s answer was ‘No! Take away his blessings and Job will not continue to live a godly life.’ God, however, knowing that true wisdom is its own reward, answered ‘yes’ in Job’s behalf. A truly wise man seeks to live a godly life regardless of the earthly rewards.

Verses 13-19 describe the disasters brought upon Job by Satan. First, Job’s oxen and donkeys are carried off by Sabean marauders, and the servants watching over them are killed. Second, Job’s sheep and more servants are killed by fire from heaven. Third, another group of marauders, the Chaldeans, steal Job’s camels and kill yet more of his servants. Fourth, Job’s children are all killed when a windstorm destroys the house they are feasting in.

It is hard to imagine what it would be like to face such loss, so how would Job respond? Would he curse God?

Not only did Job not sin, but he fell to the ground in worship, and uttered some of the most famous lines from Scripture:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”

To make the point crystal clear, the text then reads “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”

In the remainder of the book, Job is comforted by four friends who each try to explain to him how it is that such disaster could befall him. The first three friends are all convinced that Job must have sinned before God, and that Job’s catastrophic losses are punishment for his sin. Job denies this is the case, and we, the readers, know that Job is right. We know that Job is righteous and is not being punished for wrongdoing.

The fourth friend, Elihu, offers that God may be disciplining Job, not for something he had done, but to prevent foolish pride. Elihu advises Job to fear God and not question His justice.

Job, in response to his friends, never curses God, but he does accuse God of being unjust toward him. He demands that God explain himself, and Job even suggests that there needs to be a third-party mediator between himself and God to decide who is in the right. God eventually does appear to Job and answer his accusations at the end of the book. That will be covered in a later lesson.