A Study of Job
To understand the point of the book of Job a person must look at what has changed within Job’s heart, during the course of the book. In the beginning of the book God calls Job blameless. In Job 32:1 we see that Job considered Himself righteous.
It is very apparent throughout the book that Job thought He was pleasing God. In the midst of the affliction He still did not recognize what He was doing wrong, Job 6:24.
The first question that will be addressed is whether God calling Job blameless is the same thing as Job considering Himself righteous. It is significant that at the end of the book Job despises himself and repents, Job 42:6.
Since Job repented at the end of the book it becomes apparent that He discovered something within Himself during the course of the ordeal from which He needed to repent.
Since Job is the main character it is reasonable to assume that God wants us to see and gain understanding from the way he discovers and deals with his problem.
At first he denies that there is a problem, later in the book he recognizes and deals with his self-righteousness (Job 32:1-2).
In keeping with the character of a Godly person, when he recognizes his fault it does not take him long to repent.
In chapter 1 verse 1 Job is called blameless. Consider whether the Lord called him blameless because he approached God on God’s terms, or was he called blameless because he did not sin?
Not only is Job referred to in this way but also Zacharias and Elizabeth were in Lk 1:6. As was Paul in Philippians 3:6 and Noah in Gen 6:9.
Joseph is called just in Mt 1:19, John the Baptist was just in Mk 6:20. Simeon was just in Lk 2:25 and Cornelius was just in Acts 10:22.
Most of those who stand out or are greatly used by God and even change history are referred to in similar terms.
According to Job 1:5 Job knew about and sought forgiveness from God by practicing the sacrificial system. It is not a small thing to note that Job did this “continually”. This sacrifice was an exercise in faith i.e. doing things God’s way as opposed to man’s way which Cain tried in Gen 4:3-5.
According to some resources Job was approximately a contemporary of Abraham. In Rm 4:3 we see that Abraham was considered righteous on the basis of faith. This being the case with Abraham, Job must have been considered righteous on the basis of faith as well.
Job was not sinless, He simply made the prescribed sacrifice to God when he sinned and was forgiven. After doing this He could rightly be called blameless.
Referring to Job 1:8, the literal translation of the Strong’s Hebrew words coded 7760 (put) and 3820 (heart) can convey the simple idea of satan “desiring” Job. This seems to be more correct than translating the two Hebrew words as “have you considered”.
This wording does not convey the idea of God offering up Job to satan as an example of strength. Rather this rendering allows the reader to consider whether God was drawing attention to the fact that satan “desired” Job. Satan was operating in his role as tempter and accuser of the brethren when he desired Job, Matt 4:3 and Rev 12:10.
This is in keeping with the idea of satan seeking whom he MAY devour, or is allowed by God to devour (1 Pet 5:8). Consequently Job was given over to the tormentors, Matt 18:34.
This brings to mind Peter who satan also desired, and as in Job’s case this request of satan’s was not denied.
The Lord gives Peter instructions to carry out after he has been sifted by satan in Lk 22:31-32, they were “strengthen your brethren”.
This also fits nicely with the verse in Proverbs 16:7. When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him --- satan being our chief enemy. In these cases the individuals mentioned were handed over evidently because their ways did not please the Lord.
Another problem that can be addressed is the one that arises in Job 2:3.
Most versions translate the Hebrew word coded 2600 in Strong’s concordance as “without cause”.
Suggesting that God allowed satan to do these things to Job for no reason other than to enter into a competition with satan.
Suggesting that the God of the universe who originally threw satan out of Heaven would have to prove His superiority. This explanation is not consistent with Gal 6:7 (reaping what a person sows), as well as the concept of justice itself.
We know that God is completely just, Deut 32:4.
This idea is stated in such direct terms that we can be sure the Holy Spirit does not want any misunderstanding about the fact that we will reap what we sow. Christian’s reap what Jesus sowed, just as Jesus reaped what we deserved.
When God judges us to have willfully stepped out of the narrow way (the way of the truth - Jesus is the way and the truth - Jn 14:6) we can expect God’s judgement, Heb 10:26-27.
We will reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7) during times of willful disobedience just as God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind in Job 38:1.
God speaks to us in this way if we do not cooperate with Him and take an active part in purifying our hearts.
There are to my knowledge only two places in the New Testament where God asserts in no uncertain terms that He is in charge, Gal 6:7 which is referenced above and Rm 9:21.
Romans 9:21 is the story of the potter having authority over the clay. This verse is sometimes used to make the point that God can be unfair if He wants to, a very unbiblical theory.
Job simply reaped what He had sown during a time of willful disobedience, as opposed to what a person reaps when they are keeping the covenant.
Job offered sacrifices to obtain forgiveness.
This tells us that he knew of and chose to take part in the covenant. We see that He also knew what was acceptable to God and what was not. He could therefore be described as a law unto Himself, Rm 2:14.
Since God judged Job (Job 40:8) we know that He had willfully sinned (Heb 10:26-27). Since He asks why God allowed this to be done to him it is apparent that Job had rejected and forgotten the knowledge of the truth relating to self-righteousness, Hosea 4:6.
If a person sin’s willfully after receiving a knowledge of the truth there is no longer a sacrifice for sin, Heb 10:26-27. Since this is a willful sin it is clear the person knows it is sinful and must have violated and possibly hardened their conscience in order to commit the sin.
We see that Job was not forgiven but experienced God’s judgement upon His willful sin. He was not forgiven until He repented, Job 42:6.
This I feel, is why Jesus requires us to confess our sins to be forgiven. We must know what the sin is and by confessing it we understand what we were doing wrong.
Since Job was judged and not forgiven – we know that He understood that self-righteousness was wrong and rejected and forgot the knowledge concerning this, Job 32:1 and Hosea 4:6.
The Apostle Paul tells us that He was forgiven in 1 Tim 1:13 because although he sinned He did it out of ignorance.
I find it very interesting that most Christians do not consider that being saved actually means that we are saved from God’s judgement upon sin, refer to Matt 3:7 and Rm 1:18 etc.
In this case Job was not saved from God’s judgement on sin.
Returning to Job 2:3, the Strong’s word 2600 can be translated “useless”. The Hebrew word 2600 is translated as “useless” in Pr 1:17 and also in Malachi 1:10.
If the word “useless” or “uselessly” is placed where “without cause” traditionally is it would seem that God is saying to satan, your affliction of Job did not cause Him to recognize and deal with his sinfulness.
This conclusion is reached because God could have stopped the situation if it was just, but God apparently had not achieved the desired result.
If the translation of this one small word is seen in this light then a whole new understanding of Job becomes clear.
If Job was afflicted by satan in vain (in vain – is one of the definitions of the Hebrew word 2600 in Strongs concordance), then the affliction had not accomplished the result God desired.
This is one reason God allowed satan to intensify the affliction.
Job had not become aware of the reason satan had been allowed to steal and destroy His possessions.
Job did not judge His own heart correctly (1 Cor 11:31) and did not feel the need to repent, (essentially calling evil good).
There was self-righteousness in His heart but He refused to repent of it. He had rejected and forgotten the knowledge necessary to avoid God’s judgement in this area, Hosea 4:6.
Hosea 4:6 tells us that an Israelite (Christian) is destroyed because of a lack of knowledge. The verse then goes on to indicate that these people rejected and forgot the knowledge necessary to avoid this destruction.
We know from this verse that Job had previously rejected and forgotten any thought that He was not righteous.
Remember Job was the greatest man in the east. This title must have been a reward from God for His previous behavior; he must have had great authority. It is clear that this was given to Job by God since no one can receive anything unless it is given to him from heaven, Jn 3:27.
I believe that this self-righteous attitude crept up on Job. As a Godly person he would not have been rewarded in life with the elevated position of the greatest man in the east if he were not doing things God’s way. We can see this through his continually entreating God by sacrifice.
This is evident also because he frequently refers to his previous good works. The pure intentions of a person wanting to please God can be seen.
Possibly he began to believe that He alone was responsible for His obvious success.
Before continuing I would like to draw attention to some things.
In the first correction in this study of Job we saw that Job was righteous by faith (faith that a sacrifice would cleanse Him before God, Gal 3:22) and not sinless. This would not effect the overall understanding of the book because with study a person could come to this conclusion.
The second correction deals with satan “putting his heart on Job” or desiring Him versus the translation “have you considered”. I feel this is just a difference in the grammar of the people to whom the particular translation of the Bible was addressed. The people alive when King James had the Bible translated understood the English language differently than we do today.
That leaves the unfortunate translation of the Hebrew word coded 2600 in Job 2:3 (without cause), as the chief reason so many people have misunderstood the lessons God wants to teach through this book.
Some misinformed people assume that the book is meant to illustrate that a person may be afflicted undeservedly to accomplish some unknown purpose of God. This is a completely unscriptural conclusion and those who feel this way are actually accusing God of being unjust.
There is an interesting progression in Job. After the first series of disasters Job 1:22 states that he did not sin or charge God foolishly.
The next time satan presented himself to God, God told satan that this series of afflictions was “useless” or “in vain”.
Satan would not have been allowed to continue vexing Job had He at that time searched his heart to find the problem, as is apparent at the end of the book (Job 42:6). God quickly put a stop to the affliction once Job recognized and dealt with the unscriptural condition of His heart.
Our loving Heavenly Father wants to free us from sin - and being just - He did not remove the affliction until Job recognized and dealt with the problem.
God had to alert Job to the fact that some of the behavior that He considered correct was actually wrong. Job did not recognize that He needed to repent, and things went from bad to worse.
In Job 2:10 it is written that in all the previous problems Job did not sin with his lips.
This event says nothing about his not blaming God, which is mentioned after the initial affliction. Later we see in Job 6:4 that he does blame God and then goes further by charging God with injustice, Job 19:6-7 and 27:2.
It is clear then that Job did not recognize His problem, and considered Himself to be right in His relationship with God.
An important understanding for Job was that He recognized that this was allowed by God, Job 6:4.
God is not to blame in the sense of causing this to happen. When we choose to partake of the covenant with God we are inviting Him to correct us if we are behaving in a sinful manner. It can be seen then that Job himself was to blame.
We see later that God forgives all the evil Job accused Him of during the affliction and once he recognizes the reason for the affliction and repents of it he is delivered and rewarded.
God did however chastise Job for His insolence during the affliction, this is evident when God asks Job where he was when God made the earth etc, (Job 38:4).
Job had been righteous as far as he was concerned. He was righteous in His own eyes and willfully sinning at the same time (Job 31:35-37). He had chosen to ignore and forget about the self-righteous condition of his heart and God allowed this series of afflictions to come upon him.
Job was the greatest man in the east (Job 1:3) and this certainly could have given rise to a prideful attitude, and pride goes before destruction (Pr 16:18).
Consider how many Job’s are afflicted today and never figure out why. They may be given a false sense of security by well meaning Christians.
Worse yet, they may be told that God is testing them or that this is just a part of life and therefore not associated with their relationship with the Lord.
As a result they consider their relationship with God intact in spite of evidence suggesting the absence of the blessings of God in their lives, Deut 28.
The Bible is the solid foundation upon which we base our lives. The Word of God states that God will keep us free from sickness, Deut 7:14-15.
This is however conditional upon keeping the covenant.
This is the major sticking point people have with this form of teaching. Unlike many areas of scripture this statement and those like it are not veiled or hard to understand.
The Apostle Paul refers to this as well in 1 Cor 11:29-30.
These statements regarding sin and sickness are completely straightforward and almost too direct at times. As much as we would like to escape this statement of God we cannot pick out certain scriptures and adhere to them and conveniently forget others.
As a result of the witness of Christians who deny these verses the world generally considers Christianity a self imposed set of rules with no earthly benefit, and possibly a fantasy.
The blessings of God are supposed to be apparent to others, thereby making Christianity attractive to them. Unfortunately many Christians are habitually sinning and are continually subject to correction. This type of Christianity is not attractive to unbelievers.
In Ex 14:4 it is interesting that God wanted the Egyptians to know that He was Lord, Ex 7:5, 9:16, 14:18 and Rm 9:17. All these verses indicate that God wants to be known by non-Israelites, why?
Why did God make a provision for non-Israelites to become Israelites?
He loves His enemies and wants them as His children, Ex 12:48-49.
It can be seen here that God made a way for non-covenant people to establish a covenant with Him in the Old Testament. This involved them being circumcised which was a shadow of circumcision of the heart, Deut 30:6 and Rm 2:28-29.
It is because of Christians who reject and forget the knowledge of the truth (Hosea 4:6), that God is blasphemed among the Gentiles (unbelievers) Rm 2:23-24.
Some Christians may esteem their own reputation to be of more value than they do God’s.
Therefore they do not acknowledge to the world that God disciplines covenant people because of disobedience, or worse they accuse God of injustice. This is why the world misunderstands the concepts of good and evil, Isaiah 26:9.
Isaiah 26:9 My soul yearns for thee in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks thee.
For when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
God’s rewards or blessings are meant to identify those whom He approves of and His discipline is meant to identify those that are lacking, 1 Cor 11:19. We see in Deut 28:35 that the condition Job was suffering from was a curse due to disobedience (Job 2:7).
The “Fear of the Lord” is not simply a reverence or respect but a fear of the consequences of sin, Matt 10:28.
Job alludes to this fact in chapter 31 verse 23.
He could not do the evil and injustice mentioned in the preceding verses because calamity from God was a terror to him, see also Lk 12:5.
That God allowed Job to be afflicted because of sin is the alternative to the common theory about the book of Job, which inevitably makes God cruel. Job simply reaped what he sowed.
The reason most people won’t tolerate this conclusion is the same reason that Job did not consider it in the beginning.
He considered Himself righteous, meaning simply that he believed that he was doing what was right in God’s eyes. If a person considers this too harsh refer to James 4:6, Heb 10:28-29 and 1 Cor 11:29-30. Particularly to the point is Proverbs 21:2.
Some Christians will invent their own theories about suffering to escape this one, because here they will have to acknowledge their own sinfulness.
Although people sometimes will be quick to confess that they are sinners, to admit that their afflictions are a result of their sin or that of their ancestors (Ex 20:5) is much harder.
Keep in mind here that the sin’s of the Father are visited upon the children of those who “hate” God. However this rule does not apply to Christians (spiritual Israel) who love God, Jer 31:29-31.
These misinformed people will generally attempt to explain why bad things happen to good people.
Usually they will not consider or compare themselves to the biblical standard of goodness, which is God Himself (Lk 18:19).
As can be seen bad things do not happen to good people, so people who ask this question are not really as good as they think they are.
Good people do not suffer the discipline reserved for God’s children when they are disobedient.
A distinction must be made here between those things spelled out and prescribed as discipline brought on by disobedience and being persecuted for doing things in a righteous manner, as was the case with Jesus (1 Pet 3:17-18).
Discipline is meant to be a part of the covenant, and pertains to God’s children.
God does not correct the devil's children as He does His own, Rm 2:12 and 1 Cor 5:12-13.
Jesus had to give Himself over to death because satan had no claim on Him, Jn 14:30. He does have a claim on us however, unless we walk as Jesus did (1 Jn 2:6).
Until we are made into the image of Jesus we will be open for the correction of the Most High which is carried out by the devil. To understand this refer to the use of the word “destroy” in John 10:10 in combination with the use of same word in Isaiah 13:5.
To understand that the devil carries out the judgement of God refer also to the phrase “the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night” in 1 Thess 5:2-4. Compare that verse with the phrase “the devil comes only to steal kill and destroy” in Jn10:10.
The Day of the Lord is seen here to be a time when God allows the devil to destroy and steal from those who remain in spiritual darkness, 1 Thess 5:4.
1 Thessalonians 5:4 - But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief;
This is similar to the phrase “Day of Christ” in the New Testament, 2 Thess 2-3. This is the progression in these verses, Rebellion-- Man of Sin revealed-- Day of Christ (judgement).
These times of judgement will vary, depending on whether or not the person understands the truth in any given area of their lives.
This process of correction is controlled completely by God, refer to 1 Cor 10:13.
I believe that there is a type of accountability process a person goes through before actual judgement is pronounced. This is evidenced by the processes illustrated in Matt 5:25-26 and Lk 12:57-59.
The way out of judgement for Job was repentance from self-righteousness, as we can see at the end of the book. What changed in Job’s heart during the course of the book was his concept of his own righteousness.
While saying this it should be noted that God is completely just in His judgement, Heb 12:10, Heb 2:2.
If a person sins after receiving the knowledge of the truth, (Heb 10:26-27) they can expect judgement. This verse should be understood in conjunction with the concept of God’s people being destroyed because they reject and forget knowledge from God, Hosea 4:6.
In Job 42:7 God is speaking and says that Eliphaz and his two friends did not speak correctly concerning God as Job had. I do not believe that God was stamping all of Jobs statements as true.
In Chapter 9 verse 23 Job says that God mocks the despair of the innocent.
This and other statements such as chapter 19 verses 6-7 and chapter 27 verse 2 where Job accuses God of injustice are absolutely wrong.
What the deeper meaning of God’s statement is in 42:7, I am not certain. Clearly some of Job’s statements are wrong. I will try to illustrate a possible reason for this statement further along in the study.
God said that Eliphaz and his two friends were wrong, referring to Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, Job 2:11. God does not say that Elihu was wrong.
Job tells us in chapter 6 verse 4 that he understands that God’s arrows were in Him. This is significant. This is a good place to refer to the statement Job made in chapter 10 verse 2, where he asks God to show him why this was happening. In Job 7:16- 21 he also asks God why He will not pardon his transgressions. Job knew that this was caused by His iniquity. He had trouble understanding what the iniquity was however.
Prior to this event He had chosen to reject and forget the truth regarding His own self-righteousness.
Here is a turning point, which should have been resisted by Job. In Job 7:11 he makes a conscience decision to speak to God out of the bitterness of His heart.
Job is looking for the way out of the judgement but has not yet realized that it is his self-righteous attitude that moved God to deliver him to satan. As is seen by the outcome of the book, God was willing to and did let Job know what the problem was.
Job considered himself righteous (refer to Job 32:1).
The lesson Job learned when he was restored was that compared with God his righteousness is as a polluted garment (Is 64:6), and he abhorred himself and repented in Job 42:6.
By stating that he repented Job is telling us that he now understood that he was going in the wrong direction and had changed his direction.
Acknowledging that he had done something wrong goes without saying, if this were not the case what would he have repented from?
Only knowing we do wrong is different from correcting that wrong behavior.
Repenting means that you decide to do something differently even if you don’t possess the ability to overcome the problem at the time. The Lord will provide the ability if the person is sincere, Ps 10:17.
In speaking to Job one of the last things that God said to him is seen in Job 41:34, leviathan (a beast) is king over all the son’s that are “proud”.
With this one sentence God could be explaining why Job was given over to satan in the first place.
God did not say that Elihu was wrong or needed to request that Job offer a sacrifice on his behalf to obtain forgiveness from God, Job 42:7-8.
In Job 33:3 - 12, Elihu the forth man in the group tells us what he has against Job.
Also Elihu shows why Job’s three friends were not correct in chapter 32 verses 1-3, they condemned Job without finding a way to refute Him.
Job 40:2 says that the Lord called Job a faultfinder and says that he has been contending with the Almighty. This was not clear thinking on Job’s part.
In Job 40:8 God said to Job “will you really annul my judgement”? (This tells us that this was not a test or trial but “judgement”).
God speaking in Job 40:8 said to Job “will you condemn Me that you may be justified”?
In chapter 33 verse 13 we see that Elihu’s reason for being mad at Job is also one of God’s, as is seen in Job 40:2. As Elihu reproved Job in 35:16 God also reproved Him for the same thing in 38:2.
Again and significantly God and Elihu’s reasons for being mad at Job are the same in verses 32:2 and 40:8.
This must have to some degree encouraged Elihu and if he heard this, he must have felt good about his part in the discussion between the five of them.
Leaving this topic now, here are some of my other thoughts about this book.
It is a possibility that where God say’s that Job had spoken correctly of Him (Job 42:7), that God was not referring to all of the words that Job spoke.
Notice that God did not say that Job had spoken correctly until after Job recognized that previously He had been speaking without knowledge and had become repentant, Job 42:3-6 and Hosea 4:6.
Let God be true and every man a liar, Rm 3:3 and 4.
Christians sometimes have trouble admitting that the absence of God’s blessings indicates that God is disciplining them as a result of their disobedience.
Generally speaking this is because we judge ourselves by a standard other than the Bible.
For there must be also factions among you, that they that are approved may be made manifest among you. 1 Cor l1:19, Acts 2:22, 2 Cor 10:18.
There are many people who are teachers of spiritual Israel (Christianity) and do not know these things, Ezekiel 34:8-10.
Brethren let’s not condemn or misrepresent God to justify ourselves any longer.
Psalm 9:16--The Lord made Himself known, He has executed judgement.
When we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened so that we may not be condemned along with the world, 1 Cor 11:32.
It is very evident that if a person teaches this way he or she will encounter opposition.
Remember that the Pharisee’s and religious people incited the world to kill Jesus.
They killed all of the servant’s God sent them and finally the Son, and then the owner of the vineyard came back and punished them, Mt 21:34-41.
Jerusalem is the city that Jesus said killed prophet’s Mt 23:37.
Please remember that this is only an opinion and as such is probably flawed in some way.
Consider the verses in Lamentations 3:33-40 and Psalm 4:4. Search your heart to know if you are in the way.
It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. Ps 119:71.
It is fitting to end this study by remembering the inevitable awe experienced by a person when they realize the Loving Kindness of God that is revealed in the book of Job. God being full of mercy and longsuffering led Job to a realization of the problem. He patiently waited while enduring abuse and hostility from the very person He was lovingly correcting.