The Wisdom Books #1 = Job
The Wisdom Books #1 = Job
In the Old Testament there are four (4) books called “The Wisdom Books”: Job – Proverbs – Ecclesiastes – Song of Solomon.
Some people include The Book of Psalms as a fifth book, but I don't think so.
The reason these books are called “The Wisdom Books,” is that they give us wisdom on various aspects of life. Of all Beings, God is the wisest, and he wants us to be wise. He wants us to know the facts, to understand the facts, and to live in light of the facts.
Wisdom is living in light of the facts.
These four (4) books give clear and logical instruction regarding the facts, and how to live in light of those facts.
I am not writing commentaries on these books; I simply want to show the areas in which each one gives us wisdom.
The Book of Job gives us wisdom about what goes on behind the scenes, in the un-seen world, which is in fact the real world, because it is the eternal world.
“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2Co 4:18
It is the largest and most complex of the 4 wisdom books; it has the most characters, it is a history about a specific time period in the life of a specific man named Job; it is not just sayings and instruction. Many feel it is the oldest book in the bible.
There are six (6) characters in the book (lumping the 3 friends together as one): God, the Devil, Job, Job's wife, Job's 3 friends, and Elihu.
The Book of Job is unique, in that it gives us a behind the scenes look at some very important things; real things that are happening every day. Job is the chess board on which a battle is waged; the issue is between God and the devil, and Job's problem is that he does not know exactly what is going on; he suspects something, but he does not really know, hence his frustration. On one thing he is clear, and correct, on which his friend were totally wrong, he was not suffering for sins he had committed.
When we don't know or understand, we get frustrated; faith is trusting God when we don't know or understand. Faith is also not a monolithic thing. Job had absolute faith that God was in control and on his side, but he struggled, ie lacked faith, because he did not know the whole situation, and so said some pretty foolish things.
Job was not different than we are!
Job absolutely did not suffer for his sin, Job suffered so that the all the inhabitants of the Universe could see that in Job's mind, in the mind of a believer, it is better to suffer than to deny God. The devil said Job would curse God to his face if trouble was heaped upon him; God took up the devil's bet; the devil lost!
“Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshiped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” Job 1:20-22
Job worshiped, by saying, “ Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” Out of his heart he spoke. He did not understand what was going on, he subsequently said some foolish things, but he knew the one who was in control, and therefore, “In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”
Job never said, “God does not know what he is doing.”
And God had faith in Job, he knew what Job would do, which is why he set him up as a target for the devil to attack. It is God who put Job in the devil's gun sights! God stakes his reputation on Job! The devil assumes Job will act as he, the devil, would act, which is to only think about God for what he can get from him.
Christian, sometimes we do suffer for our sin, but not always! You may be suffering now so that God can say to the devil, “See he/she is the real thing! They love me because they love me, not because of what they get from me!”
Job is the stage of a cosmic battle, think of that! Yes, of course, it is not a real battle, because there is no chance God will lose, but nobody knows that except God. The truth of Shakespeare's statement, “All the world is but a stage, and we just actors on it,” is 100% borne out in the Book of Job!
So as a wisdom book, what wisdom do we get from the book of Job; what do we learn?
Regarding God, here are some things we learn:
he does not just allow bad to happen to us, he orchestrates it (Paul's thorn in the flesh, which Paul calls a messenger of Satan, regarding which God says, “My grace is sufficient for you.”); God put the bull's eye on Job and told the devil “take your best shot!”
God is not hands off regarding the lives of his people; it is not that he knows about our daily lives, he is orchestrating them and intimately involved it them.
God risks his reputation on we his people, on you Christian, on me, trusting us not to let him down.
God is not offended by our arguing with him in prayer. Job said some stupid things, but God fully vindicates him saying “my servant Job has spoken right of me” (Job 42:7), not just “spoken right” but “right of me.” Job speaks truth about God, because Job knows God, he has a relationship with God, so he can reason, “Something does not add up here, God does not act like.”
God yields to Job's request for a face to face meeting; God is a father who loves his children even when we have a melt down. He listens to our rantings; if you want to rant at God, run toward him, not away. He understands that even thought we don't understand everything we trust him, and he will listen to us vent. This is a major lesson we learn from the Job's experience. As when Peter, when he has nothing else to say, simply says to Jesus, “Lord you know I love you.” Pa 103:13-14 “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.”
And though when God spoke he came in all of his majesty and exalted his person, yet he talked with Job; God goes and talks and talks to Job, think about that! Our God, our Father, who lives in heaven, and is the high and exalted one, yet as Isa 57:15 says, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” God is the one who says, “Come let us reason together.”
God has quite a biting sense of sarcasm “where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” Job 38:4
God puts Job to the test “if you pray for these 3 who laid so many insults on you, and spoke so wrongly about me, I will forgive them” Job 42:8. God tests us. He tested Abraham when he told him to sacrifice Isaac, and Jesus tested Phillip in Jhn 6.
God restored Job to his former life, and even better. “He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him” (Heb 11:6), of those who keep walking the narrow road, even when things seem so very hard and so very bad, simply because God says, “don't quit!”
Overall, we see God as a Person, fully engaged in the events of Job's live, interacting with the Devil, with Job; not the “hands off” god of the Deist.
And if are you an Agnostic (one who says, I don't know if there is a God”) or an Atheist (one who says “There is no God”), learn this from the Book of Job: there is a God, there is much going on behind the scenes that you have no clue about!! Until you have been in all places in the Universe at the same time, “ I don't know” or “There is no God!” You really mean, “I hope there is no God.”
Regarding the Devil, here are some things we learn:
He has access to heaven, he is “the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10), and he speaks with God. Remember Satan / Lucifer and all the demons are angels who rebelled. They were originally in heaven. That is why they were always saying to Jesus, “We know who you are. We know you are the Son of God.”
His name “The Devil” means “slanderer; false accuser” that is so crystal clear here. Everything he said about Job was a false accusation.
His one desire toward we who are God's people is to destroy us.
Toward non-Christians, his one desire toward you is to keep you in the dark, so that you will end up in hell and suffer with him forever. Jesus calls him a murderer from the beginning and the father of lies: he wants to kill you with lies, just like he did Adam and Eve. He tells you, “There is no God;” that is a lie.
He tells God he was wondering around on earth; was he on a pleasure stroll? No, he was roaming around as a roaring lion, seeking someone to destroy (1Pe 5:8). You can just hear him panting to get at Job, to ripe him apart, which he would have done, if not forbidden to do so.
We learn of his power over nature, in sending lightening and winds.
We learn of his power to effect physical disease, causing boils/sores to erupt all over Job's body. Remember the the woman bent over in Luk 13:16.
We learn of his power over people, in sending the Sabeans and the Chaldeans, not on a pleasure trip, but to kill and destroy. Remember he entered into Judas, and motivated him to betray Jesus.
We learn of his desire to kill people, and of his power to effect their death. Not only did he effect the death of Job's workers, and his children, but he would have killed Job too, if God had not specifically prohibited it. God knew he wanted to kill Job, so he specifically forbid it!
But in spite of all his power, we learn the devil can only do what he is allowed to do. Praise God for that! He is a dog on a leash.
Regarding Job, and therefore ourselves, here are some things we learn:
His suffering revealed the reality of his faith in God, whom having not seen he loved. “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love;” 1Pe 1:7-8 Christian, we need not know everything about God, or understand everything he is doing, in fact that is impossible, but we love him, of that we are sure.
We are required to be faithful; we are not required to know or understand the whole story.
However much of the Old Testament system of temporal blessings you want to carry into the New Testament, and apply to we Christians, yet Job as a non-Jew, shows us that our lot here on earth is more likely to be suffering and tribulation, just like Jesus promised: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Joh 16:33 And why? Because our adversary is the same devil, who still hates us, and still motivates his people to hate us: “Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.” 1Jn 3:12-13
Some people like to argue that if you say a truth in a not nice way, it is no longer truth. That is ridiculous. If you lie using nice words and a nice tone of voice, it is still lie; if you tell the truth, ranting and raving, it is still the truth. I am not condoning ranting and raving! I am just making the point that Job certainly had a hissy fit, both toward his friends and God, but he spoke truth, and God acknowledges that. Speaking nicely does not make a lie a truth; speaking harshly does not make the truth a lie.
As a caution, I am not saying we can speak to God anyway we want, but learn from how Job spoke to him, that he is approachable, he knows we are but flesh, he pities us, he knows when we are overwhelmed, and he bears with us. When upset with God, when mad at God, run TO God, not away from him; he will never reject you!
Regarding the 3 friends, ie people in general, here are some things we learn:
Whether they were OT believers or not, we don't know, but we have the clear statement of God, that they did not say the right things about God. Job 42:7 “And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.” Their main argument was that God was punishing Job for his sin, and Job's argument was that though he was a sinner, yet he was not being punished for sin; and God affirms that Job was 110% correct! So regarding the 3 we learn, that people may mean good in what they say, but they can be wrong. We have the bible, Job did not, think about that, we must filter everything people tell us through the bible.
Another thing we see is that they started off well. Let's face it, they each traveled a long way to be with Job, to comfort him, and they started out well, but when they could not persuade him that they were right, and he was wrong, they turned on him, and began to vilify him. Oh how fickle is human nature. Have you ever been betrayed by a friend; they said they would stand with you, but when the time came, they were gone, or worse they sided with your enemy. The saying, “The best of men are men at best,” is proved over and over again. Peter denied Christ. Loyalty: take refuge in the fact that while men may not be loyal, God is the most loyal Being in the Universe, and if you are a Christian, he is your Father, Jesus is your Older Brother and Friend, and the Holy Spirit is the ever present indwelling Guarantor: God is loyal. Heb 13:5 “he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
Regarding Job's wife, ie family, here are something we learn:
It is easy to just say Job's wife was not a believer, but I am not sure of that. I will take the position that she was a believer, but she faltered badly. Think of it, she had just lost her 10 children is one fell swoop, and then watches her husband's body erupt in soars all over – I think we need to cut her a break. She does not say she will curse God and die, she tells Job to do that, to end the suffering; can we say “suicide,” like we say, “suicide by police.” There is no way to prove either position, but also consider this, Job says to her, “You speak like one of the foolish women speak,” he does not say she was a “foolish woman.” In addition, God never rebukes her, and she must have remained with Job, because he has other children, and we can only assume she was the mother. So regarding family, they love us, they don't want to see us suffer, but sometimes their counsel is bad. Again, what they say must be filtered through the bible.
Regarding Elihu:
He tries to be the voice of reason, “Let's calm down,” and he says good things, but God does not even acknowledge him, and so we will not comment on him or his words.
So to sum up, what wisdom do we get from the book of Job:
Wisdom about the unseen world, which is the real world: there is lots going on that we have no idea about.
Wisdom about God: he “risks” his name on we Christians to honor him in all circumstances of our lives.
Wisdom about the devil, he is a powerful enemy who wants to destroy us – period!
Wisdom about our suffering, that it may not be about sin, that there may be other things going on, which are “above our pay grade.”
Wisdom about prayer: we can be bold in our praying, speaking openly to God our Father, as long as we know our place.
Wisdom about the advise of friends and family: filter it through the bible.
4 December 2024