Road to Revelation: Job

 Job

Meanwhile in another part of town…  actually in another country, God had been discovered by a man named Job.  He feared God and sacrificed to him in the tradition of Noah (Genesis 8:20).  Who knows where he learned these traditions but he is approved by God (Job 1:8) because of his faith.  

The book of Job was passed down by oral tradition before being written down long after the events (most likely in the time of Solomon) and reads a lot like a live performance piece in that the "actors" [Job and friends} are unaware of the cosmic conflict [God vs Satan] which is affecting their lives but we, the audience, can see it all.  The dramatic retelling of Job's life... now showing on Broadway!! 

Job's faith was tested by Satan (allowed by God) and he suffered much because of it.  His three friends attempted to comfort him but bungled it badly with their poor theology.  They accuse Job of causing his suffering by his sin but he is confused because he believed that he had obeyed God as he was supposed to.  

 In the end God does not reveal the reason why Job suffered (the debate between God and Satan) but instead asked Job a series of rhetorical questions illustrating his greatness and wisdom so that at the end Job conceded that he could not know the reason for suffering unless it is revealed to him by God Himself (which He does not) and he put his trust in God again, receiving back more than he had before.

Key Verse: Job 1:21 “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.”

Extra Reading:  Romans 8:18-30.  Job had hardly any information about God to work with but we have much more revealed to us.  We suffer, Paul says, because the world is suffering under the weight/curse of sin and is being slowly destroyed because of it.  And Paul also tells us that when sufferings come God intends to use them for our eternal good.

Takeaway: Although we, like Job, cannot always know the full reason for our suffering we can know that the God who created the world also controls the world [and Satan].  He not only knows why these things come to us but more importantly, He is willing and able to help us through them.