As we will see, jobs woes begin at work, and the book gives us valuable insights into how a follower of god may faithfully function within the ups and downs of work life. Jesus said to nicodemus, the spirit of god is like the wind. For those who are unfamiliar with it, briefly tell the story of job. However, the name does occur in genesis 46 and ezekiel 14. Here the voice of jehovah himself is heard, speaking out of the whirlwind. Job is the central figure of the book of job in the bible.
Often called the founder of liberation theology in latin america, he studied philosophy at the university of louvain in belgium and took his doctorate in theology at the university of lyon in france in 1959. God invites a character termed the satan to consider the piety of his servant job. The lord speaks then the lord spoke to job out of the storm. Mar 18, 2009 the book of job tells the story of a canaanite man, a lebanese man that is job, it is a story inspired from the phoenician mythology that deals with god in a much more casual way, a human way, phoenicians had already the vision that jesus will come as a son of man, so a discussion between god and satan, created by god, is very succeptible to be found in phoenician mythology. Satan is like a roving ambassador who comes to god to give a report on what he has seen and heard.
Contrary to what ive been reading, what i see is more and more people out of a job. Gustavo sees jobs authors as emphasizing jobs faith which is disinterested, for nothing. Since god validates elihus points 3841, the adversarial tone in gods answer to job makes even more sense. While job knew he didnt deserve it, he still felt that god owed him. Sure, job and god might have a strange relationship, but the thing to note here is that god is everywhere, all the time. This post is adapted from the bible study job by eric ortlund. Like the other two comforters, bildad and eliphaz, zophar emphasizes an old hebrew conceptsuffering is the inevitable lot of the evil man. Over the previous 35 chapters since job 2, god has been directly absent from the account. May god above not seek it, nor the light shine upon it. He wanted to find god in order to set him straight. All through this book job has been crying out of his pain, his bewilderment, and his tortured heart for an interview with god, asking god to explain what is happening to him, hoping that he could come before him and ask him some questions about what is going on. Having satan do the dirty work is a very greekmythology thing to doyou know, let a demigod do the dirty work, then assert your dominance anyway. Satan was arguing that the only reason job was so righteous was because of the way god had blessed him. God responds but doesnt answer so after the debate i covered last time between job and his 3 friends if you can call them that there is.
Laird harris professor of old testament covenant theological seminary a few years ago, there was a man of the eastthe eastern united states, that isnamed archibald macleish. Satan takes the bait and raises a question about jobs sincerity and motivation for serving god. Job 38 the lord speaks then the lord spoke bible gateway. Jan 02, 2020 since god validates elihus points 3841, the adversarial tone in gods answer to job makes even more sense. Gustavo sees job s authors as emphasizing job s faith which is disinterested, for nothing. Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge. There are many places in the scriptures where god symbolizes his presence by a wind.
God talk and the suffering of the innocent sheds light upon some of the various meanings of the book of job. Like the other two comforters, bildad and eliphaz, zophar emphasizes an old hebrew conceptsuffering is the inevitable lot of the evil m. Basic text, narcotics anonymous normal heights sober living. So after the debate i covered last time between job and his 3 friends if you can call them that there is a shift in the book of job. Job loses his health 8 and job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself as he sat among the ashes. The bulk of elihus speech then focuses on the justice of god, which elihu feels job has maligned. Job got his wish to meet with god, but it didnt go quite the way job wanted.
I believed that there are many that can benefit from this response and i hope that you will receive this message with an open heart and mind. God and satan make a bet that job will turn his back on god if satan is allowed to test job. Surely chapters 3841 are the climax of this great book of job. Usually when i am introduced, it is said this is our dear brother who. A critical reading of the book of job must confront the issue of innocent suffering in a world allegedly created by a benevolent god. To make things a little easier, well take a look at him in two sections. We ought to take a look at our own life and ask ourselves the same question. Some are more in love with prosperity and good health than with god, for. The book of job by derek thomas ligonier ministries. In rabbinical literature, job is called one of the prophets of the gentiles. The character of god in the book of job appears to defy coherent portrayal. To begin with, the book of job tells the story of god testing jobs faith by allowing satan to bring jobs life from fortune to misfortune. This article uses the ujamaa centres work on the book of job as a. Oneal pastor, gospel light baptist church albany, georgia scripture reading.
He was the greatest man among all the people of the east. He must have known a great deal about god and creationin some ways his knowledge of god may have been superior to ours. Here is a theological reflectioncumcommentary on the book of job by the founder of liberation theology. Godtalk and the suffering of the innocent sheds light upon some of the various meanings of the book of job. The book of job is one of the most astonishing books in the world. Job and three of his friends debate the cause of jobs tremendous loss and illnesses. The first post was about questions of morality and why bad things happen to good people and in this post god shows up to give his response. Rabbi breitowitz responds to these fundamental issues based on the book of job. Jan 28, 20 while job knew he didnt deserve it, he still felt that god owed him. A peruvian catholic priest, gustavo gutierrez was born to mestizo parents in a barrio of lima, peru. The satan counters that god fails to realize job is only pious because he is.
Sep 07, 2010 the book of job has been widely given the theme of patience and we see this mentioned in the new testament book of james. It tells a true and deep story, the story of job, an upright and righteous man job 1. Let me share a few of the sections that were most meaningful and amazing to me. Was it unfair for god to allow job to suffer over what was.
The characters in the book of job consist of job, his wife, his three friends bildad, eliphaz, and zophar, a man named elihu, god, and angels one of whom is named satan. Remember, god doesnt inflict anything nasty on job with his own divine power. Job is brought through a number of tribulations, from the loss of his entire family to malignant skin diseases. Ayyub is also considered a prophet job is presented as a good and prosperous family man who is beset by satan with gods. How could satan access heaven in the books of job and the. If you find yourself in the job market, remember that god has planned a particular job for you. The name job is mentioned only 54 times and mostly just in the book of job. This reference in james is the only time job is mentioned by name in the n. God removes jobs protection, and gives permission to the angel to take his wealth, his children, and his physical health but not his life. And when elihu is finished, god speaks to job and not to elihu. The forcefulness that job had shown throughout the book in defending his own rightness and demanding an answer from god implied that god needed correction. The most obvious place to turn on such questions is the book of job, which gives me more questions than answers. He concludes his speech with an effort to speak on god s behalf and by ascribing righteousness to the almighty. Job is the last of the three books that explore these themes of biblical wisdom.
Jobs faith in god is put to the extreme test, and the story intimates that jobs commitment to god wanes. Job chapters 1 and 2, part of the bibles oldest book, say that satan has access to heaven. As the economy worsens, more and more people now need, or fear they will soon need, a new job. Sermon outlines the book of job god speaks to job 38. After two chapters of questions that revealed jobs lack of knowledge and yahwehs fullness of understanding, yahweh offers to job the opportunity to make his speech. I have not taught on this subject in a very long time but i received a question that needed to be answered. The hebrew book of job is part of ketuvim writings of the jewish bible. At his lowest moment, job blesses gods authority over all the circumstances of life, good or bad. Also, there are several other biblical names for god including in the book of job none of them are as ubiquitous as god so for every argument you want to put forward about changing the ubiquitous god with the lessfrequently used yahweh, i can make a similar argument for any of the other names of god in judaism. Suddenly, god speaks to job out of the whirlwind and grants him his desire. Job was a just and perfect man who walked uprightly before the lord. Also, there are several other biblical names for godincluding in the book of jobnone of them are as ubiquitous as godso for every argument you want to put forward about changing the ubiquitous god with the lessfrequently used yahweh, i can make a similar argument for any of the other names of god in judaism. Whether job is capable of answering remains to be seen. In the book of job satan and god talk to each other.
An exposition of the book of job by john pople paperback online at lulu. Jobs story invites us to consider what it means that god runs the world. Should we accept from god only good and not adversity. The angel known as the satan hebrew for the adversary, as told in the book of job, challenges god to test the devotion and piety of the righteous man job. The book of job has been widely given the theme of patience and we see this mentioned in the new testament book of james.
While the book makes it perfectly clear that jobs suffering did not result from his sin, he never gets an answer about why he suffered. Job s wife implies that death is preferable to such a life as job now leads and must expect to lead henceforward. Jobs, the doxology, then speaks what is right aboutto god becomes. Rowley, reflects, the book of job is the greatest work of genius in the old testament, and one of the worlds artistic masterpieces h. Thus, god allowed satan to take everything away from job. For more thoughts on the two sections, check out the genre section. Jobs friends contend that his misery is a direct result of sin in his life. He concludes his speech with an effort to speak on gods behalf and. To most it would seem an absurd notionbut not to job. Thomas walks us through the book of job and considers what the bible says about our darkest moments. Dead mans chest when summoning the kraken, davy jones channels the book of job, saying, let this day be cursed by we who ready to wake the. Job loses all of his worldly goods, his children and servants, as well as his health.
Job 1 kjv there was a man in the land of uz, bible gateway. God boasts about job, whom god considers to be an outstanding example of what a religious person should be. Those that presented themselves before god where gods onlybegotten son jesus,john 1. His recovery journey brought him from a job as a pharmacist to. The debate is about god, his attributes and how he interacts with humankind. Job 38 niv the lord speaks then the lord spoke bible. It is sovereign, it blows where it will, and except a man be.
Years later, in the book of the revelation, the apostle john wrote about a future day when satan will be kicked out. But job neither assumes god is punishing him nor becomes bitter over gods treatment. This is why the book of job is considered the most theological book of the old testament. Elihu charges job with adding to his sin by multiplying words against god without knowledge 34. Gustavo says that this disinterested religion alone is true religion. Job, upon seeing such a beautiful a woman, would have immediately laid down his arms against god in the knowledge that hey, he got the short end of the stick, but god is aokay. After all, desperate times call for desperate measures. Aug 23, 2017 this post is adapted from the bible study job by eric ortlund. Not much is known about job based on the masoretic text of the jewish bible.
As a result, satan kills his family, his animals, his crops, and gives him boils all over his body. Jul 30, 2015 it was not easy to get a hold of this book. He addresses the difficult question of the relationship between gods sovereignty and the existence of evil, sin, and suffering. Job does not believe he has sinned and doesnt understand why he is suffering. We ought to take a look at our own life and ask ourselves the same question ii corinthians. But once it finally arrived from india i was spiritually encouraged through its words. God responds but doesnt answer so after the debate i covered last time between job and his 3 friends if you can call them that there is a shift in the book of job. Gustavo gutierrez, a leading liberation theologian, in on job.
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