6 Job ESCHATOLOGY IN THE BOOK OF JOB Darkness has settled over the land of Uz. A solitary figure sits on the city dump in abject silence. He looks like a ?man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.? As he sits among the ashes and the debris of the garbage dump, we notice that he is covered with boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. He has a broken piece of pottery with which he is scraping the pus from his putrefying sores. Worms are devouring the remains of the purulence that once was healthy tissue. The man?s face is turned up ward as if in prayer. Our eyes turn away in horror from the sight as we learn that this is the climax to a series of horrendous episodes that have recently occurred in this man?s life. Until a few day ago, he was the wealthiest man in the east. Now, his 7,000 sheep he burned to a crisp where a strange fire from heaven burned them alive. His 3,000 camels, 300 yoke of oxen and 500 she asses have all been stolen. All of his servants but three have been killed. His maids, whose lives were spared, looked upon him as a stranger and an alien. Job 19:15 emphasizes, ?They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight? (KJB). Before Job could catch his breath from these disasters, a whirlwind from the wilderness demolished the home where his ten children were gathered. All were killed. Job has recently returned from the cemetery after burying all ten of his grown children in one day. To pour the final dregs of acid into the already bleeding wounds, his wife has turned against him. We can hear him softly weeping as he brushes away the worms and waits for the inevitable. Joseph Parker notes with interest: Parker, loc. cit., p. 25: Look at the picture, and as you look at it write underneath. This is what the enemy would do in every case. If there is any other picture in human life, do not credit that picture to the devil; if there is a happy little child anywhere, do not say, This is the devil?s work:? if today in all life?s black misery there is a man who is momentarily glad, call that gladness a miracle of God: we owe nothing of beauty, music, love, trust, progress to the enemy; every smile is a sunbeam from above, every throb of gladness is communicated from the life of God. What terrible crime has this man committed that would cause God to punish him in such a manner. Every heathen knows that when you please the ?gods? things will go well for you. When you displease them, however, you are punished. Compare Acts 28:1-6: ?And when they were escaped, then they knew that the is land was called Melita. And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hanging his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he bath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god? (KJB). Only a direct revelation from Almighty God can solve this problem. The fact of the matter is, Job has not sinned. Not only that, he was a servant of God. God said of Job, (Job 2:3), ?And the LORD said unto Satan. Host thou considered my servant Job. that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause? (KJB). How confusing to the depraved human mind that is filled with its own religious philosophies and pagan ideas about how God should act and deal with humans. Later God has revealed to Isaiah, (Isaiah 55:9-11): ?For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word he that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it? (KJB). For what reason would God allow a perfect, upright and evil shunning man to suffer as though he were a wicked, God-defying, Hell-bound atheist? Admittedly, even though Job walked with the Lord and had truth revealed to him that modern man is recently discovering, nevertheless, Job had much to learn about the ways of God Job did not have Psalm 23 to comfort him during his trials for It would be over 1,000 years be fore God would give this Psalm to David. He did not have Romans 8:28, for it would be over 2,000 years before God would reveal that truth to Paul. Yet, without one verse of written Scripture upon which he could lean, Job displays a faith in God that is remarkable. Lewis Sperry Chafer observes, Chafer loc. cit., Vol VI, p. 70: All that Job had on which to live for God was wholly apart from even one verse of written Scripture. Although Job was confused as to why he was suffering as he was, he could look up into heaven and say, ?Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him . . .? (Job 13:15). At the conclusion of Job?s experience when he meets again with God face to face, the Lord never once apologizes to Job for putting Job through this time of agonizing torment. This shows that God is perfectly just in dealing with the clay as the Potter sees best. This is displayed in Paul?s Epistle to the Romans 9:21, ?Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour. and another unto dishonour?? (KJB). Job recognized this right. Rather than charging God foolishly, Job repented and yielded himself anew to his Wonderful Lord. Someone has said, ?Earth is the place for trusting while Heaven is the place for under standing.? The Divine record does not reveal that God ever explained to Job why he had to suffer as he did. Job, on the other hand, merely kept on trusting his Lord. The lesson for the saints today is obvious. Although Job may have never known why he suffered as a criminal when there was not another man on earth as upright as he; yet today, through God?s additional revelations through His words, our spiritual perception is increased. Let us take our spiritual telescope and peer down through the ages until about the third decade A.D. A rich man lives in the land of Palestine. This man was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. There was a certain beggar named Lazarus lying at his gate covered with sores, (compare Job). The beggar was slowly dying with no one to comfort him or to attend to his aching body. Nobody, that is, but the dogs who came and licked his sores. Lazarus, who by faith was saved through grace, died and went to paradise. The rich man also died and in Hell he suffered the agonies of the damned. His screams for a few drops of water to cool his parched tongue echoed throughout the corridors of Hell and resounded to the solitude of Paradise; but all to no avail. Jesus tells the story of these real life characters in Luke 16:19-31: ?There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there wag a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man?s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham?s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, arid Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou m thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this. between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father?s house: For I have five brethren: that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets. neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead? (KJB). The captivity of Lazarus has been turned. Joseph Parker comments. Parker, loc. cit., p. 412: ?Do not ask a free man what liberty means; ask an emancipated slave.? While Lazarus en-joys his emancipation from an emaciated, pain racked body, the rich man had entered into the captivity of an eternal torture where, ? . . . . their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched . . .? (Isaiah 66:24). Little did Job realize that God was giving him the privilege of foreshadowing the truth that the ?. . . light affliction of the saved is but for a moment . . .? (2 Corinthians 4:17). On the other hand, the temporary agonies that he endured for a season would be experienced by the lost for all eternity. Revelation 20:11-15 gives us this horrid fact: ?And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the hooks, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire? (KJB). The man in John Chapter Nine was born blind. Neither he, nor his parents were guilty of any particular sins for which they were being punished. The purpose was to provide the Savior with an illustration. The truth is given in John 9:1-5: ?And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should he made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while if is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world? (KJB). Likewise, Job was permitted to suffer wretchedly, as a righteous man, to comfort all the saints such as Lazarus who will live a life of sickness, disease, starvation and finally death, all without human compassion. When his captivity is turned, however, then he will learn with Job that there will be nothing but peace and joy evermore. Once again Joseph Parker calls attention to this dying truth. He comments, Parker, loc. cit., pp. 3-5: In what good man?s sick chamber is not Job welcome? Welcome because he can utter the whole gamut of human woe. We can find words for the heart that is ill at ease, and prayers for lips which have been chilled and silenced by unbelief. His woe belongs to the whole world. All other woe is as the dripping of an icicle compared with the rush of stormy waters. Job is also a picture of the agonies the sinner will suffer in Hell, so that the poor lost sinner will he encouraged to be saved and avoid that ghastly future. Job was willing to be a perfect example of what a sinner will suffer at the hands of God in the Lake of Fire. Revelation 20:15 gives the account, ?And whosoever was not found written in the hook of life was cast into the lake of fire.? As we adjust the telescope to peer into the future a few more years from Job?s viewpoint, we see a bloody mass of humanity nailed to a cross. He is so horribly mutilated that He does not look human. Isaiah 52:14 relates the event as follows. ?As many were astonied at thee: his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men? (KJB). We look at His crimes nailed to the CROSS above His head and see it merely says, ?THE KING OF THE JEWS.? John 19:19 declares, ?And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing wax, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS? (KJB). Judas, His betrayer confesses that he had betrayed innocent blood, Matthew 27:34, ?Then Judas. which had betrayeth him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that? (KJB). Pilate, His judge, who sentenced Him to death declared that he was innocent, Matthew 27:24, ?When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing. but that rather a tumult was made. he took water. and wash ed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it? (KJB). The centurion who watched Him die testified that Christ was the Son of God. Matthew 27:54, ?Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake. and those things that were done. they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God? (KJB). Obviously, the Lord Jesus Christ was dying without a personal cause, even as Job suffered without a cause. In this manner. Job had the unspeakable privilege of foreshadowing his Redeemer in His vicarious death on the cross of Calvary. Note the comparison In the following verses: Job 2:3, ?And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause? (KJB). John 15:25, ?But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause? (KJB). While Job is suffering in the land of Uz, a young man is living with his father, Terah, far to the east in the Ur of the Chaldees. This man, whose name was Abram, will soon be called to leave that land and travel to the land of Canaan. In this land, God will make him the father of a nation of people called by various names; Hebrews, Jews, Israel, the Children of Jacob and the Sons of Abraham. These Hebrews will have a unique part In God?s plan for the world. It will be through this nation that the Messiah will come. As a result of their relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ, Israel will be the special objects of Satan?s hatred amid attack. They will be a suffering people throughout their life time as the special objects of Satan?s hatred. Rose Warmer, a personal acquaintance of the author, relates this incident from her days of suffering as a Christian - Jew in Hitler?s Extermination Camps, She recalls: Myrna Grant, The Journey (Wheaton, 1978), pp. 118-119: During roll call we could see the huge camp chimneys spewing flames and smoke. Sometimes an SS person would tell us, ?Your people are burned alive here ? . . . When we arrived exhausted at the so-called showers, we were ordered to strip . . . . The undressing was to view our bodies, to judge who among us still had enough flesh to be able to work, who would be liquidated.... We were given a stony piece of gray ?soap.? Stamped on it were the letters ?R.J.F.? . . . Later I was appalled to learn that the letters stood for ?Reines Juddishes Fett,? which means, ?Pure Jewish Fat.? What I held in my own hands was made from the bodies of Jews after they were gassed. The only way to explain such beast like actions by a nation 98% literate is to know that the same Devil who tortured Job was the same Serpent who impelled an otherwise brilliant people to behave like devils under orders from a higher authority. The persecutor of Job will cause the nations of the world to hate Israel without a cause even though God has promised in Genesis 12:3, ?And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.? (KJB). History has proved this promise to be true. Satan, with his power to blind the minds of men and women. continues to curse these people through his willing dupes. Sadly, these deluded masses will pay a dreadful price by perpetrating these tortures, sufferings and cursing against Israel. Having introduced the reality of Job being used as a picture of future events, we now adjust our telescope to a time that is yet in the future (beyond 1981). The time will occur immediately following the Rapture of the Church. This period is generally known as ?The Time of Tribulation? lasting for seven years. This seven year period is divided into two parts. The first period begins when Satan will empower the world ruler, the antichrist, to make a peace covenant with Israel. In the middle of the seven year period, the antichrist will break this covenant by Satan?s personal appearance as God to usurp the throne of the True Messiah. At this time, Israel will suffer as no other people have ever suffered who have walked on the face of this planet earth. This period of dreadful torture will also be known as the ?Time of Jacob?s Trouble.? Job?s experience is a foretaste of the grotesque tribulation of the nation of Israel, who will suffer without a cause, at the hands of the same Devil who tormented and tortured Job. Compare the fol lowing verses: Jeremiah 30:7, ?Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob?s trouble: but he shall be saved out of it? (KJB). Daniel 9:27, ?And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate? (KJB). Matthew 24:21, ?For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be? (KJB). 2 Thessalonians 2.4, ?Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, she wing himself that he is God? (KJB). Charles Feinberg assures us as follows: Feinberg , Israel p.51 God delivered Job permissively into the hands and devices of the enemy Satan for dreadful trials. In a similar manner God delivered over the dearly beloved of His soul into the hands of her enemies (Jeremiah 12:7*). As Job was stripped of all, so was Israel (Lamentations 5:1-5*). This is true in a greater measure today than it was in Jeremiah?s day when he wrote Lamentations. Many were the waves and billows of woe that came over Job. How many and of what magnitude have been that have swept over Israel and still engulf her in this hour! *Jeremiah 12:7 I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. (KJB) *Lamentations 5:1-5 1 Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach. 2 Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. 3 We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. 4 We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us. 5 Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest. (KJB) After reciting the long history of Israel?s suffering from the time of the Pharaoh, through Amalek, Haman, Antiochus Ephiphanes, their suffering throughout the Middle Ages (Dark Ages) together with the horrors of the bloodstained days of the Spanish Inquisition, their suffering under Hitler, U.S.S.R. and many other countries, Dr. Feinberg concludes by adding, ?And the end is definitely not yet. Israel?s history has been a long concatenation of woes.? (Feinberg, Israel, p. 52). The Authorized Version of 1611 preserves for the English reader a remarkably designed coincidence relative to the Book of Job. For example: The Old Testament of our Savior?s day was divided into three divisions; The Law (Torah); The Prophets (Nevi?m); and the Writings (Kethuvim). Our Savior who used The Hebrew Tanakh, Who never, never used Greek scrolls; (as silly Bible teachers would have us believe), confirmed these divisions and parameters in two places: Matthew 23:35, ?That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel (Genesis) unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, (2 Chronicles) whom ye slew between the temple and the altar? (KJB). Luke 24:44, ?And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses , (Torah) and in the prophets, (Nevi?m) and in the psalms, (Kethuvim) concerning me.? The Bible of the Hebrews is called ?The Tanakh.? The ?T? stands for Torah; ?n? stands for Nevi?m and ?k? stands. for Kethuvim. The Tanakh contains the exact amount of material as the Authorized Version of 1611. However, the Tanakh combines some books and places the books in a different order. The last Book in the Tanakh is 2 Chronicles which ended with a command from a Gentile king for the Hebrews to go up to Jerusalem and build the Temple. Therefore, the Hebrew Bible ends with the following command to the Hebrews, 2 Chronicles 36:23, ?Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.? (KJB). This is not without design. Although its immediate fulfillment took place under Cyrus, King of Persia, circa 538 B.C., its future fulfillment is yet to occur under the direction of the antichrist. In other words, God designed the words of tile Hebrew Bible to meet the needs of the Hebrew People. It is interesting to note in passing that the last prayer in the Sedar service which begins the Passover season is, ?1'Shanah ha?ba? a? b?Yerushalayim? or ?Next year in Jerusalem.? This refers to carrying out the commands in the last verse in the Hebrew Bible to go up to Jerusalem to build the Temple. In contrast, our Authorized Bible ends with the Book of Malachi and the words, ?with a curse.? Malachi 4:6 declares, ?And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse? (KJB). Whereas the last verse in the Hebrew Bible instructs the Jews to go up to Jerusalem and build the Temple, the Gentiles Bible places Gentiles under a curse. Our New Testament develops into a study of how Gentiles can escape the curse of sin and be justified by faith through the Lord Jesus Christ. The last command to the Hebrews could very well be the first command the antichrist will issue to the Jews when he makes his covenant with them. Daniel 9:27 speaks of this fact, ?And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate? (KJB) . On Monday, January 16, 1604 A.D., Dr. John Rainolds, a Puritan, received permission from King James of England to give the English speaking people a new translation. (Gustavus S. Paine, The Men Behind The King James Bible, (Grand Rapids, 1979), p.1). The king consented. Rainolds then gathered the greatest group of scholars who were ever assembled to accomplish this task. They began with 48 men, but the concluding number was 54 who worked on the translation because of the deaths of six of the men who were replaced. The amazing thing is that Rainolds chose men, most of whom violently disagreed with him in doctrine. They were chosen for their leadership in some area of linguistics. They ranged from High Anglican churchmen to Puritans: absolutely extremes as far as doctrinal beliefs were concerned. There was one main stipulation. The entire committee must agree with every word that would be entered into this new translation. They violently argued, disagreed and at times became angry because one did not get his own way. A miracle happened. In the final analysis, when the work was completed every man on the committee agreed with every word that was placed in the Authorized Version (KJB). Although they were highly recognized scholars, their testimony was that they had produced a work that was beyond their individual or collective capabilities. H. L. Menchen gives this testimony: Ibid., . viii.): . It is the most beautiful of all the translations of the Bible; indeed, it is probably the most beautiful piece of writing in all the literature of the world. Many attempts have been made to purge it of its errors and obscurities. An English Revised Version was published in 1885 and an American Revised Version in 1901. Since then many learned but misguided men have sought to produce translations that should be mathematically accurate, and in the plain speech of everyday. But the Authorized Version has never yielded to any of them, for it is palpably and overwhelmingly better than they are, just as it is better than the Greek New Testament, or the Vulgate, or the Septuagint. Its English is extra ordinarily simply, pure, eloquent and lovely. It is a mine of lordly and incomparable poetry, at once the most stirring and the most touching ever heard of. For readers who may wish to pursue this investigation farther, you might consult the scholarly works of Dean Burgon, Robert Dick Wilson, David Otis Fuller and Edward F. Hills to mention a few. The author has introduced this point to make the comparison between the Hebrew Bible that God gave and preserved for the Jews and then to observe that God gave and preserved for the English speaking people His words in the English language. Since the translators of the Authorized Version acknowledged that they were led of God in their translation, it proves interesting that they included unobserved truth that God led them to include. For an example: No one would accuse most of these translators of being Pre- Millennial in their doctrine. Nevertheless, in their order of Old Testament arrangement of Books, with reference to Job, we see an obvious Pre-Millennial order to the Books. Observe: ? In 2 Chronicles the Jews are given permission by a Gentile king to return to their homeland. In Ezra, they return to Palestine as they did in 1948. ? InNehemiah they began rebuilding the land as they are doing at this present time. ? In Esther, we find a wedding and a great feast taking place and lasting for seven days. ? At the Rapture, a great feast and a wedding will be taking place in Heavenfor seven years. Job, the next Book in order is a picture of Job suffering persecution at the hands of Satan. Job sits on the ash pile for seven days and seven nights. Job is a picture of Israel suffering at the hands of the Devil for seven years. As God was silent during Job?s suffering, God will be silent during the years of Israel?s tribulation. The time of Jacob?s Trouble or the Great Tribulation will last for 42 months. It is a designed coincidence that there are exactly 42 chapters in the Book of Job. Remember, the Hebrew had no chapter and verse divisions, only Parashahs. Yet. when these Hebrew scholars gave us our English Bible, they assigned 42 chapters to the Book of Job. At the end of the Book of Job, Satan appears in the form of Leviathan exactly as he will appear in the middle of the Great Tribulation Period (Revelation 12:3-17). In Job, after Satan?s appearance, the Lord appears and ?turns the captivity of Job? exactly as the Lord will do at the close of the Great Tribulation for the nation of Israel (Revelation 19:11-16, ?And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.? (KJB) When the Lord appears again to Job, the Lord restores Job and doubles all of his wealth. Not only that. but Job?s ten children are all resurrected, exactly as there will be a resurrection of the tribulation saints at the end of the Great Tribulation. Note these references for your continued Bible study (Rev. 14:15-18; 11:12; (All these references here) Matt. 24:31; Luke 17:30-36; Job 19:25-27; Matt. 3:12; Matt. 25:1-13; Isaiah 26:20-21; 1 Corinthians 15:23-23). 1 Corinthians 15:23-30 ?But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. 29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? 30 And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?? (KJB). Andersen scoffs at the resurrection of Job?s ten children. He objects, (Andersen, loc. cit., p. 294: C. H. Gorden, in a public lecture, has suggested that Job?s children in chapter 42 are identical with the ones in chapter 1, raised from the dead. This is building too much on the minor difference in wording between 1:2 and 42:1 3. The author replies, when a scholar takes a critical view of the word of God, he is judged by God so that he can see only the words that are written on the paper that appear to him as any other words written in any other man?s book. The Bible is a ?spiritual? Book that is to be ?eaten? to sustain our souls and spirits. When a critic fails to appreciate this fact about the Bible, it becomes merely another book about which he can have his own opinions, taking what appeals to his intellect and rejecting that which may not suit his inclination. The Lord Jesus Christ said, ?In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth. that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight? (Luke 10:21). Obviously, Bible critics will never be able to see the truths that God will reveal through His word to those who will come with a submissive, humble, child-like attitude. To these, God reveals His secrets. Not only does Job give us the Pre-Millennial position for the Great Tribulation, but the next Bible Book is the Book of Psalms. In Psalm two, we see the Lord Jesus Christ reigning as King of kings and Lord of lords exactly as He will reign following the Great Tribulation when He will put all enemies under His feet, (1 Corinthians 15:25), ?For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet? (KJB). The antichrist and false prophet go into the Lake of Fire while Satan is chained in the bottomless pit with a ?dragon-chain? for 1,000 years until God is finished with him, (Revelation 20:1-3), ?And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand And he laid hold on the dragon, that old ser pent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cost him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season? (KJB). Then, Satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire where he will suffer forever, (Revelation 20:10), ?And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the fake prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever? (KJB). The next clear picture we see of Job as a type of Israel suffering at the hands of the Devil during the Tribulation Period has to do with God?s hiding of a remnant of His people in the exact land where Job suffered his persecution at the hands of Satan. Matthew tells the Jew when to expect this terrible tribulation . We read: Matthew 21:15-16, ?When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him under stand:) Then let them which being Judea flee into the mountains.? (KJB). Matthew 24:21, ?For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be? (KJB). At this time Satan will attempt to exterminate every Jew on the face of the earth. Isaiah 1:9 informs us, ?Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah? (KJB): Scofield has this note concerning the remnant of Israel, (Scofield, loc. cit., p.1205): . . . But the chief interest in the remnant is prophetic. During the great tribulation a remnant out of all Israel will turn to Jesus as Messiah, and will become His witnesses after the removal of the church (Rev. 7:3-8)*. Some of these will undergo martyrdom (Rev. 6:9-11*), some will be spared to enter the millennial kingdom (Zech. 12:6-13*). Our interest in the remnant relationship to the Book of Job is that the remnant will be spared and hidden away by God. In Revelation 12:14 God tells us. ?And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, (42 months) from the face of the serpent.? We have already established in Chapter 2 of this study that the land of Uz was located in the land of Edom. One of the leading cities was the city of Petra. It is possible that this was the very city of Job, but as yet this cannot be proved conclusively. A description of the city of Petra as we know it today might prove to be helpful. Zachariah 14:5 promises, ?And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains: for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee? (KJB); Salem Kirban suggests, ?There are some who have suggested that the area to which the Jews will flee is the rock city of Petra. Petra, once called ?the rainbow city? because of its various hues of color in the stone. had 275,000 inhabitants.? (Salem Kirban, The Day Israel Dies (Huntingdon Valley, Pa., 1975),p. 219). The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible describes the city as follows: (Tenny, The Greek word ?Petra? means ?rock.? The name describes an ancient city in Edom, near the Arabah. The setting of these rums is most impressive, reached by descending the Wadi Musa and passing through a magnificent gorge with high and frequent nearly-touching walls, known as the SIQ. This gorge is over a mile in length, which provided an excellent defense for the city. The city was situated in an open Basin, approximately a mile in length by three-fourths of a mile in width. . . Perpendicular cliffs are covered with tombs and other facades carved into the native rock. These date primarily from the Nabatean times, as Petra was their capital from about the close of the 4th century B.C. to A.D. 105, when it was incorporated into Roman Territory. The name ?Sela? seems to have been associated with the ancient settlement, but the only Edomite ruins with the ancient settlement, but the only Edomite ruins are found at Umm el-Biyyara, a fortress built on the top of a high and nearly inaccessible mountain standing independently toward the northern part of the basin. References may be found in Judges 12 :36; 2 Kings 14:7; Isaiah 16:1; 41:11). Judges 1:36 ?And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.? (KJB) Kings 14:7 ?He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day.? (KJB) Isaiah 16:1 ?Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.? (KJB) Isaiah 41:11 ?Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.? (KJB) Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary describes Sela as follows: SELA ? [SEE luh] (rock, cliff)-- the name of three places in the Old Testament: ? 1. A fortress city, the capital of Edom, situated on the Wadi Musa ("the Valley of Moses") between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba (2 Kin. 14:7); (Selah, KJB). A rock formation about 1,160 meters (3,800 feet) above sea level, now known as Umm el-Bayyarah, the great acropolis of the Nabatean city of PETRA dominates the site. Sela was near Mount Hor, close to the Wilderness of Zin. Its name was changed to Joktheel by Amaziah, king of Judah, after he captured it (2 Kin. 14:7). Amaziah's men took 10,000 of the people of Seir (Edomites), "brought them to the top of the rock, and cast them down... so that they all were dashed in pieces" (2 Chr. 25:12), ?2 Chr 21:12 And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, (KJB)? ? 2. A place apparently in the territory of Judah near the boundary of the Amorites (Judg. 1:36); (the rock, KJB). Some scholars believe the site was in Amorite territory. Its exact location is unknown. ? 3. An unidentified site in Moab mentioned by Isaiah in a prophecy of doom (Isaiah. 16:1). (Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers) This great vacant rose colored city in the land of Job is surely one of the remaining breath taking wonders of the ancient world: This deserted ancient city has stood desolate since the fall of Rome: It has been a silent city of the forgotten past until recent years when it has been opened for tourists: To reach it requires a long and arduous trip through the desert including a bone shaking ride through the SIQ on pack animals: The guides estimate that this natural amphitheater could hold one and a half-million people: Two fascinating sights capture your attention as you travel through the SIQ. The first is?Ain Muse? or the spring of Moses where he caused water to gush forth from the rock: The account is given in Numbers 20:8-11: ?Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him: And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also? (KJB). The waters from this spring are still flowing after 3,500 years. Clay pipes carry water into the city completely hidden from all who would try to find them. The second eye catching sight is the carving of a huge eagle that faces you as you move through the SIQ. It is assumed the eagle was carved there by the Romans, but how interesting that Revelation 12:14 ties the remnant of Israel?s flight to this land with an eagle. Revelation 12:14 reads, ?And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent? (KJB) Did God have the Romans carve the eagle there to mark the spot where He wanted His remnant to hide from the antichrist? The author believes this is so. In the author?s evaluation of this ancient city of Job, together with all the other Bible clues, Petra is the place where God will hide His people from the antichrist for 42 months The water for drinking and making life easier is already there. Once the remnant is safely inside, one hand grenade could bring the walls of the SIQ together to seal the inhabitants off from the outside world: Micah 7:14-15 tells us that God will feed Israel with manna as He did in the days of the Exodus from Egypt: Micah 7:14-15 reads, ?Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood: in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead. as in the days of old. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things? (KJB): This city of Job is described in Jeremiah as a place where eagles dwell arid Edom as desolation whereby people who pass by will be astonished and shall hiss at it: (Jeremiah 49:16-I 7). ?Thy terribleness hath deceived thee. and the pride of thine heart. 0 thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD. Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof? (KJB). Jeremiah 49:22 indicates that the Lord will hover over that bowl city like a helicopter to protect His people, ?Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozarah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs? (KJB). Although the Lord will provide His people in Petra with Manna and water while He hovers over them and covers them with His wings, Satan will have one more plan. Here is where our ?old friend, Behemoth? enters into the picture. In Job 40:23, we read of Behemoth. ?Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth? (KJB). The Jordan River is due north of Petra. God?s Remnant is safely protected aerially by the Lord and surrounded by impregnable cliffs. The one weapon remaining is a flood that would pour into that gigantic amphitheater and drown all of its occupants. Evidently, the Devil will try this scheme. Daniel 9:26 declares ?and the end thereof shall be with a flood . . . .? The context is the Great Tribulation. In Revelation 12:15-16 we read, ?And the serpent cast out of his mouth wafer as a flood after the woman. that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth? (KJB). The Lord protects His Remnant from this flood of water by causing the earth to open and swallow up the flood waters before they can drown His people in the ?bowl? city of Petra. Behemoth will be frustrated in this attempt to draw the Jordan River up into his mouth and then spew the water into the city of Petra, Observe how otherwise obscure passages of Scripture when analyzed together give us a very plausible picture of the work of Satan and the protecting hand of an Almighty God. As with Job, in the blackness of suffering and despair; when Israel will be at the end of her strength and endurance; perhaps with Job, cursing the day she was born as a nation to be hated by all the people of the world; then it will happen. Israel will look up and as with Saul of old will see the Savior. They will cry, ?Baruch ha ba?b?shem Adonai,? (?Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the I Lord.?). is the cry that will bring hack the Messiah as recorded in Matthew? 3:38-39; ?Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you. Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord? (KJB). Matthew 24:30 describes the return of the Messiah, ?And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory? (KJB). The Remnant of Israel will then recognize their Messiah to be the One long ago rejected by their forefathers. The cry of Israel will break the air, (Zechariah 13:6), ?And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends? (KJB). Israel will then break out in tears of repentance and joy as they recognize their Messiah, (Zechariah 12:10), ?And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced. and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn? (KJB). The next in the series of events is recorded in Revelation 19:11-21: It is interesting to note, however, when the Lord returns to fight the battle of Armageddon, He does not come first to the Mount of Olives. No! He comes sweeping out of Heaven on His White Horse and heads for the land of Job to pickup His Remnant He has been nurturing for 42 months in the land of Job. We read in Isaiah 63:1. 4: ?Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my rainment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart. and the year of my redeemed is come? (KJB). After gathering up His own in Petra, the King sweeps north to the Mount of Olives, then on farther north to complete the battle of Armageddon and the total defeat of Behemoth and Leviathan of Job. As with that old saint who foreshadowed the Devil-harassed nation of Israel, finally the ?captivity of Israel will be turned;? the resurrection of the Tribulation saints a reality and the beginning of the thousand year reign to commence. As Job was rewarded for his role by God, the faithful of Israel will have the joy of Zechariah Chapter 14 fulfilled. Charles concludes; Feinberg, loc. cit., 64): The problem of Job is solved; that of Israel will he too. Then it will be seen that afflictions try piety as well as iniquity. Trials develop faith. Hardships lead to clearer views of God. Tribulations draw the soul nearer to God. What formerly considered an unbearable burden is seen to be an abiding blessing. What matters if God permits us to he delivered into the hands of the enemy, or allows us to he subjected to the vitriolic ministration of physicians of no value, as long as in the end of it all we may have that meeting with Him face to face, to minister to our every need. The Book of Job has a happy ending. Somehow, the human heart feels that this is as it should be. Since there is a God, then we feel that He must balance all accounts. Those who love and serve Him, no matter how deep the testings and trials, must live happily ever after. Those who have been wicked, unrepentant and Christ- rejecting somehow must be made to pay the dreadful price. This is exactly how God?s program works. Job lived happily ever after. Not all scholars are pleased with this fact, however. The happy ending of Job provoked this comment from Andersen. He said, (Andersen, loc. cit., 294), Some scholars have complained that the story is ruined by the happy ending, as if the author had slipped back into the crude theology of punishment and rewards which it was his aim in the discourses to discredit, or had been unable to expurgate this feature from the basic folk-story, even though it contradicted his theses.? This crude analysis, of course, falls under the weight of its own absurdity. We quote it merely show how far the unregenerate mind can drift into a cloud-land of unreality.Job?s life ends exactly as every child of God knows it will. For Israel, of whom Job was a type, her blackest night time of suffering and despair lies before her. As we close the Book of Job, let us listen to one of Israel?s daughters as she returns home from the nightmare of a Nazi death camp to face a future of service for her Lord in Palestine. Rose Wanner relates her happy landing in Israel: (Grant. loc. cit., p. 204): It was a hot summer dawn when I stepped from the plane. My foot touched the pavement. I was automatically a citizen. Hitler had not prevailed. I was living proof that God remains faithful to His people. Tears of happiness streamed down my face. In a blur of blue I saw above me the Star of David proudly billowing in the morning sky. I was part of the Promise! I had returned. From a tormented part of my mind came the chant I had heard from those entering the gas chambers at Auschwitz. ?Ani ma?amin be?emuns shlema beviat ha-Mashia? (I believe in perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah)!? I had returned, but the best of us did not return. I would not fail their memory, nor the One who had His own Auschwitz on a cross so many centuries before. My hand tightened around the little Bible I was carrying I had much work to do. ? EVEN SO, COME, LORD JESUS!?