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AN ABSTRACT OF THE BOOK
The Book Of Job is a library of embryonic facts that later developed into complete theological doctrines. Therefore, Job has been considered as an example of God's objective use of historical characters who reflect future events, doctrinal and spiritual applications for the Bible believer's growth and edification.
The author has diligently and prayerfully studied the 42 chapters of the Book of Job following the Bible command to compare Scripture with Scripture for the correct conclusions God desires the Bible student to reach.
This Biblical research has proved Job to be a historical character who lived in a discernible place at a particular period in history. Pertinent facts about the Book are also included such as zoological and scientific data found in the Book of Job.
The author sets forth the Biblical account of the origin of Satan; his fall; his present and future relationships to both God and man; his future with Israel in the roles of Behemoth, the antichrist and Leviathan, the Devil himself, all in a Pre-Millennial setting.
The author has compared Job's knowledge of salvation with New Testament salvation; the Lord Jesus Christ as Redeemer; His present and future relationships to the church; and the nation of Israel as He defends these groups against Satan.
Job has been shown to be a foreshadowing of the believer suffering at the hands of Satan; sinners suffering in Hell; Christ's sufferings for the redemption of mankind; Israel suffering in the Great. Tribulation Period,' dealing especially with the remnant of Israel.
INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF JOB
Outline of Job
The Book of Job is referred to as the "Patriarch's Bible" by Samuel Garratt, (Samuel Garratt, The Discipline of Suffering, (London, 1889, p. vi.). This is because this great writing is the oldest Book in the Bible, relative to the time of writing, not however, from the viewpoint of its chronological events. Until the time of Moses, when God commissioned him to write the Torah, the Book of Job remained the only bible available to such men as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The great Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob, must have likewise received his inspiration to live a godly life from its pages. As a result, Joseph was able to endure the sufferings and persecutions he faced all, "without a cause.,"
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Genesis 40:15; Job 2:3; John 15:25; Psalm 35:11; Psalm 69:4; 1 Peter 2:20
It may have been through the Book of Job that Moses received his early training from Amram and Jockebed.
Exodus 6:20
Hebrews 11:23,
As Moses studied its Holy instructions, he very well may have been inspired by the life of Job to know that it was better to suffer for Christ than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
Hebrews 11:25
Job's unspotted character could well have been the key that assured Moses that enduring the reproach of Christ would be far more profitable than owning all the treasures of Egypt.
Until the days of Job, and for centuries after his death, God communicated with man through dreams, visions, anthropomorphic appearances, plus audible communication.
Dreams:
Visions:
Anthropomorphic appearances:
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Genesis 18:1
Audible communications:
From now on, until Moses completes the Torah (Pentateuch ), man will have one written Book to be his guide. Long before Moses will write, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God . . ."), the Book of Job will be man's exclusive Book of Divine Authority.
When God begins His next series of writings, the five Books of Moses, God will have already expressed His interest in man's spiritual needs, his physical needs, his material needs and a compendium of New Testament truth that will be expanded at a later date. It will come as no surprise to the student of the Scriptures that God is infinitely more interested in man's needs than He is in telling man of the creation of material things. For this reason alone, we should praise God for placing this most unusual Book in the Sacred Canon of Scripture, the Book of Job.
Although the Book of Job is packed with scientific knowledge,
( see Job 38-40 ).
the theme is not of the material world, but rather in the areas of the spiritual and
physical needs of mankind. Man knows that he gets sick; loses his wealth; is robbed by
bandits; watches his loved ones get sick and die; sees his home torn to pieces by a
tornado; and then one day he will get sick and die also. The worms will complete what
the natural forces of deterioration fail to accomplish.
Man is faced with the real problems of life such as these, not in the
insignificant programs of getting to the moon or in knowing the specific gravity
of gold E+MC 2 pales into insignificance when a man is lying on his death bed,
screaming with the pain of cancer and yet he has three months remaining before
being relieved mercifully by death.
- Why does man suffer?
- Is there a God?
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If there is a God, why does He allow suffering to take place?
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Do the worms end man's existence?
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Is there a life beyond the grave?
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After man's body returns to the dust of the ground, will he ever stand in his body once more?
Will man be required to face God in his body?
If he must face God, what must he do to be prepared to meet God?
Can a man live such a righteous life in him self that he will find favor with God or does man need a Redeemer?
Why do some people live a life of sin and yet seem to prosper?
Why do other people live a decent and respectable life and yet suffer grotesquely?
Are there unseen forces at work that motivate man to live an ungodly life that will result in his own destruction together with the destruction of all things about him?
These are the real issues of life that man faces daily. How wonderful, that when God decided to write His first Book, it would contain all of these answers to man's fundamental problems of life, plus scores of other basic, but previously unrevealed truths?
God selected Abraham by Divine decree to be the father of a nation of people to be known as Israel. Through this nation God would bless the world. On the other hand, God chose Job to he the man through whom He would give to the world the answers to the elementary needs and problems of every man, woman and child on the earth.
- Is there life after death?
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Is there a real Devil?
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Is there an authentic Hell?
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Is there a literal Heaven?
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Is there a Daysman to represent man before God so that man can find favor in God's sight when man must appear before the Judge of all creation?
These are a few more of the problems to which the Lord addresses Himself through this unique character named Job.
Job and his four companions were Gentiles. Therefore, scholars cannot prove conclusively in what language Elihu wrote the Book of Job originally. They speculate that it could have been written in Arabic, Syrian or Chaldean. We do know, however, that when the Book of Job became a part of the Sacred Canon of Scripture, it was entered in the most beautiful Hebrew poetry that has captivated the literary minds of the ages. Roland V.
Hudson makes these pertinent re-marks: (Roland V. Hudson, Bible Survey Outlines (Grand Rapids, 1941, p.113):
Many people consider it the most remarkable book in the Holy Scriptures. Martin Luther regarded it as "more magnificent and sublime and any other Book of Scriptures." Thomas Carlyle wrote of it as "one of the grandest things ever written with pen." Victor Hugo speaks of the Book of Job as "the greatest product of the human mind of all ages." Alfred Lord Tennyson called it, "the great test poem, whether of ancient or modern literature." There is no doubt but that it is the most sublime dramatic poem in all literature.
The style of the writing of the Book of Job has impressed the Hebrew reader as well as the German, Latin, Greek and English readers. Undoubtedly, the great scholars have read the works of Virgil, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Ovid, Keble, Horace, Puskin, Milton, Goethe, and the Bhahavadgita. Nevertheless, they rank the Book of Job as surpassing all these masters of verse.
Herbert Lockyer describes the Book of Job as being, "The most ancient book known, conspicuous for its revelation of the theological and intellectual culture of the patriarchal age." He continues, "Almost every important doctrine is found therein, in addition to scientific truth only fully discovered in our time." (Herbert Lockyer, All The Books And Chapters Of The Bible, (Grand Rapids, 1980), p. 110).
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John Peter Lange referred to the greatness of the book as follows, "The Book of Job, considering its antiquity, and artistic perfection, rises like a pyramid in the history of literature, without a predecessor and without a rival." (John Peter Lange, Commentary-Job, translated from the German and with additions by Philip Schaff (Grand Rapids, 1868), p. xxxii.).
Alexander Whyte adds this terse commentary, "The Book of Job is splendid, and, to this day, unapproachable as a composition." (Alexander Whyte, Bible Characters (Grand Rapids, 1981). p.380). The expression, "Handle with Care" needs to be printed over the Book of Job as we approach this recognized supernatural masterpiece direct from the heart of God.
Bible translators are in agreement that the Book of Job is the most difficult of all the Old Testament books to translate. The reasons seem to be twofold. First, the language of Elihu was put into modern Hebrew poetry form by the Masoretes. This incomparable Masoretic Text has been the object of scorn by 'scholars,' especially the liberal theologians since before the turn of the century. It became their joy to correct any passage that they could not understand by saying that it was corrupt. By re-writing the Masoretic Text, however, they did not solve the problems, but rather created new ones. All they succeeded in doing was to cover up the evidence of the truth.
Francis I. Anderson has declared, "Ultimately, we must go back to the Masoretic Text." He further observes, Recent discoveries, especially those derived from archaeology, now enables us to make sense of the Masoretic Text as it now stands." (Francis Anderson, Job An Introduction and Commentary- (London, 1 976), p.16).
The Septuagint has been proved to be so hopelessly corrupt that it can no longer intelligently be used to correct the Hebrew Masoretic Text. Samuel Terrien comments as follows: (The Interpreters Bible, (New York, 1 952), Job, Vol. III. pp.896-897).
Modern discoveries especially in the field of comparative linguistics, have proved more than once that a strange form or supposedly a "faulty spelling" had been rightly preserved by the Masoretes. Moreover, the testimony of the versions, especially that of the Septuagint, is not always helpful, for the Alexandrine and other translators often paraphrased and sometimes deliberately corrected the wording and the ideas of the original in order to elucidate obscure passages or even to impose a theological bias.
Such an admission coming from one who holds the position of Dr. Terrien seems almost unbelievable. Nevertheless, all Bible believers should recognize and appreciate such honest confessions from those who have not held to the plenary, verbal inspiration of the word of God. Equally surprising is the testimony coming from Andrew W. Blackwood as he calls attention to his own recent discovery. He observes: (Andrew W. Blackwood, Out Of The Whirlwind (Grand Rapids, 1979), p.28).
A group of scholars called the Masoretes, beginning about the seventh century of the Christian era, working to bring order out of confusion. In addition to reconciling the divergent readings, the Masoretes provided vowels, a luxury their predecessor scornfully and large, the Masoretic Text is excellent. "In a time when mass confusion reigns, even in fundamental circles over Bible texts and manuscripts, we delight in seeing more and more Bible scholars return to the text that gave us our great Authorized Bible of 1611.
Dr. Blackwood's remarks are pertinent to our study of the Book of Job. He further enlightens us by adding: (Blackwood, op. Cit, pp. 29,30).
I have heeded Dr. Terrien's admonition to proceed with caution in regard to tampering with the Masoretic Text. The Masoretes may not have recovered the Joban poet's words precisely, but they came much closer than I ever could. For myself, I believe the best translation of Job is the Authorized– or King James – Version.
The second of the problems facing the translators of the Book of Job has been the fact that it was written in Hebrew poetry, rather than in prose. Nevertheless, John Peter Lange makes this remarkable observation: (Lange, op. cit. p. xxxiii).
The Iliad of Homer, the Odes of Horace, Dante's Divina Comedia, Petrarca's Son-nets, Milton's Paradise Lost, Goethe's Faust, could not be translated in prose with-out losing their poetic charm, yea, their very soul. They must be freely reproduced in poetic form, and this can only be done by a poetic genius, and with more or less departure from the original. But the Psalms, the Book of Job and Isaiah can be translated by a good and devout scholar, in form as well as in substance, into any language, without sacrificing their beauty, sublimity, force, rhythm. The Latin, English, and German Psalters are as poetic as the Hebrew, and yet agree with it among themselves. It is impossible not to see here the hand of providence, which made the word of truth accessible to all.
Since the Hebrew style of writing was poetic in the Book of Job there has been a tendency on the part of many scholars, both liberal and evangelical, tend to make the Book of Job an allegory filled with parabolic expressions to be interpreted according to the whims of the translator or the reader, rather than accepting the book literally. In some cases, parts of the book have been accepted literally, while the difficult parts were interpreted as allegories, thus obscuring the truth of God's precious word.
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Such was the case of Gregory the Great, identified by Andrew Miller as beginning the pontificate of the Roman Catholic Church in the year 590. (Andrew Miller, Miller's Church History (London, n. d.). 247). Gregory continued in the office of pope until his death in 613. Gregory wrote a three volume commentary on the Book of Job that dominated the thinking of scholars until the time of John Calvin and the Reformation. Gregory's comment on Job 7:15 cites an example of a religious leader's refusal to accept the word of God literally. Gregory wrote: (Saint Gregory, Morals Of The Book Of Job, Oxford, 1844), Vol. 1, pp. 7,8).
Now who that is in his right senses could believe a man of so high praise, who in a word, we know received from the Judge of that which is within the reward of the virtue of patience, settled amidst his afflictions to finish his life by strangling? And sometimes even the literal words forbid being supposed that perchance they ought to be understood according to the letter. Yet doubtless whereas the literal words when tet against each other cannot be made to agree, they point out some other meaning to themselves' which we seek for.
As a result of refusing to accept the word of God literally and believing it as God gave it to man, Gregory followed in the steps of Origen and made an allegory of the entire Book of Job. For example: he made Job's wife to represent the friends of heretics. Job's seven sons were made to represent the twelve apostles. The three daughters were supposed to he the three orders of the Christian Church. The camels of Job represented the Gentile church or perhaps the Samaritan believers. Gregory was not exactly sure which was true. The oxen represented the simple, while the feasts of the sons of Job were representative of the preaching of the twelve apostles. (Ibid., Vol.1, pp.27,40,41 ,43,46, et passim).
Unbelievable as it may seem, his commentaries dominated the thinking of the scholarship of men for 1,000 years. Albert Magnus and Thomas Aquinas attempted a more scientific approach to the Book of Job, but their works were not well accepted. It was not until the Reformation when the grammatico-historical exegesis began to appear in the works of the reformers that a literal interpretation of the Scriptures was acceptable and translated as such. John Calvin led the way.
As a result of these long years of interpreting Scripture to suit the fancy of the translators, we still have scholars today who are tainted with this approach. Rather than accept the Scriptures at face value and interpret them in the light of other Scriptures, poetic expressions are used to obscure the text or explain it away. Only by comparing Scripture with Scripture can we see the seeds planted by God in the Book of Job develop into the beautiful garden of truth in the New Testament.
I Corinthians 2:13,
"Which things also we speak, not in the words which Man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (KJB).
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Job, the main character in the book that bears his name, must be considered a real, living person who lived in a discernible period in time and not merely a poetic fictitious character. Job lived such a commendable life, that it would be easy to assume that he was fictional, but, such is not the case. Job, who lived in the land of Uz (Job 1:1), lived a life of righteousness to a degree that would put most New Testament saints to shame. Joseph Parker asked the question, "Have we any character equal to Job's as thus described in the New Testament?" (Joseph Parker, Preaching Through The Bible (Grand Rapids, 196 1) Vol. XI, p.6). The proposition is obviously unequivocally negative.
God called Job a perfect man, a righteous man and one who eschewed evil,
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Job 1:8,
This is all the more amazing when we consider the fact that Job did not have one single sentence of a Bible to guide him. He was not in the Body of Christ, nor did he have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to enable him to live a sanctified life.
When God picked three men to exemplify righteousness personified, he overlooked such men as Enoch, who walked with God:
Genesis 5:24,
He bypassed David who was known as a man after God's own heart.
Acts 13:22,
Abraham, the man who would father that nation through which His Son would be identified, was slighted
Galatians 3:8,
"And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed" (KJB).
Instead, God picked Noah, Daniel and Job. It appears to the spiritual mind that if God would have narrowed the selection to one man alone, the mantel would have fallen upon Job.
Ezekiel 14:14,
Of these three men, each one represented a man who overcame one of the deadly sins that will destroy a man's righteousness. These sins are:
1 John 5:4,
The flesh:Galatians 5:19-21
The Devil: 1 John 2:13,
Noah overcame the world for which he must be commended. Daniel is remembered for overcoming the flesh. Job, however, stands alone as the single man who overcame, not only the world and the flesh, but greater than all, Job overcame the Devil.
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Job 1:22,
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Job 42:7, And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Elipas: 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. (KJV)
Noah, a preacher of righteousness ended up with a drinking problem which caused God to curse his grandson, Canaan.
2 Peter 2:5, And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly. ";
Genesis 9:24-25,
Daniel tarnished his sterling character by allowing a heathen king, Nebuchadnezzar, to bow down before him and worship him, thus robbing God of His glory.
Daniel 2:46,
Job, however, overcame all three temptations; the world, the flesh and the Devil.
Job had no outward discernible sins visible to the eyes of his three friends. These friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Dildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, all reached the same conclusion. They believed that Job's suffering was God's judgment upon him because of hidden, unconfessed sin. Job's fourth friend, Elihu, came the closest to discovering the problem that did exist in Job's life. He reminded Job that he had said, "My righteousness is more than God's."
Nonetheless, it took the all seeing eye of God to discern with accuracy the sin in Job's life. God looks, not on the outward appearance, but on the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7, But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
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Job was a righteous man according to the testimony of the Lord. He declared thus in Job 2:3:
Job's problem was, however, that he was trusting in his own righteousness to save his soul rather than trusting the righteousness of God. It will now be necessary for God to move against Job to correct this blemish and polish the otherwise sparkling diamond of Job's character until Job would learn that one sin will send a man to Hell. Even though a man is perfect, righteous and eschews evil, he can never go to Heaven until he forsakes his own righteousness and places his trust completely in the righteousness of God.
We see, therefore, that the New Testament truth of salvation by grace through faith in the righteousness of God, which is a New Testament teaching, is plainly taught in the first Book of the Bible, the Book of Job.
Romans 10:3,
Ephesians 2:8-9, For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that riot of your selves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (KJB).
It is with joy that we read that Job did repent of his sin of self-righteousness when God pointed it out to him.
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Job 42:1-6,
The history of Job's life ends with God's highest commendation and rewards that doubled all of his earthly possessions that were worthwhile and meaningful. God recorded in Job 42:12-13:
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At the same time, God commanded Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar to bring a burnt offering to Job so that he could lead them in making an offering for their sing and have Job pray for them. This is recorded in Job 42:7-9:
Elihu is not mentioned with the others, probably because he was busy writing down the entire sequence of events for the future blessing of the world.
Job is not included in the Hall of Fame for "faith heroes" in Hebrews Chapter Eleven. This was not because he did not qualify. but rather because he would need to have a special distinction to which he alone could be included. Job, without a doubt, considering the circumstances, was the greatest faith hero in the Bible,
Hebrews 11:1.
Here was a man who had recently buried ten children in one day. He lost all of his wealth. He lost practically all of his servants. He lost his wife. She is never heard from again after she speaks her ten words to Job, telling him to curse God and die
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Job 2:9.
Dr. G. Campbell Morgan defends Job's wife by saying:
"Don't let us criticize her until we have been where she was. See what it meant to him. So far, wealth gone, children gone, she had stood by; and then there came the moment when. her love-lit eyes looking at her man in agony, physical agony, she said, ‘Renounce God and die." Which man, I would rather know you dead, than see you suffer. I sympathize with her. So does every woman. Yes, but get into Job's soul....He is stripped of her partnership in faith." (The Answers Of Jesus To Job (Grand Rapids 1979), pp. 13,14).
Job lost his health. He is covered with boils from head to foot and is found out on the city dump suffering in silence. Dr. Leon Wood adds these comments concerning the nature of Job's illness:
The best suggestion for what the disease might have been is the dreaded black leprosy of the Near East, called ‘elephantiasis,' a name coming from the fact that the encrustation due to great sores, and extreme swelling occurs, making them like jointless extensions. The entire body is affected, suffering is indescribable." (Trusting Through Suffering (Schaumberg, III., 1979). Vol. 28, No. 2, p. 23).
Of all Job's friends that he had when he was wealthy only four came to see him when he is bankrupt and dying. Previously, Job was famous throughout all the East with nobles giving him the utmost respect. He was the eyes for the blind. the feet for the lame, a father to the poor. lie sat as a chief and dwelt as a king in the army. He is known as a comforter to those who were mourning"
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Job 29:1-25.
Now, in his time of desperation and sorrow, four men alone even bother to come and see if they can comfort him. The result was that they very nearly got into a fistfight with Job rather than comforting him. Job called them "miserable comforters"
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(Job 16:2).
Rather than being a blessing to Job, they became his tormentors, adding to his suffering and distress by accusing him of sins he had not committed.
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With his skin rotting away and the worms doing their part while he is facing the grave. Job is able to say in Job 19:25-27:
There is not another character in the entire word of God who can match such faith in the midst of these circumstances. Leon Wood observes:
Job immediately prayed. It is almost unbelievable that one could pray as Job did after experiencing all that he had."(Wood, op. cit. p.22).
God's purposes are rarely single in nature, but rather multiple. Great as the character and life of Job ate, God has infinitely more to share with the world than the life of one man and his problems. God is using the story of Job as a seedbed to plant an infinite number of truths that will blossom through the years in the progressive revelations He will give of Himself until He closes the Divine Canon with the Revelation.
We abhor the allegorical slaughter of the Book of Job performed by scholars of the past such as Gregory. Parables and poetic exegeses reach a dead end once their purposes are served, unless of course, they are part of the word of God. in Scripture, however, God is constantly developing themes that move in multiple directions as the same time. This is what makes the Bible a living Book.
Therefore, it is perfectly proper to study the seeds of the truth in Job or in any other Bible Book and then by comparing Scripture with Scripture see how every verse is interlocked in some manner with every verse in the Scriptures. In this manner, every verse can be studied in light of its historical background, together with its future doctrinal employment and its personal application.
2 Timothy 2:15,
For example, the story of Joseph is perhaps one of the most well known and beloved by God's people, especially children, as they study the Old Testament. Yet, the life of Joseph goes far beyond the historical events in the life of a man. Rather, his life is seen by Arthur W. Pink as reflections of events in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ in over 101 particulars. (Arthur W. Pink Gleanings in Genesis (Chicago, 1950), p.408).
When the Son of God became incarnate and came to tabernacle among men, we saw events in His earthly life that were experienced by Joseph. Many times the New Testament wording describing events in the Life of Christ are detailed in the life of Joseph with exactly the same wording used in the Old Testament to describe similar events in the life of Joseph.
Compare: Genesis 37:28,
Then there passed by Medianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt" (KJB). with Matthew 26:15,
(Note the accuracy of the Scriptures. The price of a slave under 20 years of age, such as Joseph, was twenty pieces of silver. For those over 20, such as our Savior, the price of a slave was thirty pieces of silver).
Compare: Genesis 40:15,
For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the He brews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon - With: John 15:25,
The reason for this interconnection of verses and hooks, both in the Old testament and the New Testament is to be found in the supernaturalness of the word of God. Thomas R. Rodgers gives this beautiful analogy between the Old Testament and the New Testament. He said:
In the Old Testament, we have the bud, while in the New Testament, we have the complete flower in full bloom. In the Old Testament, we have the seeds, while in the New Testament, we have the fully developed garden." (Thomas R. Rodgers, A Survey Of Old Testament History, (Tennyson, Indiana, 1976, Tape No.15).
The New Testament saints have the joy of the completed garden in the New Testament. Through prayerful study we can then search the Old Testament to find the seeds that produced the finished garden. For example, Daniel was given the progress of the Gentile nations until the time of their destruction by the Coming Stone cut without hands Who will smite the nations and then become their King.
Daniel 2:31-35
Nevertheless, the Book that Daniel wrote was sealed up to him so that he could not under stand it.
Daniel 12:4,
The full truth would not be revealed until a later date. Today, much of that which was a mystery to Daniel is perfectly clear to the Bible student, as God has opened the sealed Book to a degree in our age. As the final events unfold and draw near. then the complete truth will be known by all who will read and compare the sacred pages. Even now, in some areas, we yet see through a glass darkly:
I Corinthians 13:12,
In the very near future, all will be able to understand in minute detail that which as yet has not blossomed into totally revealed truth.
Obviously, the seeds of God's first Book were planted deeply. They can be overlooked if the reader rushes through the "seed bed." For the student of the word of God, we have the complete garden of the New Testament in which to toil. Gur "working" in the "soil of Job" will uncover seeds planted there that should cause the heart of the saint to leap for joy.
In the sufferings of Job, we shall feel the agony of the lost souls suffering in Hell and thus increase our motivation to win men and women to Christ so that they can escape that terrible place. In Job, we will agonize with the Savior as He hangs on the cross and takes our "Hell" for the trusting sinner who will look away from our righteousness and trust the Righteousness of Christ. From Job, our minds will race to Romans Chapter Eight where we will remember that our sufferings are but for a moment and cannot be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us.
Romans 8:18-23,
As Job looks to his Redeemer with an eye of faith for relief from his suffering and agonies of life on earth, our minds will contemplate that day when tile tramp of God shall sound and we shall be caught up in a moment to he with our Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
As Job knew that in the "latter day" he would stand on this earth in his body once more, the New Testament saints look forward to the day when we shall stand on this earth in our glorified bodies ruling and reigning with our "Husband and King," the Lord Jesus Christ.
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As Joseph was a type of Christ, we shall see Job as a type of the nation of Israel suffering horrid persecution at the hands of same Devil who tormented Job. (See Charles L. Feinberg, Israel At The Center Of History And Revelation (Portland, Oregon, 1980), pp. 47-61). In Israel's case, however, they will see their tormentor in the person of the Antichrist whom God describes in the Book of Job as a multiple beast (Job 40:15-24).
This same multiple beast is seen by both Daniel:
Daniel 7 and John.
Revelation 1- 3). God will draw back the curtains of Heaven and He will enable us to see the Devil as God sees him. We will be glad that we cannot see him as he really is. If we could see Satan as God sees him, we would faint at the sight of his fierceness.
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Job 4:9-10
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Job 41:10
Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand be for me? (KJB).
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Although the surface theme of the Book of Job centers around suffering, the truth goes far deeper than a man who is suffering with an incurable disease and how he faces his suffering philosophically. In reality, we are treated to an encounter between God and Satan himself. We are given a complete description of the workings; the motives; the purposes; and even a complete description of how Satan looks to God (Job 41). God shares with us a remarkable description of the coming Antichrist; what he looks like to God and how he will persecute Israel as a nation even as Satan persecuted Job as an individual during the tribulation period of 42 months.
The Book of Job is probably the greatest single Book in the Old Testament that so clearly presents future New Testament truth. This would have to represent the hand of God since it is the first and oldest Book in the Bible. In like manner, the righteous character of Job is astounding considering the following facts:
- 1. He had no written Scripture to guide him:
Psalm 119:105,
2. He had no laws to serve as a schoolmaster to bring him to Christ:
Galatians 3:24,
- 3. He was void of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit:
Romans 8:11,
4. He did not have the indwelling Holy Spirit to comfort him in his hour of trial:
John 14:16,
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