Job:Job:

An Integrative Study

Why an Integrative Study?Why an Integrative Study?

o An integrative study provides a most complete framework for the study of Job

o Allows us to consider facts and theology while not losing the practical implications of the book of Job

Objectives of this StudyObjectives of this Study

To demonstrate that God is worthy of love apart from the blessings he provides.

To explain that God may allow suffering as a means to purify and strengthen a person in godliness.

To underscore that God has a vast frame of reference often difficult for us to construe but the absolutely correct frame of reference.

To explore the justice of God who treats the righteous with suffering.

To demonstrate to Satan that God’s blessing of believers is not contingent upon fearing him, but is unconditional because he first loved them.

To address wrestling with affliction that defies human explanation.

OutlineOutline

I. A Brief Introduction- Prologue

II. A Court in Heaven and on Earth

III. A Study of Positions.- Dialogue

IV. An Apologetic of the Redeemer.- Epilogue

V. A Practical Study

I. IntroductionI. Introduction Job is translated to boYa in Hebrew, which means to

repent. He was pious (1:1), prosperous(1:2,3), and posteriors

(1:4,5) Job could have been a contemporary of the patriarchs. This is one of the oldest books in the bible, along with

Genesis. Believed to have been either authored or translated into Hebrew by Moses.

He lived more than 140 yrs like the patriarchs. Other intangibles….

II. A Court in Heaven and on EarthII. A Court in Heaven and on EarthTrial in Heaven:Who is/are on trial? Job, GodWho is the plaintiff/accuser? Satan Who is the Jury? The angels, us.

Trial on Earth:Who is on trial? Job, GodWho is/are the plaintiff/accuser(s)? The three friends, Job.Who is the Jury? Elihu, us.Who is the Judge? GodWho and where is the defense???????????????????? *******What is the Verdict?*******

Theme(verdict):Theme(verdict):

The reasons for suffering in a believers life are not necessarily related to human explanations of personal unrighteousness, but are within the scope of God’s good and powerful providence resulting in the defeat of evil and glory to himself.

III. A Study of PositionsIII. A Study of Positions

What is a position?

A position is a theological or philosophical stand regarding an issue.

Who had positions in the book of Job?

Satan, Mrs. Job, Job’s friend, Job, Elihu, and God.

Satan’s PositionSatan’s Position“Does Job fear God for nothing?” 1:9“Skin for skin, a man will give up all he has for his

own life”2:4 Serving God is only behaviorally contingent upon its

rewards-1:9,10 Removal of God’s contingency of rewards results in

apostasy-1:11 Application of an aversive stimuli in the sense of

punishment would result in the extinction of God fearing behavior-1:11

Adversity must produce apostasy-1:11 This life is everything- 2:4,5

Mrs. Job’s PositionMrs. Job’s Position“Are you still holding on to your integrity, curse God

and die” Chap 2: 9

Integrity should be conditional, shaped by contingencies of reward.

Apostasy results in immediate judgment. The sufferings of this present time are too much

cost compared to the glory that will follow.

Position of Job’s FriendsPosition of Job’s FriendsIn three cycles of speeches they rebuke Job:1) Cycle 1 of Speeches and Job's Response-

God Punishes the Wicked and Blesses the Good: 4:1--14:22

2) Cycle 2 of Speeches and Job's Response- -The Wicked Suffer and Perish because They Are against God: 15:1--21:34

3) Cycle 3 of Speeches and Job's Response—God Is Majestic, but Job is Wicked: 22:1--27:23

Eliphaz versus JobEliphaz versus Job

Eliphaz 1: Eliphaz accused Job of being inconsistent since suffering results from sin and no one is pure before God; thus he urged Job to ask God to help him and affirmed that God would deliver him after He had disciplined him 4:1--5:27

Eliphaz 2: Eliphaz affirms that Job's words are meaningless, that he is guilty, and that he is like the wicked because he is in distress 15:1-35

Eliphaz 3: Proclaiming God's disinterest in Job for his social deviations and spiritual defiance, Eliphaz urges him to repent for God is great 22:1-20

Job: Job responded by affirming that his suffering was causing his rash desire to die, Eliphaz's response has disappointed him, and by asking for forgiveness if he has sinned 6:1--7:21

Job: Job responds rebuking his friends for being no help, desiring to plead his case with God, and affirming is situation of despair 16:1-- 17:16

Job: Job longs to plead his case before God 23:1--24:25

Bildad versus JobBildad versus Job

Bildad 1: Bildad affirmed that history has confirmed that if Job is righteous God will restore him, unlike the ungodly who perish 8:1-22

Bildad 2: Bildad rebukes Job for his arrogant words about them, and affirms that the wicked, like he, are weakened, ensnared, diseased, insecure, forgotten, hated, and alone 18:1-21

Bildad 3: Bildad affirmed that because God is great and man is small and impure there was no hope for Job to be just and clean 25:1-6

Job: Job responds by affirming God's wisdom and power, asking why He is against him, and requesting to die 9:1--10:22

Job: Job rebukes his friends for tormenting and insulting him, affirms that God has wronged him, urges his friends to have pity on him, and affirms that God will prove his innocence after his death and judge his friends 19:1-29

Job: Job affirms that his friends are not help to him since he knows that God is great and powerful over nature 26:1-14

Zophar versus JobZophar versus Job Zophar 1: Zophar

rebukes Job by affirming that God should show him true wisdom and by affirming that if he would turn to God, he would be blessed 11:1-20

Zophar 2: Zophar accuses Job of insulting him and reminds him that the wicked may be blessed, but they will then loose their riches 20:1-29

Job: Job responds by criticizing Zophar for not telling him anything new, not helping him, and not representing God well, whereupon, he again asks God to let him die 12:1--14:22

Job: Job retorts that his impatience is excusable and reminds Zophar that the wicked prosper and live (unlike he) 21:1-34

Job’s Final RemarksJob’s Final Remarks Transitionary Discourse on God's Wisdom: Job affirms that

although man is skillful in mining, wisdom is harder to find for it is God who knows where wisdom is 28:1-28

Job's Desire for His Former Estate of Glory: Job wishes that he was in his former days of spiritual blessing, material prosperity and social prestige which occurred because he helped the needy, exercised justice and counseled others 29:1-25

Job's Lament of His Present Miserable Humiliation: Job proclaims his misery as he is mocked by poor young men and vagabonds, and his humiliation as he is in pain and nobody helps him 30:1-31.

Job's Ultimate Challenge--An Oath of Innocence which 'Legally' Calls God to Answer" 31:1-40

Elihu’s PositionElihu’s Positioni. Four Speeches by Elihu: 32:1--37:24 ii. Introduction of Elihu: 32:1-5 iii. Elihu's First Speech- God Instructs people

through Affliction: 32:6--33:33 iv. Elihu's Second Speech to the Three Friends

and Job—God is Just and Prudence is Vindicated: 34:1-37

v. Elihu's Third Speech to Job—There are Advantages to Piety: 35:1-16

vi. Elihu's Fourth Speech to Job (and Friends)– God is Great and Job is Ignorant: 36:1-- 37:24

God’s PositionGod’s Position

God interviews Job in two speeches:1. First Interview with Yahweh-- Job is

Limited in Knowledge: 38:1--40:51) Yahweh Challenged Job: 38:1-3 2) Yahweh Questioned Job Regarding Two Areas

of Creation: the physical and animal world.Here God asks Job to listen.

2. Second Interview with God –Job is Limited in Power: 40:6--42:6 1) Yahweh Challenged Job to Listen: 40:6-14 2) Yahweh questioned Job Regarding Two animals of Creation: the Behemoth and the Leviathan

“Brace yourself like a man, I will question you and you shall answer….” 38:9

Job’s ReplyJob’s Reply

Job Replied with Repentance: 42:1-6 “…Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,

things too wonderful for me to know. 4 "You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.' 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."

Stuff to think about!!!Stuff to think about!!! Why do bad things happen to good people? (clichéic

question)

Do you think the book of Job answers this question?

What about Satan’s position, is there an iota of truth in it? Ask behaviorist’s! Why is this position wrong?

Think about the position of the three friends in a general sense, does sin result in immediate judgment? Why is their position wrong even in a general sense?

IV. An Apologetic of the IV. An Apologetic of the RedeemerRedeemer

A. Job as a type of Christ

B. Job’s appeal to the Redeemer

Job as a Type of ChristJob as a Type of Christ

In the character Job, Christ is certainly foreshadowed. Like Christ, Job was suffering innocently.

Compare Job 16: 10,11 to Ps 22:13, 35:21 Both were tried by Satan- Chap 1&2, Matt 4:1-11 Both were regarded as being smitten by God and afflicted by him- Isaiah

53:4 Both made atonement for the sins of their adversaries-Job 42:7-10, Dan

7: 13-14, Rom 5:10, Col 1:10 Both learned submission to God through the things they suffered- 42:1-6,

Heb 5:7-10 After their suffering, they became designated High priests, and neither

was Levite- Job 42:7-10, Heb 5:7-10 Both were restored to glory- 42:12-17, Matt 28:18, Mark 16:19, Heb 1:2-

13

B. Appeal to the RedeemerB. Appeal to the Redeemer

Job on trial….. Judge- God, Satan-accuser, Three friends-witnesses…Elihu and us -

bystanders. Where is Job’s defense? "He is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might

confront each other in court. If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, someone to remove God's rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more. Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot” –9:32-35

We can almost hear Isaiah emphatically, “…he will send them a savior and a defender, and he will rescue them.” Is 19:20c

A Heavenly AdvocateA Heavenly Advocate

“Even now my witness is in heaven, my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend” 16:19,20

The arbitrator cannot be a mere human. The defender has access to heaven- Heb 4:14, 9:24 This person is a friend who understand Job’s tears- John

15:13-15, Heb 4:15 This person makes petition on Job’s behalf-John 17:1-26

Key Verse:Key Verse:

“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes--I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! If you say, 'How we will hound him, since the root of the trouble lies in him,' you should fear the sword yourselves; for wrath will bring punishment by the sword, and then you will know that there is judgment.” 19:25-27

Who is the Redeemer?Who is the Redeemer?

The Hebrew word for redeemer is go’el, a person who makes a payment to free someone else from obligation.

“Surely mockers surround me;my eyes must dwell on their hostility. “Give me O God the pledge you demand. Who else will put up security for me?”-17:2,3

V. A Practical Study- V. A Practical Study- Socratic MethodSocratic Method

Challenges from the Jobian positions:-Can God present us as exceptions?-If those contingent benefits were removed, would we go

apostate?-In the face of adversity, would we go apostate or stand in the

rain?-Are we willing to give up spiritual life for physical life?Think about Mrs. Job and the three friends, how could they

have been more supportive?God rebukes the three friends for not speaking the truth about

him and commends Job for doing so. What does this teach us?

Read 42:1-6. How can we see God through our suffering as Job saw God through his?