MAIN
ARGUMENT
: Chapters 3 – 37
Three men have come to visit, followed by a fourth;
for they have heard of Job’s trouble. They are true friends wishing to
sympathise. They sit in silence for a week. They are dumb in the face of such a calamity.
Then the speeches begin. We get words, words, words,
for 35 chapters.
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| Job |
20 chapters are
attributed to Job.
4 chapters are attributed to Eliphaz.
3 chapters are attributed to Bildad.
2 chapters are attributed to Zophar.
6 chapters are attributed to Elihu, the young
man.
There are fourteen speakers in the book altogether –
the Lord, Satan,
Job, Job’s wife, Job’s four friends, four messengers, a spirit and a horse.
We must remember that the debate
that takes place is among those who know nothing of what has taken place in
heaven.
The arguments
presented by these friends are not to be dismissed. They are good men, with much wisdom, drawing
on such resources as they have – their
own experiences, the experiences of others, what they have heard from their
fathers, etc.
Eliphaz
: God is perfectly pure
and righteous (4.17) and man brings trouble on himself (5.7).
Bildad : Charges
Job with godlessness (8.6 ff) for God never perverts justice (8.3)
Zophar : Charges Job with boasting (11.2-6). God knows iniquity
when He sees it (11.11).
Elihu : God is
greater than man (33.12) and only repays man (Job)
what
he deserves (34.11).
But they, like Job, are in the
presence of something they do not understand.
In this book there are some wonderful chapters.
Chapter 5 on
chastisement;
Chapter 9 on justification;
Chapter
23 on testing;
Chapter
28 on wisdom.
There
is wisdom here, there is truth here. It may be truth generally but it does not
help Job. Human wisdom is insufficient to light up the path of the godly.
Oswald Chambers said, ‘You cannot think your way out of a spiritual difficulty,
you need revelation’. It is God who has the necessary information and expertise:
“He
knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold”
(Job 23:10). They all fall silent,
one by one:
Then
God Speaks.
THE
ANSWER OF GOD—Chapters 38-42
The answer is to do
with the character of God. In the first two chapters
God is introduced and referred to by his name ‘YHWH’. In the middle section (the main argument) He
is referred to as God, or God Almighty, that is, ‘Elohim’.
If, as many suggest, Job is a very ancient
book, it is likely Job did not know God as YHWH.
See Exodus 6:3 : “I
appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, Lord (YHWH), I did not make Myself known to them.”
What is the difference between the two aspects of God?
God as Elohim is linked with creation and providence.
God as YHWH
is linked with revelation, redemption and restoration.
Note
well – Satan appears before YHWH (not Elohim); the test was initiated by YHWH; and in the end it is YHWH
that answers, for in the last chapters it is the YHWH
name of God that is used.
Further
note that
this
precious
Name,
is the name that often reflects the blessing of God for His ancient people.
YHWH-Jireh
(YHWH who sees and provides) (Gen.22:14)
YHWH-Rophekah
(YHWH Your healer) (Exod. 15:26);
YHWH-Nissi;
(YHWH
my banner) (Exod. 17:8-15)
YHWH-Shammah (YHWH is there) (Ezek. 48:35)
YHWH-Rohi (YHWH my shepherd) (Ps. 23:1)
YHWH_Sabaoth (YHWH of hosts) (Rom. 9:29, James 5:4)
YHWH-Shalom (YHWH is peace) (Judges 6:24)
YHWH-Tzidkenu (YHWH our righteousness) (Jer. 23:6;
33:16)
1. The answer is complete (and
final)
God
does provide an answer – there is no question that God cannot deal with. But the answer does not come at the
beginning, or in the middle, but at the end.
It is when you have run out of answers that God’s wisdom is seen. The
final unveiling of all answers is yet future. “now
I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known”
(1 Cor. 13:12).
The wisdom of God
will be demonstrated in eternity. The first speaker in
this book is
YHWH,
and the last speaker in this book is YHWH.
Similarly,
“In
the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1), and at the end will be the
Word. The Word is the alpha and also the omega, the first and the last
(Rev. 1:11; 22:13). When God has
spoken Job has to say, “I
lay my hand on my mouth.” (40:4). He is silenced. And when God has finally spoken none
will speak except perhaps to say ‘Amen’.
2. The answer is convincing
God’s argument is to
take them into the mysteries of creation. If it is Elohim, the God of creation
that they know, then God will answer them in terms that they understand:
“Have you entered into the springs of the sea
Or walked in the recesses of the deep? … “Have you understood the expanse of
the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.”
(Job 38:16–18, )
“Do you know how the clouds are balanced, Those wondrous works of Him who is
perfect in knowledge?” (37:16,)
“Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? Or hast
thou seen the treasures of the hail?” (38:22)
“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?
Or press down his tongue with a cord?” (Job 41:1)
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| "Did you give the horse its might" (39:19 |
God exults in
His creation.
Learn wisdom. If God bestowed such infinite skill and wisdom on a
single snowflake, will He deal casually with the crown of His creation? If the minutest detail of any animal declares
divine wisdom, will He act carelessly with man?
God is saying,
Trust Me!
3. The answer is compensating
Job began with
7000 sheep – he ends with 14000.
He began with
3000 camels – he ends with 6000.
He began with
500 yoke of oxen – he ends with 1000.
He began with
500 donkeys – he ends with 1000
He began with 7 sons and 3 daughters – he has another
7 sons and 3 daughters.
Note: persons are not ‘lost’ like animals.
Also from one who had so recently been full of boils
comes daughters described with the words, ‘In all the land were no women
found so fair as the daughters of Job’.
LESSON
The book of Job teaches us that God can use suffering
to accomplish His will and demonstrate His infinite wisdom? By it Satan was
defeated
and God glorified.
A Closing
Thought
Satan is absent at the end of the book!
