The great Reformer John Calvin (1509-1564) preached 159 sermons on Job. Puritan pastor Joseph Caryl (1602-1673) preached 424 sermons on Job over a 24-year period. Clearly there is much benefit to be gained by understanding this which is situated amongst the “Wisdom Books” of the Bible. It is also clear that one session in a Bible Study will hardly address very much of this wisdom. For this reason, our goal is to present an outline of the overall structure and purpose of Job. To this end the session relies on a 1985 essay by American author Dr Meredith Kline (1922-2007).[1]
The story of Job is a presentation of a legal conflict between God and Satan (whose name means ‘The Adversary’). Hence the opening scene, being the courts of heaven, are important to an understanding of the entire book. Satan is called to the heavenly court in order that God, the Sovereign, will set the bounds of his existence and freedom.
God enquires how observant has The Adversary been in his travels. Has the Satan seen the righteous Job? In so doing, God initiates the battle with a claim that Satan can’t resist opposing (Job 1:8).
Scripture
And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” (Job 1:8)
Commentary
That there should be righteousness on the earth is a challenge to Satan’s authority and a self-glorifying declaration by God.
In as much as Eden saw Adam and Eve enter into a covenant of death with the Devil, God is challenging Satan that He (God) has reconciled Himself to a new humanity which is joined with Him in a triumphant holy war against the Devil. - Job is "an upright man who fears God and avoids evil".
"In effect, God was telling Satan that the ancient curse pronounced against him in Eden (Gen 3:14-15) was in the process of inexorable fulfilment: out of mankind in its covenant of death with the devil, God was reconciling to himself a new mankind, called to engage in holy war against the Serpent and promised . . . ultimate absolute triumph. Let Satan behold this [initial] trophy of divine redemptive grace, this true and faithful servant of the Lord, and admit that the enmity of the woman's seed against him had been effected, that the covenant with death had been annulled and that their [mankind’s] covenant with God had been renewed." [2]
Challenged to accept the Lord's redemptive power, the Satan turns Accuser and calls into question the genuineness of Job's religious life and commitment. In so doing, Satan challenges God's capacity/power to set men and women free from the tyranny of sin.
Scripture
Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. (Job 1:9-10)
Commentary
We read in the Book of Revelation that “the accuser” has been cast out of heaven (Rev 12:7-13). The Accuser’s purpose is not foremost to remind God of our sins, but to contemptuously claim that God cannot defeat sin’s power and stronghold. But Satan is defeated and cast down by the martyrs showing that Christ did not die in vain. Their victory is wrought by the Lamb’s blood, their testimony of Christ and their willingness to lay down their lives for Him.
It is important to note that it is the martyrs who defeat Satan and that they do so by reliance on Christ’s blood, their testimony and their obedience. Their life of commitment and obedience, even in the face of suffering, has already demonstrated that Satan’s tyranny is ended.
Scripture
And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. (Rev 12:10-11)
Worse yet the Accuser charges the Judge with fraud: Job is not truly religious, he honours God merely because he is so providentially blessed and highly favoured by God. (Job 1:9-10).
Scripture
Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. (Job 1:9-10)
Commentary
In other words, God lies. Job’s obedience has been bought. There is no integrity in Job, only self-interest.
So God puts His integrity to the test, by putting Job’s integrity to the test. He gives the Accuser permission to test Job (Job 1:12). If Job’s integrity stands up, then God’s work in the hearts of men is truly effective. ~ Let the evidence be brought!
Scripture
And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. (Job 1:12)
Commentary
In the ancient world, where there was a lack of evidence to convict, the matter was resolved via "trial by ordeal". It meant a person undergoing an ordeal by an impersonal power, like water or fire; or in the case of marital jealousy, holy water and the dust of the tabernacle (Num 5:1-28). If they survived the ordeal, it could be attributed to the gods having preserved them. And so before undergoing the trial, the accused would make an appeal by oath to their god, thereby exposing themself to the oath-deity's curse on false witness. ~ "an oath contemplates direct revelation of the divine verdict in an external act of judgment".
Such trials would sometimes involve a champion. Hence Goliath came in the name of his gods and David in the Name of Yahweh
(1 Sam 17:43&45). Similarly Jonathan contended for the Lord against the Philistines at Gibeah (1 Sam 14:6-14).
Thus, Job's struggle was not with the Sabeans or the Chaldeans (Job 1:15 & 17), not with natural forces of fire and wind (Job 1:16 & 18), not even with his three friends (Job 4, 8 & 11) but against the rulers of darkness, the spiritual hosts of evil, the wiles of the devil (Eph 6:11-12). And Job must prevail in order that Yahweh's champion will prevail. Thus Job's wrestle is with and for God Himself.
Scripture
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present dark-ness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Eph 6:12)
Commentary
As we trace this great ordeal between God and Satan with Job as God’s champion, we come to another ordeal, an ordeal within the first ordeal. Job is going to have to wrestle with God Himself! The two ordeals are distinguishable and yet the second is determinative of the outcome of the first.
Scripture
Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die. . . . in all this Job did not sin with his lips.” (Job 2:9).
Commentary
Job’s integrity before God remains intact. This is the last we see or hear of Satan. Job’s health has been tried and he remains faithful. All subsequent suffering is orchestrated by, and used by, God for His purposes. Thus God avails Himself of what Satan started.[3]
Commentary
This is an important point. For as long as Job can look to himself and to his own righteousness, he has not contributed to God's claim that He is the Redeemer. For as long as Job has recourse to his own integrity, he is in effect dismissing God. To dismiss God is to claim to be God in His place. Job's repentance (Job 42:6) is an important aspect of God's victory. This repentance does not occur until Job sees God as He is (Job 42:5) and himself as he is in comparison to God.
Consistent with the court motif of a court drama, we find that Job in the midst of his suffering, desires a hearing before God (Job 13:3). He is satisfied that he can prove himself righteous, if only God would come into court to be challenged (Job 13:18). The cry he is making, is not a mere plea. It uses the formal language of a 'summons to court' (Job 13:3-22).
Scripture
But I want to talk to the Almighty; and I'm determined to argue my case before God. (Job 13:3)
Look, now! I've prepared my case for court. I know that I'm going to win. (Job 13:18)
So God sends His advocate, Elihu, as forerunner to set the preliminaries (Job 32-36). God had not stepped down from His throne to do judicial battle with Satan. Similarly He did not deny Himself in doing judicial battle with Job.
Commentary
In days of yore duellers would each have a ‘second’ to supervise the terms of the fight. It might be thought that Elihu acts as God’s ‘second’ to set the scope of the court hearing, much in the same way that a barrister receives a solicitor’s brief, perhaps in which evidence is discussed, as preliminary to the court hearing.
Elihu rebukes Job and his friends for their lack of wisdom. (Job 33:33, Job 34:35). He goes so far as to say that Job should endure even further trials because he has failed to learn true wisdom and has instead wickedly relied on self-justification (Job 34:36-37)
Scripture
Men of understanding will say to me, and the wise man who hears me will say: ‘Job speaks without knowledge; his words are without insight.’ Would that Job were tried to the end, because he answers like wicked men.
(Job 34:34-36)
But a wisdom contest was not to Job's advantage. He might be able to point with pride to the regard that his community held for him as counsellor (Job 29:7ff) but God's assessment was more astringent: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?"
Scripture
“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? (Job 38:2)
Commentary
This is a particularly hurtful assessment for Job. Wisdom may be understood as knowing the right way to connect up the facts and so the first stage of wisdom is to have knowledge of the facts. God is telling Job that he can’t even mast the facts, let alone have wisdom!
Whereas Job had concluded his discourse with his friends by assuming the role of teacher (Job 27:11), God now takes up the same position. God asks for knowledge as one would enquire of a catechetic (Job 38:3).
God then runs through an array of questions about: the earth (Job 38:4-12), heaven (Job 38:22-38), the animal kingdom (Job 38:39-39:30) and human activity in war (Job 39:25).
Commentary
Kline reports that Egyptians officials who were to work in government administration were required to learn a large number of facts about the realm and its geography. They were tested by recourse to a catechism/encyclopaedic assessment.
Job is instructed to gird himself for round two of the bout (Job 40:7). This time he is invited to deal with the world's problems, such as how to subdue all the proud forces of evil (Job 40:10-14). He is challenged as to whether he can do better than God (Job 40:8-9).
Commentary
This is an important lesson. Our criticisms of God's providence are flawed for three reasons:
i. we don't have the power to change things or make things any the better,
ii. we lack the wisdom to choose any better (let alone do any better) and
iii. we, as being amongst the proud forces, are part of the problem.
iv. to judge God’s integrity is to repeat the sin of Eden.
God calls upon Leviathan to aid Him in His dispute with Job. Can Job tame the mighty Leviathan? (Job 41:1) As a final rebuke, God challenges Job as to whether he can tame the hearts of proud men, given that Leviathan is king of the sons of pride (Job 41:34).
Scripture
On earth there is not his like, a creature without fear. He sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride.” (Job 41:33-34)
Commentary
In scripture Leviathan is an image of the devil and chaos (Ps 74:12-14, Is 27:1, Rev 20:2). This strikes to the heart of the gospel. Leviathan can rule over the pride of men, and yet God rules over Leviathan. Thus it is ours to ponder, that God changes the hearts of wicked and vain men to humble them to Him.
WCF 9,IV - "When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of grace, He frees him from his natural bondage under sin; and, by His grace alone, enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good; yet so, as that by reason of his remaining corruption, he doth not perfectly, nor only will that which is good, but doth also that which is evil."
Job admits defeat and repents. (Job 42:5-6)
Scripture
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6).
Commentary
Job abandons all reliance on his knowledge, his good standing in the community, his self-justification even his faithful endurance of the suffering he had undergone.
It is important to note that at the time of Job's repentance, he was entirely submitted to the Lord and still in his suffering and miserable condition, "expecting only the continuation of his suffering down to the grave".
Thus, Satan's allegations of hypocrisy in Job and fraud in God were false. God's claims were true and doubly proven.
Commentary
Here we see that Job has served his role as God's champion and has won the case in respect of the "trial by ordeal".
It has been said that Job’s greatest grief in all of his trial was the thought that he had lost God. “Though he showed much of impatience, yet he always returned to this, that he committed himself wholly to God, and at last showed a perfect spirit of enduring submission.”[4] (Job 13:15, Job 16:19, Job 19:25).
God restores to Job the respect of his friends (Job 42:7-9) and double of all that he had lost in the trial (Job 42:10-17).
Commentary
God's restoration of Job's circumstances is an indication of the Lord's faithfulness and a sign that in the end God will be clearly revealed as compassionate and of tender mercy (Jas 5:11).
Scripture
Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. (Jas 5:11)
[1] The essay; ‘Trial by Ordeal’ may be found in M G Kline, ''Essential Writings of Meredith Kline'', Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody MA, USA, 2017, pgs 169-182
[2] ibid pg 170
[3] There is an understanding which argues that God’s providence deals with mankind ‘assymetrically’, which is to say that God, being a good God only ever does good and as the prime mover of good and is directly and solely accountable for all good. But where suffering entails, God uses secondary causes, such as Satan or the wickedness of men. Which is to say that God remains sovereign but makes use of others in the conduct of His affairs.
A prime example is Haggai’s lament over Israel’s sin. Haggai pleads with God to act. God tells Haggai that the Babylonians are going to punish Israel. Haggai despairs that such a proud and wicked nation should overrun Israel. God explains that He realizes how wicked the Babylonians are and that He will punish them for harming Israel. (Se Haggai 1-2.)
[4] Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary at James 5:11
