Job at a glance

Job

 

The 18^th book in the Bible whose author is unknown, though there is speculation that it could have been Moses, Solomon or Elihu*. When Job was written down is unknown but is thought to be during the time of the Patriarchs... perhaps around 1900 BC. Therefore, the book of Job was speaking of the time period from 2000-1800 BC.

 

The Purpose of writing this book was to demonstrate God’s sovereignty and the meaning of true faith.

 

The Setting of the book: The land of Uz ... more then likely located northeast of Palestine, near desert land between Damascus and the Euphrates River.

 

Interesting Fact: The beginning chapter of the book of Job shows us that Satan needs Almighty God’s permission to come against God’s children in the form of trials and temptations. Apparently the unsaved are fare game, with no permission from God needed. [“We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will … If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.” (John 9:28-33). Jesus once said, “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37b).] Therefore, it would seem that unsaved people are only heard by God when they cry out for mercy or forgiveness. 

 

Stories told ...

 

1) Job is a story about a righteous man who goes thru serious and extreme testing of his faith as his children were taken from him, he lost his businesses and finally, his own physical health, by having his body covered in boils.

 

Important Points found in this book:

 

1) Chapter 1 focuses on Job’s many God given blessings, then the heavy losses by Satan’s own hand are described on thru the 2^nd chapter. If you read Job you’ll find that this was due to a request of God by the evil one to test one of God’s children.

 

2) In Chapters 3 - 37, Job speaks with 3 of his friends to came to visit him as Job sit on an ash heap covered in boils. His friends come to make him feel better but end up accusing him of being deserving of his punishment because of sin in his life. In fact, Job had NOT sinned, neither would he say a negative thing about his God.

 

3) In Chapters 37-40, God speaks out against his accusing friends and also Job saying that none of them were big enough or smart enough to question God about ANYTHING. Some may think that a bit tyrannical, however we must remember that God created all of humanity and therefore, just as a parent knows what’s best for their child, so Almighty God also knows precisely what is good for us in all situations. In reality, I’m quite certain that believers can ask questions of our Lord, but of an inquisitive nature and not in arrogance, like someone who believes that are above others as they begin to talk down to them. 

 

4) The closing chapter, No. 41, has God restoring all of Job’s losses blessing him with 2x as much as he had prior to the testing. Job was also given 10 more children.

 

Next time we will look at the book of Psalms, but until then walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His glory,

Rich Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Resource: Books of the Bible at a Glance; published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (May 18, 2018); The Life Application Study Bible. Note: I took my information from this lengthy compilation of bible book information for all 66 books of the Holy Bible & the margin notes from the study bible.

* Elihu - He too was a friend of Job’s but was younger than the other 3 friends who had been judging Job (32:6-7). For that reason he didn’t speak up until he became angry that Job wouldn’t admit he had sinned. Elihu said Job’s suffering would not go away until he recognized his present sin. It would seem that he was a bystander to this conversation between Job and his friends that whole time.