Job pronounced jobe, was a rich farmer living in the land of uz, somewhere northeast of palestine. In job, an exceptionally ancient book, satan is part of the heavenly court. God used the accusation as an opportunity to prove satan wrong, and all the hurtful. Satan claimed that if job were stripped of everything he had, he would curse god. God praises job before satan, and satan is unimpressed, claiming that he is only righteous because his life is so comfortable. For the rest of the lesson, the role of satan in the book of job is covered. Satan said he could have job eating out of his hand turn him away from god. At this early stage of revelation many scholars believe that job is the oldest book in the bible this figure had not yet acquired satan as a personal name. They decide, therefore, that they cant find jesus in the book of job.
Apr, 2015 the old testament of the king james bible was translated directly from the masoretic text, which is the authoritative hebrew text of the jewish bible regarded almost universally as the official version of the tanakh, the sacred book of judaism, consisting of the torah law of moses, the prophets the neviim and the writings the chetuvim. What does this tell us about the place of evil in the world. This is part of the overall issue that satan raised in eden, namely, the rightfulness and righteousness of jehovahs sovereignty. However, heres the definition of satan as given in eastons bible dictionary. Since job has been gifted with such abundance and a wonderful life, it is no wonder that he serves god. It begins with an introduction to jobs characterhe is described as. Over time, our eyes are opened to find this lovely creature is the personification of hatred, evil, and death. Job is a wealthy man living in a land called uz with his large family and extensive flocks. God boasts to satan about jobs goodness, but satan argues that job is only good because god has. Satan s accusation of job is that this is the deep truth concerning his apparently godly and upright conduct that this is, in fact, the deep truth about the godliness of all righteous people.
Job 1 the message msg 1 job was a man who lived in uz. Job is an unlikely candidate because the books message rests on jobs. One day, satan the adversary appears before god in heaven. The message of the book of job is that our suffering is not always due to sin. The name satan comes from a hebrew word signifying an adversary, an enemy, and an accuser.
How could satan access heaven in the books of job and the. The book of job is a book in the ketuvim section of the hebrew bible, and the first poetic book in the old testament of the christian bible. In it, satan is a member of gods divine court who walks the earth looking for sin and reports back to god. It is possible that job is the oldest of any book of the bible written approximately 21001800 b. What is the message of the book of job from the bible answers.
From the start we know there are limits to jobs trial, and we know what those limits are. Thomas explores the difficulty of jobs suffering, satans involvement, and gods sovereignty. Even though job is described as, upright and blameless, satan accuses job of serving god only because job is prosperous. Im the only one to get out alive and tell you what happened. He is blameless and upright, always careful to avoid doing evil 1. Not much is known about job based on the masoretic text of the jewish bible. When used as a proper name, the hebrew word so rendered has the article the adversary job 1. In job, this prologue serves as a literary device to give the reader a perspective that the characters in the story lack. The characters in the book of job consist of job, his wife, his three friends bildad, eliphaz, and zophar, a man named elihu, god, and angels one of whom is named satan. The date of the authorship of the book of job would be determined by the author of the book of job. The book of job shows that gods creatures can contribute to the vindication of jehovahs sovereignty by maintaining their integrity to him. From the prologue of the book of job, it may seem that satan was behind all the troubles of job. Addressing the problem of theodicy the vindication of the justice of god in the light of humanitys suffering it is a rich theological work setting out a variety of perspectives.
This was to show satan how job loved worshiped god. Job 1 kjv there was a man in the land of uz, bible gateway. Thomas walks us through the book of job and considers what the bible says about our darkest moments. The book of job begins with a prologue job 12, which describes a wager between satan and god, in which satan the adversary bets god that job a particularly pious manwill abandon his piety and curse god if all his wealth and wellbeing are taken away. Like some other ancient compositions, the book of job has a sandwich literary structure.
Key personalities of this book include job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, zophar the naamathite, and elihu the buzite. The hebrew book of job is part of ketuvim writings of the jewish bible. In the book of job, satan is sent by god to torment job. If he is right, if the godliness of the righteous in whom god delights can be shown to be evil, then a chasm of alienation stands between god and human. The book of job in the hebrew bible was crafted to address human suffering and why bad things happen to good people. In this epic wager between god and the devil, discover how job reacts to the shocking curses inflicted upon him and what we can learn from his incredible example of remaining faithful through suffering. The book of job and satans power i recently began studying the book of job and several things strike me as strange right from the start. He addresses the difficult question of the relationship between gods sovereignty and the existence of evil, sin, and suffering. The book of job begins by introducing us to its three most significant characters. In hebrew, satan actually means the accuser or the prosecutor, and he is referred to as the satan, not just satan.
Some bible scholars debate whether he was an actual person or legend, but job is mentioned as a historical figure by the prophet ezekial ezekial 14. The book of job explores the nature of true piety and the problem of innocent suffering. They should have gone a bit further and looked at his cross. So, god allowed satan to take away jobs wealth and his children. Satan challenges god that, if given permission to punish the man, job will turn and curse god. He was the greatest man among all the people of the east.
There we are given a window into the normally invisible reasons for our trials and suffering. Many readers of job are troubled by how quickly god responds to satan s question and allows satan to proceed to cause havoc in job s life. Before we discuss some of the devices of satan, we first need to know who he is. It is a dramatic poem and is probably the oldest book of the bible, and was certainly written before the giving of the law. In the end, satan loses the bet that job will deny gods goodness and fidelity. Job was blameless, meaning no sin was found in him.
They itched and oozed so badly that he took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself, then went and sat on a trash heap, among the ashes. If solomon was the author, the date would be around 950 b. Family and fortune 67 one day when the angels came to report to god, satan, who was the designated accuser, came along with them. This to me is the overriding teaching of the book of job. Satan targets job because of his righteousness and favour with god and wishes to turn job against god. We are first introduced to job as a blameless and upright man job 1. God permitted satan to deprive job first of his wealth and children and then of his health.
Dec 30, 2016 22 ways to find jesus in the book of job december 30, 2016 by admin some people struggle with the book of job because, when they look at the life of jesus, they cant find anything in the ministry of jesus that corresponds to jobs story. Satan thus raised the question of mans integrity to jehovah. Its more of a title than anything elselike your honor or the monsieur. Aug 02, 2010 in the book of job, satan is sent by god to torment job. The old testament of the king james bible was translated directly from the masoretic text, which is the authoritative hebrew text of the jewish bible regarded almost universally as the official version of the tanakh, the sacred book of judaism, consisting of the torah law of moses, the prophets the neviim and the writings the chetuvim. Later, god allowed satan to afflict job physically. Some people struggle with the book of job because, when they look at the life of jesus, they cant find anything in the ministry of jesus that corresponds to jobs story. The bible story of job, from the book of job, is a powerful tale of testing the devotion and fortitude of the human will. One talmudic tradition suggests moses as author since the land of uz 1.
The contemporary view of satan is that he is a powerful being who hates mankind and will do whatever he can to destroy us. He was honest inside and out, a man of his word, who was totally devoted to god and hated evil with a passion. By asserting that job the most blameless and godfearing man then on earth served jehovah god for selfish reasons only, satan implied that the same was true of all intelligent creatures. Job is an unlikely candidate because the books message rests on jobs ignorance of the events that occurred in heaven as they were related to his ordeal.
What is the message of the book of job from the bible. Rather, it begins with a typical day in the divine oval office, and the topic of gods just operation of the cosmos is put on the table. God himself tells satan, you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason 2. Satan believes that the only reason anyone, including job, worships god and follows gods commands is for the rewards. Satan doesnt even come close to his monstrosity thoughbthe bible is a lie and hoax. Though he is not yet seen as the altogether sinister cosmic force we find him to be in later biblical revelation, he is nevertheless depicted as somewhat outside of, and in.
It has been widely praised for its literary qualities, with alfred lord tennyson calling it the greatest poem of ancient and modern times. This summary of the book of job provides information about the title, authors. In job, we see a man who god allows to be directly attacked by satan. Theres no one quite like himhonest and true to his word, totally. In job we also listen in on a discussion in the heavenly courtroom between god and satan 1. It is interesting to note that satan cannot go ahead without gods permission. The book of job is ancient israelite wisdom literature, and its purpose isnt to teach us about how satan and god make bets and leave innocent peoples fates hanging in the balance. Unaware of satans role in all of this, job could not understand why god allowed him to experience these trials. The book of job contains the most complex and lengthy treatment of the subject in the bible. The story recounted in chapters 1 and 2 makes us privy to actual conversations between god and satan. However, a deeper look reveals a more redemptive dynamic in this trial. And there is a reality called satan who challenges god that his man is not as good as he thinks he is. As is customary with epic poems, it begins with a prologue that sets up the story line chs 12.
He was also very wealthyseven thousand head of sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred teams of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and a huge staff of servantsthe most influential man in all the east. The prose prologue chapters one and two and the epilogue 42. The ultimate authority belongs to god, even though evil is allowed to occur. We err when we read the first two chapters and conclude that the only message in the book is that job suffered to disprove satan s accusation that the only reason he served god was for what he could get from god ease and prosperity. Jan 02, 2020 however, a deeper look reveals a more redemptive dynamic in this trial. God allows satan to torment job to test this bold claim, but he. The remainder of the book is the dialogue of job and his friends attempting to determine why this is. When we begin reading the book of job we learn that, while god allowed satan to afflict job, he set limits beyond which the devil could not pass. But, says satan, if you take his good fortune away from him, he will turn against god.
The big picture of job is that there was a man who was, in one sense, blameless in gods sight. Satan accused job of honoring god only because god had blessed him. The book of job by derek thomas ligonier ministries. In gods word, we discover that satan is gods enemy and is. The meaning of the book of job is found in gods and satans conversation in heaven. Was it unfair for god to allow job to suffer over what was. Satan can touch flesh and bone but your spirit belongs to god and only you can defile it and cause god to reject it. Michael heiser a walk through the old testament concerning the trinity duration. The bible tells us that one day satan presented himself before god and god asked satan what he thought of job. Theres no one quite like himhonest and true to his word, totally devoted to god and hating evil. God allows satan to take away jobs possessions, children and health. No one knows for sure who wrote the book of job, although ultimately, all scripture is breathed out by god and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in. And god reins him in or gives him slack according to gods own sovereign purposes. Job made a habit of this sacrificial atonement, just in case theyd sinned.
You must understand who god is and who satan is, what they know, and what their motivation is. Satan cannot make a move without the permission of god almighty. This god is clearly very evil as written in the scriptures. We err when we read the first two chapters and conclude that the only message in the book is that job suffered to disprove satans accusation that the only reason he served god was for what he could get from god ease and prosperity. Years later, in the book of the revelation, the apostle john wrote about a future day when satan will be kicked out. William henry green, in his great book, the argument of the book of job unfolded, says of satan. Job chapters 1 and 2, part of the bibles oldest book, say that satan has access to heaven. The book of job is one of the literary masterpieces of all time, and provides a profound discussion on the suffering of a just man. In this weeks sermon, the historical dating and literary criticism is commented on in the beginning. Addressing the problem of theodicy the vindication of the justice of god in the light of humanitys suffering it is a. Satan can touch flesh and bone but your spirit belongs to god. If moses was the author, the date would be around 1440 b. It creates the impression that if satan had not raised the question about job, job would not have suffered. The book of job god did not give satan power biblebro.
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