May 18, 2014 job in my opinion is a picture of gods dealings with righteous people, especially the jewish people. How do you trust god even when life isnt fair and you suffer for no good reason. The book of job is written in the form of a dramatic poem, that deals with several age old questions, among them the question of why the righteous suffer. The bible addresses many basic issues of life and death, of the present and the future, and so it is difficult to select just one theme as the main one. We may be sure that the author was an israelite, since he not job or his friends frequently uses the israelite covenant name for god yahweh. 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. It encourages us to use gods gifts while they can, but exercise moderation and be grateful to god for the gifts he has given us. Taken from nelsons new illustrated bibkle dictionary. I must trust, fall down and trust a sovereign god with my life. Behold, the fear of the lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding job 28. Satan targets job because of his righteousness and favour with god and wishes to turn job against god. Derek thomas this twelvemessage series, the book of job, is now available. Brief summary of job the kjv bible scriptures the content of job according to the kjv bible scriptures contains a short overview of the main subjects, people, events and ancient topics in the following summary of. Job, who is sure in his innocence, does everything in order to serve god as good as possible.
It is common to view the narrative frame as the original core of the book, enlarged later by the poetic dialogues and discourses, and sections of the book such as the elihu speeches and the wisdom poem of chapter 28 as late insertions, but recent trends have tended to concentrate on the. Sep 09, 2012 the book of job is a part of the old testament. The old testament quizzes about important details and events in every. What are the meanings and themes of the book of job. This book tells a story of job who is loyal and obedient to god but has to go through much suffering. Look at the specific lessons we can learn about responding to trials as revealed in the book of job. Though we cannot be certain, job may have lived during the time of jacob or shortly thereafter.
You yourself have done this plenty of times, spoken words that clarify, encouraged those who were about to quit. Gods answer to the problem of undeserved suffering grand rapids. What happens to israel is really a microcosm of the experiences of all mankind. It considers some of the most difficult questions of life, foremost among which is the problem of theodicy what is the hebrew word for the book of psalms.
Students of the bible have generally grouped the leading topics treated in the bible under two main heads. The book of job opens in verse one by telling us that job was a. Victor, 1985, 717, for nine reasons the book of job points to a patriarchal period. One talmudic tradition suggests moses as author since the land of uz 1. Are we trusting our creator, even though we cannot understand our circumstances. An initial theme found early in the book of job is the concept of fair weather friends lacking true loyalty and a thinly veiled jealousy over jobs wealth. Book of job overview insight for living ministries. Intro to job biblica the international bible society. His compelling exposition shows the power of the book of job to reach into our human situation and to engage with our human needs. 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.
This summary of the book of job provides information about the title, authors, date of. This part of the bible touches fundamental question of guilt, punishment, justice, good and evil. The skeptical character of the symposium, with its challenge to timehonored views, most likely would have kept the book of job out of the canon of old testament writings had some additions not been made to the original book. Job pronounced jobe, was a rich farmer living in the land of uz, somewhere northeast of palestine. 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 is an example of faithfulness as he loses everything important to him yet remains faithful to god. The style of this series is very readable, and treats the book of job thematically rather than versebyverse. No answers are given, but god reminds us to trust his wisdom and character. The book of job covers a multitude of themes reflecting the multitude of individual states of the walk of the believer as represented by the children of israel and their history. How might the book so ecclesiastes provide support for the idea of term espouses. Mans powers dont come close to gods, sure, but according to genesis, we were made in his image.
Archer and others see the book of job as the oldest book in the bible gleason l. The prose prologue chapters one and two and the epilogue 42. Oct 12, 2016 what is the final message of the book of job about. Job s final speech in his own defense is probably where the book originally ended. Its author is unknown yet it is possible that job himself wrote it. The central question of theodicy is to explain how an allknowing. In the course of one day, job receives four messages, each bearing separate. What is the final message of the book of job about. In job, this prologue serves as a literary device to give the reader a perspective that the characters in the story lack. But this story is about more than just mass destruction. As is customary with epic poems, it begins with a prologue that sets up the story line chs 12. The structure and message of the book of job jstor.
A brief synopsis the famous bible stories found in the scriptural text of the book of job contained in this short summary of job. Your words have put stumbling people on their feet, put fresh hope in people about to collapse. They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace job 21. Key personalities of this book include job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, zophar the naamathite, and elihu the buzite. In the allegory, job represents natural israel in the harsh experiences of their diaspora. Although most of the book consists of the words of job and his friends, job himself was not the author. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of bible. This article will seek to deline ate the literary structure of the book of job in order to determine the major purpose of the book. The massive, overarching question that defines the book of job. The second main part most of the book consists of job 3. Two interviews of yahweh with satanthe presenting problem. This is important, for the point of the whole narrative, we shall see, is to expose the. Zophars assessment of jobs condition was not accurate, because job had done nothing wrong and was suffering, while others who did evil lived safe and free from.
He was honest inside and out, a man of his word, who was totally devoted to god and hated evil with a passion. Elihu was one of jobs friendsnot one of the three who had come to comfort job at the beginning of the book, but one who arrives later and offers the last and longest single speech to job. It is an unusual book and most difficult, to say the least. 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. I believe it was job who actually wrote it and if you were to place the book of job in chronological order, youd have to place it in the first 5th of the book of.
It offers, he believes, the strong comfort which comes from knowing that someone else has been there before. The book of job tells of god sending satan to do harm to job, to test just how righteous job really is. Instead of asking where god is in the midst of your pain, the book of job affirms gods control and asks us, where are we in our pain. The book of job is the story of a normal human being who is beset by misfortune and suffering.
This to me is the overriding teaching of the book of job. This not only seems to involve god in the performance of evil. Eliphaz speaks out now youre the one in trouble then eliphaz from teman spoke up. Satan can touch flesh and bone but your spirit belongs to god and only you can defile it and cause god to reject it. In the book of job, we find questions about gods justice and why good people suffer. Job 4 msg eliphaz speaks out now youre the one bible gateway. For us, too, the message is that trust in god is ultimately rewarded, now on earth or later in heaven. Job was blameless, meaning no sin was found in him. It has several allegorical elements, and in many ways could be said to be a story about all of humanity. Rather, god reminds job that god is god and job is not. Frequently missed questions for ot test 2 16 terms. Carpe diem means to seize the day and live life to the fullest. Elihu is identified only as the son of barakel the buzite, of the family of ram job 32.
The goal is to demonstrate how tthe author of job utilized certain key themes in developing the purpose and message of the book. Nov 17, 2015 i believe it was job who actually wrote it and if you were to place the book of job in chronological order, youd have to place it in the first 5th of the book of genesis because the book of job. In job, we see a man who god allows to be directly attacked by satan. The book takes its name from the main character in the poem, the patriarch job. Its purpose is to illustrate gods sovereignty and faithfulness during a time of great suffering. It is possible that job is the oldest of any book of the bible written approximately 21001800 b. This summary of the book of job provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of job. Despite its focus on challenges and sufferings, the book of job speaks a message of great hope to the world. What do you think is the main message of the book of job. The reasons for suffering in a persons life are not necessarily related to human explanations of personal unrighteousness, but are within the scope of gods good and powerful providence resulting in the defeat of evil and glory to himself.
Stay connected amidst social distancing receive weekly bible studies to share with family and friends. Every book on your english syllabus summed up in a quote from the office. This is due to the fact that while the book itself is an inspired message, the philosophical conclusions of the four men involved with job are not inspired andor revealed conclusions. 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. The message of job is both a comfort to us in our own suffering and a model for our ministry to others in.
Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. The underlying theme of the book is why does job serve god. The name job is the english translation of the hebrew name iyov which means persecuted, hated on the surface job is a long, boring, somewhat confusing book and one might question how it ever came to be grouped with the wisdom books as it is hard to ascertain any wisdom in this tale of woe. Jobs story invites us to consider what it means that god runs. Jan 02, 2020 in job 21, job answers that god, for some reason, does allow the wicked to prosper. Job 1 the message msg 1 job was a man who lived in uz. No theological student, on being asked, what is the book of j about. The evil things in his life came from satan the devil, who thought that job only believed because he had a good.