Introduction to
the Book of Job
17 January 2008
1
Names of the Book
 Hebrew: Iyyob, meaning either
“persecuted one”
or “repentant one”
 Greek:
Iob
 Latin:
Iob
2
Author of the Book
 Unknown; possible authors:
 Job
 Hezekiah
 Elihu
 Jeremiah
 Solomon
 Baruch
 Isaiah
 Ezra
 Moses (lived in Midian near Uz)
3
Date and Setting
 Unknown
 Probably occurred during the patriarchal
period, around 2000 B.C.
 Animals showed wealth
 Job offered his own sacrifices, which
means it was before the Mosaic Law
was given (around 1422 B.C.)
 Perhaps written down around the time of
Moses
4
Possible Location of Uz
“Uz” might have meant “east”
Land of Uz
Land of Midian
(where Moses
lived for 40 years)
5
Book Outline
Chapters
Controversy
1–2
Between God and Satan
3 – 37
Between Job and his friends
38 – 42
Of God and Job
6
Chapters 1-2
 Job’s blessed circumstances
 Two gatherings in heaven
 God’s challenge to Satan
 Satan’s reply to God
 God’s permission to Satan
 The tests – losing kids, property and health
 Mrs. Job’s unbelief
 Job’s friends’ 7 days of comfort
7
Job’s blessed circumstances
 7 sons, 3 daughters
 7000 sheep
 500 yoke of oxen
 500 female donkeys
 Very large household
 Greatest man of all the people of the East
 Offered burnt offerings in case children
sinned
8
Gatherings in heaven
 The ‘sons of God’ and Satan twice presented
themselves before the Lord (1:6, 2:1)
 ‘Sons of God’ in Hebrew is bene-haelohim
 Ben = son of, Elohim = God
 Job 38:4,7 – when God laid the foundations of
the earth, the sons of God shouted for joy
 So, the sons of God were angels
 Satan was ‘the anointed cherub’ (Ezek. 28:14),
the highest ranking angel until he rebelled
9
God’s challenge to Satan
 God said to Satan, “Have you seen my
servant Job? He fears Me and shuns evil.”
(Job 1:8, 2:3)
 This was like throwing meat to hungry dog.
 This was probably already about 2000
years after Satan tempted Adam and Eve in
the Garden of Eden.
 So Satan was already very experienced in
getting people to turn away from God.
That’s what he does best!
10
Satan’s reply to God
 Satan answered the Lord, “Job just fears
You for personal benefit. Take away his
children, riches and good health, and he’ll
curse you.” (Job 1:9-11; 2:4,5)
 Most religions are like this: pragmatic,
that is, people serve gods that they think
will give them what they want.
 But 1 Cor. 8:6 says we exist for God
(That means He doesn’t exist for us.)
11
God’s permission to Satan
 God said to Satan, “Go ahead and test Job!
Take away his kids, animals and good health.
Let’s see what happens!” (Job 1:12, 2:6)
 ‘Temptation’ and ‘test’ are the same word in
Greek, peirasmos.
 So when Satan tempts us, it’s actually God
testing us.
 Satan’s purpose for testing is to make us sin.
 God’s purpose for testing is to make us
stronger.
12
Chapters 3 – 37
13
The debates on earth
 Job and his three friends went through three
cycles of debate
 Job’s defenses were much longer than his
friends’ accusations
 In the process of defending his innocence,
he became guilty of self-righteousness
 None of them knew what went on earlier in
heaven between God and Satan
 Today, when we go through God’s tests, we
also do not usually know what God is doing.
14
Job’s friends
Eliphaz
Bildad
Zophar
“God is
“Son of
“Rough”
gold”
contention”
Personality Considerate Argumentative Rude, blunt
Elihu
Name
“He is My God”
Relies on
Observation Tradition
Assumption
Perceptive,
some conceit
Education
Voice of
Philosophy
History
Orthodoxy
Logic
Argument
If you sin,
you suffer
Only the
wicked
suffer
You must be
sinning
The wicked
always suffer
You are
sinning
The wicked
are shortlived
God purifies
and teaches
Humble
yourself and
submit to15God
Advice
Chapters
38 – 42
The Lord
spoke to
Job out of a
whirlwind
16
The Deliverance of Job
 God questions and challenges Job
 Job he is vile; he surrenders; he has
nothing to say. (40:4,5)
 God says that’s not good enough:
“Would you indeed annul My judgment that
you may be justified? (40:8)
Can you do the powerful things I can do?”
 Job confesses his lack of understanding
and repents (42:2-6)
 True faith is commitment without knowing
17
Deliverance of Job’s 3 friends
 God rebuked the three friends
 God told them to
offer seven bulls
and seven rams
and let Job pray
for them
 They obeyed
18
Happy ending for Job
 God restored Job’s wealth twofold
 God gave Job seven more sons and
three more daughters
 Job lived 140 more years and saw his
great-great grandchildren – a sign of
God’s blessing in Old Testament times
(Don’t expect this in New Testament
times.)
19
Themes
 Spiritual war and Satan
 Testing of God and Satan
 The role of suffering
 Sovereignty of God
 Repentance and faith
20
Spiritual war & Satan
 Jesus said Satan comes to steal, kill and
destroy (Jn. 10:10)
 Peter says Satan is a roaring lion seeking
someone to eat (1 Pt. 5:8).
 But whenever he or his demons try to do
something, it’s because God has sent them
on that mission.
 We acknowledge Satan, but fear God.
 James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves to God.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
21
Spiritual war & Satan
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil … having girded your
waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of
righteousness, and having shod your feet with the
preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the
shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word
of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication
in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all
perseverance and supplication for all the saints.
- Ephesians 6:11,14-18 NKJV
22
Testing of God and of Satan
 God testing us and Satan attacking us are really
the same thing.
 So Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father in
heaven … lead us not into temptation / testing”
(Mt. 6:9,13)
 God will test us, but when we are tested, we face
potential failure, so we ask Him to not test us.
 When God tests us, we need the whole armor of
God – truth, righteousness, gospel of peace,
faith, salvation, Word of God, prayer
23
The role of suffering
 Rom. 5: 1-11 – Results of Justification
 The purpose of our suffering is to help us
develop a Biblical hope; that is, to make
us not expect things from God that He
has not promised in scripture (1-5)
 Christ died for us when we were His
enemies, but now we have peace with
God and are saved from His wrath, so
when He disciplines us, we can trust Him
(6-11)
24
The role of suffering
 Hebrews 12:1-11 – God’s Discipline
 Whom the Lord loves he disciplines
 If you are without discipline, you are
illegitimate and not sons
 No discipline seems pleasant at the time
but painful. Later on, however, it
produces a harvest of peace for those
who have been trained by it.
25
The role of suffering
 Suffering is God’s discipline for His children
 His goal is correction to develop godly
behavior
 His goal is not punishment; that’s for later
 So the goal is not to execute justice
 It is like a scalpel in the hand of a surgeon
 It’s not from evil intent, so it’s not like a
dagger in the hand of an assassin
 So thank God for it!
26
The benefits of suffering
But He knows the way that I take, and when
He has tested me I will come forth as gold.
(Job 23:10)
Consider it a pure joy, my brothers, whenever
you face various trials, because you know that
the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Perseverance must finish it’s work, so that you
may be mature and complete, not lacking
anything. (James 1:2-4)
27
Sovereignty of God
And we know that in all things God works for
the good of those who love Him and who are
called according to His purpose.
(Romans 8:28)
28
Repentance and faith
 In Job 40:4,5 Job gave up, but God went on
for two more chapters.
 Then Job repented. He would rather be
God’s obedient servant than anything else.
 Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are
weary and heavy burdened … take My yoke
upon you and learn form Me.” (Mt. 11:28,29)
 You are going to wear the yoke, whether
Jesus’ yoke or someone else’s.
 God will only accept repentance and faith in
His Word. Being good is not good enough.
29
Application
1. Be aware of the spiritual battle going on
around you, especially in the area of
interpersonal relationship. Satan loves to
divide and conquer.
2. Put on the full armor of God (Eph. 6) – truth,
righteousness, gospel of peace, faith,
salvation, the Word of God and prayer
30
Application
3. Avoid the tendency to assume that your
suffering or others’ suffering is due to sin,
because innocent people suffer too.
4. Don’t assume that you know with certainty
what God is doing in your life or someone
else’s life. We walk by faith, not by sight, so
we can never be 100% sure.
31
Application
5. Learn to trust God’s goodness and power in
the midst of trials and suffering or through
tough circumstances.
6. In the midst of adversity and tragedy, don’t
ask “Why?” ask “Who is causing it?”
7. Put your hope in God no matter what.
32
Application
8. Bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2).
9. Be slow to judge others’ circumstances
(Mt. 7:1-5).
10. Don’t be like Mrs. Job, Eliphaz, Bildad or
Zophar, but instead be a wise friend:
 Someone who gets the facts straight
before making accusations, and
 Someone who comforts and encourages
friends when they are suffering.
33
Application
11. When your friends seem to be breaking
God’s commandments and you feel
responsible to confront them:
 First ask questions to understand the
situation before making accusations
 Only make accusations when you have
clear facts
 Otherwise, wait for God to reveal more
34
Application
12. When others accuse you of wrong-doing
 Repent if you think they are correct
 Otherwise, thank them for their concern,
briefly defend yourself and then spend
time alone in prayer, asking God to show
you if you are really guilty.
35
Application
12. Develop an eternal hope, and don’t expect
God to do things for you in this life that He
hasn’t promised to do for you in the Bible.
13. Ask God to help you become like Job – His
obedient servant, whom He can trust to pass
through any of Satan’s attacks.
36
Bibliography
Special thanks goes to the following:
 EBibleTeacher.com for their maps
 NASA for their Satellite images
 Bruce Wilkinson & Kenneth Boa for their
information in Talk Thru the Bible
 Walt Henrichsen for his wisdom and insight
shared during Bible studies he has led and in
books, articles and e-mails he has written
 Edward Reese for his chronology and dating
in The Reese Chronological Bible