Job:
An Integrative Study
Why an Integrative Study?
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o
An integrative study provides a most
complete framework for the study of Job
Allows us to consider facts and theology
while not losing the practical implications
of the book of Job
Objectives of this Study
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To demonstrate that God is worthy of love apart from the
blessings he provides.
To explain that God may allow suffering as a means to
purify and strengthen a person in godliness.
To underscore that God has a vast frame of reference often
difficult for us to construe but the absolutely correct frame
of reference.
To explore the justice of God who treats the righteous with
suffering.
To demonstrate to Satan that God’s blessing of believers is
not contingent upon fearing him, but is unconditional
because he first loved them.
To address wrestling with affliction that defies human
explanation.
Outline
A Brief Introduction- Prologue
II.
A Court in Heaven and on Earth
III. A Study of Positions.- Dialogue
IV. An Apologetic of the Redeemer.- Epilogue
V.
A Practical Study
I.
I. Introduction
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Job is translated to boYa in Hebrew, which means to
repent.
 He was pious (1:1), prosperous(1:2,3), and posteriors
(1:4,5)
 Job could have been a contemporary of the patriarchs.
 This is one of the oldest books in the bible, along with
Genesis. Believed to have been either authored or
translated into Hebrew by Moses.
 He lived more than 140 yrs like the patriarchs.
 Other intangibles….
II. A Court in Heaven and on Earth
Trial in Heaven:
Who is/are on trial? Job, God
Who is the plaintiff/accuser? Satan
Who is the Jury? The angels, us.
Trial on Earth:
Who is on trial? Job, God
Who is/are the plaintiff/accuser(s)? The three friends, Job.
Who is the Jury? Elihu, us.
Who is the Judge? God
Who and where is the defense????????????????????
*******What is the Verdict?*******
Theme(verdict):
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The reasons for suffering in a believers life
are not necessarily related to human
explanations of personal unrighteousness,
but are within the scope of God’s good and
powerful providence resulting in the defeat
of evil and glory to himself.
III. A Study of Positions
What is a position?
A position is a theological or philosophical
stand regarding an issue.
Who had positions in the book of Job?
Satan, Mrs. Job, Job’s friend, Job, Elihu,
and God.
Satan’s Position
“Does Job fear God for nothing?” 1:9
“Skin for skin, a man will give up all he has for his
own life”2:4
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Serving God is only behaviorally contingent upon its
rewards-1:9,10
 Removal of God’s contingency of rewards results in
apostasy-1:11
 Application of an aversive stimuli in the sense of
punishment would result in the extinction of God fearing
behavior-1:11
 Adversity must produce apostasy-1:11
 This life is everything- 2:4,5
Mrs. Job’s Position
“Are you still holding on to your integrity, curse God
and die” Chap 2: 9
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Integrity should be conditional, shaped by
contingencies of reward.
 Apostasy results in immediate judgment.
 The sufferings of this present time are too much
cost compared to the glory that will follow.
Position of Job’s Friends
In three cycles of speeches they rebuke Job:
1) Cycle 1 of Speeches and Job's
ResponseGod Punishes the Wicked and Blesses the Good:
4:1--14:22
2) Cycle 2 of Speeches and Job's
Response- -
The Wicked Suffer and Perish because They Are
against God: 15:1--21:34
3) Cycle 3 of Speeches and Job's
Response—
Eliphaz versus Job
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Eliphaz 1: Eliphaz accused
Job of being inconsistent
since suffering results from
sin and no one is pure
before God; thus he urged
Job to ask God to help him
and affirmed that God would
deliver him after He had
disciplined him 4:1--5:27
Eliphaz 2: Eliphaz affirms
that Job's words are
meaningless, that he is
guilty, and that he is like the
wicked because he is in
distress 15:1-35
Eliphaz 3: Proclaiming God's
disinterest in Job for his
social deviations and
spiritual defiance, Eliphaz
urges him to repent for God
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Job: Job responded by affirming
that his suffering was causing his
rash desire to die, Eliphaz's
response has disappointed him,
and by asking for forgiveness if
he has sinned 6:1--7:21
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Job: Job responds rebuking his
friends for being no help, desiring
to plead his case with God, and
affirming is situation of despair
16:1-- 17:16
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Job: Job longs to plead his case
before God 23:1--24:25
Bildad versus Job
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Bildad 1: Bildad affirmed that
history has confirmed that if
Job is righteous God will
restore him, unlike the
ungodly who perish 8:1-22
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Job: Job responds by
affirming God's wisdom and
power, asking why He is
against him, and requesting
to die 9:1--10:22
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Bildad 2: Bildad rebukes Job
for his arrogant words about
them, and affirms that the
wicked, like he, are
weakened, ensnared,
diseased, insecure,
forgotten, hated, and alone
18:1-21
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Job: Job rebukes his friends
for tormenting and insulting
him, affirms that God has
wronged him, urges his
friends to have pity on him,
and affirms that God will
prove his innocence after his
death and judge his friends
19:1-29
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Bildad 3: Bildad affirmed that
because God is great and
man is small and impure
there was no hope for Job to
be just and clean 25:1-6
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Job: Job affirms that his
friends are not help to him
since he knows that God is
great and powerful over
Zophar versus Job
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Zophar 1: Zophar
rebukes Job by
affirming that God
should show him true
wisdom and by
affirming that if he
would turn to God, he
would be blessed 11:120
Zophar 2: Zophar
accuses Job of insulting
him and reminds him
that the wicked may be
blessed, but they will
then loose their riches
20:1-29
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Job: Job responds by
criticizing Zophar for not
telling him anything
new, not helping him,
and not representing
God well, whereupon,
he again asks God to
let him die 12:1--14:22
Job: Job retorts that his
impatience is excusable
and reminds Zophar
that the wicked prosper
and live (unlike he)
21:1-34
Job’s Final Remarks
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Transitionary Discourse on God's Wisdom: Job affirms that
although man is skillful in mining, wisdom is harder to find for it
is God who knows where wisdom is 28:1-28
Job's Desire for His Former Estate of Glory: Job wishes that he
was in his former days of spiritual blessing, material prosperity
and social prestige which occurred because he helped the
needy, exercised justice and counseled others 29:1-25
Job's Lament of His Present Miserable Humiliation: Job
proclaims his misery as he is mocked by poor young men and
vagabonds, and his humiliation as he is in pain and nobody
helps him 30:1-31.
Job's Ultimate Challenge--An Oath of Innocence which 'Legally'
Calls God to Answer" 31:1-40
Elihu’s Position
Four Speeches by Elihu: 32:1--37:24
ii. Introduction of Elihu: 32:1-5
iii. Elihu's First Speech- God Instructs people
through Affliction: 32:6--33:33
iv. Elihu's Second Speech to the Three Friends
and Job—God is Just and Prudence is
Vindicated: 34:1-37
v. Elihu's Third Speech to Job—There are
Advantages to Piety: 35:1-16
vi. Elihu's Fourth Speech to Job (and Friends)–
God is Great and Job is Ignorant: 36:1-37:24
i.
God’s Position
“Brace yourself like a man, I will question
you and you shall answer….” 38:9
God interviews Job in two speeches:
1. First Interview with Yahweh-- Job is Limited in
Knowledge: 38:1--40:5
1) Yahweh Challenged Job: 38:1-3
2) Yahweh Questioned Job Regarding Two Areas of
Creation: the physical and animal world.
Here God asks Job to listen.
2. Second Interview with God –Job is Limited in
Power: 40:6--42:6
1) Yahweh Challenged Job to Listen: 40:6-14
2) Yahweh questioned Job Regarding Two animals
of Creation: the Behemoth and the Leviathan
Job’s Reply
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Job Replied with Repentance: 42:1-6
“…Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 "You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.'
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes."
Stuff to think about!!!
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Why do bad things happen to good people?
(clichéic question)
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Do you think the book of Job answers this
question?
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What about Satan’s position, is there an iota
of truth in it? Ask behaviorist’s! Why is this
position wrong?
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Think about the position of the three friends in
a general sense, does sin result in immediate
judgment? Why is their position wrong even
in a general sense?
IV. An Apologetic of the
Redeemer
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B.
Job as a type of Christ
Job’s appeal to the Redeemer
Job as a Type of Christ
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In the character Job, Christ is certainly foreshadowed.
Like Christ, Job was suffering innocently.
Compare Job 16: 10,11 to Ps 22:13, 35:21
Both were tried by Satan- Chap 1&2, Matt 4:1-11
Both were regarded as being smitten by God and afflicted by himIsaiah 53:4
Both made atonement for the sins of their adversaries-Job 42:7-10,
Dan 7: 13-14, Rom 5:10, Col 1:10
Both learned submission to God through the things they suffered42:1-6, Heb 5:7-10
After their suffering, they became designated High priests, and neither
was Levite- Job 42:7-10, Heb 5:7-10
Both were restored to glory- 42:12-17, Matt 28:18, Mark 16:19, Heb
1:2-13
B. Appeal to the Redeemer
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Job on trial…..
Judge- God, Satan-accuser, Three friends-witnesses…Elihu and us bystanders.
Where is Job’s defense?
"He is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might
confront each other in court. If only there were someone to arbitrate
between us, to lay his hand upon us both, someone to remove God's
rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more. Then I
would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I
cannot” –9:32-35
We can almost hear Isaiah emphatically, “…he will send them a savior
and a defender, and he will rescue them.” Is 19:20c
A Heavenly Advocate
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“Even now my witness is in heaven, my advocate is on
high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears
to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man
pleads for his friend” 16:19,20
The arbitrator cannot be a mere human.
The defender has access to heaven- Heb 4:14, 9:24
This person is a friend who understand Job’s tears- John
15:13-15, Heb 4:15
This person makes petition on Job’s behalf-John 17:1-26
Key Verse:
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“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he
will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been
destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see
him with my own eyes--I, and not another. How my heart
yearns within me! If you say, 'How we will hound him,
since the root of the trouble lies in him,' you should fear
the sword yourselves; for wrath will bring punishment by
the sword, and then you will know that there is judgment.”
19:25-27
Who is the Redeemer?
The Hebrew word for redeemer is go’el, a person
who makes a payment to free someone else from
obligation.
“Surely mockers surround me;my eyes must dwell on
their hostility. “Give me O God the pledge you
demand. Who else will put up security for me?”17:2,3
V. A Practical Study- Socratic Method
Challenges from the Jobian positions:
-Can God present us as exceptions?
-If those contingent benefits were removed, would we go
apostate?
-In the face of adversity, would we go apostate or stand in the
rain?
-Are we willing to give up spiritual life for physical life?
Think about Mrs. Job and the three friends, how could they
have been more supportive?
God rebukes the three friends for not speaking the truth about
him and commends Job for doing so. What does this teach
us?
Read 42:1-6. How can we see God through our suffering as
Job saw God through his?
Open Forum
Questions and Comments