Elihu rightly points job to gods might, saying, listen to this, job. In all this job did not sin nor charge god with wrong. At the end of the book, god gives job twice as much wealth as he had before, along with seven sons and three daughters. When god calls up the name of job before the accuser and testifies to his righteousness this creature in whom god takes special delight satan attempts with one crafty thrust both to assail god s beloved and to show up god as a fool.
You will find the name of job mentioned in ezekiel 14 twice. We are commanded to honor the name of god, but to do that adequately, we must understand the inherit greatness of the names which god uses to refer to himself. Bible, job bears the name of the narratives primary character. True to one of his modes of operation, he accuses job before god.
God rebukes job s three friends and orders them to make a sacrifice. God himself, in speaking to job, uses the term twice. Job was blameless, meaning no sin was found in him. I wasnt sure, and couldnt find a definitive answerso i did a little homework. We find the questions that god asked job in the book of job, chapters 38 through 42. It is found in the third section of the biblical canon known as the ketuvim writings. When the bible speaks of god, the name used holds more significance than you ever knew. Although job was unaware of the interaction between satan and god, job comes to the conclusion that god is just and good. They decide, therefore, that they cant find jesus in the book of job. Job prays for gods forgiveness of them and god accepts his prayer. The new element in the second cycle is that elihus speech is interrupted by the dramatic appearance of god himself job 38.
God rebukes jobs three friends and orders them to make a sacrifice. We assume god is frivolously toying with job s life rather than teaching him through a string of tragedies that he knew before the foundation of the world. Laird harris professor of old testament covenant theological seminary a few years ago, there was a man of the eastthe eastern united states, that isnamed archibald macleish. In the books first cycle, jobs friends speeches were halted by the revelation of gods wisdom. Job 1 niv prologue in the land of uz there bible gateway. Job explores the difficult question of god s relationship to human suffering, and invites us to trust god s wisdom and character. The hebrew book of job is part of ketuvim writings of the jewish bible. Along with our tendency to doubt the integrity of god, the book of job also shines a bright spotlight on. One of the most overwhelming things about a severe trial can be the sense of isolation. Then his wife said to him, do you still hold fast to your integrity. 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.
In the land of uz there lived a man whose name was job. For example, the very first reference to god in genesis 1. Meaning, origin and history of the name job behind the name. In the book of job in the old testament he is a righteous man who is tested by god, enduring many tragedies and hardships while struggling to remain faithful. Is the astronomy in the book of job scientifically consistent. For more thoughts on the two sections, check out the genre section. It is generally thought that the same divine name is found in arabic ilah as singular a god, as opposed to allah meaning the god or god and in aramaic, though note the. The greek septuagint also included the books of wisdom and sirach. In rabbinical literature, job is called one of the prophets of the gentiles. He struggles to understand his situation and begins a search for the answers to his difficulties. The book of job is the story of a normal human being who is beset by misfortune and suffering. Or from an arabic word meaning repent, thus bearing the name repentant one. It teaches humility as god reminds job who is really in control, steadfastness as job refuses to curse god despite his circumstances, and joy and reward when the latter part of.
Not much is known about job based on the masoretic text of the jewish bible. The big lesson to be learned from the book of job is that man does not know the reason for the things going on in his life, but he should trust the lord at all times. The book of job gives a good prologue that informs the reader of job s faithfulness to god in the midst of affliction, and god s pleasure in job for his faith and trust. Pdf the character of god in the book of job hebrew. The prose prologue chapters one and two and the epilogue 42. In the book of job in the old testament he is a righteous man who is tested by god, enduring many tragedies and. Arcturus and his sons are on a course all their own. In greek lxx the name is transliteration of the hebrew consonants iwb. 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. This term for god was usually clearly used for israels god, the true god. Dec 17, 2019 the book of job is often upheld as an example of godly patience while suffering.
He is blameless and upright, always careful to avoid doing evil 1. Dec 30, 2016 furthermore, i see jesus in the book of job when job said, i have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you job 42. 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. We are commanded to honor the name of god, but to do that adequately, we must understand the inherit greatness of the names which god uses to refer. The dominant theme of job is the difficulty of understanding why an allpowerful god allows good people to suffer. They should have gone a bit further and looked at his cross. Gods word says the prayer of faith has healing power. The coincidences, the amazing reversals, and the poetic justice that led to the deliverance of the jews in persia all proclaim the presence of god. Job 1 niv bible in the land of uz there lived a man whose. Jan 02, 2020 in job 3637 elihu highlights gods greatness. This name might have been derived from the hebrew word for persecution, thus meaning persecuted one.
To make things a little easier, well take a look at him in two sections. Referring to the father, john said that no one has seen god at any time john 1. Unfortunately, this heinous crime is established in such forensic detail as to leave the reader somewhat stultified. The book of job, book of hebrew scripture that is often counted among the masterpieces of world literature. The books theme is the eternal problem of unmerited suffering, and it is named after its central. The book of esther may not directly mention god, yet it clearly reveals god at work. Job wants to find a way to justify gods actions, but he cannot understand why there are evil people who harm the childless woman, and do no good to the widow, only to be rewarded with long, successful lives 24. Overall, the book does a good job of making us feel for the late pope, but it would benefit from a more streamlined approach. There is no punishment involved with gods dealing with job, instead he is bringing him to a more perfect understanding of himself. There was a man in the land of uz whose name was job, and that man was.
This lengthy portion declares many of gods attributes. Instead, god wanted to challenge job and remind him who had the power, authority and wisdom to control the fate of the universe. Sure, job and god might have a strange relationship, but the thing to note here is that god is everywhere, all the time. Introduction the word eloah is the singular or dual of elohim and appears more than 70 times in the tanakh, primarily in more poetic passages. 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. Job is a pious believer who is struck by misfortune so great that it cannot be explained in the usual way as a prompting to repentance, a warning, let alone a punishment the arguments later. His wifes counsel, which perhaps manifested her feelings of pity and compassion, only increases jobs anguish at this nadir in his life, and makes it difficult for him to withstand this test. Job prays for god s forgiveness of them and god accepts his prayer. At the end of the book of job, we see a stronger and more mature job who grew in his understanding of god. The phrase sons of god is found eleven times in the king james version. Addressing the problem of theodicy the vindication of the justice of god in the light of humanitys suffering it is a. The author recounts an era in the life of job, in which he was. Naked i came from my mothers womb, and naked shall i return there. The book of job is the first book of the wisdom literature of hebrew scripture, and is followed by psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, and the song of songs.
This and eloah are the characteristic names for god in job and are used sparingly elsewhere. The book of job gives a good prologue that informs the reader of jobs faithfulness to god in the midst of affliction, and gods pleasure in job for his faith and trust. Set in uz, an obscure land far from israel, during an unknown time period, the book of job focuses on questions about god s justice and why good people suffer. Only god has the power to guide them, just as described in the ancient book of job. At last, god fulfills jobs desire for a facetoface encounter. We assume god is frivolously toying with jobs life rather than teaching him through a string of tragedies that he knew before the foundation of the world. The big lesson to be learned from the book of job is that man does not know the reason for the things. Other than its usage in job, the term refers to those who follow after god and keep his word. This is one of the two old testament books giving a brief glimpse of the confrontation activities going on in heaven. God boasts to satan about jobs goodness, but satan argues that job is only good because god has. I counted 66 question marks, so there are at least 66 questions. Job is a wealthy man living in a land called uz with his large family and extensive flocks. The book of job is often upheld as an example of godly patience while suffering. Job, his three friends, elihu, and even god himself spend all of their time talking about how powerful god is and how he follows a different set of rules.
God clearly does judge sin, but the name of yhwh is associated with this activity of god. The book of job defends the character of a loving and righteous god in spite of earths obvious evils and injustices. The theme of this book is not jobs suffering although this is certainly involved, but rather gods sovereignty. I doubt it was gods intention to teach job astronomy in this passage. Job is presented as a good and prosperous family man who is beset by satan with gods permission with horrendous disasters that take away all that he holds dear, including his offspring, his health, and his property. Here in both of these verses jobs name is directly mentioned in unison with noah and daniel. Job is the central figure of the book of job in the bible. Job 1 kjv there was a man in the land of uz, bible gateway. One day, satan the adversary appears before god in heaven.
His name is not written in the book, but his fingerprints, as we say, are all over it. The name of job is only mentioned in the old testament in the book of job and in the writings of one major o. Look at the specific lessons we can learn about responding to trials as revealed in the book of job. The book of job tells how one man suddenly awakened to the anarchy rampant in the world, yet his attachment to god outlived the ruin of his tidy system. Recently, someone asked me if i knew how many questions god asked job. Aug 17, 2018 arcturus and his sons are on a course all their own. There once was a man named job who lived in the land of uz. Job certainly did suffer, but there is more to his story than just his suffering. 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. Shaddai occurs some thirty times in job, six times in the pentateuch and seldom elsewhere. The matter is complicated first because we are not sure of its origin.
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