Job

Part One: Introduction to Job

The Book and Its Place

Job is the first of the five books of poetry and wisdom (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon). Apart from its prose opening and closing (chapters 1-2 and 42:7-17), it is written as Hebrew poetry, some of the most magnificent in all literature. It deals with one of the oldest and hardest questions human beings ask: if God is good and all-powerful, why do the righteous suffer?

Was Job a Real Man?

Scripture treats Job as a historical person. God names him alongside Noah and Daniel as righteous men (Ezekiel 14:14, 20), and James speaks of "the patience of Job" and "the end of the Lord" in his life (James 5:11). The book gives his home, "the land of Uz" (1:1), his family, possessions, friends and age.

Author and Date

The author is not named. Jewish tradition suggests Moses; others suggest Job himself, Elihu, Solomon or an unknown writer. The setting is clearly the age of the patriarchs (around the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob):

• Job acts as priest for his own family, offering burnt offerings himself (1:5), as the patriarchs did before the Levitical priesthood.
• His wealth is measured in livestock and servants (1:3), like Abraham's.
• He lived 140 years after his trials (42:16), a lifespan similar to the patriarchs'.
• There is no mention of the law of Moses, the Exodus, Israel, the tabernacle or the temple.
• The money mentioned, "a piece of money" (Hebrew kesitah, 42:11), appears elsewhere only in Genesis 33:19 and Joshua 24:32.
• The names connect to the families of Genesis: Uz (Genesis 10:23; 22:21; 36:28), Eliphaz the Temanite (Teman was Esau's grandson, Genesis 36:11), Bildad the Shuhite (Shuah was a son of Abraham and Keturah, Genesis 25:2), and Elihu the Buzite (Buz was Abraham's nephew, Genesis 22:21).

Many conservative scholars believe Job may be one of the oldest books of the Bible. Uz was probably in the region of Edom or northern Arabia (Lamentations 4:21).

Purpose and Theme

Job addresses several connected questions:

• Why do the righteous suffer? Job's friends insist that suffering is always punishment for personal sin. The book shows that this is not always so.
• Does anyone serve God for nothing? Satan's challenge, "Doth Job fear God for nought?" (1:9), asks whether people love God only for His gifts. Job's faithfulness proves that God is worthy of worship for who He is.
• How should we respond to suffering we cannot understand? Job wrestles honestly with God, refuses to curse Him, and finally bows before His majesty.
• Who is God? God never explains to Job the reason for his suffering. Instead He reveals Himself, His wisdom, power and care over creation, and that revelation is enough.

Key Verses

Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

Job 1:21

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God

Job 19:25-26

I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

Job 42:5-6

The Characters

Outline of Job

Part Two: Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis

Section I: The Prologue (Chapters 1-2)

Chapter 1 — The First Test

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

Job 1:1

"Perfect" means blameless and whole-hearted, not sinless (Job later confesses sin, 7:21; 42:6). He had seven sons and three daughters, 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 she-donkeys and many servants, "so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east" (1:2-3). When his children held feasts, Job rose early and offered burnt offerings for each of them: "It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually" (1:5). He was a spiritual leader in his home and took sin seriously.

Then the scene moves to heaven. "There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them" (1:6). God asked, "Whence comest thou?" and Satan answered, "From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it" (1:7; compare 1 Peter 5:8). God said, "Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?" (1:8). Satan's reply is the central challenge of the book:

Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?... But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

Job 1:9-11

Satan accused Job of serving God only for the benefits, and implied that God is not worthy of worship for His own sake. God gave permission, with a limit: "Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand" (1:12). Satan is real, but he is a created being, accountable to God and unable to act beyond what God permits.

In one day, four messengers arrived, each "while he was yet speaking": the Sabeans took the oxen and donkeys and killed the servants; "the fire of God" (lightning) burned up the sheep and shepherds; the Chaldeans took the camels and killed the servants; and a great wind struck the house where his children were feasting, and all ten died (1:13-19). Job's response:

Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

Job 1:20-22

He grieved openly (torn clothes, shaved head), yet he worshipped. He acknowledged God's sovereignty over both giving and taking, and blessed God's name. Satan's prediction failed. Paul echoes Job's words: "we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out" (1 Timothy 6:7).

Chapter 2 — The Second Test

Again the sons of God and Satan came before the LORD. God said Job "still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause" (2:3). Satan answered, "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face" (2:4-5). God permitted it, again with a limit: "only save his life" (2:6). Satan "smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown," and Job sat among the ashes, scraping himself with a broken piece of pottery (2:7-8).

His wife, who had also lost her children, said, "Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die" (2:9). Job answered:

Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

Job 2:10

"Evil" here means adversity or calamity, not moral wickedness. Three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, heard and came "to mourn with him and to comfort him." When they saw him, they did not recognise him, wept aloud, tore their clothes, and threw dust on their heads. "So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great" (2:11-13). Their silent presence was their best comfort. Their trouble began when they started to speak (Romans 12:15).

The reader knows what Job and his friends never learn: the cause of his suffering was not his sin but God's confidence in his faithfulness, and a contest over whether God is worthy of love for His own sake. This is the key to reading the rest of the book.

Section II: The Dialogue (Chapters 3-31)

Chapter 3 — Job's Lament

After seven days, Job broke the silence and cursed the day he was born: "Let the day perish wherein I was born" (3:3). He wished he had died at birth (3:11), described death as a place of rest where "the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest" (3:17), and asked why life is given to those in misery (3:20-23). "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me" (3:25). Job did not curse God, but he poured out his anguish honestly. Jeremiah later used similar words (Jeremiah 20:14-18). Scripture makes room for honest lament.

Chapters 4-5 — Eliphaz's First Speech

Eliphaz began gently, reminding Job that he had comforted others (4:3-5), but then stated the principle that would drive all the friends' speeches:

Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off? Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

Job 4:7-8

He appealed to a frightening night vision in which a spirit asked, "Shall mortal man be more just than God?" (4:12-17). He urged Job to turn to God: "I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause" (5:8). He said many true things: "man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward" (5:7); God "taketh the wise in their own craftiness" (5:13; quoted in 1 Corinthians 3:19); "happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty" (5:17; compare Proverbs 3:11; Hebrews 12:5). His error was not in his statements but in applying them wrongly: he assumed Job's suffering proved Job's sin.

Chapters 6-7 — Job's Reply to Eliphaz

"Oh that my grief were throughly weighed" (6:2). "The arrows of the Almighty are within me" (6:4). Job longed for God to end his life (6:8-9). He rebuked his friends as "deceitful," like streams that dry up when travellers most need water (6:15-20). "Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred" (6:24). In chapter 7 he described life as hard service (7:1), with days "swifter than a weaver's shuttle" (7:6), and nights of terror (7:13-14). He turned to God: "What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him?... why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity?" (7:17-21), a bitter echo of the question later asked in praise (Psalm 8:4).

Chapter 8 — Bildad's First Speech

Bildad was blunter: "Doth God pervert judgment?... If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression" (8:3-4), a cruel suggestion that Job's children died for their own sins. "If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee" (8:6). He appealed to tradition: "enquire, I pray thee, of the former age" (8:8). He promised, "Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase" (8:7), unknowingly predicting the end of the book (42:12), though for the wrong reason.

Chapters 9-10 — Job's Reply to Bildad

Job agreed that God is just, but asked, "how should man be just with God?" (9:2). He described God's overwhelming power, who "maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades" (9:4-10). How could he argue with such a God (9:14-20)? Then he expressed one of the deepest longings of the book:

For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.

Job 9:32-33

A "daysman" is an umpire or mediator who could stand between two parties and touch both. Job longed for someone who could represent God to him and him to God. That longing is answered in Christ: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). In chapter 10 Job reminded God that He had made him: "Thine hands have made me and fashioned me... Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit" (10:8-12), and asked why God now seemed to destroy His own work.

Chapter 11 — Zophar's First Speech

Zophar was the harshest: "Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth" (11:6). He spoke the truth about God's unsearchable greatness: "Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?" (11:7-8). And he urged repentance with promises of restored blessing (11:13-19). But like the others, he assumed Job was guilty of hidden sin.

Chapters 12-14 — Job's Reply to Zophar

Job answered with sarcasm: "No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you" (12:2). He knew God's power as well as they did: "ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee... In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind" (12:7-10). He called his friends "forgers of lies... physicians of no value" and said, "O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom" (13:4-5). Then came one of the great declarations of faith in Scripture:

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. He also shall be my salvation

Job 13:15-16

Job trusted God even while he felt God was against him. In chapter 14 he reflected on human frailty: "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down" (14:1-2). "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one" (14:4). A tree cut down may sprout again (14:7-9), but what about a man? Then he asked the great question:

If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

Job 14:14-15

Job reached toward the hope of resurrection, which he would state with confidence in chapter 19, and which Christ fulfilled: "I am the resurrection, and the life" (John 11:25).

Chapter 15 — Eliphaz's Second Speech

The second cycle focused on the fate of the wicked. Eliphaz accused Job of empty words and of undermining the fear of God (15:2-6). "What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?" (15:14). He described the terrors that pursue the wicked (15:20-35), implying Job was one of them.

Chapters 16-17 — Job's Reply

"I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all" (16:2). "I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul's stead... But I would strengthen you with my mouth" (16:4-5). He described God as an enemy who had torn him, delivered him "to the ungodly," and set him up as a target (16:9-14). Men "have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully" (16:10; compare Psalm 22:13; Matthew 26:67). Yet in the darkness, his faith rose again:

Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high... O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!

Job 16:19-21

Job longed for a heavenly advocate. Believers have one: "if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1; Hebrews 7:25). Chapter 17 ends in despair, though he holds that "The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger" (17:9).

Chapter 18 — Bildad's Second Speech

Bildad described the fate of the wicked in vivid terms: his light put out, snares at his feet, terrors on every side, his memory perished (18:5-21). The implication was clear.

Chapter 19 — "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth"

"How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?" (19:2). Job described his total isolation: God had fenced his way and stripped him of glory (19:8-9); his brothers, relatives, friends, servants, even his wife and young children rejected him (19:13-19). "I am escaped with the skin of my teeth" (19:20). "Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me" (19:21). He wished his words were written in a book, or engraved in rock for ever (19:23-24). They were, in this book. And then, from the lowest point, came the highest declaration of faith in the Old Testament:

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

Job 19:25-27

The word "redeemer" is goel, the kinsman-redeemer (Ruth 3-4), the near relative who buys back, defends and vindicates. Job declared: his Redeemer is alive; He will stand on the earth at the last day; Job will see God in his own flesh, after death, with his own eyes. This is a clear Old Testament hope of a living Redeemer and of bodily resurrection. It is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who became our kinsman (Hebrews 2:14-15), redeemed us (Galatians 3:13), rose bodily from the dead, and will stand on the earth again (Zechariah 14:4; Acts 1:11). "We shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53).

Chapter 20 — Zophar's Second Speech

Zophar insisted that "the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment" (20:5), and that God's wrath would overtake him (20:6-29). He did not respond to Job's great confession at all.

Chapter 21 — Job's Reply: The Wicked Prosper

Job challenged the friends' whole system with observable facts: "Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?" (21:7). They live in safety, their children dance, they die peacefully, and yet they say to God, "Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?" (21:14-15). Some die prosperous and some die in bitterness, and "they shall lie down alike in the dust" (21:23-26). The friends' rule did not match reality. "How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?" (21:34). Asaph wrestled with the same question in Psalm 73, until he "went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end" (Psalm 73:17).

Chapter 22 — Eliphaz's Third Speech

In the third cycle, Eliphaz made specific false accusations: Job must have taken pledges from his brothers for nothing, stripped the naked of their clothing, withheld water from the weary, and "sent widows away empty" (22:5-9). None of this was true (compare 29:12-17; 31:16-22). When the friends' theory required Job to be guilty, they invented the evidence. Yet Eliphaz's appeal contained a beautiful truth: "Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee... lay up his words in thine heart" (22:21-22).

Chapters 23-24 — Job's Reply: "When He Hath Tried Me"

Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!

Job 23:3

Job longed to present his case to God. He searched in every direction, "forward... backward... on the left hand... on the right hand," but could not find Him (23:8-9). Yet he declared:

But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

Job 23:10

Job did not know where God was, but God knew where Job was. Trial refines like fire (1 Peter 1:6-7; Malachi 3:3). "My foot hath held his steps... I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food" (23:11-12; compare Matthew 4:4). "But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth" (23:13). In chapter 24, Job catalogued the injustice in the world: the poor oppressed, the fatherless robbed, murderers and adulterers working in darkness, apparently unpunished (24:1-17), though he affirmed that the wicked are eventually cut off (24:18-25).

Chapter 25 — Bildad's Third Speech

Bildad's last speech was only six verses. He spoke of God's dominion and asked, "How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?... How much less man, that is a worm?" (25:4-6). It is the right question, but Bildad had no answer. The answer would come in the gospel: "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1; 3:26).

Chapters 26-27 — Job's Reply

Job mocked Bildad's help: "How hast thou helped him that is without power?" (26:2). Then he described God's power over creation in words of remarkable insight: "He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing" (26:7). God binds up the waters in the clouds (26:8) and "hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end" (26:10). "Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?" (26:14). In chapter 27, Job swore to hold to his integrity: "My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live" (27:6). He also acknowledged the eventual doom of the wicked (27:13-23). Zophar gave no third speech; the friends had run out of arguments.

Chapter 28 — The Hymn to Wisdom

This chapter is a calm poem that stands between the heated dialogue and Job's final speeches. Men can dig deep mines for silver, gold, iron and precious stones, going where no bird or lion has gone (28:1-11). "But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?" (28:12). It cannot be found in the land of the living or in the depths of the sea, and it cannot be bought with gold or rubies (28:13-19). "God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof" (28:23). Then God said to man:

Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

Job 28:28

This is the conclusion that wisdom literature returns to again and again (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10; Ecclesiastes 12:13). Christ is "the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24), "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3).

Chapters 29-31 — Job's Final Defence

Chapter 29: past glory. "Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; When his candle shined upon my head" (29:2-3). Job remembered his intimacy with God, his children around him, and the respect of the community (29:4-11). His righteousness had been practical: "I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless... I put on righteousness, and it clothed me... I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor" (29:12-16).

Chapter 30: present misery. Now even worthless young men mocked him: "they spare not to spit in my face" (30:1, 9-10). "I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me" (30:20). "My harp also is turned to mourning" (30:31).

Chapter 31: the oath of innocence. Job called curses on himself if he had committed a long list of sins, revealing the depth of Old Testament ethics:

• Lust: "I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?" (31:1; compare Matthew 5:28).
• Dishonesty (31:5-8) and adultery (31:9-12).
• Mistreating servants: "Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?" (31:13-15), a striking statement of human equality before God.
• Neglecting the poor, widows and orphans (31:16-23).
• Trusting in gold (31:24-25) and worshipping the sun or moon (31:26-28).
• Rejoicing at an enemy's downfall (31:29-30).
• Withholding hospitality (31:31-32).
• Hiding sin "as Adam" (31:33-34).
• Abusing the land and its workers (31:38-40).

"Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me" (31:35). "The words of Job are ended" (31:40).

Section III: Elihu's Speeches (Chapters 32-37)

Chapter 32 — Elihu Introduced

The three friends stopped answering "because he was righteous in his own eyes" (32:1). Elihu, a younger man, became angry with Job "because he justified himself rather than God," and with the three friends "because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job" (32:2-3). He had waited out of respect for age (32:4-7), but declared, "there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. Great men are not always wise" (32:8-9).

Chapter 33 — God Speaks Through Dreams and Pain

"The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life" (33:4). Elihu corrected Job's complaint that God does not answer: "For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not" (33:14). He speaks in dreams and visions "that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man" (33:15-18), and through pain and sickness (33:19-22). Then Elihu described how God rescues:

If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness: Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.

Job 33:23-24

The man's flesh is restored "fresher than a child's" (33:25), he prays and sees God's face with joy, and confesses, "I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not" (33:26-28). Elihu glimpsed a mediator and a ransom that delivers from the pit. Christ is that Mediator, who came "to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:5-6).

Chapter 34 — God Is Just

Elihu defended God's justice against Job's complaints: "far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity... Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment" (34:10-12). God sees all men's ways (34:21-22). Elihu rebuked Job for speaking without knowledge (34:35), though he too was harsh: "he addeth rebellion unto his sin" (34:37).

Chapter 35 — Songs in the Night

People cry out under oppression, "But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night" (35:9-10). God does not hear empty cries (35:13). Elihu urged Job to trust and wait (35:14).

Chapters 36-37 — God's Greatness in Suffering and in Nature

God "withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous" (36:7). When they are afflicted, "he openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity" (36:10). "He delivereth the poor in his affliction, and openeth their ears in oppression" (36:15). Suffering can be God's means of teaching. "Behold, God is great, and we know him not" (36:26). Elihu then described God's power in the rain cycle, "he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof" (36:27), in thunder, lightning, snow, ice and wind (36:27-37:13), as a storm seemed to gather. "Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God" (37:14). "With God is terrible majesty. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict" (37:22-23).

Evaluating Elihu. Christians differ in their view of Elihu. Many see him positively: he corrected both Job and the friends, emphasised that suffering can be God's discipline and teaching rather than only punishment, and prepared the way for God's appearance; notably, God does not rebuke him in 42:7. Others see him as another young man who spoke too confidently. His speeches are best read as a partial but helpful step toward the answer that only God Himself could give.

Section IV: The LORD Speaks (Chapters 38-42:6)

Chapters 38-39 — God's First Speech: "Where Wast Thou?"

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

Job 38:1-3

God came, as Job had longed. But He did not answer Job's questions; He asked Job questions. He did not mention Satan or explain the trial. Instead He took Job on a tour of creation:

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding... When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Job 38:4, 7

God described laying the earth's foundations (38:4-7), setting limits to the sea, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed" (38:8-11), commanding the morning (38:12-15), the springs of the sea and the gates of death (38:16-17), light and darkness (38:19-20), the storehouses of snow and hail (38:22-23), rain on the wilderness "where no man is" (38:26), and the constellations: "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?" (38:31-33). "Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts?" (38:36).

Then God described the animal world: the lion, the raven "when his young ones cry unto God" (38:39-41; compare Luke 12:24), the wild goats giving birth (39:1-4), the wild donkey (39:5-8), the wild ox ("unicorn" in the KJV) that will not serve man (39:9-12), the ostrich that leaves her eggs in the sand yet outruns the horse (39:13-18), the war horse that "mocketh at fear" (39:19-25), and the hawk and eagle (39:26-30). The lesson: God governs and cares for a vast world far beyond human knowledge or control. If Job cannot understand or manage creation, how can he judge the Creator's ways?

Chapter 40:1-5 — Job's First Response

"Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it" (40:2). Job answered:

Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.

Job 40:4-5

Chapters 40:6-41:34 — God's Second Speech: Behemoth and Leviathan

God spoke again from the whirlwind: "Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?" (40:8). Job, in defending his innocence, had come close to accusing God. "Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?" (40:9). If Job could clothe himself with majesty and humble every proud and wicked person, "Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee" (40:10-14). Only God can save.

God then described two mighty creatures:

• Behemoth (40:15-24), "the chief of the ways of God," which eats grass like an ox, with great strength, "he moveth his tail like a cedar," and bones like bars of iron. It is often identified with the hippopotamus or elephant; some creationists suggest a large dinosaur-like creature, since a cedar-like tail fits neither of those animals well.
• Leviathan (41), a terrifying creature of the waters that no man can catch with a hook or tame (41:1-9), with impenetrable scales, from whose mouth "go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out" (41:18-21). It is often identified with the crocodile, or with a great sea creature now extinct; its fiery description may be poetic. "He is a king over all the children of pride" (41:34). Elsewhere, leviathan is used as a symbol of chaos and of God's enemies, whom He will slay (Psalm 74:14; Isaiah 27:1).

If Job cannot stand before a creature God made, how can he stand before God? "Who then is able to stand before me? Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine" (41:10-11; quoted in Romans 11:35).

Chapter 42:1-6 — Job's Repentance

I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee... therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not... I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

Job 42:2-6

Job did not repent of some hidden sin that caused his suffering; the friends were wrong about that. He repented of speaking about things he did not understand and questioning God's justice. He never received an explanation, but he received something better: a personal encounter with God. Knowing God was enough. "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8).

Section V: The Epilogue (Chapter 42:7-17)

Chapter 42:7-17 — Job Restored

God spoke to Eliphaz: "My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath" (42:7). Job's honest wrestling with God was more right than the friends' tidy but false theology. They had misrepresented God by claiming all suffering is punishment for sin. God commanded them to offer seven bullocks and seven rams, "and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept" (42:8). The man they had accused became their intercessor. They obeyed (42:9).

And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Job 42:10

His restoration came as he prayed for those who had wronged him (Matthew 5:44). His brothers, sisters and acquaintances came, ate with him, comforted him, and each gave him a piece of money and a gold earring (42:11). "So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning" (42:12): 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 she-donkeys, exactly double (42:12). He again had seven sons and three daughters (42:13), the same number, not double. Many have noted that his first ten children were not lost for ever, so with ten more he now had twenty in all. His daughters, Jemima, Kezia and Keren-happuch, were the most beautiful in the land, and he gave them an inheritance with their brothers (42:14-15), unusual in that culture. Job lived 140 more years and saw four generations. "So Job died, being old and full of days" (42:16-17).

James draws the lesson: "Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy" (James 5:11). The end of Job's story revealed God's heart.

Part Three: Christ in Job

Job's Longings Fulfilled in Christ

Throughout his suffering, Job cried out for things that only Christ could provide:

Job as a Picture of Christ

Job was not sinless (42:6), but his sufferings foreshadow Christ's in striking ways:

The Creator Who Speaks from the Whirlwind

The God who laid the earth's foundations and told the sea, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further" (38:11) is revealed in the New Testament as working through the Son: "All things were made by him" (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16). When Jesus rebuked the wind and the sea, the disciples asked, "What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" (Mark 4:39-41).

Leviathan and the Final Victory

Leviathan, "king over all the children of pride" (41:34), whom no man can conquer, is used in Scripture as a picture of God's great enemy: "In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent" (Isaiah 27:1). Christ has defeated "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan" (Revelation 12:9; 20:2, 10; Colossians 2:15).

Part Four: Understanding Satan and Suffering in Job

What Job Teaches About Satan

• He is real and personal (1:6-12; 2:1-7).
• He is accountable to God, appearing before Him and acting only by His permission (1:12; 2:6).
• He is limited: he could not touch Job's person at first, nor take his life (1:12; 2:6). "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able" (1 Corinthians 10:13).
• He roams the earth seeking whom he may attack (1:7; 1 Peter 5:8).
• He is "the accuser of our brethren" (Revelation 12:10; Zechariah 3:1), slandering both God's people and God Himself.
• He uses people and nature: raiders, lightning, wind and disease (1:13-19; 2:7).
• He can be defeated by faith: Job's trust proved Satan wrong. Jesus told Peter, "Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not" (Luke 22:31-32).

What Job Teaches About Suffering

The Friends' Error

Each friend argued from a different source: Eliphaz from experience and a vision ("Even as I have seen," 4:8), Bildad from tradition ("enquire... of the former age," 8:8), and Zophar from bare assertion (11:6; 20:4-5). All shared one premise: God always punishes sin and rewards righteousness in this life, so great suffering proves great sin. There is truth in the principle of sowing and reaping (Galatians 6:7), but they made it absolute and applied it without love or knowledge. God said they had "not spoken of me the thing that is right" (42:7). Their failure warns every counsellor: be slow to speak, avoid assuming hidden sin, and "weep with them that weep" (Romans 12:15; James 1:19).

Part Five: Key Passages in Depth

Job 1:21 — Worship in Loss

Job's response models faith in grief: he mourned honestly (torn clothes), humbled himself (fell on the ground), worshipped, recognised that everything was God's gift ("the LORD gave"), accepted God's sovereign right ("the LORD hath taken away"), and praised Him anyway ("blessed be the name of the LORD"). Grief and worship are not opposites.

Job 13:15 — Faith in the Dark

"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." Job could not see God's purpose, and felt God was against him, yet he refused to let go of trust. Faith is not the absence of struggle but holding on to God within it (Habakkuk 3:17-18).

Job 19:25-27 — The Living Redeemer

This passage reveals more of the gospel than almost any other part of the early Old Testament: a personal, living Redeemer; His standing on the earth at the end; life after death; and bodily resurrection in which the believer sees God with his own eyes. Handel set it to music in "Messiah," and Christians have read it at funerals for centuries as a declaration of hope in the risen Christ.

Job 23:10 — Coming Forth as Gold

Gold is refined by fire, which removes impurities but does not destroy the gold. Job's trial was not meant to destroy his faith but to prove and purify it. "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:7).

Job 38-41 — God's Answer from the Whirlwind

God's speeches never mention Job's suffering, Satan or the friends. Instead they reveal God's infinite wisdom, power, creativity and care for His creation. The message is not "stop asking," but "trust Me, because you know who I am." Job's questions were not answered; they were overwhelmed by God's presence. Paul reaches a similar conclusion: "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" (Romans 11:33-36, quoting Job 41:11).

Job 42:5-6 — From Hearing to Seeing

Job had known God by hearsay; now he knew Him personally. Suffering, rightly received, can move a believer from second-hand faith to first-hand knowledge of God. This is the true end of the book: not mainly the doubled possessions, but the deepened relationship.

Part Six: Job and Creation

God's speeches and Job's own words contain statements about the natural world that are striking for so ancient a book. Job is poetry, not a science textbook, but its descriptions are consistent with what we now know:

• The earth suspended in space: "hangeth the earth upon nothing" (26:7).
• The circular horizon: "He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end" (26:10).
• The water cycle: "he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof: Which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly" (36:27-28).
• Springs in the sea: "Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?" (38:16).
• The constellations: Pleiades, Orion and Arcturus (9:9; 38:31-32).
• Heat beneath the earth: "under it is turned up as it were fire" (28:5).

Above all, God's speeches teach that He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and that creation itself testifies to His wisdom (Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:20).

Part Seven: The Major Teachings of Job

1. The Sovereignty of God

God rules over Satan, nature, nations and every circumstance. Nothing happens outside His permission and purpose (1:12; 2:6; 42:2).

2. God Is Worthy of Worship for Who He Is

Satan claimed Job served God only for blessings (1:9). Job's faithfulness proved that God is worthy of love even when the gifts are gone.

3. The Reality and Limits of Satan

Satan is a real, malicious accuser, but he is under God's authority and cannot go beyond the limits God sets.

4. The Mystery of Suffering

Suffering is not always explained, and not always caused by the sufferer's sin. God's purposes may be hidden, but they are wise and good.

5. The Danger of Simplistic Theology

The friends' rigid system led them to accuse an innocent man and misrepresent God (42:7).

6. Honest Prayer

Job spoke honestly, even bitterly, to God, and God said he had spoken what was right compared to the friends (42:7). God welcomes honest prayer from a heart that holds on to Him.

7. The Need for a Mediator and Redeemer

Job's cries for a daysman, an advocate and a redeemer point to Christ (9:33; 16:19; 19:25).

8. Hope of Resurrection

Job looked beyond death to seeing God in his flesh (14:14; 19:25-27).

9. True Wisdom

"The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding" (28:28).

10. Humility Before God's Majesty

The right response to God's greatness is humble trust: "I will lay mine hand upon my mouth" (40:4); "now mine eye seeth thee" (42:5).

11. Intercession and Forgiveness

Job's restoration came when he prayed for the friends who had wronged him (42:10).

12. God's Compassion and Final Good

"The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy" (James 5:11). The end of the story reveals the goodness of God.

Part Eight: Connections — How Job Links to the Rest of the Bible

Job in the New Testament

Job in the Old Testament

Themes That Run from Job Through Scripture

Part Nine: Practical Lessons

• Guard your family spiritually (1:5).
• Remember that Satan's power is limited by God (1:12; 2:6).
• Worship even in loss (1:20-21).
• Accept both good and hard things from God's hand (2:10).
• Sit with the suffering; say less (2:13).
• Don't assume suffering means sin (4:7; John 9:3).
• Comfort with love, not lectures (16:2-5).
• Pray honestly; God can handle your questions (3; 7; 10).
• Trust Him even when you cannot see Him (13:15; 23:8-10).
• Hold on to the hope of resurrection (19:25-27).
• Value God's Word more than your food (23:12).
• Make a covenant with your eyes (31:1).
• Treat every person with dignity, because God made them (31:13-15).
• Listen for God in your trials (33:14-30).
• Consider God's works in creation (37:14).
• Humble yourself before His majesty (40:4).
• Seek to know God, not just answers (42:5).
• Pray for those who have hurt you (42:10).
• Remember the end of the Lord (James 5:11).

Part Ten: Key Verses to Memorize

Conclusion

Job takes on the hardest question human beings ask, and answers it not with a formula but with a Person. A righteous man loses everything in a contest he never sees, sits in ashes while his friends accuse him, cries out for a mediator, a witness and a redeemer, and holds on to God in the dark: "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." God never explains Satan's challenge, but He comes in the whirlwind and reveals His wisdom, power and care, and Job's questions give way to worship: "now mine eye seeth thee." Job is vindicated, prays for his friends, and is restored twice over. The book points to the One Job longed for: Jesus Christ, the Daysman who lays His hand on both God and man, the Advocate in heaven, the living Redeemer who will stand on the earth, the true Righteous Sufferer whose suffering accomplished salvation, and through whom every believer will one day see God with their own eyes.

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth

Job 19:25