The book of Job, my favorite book.
- Thread starter tttallison
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No, I am not saying that, nor would I imply something so errant. What I did do was highlight a distinction in your comparison to the use of the word "blameless" in two different contexts. I see how you tied them together, but the difference in who delivers this description also seems significant. Can you acknowledge that Paul saying it about himself is different than God saying it about Job?
Job appears to be a dramatic allegory that teaches one main lesson: We should be patient or persevere in our faith in God. God allowed Satan to test Job in ways we may be tested: by destroying his material possessions, his health and his family relationships, leaving only his wife, which was the worst part of the trial. (That’s a joke, but she did tempt Job to curse God.) Job also still had some friends, who tried to help him see what God wanted to teach him through this painful experience.
JOB 5:17. Blessed is the man whom God corrects. I cite this as a key teaching because it is also found in PR 3:11-12 (using slightly different words), which is quoted in Hebrews 12:5-6: The Lord disciplines [corrects] those He loves [blesses].
JOB 8:3. “Does God pervert justice?” No, God is perfectly just. (See the commentary on JSH 6:17-21, 8:2, 10:28 & 11:20.)
JOB 9:2. “How can a mortal be righteous before God?” He/she cannot. PS 14:3 says, “There is no one who does good, not even one,” and Jesus said in MT 19:17, “There is only One who is good.” However, HB 4:15 teaches that “we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin,” referring to Jesus. And Paul wrote in PHP 3:9 that he did not claim righteousness of his own, “but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith”, which echoes what he said in RM 3:22&26: “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe; [God] justifies [considers righteous] the man [person] who has faith in Jesus.” This righteousness is sometimes called positional or imputed righteousness.
JOB 10:18. “Why then did [God] bring me out of the womb?” What is the purpose of this earthly existence? Once we are saved, why are we not immediately taken to heaven? Why do we have to waste time being here on earth? The answer is that we are not supposed to waste the time but rather we should redeem the time by becoming like God morally, or as Paul says, we should be imitators of God and “live a life of love, just as Christ loved us.” (EPH 5:1-2) Paul calls this goal the “fullness” of God/Christ (EPH 3:19, 4:13, see Lesson 4), becoming more like Him morally or in loving attitudes and actions (PHP 3:7-9, EPH 5:1-3) until the day we die. This is our calling, our mission, our stewardship, and our goal (1JN 1:3-4).
JOB 19:25-29. This speaks of life and judgment beyond this earthly lifetime. Paul writes about this prophetic word by Job in 1CR 15:20&42, “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. So it will be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable.” And HB 9:27 says “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”
JOB 21:7. “Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?” More generally, the question is why does God allow evil, pain and suffering? (I will share my answer if desired.)
JOB 24:12. “I have treasured the words of [God’s] mouth more than my daily bread.” This verse foreshadows the teaching of Jesus in MT 4:4: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” There is a mystical union of God’s Spirit or Word and the mind of a man who understands and hungers for God’s words, as implied by JOB 32:8: “It is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.” JN 1:14 says that Jesus is God’s Word in human form, and Paul said 1CR 2:16 that we have the mind of Christ. We gain the mind of Christ as we learn “the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation.” (2TM 3:15) If we do not hunger for God’s Word, then we will die spiritually. God gives each normal human being the gift of reason, so that He can invite us to reason together (IS 1:18), or logical ability so that we can “test everything [and] hold on to the good” (1THS 5:21), or in the words of JOB 34:3, “The ear tests words as the tongue tastes food.”
JOB 5:17. Blessed is the man whom God corrects. I cite this as a key teaching because it is also found in PR 3:11-12 (using slightly different words), which is quoted in Hebrews 12:5-6: The Lord disciplines [corrects] those He loves [blesses].
JOB 8:3. “Does God pervert justice?” No, God is perfectly just. (See the commentary on JSH 6:17-21, 8:2, 10:28 & 11:20.)
JOB 9:2. “How can a mortal be righteous before God?” He/she cannot. PS 14:3 says, “There is no one who does good, not even one,” and Jesus said in MT 19:17, “There is only One who is good.” However, HB 4:15 teaches that “we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin,” referring to Jesus. And Paul wrote in PHP 3:9 that he did not claim righteousness of his own, “but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith”, which echoes what he said in RM 3:22&26: “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe; [God] justifies [considers righteous] the man [person] who has faith in Jesus.” This righteousness is sometimes called positional or imputed righteousness.
JOB 10:18. “Why then did [God] bring me out of the womb?” What is the purpose of this earthly existence? Once we are saved, why are we not immediately taken to heaven? Why do we have to waste time being here on earth? The answer is that we are not supposed to waste the time but rather we should redeem the time by becoming like God morally, or as Paul says, we should be imitators of God and “live a life of love, just as Christ loved us.” (EPH 5:1-2) Paul calls this goal the “fullness” of God/Christ (EPH 3:19, 4:13, see Lesson 4), becoming more like Him morally or in loving attitudes and actions (PHP 3:7-9, EPH 5:1-3) until the day we die. This is our calling, our mission, our stewardship, and our goal (1JN 1:3-4).
JOB 19:25-29. This speaks of life and judgment beyond this earthly lifetime. Paul writes about this prophetic word by Job in 1CR 15:20&42, “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. So it will be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable.” And HB 9:27 says “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”
JOB 21:7. “Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?” More generally, the question is why does God allow evil, pain and suffering? (I will share my answer if desired.)
JOB 24:12. “I have treasured the words of [God’s] mouth more than my daily bread.” This verse foreshadows the teaching of Jesus in MT 4:4: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” There is a mystical union of God’s Spirit or Word and the mind of a man who understands and hungers for God’s words, as implied by JOB 32:8: “It is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.” JN 1:14 says that Jesus is God’s Word in human form, and Paul said 1CR 2:16 that we have the mind of Christ. We gain the mind of Christ as we learn “the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation.” (2TM 3:15) If we do not hunger for God’s Word, then we will die spiritually. God gives each normal human being the gift of reason, so that He can invite us to reason together (IS 1:18), or logical ability so that we can “test everything [and] hold on to the good” (1THS 5:21), or in the words of JOB 34:3, “The ear tests words as the tongue tastes food.”