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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadVernon McGee Thru The Bible: 18 - JOB
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POETICAL BOOKS
Job is the first of the poetical books, which also include Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Lamentations. The reference is to the form of the content and does not imply imaginative or capricious content. Neither does the term “poetical” mean that it is rhythmic. Hebrew poetry is achieved by repeating an idea, a technique called parallelism.
The dialogue in the Book of Job is poetry because conversation was in poetry in that day. The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer are examples in secular literature.
JOB
WRITER: Unknown
The following have been suggested: Moses, Ezra, Solomon, Job and Elihu. That Elihu is the writer seems most likely (Job_32:16).
DATE: Unknown
Evidently it was written during the patriarchal period. Did Job know Jacob? It is possible. It was written before Exodus, it would seem, as there is no reference to the Mosaic Law nor to any of the events recorded in the Book of Exodus. Here are the arguments which seem to place Job with the patriarchs:
1. Length of Job’s life span (Job_42:16).
2. Job acted as high priest in his family.
3. Eliphaz the Temanite was descended from Esau’s eldest son (Gen_36:10-11).
PURPOSE: Many problems are raised and settled in this book.
1. To determine why the righteous suffer. (This is not the primary teaching.)
2. To refute the slander of Satan.
3. To reveal Job to himself.
4. To teach patience. Was Job patient?
5. Primary purpose: To teach repentance.
God selected the best man who ever lived (Christ is the exception) and showed that he needed to repent. In contrast, we usually choose the worst man who repents as an illustration. Manasseh, a most ungodly king, repented; Saul of Tarsus repented; St. Francis of Assisi, a debauched nobleman, repented; and Jerry MacAuley, a drunken bum, repented. God chose the best man and showed that he repented — “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).
ESTIMATION:
Tennyson said of the Book of Job, “The greatest poem, whether of ancient or modern literature.” Carlyle said, “I call [Job] one of the grandest ever written with pen.” Luther said, “More magnificent and sublime than any other book of Scripture.” Moorehead said, “The book of Job is one of the noblest poems in existence.”
OUTLINE:
I. DRAMA, Chapters 1, 2
(Prose)
A. Scene I, Chapter 1:1-5
Land of Uz; Job’s prosperity and serenity
B. Scene II, Chapter 1:6-12
Heaven; Satan’s slander of God and Job
C. Scene III, Chapter 1:13-22
Land of Uz; Job’s loss of children and wealth
D. Scene IV, Chapter 2:1-6
Heaven; God and Satan
E. Scene V, Chapter 2:7-10
Land of Uz; Job’s loss of health and wife’s sympathy
II. DIALOGUE, Chapters 2:11 — 42:6
(Poetry)
A. Scene VI, Chapters 2:11 — 37:24
City Dump
1. Job’s loss of understanding of friends, Job_2:11-13
2. Job vs. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, Job_3:1 — Job_32:1
3. Job vs. Elihu, Job_32:2 — Job_37:24
B. Scene VII, Chapters Job_38:1 — Job_42:6
Jehovah vs. Job
III. EPILOGUE, Chapter Job_42:7-17
(Prose)
Scene VIII
Land of Uz; Job’s blessings doubled
COMMENT:
The prose section of the Book of Job is a gigantic, sweeping drama that encompasses earth and heaven. This does not mean it is fiction. Job is treated as a historical character in the Scriptures (see Eze_14:14, Eze_14:20; Jam_5:11). Paul quotes from the Book of Job (1Co_3:19; cp. Job_5:13). Many writers have used Job as the basis for their plots, including H. G. Wells and more recently Archibald MacLeish in his Broadway hit, J.B. Job’s problem is a universal problem. Thomas Carlyle called the Book of Job “all men’s book.”
The poetry section of the Book of Job is a contest in dialogue between Job and his three friends. Later in the book, Bildad challenges Job. A brilliant dialogue in that day was what a baseball game or any other athletic event is in our day.
I. Drama, Chapters 1, 2
(Prose)
A. Scene I, Job_1:1-5
Land of Uz; Job’s prosperity and serenity
The land of Uz was somewhere in the Middle East, but beyond that there is nothing specific. Josephus gives us a glimmer of light on the location of Uz. According to Gen_22:21 the firstborn of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, was Uz. He is the founder of the ancient city of Damascus. Job lived somewhere in the Syrian desert, where later the Lord sent Paul for post-graduate studies (see Gal_1:17).
Job_1:1 — “Perfect” in the sense that he had offered sacrifices for his sons (see Job_1:5). “Feared God” means that he has a high and holy concept of God and as a result he hates evil. Job_1:3-4 — He is a wealthy man, and his ten children live in the ease and luxury of the rich.
Job_1:5 — Job’s one concern is for his children.
B. Scene II, Job_1:6-12
Heaven; Satan’s slander of God and Job
Job_1:6-7 — God’s created intelligences report to God as a matter of regular routine. They are responsible creatures. The shocking fact is that Satan has access to heaven. Even he has to report. He reports that he had been up and down the earth, which is his domain (see 1 Peter 5:8; 1Jo_2:13-17; Mat_4:8-9). He has never been in hell (Rev_20:10, see author’s book, Reveling through Revelation, volume 2).
Job_1:8 — Satan obviously had been trying to get at Job, but he found there was a hedge about him. Satan cannot touch God’s man without God’s permission.
Job_1:9-11 — Slandering both God and Job, Satan infers that God is not worthy to be served and loved for Himself alone but that He has to pay Job to love Him. Satan suggests that Job is a time server.
Job_1:12 — God grants Satan permission to get at Job’s possessions, including his children.
C. Scene III, Job_1:13-22
Land of Uz; Job’s loss of children and wealth
Job is stripped of all his earthly possessions, including his ten children.
Job_1:20-22 — Job’s reaction to his tragic circumstances reveals that though his faith is shaken, it is not destroyed. Job is no time server.
D. Scene IV, Job_2:1-6
Heaven; God and Satan
Created intelligences make their regular report again. Satan has to admit that he has not destroyed the integrity of Job, and he asks for permission to touch his body. He is confident that Job will then curse God to His face. God gives Satan permission to touch his body, with the provision that he may not take his life.
E. Scene V, Job_2:7-10
Land of Uz; Job’s loss of health and wife’s sympathy
Satan smites Job with a frightful disease. Job’s wife suggests that he curse God and commit suicide — which is the reason Satan did not take Job’s wife! Job still maintains his integrity.
II. DIALOGUE, Job 11 — Job_42:6
(Poetry)
A. Scene VI, Job_2:11 — Job_37:24
City Dump
1. Job’s loss of understanding of friends, Job_2:11-13
Three friends of Job come to visit and comfort him: Eliphaz, a Temanite. Teman was a grandson of Esau (Gen_36:10-11). Bildad, a Shuhite. Shuah was a son of Abraham (Gen_25:2). Zophar, a Naamathite. Naamah was in northern Arabia.
For seven days they mourn with Job without saying a word. They are real friends, but they are in no position to comfort Job because:
(1) They do not understand God.
(2) They do not understand Job.
(3) They do not understand themselves.
They merely shake their heads in a knowing manner during the seven days of mourning.
2. Job vs. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, Job_3:1 — Job_32:1
There are 3 rounds of speeches:
(1) By Job, then Eliphaz, and Job answers him;
(2) By Bildad, and Job answers him;
(3) By Zophar, and Job answers him.
This is repeated three times with one exception — Zophar does not give a third speech. The dialogue is in the nature of a contest. Under the critical and accusing eyes of his friends, Job finally explodes with his tale of woe and a wish that he had never been born.
First Round
Chapter
Job........................................................3
Eliphaz, 1st Discourse.............................4, 5
Job’s Answer....................................6, 7
Bildad, 1st Discourse..................................8
Job’s Answer..................................9, 10
Zophar, 1st Discourse................................11
Job’s Answer..............................12—14
Second Round
Eliphaz, 2nd Discourse..............................15
Job’s Answer.................................16, 17
Bildad, 2nd Discourse...............................18
Job’s Answer.......................................19
Zophar, 2nd Discourse...............................20
Job’s Answer.......................................21
Third Round
Eliphaz, 3rd Discourse..............................22
Job’s Answer................................23, 24
Bildad, 3rd Discourse................................25
Job’s Answer...............................26—31
First Round
Chapter 3 — Job wishes that he had never been born or that he had died at birth. Job’s tranquility in his days of prosperity were disturbed by the uncertainty of life. He had dreaded the very thing that happened to him (Job_3:25).
Chapters 4, 5 — Eliphaz’s first discourse. He is the voice of experience. He suspects that there is secret sin in Job’s life (Job_4:8). He recounts a terrifying and hair-raising vision (Job_4:12-16). The self- evident truth he received from the vision does not seem worthwhile for all the terror he endured (Job_4:17). He gives some gems of wisdom as all the others do (Job_5:6-7). He charges that Job is being corrected for some awful secret sin and he should not complain (Job_5:17-22).
Chapters 6, 7 — Job’s answer. His condition is much worse than his friends realize and he wishes God would destroy him, not correct him (Job_6:9). He expected pity and comfort from his friends (Job_6:14). He looked for help when he saw them coming, but it was only a mirage on the desert (Job_6:15). Eliphaz misses the entire problem (Job_6:25). Job is willing to confess any sin he has committed. Why doesn’t God pardon his sin (ch. 7) and restore him?
Chapter 8 — Bildad’s first discourse. Bildad is the voice of the past. He rests his argument on tradition (Job_8:8). Man can know nothing of himself. He must depend on the past (Job_8:9-10). Notice that Paul did not have this philosophy; rather he pointed to Christ and the future.
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Phi_3:14)
Bildad is more candid and crude than Eliphaz. He considers Job a hypocrite (Job_8:13). He does not know the ways of God (Job_8:20), nor does he take into account the final outcome (Job_8:21).
Chapters 9, 10 — Job’s answer to Bildad. Bildad has not met the problem of Job (Job_9:2). Job makes no claim to perfection and knows that he cannot defend himself before God. He needs someone on his side to present his case (Job_9:19-20). Notice Job’s heart-cry for Christ (Job_9:32-33). He recognizes his need for a mediator to stand between himself and God. (See 1Sa_2:25.)
God knows that Job is not perfect, but He also knows that Job is not wicked (Job_10:6-7). Again Job resorts to his wish that he had not been born or had died at birth (Job_10:19).
Chapter 11 — Zophar’s first discourse. Zophar is the voice of legalism. He holds that God is bound by laws and never operates beyond the circumference of His own laws. He is probably the senior member of the group, and he speaks with a dogmatic finality that is even more candid and crude than that of Bildad.
He accuses Job of covering his sin with words (Job_11:2). He even accuses Job of lying (Job_11:3). He assumes the pious position of being on the inside with God while Job is on the outside, unable to know what He does (Job_11:4-11). He urges Job to come clean, that he is hiding his sin (Job_11:14). He predicts the complete judgment of Job unless he confesses his secret sin (Job_11:20).
Chapters 12, 13 — Job’s answer. Job becomes bitter and sarcastic. He resents the superior claims of his friends and their accusations (Job_12:1-3).
Job would bypass his friends and appeal to God directly (Job_13:3). He now accuses them of lying about his case and states that they are offering him no help — they are “physicians of no value” (Job_13:4). The faith of Job stands inviolate in spite of the onslaught of his friends (Job_13:15).
Chapter 14 — A great elegy on death. Trouble is the common denominator of mankind (Job_14:1). Job knows that death is inevitable and that he must depart from this world (Job_14:10). However, Job has a hope beyond death and the grave (Job_14:14-15).
Second Round
Chapter 15 — Eliphaz’s second discourse. Eliphaz accuses Job of being his own accuser, for his words are foolish (Job_15:6). He defends himself and two other friends by reminding Job of their advantage of maturity over him. He states a great truth, but it is no more applicable to Job than to any other human being.
Chapters 16, 17 — Job’s answer. Job labels his friends “miserable comforters” and accuses them of uttering self-evident truths which are not applicable to him. If their situations were reversed, Job could argue as they have (Job_16:4). Instead of helping Job, they fill him with wrinkles (Job_16:8). He goes too far in defending himself (Job_16:17). Job will stand by his record (Job_16:19). He recognizes the problem of pleading his case before God (16:21). His physical condition is tragic.