· The location for the events of Job: In 1:1 Job is from the “land of Uz,” This is an area of light, sandy soil north of the Arabian desert, between Canaan and the Euphrates River.
·
Veracity of the book. Is this a true story or a made up story, as a
parable?
o
The first 2 chapters and the last chapter are
simply historical records.
o
The rest is poetic form, including statements of
historical and scientific facts.
o
Job’s existence is assumed by the authors of
Scripture. Ezek 14:14,16,20: Job is
mentioned by name, as he is in James 5:11.
o
The record claims to record actual happenings of
Job.
o
The names and places are stated as historical.
o The concept of Satan is accurate and verified throughout Scripture.
o The events don’t take place in one day. The book doesn’t say how long but it happened over several days.
·
What is the purpose of the book?
o
It deals with the question of God’s governing,
and why the righteous suffer.
o
It vindicates God’s dealings with man.
o
It inspires a pure love of God, apart from
things.
o
It demonstrates that man is capable of real,
unselfish goodness.
o It demonstrates a person’s lot in life isn’t necessarily related to his character.
o It demonstrates God has a purpose and plan for our good (Rom. 8:28).
(To these thoughts
taken from Dr. Mitchell, I want to add something. The basic question of Job and his friends AND
Elihu is not “why do the righteous suffer?”
All of the friends and Elihu believe that the righteous do not
suffer, and that therefore Job is in some way unrighteous. Job believes the righteous do not
suffer, and thus is perplexed because he knows of no wrong he has committed
against the Lord. For the Lord, the
question is not “why do the righteous suffer?”
The issue is rather, will you trust Me?
Will you glorify Me in your life, regardless?)
·
Overview/outline.
o
Ch. 1-2: setting
o
Ch. 3-31: Job and his three “friends”
o
Ch. 32-37: Elihu rebukes Job
o
Ch. 38-41: God rebukes Job
§
Job lacks omniscience (38:1-40:5) and
omnipotence (40:6-42:2)
o
Ch. 42: Repentance, redemption and
restoration
In Job, God is set forth as the wise and
glorious Creator. He is almighty,
omniscient, invisible, the supreme governor of the world; pure, holy, gracious
and forgiving.
No comments:
Post a Comment