Job - Introduction

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NEXT I. Job’s Trials and Suffering (Job 1:1–3:26)

Introduction

Author

THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK IS UNKNOWN but was likely an Israelite because of his frequent use of God’s covenant name, Yahweh (rendered, “the Lord”).

Historical Background

Job’s story is set in the patriarchal period at a time when wealth was determined by the quantity of livestock and servants one owned. As with other Old Testament patriarchs, Job performed priestly duties for his family (1:5) and lived to a very old age (42:16). The events take place in the country of Uz (1:1), which was located in the northern Arabian Peninsula. The date of the writing is unknown, but Jewish tradition places it during the time of Moses.

Message and Purpose

This book is critical to Scripture because it deals with one of the hardest realities of life: God often seems silent when we are doing our best to please him and yet experience suffering. The question of why comes up again and again in life, even as it did for Job, one of the godliest people in the Bible who had no explanation for why he was suffering so terribly.

In Job, God is engaged in a dialogue with the devil over Job and the pain God allows to come into Job’s life. Ultimately, the book reveals God’s kingdom authority over life circumstances because not even the devil can do his dirty work without divine permission. As the book unfolds, God reveals things about himself that overwhelm Job. By the end, Job has to repent and bow before God’s wisdom—a wisdom that he cannot understand, but that he knows is best because he trusts God.

One of the key truths to grasp from the book of Job is that we must trust God even when we cannot understand him, even when he is thoroughly confusing to us. The central statement in the book is one of Job’s closing comments to God: “I had heard reports about you, but now my eyes have seen you” (42:5).

VIDEO INTRO

Outline

  1. Job’s Trials and Suffering (1:1–3:26)
  2. Eliphaz’s First Speech and Job’s Response (4:1–7:21)
  3. Bildad’s First Speech and Job’s Response (8:1–10:22)
  4. Zophar’s First Speech and Job’s Response (11:1–14:22)
  5. Eliphaz’s Second Speech and Job’s Response (15:1–17:16)
  6. Bildad’s Second Speech and Job’s Response (18:1–19:29)
  7. Zophar’s Second Speech and Job’s Response (20:1–21:34)
  8. Eliphaz’s Third Speech and Job’s Response (22:1–24:25)
  9. Bildad’s Third Speech and Job’s Response (25:1–31:40)
  10. Elihu’s Speech (32:1–37:24)
  11. God’s Response (38:1–41:34)
  12. Job’s Restoration (42:1-17)
NEXT I. Job’s Trials and Suffering (Job 1:1–3:26)