The book of Job is so beautiful and there is so much more application of the wisdom within it today than most will realize. Utter humility before God, truly unknowable and beyond our understanding, except that which He revealed in Christ and reveals to us by His Spirit. And even then, how can we figure it out?! We foolishly muse our dreams, expecting that we might understand them for prophecy, or reproof, or instruction, or some help. We understand them, it seems, but really how many different interpretations are there? For God can take any thing and make good an interpretation that is right regardless of any man's situation. I do know that He has given me great wisdom; and yet also that I am completely unwise. I am mud. I am dirt made into the fashion of a living thing. I have only His Spirit as my breath; my thoughts do not exist without His breath; and yet somehow my thoughts are not always clean. The dirt of my being tries to choke His perfection in me. It is not that He cannot overcome it, no, not at all. It is that He allows it to happen that my spirit may know that the dirt within which I reside is merely that; and that no great thing is because of this vessel or its strength - but that all that is good is of God and all work can only be attributed to Him by reason of His Spirit within us (and also the workings over which we have no control, by reason of His Spirit without us). There is a wealth of wisdom in the Holy Bible. I would never say that one should read only parts of it and not all of it (which, to this day, it would seem that people still disagree as to what 'all of the Holy Bible' means). But if anyone ever asks me what book of the Bible should they read, I think it is wise that, given that one already has knowledge about Jesus Christ, one should read the book of Job to learn more concerning the workings of God: to learn concerning our own pride and foolishness, to understand the hearts of men, to learn about God's creation, and in times of distress we learn, not only chastisement, as we should - but also that we learn justification through God and not of ourselves - but also knowing that we are not justified except that God Himself justifies us; and even then we accept that justification with humility and not with a high-mind or with any boasting. We will be like Job, putting our hands over our mouths, while God says to us, "Which of you will tell me? Which of you will direct me?"
God turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his three friends. God is concerned about our relationships, and that we are in fellowship one with the other. As we walk in the light, as Jesus is the light, we will have fellowship one with the other, and the blood of Jesus will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Many of us are in captivity today, because we are holding back from forgiving our brother or sister from some sin that they may have committed against us. If we want God to bless us, we need to forgive them, and pray for them. After Job did this, God blessed Job with twice as much as he had before. God gave him seven sons, and three daughters. Job lived 140 years, and enjoyed four generations of his children. When Job died, he had lived well, and had been a blessing to many people. God wants us to be like Job, and so when the trials of life come, let us not become bitter Christians, instead become better Christians. May the Lord give us the strength to do just that in Jesus� name. Amen.
I think the book of Job points to the Soverenity of God. It is not what we do to be noble and just and right. It is what God has done for us through the sacrifice and ressurection of Jesus Christ. Our heavenly Father has provided for us eternal salvation and healing through Christ. Why did Job have to suffer? Why did Christ have to suffer. Because sin exists and the temptor who is Satan is lurking and seeking to devour us. Job shows me all the things that could happen if God removes his protection. It is important to stay in the protection of God and we can do this by allowing Jesus Christ into our lives.
Wrath is YOURS. Iudgment is YOURS. Punishments picked out are YOURS.
Malachi:
1:9 And now I pray you, beseech God, that hee will be gracious vnto vs: this hath beene by your meanes: will he regard your persons, saith the Lord of hostes?
Iob is a STORY. Iudge someone as a "bad person" and go look in the mirror to see one. There's your bad person right there who will be meeting the Lord of HOSTES.
GET IT? HOST. IT'S A PICTURE BOOK STORY FOR CHILDREN. Your Wrath = goes to YOU = Lord's Wrath.
GOD IS ALWAYS GRACE, LIBERTY, & LOVE.
12 But yee haue prophaned it, in that yee say; The table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruite thereof, euen his meate, is contemptible.
Who are YOU to say that the table of the Lord is polluted?
Oh, and say that "Satan" or the "deUil" is evil because he is filled with pride, thinks he knows better than God, and deserves to be damned to hell because he deceives and hurts - GO LOOK IN THE MIRROR TO SEE SATAN. Who are YOU to Iudge, Assume, and Damn to Hell while filled with Pride? How do you know so much more than the Creation with Perfect Knowledge.
Set the Bible down if you don't know the language. It's written in the language of GRACE.
@Amandil regarding your discouragement in these words: "comforted him over all the evil the LORD had brought upon him" May I try to encourage you. The word "evil" just means something bad or a hardship. God did nothing wrong. On the contrary, God in His love and mercy has a wonderful plan. He is striving to mold us into the image of His perfect, lovely Son. Why? So that we can be more greatly used and blessed of Him. Trials are the fining pot that purifies the gold. Job said, "But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." Job was already a good man--gold if you will, but God chose to make him better, more beautiful, more like His Son. Could God have chosen a more wonderful destiny for us than the image of His dear Son? It takes the refiners fire to bring us to our fullest potential. God used Job's trials to make him shine brilliantly. What a wonderful God He is. Maybe you are going through some trials. I pray you will see God's hand in the difficulties.
@LifeObserver I personally have a hard time interperting a passage that seems very straightforward to mean anything but what it says. There was no purpose to test Job for he was a good man who did nothing to deserve the treatment that god allowed and imposed upon him. If Job was intentionally hurt for our benefit, so we could read a book later and look for how great it is to serve god blindly, that still doesn't make the case for Job's plight just. I'd like to look at the "happy ending" of the story...but I personally feel it to be bittersweet. His original children and fruits of his labors were taken from him, and he was tortured for no reason...again...I don't feel that this is a good case for a just god
@Amandil The world consists of good and bad people. The world also contains good and bad events. The point of the saying, ..."comforted him over all the evil the LORD had brought upon him"... means this in my opinion. The Lord is creater and master of us all. Could he not have stop satan if he wanted too? The point is he wanted to test Job's faith and prove his decietful and devious "son of god" Satan wrong. Which he did thanks to Job's understanding, faith, and humble. Satan's hand did the work, and god allowed him to learn something from Job, (although I'm pretty sure he didn't care). Last focus more on how in the end god restored Job's livily hood to him due to his faith.
this...is not a loving gods justice... Job 42:11..."comforted him over all the evil the LORD had brought upon him"...this is not the devil's doing. God even states that Job's friends were wrong in thinking that there is no way it was God's fault all these bad things happened. I feel more discouraged after reading the book of Job
vs 10- Job took care and attention to his friends.It amazes me that after all his friends accused him of,pushed him to emotional edges, and were accusatory of his character he still was a great friend. He prayed for those who helped him feel miserable.
WOW, where did you find that in God�s Word?
Malachi:
1:9 And now I pray you, beseech God, that hee will be gracious vnto vs: this hath beene by your meanes: will he regard your persons, saith the Lord of hostes?
Iob is a STORY. Iudge someone as a "bad person" and go look in the mirror to see one. There's your bad person right there who will be meeting the Lord of HOSTES.
GET IT? HOST. IT'S A PICTURE BOOK STORY FOR CHILDREN. Your Wrath = goes to YOU = Lord's Wrath.
GOD IS ALWAYS GRACE, LIBERTY, & LOVE.
12 But yee haue prophaned it, in that yee say; The table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruite thereof, euen his meate, is contemptible.
Who are YOU to say that the table of the Lord is polluted?
Oh, and say that "Satan" or the "deUil" is evil because he is filled with pride, thinks he knows better than God, and deserves to be damned to hell because he deceives and hurts - GO LOOK IN THE MIRROR TO SEE SATAN. Who are YOU to Iudge, Assume, and Damn to Hell while filled with Pride? How do you know so much more than the Creation with Perfect Knowledge.
Set the Bible down if you don't know the language. It's written in the language of GRACE.