God's speech in the book of job

Here, satan attacks the character of both god and mankind. Reflections on the speeches of god in the book of job by tim willis one of the convocation speakers at pepperdine university this past february told the story of ayoung woman inhouston who had come tomean alot tohis family. All through this speech, god reminds jobusing what sounds like sarcastic asides that. God does not answer their questions about jobs guilt or innocence, but rather speaks about the created order and contrasts what god can do with what humans are able to do. Interpretations of elihu in job biblical hermeneutics stack. Evidence that elihu prepared job for god the bible meditator. How could god approve of jobs speech that questioned his. In the books first cycle, jobs friends speeches were halted by the revelation of gods wisdom. Let a black cloud overshadow it, and let the darkness terrify it. Walther eichrodt writes, in the speeches of god in the book of job, this god of mens construction the traditional theodicy of the friends is opposed to the. What does the book of job teach us about the sovereignty. The book of job tells how one man suddenly awakened to the anarchy rampant in the world, yet his attachment to god outlived the ruin of his tidy system.

But as weve briefly discussed, i dont see the behemoth or leviathan as legendary story book creatures, poetic symbols, or mythological. Taken from nelson s new illustrated bibkle dictionary. Elihu prepares the way for god s arrival by silencing job and rebuking both him and his friends. Feeling hopeless, job bemoans the lack of a mediator between him and god. All through the book, job had been hoping for an audience with god. Aug 07, 2015 so job releases his selfjustification after gods first speech. Let the darkness and utter gloom claim that day for its own. It is very interesting that job correlates with an imprecation of cursing, where the the morning star is blighted and the stars darkened, which has ties to lucifer back in isaiah is 14. Job knocked on heavens door, hoping to gain a legal court hearing so that he could ask god some tough questions about human suffering. The new element in the second cycle is that elihus speech is interrupted by the dramatic appearance of god himself job 38. One of the great surprises of a difficult and surprising book comes in its final chapter, when yhwh states that job spoke rightly about him. His speeches neither explain jobs suffering, nor defend divine justice, nor enter. Look at the specific lessons we can learn about responding to trials as revealed in the book of job. Like many people, job intuited but was not yet willing to face what he most feared.

Given how christians are yet inclined to look for a divine reason behind catastrophes and personal tragedies, i think its a point we have yet to learn. The longest single soliloquy attributed to god in the bible is at the end of the book of job chapters 3841, where yahweh asserts his mystery and magnificence to the glib and falselyassured advisers to job. Job lives to a ripe old age, and both god and satan fade into the shadows. Elihu presented the proper theological perspective of retribution theology. Toward the end of elihus speech 3237 a thunderstorm had gathered and. That remains a mystery to job, though the readers are ready for job s restoration in the epilogue because they have had the heavenly vantage point of the prologue all along.

It has been objected that gods speeches chapters 38. Job is not condemned, but neither is a logical or legal answer given to why job has suffered. Elihu starts his response by being very angry with job for justifying himself rather than god and with job s three friends because they had found no way to refute job, and yet had condemned him job. Instead of appearing in court to accuse god of the unfairness of human suffering, god showed up as a tornado and interrogated job with 77 rhetorical questions. With gods second speech, job realizes that he cant save himself. It is found in the third section of the biblical canon known as the ketuvim writings. Job is a pious believer who is struck by misfortune so great that it cannot be explained in the usual way as a prompting to repentance, a warning, let alone a punishment the arguments later. Job is brought through a number of tribulations, from the loss of his entire family to malignant skin diseases. Needless to say, job feels a little humbled and acknowledges that, as a mere mortal, he cant possibly understand everything in an immortally ruled universe. And sure enough, somehow, out of the whirlwind comes the voice of god to job chapters 3841. Framework for understanding gods sovereignty in our earthly lives comes in the next lines. Jobs first speech at last job spoke, and he cursed the day of his birth. In a verse which is representative of the entire speech, elihu says in job 34.

In short, elihu condemns job s friends and job s claim of being without sin, declares gods justice, condemns job s attitude toward god, and exalts gods greatness. More daringly, some writers have suggested that gods speeches are interpolations. While gods first speech properly demotes job s selfesteem, it does not yet promote gods gargantuan superiority. Ultimately, they fail to see job s adjournment and continuation of his oath of innocence implied by the allusion to the story of abraham and sodom and gomorrah in job s final speech.

The lord speaks then the lord spoke to job out of the storm. Every version of the bible that you have read puts job, in the wake of gods speech, in an attitude of awestruck contrition or reconversion. Gods speeches, jobs responses, and the problem of coherence in the book of job. And god must get job not only to stop justifying himself but also to begin justifying god. Jan 02, 2020 in short, elihu condemns jobs friends and jobs claim of being without sin, declares gods justice, condemns jobs attitude toward god, and exalts gods greatness. Since gods speech is revealed in the words and works of his son and the human response to these words and works is faith, christ wished his words and works to be handed on perpetually to the whole human race so it might come to believe in him. The book of job, book of hebrew scripture that is often counted among the masterpieces of world literature. The depth of gods control in the textover physics, time, and emotionis so vast that humanity could not possibly hope to understand it. Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge. At last, god fulfills jobs desire for a facetoface encounter. Godthe objection runsasserts his power in reply to a challenge to.

All through this speech, god reminds jobusing what sounds like sarcastic asidesthat. Laird harris professor of old testament covenant theological seminary a few years ago, there was a man of the east the eastern united states, that isnamed archibald macleish. The book of job consists of a prose prologue and epilogue narrative framing poetic dialogues and monologues. This is a book to return to again and again as a valuable tool to unpack the message of job in a generation to whom it is strikingly relevant. In teaching that piety must be unselfish and that the righteous sufferer is assured not of tangible reward but of fellowship with god, biblical thought about justice, retribution, and providence reaches a climax. Speeches by a young man named elihu intervene before god himself responds to job. It is common to view the narrative frame as the original core of the book, enlarged later by the poetic dialogues and discourses, and sections of the book such as the elihu speeches and the wisdom poem of chapter 28 as late insertions, but recent trends have tended to concentrate on the. The new element in the second cycle is that elihus speech is.

Taking elihu s advice, job goes back to his day job, and eventually god gives him double what he had at the outset. To begin with, the book of job tells the story of god testing job s faith by allowing satan to bring job s life from fortune to misfortune. Job 38 the lord speaks then the lord spoke bible gateway. Elihus fourpart speech is followed by god breaking his silence to directly answer job. And they do not understand job s hesitation to proceed beyond his own vindication to a condemnation of god in job s first speech to god. Let the day of my birth be erased, and the night i was conceived. Dec 03, 2010 when job fails to answer, elihu begins to speak again, and in his second speech job 34. Christianity can never be a mere religion of the book. Toward the end of elihus speech 3237 a thunderstorm had gathered and filled him with awe. A major difficulty in understanding the meaning of the book is, what insight leads job to submit so humbly to god at the end.

Even though we still dont have a complete understanding of why, the same is true for us. God answers that he is the creator of the world and is omniscient. The book of job is one of the most problematic portions of the bible and has called forth a variety of interpretations. After being silent throughout the dialogues between job and his friends, god finally speaks to job out of the. Let it be lost even to god on high, and let no light shine on it. Jobs story invites us to consider what it means that god runs. A key to understanding the first theme of the book is to notice the debate between god and satan in heaven and how it.

Job could only think that god was ignoring his faithfulness and treating him as an enemy. An ambiguous divine speech is the subject of great scholarly debate. Aug 30, 2012 recently, i read through the book of job again and saw some things in elihus speech that i had not noticed before, which i believe provide insight into whether he was a johnthebaptistlike figure or not, as some scholars think, preparing the heart of job for an appearance from god. The book of job is about suffering, but more than that, its about the god who speaks to us in the midst of our pain. Addressing the problem of theodicy the vindication of the justice of god in the light of humanitys suffering it is a rich theological work setting out a variety of perspectives. Pdf gods speeches, jobs responses, and the problem of. God is asking us and inviting us to trust him and his wisdom. His arrival coincides with the cessation of the back and forth debate, and his words are summed up early on. Job 3 nlt jobs first speech at last job bible gateway. As far as the symposium is concerned, the author s purpose seems to be none other than to challenge the view presented by both prophets and historians to the effect that suffering is in itself evidence of wrongdoing.

The book of job is the story of a normal human being who is beset by misfortune and suffering. The book of job does not present concrete solutions about why innocent people suffer. But thats because the answer job needed was not some portion of wisdom, but the author of wisdom itself. After job answers his three friends turned accusers, he offers a long speech, ending with a detailed denial of any wrongdoing ch. List of books and articles about book of job online. The purpose of elihus speech is to justify and defend god. Job basically agrees, but wonders who can really be righteous in god s sight in view of his wisdom and strength. The book takes its name from the main character in the poem, the patriarch job. At last, god fulfills job s desire for a facetoface encounter. How do you trust god even when life isnt fair and you suffer for no good reason.

The book treats two major themes and many other minor ones, both in the narrative framework of the prologue chaps. Supremely, it is a book not about jobs suffering, but about jobs god, which leads us to the ultimate answers to all our human enigmas in the reality of jesus christ and him crucified. In the book s first cycle, job s friends speeches were halted by the revelation of gods wisdom. This woman had been aprostitute since her early teens and had been involved in the drug scene. He then complains of god s inaccessibility, and maintains his own integrity while concluding that god destroys the blameless along with the wicked. The book of job is written in the form of a dramatic poem, that deals with several age old questions, among them the question of why the righteous suffer. What does the book of job teach us about the sovereignty of. But he also challenged job for insisting that gods justice was flawed and that his suffering was undeserved p. The point of the book of job is to teach us that the mystery of evil is a mystery of a wartorn and unfathomably complex creation, not the mystery of gods allcontrolling will. Elihu challenged jobs three antagonists by opposing this view of suffering. God honored job s struggles, his honesty, and his prayer. But its not until after the second speech that he confesses god can do all things job 42.