The Summary of JOb
The book of Job is Narrative History. Its author is unknown yet it is possible that Job himself wrote it. It is possible that Job is the oldest of any book of the Bible written approximately 2100-1800 B.C. Key personalities of this book include Job, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the Naamathite, and Elihu the Buzite.
In Job, we see a man who God allows to be directly attacked by Satan. He is an example of faithfulness as he loses everything important to him yet remains faithful to God. Its purpose is to illustrate God’s sovereignty and faithfulness during a time of great suffering.
• In chapters 1-3, God tests Job’s faithfulness through allowing Satan to attack him. God told Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him” (1:12). Through Job’s trials, all is lost including his health, his wife even tells him to curse God and commit suicide, but he remains strong and faithful, “Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.” (1:22).
• From chapters 4-37, Job’s friends give him plenty of bad advice, in rounds of discussion. They mistakenly blame his sufferings on his personal sins rather than God testing and growing Job. One of them was half-correct in that God wanted to humble him, but this was only a part of God’s test.
• In chapters 38-42, God speaks to Job and restores him. God knows that Job has received incorrect guidance from his friends, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” God fittingly declares that humans do not know everything. Then He humbles Job by asking a series of questions that could never be answered by anyone other than Almighty God; for example, “Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this”. God then brings him to an understanding that believers don’t always know what God is doing in their lives.
In the end, Job answers God by saying, “I have declared that which I did not understand”. God then blessed Job with twice as much as he had before his trials began.
Job 1-4 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Job and His Family
1 There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 4 His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another’s houses in turn; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” This is what Job always did.
Attack on Job’s Character
6 One day the heavenly beings[a] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan[b] also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan,[c]“Where have you come from?” Satan[d] answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8 The Lordsaid to Satan,[e] “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.” 9 Then Satan[f] answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12 The Lord said to Satan,[g] “Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!” So Satan[h] went out from the presence of the Lord.
Job Loses Property and Children
13 One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, 19 and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.”
20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.
Attack on Job’s Health
2 One day the heavenly beings[i] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan[j] also came among them to present himself before the Lord. 2 The Lord said to Satan,[k] “Where have you come from?” Satan[l]answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 3 The Lord said to Satan,[m] “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.” 4 Then Satan[n] answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives.[o] 5 But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” 6 The Lord said to Satan,[p] “Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life.”
7 So Satan[q] went out from the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 Job[r] took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes.
9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse[s]God, and die.” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Job’s Three Friends
11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his home—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to go and console and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him, and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads. 13 They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.
Job Curses the Day He Was Born
3 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 Job said:
3
“Let the day perish in which I was born,
and the night that said,
‘A man-child is conceived.’
4
Let that day be darkness!
May God above not seek it,
or light shine on it.
5
Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.
Let clouds settle upon it;
let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6
That night—let thick darkness seize it!
let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
let it not come into the number of the months.
7
Yes, let that night be barren;
let no joyful cry be heard[t] in it.
8
Let those curse it who curse the Sea,[u]
those who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan.
9
Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
let it hope for light, but have none;
may it not see the eyelids of the morning—
10
because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,
and hide trouble from my eyes.
11
“Why did I not die at birth,
come forth from the womb and expire?
12
Why were there knees to receive me,
or breasts for me to suck?
13
Now I would be lying down and quiet;
I would be asleep; then I would be at rest
14
with kings and counselors of the earth
who rebuild ruins for themselves,
15
or with princes who have gold,
who fill their houses with silver.
16
Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child,
like an infant that never sees the light?
17
There the wicked cease from troubling,
and there the weary are at rest.
18
There the prisoners are at ease together;
they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.
19
The small and the great are there,
and the slaves are free from their masters.
20
“Why is light given to one in misery,
and life to the bitter in soul,
21
who long for death, but it does not come,
and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;
22
who rejoice exceedingly,
and are glad when they find the grave?
23
Why is light given to one who cannot see the way,
whom God has fenced in?
24
For my sighing comes like[v] my bread,
and my groanings are poured out like water.
25
Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me,
and what I dread befalls me.
26
I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest; but trouble comes.”
Eliphaz Speaks: Job Has Sinned
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2
“If one ventures a word with you, will you be offended?
But who can keep from speaking?
3
See, you have instructed many;
you have strengthened the weak hands.
4
Your words have supported those who were stumbling,
and you have made firm the feeble knees.
5
But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
it touches you, and you are dismayed.
6
Is not your fear of God your confidence,
and the integrity of your ways your hope?
7
“Think now, who that was innocent ever perished?
Or where were the upright cut off?
8
As I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and sow trouble reap the same.
9
By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
10
The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,
and the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11
The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.
12
“Now a word came stealing to me,
my ear received the whisper of it.
13
Amid thoughts from visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls on mortals,
14
dread came upon me, and trembling,
which made all my bones shake.
15
A spirit glided past my face;
the hair of my flesh bristled.
16
It stood still,
but I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
there was silence, then I heard a voice:
17
‘Can mortals be righteous before[w] God?
Can human beings be pure before[x] their Maker?
18
Even in his servants he puts no trust,
and his angels he charges with error;
19
how much more those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like a moth.
20
Between morning and evening they are destroyed;
they perish forever without any regarding it.
21
Their tent-cord is plucked up within them,
and they die devoid of wisdom.’
(Source: Rev. Lydia Han, photo by Church A)
