Job - Introduction

Back to the Old Testament, and just five books to go to have worked through the whole Bible. 

Job is one of my favourite books. Some people focus just on the first two chapters and the last. If you do this then you have completely missed the point. Indeed, if this is all that you have preached on then I would go as far as to say you have misled your congregation. You see, Job is one of the most profound books in the Bible, indeed in the world. It deals with the problem of suffering and it does not offer any pat answers, instead it gives the truth that sets us free. James 5:11 commends the patience of Job, we need to know that James had in mind the whole of the book of Job, most of which is about Job complaining to God.

The outset of the book shows that God is in control of the whole matter, and the end shows a twofold benefit of it all for Job. First, his fortunes are restored, but by far the most important blessing is that now he knows God in a much deeper way than he ever did before. The reason for the suffering is never revealed to him, instead he has acknowledged the greatness of God, that is when true understanding comes.

Job himself probably lived sometime between 2000 and 1000 BC. The text was probably put together sometime between the reign of Solomon and the Babylonian exile. The author is not known, and apparently the translation is very difficult in places, which is why you might find many variations in different versions of the Bible. 

Job's complaints and challenges are interspersed with "wise" advice and commentary from his comforters, but none of this advice helped him. When we are going through severe trials pat Christian advice is of little use to us, our needs, and the problem, run much deeper. One of the key lessons is that we can go to God with all our hurt and confusion, even our anger with God. We have a relationship with Him. Yet we are the ones who will need to repent in the end, not God!