IN HELL

Job is an interesting contrast between the OT and the NT. And yet the Book of Job foreshadows Jesus’s Coming and the New Testament.

 

Key Passages in the Book to be mindful of:

Job 1:1, 1] There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

Job 1:21, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
[22] In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

Job 38:1-2, "[1] Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
[2] Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

38:2 Counsel - God's counsel. This first word which God spoke, struck Job to the heart.

Job answers in chap 42:2 “Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.”

Job 42:5-6, [5] I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.
[6] Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

Brief Summary: At the beginning of the book of Job is a scene in heaven where Satan stands before God. God asks Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?” (Job 1:8), and Satan immediately accuses Job, a faith filled man, of fearing God only because God had prospered him. “Strike everything he has,” Satan says, “and he will surely curse you to your face” (Job 1:11). God grants Satan limited permission to put Job to the test. Why do the saints suffer? This is the question raised after Job loses his family, his wealth, and his health. Job’s three friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, come to “comfort” him and to discuss his crushing series of tragedies. They insist his suffering is punishment for sin in his life. Job, though, remains devoted to God through all of this and contends that his life has not been one of sin. A fourth man, Elihu, tells Job he needs to humble himself and submit to God’s use of trials to purify his life. Finally, Job questions God Himself and learns valuable lessons about the sovereignty of God and his need to totally trust in the Lord. Job is then restored to health, happiness, and prosperity beyond his earlier state.

As Job was wondering the cause of his misery, three questions came to his mind, all of which are answered only in our Lord Jesus Christ. These questions occur in chapter 14. First, in verse 4, Job asks, "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one. Job’s question comes from a heart that recognizes it cannot possibly please God or become justified in His sight. God is holy; we are not. Therefore, a great gulf exists between man and God, caused by sin. But the answer to Job’s anguished question is found in Jesus Christ. He has paid the penalty for our sin and has exchanged it for His righteousness, thereby making us acceptable in God’s sight (Hebrews 10:14; Colossians 1:21-23; 2 Corinthians 5:17).

Job’s second question, "But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?" (vs. 10), is another question about eternity and life and death that is answered only in Christ. With Christ, the answer to ‘where is he?’ is eternal life in heaven. Without Christ, the answer is an eternity in “outer darkness” where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30).

Job’s third question, found in verse 14, is “If a man die, shall he live again?”  Once again, the answer is found in Christ. We do indeed live again if we are in Him. “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).

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Chapters 3-37 are full of poetic prose that helps readers visualize a heated debate between Job and his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. The friends assume that God orders the world by a principle of retributive justice—if you’re wise and honor God, he will reward you with good outcomes, but if you are foolish and dishonor God, he will punish you with harsh circumstances.

 

As the friends witness Job’s suffering, they conclude he must be guilty of wrongdoing. Job defends his faithfulness. While he agrees that bad deeds deserve punishment, he knows he’s innocent. So he speculates that God must be punishing him without cause. The friends passionately disagree, insisting that Job must have done something wrong.

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Job and his friends argue back and forth in three cycles found in chapters 13-14, 15-21, and 22-28. Their debating continues until Job tires of responding to them and takes his concerns directly to God. His prayers show us the depth of his agony, confusion, and despair. He asks God if He were against him now. He asks God if He brought injustices upon the world. He asks God in desperation, not accusation. Remember, the beginning Chapter of Job. “In all of this, Job never charged (accused) God foolishly”. But then Job realizes that can’t be right—God must be fair and all-powerful. But he still can’t reconcile why all these terrible things have happened to him, and he begs God to explain.

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This section ends with the reply of a new friend, Elihu. He draws a more complicated conclusion about why people might suffer. Elihu says that God may not be punishing them. Maybe God uses suffering for warning or building character. Unlike Job’s other friends, Elihu doesn’t claim to know why Job is suffering. But he is sure of one thing: Job is not qualified to judge God.

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God Responds to Job:

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In a surprising turn, God visits Job in a powerful storm and responds to his prayers. A whirlwind of rhetorical questions exposes Job’s lack of understanding. God asks whether or not Job helped him create the Heavens and the earth or set the constellations in place. Has he ever awakened the sun or managed the Earth’s weather? Would he like to oversee the world for a day, according to his narrow principle of justice? God’s questions dismantle many of Job’s assumptions about justice, proving that the world is far more complicated than he ever imagined.

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God then goes on to describe two terrifying creatures, the Behemoth and Leviathan. These creatures symbolize the dangers that exist in God’s world, illustrating that while the world is good, it’s not always safe and does not operate as humans assume. God’s world is beautiful, but it is also wild and dangerous. Both are true, but God doesn’t explain why. By the end of God’s powerful speech, Job is convinced he would not even understand God’s answer. And this leads us to the final scene in the book.

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Behemoth - Hippo

Unicorn - Rhino

Leviathan – Crocodile

*In case any wondered, these are the translations*

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Job humbly admits that he does not have the understanding to comprehend or pass judgment on God’s Reasons. He realizes that even without understanding how God Operates, he will still choose to trust God’s Wisdom and Perfect Character.

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The book concludes with a short epilogue, showing how God restores Job’s losses and defends his character to his friends. God says their explanations of justice were inaccurate and clarifies that Job spoke truthfully about him. While Job was wrong to question’s God’s Motives, he was right to eventually turn away from his friends’ accusations and trust God. Admitting his struggle and continuing to bring his questions to God in prayer was a faithful act from Job, and God is pleased with Job’s humility, honesty, and commitment to receive answers from him.

How does this apply to me?

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Job lived in a time when God showed Himself to all the world through great signs and wonders. He rewarded His servants with visible, physical rewards. He punished evil doers the same way with great signs and wonders. It is little wonder why Job questioned his change in circumstance therefore questioning God’s Goodness.

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His lesson foreshadowed Christ’s Coming and the great adjustment God made in the New Testament.

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Job realized the same lesson we (who follow Jesus) have realized. Job however realized it long before this change but the lesson is the same:

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This physical life on earth is a trial, not the life God wants for us. That real life, that abundant LIFE is what comes next after our trials down here. The reward of our true faith without sight.

This life has never been about this life…it has always been an audition or trial for the next life. Our real life whom God, who cannot lie, has promised us through faith.

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Satan has snared the whole world with fake countercultures to God. Just as he attempted to snare Job.

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This sums up the Book of Job. God determined from the foundation that this first earth would have a time limit due to the curse of sin. He also determined at that instant that He would harvest HIS OWN from this world to restart the next world. The NEW Heavens and NEW Earth.

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The Book of Job teaches us to trust God under all circumstances. We must trust God, not only when we do not understand, but because we do not understand. “As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.” (Psalm 18:30). If God’s ways are “perfect,” then we can trust that whatever He does—and whatever He allows—is also perfect. This may not seem possible to us, but our minds are not God’s Mind. It is true that we can’t expect to understand His mind perfectly, as He reminds us, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9). Nevertheless, our responsibility to God is to obey Him, to trust Him, and to submit to His will, whether we understand it or not.

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Interesting fact:

There is no mention of Job prior to the Book of Job. And there are only two mentions of Job after the Book of Job throughout the entire Bible:

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Other mentions of Job after the Book of Job:

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Ezekiel 14: [11] That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.
[12] The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,
[13] Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:
[14] Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.

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*More evidence that there are few in Paradise from the Old Testament. Those there we have read about. Unlike the New Testament where many will be spared relative to the Old Testament. Consider Hebrews Chapter 11 the Old Testament faith hall of fame. Noticed everyone mentioned within this Chapter are included within the Old Testament. The point being that no one new is mentioned.*

[15] If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts:
[16] Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.
[17] Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:
[18] Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.
[19] Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:
[20] Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
[21] For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?

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Note this pearl of prophetic wisdom:
[22] Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.
[23] And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord GOD.

 

The New Testament reveals God’s actual intent and meaning from the Old Testament:

 

James 5:

[1] Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
[2] Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
[3] Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
[4] Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
[5] Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
[6] Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
[7] Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
[8] Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
[9] Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
[10] Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
[11] Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

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*What did Job mean to God. His very name explains what he meant to God:

 

Piety (reverence of God), constancy and fortitude in the endurance of trials:

Job knew this life was merely a trial for the next one. He knew his heart was pure toward God and he was not hypocritical in his worship and praise of God. That is what the Book of Job is all about.

 

The lesson of Jesus in the New Testament:

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Trust Him and Not the world. Trust Him regardless of position or state in this world:

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Luke 12: [15] And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
[16] And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
[17] And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
[18] And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
[19] And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
[20] But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
[21] So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
[22] And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
[23] The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
[24] Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
[25] And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?
[26] If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
[27] Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
[28] If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
[29] And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
[30] For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
[31] But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
[32] Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
[33] Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
[34] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
[35] Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;
[36] And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.
[37] Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.
[38] And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.

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Seek nothing more than you need in this present world. Put all your heart and your mind unto the next world: Philippians 4: 11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

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Those of us who live with terrible affliction and trust God through it will receive the greater reward in the end. Just as Job did. But this time, the reward will be eternal and not temporary.

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