1:1 eschewed evil- see on Ps. 34:14
Job was the “greatest of all the men of the east” (Job 1:3), the Hebrew implying the eldest, the most senior. The friends were older than Job, and take pleasure in reminding him of the wisdom of the ‘elders’. He had risen above his place, got too great too quick, and therefore they were intent on proving to him that actually he was not so great, he had sinned, and they by their supposed wisdom and understanding were really greater than him. And they bent their theology, their guesswork as to his possible sins, to that subconscious end- of justifying themselves and pulling Job down beneath them by their interpretations of his misfortunes. What this indicates is that during their period of ‘friendship’ previously, they had nursed unconscious feelings of jealousy against him. The lesson for us is to re-examine our friendships, our loyalties, to see if they carry the same feature; a desire to ‘be in with’ the popular and the successful, to catch some reflected glory. The conversion of Job led him to understand the fickleness of his friends, and to pray for them in it.
"Sons of God" of 1:6 are interpreted as Angels in 38:7.
Eliphaz reminds Job that the wicked of Noah's time were destroyed by a flood, implying that the sudden calamities of Job's life were like the flood, thus equating him with the world at Noah's time. Jude, Daniel, Peter and the Lord Jesus all interpret that world as representing apostate Jewry in the first century, destroyed by the " flood" of AD70. It is therefore interesting that 1 Pet.5:8,9, concerning the Jewish devil walking around seeking to draw away Christians, is quoting the Septuagint of Job 1:7, suggesting Job's satan is also to be linked with the Jewish satan.
1:7 to and fro- In the same way it has been suggested that Job's satan was an Angel wanting to find out more about Job, not understanding how a man with all the blessings Job had could sincerely worship God. God therefore gave this Angel the power needed to try Job to see whether this was the case. The idea of an Angel being called a satan (adversary) is familiar to us in Num. 22:22 where the Angel stood in the way of Balaam for an adversary. The fact the Angel brought the trials would explain why all through the book the trials are credited to God. Satan coming "from going to and fro in the earth" (Job 1:7) would connect with the descriptions of the Angels being God's eyes going to and fro in the earth (Zech. 1:11). Job 1:16 describing God sending a flame of fire to minister one of the trials is understood in the Angel context when one recalls that He "makes His ministers a flaming fire" (Ps. 104:4). The series of "messengers" who come to Job announcing the trials (Job 1:14) may possibly also be Angels, or Angels controlling human messengers on earth. Job associates his trials with God's eyes being upon him (e. g. Job 7:8) and we have seen that the eyes of God seems to be a synonym for the Angels.
1:7,8 "Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth?". God knew what the satan Angel's response would be. Thus God guides an Angel to think about a believer- or person- in order to further that Angel's spiritual education. This is still necessary, despite them having "had their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" previously. The knowledge of good and evil which the Angels have is exactly the same as we have- "the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil" the Angels lamented in Eden (Gen. 3:22). Despite our experience of life, we appreciate pitiably little how God works through evil. Some can scarcely comprehend it, especially if they have no knowledge of the Truth. Yet by nature they have some dull concept of it- and it is this dim concept which the Angels possessed in Eden, which was shared with us by Adam's eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Thus we can understand why the Angels need to be educated like this.
1:10- see on 2:3
1:12 sent forth- See on Is. 37:36
1:14 messengers- see on 1:7 . "And there came a messenger (Heb. 'malak') unto Job" with news of the calamities brought by the satan Angel. It would be understandable if that 'malak' should have been translated 'Angel' seeing there is so much other Angelic language in this area.
The Sabeans of 1:15 were probably the descendants of Sheba, Abraham's grandson (Gen. 25:1-3). For his children to grow into a separate tribe, the events of Job must have happened some generations before the Law was given.
1:16 fire- see on 1:7
1:16,19 Job's sons were killed by wind and fire- both of which are associated with Angelic manifestation.
2:3- see on 7:17
2:3 "Hast thou considered My servant Job?" God asked the Angel. Presumably the satan Angel was not therefore Job's 'guardian', as if he was he would have obviously been 'considering' him. In this case, other Angels can get involved in our lives apart from our guardian, either by direct discussion with God or by application to our guardian. Or are different Angels our guardians for different periods? Satan's query "Hast not Thou made an hedge about him?" (1:10) may be an example of one Angel questioning another, in this case Job's guardian Angel. Yet later Job accuses 'God' of hedging him in by giving him both good and evil. Thus his initial guardian Angel may have been replaced by the 'Satan'-Angel during the time of his distress.
2:3 "Thou movedst Me against him (Job), to destroy him without cause", God rebuked the Angel. This shows that Angels have to persuade God to do things, which sometimes they are unsuccessful in due to their lack of spiritual perspective in the things they request; exactly like us in our wrestlings in prayer with God through our Angel. If God agrees, He "performeth the counsel (advice) of His messenger" (Angels; Is. 44:26). "To destroy him" implies "to ruin him" (N. I. V. )- which did happen to Job. Thus the Angel appears to have gained his request, despite God in some ways being unwilling, or disliking, the request. "Move" means to prick or stimulate- God can be moved or provoked to action by the Angels, as human beings can provoke Him to anger.
2:4 "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life". 'Skin for skin' is a human expression- maybe based on trading one animal skin for another. Is this inspiration's way of expressing in human language the satan Angel's conversation with God, or do Angels use such human metaphors in their talking to God? We and other believers in the Biblical record tend to- so why not Angels too? The mighty Angel of Rev. 18 speaks of Babylon as "the habitation of devils (demons), and the hold of every foul spirit. . " (Rev. 18:2), as if He is using the language of the day concerning demon possession.
In Job 2:5 satan asks God: "Put forth Thine hand". The hand of God is an Angelic phrase. God agrees- "he is in thine hand" (v. 6). Thus satan's hand is God's hand, which is an Angel. Job seems to emphasize the place of God's hand in bringing his trials- 2:5,6,10; 6:9; 10:7; 13:21; 19:21; 27:11 AVmg; 28:9. Job in 12:9 feels that in the same way as God's hand had created the natural creation- and the Angels did this- so that same Angelic hand was upon him for evil. "By His Spirit (God makes His Angels spirits) He hath garnished the Heavens; His hand hath formed the crooked serpent" (26:13). Thus Job associates God's Spirit with His hand, which is satan's hand. It seems far more fitting that this hand and spirit should be Angelic rather than human. Again, it was Angelic work that formed the Heavens. Job recognized that his trials came from the hand of God, but knew that His hand would not kill him- "with Thy strong hand Thou opposest Thyself against me. . . howbeit He will not stretch out His hand to (bring me to) the grave" (30:21,24). This was exactly the brief given to satan- to try Job, but "preserve his life". The hand of God creating evil (2:10,11) must surely refer to God's "Angels of evil" (Ps. 78:49) rather than to man- Cyrus had to be taught that no one except God (including human satans!) created evil (Is. 45:5-7).
Isaiah's description of Israel as " from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness...but wounds, and bruises and putrifying sores" (Is. 1:6) is couched in the picture of Job " with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown" (Job 2:7). As if Job represents apostate Israel.
2:10 evil- - see on Job 2:5
2:11-see on Job 19:12-14. 2:11 the friends came " to mourn with him and to comfort him" , although Job said he turned to them for comfort in vain (16:2). The Hebrew in 2:11 is identical to that in Ps.69:20, describing Christ looking in vain for comforters.
The descriptions of the elders of Zion sitting on the ground in mourning for Jerusalem in Lam.2:10 recalls the friends mourning for Job- thus associating both them and Job with a condemned Israel (Job 2:12).
Another connection with Is.53 is in 2:12,13. The friends " knew him not" as the Jews also did not recognize Christ because of the great physical torment (Is.52:14; 53:3). Like those who crucified Christ " they sat down" watching him; cp. " and sitting down they watched him there" .
The description of Miriam in Num.12:12 LXX is quoting from Job 3:16 LXX; as if both Job and Miriam represented apostate Israel.
3:23- see on Job 10:11,12; Is. 40:27
There are some very evident ways in which Job spiritually grew. For example, he originally said that his life previous to his afflictions had not been a life of ease (Job 3:26); but as a result of his suffering, he realized that actually it had been " at ease" (Job 16:12)
Another telling point of contact with Isaiah is found in 4:3-5. Job had " strengthened the weak hands..and..the feeble knees. But now it (the weakness and feeble knees) is come upon thee, and thou faintest" . This is picked up in Is.35:3,4: " Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful (Heb.'hasty'- both are relevant to Job) heart, Be strong...behold, your God will come" . Thus Job is a type of the weak-hearted Jews, and his final deliverance thus points forward to the coming of the Lord.
It may be that Job's satan Angel was the Angel representing the three friends (satans) of Job. Because of His close identification with them, the satan Angel spoke their thoughts as if they were his own- e. g. compare Eliphaz's thoughts of 4:5 with satan's words of 1:9,10.
4:8- see on Gal. 6:7,8,13
Having limited knowledge, the Angels are capable of acting too hastily- thus Job 4:18 "His Angels He charged with folly" (the Hebrew for 'folly' can imply 'over-action'). God uses the inter-play of the Angels to restrain them in their actions, seeing they are often dependent on authority from each other in order to implement their plans. that this is concerning literal Angels and not men is shown by the contrast in v. 19- "how much less in them that dwell in houses of clay", i. e. men. If God cannot treat His Angels as equal to Him, "in whom He put light" (AVmg. ), how much less can He treat men?. "The stars (Angels?) are not pure in His sight" (Job 25:5). Because of this we read in Ps. 113:5 "The Lord our God exalteth Himself to dwell on High (A. V. mg. ), who humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in Heaven (the Angels) and in the earth".
Eliphaz cruelly mocked his spiritual isolation: " Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints (in the ecclesia) wilt thou turn?" (5:1). Job's desire for real spiritual friendship grew so intense that he comes to visualize an ideal friend, who would not only appreciate his every grief, but who would offer more than commiseration. He came to long for one who would reconcile him with the righteousness of God. Naturally, he would have had in mind Abraham's promised seed. His mind was therefore being prepared to desire the coming of Messiah; in prospect, he was developing a personal understanding and appreciation of the Lord Jesus. In all this, Job is our glorious example. There can be very few who have not experienced the terror of complete spiritual isolation, longing for understanding and true appreciation, but finding none within the ecclesia whom they can turn to. As we look back from our traumas to the glorious reality of Christ's existence, so Job looked forward to it.
5:7 "Man is born unto trouble, as the sons of the burning coal lift up to fly" (AVmg. ) is using Angel-Cherubim language to say that it is inevitable that our Angels will bring trials into our lives.
Job 5:11 is quoted in Prov.3:11, which is a prophecy of Christ . Prov.3:13-15 describes our Lord's successful finding of wisdom in the language of Job's unsuccessful search for it in Job 28:16-19, implying He found what Job did not (cp. Rom.9:31,32).
Paul makes one of the direct quotes from Job in the New Testament: " For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent" (1 Cor.1:19). This is quoting Job 5:12,13, where Eliphaz is explaining why he thinks Job and his view of life have been brought to nothing. Thus Paul read Job as a type of those who were influenced by the pseudo-wisdom of the Judaizers. Paul continues: " Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world?" (1 Cor.1:20). Job's constant desire to dispute with God and the friends, and the claims both he and they made to possessing wisdom, show Job was clearly in Paul's mind. " Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" he concludes, maybe thinking of the humbled Job.
5:19- see on Ps. 91:10
The way Eliphaz speaks of how Job’s seed or offspring could be many or “great…as the grass of the earth” (Job 5:25) suggests the people of Job’s time were familiar with the promises made to Abraham, and the concept of their being applicable to them too.
When Eliphaz says that the righteous “Will die at the height of your powers, and be gathered like ripened grain” (Job 5:26, Stephen Mitchell’s translation), there is an evident connection with the account of Moses being gathered at his death, and dying with his natural faculties undiminished. Moses is presented as the epitome of the righteous believer.
6:9,10 "Oh. . that He would let loose His hand, and cut me off. . . I have not concealed the words of the Holy One". We have shown that God's hand was satan's hand and that the satan Angel was forbidden to "cut (Job) off" as both Job and the Angel requested. Job associates the satan with the Holy One, which is also Angelic language. Job being a prophet (see 19:8), he would have received revelation from an Angel. He did not conceal the word of this "Holy One".
Job's sacrifice of a truly broken spirit was worth more than thousands of apposite words. Job had dimly imagined that this would be so: " Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; and cause me to understand wherein I have erred" (6:24). When Elihu did teach him and show him that he was erring by nature rather than specific sin, Job truly held his tongue: " I will lay mine hand upon my mouth...I will not answer...I will proceed no further" (40:4,5; notice the threefold repetition). This is one of several examples of Job knowing the truth in abstract theory, but not appreciating it until the mixture of reflection on his trials and Elihu / Jesus, brought it home.
Job had worked his way up in the world (from being an orphan, 6:27?) without consciously seeking prosperity (1:10 AVmg.; 8:7; 31:25), and had shared his blessings with others; he realized at least in theory the weakness of his nature; and yet when he examined himself, he really didn't think he was too monstrous a sinner.
Job being fatherless (6:27) and being able to echo our Lord's " Which of you convinceth me of sin?" with " Is there iniquity in my tongue?" (6:30) are just some of many shadows of Christ to be found throughout the record of Job. Most comfortingly, these shadows suggest that our Lord suffered the almost manic levels of depression experienced by Job, especially in His final passion.
Their belief that they possessed such great wisdom led the Jews to be self-righteous, in that they reasoned that if they were wicked, then their wisdom would reveal this to them. Job and the Jews were similar in this- " Is there iniquity in my tongue? Cannot my taste ('palate'- i.e. spiritual sensitivity, Song 5:6; Ps.119:103) discern perverse (evil) things?" (6:30). Job was one of the greatest of the children of the East (1:3)- famed for their ‘wisdom’.
Isaiah’s prophecies of the restoration and the Kingdom are shot full of allusions back to Job. The cry that Zion’s warfare or “appointed time” is now ended (Is. 40:2) is taken straight out of Job 7:1; indeed, Job 7:3-7 describes Job’s haggard life in the same terms as Israel in dispersion are described in Isaiah 40. The point being, that Job’s eventual re-conversion and salvation is a pattern for that of all God’s people.
Job came to recognize that every moment he existed was a trial to him, sent by his satan-Angel. Thus he complained "Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?" (7:1). The Hebrew for "appointed time" is exactly the same as for "host" as in hosts of Angels. This neatly connects the idea that the exact duration of his life was controlled by God's Angel-host, as was every trial which he experienced. This would be the work of the "wonderful numberer" Angel of Dan. 8:13 who controls all time periods. Job 14:13,14 says the same: "O that Thou wouldest hide me in the grave. . if a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come". His appointed tihou dost magnify him? and that Thou shouldest set Thy heart upon him? (lit. 'consider him')" (7:17). Thus Job sees God- whom he probably conceived of as an Angel- as considering him, whilst we are told earlier that satan was told to do this. A human satan considering Job would not in itself have brought the trials, and Job would not have complained so bitterly about a human being considering him. An Angelic satan setting his heart upon Job would account for this 'considering' alone leading to the trials. If it is argued that it is a human satan who set his heart on Job here in Job 7, then the context is hard, though not impossible, to square: "Thou dost magnify man. . . Thou preserver of men" (v. 20,21). There is some hint of physical movement by 'God' which would seem applicable to the Angel too: "Thou shouldest visit him. . depart from me. . let me alone" (v. 18,19).
It is unlikely that Job's period of affliction lasted more than a year or so (Job 7:3), and yet this is the part of his life and spiritual growth that is presented to us in such detail.
7:8- see on 14:3
7:18- see on Heb. 2:6
7:21 is Job complaining to his Angel that "thou shalt seek me in the morning" to give him more trials ("Thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment",v. 18), but would not find him (more language of limitation) because "I shall sleep in the dust. . I shall not be" (i. e. Job thought he would die that night).
9:2- see on Job 27:14
Job complains " He breaketh me...without cause" (9:17); " breaketh" is the same word translated " bruise" in Gen.3:15, thus implying that he is receiving the result of the covenant in Eden for no reason. Jesus must have been sorely tempted to adopt the same false reasoning of his great type. The references earlier in Job 9 to God spreading out the Heavens and creating the stars show Job's mind at this time was set early in Genesis (v.8-10). See on 10:9; 13:20-22
In Job 9:21 and by implication in other places, Job effectively says that there is no point in serving God or striving for obedience to God. This is what the priests of Israel later said: " It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance?" (Mal.3:14). Elihu claimed that Job " hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself in God" (34:9)- i.e. keep the commands of God, seeing that the Hebrew for " delight" often occurs in the context of obedience to the word. The Malachi passage is more specifically alluding to Job 21:7,15: " What is the Almighty that we should serve Him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto Him?" . These are the words of Job, complaining about the prosperity of the wicked who had such an attitude, and the carefree happiness of their lives: " Their children dance. They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ" (21:11,12). It is in this that the Malachi context is so significant, for Mal.3:15 continues :" We (the Israelites) call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up" . This was also Job's view. Notice that Job is probably implying that his prosperous three friends were among the wicked whom he is describing, thus associating them with the corrupt Jewish priesthood.
Job's reliance on works to bring justification with God is clearly seen in 9:29: " If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?" - i.e. 'If I've been condemned, all these good works I've done are vain- they won't give me the salvation I thought'.
9:33- see on 33:6
9:34- see on 21:9
A connection is made between Job and Adam in Job's words of 10:9: " Remember, I beseech Thee, that Thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt Thou bring me into dust again?" . This is Gen.3:19- the curse upon sinful Adam that he would return to the dust. Job seems to be admitting that he is like Adam in that it appeared God was going to end his life as a result of his sin- return him to the dust. But he reasons that this is unfair, seeing he has not sinned (10:7,14,15). Thus he oscillates between saying he has sinned and is like Adam, and then claiming that although he is being treated like Adam this is unfair. See on 9:17; 13:20-22.
10:11,12 Job complains "Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. Thou hast granted me life and favour, and Thy visitation hath preserved My spirit". "Fenced" is the same word as "hedge" when satan complains that God has made a hedge about Job. Perhaps the Angel told Job this as well as God. Job is therefore saying that actually the only hedge or fence he has is his own physical body. In 3:23 and 19:8 this hedging seems to be interpreted as a feeling of spiritual restriction- as if like Paul, Job yearned to be released from this body of sin and corruption to "the glorious (spiritual) liberty of the sons of God" (Angels?). Job accepts that the Angel is keeping him alive every moment: "Thy visitation (Angelic language) hath preserved my spirit". We have already suggested that the Angels being spirits give and take the spirit of life from our body. Job seems to be saying 'You (the satan Angel) say I'm hedged about with blessings. But now the only hedge I've got is this sick body. The only help you give me now is to give me my spirit to keep me alive, only so you can torment me more'. Understandable, if faulty, reasoning in Job's situation.
10:20-22- see on Phil. 1:21
Zophar possibly recognized that Job was like Cain in that his countenance had fallen and he was so angry, although also fearful of God (Gen.4:5); he said that if Job repented he would " lift up thy face (countenance) without spot; yea, thou shalt...not fear" (11:15). See on 11:15; 13:27; 16:17,18; 31:39
12:9- see on Job 2:5
12:15- see on 1 Sam. 16:23
12:19- see on 29:13,14
13:9- see on Gal. 6:7,8
13:13-15- see on Phil. 1:20
13:16-see on Phil. 1:19
Job 13:20-22 subtly alludes to Adam's fall:
|
" Then will I [Job] not hide
myself from Thee" |
Adam hiding in Eden from God. |
|
" Withdraw Thine hand far
from me: and let not Thy dread make me afraid" |
Adam's fear and dread as he
heard the Lord's voice walking in the garden. |
|
" Then call Thou, and I will
answer" |
God calling Adam and his answering
God with his confession of sin. |
It would appear that Job was recognizing that he had sinned, that he knew that the sense of spiritual limbo he was in parallelled Adam's hiding from God in Eden, but that he would only respond to God's call and come out of hiding to confess his sin as he knew God wanted him to, if God withdrew His hand- i.e. relieved him of the immediate trials he was then experiencing. Thus Job was trying to barter with God- wanting Him to withdraw the trials in return for Job making the confession which he knew God wanted. See on 10:9; 9:17
13:26-28- see on 29:13,14
Job complains that although he is associated with Cain, this is not really fair. " Thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet" because of observing his ways with unnecessary detail, Job complained (13:27). The mark on him that was a witness wherever he went echoes that which God put on Cain. God's preservation of Cain from death also finds a parallel in Job's feeling that God is preserving him unnaturally (3:21-23; 10:9-15). See on 11:15; 16:17,18; 31:39
14:3 "Dost thou open Thine eyes (Angels) upon such an one, and bringest me into judgement with Thee?". Job here seems to be able to sense when the Angels were closely present in his life- he seems to be asking why God is using His Angel-eyes to take such a special interest in him; why God has asked His Angel to "consider My servant Job". When Job asks God to ‘look away’ from him, or remove His eyes from him (Job 7:8,19 RV and frequently in Job), this would then be understood as a reference to God’s Angel-eyes, whom Job perceived as bringing about his problems.
14:5 "his (man's) days are determined, the number of his months are with Thee"- i. e. the 'wonderful numberer' Angel of Dan. 8:13 who controls the timing of all things?
14:13,14- see on 7:1
Job recognized that there would come a time when " My change come (when) Thou shalt call, and I will answer Thee: (I know) Thou wilt have a desire to the work of Thine hands" (when I respond to Your call to confess my sin)- 14:14,15. It would appear from this that Job feels that there will be a call to resurrection corresponding to God's call of Adam out of hiding (v.13 " Oh that Thou wouldest hide me in the grave" ), after which he would confess his sins- i.e. at the judgement. God's calling to Job out of the whirlwind and Job's subsequent confession at the end of the book again encourages us to see " the end of the Lord" with Job as pointing forward to our justification at the day of judgement and the Kingdom. See on 14:20
In his humbler moments Job recognized that he was a sinner and deserved Adam's punishment: " Thou changest his (man's) countenance, and sendeth him away" (14:20)- referring to Adam being sent out of Eden, or also to Cain's countenance falling and then being sent away from God. See on 31:33; 9:17; 10:9
Eliphaz told Job " Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee" (15:6). This is picked up by Christ in his words to the one-talent man in the parable: " Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee" (Lk. 19:22) . The man was condemned for keeping his talent (his spiritual knowledge of the word) to himself rather than sharing it with others. Eliphaz proceeds to make the same rebuke of Job- although he had " heard the secret of God" , which we have seen implies the gift of prophesying the word, he " restrained wisdom unto thyself" (v.8). This confirms that Christ's one-talent man of the parable is based on Job, thus making him represent the rejected at judgement. No doubt the primary application of the one-talent man was to the Jewish believers of Christ's day who did not capitalize on the talent they already had. The taking away of the talent and its being given to others recalls the Kingdom (i.e. the Gospel of the Kingdom) being taken from the Jews and being given to a nation bringing forth the fruits of it (cp. trading the talent).
The friends ridiculed Job's evident comparison of himself with Adam: " Art thou (the emphasis is on that phrase) the first man (Adam; 1 Cor.15:45 alludes here) that was born?" (15:7). See on 31:33; 9:17; 10:9
“Dost thou hearken in the council of God?” (Job 15:8 RVmg.) is the language of the Heavenly throne room- note how this is said in the context of Job, where we have the most classic statement of the operation of the court of heaven in the opening chapters.
The priest's duty was to expound the word of God (Mal.2:7; Hos.4:6): Job being a prophet also meant that he had a prominent role to play in the instruction of the people. It appears that as a prophet he was faithful- he spoke what God said. The friends were also prophets, seeing that in 15:8,9 they say that they have been given the same " secret" (i.e. inspiration) and knowledge of God as Job had. However, they did not accurately speak forth what they were inspired with as Job did (42:7). But as the priests of Israel misled the people by faulty reasoning ostensibly based on the word, so Job too was in error as a priest.
It can be shown that James read Job in a bad light insofar as he saw him as a type of the rich, Judaist-influenced Jews in the first century ecclesia who proudly despised their brethren. Eliphaz says that Job's sudden problems amid his prosperity were what would happen to all the wicked (15:21). This seems to be alluded to in 1 Thess.5:3 concerning the sudden destruction of rich, spiritually self confident believers. Job's words of 30:1 certainly smack of arrogance: " Whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock" . This would mean that his merciful acts to the poor were done in a 'charitable' spirit, thinking that such public acts declared him outwardly righteous: " I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy (by his charity). I (thereby) put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgement was as a robe and a diadem" (29:13,14).
16:9 Job sees God as “mine adversary / enemy” (Job 16:9 RV); he understood God to be the satan.
Job's tender love and appreciation of God (" He sheweth Himself marvellous upon me" ) is countered by his rage against God for hating him (16:9). Such wild fluctuations indicate more than the unstable brain chemistry of clinical depression. They are part of the spiritual adolescence which we each go through, in some form, as we go through our re-conversions, growing up into the maturity of the spirit of Christ. The briefest examination of our own ways, coupled with a true appreciation of human sinfulness, will show that our spiritual level wildly fluctuates. How many times have we walked away from close fellowship with Yahweh and His Son at the memorial table, to then do the grossest despite to the spirit of grace- even if it be 'just' in a hard word or thought.
16:9 "He gnasheth upon me with His teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth His eyes upon me". In the context, Job seems to be perceiving God as his enemy, and God's eyes often refer to the Angels.
16:12- see on 3:26
In 16:17,18 Job instead associates himself with unfairly persecuted Abel: " Not for any injustice in my hands...O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry (of my blood) have no place" (16:17,18 cp. the crying of Abel's blood from the ground in Gen.4:10). See on 11:15
The astonishment of the Jews at the ghastly physical appearance of Christ on the cross (Is.52:14) is matched by Job 17:7,8: " All my members are as a shadow..men shall be astonied at this" (i.e. the state of his body). Jo
18:13 - see on Ex. 12:23
18:18 chase- see on Dt. 29:21
19:8- see on Job 10:11,12
19:8 God (the Angel) "hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and He hath set darkness in my paths". This seems remarkably similar to the Angel satan barring the path of Balaam that he could not pass (Num. 22:22-27). Job and Balaam have certain similarities- both were prophets (in Job's case see 4:4; 23:12; 29:4 cp. 15:8; Amos 3:7; James 5:10,11); both had genuine difficulty in understanding God's ways, but they to varying degrees consciously rebelled against what they did understand; both thus became angry with God (in the Angel), and were reproved by God through being brought to consider the Angel-controlled natural creation.
Job represents both Christ and Israel. This is nicely shown in 19:12-14: " His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp around about my tabernacle" . This is reminiscent of the descriptions of the Roman armies (Christ's armies- Mt.22:7) surrounding Jerusalem in AD70. There then follows a description of Job's sufferings which has clear links with that of Christ's crucifixion in Ps.69. " He hath put my brethren far from me (cp. Ps.69:8), and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me. My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me" . Note how the last phrase links with Christ's description of Judas as " my own familiar friend" , implying there may be a connection between the one-time friends of Job, and Judas. Both epitomized the Jewish system, and both were at one stage trusted by Job/Jesus. Other descriptions of Job's sufferings in the language of Ps.69 include Job 30:9 " Now am I their song, yea, I am their byword" (cp. Ps.69:12); 22:11 " abundance of waters cover thee" (cp. Ps.69:1,2); 2:11 the friends came " to mourn with him and to comfort him" , although Job said he turned to them for comfort in vain (16:2). The Hebrew in 2:11 is identical to that in Ps.69:20, describing Christ looking in vain for comforters.
In Job 19 we see how the friends ended up playing God. They presumed to judge Job according to their own limited and inaccurate theology, by assuming that he must have sinned in order to receive such terrible trials from God. Zophar claims to have revealed Job’s guilt, and then says that “the heavens”- an elipsis for “God”- have revealed Job’s guilt (Job 20:27). Job figured out what was happening when he complained to them: “Why do you hound me as though you were divine?” (Job 19:22 NAB). But something good came out of all this for Job. The way the friends played God set up a kind of dialectic, from which Job came to perceive more powerfully who God really was- and, moreover, how in fact this God would ultimately save him rather than destroy and condemn him, as the friends falsely thought. By ‘dialectic’ I mean that the way the friends presented a false picture and manifestation of God’s judgment led Job to react against it, and thereby come to a true understanding of God’s judgment. Having stated his perception that the friends are indeed playing God (Job 19:22), Job goes straight on to make a solemn and important statement. The solemnity of it is witnessed by his request that what he was now going to say would be inscribed in rock with the point of a diamond as a permanent record (Job 19:24). And that solemn statement was that he knew that God would be his vindicator at the last day, that he would “see God”, that he would have a bodily resurrection, and that at that time it would be the friends who would be condemned (Job 19:25-29). This supreme statement of faith, hope and understanding was elicited from Job because of the rejection he suffered from his friends, and the way they so inaccurately and wrongly played God in wrongly condemning him on God’s behalf. Job thus came to long for the judgment seat. There are few believers who have reached that level of intimacy with God- but Job did, thanks to the way his friends so cruelly turned against him. And this is a major lesson we can take from being the victim of slander, misunderstanding and misjudgment by our own brethren.
19:26 "In my flesh shall I see God". Throughout the Old Testament there are examples of men being terrified at the idea that they had seen God in the flesh- Manoah and Isaiah are obvious examples. Because of this, it is unlikely that Job would talk in such a way about seeing God Himself in person face to face. It is therefore far more likely that Job conceived of 'God' as God manifested in an Angel. The same reasoning can be applied to 42:5: "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee". Job presumably felt that now he more fully understood the ways in which God worked with him- through the satan-Angel.
19:26- see on 42:5
As Job's emphasis on the coming of Christ and judgment increased, so his concentration on his present sufferings decreased. His heart was consumed within him with desire for that day (19:27 AVmg.). 2 Tim. 4 can be regarded as Paul's most mature spiritual statement, written as it was just prior to his death. In 2 Tim. 4:1,8, Paul's mind was clearly on the second coming and the certainty of judgment. He realized, in that time of undoubted maturity, that the common characteristic of all the faithful would be that they all loved the appearing of Christ. This isn't, of course, to say that anyone who loves the idea of Christ's coming will thereby be saved. A true love of His appearing is only possible with a correct doctrinal understanding, and also a certain level of moral readiness for His appearing. But do we love the appearing of Christ as Job did? Is it really all we have in life? Is our conscience, our faith in the grace of God, our real belief in the blood of the cross, so deep that we love the idea of the coming of judgment, that we would fain hasten the day of His coming? The graph constructed above shows how Job's love of the Lord's coming grew very rapidly. Before, he was too caught up with bitterness about his unspiritual fellow 'believers', effectively justifying himself in the eyes of his ecclesia and his world, full of passive complaints about his own sufferings... and so he didn't love that day as he later came to.
20:27- see on 19:22
20:29 "This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage of his decree from God" (AVmg. )- the decree from God is put into action by Angels.
21:5 See on 40:4
21:7- see on 9:21
21:9 "Their houses are safe from fear (cp. Job's, which fell down as a result of the Angel-satan whirlwind), neither is the rod of God upon them". Earlier in 9:34 Job pleaded: "Let Him take His rod away from me, and let not His fear terrify me". The fear of God is Angelic language, and it is the same as the rod of God. That rod acted through the satan-Angel.
21:11- see on 9:21
The three friends have similarities with the Jewish system. When Job speaks of " the wicked" he is digging at the friends, as they do at him when they speak of the wicked. Thus he implies in 21:22 that they were trying to " teach God knowledge" - alluded to in Rom. 11:34 and 1 Cor. 2:16, where the Jews are mocked for thinking they can instruct God and be " His counsellor" , thus linking the friends with the Jews.
22:11-see on Job 19:12-14
For the man in good conscience with God "Thou shalt make thy prayer unto Him, and He shall hear thee (no mention here of 'if it is His will'!). . thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee" (Job 22:27,28). Absolute faith in prayer which is according to God's broad desires results in our requests effectively being decrees of what is now going to happen! To the present writer this is the only reasonable understanding of the relationship between the 'will' of God and our prayers. It is not difficult for us to know what the will of God in the sense of His desires is. We have been born again by the word of God. We were not born again by the will of man, but by the will of God. The will of God is therefore found in the word of God (James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23; John 1:12-14). Thus if we pray according to our knowledge of God's desires as explained in the word, we are praying according to His will- and therefore if we have faith "He heareth us". Jesus said as much: "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what YE will, and it shall be done unto you" (Jn. 15:7). Notice He didn't say 'you will ask whatever is according to God's will , and it will be heard'. We ask whatever we desire, and we will receive. This is because our will should be the will of God if the word of God is in us.
23:3 "Oh that I knew where I might find Him" speaks as if God was a physical being on earth- fitting, if Job conceived of God in terms of an Angel whom he occasionally met.
Job 23:3 perhaps epitomizes this desire of Job for judgment day: “Oh, that today I might find him, that I might come to his judgment seat!” (NAB). He wanted the judgment seat to come that very day! The invisible hand of God is working in every life that suffers from ones’ brethren ‘playing God’ in false judgment of us… to lead us to this wonderful and blessed attitude.
The use of the word "order" in Job's words in 23:3-6 repays examination: " Oh that I knew where I might find (God)! that I might come even to His seat!. I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments...Will He plead against me with his great power? No." God, and Elihu, did plead against Job by recounting God's power. When Elihu was established in Job's mind as God's true representative, he found that he had nothing to say, as he thought he would have. Elihu seems to refer back to these words when he challenges the dumfounded Job: " If thou hast anything to say, answer me...if thou canst answer me, set thy words in order before me" (33:32,5). Job several times spoke of how he would fully explain himself to God, if he found Him. Yet in the presence of God and Elihu, he finds that all the words dry up. Words became irrelevant. All he can do is behold the majesty of God's righteousness, and declare his own unrighteousness. That spiritual pinnacle of Job still lies ahead for the majority of us. The desire to speak is a desire to express our own thoughts. Words are a construct which can trap us. Only God's words can liberate. There is a wordless element in being truly humbled before the Almighty.
26:13 "By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the crooked serpent". Here the hand and Spirit of God are equated- both are Angelic phrases, and thus provides further evidence that the Angels actually performed the creation.
26:13- see on Job 2:5
Job 27:2-4 associates Job's likening of himself to Adam with his false blaming of God for wrongly dealing with him: " God...who hath taken away my judgement; and the Almighty, who hath made my soul bitter (AVmg.); all the while my breath is in me, and the Spirit of God is in my nostrils" . This is obviously referring to the record of God's creation of Adam in Gen.2:7. See on 10:9; 9:17
Job realized his sinfulness, and yet at the same time he was in a quandary over whether he really had sinned. In Job 27:6 he even feels that his heart does not reproach him over any of the days he has ever lived (RV). This is such an accurate caricature of so many Christian consciences, of so much of our self-examination, both individually and collectively. We of course have to admit that we are sinners, riddled with weakness in so many ways; and of course we do admit this. And yet there is a quandary over whether we really are big time sinners. We feel ourselves to be little sinners, whatever we may theoretically admit. And as such, we fail to appreciate the grace of God's salvation, and therefore we fail to dynamically respond to this as we should do, and thereby our community and our own lives are characterized by the all too evident apathy with which they are; there is so little of the real flame, the fire of true spirituality, which there might be. And dear dear Job, like us, for all his good works, for all his being such a truly and really nice guy and brother, through and through... he had to be brought down to his knees: " I am vile... I know (now, by implication) that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee... therefore have I uttered that I understood thee; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not" .
Job 27:9,10 seems to be saying [although the Hebrew text is rather obscure] that every man on his deathbed cries to God in some kind of prayer; but a belief in the mortality of man will result in the righteous man having lived a life of prayerful crying to the Father, which will be in context with his final cry to God in his time of dying.
Job comments that if the children of the wicked " be multiplied, it is for the sword" (27:14). Seeing his own children had been destroyed, Job presumably was accepting that he was among the " wicked" , as he does elsewhere (e.g. 9:2). Hos.9:13,16 repeats such language regarding the punishment of sinful Israel: " Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer" . Dt.28:41 has the same idea.
Job in chapter 28 prides himself on his appreciation, as he thought, of God’s hand in creation, and how creation reveals the greatness of God. But at the end he was taught that what he thought he so appreciated, he really didn’t; and he learnt the true knowledge of God. Unclean animals are brought to his attention in ch. 39; he then repents in 40:2-4, as if he finally saw in them symbols of himself. And then chapters 40 and 41 go on to speak of the joy of clean animals in their relationship with God, and the inability of man to come between them and their maker.
28:12- see on 42:5
28:16,19- see on Job 5:11
A true sense of our mortality will lead to our prayerful, urgent contact with the Father all our days. Thus destruction and death give insight into the true wisdom (Job 28:22).
That Job was indeed depressed can be seen by the vast number of times Job speaks of " I" or " myself" . There are some 40 occurrences of these words in Chapter 29 alone.
Job was a prophet (Job 29:4 cp. 15:8;23:12; Prov.3:32; Amos 3:7; the secret of God being with him made Job a prophet) and it is in his role as such that he is commended in James 5:10,11- i.e. for the words concerning God which he spoke. The words for which God and Elihu rebuked him were therefore about other things.
29:13- see on 15:21
" I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy (by his charity). I (thereby) put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgement was as a robe and a diadem" (29:13,14). This has clear reference to the clothing of the Mosaic High Priest with his outward show of righteousness. Job was probably the family priest, seeing that the head of the household appears to have been the priest in patriarchal times; thus Job could offer a sacrifice for the sins of his children (1:5). Job's likening of himself to a moth-eaten garment due to God's changing of his circumstances (13:26-28) must connect with the disciples of the Law as an old, decaying garment in Heb.8:13. The priestly clothing " for glory and for beauty" (Ex.28:2) is certainly alluded to by God when He challenges Job " Deck thyself now (i.e. like you used to) with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty...then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee" (40:10,14)- as if God is saying that Job's previous life represented the Mosaic priestly system with its external pomp and implication that ones own righteousness can bring salvation (" that thine own right hand can save thee" ). Job's humiliation meant that, by implication, he no longer felt able to clothe himself with the priestly garments of glory and beauty; he had learnt the spirit of the Christian dispensation, to trust on the grace of God rather than a system of salvation depending on personal righteousness. The descriptions of Job rending his " mantle" (priestly robes) recalls that of Caiaphas; his falling on his face perhaps indicates his recognition that reliance on the outward show of the Law needed to be replaced by humble faith. Job thus described his experiences as God leading " priests away stripped" of their robes (Job 12:19 N.I.V.).
30:1- see on 15:21; Jud. 16:28
30:9-see on Job 19:12-14
30:21,24- see on Job 2:5
God (in the Angel of the presence) "was turned to be (Israel's) enemy" because of their sin (Is. 63:10). Job complains that his satan-Angel has " turned to be cruel to me" (30:21 AVmg.).
31:1,3- see on Mt. 5:27-30
Job complains in 31:3 that "the punishment of his (the wicked man's) iniquity" is deferred to his children; he uses the same Hebrew phrase used regarding the punishment of Cain's iniquity in Gen.4:13, thus saying that it was the wicked of the world, not him, who were the real counterparts of Cain. See on 31:39
31:30- see on Mt. 5:44
In 31:33 Job denies that he is like Adam in that unlike him, he has no sin to hide: " If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity..." . And yet like Adam he was humiliated by God's questioning at the end of the book. Job is associated with Adam several times in the book- see on 9:17; 10:9; 13:20-22
Job 31:39 is another example of Job saying that he was being unfairly treated like Cain: " If I have eaten the strength (of my land) without money...let thistles grow instead of wheat" (31:39,40 AVmg.). This is referring back to the curse on Cain, that " when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength" (Gen.4:12). Job is saying that his land has yielded its strength to him, and that only if he sinned should the Adamic curse of thistles come upon him. We too can resent the limitations of our own nature, not least in the proneness to sin which it gives us, and become bitter against God because of it as Job did. See on 11:15; 13:27; 16:17,18; 31:3
"There is a spirit (capacity to spiritually understand, in the context in which Elihu is speaking) in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding" (Job 32:8). Does in-spirit-ation have something to do with God's Spirit-Angel (Ps. 104:3,4) reviving this spiritual capacity in man?
It may be that Elihu actually wrote the book of Job (32:15,16 imply this). He was therefore the fulfilment of Job's desire that someone would sympathetically write his grief and record his mental agonies (19:23).
By justifying himself rather than recognizing God's righteousness, Job was effectively saying that God was unrighteous (33:2). We need the re-conversion experience of Job to realize the sinfulness of our every off-hand sin.
The degree to which Elihu was Job's exact representative helps us appreciate the precision of our Lord's representation of us. Indeed this appears to be the role of Elihu in Job. The LXX brings this out well. 33:5,6 give the picture of Elihu asking Job to physically stand up against him, back to back, to bring home how identical they were: " Stand against me, and I will stand against thee. Thou art formed out of the clay as also I: we have been formed out of the same substance" . It seems that Elihu had been through Job's very experiences, of 'death' and rising again: " He has delivered my soul from death, that my life may praise him in the light. Hearken, Job, and hear me" (33:30,31 LXX). And this is exactly what Job did.
Understanding the real import of the speeches rests largely on a correct understanding of Elihu. Job longed for one like Elihu, who could reconcile God with Job's righteous life , his sufferings, and all his intellectual doubts. Elihu points out that he is the fulfilment of Job's need (33:6 cp. 9:33). With this, Job has no disagreement. Elihu is to be seen as a type of Christ (see later). The speeches of Job therefore make us see the desperation of man's need for Elihu/Jesus; especially the need of those who lived under the Old Covenant. Job's weakness, morally, physically and intellectually, becomes representative of the weakness of each of us. We breathe a sigh of relief (as Job did too) when Elihu appears on the scene. This matches the moral and intellectual " rest to your souls" which the true believer in Christ experiences; rest from the weight of the mental burdens which the spiritual life imposes. Job's greatest pain was not physical; it was the pain of being misunderstood by those close to him (e.g. his wife, relatives and the friends), the ingratitude of those around him, the agony of knowing that no one had been down the mental path he was being forced along. He longed for his grief to be written in a book, for true recognition to be given to his desire for righteousness. He could not turn to his friends, who must have been close to him spiritually at one point.
It might be possible to speculate as to the tone of voice in which Elihu spoke. By contrast to the friends' " hard speeches" , Elihu assures Job at the start of their dialogue: " My fear shall not terrify thee, neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee" (33:7 LXX). A similar contrast is pointed by Elihu's claim to be speaking as a result of God's spirit within him (32:8), whereas Zophar and the friends spoke from their own spirit (20:3). Apart from God's specific confirmation of Elihu's words, Job evidently perceived Elihu to be the answer to his pleas to find God. Job's desire for " a daysman" was answered by Elihu: " I am according to thy wish" . Job did not dispute this. If one of the friends had claimed to be such a " daysman" , we can imagine Job's indignant denial of it!
Discerning and feeling ones own sinfulness is an undoubted part of conversion. Elihu on God’s behalf rebukes Job for thinking that “I am clean without transgression” (33:9,12); and Elihu’s exhortation to Job to say “I have sinned” (33:27) is obeyed by Job, as if he accepted the truth of what Elihu was saying. How we see the role of Elihu determines how we understand Job's claims of innocence.
33:23 - see on Ex. 12:23
The return of the prodigal son foreshadowed the final repentance of the Jews (note how that parable is based on Gen.43:16;45:14,15). But Job's decision to say " I have sinned...and it profited me not" (33:27) also connects with the prodigal son (Lk.15:21), thus again associating him with the Jews in their suffering and repentance.
33:30- see on 33:5,6
33:32- see on 23:3-6
Elihu rebukes Job for his self-righteousness: " Let us choose to us judgement: let us know among ourselves what is good. For Job hath said, I am righteous" (34:4,5). This seems to be behind Paul's words in 1 Thess. 5:21 " Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" , which is in the context of using " prophesyings" (v.20)- i.e. the true word of God- to analyse and reject false Judaist teaching that was claimed to be inspired. Thus Elihu is interpreted as the true prophet of God and Job as a false reasoner, doing so under the guise of speaking the Truth, seeing he was a prophet.
34:18 "Is it fit to say to a King (God), Thou art wicked? and to princes (Angels), ye are ungodly?". Here Elihu (speaking on God's behalf), is rebuking Job for wrongly accusing the Angels, who had brought the trials.
34:29 see on 1 Sam. 16:23
The place of Elihu is vital in understanding the message of Job. As typical of Christ, he was the resolution to all Job's problems. His speeches produced a true self-realization within Job, rather than compounding his agony, as the words of the friends did. Comparison of the following passages will show how Elihu is indeed God's representative; note that his words are not rebuked by God at the end, whilst those of the friends are:
|
Elihu |
God |
|
34:35 |
38:2; 42:3 |
|
33:13 |
40:2 |
|
33:2 |
40:8 |
|
33:9 |
35:2 |
God emphasizes that He was not looking for any specific sin of Job's to be revealed, as a result of the trials (35:15). The whole purpose of the tests upon Job could therefore have been related to how he would use them to help others, and the lessons and inspiration they would give to others (2 Cor. 1:4). Elihu's description of God's inspiration of him, resulting in it being painful not to speak forth the words given, recalls Jeremiah's experience as the result of his inspiration: " I am full of the fury of the Lord; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out..His word was...shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing" (Jer. 6:11; 20:9). Elihu's words are so similar that there must be a connection: " I am full of words (Hebrew), the Spirit (of inspiration) within me constraineth me. Behold, my belly is as wine which hath no vent; it is ready to burst like new bottles" (Job 32:18,19). This similarity between these two young prophets (n.b. Job 32:6) may be because Jeremiah was reprimanding Israel, whilst Elihu was doing so to Job and the friends who represented Israel.
36:13 There are several allusions to Job in Romans, all of which confirm that Job is set up as symbolic of apostate Israel. A simple example is Elihu's description of Job as a hypocrite heaping up wrath (36:13), which connects with Paul's description of the Jews as treasuring up unto themselves " wrath against the day of wrath" (Rom.2:5).
36:32 see on 1 Sam. 16:23
God’s amazing control of events in the natural world is surely through Angelic influence. God gives the lightning- often associated with Angels- a specific charge [as He does to His Angels] that it “strike the mark” (Job 36:32 RV).
38:7- see on Rev. 1:20
God consciously makes the sun rise each day (Job 38:12)- it isn't part of a kind of perpetual motion machine. Hence the force of His promises in the prophets that in the same way as He consciously maintains the solar system, so He will maintain Israel. See on Mt. 6:26
The language of Job 38 about God's relationship to His creation is hard to understand seeing that God Himself is all powerful and of ultimate knowledge- e. g. v. 16 says that God "walked in the search of the depth"; He came to understand the breadth of the earth (v. 18), looked inside snowflakes to see their wonder (v. 22). The Angels being in control of the natural creation no doubt "earnestly desire to look into" such things. The Angels having created the natural world, it is understandable that they should continue to have close links with it. It appears that there is an active, two-way inter-relationship between the Angels and their creation; thus the Elohim rejoice because of wine (Judges 9:13) and other things whose creation they superintended. Ps. 148 lends support to this notion. Verse 2 speaks of all the Angels praising God, and then goes on to describe the Heavens, fire, storm, hail etc. doing likewise; perhaps implying that each of those things has an Angel controlling it, which is what really gives God praise. Otherwise, how can such inanimate objects praise God?
38:22 "Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail. . . ?" implies that God has gone exploring though His own creation- language more relevant to Angels than God Himself.
38:32 See on Mt. 6:26
39:3 see on 1 Sam. 16:23
39:27 See on Mt. 6:26
40:4,5- see on 6:24
When Job finally lays his hand upon his mouth (40:4), he is only doing what he had earlier told the friends to do in recognition of their folly (21:5).
The final speeches of God and Elihu brought home the point that the righteousness achieved by man was not comparable with God's righteousness (e.g. 40:7-10). We are left to draw the conclusion: that the only way for man to be just with God is through the imputation of God's righteousness to man.
40:10 array- see on 29:13,14
42:1 Answered Yahweh. It has been observed that the Covenant name of Yahweh is not used in the speeches of Job and the friends. Instead they speak of God as El (power) or Shaddai (the fruitful one). This shows how they perceived God as the awesome power of the universe, the one who granted their physical blessings in response to their obedience to Him. 'God' was like a profitable insurance policy. But Yahweh is fundamentally a saviour-God, one who manifests Himself in men for their salvation, and is supremely manifested in the Son. Significantly, we are told in chapter 42 that Job finally spoke to Yahweh; it was to Him that he said: " I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee" (42:5). He came to understand God's Name, His personality, in far greater fullness. He came to appreciate far more the extent of God's manifestation in the true friend which he looked forward to. Our sufferings and traumas have a like effect, if we respond as Job did. Note that both Jacob and Samson, in their time of spiritual maturity, also reached a higher appreciation of the names of God. Reflect likewise how Abraham told Isaac that “elohim yir’eh”, the elohim would provide the sacrifice; but after the wonder of the ram being provided, he named the place “Yhwh yir’eh” (Gen. 22:14). The experience of this foreshadowing of the cross led him to know the Yahweh Name more fully; and for this reason it can be shown that the cross was the supreme means of that Name being declared to men.
42:2- see on Mt. 19:23-26
God twice told Job that He was going to demand of him, and receive an answer (38:3; 40:7). I would suggest that God puts the words of repentance to Job, and Job then meekly repeats them: " I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me [the following words]: I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (42:4-6). This is the ultimate spiritual end for us all. Self-abhorrence, repentance, not just a passing niggle of conscience, but real repentance, in dust and ashes.
42:5- see on 19:26; Mt. 10:27
" I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee" (42:5) must be connected with 19:27, where Job reveals that his perception of the Kingdom is that then he would see God with his own eye. But by 42:5, he has come to the realization that what the depth of Divine understanding which he thought would only be possible in the Kingdom, was in fact possible here and now. This same progressive, awesome realization that so much is possible here and now is something which both individually and collectively we must go through.
Job finally recognized that he had only heard of God " by the hearing of the ear" (42:5) . There had been no real spiritual vision of God, no real personal understanding- just hearing in the ear (note how the Queen of Sheba alludes to Job’s words- she had heard in the ear, but her spirit failed when she saw with her eyes). In the theological context in which Job was, the idea of seeing God for oneself was a huge paradigm jump. Centuries later, righteous Isaiah was sure he would die because he thought he had seen Yahweh (Is. 6:5). Job reached the same spiritual peak of ambition and closeness to the Almighty which Moses did when he asked to be shown God's glory, with the apparent implication that he wanted to see Yahweh's face (Ex. 33:18,20). This peak of ambition which characterized Job's maturity was partly due to the way in which God recounted His greatness before Job (e.g. ch. 38). And yet (as the above chart makes clear) an appreciation of the physical greatness of God was something which had consistently featured in Job's words. Yet he had to be taught that what he thought he knew and appreciated so well, in fact he didn't.
Earlier, his reins had been consumed within him with longing for the day when he would see God (19:26,27); and finally even in this life, he came to see God for himself (42:5). He had thought this would only be at the resurrection (19:26), seeing a full relationship with God was, he felt, impossible in this life (28:12,20); but he came to see that even in this life, with the joy of a good conscience, the principle is even now realisable. He exalted that now, his eye saw God. It wasn’t all abstractly reserved for the Kingdom.
Although Job did not speak wrongly about God (42:7;2:10) and kept patiently speaking the word of God despite the mockery it brought from the friends (James 5:10,11), this does not mean that Job or all that he said was blameless. The friends are not reprimanded for speaking wrongly about Job, but about God. Thus there was probably a fair degree of truth in their accusations concerning Job. Elihu also severely rebukes him, and unlike the three friends he is not rebuked for anything in the final analysis by God in Job 42; not to mention the accusation of 'darkening counsel without knowledge' (38:2) by the Lord Himself, backed up by four chapters of heavy reprimand of Job's reliance on human strength and wisdom. This led to Job retracting much of what he had said: " I am vile; what shall I answer Thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth...I will not answer...I will proceed no further...I uttered that I understood not...wherefore I abhor myself and repent" (40:4,5; 42:3-6). This clearly establishes that much of Job's reasoning was faulty, although what he spoke before God was correct. Job was a prophet (Job 29:4 cp. 15:8;23:12; Prov.3:32; Amos 3:7; the secret of God being with him made Job a prophet) and it is in his role as such that he is commended in James 5:10,11- i.e. for the words concerning God which he spoke. The words for which God and Elihu rebuked him were therefore about other things. Elihu accused him of speaking " without knowledge" (34:35), which Job admitted he had (42:3).
The problem of reconciling the rebuke of Job's words with the statement that he has spoken what is right about God as opposed to the friends (42:7) is the same as the frequent pronouncement that some kings of Judah walked blamelessly before God exactly as David did, when there is clear evidence in the record that this was not so. This may be because God imputes righteousness to a believer's whole life if his final acts are acceptable (cp. Ez.18:27,28). " Ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath" may refer to the response of the friends and Job to the rebukes of Elihu and the manifestation of God's power in the thunderstorm which must have been witnessed by the friends as well as by Job. Maybe they made some unrecorded response about God which was not right, whereas Job's supreme recognition of God's righteousness and humbling of himself was speaking that which was right about God. It has to be admitted that it is hard to understand all that Job says in the book about God as being " right" , and he is specifically rebuked by God for his words.
42:7- see on 15:8,9
The words of God and Elihu brought Job to a shuddering spiritual climax. From his heart he cried: " I am vile...I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes...I am melted " (42:6 LXX). It was concerning this matchless confession that God could say that Job had " spoken of me the thing which is right(eousness) " (42:8). God swept over the times when Job shook his fist at God, imputing righteousness to him on behalf of this confession. Thus the Spirit later speaks of the long-enduring patience of Job (James 5:11); God was able to look on his good side rather than the bad side, due to Job's confession of that bad side. To confess our sinfulness properly is to declare, by implication, righteous things about God.
42:8,10- see on James 5:10-16
We have suggested that the sufferings of Job are framed in language which connects with the sufferings of Hezekiah and also Israel, whom he epitomized, at the time of the Assyrian invasion. Hezekiah and Israel are both types of Christ (note how so many of the curses on Israel for their disobedience came upon Christ on the cross). The suffering servant of Isaiah often concerns all three of them. Thus Job's sufferings point forward, via Hezekiah and Israel, to Christ. His final vindication when he prays for his friends, lives many years, and sees his sons (42:8,16) thus connects with the prophecy of Christ making " intercession for the transgressors" who persecuted him- i.e. the Jews- and seeing his seed, prolonging his days, after his crucifixion and resurrection (Is.53:10,12- note how Is.53 is a chronological account of the events of Christ's death, resurrection and ascension). The description of Job as the son of man and a worm uses identical language as that used about Christ on the cross in Ps. 22:6. Thus the friends for whom Job prayed are equated with the Jews who persecuted Christ, for whom Christ made intercession both on the cross and after his ascension.
Job gave his daughters an equal inheritance with his sons (Job 42:15)- something which would have been unusual in those times. Through all his sufferings, Job came to see the value and meaning of persons before God, be they male or female; he overcame the background culture, the thinking of his surrounding society, and openly showed to all the immense value he had come to place upon each and every human being, regardless of their gender.