Summary of the Book of Job

Author:
The Book of Job does not specifically name its author. The most likely candidates are Job, Elihu, Moses, and Solomon. Full article: Who wrote the book of Job? Who was the author of Job?

Date of Writing:
The authorship date of the Book of Job would be determined by the author. If Moses was the author, the date would be around 1440 B.C. If Solomon was the author, the date would be around 950 B.C. Since the author is unknown, the writing date remains uncertain.

Purpose of Writing:
The Book of Job helps us understand that Satan cannot bring financial and physical destruction upon us without God’s permission. God has power over what Satan can and cannot do. It is beyond human ability to comprehend the reasons behind all the suffering in the world. The wicked will face consequences for their actions. We cannot always attribute suffering and sin to our lifestyles. Suffering may be permitted in our lives to refine, test, instruct, or strengthen the soul. God is sufficient, and He deserves and requests our love and praise in all life circumstances.

Key Verses

Job 1:1, “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.”

Job 1:21, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”

Job 38:1-2, “Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said, ‘Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?'”

Job 42:5-6, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

Brief Summary:
The book of Job begins with a scene in heaven where Satan stands before God.God asks Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?” «And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? », (Job 1:8), and Satan immediately accuses Job, a righteous 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” «But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. », (Job 1:11). God grants Satan limited permission to put Job to the test. Why do the righteous 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.

Foreshadowings:
As Job was pondering 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 what is pure from the impure? No 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 the person of Jesus Christ.

The answer 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 dies and lies prostrate; Man expires, 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” «And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. », (Matthew 25:30).

Job’s third question, found in verse 14, is “If a man dies, will he live again?” Once again, the answer is found in Christ. We do indeed live again if we are in Him. “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).

Practical Application:
The Book of Job reminds us that there is a “cosmic conflict” going on behind the scenes that we usually know nothing about. Often we wonder why God allows something, and we question or doubt God’s goodness, without seeing the full picture. 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. The psalmist tells us, “As for God, His way is perfect” « 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.

“As for God, His way is perfect,” (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, says 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.