Job is placed among the wisdom books of the Bible, and there are five: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon. Some add one or two others, but, usually, these are the accepted books listed under the title: Wisdom. However, although one might describe the Book of Job as poetry, its main character seems to be an actual historical figure, not a mythological character used to teach a hidden truth (cp. Ezekiel 14:14, 20; James 5:11). The book has 42 chapters and is considered by many to be the oldest book of the Bible. Nevertheless, some scholars like to place it much later, saying it was written by Moses, Elijah or even by a rabbinical scholar (Ezra?) during the Babylonian captivity. However, if this were true, why isn’t the Law mentioned, or the Sabbath? Why isn’t the Exodus mentioned, Canaan or any of the kings of Israel?
There is no real evidence for late authorship, but great antiquity is implied. For example, Job is the priest of his family and offers up sacrifices to the Lord on their behalf (Job 1:5), which is something that would have been forbidden under the Law of Moses. If what we read in Job 22:16 refers to the Genesis Flood, then the Book of Job had to have been written sometime after the Flood, but before Moses, and its content fits the time of Abraham.
There are other examples of ancient literature that concern themselves with suffering, why good folks suffer. Two of them are called: Dialogue Between a Man and His God, and a similar work sometimes called A Man and His God![1] So, we shouldn’t believe that the question of why we suffer is a modern one. Men have wrestled with this problem for millennia. In the Book of Job, we are introduced to a man called Job. He is a wealthy man who seems to be a judge of the city in which he lived. He is quite renowned among the city’s inhabitants, and it seems his fame extended far beyond the city’s borders. Job is a good man, defending the defenseless and providing for the needs of the poor, in general a righteous, Godfearing man. A problem arises when calamity strikes Job and his family, for no apparent reason, and the book concerns itself with the question of why: Why me God? What have I done to deserve this?
The book is an intriguing work. In its introductory two chapters we are brought into what some scholars call the court of the Lord, and we are permitted to see what transpires there, including how that affects life on earth, particularly the life of the man, whom the text names, Job. The book goes on to introduce three other men, who are identified as Job’s friends. They had come to console him during his time of trouble, but in effect they become part of Job’s great trial. Instead of comforting him, which was their intention (according to the text), they end up accusing him of being the cause of his trouble. According to the friends, Job had sinned, and he needs to admit it and repent. Their conclusions about him are strongly familiar with those made by the self-righteous of our own day. Job, on the other hand, neither admits error nor curses God for allowing him to come to such dire straits.
Later, after Job and the friends end their discussion, we are introduced to another man, Elihu, who may very well be a disciple of one of the friends or, perhaps, even one of Job’s disciples. On the other hand, he may have simply been an interested witness of the events that transpired. He will have something to say about both the friends and Job in the latter third of the book. However, just as Elihu’s sudden appearance is a bit mysterious, so is his sudden departure! No one, not even God responds to what he had to say. In the final chapters the Lord intervenes and speaks with Job, and during that discourse it becomes clear what God has done, why he did it, and how that affects life on earth, particularly, Job’s life, and this is the study we have before us.
To conclude on a personal note, I believe it would be a mistake to think the Book of Job is about suffering or the reason for suffering. While it is a book in which many who suffer find comfort, and it does, in fact, deal with suffering, its main theme is truth, especially how we arrive at new truth. I believe the Lord had been working with Job prior to the calamities that befell him. The Lord sought to show him that those who suffer don’t always suffer, because they deserve it. Nevertheless, such a thought ran against the dominant worldview of the day. Job, however (and if I’m correct in my reasoning), ignored the prodding of the Lord, which would have demanded greater compassion for those who suffer for no apparent reason. Later in the book, Elihu will say the Lord speaks (loudly) through pain in order to instruct a man in his ways (Job 33:19-25). In my opinion, the Lord sought to correct the then current worldview about God, which claimed: as a man sows, so shall he reap. While this is a truism, it isn’t always true. There are exceptions to that general rule. Therefore, those who suffer are often misunderstood to have done something evil to bring God’s judgment down upon them. I believe this, vis-à-vis coming to know God on a deeper level, not suffering per se, is the real theme of the Book of Job.
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[1] I wonder if these works aren’t about the very same person, Job! If, indeed, they are, they would represent corruptions of what has come down to us in the pages of our Bible.
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