Yes, that’s often the assigned Theme for the Book of Job …

“The Innocent Sufferer!”

Or, “Undeserved Suffering!”

Or maybe, “Why do Bad Things Happen to Good People?”

Even more bluntly, “What Did He do so Wrong, to Have to Suffer like This?”

And indeed, Job did seem to be “innocent!”

God knew so.

The Satan knew so.

Job’s Wife knew so.

Job’s children would have know so as well.

And you and I, the readers (who have been given behind-the-scenes information) definitely know so!

Job, the innocent sufferer!

After 17 Old Testament Books (Genesis through Esther) either preaching or illustrating that God blesses the righteous. And God judges, punishes the wicked … the Holy Spirit places Job in our path!

Where the age old law, “absolute retribution,” somehow does not work!

Is this “chaos?”

And this anomaly is what misinformed Eliphaz and Bildad and Zophar, Elihu too for that matter.

They all believed (to varying degrees) that … Job was experiencing such hard times because he had sin in his life, maybe well hidden sin, but sin nonetheless.

In other words, Job was a rank hypocrite!

But the Book of Job belies that verdict!

Job was a righteous man!

Not a sinful man.

He was a man of integrity.

He was, indeed …

A RIGHTEOUS SUFFERER!

Therefore I say Job broke the “mold” as far as 100% accurate, never failing, no exceptions “retribution theology” is concerned. That is, that a man or woman in pain or agony is a wicked sinful person.

Job endured untold agony, being innocent!

If you have any doubt, read the Book again!

But WHY?

Why did God need to have a whole Block of Scripture (a big one, 42 chapters) placed midway through the Bible … saying that (in essence) Righteous Sufferers do exist? Why do they have such a prominent place in God’s economy?

I’ll tell you why.

Job becomes a “paradigm” (maybe the “paradigm”) of “Suffering though Innocent” … to begin adjusting Bible readers’ thinking. (Paradigm means “pattern.”)

What I’m saying is this. Job becomes a Forerunner of Jesus Christ our Lord.

A “Shadow” or a “Type” of the Redeemer Who “Being Innocent, Suffered Violently!”

Jesus, Who … suffered, not being guilty … dying the death of a common criminal … yet Who made possible our very salvation!

JESUS, THE INNOCENT SUFFERER!

JESUS, THE SINLESS SUFFERER!

And Job is (although dimly so I admit) a symbol, a picture of that precious Saviour!

And from Job to Jesus … then from Jesus to you and me … “Innocent Sufferers” continue to illustrate God’s Plan of Redemption, Calvary, at least vaguely so.

Job … a whole new view of God’s hand at work!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

A quick word of advice. Be careful assigning blame and sin and hypocrisy to anyone who is “in Christ” who is also experiencing “hard times.” They may have been chosen by the Lord to illustrate in some way … the Glories of the Cross of Calvary!

Paul to the ancient Asian Believers: “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and FILL UP THAT WHICH IS BEHIND OF THE AFFLICTIONS OF CHRIST IN MY FLESH … FOR HIS BODY’S SAKE, which is the church.” Paul suffering, for the sake of picturing Jesus’ very afflictions, Colossians 1:25, King James Version. Paul’s suffering … and Jesus’ suffering … somehow linked!

Paul yet again: “For unto you IT IS GIVEN in the BEHALF OF CHRIST, not only to believe on him, but also TO SUFFER FOR HIS SAKE.” Philippians 1:29, to some this is “given!” And to Job this “suffering” was “given” indeed!

Maybe, in one sense, every child of God will face a personal “Calvary” experience, one in which Matthew 5:11 is proved. “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you FALSELY, for my sake.”

Innocent suffering!

One more verse in a longer-than-normal Lesson. “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian (innocently suffering), let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” 1 Peter 4:15-16

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We are nearing the date of our 4 hour class on “The Words of Job.” The flyer below is “clickable,” so you can better read the specifics. I know most of you cannot come in person, but you can pray for those Lessons. And for God’s blessings on that Bible Study endeavor.

Today’s Lesson on Job …

First, listen to what the Devil told God, about Job: “But put forth Thine Hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will CURSE Thee to Thy face.” Job 1:11

But Job, even after losing “all that he had,” did NOT curse God! Instead, he “blessed” God! Here are his words: “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.” Job 1:21

Then the Devil came to God yet again: “And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will CURSE thee to thy face.” Job 2:4-5, should you take his health, he will surely CURSE Thee!

Yet Job still did not betray His God!

Then … Job’s Wife speaks. (I find her mentioned specifically 3 times in the Book of Job. In Job 2:9 and 19:17 and lastly in Job 31:10.)

Her very words: “Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? CURSE God, and die.” Job 2:9

Now today, about Job’s Wife, I understand she too must have been distraught. She also had lost all her children, ten of them. She had seen her “man” suffer untold agony. Her home life had been inexplicably torn to shreds.

But watch the vocabulary used here, by the Holy Spirit of God, the True Author of the Book of Job.

The Devil said (twice) of Job: “He will CURSE Thee, O God.”

And his very Wife encouraged him to do just that, “CURSE GOD AND DIE!”

She, knowingly or unknowingly, used the same words as did the Devil!

She was coopted by Satan to accomplish his nefarious goal against the man of God named Job, her Husband! She “tempted” Job to “curse” God Almighty.

Wow!

I think at times we “help” the Devil without ever realizing it.

As did Mrs. Job in today’s Text.

Paul wrote us: “Neither give place to the devil.” Ephesians 4:27, which means “Don’t allow the devil to use you. Give him no opportunity to make you on of his pawns.”

Paul also warned us: “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” 2nd Corinthians 2:11, where “devices” is the Greek noun “noema,” literally meaning “thought patterns!”

Also Paul (again) tells us about the “wiles” of the Devil, and how we can stand against them. In Ephesians 6:11, using the noun “methodeia” for “wiles.” The “methods” of Satan! I wish Job’s Wife had known of Satan’s tactics, methods, that long ago.

My dear Readers this Friday Morning in August … I fear Job’s Wife (here at least in Job chapter 2) gave place to the Devil. Was ignorant of the tempter’s devices. And unaware of his methods!

She obviously succumbed to one of Satan’s tricks.

May we be wiser in our generation!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

 

As I laid in bed this morning, before my feet every “touched” our motel room floor … I pondered, “What shall I write today, on the Website, about the godly man Job?” (Many of my days begin in this fashion. Pondering, surveying the amazing Word of God! What a privilege! The Lord has allowed me to write these daily Lessons for over 12 years now.)

Well, this came to mind, about Job again.

There are several “indicators” at both the front and rear of the Book, a huge 42 chapter girth, revealing to us interesting data about Job. Sort of “before” and “after” scenarios.

Here’s an example:

Early in the Book, just five verses into the Story … “And it was so, when the days of their (Job’s grown children) feasting were gone about, that JOB SENT AND SANCTIFIED THEM, and rose up early in the morning, and OFFERED BURNT OFFERINGS according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. THUS DID JOB CONTINUALLY.” Job 1:5

Job was serving as a “priest” to his family. Praying for them! Offering blood sacrifice on their behalf! And he did so again and again!

This is Job interceding for his little clan!

(Two quick thoughts here. One … this fact helps us locate the date in which the Book was written. It had to be composed before the Law of Moses was instituted. Because then certain men were designated, the Sons of Aaron, to serve as priests for all the Israelites! So … Job must have lived prior to 1500 BC, at least. Number two … this act presents Job as a “symbol” or “type” of our Lord Jesus Christ, who yet today intercedes for His people, in fact He “ever liveth” to do so!)

Now let’s go to the end of the Book of Job.

And here we find more “intercession!”

“And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; AND MY SERVANT JOB SHALL PRAY FOR YOU: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job. So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job. And the LORD turned the captivity of JOB, when HE PRAYED FOR HIS FRIENDS: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” Job 42:7-10

Wow, He prays, again!

Job the intercessor, in the book’s first chapter and again in the last chapter!

Called “inclusio” in the English lecture room, writing class.

But now note this too.

In Job 1 he prayed for his loved ones, his family, his own children.

In Job 42 he prayed for his so-called “friends” who had slashed him to pieces (verbally) fo the duration of the Book, literally he prayed for his “enemies!”

Another (of the myriad of ways) Job is like Christ!

I suggest this is proof (among many others) that Job GREW in the Lord as he lived through his crises here, his crises really.

Praying for loved ones, easy.

Praying for enemies, not so easy!

Yet Job handled it all.

He’s a giant in the faith!

To me, anyway.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

The name of our hero is “Job.”

We first meet him in Job 1:1, where else?

“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.” King James Version

In Hebrew “Job” is spelled “Iyob.”

It seems to be derived from the verb “ayab,” meaning “to be hostile, to be an enemy.”

Thus, “Job” means “hated.”

Or so say most of the scholars, those who have taught the Book for years.

Question is, hated by whom?

Not God!

The Lord loved Job, as he does us all.

Even if you believe that God allowed some of Job’s suffering to come upon him to further develop the man’s spiritual life (character traits) … GOD ONLY DOES THAT TO THOSE WHOM HE LOVES!

Hebrews 12:6 says so. “For whom the Lord LOVETH he chasteneth.” But mind you, this verb “chasteneth” is the Greek word meaning “to child train” a young person, and not always for the purpose of righting some wrong in their little life. Developmental training, “boot camp!”

So again, who hated Job?

His family did not.

He had provided them the best of everything.

Ten children!

The only individual (at least in the Book) that I can imagine hating Job was … Satan!

And he, the devil, certainly accused Job before Almighty God.

Listen to Satan “belittle” Job, his faith. “Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.” Job 1:9-11

That’s not “Love” talking!

And for the rest of the Book of Job (all 42 chapters) the devil would have loved for Job to “curse” God. But Job never does so!

Yes, the devil hated this tremendous man of God.

By the way, if you are saved … he hates you too.

He is called in Revelation 12:10 “the accuser of the brethren.” All the brethren, the sisters too.

But, good news, the devil cannot “touch” a child of God (as he could not “harm” Job) … without God’s prior permission!

Safe … in Jesus!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Anytime a student begins a Bible study on one of the great men or women of Scripture, he or she wants to know everything possible about the personality of that individual. What kind of man was Job, his character?

And it is here that I think most Christians lack. We DO NOT know Job like we should. Or even like we think we do. To have so much Scripture devoted to his person (42 chapters) we are ignorant of Job’s individuality. His depth, his quality as a follower of our great God!

In fact, many Bible commentators completely miss this aspect of the man of God we know as Job. Some textbooks on the Book of Job spend upwards of half their content criticizing him, seeking to reveal his “hidden” weaknesses.

But God glowingly speaks of him: “And the LORD said … 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

Did you read that?

THERE IS NONE LIKE HIM IN THE EARTH!

More about this later.

One of the best ways to determine the real character of Job is to examine how he appears outside of the Book that bears his name.

As he does in the Book of Ezekiel, for example.

And it is God talking once again, to backslidden Judah, the whole Nation: “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.” Ezekiel 14:14

Grouped favorably with Noah and Daniel, here is Job!

That’s a pretty good character reference!

Men who carry “weight” with God Almighty!

Now Ezekiel again: “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.” Ezekiel 14:20

“Their own righteousness,” did I just read?

So, by God’s Own Words, Job was a righteous man!

Then look with me at James 5:11, with Job again in focus: “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.”

This is no criticism, folks!

THE PATIENCE OF JOB!

Patience which God noticed and ultimately rewarded.

Let them say all they choose about the man Job, his inner self, his character.

The Word of God has spoken.

And that’s good enough for me.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

How does God see YOUR character?

And MINE?