It’s November…time to start digging into the life of Joshua, a man who paid dearly for the faithlessness of his brethren. I think we are going to be reminded of a great personal responsibility to our brothers and sisters in Christ to be growing constantly stronger for Him. When we fail within our own hearts to trust Him, difficult consequences will inevitably befall those around us.
But, for today, let’s spend one final moment with Job. A couple of questions have surfaced in the last few days of our study. I’m sure you’ve researched these on your own, but let’s briefly mention them here as well.
- Who wrote the book of Job? The short answer is that no one knows. A couple of guesses are that Job himself wrote it or that Moses may have penned it. We’ll just have to ask that when we get to heaven. Always remember, though, that our knowledge (or not) of the human author has nothing to do with our faith in the book’s divine origin. The account of Job is mentioned as being historically accurate and significant by other Bible writers, specifically Ezekiel and James.
- Who are the “sons of God” mentioned in verse six of chapter one; those who “came to present themselves to God”? Most scholars believe this assembly to refer to the angels. In I Kings 22: 6-23, the prophet Micaiah describes a strikingly similar event in heaven and calls those in attendance the “Host of heaven.”
I hope you got to listen to the podcast. Just skimming the surface of this challenging book, we found profundity in every chapter. It taught us much about the character of God, but perhaps even more about human nature as it faces suffering. Since all of us will experience smaller doses of the pain endured by Job, may we take to heart his advice when we start to ask the difficult question, “Why?”
Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth…
I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted (Job 40:4; 42;2).
When we begin to question God in the dark days of life, may we bring to mind chapters 38-41 of this great book and realize that, like Job, we may be swimming into waters that are too deep for us. May we lay our hands on our mouths in awe and silence and be grateful for the power of the One who is still in control.
