Overview of the Book of Job

So, the overview of the week for this Sunday is the book of Job. The book of Job.

If you've ever read that and you think it's Job, it's not Job, it's Job. If you think it's

Job, you need to come to church more, okay? So this is the first of the wisdom books of the

Old Testament. We don't know the date that it was written or the author, but it is believed that Job was a contemporary of Abraham.

So, this is very, very old. Some have speculated it may be the oldest of the books written.

We're not exactly sure. But the theme of Job is that of theodicy, or the problem of evil and suffering.

The book begins with these words. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared

God and shunned evil. So Job, we know, was blessed by God. He had wealth.

He had a big family. And then we read what basically amounts to a wager in heaven between God and Satan.

The Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? And Satan then says to God, basically the only reason

Job serves you is because you've blessed him. So, take away all that he has, and just watch, he will curse you to your face.

So the Lord allows Satan, gives Satan permission to afflict Job. Job is unaware of all of this.

So he's trying to understand why are all these bad things happening. So again, this is the problem of evil and suffering.

And there's an assumption because Job's friends, we remember, show up to try to comfort him, and the assumption is,

Job, this must be your fault. The reason you're suffering, there must be some sin in your life.

But of course, that really wasn't the case. Sometimes it is. Sometimes that's the reason. Not always.

So there's so much to say in just like a three minute overview, but in the end,

Job, he wants an answer from God. And God responds to Job, basically, who are you to question me?

And people really struggle with this, and struggle with the whole book, and the problem of evil in general.

If God is good, why is there so much suffering in the world?

Especially, why do the righteous seem to suffer so?

A few important points to take away from the story. Number one, God is sovereign. God is sovereign.

He's the one in control. Not Satan. Satan had to get permission to do all of these things.

That's number one. Number two, we often don't know why God allows. We want answers, but oftentimes, we just don't know.

We may never know in this life. That leads us to trust in God. That's the whole point, to trust in the

Lord by faith. And number three, as to the question some people ask, why do bad things happen to good people?

Well, ultimately, there has only been one who was without sin, and that was the

Lord Jesus Christ, and he willingly suffered on our behalf.

And Job, it seems that he knew something about Christ, or the promises of God, because he said in chapter 19, verses 25 and 26,

Job said, For I know that my Redeemer lives, and he shall stand at last on the earth, and after my skin is destroyed, this

I know, that in my flesh I shall see God.

So how does the book end? God wins, Satan loses, and all that Job lost was restored.

In fact, the Lord gave Job, restored him twice as much what he had before.