The Book of Job
The book of Job is named for its main character, a righteous man who was very rich. Even after losing everything he owned and suffering from a terrible sickness, Job still confessed his trust in God. Although most of the book consists of the words of Job and his counselors, Job himself was not the author. We can be sure the author was an Israelite who probably had access to oral and/ or written sources from which he composed the book. The book provides a profound statement on the justice of God in light of human suffering.
In chapters 1-3, God tests Job’s faithfulness through allowing Satan to
attack him. God told Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him”(1:12). Through Job’s trials, all is lost including his health, his wife even tells him to curse God and commit suicide, but he remains strong and faithful, “Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God” (1:22).
Foreshadowing of Jesus
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 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. 14), 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” (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).
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