Job

Job was a prominent person. He was godly and wealthy. But one day he lost everything. His best friends say it was his own fault.

CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 0708, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 1819, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42

RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, MemorizeJob’s Dark Night

 


 

SUMMARY

 

Author

Nobody knows who wrote the Book of Job, when it was written, when its events occurred, or where Job lived.

The book is shrouded in mystery. That adds to its charm.

 

Date

Some scholars suggest Job lived during the age of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That was approximately 2,100 to 1,900 BC.

Other scholars suggest Job lived in the sixth century BC.

 

Summary

Job was a prominently wealthy and godly person. But one day he lost everything. All of his material possessions, and all his children, and even his health were taken from him. His wife suggested he end his misery by cursing God.

For chapter after chapter, his “friends” try to persuade him he suffers because he sinned.

Finally, Job is given a powerful mystical experience of the LORD God. Then everything is restored to him.

 

Purpose

First, the person of Job is a splendid example of undeserved suffering.

Second, the Book of Job delivers splendid examples of people shaming the victim instead of sleuthing the true cause of their undeserved suffering.

This phenomenon of victim-shaming is especially relevant in our era, when many Christians routinely blame human poverty and suffering on sin.

And third, the person of Job is a splendid example of someone who experiences unanswered prayer for a long time.

 

Historicity

Many Bible commentaries say the Book of Job is not historical.

However, that is a very non-mainstream view.

For most of Christian history, the Book of Job was seen as historical.

Even in our day, most Christians see it as historical.

 


 

OUTLINE

 

Prologue

Job 1:1-5. Introduction

Job 1:6-22. Job’s possessions and offspring are taken

Job 2:1-9. Job’s health is taken

Job 2:1-13. Job’s three friends arrive

 

The Bad Theology of Job’s “Friends”

Job 3:1-26. Job laments being born

Job 4:1-21. Eliphaz asserts his theory of suffering

Job 5:1-25. Eliphaz asserts his theory of suffering, continued

Job 6:1-30. Job replies to Eliphaz

Job 7:1-21. Job complains that his life has no hope

Job 8:1-22. Bildad the Shuhite tells Job he needs to repent

Job 9:1-35. Job wishes for an arbiter between himself and God Almighty

Job 10:1-22. Job continues

Job 11:1-20. Zophar says Job deserves worse than he got

Job 12:1-26. Job speaks of the greatness of God

Job 13:1-28. Job will still hope in God

Job 14:1-22. Job says death comes to us all

Job 15:1-35. Eliphaz asserts that Job does not fear God

Job 16:1-22. Job tells his friends they are miserable at providing comfort

Job 17:1-16. Job pours out the depth of his pain

Job 18:1-21. Bildad denounces Job

Job 19:1-29. Job knows his Redeemer lives

Job 20:1-29. Angry Zophar says people suffer because they sinned

Job 21:1-3. Job asks his friends to actually listen to him

Job 21:4-34. Job says the wicked do indeed prosper

Job 22:1-30. Eliphaz accuses Job of being wicked

Job 23:1-17. Job still desires to find God

Job 24:1-25. Job asks why the wicked are not punished

Job 25:1-6. Bildad says we humans cannot be righteous

Job 26:1-14. Job praises the illustrious greatness of God

Job 27:1-23. Job is speaking with sincerity

Job 28:1-28. Job says the fear of the LORD is wisdom

Job 29:1-25. Job remembers his former blessings

Job 30:1-31. Job feels lost in the darkness

Job 31:1-40. Job’s final words

Job 32:1-22. Elihu scolds Job’s three friends

Job 33:1-33. Elihu rebukes Job

Job 34:1-37. Elihu arrogantly accuses Job of arrogance

Job 35:1-16. Elihu condemns Job

Job 36:1-33. Elihu speaks arrogantly

Job 37:1-24. Elihu speaks arrogantly, continued

 

The LORD God Speaks

Job 38:1-41. The LORD answers Job

Job 39:1-30. The LORD answers Job, continued

Job 40:1-24. The LORD answers Job, continued

Job 41:1-34. The LORD answers Job, continued

 

The LORD God Restores Job

Job 42:1-9. Job replies to the LORD

Job 42:10-17. God restores Job

 


 

MEMORIZE

 

Job 1:21. He said, “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the LORD’s name.”

Job 10:22. The black, disordered land where darkness is the only light. (NAB translation)

Job 11:16. for you shall forget your misery. You shall remember it like waters that have passed away.

Job 13:15. Slay me though he might, I will [trust in] him. (NAB translation)

Job 19:25. But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth.

Great verses to memorize from the entire Bible

 


JOB

CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 0708, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 1819, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42

RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, MemorizeJob’s Dark Night

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.