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Theological outline of the book of JobJob
Introduction, Theological SettingWhy do bad things happen to good people? That was Job’s question. Job was a good person. God said he was good (1:8; 2:3). Job claimed he was innocent and righteous (9:15, 20; 31:1-40). At first his friends did not accuse him of evil (2:11-13). Only Satan doubted Job’s sincerity. Satan’s question was, “Does Job fear God for nothing?” (1:9).
Job’s external circumstances indicated to some he was righteous. Traditional teaching showed from experience that God blesses the righteous and curses the wicked (Dt 28:1-35 ; Pr 3:15-18 ). Job had been blessed with an ideal family—seven sons and three daughters (1:2). He was rich in houses, land, servants, possessions, and social standing. He observed all the religious practices.
Outwardly, Job appeared to be righteous. But Satan claimed otherwise. In a meeting of the heavenly council (unattended by Job), he accused Job of being good only because goodness paid dividends. Indirectly, Satan accused God. He said God gave Job reason to practice religion simply to get material rewards. God had placed a hedge around Job and had blessed him abundantly. Why should Job not be religious?
Satan proposed a test to see if Job would continue to serve God even if he lost everything and suffered personal anguish and pain. Satan was so sure of the shallowness of Job’s faith he claimed Job would curse God to His face (1:11; 2:5). God had such confidence in Job He accepted Satan’s challenge and agreed to the test. However, God retained ultimate control over everything Satan could do to Job.
Job’s problem really began in heaven, but it was carried out in the world. Job lost his property, his family, his health, and his standing in the community. He was not consulted. He had no control over the test; yet he experienced all its trauma and fury.
What responses or options do righteous people have when bad things happen to them? Several such options might be considered.
1. One response remained closed for Job. He could not unlock the secrets of heaven and obtain perfect divine wisdom. God gives wisdom but only in limited amounts (26:14). Job had to deal with his problem with the limited wisdom God gave him.
2. He did acknowledge God’s gifts and recognize that the God who gives good gifts had the right to take them away (1:21; 2:10).
3. Still, he lamented his fate bitterly (3:1-26). Job defended his innocence, debated his accusers, and questioned God’s justice (3:23).
4. Job’s three friends reacted differently. They considered his suffering evidence of his sinfulness.
5. Elihu argued that Job’s suffering was primarily to discipline and teach Job (33:13-30).
All of these options may be legitimate in varying circumstances. No one of the opinions can be made into a general rule that covers every problem any person may have. Job finally humbled himself before God. He confessed that God can do all things and that none of His purposes will fail (42:2).
The Book of Job does not deal abstractly with the problem of evil in the world. It deals instead with a very practical problem: Why am I suffering? The book is about the sufferings of one righteous man in the Old Testament. Most of us have occasion to raise Job’s question.
Theological ConclusionsThe Book of Job is concerned primarily with undeserved suffering. That issue is raised in several other places in the Old Testament (Ps 26:1-12 ; 73:13-14 ; Jer 12:1 , 3 ; 20:12 ; Hab 1:13 ). At least five theological conclusions may be drawn from the Book of Job about God and undeserved suffering.
1. Suffering can come suddenly and inexplicably to anyone, even to a righteous person. On one day Job lost his oxen, donkeys, sheep, camels, and all his children. Later, he lost his health. Job knew the immediate causes of his suffering and loss—thieves, storms, and disease; but he believed that behind these immediate causes God was in control of all things. God’s apparent failure to control these disasters as Job had expected Him to disturbed Job.
2. Undeserved suffering raises the question of justice in the world and ultimately the justice of God. The Book of Job is not a theodicy (the justification of the ways of God to man). Solutions to the problem of suffering which lie outside biblical revelation (such as polytheism or reincarnation) are not considered in the Book of Job. Job pressed God for an explanation within his faith in one all-powerful God. He questioned the ways of God, and God agreed Job was justified in doing so (42:7-8). God encourages people to exercise their moral judgment, even to the point of questioning His conduct of history or nature. God does not, however, want us to justify ourselves by condemning Him.
3. Human wisdom is not adequate to solve the problem of undeserved suffering. The reader learns in this instance that Job was suffering because of a test of his faith. However, as readers, we can never be sure our suffering is only a test. We, like Job, must suffer “in the dark.” Job and his friends used human wisdom to speculate, to argue, and to debate possible reasons for Job’s sufferings; but they never discovered the real reason. In the process they said things that had no basis in fact (21:34). The friends were silenced, and Job confessed he spoke without knowledge about things he did not understand (42:3). Human wisdom is severely limited (26:14); only God has perfect wisdom (28:23).
4. The Book of Job provides us hints of possible explanations for human suffering. Suffering may be a test. In our struggles and suffering we can, without knowing it, struggle and suffer for God’s honor. Again, suffering may be to discipline and to teach us (5:17; 33:16-18; Pr 3:11-12 ), but this is not a comforting explanation. Suffering may be due to known or unknown sin. The three friends thought all suffering was due to the sin of the sufferer. This is not always so. Jesus said of the man blind from birth, “no one sinned” (Jn 9:1-3 ). Hints of possible explanations may or may not help the sufferer.
5. Only God can meet our needs in a time of suffering. Humans are unitary beings. When our bodies suffer, our minds, emotions, and spiritual life are affected. The book aims to deliver a spiritual message to tortured people. Job’s problem was not primarily physical. The account of his healing and restoration serves only to inform the reader the test is over. Job’s problem was not primarily mental, because Job was never given an explanation of his suffering. Job’s problem was mainly spiritual. Although he held on to his righteousness and faith, he felt his suffering had separated him from God. When God spoke to him while he was suffering, Job found relief but not from his sufferings. God assured him that innocent suffering is no proof of isolation from God. Job and Paul were sufferers in common (2 Co 6:10).
Contemporary TeachingSuffering may come suddenly and inexplicably to anyone. Suffering does not necessarily mean God is angry with or separated from the sufferer. A mystery surrounds much suffering. Human wisdom is severely limited in its ability to explain the ultimate causes of suffering. God can relieve the distress and calm the fears of the sufferer. The sufferer, in turn, must have faith in God’s goodness and sovereignty (Ro 8:28). God can transform evil into good as He did at the cross.
This theological statement will not meet our needs when we must suffer. Rather, the theological statement seeks to point us beyond wisdom and knowledge to faith and trust. Suffering calls us to renewed dialogue with God. In conversation with Him, we, like Job, can discover His personal presence with us. The joy and comfort of that presence may not still our pain. It will, however, provide our greater need of assurance that He still cares and accepts us even as we suffer. His presence reminds us that our Redeemer lives today even after suffering and dying for us. He understands what we are enduring and gives the ultimate answer—resurrection to life beyond pain.
Theological OutlineJob: A Study in Providence and Faith
I. Prologue: A Righteous Man Can Endure Injustice Without Sinning. (1:1-2:10)
II. First Round: Will a Just God Answer a Righteous Sufferer’s Questions? (2:11-14:22)
A. Job: Why must a person be born to a life of suffering? (2:11-3:26)
B. Eliphaz: Do not claim to be just, but seek the disciplining God, who is just. (4:1-5:27)
C. Job: Death is the only respite for a just person persecuted by God. (6:1-7:21)
D. Bildad: A just God does not punish the innocent. (8:1-22)
E. Job: Humans cannot win an argument in court against the Creator. (9:1-10:22)
F. Zophar: Feeble, ignorant humans must confess sins. (11:1-20)
G. Job: An intelligent person demands an answer from the all-powerful, all-knowing God, not from other humans. (12:1-14:22) III. Second Round: Does the Fate of the Wicked Prove the Mercy and Justice of God? (15:1-21:34)
A. Eliphaz: Be quiet, admit your guilt, and accept your punishment. (15:1-35)
B. Job: Oh that an innocent person might plead my case with the merciless God. (16:1-17:16)
C. Bildad: Wise up and admit you are suffering the just fate of the wicked. (18:1-21)
D. Job: In a world without justice or friends, a just person must wait for a Redeemer to win his case. (19:1-29)
E. Zophar: Your short-lived prosperity shows you are a wicked oppressor. (20:1-29)
F. Job: Lying comforters do not help my struggle against the injustice of God. (21:1-34)
IV. Third Round: Can the Innocent Sufferer Ever Know God’s Ways and Will? (22:1-28:28)
A. Eliphaz: You wicked sinner, return to Almighty God and be restored. (22:1-30)
B. Job: I cannot find God, but evidence shows He pays undue attention to me but gives no attention to the wicked. (23:1-24:25)
C. Bildad: No person can be righteous before the awesome God. (25:1-6)
D. Job: Neither your meaningless counsel nor God’s faint word helps the innocent sufferer. (26:1-27:23)
E. Job: Humans cannot know wisdom; only God reveals its content: Fear the Lord. (28:1-28)
V. Job’s Summary: Let God Restore the Good Old Days or Answer My Complaint. (29:1-31:40)
A. In the good old days I had respect and integrity. (29:1-25)
B. Now men and God are cruel to me. (30:1-31)
C. In my innocence, I cry out for a hearing before God. (31:1-40)
1. I have not looked with lust on a maiden. (31:1-4)
2. I am not guilty of lying or deceit. (31:5-8)
3. I have not committed adultery. (31:9-12)
4. I have treated my servants fairly. (31:13-15)
5. I have been generous and kind to the poor and the disadvantaged. (31:16-23)
6. I have not worshiped gold nor celestial bodies. (31:24-28)
7. I have not rejoiced in others’ ruin. (31:29-30)
8. I have not refused hospitality to anyone. (31:31-32)
9. I have nothing to hide, but I wish God would give me a written statement of charges. (31:33-37)
10. I have not withheld payment for the laborers on my land. (31:38-40)
VI. Elihu: An Angry Young Man Defends God. (32:1-37:24)
A. Elihu is angry with Job and with the friends. (32:1-22)
B. Elihu speaks to Job as a man; God speaks through dreams, visions, pain, and deliverance. (33:1-33)
C. God is just; Job speaks without knowledge. (34:1-37)
D. Is there any advantage in serving God? Human sin is no threat to God; human righteousness is no gift to Him. (35:1-16)
E. God is just, all-wise, mysterious, and sovereign over humans and nature. (36:1-37:24)
VII. Dialogue: Prove Your Wisdom Is Sufficient to Contend with the Eternal Creator. (38:1-42:6)
A. God: Can you control the inanimate and animate creation? (38:1-39:30)
B. Job: I am overwhelmed and powerless to answer. (40:1-5)
C. God: Will you condemn God to justify yourself? (40:6-9)
D. God: Take charge of the universe. (40:10-14)
E. Two inexplicable creatures illustrate God’s unfathomable ways. (40:15-41:34)
F. Job: Seeing God, I confess His power and repent of sin. (42:1-6)
VIII. Epilogue: Prayer Brings Reconciliation, Forgiveness, and Restoration. (42:7-17)
