Finding Jesus in the Book of Job

Key Verse: Job 1:6-8 …Satan also came among them. And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”

Explanation: The challenges presented in this short passage, in one of the Bible’s oldest books, are many. We are told quite plainly that:

A) There is some order of beings known as “the sons of God” who come to present themselves before the LORD God Almighty on a periodic basis

B) Among them, Satan has access to the throne room of God—coming and going apparently at will

C) When not appearing before God, Satan has free reign upon the earth—“roaming about walking around on it”

D) It was God Who brought Job to Satan’s attention—virtually challenging him to test the most blameless and upright man upon the earth at that time

What are we to do with all of these mind-blowing realities? (And, I say realities because although the author is describing a heavenly scene, the interaction between God and Satan is presented as a literal reality.)

A) There are aspects of the heavenly realm that we will never fully understand or fathom. We can speculate about the role of the “sons of God”—presuming for instance that they are the angelic but created beings that exist in the spiritual realm. We know that Satan was once an angel who served in God’s heavenly court before he rebelled and was expelled from heaven along with 1/3 of the angels (Revelation 12:9, 4).

B) We also understand that Satan still has access to heaven—and that he attempts to accuse us before the Lord. He is the leader of the “spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). In the end times, he will be expelled from heaven and thrown down to the earth. Enraged, he will indwell the Antichrist and turn his attention on the Jewish people (Revelation 12:7-17).

C) Not only does Satan have free reign on the earth, at present he is the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2) and “the whole world lies in [his] power” (1 John 5:19). That is why he could rightfully offer Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” when he tempted the Lord in the wilderness (Matthew 4:8). They were—and are—his to give.

D) Why in the world would God call Job to Satan’s attention? We do not have space—or insight—to exhaustively answer that question. And, tellingly, God never answered that same question for Job either. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are [His] ways higher than [our] ways, and [His] thoughts than [our] thoughts” (Isaiah

What we can say is that God knew the limits of Job’s faith and his ability to persevere, and He would not have allowed Job to be tested beyond what he could endure (1 Corinthians 10:13). So, in essence God was proving to Job the power of his faith in the One who could keep him from failing. Even miniscule faith (the size of a mustard seed) on our part, in an infinitely powerful God, still multiplies to providence for all our needs.

Key Verse: Job 13:15 Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.

Explanation: This fantastic statement of sustaining faith is a succinct summation of the confidence we can have in God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Hanahiah, Mishael, and Azariah in Hebrew) exhibited the same unwavering faith when they said to Nebuchadnezzar, “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Wow! That is tough faith, resolute in the face of impending disaster.

These are the kind of exemplars and the attitudes we should be encouraging our children and grandchildren to emulate. No wilting lilies, the men and women of God exhibit a courage that the world cannot shake—or understand.

Key Verse: Job 19:25-27 And as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand upon the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; Whom I myself shall behold, and Whom my eyes shall see and not another.

Explanation: Job is thought to have been an early patriarch—predating Moses. This clear statement captures

1 — Job recognized that God would be his Redeemer—and that He already lived and yet would “take His stand upon the earth” at a later date

2 — Job realized that he would go the way of the earth—dying and rejoining the dust; but he also had confident hope that he would be resurrected in a flesh that overcomes the grave to see his Redeemer God

3 — While not given full insight to God’s plan of salvation or all that will come to pass at the end of time, he anticipated that he would witness His final glorious reign upon the earth

Key Verse: Job 42:10 And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends…

Explanation: Job’s experience is so overwhelming that we tend to overlook the ending verses where God turns his attention to Job’s misguided friends. Although they “had not spoken of [God] what is right,” as Job had, the LORD forgave their folly when Job prayed for them. James tells us that “the prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16). Job proved that to his friends’ benefit.

But this verse is also instructive about why Job was a righteous man.

We know that Job had been eager to question God—essentially putting Him on the witness stand. But when Almighty God spoke to him out of the whirlwind, Job fell silent. He then confessed that the ways of God are “too wonderful for me, which I did not know” and “retract[ed],.. repent[ing] in dust and ashes” (Job 42:3-6).

Then, in a demonstration of humble selflessness, Job—the man who had lost and suffered so much—prayed for his friends. How pleased would God be if we kept our focus on the spiritual needs of others—even when our own lives are wracked with pain and suffering? The surest way to get our minds off our own frustrations and discouragements and suffering is to focus our prayerful concern on others.

On that note, never forget that in His hour of greatest distress—as He anticipated His own agonizing death—Jesus prayed for you (John 17:13-21).

Tim Moore: Our guest today is a man who made a dramatic impact on my life, and we’ve never even met. Like me, Del Tackett also served as an Air Force officer. Following his retirement, he was the driving force behind The Truth Project, a tremendous study that delves into a biblical worldview. I’ve taught through that seminar several times and have great respect for Del’s love of the Lord and his timely insights. Del, it is a real honor to have you with us today on this episode of Christ in Prophecy.

Del Tackett: Well, thank you, Tim, it is a blessing to be with you and Nathan and your guests.

Tim Moore: Well, I’ll tell you what you are somebody I’ve looked forward to interacting with even through the airwaves as we are today, remotely, but what a tremendous impact you’ve had. And as we open up the book of Job, one of the oldest books in the Bible, if not in terms of its writing, then at least in terms of the account it is describing, Scripture is quite laudatory of this man known as Job. He is called “blameless and upright.” He is said to “fear God and turn away from evil.” And so far, so good in terms of this man. But in a very mysterious passage, we’re told that on a day when “the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, Satan also came among them.” And as the Lord and Satan engaged in a dialogue, who brought up Job as a man worthy of consideration?

Del Tackett: Well, as strange as that may seem to us, God is the one that brought him up. He said, “Have you considered my servant Job?” And then He said some very amazingly positive things about him, “He was blameless and upright, and a man who feared God and turned away from evil.” So, yes, God introduced him to Satan.

Tim Moore: Wow.

Nathan Jones: I think we could all agree that none of us would want to be introduced by God to Satan, and endure what Job had to do. It’s interesting that once the Lord allowed Satan to go ahead and test Job, that within a few minutes four different servants show up and they all bring terrible news. “Your children area dead.” “Your servants are dead.” “Your cattle have been taken away.” And all these terrible things. He went from very rich, to very poor very quickly. And as Paul Harvey used to say, well, “That’s the rest of the story.” Well, was Satan finished with Job yet?

Del Tackett: No, then God spoke to Satan and said the same positive words again about Job, though Satan had done these things to him, as God says, “Without cause.” And Job had retained his integrity and God was pointing that out. But Satan as always, the accuser said, “Well, that is because you didn’t let me touch him.” As Satan said, “Let me touch his bone, and flesh.” So, then God then granted Satan access to him physically. As the Scripture said he was covered with loathsome sores from the sole of his feet to the crown of his head, and Job scrapped himself with broken pottery. So, he suffered physically, and he suffered mentally, and he also suffered psychologically and socially because his friends turned out to be less than friends.

Tim Moore: They certainly did. You know it is always interesting to me that Satan definitely had a role in Job’s suffering. Satan is said to have inflicted him, and the Lord allowed that. But who is it that knew the limits of Job’s faith prior to his testing? In other words, you can almost say it was not just a test of what Job could endure, but it was a test of his faith. And who also allowed the testing to come into Job’s life and set boundaries on the inflictions that Job would suffer at Satan’s hand?

Del Tackett: Yeah, of course God is the one who right from the beginning told Satan how far he could go with Job, and no farther. And just as we are given the promise in the New Testament that God will not allow us to be tested beyond, tempted beyond what we are able. God provided those same boundaries and limits for Job. And its clear from the rest of the book that Job could take a lot, more than I could bear.

Nathan Jones: It is interesting that Job had three friends show up, and later a fourth friend. How much help was their counsel? Were they wise men?

Tim Moore: Wise guys I would say.

Del Tackett: Well, you know their words of wisdom weren’t always wise. You remember at the end of the book God was angry at them and took them to task for not speaking right about the character of God. Unfortunately, Job’s friends ended up being more of a curse to him. They accused him and taunted him, even in the midst of the worse of his suffering. I mean who needs Satan when you have friends like Job’s?

Tim Moore: Good way to put it. You know the other thing that Job had at his hand was a helpmate who wasn’t always helping him to a right mentality. In other words, today, Del we have Scripture, God’s Word as revealed to us “and it shines as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path,” according to Psalm 119:105. But Job being so early in human history did not even have the written word of God, He only had his faith in the Almighty and a determination not to sin. But it was his wife who suggested that he just “curse God and die.” But still Job did not sin with his lips.

Del Tackett: Well, we don’t know much about when Job lived. But we do read this in Job 23:12, as Job is speaking about God he says this, “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my portion of food.” So, Job had the Word of God for sure. Whether or not that was written or oral, we just don’t know. But regardless Job remained faithful through all of this. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be suffering deeply, and the one earthly person that you would hope would be comforting you would be your wife. But she encouraged him to curse God. And to even die. I mean that is hard to comprehend. But we also need to note, in all of this, and that is that Job was not perfect through all of this, he was faithful, but he wasn’t perfect.

When God finally speaks He roars out to Job. And he says, this is what we read in Job 38:1, “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; and I will question you, and you make it known to me.'” Then God begins that long pounding series of questions: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me if you have understanding.” It was a withering cross examine of Job. And in the middle of that God says this to Job, He said, “Will you even put Me in the wrong? Will you condemn Me that you may be in the right?”

And when God finished with all of this Job rightly said, “Oh, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” So, yes Job remained faithful to God, but he wasn’t perfect in his knowledge. And of course, none of us are.

Tim Moore: Wow.

Nathan Jones: You know I feel kind of for the wife, she is kind of the unsung other character in the story. She lost all her children. She lost her status. She lost her money too. But she seemed to take the worldly view of it, and saying, “Well, God must be punishing us. Let’s curse God and die.” And I think that society looks at it that way too. If anytime something bad happens we say, like we are back on that playground, “That’s not fair.” Are we meant to live in a fair universe? Is that what Job teaches us?

Del Tackett: Well, that depends upon on how we define the word fair, does it not? We often want our fairness to be according to our standards and our preferences. God is always fair. And He is always just. And in the end those who deserve punishment will receive it, and they’ll receive it in full. And that’s a punishment actually that we all deserve, except for those who are in Christ because He has taken that punishment that was deserved by us, and He’s taken that upon Himself. That is what we read in Isaiah; He was punished for our iniquities. So, in that way God was fair, He punished Christ for our sins.

Tim Moore: Yeah, I was going to say it doesn’t seem fair that I get off of what punishment and wrath I deserve, but really, Christ endured that, and so God’s justice was met. And thankfully, His grace is such that I don’t get what I deserved. You know, Job declared his intention throughout the book to ask God some questions when the chance presented itself. He said, “I’d like to ask Him.” And I hear that all the time. “Well, I can’t wait to ask God this. Or to demand an answer for that.” And we hear people talk about wanting to put God on the witness stand, sort of like the theme of our episode today, asking Him to explain things to our satisfaction. We might even say that Job wanted to put God on the hot seat, in our common vernacular. Did God ever directly respond to Job’s questions?

Del Tackett: Well, that’s really interesting, because it seems to me quit frankly that God rarely answers man’s questions. Jesus seldom answered people’s questions. He simply told them what they needed to hear, what they needed to know. And He did the same to Job. I mean can you imagine yourself as Job when God thunders back after Job has been asking all these questions? And He says, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” That is what we read earlier. “Gird your loins, I will ask you and you instruct Me! Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” In reality see Job’s questions, and even our questions sometimes just aren’t right. And so, God tells us what we need to know; rather than answer our questions that just aren’t right questions.

Nathan Jones: It’s interesting the other half of that verse, Job 38:4, “Tell Me if you have understanding.” And then He goes on to say how He’s determined the measurements of the universe, and the morning stars sang, and He gives us all this history. Are we as humans, with our little three-pound brains capable of understanding all that God can comprehend?

Del Tackett: Well, Nathan that is really a great question, because certainly we can’t comprehend the depth of the infinite, and eternal, and holy God. But He has revealed Himself to us. He’s revealed Himself to us in His Word. He has revealed Himself to us in what He has made so that we can know Him, and that we can know Him rightly, maybe not to the depth, certainly not to the depth of who He is, but we can know Him and know Him rightly. And it is so like God to take the circumstances of life and use them to point our thinking back to Him. That’s what is happening here in Job. When we turn our eyes upon Him the circumstances of our life should grow dim. And that is what happening here with Job and his friends, He is pulling them out of their own little self-centered stories, and turning their eyes back on Him; His nature and His character. That is the true source of all truth. And it’s the source for all of our answers.

Tim Moore: It certainly is. I think some people want to key on those aspects of God’s wonder that He is not chosen to reveal, and that frustrates them instead of really gravitating to the things He has revealed. He has revealed Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. And people just want to dismiss that and key on the things that they cannot know, and arguably are unknowable, again with our three-pound brain. Job makes several very dramatic statements that I think have prophetic and even Messianic ramifications. Where do you see Job testifying to his faith in a Savior, in a Messiah who would come in the fulness of time?

Del Tackett: Yeah, and there are a couple that are very prominent here in Job. There are several of them, but a couple that are quite prominent. In Job 13:15, Job says, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.” This is a man who understands the promise of life after death, the promise of a salvation. In Job 19:25-27 he says, “As for me, I know my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I will see God; Whom I myself shall behold, and Whom my eyes shall see and not another.”

Even without knowing for sure where Job fits in the Bible’s chronology, for sure he had at least the understanding of what we call the protoevangelium that we see in Genesis 3, where the seed of the woman would come, that is Christ, and would one day make all things right again. It is apparent to me that Job had that understanding of the coming of a Messiah. He certainly didn’t know it clearly, for sure he did not know it clearly, but he had an understanding of the Messiah, and that He would one day come.

Nathan Jones: Fascinating. Not only did he have an understanding of the Messiah, but as we are going through this Jesus in the Old Testament series we are looking for preincarnate appearances of Jesus called Christophanies, and symbols, and foreshadowing’s of Jesus. So, he foresaw the Messiah coming. But was Jesus actually there during the story of the book of Job?

Del Tackett: Well, you know we don’t have that specific kind of language in Job. Many people believe, and I do as well, that when there is a physical presence of God that is manifested on earth, it is most likely that this is the person of Jesus. Now, we want to make sure, by the way, we want to make sure, because it is very easy for us to fall into polytheism; we begin to think that God is three separate Gods. So, when God appears, God appears. And sometimes we don’t want to get caught up in thinking, well, which person was this? As if it was a separate God. But for sure when I look at Job I see the whole thing in the light of Christ.

And I think it is best understood when we look at Isaiah 53, which was pointing to Christ, and the suffering Messiah, because the parallels are just simply amazing. Here is a man chosen by God who suffered terribly. Isaiah said He was smitten by God. And Job was indirectly smitten by God. Isaiah says that the Messiah was despised and rejected; Job says that he was abhorred by others. Jesus cried out, “Why have you forsaken Me?” And Job does the same thing. Isaiah tells us that the suffering Messiah would be restored; and so was Job.

Now, you know we have to be careful with types. It doesn’t mean that Job is perfect. It doesn’t mean that he was Christ. See Job is trying to make the case that his righteousness should mean that his circumstances should be better. His friends were trying to make the case that it was Job’s unrighteousness that was bringing about the circumstances he found himself in. Our salvation rests solely upon the righteous. That is why Job is expressing the Gospel to us here, the book of Job is expressing the Gospel to us. We can’t claim health and wealth, and happiness because of our righteousness, nor can we link our suffering or our persecution or other negative things to our lack of righteousness. In fact, Jesus said that those who are in Christ would suffer in this world, therefore we count that all as joy. Now, oftentimes that is easier said than done, right?

Tim Moore: It certainly is. You know I love what you mentioned about Job being a type of Christ, imperfect though he was. And we would even say, I would, I think you would agree, that Job in his understanding expressed a godly worldview. It was imperfect, it didn’t have the fulness of revelation of scripture that we have, even with the New Testament. But when you use the language, and you really have dramatically demonstrated the power of worldview. What do we mean, for our viewers sake, when we talk about a Biblical or a Christian worldview? What are some of the basic tenants of a Christian or Biblical Worldview.

Del Tackett: Sure. Well, when we speak of a Biblical worldview we are talking about the truth claims that God has revealed to us that speak the truth about all of life; the 360 degrees of life; from philosophy, to science, to history, to social order. Now, our personal worldview however is often tainted by the truth claims that come from the world of flesh, and the enemy. And as Christians we are constantly trying to conform our personal worldview more and more with God’s worldview. God has spoken about what is true about the world around us, and that is what we need to make our thinking conform to.

Tim Moore: Well, I certainly agree. And I’ve said even in our introduction I have thoroughly appreciated The Truth Project, which was your major series talking about worldview. And I actually hope our viewers will delve into getting a copy of the Truth Project, participating in that wonderful study. But you are on the cusp or have just released another Biblical worldview small group series that will allow people to cross examine the Bible’s account of history. So, tell us a little bit about The Engagement Project.

Del Tackett: Well, basically The Engagement Project is trying to answer the question: Why are we still here in this world? And once we have a Biblical worldview, as best as God will allow us to have that Biblical worldview, what are we supposed to do with it? The Engagement Project is a 10-week small group study in video form, with lots of animations and vignettes. God appears to put His hands on it the same way He’s put His hands upon The Truth Project, and it went all over the world. Some say 20 million people have gone through The Truth Project. And already we’ve begun to see God is putting His hands upon The Engagement Project. Now, let me tell you emphatically, that is not because of me. I’m just the tour guide and pointing people to the face of God. So, it has nothing to do with me. It just happens to do with the fact that God has chosen to bless it. So, The Engagement Project is basically to help us understand why we are here, and what are we supposed to do.

Tim Moore: So, Del how would our viewers, perhaps, connect with your ministry? Where could they go to find out how to download The Engagement Project, or to get a copy of the wonderful Truth Project series?

Del Tackett: Sure, the best way to do that is simply to go to deltackett.com, and then you can follow the menus and so forth in terms of how to get trained to lead a small group in The Engagement Project or to lead a small group in The Truth Project.

Tim Moore: Wonderful. Well, Del you are a willing servant, and God only uses willing servants some of them grudgingly, but you have not been a grudging servant unlike Jonah, you have been a willing servant. And so, you have been a conduit of blessing. I know that this new series will be a great blessing to many. And I just want to thank you again for joining us today to dive into the book of Job and to seek wisdom, and really to point us to Jesus Christ, our soon returning King, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Del Tackett: Thank you, Tim. Thank you, Nathan.

Closing

Tim Moore: In addition to being one of the oldest books of the Bible, Job is one of the most difficult. It challenges our assumptions about the heavenly realm and dramatically shows that God’s ways are above our ways.

Nathan Jones: Well, we believe that Job was a real man, with a real family that he loved, and real friends that wanted to help him. Their inclination to sit with their suffering friend was noble and good, but their analysis of his plight, and the reasons behind his grief, completely missed the mark and ended up adding to his misery.

Tim Moore: Job’s experience and his friends’ misguided attempt to comfort him, offer wisdom to those with discernment. We know that we will have trouble in this life, Jesus told us as much in John 16:33.

Nathan Jones: The key is not to lean on our own understanding or try to withstand trials and tribulations under our own strength. Jesus said that we should take courage because He has overcome the world.

Tim Moore: Jesus has also provided a support system for us in this life: His Church. He does not intend for any Christian to be a lone wolf, or more accurately, a lone sheep. We all know what happens to lone sheep, they quickly fall prey to the ravenous wolf.

Nathan Jones: The church is where God uses us to encourage fellow believers. As Del said, Christ intends to pull us out of our own little self-centered stories and turn our eyes back on Jesus. In this life, we serve Him by serving others, and sometimes that means sitting with people as they mourn, or supporting them when they grow weary, or pointing fellow believers back to God when they are tempted to stray.

Tim Moore: Job also demonstrates that we cannot understand why injustice occurs in this life, or why seemingly innocent people suffer, or why children get cancer and die. We can only trust that God is in control. Before His holy Presence our questions cease and our doubts flee away. Our Key Verses this week capture the poignant truths Job came to appreciate through his painful experience.

Nathan Jones: We’ve picked out Job 1:6-8, 13:15, 19:25-27, and 42:10 as key verses. Visit our website to access our Key Verse Commentary on these passages.

Tim Moore: Our offer for this week is Dr. Reagan’s Christ in Prophecy Study Guide. If this series has whet your appetite to explore all the prophetic references to Jesus in the Word of God, we highly recommend this resource. Nathan and I have both been through it and have been blessed by it. As the Apostles demonstrated in their preaching and writing, Bible prophecy validates the person of Jesus Christ and the significance of His first advent. It also points to the Rapture and His glorious Second Coming. For a gift of $20 or more we’ll be glad to ship it to you.

Nathan Jones: Next week we will turn our attention to the book of Psalms. We’d invite you to read through the Psalms and let the poetic hymns of David, and Solomon, and Asaph and the other writers bless your heart. Pick out your favorites and look for prophetic references to our Messiah, Jesus Christ. Well, until next week I’m Nathan Jones.

Tim Moore: And I’m Tim Moore, saying, “Look up, be watchful, for the Lord, who has revealed things too wonderful to comprehend and is worthy of our hope is drawing near!”

End of Program