Job was extremely religious, extremely pious, and extremely good. Even God said,
“Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” (Job 1:8).
But being blameless and upright doesn’t mean you know all there is to know about God and the world. It doesn’t mean you don’t have room to grow.
In fact, through his suffering, Job’s faith grew.
At first, Job was resigned to suffer:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked shall I return there.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).
(Notice, Job was wrong. The Lord had not taken anything away from him; Satan had.)
But as Job continued to suffer, he began to wonder what was going on:
Have I sinned?
What have I done to You, O watcher of men?
Why have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden to myself? (Job 7:20).
Like his friends, Job has a legalistic worldview of punishment and reward—so he wondered why he was being punished (as we know, he wasn’t!).
Job did not receive an answer. So he wanted to sue God. That’s right! Job wanted to take God to court to prove his innocence:
Yet I prefer to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God (Job 13:3 HCSB).
But he didn’t think he would get a hearing.
“How then can I answer Him
or choose my arguments against Him?
Even if I were in the right, I could not answer.
I could only beg my Judge for mercy.
If I summoned Him and He answered me,
I do not believe He would pay attention to what I said” (Job 9:14-16 HCSB).
As he continued to suffer, Job’s hope began to change. At first, he hoped he’d win his suit against God. Then he began to hope for a mediator. He wished there was someone who could make a case for him:
For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him,
that we can take each other to court.
There is no one to judge between us,
to lay his hand on both of us.
Let Him take His rod away from me
so His terror will no longer frighten me (Job 9:32-34 HCSB).
As you make your way through the speeches, you see that Job’s theology begins to change and to mature. He begins to express a different kind of hope. He doesn’t hope in an air-tight system of reward and punishment, as do Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. And he doesn’t hope to win his case against God. He doesn’t hope in this world. Instead, he expresses faith—not just hope—that one day, after he has died and put this suffering world behind him, he will be resurrected by his Redeemer:
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,
Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:25-27)
By the end, suffering taught Job to yearn for the appearance of his Redeemer. Earthly pains gave birth to spiritual longing.
Carl
There are a lot of themes that can be gleaned from the book of Job but I see one particular theme that it has in common with a theme from the book of Habakkuk. That theme is, “help me to understand what is going on.” And in that sincere desire to understand what is going on our hearts are drawn to God. It is in the wrestling that we experience a closeness, an intimacy.
Vernon K. Lockner
Job learned to talk less and trust God more. Suffering does that to you. “Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that I understand not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not” Job 42:3. “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” Job 42:5-6. Repentance is a good thing for all of us to continually do. Me at the top of the list.
Jim Poulos
It should be understood the reason the Lord held Job’s friends accountable and not Job is the Job repented of how he was thinking and talking about the Lord and His work. Job’s friends did not repent like Job did.
Job 42:3 You asked, “Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
So Job did not think correctly in much of the discussion with his friends. When confronted by the Lord Himself he changed his thinking quick.
What was that wrong thinking Job and his friends talked about? is the question.
Peace
Alvin
Being born again happens at a point in time you pass from death into life. It’s not a process, but happens at the moment you believe (drink, John 6:35).
John 4:10,13-14; 5:24
It’s not a choice but a persuasion.
Acts 28:24
Romans 4:21
Repentance is not a condition for eternal life, but for harmony with God.
And is not found one time in John’s Gospel which is written to the unbeliever that he may have life (John 20:31).
Acts 20:21
Being set free is not automatic for a believer.
John 8:31-32
It is a choice of who you will serve.
Romans 6:16
Suffering with Christ is a condition for being glorified with Him.
Romans 8:17-23; Hebrews 5:7-9; 1:14
Alvin
Also, the difference between a heir of God and a co-heir with Christ, is that the co-heir has a first-fruits of the Spirit.
The co-heir has chosen to suffer with Christ.
Romans 8:17; 6:16-18
Both the heir and the co-heir are sons and daughters of God, but only the co-heir is living as a son.
It’s only the co-heir that has been set free, the heir is living in bondage, the truth has not set him free from sin, even though he has been born again.
This is why Jesus tells His disciples to abide in Him, it’s a choice. God does not force us to be slaves of righteousness, even though the innerman has been set free and cannot sin, we still live in a body of death. And without being delivered by His life daily we’re not losing our life to save it, which is a choice~!
Romans 8:10; John 8:31-32; Romans 5:9-10.
We “shall be saved” is a gnomic future not a predictive one. A good example of this is Matthew 6:30 (Zane Romans page 141 But our Lord’s statement is a call to TRUST God to do that, not a simple prediction.)