Posts that reference the book of Job

Study Tip: Who’s on First?

My son starts school today. (Yuck… And yes I was one of the bad parents at Wal-Mart last night trying to buy school supplies, but that’s another story.) In honor of- or maybe in mourning for- the start of school, for today’s tip, I’m going back to one of the basics. Good Bible study always begins with a simple examination of what the text says. (The ‘observation’ part of inductive study.) This is the information-gathering stage, the fact-finding mission. So start with the simplest question- Who?

As you read the passage, answer as many ‘who’ questions as practically possible. Who is the speaker? Who is being addressed? Who is being discussed? Check the antecedents for the pronouns. (You know, the noun the pronoun stands for. Feels like school already.)

For example, Job 18:7 says, “The steps of his strength are shortened, and his own counsel casts him down.” Who is speaking? Job’s friend Bildad. Who is being addressed? Job. Who is being discussed, the ‘him’? We have to go back a few verses, to verse 5 to see it’s ‘the wicked’ that Bildad is discussing, but by implication, he’s talking about Job.

When you read the New Testament letters, it’s helpful to watch the pronouns and keep them straight. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul writes, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Him who? Sometimes it’s God the Father and sometimes it’s Christ the Son.

Another place where the ‘who’ can be revealing is Acts 16. Verse 8 says “…they came down to Troas…” Then in verse 10, it says, “…we sought to go to Macedonia…” That’s the tipoff that the author of Acts, Luke, had joined the group and the next section of the book is a firsthand account.

Sometimes, even a simple thing like this can give a new insight on a familiar passage.

Truth about the Adversary

By Paula Wiseman

I started reading the book of Job this morning. Admittedly, it’s a tough read. The grief and loss Job experiences in the opening chapters staggers the imagination, and I doubt any of us read it without wondering, “How would I react?” We learn some very key things about the Adversary in these chapters, however.

1. Satan is not omnipresent. Job 1:7 says he had come from walking back and forth on the earth. Regardless of how he may pass himself off, he is a finite created being. Only God is infinite.

2. Satan is the accuser and slanderer. (1:9, 2:4-5) He attacks Job’s motives, Job’s character and his integrity, yet, all his claims were false. He was flat wrong about Job. Everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie. Everything. God is truth.

2. Satan knows us by name. When God pointed Job out, Satan knew him (1:9-10), and what kind of life he had. God knows us before we are even born.

3. Satan does not know the future (1:11). He assumes how we will react based on his own preconceptions. Unfortunately, he is right many times. This gives the impression that he knows more than he does. Only God knows the future.

4. Satan can only operate within the boundaries God sets for him. (1:12, 2:6) Any time God allows Satan some latitude, it’s for a greater purpose that God has.

5. Satan cannot read our minds or our hearts. He has a lot of experience with humans, and that makes him a good guesser. God knows. In 2:3 God says that Job holds to his integrity. That means Job’s actions match his heart. Only God could know that.

Satan would love for us to believe he has more power and authority than he does. It’s all an illusion. The book of Job testifies to the uniqueness of God. He is so different, so set apart from anything else He created. That’s the conclusion Job reaches. Only God is God.