BibleProject | One Story That Leads to Jesusનમૂનો

After seven days of stunned silence, reeling from the disaster they just witnessed, Job’s friends speak. Launching into the poetic debates that make up most of the book, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar all assume that God orders the world by a strict principle of justice. If you honor God, you get rewarded. If you dishonor God, you will be punished. It’s simple. The friends conclude that the only thing that can explain Job’s suffering is wrongdoing on Job’s part.

Each of Job’s friends offers a slightly different spin on this basic logic. Eliphaz, the first friend to speak, tries to put a positive spin on the situation: “Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?” If Job truly believes he’s innocent, Eliphaz reasons, he should have grounds for hope. God will eventually treat Job as he deserves and restore him to a state of shalom. This Hebrew word, as you’ll learn in the video, means more than just peace. It also refers to wholeness and well-being.

But Eliphaz’s reasoning offers no comfort to Job. Job insists he’s done nothing to deserve the suffering he’s experiencing. Therefore, Job concludes that either God doesn’t run the world according to justice, or God himself is not just.

Job and his friends will spend most of the book defending their respective positions in long, increasingly heated cycles of poetic speeches. This leaves the reader to wonder: Who has the correct view of wisdom and God?

Reflection Questions

• Meditate on Moses’ final speech to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 28-30. What does Moses say will happen to the Israelites if they obey God’s instructions? What will happen if they disobey? How does Job’s story so far complicate the theology of Moses’ speech?
• Compare Job 7:17-19 to Psalm 8. What does the psalmist say about God’s careful attention to humanity? What do you notice about Job’s response to the same divine attention?