Most of the interpretations or commentaries available on this very old book (some say oldest) do not look at the whole story of Job through “the finished work of the cross”. And without that, much of it will stay hidden, obscure. This is a book about the awakening of Job to his origin, to who his Father is and who he was and who everyone else was/is – The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring. (Acts 17)
It is a move from a fear-based religion to an intimate knowledge of Love and Life. It is the story of a home-coming… of a servant becoming a mature Son/huios.
Everything in this book – all names and numbers, the symbolism, everything is extremely important and revealing.
So brothers and sisters, sons of God, morning stars, please: Consider My servant Job!
Behold, …My servant the Branch. … Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, the son of Man and the Son of God, the suffering servant …He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.. In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious. …Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the LORD. …I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
The meaning of the name Job in Hebrew has been debated. Possible meanings range from "to show hostility”, "enemy of God", ”alienated”, "repent" or “return”, 'he who turns (to God)’, “No Father” or “Where Is My Father?”.
The name Uz is mentioned several times in the Bible. In Genesis Uz is the son of Aram, a direct descendant of Shem. Genesis 10:23
The word may also be related etymologically to the word oz, meaning 'east'.In the Book of Job (1:3), Job is described as "the greatest of all the people of the East.”
The first word applied to Job is "blameless" which is a translation of the Hebrew word tam – a word often used to describe sacrificial animals that were required to be without blemish or perfect. (Jesus the spotless Lamb of God) The second word describing Job was "upright." (My Righteous One) This word meant that Job faithfully obeyed God’s laws. (In Him was no sin) This included justice and mercy in the treatment of other people. (Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.) The third description of Job is a brief phrase, "he feared God." The fear of God is the highest expression in the Wisdom literature to describe wisdom. The fourth description is the phrase, "he turned away from evil.”
The numbers three and seven appear twice and five plus five or ten is mentioned once. The numbers three, seven, and ten were frequently used in the Bible to symbolize completeness. There was nothing that Job lacked materially in the culture in which he lived. The full measure of God’s blessing can be seen in verse 2 where the text states that Job had seven sons and three daughters. Both Ruth 4:15 and I Samuel 2:5 describe seven children as the ideal number. Job is further blessed in that he has seven sons, which were more favored than daughters, plus three daughters. (Compare this with his possessions, sons and daughters at the end).
Job 1:6 and on… Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (the adversary, the accuser, the law) came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. Where did this happen? Within Job. Jesus said: the kingdom of heaven is within, God dwells within … His throne is within …Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. …"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Look at the whole process set loose by God’s words! Tribulation, severe hardships, a shaking of everything that could possibly be shaken – accumulated things, son and daughters, mindsets, Job had trouble on all sides. Sickness and death as if to say, see Job, this is what all your serving God and sacrifices and offerings brought you – you’re just a poor, abandoned sinner, curse God and die like a mere man! Dust to dust, ashes to ashes… Job’s persistent cry though: I am righteous, even though He slay me, I know My Redeemer lives. …our faith will be like gold that has been tested in a fire. And these trials will prove that your faith is worth much more than gold that can be destroyed.
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar heard of Job’s terrible losses and agreed to go to Job and comfort him. Again, look at the meaning of their names and their reasonings:
Eliphaz – “God is fine gold”, “God is his strength”, “the endeavor of God“.
He was Son of Esau by Adah, and father of Teman, Kenaz and Amalek (Genesis 36:4,10; 1 Chronicles 1:35). The Temanitee were celebrated for their wisdom, as we learn from Jeremiah, who says (Jeremiah 49:7), "Concerning Edom, thus saith the Lord of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?" Job's friend was probably among their wisest men at the time; and his discourses certainly show a considerable knowledge of human nature.
Bildad’s name consists of two elements, but there's no consensus on which ones those are.
The first part of the name comes from the Babylonian divine name Bel, which is closely related to the name Baal, and means Lord: other sources further agree that the second part of the name Bildad comes from the verb ידד (yadad), which probably means to love: Hence, Bel Has Loved. Also son of contention, old friendship.
Zohar – “rising early”, “crown”, “sparrow or chirping”, “tsphar, meaning doubtful, supposed from root meaning "to leap” (to hinge on two thoughts? a double-minded man?)
All of them basically accused Job and his children of sin and therefore they themselves were responsible for the destruction of their lives.
Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.… Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ… For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, "He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness. The carnal mind is at enmity with God. be renewed in your mind… put on the mind of Christ.Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.
God might kill me, but I have no other hope. I am going to argue my case with him. My Redeemer lives! And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.
Then God spoke to Job and he “saw” Him. And what does God say to Him? Amongst others: Job don’t you remember, come on Job, wake up! Put on your garment of splendour, gird the loins of your mind… Don’t you remember Job…let’s reason together… Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me…Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? …Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years! … Come on, Job, wake up!
And as happened to Moses, Isaiah, Paul, John on Patmos, so it happened with Job: My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.
One with the Father, Job becomes a Father after God’s own heart. And only then could he, Job, birth the man-child, the spotless bride, male and female – the generation of Jesus Christ. And inherit the kingdom prepared before time. The LORD blessed the latter days of Job (the spiritual man) more than his beginning (the natural man); and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys. He had seven sons and three daughters.…
The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers (Job 42:14-15).
The names again are significant, and here are their meanings:
• Jemimah means “dove”, a symbol of peace …
Keziah is another spelling of the word cassia = incense or a fragrance … For we are a sweet odour of Christ to God
Keren-Happuch literally means “the horn of adornment”, beautifier – and is a reference, therefore, to the outward beauty that comes from an inward character.
Secondly, Job gave the girls an inheritance, as well as to their brothers. According to the Old Testament, the inheritance was only given to the males of the family and not the females. The sons were given an inheritance. The only reason girls were given an inheritance was if there father were to die without having a male heir (Numbers 27:8). If a girl were given an inheritance then she was not allowed to marry anyone other than a man from here father’s tribe. God did not allow the inheritance of one tribe to pass along to another tribe (Numbers 36)."Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”
Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
“O you afflicted one,
Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.
I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
Your gates of crystal,
And all your walls of precious stones.
All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children.
In righteousness you shall be established;
You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.
Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.
“Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an instrument for his work;
And I have created the spoiler to destroy.
No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.
Painting: Job by Bonnat
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