THE THIRD EPISTLE OF PETER,

TO ALL PREACHERS AND RULERS OF CONGREGATIONS, A Looking Glass for the Clergy.

One of the best proofs that a prophecy is what it purports to be, is its exact fulfilment. If this rule be adopted in relation to the “Third Epistle of Peter,” there can be no doubt that it was written in the true spirit of prophecy. We thought it worthy of being preserved, and have therefore given it a place in this work.

PREFACE.

How the following epistle came to be overlooked by the early saints of christendom and by all the Fathers, or whether it was purposely suppressed by the Council of Nice, and why it was at last destined to be found with other old mss among the ruins of an ancient city by a miserable wandering monk, are all circumstances which my limited knowledge of these subjects does not enable me to explain. I am answerable only for the accuracy of the translation from a French copy presented by the monk himself. Neither can I prove the authenticity of the original, unless it be on the strict correspondence of the actual state of the church with the injunctions contained in the epistle, a correspondence which seems to hold with as much veracity as that which is found in the fulfilment of any prophecy with the prediction itself.

TRANSLATION.

CHAPTER 1. The Style and Manner of Living.

Now ye who are called and chosen to go forth to all nations and among all people, in time present and time to come, to preach the word, see ye take unto ourselves marks, nay many outward marks, whereby ye shall be known of men.

Be ye not called as men are called; but be ye called Pope, Archbishop, Archdeacon, or Divine, or Reverend and Right Reverend or some like holy name; so may you show forth your honor and your calling.

And let your dwelling places be houses of splendor and edifices of cost; and let your doors be decked with plates of brass and let your names, even your reverend titles be graven thereon; so shall it be as a sign.

Let your garments in which you minister be garments not as the garments of men, neither let them be “seamless garments woven throughout,” but let them be robes of richest silk and robes of fine linen, of curious device and of costly workmanship; and have ye robes of black and robes of white that ye may change the one for the other; so shall ye show forth wisdom and humility.

Let your fare be sumptuous, not plain and frugal as the fare of the husbandman who tilleth the ground; but live ye on the fat of the land, taking “good heed for the morrow and wherewithal ye shall be fed.”

And drink ye of the wines of the vintage brought from afar, and wines of great price; then shall the light of your spirits be the light of your countenances, and your faces shall be bright, even as the morning sun shall your faces glow in brightness thus shall ye show forth your moderation and your temperance in all things.

Let the houses in which you preach be called churches, and let them be built in manner of great ornament without, and adorned with much cost within: with rich pillars and paints, and with fine altars and pedestals and urns of precious stones, and cloths and velvet of scarlet, and vessels of silver.

And let there be rooms for the changing of robes, and places for the precious metals and mitres.

And let the houses be divided into seats for the congregation, and let every man know his own seat; and let the first seats in front of the altar be for the rich that pay by thousands, and the next for the poorer that pay by hundreds; and the last for those that pay by tens. And let the poor man sit behind the door.

And let the seats be garnished with cushings and crimson cloth, and with fine velvet; for if the houses of players and vain people who deal in idle sayings and shows of mockery, be rich and gorgeous, how much more so should be the houses that are dedicated to him “that is meek and lowly of spirit.”

CHAPTER 2. The Choosing of Ministers.

When ye go out to choose holy ones to be of your brethren, and to minister at the altar, choose ye from among the youth, even those whose judgments are not yet ripe, and whose hearts know not yet whether they incline to God or Mammon.

But ye are wise, and ye shall know the inclining of their future spirits, and ye shall make them incline to the good things which the church hath in store for them that are called, even those that shall be called of you.

Then shall ye have them taught exceeding many things. They shall not be as “ignorant fishermen,” or husbandmen, or men speaking one tongue, and serving God only by the knowledge of this law.

Nay, ye shall make them wise in the things of your wisdom; yea exceedingly cunning in many mysteries, even the mysteries which you teach.

Then shall they be fitted for the “laying on of hands”, and when the bishop hath done his office then shall they be reverend divines.

But if any man believe that he is called of God to speak to his brethren “without money and without price,” though his soul be bowed to the will of the Father, and though he work all righteousness, and “speak as with the tongue of an angel” — if he be not made a Divine by your rulers and by the hands of a bishop, then is he not a divine, nor shall he preach.

He that is chosen of you shall give you honor, and shall be honored of men, and honored of women; and verily he expects his reward.

CHAPTER 3. The Performance of Preaching.

When ye go to the church to preach, go not by the retired way where go those that would shun the crowd, but go in the highway where go the multitude, and see that ye have on the robes of black, and take heed that your pace be measured well, and that your march be stately.

Then shall your “hearts be lifted up,” even as the hearts of mighty men shall they be lifted up. And ye shall be gazed upon by the multitude, and they shall honor you; and the men shall praise you, and the women shall glorify you, even by the women shall ye be glorified.

And when you go in, go not as the ordained, prepared only with a soul to God and with a heart to men, and a spirit filled with the Holy Ghost; but go ye with your pockets full of papers and full of divine words: even in your pockets shall your divinity be.

And let your sermon be full of “the enticing words of man’s wisdom,” and let it be beautiful with just divisions, with tropes, and with metaphors, and with hyperbole, and apostrophe, and with interrogation, and with acclamation, and with syllogisms, and with sophisms, and throughout let declamation be.

And take good heed to your attitudes and your gestures, knowing when to bend and when to erect, when to lift your right hand and when your left, and let your motions be graceful, even in your attitudes and in your gestures let your grace be. Thus shall ye be pleasing in the eyes of the people and graceful in their sight.

Let your voice at times be smooth as the stream of the valley and soft as the breeze that waves not the bough on its bank; and at times let it swell like the wave of the ocean, or like the whirlwind on the mountain top.

Then shall ye charm the ears of your hearers and their hearts shall be softened, and their minds shall be astounded, and their souls shall incline unto you; and the men shall incline unto you, and likewise the women; yea unto your sayings and unto your persons shall they be inclined.

And be ye mindful not to offend the people; rebuke ye not their sins; but when ye rebuke sin, rebuke it at a distance: and let no man apply your sayings to his own case; so shall he not he offended.

If a brother shall raise up the banner of war against a brother, and christians against christians, rebuke them not; but he some of you on the one side and some on the other; and tell the one host that God is on their side, and the other host that he is on their side; so make them bold to kill. And even among swords and lancets let your black robes be seen.

Preach ye not “Peace on earth and good will to men,” but preach ye glory to the victor and victory to the brave.

If any man go into a foreign land and seize upon his fellow man, across the great deep into bondage; nay, if he tear asunder the dearest ties of nature, the tenderest leagues of the human heart, if he tear the wife from the husband, and force the struggling infant from its mother’s bleeding breast, rebuke him not!

And although he sell them in foreign slavery to toil beneath the lash all their days, tell him not that his doings are of Antichrist: for lo he is rich and giveth unto the Church: and is esteemed pious, so shall ye not offend him, lest peradventure he withdraw himself from your flock.

Teach them to believe that you have the care of their souls and that the saving mysteries are for your explaining; and when you explain your mysteries, encompass them round about with words as with a bright veil, so bright that through it no man can see.

And lo! ye shall bind the judgments of men, (and more especially of women,) as with a band of iron; and ye shall make them blind in the midst of light, even as the owl is blind in the noon day sun; and behold ye shall lead them captive to your reverend wills.

CHAPTER 4. The Clergy’s Reward.

“In all your gettings” get money! Now, therefore, when ye go forth on your ministerial journey, go where there are silver and gold, and where each man will pay according to his measure. For verily I say ye must get your reward.

Go ye not forth as those that have been sent, “without two coats, without gold or silver, or brass in their purses; without scrip for their journey, or shoes, or staves;” but go ye forth in the good things of this world.

And when ye shall hear of a church that is vacant and hath no one to preach therein, then be that a call unto you, and be ye mindful of the call, and take ye charge of the flock thereof and of the fleece thereof, even of the golden fleece.

And when ye shall have fleeced your flock, and shall know of another call, and if the flock be greater or rather if the fleece be greater, then greater be also unto you the call — Then shall ye leave your old flock, and of the new flock shall ye take the charge.

Those who have “freely received” let them “freely give,” and let not men have your words “without money nor without price,” but bargain ye for hundreds and bargain for thousands, even for thousands of silver and gold shall ye bargain.

And over and above the price for which ye have sold your service, take ye also gifts and be mindful to refuse none saying, “Lo! I have enough!” but receive gifts from them that go in chariots, and from them that feed flocks, and from them that earn their morsel by the sweat of their brow.

Yea, take ye gifts of all, and take them in gold and in silver, and in bread; in wine and in oil; in raiment and in fine linen.

And the more that the people give you the more will they honor you; for they shall believe that “in giving to you they are giving to the Lord;” for behold their sight shall be taken from them and they shall be blind as bats, and “shall know not what they do.”

And ye shall wax richer and richer, and grow greater and greater, and you shall be lifted up in your own sight, and exalted in the eyes of the multitude; and lucre shall be no longer filthy in your sight. And verily ye have your reward. In doing these things ye shall never fail. And may abundance of gold and silver and bank notes, and corn and wool, and flax, and spirits and wine, and land be multiplied unto you, both now and hereafter. Amen.

Christian Baptist.

THE APOSTOLIC ADVOCATE. June 1835, ed JT

A Few First Principles of Common Sense

Addressed to those who possess this sense common only to the few.

God is power. All power in the universe emanates from Him. Two kinds of power may be said to operate all its diversified effects — physical and moral. Physical force of power splits rocks, overturns mountains, engulfs cities, etc, and is always subordinate to, and executive of, moral or legislative power.

All power exercised by men is vested, and administered only by the permission of God. The fact that God permits a thing to be done is no proof that He approves it. Thus He permits men to legislate, but does not approve their legislation. The original, underived right of giving laws to mankind is the sole and absolute prerogative of Jehovah. Moses and Jesus are the only two persons in whom He has vested the authority of promulgating codes of law; all other lawgivers, “sacred and profane” are rebels, traitors, and usurpers of the rights of these two. Hence no man, though permitted, has any right to introduce a single law, custom or regulation into society in general, much less into the church of Jesus Christ in particular.

God, being omnipotent, can impart as much power, and to whom, as He pleases. No community of men can of right exercise, or impart to others, more authority than is vested in themselves. No exercise of authority is just or right, which is not sanctioned by God.

The commands of Jesus are authentic, and ought to be obeyed, because they are attested by God; and so ought those of the Apostles for the same reason. The decrees of Popes, Councils, Archbishops, Patriarchs, General Assemblies, Synods, Presbyteries, or Associations of any kind; — or those of Reverends of whatever title, ought not to be obeyed, because they are not attested by God. They are all apostate and antichristian.

All legitimate power or authority is vested in the congregation of the true believers. “The Church is the pillar and the support of the truth.” It has been transmitted, not by clerical succession, but from Jehovah to Jesus, from Jesus to the Apostles, from the Apostles to the faithful, who have retained it to this day.

Though vested with Divine Authority, the faithful can only of right exercise it in conformity with the letter and spirit of the written word. Before an assembly of believers can spiritually or legitimately administer the affairs of the body, the many must individually understand the scriptures concerning those affairs. If the persons, who compose the many, or majority, of a church be ignorant of what the scriptures teach concerning the government of the congregation, their proceeding will be unwarrantable, and therefore not binding on the few who may be enlightened.

As the power, or authority, is vested in the whole church, no individual can of right do anything in said congregation unless called upon so to act by those in whom the power resides; that is, by the many. If every member knew the will of God and would do it, all appointments would necessarily be unanimous. The cause of differences is two-fold; first, ignorance, and secondly, an indisposition to obey the truth when known. Unity of practice is sure to ensue from a knowledge of, and disposition to obey the truth. The means, therefore, that ought to be adopted to attain this desirable end, is to study the scriptures diligently with an honest determination to do whatever they require to be done. The truth is ascertained by testimony. All honest men who think can judge of testimony: if then, two adverse propositions be maintained, the one by this side, the other by that, that should be received, which is sustained by the most testimony — evidence, not votes, should decide; for by two or three witnesses, not by votes, shall every thing be established.

A vote is a voice, affirmatively or negatively given. To decide by vote is to decide by the numbers for or against a proposition. Numeration cannot determine truth; it can determine the strength of parties. To rule by numbers is to substitute the authority of men for that of God. It is the stratagem of the Anti-christ — a scheme of the devil to supersede the wholesome and efficient monarchy of Jesus. A vote may convey authority, but it cannot administer laws — it may make them, but in no instance can it apply them.

The Mediatorial Institution is a Kingdom. Its laws and ordinances were appointed by the Monarch. Nothing remains now but to administer them. No assembly of believers can of right say, that these laws shall not be enforced; no vote of a majority can of right impede their administration. To introduce republican maxims and principles into a monarchial institution, and especially that of the Kingdom of Jesus, is to set up rebellion against the authority of the King. Monarchism and Republicanism are incompatible — one or other must succumb.

Seeing that the many, or majority, cannot en masse administer the laws, and knowing from precepts and examples that some must, upon the principle that a body without discipline cannot long exist, certain of that body must be invested with administrative authority. This authority can only legitimately be conveyed by the many, appointing persons answering to the apostolic description as near as can be, to the offices ordained of God through the apostles of Christ. Persons appointed to the deaconship have a right to all authority necessary for the discharge of the functions thereof; and so in respect to those who are chosen to the administration of the laws.

To entrust power or authority to others, is to surrender to them the right of doing all that the many could of right do; always reserving to itself the privilege of its resumption. Power delegated, or entrusted to others, can no longer be independently exercised by the many, until it be by them resumed. This power when entrusted to a plurality of persons, can only be legally exercised by or with the consent of the majority of those to whom it is conveyed. When the majority of the elders of a church do an act in the presence of the congregation, according to scripture, precedent or rule, it is the majority of said church that acts; for the majority of all assemblies acts through its constituted authorities.

No eldership or executive, can have power enough, that does not possess sufficient to acquit itself of the responsibilities imposed upon it by the Legislative organ. In a congregation of Christians, the elders do not possess as much power as the scriptures entitle them to, who cannot effect the expulsion of a factious, a drunken, or otherwise disorderly member, contrary to the vote of a majority. No organization of a church can be scriptural, which prevents the carrying into effect the precepts of the Apostles.

They who are empowered by the many, according to the scriptural rule, are authorized by God; because constituted according to His appointment: and to them, therefore, it is the duty of all to submit themselves, as to those who watch for their souls and must give an account: that they may do this with joy, and not with mourning; for that would be unprofitable.

“Beloved brethren, human nature is always tending to extremes and transcending what is written. As the saying is, it will strain at gnats and swallow camels by the herd. It set up the Inquisition and is incessantly prying into matters beyond its jurisdiction. It is very fond of playing the judge and of executing its own decrees. It has a zeal but not according to knowledge, and therefore its zeal is intemperate and not the zeal of wisdom or knowledge rightly used. It professes great zeal for the purity of the Church, and would purge out everything that offends its sensitive imagination. But it is not a good thing to have a church without tares, black sheep, or spotted heifer? Yea, verily, it is an excellent thing. But then it is a thing the Holy Spirit has never yet developed, and cannot be developed by any human judiciary in the administration of spiritual affairs. There are certain things that must be left to the Lord’s own adjudication when he comes…” (John Thomas).

“Wherever there is intolerance, wherever we find conditions of communion among Christians imposed, which Christ hath not clearly enjoined; wherever creeds and modes of worship are enforced by human power, and men made to forfeit any of their civil rights, or are stigmatized on these accounts, there is the spirit which is not of God. Wherever one Christian, or a number of Christians, assumes the seat of authority and judgment in the Church of Christ, wherever they call for fire to destroy those who dissent from them or only exclude them from their communion and affection, there is a portion of the spirit of Antichrist, which has so long opposed itself to the benign principles of the Kingdom of the Prince of Peace, has been the cause of so many evils to humanity, and the occasion of making the inconsiderate esteem the amiable yet distinct and uncompromising religion of Jesus, as a source of mischief, instead of benevolence. “Alas, how much of this spirit remains amongst us all!! How few have learned that ‘In Christ circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God’ ” (John Thomas).

Rules for Bible Study

First: In any doctrine taught by types or shadows, the anti-type must always correspond with the type, and the shadow with the substance.

Second: In studying the Scriptures, consider that the New Testament is a commentary on the Old.

Third: Never be afraid of results to which you may be driven by your investigations, as this will inevitably bias your mind and disqualify you to arrive at ultimate truth.

Fourth: Investigate everything you believe – if it is the truth it cannot be injured thereby; if error, the sooner it is correct the better. 

Fifth: Pursue this course with as much independence as if you were the only one concerned.

Sixth: Rely on no authority less than divine in so momentous an undertaking.

PROVE ALL THINGS: HOLD FAST TO THAT WHICH IS GOOD.

AUTHOR: Either Judas the apostle (Luk 6:16) or Judas the half-brother of the Lord (Mat 13:55). The first of these is ruled out by most commentators on the ground that one who was himself an apostle would not write: “Remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v 17). But why shouldn’t he? There is a very close parallel in 2Pe 3:2: “…that ye should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of our Lord and Saviour through your apostles”. If Peter could write about “your apostles”, why should not one of his fellow apostles do the same? There is also the consideration that if this Jude were the apostle, then all the epistles of the NT came from apostolic pens. (The strength of the case for regarding the Epistle of James as written by the son of Zebedee is not to be set aside.)

On the other hand, this Jude is explicitly “brother of James”. But by analogy with “Judas Iscariot of Simon” (Joh 6:71), “Judas of James” (Luk 6:16) appears to mean “son of James”, and not “brother of James”. If it can mean “brother of James”, the point is settled.

What grounds are there for identifying Jude with the son of Mary and Joseph (Mat 13:55)? Exactly none, except that he appears to be the only alternative to the Judas just discussed. There is, of course, the possibility of the writer being some other Judas of whom nothing is known, but the likelihood of this is mighty small.

DATE: The date of the epistle has to be inferred from the slight incidental indications which the text affords. It is surely a valid argument that Jude wrote before the troubles of AD 70, for had he written after that date, he could hardly have let the destruction of the temple go unmentioned. Indeed, there seem to be several prophetic hints in the epistle of impending judgement. God destroyed His saved people “who believed not” (v 5). A judgement of being “plucked up by the roots”, such as Jesus foretold regarding Jewish opposition to the gospel, is implied (v 12). “Wandering stars, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness of the ages” (v 13) seems very appropriate to the dispersion of Israel.

Peter’s prophecy concerning evil men “in the last days” (2Pe 3:3) is picked up by Jude as having a fulfillment in the corrupt movement he excoriated: “These be they…” (vv 18,19). What “last days” if not the last days of the temple?

PURPOSE: The great enemy of the gospel in the first century was neither Jewish nor Roman persecution, but the systematic infiltration of the ecclesia, as part of an insidious Judaistic campaign, by unscrupulous Jews who were set on wrecking this new movement from within. The methods employed were, in the main, threefold:

1. The insidious corruption of Christian morals: “lasciviousness… fornication… defiling the flesh… they corrupt (the ecclesia)… twice dead” (vv 4,7,8,10,12).

2. Abrupt rejection of the authority of the apostles, and the exaltation of other leaders in their place: “speak evil of dignities…. hard speeches… murmurers, complainers… having men’s persons in admiration” (vv 8,15,16).

3. One part of the campaign which does not come in for mention in Jude, but which caused Paul much trouble elsewhere, was an insistence that faith in Christ must be bolstered up with observance of the Law of Moses.

One has the impression that the recipients of the letter were Jewish believers, and probably Jews of the Holy Land. Some of the phrases seem to take on special meaning from this point of view. But there is not enough to go on regarding this.

OUTLINE:

• Introduction: vv 1,2
• Godless men — their sin and ultimate doom: vv 3-16

• Exhortation to perseverance: vv 17-23
• Doxology: vv 24,25

“Jewish and Middle Eastern non-Jewish populations share a common pool of Y-chromosome biallelic haplotypes.” So states the title of an article published by a team of researchers in the Publications of the National Academy of Sciences, May 2000. (On the internet it may be found at: www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.10115997.)

The article describes genetic research and analysis (at a level of sophistication and scientific exactitude impossible until recently) conducted upon cross sections of men in various Jewish communities (both in Israel and elsewhere) and other non-Jewish Middle Eastern communities. Bypassing all the mathematical data and statistical tables published in the article, we may simply note several of the conclusions:

• The level of genetic divergence among Jewish populations is very low despite their high degree of geographic dispersion. In fact the level of genetic divergence among different Jewish populations is considerably less than that found among other groups in the study. Put in simple terms, the average Jew in London, let us say, shares much more commonality of genetic likeness with the average Jew in North Africa or Israel than he does with his non-Jewish next-door neighbor. (This conclusion provides solid proof of the Biblical assumption that, although scattered among the nations of the earth, the Jews have by and large maintained their racial identity — see, eg, Jer 30:11 — while other ancient peoples have mingled and submerged themselves in one another, until their Bible-era ancestors are largely unidentified and unidentifiable.)

• The extremely close affinity of Jewish and non-Jewish Middle Eastern populations supports the hypothesis of a common Middle Eastern origin. In other words, the average Jew — wherever he lives — shares a greater degree of genetic commonality (and therefore has a higher proportion of common ancestry) with the average Palestinian or Jordanian or Syrian than with other non-Jewish groups outside of the Middle East.

• In summary, the combined results suggest that Jews and Arabs may trace a common ancestry to a Middle Eastern source population about 4,000 years ago!

So… despite their intense hatreds for one another, and their religious differences and rivalries, the Jews and the Arabs are demonstrated to be, genetically-speaking, “cousins”!

Just who are the progenitors of the modern-day Arabs? The answer of Genesis is obvious: Terah was the father of Abraham (Gen 11:26), and the grandfather of Lot (Gen 11:27) — who accompanied his uncle Abraham to the Land of Promise. From Abraham were descended Ishmael (Gen 16:15), and the sons of Keturah (Gen 25:1-4), and — through Isaac — Esau (Gen 25:25), the father of the Edomites (Gen 36:9). From Lot were descended Moab and Ammon (Gen 19:37,38). (Most of the nations of Psa 83, as a matter of fact, are of this lineage.)

But what of the other peoples of the Land of Palestine, the nations mentioned in Gen 15:18-21, who were there when Abraham and Lot first set foot upon the Land — the Amorites and Canaanites and Jebusites and so forth? And what about the Philistines, who arrived in the Land a bit later, but made such an impact upon Israel? Where have these peoples gone? Have they completely disappeared? The simple answer is: they are the Arabs also!

What evidently has happened is that, since the beginning, the (Arab) descendants of Abraham and Lot have intermarried with the Canaanitish peoples (something Isaac and Jacob and the nation of Israel were strictly forbidden to do: Gen 24:3; 28:6,7; Deu 7:1-3; etc) so as to create, over time, a mixed or mongrel people. There are in fact Bible examples of just this sort of mingling of “seed”:

“While he [Ishmael] was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt” (Gen 21:21).

“He [Esau] married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite [cp Exo 23:23; Jos 1:4], and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah” (Gen 26:34,35).

Other instances of the Hebrew word “ereb” — signifying “mixed” or “mingled” — related to peoples are:

1. 1Ki 10:15: “all the Arabian kings”.
2. Jer 25:20,24: “the foreign (or ‘mingled’: AV) peoples… the Philistines… all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the foreign (mingled) peoples… in the desert”.

3. Jer 50:37: “all the foreigners (or ‘mingled people’: AV) that are in the midst of her [Babylon]…”

4. Eze 30:5: “Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all Arabia (or ‘the mingled people’: AV)”.

5. Neh 13:1,3: “Ammonite and Moabite…all who were of foreign descent (or ‘the mixed multitude’: AV)”.

So the “mixed peoples” of the Middle East are the “Arabs” — with blood ties to the original Canaanitish peoples (the ten nations of Gen 15) as well as the corrupted descendants of Abraham (the majority of the nations enumerated in Psa 83).

It stands to reason, therefore, that — whereas the Jews are still a distinct ethnic group, as the genetic study suggests — the other Middle East natives are truly an altogether “mixed” bag, being at the same time the descendants of the Biblical Ishmaelites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites, as well as the Biblical Canaanites, Philistines, Amorites, etc, etc!

It may be impossible today to find a single people who can be conclusively linked with the Edomites, for example [see Appendix], or with the Philistines, or with any other of the ancient Middle Eastern national enemies of Israel. But these ancient bloodlines did not just disappear, and these nations did not simple “evaporate”; instead, they were blended, and blended again, until there emerged a truly “mixed” (or “Arab”) peoples across the whole of the Land of Promise — the “melting pot” descendants of all the tribes and nations of Gen 15 and Psa 83.

So, when the Bible presents us with evidently “Last Days” prophecies that refer to the nations of Genesis (such as Ammon or Moab or Edom or Philistia), we may not be able to identify any single modern nation in the Middle East as the exclusive and pure descendants of that particular ancient nation. But nevertheless we may assume that either: (1) the prophecy refers particularly to the portion of the whole Arab “mixed” race that occupies the same territory as the ancient nation, or (2) the prophecy refers to the whole of the Arab “world”, because the blood of ancient Edomites or Moabites or whoever flows in all their veins, or (3) both!

Both these groups of peoples (the primarily “Hamite” peoples of Gen 15, and the primarily “Semitic” peoples of Psa 83) have demonstrated, historically, intense hatred for the Jews — fulfilling the Old Testament “types”: Ishmael versus Isaac, and Esau versus Jacob, and Canaanite and Philistine versus Israelite. Now, with the admixture of a unifying religion — Islam — these Arabs… whether they live in Jordan, or Lebanon, or Syria, or Saudi Arabia, or the West Bank, or Gaza… all view the Jews as great “infidels”, who have no real claim to the Land of Palestine.

And the stage is set for the final act in a 4,000-year-old drama: the climactic struggle between Jew and Arab, between the modern “Goliath” and the modern “David”, as it were, on the mountains of Israel.

Appendix: Edomites and Nabataeans

It has sometimes been suggested that Old Testament prophecies about Edom, for example, cannot be fulfilled by any modern nation or nations — because there are simply no surviving descendants of the ancient Edomites today. But a scholarly study suggests very much the opposite. J.R. Bartlett, writing in the Palestine Exploration Quarterly 111 (1979), (“From Edomites to Nabataeans: A Study in Continuity”), does not believe that the Edomites became extinct, as some assert. Rather, he offers considerable evidence — archaeological, cultural, and linguistic, as well as historical — to the effect that the ancient Edomites, being overrun and dominated by the Nabataeans (the descendants of the Biblical Nebaioth: Gen 25:13), simply survived by intermarrying with their conquerors to produce a new people: a mixture of Nabataean and Edomite which survives to this day in the Bedouin Arabs.

The book of Job contains such long and involved speeches that it is often hard to see the overall development of the book. In this summary, written as a play, each chapter of Job is distilled down to a paragraph or so. It helps to be able to see the structure and development of thought in the book, and then to go back to better appreciate the full text of Scripture. (Chapters are in parentheses.)

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  Narrator: Long ago, Job was one of the richest men alive, yet he was blameless and honest, and a priest to his family. But one day in the assembly, the accuser challenged God. He claimed that Job was righteous only because God had blessed him so much. To prove otherwise, God stripped Job of everything: his possessions, his servants, even his children. Suddenly all was gone. Job was devastated, but he remained faithful and humble. “The Lord gave,” he said, “and now the Lord has taken away. Praise be to his name.” (1)   The accuser was not convinced. “You never hurt Job himself,” he accused God. “Do so, and he will certainly curse you!”   So Job was afflicted with disease. Covered in festering sores from head to foot, he wasted away. But even when his wife scorned him saying, “Curse God and die, Job,” his attitude remained, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”   And so Job did not sin.   Job had three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, who heard about his troubles. They came to comfort him, but when they arrived, they found him so disfigured they hardly recognized him! They sat in silence, grieving for him for the ritual week of mourning until, finally, Job broke the silence. (2)   Job: I curse the day I was born! If only I had died at birth! Then at least I would be at rest. Even captives and slaves find release in death, yet my life still goes on! I long for death, but it doesn’t come. Oh why does life continue for those in misery?   This is my worst nightmare! I’ve always been afraid that something like this might happen! I have no peace, no rest, only turmoil. (3)   Eliphaz: Job, I really must respond. Don’t be offended at me. You used to be blameless. That at least should give you some hope. Whatever God is punishing you for, there’s no need to despair.   I learnt in a vision that no one is truly righteous before God, so don’t become resentful now. God certainly punishes the fool and destroys his family, but if it were me, I would appeal to God. Even though he punishes wickedness, he also heals those who accept his discipline. Who knows, before long you’ll be laughing, secure in a new household, living out the fullness of your life. Just apply the lesson to yourself. (4,5)   Job: My words were rash, but I am suffering unimaginable terrors from God. I wish he would finish me off, then at least I would know I had been faithful to the end. As for you: a man should be able to rely on his friends. But you see something dreadful and you speak from your fear. Your words are useless to me.   If you can teach me then I’ll listen, but you must accept that I never departed from my righteous ways. God has appointed a time of misery for me, so now my body is clothed in worms and scabs, and my skin is festering.

  Oh God, life is so short that I must speak out. I would prefer strangling and death to this body of mine! Why do you examine a man so closely? Why do you never give me a moment’s rest? If I have sinned then tell me now, for my life will soon be gone! (6,7)   Bildad: You’re being ridiculous, Job! God is just! When your children sinned, God handed out their penalty. And if you are so pure then God will restore you, but listen to what the fathers have told us. It is those who reject God that are cut down in their prime! God does not reject a blameless man! (8)   Job: I know that no one is truly righteous before God. The wisdom and power of the Creator are so vast, so utterly beyond us. No one can call him to explain himself. He controls the sun and the stars. He performs innumerable miracles and wonders. None of us could possibly stand up in his courtroom and dispute with him. If I tried I could only plead for mercy. This is why I say that God destroys both the blameless and the wicked.   And now, even if I dropped my complaint, I would still dread my sufferings because you have already condemned me! If only there were someone who was able to speak to God on my behalf, to remove his terror from me. Then I could stand up to God, and I would challenge him.   O God, what charges do you have against me? Do you enjoy seeing me suffer? You know my heart. You shaped me from the dust. Are you going to return me to the dust again? I cannot lift up my head because of what you’ve done to me. Leave me alone, and let me die in peace! (9,10)   [pause]   Zophar: Is no one going to respond? Job, you claim to be innocent, but I reckon that God has even forgotten some of your sins! God is greater than you can conceive, so when God chastises you, you cannot challenge him. He reacts to the evil he has witnessed. If only you would put away your sin you could lift up your head without shame. Then God would rescue you. He would protect you for the rest of your life. But the hope of the wicked is nothing more than a dying gasp. (11)   Job: Oh, you’re all so wise! But I have a mind as well! Previously God used to answer me when I called, yet now I suffer your contempt! Men at ease have contempt for misfortune. And the wicked? They live in comfort! Yes, and it is God who makes it so!   However great we are, God is greater. He is able to tear down anyone he has established, whether kings or priests or judges, elders or nobles. I’ve seen all this with my own eyes. And yet, you smear me with lies, you useless healers! I wish you would remain silent rather than distort God’s work. How will you fare when his dread falls on you? Your words are proverbs made from ashes.   [Eliphaz tries to interrupt]   No! Let me finish.   Even if God slays me I will still hope in him, and still defend myself before him. Can anyone honestly condemn me? If so I will be silent and die.   Oh God, let me have a little rest, and then I will answer you. Show me my offence. Show me my sin, because I’m rotting away to nothing. You know that man is a fleeting shadow. Cut him down and he does not rise again. To the end of creation he lies in the dust.   Oh if only you would hide me in the grave, hide me until your anger has passed, until a time comes to remember me.. Yes, I will wait. I will wait for my renewal. You will call and I will answer you. You will see the steps I’ve taken. And you will throw away my sins like a bag of rubbish. Oh, but you’re wearing me down. You’re destroying this man’s hope through the pain of his body… (12-14)   [Pause, to be sure Job has finished]   Eliphaz: You windbag! Your own mouth condemns you, and your words undermine devotion to God. How come you know so much about him? Do you sit in his council?   Oh Job. How come your heart has carried you away so that your eyes flash with anger at God? Even the heavens are not pure enough for God, much less man. Ask any wise man, or any of the fathers. It is a wicked man that God takes from comfort and security to plunge into distress and anguish. His strength is useless because God will pay him in full before his time. (15)   Job: I’ve heard all this before, you miserable comforters! Why don’t you cease? If we changed places then I would encourage and comfort you. Instead, not only do I suffer at the hand of God, but you jeer and sneer at me. God has devastated my family and destroyed my flesh. My face is red with weeping, even though my hands are free from violence, and my prayers pure. My blood cries out from the ground. Even now my account is in heaven. If only there were someone to plead with God on my behalf, as a man pleads for his friend. Instead, I’m about to die and I’m surrounded by mockers, bearing the brunt of your hostility. (16)   O God, you are the only one who can save me!   But God has made me a byword, a man in whose face people spit, a man to shock the upright. So come on then. Try again. But I’ll get no wisdom from you. Death is my best option now. (17)   Bildad: Be sensible, Job. Why do you call us stupid? You’re just tearing yourself to pieces in your anger. It is the lamp of the wicked that is snuffed out. Calamity overcomes him, eats away at his skin, and strips him of his children so that his memory is lost from the land. This is the fate of an evil man. (18)   Job: How long will you torment me with words? If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me, then let me tell you that God has wronged me! God caught me in his net and alienated me from my relatives, from my friends, and even from my wife. Those I love have turned away from me. My breath is sour and I am nothing but skin and bones. Have pity on me, my friends, and stop hounding me.   How I wish my words were written down. I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. Then I will awake. I will see God with my own eyes — I and not another.   But you. You should fear the sword yourselves. Then you will know that there is judgment. (19)   Zophar: Again I must speak. You disturb and dishonor me by your rebuke. You must know that, from the beginning, the joy of the wicked is brief. In his pride he reaches for the heavens, but he is banished like a dream and his children must make up for his evil. Though he revels in oppression, terrors will overcome him. The heavens will expose his guilt and God’s wrath will consume him. (20)   Job: Let me try once more, then you can continue to mock me. Despite openly rejecting God, the wicked enjoy prosperity. Their children still grow up and sing to the music of tambourine and harp. Be honest. How often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? Instead, two men lie down in the dust of death, side by side, one lived in security and plenty, while the other died in bitterness, never having enjoyed anything good.   I know what you’re thinking, that I bear all the marks of punishment for sin. But just travel a little and you will see that evil men are spared calamity. So how can you console me with your nonsense? (21)   Eliphaz: So God is punishing you for your righteousness! Job, the list of your sins is endless! You stripped your own brothers naked, you gave no water to the weary, no food to the hungry. You sent widows away empty handed, and you worked orphans into the ground. You wonder whether God sees you, but he does. Why continue in wickedness? Even now, Job, submit to God, and you will be restored and light will shine on your ways. You will then be able to save others likewise. (22)   Job: Look, if only I knew where to find God I would state my case before him, and he would listen! But I can’t find him anywhere, even though I treasured his words more than my daily bread. He remains aloof and unreachable. (23)   I wish that God would indeed set times for judgment. Terrible injustices occur, but God charges no one with wrongdoing. Men prey on the needy and the destitute. They murder, they creep around in adultery. You say that God is bound to bring them low, but he does not. You cannot contradict that. (24)   Bildad: God is a God of order, and of power, and of righteousness! But man? He is a maggot! (25)   Job: How you have helped me! What great wisdom! God is so far above our understanding. How can any of us explain his acts? (26)   As long as I live I will not speak wickedness, and neither will I deny my integrity. Hypocrisy would completely cut me off from God. (27)   You have seen God’s ways, so why do you speak such rubbish. Why do you say that suffering is allotted only to the wicked, that only the children of the wicked die by the sword or go hungry, that it is only the wicked that are blown away? Where can true wisdom be found? You can’t mine it out of the ground, or purchase it with gold. God alone knows where it is, and so He tells man, “Fear the Lord — that is wisdom.” (28)   I long for the days when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house. I was respected in the city. I helped the poor. I rescued orphans. I acted as eyes to the blind, and as feet to the lame. I helped the needy, and broke the fangs of their exploiters. I expected to live peaceful to a ripe old age. But now? Instead of hanging on my every word, they mock me, mere youths! They detest me and spit in my face. (29)   I am frightened. My life ebbs away. Pains gnaw at my bones and God throws me in the mud. Even though I cry out to him he tosses me into the storm. I used to weep for those in trouble, but when it was my turn to hope for good, evil came. (30)   I kept myself from sin because I know God watches my every step. If I am guilty — and if God would weigh me honestly he would know I am not — then indeed let others eat my food. If I am an adulterer then let them take my wife from me; if I have denied any charity then indeed let my body be broken. But how could I have denied justice to others when I know that God is the Judge who formed us all?   If I had trusted in wealth, that would be sin; or if I gloated over my enemy or cursed him; or if I had not shown hospitality; or if I had hidden sin in my heart — whatever it is let my accuser declare it so that I can answer him — or if I had devoured land without payment then, certainly, let briers come up instead of barley. (31)   That’s all I have to say.   [A young man, Elihu, has been listening. After realizing that no one is going to respond to Job, he bursts out]   Elihu: I’m younger than you elders so I kept quiet, but age doesn’t give wisdom, God does. You have utterly failed to answer Job, so now let me speak before I burst! And I can assure you I have no intention of flattering anyone! Job, I ask you to listen to me. I’m a man just like yourself. I heard you claim to be sinless, and accuse God for faulting you. You have no right to say such things. Why do you strive against God? He uses visions and events, even chastenings, to turn a man from his pride, providing a messenger to teach him. And not just once, he will do so again and again. (32)   Listen to me, Job! If you have anything to say, then say it, but otherwise let me teach you wisdom. Listen to me all of you, and let us discern together what is right. Job claims that God denies him justice, and even claims that there is no value in serving God! But it is unthinkable that God would do wrong. It is he who gives men their very breath, and is able to take it away in an instant, however great and noble they are. Would you really condemn God in his justice? He can judge without trial because he watches men even in secret, but whether he punishes or remains silent is for him to decide. Wise men say that Job speaks out of ignorance, and now he adds rebellion to his sin. (33)   Job, you claim that God will clear your name. But at the same time you also imply you get no benefit by avoiding sin! It’s actually the other way around! How can you possibly affect the Great Creator by either your righteousness or your sin? It is only other people who would suffer your wickedness. If God is prepared to close his ears to the cries of the wicked, how much more will he ignore your self-righteous indignation. Job is an ignorant babbler. (34,35)   Bear with me a little longer. There’s more to be said on God’s behalf, and through his inspiration I will speak. Even though God is mighty, he doesn’t despise men, but he does use suffering to turn people from evil. The godless resent this, and refuse to respond. Now that you are laden with the judgment of the wicked, beware of turning to evil as a means of escaping affliction.   [The sky begins to darken with an approaching storm]

  God is the ultimate teacher, with powers and abilities far beyond our understanding. He forms the rain, the clouds, and thunder. Look! See how his lightning flashes around. This is the power he uses to govern the nations! (36)   [Thunder crashes. Elihu shouts to be heard as the noise continues to increase]   Listen to the roar of his voice! It makes my heart pound! God works throughout the whole world; he does great things beyond our understanding. He sends rain and snow, stopping men from their labor, and sending the animals to their dens. He brings clouds both to punish, and to water the earth in love. Listen Job! Stop and consider God’s wonders. Can you match his power? Can you really expect to call him to account? We can’t even stare at the sun in its brightness. (37)   And now! Here is God coming! God who is beyond our reach, and is full of justice and righteousness! This is why men revere him. And in turn he cares for those who are wise in heart.   [The storm is upon them. God speaks from the whirling cloud]

  The Lord: Who is this who darkens my counsel with ignorant words? Brace yourself, Job. I’m calling you to account!   Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who shut up the sea behind doors, and wrapped the sky in clouds? Have you given orders to the morning, or walked on the bed of the sea? Have the gates of death been shown to you, or even the storehouses of hail and snow? But you are so wise! You have lived so many years!

  What about the stars, great Orion and the Bear and other constellations? Can you guide them in season? You can’t even count them! Can you control the clouds and the lightning? Perhaps you feed the lioness or the raven, or maybe you help the mountain goats give birth? Perhaps you know why the ostrich is so foolish, or the horse so strong? Is it your wisdom that allows the hawk to fly and to hunt, or the eagle to soar? You wanted to wrestle with me, Job, so now I want an answer from you. (38,39)   Job: I am unworthy. I cannot answer you.   The Lord: Brace yourself, Job. I want an answer. Would you discredit my justice, or condemn me in order to justify yourself? If you have power like mine then use it. Bring the proud man down! Bury him in the dust with the wicked! If you can do this, then I will admit that you can save yourself.   I made a mighty beast when I made you. His great bones are brass and iron. He exercises dominion over the works of God, demanding tribute from the other beasts. The raging flood is nothing to him. Can anyone take him with hooks, or trap him in a snare? What about it, Job? Can you tie him down? Will he make a lasting covenant with you? Will you make him your plaything when he terrifies you?   It is in my mercy that I allow him to plague mankind, but I limit him, despite all his boasting about his teeth, his armor, his breath setting coals ablaze. The mighty are terrified before him, and neither sword nor spear has any effect on him. He makes the deep sea boil, and he is a beast without fear. With his heaven-confronting eyes, he is king of the proud. (40,41)   Job: I know that you can do all things. No one can oppose you. I did not really understand before. Now that I have seen you I despise myself. I repent in dust and ashes.   [God turns to Eliphaz]   The Lord: Eliphaz, I am furious with you and your two friends because you spoke lies about me. But if you bring sacrifices, my servant Job will pray for you, and I will listen to him and not deal with you according to your foolish ideas.   Narrator: So Job prayed for his friends, and the Lord accepted his prayer. Afterwards, the Lord made Job prosperous again, giving him twice as much as he had before. Everyone who knew him came to him and gave him gifts. He also had seven sons and three beautiful daughters. Job lived long enough to see his great grandchildren. And when he finally died, he was old and full of years. (42) (JL)

“I have uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not… Wherefore I abhor myse!f, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:3-6).

We are once again reading together the marvelous book of Job. It is the only non-Jewish book of the Bible, and it is in all probability the oldest book of the Bible. Many eminent men — both religious and non-religious — have called it the supreme literary production in all the world’s history. It is, from any point of view, a most remarkable piece of writing.

The place and time

From the names of the characters and their ancestors, and the place names, the location of the story is the area between the Dead Sea and the desert, or somewhat to the north or south of that: the area of the descendants of Abraham other than through Jacob — generally speaking, the Arabs. Job was one of the “Men of the East,” a term applied to the Arabs: Ishmaelites, Edomites, etc. And the time seems most likely to be during the two hundred or so years Israel was in Egypt. All the background and customs and genealogy point to this place and time.

As to how the book of Job got into an otherwise wholly Jewish Bible, there is a strong and ancient Jewish tradition that Moses wrote it, or at least made it part of the Scriptures — by the guidance of the Spirit of course. Moses would have been the logical one to do so. He may well have known Job himself, or Job’s early descendants, during the forty years he was in Midian. Job was the greatest (and therefore best known) of the “Men of the East” (Job 1:3), and Midian would be included in that area. The history of Job would be well-known there.

It is remarkable that the great typical and exemplary patient sufferer of the Old Testament is not a Jew, but rather is of a race which — though closely related — was always, and still is, in deep antagonism to the Jews. He was a Gentile — a non-Jew, that is — of the seed of Abraham, adding to the beauty and fitness of the typical picture.

A non-Jewish model of excellence

Here, in the midst of an otherwise Jewish book, is a perfect model of excellence for all time: a man who is not a Jew, not under the Law, who had nothing to do with the Law, nothing to do with Israel. He is referred to by Ezekiel (Eze 14:14), with Noah and Daniel, as three outstanding examples of righteousness. He is referred to by James (Jam 5:11) as the ultimate example of patient, faithful suffering.

The story opens with the… picture of [sons] of God coming together before Him, and among them [an]… adversary… Orthodoxy represents its Devil as having free access to God’s heaven, and being God’s agent and accomplice. One respectable modern commentary, the “New Bible Commentary,” says concerning this scene that the Devil is a “divine agent,” and is the supreme cynic of the heavenly court.” What a debased, pagan conception of God’s holy dwelling-place! — in perfect harmony with the crude gods and heavens of Greece and Rome, but certainly not with the Scriptures of Truth.

“Doth Job fear God for nought?” He DID: and so must we. Our motive must be love alone, and not self-benefit, though self-benefit will inevitably follow, for goodness can lead only at last to goodness, in a world ruled by the goodness of God. But our motivation must be pure love of God and of goodness.

Why do the righteous suffer?

The great question of the book of Job is: Why do the righteous suffer? And the great lesson is: We must totally and unquestioningly trust God, and have implicit faith in His love, mercy and justice, regardless of any appearances or circumstances. He has a reason and a purpose in the suffering of His people: different reasons at different times, but all working toward their ultimate glorification — often a reason (as here) that would be impossible for man ever to guess without knowing what was in God’s mind.

The sufferings of Christ point to the same problem: Why? We can dimly perceive how he was “made perfect through suffering,” and how his perfect submission to that suffering laid the eternal foundation for the world’s redemption from all suffering.

But, above all, we must unhesitatingly accept the ways of God because He is God; because He manifestly has made all things, and knows the reason for all. He has manifested His infinite power and wisdom in all the beauties and glories of Creation. He proclaims His love and justice in His Word. He overwhelmingly manifests His divinity in that Word.

We must accept the whole picture, or reject the whole picture. To reject it in the light of its overpowering evidence is stupidity. To question God’s ways in the light of His overpowering greatness is obviously equal stupidity. This is the lesson of Job. The final outcome manifested God’s wisdom and love and compassion. We must have implicit trust that it always will if we do our part faithfully.

It was a high honor and privilege for Job to be used by God to demonstrate for all ages what true righteousness and faith really is, and to give an example of patient integrity in the face of what appeared to everyone, including Job himself, a deliberate divine effort to afflict and torment him to the uttermost.

Job and Christ: striking parallels

We see throughout, a very striking, broad parallel between Job and Christ, although there are necessarily differences and contrasts.

Both were the outstandingly righteous men of their age.

Both suffered more intensely and grievously than is recorded of any other man. Christ suffered more greatly, and more extendedly, for he lived his whole life in the shadow of the inevitable cross, under the constant burden of required perfection, or all Creation would have been betrayed. And in his deep and superhuman empathy, he suffered all the sufferings of his people of all ages. Infinitely more even than Paul he could say: “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not?” He was pre-eminently a Man of Sorrows (Isa 53:3), though at the same time a Man of incomparable Joy (Joh 15:11; 17:13).

With both, God knew from the beginning that they would hold fast to the end, regardless of the intensity of the trial: and God built His purpose upon that assurance. What a glorious role for men to play! If Job had failed… God would have been put to shame; His whole dispensation of love exposed as mere self-serving.

Both were reduced in shame from the highest position to the lowest, though in different ways. Christ, as the only begotten Son of God, was the potential heir of the universe. As Paul explains to the Philippians (Phi 2:6-8), Jesus — though finding himself the one special man above all men, even the “Fellow” of God (Zec 13:7), entitled to the homage of the angels (Heb 1) — nevertheless humbled himself, and accepted the position of a slave, even to the most ignominious of deaths.

Both were utterly despised and rejected. Both were assumed by their own people and generation to be under the special curse of God, at the very time they were suffering for the sake of others. For we must recognize that Job’s sufferings went far beyond himself, and were for universal instruction and comfort and guidance. It was not an aimless wager, when God staked all on Job’s integrity, but an essential manifestation of the noble, vital, spiritual principle of faithful integrity for its own sake alone, under the most extreme of testings: the key to salvation. We must do good simply because we love the good and hate the evil.

Made perfect by suffering

Both were “made perfect by suffering.” This is a deep and important aspect in both cases. Christ, though of unblemished righteousness, was not “perfect” until he had, in loving and all-trusting obedience, passed through the required suffering and sacrificial death.

Job was the most righteous man of his day: a giant of faith and endurance — “perfect and upright,” “none like him in all the earth,” according to the testimony of God Himself (Job 1:8). Still, Job has something to learn, something in which to be developed and brought to beautiful fruition, as he at last freely and humbly confesses (Job 40:4; 42:6).

Unquestionably, Job was a better, wiser, greater, more understanding man, much closer to God, after his terrible trial than before. And he had attained to a far higher position in the Divine Purpose and Manifestation. As a prosperous and honored sheik, he never would have fully known God. He never would have become an inspiration and example for all ages. He never would have been granted the unique and inestimable privilege of the direct Divine revelation he received.

God’s unique self-manifestation to Job

Was ever a man the subject of so full and personal and searching a Divine address to himself? God did not deign to explain, for that would have been utterly inappropriate, and would not have accomplished the desired result. We must first accept God and all His ways fully and unquestioningly, before we can hope for any explanation of their mysteries.

But God condescended to take the time and trouble to fully and in detail manifest Himself and His majesty to Job, as He did to none other we know of but Christ himself. God’s address to Job is unique in all Scripture.

Job at last received that which he had so passionately pleaded for: a direct divine manifestation. It would be well worth all the scorn and abuse and terrible suffering he had endured. Indeed, its value and power would be greatly heightened by that dark background. What a joyful, glorious, inspiring, comforting memory for the last one hundred and forty years of his life! — a life which he thought was already over. How much closer he would now be to God for that long period of recompense for his trials! How much more at peace — for there are hints that for all his religious efforts and prosperity, he was not before truly at peace. In the anguish of his suffering, he makes such revelations as this:

“That which I GREATLY FEARED is come upon me” (Job 3:25).

But never again would he fear anything. Now his peace was deep and strong. The ordeal was dreadful, but we see its wholesome benefits.

Job’s crushing avalanche of affliction

Job’s afflictions were many and cumulative. They would quickly have destroyed a lesser man. In evaluating Job and what he at times says, we must strive to comprehend the almost incomprehensible extent to which he was tortured and tried in so many ways at once.

First, he lost all his possessions and livelihood. In swift succession, calamity upon calamity fell crushingly upon him. And with it, he lost his whole family of ten beloved children in what was obviously a direct divine blow, unexplained and unprovoked: his cherished family for which he had constantly prayed and offered sacrifice.

His reaction was perfect, unhesitating, total acceptance and worship —

“The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Then, in seeming heartless response by God to this loving and godly reaction, he was smitten from head to foot — again obviously by the hand of God — with the most painful, loathsome and abhorred disease known to man, inevitably fatal in terrible suffering in the natural course of events: a particularly repulsive form of consuming, deforming leprosy, universally regarded as a manifestation of God’s especial wrath.

Then his wife turned against him — and all his friends and acquaintances. And he found himself a universally abandoned pariah, cast out of the city, consigned to the refuse heap to die a lingering death: the butt of ridicule and abuse by the vilest class of the people, who tormented him for their depraved amusement.

Job was totally rejected, and driven “without the gate” by those who considered themselves the “Holy City.”

In the raw meanness of ordinary human nature, everyone was gratified to see this mighty man, this presumed paragon of righteousness, crushed and humbled in the mire, and eager to add their own miserable quota to his overflowing misery. They spit in his face, he says. Exactly the same thing is said of Christ (Mat 26:67): the deepest degradation and insult. “Crucify him! Crucify him! He pretended to be so good!” It was his very God-attested goodness that so enraged the blind evil fury of the flesh against him.

The friends come

And so time dragged on wearily, with Job lying in misery in the ashes (Job 2:8) (the Septuagint says “dung-heap,” which is probably the meaning), until his three special friends heard of his calamities, and assembled to comfort him. They were so struck with his misery and dreadful appearance that they sat around him in silence for seven days. Then, when he repeatedly implored their comfort and sympathy, they more and more heatedly condemned him and accused him of the vilest crimes and hypocrisies.

This is the background against which we must consider him. Truly, like Moses, under tremendous stress he “spake unadvisedly with his lips.”

Job is throughout wrestling tremendously with this problem. Upon the shame and misery of his condition is heaped the smug and self-righteous condemnation of his closest friends. His friends’ rejection aroused an over-reaction in what he said, but threw him more and more on God. He had sought their support and sympathy against the hand of God. They railed on him, thinking they were thereby earning God’s favor. This added to his bitterness, but it showed him there was nowhere to turn for comfort and understanding but to God Himself.

The friends’ condemnation was an essential part of the trial, and of the final result. Though it added immeasurably to his grief, it was probably more helpful to him (in a way opposite what they intended) than their sympathy would have been.

Job’s greatest agony: God’s seeming rejection

All forsook him in his extremity. But his greatest agony was not in his sufferings, nor in his rejection by all mankind, but God’s apparent rejection and forsaking and enmity. Again and again he implores God for but one word of hope or comfort or recognition, but is met with total silence, and increased oppression. Even when he seeks brief, exhausted surcease in sleep, he is terrified with awful dreams (Job 7:14).

To judge what he says, we must consider all he said, and the order in which he said it; just as we must consider the whole of Psa 22, and not just the first few words from it that Christ quoted on the cross. It is all too easy to get his cries of anguish out of proportion, as if they were the studied and final conclusions reached coolly and theoretically in ease and comfort.

The fundamental fact is that Job held fast his trust in God, and would not deviate from his dedication to righteousness (which has no meaning outside of faith in God); and he was confident throughout of final resurrection, and of God’s open manifestation to him at last.

There is no more triumphant victory of faith than is expressed in his memorable words, wrung from him In the depth of present despair —

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust him… He also shall be my salvation!”

“If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer Thee. Thou wilt have a desire (kasaph: longing) to the work of Thine hands.”

“I KNOW that my redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day UPON THE EARTH… Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold” (Job 13:15-16; 14:14-15; 19:25-27).

Why such dreadful affliction?

His complaints are not against God’s overall justice, but against His seeming injustice in the affairs of this life — especially that one who tried so hard to obey should be picked out for the most terrible of afflictions, while all men gloated, and the wicked were at ease. Job knew that at last all would be righted, but why this special, dreadful, unprovoked affliction of a righteous and faithful man?

The friends fall silent. Job restates his case at length (Job 26-31) with great power and beauty: conceding that the wicked are finally punished; conceding God’s infinite might and understanding; conceding that man’s whole wisdom is to fear God and depart from evil — but again long and stoutly declaring his own righteousness, and crying for the opportunity of debating his case with God, confident of victory.

Then a new figure enters, the young Elihu, who prepares Job for the final revelation from God. He introduces the idea that suffering is not only for punishment, as the friends contended, but has many uses in the love and wisdom of God: constructive loving discipline, directional chastisement of a Father, strengthening by training and rigor, manifestation and deepening of faith, purification — especially purification, making perfect. Suffering can and must lead to fuller understanding, and thus be a blessing. Job makes no attempt to answer Elihu.

God speaks

Then God speaks. It is notable that Job was given just what he asked: an opportunity to stand up to God and argue with Him, to show Him how He must be mistaken. But how swiftly Job’s bold self-assurance fled before the mighty manifestation of God’s infinite wisdom and power!

That God should deign to speak to man at all — especially to one calling His ways in question — is a tremendous condescension in itself, a tremendous and unique honor, and manifestation of love for Job.

As God spoke of the endless marvels of His Creation, Job shrank to nothing. Crushed in shame, he learned to rest totally and unreservedly in God, devastated by the sudden realization of the stupidity and presumption of daring to challenge God and question His ways.

When God brought Job to the comfort and peace of unquestioning love and trust, He thereby solved all Job’s problems, even before He removed Job’s afflictions. Their removal came later, after Job had waived all his complaints, and prostrated himself in loving worship.

God banished Job’s questions, not by answering them, but by totally removing them from his concern. Job was wholly satisfied that whatever God did must be right, and must be rooted in love and wisdom.

God’s answer was to give no answer, but to manifest a God so great that no answer was needed. To need an explanation and justification of anything God does is to have a degraded and unacceptable conception of God. He is infinitely above all question and accountability.

Man dare not question God

Job was faithful and righteous above all his contemporaries, and completely, actively dedicated to good works, and to service to God and man. He demonstrated his firm and unshakable endurance, and that he unselfishly loved goodness for goodness’ sake alone. But he did not have the necessary total self-abasing humility and recognition of self-nothingness until he was crushed by the divine revelation. The learning of this was the supreme blessing of his entire experience.

The whole lesson of God’s self-manifestation to Job is the limitless greatness of God, and the utter littleness of man. If God had stooped to explain Himself to Job before totally humbling him in the recognition of his nothingness, then God would have been conceding man’s right to judge God and demand an answer for His ways. And man must be made to realize that he just does not have this right. It is absurd and unthinkable that puny little ignorant created man should for one moment question God, Who effortlessly maintains the numberless stars and galaxies in their myriad courses throughout the universe. What is weak, brief-lived, earth-crawling man to question his Creator?

But when Job humbled himself, and cast away all self-importance, God graciously went much further to set Job’s mind at perfect rest, and doubly compensated him for all his faithfully-borne suffering and shame. He totally vindicated and honored him before his self-righteous friends, and gave Job the joyful, forgiving privilege of being their mediator.

Restoration

And then He justified Job before his whole community, and made him twice as rich as he had been before. After what Job had bitterly learned of the fickle respect and fellowship of men (who fled when he needed them, and came back shamelessly seeking his favor when he was restored), and had gloriously learned of the companionship of God, the riches and honor would mean little to him, except as an even greater opportunity to resume his former course of goodness and guidance and charity to others, succoring the needy and defending the oppressed.

Some have felt that the restoration of the temporal riches and honor detracts from the spiritual force of the story, which is otherwise played out on a wholly spiritual plane. Such think incorrectly, again unwisely judging God’s ways. It was fitting and necessary — for the instruction of all Job’s associates, and all since — to complete the picture by the double restoration of all he had lost.

And it brings the closing picture fully into harmony with the antitype. Job, in well-deserved riches and honor — after passing triumphantly through all his trials for the inspirational and instructional benefit of the race — rejoiced to see his sons and his sons’ sons, in peace and prosperity.

So Christ, in eternal riches and honor, shall see his redeemed Seed: a holy, perfected “generation of the race” —

“HE SHALL SEE OF THE TRAVAIL OF HIS SOUL, AND BE SATISFIED.”

“How unsearchable are God’s judgments and His ways past finding out!”

(GVG)