The God Who Heals (Job 42)
At first, it can seem like a studio executive stepped in to force the book of Job to get a happy ending. But there are hints in the text that this isn’t the end of the story. There are hints of resurrection, and hints that the story arc of Job will be how the whole […]
The God Who Hears (Job 38-41)
After all that Job has said, God has some questions of his own. And they all start with: “Were you…?”, “Have you…?” and “Can you…?” God reminds Job who he is. And he reminds Job that he doesn’t have control over the physical universe, or the moral universe. So Job is ultimately humbled before his […]
Why Doesn’t God Answer My Questions? (Job 28)
When things go wrong, we can be so tempted to cry out “why?” There’s so much that happens in our lives that we can’t explain. So is there anywhere we can go for the answers to these deep questions of “why?” In this chapter, the speeches of Job are interrupted by a poem seeking out […]
Where Is God When It Hurts (Job 19)
In this passage, Job is struggling with the feeling of God being against him. But at the same time, Job knows that his Redeemer lives, and that after he’s died he will still see him. So Job needs someone who will deal with God’s judgement, and also redeem him, which can only be Jesus Christ, […]
What Not to Say When We’re Hurting (Job 4-5)
After Job cried out in lament, his friends start to respond with comfort. But their comfort they say only makes Job feel more and more isolated in his grief. His friend Eliphaz responds to Job’s lament with the beginning of the “miserable comfort” that Job will get for the next twenty chapters. In this talk, […]
I’m Not Supposed to be Feeling Like This (Job 3)
After a week of sitting silent with his three friends, Job lets out a lament, cursing the day of his birth. In his lament, he’s a shadow for us of the Suffering Servant, Jesus Christ, who would face the curse of death and darkness for us.
When Life Falls Apart (Job 1)
Once upon a time, the greatest suffering came upon the greatest man. That’s effectively how the book of Job starts its story, and it leaves Job (and us) to pick up the pieces. But, at least for now, we can see that Job looks his suffering in the eye and responds with an unbroken faith: […]