The Book of Job: A Paraphrase
A paraphrase of Bro. John Pople's book “To Speak Well of God—An Exposition of the Book of Job”
By JOHN POPLE
Read Time:
11 minutes
Editor’s Note: Bro. John Pople wrote “To Speak Well of God—An Exposition of the Book of Job” in 2009 (available through tidings.org). I was pleased to receive this paraphrase he recently completed of the story of Job.
Consider righteous Job: a Gentile with no known lineage living in the wilderness of Uz. He has seven sons, three daughters and many flocks and herds: a considerable fortune. He serves God flawlessly, but only because he fears God will punish any misstep with instant destruction. So terrified is he of God that he offers sacrifices for his sons and daughters just in case they have spoken ill of God in their hearts while they celebrated together.
God rejoices and laments.
“My dear son Job,” He reflects. “Your flawless life is so pleasurable, yet your fear distances you from Me. How can I transform your discipleship so we connect through loving trust, not your fear?”
Job has three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, all children of Abraham within the Israelite diaspora, wandering to and fro (Job 1:6-7) in the wilderness. Job’s established wealth rankles with them.
“I’d constantly praise God too if He gave me Job’s life,” they connive, for Leviathan, the Beast of Pride, had consumed them. “Disappointing,” thinks God. “That old dragon has devoured them. How shall I rescue these lost children of Mine from his belly?”
God formed a plan.
One day, in the assembly of the faithful, the three friends find they can’t stop noticing Job and their seething jealousy boils over. Everyone thinks Job is amazing, but if he were destitute, “He’d curse God in a heartbeat!” they agreed.
“I hear your slander,” frowns God. “Watch this.”
God strikes Job. In the country, raiders capture his herds and flocks, and in the city (Deuteronomy 28:16), a hurricane strikes the house where his children are gathered. Horrifyingly, all ten are killed.
Job collapses, yet his faith is unshaken.
“The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be His Name.” The friends are wrong, but their Pride, ever God’s opponent, stops them from admitting it.
Another assembly convenes, and God again causes Job to be inescapable from his friends’ notice. Pride drives them to shift the goalposts:
“Job’s health hasn’t suffered, though, has it? If he loses that, he’ll curse God for sure,” they pondered. “You think?” muses God. “You’ve learned nothing yet, so I’ll enact this evil plan, too.”
God smites Job with painful boils and a wasting illness, where he can barely digest food. He becomes so disfigured that he’s mocked when he goes out and rebuffed by his wife when he comes home. (Deuteronomy 28:19).
“Speak ill of God and die!” she despairs. “That’s foolish talk,” Job replies. But privately, he feels abused. “Since God considers me trash,” he mourns bitterly, “I guess the trash heap is where I belong.” He sits in the dust and ashes (Job 42:6) of his burn pile in silent protest.
The three friends visit Job. They’re genuinely horrified to see his devastated body; totally unaware they are the catalytic cause. They sit with him in silence for seven days. Job laments:
“Why was I even born? Just let me die. Let those who curse days curse my birthday—those who are ready to rouse Leviathan!” he exclaimed. “Be careful what you wish for,” cautions God, quietly.
Round 1
Eliphaz breaks the silence.
“May I venture a word?” he interjects. “A man can’t be righteous before God, but God will never harm the innocent. You’re a champion to the poor and needy; you’ve always supported them in their distress. Appeal to God, and He will have to remove all affliction from you because of your piety. We’re very clever men; you must heed us.”
“But I haven’t committed any sin!’ cried Job. “Prove me wrong! Lord, why should I be chained up like a Monster of the Deep? Isn’t my time short enough before I go to the place of no return?”
“Oh, stop blustering innocence!” snapped Bildad. “God would never bring curses on the guiltless; He’s not unjust. Your children were all sinners, so God killed them, simple as that. If you really were pure and upright, you wouldn’t be suffering.”
“A man can’t be righteous before God, but God rules however He wants,” countered Job. “I hate my afflictions because you use them to condemn me, but I can’t confront God. Lord: depart from me so I can enjoy a moment without you and die.”
“Is no one going to rebut this folly?” snorted Zophar. “You’ve sinned so much that even God can’t remember it all! But if you confess and repent, God is obliged to restore you.”
“Do you think you’re the only ones with brains?” grated Job. “I know all this! But these are no mere accidents that have befallen me; every creature on Earth knows this is God’s Hand. You smear me with lies. Why don’t you just shut up? Even a tree can be resurrected via a new shoot, but I can’t; my life is expiring fast! I trust in God, and if He would only stop torturing me, I’d have my day in court and prove my innocence.”
Leviathan, the Beast of Pride, stirs, roused by Job’s self-justifications. His predatory instincts scent a new target.
Round 2
Eliphaz is stung. He commanded Job to marvel at his wisdom and was spurned, his ego scarred. Pride amplifies his indignation:
“Who would talk such nonsense?” Your speech is entirely born of sin. Wisdom is on our side: Moses himself explained how curses would come to the wicked—precisely the way they’ve come to you! My superior wisdom must be heard.”
“You’re worthless comforters, the lot of you!” cried Job, equally riled. “Come on, fight me again; none of you are smart enough to defeat me!”
“You think we’re stupid?” snarled Bildad. “At least we know how to recognize a wicked man: all his children get killed and everyone is rightly appalled.”
Job is breath-taken, yet inflamed, by Bildad’s viciousness.
“How long will you keep attacking me?” he cried out. “I know my Redeemer lives and I’ll see Him before I die—with my own eyes! How my heart yearns for that day! You delight in hounding me, but you three should be in fear; the sword of judgment is coming for you!”
“Is someone dishonoring me?” pontificated Zophar, pompously. “My wisdom reassures me that God always destroys the wicked immediately.”
“Really?” said Job in amazement. “I wish He would! Until then, how is your stupidity any comfort?”
Round 3
“So you think God is punishing you for being a good guy?” Eliphaz spat. “Your wickedness is endless! You’re a predator to the poor and needy; you’ve always persecuted them in their distress. Return to God; only then will He restore you.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” said Job. “If I knew how to find Him, I could easily prove my innocence.”
“A man can’t be righteous before God: blabbered Bildad redundantly. “In fact…”
“Enough!” shouted Job, “Especially from you! What stunning wisdom you’ve all brought forth! You don’t understand God’s power at all, do you? He destroyed Egypt in the Red Sea, and that was just the fringe of His might! Let’s be clear: God has treated me unjustly; I haven’t sinned at all. You three are wrong: my integrity is a shining example; I’ll never rebuke myself!
Job continued:
“Man has unearthed many priceless jewels from the natural world, but only God knows where the jewel of wisdom lies. Man’s only way to wisdom is fearing God.
How I loved the days God favored me! Feeling Him close gave me everything I wanted, and everyone respected me. But now I’m a joke: God savages me cruelly and refuses to answer my pleas. Yet I never sinned! I walked a perfect line precisely because I knew God would slaughter me otherwise. If I’ve done anything wrong let God destroy me! I hereby subpoena Him—even He can’t bring any indictment against me. I will crown myself and stride up to Him like a prince!”
And thus, it happened. Job, the righteous man, fought Satan in the wilderness. Satan, Leviathan, the Beast of Pride, won as always. Righteousness can never defeat Pride: worse, it can form a gateway to Pride. Leviathan notches another victory: Job is clamped in his powerful jaws, poised to be swallowed, just as he consumed the three friends long before. God delays rescuing Job because Job has unwisely subpoenaed Him, and God won’t mislead anyone into thinking He can be summoned.
An intercessor is needed. Enter Elihu the Buzite, who comes first (Matthew 17:10) to prepare the way in the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3) for the Word of God to be received. Elihu has listened patiently to the whole debate. He’s angry because Job devolved into speaking well of himself rather than God, and the friends, far from helping Job with wise counsel, spouted self-glorifying nonsense instead. He rails at them.
“I let you three speak because you’re older than me and I thought we’d hear wisdom. Apparently not! So, it falls to me to advocate for God and correct Job. I won’t show favoritism because I fear God.
Job, understand this: I’m not better than you. But you said God is unjust and refuses to answer your cries. That’s not right: God speaks to us; but sometimes we must learn to listen differently. And even if He does terrify us, it’s only to keep us from Pride. I want you to be exonerated, Job, but for that to happen, I must straighten some things out (Isaiah 40:3). God is just. You’re wrong to accuse Him of injustice and cruelty. He can use calamity to develop people, and only those who don’t heed Him perish. Finally, Job, remember to praise His work. Though His ways are beyond our understanding, His approaches can be perceived—just like this thunderstorm that’s building up.”
The way is made straight (Isaiah 40:3). Job can now hear God. Thunder detonates the air, and from amidst the very lightning bolts, God speaks:
“Who dares to call My actions unwise? You’re the one who lacks understanding! Lady Wisdom herself witnessed Me form the Universe and lauded My works (Proverbs 8). I forged the elements, constrained the Proud Sea, and choreographed the ecosystems in all their complexity. Were you there to hear her joyful acclamations? No!”
God also remembers Job’s calamitous condition, languishing in Leviathan’s maw. His tone changes.
“Do you have much success controlling wild beasts, Job? Think on that a while. Consider the land beasts: the lions, wild goats, wild donkeys, wild oxen. Can you tame any of them? Or the beasts of the air: the raven, ostrich, hawk, and eagle? Can you control wild beasts, Job?”
Job is broken. His life is destroyed and, even worse, God seems completely uncaring, asking off-topic questions about his mastery of nature while ignoring his plight. He gives up.
“Whatever. I call to You for help, and all You do is highlight my impotence, ignoring my distress. I’m done.
But God knows His excellent servant will see the truth he hasn’t yet noticed.
“No, Job, don’t play the victim! Come and see (John 1:39). Can you humble a Proud Man? Can you tame that Man’s Pride? If so, I’ll be the first to admit you don’t need Me. Let Me show you the Wild Beast that has been here all along.
Look at Behemoth, whom I made as part of you. One so stubborn that his bones are like iron and bronze. The immovable object. But look even farther, look into that Proud Sea I chained in place the Day Earth was born. Ah, there he is! Leviathan, Job! Pride himself! Behold that indomitable monster. You think any man can control that? The thrashings of self-glory, that irresistible force: a steel-plated Goliath armed with missiles of lightning and fire! He crushes even the bronze and iron of stubbornness in his wake. Pride answers to no one but Me, Job. You crowned yourself a Prince, but in whose royal court did you serve? Mine? Alas, no. Look now, I give you the King of Pride!”
Revelation! The Satan unmasked.
And brilliant Job sees it immediately. Sees not only that Pride has seized him, but also how God’s genius directorship has used his suffering to save his fallen friends. This Gentile without father or mother (Hebrews 7:3), who learned obedience through suffering (Hebrews 5:6-8), sees God work the salvation of his friends through his afflictions; the mechanism by which their pride has been isolated for judgment and destruction.
Job marvels at God’s supremacy:
“Surely, I spoke rashly of things I hadn’t seen or understood.”
His discipleship is transformed to a new level; never again will his godliness derive from the terror of Divine Destruction. In his flesh, he has seen God’s Redeeming love at work with his own eyes, not those of another (Job 19:25-27) and his honored role as priest within it.
“My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you,” he blissfully declares. Joy floods through him, seeing that God had never abused or abandoned him. But wait: he’s still sitting in the dust and ashes of his trash pile: the location he specifically chose to showcase God’s injustice. Oops.
I despise and repent of dust and ashes!” he adds rapidly, springing off the ashes heap, never to settle there again
Job heard God’s second speech one time—and thereby immediately understood both speeches. He saw the Satan exposed in the vision presented in two forms: Behemoth and Leviathan. He understood the vision was given to him in two forms because the Judgment of the Satan had been firmly decided by God, and God would do it soon (Genesis 41:32). Immediately, in fact.
“I am angry with you and your two friends; you have not spoken well of me, as my servant Job has. If Job intercedes for you, I will let you live; otherwise, you will pay for your folly of not speaking what is right about me, as my servant Job did.”
As ever, Satan does not escape God’s rebuke. But Satan’s erstwhile three hosts/victims are saved by God’s plan, given the cooperation of His priest in Melchizedek’s order: righteous Job. Job thereby silently transmits God’s greatest message for the world: the suffering of a righteous man brings salvation to unrighteous men. This, in turn, reveals who we’ve been considering this whole time: Jesus the Christ, whose priesthood Job had been spirited out of nowhere to model. And the suffering of this righteous man, Messiah, triggers salvation for innumerable unrighteous, indeed for the whole world.
Yet Job’s greatest delight was still to come.
God doubles Job’s former fortunes, providing twice as many flocks and herds. Yet in a curious twist, Job only receives the same number of children as before: seven sons and three daughters. As the years tick by, and his wife’s fertility window closes, Job gradually sees he won’t receive the double-portion of children as he did with the animals. Transformed, Job doubtless trusts completely that God isn’t short-changing him. What profound joy fills him as this final truth blossoms within him. Job sees the reality of resurrection! He realizes he can only have fourteen sons and six daughters if his deceased children live again one day.
Job heard the promise God spoke so softly, in the still small voice in which all the greatest truths are shared. He saw the Resurrection Day to come and rejoiced in the glory it portends. He rejoiced most of all in the One who planned it and will perform it.
We do indeed have an awesome God.
John Pople,
San Francisco Peninsula Ecclesia, CA