...Or all of the above?

by Scott Cherry—

Job was a man who had everything and suddenly lost it all. Although Satan was the perpetrator, God let it happen. On the one hand, we read in his book that Job was greatly favored by God, but on the other that it was God who gave him over to Satan and the severe anguish that he wrought upon him.

 

 Many have wrestled with the question of why God would have done that, and why He still allows good people to suffer. It is commonly known as the problem of evil, or theodicy in philosophical circles. But this story shows us that God did not really abandon Job, and his suffering was not permanent. In the end God restored and rewarded him for his patience and steadfastness. Then again, maybe Job was not so patient, we discover. And maybe God restored him for a bigger and more far-reaching purpose. I believe that is the case. In the story of Job, God wanted to generate a profound, real-life motif and enshrine it for all ages to come, in Scripture and every imaginable cultural expression. We’ll add more detail to Job’s story soon as we’re ramping up to it.

        The Job motif is not only his, for God has repeatedly showcased this motif throughout Scripture in the stories of other prophets and saints, and he has written it into the fabric of human experience. Through their combined examples, the Job motif contributed to the Messiah Motif and became revelation to the world. Over and again we see this motif play out in life a thousand different ways.

        Ok, you say, so there’s this ancient Job guy who got a raw deal. Sounds like a lot of people in the world. And there seems to be this thing called a motif in culture that can look like an epic mutant superhero with some kind of messiah complex. So what, that’s only fiction. Can we get back to reality please? Is there a real messiah out there, and if so where does he show up?

        Great questions. When we see versions of this motif in human experience and culture, as we have already, we’re seeing reflections of a larger Reality. That’s what this book is about. First, it’s about where this pattern shows up. So far I’ve asserted that a general messiah motif is observable because it’s embedded, or ‘coded’ into the human condition. Now I will pick one particular stream of human experience to focus on—the Hebrew or Jewish, and even pre-Jewish experience as captured in their most ancient collection of literature—the Tanakh. Jews and Christians revere it as the epic library of divine revelation for the Jews and for the whole world. In principle, Muslims acknowledge its God-given revelation in parts, in the books of the Torah, the Zaboor (Psalms), and the some of the prophets, such as Job and Jonah. In the same sense, Muslims also recognize the gospel of Jesus the Messiah. Chapter five will delve deeper into this subject in the Qur’an.

 

Job’s Story Expanded

 

        The first chapter of his book tells us that Job was very rich man and the “greatest of all the people of the east,” with an accounting of exactly how many livestock he possessed. He also had ten children—seven sons and three daughters. And yes, he was very righteous, or “excellent” as Surah 38:44 of the Qur’an says. He was so excellent that, according to the Hebrew text, God said there was “no one like him on the earth” (v. 8). Verse 1 also says that Job was “blameless and upright” (וְיָשָׁ֛ר תָּ֧ם). Then verse 5 tells us that he had a practice of making burnt offerings[1] on behalf of his children in case they had sinned against God in their hearts, again, probably well before Moses had received any such kinds of revelation from the LORD. Perhaps this is also what the passage from one of the hadith means by “expiation” as we shall soon see. 

        Also in chapter 1 of Job, the divine narration tells us of the invisible ‘wager’ between God and Satan that permitted Satan to afflict Job, and exactly how. All in one day there was first a raid by the Sabeans who stole all his oxen and donkeys; then a “fire from God” that burned up all his sheep; then another raid on the camels by the Chaldeans; and finally a windstorm that killed all his adult children at once because they had gathered together for a party (vv. 13-19). Then, in chapter 2 we are told that, after a second round of the ‘wager’, Satan was permitted to harm Job’s body and infect him with some kind of disease that produced painful boils on him from head to toe (vv. 1-8). Needless to say, it is this wager that for many arouses feelings of confliction and resentment toward God. Understandably, it did for Job too. But still he would not curse God.

 

וַיָּ֤קׇם אִיּוֹב֙ וַיִּקְרַ֣ע אֶת־מְעִל֔וֹ וַיָּ֖גׇז אֶת־רֹאשׁ֑וֹ וַיִּפֹּ֥ל אַ֖רְצָה וַיִּשְׁתָּֽחוּ׃

וַיֹּ֩אמֶר֩ עָרֹ֨ם יָצָ֜תִי מִבֶּ֣טֶן אִמִּ֗י וְעָרֹם֙ אָשׁ֣וּב שָׁ֔מָּה יְהֹוָ֣ה נָתַ֔ן וַֽיהֹוָ֖ה לָקָ֑ח יְהִ֛י שֵׁ֥ם יְהֹוָ֖ה מְבֹרָֽךְ׃

Then Job arose, tore his robe, cut off his hair, and threw himself on the ground and worshiped. He said, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the LORD has given, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”                                                                                                                   –Book of Job 1:20-21[2]

        Invariably, and with much perplexion we might ask, Why would an all-powerful and all-good God do this? It’s a fair question, and one with which many have wrestled to this day. At this point, at least, it is not my intention to try to answer it. I offer only these thoughts: Obviously God was not afraid to show us this otherwise unknowable interplay between Satan and himself. Second, he was confident in Job’s endurance, and surely his own grace toward Job to help him endure. Third, because we have the luxury of the whole book at our fingertips, and we can know the end from the beginning, we can see that God had a greater purpose and goal in mind.

        All this horrific drama is written in continuous prose in the first two chapters, at the end of which Job’s four friends come on the scene to mourn with him: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the Naamathite, and Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite. At first they came to mourn with him (2:11), but after a while they shifted their focus to convincing Job that he deserved what he got. The next thirty-five chapters contain their lengthy discourses in the form of monologues—nine by Job and the rest by each of the four men in-turn (some spanning two or more chapters each). Thirty-five chapters! In them Job’s friends become increasingly more judgmental and Job more defensive. They all seemed to believe in the same one God, but they disagreed about His standards and Job’s standing with Him.

        Then in chapter 38 God himself enters the dialogue for the first time and through chapter 42 proceeds to give Job an attitude adjustment. In a word, it would seem that Job was guilty of misjudging the Almighty for his suffering—but less guilty than were his four companions for the misguided things they believed and spoke about God. They had bad theology. For this reason God required atonement for them, and he commanded them to offer burnt offerings for themselves, seven bulls and rams (42:7-9). These were to be sacrificed by Job with his prayers of forgiveness for them. Vicariously. So Job did this, and the LORD forgave them.

 

וַיְהִ֗י אַחַ֨ר דִּבֶּ֧ר יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶת־הַדְּבָרִ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה אֶל־אִיּ֑וֹב וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶל־אֱלִיפַ֣ז הַתֵּימָנִ֗י חָרָ֨ה אַפִּ֤י בְךָ֙ וּבִשְׁנֵ֣י רֵעֶ֔יךָ כִּ֠י לֹ֣א דִבַּרְתֶּ֥ם אֵלַ֛י נְכוֹנָ֖ה כְּעַבְדִּ֥י אִיּֽוֹב׃

וְעַתָּ֡ה קְחוּ־לָכֶ֣ם שִׁבְעָֽה־פָרִים֩ וְשִׁבְעָ֨ה אֵילִ֜ים וּלְכ֣וּ ׀ אֶל־עַבְדִּ֣י אִיּ֗וֹב וְהַעֲלִיתֶ֤ם עוֹלָה֙ בַּעַדְכֶ֔ם וְאִיּ֣וֹב עַבְדִּ֔י יִתְפַּלֵּ֖ל עֲלֵיכֶ֑ם כִּ֧י אִם־פָּנָ֣יו אֶשָּׂ֗א לְבִלְתִּ֞י עֲשׂ֤וֹת עִמָּכֶם֙ נְבָלָ֔ה כִּ֠י לֹ֣א דִבַּרְתֶּ֥ם אֵלַ֛י נְכוֹנָ֖ה כְּעַבְדִּ֥י אִיּֽוֹב׃

After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am incensed at you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about Me as did My servant Job. Now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to My servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. And let Job, My servant, pray for you; for to him I will show favor and not treat you vilely, since you have not spoken the truth about Me as did My servant Job.”

…It's as if Job were a priest, or some sort of go-between or something. Why would they need intercession? Couldn’t they just repent and get forgiveness from God directly, and without animal sacrifices? Apparently not.

          Lastly, we are told that the LORD restored Job’s health and wealth both, to which we shall give due attention in later chapters.

        Now, rewinding a little, chapter 1 tells us just a little about Job’s wife, which we had skipped over. It says she was spared from death and presumably from the infection, but obviously she would have been afflicted by all the other losses, especially the death of their children. Out of her anguish, she admonished Job to “Curse God and die,” for which he rebuked her and gave honor to God. …Nothing more.

וַתֹּ֤אמֶר לוֹ֙ אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ עֹדְךָ֖ מַחֲזִ֣יק בְּתֻמָּתֶ֑ךָ בָּרֵ֥ךְ אֱלֹהִ֖ים וָמֻֽת׃ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלֶ֗יהָ כְּדַבֵּ֞ר אַחַ֤ת הַנְּבָלוֹת֙ תְּדַבֵּ֔רִי גַּ֣ם אֶת־הַטּ֗וֹב נְקַבֵּל֙ מֵאֵ֣ת הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים וְאֶת־הָרָ֖ע לֹ֣א נְקַבֵּ֑ל בְּכׇל־זֹ֛את לֹא־חָטָ֥א אִיּ֖וֹב בִּשְׂפָתָֽיו׃ {פ}

His wife said to him,“You still keep your integrity! Blaspheme [curse] God and die!” But he said to her, “You talk as any shameless woman might talk! Should we accept only good from God and not accept evil?” For all that, Job said nothing sinful. (vv. 9-10)[3]

 

Biblical Themes and Motifs

In my book, The Reason of Job, I argue that the story of Job is the motif of Messiah, and that this motif runs all through the Judeo-Christian scriptures, or Bible. In every kind of literature we see motifs when multiple themes merge together into a prevailing image that controls less-dominant ones that serve it. In the Tanakh, one of the most prevalent motifs is that of Messiah. Throughout the Tanakh, although always a mystery, the profile of the Messiah, or motif, became well-known in Hebrew culture and religion. When one-day he would appear he would become the Savior of God’s people with a full spectrum of contrasting yet complementary attributes. In the Book of Job, and in Job the man, this motif is powerfully displayed. Although Job was not a Hebrew himself, the Hebrew canon of scripture features him and multiple other figures who contributed to what I call the descent-to-ascent contour of the Messiah motif. These include Noah, Moses, Jonah, Jacob, and Joseph, to name a few, all of which we will survey, and which are important prophets in the Qur’an as well.

The Tanakh’s 35+ authors wrote over a span of 1500 years and were largely non-contemporaries, so they couldn’t have colluded with each other about the Messiah. Following the Israelites’ return from exile, if Ezra or someone else were to have served as ‘master editor’ of the Tanakh, as some Muslims and liberal scholars speculate, he could never have been so brilliant as to have developed the Messiah motif in the numerous places of the books, contexts, and dates where it is found. And if he had, wouldn’t he have removed all shadow of doubt from the more disputed messianic texts? Therefore, neither a disparate chain of writers, nor even a single author, could have conceived of the Messiah without divine revelation and inspiration. Even the most talented writer/s could not have constructed so comprehensive a Motif so pervasively into the Tanakh over 1.5 millennia without divine oversight and long-term preservation.

In the Book of Job, and from the first book of the Torah (Genesis 3:15 and 49:8-10) the at-first cryptic Messiah figure is introduced and repeatedly appears with progressive layers to his profile until the full complexity of his attributes is gloriously displayed. Then, toward the end of the Hebrew library, especially in Prophet Isaiah’s oracles, we can marvel at a fully-developed Messiah figure that was both recognizable and anticipated by the Jews into the first century. Whatever is believed of the Messiah himself, this anticipation is evident in the narratives of the Christian New Testament as well.

        Motifs consist of literary themes of which the Tanakh contains hundreds. Consider just these eight examples.

 

8 Broad Themes of the Tanakh

1. The Sovereignty/Wisdom of God

2. Creation, beauty, and goodness

3. Life, happiness, blessings, and joy

4. Sin, death, and their consequences

5. Redemption and reconciliation

6. A people for God, holy nation

7. Exile and return, restoration

8. Rewards and punishments

 

        Some of these themes converge to form motifs. For now, consider just these three that run throughout the whole Tanakh, or Old Testament, from beginning to end.

 

3 Messianic Motifs

A. Sacrifice, Offering, Atonement

B. Progressive Messianic Motifs

C. Elaborate Future Prophecies

Now, here are seven scriptural examples of just the first motif.

 

A. Sacrifice, Offering, Atonement

 

1.   Book of Genesis 3:21                  Animal Skins for coverings

2.   Genesis 4:1-4                               Cain and Abel’s offerings

3.   Genesis 8:20                                Noah’s burnt offerings

4.   Genesis 15:7-21                           Abraham’s burnt offerings

5.   Genesis 22                                    The near sacrifice of Isaac

6.   Book of Exodus 12                      The Passover Sacrifice

7.   Exodus 24, Leviticus 1-7            Laws re: animal sacrifices

 

Then, here are thirty examples of the second two motifs combined, which are really both Messianic categories (B).

B. Progressive Messianic Motifs

 

1.    Book of Genesis 3:15                     Curse on the serpent      

2.    Genesis 14:17-20                           Cameo of Melchizedek

3.    Genesis 22                                      The near sacrifice of Isaac

4.    Genesis 39-50                                Joseph as Messianic figure

5.    Genesis 49:8-12                             The blessing upon Judah

6.    Exodus 1-20+                                 Moses as Messianic figure

7.    Numbers 24:15-19                         Balaam’s Messianic Oracle

8.    Deuteronomy 18:15-19                 The Prophet Like Moses

9.     Job 19:25-27                                  The Living Redeemer

10.   Psalm 2:7-12                                Son of God

11.   Psalm 22:1                                    Words of Jesus on the Cross

12.   Psalm 72 (all)                              A description of Royal Son

13.   Psalm 110                                     Priest, order of Melchizedek

14.   Isaiah 9:6-7                                 A child is born; a son given

15.   Isaiah 11:1-10                              The Rod and Root of Jesse

16.   Isaiah 35:5-6                               Messiah’s healing ministry

17.   Isaiah 42:1-3                                Role of the Chosen Servant

18.   Isaiah 52-53                                 Messiah’s full ministry

19.   Isaiah 55:3-4                                Covenant; leader, commander

20.   Isaiah 59:20                                Redeemer to those in Zion

21.   Isaiah 61:1-4                                The Spirit of God upon me

22.   Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15-17        The Righteous Branch   

 

C. Elaborate Prophecy Fulfillment

1.   Book of Genesis 49:8-12            Blessing upon Judah

2.   Psalm 16:10                                 No corruption for holy one

3.   Psalm 22:1                                   Words on the Cross

4.   Psalm 41:8-10                             Betrayed by a friend

5.   Psalm 69:21                                 Sour wine and gall

6.   Isaiah 52-53                                Full role of Messiah

7.   Micah 5:2                                     Birthplace Bethlehem

8.   Jeremiah 31:15                            Slaughter of the Innocents

 

 

The Book of Job

 

        A few of these examples appear in both the B and C list because they represent both categories. I am also conscious that there will not be unanimous agreement on all of these, whether among Jews and Jews, Christians and Christians, or Christians and Jews. But I believe there will be significant agreement within each of the three groups, or at least some. A fair amount of agreement is all that is necessary for my argument to stand.

        Note example 9 in list B, Job 19:25-27, which will reemerge in the next chapter. This is a passage that I and many Christians consider a messianic one, and possibly some Jews. It is one of the driving passages of this book, and one into which we will delve much deeper in chapter 5.

        In one sense, the Book of Job is from the primary Hebrew-Jewish stream of scripture with all the rest. But in another sense, it is only half Hebrew. By this I mean that the language of the Book of Job is Hebrew, but that’s all. It is the testimony of a pre-Jewish man named Job, or Ayoub/Ayyub in Arabic transliteration. Job is the main character of the Hebrew book by his name, which in the Tanakh’s table of contents is the third book of the Writings, or Ketuvim, and the sixteenth overall, set between the books of Proverbs and Song of Songs, or Song of Solomon. In the canon of the protestant Christian Old Testament shown three pages back, it is the eighteenth book that falls between Esther and Psalms where it is included in the wisdom, or poetic literature genre. In both Judaism and Christianity it is recognized as divine poetry similar to the Psalms and large segments of the books of the Prophets.  

        In Islam, although there is content on Job, the whole of the book is absent from the Qur’an and other Islamic literature.[5] Job is regarded as a prophet, and his basic story is known by many Muslims. Thus Job is a member of the respective pantheons of all three religions, and his story has similar contours. But only Judaism and Christianity possess his full book because they share the same Hebrew library.[6]^{, [7]}

        Many conservative scholars consider the Book of Job to be the oldest book in the Tanakh, written between 1700 and 1900 BC. In this view, if the books of the Tanakh were strictly arranged chronologically by their time of writing, but especially by the age of the events they capture, the Book of Job would be first in the table of contents, even before the Book of Genesis, aside from its creation account, of course, which would have to come first, followed by the fall and exile of Adam and Eve in chapters 1-3.[8]^,[9]  

        Study the timeline on the next page. Although the print is quite small, you should be able to see that Job appears parallel to the call of Abraham, the second item from the far left. This reflects the conservative view, which I also espouse.

 

Job the Man, the Arab      مهنة

 

      Regardless of the dating of the book by his name, the man Job lived a very long time ago. There are few clues by which to determine his specific dates with certainty, but his era was probably between Noah and Moses, late 3^rd millennium to mid-2^nd millennium BC.[10] In this view, therefore, Job would have certainly pre-existed the people that later became known as the Jews, or Hebrews.

        In the very first verse of the book we are told that, “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job...”  If that sounds to you like the place that Abraham was from, it wasn’t. Abraham was from Ur which today is southern Iraq, close to where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers converge. Uz, on the other hand, was about 1100 miles to the west of Ur in what today is southern Jordon or northwestern Saudi Arabia (see map on next page). Back then the region in which Uz was probably located was known as Midian, very close to the Land of Seir which would later become Edom.[11] If Job lived after the time of Abraham’s grandson Esau, that region may have been called Edom depending on the precise latitude of Uz.[12] Indeed, the Prophet Jeremiah’s Book of Lamentations explicitly equates Uz with Edom when it says…

שִׂ֤ישִׂי וְשִׂמְחִי֙ בַּת־אֱד֔וֹם (יושבתי) [יוֹשֶׁ֖בֶת] בְּאֶ֣רֶץ ע֑וּץ גַּם־עָלַ֙יִךְ֙ תַּעֲבׇר־כּ֔וֹס תִּשְׁכְּרִ֖י וְתִתְעָרִֽי׃ {ס}        

 

Rejoice and exult, Fair Edom,
Who dwell in the land of Uz!
To you, too, the cup shall pass,
You shall get drunk and expose your nakedness.[13]

 

        Esau (Edom) was the bother of Jacob and progenitor of the Edomites, and who, in addition to taking Hittite wives, married the daughter of Abraham’s first son Ishmael who was his uncle.[14] The land of Edom extended south from the southern shore of the Dead Sea in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba in the south.[15] Midian, before it was a land, was one of Abraham’s later sons by his second wife Keturah.[16] Therefore Midian was also Esau’s uncle, which land he settled took on his name. Thus the Midianites and Edomites were related. The lands of Midian and Edom were both part of northern Arabia, the region later to be known as the Hijaz along the eastern shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, the eastern fork of the Red Sea. Thus, if Job was either a Midianite or an Edomite, he was a descendent of Ishmael, father of the Arabs (or at least one of them). He could also be thought of as an Arab as an inhabitant of northern Arabia.

 

King Jobab of Edom?

        Job could very well have been a direct descendant of Esau, and thus an Edomite. Indeed, based on some texts of scripture, some would say this is a solid fact. There is also an interesting theory that Job was the King of Edom, or at least a duke, and it was a sharp university student named Housam who jogged my memory to it. As I was working on this chapter, I happened to mention it to Housam who later surprised me by sending me this text message: “Hello Sir, Genesis 36 shows that Job's name was really Jobab.”

 

And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel. …and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.

–Genesis 36:31, 33[17]

 

…“Then, Job chapter 29 talks about his life when he used to be a king/duke in Edom just like in Genesis 36.” 

 

Book of Job 29 

⁷  When I went out to the gate of the city,

when I prepared my seat in the square,

⁸  the young men saw me and withdrew,

and the aged rose and stood;

⁹  the princes refrained from talking

and laid their hand on their mouth;

¹⁰  the voice of the nobles was hushed,

 

¹⁴  I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;

my justice was like a robe and a turban.

 

²⁵  I chose their way and sat as chief,

and I lived like a king among his troops,

like one who comforts mourners.

 

        Note the abundance of royal language in the chapter which I have bolded, particularly verse 14, and 25. A turban can be a type of crown. Housam did include the following passage from the Septuagint which was the first-ever Greek translation of the Hebrew Tanakh (280-100 BC):[18]

Job 42:17 (LXX Septuagint)

καὶ ἐτελεύτησεν Ιωβ πρεσβύτερος καὶ πλήρης ἡμερῶν.‡ γέγραπται δὲ αὐτὸν πάλιν ἀναστήσεσθαι μεθ᾿ ὧν ὁ κύριος ἀνίστησιν. οὗτος ἑρμηνεύεται ἐκ τῆς Συριακῆς βίβλου ἐν μὲν γῇ κατοικῶν τῇ Αυσίτιδι ἐπὶ τοῖς ὁρίοις τῆς Ιδουμαίας καὶ Ἀραβίας, προϋπῆρχεν δὲ αὐτῷ ὄνομα Ιωβαβ· λαβὼν δὲ γυναῖκα Ἀράβισσαν γεννᾷ υἱόν ᾧ ὄνομα Εννων ἦν δὲ αὐτὸς πατρὸς μὲν Ζαρε τῶν Ησαυ υἱῶν υἱός μητρὸς δὲ Βοσορρας ὥστε εἶναι αὐτὸν πέμπτον ἀπὸ Αβρααμ καὶ οὗτοι οἱ βασιλεῖς οἱ βασιλεύσαντες ἐν Εδωμ ἧς καὶ αὐτὸς ἦρξεν χώρας πρῶτος Βαλακ ὁ τοῦ Βεωρ καὶ ὄνομα τῇ πόλει αὐτοῦ Δενναβα μετὰ δὲ Βαλακ Ιωβαβ ὁ καλούμενος Ιωβ μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον Ασομ ὁ ὑπάρχων ἡγεμὼν ἐκ τῆς Θαιμανίτιδος χώρας μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον Αδαδ υἱὸς Βαραδ ὁ ἐκκόψας Μαδιαμ ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ Μωαβ καὶ ὄνομα τῇ πόλει αὐτοῦ Γεθθαιμ οἱ δὲ ἐλθόντες πρὸς αὐτὸν φίλοι Ελιφας τῶν Ησαυ υἱῶν Θαιμανων βασιλεύς Βαλδαδ ὁ Σαυχαίων τύραννος Σωφαρ ὁ Μιναίων βασιλεύς[19]

And Job died, an old man and full of days: and it is written that he will rise again with those whom the Lord raises up. This man is described in the Syriac book living in the land of Ausis, on the borders of Idumea and Arabia: and his name before was Jobab; and having taken an Arabian wife, he begot a son whose name was Ennon. And he himself was the son of his father Zare, one of the sons of Esau, and of his mother Bosorrha, so that he was the fifth from Abraam. And these were the kings who reigned in Edom, which country he also ruled over: first, Balac, the son of Beor, and the name of his city was Dennaba: but after Balac, Jobab, who is called Job, and after him Asom, who was governor out of the country of Thaeman: and after him Adad, the son of Barad, who destroyed Madiam in the plain of Moab; and the name of his city was Gethaim. And friends who came to him were Eliphaz, of the children of Esau, king of the Thaemanites, Baldad sovereign of the Sauchaeans, and Sophar king of the Minaeans.[20]

 

As scripture goes, these are very obscure passages. I would wager that 98% of Christians have no knowledge of them. That Housam did was quite surprising. I was aware of this theory, but only because of my research for this book, and having come upon Dr. C.J. Williams’ The Shadow of Christ in the Book of Job.[21] Until Housam spoke to me about it, I had reserved it for chapter 11.

This is even more fascinating to me because of what kind of student Housam was. Born as a Muslim, he became disillusioned with religion around age 17 and became a self-described atheist/agnostic for two years. Then he joined the Hebrew Israelites, a cult that teaches that only black and brown people are the true Israelite and people of God. They have a strange theology, but they are more studious than average Christians. They study the Bible assiduously, especially the Old Testament, which explains why Housam knew this material. After two years of involvement with them he grew wary of them and became a Christian. As a college student, he joined a vibrant Christian club called Ratio Christi at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. That’s where I met him. He later joined a Bible study I was teaching using material from this book.

        The theory that Housam espoused seems logical, and even commonsensical, but that doesn’t make it certain. It rests on a number of elements that may or may not be true. The first has to do with this Septuagint passage which, except for the first sentence, is not in the Hebrew, as one could note even from the brevity of it.  

וַיָּ֣מׇת אִיּ֔וֹב זָקֵ֖ן וּשְׂבַ֥ע יָמִֽים׃

So Job died old and contented.[22]

 

Fifty-four other English translations say something equally brief and similar, such as, “And Job died old and full of days.” 

        Other elements include the assumptions that Job and Jobab were one and the same man, and that he was certainly an Edomite. Can we know these things with certainty? Some believe so. James B. Jordan, in his article, “Was Job an Edomite King?” argues cogently that he was certainly an Edomite and very probably a king. Regarding Job’s identification with Jobab, however, Jordan is agnostic. Still he posits, “If this Jobab were the same Edomite ruler as Job, then such an encounter would explain two things. First, it would explain how Jobab and others in his area came to a knowledge of the true religion [Yahwist monotheism]. Second, it would explain how the Israelites came to know the story of Job.” Whether Job was Jobab or not, therefore, Job’s kingship would need not hang on that.

 

That Job was almost certainly an Edomite emerges from the geographical context of Job’s life. He lived in the east, and Edom was to the southeast of Israel, in the northwest corner of Arabia. He lived in the land of Uz (`Uts), and this was part of Edom according to Lamentations 4:21. Job is clearly some kind of king…the Chief Cornerstone… Job as king is the "greatest of the men of the east" (Job 1:3). He employed hundreds of people and fed the poor. The disaster that overcame his household was, thus, a disaster upon the entire realm. The poor were starving, and hundreds of people were either killed or out of work. The sores on Job’s body were a sign of the lesions on the body politic of which he was the head, a point no ancient reader would miss. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar are his "three mighty men…" It is because Job is the king that the other men arrive to try and force him to step down. …Their fallacy is not in seeking to restore their society, but in the way they seek to do it. Their desire is for Job to step down by admitting fault, so that one of them can replace him… God’s intention, however, is to take Job and this society through judgment and resurrection, and to reconstitute a new and better society afterwards (as happens in chapter 42). The attack upon Job came not because he was an ordinary person, but because of    his preeminent position in this community [23]

If I’m honest, Jordan’s arguments seem eminently plausible to me, and the more I consider them the more they resonate with me. Nevertheless, an ample amount of conjecture is involved in his views, especially the extent to which he takes them. For example, to imagine that it was the goal of King Job’s friends to get him to step down from the throne. How can we know that from the text? Still, supposing Job was a king, I don’t think this idea is illogical or implausible. On the other hand, the fact that Jordan gives no attention to the kingly and messianic language of chapter 19 and 29 is a glaring omission. It’s almost as though it is inconsequential to him.

But for Dr. Williams the messianic language is everything. From a somewhat different angle, and through an apparent more Reformed lens, here is what he has to say on the subject:

 

Some have speculated that Job actually was a king. The Septuagint version of Job adds an appendix of supplemental information drawn from Genesis 36 and an unnamed Syrian book*, essentially identifying Job with King Jobab of Edom (36:33). However, this lengthier Septuagint ending to the book is clearly a later addition. It was likely added in order to supply historical and genealogical information that is not present in the canonical Hebrew text of Job, and perhaps to offer an explanation for the royal imagery in the book. The Septuagint addition, and the identification of Job with Jobab, can safely be dismissed as the creative gloss of a later Greek editor. The motif of kingship imbued in Job’s character is too overdrawn to reflect historical reality. Instead, it belongs to his typological image. The main text in which this motif appears has clear connections to the royal messianic imagery of the Old Testament.[24]

Frankly, I cannot agree with Williams’ statement that the kingship motif is too “overdrawn” (exaggerated?) to be historically true, and I’m not sure how one judges a passage to be so. It doesn’t seem overdrawn at all to me, but that doesn’t mean I’m right and he’s wrong. Surely there are plentiful sources that would agree with him.

        One way or the other, there is an obvious Joban kingship motif that gives us cause to wonder. Either Job was a king (or duke), or the motif points to someone else, or both. Williams goes on to say…

 

In chapter 29, Job recollects his former life before his trials began, but in such a way that portrays him as a righteous, miracle-working king…In Job’s words there is more than an echo of the perfect reign of the messianic king in Psalm 72:12-14:

He will bring justice to the poor of the people;

He will save the children of the needy,

And will break in pieces the oppressor.

For he will deliver the needy when he cries,

The poor also, and him who has no helper.

He will spare the poor and needy,

And will save the souls of the needy.

He will redeem their life from oppression and violence,

And precious shall be their blood in his sight.

The kingly figure of Job 29 combines the features of miraculous authority (vs. 15) and wise counsel (vs. 21), which combination would come to expression again in the messianic title “wonderful counselor” (Isaiah 9:6). In this way, later texts from the Prophets and the Psalms draw directly from Job’s imagery to continue to build the messianic expectation of the Old Testament. …Being clothed with righteousness is also a messianic theme (Isaiah 59:17; 61:10), as well as healing the blind and the lame (Isaiah 35:4–6; Gospel of Matthew 11:5). …The thread of priestly imagery in Job also intersects with chapter 29. …Later authors who drew on the book of Job to further build the messianic picture must have understood the typological function of Job’s image as a miraculous king who nevertheless suffered great hardship. (34:37).[25]

        There we have it. Rather than understanding Job as an actual king, Dr. Williams sees him as a typological king, a symbol of a future king. Or, more accurately, he sees Job as having prophetically pointed to the future “miraculous” king—the great Messiah himself. Thus, for Williams, based on Job 29, the Messiah would be a king, but not just the typical self-absorbed king. He would instead be characterized by the selfless and redemptive qualities of the king in Psalm 72, the four passages in the Book of Isaiah, and a host of others.

        In a similar typological vein, or at least metaphorical, Matthew Fuhrman seems largely to agree with Williams when he says thatJob is shown to be an image of God's ideal king…that ancient king of God whose focus is not on what he has or what is taken from him, but rather his relationship with God… Job was an early prototype that shows this kingship in never losing his nobility despite his trial…that image of Christ in humility and nobility is true kingship.”

Perhaps Fuhrman’s view is characteristically Orthodox, or mystical. It appears that he is not calling Job a king in the literal sense that Jordan does. While he does not expressly deny this possibility, it doesn’t seem to be what he has in mind, as though it is irrelevant. Rather, he seems to be using “king” in a figurative, spiritual sense similar to how in the New Testament Apostle Peter refers to all the people of God as “a royal priesthood,” and “kings and priests” according to verses 1:6 and 5:10 of the Book of Revelation delivered to the Apostle John, the last book of the New Testament.[26]

        Again, I consider it plausible that Job was an actual  king or duke, and it makes for a fascinating consideration. But I don’t think we can be sure. Either way, for the focus of our study and my argument, it doesn’t matter. I certainly agree with both Williams and Fuhrman that Job produced a ‘Job motif’ which was also a Messiah motif. And that is what this book is about.

 

“King Job” and his three friends.[27]

         

        Circling back, if Job was not this Jobab of Genesis 36, then it’s possible that he predated Esau but still descended from Abraham. In that case he would either have been an Ishmaelite[28] having descended from Abraham’s first son Ishmael with Hagar, or a Midianite having descended from his fourth son, Midian, from his second wife, Keturah.[29] Four centuries later, the land of Midian was the that to which Moses fled from Egypt, and where he spent the next 40 years before returning. There he married a Midianite woman named Zipporah and became son-in-law to Jethro, who is also regarded as a prophet in Islam, Prophet Suhaib. This is also a alternate location of Mt. Sinai where Moses received the ten commandments and an enormous amount of revelation recorded in the Torah’s five books, including Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

        After God himself (Genesis 3:15) Job was quite possibly the first to have spoken, and written, divine revelation about the future messiah, and thus some core elements of his motif. By way of preview, in chapter 19 verses 25-27 we read these words of Job:

וַאֲנִ֣י יָ֭דַעְתִּי גֹּ֣אֲלִי חָ֑י וְ֝אַחֲר֗וֹן עַל־עָפָ֥ר יָקֽוּם׃

וְאַחַ֣ר ע֭וֹרִי נִקְּפוּ־זֹ֑את וּ֝מִבְּשָׂרִ֗י אֶחֱזֶ֥ה אֱלֽוֹהַּ׃

אֲשֶׁ֤ר אֲנִ֨י ׀ אֶחֱזֶה־לִּ֗י וְעֵינַ֣י רָא֣וּ וְלֹא־זָ֑ר כָּל֖וּ כִלְיֹתַ֣י בְּחֵקִֽי׃

 

But I know that my Vindicator lives;
In the end He will testify on earth—

This, after my skin will have been peeled off.
But I would behold God while still in my flesh,

I myself, not another, would behold Him;
Would see with my own eyes[30]

        As we will see in a few pages, this passage is absent from the Islamic literature, and so will be alien to most Muslims, but also to many Christians who are less familiar with the Book of Job. But for those who are familiar with it, many view Job’s words as a prophecy of the Messiah. If it was, then Job gave us some glimpses into the Messianic profile that few later prophets would give us. If for no other reason, then, Jews and Christians can agree with Muslims that Job was a prophet, or at least prophetic, well before the stream of Hebrew prophets began to form.[31]  

       

• 26 June 2023
• Author: Scott Cherry
• Number of views: 12544
• Comments: 0