Job 3

3:1-10 Job curses the day of his birth

Job pours out his grief and pain in a bold and dramatic way. It does not seem to be that Job is specifically addressing anyone specifically in Job 3:1-10. The fact there are so many psalms of lament show how common this is for the people of God. Job’s frustrations throughout the book cannot be blamed solely on his friend’s words because he speaks before they speak. One writer described Job 3 as “one of the most depressing chapters in the Bible” (Alden, 71). However, those who are presently experiencing this kind of pain may identify with and find great comfort in these words. Psalm 88 is filled with darkness. It is a psalm of lament that has no ending of praise and hope. The final word of the Hebrew text and most translations of Psalm 88 is the word darkness. I have found that preaching that psalm has led many people to come out and say seriously, “That was encouraging.”

Job’s longing to have never been born is similar to the request of Elijah (I Kings 19:4) and Jonah (Jonah 4:3) for the LORD to take their life. They knew life was in God’s hands and they asked him to take their life and they did not take matters into their own hands. There is a difference between Elijah and Jonah, however. Elijah is broken because his ministry as a prophet has been rejected. Jonah is discouraged because the Ninevites have responded to his message and repented and been spared by God. Jonah wanted the LORD to take his life because the wrong people listened and obeyed his preaching.

Jeremiah 20:14-18 Jeremiah had the difficult task of speaking for God and giving an unpopular message to a wicked people.[1] There are several similarities between Jer. 20:14-18 and Job 3. Both deals with cursing the day of one’s birth (Job 3:1, 8; Jer. 20:14). They both mention the announcement of a male child (Job 3:3; Jer. 20:15). Blocking the womb is described in both (Job 3:11; Jer. 20:17). Both use the same Hebrew word trouble (Job 3:10; Jer. 20:18). The hyperbole of Jeremiah 20:14-18 is even more stunning than Job 3:1-10. He asks that the LORD bring judgment upon the man who announced the happy news to his father that he had a son. Jeremiah asks that the judgment against him be like the judgment that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah (20:16; Gen. 19:25-26). He curses the man because he did not kill him before his birth (20:17). Clearly, the innocent man who brought the news to Jeremiah’s father of his birth should not have literally taken Jeremiah’s life in the womb. The text is speaking in using the most extreme exaggeration and overemphasis to say that he wishes he was never born. The words of Matt. 26:24 that it would have been better for Judas if he had never been born do not emphasize his stress in life but the horror of his judgment after death.

While we would be worried about anyone near us who uttered the words of Job 3:1-10 or Jer. 20:14-18, the text does seem to show that thoughts like these and expressing these thoughts may be part of the life of some of God’s faithful servants. When we feel completely broken, these passages affirm that many who have sought to follow God have felt the same way. These passages may give us guides for words we can use if we face similar circumstances. They neither curse God nor take His name in vain (Ex. 23:7; Lev. 24:10-16). They do not curse their parents (Ex. 20:12; 21:14). They do vent their frustration that they were born at all. While their efforts to write themselves out of history are not logical, they are understandable. Job and Jeremiah give full expression to their desires within certain limits and boundaries that they will not pass.

What roles do God and Satan play in Job’s suffering and suffering throughout Scriptures?

Satan appears in Job 1:6-12 and 2:1-6, 7. His hand in suffering is particularly emphasized in Job 1:12 and 2:6, 7. Satan’s hand in suffering is stressed in several New Testament passages as well. In Luke 13:16 the woman Jesus heals in the synagogues is one “whom Satan has bound for eighteen years.” In Acts 10:38 Jesus went about doing good and “healing all who were oppressed of the devil.” II Cor. 12:7 describes Paul’s thorn in the flesh as a “messenger of Satan.” In Jesus’ letter to the church of Smyrna he says that “the devil is about to cast some of you into prison” (Rev. 2:10). Each of these passages speak of Satan, the devil playing a significant role in human suffering. There are certainly other passages that tie Satan to temptation, sin, and spiritual suffering, but now we are focusing on physical suffering.

These truths from the book of Job about God’s hand in human suffering are consistent with the rest of Scripture.

Deuteronomy 32:39 “See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides Me; It is who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.”

I Samuel 2:6-7 “The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts.”

Isaiah 30:26 “The LORD binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted.”

Isaiah 45:7 “The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.”

Jer. 32:42 “Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them.”

Lam. 3:37-38 “Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, unless the LORD has commanded it? Is in not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth?”

Amos 3:6 “If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it?”

Heb. 12:1-11 The hostility followers of Jesus experienced from sinners in 12:1-4 seems to be the same as the discipline of the LORD in 12:5-11.

There are several events in which both God and Satan are said to be active. Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil (Matt. 4:1; Luke 4:1). The devil is trying to get Jesus to sin and undo God’s entire plan of salvation. God using to the same event to qualify Jesus as the perfect high priest (Heb. 2:17-18; 4:14-16). While Paul’s thorn in the flesh was a messenger of Satan, it was given to keep Paul from exalting himself (II Cor. 12:7-10). Obviously, keeping Paul from becoming proud was not Satan’s purpose but it was God’s purpose. While Satan entered Judas to entice him to betray Jesus (Luke 22:3; John 13:2, 27), all the things that happened around the crucifixion were to fulfill the will of God (Acts 2:23; 3:13-15; 4:27-28; 13:27). While Satan and God were both involved in these events, in none of these cases are God and Satan acting together. Satan is seeking to cause man to curse God. But God is working in the same events to seek to teach man things he would not have learned otherwise (Ps. 119:67, 71, 75). God is seeking to help man see Him more clearly than previously (Job 42:5-6). God is working to save man from sin. The message of the Bible is that nothing happens to us that is not ultimately controlled by the knowledge, love, wisdom, and power of our God of all comfort (II Cor. 1:3). The test of Job was ultimately a step in the utter defeat of Satan and not Job.

Job 2

2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD- The scene in 2:1-6 is a repetition of the scene produced in 1:6-12. Just as parallelism can drive home the point in poetry, prose often stresses its point by repeating the narrative (Gen. 24:1-27;24:28-49). 2:1 is a verbatim repetition from 1:6 except 2:1 adds the three Hebrew words that end the sentence translated to present himself before the LORD.

2:3 And he still holds fast his integrity- The verse from this point on adds to the words of 1:8. This verb holds fast is a common verb and means be strong or strengthen (Josh.1:6, 7, 9; Job 4:3) or seize (Gen. 19:16). Job held fast to his integrity as some hold fast to deceit- Jer. 8:5. This word will be used also in Job in 2:9; 4:3; 8:15,20; 18:9 and 27:6. In Job 27:6 Job declares I hold fast to my righteousness.

The picture of the divine council does not eliminate the picture of an omniscient God (Psalm 139:1-6; Isa. 40:13-14).

2:4 What does skin for skin mean? Much has been written to answer this question, but few good answers have been provided. The meaning seems to be something along the lines that even if a person loses their possessions, children, and all else, that the person will respond differently when the suffering is his and his death is imminent. I think the meaning of the phrase is largely derived by the next line that all that a man has he will give for his life.

2:7 Deut. 28:35 speaks of boils from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. The phrase from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head is also used of Absalom in II Sam. 14:25. In II Sam. 14:25 there was no blemish on Absalom from his foot to his head. Job’s case is the opposite of Absalom’s attractiveness.

2:9 Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!’

These are the only words we have from Job’s wife. Job does make a reference to her in Job 19:17 saying that his breath is offensive to her. Job 19:13-20 demonstrates Job’s deep sense of alienation from those who we would expect to be closest to him. Job’s wife uses the same phrase that the LORD used in speaking of Job in Job 2:3 you hold fast your integrity. God used this to praise Job, but Job’s wife uses the phrase in criticism of Job. In The Testament of Job she sells her hair to buy bread for Job and herself. Does she believe the sin of cursing God will be punished by God with Job’s instant death?

2:10 ‘Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?’ The word adversity is also used in the next verse in 2:7, 10, 11. Some versions translate the Hebrew term ra’ by the English word evil. Evil can be moral evil (1:1, 8; 2:3) or it can refer to a calamity or disaster (2:10, 11; 42:11). “Out of about 640 occurrences of the word ra’ (which ranges in meaning from a ‘nasty’ taste to full moral evil) there are 275 instances where ‘trouble’ or ‘calamity’ is the meaning”[1] God is sovereign over good and bad (Deut. 32:39; Job 1:21). God is not responsible for moral evil (Hab. 1:13; Jas. 1:13), but His hand is involved in adversity (Isa. 45:7; Lam. 3:37-38; Amos 3:6). The translation adversity or calamity is better than the translation evil in this verse.

[1] J.A. Motyer, Isaiah, 359.

1:1 And that man was blameless and upright- Job will be described as blameless and upright in 1:1, 8; 2:3. The emphasis in this verse is not on the time Job lived nor where he lived but on his character. “Job’s blameless is given precedent over the more external description of Job’s family and wealth" (Clines, 9) His character both begins (vs. 1) and ends (vs. 4-5) this section. The word translated blameless is a pivotal word in the book (8:20; 9:20, 21, 22). The same root word appears in 12:4; 36:4; 37:16 and its feminine form appears in 27:5; 31:6. In 9:20 the word blameless (or guiltless in the NASB) is used in parallelism with the word righteous and an antonym for blameless is to declare guilty. In 9:22 blameless or guiltless is the opposite of the wicked. Blameless is not sinless. Job acknowledges “iniquities of my youth” in 13:26; 14:16-17. This root word for blameless is used of Noah (Gen. 6:9), Abraham (Gen. 17:1), and to describe the sacrificial animals in Ex. 12:5; 29:1; Lev. 1:3. In Ps. 19:13 blameless is defined as being kept back from great transgression.

1:5 “With such an expression of Job’s concern, his own still-future temptation would be foreshadowed" (Clines, 16). The very thing that Job feared his children would do, curse God in their hearts, is what the Satan says that Job will do if his blessings are taken away in 1:11; 2:5. It will also be what his wife encourages him to do in 2:9. The word translated curse is actually the Hebrew term for bless. We know that it means curse because of its connection with the word sinned in 1:5. Why was the term for bless used when curse is its meaning? While we can only speculate on the why it is possible that the thought of cursing God was so abhorrent that the scribes could not bring themselves to write these words and used bless as a euphemism for curse. (Alter, 12). The same phenomena appears where Naboth is accused of blessing (cursing) God and the king in I Kings 21:10, 13; Psalm 10:3. The weakness with this argument however is that there are places in the Old Testament that speak of cursing God and use the word generally rendered curse- Exodus 22:28; Lev. 24:14, 15, 23; Isa. 8:21. Each time the word bless is used we must examine whether it means bless or its opposite. (Seow, 254-255).

“Unless clearly indicated otherwise, I assume that the Hebrew Bible speaks of real people and places. Nothing in the text suggests that Job was a mythical, imaginary, or fictious figure" (Alden, 26). The fact that Elihu is given a genealogy in Job 32:2 and his daughter’s names are given at the end of the book in Job 42:13-15 points to the historical nature of the book. The fact that we view the Biblical portrayals of characters as historically true seems to be how Jesus and the inspired New Testament writers looked at things. Notice how the New Testament refers to Creation (Matt. 19:3-6; Mk. 10:6-9), Adam and Eve (II Cor. 11:3; I Tim. 2:11-14; Jude 14), Cain and Abel (Matt. 23:35; Lk. 11:51; Heb. 11:4; I John 3:12-13; Jude 11), Enoch (Heb. 11:5; Jude 14), Noah and the flood (Matt. 24:37-39; Lk. 17:26-27; Heb. 11:7; I Peter 3:20-21; II Peter 2:5, 9). Abraham is mentioned 73 times in the New Testament. Abraham’s genealogy is given in Matt. 1:1-17; Lk. 3:23-38. In Rom. 4:9-12 Paul makes a point on the chronological order of his life. It seems obvious that Abraham is viewed as a real character and the things he did were actual historical events (Heb. 11:8-19; James 2:21-23). Lot is mentioned in Luke 17:28, 29, 32 and II Peter 2:7 and his wife is mentioned in Luke 17:32. Isaac is mentioned 20 times and Jacob 27 times in the New Testament. Joseph and his experiences are treated as historical in Acts 7:9-16 and Heb. 11:21-22. Moses is mentioned 80 in the New Testament. Jonah is referred to by Jesus in Matt. 12:39, 40, 41, 41; 16:4; Luke 11:29, 30, 32, 32. In these passages the events of Jonah and the great fish foreshadow the yet future (when this was spoken) resurrection of Jesus, the most important historical event in human history.

Job is mentioned outside the book of Job in the Old Testament in Ezek. 14:14, 20 and in the New Testament in James 5:11. How should we view those two passages and their evidence in light of whether Job is historical? In context Ezek. 14:12-23 is stressing the four severe judgments the LORD was going to send against Judah. The four judgements are sword, famine, wild beast, and plagues (Ezek. 14:13, 15, 17, 19, 21). Ezek. 14:14, 20 specifically mentions Noah, Daniel, and Job and states they could only deliver themselves by their righteousness if they lived in the midst of the people. In Ezek. 14:16, 18 makes allusions to these men again by saying “even though these three men were in its midst.” The most natural explanation was that these men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were actual historical characters who were being used by the prophet to the people to stress that even they could not deliver the people from the coming judgment.

Did Jesus and the New Testament writers view Noah as an actual historical character? Jesus exhorted His audience to always be prepared for the Lord to come in judgment. He used the “days of Noah” as an illustration of those who were carrying on with life as normal and were unprepared for the judgment of God (Matt. 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-27). Jesus said, “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Jonah” (Matt. 24:37). Was Jesus using a fictional event to inspire people to prepare themselves for an actual coming judgment? The author of Hebrews used Noah’s example of building an ark in reverence to God to inspire His listeners to endurance (Heb. 11:7). Peter used the example of Noah as a picture of how “baptism now save you” (I Peter 3:20-21) and to illustrated how the LORD can rescue the godly while at the same time preparing the ungodly for judgment day (II Peter 2:5, 9).

Psalm 150

“The ancient editors, having chosen to represent the book of Psalms as above all Tehillim, songs of praise, by concluding the collection with six psalms of praise, now climactically set at the end this psalm that begins and ends with ‘hallelujah’” Alter, 515. God is praised “by every means (3-5) and from every person (6)” Motyer, 583. The verb praise is used 13 times in Psalm 150 and forms “a resounding doxological close to the Psalms” NICOT, 1009. There is little descriptive praise in the psalm.

The psalm answers five basic questions about praise:

1. Who is praised- vs. 1-6? Praising the LORD eliminates all other gods.

2. Where He is praised (vs. 1)?

3. Why He is praised (vs. 2)? He is praised for what He has done and who He is.

4. How He is praised (vss. 3-5)?

5. By whom He is praised (vs. 6)? Willis, vol. 1, 43-44.

“Between the opening and closing of this inclusio, there are five bicola that conclude with a climactic monocolon. Both cola of the five bicola begins with halelu yah, while the monocolon concludes with the phrase. Thus, the psalmist instructs his hearers presumably fellow worshippers, thirteen times in as many cola praise the Lord” Longman, 476-477.

Praise Him according to His excellent greatness- 145:3

Vs. 3-5 “describe the method by which the worshippers are to offer praise” NICOT, 1009.

150:3 Praise Him with trumpet sound-. “The most complete list of musical instruments used in Israel’s worship to be found anywhere in the OT is given here. Perhaps each group began to play upon their instruments at the time they were announced, so that the effect would be an ever-increasing chorus of praise” Miller, 454.

“The trumpet here is the Hebrew shophar, the ram’s horn or goat’s horn, not to be confused with the silver trumpet (Num. 10:2). The shophar might be used for giving signals (cf. Judges 3:27; I Kings 1:34, 39; Isa. 18:3), but was also employed in worship (cf, 47:5-7; 98:6). The silver trumpets were blown by the priests in the worship assemblies (cf. Num. 10:10; I Chron. 15:24; 16:6, 42; II Chron. 5:12; 29:26). The sophar was apparently generally not used in conjunction with other instruments except to increase their noise (I Chron. 15:28; II Chron. 15:14). Apparently the sophar was not generally blown by laymen (but see II Kings 11:14; II Chron. 23:13)” Miller, 454-455.

Praise Him with harp and lyre- Ps. 33:2 The word translated harp “is a stringed instrument made of wood, with gut strings which were plucked with the hand, or an instrument of ivory or metal” Miller, 455. The word lyre “is a small stringed instrument which was portable (137:2)” Miller, 455.

150:4 Praise Him with timbrel and dancing- Ps. 149:3 “The timbrel is a percussion instrument

150:5 Praise Him with loud cymbals-

“The Levites played the harps (nebhalim), lyres, and cymbals (I Chron. 15:16; II Chron. 29:25). Whether the other instruments were restricted to priests and Levites is not clear” Miller, 455.

In the OT, instrumental music was played at the coronation of a king (I Kings 1:34, 39-42; II Kings 9:13; Ps. 47:5; 98:6). They played at feasts (Ps. 81:3; Num. 10:1-10). They were sounded at battles (Hos. 5:8). They were used in temple worship (II Chron. 29:25)- VanGemeren, 879-880. Passages in the Psalms- 33:2; 43:4; 47:5; 49:4; 57:8; 68:24-25; 71:22; 81:2-3; 92:3; 98:5-6; 108:2; 137:2; 144:9; 147:7; 149:3; 150:3-5.

149:1 Praise the LORD!- This begins with an imperative that calls to praise God.

Sing to the LORD a new song- Ps. 33:3; 40:3; 96:1-22; 98:1-3; 144:9-10; Isa. 42:10; Rev. 5:9; 14:3. “A new song is a hymn of victory sung after God had made all things new by His defeat of the forces of evil” Longman, 475. The songs “refers to the beginning of a new era, a new epoch in history” NICOT, 1006. They sing recognizing their victories and successes are His work. Psalms 144 and 149 are linked by reference to the new song. “In a real sense, then, Psalm 149 completes the movement of transferring the Davidic theology to the whole people” McCann, 1274.

And His praise in the congregation of the godly ones- Godly ones are mentioned in vs. 5, 9.

“The phrase is equivalent to ‘congregation of the righteous’ (1:5)” VanGemeren, 876. This phrase seems to be used interchangeably with Israel (vs. 2), sons of Zion (vs. 2), His people (vs. 4), afflicted ones (vs. 4), godly ones (vs. 5). “These various designations make a colorful mosaic of the salvific relationship between the LORD and His people…The former use of the assembly (qahal) as a denotation of Israel in the wilderness (cf. Num. 14:5; 20:4, 6) is narrowed to a specific group within Israel, also known as ‘the humble’ (Ps. 9:12) or ‘the people of Zion’” VanGemeren, 876.

149:2 Let Israel be glad in his Maker- 95:6 “Then three verses follow which invite them (Let…Hb. Jussive or wish, vv. 2-3, 5 to perform His praise with joy” Broyles, 517.

The LORD as Israel’s Maker is stressed in Isa. 45:1; 51:11-12; 54:5; Ps. 95:6. “His Maker is plural in Hebrew, a plural of intensity or majesty” Miller, 452.

Let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King- The phrase sons of Zion is used in Lam. 4:2; Joel 2:23. God is viewed as the people’s King in Ps. 145:1. “Within 146-150 only 149:2 describes the Lord as King to whom (vs. 8) the kings submit. Thus, the psalm takes the metaphor of kingship seriously, including the extenstion of the kingdom by force of arms. But it is just a metaphor, just as Isa. 9:4, 5, 7 militarism is metaphorical of the extension of the kingdom of peace as in Acts 15:14-18. Amos’ picture of Gentiles subservience to David is metaphorical of the spreading the gospel” Motyer, 583.

The words be glad and rejoice are sometimes used together for the people’s attitude toward God- Ps. 32:11. In contrast, the Babylonians use these words of their god- Hab. 1:15.

“He deserves Israel’s praise because He is their Maker and King” Longman, 475. “As their ‘Maker’ He has elected, redeemed, and fashioned the descendants of Jacob (95:6; 100:3; Isa. 44:21; 51:13) into a coming characterized by holiness and royalty (cf. Ex. 19:5-6)” VanGemeren, 876.

For more notes, please write me a private note on Facebook.

Psalm 148

“The whole creation, animate and inanimate, is called upon to praise God” Miller, 450. “The poem expressed a grand cosmic vision” Alter, 509. “This hymn of praise consists almost entirely of imperative calls to praise” Broyles, 515. “’Praise the LORD’ occurs twelve times in Psalm 148” NICOT, 1002.

“The psalm is naturally divined into two parts by the poetic structure. First, the summons goes out to praise the Lord from the heavens (vs. 1) and then from the earth (vs. 7). Next, in each section certain persons and things which inhabit the heavens (vss. 1b-4) and the earth (vss. 7b-12) are addressed in the second person and exhorted to praise God. Finally, in each section a partial refrain is uttered in the third person in which reasons for praising God are stated (vss. 5-6, 13-14). The psalmist moves from conscious (vs. 2) to unconscious (vss. 3-4) praise and then from unconscious (vss. 7b-10) to conscious praise (vss. 11-12)” Miller, 450. “This psalm rather regards worship as virtually inherent in the world’s structures” NICOT, 1004.

“Psalm 148 displays the typical structure of a song of praise- invitation to praise followed by reasons for praise” McCann, 1271.

1. Hallelujah, praise Jehovah,

From the heavens praise His name;

Praise Jehovah in the highest,

All His angels praise proclaim.

All His hosts together praise Him,

Sun, and moon, and stars on high;

Praise Him, O ye heav'n of heavens,

And ye floods above the sky.

Refrain:

Let them praises give Jehovah,

For His name alone is high,

And His glory is exalted,

And His glory is exalted,

And His glory is exalted,

Far above the earth and sky.

2. Let them praises give Jehovah,

They were made at His command,

Them forever He established;

His decree shall ever stand.

From the earth, oh, praise Jehovah,

All ye floods, ye dragons all;

Fire, and hail, and snow, and vapors,

Stormy winds that hear His call.

Refrain:

Let them praises give Jehovah,

For His name alone is high,

And His glory is exalted,

And His glory is exalted,

And His glory is exalted,

Far above the earth and sky

3. All ye fruitful trees and cedars,

All ye hills and mountains high,

Creeping things, and beasts, and cattle,

Birds that in the heavens fly.

Kings of earth, and all ye people,

Princes great, earth's judges all,

Praise His name, young men and maidens,

Aged men and children small.

Refrain:

Let them praises give Jehovah,

For His name alone is high,

And His glory is exalted,

And His glory is exalted,

And His glory is exalted,

Far above the earth and sky

Jesus and Psalm 148

“The intimate turn taken by the psalm at its close reminds the Christian of the progression from old song to new in Rev. 4:11; 5:9ff.” Laymen, 701.

In Rev. 5:8-14 ever increasing numbers are praising the one on the throne and the Lamb.

148:2 The angels praise Him- Luke 2:13-14

148:8 The stormy wind shows God’s power and Jesus controlled the winds and waves- Matt. 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25.

All nature proclaims the identity of Jesus- Luke 19:39-40.

148:11-12 Kings, princes, judges bowed before Him- Matt. 2:1-12.

148:14 Kidner, 488, regards raising up a horn as a Messianic prophecy- Luke 1:69.