Job

Perhaps no other books in the Bible is more personal and yet perplexing in addressing questions that relate to suffering like Job's story. What is God like? Why does He allow suffering? How should we respond to trials or help those who are going through one? 

As a literary piece, the brief prologue and epilogue are written in prose while the rest of the book are in poetic form. From a theatrical standpoint, it seems to be a bet between God and Satan—Job being the unfortunate deck on which the cosmic gamble is played out. From a philosophical perspective, the debates between Job and his friends brought out the futility and limitations of human reasoning, secular wisdom, and even scholastic theology.

Job's friends meant well but their advices were more harmful than helpful to Job, and led to three cycles of theological debate over God's justice and mercy. Despite his bitter rantings, Job never repudiated his faith and trust in the LORD, and though he misunderstood God's mercy, it did not tarnish His name or nature. Conversely, Job's three friends oversimplified God's justice in view of the former's misfortune and as a consequence represented Him as the author of suffering. Theological truth spoken without compassion for the sufferer always distort the image of God.

The best and safest stance is that of Elihu's view—that there is no straight answer to the question of suffering, but anyone undergoing it ought to be humble and submit to God's process of purifying his life and faith through the crucible of fire.

Job could not see the why, but he knew the who and refused to let the present suffering cloud his mind and displace his focus. And he passed the test with flying colors. Indeed, the fear of the LORD is wisdom (Job 28:28).

OUTLINE OF JOB

1. Prologue (1:1-5)

Job's fortune | fame | faith

2. Dialogue in Heaven (1:6-2:10)

a. Satan's first accusation (1:6-22)

Job's wealth is taken away

b. Satan's second accusation (2:1-10)

Job's health is taken away

3. Dialogue on Earth (2:11-37:24)

Sympathy from Job's friends (2:11-13)

Squabbles with Job's friends (3:1-37:24)

Job broke his silence (3:1-26)

a. First cycle of debate (4:1-14:22)

Eliphaz vs Job | Bildad vs Job | Zophar vs Job

b. Second cycle of debate (15:1-21:34)

Eliphaz vs Job | Bildad vs Job | Zophar vs Job

c. Third cycle of debate (22:1-26:14)

Eliphaz vs Job | Bildad vs Job

Job's final defense (27:1-31:48)

Elihu's Rebuttals (32:1-37:24)

First | Second | Third | Conclusion

4. Dialogue with God (38:1-42:17)

a. First cycle of Q&A (38:1-40:5)

God questions Job regarding creation

Job's first reply—admits ignorance | insignificance

b. Second cycle of Q&A (40:6-42:6)

God challenges Job to take on the champions

of His creation: behemoth | leviathan

Job's second reply—humility | repentance 

5. Epilogue (42:7-17)

Job's friends reprimanded

Job's fortune restored

 

Proverbs

The book of Proverbs contains an assortment of wise sayings mainly by king Solomon and a few anonymous, with the last two chapters attributed to Agur and king Lemuel, respectively.

A proverb is a concise statement that expresses a certain truth. In Hebrew form, it usually takes on a poetic prose using the following parallelism structures:

 synonymous—the second line repeats the thought of the first using similar words or ideas (1:2)

 antithetic—the second line reinforces the first by stating the opposite (10:1)

 synthetic—the second line completes the first (3:6)

 climatic—the second line takes up the same words as the first with the exception of the last word (31:4)

 emblematic—one line conveys the main thought and the other illustrates (25:25)

 formal—two dissimilar thoughts are joined in parallel expression (15:33)

Wisdom (Hebrew, hokhmah) is more than just shrewdness or intelligence; it is the ability to make good judgments and take decisive actions based on sound moral values that leads to the practical outworking of righteous living. No wonder the queen of Sheba was completely overwhelmed by Solomon when she came all the way from the east to test him with hard questions (1 Kings 10:1-9).

There is an eternal perspective in Proverbs that is often missed (see 12:28; 14:32; 23:17-18). Not all of the promises or truths will be fulfilled in this life—but they WILL be made good in the end when God sets the record straight!

12:28 In the way of righteousness is life; and in the path way thereof there is no death.

OUTLINE OF PROVERBS

1. The Virtues of Wisdom (1-9)

a. Threefold 'My Son' Instructions (1:1-19)

b. The Call of Wisdom (1:20-33)

c. Seeking Wisdom

'Aleph' Section (2:1-11)

'Lamed' Section (2:12-22)

d. Wise Living (3:1-35)

e. Avoiding Evil (4:1-22)

f. Adultery vs Fidelity (5:1-23)

g. Surety | Sloth | Seduction (6:1-7:27)

h. Wisdom vs Folly (8:1-9:18)

2. The Proverbs of Solomon (10-22:16)

a. The Godly vs The Wicked (10:1-15:33)

b. On Godly Living (16:1-22:16)

3. The Sayings of the Wise (22:17-24:34)

a. Wise words by Anonymous Writers

b. Redeemer hinted (23:11)

4. Proverbs Collated by Hezekiah (25-29)

a. Regulating Relationships (25:1-26:28)

Kings | Neighbors | Enemies | Self

Fools | Sluggards | Gossips

b. Handling Circumstances (27:1-27)

c. Manual for Future Monarchs (28:1-29:27)

5. The Words of Agur (30:1-33)

a. God's Son hinted (30:4)

b. Three-plus-four emphases (six clusters)

6. The Words of King Lemuel (31:1-31)

a. A mother's advice—Avoid evil; do good (31:1-9)

b. The excellent wife (31:10-31)

 

The Psalms

Psalms is a collection of poetry and songs known as the sefer Tehillim in Hebrew. It is quoted 81 times by nearly every New Testament writers except James and Jude, more than any other Old Testament books!

What makes it stand out from the rest of the Bible is its literary style that engages the whole range of human emotions, and the consistent theme of praise and prayer that runs through its variety of authorships. David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, was the major contributor and collector of these songs, along with Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon, Moses, and two Ezrahites—Heman and Ethan. 47 psalms are by unknown authors.

Psalms is organized into five books, each ending in a doxology. While the topics vary widely, from instructional to ethical, from adoration to supplication, history and imprecatory, suffering and thanksgiving, ascent to acrostic, the center focus of each book is the fear of God as the Judge of the whole earth. Godly fear forms the breath that gives vitality to praise, and lends expression to man's relationship with God in every emotion of the human experience.

Some psalms contain superscriptions pointing to the historical background in which they were written; those employed in temple worship usually carry the phrase 'To the chief musician' and are sometimes accompanied by special musical terms such as 'alamoth', 'gittith', 'higgiaon', 'sheminith', etc. which likely refer to certain familiar tunes or some kind of instrument.

Christ is also prophesized in messianic psalms that spoke of his life and ministry, most notably Psalms 22 and 110 which are fulfilled, and Psalms 96-99 which awaits future fulfillment just as surely as He proclaimed:

40:7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me…

OUTLINE OF PSALMS

1. The Book of the Messiah (1-41)

a. Mainly Davidic except four (1, 2, 10, 33)

b. Psalms about the Messiah

His Sonship (2)

His dominion (8)

His resurrection (16)

His suffering and death (22)

c. The Shepherd psalm (23)

d. Begins with 'Blessed is the man…' (1)

e. Ends with 'Blessed is the LORD…' (41)

2. The Book of Desire (42-72)

a. Half of these psalms are personal in nature

b. Eight psalms with historical background (51-52, 54, 56-57, 59-60, 63)

c. David's famous penitent psalm (51)

d. Begins with a deep longing for God (42)

e. Ends with the glory of God (72)

3. The Book of Israel (73-89)

a. God's dealing with Israel (74, 77-81, 83, 85, 87, 89)

b. Begins with 'Truly God is good to Israel…' (73)

c. Ends with 'Remember, LORD, the reproach of Your servants…' (89)

4. The Book of God's Reign (90-106)

a. Six great enthronement psalms (93, 95-99)

b. God's rule over our lives (90), the wicked (94), our frailty (103),

creation (104), Israel, her deliverance (105-106)

5. The Book of Praise (107-150)

a. Passover praise (hillel) psalms (113-118)

b. Greatness of God's Word (119)

c. Songs of degrees or ascent (120-134)

d. Son of David messianic psalm (110)

 

The Wisdom Books

The wisdom or poetical books, as is commonly known, are the most loved and read among the Old Testament books of the Bible, notably Psalms and Proverbs.

Jewish poetry generally exhibits four distinct features, namely, rhythmic structures, figures of speech, vivid imageries, and intense emotional expressions. The most common form uses what is known as parallelism—a pair of statements or verses that emphasize or reinforce an idea. Figures, on the other hand, convey indirect meanings and can include symbols, metaphors, similes, metonyms, sarcasm, irony, etc. Imageries provide rich expression of thoughts that stimulate the reader's mental sensory experiences. The full spectrum of human emotions—joy and sorrow, love and hate, praise and desperation—not only lend voice to our deepest beings but also challenge us to bring ourselves into submission to the Scriptures.

On a superficial level, wisdom is gained through essential life skills by means of observations and human experiences and encompasses both natural and social relationships. Beyond that, wisdom is rooted in God's created order which makes one wise with godly understanding through divine insights and inspiration. The process of acquiring wisdom, however, cannot be divorced from religious commitments, as evident from the many references made to the Scriptures to arrive at a right interpretation of life's experiences. And while we are limited in our ability to fully discern the wisdom and ways of God in the midst of life's perplexing anomalies, the wisest thing we can and should do is maintain a constant reverential fear of God in humble dependence.

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.