The Gospel According to Job

 In your English Bible, you’ll probably find that the Book of Matthew is titled “The Gospel According to Matthew”; Mark, “The Gospel According to Mark”; and likewise for Luke and John. The Four Gospels, as we often call them, tell the story of Jesus Christ’s ministry, miracles, teachings, death, and resurrection.

But the gospel begins elsewhere. Whenever Jesus or His apostles preached the gospel, the good news of salvation, they preached from the so-called “Old Testament,” the only Scriptures that existed then. Jesus began His ministry by reading aloud from the Book of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18; quoting Isa. 61:1).

So the gospel begins in the Old Testament. The Book of Hebrews declares that even the Israelites under Moses heard the gospel: “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it” (Heb. 4:2).

One place that the gospel appears is in the Book of Job. This book teaches about God’s law in the same spirit that Jesus Christ did. It also delivers a message of repentance, of patience and perseverance, of hope for a Redeemer, of hope in the resurrection and in the age to come, and of the final judgment. That’s why I’m calling this post, “The Gospel According to Job.”

Who Was Job?

We’ll get to the gospel in Job shortly, but first, let’s understand who Job was. Job wasn’t an Israelite, nor will you find any mention of Israel in the book. Though sharing a common ancestry in Abraham and Isaac, he seems to have descended not from Jacob, but from Jacob’s twin brother Esau.

Here are some clues God gives us about Job’s identity. Job is introduced as “a man in the land of Uz” (Job 1:1). Elsewhere, Scripture links Uz with Arabia and with Edom: “Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz!” (Lam. 4:21). Job is also described as “the greatest of all the people of the East” (Job 1:3), “the peoples of the East” being a common Biblical term for those who dwelt in Arabia (Gen. 25:6; Judg. 6:3, 33; 7:12; 8:10; Ezek. 25:10).

In addition, Job’s friend Eliphaz was a Temanite, and Teman was a prominent part of Edom (Jer. 49:7, 20; Ezek. 25:13; Amos 1:12; Obad. 1:9). One of Job’s other friends, Bildad the Shuhite, appears to have been a descendant of Shuah, one of Abraham’s sons by Keturah (Gen. 25:2). Before his death, Abraham sent all his sons except Isaac eastward into Arabia (Gen. 25:6). All these clues place Job in Arabia, and more specifically in Edom.

Describing Job as “the greatest of all the people of the East” makes him a key figure, perhaps even a ruler. Job sat in the gate as a judge (Job 29:7), one before whom even princes and nobles kept silent (Job 29:9-10). He also speaks of the land where he dwelt as “my land” (Job 31:38), and hints at being a ruler over the landowners thereof (Job 31:39).

In a postscript to the Book of Job, the Septuagint ties all these clues together by identifying Job as Jobab the son of Zerah, whom the Book of Genesis lists as the second king of Edom. Here’s all that Genesis tells us about Jobab: “And when Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. When Jobab died, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place” (Gen. 36:33-34).

So Job, or Jobab, king of Edom, descended from Abraham and Isaac through Esau. It seems likely, then, that the events of the book happened while Israel was in Egypt, which explains why the Israelites are never mentioned, while other nearby peoples are.

Job the Righteous

Esau was an immoral and unholy man (Heb. 12:16) whom God abhorred (Mal. 1:3; Heb. 12:17), but Job didn’t follow in Esau’s footsteps. Instead, he chose to follow the path of Abraham and Isaac. For this, God lavished praise on him, declaring him the most righteous man on earth: “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” (Job 1:8).

Later, long after Job’s death, God held him up alongside Noah and Daniel as an exemplar of righteousness (Ezek. 14:12-20). The apostle James praised Job for his perseverance: “Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord — that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful” (Jam. 5:11).

Overview of the Book

Most of us have heard Job’s story, but let’s quickly review. At the beginning, in chapter 1, Job is introduced as “the greatest of all the people of the East,” a man of fabulous wealth. He has seven sons and three daughters, and God Himself describes Job as an upright and blameless man to whom no one else on earth can compare.

But Satan, “the accuser of our brethren” (Rev. 12:10), comes before God and claims that Job only obeys God because he is blessed for it. God knows otherwise, but permits Satan to test Job — within limits. This isn’t unique in Scripture; God allowed Satan to also test Peter within limits (Luke 22:31-32).

All of God’s people must experience various trials and tribulations to refine us and strengthen us. As James explained, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (Jam. 1:2-4).

God allowed Satan to strip away everything Job had: his sons and daughters, his possessions, and his health. Even his wife turned against him, telling him to curse God and die. But Job held firm and refused to forsake his Creator. He simply said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). And again, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10).

But as the days dragged on, Job became discouraged and began to lose hope. Three of his friends showed up to comfort him, but rather than comforting him, they accused him of wrongdoing and told him that he must have committed terrible sins to deserve all his troubles. Job vigorously defended his innocence. This debate continues from Job 3-31.

In defending his own innocence, Job begins to justify himself rather than God (Job 32:2), and even declares that God has wronged him. This angers Elihu, a younger man who had been listening silently to Job and his friends. He chastises Job’s friends “because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job” (Job 32:3), and he strongly rejects Job’s words “because he justified himself rather than God” (Job 32:2). Elihu’s statement covers Job 32-37.

After Elihu’s speech, God Himself answers Job “out of the whirlwind” (Job 38:1), and speaks through chapter 41. But God does not defend or explain His actions. Instead, He speaks of the things He has created and questions Job about what he knows of any of these things. He reminds Job that He has created all things and that He knows what Job himself cannot possibly know. We do not always understand what God is doing, but we must trust that He knows best and that He is working out a plan we cannot yet see.

Job understood our Creator’s point and admitted that he had spoken foolishly about things he didn’t understand: “Then Job answered the LORD and said: ‘I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, “Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?” Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know’” (Job 42:1-3).

Finally, God rebuked Job’s three friends for their unjust words, and Job interceded for them. After this, God repaid Job in abundance for all that he had lost: “And the LORD restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10).

Repentance

The beginning of the gospel message is repentance, for without repentance, there is no salvation. When we read that Yeshua/Jesus proclaimed the gospel, we read that He preached repentance: “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14-15).

Likewise, repentance is central to the Book of Job. On one hand, Job’s friends harangued him that he must have done some great wickedness to deserve all the troubles that befell him, and urged him to repent. But yet they could not show him what he’d done wrong.

For his part, Job declared that if he had actually sinned, he wouldn’t hide it; he would repent. He even called aloud for God to punish him if he’d tried to conceal his sins or been too proud to confess them: “Have I covered my transgressions like Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, and kept silent and did not go out of doors?” (Job 31:33-34; NASB).

Job knew what King Solomon also knew: “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion” (Prov. 28:13; NASB). As Solomon’s father King David vividly described, “When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psa. 32:3-5).

If we know that we’ve done wrong, trying to deny it or make excuses for it is foolish. “God is not mocked” (Gal. 6:7); we cannot hide from Him. If we refuse to humble ourselves and repent, we won’t be forgiven. The only wise and proper thing to do is to confess to our Creator and to whomever we might have wronged, and to repent.

And just as he’d said, when Job realized that he’d spoken unjustly against God, he immediately repented. After God spoke to him, he responded, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6).

The Spirit of the Law

Throughout His earthly ministry, Yeshua/Jesus restored the true purpose and meaning of God’s law. He taught that obedience must be wholehearted rather than a performative act: “Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Mat. 23:26). It wasn’t enough to refrain from committing adultery; one must not even lust (Mat. 5:27-28). It wasn’t enough to refrain from committing murder; one must not even be angry without cause or curse or belittle another human being (Mat. 5:21-22).

Jesus reminded the scribes and Pharisees that the weightier matters of God’s law are justice, mercy, and faith (Mat. 23:23). He declared that all of God’s law is directed toward love for God and love for one’s fellow man (Mark 12:28-34), which the Pharisees hearing Him acknowledged to be true (vv. 32-33).

Many seem to think that Christ expanded on the teachings of the Old Testament, but that isn’t quite true. Everything He taught had already been written down in the Old Testament; He was emphasizing the commands He had already given! We see evidence of this in the fact that Job was already practicing what Christ and His apostles later taught in the New Testament.

Lust, Adultery, and Sexual Immorality. As just noted, Jesus Christ taught that it isn’t enough to avoid committing adultery; one must not even entertain such thoughts: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mat. 5:27-28). Paul exhorted the Corinthians, “Flee sexual immorality” (1 Cor. 6:18). And he wrote again to Timothy, “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim. 2:22).

Job knew this. Since he already had a wife, he refused to lust after any other woman: “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (Job 31:1; NASB). This is also noteworthy because it shows that, in an age where polygamy was common among the rich and powerful, especially kings, Job held firm to God’s original design for marriage: one man and one woman. In this he did better than a number of God’s other servants in the Old Testament, even giants of the faith such as Abraham and David.

Job further called for a curse upon himself if he had turned aside from God’s path to lust after any wicked thing: “If my step has turned from the way, or my heart followed my eyes, or if any spot has stuck to my hands, let me sow and another eat, and let my crops be uprooted” (Job 31:7-8). Job knew that sin begins in the heart, with lusting after sinful things, and he wanted no part of it.

Having declared this, Job returned immediately to the matter of adultery, saying, “If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or I have lurked at my neighbor's doorway, may my wife grind for another, and let others kneel down over her. For that would be a lustful crime; moreover, it would be an iniquity punishable by judges. For it would be fire that consumes to Abaddon [or, “destruction”], and would uproot all my increase” (Job 31:9-12; NASB).

The Love of Money. But lust and covetousness can be snares in other ways, too. The love of money is one such snare: “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim. 6:9-10). There’s nothing wrong with money itself, but the love of money — greed — is indeed evil.

And Job, though very wealthy, did not put his trust in money or boast over all his wealth: “For calamity from God is a terror to me, and because of His majesty I can do nothing. If I have put my confidence in gold, and called fine gold my trust, if I have gloated because my wealth was great, and because my hand had secured so much…” (Job 31:24-25).

Idolatry. Job also did not allow his heart to sin by exalting any other god but the true God: “If I have looked at the sun when it shone or the moon going in splendor, and my heart became secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth, that too would have been an iniquity calling for judgment, for I would have denied God above” (Job 31:26-28).

Lying. Much like our Creator, Job hated lying, deceit, and unfaithfulness. Scripture tells us that “all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8). And so Job, in defending his innocence, declared, “If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hastened after deceit, let Him weigh me with accurate scales, and let God know my integrity” (Job 31:5-6; NASB).

Comforting the Fainthearted. Jesus Christ admonished His followers to visit those who were sick or in prison (Mat. 25:36-40). Paul encouraged us “to comfort those who are in any trouble” (2 Cor. 1:4) and to “comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all” (1 Thes. 5:14). James wrote that “pure and undefiled religion before God” includes visiting “widows and orphans in their trouble” (Jam. 1:27).

But many centuries earlier, Job knew that’s what God desired. He reminded his friends, “For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend; so that he does not forsake the fear of the Almighty” (Job 6:14; NASB). Even Job’s friend Eliphaz, despite accusing him of sinning, had to acknowledge the good that Job had done for others: “Behold you have admonished many, and you have strengthened weak hands. Your words have helped the tottering to stand, and you have strengthened feeble knees” (Job 4:3-4; NASB).

Generosity. Job didn’t stop with comforting words, either. He knew, long before James wrote it down, that, “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?” (Jam. 2:15-16).

And so, Job, in protesting his innocence, called for a curse upon himself if he had neglected the poor and helpless:

16 “If I have kept the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

17 Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the orphan has not shared it

18 (But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And from infancy I guided her),

19 If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering,

20 If his loins have not thanked me, And if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep,

21 If I have lifted up my hand against the orphan, Because I saw I had support in the gate,

22 Let my shoulder fall from the socket, And my arm be broken off at the elbow. (Job 31:16-22; NASB.)

He added later, “Have the men of my tent not said, ‘Who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat’? The alien has not lodged outside, for I have opened my doors to the traveler” (Job 31:31-32).

Notice, too, that Job was generous and hospitable even if others were inclined not to be. He refused to oppress the orphan even if “I saw I had support in the gate.” He upheld justice even if he was alone in doing so, and he obeyed God’s commandment, repeated later through Moses, “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil” (Ex. 23:2).

Loving One’s Enemies. Job even showed love to those who hated him, refusing to repay evil for evil. When wronged, he did not seek revenge on his enemies, nor curse them, nor even rejoice if harm came to them: “Have I rejoiced at the extinction of my enemy, or exulted when evil befell him? No, I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life in a curse” (Job 31:29-30).

Justice vs. Oppression. Though he was a man of great wealth and power, Job refused to deny justice to anyone or oppress anyone. Even his servants were free to file complaints against him if they felt he’d wronged them: “If I have despised the claim of my male or female slaves when they filed a complaint against me, what then could I do when God arises? And when He calls me to account, what will I answer Him? Did not He who made me in the womb make him, and the same one fashion us in the womb?” (Job 31:13-15).

Notice that, even though Job held authority over his servants, he viewed them as being of equal value with himself and did not use his authority to oppress them. They were human beings, the same as he, and the same God who made him had also made them. So Job loved his servants as himself.

Job concluded his defense by declaring that he had not oppressed any of the people of his land: “‘If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together; if I have eaten its fruit without money, or have caused its owners to lose their lives, let briars grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed instead of barley.’ The words of Job are ended” (Job 31:38-40; NASB).

In all these things, and throughout the Book of Job, it becomes obvious that Job understood the mind of God and the spirit of His law. Many think of these as New Testament concepts, but they weren’t; they were simply what God had always desired!

Patient Endurance

Throughout his trials, Job never stopped believing in God. Job was a fallible human being and he wasn’t perfect, but he never denied his Maker or rejected the path of righteousness. And when God corrected him, and he realized that he’d spoken foolishly in justifying himself rather than God, he immediately repented.

Trials are part of the refining process that all God’s people must endure. The Book of James tells us, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (Jam. 1:2-4).

God richly blessed Job for his faithfulness, restoring him double for all that he’d lost (Job 42:10-17). But there’s a much greater reward yet to come for all who patiently endure, as James reminded us: “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” (Jam. 1:12).

After writing these things, James held Job up as a worthy example for all followers of Christ and praised him for his perseverance in the face of tribulations: “Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord — that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful” (Jam. 5:11).

Hope for a Redeemer

But righteous though he was, and though neither he nor his three friends could point to any wrongdoing on his part, Job still wasn’t without any faults. He erred in justifying himself rather than God, and, as he acknowledged, “I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know” (Job 42:3). Even Job could not stand before God and be justified solely by his own righteousness. He needed a redeemer, the same as we all do.

And so, in the midst of his troubles, Job declared, “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth” (Job 19:25). This word for “Redeemer,” ga’al in Hebrew (Strong’s # H1350), can refer to either God or man, but more frequently to God. King David similarly described God as his Redeemer in Psa. 19:14: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.”

The context of Job’s statement makes it clear that his Redeemer is God Himself. And that brings us to the next point.

Hope of the Resurrection

For a time, Job abandoned hope in this life and longed for death to relieve his sufferings. But at the same time, he still hoped for the resurrection at the end of the age, for a future life in which there was no more pain. He said,

12 So man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no longer, he will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep.

13 “Oh that You would hide me in Sheol, that You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You, that You would set a limit for me and remember me!

14 “If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait until my change comes.

15 “You will call, and I will answer You; You will long for the work of Your hands.” (Job 14:12-15; NASB.)

Later, in the passage we read moments ago — where Job declared, “I know that My Redeemer lives” — he also longed for the resurrection:

25 “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.

26 "Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God;

27 Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!

28 "If you say, 'How shall we persecute him?' And 'What pretext for a case against him can we find?'

29 "Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves, For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, So that you may know there is judgment." (Job 19:25-29.)

In this passage, Job simultaneously declared his hope for the Redeemer who will stand upon the earth at the last (clearly a prophecy of Jesus Christ), his hope for the resurrection, and also a warning of God’s final judgment upon the evildoers.

Final Judgment

The theme of final judgment, too, is one found several times in the Book of Job. In Job 21:30, Job said, “For the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity; they will be led forth at the day of fury” (NASB).

Again, Job asked, “And what is the portion of God from above or the heritage of the Almighty from on high? Is it not calamity to the unjust and disaster to those who work iniquity?” (Job 31:2-3; NASB).

Elihu, too, the younger man who eventually corrected Job for justifying himself rather than God, stated that God will ultimately repay every man according to his work: “For He pays a man according to his work, and makes him find it according to his way” (Job 34:11; NASB). Elihu described God as “the righteous mighty One, who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’ to nobles, ‘Wicked ones’; who shows no partiality to princes nor regards the rich above the poor, for they all are the work of His hands” (Job 34:17-19). 

And Elihu reminded Job that God does not forget the righteous, either, but will repay them as well: “He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous; but with kings on the throne He has seated them forever, and they are exalted” (Job 36:7; NASB).

Conclusion

So all the elements of the gospel can be found in the Book of Job. We find the message of repentance, of patiently enduring trials in this life, of hope for our Redeemer, and of hope for the resurrection. We see warnings of God’s judgment, in which the wicked will be punished and the righteous rewarded. And we see, too, much about the spirit of God’s law and the heartfelt obedience that He desires from His people.

Now, Job’s trials did not destroy him as his enemies might have hoped, but served only to refine him, to strip him of a hidden fault, and to bring him into a closer relationship with His Creator. As Rom. 8:28 tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Further, as we’ve noted already, God repaid Job in abundance for his faithfulness, double for all that he had lost (Job 42:10). After his trial, “Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations” (Job 42:16).

But though God blessed him in this life and gave him a long life of peace and prosperity after his trial, Job’s greatest reward is yet to come: “the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” (Jam. 1:12). At the end of the Book of Job, the Septuagint describes the end of Job’s life thusly: “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” (Job 42:17; LXX2012).

And that’s the gospel, the good news, of the Book of Job!