There are so many insights from the book of Job. Look at our main character, a righteous man who was sick, dealt with painful festering sores over his whole body, nightmares, scabs that peeled and became black, disfigurement and revolting appearance, bad breath, excessive thinness, fever, and pain day and night.
There are 4 that are highlighted below.
Job has a deep desire for Jesus as mediator.
Job was not only in a terrible amount of pain, but his marriage and friendships both suffered. There are many insights from the book of Job, but one that stood out was the glaring need for a mediator.
Job begged to receive one. He desperately wanted someone to stand before God and plead his case.
If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more. Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.
Job 9:33-35
Continuously throughout Job’s speeches, he requests the same result: someone to speak to God for him.
Job’s friends spoke pieces of the truth.
Job’s friends were not completely wrong. Except that if you aren’t speaking the whole truth, you are misrepresenting God. So… they were wrong. They had pieces of information that they formed into their beliefs about a subject they did not fully understand. Then shared these half-truths as staunchly proud men with zero compassion for their grieving friend.
“Men at ease have contempt for misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.”
Job 12:5
Job never receives an answer.
God does hear all of Job’s cries and talks to him. First, let the amazement sink in that God communicates directly with him. Take note of God’s responses though, asking a series of unanswerable questions, asking questions directly to help Job understand who is God, then delving into the intricacies of created beings.
Never once does God explain why this happened to Job. After God began communicating with Job, never once did Job request again an answer.
God is sovereign.
At the beginning, we see God is sovereign. He alone allows Satan to test Job. Looking at it from this perspective allows insight as we see how men perceive trials (ourselves included). It aids our mindset when knowing that God is fully in control, no matter our circumstances.
At the end of the book, we understand the depth of God’s sovereignty through great reminders of His creation. After all, the whole earth speaks to His glory.
With all of the possible insights from the book of Job, take away this. If you’re facing trials, I encourage you to remind yourself of the sovereignty of God and the details of His creation as daily reminders of who He is.
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Thank you for encouraging readers to look beyond the narrative and to find Jesus in the Old Testament as well as the New!
I am SO glad to have Christ as my mediator. It really helps to have someone who can stand in the middle for us and help us navigate the decisions we have to make. I would never want to be in Job’s position, but he did have the wonderful benefit in the end of hearing God’s perspective!