Turn to the book of Job please. We started at the beginning. We are just going verse by verse, examining all the principle words in every verse to see if we can see how God has hidden the gospel and his salvation plan in this book, that we might see and understand that God has written the Bible in parables.
As it speaks of Christ, it says, “… without a parable spake he not unto them:” and he is the Word of God. This entire book is the Word of God, it is Christ. He is the Word manifested. So all these accounts, stories and passages, these histories are all parables that your gospel plan is hidden in them. Let me read here, in Job 1:6-22:
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before JEHOVAH, and Satan came also among them. And JEHOVAH said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered JEHOVAH, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And JEHOVAH said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered JEHOVAH, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And JEHOVAH said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of JEHOVAH. And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house: And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house: And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: JEHOVAH gave, and JEHOVAH hath taken away; blessed be the name of JEHOVAH. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
We have gone over the previous verses. We just started in verse 6 and we have looked at how this man Job is in the land of Uz. It does not say that he is from the land of Uz. It says that he is in the land of Uz and we looked at Lamentations 4:21 that tells us that the land of Uz is the land of Edom and the Edomites were enemies of the Israelites.
Jacob and Esau (who was Edom) were the twin sons of Isaac and yet Isaac was a picture of Christ and Esau hated him and the Edomites were enemies of the Israelites through the entire Old Testament and yet here Esau was a full blooded son of Isaac just as Jacob was.
But we read that this man was in the land of Uz in Edom and I believe that what we are to see in this is we have already seen and it is generally understood by theologians that we are to see Christ in Job as God afflicted him so horribly and yet he never found fault with God. It says in Job chapter 1, verse 1 that his name was Job and the man was perfect and upright and one that feared God and eschewed evil.
That word “perfect” means that he was a saved man. He was perfect before God, he was right without sin before God because he had the righteousness of Christ ascribed to him.
So, in one sense, Job is a man. He is a child of God. He is also a figure of Christ here and in his suffering I think we are also to see how he as the head of the church also suffers and is grieved and afflicted in their tribulations. We should see all that in this book.
But right now, he is in the land of Uz, he is in the land of Edom and if you look at Isaiah 63, it speaks of the LORD Jesus as he made the payment for sin and he is coming from Edom. Isaiah 63:1-3 says:
Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; …
This is Christ coming from Edom, which is used as a figure of hell by God in the Bible. In Isaiah 63:3:
I have trodden the winepress alone; …
He has made atonement for sins, entirely by himself. In Isaiah 63:3:
… and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them …
Now this is anticipating the final judgment. He goes right from speaking of the payment for sins before the foundations of the world to the very end at Armageddon or the consomation as it were. In Isaiah 63:3:
I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
But this is the way God uses Edom in the Bible. But here Job is in the land of Edom and I believe, what we are to see in this is Christ among his people as they are all the enemies of God, as we were all enemies before salvation.
The word “Job” means “enemy” or “to be hated as an enemy”. Look at Job 13, verse 24. This is Job speaking. Job 13:24 says:
Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?
That is the word “Job”. So we are to see Job here, it is as if he were the enemy of God, as he is suffering the wrath of God in his affliction. Job 1:2 says:
And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
We have that number “seven” which is perfection unto the end and the number “three” which is God’s purpose and they add up to the number “10”, which God uses to signify completeness and Job’s sons and daughters number 10 and I believe that this is the completeness of his church. I believe that they are a figure there. They are killed in this first chapter. We go on to read in verse 3. In Job 1:3:
His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and …
This word “substance” is the word “possession”. Look at Genesis 26:14. This is speaking of Isaac who also is a figure of Christ. Genesis 26:14 says:
For he had possession (same word) of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
When Abraham or Isaac or Jacob or other men in the Bible had great riches, often they are a picture of Christ or of God, and the flocks and herds are a picture of people and we read of Job in verse 3. In Job 1:3:
His substance (or his possessions) also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, …
That is 10,000. It continues:
… and five hundred yoke of oxen, …
A yoke is a pair. That is 11,000. It continues:
… and five hundred she asses, …
So, that is 11,500 which is 5 times 23 times 100. Now, that is ominous because we have that number “23” in there that God always uses in the context of destruction. We read in 1 Corinthians of how he killed 23,000 Israelites in the wilderness because of rebellion.
We read in the shipwreck, in the end of the book of Acts, there were 276 men and that shipwreck is really a picture of the end of the church and that number “276” is “12”. It is 2 times 2 times 3 times 23 or we understand that the first part of that tribulation period was 2300 days, from 1988 to 1994. Almost always we will see this number “23” in the context of destruction.
So here, Job has 11,500 animals in which we see this number 23. If we go to the end of the book though, here is something else that we have to think about. Look at Job 42, the final chapter, God blessed Job at his latter end more than his beginning. In Job 42:12, we read:
Job 42:12 (KJV) So JEHOVAH blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, …
That is 20,000. It continues:
… and a thousand yoke of oxen, …
That is a pair. 1,000 pairs. That is 22,000. It continues:
… and a thousand she asses.
23,000 animals. That is astounding. God is telling us something here and I am not coming to any conclusions yet. I do not want to say that the seven sons and three daughters here and the animals that were taken from him in chapter 1 represent the Old Testament church.
We have to go very slowly and not come to any conclusions that contradict anything else in the Bible. But we have to pay attention to this and keep this in mind as we are reading. But the end of Job 1:3 says:
… so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
That can also be translated as, “greater than all the men of the east.” And again, all those nations along the east of Israel were enemies. We have Median, Moab, Ammon and Edom. Farther up we have the Assyrians or the Chaldeans. But they are enemies.
But in Romans 5 we read that we were all enemies before salvation. In Romans 5:10:
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
So I believe that, that is what we are to see in these opening verses of Job. Now, we read in Job 1:4:
And his sons (Job’s sons) went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
And I think we can see worship in this. The corporate church because feasting, eating and drinking has to do with partaking of the gospel. In Proverbs 15:15, we have gone through all of this. But, Proverbs 15:15 says:
All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
We feast on the Word of God. In 1 Corinthians, we read about how the Israelites drank of that spiritual water and of that spiritual Rock which was Christ, and ate of that spiritual meat. Eating and drinking have to do with partaking of the gospel. It is worship.
So Job’s son’s are feasting in their houses and we read that Job sanctified them or consecrated them or he set them apart before God by offering sacrifices, by interceding for them and praying, incase they had sinned against God and that does not necessarily mean that someone is saved.
Aaron’s son’s, Nadab and Abihu were consecrated when all that temple and all those things in it, that tabernacle, were consecrated, back there in Leviticus when they finished the construction of it and when God came down and consumed a sacrifice, Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire and God consumed them, he killed them and there is another picture in that. They are a picture of those in the church trying to add to the commandments of God.
So, it is not necessarily saying that Job’s son’s and daughter’s represented saved people. They were sanctified in that he offered burnt offering’s for them.
Whenever Israel offered a burnt offering or whenever we offer spiritual sacrifices to the LORD, it is a hope that Christ is our sacrifice, that he is our Passover. Every animal that was burnt offered on that altar was a picture of the Lord Jesus suffering the wrath of God.
Certainly we know that the Israelites just took that too seriously or did not understand the significance of it. They thought that their salvation was in keeping those sacrifices and all those other ceremonial laws perfect and they did not see the end, they did not see Christ.
But now, we started today in verse 6, and we read in Job 1:6:
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before JEHOVAH, and Satan came also among them.
And this is something else that is amazing to us. Even in his rebellion, in his opposition in what he did in the garden of Eden, he still was in Heaven and could come before God with the sons of God, and we read in Job 1:7:
And JEHOVAH said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered JEHOVAH, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
And this is what Satan does. He walks about seeking whom he may devour. And the LORD answered him, in verse 8, in Job 1:8-9:
And JEHOVAH said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered JEHOVAH, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
Now he is going to challenge God. He says in verse 10, in Job 1:10:
Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
And yes, this does apply to God’s people. He has put an hedge around his people. He does bless the work of their hands. The true believer’s are spoken of as the work of God’s hands and he blesses or privileges his children to do his work as they have brought throughout history, as they have brought the gospel and have taken part in that salvation process, as God has applied that Word, that they have brought, to the hearts of his people. But yes, he has blessed the work of the hand’s of his people. He has put an hedge around them. In Job 1:10:
… his substance is increased in the land.
That word “substance” is the same word back there in verse 3, “His substance also was these 11,500 animals.” Clean and unclean. But again, animals are used in the Bible as pictures of believers. The clean animals and the unclean animals are sometimes used as figures of those coming to salvation.
But Satan says to God in verse 11. In Job 1:11:
But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
That word “touch” is a little bit stronger than our word “touch”. Let me just show you one place where it is used. In Ezekiel chapter 17, in verse 10.
In Ezekiel chapter 17, God gives a parable about an eagle taking a branch of a cedar and he plants it in a city of merchants. In Ezekiel 17:7:
There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.
But it is a parable. It is speaking of a nation that God has blessed and yet Judgment is going to be brought on it. In verse 9 of Ezekiel 17. Ezekiel 17:9 says:
Say thou, Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.
And in Ezekiel 17:10, we read:
Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? …
That is the same word as in Job 1. We went through all that, just for that word “touch”.
It continues:
… it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.
But it is a stronger word and it is used often as in “touching” as in “harm” or “doing” or “destroying”. So, Satan challenges God in verse 11 to “put forth thine hand”. Now we also learn something in this verse. In Job 1:11, Satan says:
But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, …
He is saying to God, “put forth thine hand now”. Satan cannot do anything that God does not allow him to do. So he is saying to God, “you put forth your hand”.
The “hand” in the Bible is used very often to speak of the “will” or sometimes the “strength”. More often the “arm” is used to signify “strength”. But he is saying to God, “you put forth your hand now and touch everything he has, he will curse thee to your face.” So in Job 1:12, we read:
And JEHOVAH said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. …
So now the will is switched to Satan. But he is only allowing him to do, he is limiting what he is doing. He says, “upon himself, he is not allowing Satan to touch Job physically.” We will look at this a little more here in a moment, about the will of God and about the will of Satan. Look at 2 Timothy 2 because this is a principle that every Christian should know that Satan only does what God allows him to do. 2 Timothy chapter 2, in verse 24 till verse 26. 2 Timothy 2:24-26 says:
And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
At whose will? Satan’s will? No. God’s will. It is God that raises up kings and puts down kings. It is God that makes one vessel to honor and one to dishonor. So, it is not talking about Satan. In 2 Timothy 2:26:
And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
At the will of God. Whether someone is a vessel unto honor or dishonor, it is by the will of God because none of us deserve salvation. Look at Jeremiah chapter 25, in verse 9. Here, God is speaking about bringing Judgment on Israel through the Babylonians. In Jeremiah 25:9, he says:
Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith JEHOVAH, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, …
Babylon is always a picture of the kingdom of Satan, Nebuchadrezzar is always a picture of Satan himself, but yet he is God’s servant. He only does what God allows him to do. So, he serves God here. But it is a principle, we all should be familiar with.
In Job 1:12-20, we read:
And JEHOVAH said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of JEHOVAH. And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house: And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house: And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
Now, what about these messengers? There are four of them. There are four calamities here, where these messengers brought the news to Job and if Job is a figure of the LORD (of God) himself or a figure of Christ. What does this mean that these messengers are coming and telling him of these things?
Well again, God uses communication between his people and himself to his purposes in the Bible. This word “messenger”, it is the Hebrew word mal’âk (mal-awk’). It is often translated “angel”. Often translated “messenger”. Look at Haggai 1. Haggai 1:13 says:
Then spake Haggai (Haggai is a prophet) JEHOVAH’S messenger in JEHOVAH’S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith JEHOVAH.
And all true believers are messengers. They are messengers of the covenant as Christ is the messenger of the covenant as again, we bring the Word of God to the world. If we look at Psalm 34:7, that word mal’âk (mal-awk’) is translated “angel” there. Psalm 34:7 says:
The angel of JEHOVAH encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
The idea of God putting an hedge around his people. But, “The angel (that is the same word mal’âk (mal-awk’)) …”. “The angel of JEHOVAH encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.”
Often now in the Bible, we read of David or someone else where messengers come to him. Look at 2 Samuel 18. This is when David’s men battled the men of Absalom (David’s son) as he rebelled against David. In 2 Samuel 18, it does not use the word messenger. In 2 Samuel 18:19 (after they have killed Absalom), we read:
Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear the king tidings, how that JEHOVAH hath avenged him of his enemies.
He is going to be a messenger. He is going to take a message to David who is always a figure of Christ. David always was a figure of Christ. In 2 Samuel 18:20:
And Joab said unto him, Thou shalt not bear tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day: …
Joab told this man “Cushi” to take the message for some reason. We read in 2 Samuel 18:21:
Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.
Then Ahimaaz, again he asks Joab if he can run too. Joab let’s him. In 2 Samuel 18:24-25:
And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold a man running alone. And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there is tidings in his mouth. And …
And we go on and we won’t read this anymore. But these are messengers. They are coming to tell David (as a figure of Christ), what has happened and we read this all through the Bible.
Look at Ezekiel 33. Ezekiel is in captivity in Babylon and he gets the news that the temple has been destroyed. In Ezekiel 33:21:
And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.
This messenger had escaped and I believe that these messengers in Job, each one of them says that, “I only am escaped alone to tell thee.” I believe that they are a picture of the true believers who have escaped, and there is only a few of them, and they come and they give the message to the LORD.
We read there, that when that man gave Ezekiel the news that Jerusalem had been destroyed. In Ezekiel 33:22:
Now the hand of JEHOVAH was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.
Early in the book, God had struck Ezekiel dumb. He could not speak except when the LORD had a message for him and finally when Ezekiel heard that the temple had been destroyed, it happened in 587 B.C, actually Ezekiel did not get that news until about a year later, his mouth was finally opened and Ezekiel is a prophet of the LORD who was struck dumb and his mouth was opened when he gets the news that the temple was destroyed. I believe that, that is a picture of the latter rain going out. But we are getting off the subject again.
I believe that these messengers are pictures of those that have escaped, pictures of the true believer. But again, look at Matthew 4. In Matthew 4, John the Baptist has been cast into prison by Herod and we read in Matthew 4:12:
Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;
Now Jesus is God. He knew. He knows these things. But still he speaks of “hearing”, of “someone telling him”. Look at Matthew 14. In Matthew 14, in verse 13. Again, this is when John has been beheaded in prison. In Matthew 14:12, we read:
And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.
Again, as messengers, they go and tell Jesus what has happened. Matthew 14:13 says:
When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: …
What I am trying to develop here is that all through the Bible, we read of messengers or people coming and telling the LORD, “this” or “that” and God works this way but these messengers again, just show the communication between God or Christ and his people and I believe that even Matthew 25 here is in view when Christ talks about visiting me in prison or he sets the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. In Matthew 25:41-43:
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
And earlier, he speaks of those on his right hand as having doing those things. In Matthew 25:44-45:
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
In other words, they are ministering to Christ as they visited those in prison or saw thee athirst or hungered or covered the naked or visited those in prison or sick. It is a picture of ministering. But again, I believe that these messengers are pictures of the true believer and Job even as a figure of God or Christ, he has to be told by this messenger, who has escaped, who I believe is a picture of the true believers as he has escaped this judgment.
We read in Job 1:20:
Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
Renting his mantle and shaving his head are figures of being in mourning, being under the wrath of God also. But he did not find fault if Satan accused him before God that he would. He only worshipped, we see his faithfulness and said in Job 1:21:
And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: …
Not to his mother’s womb. I think returning thither is referring to returning to the dust, in death, as we read in Ecclesiastes 12. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says:
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Job knows that one day he is going to die and his body is going to return to the dust. We all came from the dust. But again, this is a picture of the faithfulness of Christ in the first instance and of a true believer where he found no fault with God. Job 1:22 says:
In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
We will stop there.
Father in Heaven, we come to You and say could it be that, you would lead us and guide us as we look at this very difficult book and try to sort out, what you are telling us spiritually in this account of Job. Again please, could it all be to your glory. If we get anything wrong, in your mercy we know that we cannot snatch your people away from you. We cannot harm any of your true believers but still we ask that you would lead us and guide us, that we might see the truth in your Word. We thank you that you have given us the Bible. We thank you for all the mercies that you have bestowed upon us. How you have cared for us and materially in this world, you have been so merciful to all of us and we deserve nothing but death, every one of us. But again, could it be that this is all to your glory. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.