The Book of Job, Chapter by Chapter

We want to take you through the book of Job chapter by chapter. We have finished the history books of the Old Testament. If you have not read those studies you can start with Genesis and work through to Esther. Now we come to the books of poetry and wisdom. Job is the first. We will tell you what each chapter is about and how it fits into the message of the book. And how it points us to the one God that is revealed in Jesus Christ.

Job asks the hardest question people ask. Why do good people suffer. Job was the most righteous man on earth. And in one day he lost everything. His wealth. His servants. All 10 of his children. Then his health. His wife told him to curse God and die. His friends came and told him he must have sinned. And Job cried out to God and God did not answer. For 35 chapters. When God finally did answer he did not tell Job why. He showed Job who he is. And that was enough.

There are three things we want you to take away from this study. Job is about the sovereignty of God. Even Satan has to ask permission. Job is about faith in suffering. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (13:15). And Job points us to Jesus Christ. Job cried for a daysman who could lay his hand on God and man (9:33). And he said “I know that my redeemer liveth” (19:25). We will explain these points as we go through the book. But we want you to keep them in mind as we begin.

We do not know who wrote Job or exactly when. The Jews believed Moses wrote it.¹ The story seems to happen in the time of the patriarchs. Like Abraham. Job offered sacrifices for his family himself. There is no priest. No law of Moses. No mention of Israel. His wealth was counted in cattle and servants. And he lived 140 years after his trials (42:16). Some say Job was a made up story. But God names Job with Noah and Daniel as real men (Ezekiel 14:14). And James talks about him as a real man (James 5:11). We believe Job was a real person.

The book is built like this.² It starts and ends with prose. A story told in plain language (1–2 and 42:7–17). Everything in between is poetry. After the opening Job curses the day he was born (3). Then Job and his three friends go back and forth in three rounds of speeches (4–27). Then a poem about wisdom (28). Then Job’s last defense (29–31). Then a young man named Elihu speaks (32–37). Then God speaks out of the whirlwind (38–41). And Job answers God and is restored (42).

We will follow that outline. The friends say a lot. And we cannot cover every verse. We will give you the main point of each speech. Just like in our other studies we will be using the KJV for our scripture quotations. When we use Hebrew words we will transliterate them and give a brief explanation. And we will let you know where you can find the work of the scholars we reference.

Job 1: The LORD Gave, and the LORD Hath Taken Away

“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil” (v.1). Perfect does not mean he never sinned. It means he was whole. Complete. He walked with God with his whole heart. He had 7 sons and 3 daughters. And he was “the greatest of all the men of the east” (v.3). When his children had feasts Job rose up early and offered burnt offerings for each one. “For Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts” (v.5). He prayed for his children all the time.

Then the scene changes to heaven. “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them” (v.6). The sons of God here are angels. The word Satan in Hebrew is ha-satan. Which means the adversary. The accuser.³ God asked Satan where he came from. “From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it” (v.7). Peter says the devil “walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Then God said “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?” (v.8). Satan said “Doth Job fear God for nought?” (v.9). Job only serves you because you put a hedge around him. Take it away “and he will curse thee to thy face” (v.11). God said “all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand” (v.12).

Notice something very important. Satan could not touch Job without God’s permission. And he could only go as far as God let him. Satan is not a second god. He is not equal with God. He is a created being who answers to God. The Bible does not teach two powers fighting. It teaches one God over all. Jesus told Peter “Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee” (Luke 22:31–32).

Then in one day it all fell apart. One messenger came. The Sabeans took the oxen and the asses and killed the servants. While he was still speaking another came. Fire from heaven burned up the sheep and the servants. While he was still speaking another came. The Chaldeans took the camels. While he was still speaking another came. A great wind struck the house where his children were feasting. It fell on them and they were all dead (vv.13–19). Job tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped.

He worshipped. In the worst moment of his life he blessed the name of the LORD. Satan said Job would curse God. Job blessed him.

Job 2: Shall We Receive Good and Not Evil

The sons of God came before the LORD again. And Satan came again. God said Job “still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause” (v.3). Without cause. Job did nothing to deserve this. Satan said “Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life” (v.4). Touch his body and he will curse you. God said “Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life” (v.6). Again Satan had a limit.

Satan struck Job with sore boils from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head (v.7). Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself. And he sat down among the ashes. His wife said “Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die” (v.9). Job said “Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips” (v.10).

Then three friends came. Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite. When they saw him from far away they did not even know him. They wept and tore their robes and threw dust on their heads. “So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great” (v.13). That was the best thing they did in the whole book. They sat with him. When they opened their mouths things went bad.

Job 3: Let the Day Perish

“After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day” (v.1). Notice he did not curse God. He cursed the day he was born. “Let the day perish wherein I was born” (v.3). He wished he had died at birth. He wished he had never been. “Why died I not from the womb?” (v.11). In the grave “the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest” (v.17). He could not understand why God would give life to someone in this much misery (vv.20–23). “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me” (v.25).

This is an honest chapter. Job did not pretend. He did not smile and say everything was fine. He poured out his pain. Jeremiah did the same thing. “Cursed be the day wherein I was born” (Jeremiah 20:14). God does not ask us to hide our pain from him. The Psalms are full of men crying out to God. But notice that even in his worst moment Job talked to God and about God. He never walked away from him.

Before we go through the speeches there is one thing we want to point out. The three friends all believed the same thing. God blesses good people and punishes bad people. So if Job was suffering this much he must have done something terrible. Most of what they said about God was true. Paul even quotes Eliphaz in 1 Corinthians 3:19. But they used true things the wrong way. They did not know what happened in heaven in chapters 1 and 2. And neither did Job. Only we know.

Job 4–5: Eliphaz Speaks

Eliphaz went first. He was kind at the start. But then he said “who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?” (4:7). “They that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same” (4:8). He told Job about a vision he had at night. A spirit passed before his face and said “Shall mortal man be more just than God?” (4:17). He told Job “man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward” (5:7). If he were Job he would seek God (5:8). “Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty” (5:17). In other words you must have sinned. Repent and God will bless you again.

Job 6–7: Job Answers

Job said his grief was heavier than the sand of the sea. “For the arrows of the Almighty are within me” (6:4). He asked for one thing from his friends. “To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend” (6:14). But they were like a dry stream in the summer (6:15–17). “Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred” (6:24). Then he turned to God. His days were swifter than a weaver’s shuttle (7:6). He could not sleep. “What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?” (7:17). He asked why God would not leave him alone long enough to swallow his spit (7:19).

Job 8: Bildad Speaks

Bildad was harder. “How long wilt thou speak these things?” (8:2). “Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?” (8:3). Then he said something cruel. “If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression” (8:4). He told Job his children died because of their sin. He said look at the past. The wicked are like a plant that withers without water (8:11–13). If you were pure God would wake up for you.

Job 9–10: A Daysman Betwixt Us

Job agreed that God is just. But “how should man be just with God?” (9:2). God is too great. He “alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea” (9:8). Alone. Then Job said something that points straight to Jesus Christ.

A daysman was someone who stood between two people in a dispute. He put one hand on each of them. Job said God is not a man like me. I cannot stand before him. I need someone in the middle who can touch God and touch me.⁴ That is exactly what God did in Jesus Christ. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Notice Job’s problem. God is not a man. So in Jesus God became a man. Not a second person who was half way between. The one God took on flesh. As a man he can lay his hand on us. As God he can lay his hand on God. Because he is God. Job asked for a daysman. God came himself.

In chapter 10 Job talked to God directly. “Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me” (10:8). He did not understand why God made him and then crushed him. “Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb?” (10:18).

Job 11: Zophar Speaks

Zophar was the harshest. He said Job was full of talk. “Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth” (11:6). In other words you deserve worse than this. Then he said something true. “Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?” (11:7). God is higher than heaven and deeper than hell (11:8). But he used it to beat Job down. If you put away your sin you will forget your misery (11:14–16).

Job 12–14: Though He Slay Me

Job got sarcastic. “No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you” (12:2). He knew all the things they knew. “But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee” (12:7). Even the animals know God made everything. “In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind” (12:10). Then Job said he wanted to speak to God himself. His friends were “forgers of lies” and “physicians of no value” (13:4). It would be better if they would just be quiet (13:5).

This is one of the greatest statements of faith in the Bible. Job did not understand what God was doing. He thought God was against him. But he would not let go. Even if God killed him he would still trust him.

Then Job talked about how short life is. “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down” (14:1–2). A tree that is cut down can grow again (14:7). “But man dieth, and wasteth away” (14:10). Then he asked the big question. “If a man die, shall he live again?” (14:14). He answered with hope. “All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.” Jesus answered the question. “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). Paul said “we shall all be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51).

Job 15–17: Miserable Comforters

Eliphaz spoke again. This time he was not kind. He said Job’s own mouth condemned him (15:6). He described what happens to the wicked. Darkness. Trouble. Fear (15:20–24). He did not say Job was wicked. But he did not need to.

Job said “I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all” (16:2). If you were in my place I could talk like you (16:4). He felt like God had torn him apart and set him up as a target (16:9–12). But then he said this. “Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high” (16:19). Even when God seemed to be his enemy Job believed God was also his witness. He wanted someone to plead for him with God “as a man pleadeth for his neighbour” (16:21). The same longing as the daysman in chapter 9.

Job 18: Bildad Speaks Again

Bildad gave a long description of what happens to the wicked. Their light goes out (18:5). Traps catch them (18:8–10). Terrors make them afraid on every side (18:11). They have no son or nephew among their people (18:19). Every word was aimed at Job. Job had lost his children. Bildad was saying Job was the wicked man.

Job 19: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth

Job said “How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?” (19:2). He described how everyone left him. His brothers. His friends. His servants. His wife. Even little children despised him (19:13–19). “My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth” (19:20). “Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me” (19:21). Then right at the bottom Job said this.

The word redeemer is goel. The kinsman redeemer we saw in our Ruth study.⁵ The near relative who buys back what was lost. Job had lost everything. But he knew he had a Redeemer. And that Redeemer is alive. He will stand on the earth at the last day. And notice who the Redeemer is. “Yet in my flesh shall I see God.” “Whom I shall see for myself.” Job did not say he would see the Redeemer and then see God. The Redeemer he would see is God. Isaiah says the same. “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God” (Isaiah 44:6).

And Job said he would see him in his flesh. After his body was destroyed. That is the resurrection. Job knew it before Moses wrote the law. And our Redeemer became our kinsman by taking on flesh. He died. He rose. And he will stand on the earth again. “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner” (Acts 1:11).

Job 20–21: Why Do the Wicked Prosper

Zophar said the joy of the wicked is short (20:5). He swallows riches and has to vomit them up (20:15). Job answered that this is not what really happens. “Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?” (21:7). Their houses are safe. Their cattle breed. Their children dance (21:9–12). And they say to God “Depart from us” (21:14). And they still die in peace. Job was not saying God is unfair. He was saying the friends’ simple rule did not match real life. Sometimes the wicked prosper. Sometimes the righteous suffer. The Psalmist struggled with the same thing until he went into the sanctuary of God and understood their end (Psalm 73:17).

Job 22: Eliphaz Accuses

Now Eliphaz said it plainly. “Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?” (22:5). Then he made up sins Job never did. He said Job took his brother’s clothes and left them naked. Did not give water to the thirsty. Sent widows away empty (22:6–9). None of it was true. God said in chapter 1 that Job was perfect and upright. But Eliphaz needed Job to be guilty for his idea of God to work. Then he gave good advice with the wrong reason. “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace” (22:21).

Job 23–24: When He Hath Tried Me

Job said “Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!” (23:3). He looked forward and God was not there. Backward and he could not see him. Left and right (23:8–9). Then this.

Job could not find God. But God knew where Job was. And Job believed this was a fire that would bring out gold. Peter says “the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire” (1 Peter 1:7). Job also said “But he is in one mind, and who can turn him?” (23:13). One mind. God does not change. In chapter 24 Job talks about all the injustice in the world. The poor are pushed aside. The murderer rises in the dark. And God does not seem to stop it right away.

Job 25–27: The Friends Run Out of Words

Bildad’s last speech is only 6 verses. “How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?” (25:4). And Zophar never speaks a third time.⁶ The friends had nothing left to say. Job answered Bildad. “How hast thou helped him that is without power?” (26:2). Then Job talked about God’s power better than any of them. “He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing” (26:7). Thousands of years before anyone went into space. “Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?” (26:14). All we see is the edge of God. In chapter 27 Job said he would hold on to his righteousness and not let it go as long as he lived (27:5–6).

Job 28: The Fear of the Lord

Chapter 28 is a poem about wisdom. It sounds different from the rest. It is calm. Man knows how to dig deep into the earth. He finds silver and gold and iron and sapphires. He goes where no bird has seen (28:1–11). “But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?” (28:12). It is not in the deep. It is not in the sea. You cannot buy it with gold. “God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof” (28:23). Then the answer.

This is what Job was in chapter 1. One that feared God and eschewed evil. The friends thought they had wisdom because they had answers. But wisdom is not having all the answers. Wisdom is fearing God when you do not have them. Paul tells us that Christ is “the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). And in him “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).

Job 29–30: Then and Now

Job remembered the old days. “Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me” (29:2). When young men stepped aside and old men stood up when he came (29:8). “I put on righteousness, and it clothed me” (29:14). “I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor” (29:15–16). Then chapter 30 tells us what he was now. “But now they that are younger than I have me in derision” (30:1). Men he would not have put with his sheep dogs mocked him. “I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me” (30:20). “My harp also is turned to mourning” (30:31).

Job 31: I Made a Covenant With Mine Eyes

Job made an oath. If he had done any of these sins let God punish him. “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?” (31:1). He did not even look at a woman with lust. Jesus said the same thing. “Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). Job went through his whole life. He did not lie. He did not commit adultery. He did not mistreat his servants. He did not ignore the poor or the widow or the orphan. He did not trust in gold. He did not worship the sun or moon. He did not rejoice when his enemy fell. He did not hide his sin “as Adam” (31:33). “Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me” (31:35). Then the chapter ends. “The words of Job are ended” (31:40). He had said everything. Now it was up to God.

Job 32–33: There Is a Spirit in Man

Then a young man named Elihu spoke. He had been listening the whole time. He was angry with Job “because he justified himself rather than God” (32:2). And he was angry with the three friends “because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job” (32:3). He waited because they were older. “But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding” (32:8). Age does not always bring wisdom.

Elihu has a different idea than the friends.⁷ They said suffering is always punishment. Elihu said God uses suffering to teach and to save. God speaks in dreams “to withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man” (33:17). He speaks through pain on the bed (33:19). Then Elihu said something amazing.

A messenger. An interpreter. One among a thousand. And God says I have found a ransom.⁸ Jesus said “the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Paul said he “gave himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:6). Job wanted a daysman. Elihu said God would find a ransom.

Job 34–37: God Is Great

Elihu said “Far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity” (34:10). Job said too much when he said God was unfair to him (34:35–37). Then Elihu talked about how great God is. “Behold, God is great, and we know him not” (36:26). He described a storm coming. The thunder. The lightning. The snow and the rain (36:27–37:6). “Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God” (37:14). His speech was getting Job ready. A storm was coming. And out of it God would speak.

Job 38–39: Where Wast Thou

“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind” (38:1). Finally. Job had been asking for 35 chapters. And now God spoke. “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me” (38:2–3). Job wanted to ask God questions. Instead God asked Job questions.

God took Job on a tour of creation. Who set the measures of the earth (38:5). Who shut up the sea and said “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further” (38:11). Have you commanded the morning (38:12). Have you walked in the depths of the sea (38:16). Can you bind the Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion (38:31). Then the animals. Who feeds the lion and the raven (38:39–41). Do you know when the wild goats give birth (39:1). Who set the wild ass free (39:5). Did you give the horse his strength (39:19). Does the hawk fly by your wisdom (39:26).

Notice something about these questions. God never tells Job about Satan. He never explains chapters 1 and 2. He never answers why.⁹ Instead he shows Job who he is. And notice how God speaks. “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” I. Singular. The same God who said “I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself” (Isaiah 44:24). John tells us “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). And “the Word was made flesh” (John 1:14). The God who laid the foundations of the earth is the one who came in the flesh as Jesus Christ.¹⁰

Job 40–41: Behemoth and Leviathan

“Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him?” (40:2). Job answered “Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth” (40:4). He had said enough. But God was not done. “Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?” (40:8). Job had been so focused on proving he was right that he made God look wrong. God said if you can bring down every proud man then “will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee” (40:14).

Then God described two great creatures. Behemoth. “He is the chief of the ways of God” (40:19). And leviathan. A creature no man can tame. “None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?” (41:10).¹¹ We will not go into all the views on what these creatures were here. The point is clear. If you cannot stand before what God made how can you stand before God. “Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine” (41:11). Paul quotes this. “Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things” (Romans 11:35–36).

Job 42: Now Mine Eye Seeth Thee

Job answered the LORD. “I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee” (v.2). He admitted he talked about things he did not understand. Things too wonderful for him (v.3). Then he said this.

Job never got an answer to why. But he got something better. He saw God. Before he only heard about him. Now he knew him. And when he saw God he did not need the answer anymore. The question was swallowed up in the presence of God.

Then God turned to Eliphaz. “My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath” (v.7). This is surprising. Job said some harsh things about God. The friends defended God. But God said Job spoke right. Because Job was honest. He brought his pain to God. The friends made up sins and put words in God’s mouth. God told them to bring 7 bullocks and 7 rams to Job. “And my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept” (v.8). The man they accused had to pray for them.

“And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before” (v.10). Notice when it happened. When he prayed for his friends. He forgave the ones who hurt him. Then God restored him. His family came and comforted him. He got twice as many sheep and camels and oxen and asses (v.12). And 7 sons and 3 daughters (v.13). Notice he got double of everything except children. He got the same number of children.¹² We believe that is because his first 10 children were not lost forever. He had 20 children. 10 with God and 10 with him.

His daughters were named Jemima and Kezia and Kerenhappuch. There were no women as fair in all the land. “And their father gave them inheritance among their brethren” (v.15). In those days daughters did not usually inherit. Job lived 140 more years and saw his children to the 4th generation. “So Job died, being old and full of days” (v.17).

James tells us what to learn from Job. “Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy” (James 5:11). The end of the Lord. What God was doing the whole time. He was not cruel. He was “very pitiful, and of tender mercy.”

We have gone through Job chapter by chapter. Here is what we can conclude. First Job is about the sovereignty of God. Satan had to ask permission. And he could only go as far as God allowed. There are not two powers fighting over the world. There is one God who rules over all. Even over the adversary. “The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (1:21).

Second Job is about faith in suffering. Job did not understand. He cried. He complained. He asked why. But he never let go of God. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (13:15). “When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (23:10). The friends had a simple answer. If you suffer you sinned. God said they were wrong. Sometimes the righteous suffer. And God has a purpose we cannot see.

Third Job is monotheistic. God “alone spreadeth out the heavens” (9:8). He is “in one mind” (23:13). When he speaks he says “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” (38:4). I. One Creator. And Job saw him. “Now mine eye seeth thee” (42:5).

And Job points us to Jesus Christ. Job said God is not a man. He needed a daysman who could lay his hand on God and man (9:33). God became a man in Jesus Christ. Job said “I know that my redeemer liveth” and “in my flesh shall I see God” (19:25–26). Our Redeemer is God himself. And he lives. Elihu said God would find a ransom (33:24). Jesus gave his life a ransom for many. And Job suffered without cause and then prayed for the friends who hurt him. Jesus suffered without sin and prayed “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Job ended with “now mine eye seeth thee.” One day we will too. “And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4). The next book is the songbook of Israel. Prayers and praises from people who knew both pain and joy. That is where Psalms begins.