Job 8-9

His friend Bildad speaks. One of the first things he says is that he says is that Job is blustering like a wind. If I were Job, I would get different friends.

Bildad makes the point that God will restore him if Job has integrity. He also says that people wither and die if they are cut off from God. Is Bildad implying that Job is cut off from God and that is why this happened? I think so.

Job responds in chapter 9. He outlines the impossibility of trying to prove oneself innocent before God. So, again, the discussion between Job and his friends is about whether or not Job is innocent.

Job 6-7

Job takes Eliphaz to task for his presumptuous. He says that he (actually, they) is unhelpful to a friend in need. Job also denies he did anything wrong and desires that God would just kill him.

During his rant, Job makes a curious statement about egg whites. He calls it tasteless and he gags at the thought of it. (6:6-7).

In chapter 7, Job pleads directly to God. He asks God what sin he did. He also seems to believe that it was God who did this to him. We as the audience know that it was Satan, albeit with God's permission.

It is interesting to read Job's speeches right after Ecclesiastes. Both showcase once-powerful men who feel down-trodden and humiliated by God. Job is in misery and agony while Solomon was depressed and jaded. Job desired death while Solomon desired the pleasures of the flesh. But yet I find myself respecting Job a lot more than Solomon because Job really had it rough with the physical pain and losing his children. Solomon's main complaint seemed to have been a greater awareness of how bad life can be since he was blessed/cursed with wisdom. Both Job and Solomon do make note that God takes things away just as fast as God gives.

Job 4-5

Job's friend Eliphaz speaks. At first, his words are good. He reminds Job that he helped encourage the downtrodden in the past. Then, Eliphaz seems to suggest that Job is at fault. Eliphaz describes an encounter with a spirit who talked to him. The message and context indicate it was a demon, but Eliphaz trusts its message.

Before the spirit spoke, Eliphaz had chills up his spine and his hair stood on end. The spirit asked questions that suggested that mortals cannot be clean before God. Well, the dialogue in the heavenly assembly in Job 1-2 stated that Job was clean before God. The spirit also said that God does fully trust his angels and God will trust humans even less as we are made of clay.

Coming from this standpoint, the rest of Eliphaz's ideas are polluted. He does mention that God can rescue Job (a truth) but puts the blame on Job and calls him to repent his sins (inappropriate advice, but the fruit of Eliphaz's encounter with the spirit).

Job 3

Job finally speaks. He curses the day he was born and wishes he had never been born at all. His perspective on death is that it would be peaceful rest, something far different than the sorrow his life has become.

He mentions Leviathan in v. 8. He wishes those who could awaken Leviathan curse the day he was born.

Job 2

The heavenly court reconvenes. Satan is among them. God brags about Job in that Job has not cursed God. This time, Satan argues that Job would curse God if he is physically harmed. God agrees and Job is struck with boils. Here, disease and pain are attributed to Satan, although God allows it.

Job maintains his position and won't curse God. He wife suggests that he curse God and die. Job refuses to do so. (v. 10)

His three friends are more supportive. They come to him, tear their clothes, and sit with him in silence for 7 days because his suffering was too great.

Job 1

Why do bad things happen to good people?

I saved the book of Job to read it among the philosophical writings, even though it breaks up the chronological reading. It is commonly accepted as being one of the oldest books of the Bible, perhaps even written before Genesis was written.

Who was Job? A incredibly wealthy man. He had thousands of animals - camels, sheep, and donkeys. I think this would make him wealthy by even our modern standards. That said, the wealth Is not diversified or insured. Rather, his wealth is focused in animals which can die.

Job is undoubtedly righteous, even God says he is blameless. He has 10 children, 7 sons and 3 daughters. By contemporary and modern standards, I think he has a life that many would envy.

Job 1 describes something very unusual and I think don't see again until Revelations - a heavenly court. God is surrounded by heavenly beings. We can probably assume Christ is there, although it is not specified. It also mentions Satan, who is not specified by name again until the New Testament.

Satan comes before God in the heavenly court. God brags to Satan about Job's righteousness. Here again, this is something we should want - how great it is for Job that God does this.

Satan uses the occasion to accuse God (it is your protection that made him rich) and to accuse Job (if he lost his wealth, he would curse you). God knows what Satan has in mind and then agrees that Satan can test Job, but he cannot hurt him physically.

Back on earth, 4 separate disasters come and destroy Job's life as he knows it. Raiders come and take away his animals, fire falls from the sky and kills more animals, and a tornado kills his children. Two disasters are human driven and two disasters are natural evil.

Job is a good person. So, why did bad things happen to him? The answer - God allowed Satan to do four different bad things which employed both human and natural instruments of destruction. But God set limits which Satan had go follow as Job himself was not physically hurt.

Job laments his life, but does not blame God.

Ecclesiastes

Chapter 1 - Solomon is a bitter, sorrowful old man. He ponders creation, but not in awe, but in how futile existence is. He claims that the wiser he was, the more sorrowful he became.

Chapter 2 - Solomon tried to find meaning for his life in his wealth, power, palaces women, and alcohol. He became depressed and claims that everything he turned to were meaningless.

Chapter 3 - this has the famous list of "seasons". A time to live, a time to die, etc...Solomon still respects God, but seems to have a more complicated, nuanced, and even saddened view of God. It is hard to summarize how Solomon views God other than to say he definitely does not seem to get joy and peace from God. Perhaps he blames God for turning his wisdom from a source of joy to a source of pain because he is aware of the magnitude of suffering.

v. 22 - he seems to lack a belief in any afterlife at all. This seems to make him think of the meaningless of it all. He even concluded the dead are better than the living. (4:2)

Chapter 4 - this contains more examples of the meaningless - friends and political power. Friends do have the advantage of supporting you, but he still thinks they are meaningless. Political power is meaningless because the people will revolt in time. Solomon had several revolts, but only after he turned away from God. Maybe that's why the author of Kings specifically emphasized that.

Chapter 5 - He respects God and cautions people not to make promises with God. Otherwise, God might take everything you own away. It seems that Solomon feels like he could not keep his end of the bargain with God and in turn, God punished him.

Chapter 6

Since he has identified pleasure as the only meaning of life, he finds despair because not everyone can enjoy their own lives. His example is the wealthy people who cannot enjoy their own wealth.

He also states that God has already decided everything far in advance of events occurring. It smells of some of the more extreme views of Calvinism, which I'm not comfortable with. But considering the rest of Ecclesiastes (everything is meaningless) I wouldn't rest much theology on Solomon's complaints about the futility of life.

Chapter 7

He tries to makes some "wise" proverbs. There are a few that I think are true (nothing in life is certain, v.14), but the majority sound very jaded and disappointed with life. He seems to have come to expect evil from other people (dont ease drop on them or you might hear your servant curse you, v. 21) and especially women (only one of 1000 men is virtuous but not one woman, v. 28).

Chapters 8-9

He again suggests pleasure is the only meaning in life. He comments on the injustice of the world, how good people are treated as wicked while the wicked go unpunished. Good or bad, we all must answer to death.

Chapter 10-11

He actually makes a few decent proverbs, but they are not structured like the ones before. Rather, they come off as helpful every day advice - use sharp axes or you'll get tired, don't make fun of powerful people even in secret or someone might tell on you, diversify your investments, etc...

Overall thoughts on the book

It has a very heavy and sour tone and you wonder if this is the same person who wrote Proverbs and Song of Solomon. All the joy and passion from Song of Solomon are long gone. Based on that, I would think that the Song of Solomon was written much earlier in his life.

In Ecclesiastes, it seems that Solomon still has a deep respect for God. However, that respect seems to be focused on a capricious, arbitrary God who takes things away. So, this seems to have been the final fruit of his falling away from God. Solomon seems to blame all the women in his life for it all.