STORY

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Jobs Story

From ancient times Jewish tradition has credited Moses with writing Job, most likely around 1440 B.C., making it the oldest book of the Bible. The Hebrew ’Iyyob means “Persecuted One.” Moses as author of Job makes sense; Moses spent considerable time in both Egypt and Midian, which explains the book’s Egyptian references and Arabic influence. Job’s description of God as Creator complements Moses’ creation account in Genesis. Moreover, certain words used in Job and the Pentateuch appear nowhere else in the OT. Some scholars still ascribe the book to Elihu, Solomon, Ezra, or some other anonymous author, citing the book’s dissimilar style to that of the Pentateuch. However, Job’s story differs vastly from Moses’ other books and would understandably require a different approach.

In the Arabian Desert, around the time Moses lived in Midian, people other than Abraham’s descendants worshiped the true God. Job’s culture, however, had a skewed vision of Him; they taught that all suffering was punishment for a specific sin. This philosophy confused Job, as he felt sure he had not sinned and thus could not explain the tragedies that befell him. Interestingly, Job seems to mourn his separation from God more than the loss of his family and wealth.

Job in agony One scholar calls Job the literary “Matterhorn of the OT.” Written in the poetical form of parallelism, it remains one of the greatest works of Hebrew literature available today. Job’s three friends repetitively champion one point: calamities equal punishment. Elihu offers an only slightly different spin: calamity is discipline. Expressing the same thoughts, the men sometimes even use the same expressions. Job answers each by defending his integrity. When God takes the stage, however, the repetition ceases and every phrase becomes significant.

Job’s story dispels the myth of the “prosperity gospel”—that if you do good you will only experience God’s blessing. Many themes may be mined from Job’s story but the overarching one is, at the risk of sounding glib, that bad things happen to good people. The book’s first few verses provide a backstage pass to the supernatural, revealing the Great Controversy between Satan and God over God’s character. Man falls victim to this controversy when Satan tries to make us doubt God. Though we may misunderstand God at times, He will ultimately reveal His character of love and justice. One thing we are assured of: Satan cannot touch us without God’s permission. God retains power over what Satan can and cannot do. Sometimes, however, God allows suffering in our lives in order to test us or refine our characters.

Today, we still ask, “Why?” There is no satisfactory answer, but the book of Job assures us that God is just and compassionate and stands besides us through it all. We may trust God in all circumstances, as one Bible writer said, “not only when we don’t understand, but because we don’t understand.”

 

[blazingthru]

Ezra and Nehemiah

Judging by the language and writing style, the author of Chronicles most likely wrote Ezra and Nehemiah as well. Greek translators divided the book named Ezra, from the Hebrew word ezer, meaning “Yahweh Helps,” into Ezra and Nehemiah, or Nehemyah, “Comfort of Yahweh.”

The Talmud names Ezra as the book’s primary author and Nehemiah as the one who completed it. Haggai prophesied in Ezra’s day, Zechariah in Nehemiah’s. Nehemiah’s list of priests and Levites ends around 400 B.C., implying the book was completed shortly thereafter.

Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther are the only books which tell of the Jews’ postexilic history, and even these contain only small pieces of history with large gaps in between. Ezra and Nehemiah describe events early in the Persian reign, which lasted from Cyrus’s defeat of Babylon in 530 B.C. until Darius III’s death when the empire dissolved into Alexander the Great’s in 331 B.C.

Persian archers of King DariusStretching from Iran to Asia Minor and from Armenia to Egypt, at its height Persia covered two million square miles in all. Most of the Persian kings ruled kindly and diplomatically, encouraging their officials to work for the people’s best interest. They practiced the monotheistic religion of Zoroastrianism, a morally superior religion compared to the Babylonians’ polytheistic and idolatrous religion. Perhaps Cyrus, a wise and humane leader, learned from David of Isaiah’s prophecies about his role in the Jews’ restoration. He resettled his subjects in their original homes and encouraged them to rebuild their places of worship.

Therefore Zerubbabel led the first group of Jews back to Jerusalem in 536 B.C. However, establishing his empire required Cyrus’s full attention, and when the Jews’ neighbors opposed the rebuilding and the Jews received no help from the emperor, work on the temple all but halted. Similarly Cambyses offered the Jews no help and under Smerdis the rebuilding stopped completely. At last, with Darius’s support and Haggai and Zechariah leading them, the Jews completed and dedicated the new temple in 515 B.C.

Around 463 to 454 B.C., Artaxerxes needed Judea’s goodwill since it lay on the highway to Egypt, so he indulged Ezra’s requests for Judea. Sometime after 450 B.C., the area around Judea rebelled and, afraid the Jews would join the rebellion, Artaxerxes joined the Samaritans in opposing the rebuilding of the wall in Jerusalem. When the rebellion had been quelled, Artaxerxes appointed Nehemiah governor of Judea and he led the Jews to complete the wall in only 52 days, all the while under serious threats of violence from their neighbors. Beyond the rebuilding of the wall, Nehemiah wanted to re-establish a spiritual culture in Judah. Rebuilding the spiritual culture took years, however. Changing the externals is much easier than allowing God to change us from the inside out.



Ezra and Nehemiah depict the fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah and provide historical information showing that the prophecies of Daniel 8 and 9 are rooted in fact. Whenever disaster befell God’s people or He was forced to carry out a judgment on them, He reserved a remnant to carry on His covenant. Noah and his family survived the flood; Lot and his daughters the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; 7000 prophets of Israel the persecution of Ahab and Jezebel. Though Zerubbabel’s followers numbered some fifty thousand, compared with Israel’s numbers in David’s era, they called themselves a remnant. This remnant theme carries through to the Second Coming when Jesus shall return and take His remnant to heaven.

Today, Ezra and Nehemiah offer hope for those whose lives are characterized by sin and rebellion. God forgives; every time a person exchanges the captivity of sin for true repentance the Israelites’ restoration is repeated. Regardless of how long we’ve been in rebellion God readily shows us how to rebuild our lives. As did the Jews, we will experience opposition. Satan resists our repentance as strongly as he did the Jews’ rebuilding Jerusalem, if not more so. But we learn a special lesson from the people’s persistence!

 

[Crucible]

I'm currently studying the book of Job which makes your post timely. The two paragraphs below really illuminate the subject matter. There is a lot in these summaries. Thanks for posting this; it will benefit my studies and meditations.

Job’s story dispels the myth of the “prosperity gospel”—that if you do good you will only experience God’s blessing. Many themes may be mined from Job’s story but the overarching one is, at the risk of sounding glib, that bad things happen to good people. The book’s first few verses provide a backstage pass to the supernatural, revealing the Great Controversy between Satan and God over God’s character. Man falls victim to this controversy when Satan tries to make us doubt God. Though we may misunderstand God at times, He will ultimately reveal His character of love and justice. One thing we are assured of: Satan cannot touch us without God’s permission. God retains power over what Satan can and cannot do. Sometimes, however, God allows suffering in our lives in order to test us or refine our characters.



Today, Ezra and Nehemiah offer hope for those whose lives are characterized by sin and rebellion. God forgives; every time a person exchanges the captivity of sin for true repentance the Israelites’ restoration is repeated. Regardless of how long we’ve been in rebellion God readily shows us how to rebuild our lives. As did the Jews, we will experience opposition. Satan resists our repentance as strongly as he did the Jews’ rebuilding Jerusalem, if not more so. But we learn a special lesson from the people’s persistence!

 

[MrsHaseeb]

Thank you so much for this blazingthru. This was excellent info.

 

[sweetvi]

blazingthru


Thank you!!

 

[blazingthru]

Judges

Jewish tradition holds that Samuel wrote Judges, or Shophetim, but this theory cannot be proven. Whoever authored the book wrote sometime near the beginning of David’s reign, likely between 1045 and 1000 B.C. The book’s name comes from the title of those who ruled Israel after Joshua, though these men served more as deliverers than judges. Some became national heroes; ...

The narrative spans approximately 1400 to 1050 B.C. The Canaanites had lived in the region for centuries. Heavily influenced by Mesopotamia and Egypt, Canaanite civilization had developed highly. From their fortified cities in the hills to their iron chariots in the plains, the Canaanites intimidated the Israelites. The people had often united in their fight against Egypt’s control and had much experience in war. Known throughout the Near East as merchants and traders, the Canaanites also maintained extensive olive groves and vineyards. Consequently, their religion incorporated ceremonies they thought would ensure the soil’s fertility, and celebrations of gratitude to the deities for bountiful harvests.

When the Israelites finally stopped fighting, the Canaanites still possessed a number of fortified cities, strategically placed so that they separated the Israelite tribes and made communication between them nearly impossible. Occasionally, two or three tribes banded together to fight a common enemy, but the Israelites ultimately failed to eliminate the Canaanites so they settled among them instead.

As they learned agriculture from the Canaanites, the Israelites also gradually absorbed the local heathen religion. Meanwhile, foreign invaders persisted on all sides. The geographical separation, the repeated foreign invasions, and the nation’s apostasy diminished the unity Israel had experienced in worshiping the true God.

If Joshua depicts God’s faithfulness in fulfilling His covenant with Abraham’s descendants, in stark contrast Judges tells of the Israelites’ failure to uphold their side of the covenant by not eliminating the Canaanites. Consequently, they experienced no end of strife. Like an overly-dramatic, manipulative child, Israel called out to God when they had nowhere else to turn, promising faithfulness without giving any thought to the long-term implications of their promise. But time and again, in His characteristic long-suffering way, God raised up a deliverer, only to watch the Israelites turn away from Him again once they felt safe.

Sin results in God’s displeasure. Judges reveals how suffering and disaster are sometimes intended to draw people back to God. Viewed from this angle, the book becomes not so much a historical narrative as a theological reflection upon history. The author shows that the Israelites’ lack of trust in God ended up costing them their success. Judges provides a context for the Israelites’ ensuing centuries of political hardships, related in the rest of the OT. Because they failed to drive out the Canaanites, the Israelites were led to be unfaithful.

Today, Judges reminds us that discipline always follows disobedience, especially for the unrepentant. God intends that discipline be educational; He “disciplines those He loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” (Heb 12:6) Though this principle may no longer apply on a national level, certainly it applies on an individual level.