[Music] In this episode of The Bible project Podcast Tim and I discuss the Book of Job the third and final book in our Wisdom Series this book is a piece of Literature interacting with really Significant existential questions about God's justice and suffering and the Problem of evil and why the bad things Happen to good people many people turn To job to learn about how to deal with Suffering as it's a realistic portrayal Of someone dealing with circumstances That just seem unfair it gives us a Model for how to deal with hardship but It provides no answers whatsoever about Why good people suffer but what it does Explore is what kind of universe are we Living in where good people do suffer And what does that say about how God Runs the world what can we infer about God's character from the Injustice and Evil we see in the world and what does God have to say about that so why do Good people suffer why is there evil in The world why can't God make it so that Everyone always gets what they deserve So he says the world's a dynamic place That can't be run according to a system It has to be run according to God's Personal judgment sometimes which he Calls or wisdom The Book of Job is Really about the posture by which we Should live as people who don't have
Access to the totality of God's wisdom As we're describing this character I Mean I feel like in a way we're talking About Jesus like his teachings on Anxiety or worry Jesus had a level of Trust in the father that he just didn't Seem to care about what happens tomorrow It wouldn't affect at all of his view of The father's character and so he Recommends a life of just not Carelessness but a Carefree type of Existence and Jesus clearly exhibited That level of peace all the way up to His execution that's done as disciples Here's our first of Three episodes on The Book of Job here we go [Music] This is the Book of Job so we did Proverbs which we just actually watched First our first viewing of it just Minutes ago yeah not our first viewing But the first uh final viewing with Sound design holy cow which was amazing I got really excited yeah I was starting To have doubts about this series but After watching that so that's coming out Um it'll be out by the time this podcast Is out and then we uh are working on Ecclesiastes storyboards are being done For that we're looking at some art style Examples But we need to get ready to write on the Book of Job the third part and honestly I I feel the least prepared myself with
This book I mean it's such a long book And it's so weird I don't haven't spent A lot of time in it yeah the Book of Job Is so remarkable there's so many things That are remarkable about it in the Old Testament I had the the privilege and my PhD studies at University of Wisconsin The the main thing that everybody does Is you just spend three years reading Huge amounts of the Bible in Hebrew but You go through three text courses you Spend a year in the book of Isaiah a Year in the Book of Ezekiel and then you Spend a year in the wisdom literature Reading Proverbs Ecclesiastes and job And I was working with a Jewish Professor named Michael Fox not Michael J Michael J fox Michael V Fox oh Um who's uh I mean he's written comment Areas on all the wisdom books and uh so He's one of the world experts in the Book of Job and it was just the most Delightful class I ever had I have the Best memories of it and I remember Walking away going this is the most Amazing book I think it's the the book Of the Bible that's the most aware of Itself as a piece of high literature There are features about it that show That its author is aware that it's Writing and contributing to this Conversation as a piece of high level Literary art so what do you mean it's Aware of its literary art yeah the the
Design of the book is very intentional But also Um it plays with you as the reader and With your expectations the author's Really aware that he's messing with your Views of God in the world and he cranks Up the tension the the way the book Opens with showing you this character Dr Jobe and how amazing he is and then Horrible things start to happen to him And you're given this background Information as to kind of why it's Happening to him but actually you really Don't know why but the author's given You enough to make you think you know Why but you actually really don't until The end so that's just in the book's Design also the language of the book in Hebrew The Book of Job contains the most Words that are used only here in all of Ancient Hebrew than any other book of The Hebrew Bible yeah I think I've heard That before so basically meaning rare Rare words so I mean think of reading an English author who's constantly using Words yeah look up in a dictionary yeah And that's it rare because they're a lot Older because I've also heard this book Is a lot older or is it just rare Because the they're using a much broader Vocabulary yeah that's it the real Arguments for the ancient date of the Book are not strong at all okay and the Book's language doesn't show so any
Signs of being particularly ancient Hebrew why do people say it's the oldest Book Um essentially because the social Setting described in some of the Narrative details corresponds to the Social setting of The Patriarchs Abraham Isaac Jacob so yeah there's the the Language of the book relates to like Main level Kingdom Period Hebrew But um the vocabulary is just off the Chart sophisticated So that's what I mean about intentional When some you know it's like a somebody Starts using really Complicated words you're like oh you're Being artsy exactly you're being artsy You're fancy or you're trying to impress And make an impression yeah so what that Means is that there's lots of words in The Book of Job that we still aren't Quite sure what they mean well or we Have CL because they're used only here In all of ancient Hebrew got it so they Were rare words even in the author's day That not that many people knew and they Didn't occur anywhere else in Hebrew Literature so we only know from Context What they might mean that's right and Maybe from looking at cognate languages And Aramaic or Arabic but you'll you'll Often see footnotes in your English Translation saying the meeting of this Hebrew phrase is uncertain or you'll see
Alternate translations in your footnotes In the translations of job and that's Just because there's some really Difficult passages that we don't quite Know how to translate them even still Today interesting so they're still fresh Research in biblical studies to be done Even on the vocabulary of job it's Interesting so that's all under the Umbrella of just saying this book is Aware of itself as a a piece of Literature interacting with really Significant existential questions it's Aware that it's contributing to a Conversation happening in the ancient Near East about Justice God's justice And suffering and the problem of evil And why do bad things happen to good People and in the Old Testament there's Nothing else like it right this is Pretty unique in its writing style in Its yeah a book that's entirely a a Collection of was framed by a narrative At the beginning in the end but the Majority of it is just long dense poems Depicting people's philosophical Theological conversations with each Other yeah it reads like the the Dialogues of like Socrates or Plato Right it shares that form in common but Predates it that but predates it by a Number of centuries yeah yeah but there Are other Um ancient Babylonian works I I'll
Confess I'm not as familiar with these Um but John Walton and his wonderful Commentary in the Book of Job has talks About them these surveys that there are Other Babylonian literary works that Have people having conversations about The Justice of the Gods and is the world A safe good place to live in similar-ish To what's happening in the Book of Job But they're nowhere near as Sophisticated Thank you [Music] [Music] Foreign People listening set the table of what What job is doing big picture yeah what Yeah what the book's about it's a book That begins and ends with a narrative Introduction and a narrative epilogue It's two chapters of introduction one Chapter conclusion and then the rest of It is just 40 plus chapters of dense Hebrew poetry in the voice of all these Characters The Story begins with the Righteous the most righteous good man You could ever imagine and then we're Transported up into God's Heavenly Control room The Situation Room And there it's brought before God that Job is only serving God for interested Motives namely that God keeps blessing Him because he's a good guy and it's
Basically raises the question of is it Good policy on God's part to bless good People to hook up good people with good Things because they're good people and So we'll talk about this more God allows Job to undergo suffering as some sort of Test or examination of his piety and Commitment to God and so job doesn't at The beginning get angry at God he Remains Pious and faithful to God but Eventually he cracks and he can't take It anymore and that launches you into The chapters three on and it's job with Three friends and the friends are Convinced he must have done something Wrong and that's why he's suffering but You the reader know that job's a good Man God said he's a good man he's not Suffering for doing anything wrong and So it creates this tension for you the Reader you know job's a good guy but you Know he's suffering because God allowed It and the friends of drawing all these Wrong conclusions about God's character And you know the friends are wrong and Job's convinced they're wrong and it Creates this tension And so all these conversations lead up To job getting more and more angry and Then he eventually starts accusing God Of being a jerk or being unjust and then God speaks up at the end of the Dialogues and addresses job And that's where you find the real meat
And the response of God to the issue of Suffering and Injustice in the world And then the book concludes with job Repenting and saying I'm sorry God Didn't mean to get so angry I was wrong About that and then he gets hooked up We're getting so worked up yeah that's Right and then everything he lost into Suffering is restored to him you know Two or seven times over so it's really Not about Job the book is about by what Kind of policies does God run the Universe so to say that the book is About you know giving us a perspective On suffering that's very natural because It's about a guy suffering and working Through it and it it gives us a model For how to deal with hardship but it Provides no answers whatsoever about why Good people suffer the book never Provides an answer to why job suffers Yeah but what it does explore is what Kind of universe are we living in where Good people do suffer and what does that Say about how God runs the world what Can we infer about God's character from The Injustice and evil we see in the World and what does God have to say About that so really it's a question About God's justice that's what this Book is about more than about human Suffering human suffering raises the Question about God's justice but this Book doesn't claim to provide any answer
To the why bad things happen good people Foreign [Music] This is the wisdom series wisdom Literature And in Proverbs We were introduced to wisdom that it's This force in the universe hokma God Used it to design the world you live by It life will go well for you right you Ignore it it's gonna kick you in the Butt yep yes that's Proverbs very clear Cause effect pattern the moral law Justice governs the universe be a good Person get things will happen you're a Bad person bad things will happen that Is a general truth affirmed by Human Experience right but the CR the Ecclesiastes but not always and that's The glitch in the system so then the Question that we come into job with is Well what does that tell us about God's Character yeah and more specifically What this book job is about addressing Is what does that tell us about the Policies or the decision-making Principles by which God governs the Universe so I mean that's kind of a Weird phrase what do you mean by that Phrase the policies the governing Principles of the universe well what Didn't he like is there like Gravity The second law of thermodynamic yeah but This is about this is about moral
Decisions and the outcome of people's Moral decisions so um this isn't about The law of thermodynamics or something Or this Um what is the Baseline of how God Relates to human beings and God's Providence and guiding history and why Doesn't God always step in and make sure When you do the right thing correct you Get rewarded correct and we do the wrong Thing yep you don't get rewarded yeah That's not always the case so what kind Of world am I living in where I can do The right thing And never get rewarded and can I infer Anything about God's character from the Fact that the universe is that way okay Because you think you should be able to Well as we're gonna see the friends Job's friends definitely think you can Infer God's character from How the Universe Works the Assumption of the Biblical literature and the wisdom books Is that we live in a moral Universe Where our decisions matter yeah and they Matter to us and they matter to God and God cares about the kinds of decisions That we make But the decisions that we make don't Always have a clear cause effect chain Because like I'm told to do the right Thing and I'm even told that when I do The right thing good things will happen But that's not always the case
So what's up with that and why doesn't God always reward good behavior with Good fortunes so that is this conundrum And if we say that God is good it's the Classic problem of evil if God is good And powerful why doesn't he always Reward good behavior and why doesn't he Always deal with evil why this moral Contradiction in our in our experience And that's a theoretical way of putting It but anybody who's really really been Trying hard like in their job to like be Super honest full of Integrity you're Working hard and then you don't get the Promotion you actually get accused Wrongly of do and you get fired or you Know that sucks and that raises you Start if you're a Christian or a Religious person you go like where are You God don't you care about this what's Up with it you get angry at God and That's very natural and understandable Because you believe that there's a moral Universe yeah and it's not working so The moral Universe isn't working right Now I've been trying to live by the Book Of Proverbs and it didn't work so why Why did God tell me to live according to The Book of Proverbs like that's it's a Very it's interesting to get angry at God one reaction is just to go oh maybe I was wrong maybe the universe isn't Moral maybe it's just random or maybe You know you could have that reaction
That's a good point but instead it does Seem like most people are like no the Universe should work this way it should Be moral and I'm mad at God because it Seems like he's preventing it or he's Not he's doing something he's Responsible for it not working this way Yeah right because in theory God should Be able to micromanage Justice down to The T he is God after all Every Good Deed should be rewarded every bad one Should be punished and that's God's job And again we're getting into we're Starting to get into the debate that job Has with his friends that's what I meant When I said by what kinds of policies or Or principles does God run the moral Universe that's what this book is Focused A policy would be like if I'm at a job And it's it's uh always show up at nine Clock in before nine that's a policy or I see Um okay maybe I mean reading a different Word I I think I think that was a word That a commentary I think it was Francis Anderson's job commentary that put it That way that always stuck with me I Just want to make sure I understand what What you understand yeah a policy is a Deliberate system of principles to guide Decisions and Achieve rational outcomes There you go okay that's it a deliberate System of principles what system of
Principles is God employing as he runs The moral universe and relates to human Beings so what's an example of a policy And tell the truth tell the truth our Policy is tell the truth uh oh okay I Got it um no I mean that works The policy would be wouldn't the policy Be telling the truth is of such a high Value that not telling the truth will Always receive a negative consequence That would be the policy the policy Would be there's always a consequence For not telling you always a negative Consequence for not telling the truth so The principle is telling the truth is Good and will always punish lying Because we want a rational outcome which Is truth-telling yes yeah that's right Yes so so the policy under examination In the Book of Job the the way that God Relates to humans that set out in the Book of Proverbs but that's also Grounded in the book of Deuteronomy in The Covenant relationship between God And Israel because this book is even Though none of the characters are Israelites it's a Hebrew book written For Hebrew readers for Israelites it's About the God of Israel so the question Is does God Run the World by the Principle set out in Deuteronomy in Proverbs that if you're faithful and Obedient and tell the truth Worship God generous then you will be
Blessed and rewarded have abundance and Long life in the land yeah that's Deuteronomy that's the Book of Proverbs Yeah if you're going to write a whole Book 31 chapters telling me this is how I designed the universe do things this Way and it'll work out for you it kind Of seems ridiculous to be in a situation Where I'm doing those things that's not Working out for me that's right and then Opposite of course is that if you're Unfaithful and you worship idols and Distort your humanity and you lie and You cheat people in Deuteronomy it's Famine and plague and conquered by your Enemies and in Proverbs it's shame and Poverty and disaster in your life so Um and you could summarize that idea by What a number of Old Testament Scholars Call the retribution the just Retribution principle that would be the That's the policy justice justice get What you deserve just retribution yeah And God's running the world based off of That principle he's going to make Decisions to reward people correctly Because he wants people to act morally Right and that's the rational outcome You reward people and then yeah they'll Act yeah well so here's the question in The Book of Job because this is the Vocabulary that's used it's about God's Justice
So Justice is an attribute of God the Hebrew word is Righteousness is how it usually gets Translated into English but it means Justice it means right being in right Equitable relationship Justice is an Attribute of God's character first and Foremost it's true in Deuteronomy in the Book of Isaiah and that's what God wants For Israel and so the question in the Book of Job is if God is just does that Mean that the Universe ought always to Be run according to the principle of Strict just compensation like in Proverbs Deuteronomy right right does The universe totally follows have to Work it seems to follow and it's that Assumption that the Book of Job puts on The examination table right if God is Just does he always have to run the Universe moral universe according to the Strict principle of just recompense it Seems according to the Ecclesiastes that You and I don't live in such a universe Right [Music] Foreign [Music] Said the Book of Job the debate in the Book of Job is essentially this I have It in the notes I have it's a triangle It's on page bottom of page two of the Notes you just see those three words God's justice retribution principle
Job's righteousness So think of a triangle at the top of the Triangle is God's justice okay the lower Right triangle is the retribution Principle or what we're calling the Policy of just compensation and then at The left of the triangle is Job's Innocence or job's righteousness and Essentially in the Book of Job what They're struggling with is how all three Of those things can be true at the same Time and no one can get it so job knows That he's innocent but he also assumes That the retribution principle is how God runs the world so he makes a Conclusion I know I'm innocent but God Must not be so God is unjust and he Begins accusing God of Injustice the Friends on the other hand assume that God is just and what that means is that God always runs the universe according To the strict principle of just Compensation and so they infer from that Job must not be right job can't be Innocent and so they begin making up Lists of sins that job must have done They like make up stories that he robs Widows and strips people naked in the Middle of the cold night to steal their Clothing because in their worldview it's Impossible That job is righteous because look at His suffering then the answer then from God's point of view the question will be
He knows job is innocent God claims that he's just so what gets Put on the examination table as well Does he always run the universe According to the strict principle of Just compensation and the answer to that Question to spoiler alert spoiler alert Is no at least that's God's response I Don't have to I don't have to adhere to This principle for God God's claim is That for him to be just and good he does Not have to run the world According to the strict principle in Other words micromanage that every good Deed be rewarded in every what God Instead claims is that he runs the Universe according to hochma the wisdom Which is different than retribution yeah Because So God's claim in uh what I think is The author's claim in chapter 28 to talk About and also in the gods speeches at The end is that the universe is so much More and complex And governing the consequences of human Choices is so it more infinitely complex Than we can imagine That we're God to run the world According to the strict principle of Just compensation That there would be no more humans Essentially that's what yeah that's one Of the arguments yeah he actually chides Job and says okay job you run the world
For a day yeah according to the try to Keep people according to what you think The principle is I should run the world By and you're gonna you'll have to shake All the humans off the rug of the Earth So he says the world's a dynamic Place Uh that can't be run according to a System it has to be run according to God's personal judgment sometimes she Calls or wisdom that's not the same Wisdom as discussed in Proverbs it seems Like a hmm different wisdom oh uh yeah I Guess you would say it's moral it's got Moral wisdom his moral judgment about How to order and run the universe Specifically the moral Universe it's Like a higher level of wisdom it seems Like yeah yeah because he has a bigger Perspective he understands the variables More that's right and he can make Decisions that that's what makes sense To us so what I mean what it cashes out To is that even from the reader's Perspective once we get into the opening Scene more we'll come across it God Performs an action and makes the Decision that looks unjust It looks unjust namely he that he allows Job to suffer even though he's innocent That looks unjust it certainly looks Unjust job And it looks unjust to most readers of The book And so where you end up at the end of
The book is God asking job and the Reader to trust God acknowledges that It's undeserved suffering he says that In the beginning of the book but what he Asks job to do is to trust that there's A larger perspective from which that Unjust action actually does make sense In some way and that it's God's wisdom That's guiding him in the ordering of The world So that's why I said earlier The Book of Job actually doesn't answer the question Of evil the problem of evil or why bad Things happen to good people bad things Happening to good people raises the Question about God's justice and that's What this book's trying to get at I'm Getting hung up with the word wisdom oh Because as we've been in Proverbs wisdom is this this attribute Of God that is the moral cause and Effect Do this this happens it to me it's Synonymous with the retribution Principle And now you're saying well actually God Has wisdom that allows him to supersede That principle correct so let me talk About a different kind of wisdom or did I misunderstand by making wisdom Synonymous with the retribution yeah That's good man I love how your mind Works I'm trying to think in Proverbs God used wisdom to bring order to the
Universe he used it or bring order to Creation that's predictable that the sun Always Rises and sets it's like the Universe has an order from the Perspective of the ancient cosmology That the authors had and we could update That to the laws of physics from our Perspective but the point is the Universe is an intelligible place that Makes sense And the biblical authors are saying it Makes sense because it stems from a mind The mind of God So Is the order that God has created so Yeah you're right in the Book of Job What it's saying yeah I guess what it's Saying is that God uses and accesses Wisdom of a higher order I guess that's Yeah the point is in in Proverbs there's A visible order that we can observe and That we can tap into and we'll call it The wisdom of God Right but the but the Book of Job is Saying but there are some things that Happen in human experience that don't Seem to fit the order they seem out of Order and we're God ends up responding In the Book of Job is it looks out of Order to you from your limited Perspective but it it in fact conforms To some higher order a higher order of Wisdom which which God can see and that We cannot and which never gets revealed
To job or so there's a kind of wisdom we Can tap into and there's a kind of Wisdom that's just higher than us Yeah that we can't tap into well we just Have to trust that God's good yeah I Mean it's it's it's a wisdom that comes Essentially from saying God's saying Yeah this is an okay decision to make From the vantage point that God has That's the argument he makes in the end Of the book uh but that from a limited Perspective looks like a bad decision or Not the just decision yeah it was really Helpful I I don't think I've ever quite Thought about the I kind of want to try To create it on that way an analogy or a Yeah some sort of analogy so for some Reason I go to like ants or something But like So I'm a God as it pertains to an angel I don't know well maybe let me I know This I don't want to impede you working It out yeah but I I think a more fitting Analogy might be something in the realm Of the way that a parent okay can have a Wider perspective on events than their Child can yeah and so a parent might Give a principle of decision making to Their kids Never Lie okay that's a great One yeah never tell a lie yes but then You get into the classic one well what If I need to tell a lie to save Someone's life to save 20 people's lives Yeah and a kid who's three years old
Isn't going to be able to comprehend That decision you have to make yeah Their point they shouldn't but that's Lying yeah that's why it's that's not Wise and no matter how much you work it Out with them they just brain Development is in a place where that's Correct but from Corey tin boom's point Of view right it was the right thing to Do yeah so that so the so the first Level of wisdom the principle of don't Lie and then the higher level of wisdom Was the parents point of view where they Can They can juggle more complexity yes the Child can yeah in order to yeah make a Decision that would make no sense to the Child and that is essentially God's Argument at the end of the book he gives Job a virtual tour of the created order Yeah and says your accusations of me are Valid from your limited perspective Um but you're accusing me of mismanaging The world and that I don't pay attention To how things go on down here And then God gives him a tour of Everything he never knew about wild Donkeys and snow storms and yeah you Know the the constellations and says I'm Quite aware of every square inch of the Universe and that's why I make the Decisions it's from that perspective That I make the decisions that I make That's God's response and he calls that
Wisdom so that's that's it's very Helpful for me actually the way that you Ask that question because it is that's The comparison about lower level wisdom Versus higher level Wisdom which puts the characters in the Book and the readers of the book in a Place of trust [Music] [Music] Thank you [Music] God allows job to undergo suffering uh Job did not deserve it anyway the story Makes it very clear very clear from God's own mouth Yes job does not deserve This he's an upright dude yeah there's No reason this should happen yeah but he Lets it happen and so in the same way That you would say it was okay to lie in That situation God had some reason To say it's okay and for me in the Situation to allow Joe to suffer I I Think the Book of Job is asking us to Trust that that's the case Book of Job Is asking us to trust that in the Book Of Job never tells us what their reason Is it never does because how could it How could it Exactly because by the nature of the Whole problem the problem is we'll never Understand right right so and that's why What I meant by saying the book at first Leads you into thinking that you because
You do have Superior knowledge to job You know that that's the irony of it the Irony is you had this irony is you get This point of view that job didn't have Correct the introductory scene about the Heavenly conversation makes the reader Feel like they have a greater insight Into why job is suffering but actually The reader as as clueless as job is by The end of the book So the reason you you think that God is Allowing this to happen at the beginning Of the book is not the reason why he's Allowing me to do it and then at the end Of the book as you think cool I'm going To find out why he's actually allowing It he just goes how could you ever Expect to understand look at how the Universe works I have this all worked Out yeah yeah And the point of the virtual tour of the Universe is not to say how could you Ever expect to understand there it's now He's responding to job job's accusations That he's a mismanager that he's unjust That he actually takes pleasure in Punishing the righteous I mean job says Some pretty outrageous things about God's character he's a little heated in The course of the book he's very heated And that's what that's why God responds The way that he does so the point is He's not trying to like rub job's nose In the fact of like you're just you'll
Never get a joke you'll never you're Just a mere mortal and how dare you the Front my Divine Majesty no job went into A courtroom and lodged accusations Against God the whole dialogue and it's All set up as a courtroom of the Dialogues are and so God's responding He's making his defense case and Responding to job so I guess I'm trying To picture like if your four-year-old Came up and it was like yeah You lied yes and then you'd have to be Like okay I have to respond yeah Accusing me of lying yes uh let me show You something or no then the kid's like You aren't you aren't just you weren't Mm-hmm yeah it was fair you're not Consistent you're not consistent you Don't walk your talk Dad yeah I'm on to You yeah Dad and this whole thing's a Fraud But who are you dad he just throws Down The Gauntlet yep and so dad like gets up And he goes let me show you something Show you something and then he walks out To his like work room and he shows them Some tools that he's never seen before And then uh yeah I'm thinking of lying To save people's lives you know I Thought Corey ten bins and we go watch a Holocaust documentary And you know the horrors of that and Yeah and the complex decision the Complex moral decisions yeah that World
War II and the Holocaust forced people To make of choosing between the lesser Of two evil probably shouldn't show your Four-year-old child that's a really good Oh gosh yeah that's a great point but You get my the point is that the real Moral decision making on the ground is So complex and trying to share with your Five-year-old right what I think the Point I was trying to get to is kind of Like there's a certain point you could Show some things just to get them to Kind of Click over okay I just need to Trust my dad ah I see but you can't Actually explain to them the complexity Okay oh that's a good point right yeah Yeah got it so we're not going to show My documentary that's why the Ken Burns World War II doctor is not a problem You're gonna hold my five years first That's right Um but I'm just trying to picture like Him just showing something he he built Or showing that's why I said go to the Garage for something built yes or like Go through a photo album with him and His mom or like you just do these things To where finally the kids like okay you Know what uh my dad's really wise yeah My dad has a much bigger picture of Things than me yeah and it doesn't make Any sense to me why he lied I still don't get it hmm but I'm okay With it now yeah that's right it's good
I should have just let you finish here Now I shouldn't have interrupted you Uh yeah that's a great analogy thank you For that that's a great one you brought Up the kid I was gonna bring us A strange situation no it's good but That's a good finish to it Um that's exactly the kind of scenario That job is painting a story where God Is asking humans to trust How he runs the world I just love this Picture of yeah like him sitting down With the child and looking through just Looking through the photo album seems Nice in a way just like I just want to Show you I've been I've been living a Long time you and my mom you and your Mom have been around Like doing this Um here's all these people that trust me Here's all these things I have done Um I love you you like yes yes just kind Of building this case that way instead Of trying to explain well here's why I Lied yeah that's a good point yeah why Because sometimes there's moral Situations that are so complex otherwise Like he's a five-year-old yeah he's not Gonna get it yeah that's good you know It's funny it Um I think this is relevant uh it makes Me think of when you said photo albums
It makes me think of how I was obsessed With our family photo albums as a kid And specifically when I realized that They trace a history of our family that Marks the moment that I came into the Family and I could see the pictures of Me entering the family like as the Infant but then to go back and I real I'm still remember when I realized my Parents had a whole life yeah before me Yeah and it get it deepened my Sense of respect for my mom and dad I Remember I remember it still of like Whoa they existed before me and they had All these experience and stories and And I began to want to know about them Yeah and I it was I was really a marked Moment for me And yeah there's something Like that is what the Book of Job is Asking the reader To undergo is this deepened appreciation For the wisdom of God that allows me to Trust his goodness and Justice even in This bite of really horrible Circumstances and in our analogies five And one day he'll be 12 and he'll get it In this scenario jobs you never get he Never he's right the Brilliance of his Response by the end of the book is he's Okay with that to me that's why I want Our character of our job character of Our three characters uh of Proverbs the Young teacher Ecclesiastes the critic I
Want our job character He needs to be like we called him the Weathered old man but he's not like Worked up anymore there's so much peace Yeah but like he doesn't appear first Off to have this confidence of the young Teacher like I know how things work in The world yeah like he's just at peace And he's humble and he's going to let Everyone fret and worry and he's here to Give you wise words when you need them But you're gonna have to come to him Because he just trusts he's come to a Place of total trust in God no matter What happens that's remarkable I mean Even if you get to that place once we're Like okay okay I'm gonna let this one Slide God I get it you're smarter than me your Wisdom is higher than mine your way is Higher than mine I'm I'm I'm gonna be Okay with this one you get a pass but Then the next time I'd be all miffed Again I'd be like ah again [Laughter] Yeah totally but you kind of painted This picture of job just kind of getting To a place where it was like it stops Ruffling him like no matter what life Throws at him he's like nope I get it Now like I'm at peace And that seems really weird to me is That the picture we're trying to paint I Think so yeah this almost like uncanny
Level of peace and acceptance of life as It is it but it can't be like devoid of Emotion and passion oh we don't want to Turn him into like yeah he's not like Resigned he's not resigned he's not this Whipped dog no he's still full of like Hope and trust that in God but he Doesn't have all this agitated yeah fear And anxiety and correct when he gets Disappointed it doesn't spiral into this Yeah lack of confidence and yeah and who God is yeah that's right I mean I I feel How do you get to that point I I need a Virtual Twitter I feel like I need a Virtual tour of the universe Laughs Yeah as we're describing this character I mean I feel like in a way we're Talking about Jesus hmm like his Teachings on anxiety or worry oh yeah You know like Jesus like he got had a Level of trust in the father that he Just didn't seem to care yeah about what Happens tomorrow it wouldn't affect at All his view of the father's character And so he recommends a life of just not Care not carelessness right but a Carefree type of existence Um and Jesus clearly exhibited that Level of peace all the way up to his Execution that stunned his disciples Because you know the portraits of Jesus And the gospels are of that kind of Demeanor that's interesting yeah it is
Interesting I've never quite thought About it that way so that's the ideal That's like an ideal that's what Joe the Way yeah to live The Book of Job is Trying to it's not written for job It's written for you the reader to go Through this journey virtually with job So that you adopt this posture towards God that the author thinks is gonna Serve you well and actually honors God More Being agitated and anxious all the time [Music] Thank you [Music] So as we talk about in the wisdom series You need to start with appreciating Pokemon and wisdom and knowing I need to Do the right thing yeah because because We have real responsibility to do the Right thing yeah and well not only Because it's the right thing but because Like the grain of the universe is built This way that it rewards yes that kind Of thing yeah doing the right thing That's a Book of Proverbs yeah so you Got to start there yep yep it's very Concrete it's very clear and then you Start getting disappointed Right you start like complexities of Life start to jab at you you get a Little disillusioned and then eventually You're gonna get so disillusioned that You're gonna just take it up with God
And you're gonna be like what's going on Here yeah like something's wrong the Accusation is God you must not know what You're doing or you're just messing with Me you must be incompetent or unjust and Namely malicious which is the accusation That Joe makes a couple occasions and Then you have to get to the place of Trust which is going to lead you back to Then going back to Proverbs and just oh I'm going to do the right thing I'm Going to do the right thing because it's The right thing because it's the right Thing to fear of the Lord yep yeah it Sends you back to the mindset and Practice of Proverbs but with a a level Of trust so that you don't end up like The critic again like you did before Yeah first time you gotta cycle through It once then you don't cycle through it Again in theory in theory Theory most of Us are probably on it like a hamster Will that's the thing is that's that Seems more realistic is you can get to The place of job of going okay I could Trust yeah and you're it's gonna wear Off yeah and you're gonna yeah it's Really and uh yeah and stop and think About how remarkable it is that all Three of these books are in the biblical Tradition in the Bible so like the it's Like the Bible itself is trying to bring Us along this guided pastoral journey Through
All of these repetitions of Trying to do the right thing it doesn't Work out you get disillusioned you get Angry and then you work through it and Come to place of trust [Music] That's the end of this episode we'll Continue to talk about the Book of Job In part two of this discussion we'll Look at each part of the book starting With the strange Heavenly scene that Opens the book we'll discuss job's Response we'll talk about the Intervention that his friends attempt to Have with him and during this Conversation I learned a lot about this Book about God about wisdom and I hope You continue to listen on with us thanks For listening to this episode we make Videos and we put them up on YouTube Youtube.com the Bible project this Conversation gets boiled down and will Turn into a five or six minute video Fully animated short film on the Book of Job and it's it's going to be amazing We're working on it right now can't wait For it to come out you can watch our Other videos there on YouTube You could Also say hi to us on Facebook Facebook.com join the Bible project and Twitter at join Bible proj this is all Possible because of people like you who Pitch in to help us make more videos you Can donate to the project at
Jointhebibleproject.com thanks so much For being a part of this with us Please [Music]