Like a chestnut tree

If I am wicked, woe to me!
But if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.
I am full of shame, and conscious of my misery.
And should my head be high, You would hunt me like a lion;
And You would show Your power against me again.
You renew Your witnesses against me
And increase Your anger toward me;
Hardship after hardship is with me. (vv. 15-17)

When God created Adam and Eve, they were slaves to God. God did not tell them or make them understand His plan and purpose of all creation. They were to obey God but rebelled against Him.

But like Adam they have violated the covenant; There they have dealt treacherously with Me. (Hosea 6:7)

It was not God’s intention that He would keep them as slaves forever. Through Jesus Christ, the remnants of Adam’s descendants are made the children of God. The (invisible) church is the purpose of all creation.

For though your people, Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness. (Isaiah 10:22)

The church goes through much suffering just as Christ did. At the appointed time, the end will come. And we, the children of God, will live a new life in a new world.

The beginning of the suffering was from Adam’s sin. And since then, the whole human race has been confined under sin. Jesus Christ came to take away our sins.

But the Scripture has confined everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. (Galatians 3:22)

But your wrongdoings have caused a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. (Isaiah 59:2)

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

However, this is only a superficial reason why Jesus Christ came. The main purpose of Christ’s coming was to change our hearts. This is the promise of the New Covenant. We are born again as the children of God.

“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

Adam and Eve did not understand God, and their lack of knowledge was the beginning of the rebellion. One understands God only when he/she has the Spirit of God. The Son came to make us know God, and we are one with God through the Holy Spirit. Without understanding this, Christianity is dead. Theologians and ministers focus on the law and the punishment.

Everyone sins and none escapes from God’s judgement. We are sinners and will remain guilty. Whatever we do right won’t be good enough. Even though we try hard to keep God’s commands, disasters still come. What is the point of keeping God’s commands? This is Job’s argument.

Is God guilty if He brings disasters to the innocent? Without suffering we do not know God. If this is how God strengthens His children and makes Himself known to us, suffering is good even though we dread it.

We no longer serve God as our Master. We are no longer slaves. We serve God as our Father. There is no more guilt or fear but love.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. (1 John 4:18-19)

For though I were right, I could not answer;
I would have to implore the mercy of my Judge. (v. 15)

I am guilty,
Why then should I struggle in vain?
If I washed myselfI am guilty,
Why then should I struggle in vain?
If I washed myself with snow,
And cleansed my hands with lye,
Then You would plunge me into the pit,
And my own clothes would loathe me.
For He is not a man, as I am, that I may answer Him—
That we may go to ^[n]court together!
There is no arbitrator between us,
Who can place his hand upon us both.
Let Him remove His rod from me,
And let not the dread of Him terrify me.
Then I would speak and not fear Him;
But I am not like that in myself. with snow,
And cleansed my hands with lye,
Then You would plunge me into the pit,
And my own clothes would loathe me. (vv. 29-35)

I’ve been trying to keep the law perfectly. I am more righteous than any other human on the earth. Yet, I go through much suffering. What is the point of trying to obey God’s commands? Those who are unrighteous don’t go through suffering as much as I do. God will always find a fault in me so I can’t argue. There should be a judge between God and me who can judge fairly according to my righteousness. Then God will be rebuked and then He will remove my sufferings. But there is no such judge and God is always the mightiest as the Creator. I have no hope even though I am more righteous than others. And I am more righteous than God because I am right. This is Job’s argument.

Throughout the Old Testament, we read the same rhetoric that God punishes people for their lawlessness and breaking of the law. The law was given for a specific purpose: to show the difference between God and us.

What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Far from it! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” But sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin came to life, and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; or sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it, killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. (Romans 7:7-12)

God did not give us the law to become righteous through it. If you misinterpret the Old Testament, you will have the same argument as Job’s. You consider yourself more righteous than God. You think you only need someone to keep the law perfectly on behalf of you to become perfectly righteous. This is the argument of false teachers.

The Israelites were punished for not keeping the law. But the problem was not in their actions but in their heart and understanding.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Since you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the Law of your God, I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6)

The essence of the law is the sacrificial love of God, which changes a person. That person becomes reborn. Knowing that the knowledge of God came through Jesus Christ, we conclude that the law is about Jesus Christ. His sacrificial love for God and His people shown on the cross is all we need.

If anyone separates the law and the cross of Christ, that person has no understanding. Anyone who separates Christ’s obedience into two will be condemned.

If the law is the source of our righteousness, it means the law is above God. Anyone can condemn God for His actions. And that is what the Pharisee and the Teacher of the Law did.

The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken in this way!” The Pharisees then replied to them, “You have not been led astray too, have you? Not one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? But this crowd that does not know the Law is accursed!” (John 7:46-49)

Our Lord was condemned by the law and was put to death. He was accused of breaking the law and humiliated. Theologians and ministers are doing the same.

I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)

If you are pure and upright,
Surely now He will stir Himself for you
And restore your righteous estate.
Though your beginning was insignificant,
Yet your end will increase greatly. (vv. 6-7)

These are Bildad’s words. Most people think Bildad is right. Many Christians use the same rhetoric when seeing others in distress and trouble. But God was angry at Bildad. So what is wrong with his ideas of God?

Theologians and ministers like to blame people and their actions for the troubles they face. People come to churches to seek peace and help from God. Sadly, many ministers make them think they must obey them so that disasters won’t occur. They make them worse sinners than themselves. They appoint evil people as elders. So they build their kingdom.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. (Matthew 23:15)

God let those evil people live securely so that they would not repent. They entice others who are not the elect. God punishes them in the end. The elect people go through much suffering and the evil people make situations worse. We eventually learn that only God’s words prevail, not humans. There are people chosen by God to help them. But we must have a solid relationship with God first to know what is right and wrong. My relationship with God is built on the Rock, Jesus Christ. Christ is the Word. If I do not understand God’s words, I do not have the Father-child relationship. Many Christians interpret God’s words as they like. Theologians and ministers claim that they have the understanding. But most of them quote Greek philosophers and Aquinas, who did not know God.

Aquinas’ understanding of God is no different than that of Job’s three friends. Perfect morality does not make one holy. The same goes with righteousness. If we focus on morality, we judge people by what they do externally. Many people turned away from churches for this reason. They did not see the difference between Christianity and other religions.

The reason why I am against the Active Obedience of Christ is that it shifts the focus from Christ’s death and resurrection to Christ’s morality (or perfect keeping of the law). This is not what the Bible teaches. It appears that this theory is from Anselm of Canterbury and Aquinas. You don’t need to read their words to know if they are right or wrong. Evil people always mix truth and lies.

We do not read theology books tainted by human philosophies and man-made stories. We read God’s words every day and pray to God for guidance.

But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him. (Habakkuk 2:20)

Have I sinned? What have I done to You,
Watcher of mankind?
Why have You made me Your target,
So that I am a burden to myself?
Why then do You not forgive my wrongdoing
And take away my guilt?
For now I will lie down in the dust;
And You will search for me, but I will no longer exist. (vv. 20-21)

They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember. (Jeremiah 31:34)

The Book of Job is extremely important but it is often neglected because people think the book does not talk about the Messiah. The book is about knowing and understanding God. We must remember that we know God only through Jesus Christ, the Word. Therefore, He is the foundation of the kingdom.

This Book does not talk about our sins that make us require a mediator. God made Adam fall so that his offspring would know God through Jesus Christ. Adam was not a child of God. He was only a slave. But now we are the children of God through Jesus Christ, the only begotten son. The fall was necessary because we now hate anything that is against God.

No one has seen God at any time; God the only Son, who is in the arms of the Father, He has explained Him. (John 1:18)

Please turn away, let there be no injustice;
Turn away, my righteousness is still in it.
Is there injustice on my tongue?
Does my palate not discern disasters? (vv. 29-30)

We often link our personal sufferings to our sins. Theologians and ministers blame Adam and Eve for our misery. It is true that Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were cast out of the Garden of Eden. However, we must remember that God planned the first humans’ fall before the creation. Does this fact make God unjust? This is an important theological question because churches got separated because of this.

The Book of Job asks crucial questions concerning the law, sin, and punishment. Did Job receive all those disasters because he did something wrong or broke the law? Before the law, no one is perfect. If we sin, God disciplines and guides us through suffering. But disasters come even when we are so careful to keep the law. In Job’s case, disobedience was not the cause of the disasters he received. His friends tried to convince Job that he must have done something wrong to deserve much suffering. But we ask God through Job this question: “Why did God make Adam in the way that he could disobey?” or “Why did not God prevent Adam from sinning?” or “Why did God plan Adam’s fall before creation?”

We want to avoid suffering and we do everything we can. We try to earn money and pay for insurance because money can sometimes lessen our suffering. But we know that money can’t prevent us from suffering because we all die. People follow after idols or people who they think can secure their wealth and health. If you obey the law of God thinking it would prevent you from suffering, you are mistaken. For true Christians, life is a training ground. Our lives are full of bad surprises and suffering.

God gives us suffering because it is the most effective and only way for us to seek and understand God. In a way, suffering in our lives is our baptism.

When someone is going through hard times, pray for the person quietly instead of quickly judging and condemning him/her.

But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! (Luke 12:50)

Because of the extraordinary greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in distresses, in persecutions, in difficulties, in behalf of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

It came about after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, as My servant Job has. (Job 42:7)

In this chapter, Eliphaz illustrates his understanding of God. On the outside, everything he says sounds true. Paul quotes Eliphaz’s words in verse 13 in his letter to the Corinthians:

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God. For it is written: “He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE BY THEIR CRAFTINESS” (1 Corinthians 3:19)

Indeed, God catches the wise by their craftiness. However, Eliphaz did not understand God. The Book of Job is about righteousness. Can a person become righteous by works or more righteous than God? The answer is no. However, Eliphaz and his friends fail to explain this to Job because they do not know God.

Similarly, theologians and ministers speak a lot about God. Their words may sound true or are true but that does not mean all of them know God. We trust them just because they completed a tertiary education in Theology, etc. Because of their many words, we think they understand God. However, true wisdom is often found in simple and uneducated Christians. The most dangerous group of people may be those who claim that they know God.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him among them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name, receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea. (Matthew 18:1-6)

Christ’s words here teach us about the end of all ministers and theologians who quote Greek philosophers and those who they call “great thinkers” and praise them. None of those Greek philosophers will be saved because they did not know God. They talked about a god just like Job’s three friends. And God was angry with them. I do not believe that Anselm of Canterbury was a true Christian. I don’t believe that Richard Muller knows God.

In this world where so many meaningless words are spoken about God, we must stay alert and think about the true gospel. We became adopted children of God and are given eternal life through the Son’s death and resurrection. We are one with God and are called righteous because of faith implanted in us through the Holy Spirit. The law can save no one. From the beginning, God did not plan to give Adam eternal life for his obedience.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS ONE WILL LIVE BY FAITH.” (Rom 1:17)

It came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, as My servant Job has. (Job 42:7)

Book of Job is like a play. There are seven main characters – God, the devil, Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu. Many theologians and ministers quote words from Job’s three friends without understanding the context. The words written in this Book need to be interpreted with caution.

For example, Eliphaz says,

Can mankind be righteous before God?
Can a man be pure before his Maker? (v. 17)

People quote Eliphaz to back up their arguments without knowing his intentions. Eliphaz’s understanding of God is non-existent. What he talks about is a god who is federal and forensic. His arguments sound similar to those Christians who think Adam could have earned eternal life and become the head of the church by perfectly keeping God’s command.

He puts no trust even in His servants;
And He accuses His angels of error.
How much more those who live in houses of clay,
Whose foundation is in the dust,
Who are crushed before the moth! (vv. 18-19)

God makes Job’s friends speak without knowledge out of their stupidity as quoted above to reveal what is truly in Job’s heart. In all this, God’s first priority is teaching Job and also us who read the Book of Job.

It appears that all God wants from His creatures is perfect obedience. This message was the common theme in the Old Testament. However, the main theme of the whole Bible is mercy and love.

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6)

There are plenty of false Christian friends around us who accuse us when we have difficult times in our lives. We also act in the same way Job’s friends do when our friends go through difficult times. When theologians and ministers focus on the law and perfect obedience, their followers speak as Job’s friends do. They talk about the law and punishment.

We must remember that all Christians uphold the law whose essence is self-sacrificing love. However, not all who appear to uphold the law or live a moral life are true Christians. Morality cannot be what makes Christians.

When we read what Job’s three friends say, we need to read with a critical eye. God was angry at their words even though they appeared to talk only good things about God.

But false prophets also appeared among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. (2 Peter 2:1)

Why did I not die at birth,
Come out of the womb and pass away? (v. 11)

There are times in our lives when we feel we are better dead than living. Some experience hardships or trauma that make their life miserable. Some may be in a situation where they cannot escape. We can relate to Job’s dialogue in Chapter 3 in many ways. Regardless of how much we want to die, we try to save our lives instinctively if we detect any threats to our bodies. God has designed us that way because He wants us to live. We also learn about ourselves and other human beings while living. For Christians, death is a rest from intense training. We rest until the day when Christ comes.

Job’s lament is not about him wanting to die. It is his cry for help because he cannot understand the reasons behind all the calamities he has experienced. God was not tricked by the devil and caused Job to suffer. God wanted to teach Job something important concerning the whole creation. In this process, God uses the devil. With this understanding, we understand why and how Adam and Eve fell. So the Book of Job helps us to understand why God created all things.

Theologians and ministers often focus on sin, punishment, and the law. But the Book of Job tells us different things. They would argue that Job was born after Adam’s fall so he could not earn righteousness by works. TULIP is right but it does not explain everything, especially the Book of Job.

We are taught that we suffer because of our sins or the sins of our ancestors. Sufferings indeed come because of our sins.

Afterwards, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you. (John 5:14)

Job’s three friends use this rhetoric when talking to Job. However, not all suffering is from sin.

And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. (John 9:2-3)

Whether we suffer because of our sins or some other reasons, we learn about ourselves and most importantly about God.

In this Chapter, Job is close to cursing God by cursing the day he was born. God already knew what Job would think. The integrity of a human is nothing but an illusion. It does not exist.

Only through suffering, we have faith in God. How can we have faith in God without knowing Him or ourselves? Thus, faith is emphasized throughout the Bible.

We must remember that there is no work without faith. And there is no faith without the grace of God. Therefore, the grace of God is total, absolute, complete, and eternal.

If you are going through much suffering, remember that there is an end. And do not be enslaved by another human or ideas made by humans or by sinning. Pray to God for wisdom and help. For Christians, suffering is how God trains and disciplines His people. We certainly do not enjoy suffering. But suffering in our lives is inevitable and necessary. Without slavery, there is no understanding of freedom.

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. Now the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. (John 8:31-36)

The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds firm to his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.” Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has, he will give for his life. However, reach out with Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face!” (vv. 2-5)

And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22: 37-40)

Unbelievers often think that Christians are hypocrites because we preach a moral life but our deeds speak the opposite. Indeed, Christians are hypocrites. I am also a hypocrite if I am judged according to my deeds. Many believe that Christianity is about doing good to others. But the start of the Christian life is understanding how self-centered I am.

We can pretend that we care about others, but we do not. Even in the Garden of Eden, the first humans were not as perfect as theologians and ministers preach. It is not the fruit that made them sinful. They betrayed God before eating the fruit. They believed that they were right and God was wrong.

The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3: 4-6)

Did God give the first humans a command they could not keep? Theologians and ministers insist that God gave them a command they could keep. But I disagree. Then they start arguing that God did not promote sin. It is a stupid argument. God gave the first humans a command they could not keep so that they would understand about themselves and God. Life is a training ground for us to learn. Adam’s fall was necessary for our learning.

Theologians and ministers say that Adam and Eve kept the law perfectly in the Garden of Eden and had to wait until the probation ended. But where is the mention of the probation period that they talk about in the Bible? It is absurd and stupid to mention this probation period. God never thought of making Adam the head of the church.

In chapters 1 and 2 of the Book of Job, it appears that God is tricked by the devil. But what God did to Job was planned beforehand. God knew what was in Job’s mind and it was revealed as he argued with his three friends.

Then these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. (Job 32:1)

Job was blameless and upright but the words blameless and upright were not the same as righteous. Righteousness requires a person to be one with God. One is considered righteous only when he or she believes in God. Believing in God requires one to be one with God through the Holy Spirit. Did Adam or Eve believe in God? We see it clearly that they did not. So what do we learn from this?

Adam and Eve were blameless and upright but did not have the Holy Spirit to understand and believe in God. They could not rebuke the devil when he tempted them. God’s words did not live in them. Likewise, one has no connection with Jesus Christ, the Word, until the Holy Spirit comes. One may appear to live a blameless and upright life but is unrighteous without faith because the Word does not live in him/her.

I ask those who believe that Adam was righteous and holy and he could receive eternal life by keeping the command for the probation period. Are you saying that God could not fight against the devil? If God planned Adam to be the head of the church and Adam had the Holy Spirit, why could not Adam resist the temptation? See how Jesus resisted temptations. Do you not see the difference?

Christianity is not different from other pagan religions if we focus on a blameless and upright life. By faith, we are considered righteous by God. And faith is a gift from God because it is the work of the Holy Spirit. We are all hypocrites if we are judged by our works.

Sadly, the Protestant churches chose morality over faith starting in the 17th century. And they are no longer a true Christian religion but a pagan religion.

For one will hardly die for a righteous person; though perhaps for the good person someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also celebrate in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. (Romans 5:7-11)

yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. (Galatians 2:16)

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. (v. 1)

Then he believed in the LORD; and He credited it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)

The Book of Job is one of the most important books that explains why God made the world and how He trains His people. Some stupidly say that we only need to read the Gospels or the New Testament. The Bible was written over a few thousand years. You don’t open a book only to read the end. To understand a book, you must read the whole book. And the Bible is not just a book. It is the Book written by the Creator.

The Book of Job is one of the Wisdom books placed in the center of the Bible. As I mentioned before, the word truth in Hebrew is emet or emeth. It contains three letters – the first, the middle and the end of the Hebrew alphabet. Revelation was planned first although the first book is Genesis. And in the center, where the books of wisdom are, we find the wisdom of God. I hope this book receives proper attention in the future.

The Book of Job is often misquoted and misunderstood. People mention Job for his prosperity after much suffering. Had Job not received more wealth and children than before suffering, would it have made Job pitiful and God cruel? Job died as a happy and righteous man with or without his wealth and children because of what was revealed to Him.

We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. (James 5:11)

It is God’s compassion and mercy that made Job endure. The Book is not about Job’s integrity or patience that earned God’s blessings.

It is believed that Job lived around the same time Abraham lived. From a moral point of view, Job was better than Abraham. But Job was merely blameless and upright while Abraham was righteous. Different words were used to describe these two men. This does not mean we should promote immorality. God brings repentant sinners close to Him while He humbles the self-righteous. I mentioned that Adam before the fall was blameless, but not righteous. Understanding this book will help us understand why Covenant Theology is wrong. Adam was never given a promise of eternal life upon his perfect obedience.

This chapter describes how God uses the devil to fulfill His purpose. God gave the devil the power to take away Job’s children and belongings. Wealth can deceive people because we think we need money to help others. Wealth was sometimes used to show God’s blessings in the Old Testament. But wealth makes people slip and fall. We look righteous before others if we have wealth. Christ was born into a poor family and lived without wealth. It is strange that many churches go after money and praise wealthy people. Theologians and ministers quote the Bible wrong and preach that wealth is proof of God’s blessings. Material wealth is not God’s blessing but a curse. And we read the reason through this book.

You indeed put them on slippery ground; You dropped them into ruin. (Psalm 73:18)

True wealth is the kingdom of God. You can’t buy this with money. Money is considered the most important by people living on the earth. Therefore, Christ described the kingdom this way:

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells everything that he has, and buys that field. (Matthew 13:44)

However, money can’t buy the citizenship of the kingdom of God.

You there! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. (Isaiah 55:1)

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)