A Job Experience # 10

The Perfect Timing of God's Full Purpose in Christ was Being Worked Out in Job's Life

Now before we go on in our study of Job's life, let us have a word of explanation concerning why the Holy Spirit inspired the Book of Job to be written in poetic form. Job is the first of the poetic books of the Bible that the Holy Spirit chose to record in poetry. The books considered to be poetry are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, and a great deal of Jeremiah.

The poetry in the Bible is completely different from the poetry of the world, and this is because the poetry of the world is inspired by the soul of man, but the poetry in the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit: for "All Scripture is inspired by God ... Every Scripture is God-breathed ..." (2 Timothy 3:16). In the Holy Word of God, the poetry is inspired by the Holy Spirit, and it flows out of the Essence of All That God Is.

Now the Holy Spirit inspired the Book of Job after Job had had the life-experience that is recorded here. In Job we have one of the most detailed interchanges of dialogue going on between human beings in the whole Bible; and the Holy Spirit inspired this record to be written in poetic form. No one believes that Job and his friends actually spoke in poetry all those many months, but the Holy Spirit inspired their experiences to be written in poetic form; and He did this because what comes out of a man reveals the heart of man (Luke 6:45). And "Job's experiences" revealed and laid bare the very depths of Job's inner being; and it also revealed that which was in the depths of his friends.

In the Book of Job, much of the poetry is written in what is called "parallelism," which means that some of the statements are repeated two or more times in different ways in order to emphasize a point. However, the Holy Spirit is not just using some grammatical techniques when He inspires the Living Word of God to be written. No! by using the figure of speech called "parallelism" as He inspires the Book of Job, the Spirit is showing us that more is taking place than that which is being observed in the earthly realm. He is showing us that at least three different things are taking place at the same time. 1. God is the perfect exactness and timing continuing to bring forth His Full Purpose in Christ. 2. God is dealing with His servant Job in accordance with His Full Purpose in Christ. 3. And a great unseen battle in the battles of the ages is taking place between God and satan because of the man God calls, "My servant Job."

Therefore, the poetry that is found in the Scripture reveals and expresses the Heart of God, the Triune God; and because of God's Purpose in Christ, the poetry in God's Word also reveals and expresses what is in the heart of the redeemed man and in the heart of the unredeemed man.

Furthermore, because of the spiritual warfare that has continued, and will continue, throughout the ages against God and His Purpose In Christ, it is very important for us to realize that the poetry in the Bible reveals the iniquitous heart and characteristics and strategy of the archenemy of God - satan himself.

Over the centuries, Bible scholars have tried to make the ordinary techniques of poetry fit the inspired poetry of the Bible, but there is no set or continuing poetic pattern that man recognizes in the Inspired Word of God; and the reason for this is that the poetry inspired by the Holy Spirit flows out from the depths of God's Heart - and it is accented and emphasized and punctuated by the breath of God - and the metric exactness, and the rhythm of the verses and stanzas, flow measuredly in accordance to the perfect timing of God's Eternal Plan in Christ.

So we begin to understand that God had important and eternal reasons for writing the Book of Job in poetic form. The metric exactness and the perfect timing of the poetic flow tells us that the perfect timing of God's Full Purpose In Christ was being worked out in Job's life. And, beloved, the marvelous, unsurpassable, exactness of the poetic form and flow, used by the Holy Spirit to tell us of Job's experience, also assures us that no matter what the enemy may cause, or do, God is in full and absolute control.

Job And His Friends

"Now when Job's three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Termanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him" (Job 2:11).

So far we have seen that satan is out to destroy God's purpose in Job's life as he brings calamity after calamity upon Job. But now, beginning with the above scripture in Job 2:11, we will consider God's Way of bringing about His End in Job's life.

The Word of God tells us that when Job's friends heard of all the adversity that had come upon him "they came everyone from his own place ... to mourn with him and to comfort him." First of all, the Book of Job makes it clear that Job and his friends are very close friends in the Lord - they have shared much together in the Lord. And when Job's friends "looked from afar off and saw him [disfigured] beyond recognition, they lifted up their voices and wept ... so they sat down with [Job] on the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief and pain were very great" (Job 2:12, 13).

We are sure that Job's friends truly did help and comfort him at first, for the very presence of the Lord's people always helps in such a time; however, in Job 16:2, we find that Job tells his friends that they are "miserable comforters." Why? Why did Job say this of his friends? Well, after Job's friends had sat in silence and mourned with him for seven days and seven nights, the Word of God tells us that they, along with Job, began to try and understand why Job was suffering.

In studying the Book of Job, we found that Job's friends concluded that Job must have done something to deserve the evil that had come upon him; and in the midst of his confusion, pain, and heartbreak, we found that Job tried to justify himself before his friends. In their attempt to comfort him, Job's friends each share and speak and argue their point, and offer their advice and counsel, and they do this out of their own self-acquired wisdom and knowledge of God, and of God's Ways. And in the same way, Job tries to justify himself before them out of his own self-acquired wisdom and knowledge of God, and of God's Ways. And Job and his friends did this because they did not have enough of the actual reality of Christ within their lives.

Therefore, we find what God is after - we find what God is always after in the lives of His people! God is always after a fuller and greater measure of the Reality of Christ within the innermost being of His people. And this Reality, this true expression of Christ in and through the innermost being of those who are the Lord's, can only be accomplished through the way of the Cross - through the way of chastening and the way of purging.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 11)