One must study the data regarding the book in order to understand its nature. It was, like all other portions of the Word of God, written by a man of God who was fully and completely inspired to write God's revelation inerrantly.

But in studying the structure of the book, we see that Job and his friends were not inspired when they held their debates. The reason for this position is the fact that they made mistakes and contradicted other plain teachings of the Word of God. Job, however, made fewer mistakes than did his friends. Thus in their discussions these men expressed their human opinions concerning the Word of God and the problems of life; Sometimes they were right in what they said, and at other times they were wrong, as a perusal of Job, chapters 3-37, proves conclusively. When, however, the inspired author wrote the book, he gave us a faithful and inspired record of the various positions that had been taken by the disputants in the discussions. Thus the record of what they said is fully and inerrantly inspired, though--as has just been stated--the men when they uttered their thoughts originally were not inspired. I might illustrate this point by calling attention to the fact that I am using my ediphone in writing this article. The ediphone records faithfully everything exactly as I speak it and reproduces what I say. Thus the record is absolutely correct. But I could speak into the ediphone any thought that is wrong and incorrect. In other words, I can make mistakes as I dictate. The machine records faithfully that which I say, whether it be right and correct or not right and incorrect. Thus the inspired writer has given us a faithful and inerrantly inspired record of what was said by Job and his friends, even though they at times made mistakes and contradicted themselves and other plain passages of God's Word.

The prologue, chapters 1 and 2, was written originally by the inspired writer and of course is absolutely and inerrantly correct. The speeches which the Lord Jehovah made to Job and the epilogue to the book were written infallibly by the Spirit of God--just as they were spoken. In view of the fact that the speeches found in the Book of Job made by him and by his friends were not inspired, they cannot be relied upon as proof texts to substantiate any doctrine. A person can prove many false doctrines by statements that these men made when they were uninspired. Whenever we consider any one or more statement that were made by them, we must compare their statements with inspired statements that are found in other portions of the Word. If these are found to be in harmony with the Word of God in general, then we know that the original speakers stated that which was right and in harmony with the Word. When we apply this same text to other portions and find that they contradict the plain teachings of the inspired Word, then we know that the speakers were incorrect in what they said.

The Wisdom Literature of the Bible consists of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. These books present wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. They emphasize the importance of correct understanding and the necessity of wisdom. Knowledge is one thing, but wisdom is another. Knowledge is the scientific accumulation of facts, principles, laws; wisdom is understanding and the ability to interpret and to use the facts, principles and laws that are discovered.

At the same time, wisdom is personified and is presented as the teacher of those who have understanding. But the personification of the wisdom, which one finds in the early chapters of Proverbs, blends into an exalted description of Wisdom, who alone was with God in the beginning. The description in Proverbs, chapter 8, rises to the exalted height of the most advanced teaching concerning the Logos of God, the Eternal Word of God (John 1:1).

The Wisdom Literature also lays great emphasis upon practical everyday living and how to meet the problems of life in a real world. It also presents the philosophy of life and of government--both the divine government of the world and human government under God, the Sovereign of the universe. Thus the Book of Job recognizes the absolute sovereignty of God in relation to man and his relationship to his fellowman and to this Sovereign of the universe.

The philosophers of the heathen world concerned themselves with the problem of the origin of evil and that of the suffering of humanity. Did the one Supreme God, in whom we live, move and have our continual being, create evil? Our answer is an emphatic denial. All power belongs to God; He alone can create. If God alone created all things, and if there is such a thing as evil in the world, who brought it into existence? An examination of the material world, as well as that of the spiritual, proves that there are component parts which make the totality of substance in the material world and the reality of spiritual phenomenon. The chemist, for instance, can take the various substances and can separate any given substance into its elemental parts. He can then take these various elements and combine them according to a certain formula. By so doing, he can bring into existence combinations that are not seen in the physical realm, that is, in the natural state. He can take different elements, combine them, and produce substances that are not found in nature. In the light of these facts it becomes quite obvious that Satan, the great antagonist of God, as we shall see later, could have taken certain elements, combined them in new ways, and in an unauthorized manner produce substances and forces that were never intended by the Almighty. After the chemist makes his combinations, they remain, as he leaves. It is most highly probable that Satan took certain elements, contrary to the will of God, and made these combinations that have destructive force and power. What he could do in the physical realm was also possible in the spiritual realm. These forces are known as evil and remain in the world with their deadly, destructive power until the present time. In such a manner as this we can explain the origin of evil and sin--evil in the sense of calamity and disaster in the physical realm and sin in the spiritual realm.

Having assumed in the preceding paragraph the existence of a mighty spiritual being who is the great antagonist of God, it is now proper that we should investigate the Scripture to ascertain if possible something about his origin and history. Since God is good and holy and cannot be associated with sin or evil in any form, we may be absolutely certain that he did not create an evil being. All of His works are good. But from Ezekiel, chapter 28, we see that there was the anointed cherub, or the "cherub that covereth," who was over the works of God's hands. He was the highest type of being whom an omnipotent and omniscient God could bring into existence.

Finally, as the ages of past eternity rolled by, he, being a free moral agent, conceived in his heart to rebel against the Almighty and to challenge His authority. This thing he did. At the same time he influenced and led into rebellion one-third of the angelic host. By his exercising his free will against the will of God Almighty, he corrupted his own nature and rendered himself incapable of submission to the will of God. Having sinned against all light, his rebellion was one of high treason and one that destroyed his ability to do the will of God. By his fall he became consumed by an inveterate wrath against all that is holy and sacred. From that time and onward he and all of those whom he influenced have been inveterate enemies against God and man. They endeavor to do all that they can against the Almighty and His servants.

Since the angelic host and men are all free agents and are given liberty to make their own choices under God's moral government, which is the highest possible, so long as men and angels do not leave their proper habitations or sink to a condition where they are incapable of making moral choices, they are permitted to continue their existence. At the same time the Lord overrules their free choices and makes everything contribute to the advancement of His cause eventually and to the blessing of all concerned.

Suffering is one of the things which is used of God in the purging of sin and impurities from the hearts and the lives of His servants.

At the proper time in the future, when our Lord returns, He will banish sin and all suffering from the world. Satan, the cause of the wreckage and ruin, will be incarcerated in the pit of the abyss where he can no longer deceive the nations. Then the problem of suffering and sin will cease.

If Job lived at the time of Melchizedek, Abraham, and Hammurabi, he lived approximately four hundred years before the days of Moses. Did he have any of the revelation of God? Most positively! In Job 6:10 and 23:11,12 we hear echoes of the Word of God. Job gloried in the fact that he had been faithful to God and had not departed from the words of His mouth. These passages show very clearly that there was a primitive revelation, and that Job and his friends had it. This is not to be a surprise to anyone who is familiar with the Word of God, because in Genesis 26:4,5 we see that there was a primitive revelation which Abraham and Isaac had, and which they obeyed. In Psalm 40 there is a reference to a prediction concerning the Messiah which was contained in "the roll of the book." One will look in vain in the early portion of the Old Testament for such a quotation as this. But there was that which is called "the roll of the book" in which appeared this prophecy concerning the Messiah's coming to do the will of God concerning the sacrifices. That book was in existence, and David quoted from it. But God did not see fit to preserve to us that ancient revelation, just as He did not preserve to us the first Epistle which Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. This is evident from the fact that in I Corinthians 5:9 Paul refers to a former letter which he had written to them, and which has not been preserved to this day.

In view of these facts we come to the conclusion that Job and his friends had this primitive revelation and studied it. They drew certain erroneous conclusions from it. Job, however, seems to have been right more often than his friends and critics.

It is amusing to see the various positions which the different ones took and how they interpreted life in the light of their knowledge of this primitive revelation.

While each had his peculiar approach to the problem of suffering, Job's friends held to this general theory: That God is the Sovereign of the universe and that He overrules in the lives of men. If anyone does wrong, God invariably punishes the sin and the wrongdoing. They attributed all suffering to sin in this life. The fact that Job was suffering was proof to them that he had been living a hypocritical life and had sinned secretly. Job retorted that he had not sinned, as they accused him, but that he had at all times maintained his integrity.

A study of the Book of Job shows that while some suffering that people endure is the result of punishment for sin, there are sufferings and trials through which God calls even the most consecrated people to pass in order to lift them to greater heights of spiritual life and existence.

It is amazing to one to see how clearly Job and his friends understood many of the great fundamental doctrines of the Word of God. It is clear that they must have received these impressions from the Word of God as revealed at that time.

Chapters 1 and 2 constitute the prologue and give us the stage setting in order that we might understand the unfolding drama which follows.

Job and his friends, as stated in the beginning of this study, were not inspired by the Spirit of God in the things that they said. They were expressing their opinions as they had studied the revelation of God. Some had a more thorough knowledge of the Word than others. Job, for instance, was more nearly foursquare with the Scriptures than were his friends.

After the long debate between Job and his friends, the Lord appeared on the scene and talked with Job. This is found in 38:1-41:34. It is marvelous what God said to His servant.

Job finally answered the Lord (42:1-6). By the sufferings through which he had passed he had been humbled. He saw himself in the white light of God's purity and holiness; he therefore abhorred himself in sackcloth and ashes and looked up in genuine humility and faith, figuratively speaking, into the face of God.

When he took this attitude, the Lord blessed him abundantly--giving him twofold more than he had originally.

It pays one to endure the sufferings and trials through which he is called by the Lord to pass. By these things the Master purges and purifies His servants and draws them closer to Himself and makes them more capable to do His will. We therefore thank Him for all He permits to come into our lives, since all things work together for good for those who love God, and who are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).