Introduction

It seems that every Christian should have one or two books of the Bible that they can call their own. Over time they get to know their portion of Scripture so well that it seems they can almost live in the shoes of the author. For me there is one such book: the Old Testament book of Job. For many years I have been fascinated with this amazing story of endurance, despair, hope and healing. I have read it through several hundred times in many different versions, and yet each time I read it something new is discovered on its pages. Francis I. Anderson says in the preface to his little commentary on the book of Job, “It is presumptuous to comment on the book of Job. It is so full of the awesome reality of the living God. Like Job, one can only put one’s hand over one’s mouth (40:4).” “There was a man in the land of Uz…” We aren’t sure when the book was written, we aren’t exactly sure where Uz was located, and we can’t say with certainty who the author was. But I am convinced that its pages are no less inspired than those of the Psalms or Isaiah or the Gospel of John or the book of Romans. The purpose of these writings is not to try to tackle the technical aspects of how some obscure passages should be interpreted or why there are only two speeches of Zophar but three from Eliphaz and Bildad or why Elihu seems to be so long winded. With my very limited knowledge of Hebrew I wouldn’t be able to do that anyway. It is rather to simply try to minister to the human heart and to try to bring hope and encouragement to those who are discouraged, to those who are depressed or despairing, and to those who are facing a multitude of “Why's?” in their own lives. Sometimes I have wished that the Lord had burdened my heart with one of the smaller books of the Bible…maybe something like III John :>). I have picked up the book of Job and begun to study it or to write about it many times, only to lay it aside because of a feeling of being overwhelmed by its length and depth. But then the Lord, through the Holy Spirit, quickens something new to my spirit and encourages me to dig into it again. Job is ultimately a story of hope and healing – it ends with a “…and they lived happily ever after” fairy tale flair to it. But between chapter 1:5 and chapter 42:10 we are met with the desperate struggles and the raw emotions of a man who has lost everything and who is racked with an awful, awful disease. During the dissection of the verses and the speeches between Job and the three “comforters” it is easy to lose sight of his condition. We constantly need to bring ourselves back to his ugly circumstances and surroundings, lest we find ourselves shooting theological darts at him from our comfortable ivory towers. He is living at the local dump, his businesses have failed, his children are dead, his skin is covered with running sores, his bones ache with fever and it seems that his God has forsaken him. But finally Jehovah comes upon the scene and speaks to Job out of the divine whirlwind. And in chapter 42 our hero withdraws his lawsuit against Jehovah, he repents, and healing and restoration follow close behind. I pray that through the reading of these devotional thoughts on the book of Job you will be encouraged, your faith will increase, and that you may grow more deeply in love with Jesus. Dan Vander Ark November 2009 onetoomanypotatoes.blogspot.com