Podcast 21, Stories of the Bible, “The Book of Job, Ch 7”

The authorship of Job is debated among scholars as is everything else in the Holy Bible. Scholars are not reliable witnesses, especially those who believe the Bible is a work of fiction. Considering the intimate insights into Job’s mind, I prefer to assume that Job himself wrote his own story. This author believes that the Holy Bible is the true word of God written by his holy prophets. I believe Job was a prophet. I do not choose to debate the authorship of this or that or the other. Job is referred to as a real character in both the Old and New Testaments. Attributing his story under his own pen appears the safest assumption. In Chapter 7, for example, Job uses first person. In my analysis, I assume they are Job’s own words.

Job begins Chapter 7 by asking a profound question that perhaps we have all asked, particularly during times of intense trial.

Job 7:1

“Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?”

Job assumes there is an appointed time as implied in the wording. Implied also is the assertion that if we have a time to be born we also have a time to die.  King Solomon addresses the same issue.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;” 

In Job 14, speaking of the resurrection, Job answers his own question.

Job 14:5-6

“Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass; Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.”

Job 14:14-16

“If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands. For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?

Other prophets addressed the same issue:

Jeremiah 1:5

“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee… before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee.”

Psalm 31:15

“My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.”

Psalm 139:16  

“In thy book all my members were written… when as yet there was none of them.”

Hebrews 9:27

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”

Job examines his relationship with God. He compares man to an hireling.

Job 7:2-3

“As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work: So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.”

There are so many words of despair in Job that we are tempted to focus on the suffering. It may appear strange at first, but the Book of Job is extremely optimistic. Job desires death. He has made that abundantly clear, but he desires death because he believes in an afterlife. He believes in the resurrection and the final judgment when all of his suffering is over.  

First of all, in the above he speaks of himself as a servant, as an hireling, but he looks forward to his wages. He knows he will be rewarded for his good works. In the following he speaks of the resurrection. 

Job 7:4-5

“When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day. My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.”

Does that seem bleak? Look again. Job asks, “When shall I arise, and the night be gone?” In other words, “When shall I be resurrected?”