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CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF JOBAlthough Job is the oldest written book in the Bible, please note how much it offers concerning the Lord Jesus Christ . . .CHAPTER 1Verse 5: “And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.” Here we see Job fulfilling the role of intercessor on behalf of his sons, the same as the Lord Jesus (I Tim. 2:5; Heb. 7:25).Verses 11-12: “But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.” So Satan’s power over Jesus Christ was also limited. Although it appeared that Satan had killed Jesus at Calvary, we know this wasn’t the case. Jesus gave His life freely, according to His own words in John 10:17-18: “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”Verse 22: “In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” So it was with Jesus. In all of His temptations, He never sinned once.CHAPTER 2Verse 3: “And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.” Interestingly enough, the name “Job” means persecuted. So Jesus Christ was “a perfect and an upright man” who was persecuted as a direct result of Satan’s attacks upon Him. Yet, like Job, He held His integrity and sinned not.CHAPTER 3Verses 25-26: “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.” What better way to describe what Jesus endured on the cross? In fact, He prayed that “this cup” (of God’s wrath) might be taken from Him (Mat. 26:39), but the Father’s will was for Him to drink it. So, that which He feared (becoming sin for us—II Cor. 5:21) came upon Him.CHAPTER 4Verses 7-8: “Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off? Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.” Eliphaz’s argument is that an innocent man doesn’t deserve death, which is exactly the case with Jesus. He was innocent (Mat. 27:4, 24), yet He chose to give His own life for our sins.CHAPTER 5Verse 7: “Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” So Christ was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3).CHAPTER 6Verses 1-8: “But Job answered and said, Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together! For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me. Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder? Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg? The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat. Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!” The passage is loaded with references to Christ on the cross. The grief, the calamity, the arrows of the Almighty, the poison, and the terrors of God are all fitting descriptions of Christ’s sufferings, and the “things which my soul refused to touch” match the sin of the world that Christ took upon Himself.CHAPTER 7Verse 20: “I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?” Although Jesus never sinned, He did identify Himself with our sins and was set “as a mark” against God. A good reference is Matthew 27:46: “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”CHAPTER 8Verses 20-22: “Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers: Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing. They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.” So God didn’t cast away Jesus Christ: He raised Him from the grave on the third day.CHAPTER 9Verses 34-35: “Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me: Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.” Again, we see Job typifying Christ on the cross enduring the rod of God’s wrath.CHAPTER 10Verses 7-12: “Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand. Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me. Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again? Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.” In spirit, Job is saying much the same as Jesus said on Calvary (Mat. 27:46; Psa. 22:1-10).CHAPTER 11Verses 15-17: “For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear: Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away: And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.” So one day Christ, who is “without spot,” will forget His misery and “shine forth” “as the morning.” A good reference is II Samuel 23:4: “And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.” Hosea 6:3 and Malachi 4:2 are also good.CHAPTER 12Verses 7-8: “But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.” These verses are saying that the beasts, the fowl, the earth, and the fish, can teach spiritual truths. Consequently, Jesus used all four in his preaching. Four quick examples are Luke 13:32, Mark 4:4, Mat. 7:24, Mat. 4:19. Of course, there are numerous others.CHAPTER 13Verse 15: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” Only one man could have ever said that and came out flawless in the end. Job said it, but was declared to be self-righteous as a result. If Jesus were to say it (and in spirit, He did), no one could find any flaw in Him. God did allow Him to be slain on Calvary, yet He still trusted God, and He maintained His own ways.CHAPTER 14Verses 1-2: “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.” So Christ was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isa. 53:3), and He lived in the flesh only thirty-three years before being cut down. Isaiah 53 likens Him unto a “tender plant” that is “cut off” (Isa. 53:2, 8.)CHAPTE R 15Verse 16: “How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?” This is what Jesus did when He bore our sins on the cross. This was compared to a “cup” that one would drink of: “He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.” (Mat. 26:42) Other references are Psalm 75:8 and II Corinthians 5:21.CHAPTER 16Verses 9-18: “He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me. They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me. God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked. I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark. His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground. He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant. I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust. My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death; Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure. O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.” The passage is loaded with references to Christ on the cross. We’ll point out a few of the stronger points.“They have smitten me on the cheek” matches Micah 5:1, a clear reference to Christ. “They have gathered themselves together against me” matches Psalm 2:2 where the kings and rulers get together against the “Son” (Psalm 2:7, 12) who is also the King (Psalm 2:6). “God hath delivered me to the ungodly” perfectly describes what happened at Calvary (Mat. 27:46).CHAPTER 17Verses 13-14: “If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.” Here we see the burial of Christ typified. In fact, Job’s comment about being related to “the worm” matches Psalm 22:6, a clear prophecy of Christ: “But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.”CHAPTER 18Verse 13: “It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.” The context here is “the wicked” (verse 5) being overthrown. This verse says that the wicked (ultimately, the devil) will be devoured by the “firstborn of death,” which is none other than Jesus Christ: “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence” (Col. 1:18).CHAPTER 19Verses 8-15: “He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths. He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head. He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree. He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies. His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle. He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me. My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me. They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.” (Job 19:8-15) The passage is filled with references to Christ in His sufferings. “He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass . . .” is a good description of Jesus’ not being permitted to avoid drinking the cup of the Father’s wrath (Mat. 26:39). Christ’s leaving heaven and coming to earth to suffer and die for sinners is well wrapped up in the statement, “He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head” The words “he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies” well describes Christ becoming sin for us (II Cor. 5:21). “He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me. My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me” are perfect words for describing the manner in which so many forsook Jesus, even His only family members, as is recorded in Psalm 69:8-9.Verse 25: “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.” Our Redeemer is Jesus Christ, and He will most definitely “stand at the latter day upon the earth.” A good reference is Zechariah 14:4: “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives . . .”CHAPTER 20Verse 23: “When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.” This is the exact nature in which Christ said His second coming will occur. Jesus said in Matthew 24:38-39, “For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”CHAPTER 21Verse 3: “Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.” So Christ also was mocked.Verse 27: “Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.” So Jesus knew (and still knows) the thoughts of men also.CHAPTER 22Verses 21: “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.” The same is true with Jesus. The people who serve Him and have real peace are the ones who have taken the time to acquaint themselves with him. Everyone else remains in their sins with no peace because they’ve not acquainted themselves with the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6)..CHAPTER 23Verse 10: “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” No man in history can say such words more truthfully than Jesus Christ. He was tried more than any man, and He was more victorious than any man. His coming forth as gold is so real that His servants will cast gold crowns before His throne (Rev. 4:4, 11).Verse 14: “For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.” So it was appointed of the Father that Jesus should bear the sin of the world on Calvary.CHAPTER 24Verse 8: “They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.” Christ is the Rock that sinners embrace for a shelter from their sins. See Isaiah 32:2 and Matthew 7:24-25.Verse 17: “For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.” The Second Coming of Christ will be like the shadow of death to those who have rejected Christ, and it is likened unto a “morning” in the Scriptures (Mal. 4:2; Exo. 19:16; II Sam. 23:4; Hos. 6:3).CHAPTER 25Verse 6: “How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?” Bildad’s comparing man to a worm reminds us of what Jesus was compared to on the cross: “But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.” (Psa. 22:6)CHAPTER 26Verse 14: “. . . the thunder of his power who can understand?” Interestingly enough, thunder plays a significant role in end-time prophecies concerning Christ. In Revelation 10:3-4, we have the mystery of seven thunders uttering their “voices.” Then, when the Father spoke from heaven to Jesus in John 12:29, some thought it had “thundered” while others thought an angel had spoken. I’m not certain of it, but it looks like lost people will hear a sound like thunder when Christ calls out His church. II Samuel 22:14-18 is especially interesting: “The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice. And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them. And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters; He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.” Also see Job 37:1-5 and Exodus 19:16.CHAPTER 27Verses 2-6: “As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul; All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.” Much the same is true of Jesus in His life and death. The Almighty did “vex” His soul, His lips did not speak wickedness, and He held to His own righteousness.CHAPTER 28Verse 1: “Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.” Gold symbolizes deity, and silver is the price of redemption. Spiritually speaking, the “vein” in which we find our salvation is none other than the blood of Jesus Christ. Zechariah 13:1 is a good spiritual reference: “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” Once a sinner has discovered this fountain, he has discovered far more than gold and silver (I Pet. 1:18-19).Verses 12-13: “But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.” The answer is given in I Corinthians 1:30: “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”CHAPTER 29Verses 9-16: “The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth. The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.” The passage has several good references to Christ. “When the ear heard me, then it blessed me . . .” matches Matthew 21:9. “Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him” matches the numerous instances where Jesus showed compassion on the underprivileged of His day. No man in history has “put on righteousness” more than Jesus Christ, and “I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame” can easily refer to Jesus healing the blind and the lame.CHAPTER 30Verse 10: “They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.” Jesus received the same treatment.Verses 14-22: “They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me. Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud. And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me. My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest. By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat. He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes. I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not. Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me. Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance.” The passage has several good references to Christ. “They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters . . .” has reference to the baptism of wrath that Jesus received on the cross (Mat. 20:22-23). The expression “my soul is poured out” is a good match for Matthew 26:38 and Isaiah 53:10. “He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes” can have reference to Jesus being buried. “I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me” matches Matthew 27:46, where Jesus asked why the Father had forsaken Him. The statement “thou opposest thyself against me” is precisely what happened to Jesus when the Father poured out His wrath on sin.CHAPTER 31Verse 1: “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?” So, Jesus Christ was a single man Who kept Himself pure.CHAPTER 32Verse 3: “Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.” This is how people respond to Jesus. They have no better solution for their sins, yet they take His name in vain and mock His servants.Verse 12: “Yea, I attended unto you, and, behold, there was none of you that convinced Job, or that answered his words.” So, no one ever answered the claims of Jesus Christ with any opposing facts. Matthew 22:46 says, “And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.”CHAPTER 33Verses 23-28: “If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness: Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. His flesh shall be fresher than a child's: he shall return to the days of his youth: He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness. He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.” The words “gracious,” “deliver,” “ransom,” “his righteousness,” “I have sinned,” and “see the light” make this is a good description of how Jesus Christ saves sinners.CHAPTER 34Verses 7-8: “What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water? Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men.” Jesus Christ was also accused of keeping bad company: “The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.” (Mat. 11:19)CHAPTER 35Verse 14: “Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust thou in him.” Amen to that. Although Jesus Christ cannot be physically seen today, He is still the judge of all men (John 5:22), so sinners should put their trust in Him.CHAPTER 36Verse 3: “I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.” The “knowledge from afar” is the good news from Heaven that Jesus has paid for the sins of all men who will put their trust in Him. Therefore, the true Christian is ready always to “ascribe righteousness” to his Maker rather than seeking to establish his own righteousness (Rom. 10:3) with religious practice and good works.CHAPTER 37Verses 1-5: “At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of his place. Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth. He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth. After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard. God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.” I know the passage is speaking about the weather, but a bit of prophecy can be gleaned from it. In the rapture, we will hear the “voice” of the Good Shepherd calling out His sheep (John 10:3). This might even sound like “thunder” to some (John 12:28-29). When this happens, “he will not stay them.” That is, He will not keep the dead in Christ in their graves. We will arise in our new glorified bodies (I Ths. 4:13-18; I Cor. 15:51-52)CHAPTER 38Verse 1: “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind . . .” Here we have a picture of Christ revealing Himself to Israel toward the end of the Great Tribulation. The book of Job has forty-two chapters, and the Great Tribulation has forty-two months. Just as Job is persecuted, Israel is also persecuted. So, just as the Lord speaks to Job, He will also speak to Israel. Hosea 2:14 says, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.” Thou Chirst has hid His face from Israel for some 2,000 years (Hos. 5:15; Deu. 31:17-18), this will be the time when He deals with the nation (just as He dealt with Job about his self-righteousness) and brings forth a new birth (Isa. 66:7-8). The placement in Revelation (the revealing) is God’s protection of the woman in the wilderness (Rev. 12:1-17.).CHAPTER 39Verses 19-25: This is a reminder of the heavenly horses that we’ll be riding with Christ at the Second Advent (Rev. 19:11-16).Verses 27-28: “Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.” So Christians dwell on high in a strong place, and we mount up at God’s command. We dwell upon Christ, the Rock of our salvation (Mat. 7:24; I Cor. 10:4), and, as Isaiah 40:31 declares, we are typified by the eagles: “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”CHAPTER 40Verse 14: “Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.” Obviously, no one’s own right hand can save them. It is Christ, Who sits at God’s right hand that does all the saving.Verse 19: “He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.” The statement concerns God’s ability to approach the great beast “behemoth” (vs. 15), which typifies the devil. It is none other than Jesus Christ Who can and will defeat Satan (Gen. 3:15).CHAPTER 41Verse 10: “None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?” The answer is Jesus Christ, and no one else (Acts 7:55). The lost sinner who thinks that he is prepared to stand before God since he has done “more good than bad” is a deceived fool. He will “not stand” in the day of judgment (Psa. 1:5). The only ones left standing will be those who stand faultless before the throne because they are in Christ (Jude 24; Rev. 14:5).CHAPTER 42Verse 5: “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.” Such will be the case with Israel when Christ reveals Himself to her in the Great Tribulation. Also, such will be the case with all Christians who serve Christ by faith in this life and will literally see Him when He returns (Rev. 1:7; I John 3:2).Verse 8: “. . . my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.” Here, Job’s praying for his friends pictures Christ Who ever lives to make intercession for the saints (Heb. 7:25)Verse 12: “So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning . . .” The same is true with all who serve Christ today. The best is yet to come.