One of the most remarkable, authenticating attributes of Scripture is the comprehensive compatibility of its content while often chronologically disconnected by millennia. The book of Job is a prime example of this literary phenomenon. It is not clear how, but this compiled journal references events detailed in history’s earliest records (Genesis 1-11) that had not yet been collated for posterity (See Scripturosity articles “Who Wrote Genesis” – Part 1 & Part 2).
It is likely that the antediluvian journals were preserved through the Flood, on the Ark with Noah. There is reason to believe that knowledge of these chronicles was passed down generationally by oral tradition after the Flood. During the famous dialogue between Job and his friends, Bildad may have actually been making reference to Noah and a few of the surviving 7 when he admonished Job to “…inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers: (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon the earth are a shadow): Shall they not teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart (8:8-10)?”
Likewise, Eliphaz rebuked Job for trusting his limited perspective saying, “With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father (15:10).” While he could have been speaking of the age of one or two of the three present, it seems more likely that he was referring to, even name dropping (to add weight to his counsel), the very aged Flood survivors and their wisdom.
Regarding the reliability of the direct and inferred historical references in the book of Job and their significance to the whole, Henry Morris suggests the following (The Remarkable Record of Job, p.23).
“In light of the antiquity of the book of Job, it is not surprising that it includes many references to the great events associated with the earth’s primeval ages. Conversely, these references may be cited as evidence for the book’s antiquity. They are not listed as a recitation of history, but are mentioned in passing. This argues both for the historicity of the events and for the antiquity of the book itself. They are mentioned almost casually, suggesting that they were common knowledge at the time of writing, with no need to stress their historicity…references to the ancient histories (should) be noted, along with their significance, to provide an appropriate background for Job’s message.”
Matthew Henry wrote of Genesis, “We are all nearly concerned in it; let it not be to us as a tale that is told.”
The history referenced in Job carries with it the weight of eternal destiny. We should all regard them as intensely personal and of the highest priority. We should value them as, not just history, but our history. It gives relevance to redemption. In the annals of the world chronicled in Genesis we see how and why we are here, what went wrong, and how the problem would be solved. The actors in Job recognized the events as historical and understood their pertinence to daily living.
Let’s take note of a few of the book’s references to primeval history (including Creation, the Fall and the Curse, the great Flood, the post-Flood era, and the Dispersion).
1) Creation
The book of Job assumes God to be the Creator and sustainer of all things. There are no references to other deities, no suggestion made of alternative origins, and no credit given to other mechanisms of cosmic maintenance.
Even Job’s friends, though severely mistaken regarding divine justice, recognized one Creator/Sustainer God.
Eliphaz – “I would seek unto God…Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvelous things without number: Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields (5:8-10).”
Zophar – “Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? If He cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder Him (11:7-10)?” In other words, it’s His world and He does with it as He pleases.
Elihu – “The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life… I also am formed out of the clay (33:4-6).”
“I…will ascribe righteousness to my Maker (36:3).”
“Remember that thou magnify His work, which men behold. Every man may see it; man may behold it afar off…For He maketh small the drops of water; they pour down like rain according to the vapour thereof: Which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly…Behold He spreadeth His light upon it, and covereth the bottom of the sea (36:24-30).”
Notice also “Creation” in Job’s soul searching.
“(God) alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number (9:8-10).”
“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. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath (Genesis 2:7) of all mankind (12:7-10).”
“All the while my breath is within me, and the Spirit of God is in my nostrils (27:3 w/ Gen. 2:7).”
It is interesting that God is referred to as “The Almighty” more times in the book of Job than the entire rest of the Bible combined. This repetition among the actors seems to emphasize the fact that there were still segments of society (though biblical and archeological evidence suggests that false religions were spreading rapidly; i.e. Babel) that still acknowledged the one, true God as the powerful Creator and sustainer of all things.
The next article will detail the Jobian cast’s knowledge of man’s Fall and nature’s Curse nearly 2,000 years removed from history’s darkest day.
What did God tell you????