In a scripture that I have used to the point some might call it abuse, Paul told us that “…all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” (1 Corinthians 10:11).
That verse was written about the Israelites, specifically about the events of the exodus. These things were symbols that represented greater, deeper truths in the plan of God – beyond the simple meanings visible to a casual reading.
Of course even though they were used for symbols, they actually, literally happened; but they also were guided by God “as examples for us”. But these “examples” which happened for our admonition were not confined just to the Israelites or the Exodus; for it cannot be argued that the NT specifically explains many Old Testament peoples and events in a symbolic light.
For example, Sarah/Hagar were symbols of Jerusalem/Sinai; which in turn were symbols of the old/new covenants. That in turn had symbols and connotations of freedom/slavery, motherhood, barrenness, and so on; far more than you would have believed, had you simply read Genesis.
Likewise, David represented Jesus; and things that happened in his life and things he said were examples of things that happened to Jesus and which Jesus said. (See “Jesus in Every Psalm” and “Diary of Jesus”). And this article hasn’t the space to mention Miriam/Moses as compared to Mary/Jesus, or Moses/Joshua vis a vis Moses/Jesus, or Jacob and Rachel and Leah, or the many other symbols I’ve explained in my other articles.
But I have never written about Job. Yet when you start to look closely at what was said about Job and by Job, you cannot help but think of Jesus. Most people believe that Job’s problem was pride, but that simply isn’t true (see “What Was Wrong With Job?”). Job’s problem wasn’t pride, it was a relative lack of faith. Not to say that Job was faithless like the Israelites spoken of in Hebrews 3, but his faith was unfinished.
When God spoke of Job in Job 1-2, God did not say “look at this proud person whom my soul hates” (which He surely would have, since Proverbs 6:16-17 makes God’s opinion on pride very clear). No, God said “look at this PERFECTLY righteous person who hates evil!” (Job 1:8).
For God to say that about a prideful sinner would have been ridiculous. But God said Job was perfectly righteous. Not perfectly full of faith. The two are related, but certainly not inseparable as Romans 4-5
shows us. The fact is, Job was perfectly righteous, and reasonably faithful, but He did not COMPLETELY, ABSOLUTELY, trust God.
You can see this in Job 35:14-15. Elihu plainly said that because Job did not “trust in Him”, therefore, “God has visited in His anger”, but even then, that anger was quite mild. In other words, God was mildly annoyed with Job; but God was ANGRY with Job’s three friends (Job 42:7).
I wanted to say that first, because most people would be shocked by the idea that Job symbolized Christ because of Job’s alleged pride; but since that wasn’t Job’s problem, it becomes much easier to believe that Job might picture Jesus in some way. So now let’s take some statements in Job that are hard to explain EXCEPT as prophecies of Jesus.
One of the clearest connections is found in comparing Job 16 to Psalms 22, which everyone knows is a prophecy of Jesus’ last day. For example, compare…
Job 16:9-10 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.
Psalms 22:12-13 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
Matthew 26:67 Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,
Interestingly, these are the only times in the Bible that the expression “gaped on me with their mouths” is used, or any variation of it. Continuing to compare…
Job 16:11-12 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.
Psalms 22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
Job 7:5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.
And compare…
Job 10:16 … Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.
Psalms 22:21 Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
Now surely lions might be brought up by anyone suffering, so it’s not really proof; similarly, in…
Job 16:20 My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.
Reminds one of…
Psalms 41:9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
It also calls to mind Peter’s denial of Him. Some of these could surely be coincidences; possibly all of them.
WHY DO THE WICKED PROSPER?
But now compare Job 21 to Psalms 73; reading them side by side yourself is the best way, but to summarize…
Job 21:7-13 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? … Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them … They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
Psalms 73:2-6 But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.
These are some nearly identical thoughts. And both chapters continue to share identical thoughts in the same order…
Job 21:14-15 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
Psalms 73:7 … they have more than heart could wish. … they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, … And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?
Both writers complain that they suffer far more than the wicked, and basically wonder “what’s the point in following God, if this is how He repays the righteous?”; for Job, this is discussed throughout the book, and in Psalms it is a direct continuation of the same thought:
Psalms 73:12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.
And as verse 2 said, this knowledge made Jesus’ feet “well nigh slip”. This bothered Him so much, it nearly made Him make a mistake!
And then both chapters reveal the answer which, not surprisingly, is the same…
Job 21:17-20 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger. They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away. … His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
Psalms 73:15-20… then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.
The identical answer – but as the next verses reveal, an identical reaction by both Job and Jesus/David:
Psalms 73:21-26 Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.
Job 42:3-6… I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. … I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
JOB JUDGED THE DEVIL
Certainly this should begin to be persuasive now. Yes, any people suffering might find similar answers, but these words are nearly identical; close enough to be direct analogues. But now let’s compare some more conceptual similarities; consider…
In Job 1-2, God holds Job up as an example, in effect saying to Satan “if Job can do it, why can’t you?”. In order for God to blame someone for failure, there must be an example somewhere of someone succeeding; Jesus came to give us a perfect proof of that (see “Why Did Jesus Become A Man”).
But Job was a pretty good proof – in terms of righteousness, according to God, a “perfect and upright man”. So God used Job to condemn Satan, just as Noah condemned the unrighteous before the flood by obeying God and building an ark (Hebrews 11:7).
And in the exact same way as Jesus said the night before His death “the prince of this world is judged” (John 16:11). Jesus’ perfect life judged the devil once and for all, because He proved beyond all question that physical, mortal men with all the frailties inherent in flesh CAN obey God perfectly.
Job proved this in imperfect type; the only difference being, that Job had sinned in His youth (Job 13:26). But Job had stopped those sins, repented, made a commitment to live in “newness of life” (Romans 6:4). And so in God’s eyes, the person Job then was, was perfect and sinless because God had put away those sins of Job’s youth “as far as the east is to the west” (Psalms 103:12).
Job’s only problem was that he did not have absolute FAITH in that; and when He had reason to doubt God’s forgiveness and fairness, he began to believe that God had not forgiven him. Because Jesus had never committed sins of any kind, He had no “sins of His youth” that God might not have forgiven; and so in the same situation, Jesus continued to be faithful where Job began to doubt the goodness of God.
BEFORE THE WORLD WAS
John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
In this incredibly strong proof of the preexistence of Jesus, He speaks of His former glory with the Father; but we find several passages in Job 29 which make you think that Job was inspired by someone who had lived before the world was – or at least, by someone a little more powerful than Job could possibly have been. Compare…
Job 29:14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
Isaiah 61:10, 62:3 …. my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments … Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
The passage in Isaiah is speaking of the wedding supper between Jesus and His bride, the church; and the “bridegroom” (Jesus) is mentioned with garments of salvation and a royal diadem; but another connection is found in this clear prophecy of Jesus…
Isaiah 59:15 Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
Remember how this bothered Jesus in Psalms 73 and Job 21! And look what He did in Isaiah – the same thing He did in Job and Psalms!
Isaiah 59:16-17 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head …
Ezekiel 14:20 Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
So just as Job delivered his soul by his righteousness, so also Jesus delivered HIS soul by His righteousness. With such a strong connection, the other verses in Job 29 fit easily with events in Jesus’ life before His human birth; for example,
Job 29:12 Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.
Jeremiah 20:13 Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
And…
Job 29:15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.
Matthew 15:30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them:
And…
Job 29:16 I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
Psalms 68:5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.
And…
Job 29:17 And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
Psalms 3:7 Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.
And finally,
Job 29:25 I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.
I don’t need to quote verses that show Jesus as a guide “choosing out the way” for Israel in the wilderness, being their king, or a comforter to mourners. Surely a few of these could be coincidences, but surely not all of them. These are powerful, clear connection which all tie back directly to Jesus, and not to anyone else.
FALLEN ANGELS
The following words make sense as coming from Job – but they make much more sense coming from Jesus. For example…
Job 30:1 But now they that are YOUNGER than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the DOGS of my flock.
Those persecuting Jesus – the dogs that compassed Him in Psalms 22:16 – were ultimately fallen angels. They were the “princes of this world” who “crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8). And those angels, since they were created BY Jesus, were YOUNGER than Him!
And where do these fallen angels go? Where do they “hang out”?
Luke 8:29 (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)
Matthew 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
Job 1:7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
And where does Job say his tormentors had been?
Job 30:3-6 For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste. … They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;) To dwell in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.
This is a strong connection; who else would have been tormenting Job after having been “in the wilderness”, “driven forth from among men” – presumably driven forth from among righteous men, which at the time was most of Israel as Joseph was almost certainly still alive.
But now these fallen angels had come to torment Job, and He describes them as “viler than the earth”, and says now “am I their song, yea, I am their byword. They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.” (Job 30:9-10).
No one spit in Job’s face in the entire book! Nor was there anyone who showed the least inclination to do such a thing! But there WAS someone who was spit upon in the face by His enemies!
Mark 10:34 And they shall MOCK him, and shall scourge him, and shall SPIT upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.
And Job said these beings who were “younger than he”, had him “in derision” – they mocked him – and spit on his face – which again, NEVER HAPPENED TO JOB! It can only have been a PROPHECY of Jesus, a prophecy delivered in TYPE, just like the Psalms!
WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THAT
That’s only the beginning, of course. Understanding that Job IS an analogy, a symbol of Jesus, allows us to reverse the pattern and instead of looking for Job in Jesus, look for Jesus in Job. In other words, rather than trying to prove that Job IS a type of Christ, we now accept that he was and see what we can learn from the fact that what happened to Job WAS MEANT to teach us things about Jesus life, trials, and character!
Part of this we can learn from the numerology used in Job. For instance, before Job’s trial he had seven sons and three daughters (Job 1:2). So did Jesus have seven sons and three daughters? Well, actually He did;
Revelation 3:1 … These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; …
Which, we know from chapter 1, was Jesus. These seven spirits, which I have written on extensively, were seven top angels through which Jesus rules the world (see any of my articles on the seven angels). So Job also had seven sons; and these seven sons were “killed”, or as Job said in 1:21, “the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away”.
So these sons were “taken away” from Job; in the same way, the seven angels were “taken away” from Jesus when He became a man, for He had to give up His power and authority and become “a little LOWER than the angels for the suffering of death” (Hebrews 2:9).
And Job, after he had repented of his lack of faith, was given twice as much as He had before his trial…. of everything EXCEPT sons and daughters! Of them, he had the same number as he had at first! (Job 42:13). Surely there is God’s hand in such a fact! What are the odds of a man having two sets of children, each of which with seven sons and three daughters? And if divinely guided, surely there is significance!
And we find that significance in the fact that after the seven sons were taken from Jesus at His human birth, after His life and His own trial of faith where He cried “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46), after He overcame His doubts and fears, He said that once again “all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18), after His resurrection.
So surely once again He was given the “seven sons and three daughters” that He had before, when He was no longer “a little below the angels”, but “highly exalted … and given him a name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:9)!
THREE DAUGHTERS
But you’ll notice, I’ve not mentioned the daughters. A key to their meaning is found in
Luke 13:20-21 And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a WOMAN took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
Notice that the “leaven” which in this unique case was meant in a positive sense, was hidden in THREE measures by a WOMAN. The woman certainly represents a religious element, but what are the three measures of which “the WHOLE was leavened”?
The “lump” itself is explained in 1 Corinthians 5:7 “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened …”. So a “lump” represents a religious group; a religious group is also represented as a woman throughout the Bible, so then three “measures” or “lumps” represents THREE women; and to their “Father”, these lumps would be three daughters!
But who exactly are these three churches? Easy!
Genesis 9:19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.
Every nation traces back to THREE sources; Shem, Ham, and Japeth. And what did God say about “every nation”?
Acts 10:34-35 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in EVERY NATION he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
This means that God has, right now, in EVERY NATION, members of His true church; and that, fundamentally, there are “three daughters” of Jesus in that sense; three churches which He has built, guided, and not allowed “the gates of hell to prevail against”. Those were “taken from Him” briefly, and like authority over the seven angels, were restored to Him after His trial.
Another interesting thing about these daughters is that they were, uniquely, given an inheritance with their brothers (Job 42:15). I say uniquely, because the only other time it was done was in Numbers 27, but there it was specifically because there was no male heir; In Job 42, the women share the inheritance WITH the men, which is absolutely unique.
The explanation for that is probably that only these three women (churches) out of all those that have ever been born (existed) will share in the heavenly inheritance God gave Jesus (Romans 8:17). None of the millions of churches (women) will receive such an inheritance, because they were all… well, the Bible would call them whores.
JOB THE HIGH PRIEST
As another connection, we see Job performing the office of a high priest repeatedly throughout the book of Job; everyone is aware of this, but they attribute it simply to the act of a father under the patriarchal system; now that is certainly the case at the beginning of the book, in such verses as Job 1:5; but at the end of the book, Job is offering sacrifices for people from completely different lineages – not even Israelites!
Job 42:7-8 … the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: … Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and 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.
Is this not the office of a high priest? Making intercession for the sins of those who offer sacrifices? Not only for those of His family – the only authority a patriarch has – but for those of other nations, as these three men certainly were.
Job was an Israelite, son of Issachar (Genesis 46:13); Eliphaz was a Temanite, a son of Esau (Genesis 36:11; note that this “Eliphaz” was an ancestor of the friend of Job, who was no doubt named after him). Bildad the Shuhite is most likely a descendant of Shuah, son of Abraham by Keturah after the death of Sarah (Genesis 25:1-2). Naamath’s ancestry is unknown, but the point is clear; Job had no patriarchal authority over any of them.
The only explanation can be that after His trial, God made Job high priest; and as such, he had authority to offer sacrifices for “his friends”. Just as after Jesus’ own trial, He was “Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec”(Hebrews 5:10), so that now He “is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Romans 8:34) ... us, whom He called “friends” (John 15:14-15).
SEVEN HUSBANDS
It doesn’t mention wives in Job, but it is not unlikely; considering Job had ten children, apparently by only one wife, and considering those children lived in their own houses, it is almost certain that some or all of the sons were married. Now that calls up this thought…
Mark 12:19-23 Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man’s brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise. And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife.
Now this has always seemed odd, and Jesus’ answer was cryptic at best:
Mark 12:24-25 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.
Now consider this; if these seven “brothers” are the same as the symbolic seven sons of Job, who were naturally also brothers of each other, and further, if those same brothers represent the seven top angels, (and Jesus himself said that those brothers were “as the ANGELS which are in heaven”, when what it shows is that the angels could not have children by the churches in their era!
If this “hypothetical question” posed by the Sadducees was less hypothetical than angelically inspired, it would make a lot more sense! As you can read in my articles on Church Eras, each of the angels has had a turn guiding the affairs of the world, and as such has had influence over the true Church of God, the “woman” whom they “all had”.
But none of them had CHILDREN with her, and so there was no one to carry on THEIR inheritance; and so they all “died” (lost their power over the world), and power fell to the next younger brother in turn. So then, who is the husband of that woman? And Jesus’ answer makes vastly more sense now, when He said “you do err, knowing neither the scriptures nor the power of God”!
Why was the power of God relevant to that question? And in what way did the scriptures answer their question? It was obvious to Jesus, and now is obvious to us, too – because In the resurrection, that woman – the church – won’t be the wife of ANY of the angels, but of Jesus Himself, with whom she will have many children! Even though she was BARREN with all of her former husbands!
Isaiah 54:1 Sing, O BARREN, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.
Because to give life, you must have the spirit of God in you! And none of the angels had that, nor could provide it, and so they could not play the part of the father to the church! And so the Sadducees – and the angels who likely inspired the question – greatly erred, not knowing the scriptures or the power of God – the power that would be REQUIRED to bear children with her, and be her “husband in the resurrection!”
Because make no mistake, that woman will be married in the resurrection; she will be the bride of Christ, for she is none other than… “Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” (Galatians 4:26).
WRAP-UP
I’m sure there is considerably more in Job to understand, but this is a start. Knowing this, we can now study Job as we study the Psalms, as prophecies of Christ and as reflections and feelings of our Savior.
Unlike the Psalms, which were a diary of random thoughts scattered throughout Jesus’ life, Job covers a very specific timeframe. The book of Job was about Job’s trial and overcoming; the test of his faith that proved he was worthy to inherit the promises of God.
So when we find symbolism of Jesus in the book of Job, what we find will correspond to the same period in Jesus’ life – the testing of His faith, His overcoming, and the reward He received.