Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? Is the book of Job real? Let’s talk about it
At the end of our study in the book of James, a man named Job from the Old Testament was mentioned. Job is honestly one of my favorite books in the Bible. It is such a cool story, tragic, yes, which we will talk about in a moment, but amazing.
Maybe it is the storyteller in me that makes these books in the Old Testament come to life in my mind. There are romances, betrayal, prophecy when people can see the future, God speaking, dragons (or at least the leviathan, who is a scaly beast that breathes fire like a dragon), battles, warring kingdoms, noblemen & women, evil queens & kings, fire falling from heaven, songs, love ballads, and the story of creation and the fall of man.
The Bible is amazing and exciting! It is not boring at all. I have heard people say that it is, but I honestly don’t see how you can read these stories and think it’s boring. How can you read the story when Elijah calls down fire from heaven and asks the false prophets if their gods are using the bathroom or sleeping? Like that’s funny and awesome. You can read that story in 1 Kings 18. I just want to point out that the Bible is awesome!
The Bible is also a true book. God’s words that will not pass away. Matthew 24:35 says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” The Bible is trustworthy because God is trustworthy and does not lie. Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said it, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”
One of these true stories is the book of Job. The book of Job tells the story of a man named Job who feared God. He was a righteous man and good father who loved his children and prayed every morning for their sins to be forgiven.
Then the adversary, Satan, asked to hurt Job to prove to God that Job would walk away if everything was taken from Him.
So Job was put through tests and lost everything: his children, his animals, his wealth, his reputation, his health, his sleep, and his wife, who was angry with him. His friends accused him (which is the bulk of the bulk of the book, being the conversations and opinions of his friends, which are not all true statements but are the opinions of man).
This now takes us to why I am making this episode. I want to point out a view a lot of people, even Christians, will argue about. Many people do not believe the book of Job or the man named Job is real. Many believe this is a fictional story, and there are three main reasons why people don’t believe in Job that I’m going to address today.
I believe the Bible to be the TRUTH. I also believe that Job is a real man and that the book of Job is a real story. I want to share why I believe this to be true by doing a little deep dive into the book of Job and answering this question: is the book of job real and if so why don’t people believe in it?
So grab a cup of coffee or tea and your bibles and let’s begin this discussion.
In this episode we will discuss:
* Argument one: “Job is written as poetry indicating a literary fictional masterpiece but not a real historical tale” vs poetry does not mean a story is fictional
* Does the Bible confirm the existence of Job in other books or passages in the Bible? With examples from James and Ezekiel.
* Argument two: “It’s too fantastical to be real” vs believing in an all powerful all mighty God of miracles
* Argument three: “Why would God allow Job—a righteous man who did nothing wrong—suffer?”
* The problem of sin and our need for a savior
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