Christ in All the Scriptures by A.M. Hodgkin
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Book Information: Christ in All the Scriptures
Table of Contents
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Christ in the Poetical Books
Job
In whatever aspect we look at it, the Book of Job is perhaps the most wonderful poem that has ever been written. Tennyson called it “the greatest poem whether of ancient or modern literature.” Luther regarded it as “more magnificent and sublime than any other book of Scripture.”
The scene is laid in patriarchal times, and it is said to be the oldest book in existence. That Job was a real person is settled by Scripture itself. Through the prophet Ezekiel God says of the land: “Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls” (Ezekiel 14:14, 20).
The book is wonderful in the beauty of its language, in the wide sweep of knowledge it displays, in its scientific accuracy. It is wonderful in that it deals with the mystery of pain, and with the riddle of all times, “Why do the righteous suffer?” It lifts the veil of the spirit world, and teaches us both the extent and the limit of the power of Satan. It is wonderful in clearly revealing the fact of the resurrection, and, above all, in foreshadowing the mystery of redemption.
The language of the book is sublime in its simplicity. The pathos of Job’s description of his sufferings has found an echo in countless souls who have been brought into God’s crucible. As Elihu describes the gathering storm we can see the clouds rolling up, the flashing of the lightning, and hear the roar of the thunder. Out of the midst of the storm God speaks.
God’s Book. Though the object of the Bible is not to teach science, its language is always abreast of the latest discoveries. This is nowhere more noticeable than in the Book of Job.
“He hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7). What could more accurately describe the poise of our world in space?
