 |
| Ancient depiction of Job covered in boils being condemned by his wife and friends |
JOB
Good afternoon my fine friends!
Have you all fared well this week? I pray that you and your families have. I am once again recovering from a lung infection and am almost completely healed. It is so difficult for me to constantly have these reoccurring respiratory problems. But I must plow ahead regardless of any physical problems.
Speaking of plowing ahead during illness, have you every read he book of Job? It is the oldest book in the Bible after Genesis, and even then it is quite likely that the book of Job is older than the later chapters in Genesis. I wrote a blog on this amazing man a few years ago and upon further research, I have discovered one thing I need to mention:
In the previous blog I stated that Job is a patriarch who “…lived long before Moses and the writing of the Pentateuch…”1
I have recently discovered that, according to Bodie Hodge of Answers in Genesis, who researched this topic extensively, it is not something that can be pin-pointed. Hodge states “Trying to discover the date of the Book of Job has many elements to it. Though the Bible doesn’t give a clear date, there are some clues, and there may be more. But at this time it may be safe to leave open a few options, but not before or in the time of Abraham. Although this author [Bodie Hodge] had typically been in the camp of an older date for Job, there are biblical reasons to reconsider with good textual reasons that it was somewhere just before Moses to somewhere in the time of Judges.”2
I also mentioned in another previous blog that “Job lived around the time of Abraham. We have some clues to this as Job never mentions the Mosaic Laws, and he resides in the Land of Uz (later called the Land of Edom).”3 However, “…there is no reason to assume cultures outside of Israel would have extensive knowledge of the Law and the Israelite system. And even if Job and his friends did, there may be little reason to quote it. The Book of Esther, during the 
doesn't mention the Law or the Mosaic system either — are we to assume that was written pre-Moses? Not at all.”4
doesn't mention the Law or the Mosaic system either — are we to assume that was written pre-Moses? Not at all.”4
Many ancient books written by such experts as Archbishop James Ussuer (The Annals of the World), the Talmud, Severus Sulpicius, (Sacred History), and Josephus (Antiquity of the Jews) mention Job and give clues to when he was born. However nothing states with certainty when he was born.
I personally, would like to think he was alive, though very near the end of his life when Joseph reigned in Egypt. But
The important thing is, is that Job was a real, historical person who knew God and glorified Him, and recorded much history from his time period for all the following generations to learn and understand ancient history.
Until next time, God bless and take care,
Willow Dressel
References:
2,4Hodge, Bodie, The Tower of Babel the Cultural History of Our Ancestors, Master Books, Green Forest, AR, 2013, pp 262-263.
No comments:
Post a Comment