OBST 592 Exam 3—Study Guide
Thanks to Brian & Jung for their notes..I used both to complete this. Maybe it can be of some help for whoever hasn’t gotten a chance to fill it out. If there is something that says “I” it’s referring to Dr. Yates…Jung’s notes were transcribed, so its exactly what Dr. Yates said. If anything is wrong or should be added, please let me know 
This test will cover the books of Zechariah, Joel, Malachi, Psalms, Proverbs, and Job. Some test questions will cover general knowledge of these books discussed in the class sessions on these books. The best way to prepare for these questions is to study through your notes from the class sessions covering these books.
Zechariah:
Know the three sections of the book:
The night visions:
The night visions (Zech 1:1-6:14)
1. The vision of the man among the myrtle trees (1:7-17)
a. Angels of God going out to judge the other nations
b. God will bring judgment against the nations who feel safe and secure
2. The vision of the four horns and the four craftsmen (1:18-21)
a. The nations that harm Israel will be destroyed
b. Craftsman will destroy horns
3. The vision of the man with a measuring line (2:1-12)
a. Jerusalem will be bigger and better than ever before
4. The vision of the new garments for the high priest (3:1-10)
a. Cleansing of the priest and the restoration of Israel’s worship
b. Satan appears in this vision
5. The vision of the golden lampstand and the two olive trees (4:1-14)
a. Joshua and Zerubbabel empowered and blessed by God
6. The vision of the flying scroll (5:1-4)
a. 30 feet long written on both sides
b. Judgment on those who violate God’s law
7. The vision of the woman in a basket (5:5-11)
a. Removal of Guilt of Land to Babylon
b. Indicates the warning of another exile if things do not change
8. The vision of the four chariots (6:1-8)
a. Judgment of the Nations is coming
Why is there a delay in the full restoration of Israel: There is a delay because the people repented but were not fully obedient; God ultimately ‘made’ them repent- He poured out a spirit if repentance of the people and they turned back to Him
The messianic prophesies in chs. 9-14 (know the details of these passages and know the difference between a direct prophecy and typology when the NT views passages as
“fulfilled” in Christ):
1. Zechariah 9:9-17
a. 10-17 – Second coming of Christ
2. Zechariah 11:4-17
a. V. 4-8: acts out role of Shepherd
b. V. 9-14: the people reject the Lord as their shepherd
1. 30 pieces of silver given for worth of shepherding by God
2. Rejection of God as Shepherd
3. Rejection of Jesus / Judas betrayed for 30 pieces of silver
4. 30 pieces of silver is the value of a slave
3. Zechariah 12:10-14 (Typology)
a. 12:1-9 – The Lord will destroy Zion’s enemies
b. 12:10-14 – Israel will recognize that they have pierced (rejected) their Lord
Joel:
Specific reasons why we view Joel as a post-exilic prophecy:
1- God’s punishment on those who have mistreated Israel (scattered & sold into slavery-
3:2-3)
2- Slave trade w/Greeks; Jews sold as slaves (3:6)
3- Temple is standing (1:14, 16; 2:17)
4- Term for “governor” (pekhah) in 1:8 is used elsewhere in post-exilic literature (Haggai
1:1, 14; 2:2, 21)
The basic message of the book as covered in class:
The message of Joel
1. The locust plague as God’s judgment (Joel 1:2-20)
a. Locust  covenant curse (Deut 28:38, 42)
b. Day of the Lord
c. Described like an Army
2. The warning of further judgment (Joel 2:1-11)
a. Army described like locust
b. Warnings  2:18  Promise of Future
c. Playing out of 2 Chron 7:13-14
 One of the things that Moses had warned the people about is that the covenant curse that God would bring against them for their disobedience would be that He would bring locust plague among them and that would devour their crops. That was a specific covenant curse.
Deuteronomy 28:38 “You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for the locust shall consume it“ Deuteronomy 28:42 “The cricket shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground.“
If want a great illustration of reaping and sowing the OT provides - they did not obey
God, so one of the ways that God would punish them is that He would destroy their crops. He would send locusts that would come through the land and devour them.
 In the Near East or Middle East right now, they are still caused huge problems by locusts’ invasions. There was one several years ago in Afghanistan - that basically along with the war pretty much wiped out the country. They were taking sheets of plastic, going through and scraping them off their fields and places where they live because these dead locusts were everywhere. Israel could be destroyed by locusts.
That’s what has happened in the book of Joel. God has sent a locust plague.
 Joel 1 “the coming of these locusts” is pointing forward to a greater judgment - the judgment of the Day of the Lord. Joel 1:4 “What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten, what the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten” - four different types of locusts. Joel 1:5 “Awake, you drunkards, and weep, and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth.”
Joel 1:6-7 “For a nation has come up against my land, powerful and beyond number; its teeth are lions’ teeth, and it has the fangs of a lioness. It has laid waste my vine and splintered my fig tree; it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; their branches are made white.”
 The locusts have come in like an army and they have devoured the crops in
Israel. This is God’s judgment on the post-exilic community. They were poor and impoverished, to begin with, and now there’s a national disaster. What Joel is saying is “Get ready because if you don’t change your ways, even worse judgment is on its way.” Joel 1:15 “Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it come” Remember one of the prophets who talked about the Day of the Lord being near right before the Babylonian invasions? - Zephaniah. Joel is saying the same thing - ‘Another Day of the Lord is coming if you don’t repent.’
 The Lord has already sent the locusts’ invasion to destroy the crops . If they do not repent, another invasion is coming. In Joel 1, locusts are described like an army. But what happens in Joel 2 is that an army is described like locusts. What’s going on in the book is that God has sent a locust plague to the post-exilic community and destroyed their crops, and it has been a wake-up call “Get right with me. If you don’t,
I’m going to send an even greater judgment. I’m gonna send an army that consumes you and destroys you and invades you just like these locusts did.
So judgment has already happened. They have not learned from the exile. They have not come back to God. As a result of that, God is getting ready to send another invasion on their land. He’s going to call the people to repent. Joel 2:13 “and rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.“ We have seen this in Jonah with the Ninevites and Exodus with the
Israelites. Now, again “God is slow to anger” ‘If you will tear your hearts, not just clothes, but internally turn back to God, He will spare you from this judgment.
 It seems like from what we can see in this book that people responded to God’s warnings here and He did not send this further judgment that He promised. So, there’s really kind of change. Before Joel 2:18, all kinds of warnings. After Joel
2:18, promises of what God will do for Israel in the future. This is an example of how they listened to God, they paid attention to the warnings of the prophet and God relented and God did not send judgment that He threatened to send.
One of the most important and the most significant passages in Joel is in Joel 2 in the future that the Lord promises to pour out His Spirit on all flesh. Remember that’s the passage that Peter quotes on the Day of Pentecost. ‘What God promised back in the prophet Joel - that’s been fulfilled today.’ But the Lord says “I will restore to you what the locusts have eaten. What you have lost because of my judgment will give back to you and I will restore to you if you repent.” And it appears that in this particular incident, they listened to God and they repented.
2 Chronicles 7:13-14 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” The book of Joel is an example of that specific promise being worked out lives of the people of Israel. This is a passage that you may want to jot down somewhere beside the book of Joel because it illustrates this principle being worked out in Israel’s history. This is 2 Chronicles 7 being realized in Israel’s history.
Malachi:
How the message of the book reflects that it parallels the time of Ezra-Nehemiah:
1- Problem of intermarriage w/foreign wives (Ez. 9-10, Neh. 13:23-27)
2- Failure to pay tithes (Neh 13:10-14) , 3- Social Injustice (Neh. 5:1-13)
The disputational nature of the book: The book is built around disputations; there are 7 disputations where the Lord will say something to Israel & they respond w/sarcasm (Idk if we have to know the actual disputations, but I’m listing examples from Jung’s notes here anyway)
In the first place, the Lord says “I have loved you, Israel as my people.” And amazingly, the people of Israel come back to say “How have you loved us?”
In another place, the Lord says “You have robbed me.” The people say “How have we robbed you?” The Lord says “By not paying your tithes and by not honoring me with your resources.” Basically, that’s just of the book. God will make a statement, and people argue back with Him. This reflects how far spiritually the post-exilic community had declined.
Psalms: Theme is worshipping God as king of Israel & king of all nations & all peoples
Issues concerning authorship—are all the psalms Davidic:
 I want to talk about the issue of authorship of the Psalms. Obviously the significant thing is that
David is associated with almost half of these Psalms. And then there are some other biblical figures that we know in other places. Two of the Psalms are attributed to Solomon. Actually one psalm - Psalm 90 is attributed to Moses. One of the issues, sort of background and critical issue here is dealing with the authorship of the Psalms. We notice that almost fifty of these are anonymous. There’s no title, there’s no superscription at the top telling us who wrote the psalm.
But almost half of them are attributed to David.
What problems are associated with identifying psalms as Davidic:
The issue of authorship and the psalm titles (superscriptions) (Treat titles with respect)
a. Author titles (ledawid)
1. Le – various meanings
2. Psalm titles reflect early traditions concerning the Psalm
3. Appears to be clear evidence that they are secondary additions
a. Psalm 30  Title: dedication / About: someone being healed
4. Titles denoting literary or musical genres
5. Titles with musical terms or style
What are 3-4 key arguments for Davidic authorship of the Psalms (these are from the handout “Key Arguments for Authenticity & Davidic Authorship):
1- No ancient version or Hebrew manuscripts omit the superscriptions (found in MT,
Qumran, LXX, and Targums)
2- Other ancient Near Eastern texts (Sumerian and Akkadian ritual texts, Egyptian hymns) contain similar titles and notations from as nearly as the 3rd millennium BC
3- Strong Biblical tradition of David as poet & musician outside the Psalter; Also, kings in other ancient Near Eastern cultures engage in similar literary endeavors
4- The NT affirms Davidic authorship of the Psalms
When were the Psalms put into their final form:
The arrangement of the MT Psalter: The psalms are arranged into five books that each have a closing doxology or ascription of praise
1. Psalm 1-41
2. Psalm 42-72
3. Psalm 73-89
4. Psalm 90-106
5. Psalm 107-150 not sure about this part, but may prove helpful:
 Psalm 72:20 “The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.” I think there was probably originally a Psalter that stopped at Psalm 72. It was self-standing Davidic collection of Psalms and Psalm 72 was the last chapter. Then finally what’s happened is that the Psalms are ultimately put together in five books. Then, in the post-exilic period, after the exile has already taken place, the final form of the Psalms as we have them today - they were put into that form. There were at least four stages in this process: Original Psalm -> Smaller Collections -> Five Books ->
Post-exilic Period.
Know the names Gunkel and Mowinckel and their significance for Psalms studies:
Hermann Gunkel- form-critical approach to the Psalms; recognized main genre & literary genre/form of the Psalms
Sigmund Mowinckel: student of Gunkel; myth & ritual school connects many psalms to New
Year/Enthronement Festival
Be able to explain how Psalm 1-2 serve as an introduction for the Psalter:
Notice there is no Psalm title in Psalm 1 and in Psalm 2. And yet in Psalms 3-41, every one of those Psalms except one or two have a title. these were probably the Psalms that were added at the end to provide an introduction.
Psalm 1: Torah & the word of God; He delights in the law and he meditates on it. He lives a life of wisdom. That’s what a worshipper looks like.
Psalm 2: Davidic King (Messianic focus)- we still believe the promises God made to David will be fulfilled. why is that important? - because there’s no king on the throne. If I put the Psalms together at the end, why would the Jews emphasize the Davidic King? This gives basically a
Messianic focus that ‘We still believe there’s hope attached to the house of David. We still believe that all of those promises that God made to David.’ There’s no king on the throne. The
Dynasty is done, but the Davidic covenant is not.
*Focus your study on the different psalm genres—know the features and themes of each genre that we covered.
Hymns : (Ex. Is Ps. 117) Psalms of praise to the Lord that focus on God’s eternal attributes & His great acts in creation & history; Elements of the Hymn- call to praise (praise the
Lord), Cause for praise (reasons why God is worthy of praise), & conclusion; the purpose is to get is to get us to focus on God’s covenant loyalty & that is why He is worthy of praise, not so much what He has done for us, but who He is; Another name for these is Psalms of Orientation;
Another example is Ps. 8- reflecting on Gen. 1:27-28- begins & ends w/same expression:
Ps 8 (Chiasm)
A. Praise
B. V 1-3 (rulership of God)
C. V 4 (man)
C. V 5 (man)
B. V 6-8 (rulership of Man)
A. Praise
Lament Psalms: Prayers offered to God in times of distress, pleading for God’s help, intervention
& deliverance; Key Elements- Address/Introductory Cry, Lament (description), Confession of trust, Petition proper (asking God to do something), & vow of praise; Laments are the most common in psalter- makes our worship more honest when we realize we can worship Him even in our pain..worship involves being honest w/God about what’s in our heart; Examples: Psalm 7- prayer of a person falsely accused, Psalm 22- prayer of person under enemy attack, Psalm 44- prayer of community after military defeat; Psalmist often asks ‘how long God’ and tell God what they want & why the want it; there is a difference between lament & complaint; Motivations for
God to answer- Lord I can’t praise you if I’m dead, Judge me according to my integrity, Restore me so that I can teach others, Answer me out of the goodness of your love
Psalm 6- prayer of a sick person: v. 1-3 (intro), v. 4-6 (petition), v. 6-7 (lament), v. 8-10
(confession of trust); God’s the one we ultimately need to turn to, He should be the 1st one; the elements don’t have to be in order & all of them don’t have to present, sometimes more emphasis on one/some parts than others
Psalm 88- v. 1-2 (intro), missing here is trust/hope/joy; asking for help in time of/near death; one of the lament psalms that doesn’t have confession of trust or vow of praise; a reminder we can still bring anything/everything to the Lord
Psalm 44- military defeat when no apparent national sin was committed by Israel
Psalm 66:13-15- Vow of praise; Psalmist vows to go to temple & praise God for what He has done Thanksgiving Psalms : Psalms that express thanks to God for a specific answer to prayer or deliverance from danger; Lament is BEFORE and Thanksgiving is AFTER God delivers;
Elements- Proclamation to praise (‘I will praise’), report of deliverance, praise & instruction for other worshippers; these psalms were the fulfillment of the vow of praise (22:25-26, 66:13-15) and included peace offerings or fellowship offerings in Lev. 3); Thanksgiving is not just between
God & us, but thanking God in the presence of other people so they will be encouraged too;
Examples are Psalm 30 & 40- response for what God has done in my life & thanking God in front of others to build each other up
Psalms of Confidence: Expressions of confidence in the Lord & praise to Him for the security He provdes to those who trust in Him; Examples Psalm 23- The context of the ancient Near East – a shepherd is a king & About the protection that God’s people enjoy when they Lord rules over their lives
Psalm 62- God being a rock/a refuge/a fortress
Psalm 91- How to practically apply it- language of extreme devotion- there is a general promise here, but there are exceptions to the rule; The psalms of confidence and the life of faith- The problem of the absolute guarantees in the psalms of confidence is it makes it sound like if you just trust in God nothing bad will ever happen to you; the reality of the struggle is to trust in times of trouble- there are times when the Psalms and the Proverbs do tell us basic general principles that are true but that are not rue in every case or every example
Royal Psalms: Prayers for the contemporary Davidic ruler on the throne at that time; based on promises & stipulations of Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7)- unconditional promise: David’s throne established for all time & conditional element: God will bless or punish each Davidic king based on obedience to the Law of God; Psalms that focus on Davidic king & roles he has as
God’s vice-regent; these psalms also ultimately point to Jesus Christ: Prayers for the Davidic
King  Jesus Christ (only one who can restore Davidic line; no king for 2500 years, but Christ lives) Psalm 2- Prayer for the king on the day of his coronation; God placed the king there, not just because he has the votes; v/7 is also about David & kings of Davidic covenant (God has anointed this king, placed him on the throne; 2:8-9- only one who can fulfill this promise is JC; Rev.
19:14-14; Ps. 22: w/typology can apply to Christ; 41:9- reference to Judah betraying Christ;
Psalm 72:17- prayer for Solomon but prayer fulfilled in Christ
Psalm 20- Prayer for the king as he goes into battle
Psalm 21- Praise for the victory that the Lord has given the king over his enemies
Psalm 45- Prayer for the king on his wedding day; important b/c God said he would have a line of heirs in the Davidic covenant
Kingship (Enthronement) Psalms: Psalms celebrating the rule of God over his creation; God is the King because he is the Creator, God is King because he has defeated his enemies in history,
Focus on the kingship and sovereignty of God; These psalms generally do not have a form like a lament, they’re recognized by their theme; A lot of these psalms have the Hebrew expression
“Yahweh malak”; “Yahweh is King” or “Yahweh Rules”; or some translated it “Yahweh has become King.” These were the psalms especially that Mowinckel made this theory about “there was an annual enthronement of Yahweh” that was ritually reenacted every year. I (Yates?) am not sure that that is really a valid hypothesis. However, what I want to see about them is that they are psalms that focus on the sovereignty and kingship of the Lord and this is the key theological idea in the Psalms as a whole.
Psalm 89 (end of book 3)- asking God what happened to His promise to take care of Davidic covenant (Ps. 90-106 answers question asked in Ps. 89)
Zion Psalms : Psalms that celebrate the presence of God in Jerusalem; Jerusalem is God’s hometown, where He meets w/them & protects them; Zion theology- 1) Zion is the highest
“mountain” (48:2), figurative language- Jerusalem is high mountain where true God lives, 2)
Zion is the source of the rivers of paradise (Ps. 45:4), 3) Zion is the dwelling place of God
(132:13-14), 4) The Lord defeats the enemy armies who attack Zion (46, 48, 76), 5) The Lord blesses Zion w/prosperity & security (132:15-16); Ps. 46 describes absolute security God gives to His people; prophets warn of judgment again Zion (Is. 1:21-25, Micah 3:9-12, Jer. 7:3-4)- the promises God made to protect Jerusalem were contingent on their faith & obedience & prophets promise that God will ultimately restore Zion (Is. 2:2-4, Is. 60,62 & Micah 4:1-3)
Wisdom Psalms: Focus on value of a godly life & address things seen in wisdom literature; person of worship is also a person of wisdom; Themes- importance of Torah, God’s law &
Difference between righteous and the wicked (blessing of the righteous, judgment of the wicked); Wicked will be judged & destroyed while righteous will be blessed & will prosper, emphasis on God judging people in this life; not a clearly defined concept of life after death (6:5,
30:9, 39:13, 88:5-11, 89:48, 115:17); The wicked are cut off & go down to the grave before their time (37:35-36, 49:13-14, 55: 12 & 23)
Ps. 49- Godly perspective on wealth; people who have wrong perspective on money do things w/I that should only be done w/God
Imprecatory Psalms: Prayers which call for God to bring down a curse upon his enemies (Ps.
58:6-8); Ex- Ps. 58, 109, 139; Theological problem: is such harsh language appropriate for God’s people? How can God approve such language? Are these prayers appropriate for NT believers today? Yates response to this:
I think there’s a sense in which these prayers are righteous in the sense that they’re appealing for God to bring justice. In unjust situations, that’s just a natural cry of human heart, balancing that with what Brian said about “I’m taking vengeance into my hands.”
So we’re crying for justice in situations of extreme persecution or situations where there has been some gross active violence. I think it’s right to appeal for God’s justice. “Lord, I want you to make things right.” One of the reasons that we’re looking forward to the
Second Coming is “God, put an end to violence and injustice and suffering that’s going on in this world.” When God judges people who do those things, I think we will be acknowledging and worshiping that God is absolutely just and righteous and that’s one of the things that make Him worth worshiping. The appeal to God’s justice is really important part of this.
What is the theological message of the Psalms—be able to explain this in detail and note the tensions involved in the Psalter as well: Theological Center of the Psalms- The Kingship of
God
Theological Tension in the Psalms- God’s reign is absolute & eternal (47:2, 115:3, 145:13),
God’s sovereignty is not universally recognized (nations conspire against God & Davidic king
[2:1-3], righteous suffer at hands of wicked [9:13, 17:8-12, 102:8], Israel defeated by their enemies [44,74:3-10])
Ultimately, all nations will recognize God’s kingship (47:7-9, 145:10-13)
Proverbs:
Be able to list and explain the basic tenets of wisdom theology (and especially the concept of how God has implanted wisdom in his creation and what this means):
1- God has implanted wisdom in His creation; Prov. 8- wisdom portrayed as a woman that was w/God in creation; God created wisdom before anything else; creative way the writer is describing an attribute of God; Master Craftsman; this description of wisdom is personification of God’s infinite wisdom; Wisdom was the principle by which everything was made
2- The starting point of wisdom: fear of the Lord
3- How does one become wise? Through observation & experience, through tradition/teaching, from mistakes, from correction & discipline
4- 2 ways to live life: righteousness/wisdom leads to prosperity/blessings or wickedness leads to cursing/death (Prov. 3:13, 16, 25 & Prov. 10:27, 13:21)
Be able to explain the portrayal of wisdom and folly as women (and especially the meaning and significance of the personification of wisdom in Proverbs 8-this is listed above): Wisdom &
Folly are not just 2 different ways of life, they are portrayed as 2 women; In Prov. 8, wisdom is as a woman & folly will be the same way:
Outline of contents
a. The value of wisdom (Proverbs 1-9)
1. The instruction speech (father to son)
a. “my son” address
b. Commands / prohibition
c. Motivations: negative and positive
d. Wisdom and Folly portrayed as women
1) Grab the attention of his son by using what would most likely be his focus
2. The wisdom speeches
a. Wisdom as a woman (9:1-6)
1) Be married to wisdom
b. Folly as a woman (9:13-18)
1) Bringer of death (RUN from her)
c. Religious dimension
1) Wisdom – Yahweh
2) Folly – Ba’al
Know the different sections of Proverbs and the distinctive features of each (I think this is right, someone correct me if I’m wrong here):
Types of Proverbs
Observational Proverbs (13:7; 18:16)
Didactic Proverb (13:6, 14:1)- trying to teach something
“Better than” Proverbs (15:16-17, 21:19)
Admonitional Proverbs (16:3, 22:22-23,24-25)
Numerical Sayings (30:18-19, 24-28)
Features of Proverbs
Brief (6-8 words)
Parallel lines (2nd line reinforces the 1st)
Often uses figurative language or other poetic devices (10:26,11:22)
Not an exhaustive treatment of a subject
Be able to explain how to interpret and read Proverbs properly:
Have to be applied at the right time & in the right circumstances (see 22:15, 26:4-5, 15:23,
66:7,9)
Not absolute guarantees or immutable laws (10:1,12:10,13:3, etc)
Emphasizes that there are acts & consequences (23:29-35) be able to explain why the sayings of the wise man are in Prov. 22-24:
This section bears relationship to Amenemope (instruction of Egyptian wisdom) that ultimately all truth is God’s truth
Was the biblical writer influenced by pagan ideas? Bc most agree that instruction of Amenemope came 1st
Biblical writer recognizes that all truth is God’s truth, quotes “secular” sources, places “secular” truth in the context of Biblical faith (22:19, 24:21)
Biblical writer is using them to teach about fearing God know the themes and message in the proverbs of Hezekiah: 130 proverbial sayings
(numerical equivalent of the name Hezekiah) & focuses on theme of leadership (25:2-7, 28:16,
29:12,14), a way to use & train people of the court and his family, time frame of his reign ca. 700
BC
the sayings of Agur:
Deal with pride; the notion that we can learn everything we can from Proverbs and still have a lot to know and learn; we don’t who Agur is the sayings of Lemuel:
We don’t know who Lemuel is, but it is advice from his mother; Source- King Lemuel (a non-
Israelite); given to king from his mother; Focus of the advice- how to rule as king
Advice- be careful of personal indulgence; Yates used the example of this as something a parent would to a kid who is going off to college
Job: Message of Job- The question of justice: why do the righteous suffer & the wicked prosper; what reasons is there to trust, love, serve, worship, honor and fear God other than blessings? And
The question of value: Satan devalues God by implying fear of the Lord comes only out of a heart of getting some benefit from God know the basic dating of Job’s life and the reasons for it:
Date and Setting of the Book of Job
1. The setting of the story: The story of Job seems to fit best with the time of the Old Testament
Patriarchs
a. Date: ca. 2000 BC
b. Age (42:16)
1. 140 years old
c. Wealth (1:3)
1. Measured in livestock
d. Job’s role as priest for his family (1:5)
1. Made sacrifices on behalf of his family
e. Roving tribesmen (Sabean and Chaldean) who kill his servants fit best in the time period of the second millennium BC
f. Job is not an Israelite and the book makes no mention of the covenant between Israel and God. There are also no references to any other known events from OT history.
1. Job was from Uz
g. The names of God in the Book
1. Yahweh – in framework of the story
2. Elohim – Job and his friends speak of God this way know the 3 major sections of Job (with chapter divisions) (not sure if we have to know the exact contents but I put some notes):
God & Satan (1-2): Job is a righteous man, why do people fear God?, shows there is a higher purpose for Job’s suffering that he cannot see
Job & Friends (3-37): 3 cycles of dialogue between Job & his friends, Job initially agrees w/friends, but then maintains his innocence (**Not sinless perfect, but Job is saying his integrity doesn’t merit this type of punishment**)
God & Job (38-42): God speaks to Job, God points to His sovereignty & providential care for creation, God points to His control over powers of evil & chaos, Job despises himself & God restores Job be able to explain how Job’s theology compares/contrasts to the theology of his friends:
Job’s friends’ theology is inadequate, not everything they say is normative;
Cycle 1 Cycle 2 Cycle 3
(3-14) (15-21) (22-31)
Eliphaz Eliphaz Eliphaz
Bildad Bildad Bildad
Zophar Zophar
Job Job Job
Each time we move to a new cycle, the accusations against Job get a little more “in your face”; his friends are using proverbs when they speak to him
Job agrees w/their theology (27:13-14)- he agrees w/their basic premise & he also questions their theology (21:7-9) (Ps. 73 asks the same question) be able to explain the message of the Elihu:
Elihu is a young man who “knows it all” (Yates uses the example of a college sophomore who takes Theo 501 & knows everything)
Says more than anyone else, but adds little to the debate
“Job is a sinner”, he says
Powerful, but distant God
Some that Elihu says carries the conversation forward & prepares us for what God says in 38: 1-
Suffering can have value in what it teaches, 2- Greatness of god & His creative Power
This is similar to what God says, but God also talks about His care * provision
This also shows the limitations of human wisdom what does God say to Job in chapters 38-42:
God points to His sovereign power reflected in creation & his providential care for His creation
(38:1-40:2)
-Job responds that he is unworthy & how can he reply
God points to His control over the powers of evil & chaos in the world (40:9-41:34)
-Job responds that he despises himself & repents in dust & ashes explain the identity of Leviathan given in class:
Behemoth (generally seen as a hippo) & Leviathan ( generally seen as a crocodile)
Seem to be spiritual significance representative of Satan
Yates believes they do refer to literal animals, but also believes the animals are described in poetic & hyperbolic ways
Real animals pointing to spiritual realities- death, chaos, evil in the world- showing Job that there are spiritual things at work that he doesn’t know about
Leviathan- Ps. 104:24- God put Leviathan in the sea to play w/it & in Ps. 74, God takes His sword and slays Leviathan, cuts it to pieces. Representative of Satanic powers that God destroyed in the past & will do in the future