Job
Job 1:11 There
[ par. 1 2 ]
Job 1:11 [1] Job is a book of the debates of godly men concerning the purpose of the sufferings of the saints, that is, the purpose of God’s dealing with His people. The book is poetic in form, with the exception of chs. 1 and 2 and the last eleven verses of ch. 42. Job is the first of the five books of poetry in the Scriptures, the other four being Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.
Job 1:11 [2] The book of Job, written early in the progression of the divine revelation (see note 131, par. 2, in ch. 2), does not contain a clear revelation of God’s purpose in dealing with His people. This revelation was given not to Job but to Paul. As unveiled in Paul’s Epistles, God’s purpose in dealing with us is to strip us of all things and to consume us so that we may gain God more and more (Phil. 3:8; 2 Cor. 4:16). Cf. note 21 in Gen. 42 and note 261 in Psa. 73.
Job 1:12 Uz
A city in Edom (Lam. 4:21).
Job 1:13a Job Ezek. 14:14, 20; James 5:11
The name means hated, or persecuted. It corresponds to the hatred and persecution that Job suffered from Satan, the enemy of God.
Job 1:14b perfect Gen. 6:9; 17:1; Deut. 18:13; 2 Sam. 22:24; Job 1:8; 2:3; 9:20; Luke 1:6
[ par. 1 2 ]
Job 1:14 [1] Being perfect is related to the inner man, and being upright is related to the outer man. In addition to being perfect inwardly and upright outwardly, Job feared God positively and turned away from evil negatively. However, God did not create man merely to fear Him and not do anything wrong. Rather, God created man in His own image and according to His likeness that man may express God (Gen. 1:26 and notes). To express God is higher than fearing God and turning away from evil.
Job 1:14 [2] Job was also a man of integrity (2:3, 9; 27:5; 31:6). Integrity is the totality of being perfect and being upright. With respect to Job, integrity is the total expression of what he was. In character he was perfect and upright, and in his ethics he had a high standard of integrity.
Job 1:51 sanctify
Because feasting, an excess in eating, can be worldly, Job, a godly father, sanctified his children after their days of feasting. He offered burnt offerings for them continually.
Job 1:51a burnt Gen. 8:20; Job 42:8
See note 51.
Job 1:52 cursed
Lit., blessed; perhaps used euphemistically for cursing. So also in v. 11; 2:5 and 9.
Job 1:61a sons Job 2:1; 38:7; Psa. 89:6; cf. Gen. 6:2, 4
The sons of God are the angels (cf. 1 Kings 22:19-23; Psa. 89:5-7). The scene in vv. 6-8 depicts one of the two councils held in heaven concerning Job. What Job had attained in his perfection, uprightness, and integrity was altogether vanity. It neither fulfilled God’s purpose nor satisfied God’s desire. Thus, God was lovingly concerned for Job and held two councils in heaven concerning how to deal with Job (vv. 6-8; 2:1-3).
Job 1:6b before 1 Kings 22:19
Job 1:62c Satan 1 Chron. 21:1; Zech. 3:1; Rev. 12:9; Matt. 4:10; 2 Cor. 11:14; Luke 22:31
Lit., the satan, the adversary. So also through 2:7. See note 101 in Matt. 4.
Job 1:63 among
[ par. 1 2 ]
Job 1:63 [1] After he rebelled against God, Satan was condemned and even sentenced by God (see notes in Isa. 14:12-15 and Ezek. 28:12-19). Yet in His wisdom and sovereignty God did not execute His judgment on Satan. God still has given Satan a certain limited time to do something to meet some negative need in the fulfillment of His economy. God could not and would not ask any of His many excellent angels to do what was needed to damage Job in order to strip him of everything so that he might be full of God. Satan was the unique one in the universe who could and who would fulfill God’s intention of stripping Job of his possessions and his ethical attainment. Thus, the scene here and in ch. 2 shows that Satan remains free to be purposely used by God as an ugly tool to execute God’s severe dealing with his loving ones.
Job 1:63 [2] Two thousand years after the time of Job, Jesus Christ destroyed Satan through His death on the cross (Heb. 2:14). However, Satan’s right to enter into the presence of God still has not been taken away from him (cf. Rev. 12:10). This right will be taken away at the beginning of the great tribulation. When the overcomers are raptured to God’s throne, Satan will be cast down from the heavens to the earth (Rev. 12:5, 7-9). From that time onward, Satan will no longer have the right to enter into the presence of God.
Job 1:7a roving Job 2:2; 1 Pet. 5:8
Job 1:81 considered
Only God knew that Job had a need—he did not have God within him. God’s boasting to Satan regarding Job’s perfection and uprightness (v. 8; 2:3) was with the intention that Satan would do something for God to meet Job’s need. Satan, an evil angel, was willing to do what none of the good angels were willing to do, and he immediately accepted the dishonorable commission (v. 12; 2:6). See note 63, par. 1.
Job 1:9a answered Job 2:4; Rev. 12:10
Job 1:91 Does
Satan’s evil concept concerning God’s dealing with His seeking people is based on his commercial principle of gain or loss. Satan is a businessman, a merchant (Ezek. 28:16, 18; cf. Rev. 18:11-19), and his thought is according to his commercial principle. He does not recognize that God’s purpose in dealing with those who love Him is that they may gain Him to the fullest extent, surpassing the loss of all that they have other than Him (Phil. 3:7-8), that He might be expressed through them for the fulfillment of His purpose in creating man (Gen. 1:26).
Job 1:10a hedge cf. Psa. 3:3; 34:7
Job 1:121 only
[ par. 1 2 ]
Job 1:121 [1] As seen in the experiences of both Job and Paul, God assigns certain afflictions to His chosen ones for their perfecting. Although these afflictions are God’s assignment, they do not come from God but from Satan (cf. 2 Cor. 12:7-9). Satan, in his cruel nature, would attack God’s lovers to any extent to damage them if God did not draw a line to preserve His lovers’ existence that they might gain Him to the fullest extent for His fullest satisfaction. After God judged Satan, God still allowed him to be free to accuse, attack, damage, persecute, and martyr His saints that God may use him to a certain extent for the fulfillment of His particular purpose (2 Cor. 4:16-17). However, God always restricts him in the limit of His permission (cf. 1 Cor. 10:13).
Job 1:121 [2] Satan’s attacks on Job in two steps (vv. 13-19; 2:7) laid a foundation for God to accomplish His glorious transformation on Job, and for Job to experience the mysterious transactions in his relationship with the mysterious God.
Job 1:161 fire
Contrary to this report, this fire, as well as the great wind in v. 19, was a natural calamity instigated by Satan.
Job 1:21a Naked Eccl. 5:15; cf. Psa. 49:17; 1 Tim. 6:7
Job 1:21b return cf. Gen. 3:19; Psa. 90:3; Eccl. 12:7
Job 1:21c gives Eccl. 5:19; James 1:17
Job 2:1a Then vv. 1-3: Job 1:6-8
Job 2:11 sons
See note 61 in ch. 1.
Job 2:12b Satan Job 1:6; 2 Cor. 11:14; Luke 22:31
See note 63 in ch. 1.
Job 2:2a roving 1 Pet. 5:8
Job 2:31 considered
See note 81 in ch. 1.
Job 2:3a integrity Job 2:9; 4:6; cf. Job 27:5-6
Job 2:4a answered Job 1:9; Rev. 12:10
Job 2:6a Satan 2 Cor. 12:7; cf. 1 Cor. 5:5
Job 2:61 only
See note 121 in ch. 1.
Job 2:7a boils Exo. 9:9; Lev. 13:18; Deut. 28:27, 35
Job 2:10a not Job 1:22; Psa. 39:1
Job 2:13a seven Gen. 50:10; Ezek. 3:15
Job 2:131 none
[ par. 1 2 ]
Job 2:131 [1] Job’s three friends could not speak anything because they had no knowledge, no understanding, concerning the purpose of what had happened to Job. The scene here indicates that Job and his friends were ignorant concerning that most painful and most terrifying occurrence, and were puzzled in their godliness, unable to discern what the reason was, what the purpose was, and what the result would be. Actually, Job’s experience was a step taken by God in His divine economy to carry out the consuming and stripping of the contented Job in order to usher Job into a deeper seeking after God, that he might gain God instead of His blessings and his attainments in his perfection and integrity. God’s stripping and consuming were exercised over Job to tear Job down that God might have a base and a way to rebuild him with God Himself that he might become a God-man, the same as God in His life and nature but not in His Godhead, in order to express God.
Job 2:131 [2] The divine revelation in the Bible is progressive. Up to Job’s time the progression of the divine revelation had reached only the level of Abraham’s time, that is, that sinners need God’s redemption with the shedding of the blood of the burnt offering (1:5; 42:8). The divine truths regarding such matters as regeneration (John 3:6; 1 Pet. 1:23), renewing (2 Cor. 4:16; Eph. 4:23), transformation (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18), conformation (Rom. 8:29), and glorification (Rom. 8:23, 30; Phil. 3:21) were not explicitly revealed to man in God’s Old Testament economy. God could not speak such things to Job and his friends because they were in a primitive stage of the divine revelation (cf. John 3:7-12; 16:12-13). These things were not revealed in completion until the apostle Paul’s time. Paul received a full and explicit revelation of things concerning which Job and his friends had no understanding (Eph. 3:3-6, 9-11; Col. 1:25-27). Without the Epistles of Paul it would be difficult to understand the book of Job, because the conclusion of Job does not give us an explicit view concerning the purpose of God’s dealing with His people. However, in the view of the New Testament it is very clear that God’s purpose in dealing with His holy people is that they would be emptied of everything and receive only God as their gain (Phil. 3:8; cf. Psa. 73:25-26). The desire of God’s heart is that we would gain Him in full as life, as the life supply, and as everything to our being.
Job 3:11a cursed Jer. 20:14-18
[ par. 1 2 ]
Job 3:11 [1] Job was disturbed, perplexed, and entangled to the uttermost by his suffering of the disasters that befell his possessions and his children and the plague on his body, in spite of his perfection, uprightness, and integrity. When Job cursed the day of his birth, equivalent to cursing his mother, he surely was not perfect and upright, nor did he hold his integrity. Rather, he became bankrupt in integrity.
Job 3:11 [2] God’s intention with Job was to consume him and to strip him of his attainments, his achievements, in the highest standard of ethics in perfection and uprightness (1:1). God’s intention was also to tear down the natural Job in his perfection and uprightness that He might build up a renewed Job in God’s nature and attributes. God’s intention was not to have a Job in the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but a Job in the line of the tree of life (Gen. 2:9). Eventually, God’s intention was to make Job a man of God (1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 3:17), filled with Christ, the embodiment of God, to be the fullness of God for the expression of God in Christ (Eph. 3:14-21). Such a man of God, constituted with God according to His economy, would never be entangled by any troubles and problems so that he would curse his birth and prefer to die rather than to live. See note 111.
Job 3:111 die
[ par. 1 2 ]
Job 3:111 [1] Job’s experience of God’s consuming and stripping in the Old Testament was far behind that of Paul in the New Testament. First, God stripped Job of his possessions (1:13-19), and then God consumed him by his suffering of the plague on his body (2:7). In the New Testament God’s consuming and stripping become pleasant things. From the day he was converted, Paul was a person under God’s consuming and God’s stripping (2 Cor. 4:8-18; Phil. 3:7-8). However, when Paul was suffering distresses for the sake of Christ, he was well pleased (2 Cor. 12:10), and he even rejoiced in the Lord for his experiences (Col. 1:24; Phil. 4:4). In contrast, Job did not rejoice but was constantly vexed.
Job 3:111 [2] In his experience of God’s consuming and stripping, Paul was not constricted by the pressures on every side and did not perish despite his being cast down (2 Cor. 4:8-9). He did not lose heart, but he expected to be put to death that he might manifest Christ’s life, and to be consumed day by day that he might be renewed and, through the momentary lightness of his affliction, add to the eternal weight of glory that he would share in the ages to come (2 Cor. 4:10-12, 16-17; cf. Rom. 8:18). Unlike Job, Paul did not curse the day of his birth, and he did not say that he preferred to die rather than to live. On the contrary, after much consideration Paul said that he still preferred to live, not to die, because to him to live was Christ (Phil. 1:21-25). Paul’s living Christ was for him to magnify Christ, whether through life or through death, by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19-20). He did not care for life or death; he cared only to live Christ for His magnification. When God created man, this is the kind of life He wanted man to live.
Job 3:21a death Rev. 9:6; 1 Kings 19:4; Jonah 4:3, 8
Job 3:23a hedged Lam. 3:7; cf. Job 1:10
Job 4:3a hands Isa. 35:3; Heb. 12:12
Job 4:4a knees Isa. 35:3; Heb. 12:12
Job 4:81 iniquity
[ par. 1 2 ]
Job 4:81 [1] The contents of the book of Job are the expressions of the sentiments of godly men, including Job, his three friends, and the young man Elihu, plus the speaking of God. The expressions of the sentiments of the five godly men were according to the experiences of their godly life and were based on human concepts concerning the relationship between God and man. They were uttered before the law was given, yet they were filled with the principle of good and evil. The logic of the speakers was according to the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9), and, based on this, they considered God’s justice and righteous judgment very much. Much of their debate in this book resulted from their different views concerning God’s judgment. Job’s friends thought that what he was suffering was a matter of God’s judgment. However, Job’s sufferings were not God’s judgment but God’s stripping and consuming that God might gain Job so that he might gain God more. See note 151 in ch. 9 and note 131, par. 2, in ch. 10.
Job 4:81 [2] Although they contradict God’s purpose for man, the words of Job, his three friends, and Elihu were recorded under the inspiration of the Spirit of God to serve God’s purpose of exposing the mistake of these five godly men in their knowing of God. Thus, man may be enlightened to realize that, according to the good pleasure of God’s heart’s desire, man should be filled with God to be the expression of God only, rather than the expression of man’s perfection in his uprightness and integrity.
Job 4:8a sow Prov. 22:8; Hosea 8:7; Gal. 6:7-8
Job 4:9a breath Job 15:30; 2 Thes. 2:8; Isa. 11:4; 30:33; Exo. 15:8; Psa. 18:15
Job 4:17a righteous Job 9:2; 25:4
Job 4:18a error cf. Isa. 14:12; Ezek. 28:13-18; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6
Job 4:19a dust Gen. 2:7; 3:19; Job 10:9
Job 4:201 continually
Or, perish forever.
Job 5:2a vexation Prov. 19:19
Job 5:51 even
The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Job 5:52 thirsty
Following many ancient versions; the Hebrew text reads, the snare.
Job 5:53 his
Lit., their.
Job 5:9a searched Job 9:10; 37:5; Psa. 40:5; Rom. 11:33
Job 5:10a rain Psa. 65:9-10; 147:8; Jer. 5:24; 14:22; Matt. 5:45; Acts 14:17
Job 5:11a high 1 Sam. 2:7; Psa. 75:6-7; Luke 1:52; James 4:10
Job 5:11b mourn James 4:9; cf. Matt. 5:4
Job 5:13a He 1 Cor. 3:19; cf. Psa. 9:15-16
Job 5:13b wise 1 Cor. 1:19; Jer. 8:9
Job 5:17a blessed Psa. 94:12; James 1:12
Job 5:171b chastening Prov. 3:11-12; Heb. 12:5-6; Psa. 94:12; 1 Cor. 11:32; Rev. 3:19
See note 81 in ch. 4.
Job 5:172 Almighty
Heb. Shaddai. So throughout the book. See note 12 in Gen. 17.
Job 5:18a heal Deut. 32:39; Isa. 30:26; Hosea 6:1
Job 5:261 coming
I.e., to the threshing floor, usually elevated.
Job 6:11 answered
[ par. 1 2 ]
Job 6:11 [1] Job’s vindication of himself in chs. 6 and 7 is an extract of the entire book. As he vindicated himself, Job stated his grievances (vv. 1-7), challenged God (vv. 8-13), blamed his friends (vv. 14-23), justified himself (vv. 24-30), expressed that he had the common knowledge of the vanity and end of human life (7:1-10), and concluded by saying that he loathed life and wanted to die (7:11-21). Job was challenging God and his friends to give him an answer. However, the answer to the book of Job is found not in this book but in the New Testament (see note 131, par. 2, in ch. 2 and note 171 in ch. 42).
Job 6:11 [2] Job, like his friends, was halted in the knowledge of right and wrong, not knowing God’s economy, not realizing in an adequate way the purpose for which God created man. He and his friends were devoid of the divine revelation and of the experience of the divine life. He had no idea that God had no intention to increase his perfection, uprightness, righteousness, and integrity. Rather, God’s intention was to strip all these human virtues which he had as his contentment, so that he could seek and gain only God Himself. Neither his friends nor he were in the line of the tree of life as God ordained man to be (Gen. 2:9, 16-17).
Job 6:21 vexation
See note 111 in ch. 3.
Job 6:101 deny
Or, conceal.
Job 6:10a Holy Lev. 19:2; Isa. 57:15; Hosea 11:9
Job 6:15a brook Jer. 15:18; cf. Jude 12
Job 7:6a days Job 9:25; 17:11; Psa. 39:5
Job 7:61 without
Or, as the thread runs out.
Job 7:7a breath cf. Psa. 78:39; James 4:14
Job 7:9a goes James 4:14
Job 7:10a returns 2 Sam. 12:23
Job 7:161 loathe
See note 111 in ch. 3.
Job 7:17a What vv. 17-18: cf. Psa. 8:4; 144:3; Heb. 2:6
Job 8:11 answered
In his rebuttal to Job’s self-vindication, Bildad’s logic concerning man’s relationship with God was built on good and evil, right and wrong, absolutely in the principle of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, altogether according to the human, ethical concept of fallen man. In his rebuttal there was no flavor of being enlightened in the divine revelation and no taste of being spiritual in the divine life. He was altogether in darkness and in the vanity of man’s ethics. His rebuttal was utterly powerless to convince Job, who was higher in things concerning God than his contemporaries.
Job 8:3a justice Job 34:12; Rom. 3:4-6
Job 8:4a children Job 1:5, 18-19
Job 8:9a shadow 1 Chron. 29:15; Job 14:2; 17:7; Psa. 102:11; 109:23; 144:4; Eccl. 6:12
Job 8:12a withers Psa. 37:2; 129:6
Job 8:181 one
Or, He.
Job 9:2a righteous Job 25:4; Psa. 143:2; Rom. 3:20, 10
Job 9:51a removes Psa. 46:2; Hab. 3:6; cf. Matt. 21:21
The events in vv. 5-7 must have happened in the preadamic world, at the time God judged the heavens and the earth because of the rebellion of Satan and his followers (see note 21 in Gen. 1 and notes 131 and 151 in Isa. 14).
Job 9:6a shakes Isa. 13:13; 2:19, 21; Hag. 2:6; Job 26:11
Job 9:7a sun Amos 8:9; Matt. 24:29
Job 9:8a stretched Job 26:7; Psa. 104:2; Isa. 40:22; Jer. 10:12; 51:15; Zech. 12:1
Job 9:8b trod Matt. 14:25
Job 9:9b Orion Job 38:31; Amos 5:8
Job 9:12a What Isa. 45:9; Rom. 9:20
Job 9:131 Rahab’s
A sea monster spoken of in ancient narratives (cf. 26:12; Isa. 51:9).
Job 9:151 Judge
Job thought that he could not win his case, even though he was righteous and perfect (vv. 15, 20-21), because God is mighty and does not turn back His anger in His judgment (vv. 13-24). Here Job had a wrong concept, thinking that God was dealing with him in anger. However, God’s dealing with Job was not God’s anger but God’s good pleasure (Eph. 1:5, 9). It was not God’s judging but God’s stripping, consuming, and tearing down that He might rebuild Job with Himself.
Job 9:201 it
Or, He.
Job 9:231 despair
Others translate, trial.
Job 9:30a wash Psa. 73:13
Job 9:301 soap
Others understand, snow.
Job 10:1a life 1 Kings 19:4; Job 7:16; 9:21
Job 10:7a And Deut. 32:39; Isa. 43:13
Job 10:8a shaped Psa. 100:3; 119:73; 139:13
Job 10:9b dust Gen. 2:7; 3:19; Job 4:19; 34:15; Psa. 90:3; 104:29; 146:4; Eccl. 12:7
Job 10:11a woven Psa. 139:13, 15
Job 10:131a hidden Eph. 3:9
[ par. 1 2 ]
Job 10:131 [1] This indicates that Job could not find the reason for God’s treatment of him, but he believed that there had to be some reason hidden in God’s heart. Job was right; something was hidden in God’s heart—the mystery of the ages (Eph. 3:9). After creating man in His image and according to His likeness (Gen. 1:26), God kept His intention hidden throughout the ages. Before the New Testament time He did not unveil to anyone what His purpose was (Eph. 3:4-5).
Job 10:131 [2] The mystery hidden in God’s heart is God’s eternal economy (Eph. 1:10; 3:9; 1 Tim. 1:4), which is God’s eternal intention with His heart’s desire to dispense Himself in His Divine Trinity as the Father in the Son by the Spirit into His chosen people to be their life and nature that they may be the same as He is as His duplication (Rom. 8:29; 1 John 3:2), to become an organism, the Body of Christ as the new man (Eph. 2:15-16), for God’s fullness, God’s expression (Eph. 1:22-23; 3:19), which will consummate in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2—22:5). Not knowing God’s intention, Job misunderstood God and thought that God was angry with him and was judging him and punishing him. God’s intention was not to judge Job or to punish him but to tear him down and then rebuild him with Himself, to make Job a new man in God’s new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15). This is the answer to Job, to the book of Job, and to Job’s vindication.
Job 10:15a cannot Ezra 9:6; Luke 18:13
Job 10:161 my
Lit., it.
Job 10:18a womb Job 3:3, 10-11
Job 10:201 revived
Lit., cheerful.
Job 10:21a return 2 Sam. 12:23; Job 16:22
Job 10:22a shadow Job 3:5; Psa. 23:4
Job 11:71a depths Job 5:9; Psa. 145:3; Rom. 11:33
Lit., that which is to be searched out of God.
Job 11:7b limit Eccl. 3:11
Job 11:121 empty-headed
[ par. 1 2 ]
Job 11:121 [1] This surely was not a word of fellowship or of lovingkindness. Zophar was saying that Job was an empty-headed man, a person altogether lacking in intelligence, even likening Job to a foal of a wild ass. No wonder Job blamed his friends for not showing any lovingkindness to him.
Job 11:121 [2] Zophar was absolutely blind in his comprehension of man’s standing before God, and his argument was altogether based on man’s natural concept in the realm of ethics, without any enlightenment of the divine revelation regarding what man should be to God.
Job 11:15a steadfast 1 John 3:21
Job 12:41 my
Lit., his.
Job 12:42 me
Lit., him.
Job 12:4a laughingstock Job 17:2, 6; 21:3; 30:1; cf. Mark 5:40; Luke 16:14; Acts 17:32
Job 12:61 might
Or, hand.
Job 12:7a teach vv. 7-9: cf. Rom. 1:20
Job 12:101a life Acts 17:25; Dan. 5:23
Heb. nephesh (soul)...ruach (spirit). Every living thing has a soul, but man has not only a soul but also a spirit (cf. notes 75, par. 1, and 76 in Gen. 2).
Job 12:11a try cf. 1 Cor. 14:29
Job 12:13a wisdom Dan. 2:20; Col. 2:3
Job 12:15a waters Gen. 8:2; Deut. 11:17; 1 Kings 8:35; cf. 1 Kings 17:1
Job 12:15b sends cf. Gen. 7:11-24; Psa. 147:18; Amos 5:8; 9:6
Job 12:17a counselors 2 Sam. 15:34; cf. Isa. 29:14; 1 Cor. 1:20
Job 12:22a brings Dan. 2:22; 1 Cor. 4:5; 2:10; Matt. 10:26
Job 13:3a argue cf. Job 9:3, 14
Job 13:4a Physicians cf. Job 16:2
Job 13:141 I
Following the Septuagint; the Hebrew text reads, Why should I take...?
Job 13:18a arranged Job 23:4
Job 13:23a known Isa. 58:1; Micah 3:8
Job 13:24a hide Deut. 32:20; Psa. 13:1; 44:24; 88:14
Job 13:24b enemy Job 19:11; 33:10; Lam. 2:5
Job 13:27a stocks Job 33:11; Acts 16:24
Job 13:28a moths Isa. 50:9; James 5:2
Job 14:1a few Gen. 47:9; Job 10:20; Psa. 39:5; 89:47
Job 14:2a blossom Psa. 103:15; Isa. 40:6; James 1:10; 1 Pet. 1:24
Job 14:21 is
Or, withers.
Job 14:3a litigation Job 22:4; Psa. 143:2
Job 14:5a determined Acts 17:26
Job 14:7a sprout cf. Isa. 11:1; 27:6
Job 14:10a where Job 20:7; cf. Job 7:8-10
Job 14:12a heavens cf. Matt. 5:18; 24:35; 2 Pet. 3:10, 13; Isa. 51:6; Psa. 102:25-26
Job 14:121 he
Lit., they.
Job 14:122 his
Lit., their.
Job 15:8a secret Jer. 23:18, 22
Job 15:14a clean Job 14:4; Prov. 20:9
Job 15:14b born Job 25:4
Job 15:14c righteous Job 9:2
Job 15:15a heavens cf. Job 1:6
Job 15:171 I
Eliphaz’s warning in vv. 17-35 was based on the principle of good and evil. In his view the good man would prosper and the wicked would suffer. Cf. Psa. 73 and notes.
Job 15:291 his
Lit., their.
Job 16:2a comforters Job 2:11; cf. Job 13:4
Job 16:9a gnashed Lam. 2:16; Acts 7:54; cf. Psa. 35:16; 37:12; 112:10
Job 16:9b Adversary Job 13:24; 19:11
Job 16:12a target Job 7:20; Lam. 3:12
Job 16:18a blood Gen. 4:10
Job 16:19a Witness Psa. 89:37; Rom. 1:9; 9:1; 2 Cor. 1:23; Phil. 1:8; 1 Thes. 2:5, 10
Job 17:1a broken Psa. 51:17; Prov. 15:13; 17:22; 18:14
Job 17:31 strike
I.e., the action that accompanies the giving of a pledge.
Job 17:6a byword Deut. 28:37; Job 30:9; Psa. 44:14; 69:11
Job 17:9a hands Psa. 24:4; 1 Tim. 2:8
Job 17:13a Sheol Job 21:13
Job 17:16a dust Job 21:26; 40:13
Job 18:21a know Jer. 9:3; 10:25; 2 Thes. 1:8
Job 19:3a ten Gen. 31:7; Num. 14:22
Job 19:61 subverted
Job’s complaint against his friends (vv. 1-5) and toward God shows that he was very sensitive. In his sensitivity he thought that others were intending to damage him, and he misunderstood God, thinking that God had sent a troop against him (v. 12). In contrast to Job, Paul could rejoice in all that happened to him (Phil. 1:18; 4:4; Col. 1:24). See note 111 in ch. 3.
Job 19:91 glory
Job’s glory was his perfection and uprightness, and his crown was his integrity. Job was right in saying that God had stripped his glory from him and had taken away his crown from his head.
Job 19:101 hope
Job’s hope had been to build up the “tree” of his integrity, but God would not allow such a tree to grow within Job. Rather, God had plucked up this tree, this hope.
Job 19:111 anger
Although God was stripping Job, He surely was not angry with him; neither did God consider Job His adversary but His intimate friend. See note 131 in ch. 10.
Job 19:111a adversary Job 13:24
See note 111.
Job 19:171 my
Or, I am loathsome.
Job 19:20a bones Psa. 102:5; Lam. 4:8
Job 19:21a hand Ruth 1:13; Isa. 53:4
Job 19:23a book Isa. 30:8
Job 19:24a iron Jer. 17:1
Job 19:251a Redeemer Psa. 19:14; Isa. 43:14; 44:6; 48:17; 49:7, 26; 54:5; 59:20
Job’s declaring that his Redeemer lives was according to his objective view, which was incomplete concerning God’s economy. In contrast, the New Testament speaks according to the subjective view, declaring that Christ, our Redeemer, lives in us and is making His home in our hearts (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 3:17).
Job 19:26a look Psa. 17:15; 1 John 3:2
Job 20:3a spirit cf. Eph. 4:23
Job 20:6a heaven Isa. 14:13-14; cf. Obad. 3-4
Job 20:111 it
I.e., youthful vigor.
Job 20:11a dust Job 21:26
Job 20:14a venom Deut. 32:33; Psa. 140:3; Prov. 23:32
Job 20:231 God
Lit., He.
Job 20:28a day Prov. 11:4; Zeph. 1:18
Job 21:7a wicked Psa. 37:1, 35; 73:3; 92:7; Eccl. 7:15; 8:12-14; Jer. 12:1; Mal. 3:15
Job 21:101 Their
Lit., His.
Job 21:13a Sheol Gen. 37:35; Job 7:9; 14:13; 17:13; 24:19; Psa. 16:10; Luke 16:23
Job 21:14a Depart Job 22:17
Job 21:15a What Exo. 5:2
Job 21:161 Him
Following the Septuagint; the Hebrew text reads, me.
Job 21:171 God
Lit., He.
Job 21:26a dust Job 17:16; 20:11; 40:13
Job 22:6a pledges Exo. 22:26; Deut. 24:6, 10-18; Job 24:3, 9; Ezek. 18:12, 16
Job 22:7a hungry Isa. 58:7, 10; Ezek. 18:7, 16; Matt. 25:42
Job 22:12a heaven Psa. 115:3; Eccl. 5:2
Job 22:13a know cf. Psa. 73:11
Job 22:171 us
Lit., them.
Job 22:181 Him
Following the Septuagint; the Hebrew text reads, me.
Job 22:211 Be
According to Eliphaz’s logic, the God-seeking righteous man will be blessed and delivered by God. The source of Eliphaz’s teaching is not divine revelation but human logic. Furthermore, his teaching is based on the principle of good and evil, which is the principle of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9, 17).
Job 22:22a heart Psa. 119:11
Job 22:23a Almighty Job 8:5-6
Job 22:26a to Psa. 25:1; 1 John 3:21
Job 22:29a lowly Prov. 3:34; 29:23; Matt. 23:12; Luke 14:11; James 4:6
Job 22:301 you
Lit., he.
Job 23:21 bitter
Following some ancient versions; the Hebrew reads, rebellion.
Job 23:3a find Acts 17:27; 15:17
Job 23:4a present Job 13:18; 33:5
Job 23:81 forward
Or, east…west.
Job 23:91 left
Or, north…south.
Job 23:10a knows Psa. 139:2-3, 23
Job 23:10b try Zech. 13:9; Psa. 66:12; 139:23; 1 Cor. 3:13; 1 Pet. 1:7
Job 23:12a words Psa. 119:103
Job 23:121 more
Or (as in the Septuagint), in my bosom.
Job 24:2a landmarks Deut. 19:14
Job 24:3a pledge Job 22:6; 24:9
Job 24:9a pledge Exo. 22:26-27; Deut. 24:12-13; Job 22:6; 24:3; Ezek. 18:12, 16
Job 24:19a Sheol Job 21:13
Job 24:20a remembered Job 18:17; Prov. 10:7
Job 24:231 a
Lit., him.
Job 24:24a little Psa. 37:10
Job 25:3a arise Matt. 5:45
Job 25:4a righteous Job 4:17; 9:2; Psa. 143:2
Job 25:4b And vv. 4b-6: cf. Job 15:14-16
Job 25:6a worm Psa. 22:6; Isa. 41:14
Job 26:41 spirit
Or, breath.
Job 26:61a Sheol Prov. 15:11; Psa. 139:8; cf. Heb. 4:13
See note 231 in Matt. 11.
Job 26:62 Abaddon
Meaning destruction.
Job 26:71b nothing Gen. 1:2
See note 42 in ch. 38.
Job 26:8a waters Prov. 30:4; Job 37:11
Job 26:10a circle Prov. 8:27
Job 26:10b boundary Prov. 8:29; Jer. 5:22; Job 38:10
Job 26:121 Rahab
See note 131 in ch. 9.
Job 26:131 Spirit
Or, breath.
Job 26:13a serpent Isa. 27:1
Job 27:3a breath Gen. 2:7; 7:22; Job 33:4; Acts 17:25
Job 27:5a integrity Job 31:6; 2:3
Job 27:6a righteousness Job 32:1; 1 Cor. 4:4; cf. Phil. 3:9
Job 27:8a soul Luke 12:20
Job 27:16a heaps Prov. 13:22; Eccl. 2:26
Job 27:17a prepare Luke 12:20
Job 27:191 will
Others read, is not gathered (i.e., to his fathers).
Job 28:1a refined cf. Mal. 3:3
Job 28:31 gloom
Or, the shadow of death.
Job 28:5a food Psa. 104:14
Job 28:91 The
Lit., He.
Job 28:11a brings Job 12:22
Job 28:12a But Job 28:20
Job 28:18a wisdom Prov. 3:15
Job 28:191 Cush
I.e., Ethiopia.
Job 28:20a From Job 28:12
Job 28:221 Abaddon
Meaning destruction.
Job 28:28a fear Psa. 111:10; Prov. 1:7; 9:10
Job 29:41 prime
Lit., autumn.
Job 29:4a intimate Job 15:8; Psa. 25:14
Job 29:14a righteousness Psa. 132:9; Isa. 59:17; 61:10; 11:5; Eph. 6:14; Rev. 19:8; cf. Isa. 64:6
Job 29:22a dew cf. Deut. 32:2
Job 30:9a byword Job 17:6; Psa. 69:11
Job 30:111 my
Others read, His.
Job 30:15a cloud Job 7:9; Psa. 102:3; Hosea 6:4
Job 30:16a soul 1 Sam. 1:15; Psa. 42:4
Job 30:19a dust Gen. 18:27; Job 42:6
Job 30:23a house cf. Eccl. 12:5
Job 31:1a gaze Matt. 5:28
Job 31:6a balance Psa. 62:9; Dan. 5:27
Job 31:121 Abaddon
Meaning destruction.
Job 31:15a womb Psa. 139:13
Job 31:181 the
Lit., her.
Job 31:19a lack James 2:15
Job 31:24a hope 1 Tim. 6:17
Job 31:311 our
Lit., his.
Job 31:33a covered Prov. 28:13
Job 31:331 as
Or, as men do.
Job 31:33b Adam Gen. 3:8, 12
Job 31:35a answer Job 13:22
Job 31:361 it
I.e., the scroll containing the charge.
Job 31:401 ended
Through his eight times of speaking to his three friends, Job exposed himself, unveiling many negative things concerning himself, including his being self-righteous; his being full of reasons; his blaming his friends for not understanding him and for not sympathizing with him in love; his complaining that God was not fair in treating him in an unexplainable, severe way; his having a legal case between him and God; his knowing God only in the vain, objective knowledge inherited from tradition; his having not received the divine revelation, as unveiled in the New Testament, concerning God’s eternal economy; his being darkened by the success and attainments of his natural being; his being blinded by the concept of his natural understanding; his groping in darkness and in blindness concerning his relationship with God according to what God wants; his being content with what he had become; and his being unaware of his miserable situation before God in not being saturated with God, mingled with God, filled with God, and one with God.
Job 32:1a righteous Job 13:18; 27:6
Job 32:21 anger
Elihu thought of himself as wise, but in being angry against Job and his three friends (vv. 2-5), he was very foolish. It is not wise to be burning with anger (Prov. 29:11; cf. Eph. 4:26).
Job 32:22 Elihu
Meaning He is God, or He is my God.
Job 32:2a justified Job 4:17; 34:5; 35:2; 40:8
Job 32:81 there
Or, it is the spirit in man, indeed the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding. In this verse a spirit in man and the breath of the Almighty are in apposition, indicating that the spirit of man is the breath of God (see note 75 in Gen. 2).
Job 32:82a spirit 1 Cor. 2:11; Rom. 8:16; 1 Thes. 5:23; Heb. 4:12
Heb. ruach…neshamah.
Job 32:82b breath Gen. 2:7; Job 33:4; 34:14
See note 82.
Job 32:101 know
[ par. 1 2 ]
Job 32:101 [1] Elihu’s speaking indicates that he was quite proud. Although he was full of assurance that he could answer Job adequately concerning God’s purpose in dealing with Job, in all his speaking Elihu did not answer Job with a clear view like the apostle Paul’s clear vision in the New Testament concerning the goal of gaining Christ in his suffering the loss of all things (Phil. 3:8-14) and concerning the believers’ affliction working out for them an eternal weight of glory (2 Cor. 4:17). Elihu’s word had nothing of the divine wisdom. With Paul, however, there was a clear word of revelation. Hence, Paul’s word was truly the word of wisdom (1 Cor. 12:8).
Job 32:101 [2] Furthermore, the speaking of Job, of his three friends, and of Elihu was altogether lacking in the exercise of the spirit to contact God. They spoke concerning God, and they also referred to their spirit, but in all their debates there is no hint that they were exercising their spirit. Rather, they exercised their mind to make a display of their knowledge. In this matter Elihu followed the example of the older ones and spoke in the same way. Elihu was a person who was full of the knowledge of good and evil. He was not a person in the spirit (cf. Rev. 1:10).
Job 32:19a new Matt. 9:17
Job 32:21a respect Psa. 82:2; Prov. 24:23
Job 33:4a breath Gen. 2:7; Job 12:10; 27:3; Isa. 42:5; Dan. 5:23; Acts 17:25
Job 33:6a clay Job 10:9; Isa. 64:8
Job 33:9a clean Job 11:4; 16:17
Job 33:10a enemy Job 13:24
Job 33:11a stocks Job 13:27; Acts 16:24
Job 33:15a dream Gen. 20:6; Num. 12:6; Matt. 1:20; 2:12, 13, 19, 22
Job 33:16a ears Job 36:10, 15; Psa. 40:6; Isa. 50:4-5; Rev. 2:7
Job 33:261 God
Lit., He.
Job 33:28a redeemed Job 33:24; Isa. 38:17-18
Job 33:30a light Psa. 56:13
Job 34:4a good 1 Thes. 5:21
Job 34:51 taken
Or, turned aside my justice.
Job 34:9a profit Job 21:15; 35:3; Mal. 3:14
Job 34:11a render Psa. 62:12; Prov. 24:12; Jer. 32:19; Matt. 16:27; Rom. 2:6; Rev. 22:12
Job 34:13a earth Job 38:4-7
Job 34:14a spirit Job 33:4
Job 34:15a dust Job 10:9; Eccl. 12:7; Psa. 104:29; 146:4
Job 34:19a respect Deut. 1:17; James 2:1; Matt. 22:16; Mark 12:14
Job 34:21a eyes Prov. 5:21; Jer. 32:19
Job 34:22a hide Amos 9:2-3; Jer. 23:24
Job 34:371 rebellion
Or (as translated elsewhere), transgression.
Job 34:372 claps
I.e., as a gesture of mockery or scorn.
Job 35:2a righteousness Job 32:2
Job 35:31 me
Lit., you.
Job 35:6a sin Prov. 8:36
Job 35:7a righteous Job 22:2-3
Job 35:7b give 1 Chron. 29:14; Rom. 11:35; Psa. 116:12
Job 35:10a Maker Psa. 149:2; Isa. 54:5
Job 35:10b songs Psa. 42:8; 77:6; 119:62; Acts 16:25
Job 36:41 knowledge
See note 101 in ch. 32.
Job 36:13a lay Rom. 2:5
Job 36:27a rain Job 5:10; Jer. 14:22; cf. Gen. 2:5-6
Job 36:31a food Psa. 136:25
Job 37:41 the
Lit., them.
Job 37:6a snow Psa. 147:16
Job 37:10a ice Job 38:29-30; Psa. 147:17
Job 37:17a south Luke 12:55
Job 38:11 answered
[ par. 1 2 ]
Job 38:11 [1] In God’s appearing to Job (vv. 1-3; 40:1-14), His intention was to show Job that he was nothing and that God is unlimited, unsearchable, and untraceable. God’s appearing also implied that He wanted to help Job to know that he was in the wrong realm, the realm of building up himself as a man in the old creation in his perfection, uprightness, and integrity. Job glorified himself in these things, but God considered them frustrations to be stripped away so that Job might receive God in His nature, life, element, and essence and thus be metabolically transformed to be a God-man, a man in the new creation who expresses God and dispenses Him to others.
Job 38:11 [2] God’s dealing with Job in all the disasters and His stripping him of all that he was, were to take away his contentment in his godly attainments and obtainments and to remove all the barriers and coverings so that he could be emptied for some further seeking after God and could realize that what he was short of in his human life was God Himself. At the end of the book of Job, God came in to reveal Himself to Job, indicating that He Himself was what Job should pursue, gain, and express. In all God’s dealings with Job, God’s intention was to reduce Job to nothing, yet to maintain his existence (2:6) so that He might have time to impart Himself into Job.
Job 38:2a knowledge Job 35:16; 42:3
Job 38:3a Gird Job 40:7; 1 Kings 18:46; Luke 12:35
Job 38:41 Where
[ par. 1 2 ]
Job 38:41 [1] In His divine unveilings concerning the universe (vv. 4-38) and concerning the animals (38:39—39:30; 40:15—41:34), God’s intention was to enable Job to see that he, a person who remained in himself, was considering things regarding the universe and God that were far beyond his capacity. Thus, God charged Job and questioned him again and again in order to humble him and silence him (40:3-5).
Job 38:41 [2] In the divine unveilings to Job, nothing was revealed concerning the purpose of God in dealing with Job. Thus, the adequate knowledge of this matter is not found in this book. The revelation regarding the purpose of God’s dealing with Job had to wait until Christ came and until the apostle Paul was raised up to complete the divine revelation in the Scriptures regarding the mystery in God’s eternal economy, which concerns Christ as the mystery of God (Col. 2:2) and the church, the Body of Christ, as the mystery of Christ (Eph. 3:4-6), the main point being that Christ is within His Body as the hope of glory (Col. 1:25-27).
Job 38:42a foundations Psa. 24:2; 104:5; Prov. 8:29; Zech. 12:1; Heb. 1:10
When God created the earth, He created it in an orderly way (Isa. 45:18), laying its foundations, measuring it out, placing it on solid bases, and laying its cornerstone (vv. 4-6). The earth has foundations (Zech. 12:1b), but it seemingly does not have anything supporting it (cf. 26:7b). Actually, all things are upheld by Christ (Heb. 1:3 and note 2).
Job 38:71 morning
When God created the universe, He first stretched forth the heavens (Isa. 42:5; Zech. 12:1). Then He created the stars and certain living things in the heavens, including the angels. The earth was created somewhat later. Thus, at the time when God was creating the earth, the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God (the angels—1:6; 2:1) shouted for joy because of God’s beautiful building of the earth.
Job 38:7a stars Isa. 14:12; cf. Rev. 9:1; 12:4
Job 38:71b sons Job 1:6
See note 71.
Job 38:8a sea Gen. 1:9-10; Psa. 33:7
Job 38:10a boundaries Prov. 8:29; Jer. 5:22; Psa. 104:9; Job 26:10
Job 38:11a waves Psa. 65:7; 89:9; Luke 8:24
Job 38:141 The
Lit., It.
Job 38:142 all
Lit., they stand forth.
Job 38:16a sea Psa. 77:19
Job 38:16b deep Gen. 7:11; Prov. 8:28
Job 38:17a gates Psa. 9:13; 107:18; Isa. 38:10; Matt. 16:18
Job 38:23a Which Exo. 9:18, 24; Josh. 10:11; Isa. 28:2; 30:30; Ezek. 13:11, 13; 38:22; Rev. 8:7; 16:21
Job 38:26a rain Job 5:10; Jer. 14:22
Job 38:27a grass Gen. 1:11; 2 Sam. 23:4; Psa. 147:8
Job 38:29a ice Job 37:10; Psa. 147:17
Job 38:31a Pleiades Job 9:9; Amos 5:8
Job 38:321 Mazzaroth
Referring probably to a constellation.
Job 38:33a rule Gen. 1:16, 14
Job 38:36a wisdom Psa. 51:6
Job 38:361 mind
The meaning of the Hebrew word is unclear.
Job 38:39a lions Psa. 104:21
Job 38:41a raven Psa. 147:9; Luke 12:24; cf. Matt. 6:26
Job 39:1a goats Psa. 104:18
Job 39:5a wild Job 24:5; Jer. 2:24
Job 39:9a wild Num. 23:22
Job 39:13a ostrich Lam. 4:3
Job 39:19a horse Jer. 8:6; Prov. 21:31
Job 39:211 He
Lit., They.
Job 39:27a eagle Isa. 40:31; Prov. 23:5
Job 39:30a there Ezek. 39:17-19; Matt. 24:28; Luke 17:37
Job 40:2a contend Job 19:6; 33:13
Job 40:2b argues Job 9:32; 10:7; 16:21; 30:21
Job 40:4a mouth Prov. 30:32; Rom. 3:19
Job 40:8a Will Psa. 51:4; Rom. 3:4
Job 40:10a Deck cf. Psa. 93:1; 104:1
Job 40:12a proud Isa. 2:12, 17; Dan. 4:37
Job 40:151 behemoth
Probably referring to the hippopotamus.
Job 40:15a made Gen. 1:24-26
Job 41:11 leviathan
Probably referring to the crocodile.
Job 41:11a Who Rom. 11:35
Job 41:11b is Psa. 24:1; 50:12; 1 Cor. 10:26
Job 41:251 the
Or, gods.
Job 41:301 threshing
A long, flat frame with sharp teeth of iron or rock on its underside, which is pulled across harvested grain in order to thresh it.
Job 42:2a can Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27; 14:36; Luke 18:27
Job 42:3a knowledge Job 35:16; 38:2
Job 42:3b wonderful Psa. 139:6
Job 42:51a seen Matt. 5:8
In the New Testament sense, seeing God equals gaining God. To gain God is to receive God in His element, in His life, and in His nature that we may be constituted with God. All God’s redeemed, regenerated, sanctified, transformed, conformed, and glorified people will see God’s face (Rev. 22:4). Seeing God transforms us (2 Cor. 3:18; cf. 1 John 3:2), because in seeing God we receive His element into us and our old element is discharged. This metabolic process is transformation (Rom. 12:2). To see God is to be transformed into the glorious image of Christ, the God-man, that we may express God in His life and represent Him in His authority.
Job 42:61 abhor
The more we see God, know God, and love God, the more we abhor ourselves and the more we deny ourselves (Matt. 16:24; Luke 9:23; 14:26).
Job 42:6a repent Matt. 11:21
Job 42:71 has
[ par. 1 2 ]
Job 42:71 [1] Job was right in saying that his sufferings were not a matter of God’s judgment. Job felt that, according to his conscience, he had not done anything that required God to judge him or to punish him. Nevertheless, he was suffering and he wanted to investigate his situation with God. Job’s three friends, however, insisted that Job’s sufferings were a proof that he had done something wrong and was being judged by God. Thus, God came in to condemn the three friends and to vindicate Job to a certain extent.
Job 42:71 [2] Nevertheless, Job was devoid of the divine revelation, not knowing that God’s purpose in dealing with His people is that He wants His people to gain Him, to partake of Him, to possess Him, and to enjoy Him, rather than all things, until their enjoyment reaches the fullest extent (Phil. 3:7-14; 2 Cor. 4:16-17), as the divine revelation ultimately unveils in the New Testament, that His people may ultimately become the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2—22:5).
Job 42:8a burnt Job 1:5; Gen. 8:20
Job 42:8b pray Gen. 20:7; 1 Sam. 12:23; James 5:16; 1 John 5:16
Job 42:91 Eliphaz
In His reply to Job, God paid no attention to Elihu because his concept had not come up to the level of God’s ultimate standard, though it was not wrong.
Job 42:10a turned cf. Psa. 14:7; 126:1; Ezek. 16:53
Job 42:101b twice Isa. 40:2; 61:7; Zech. 9:12; James 5:11; cf. Mark 10:30
All the physical blessings with which God blessed Job were to show Job God’s lovingkindness and faithfulness in his latter days. This indicates that God is perfect and kind in dealing with those who love Him. Even today, after God deals with us by stripping us and consuming us, and after His purpose is accomplished, God gives us His physical blessings. However, God’s purpose in dealing with His people is not to give physical blessings to them but to give Himself to them as their eternal portion, which ultimately consummates in the New Jerusalem. The all-embracing aggregate, the totality, of the divine blessing given by God to His people is the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit as the consummation of the processed Triune God (Gal. 3:14).
Job 42:12a end James 5:11
Job 42:12b sheep Job 1:3
Job 42:13a seven Job 1:2
Job 42:171
The forty-two chapters in Job leave us with a crucial question of two parts: what was the purpose of God in His creation of man, and what is the purpose of God in His dealing with His chosen people? The entire Bible is needed to answer this question. In particular, the New Testament is a long answer to the question in Job. This answer is the eternal economy of God according to His good pleasure, which is to dispense Himself in His Divine Trinity—in the Father, in the Son, and in the Spirit—through His incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, with the outpouring of the Spirit, into His chosen and redeemed people, to make all of them the same as He is in life and in nature but not in the Godhead, to make them His duplication that they may express Him (Rom. 8:28-29 and notes). The issue of such a divine dispensing is the church as the Body of Christ, as the new man, and as the organism of the Triune God. This organism will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the enlarged, the increased, incarnation of God consummated in full, that is, the fullness of the Triune God (Eph. 3:19) for Him to express Himself corporately in His divinity mingled with humanity for eternity. This is the divine revelation in the New Testament as the answer to the sufferings of Job and to the great question concerning God’s purpose in His creation of man and in His dealing with His chosen people.