Page 13 - Job
P. 13

as you say the name Job, everybody seems to know that his book is the
           oldest book in the Bible. That is a fact everybody seems to know. In fact it
           might be the oldest book in the world. There is not, according to many
           experts, an older book to be found anywhere than the book of Job.
           I am not going to attempt to prove that, but let’s look at some evidence
           that has led historians in this direction. In the last verses of chapter 22 of
           Genesis  it  shows  that  one  of  Job’s  relatives  was  Abraham’s  brother
           Nahor. He happened to have two sons  that show up in the book of Job.
           So it appears that he lived around the time of Abraham. The fact that he
           was offering sacrifices as the head and priest of his family is consistent
           with that time period as well. It says that he lived one hundred and forty
           years after his trials. Living an inordinately long lifetime was common in
           those days. So that dates him way back.
           Also the fact that his wealth was determined by the number of sheep and
           camels reinforces the theory. In all of his speeches as well as those of his
           four friends there is never any reference made to the nation of Israel. Not
           one time is there any mention of Mosaic Law or the Mosaic Dispensation.
           It is amazing to be silent about all that, and so we presume the Book of
           Job took place before all these things.
           God took the antiquity of Job to make the fossilization of this message so
           very precious. The first thing it shows me, and I am going to mention two
           things, is God’s wonderful provision for Old Testament saints. Isn’t that
           amazing? I used to feel sorry for those poor Old Testament saints because
           they did not have the whole Bible. I was living in the full meridian of the
           completion  of  the  Canon.  I  was  living  in  the  blazing  light  of  God’s
           completed Bible, and they weren’t. They did not have Romans, Galatians
           or  Ephesians  or  any  of  the  New  Testament  books.  So  I  said,  oh,  poor
           David, he had so little. Poor Daniel, he did not have what I have. Well, I
           was very wrong about that. They had everything we have! They had it in
           picture  form.  They  had  the  whole  oak  in  the  acorn,  in  the  seed.  I  am
           going to show you how much knowledge Job had. Do not forget that at
           this point Genesis has not been written. Exodus is not written. No book in
           the Bible is written. As a matter of fact, the Book of Job is not written. Job
           is just living. Check out this list of Bible principles I have found in the
           wonderful Book ofJob:
             The Omnipotence of God: 5:9, 6:4, 6:14, 9:5.
             The Omnipresence of God: 11:11, 21:22, 3:10.
             The Eternal Nature of God: 10:5, 27:2.
             The Holiness of God: 4:17, 15:17, 25:5.
             God the Creator of all things: 10:8 and 35:10.

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