This page was updated June 16, 2013.

The first two books of the Bible, Genesis and Job, tell us almost from the very beginning that we are in the midst of an unseen conflict, and it is that conflict which, in many ways, defines our lives.

I have just begun to redo the book of Job. The introduction has had some additions done to it, but it will be redone at the end. So far, the only completed chapters are Job 1–3. Job 4–24 are older versions that need to be updated and will be updated. The remainder of the book of Job has not been done yet.

I begin this book once again, but with renewed vigor. One of the reasons for redoing Job was finally understanding the key to this book. With much of the book devoted to Job and 3 friends discussing theology and philosophy, it is a difficult call to determine who is right and who is wrong. Remember, there is a progression to revelation, so how is the first complete book of the Bible the most difficult book to interpret verse-by-verse? Where we would expect a primer, where precept is built upon precept, we are thrown into the midst of the Angelic Conflict, with lengthy discussions of 4 men, none of whom realize why it is that Job is suffering. Job’s 3 friends seem to think that Job must have done something to deserve this suffering; and Job is certain that he has not done anything against God to deserve what has happened to him.

The key to understanding Job is, these men and Job were all generally correct in what they said, but that not a one of them took into consideration the Angelic Conflict, which explains why Job is so harmed in his life. There is a much great application of the book of Job. Our lives make far more sense if we understand the Angelic Conflict and its impact upon our lives. If we try to figure our lives apart from the Angelic Conflict, then we will on many occasions become flummoxed by events and situations in which we find ourselves.

Following the links will be a short description of each chapter as they are redone.

Job HTML links (the graphics may not display properly):

Job PDF links (there will be a better display of the graphics):

Job—Chapter by Chapter

Introduction to the Book of Job (HTML) (PDF). There have been some minor additions to this section, but it will be completely re-worked a few years from now.

Job 1 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD). Much of Job is explained in the first chapter. This sets us up for the remainder of the book, although there will be vast differences between the rest of the book of Job and the first two chapters.

We meet Job and his first family, and he is introduced to us as wealthy, but complete, spiritually straight, a man who fears God and avoids evil. Suddenly, we are in heaven with God and Satan at a convocation of angels. We learn a great deal about God and Satan and the Angelic Conflict from this meeting.

God then allows Satan to systematically destroy Job’s wealth and family, which he does immediately. However, rather than curse God, as Satan predicted, Job blesses God at his own personal losses.

There are a lot of things which concern believers when they read this chapter—are they suffering like Job? Will they suffer like Job? Is all of this suffering worth it simply so that God can teach a theological point to Satan? Why do we suffer so much on earth? Hopefully, these questions will be answered.

There is another point which should be dealt with, with the book of Job: this is an early book, and Job will spned most of this book discussing the tragedy of his life with 3 of his friends. How do we know what they are saying is accurate or incorrect? If this is the earliest completed book of the Bible, how can we read it, understanding progressive revelation, and determine that this paragraph is accurate, but this following paragraph is not? This question will begin to be answered in this chapter.

This chapter includes the following short doctrines: Problems and Questions about the book of Job; The Doctrine of Evil; An Estimation of Job’s Worth; Wealthy Men in the Bible; The Angelic Conflict; Fear of the Lord in the Old Testament; Reasons the New Testament Believer Needs to Know the Old Testament; Scientific Principles Found in the Bible; Verses on the Protection of God; and The Bible Does not Teach Reincarnation; Do not depend upon wealth in times of tragedy. 228 pages.

Job 2 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD). In Job 2, we return to a convocation of the angels, and Satan speaks before God. God asks him about His servant Job, and Satan says, “Skin for skin; strike him physically and he will curse You.” God gives Satan permission to harm Job physically, but to not kill him.

Satan returns to earth to harm Job, striking him with a horribly painful disease (probably elephantitis); and we find that Satan has left Job’s wife alive, and she is none too pleased with her situation. Job tells her that they should be able to take the evil with the good that comes from God. After this, we do not hear from Satan or Job’s wife again.

3 friends or business associates come to Job, and are taken aback by how bad he looks. They all sit in silence for 7 days and nights and Job’s friends grieve for him.

Some of the topics covered in this chapter are how did Job mature spiritually in that time period; the norms and standards of youth today; the suggestion that the earth is round in the book of Job; spiritual maturity is a process; momentum testing and disaster testing; Saul Alinsky, who dedicates his book to Lucifer; socialism and free enterprise; cosmic thinking; divine viewpoint thinking; what is missing from the Greek text; one of the few insertions with an attempt to influence readers with Catholic doctrine; why Satan left Job his wife; why Stimulus bills do not stimulate the economy; opting for spiritual growth does not mean that our lives will suck; wealth and happiness; and comparing Job to Jesus (Job is a type of Jesus);

The doctrines in this chapter include: Ancient Law Codes; the Stages of Spiritual Growth; Theories on the Disease that Struck Job; Dating the Book of Job; and the Doctrine of Suffering. References are made to the sin unto death and to the laws of divine establishment. 134 pages.

Job 3 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD). Job 3 begins the round of discussions. Only Job will speak and he will talk about a romanticized view of death, and how he wishes that he was miscarried, stillborn, or died shortly after being born.

One very important item which this chapter of Job leads us to inquire about is, how do we determine when Job is speaking divine viewpoint and when is he just complaining about his life? Job is more spiritually advanced than his 3 associates, but that does not mean that everything he says is truth. After all, near the end of the book of Job, God will take issue with Job on some things which he says. So, we might separate the truth from the false, based upon what we know today; but how did men of the era differentiate, when they did not have the benefit of additional books of the Bible? What is quite amazing is, even though it is a difficult call to point to one thought as divine viewpoint, and then to reject another as not—or having a difficult time finding any divine viewpoint expressed—there are still a great many fascinating topics suggested by the study of this chapter of the book of Job.

A second item of great importance is, when does life begin and at what point ought we to protect life? Although this particular chapter does not answer this questions, there will be doctrines in this chapter which will. For some people, this is a no-brainer—they have been brought up to believe that abortion is wrong. However, there are also those who believe that ensoulment occurs when God first breathes life into every infant at birth. Some from this camp believe that abortion is legitimate prior to ensoulment. Who is right? You may be surprised, but we can draw some definite conclusions based upon what the Bible says, which discussion is legitimately started by the book of Job.

Short doctrines covered in the book of Job include: a set of Principles which introduce us to the entire book of Job; Explaining Leviathan; the Doctrine of Miscarriage in the Bible; Determining when life occurs; the Fallacy of Reincarnation; the Doctrine of Physical Death; Job’s Understanding of Death; Why God has allowed Job to continue living; and the Doctrine of Suffering (McEwan’s). There are also allusions and links to the Laws of Divine Establishment; the Doctrine of Slavery; and the Angelic Conflict, 3 doctrines related to this chapter of Job.

Discussions in Job 3 include: an idea for a television show without violence, shootings, sex, science fiction or vampires; what men of Job’s era understood about Bible doctrine; relativism and the values of Job’s day; when is a person ensouled; what the Word of God teaches about protection of life in the womb (if any); civil action and the believer; pain and distress in the life of the believer; slavery; and Job suffering from PTSD. 168 pages.

Job—2001 Preface

Preface: I began this book back in 1997, put it down several times, and got as far as Job 21 in 2001. This poetry was difficult to wade through, and I am afraid I may have to redo these 21 chapters again sometime, besides finish the book. The reason I began exegeting various books of the Bible is that I was not being fed at church, and had not found a single church which deals with God's Word in the detail and with the respect that I think is appropriate. After years of faithful church attendance, I began to do a great deal of the study for myself, until my church attendance decreased and my personal study increased. This was not a choice I made lightly nor altogether consciously, nor is it a choice that I recommend to any other believer. Christians, apart from other Christians, tend to become antinomian or, at the very least, goofy and dogmatic (words you might apply to this commentary). We are a group effort; however, there are times that a person has to leave the group for awhile--but that time is related to group effort, and that's where I am at this time. If you just flat out stop going to church, citing what I have written here and your unhappiness with your present church, you are a damned idiot who is just looking for any way out. There are outstanding study aides out there. To name two: the late J. Vernon McGee has a broadcast found in almost every single city in the United States and several places abroad where he goes through the Bible in five years, hitting every book, and a vast majority of the verses. Every believer should find where McGee is and listen faithfully for at least five years, if not ten. A second resource, if your church is not giving you what you need, is Bob Thieme. His tapes from the mid 60's through the mid 70's are extraordinary. You may not like him personally, but he does some of the best Bible teaching that I have ever heard. One need not have financial concerns, as these tapes are sent out as needed, without regard to one's financial ability to support his ministry. I first heard about Bob when I was a very poor student in California. I listened to his tapes, was pissed off at him for several months (although I continued to listen), and listened to an hour of Bible teaching every single day for about the next twenty years. Not once during that time did I find myself added to some strange quasi-Christian mailing list as a result of my association with his ministry; nor did he even once send me a letter telling me the desperate straights that his ministry was in, and could I just send him whatever was in my heart. For a long time, I was unable to support his ministry, and later, I was able. I always received his tapes faithfully, regardless.

One additional note: since I wrote this, my church has changed pastors and I have returned to the teaching of this church, and also continue to work on exegeting Old Testament Scripture.

Acknowledgment: Don't think that I just got this whiff of inspiration and sat down to write and what resulted was this book of Job. I first of all had twenty years of teaching under the ministry of Robert B. Thieme Jr., for which I will be eternally grateful. He set me straight on hundreds of doctrines and pointed me in the right direction when it came to Biblical exegesis. What has impacted in particular with regards to this book is his teaching of dispensations. Now, EVERYONE in the community of believers is a dispensationalist. I have found that no matter how much a believer holds to the false doctrine of covenant theology, you can push that believer in to a corner where he will finally admit that some things were done differently in the Old Testament than are done now. That is the most fundamental tenant of theological dispensationalism, and all believers with any kind of an opinion will agree to this, if you push them hard enough (which I have done). From there, it is simply a matter of degree. Now, the problem with most cults or believers who begin with the Old Testament is that they become confused in our relationship to the Law of God. Bob's teaching kept me from falling into that sort of trap. For any brand new believer who wants to read the Bible for himself, you should never, ever start in the book of Genesis. The place for the unbeliever or the new believer to start is at the very beginning, which is the book of John in the New Testament.

Now, it would be impossible to name all the shoulders that I stand upon, primarily because I don't know their names. However, I would venture to guess that I am standing on the shoulders of probably 2000-5000 believers who devoted their life to studying, to teaching, to archeology, to the written word; they no doubt had a great barrage of people who prayed on their behalf, acting as blockers for a quarterback. A great pastor might receive all the attention and admiration of his congregation, but what you never see is the hundreds and thousands of prayers offered on his behalf by ten times as many people which allow him to proceed. Any pastor who thinks he stands on his own is a fool. You may never know the names of the people who prayed on your behalf, or the blocking that they did on your behalf, but God knows, and these prayers will become a part of the permanent record in heaven.

Now, let's see if I can be specific in terms of the people that I know of that I am beholden to. Had it not been for Bob Thieme's ministry, even though I quote him sparsely throughout my exegesis, I doubt that I would even be doing this in the first place. Even if I had proceeded without his original direction, my exegetical approach would be a sorry shadow of what it is today. When quoting the Bible, I primarily use the NASB, judging it to be one of the very best translations, hitting a tremendously well-placed midpoint between ultra literal and understandable. I rarely quote from it word for word, and for this I apologize. Often, when using the NASB, I give my bastardization of it. I tend to replace Lord with Jehovah, shall with will, and I take several other liberties as well. My intention is not to denigrate this excellent translation, nor to obfuscate the passage at hand, but to facilitate understanding. If a person is to own but one Bible, this should be it. I am also deeply beholden to Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible, Rotherham's The Emphasized Bible, Owen's extremely helpful Analytical Key to the Old Testament (my crutch), the NIV as well as over a dozen other English translation of the Holy Scriptures. When it comes to commentaries, I have been lucky to have stumbled across Keil and Delitzsch's Commentary of the Old Testament, McGee's radio broadcasts converted into book form and Barnes' Notes. I would have been able to do nothing without my BDB Lexicon or Gesenius's excellent lexicon; and I have been so thankful for the use of Wigram's The Englishman's Hebrew Concordance of the Old Testament. Obviously, I used Strong's Concordance as well. I can't let this go without mentioning The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible; ©1976, which has been an outstanding resource for a lot of the nitty gritty material. In fact, for this study, I used roughly 100 different books and translations, and I tried to do my best to give credit where credit was due. I will list all of the authors from whom I specifically drew in the Bibliography section of this book; but my point is, I am standing on the shoulders of at least these 100 men (and any translation or book may have had multiple contributors). All of these men had training, had a Christian background, and learned what they learned from other teachers and authors who likewise stood upon the shoulders of hundreds, if not thousands, of dedicated men. And this is only an allusion to the people whom I can see, so to speak. Behind this are the prayers and financial support of thousands upon thousands of believers whose names will not be known to us until eternity. My point in all this is that we are a team effort. And when it comes to something which I have stated dogmatically and unequivocally that you disagree with, just get over it and move on. You will find out I was right in eternity, and you may even come to that conclusion before that.

Gary Kukis

December 11, 2006