Job and his friends probably lived in the age of Abraham, and the revelation of God in the Bible was in its primitive stage at that time; Job’s real need is God Himself, and God’s dealings with him were so that he would be stripped of his self-attainments and be emptied to seek God deeper and be filled with God.
However, because the divine revelation at his time was only in its primitive stages, Job did his best according to what he knew; this is why God was lovingly concerned for him, and the entire New Testament shows us what is hidden in God’s heart for His people.
According to the way of Job’s nomadic living (Job 1:3) and the way that he offered the burnt offering for his children (v. 5), it seems that Job and his friends probably lived in the age of Abraham (Gen. 22:13).
At that time, however, the Pentateuch of Moses with the law was not yet written.
It is important for us to realize what was the time period that Job lived in; he lived before the law was given, around the time of Abraham, and his knowledge of God was probably in the stage where Abraham was.
The book of Job was written five hundred years before Moses wrote the Pentateuch.
The divine revelation in the holy word – the revelation of God in the Bible – is progressive; our God is progressively revealing what is in His heart, and today we live in the most blessed days, for we can fully know what is in God’s heart.
In the Old Testament, we see that God moved among men and with men; He did many things mainly outwardly for His people and among His people, but He could not get into them.
It was not until the Lord Jesus came that God could have a move in man; at the incarnation of Jesus Christ a marvellous event in the history of the universe happened – God became a man for the move of God in man. Wow!
We as believers in Christ have God not only with us and among us but also in us; all believers in Christ are regenerated with the divine life of God, and God in Christ as the Spirit lives in us to move in us and make us part of God’s move on earth today! This is amazing!
We are so thankful and so grateful to the Lord for bringing us in His move and making us part of God’s move in man!
God is now moving in us for Christ is in us, He lives in us, He is formed in us, and He is manifested through us for the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy.
Unlike Job, today we have the divine revelation is in its consummate stage, and we can enter into the desire of the Lord’s heart to be one with God.
Seeing that the Revelation of God in the Bible is Progressive and Knowing the Desire of God’s Heart Today
Job and his friends probably have received some revelation from their forefathers verbally; however, what they had received and known could reach, at most, only the level of the revelation in the age of Abraham.
God Himself never changes – He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; however, the revelation of God in the Bible and to His people is progressive.
At the time of Adam, God was revealed in a certain way; at the time of Abel, His revelation progressed, at the time of Noah it was a little further, and when it came to Abraham, even further.
The revelation of God in the Bible is progressive; even though God Himself does not change, the revelation of Himself progresses through different ages.
In Job’s case, he lived in the age of Abraham, so the revelation of God was only up to their point.
If we read the debates of Job and his friends concerning God’s relationship with man, there’s no hint that indicates that they had received divine revelation beyond God’s judgment and God’s regard for man in his burnt offering.
Based on their arguments and complaints, they had no knowledge at all concerning God’s desire, the desire of God in His relationship with man, even in an indirect sense of Him being with His people and among them.
Job’s level of knowledge of God in His relationship with man was only at a shallow level, for he knew mainly that God will bless those who do righteously, and He will punish those who do evil.
Sadly, this is the situation with many Christians today; over the last four thousand years, the revelation of God has progressed tremendously, yet today many Christians still have the same concept as Job concerning the relationship of God with man.
Many Christians still complain to God and ask Him to bless them, enquiring what did they do wrong so that all these sufferings would befall them, why would God contradict himself, why does God punish good people and why does He allow sufferings and killings.
Many today are short of the proper understanding of God’s relationship with man.
God wants to have His move with and among His people, and He wants, even more, to move in man and through man; in the Old Testament we see the preparation of God’s move in man, and in the New Testament we see the move of God in full.
If we look at Job’s situation and read his speaking and debates, we realize that they had no idea concerning God’s hearts’ desire, Christ, the Spirit, or God, for they were in a primitive stage of the revelation of God to man.
When God appeared to Job, He almost seemed to be telling him, Job, you don’t actually know who I am; you don’t realize that I’m unlimited, and you cannot imagine what I intend to give you.
According to the New Testament, what God wants to give man is nothing but Himself; His heart’s desire is to give Himself to man.
God is not satisfied with man having his own integrity, perfection, and uprightness; He wants to impart Himself into us and give us nothing other than Himself.
This is what God desires, but Job did not see this neither could he understand this, for he was in a primitive stage of God’s revelation.
He could understand that God wants to bless him if he does good and punish him if he does evil, but if God were to tell him that He wants to give Himself to Job and be his life and everything, Job could have never understood.
Praise the Lord, today we have the full revelation of God in the Bible, and we can understand that God is not merely after good men or upright men – He wants to gain God-men, for He is giving Himself to man for man to enjoy God, be filled with God, and express God.
God is not satisfied with our own self-made integrity or perfection; He wants us to enjoy Him, receive Him, and possess Him so that we may live Him and express Him.
Thank You Lord for revealing Yourself and Your heart’s desire to us. Hallelujah, God is not after perfect or upright men – He wants to give Himself to man for man to enjoy God, partake of God, be filled with God, and express God! Amen, Lord, may we know You in a deeper and more intimate way according to the divine revelation in the word of God. We open to You, Lord, to receive You, enjoy You, and be filled with You so that we may live because of You. Save us from having a religious and natural concept of our relationship with God. Save us from merely staying away from evil and doing good; bring us into the realm of gaining God, enjoying God, and being filled with God! Give Yourself more to us, Lord, and cause us to enjoy You more today!
Realizing that we are Short of God and Seeking God to Gain God, Enjoy God, and be one with God
In the book of Job it seemed that God allowed Job, his three friends, and Elihu to speak as much as they could; they filled the pages of thirty-seven chapters with human speaking, debates, knowledge, and complaints.
After all that speaking, God appeared to Job with the divine unveilings (Job 38:4 – 41:34), and then Job gained God in his personal experience, even as he abhorred himself (Job 42:1-6). The central point of God’s appearing to Job concerns what God intended to do to Job.
God didn’t appear to job to justify him or vindicate him; He appeared to him to help him realize that God is unlimited, unsearchable, and untraceable.
He asked Job many questions about the universe, the animals, and the things on earth, to impress him with the fact that God is unlimited.
Even more, God’s intention was to give Himself to Job to be his life and everything.
We need to realize that what we lack the most is not knowledge or a better character; we lack God, we are short of God, and what we need the most is more of God.
As God’s chosen and redeemed people, we don’t need to build up ourselves in our human virtues such as perfection, uprightness, and integrity, as Job did.
What we need is to seek after God as a panting hart and enjoy God with God’s people in His feasts (Psa. 42:1-5; 43:3-5) so that God would become our everything to replace all that we have attained and obtained.
This should be the answer to Job’s three friends and even to Elihu and Job (Job 10:13; cf. Eph. 3:19).
God’s intention was to show Job that he was nothing and that God is unlimited, unsearchable, and untraceable.
At the same time, God’s appearing implied that He wanted to help Job to know that he was in the wrong realm – the realm of building himself as a man in the old creation in his perfection, uprightness, and integrity.
Job glorified himself in all these things, but God considered them as frustrations which had to be stripped away so that he 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.
This is God’s intention with us also today: He wants us to realize that we are short of God, so He arranges things and situations and people to strip us of all that we are, take away all our contentment in our godly attainments and obtainments, so that we may realize that we are short of God.
When we realize we are short of God, we will seek God in a deeper way, for what we need is not more perfection, uprightness, or integrity, but more of God.
May the Lord have mercy on us to cause us to realize that we are short of God; what we need is simply more of God. In our human life, our real need is to gain more of God.
At the end of the book of Job, God came in, indicating that what Job was short of in his human life was God Himself; for this reason, the book of Job doesn’t actually have a completed ending.
The completed ending to this book is seen in the New Testament, where we see the complete revelation of God in the Bible.
This ending is that God would be fully gained in Christ by man to make man one with God so that man may enjoy God as his portion in Christ (Eph. 3:9).
May we see this revelation; may we realize how much we lack God, and may we be transferred out of the realm of improving ourselves or seeking to build up our own perfection and uprightness, and be brought into the realm of seeking God, gaining God, being filled with God, and being one with God!
Lord, reveal Yourself to us; we want to have Your fresh appearing. Save us from being in the realm of building up ourselves as men in the old creation in our perfection, uprightness, and integrity. Bring us into the realm of seeking God to gain God, be filled with God, and be one with God. Have a way in us, Lord, and metabolically transform us to be a God-man, a man in the new creation who expresses God and dispenses Him to others! Oh Lord, we come to You as we are, realizing that we are so short of God! We come to You to receive You, enjoy You, be filled with You, and be one with You! Hallelujah, we can gain God and be one with God to enjoy God as our portion in Christ!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Life-Study of Job, msg. 33 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes (2020 winter training), week 7, The Intrinsic Divine Revelation concerning the Move of God with and among Men in the Old Testament and concerning the Move of God in Man in the New Testament to Accomplish God’s Heart’s Desire and to Meet Man’s Need before God.
- Hymns on this topic:
– But when Eve was deceived / What was pure fell beyond a cure. / Dead to God through the dread serpent’s subtlety. / Left creation in a quandary! / Generations lived in mystery! / Seeking Job could not perceive / But persisted to believe / There was purpose in the hidden heart of God. (Song on, The Heart of God)
– O the joy of having nothing and being nothing, seeing nothing / But a living Christ in glory, / And being careful for nothing but His interests down here. (Song on, O the joy of having nothing)
– In our daily life and all we are and do and think and say, / How we need a deeper mingling just to gain the Lord each day; / Lord, we give ourselves completely just to take the mingled way. / Yes, mingling is the way. (Hymns #1199)
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